Overcoming The Often Overlooked Curse

Lost Maples Natural Area
Overcoming
The Often Overlooked Curse

Look at the above photo and try to imagine a world without color. God could have made a world without color, without light, without oxygen, water, or one without any life at all. However, he created a world for our own benefit and pleasure. He created a world of aesthetic beauty and one of all kinds animal and human life. He created a sun to warm us by day and the moon to give us light by day.

There is an often overlooked CURSE. It is a curse associated with being unthankful! Right in the middle of the chapter on curses, we find a statement concerning being unthankful. "Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee" (Deuteronomy 28:47-48). Whenever, the children of Israel complained and murmured, they always got themselves in trouble. The enemies (our enemies) are the powers of darkness which have come to steal, kill, and destroy. They come to take away the possessions that God has given us, our families, and our physical health.

Some people would say with a sigh, "Well that is in the Old Testament." Well let's look in the New Testament. "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Romans 1:21). When we fail to be thankful for what God has given to us, we become subject to vain imaginations. We become deceived, confused, anxious, and fearful.

Yes, this also applies to us today. I am not a medical doctor or a research neurologist, but from reading some of the study material from Dr. Caroline Leaf, the brain itself can develop abnormalities in growth through negative thoughts and emotions. Psychologists declare that about 80 plus percentage of those people who are hospitalized are their because of their thoughts.

One day a former client called me in great distress over some family issues. The lady wanted to set up an immediate appointment, but I didn't have any opening until the next week. Over the weekend, I got a rough upper respiratory infection and could hardly talk, so I called the lady and canceled the appointment. The week after that I was only able to meet for a couple of appointments and didn't try to get back in touch with the lady. I didn't receive any more calls from the lady. As I got back on my feet with a stronger voice, I called her and asked how she was doing. She said that she was doing great! So I asked her, "What happened?" She said that she quit murmuring and complaining and started thanking and praising God. What a solution for the problems!

Although there are many, many Scriptures on giving thanks such as Psalm 103 and Psalm 197, I would like to look at a few.

1. "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thessalonians 5:18).   This is much more than just a suggestion. It is a command by God through the Word. It is God's will that we give thanks. If we are not giving thanks in every thing, then we are not walking in God's will. To walk in God's will, we must learn to give thanks in every thing. How can we do this when it seems that things aren't going good? We can still do it because, "... we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). God can take the curse and make a blessing out of it.
2. How do we do this? "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:18-20). Have you ever noticed that when people are thankful and happy that they often sing, whistle, or hum a tune? The Scripture speaks of speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. David spoke to himself when he felt down. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance" (Psalms 42:5). "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God" (Psalms 42:11). "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God" (Psalms 43:5). How did David encourage himself? He did it with the PSALMS. Again, Paul writes about giving thanks always for all things.
3. "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:14-17). Love is a choice. The feelings follow. When we choose to love, we come to a place of peace. How do we love? One way is by being thankful. Try telling your spouse or the person who has offended you, "I am thankful to God for you."   See if that doesn't bring peace. That may however be really difficult to do if we are not in God's Word. Therefore, Paul said that we are to let the "word of Christ" to dwell in us richly in all wisdom. How? It is by teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs with grace (unmerited favor) in our hearts to God. Quite often it takes GRACE to thank God for others. Why? They don't deserve it. Of course we don't deserve God's grace either. That is why it is called, GRACE. We need to receive God's unmerited favor for ourselves that we may give it to others.
4. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6). We are not to be ANXIOUS about anything, but pray about anything that might make us feel anxious or worried. However, we are to pray with thanksgiving. How can we pray with thanksgiving? Are we to be thankful for what we haven't yet received or realized? YES! I had been sick with an upper respiratory infection for some time and wasn't getting much better until one day I decided to thank God for the healing that I would receive. That very day I began to feel better and stronger.   When Jonah was still in the belly of the fish at the bottom of the ocean, he offered a sacrifice of thankgiving. "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9).    I must add that true thanksgiving can only be made based upon the promises of God found in the Word and faith imparted to us by God.
5. "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (I Timothy 2:1-2). We should pray for and be thankful for all those who are in authority over us, but how can we be thankful to God for those who not acting godly and misuse and abuse their authority? We can only do this if God is really in control.   Joseph went through hell on earth because of his brothers who sold him as a slave. However, God was working behind the scenes. Look at Joseph's response to his brothers in the end. "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20).   God can take what others have meant for evil and make good come of it.
6. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Hebrews 13:15). It may be relatively easy to pray and give thanks God when everything is going great from our perspective, but when things seemingly go wrong, then come the test. It is then that we are to offer a sacrifice of praise! Our lips are like the bulls that were place upon the burnt altar. We are to praise and give thanks when it costs us something and when we are hurting. Again, this is an act of worship, believing that God is for us and sees a bigger picture and has a better plan in mind for us. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11). We should also remember that there is no testimony with out a test.
7. "And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (Revelation 4:9-11).
People sometimes ask me questions about what Heaven is like and I don't have all the answers. However, there is one thing that I know. There will be the giving of thanks as an act of worship to God.   "Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 7:12). "Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned" (Revelation 11:17). If we are to give thanks in Heaven, shouldn't we do it now?

I am convinced that if we would come to be thankful to God for all that He had provided for us and all that He will provide for us, that many, if not most, of our mental, emotional, social, physical, and financial problems would be resolved. The curse would be broken. Try it! All that you have to lose is your pride and you have much to gain.