A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of November 18-22, 2019
MONDAY
Jesus directed the people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the people. They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. About four thousand men were there; and He dismissed them.
Mark 8:6-9
Jesus has the desire to do good. He is doing the will of the Father at all times. One thing to know about thanksgiving: it pleases the Father. When Jesus sees that there is not enough provision, He takes the need to the Father. Instead of complaining, He gives thanks for what is provided. What is provided is the “seed” for the provision.
The law of seedtime and harvest always works (“…as long as the earth remains…” – Genesis 8:22). Jesus plants the seed by thanking God for it. Thanksgiving is an offering.
Whatever we offer to God with thanksgiving in our hearts will be received by Him. What He receives He ministers over. When He ministers over something, the provision is met abundantly. The remainder is used for seed for the next need.
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
November 25: 1 Chronicles 21, 1 Peter 2, Jonah 4, Luke 9
November 26: 1 Chronicles 22, 1 Peter 3, Micah 1, Luke 10
November 27: 1 Chronicles 23, 1 Peter 4, Micah 2, Luke 11
November 28: 1 Chronicles 24-25, 1 Peter 5, Micah 3, Luke 12
November 29: 1 Chronicles 26-27, 2 Peter 1, Micah 4, Luke 13
November 30: 1 Chronicles 28, 2 Peter 2, Micah 5, Luke 14
December 1: 1 Chronicles 29, 2 Peter 3, Micah 6, Luke 15
TUESDAY
As He entered a certain village, ten men with leprosy who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:12-19
Ten lepers ask to be cleansed. Jesus tells them all to go and show themselves to the priest. When one man examines himself, as he has done many times, he finds that he is cleansed. He immediately offers up thanks to Jesus, the one who has answered his prayer.
Jesus marvels that none of the others have stopped to thank God. God immediately confers the blessing of wholeness upon this man. The nine were only cleansed. This man was made whole. Whatever the leprosy destroyed has been restored: body parts, family, finances. To be made whole is to be saved, in peace: nothing missing, nothing broken.
WEDNESDAY
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
John 11:41-42
Thanksgiving is offered up to God. The desire of Jesus’ heart is to glorify the father. When the dead are raised, God is glorified. Jesus thanks the Father for the sake of the people standing nearby. That includes you and me. He thanks the father to show us the way to the miraculous.
Whenever we stop and give God thanks, we open the door to the miraculous. Thanksgiving becomes an offering of a sweet savor in the nostrils of our God. He receives the sacrifice and will grant the request that is upon the altar. We must believe this. God is both able and willing and we know it.
THURSDAY
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
John 11:41-42
Miracle working power is released. Jesus receives the unction to speak forth the words to Lazarus. This is granted because thanksgiving releases the atmosphere for miracles. God gives permission for the Kingdom to be released through the giving of thanks.
When we thank God, we open the floodgates of permission for His kingdom to manifest and subdue the kingdom of darkness. When Jesus stopped to give the Father thanks, the key was turned to open the gates of hell, and let the captive go free. There was a miracle with Lazarus’ name on it. It came to him when God received thanksgiving from the Chief Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ.
FRIDAY
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
John 11:41-42
The faith of bystanders increases. When a miracle is witnessed, there is an impression made on a person’s spirit. The miracle atmosphere affects the memory of a person’s spirit man. It allows the person to embrace a new knowledge of God.
When we attend a miracle service, we are affected by the atmosphere even if we stand in unbelief. We are not the same, and we will either run away or seek more of God. We will know that a miracle has occurred, however.
Jesus told the Pharisees to believe him for the works sake. From that day forward, persons who were present at the tomb were familiar with the miraculous in a personal way. That’s the power of thanksgiving. It brings God into our midst to do the miraculous. We need to thank Him for that.