Operating In Thanksgiving

• Printable Version - Share on Facebook - Posted by Pastor Marty Pena February 4, 2017 - Filed in Teachings - 1,388 views

  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. We always encounter different problems in our lives. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us out of them all. The way we respond when we are faced with afflictions is the measuring yardstick of our spiritual growth from the spirit realm's perspective. A man may judge from the externals, but God searches the depths of our hearts. 
  
  There are 2 opposing forces at work and we have a choice to align ourselves with either force: light or darkness. When we spend our time, effort and energy on things that produce anxiety, we become entangled and burdened with unnecessary "weight" as a result. Living and walking in the spirit - is "light" living and the little powerful key that will unlock the breakthrough in times when you do not know what to do is the phrase "with thanksgiving". Not the holiday, but the attitude of the heart. Thanksgiving will give the extra boost in your spiritual momentum as you seek to find your breakthrough in the Lord. I saw a vision of a Christian being squeezed by a vise and the Lord said, "When life squeezes us like a grape, Jesus should pour out of us because we are meant to abide in Him." God is calling us to release thanksgiving when we are squeezed! The Bible tells us to "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Notice that it says, "in" not "for" all circumstances. We are not to give thanks "for" all circumstances because not everything is from God. For example, If you are sick, don't give thanks for your sickness, because it is not from God, but thanksgiving in (or in spite of) your sickness. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, (John 11:41) or multiplied the loaves (John 6:11), He didn't give thanks for His situation, He gave thanks in His situation. You don't have to be thankful for your situation, but you do need to be thankful for it. This will release the anointing of God to overcome your situation.
  
  The prophet Daniel was known for giving thanks to the Lord three times a day. What we learn from his life is that when you operate in thanksgiving, the lions of the enemy don't have the right to chomp on you. Or who can forget Jonah? When he complained about his assignment to prophesy over Nineveh and ran from God, he was swallowed by a giant fish. If you look at what Jonah did inside of the fish, it says in Jonah 2:9 that he sang a song of thanksgiving. In the very next verse, the fish spit Jonah out on the dry land. The principle is this: if complaining got you into the situation, thanksgiving is the key to getting you out. That when life squeezes us, a heart of thanksgiving pours out. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 
  
  Thanksgiving is a powerful force in the spirit realm, and it is a season where God is emphasizing the release of this force in the earth.

  Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. KJV.