Communion with God

A. Unthankfulness

When a person is ungrateful and unthankful to God for His blessings, he manifests his attitude by always complaining and grumbling.
God hates ungrateful people.

A person who is ungrateful has fallen from God's grace.
God will allow such a person to reap his own destruction (Romans 1:18-23).

If he were a believer, God's hand will no longer bless him.
Instead, he opens himself to God's judgement for his ungratefulness, and brings about his own destruction.
Such a bliever brings curses upon himself and his family.

1. God allows ungrateful people to reap a harvest of degradation and wickedness

The wrath of God is being reveled from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor GAVE THANKS to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.


Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
Romans 1:18,21,24

One of the signs of the degeneration of the world into wickedness in the Last Days is that men will be ungrateful.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, UNGRATEFUL, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ...
2 Timothy 3:1-4

2. God's anger and judgement fall on believers who grumble

E.g. In Numbers 13 and 14, the people of Israel under Moses believed in the evil report of the 10 unbelieving spies and did not want to enter the promised land.
Instead, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and indirectly, against God himself.

That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites GRUMBLED against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in the desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sward? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"


The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people tread me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?


The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wicked community GRUMBLE against me? I have heard the complaints of these GRUMBLING Israelites. So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall - every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has GRUMBLED against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun."
Numbers 14:1-3,11,26-30

Note the following revelations from the above episode:

1. Grumbling against God's appointed leaders is grumbling against God (vv. 2,26).
(... grumbled against Moses and Aaron, ... grumbled against me ...)

2. Grumbling against God is to treat God with contempt; it is to despise the promises and plan of God (v. 11).
(How long will these people treat me with contempt? ...)

3. Grumbling arises from a heart of unbelief in God, from an unbelief in His promises to do good to us (v. 11).
(How long will they refuse to believe in me? ...)

4. Those who complain are regarded by God as being "wicked" (v.27).
(How long will this wicked community grumble against me? ...)

5. God will allow whatever we complain about to happen to us (v. 28). In other words, our complaints will become a curse against ourselves and our loved ones.
(I will do to you the very things I heard you say ...)

6. Those who grumble will not enter into God's blessings (v.30).
(None of you will enter the land ...)

3. God warns New Testament believers against grumbling

Do not be idolators ...
We should not commit sexual immorality ...
We should not test the Lord [through grumbling], as some of them did and were killed by snakes.
And do not GRUMBLE as some of them did - and were killed by the destroying angel.
1 Corinthians 10:7-10

Let us choose to be thankful.
Let us be thankful at all times, in all circumstancs.
Only thankful believers are victorious belivers.

B. How to guard against ungratefulness and maintain a heart of thanksgiving

Meditating on and practicing the following truths will keep us thankful at all times:

• Know that our God is a good God, and declare it at all times.


• Know that God is always working all things for our good, and declare it at all times.


• Surrender every problem into the hands of God for He cares for us and will turn every situation around for our good.


• Constantly give thanks to God for all the good thinks He has done for you in the past, for the good He is now doing in your life, and for the good He will do for you according to your prayer.


• Know that grumbling is a useless activity that brings absolutely no good to us but God's judgement instead.

1. Know that our God is a good God

Evil does not come from God. Evil comes from the devil.
Sickness, poverty, and destruction comes from him.
Jesus said that it is the devil who comes to "kill, steal and destroy" (John 10:10)

And it is sin in our lives - individual and corporate sin - that opens a door for the devil to harm us.
If tragedy has occurred in your life, ask God for discernment concerning the sin that has opened a door for the devil to harm you.
Quickly repent, and come once again under the protection of the blood of Jesus.

Never blame God for any tragedy.
Never ever doubt the goodness of God.
Once we doubt the goodness of God, we will continually open ourselves to the fear of evil coming into our lives.
Our fear of evil opens a door for destruction to come into our lives (Job 3:25).

Instead, begin to declare everyday:

The Lord is good;
His mercy (His love) endure forever
1 Chronicles 16:34, 41


The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning;
Great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

2. Know that God is always working all things out for our good

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love, Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

For the above Scripture, we see that God works for our good in all things only when we are walking in love towards Him.
If we do not walk in love towards God and man, and instead sin against God, we have stopped the hand of God from doing good in our lives.

Nevertheless, if we are walking in daily repentance, and has turned away from all sins in our lives, we can indeed be confident that in all things God is working for our good.

3. Surrender every problem into the hands of God

Thus we are commanded to:

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7

And God promises in His word that He will deliver us with His overcoming power from all our troubles.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of ALL their troubles.


Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

But the Lord delivers him out of them ALL.
Psalm 34:17, 19

Jesus said:

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

No problem is too hard for God to solve (Jeremiah 32:37)
Therefore, we can be of good cheer, we can rejoice.
In Christ, we will always have the victory in all circumstances over the forces of evil.

By faith, we can begin to thank God for the good He will do in every situation that we have committed to Him.
By faith, begin to thank Him for the healing, the deliverance, the provision, the help that you have asked Him for.
His salvation, His healing, His deliverance, etc., are already yours in the spirit the moment you asked Him (Mark 11:24).

Therefore I tell you, whatever you asked for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24

4. Constantly give thanks to God for every good thing you have received

At all times, focus on the goodness of God in your life: what He has done for you in the past, what He is doing for you right now, and what he will do for you tomorrow.

Do not focus anymore on past tragedies.
Regrets over the past is of no use.
When sin has caused the tragedy, repent and learn a lesson from it.
Than move on to thanksgiving, for the many blessings that God has given you.

Give thanks in ALL circumstance, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

5. Know that grumbling is a useless activity that brings absolutely no good to us but instead will cause the judgement of God to fall upon us.

Grumbling will never change a difficult situation for our good.
Grumbling does not bring us into God's presence or power.
Only prayer with thanksgiving can bring to us God's deliverance.
Grumbling is a useless activity that God hates to see in a believer's life.

And even as we grumble, we are cursing ourselves and those under our authority.
And whatever we grumble about God will allow to come to pass.
We and our loved one are thus destroyed by the words of our lips (Proverbs 18:21).

The tongue has the power of life and death.
Proverbs 18:21

Therefore choose to put away all old habits of complaining and grumbling and replace it with thanksgiving. Do not say anymore:
"My son is stupid in his studies."
"My wife is lazy and does not do her housework."
"My boss is always unkind to me and always victimizes me."

Begin to thank God, after committing all your troubles to God in prayer:
"Thank God for giving wisdom to my son everyday in his studies."
"Thank God for giving my wife a love for housework."
"Thank God for moving upon my boss to show me favor always."

Prayer

Declarations & Proclamations