DOMINION MANDATE DAILY DEVOTIONAL

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2022

THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING

BIBLE READING: PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7; GENESIS 8:20-22

"Enter with the password: Thank You! Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank Him. Worship Him." Psalm 100:4(MSG).

According to the Gregorian Calendar, the month of December is the final month of the year. This is generally a period of celebration due to the Yuletide Season. However, this is also meant to be a period of gratitude to God for His Bountiful Mercies from January to December because "though your beginning was small, yet your latter end will increase abundantly." (Job 8:7).

The Power of Thanksgiving can never be overemphasized. After a successful three-day outreach programme by the Sea of Galilee resulting in numerous and diverse healings, Matthew 15 records a bit of a welfare crisis the Lord Jesus was faced with: "Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." (verse 32) His disciples were bewildered, prompting them to ask: "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to feed such a great multitude?" (verse 33) Following the Lord's Instructions, they could only find seven loaves of bread and a few fishes. Such a meagre supply for such a vast multitude! Any other person would probably have been at his wit's end but not the Lord. He understood the Power of Thanksgiving which He applied in that situation: "And He took the seven loaves and the fish AND GAVE THANKS, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude." (verse 36). Take note that Jesus didn't complain like most of us normally would when He looked at the seven loaves and the fish in His Hands. The Bible says He gave thanks, expressing gratitude to the Father for the supposedly meagre provision which was clearly inadequate. The subsequent results were recorded for generations to come: "So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left" (verse 37). Imagine that: Four thousand men, besides women and children, were fully satisfied as a result of the miracle of multiplication which took place, leaving behind leftovers which filled seven large baskets.

The year 2022 has been a truly challenging year with diverse turmoils in Nations. However, the Scripture says "In everything give thanks; for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1Thess. 5:18). An attitude of gratitude determines your altitude in life. Provisions are never lacking on the table of a thanksgiver. Take a moment and take stock of this year which comes to an end in a matter of weeks. Cultivating a heart of Thanksgiving will ensure the year 2022 ends in praise for you. Remember that Thanksgiving still remains the password into His Abundance.

PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, we thank You for being such a Faithful God towards us. O Lord, please help us understand the importance of giving You thanks in all things and in every situation. By Your Grace, this year will end in grand style for Your children in Jesus' Mighty Name. Amen.