Dear Partner,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Happy Thanksgiving!! I believe your heart is overwhelmed with gratitude as we come to the end of this very amazing and eventful year 2020. We made it! We are stronger and better!!
Thanksgiving should not be a ritual or a ceremonial exercise. It is a very spiritual and powerful principle when borne out of a truly thankful heart.
Someone who is thankful knows what he or she is thankful for.
This thanksgiving, what are you thankful for? Why not pause for a minute and mention at least five things.
Thankful: Grateful, Gladly relieved.
Thanksgiving: The act of giving thanks: a public acknowledgement of divine goodness and mercy.
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
Philemon 4-7 (NKJV)
Every believer should be a thankful person.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Colossians 3:15 (NKJV)
Thankful: eucharistos – well favoured, i.e. (by implication) grateful.
It comes from grace,charis. Grace is the basis of thanksgiving. To be thankful is to acknowledge the working of the grace of God in your life.
It is an interesting word to contrast with the word unthankful.
1 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2 Timothy 3:1-2 (NKJV)
Unthankful: acharistos – meaning thankless, i.e. ungrateful: comes from “a” (as a negative particle) and charizomai / charis. without grace, to be without the basis of thanksgiving in your life.
To be unthankful is to be opposed to the operation and workings of the grace and divine favour and goodness of God over your life.
Let us take a look at Mary Magdalene. She was a perfect example of someone with a thankful heart. She was far from unthankful as she knew what the God of all grace had done in her life.
1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him,
2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities– Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,
Luke 8:1-2 (NKJV)
If you had had seven demons “jacked” out of you, wouldn’t you be thankful? How deep was her gratitude? Partner, this season of thanksgiving, how deep is your gratitude?
54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Matthew 27:54, 56 (NKJV)
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
John 19:25 (NKJV)
61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
Matthew 27:61 (NKJV)
1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Matthew 28:1 (NKJV)
1 On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.
4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.
5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.
9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
John 20:1-11 (NKJV)
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
John 20:11-15 (NKJV)
There is a common thread you see in all these Scriptures. Such a depth of gratitude that can best be described as an addiction.
Addiction: Devote, Apply habitually, A habit that has become impossible to break.
Are you so addicted to Jesus that your thanksgiving is an addiction also, a habit that is impossible to break?
Everywhere Jesus was (dead or alive), any time of the day, Mary wanted to be there. It was impossible to break that addiction in her.
I’m sure brethren accused her of being “overzealous”, of seeking for favouritism. I’m sure they felt “threatened” by her commitment and her faithfulness, by her always being there on time. Does this happen to you sometimes? It happened to me a lot as a young Christian before I became a minister.
What they did not know was that she had an unbreakable addiction, an addiction to the One who had set her free. She did not mean to show up their laziness, their carnality, their selfishness, she couldn’t help it she had an addiction.
A man with an addiction does not care what others think. He just had to satisfy his craving.
When the other disciples turned back at the empty tomb, Mary stayed on weeping.
In John 20:13, she says the reason why she was weeping. She needed the object of her addiction – dead or alive. She did not stay back and cry because she understood the resurrection of Jesus any better or less than the others.
In John 20:15, she asked if he had been “carried” away showing that she believed He was still dead.
So why was she crying at the empty tomb? She cried because she had built her life around Jesus and she couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from even His “dead” body. Can you imagine that level of addiction?
1 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away– for it was very large.
Mark 16:1-4 (NKJV)
Her addiction was such that no opposition or excuse hindered her.
She was driven by her thankful heart. Each time she thought of how ravaged her life was when she was possessed by seven demons, then nothing would stop her addiction to Jesus.
Dear Partner, how addicted are you to Jesus? Are you in eucharistos or acharistos mode this season of thanksgiving?
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 (NKJV)
Be happy in your faith at all times. Never stop praying. Be thankful, whatever the circumstances may be. If you follow this advice you will be working out the will of God expressed to you in Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 (PHILLIPS)
In these three verses, we see three absolutes when it comes to prayer and thanksgiving (which is a form of prayer).
An absolute is not subject to any limitation; unconditional. It is a value or principle which is regarded as universally valid or which may be viewed without relation to other things; something that exists without being dependent on anything else.
These absolutes can only be effected by someone who is addicted to Jesus Christ.
- – Always, at all time
- – Without ceasing, never stop
- – In everything, whatever the circumstances
Absolutes need no excuses. You give thanks to God always in season and out of season, with an audience or without an audience, with a reason and without a reason.
8 Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
1 Chronicles 16:8-9 (NKJV)
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And tell of all Your wondrous works.
Psalms 26:7 (NKJV)
It is the sound of thanksgiving blaring from a thankful heart! Glory be to God!!
My gift for you in this season of thanksgiving is the message titled: Mary Magdalene: An Example Of A Thankful Heart. This is a complete look at the thankful heart of Mary which we just took a glance at. Click here to get the MP3 of that message. There is so much in this complete message that will keep you ever thankful even beyond this season.
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Love unfeigned,
Pastor Nkechi Ene (Mrs.)
