Thank You Power!

SCRIPTURE READING:

John 11:35-44 AB

(35)  Jesus wept.

(36)  The Jews said, See how [tenderly] He loved him!

(37)  But some of them said, Could not He Who opened a blind man’s eyes have prevented this man from dying?

(38)  Now Jesus, again sighing repeatedly and deeply disquieted, approached the tomb.

It was a cave (a hole in the rock), and a boulder lay against [the entrance to close] it.

(39)  Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, exclaimed,

But Lord, by this time he [is decaying and] throws off an offensive odor,

for he has been dead four days!

(40)  Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe  and rely on Me,

you would see the glory of God?

(41)  So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said,

         Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

(42)  Yes, I know You always hear and listen to Me, but I have said this on account of and for the benefit of the people standing around,

so that they may believe that You did send Me [that You have made Me Your Messenger].

(43)  When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!

(44)  And out walked the man who had been dead, his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips),

and with a [burial] napkin bound around his face.

Jesus said to them, Free him of the burial wrappings and let him go.

 

TEXT:

 John 11:41 NIV

So they took away the stone.

Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

 

Johannes11:41 AOV

Hulle neem toe die steen weg waar die oorledene lê. En Jesus het sy oë opgeslaan en gesê: Vader, Ek dank U dat U My verhoor het;

 

INTRODUCTION:

This is one of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed.

Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus raised him from the death.

Wouldn’t you agree that death is indeed an extreme problem? Having no money in the bank, being sick and losing your job, bad as they are, are not as bad as being dead!

 

But what I want to show you is this: If Jesus, in the most extreme of problems,

shows us that the solution is still, “Father, I thank You,” then how much more should we thank God in the midst of the less serious problems we face?

 

BE THANKFUL:

 

If thanksgiving can raise the dead, then let us give thanks!

Let us give thanks in spite of the negative circumstances and we will see victory!

Unfortunately, we tend to do the opposite — murmur and complain.

But murmuring and complaining only magnify the problem.

Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is the language of love and faith which pleases God!

 

Once again, I am not saying that we give thanks for the circumstances and the problems we have. We thank God in those circumstances.

We thank God that He is our answer and that He has already given every blessing to us.

 

Ephesians 1:3 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ

 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

 

Another translation says: ‘In everything give thanks…’

 

The word ‘be’ or ‘in’ used here, is the Greek word G1722 ‘en’.

Thayer Definition: in, by, with etc. a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position

(in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537)

 

So, we can say it means ‘to be in the position of…’

 

The word ‘thankful’ or ‘give thanks’ in this verse is the Greek word G2168 ‘eucharisteō’.

From G2170: to be grateful, that is, (actually) to express gratitude (towards).

 

To ‘be’ thankful means to be ‘in a position of thankfulness’.

You can only ‘give thanks’ if you are ‘in a position of thankfulness’!

 

When you are grateful, you can express gratitude!

Gratitude is more than a feeling of thankfulness in response to receiving something.

Gratitude is an attitude, a way of living as a child of God, a lifestyle!

It is a conscious choice to focus on life’s blessings rather than on its shortcomings.

 

‘Thankfulness is the foundation for God’s further blessings in your life!’

Every moment is filled with opportunities to fill our hearts with gratefulness, thankfulness and appreciation. When we cultivate a grateful attitude, we learn to live in a state of grace. Every event in life, both good and bad, becomes an opportunity to learn to grow and enlarge our God given capacity to love. Thank God before going to bed and thank Him when you get up in the morning!

Psalm 92:1-2 NKJV

(1) It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

(2) To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,

Mark 7:6 NLT

Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you,

for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

God wants us to live what we say we believe. You really only believe what you live!

Turn Our Thanksgiving Into Thanks Living!

 

AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE:

When gratitude and gratefulness becomes a way of living, it becomes an attitude.

An attitude of thankfulness, a lifestyle of thankfulness.

When we live in gratitude, our giving becomes receiving!

Then and only then can we really experience what our Lord Jesus Christ meant

when He said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Act 20:35).

“But Pastor, what I have is so little – what can I give?”

Thank God for the little you have and it will multiply.

Jesus thanked His Father for the five barley loaves and two small fish,

a little boy’s lunch, and they were multiplied to feed more than 5,000 people

with 12 baskets full of leftovers! (John 6:8–13)

 

John 6:11 AB

Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks,

He distributed to the disciples and the disciples to the reclining people;

so also [He did] with the fish, as much as they wanted.

 

Notice that when the Holy Spirit talked about this event again in John 6:23,

He specifically mentioned the Lord giving thanks — “the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks”.

The Holy Spirit seemed to be more pleased with the act of giving thanks

than the miracle of multiplication or the 12 baskets full of leftovers. 

 

1 Thessalonians 5:18-19 AB

(18)  Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be,

be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus

[the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

(19)  Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit;

 

You see, when we live a lifestyle of gratitude, it is pleasing to the Holy Spirit! (Unity)

If we don’t have an attitude of thankfulness, we restrain the Holy Spirit! (Division)

When we have an attitude of gratitude, we become more like Jesus.

 

An attitude of gratitude activates the love of God in you and it humbles you!

This is a powerful attitude. Thanksgiving Can Raise The Dead!

 

John 11:41 NLT

So they rolled the stone aside.

Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.”