Up Your Thanks.

Did you know that your abundance and spiritual growth is determined in part by your level of thanks? It's true! That is what we discuss in our series "Step Up" in the installment called "Up Your Thanks".
Think of this; if you are not thankful for what you have you are focused on what you don't have. If you are focused on what you don't have your are coveting which is a sin (Exodus 20.17), and you are festering a life of greed. There are differernt kinds of thanks to offer: Natural Thanks, and Pure Thanks. There are likely more, but this is what we will look at today. Natural thanks is simply recognizing something was done for you and you say thanks. Sometimes it is empty or sometimes it is with an alterior motive... trying to flatter the giver so they will return often and with more. Pure thanks is totally different; it responds to generosity with acts of love. Pure love never says "thank you, but...".
When it comes to our faith we are to have Pure Thanks for what Jesus has done for us. I Thessalonians 5.18 gives us insight into the seemingly elusive will of God which we are all seek, and tells us that giving thanks is part of the glue that holds it all together. You reaching your full potential of abundance and greatness in Jesus Christ is determined by your level and purity of thanks.
Please take the next half hour to sit back and reflect on your life as you view this challenging installment called "Up Your Thanks." Share it with a friend and then write us and let us know how it changed your life.

Genuine Thanks Generates Generous Actions.

When I was in high school my sister and I had been out with a friend who lived with her grandma. Her parents lived several hundred miles away so she didn't see them often so around Christmas her local aunts and uncles would bring her gifts. I don't remember what we had done while out that ngiht, but we had all decided to go back to her grandma's and watch a movie. When we got there her aunt and uncle where there and they had stopped over to surprise her and her grandma with Christmas gifts. All is fine with that but it left my sister and I feeling a bit awkward. I didn't drive yet so we were stuck there watching her family Christmas. We did end up watching the movie, but I remember what she said after the family Christmas; "I am so sorry, I didn't know they were coming or I would have wrapped something up to give you guys." She felt bad that in the spirit of giving, she wanted to give.
The natural reaction for humans is to give when given too. If we appreciate something we like to pass it on. Now, I know that someone just popped into your mind that is ungrateful, but in general we are give when given to. The friend had been given to and wanted to give. We all know the feeling when someone gets you a gift but you have nothing to give back... uncomfortable.
David writes a song about this. In Psalm 116 David takes the first 8 verses to sit back to list all the things that God has blessed him with... all the blessings that he does not deserve but appreciates, then verse 12. "What can I render unto the Lord for all his benefits unto me?" David has received and now he is wanting to give. David has received what he cannot buy, earn, or deserve and he doesn't want to take it for granted. But what had David received that was so special that he wanted to give in return?
-V1-2 David needed someone to talk too and God heard... How many people do you know right now that may just need someone to listen. You may not agree with them or even like them, but you can listen with scrutiny or distraction. A listening ear is a gift that costs nothing but is very meaningful. It is praactical yet extravagent.
- V3-5 David had gotten himself into some hard situations; we know his story, theses hard places were often brought on by his own foolishness... but God delivers him. Someone that you know is going through a hard time that they have brought upon themself. They need you to help them get through this time and be delivered from their struggles. God didn't not beat up David or kick him while he was down... he helped him be delivered.
-V6-7 David tells that he was low and God took him high. God didn't not do the least effort in recovering David because it was a mess that he'd gotten himself into... God wen't the extra mile and was "bountiful" with David, not average or ordinary. If David's struggles were a lake; God did not help David get back to shallow water, He took him unto dry ground, sat him down, warmed him up, and gave him something to eat.
When we see what God has done for David and what he has done for us, we too should ask what David asked, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?"
God has blessed you and we must praise God's name for it, and pass on teh blessing. God has used others to be a blessing to you, and he is counting on you to be a blessing to those around you. Examine the people around you today and see whom you may be able to take out of the lake of struggles and set upon dry ground.