When we were all little kids, (hopefully) our parents taught us to say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you.’

It was taught to us as a part of being mannerable.  It’s just good social etiquette to say ‘Thank you’ after someone has done soemething for you or given something to you.

But being thankful doesn’t just stop there…at good manners.  Being thankful is a biblical principle that protects us from spiritual deceit, corruption and error.

Being thankful to God does…

I want you to read Romans 1.  Study it.  Read it again.  As I read it again this morning, the scriptures seemed to jump out from the page at me…

Romans 1:17

The Just shall live by FAITH….

If the just lives by faith, this means that they do NOT worry or fret over how their bills are going to get paid.  They do NOT covet after the riches of another.  They don’t work 8 jobs to keep up with the Joneses.  They may have a job, or they may not…but one thing IS for sure…they live BY FAITH.

If more people understood that biblical principle, then the error of the prosperity doctrine would spread no further.  Replete among the followers and purveyors of the prosperity message are people who simply LACK FAITH IN GOD.  They covet after the riches and possessions of another.  And they are NOT thankful FOR WHAT THEY HAVE!

They are greedy.  Never satisfied…and certainly not thankful.  Not to God…and probably not to their fellow man, either.

There is a danger in not being thankful.  It’s not just it offends God.  But being unthankful is breeding ground for covetousness and seducing spirits to come in and cause one to err ‘from the faith.’

When we begin to trust in the arm of flesh-ours or anyone else’s-to provide for our needs, instead trusting God implicitly, then we start placing debt, lack, poverty and our not having certain things (even if those things are necessities) on a pedestal, of sorts.  The debt, the lack, the poverty…they all become IDOLS in our lives…that replace the POWER and PROVISION OF GOD.  We place pre-eminence on our lack instead of faith in our God to provide EVERY NEED that we have…

Once this happens, a domino effect takes place.  What starts out as idolatry and lack of faith starts to grow into not SEEING GOD as God in our lives.

Romans 1:21-23

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.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

When we place our lack, debt, poverty and the such above God in our lives, that thing has become an idol in our lives.  God is taken off the throne and our lack, debt, poverty takes its place.  And how do we worship the gods of lack, debt, and poverty?

By trusting in the arm of FLESH to provide.  By making up doctrines and teachings that will help us feel ‘empowered’ to prosper.  Admit it: there is a certain helplessness that comes with lack.  Most people HATE it.  And will do ANYTHING to avoid feeling helpless.

The downfall of many a man has been that the enemy KNOWS that it is in the innate nature of a man to provide for his family.  When this ability is hindered or taken away, this emasculates the man…and many men will do just about anything to provide for their families.

Many of the mega preachers that are so heavily-revered sold out to the god of mammon…they began ‘ministry’ in lack, debt, poverty. Listen to their testimonies of being in poverty.  Shaking roaches out of their clothes.  Living in houses with the utilities cut off.  Wearing the same clothes to church over and over again.  Being homeless.

And now they are flying in private jets and living in homes that most would only dream of!

But there was a price that was paid for that fortune, and it wasn’t merely the check they signed over to the realtor when they bought the homes.

The very gospel that they now preach and teach is tainted with error.  It makes gods out of temporary circumstances and gets people to trust in formulas and methods and NOT in God.

Look what happens when we do that:

Romans 1:24-25

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

When we start trusting in the arm of flesh and NOT in God, then we start worshipping just that….FLESH.

When you finish reading the first chapter of Romans, you will see that the rise in sexual (and spiritual) perversion has its roots in not recognizing God as God, andNOT BEING THANKFUL.

This is the chapter that goes into the rampant homosexuality and lesbianism that is promised in these times.

And to imagine—it all began with just not being thankful!

The old song used to go like this:

“Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what the Lord has done!  Count your blessings, name them one by one….Count your many blessings!  See what the Lord has done!”

There IS a danger in NOT being thankful.

The enemy knows in these uncertain (economic) times that many will be vulnerable to fall prey to error, particularly in this area.  Falling for the prosperity message keeps one in a constant state of covetousness, all in the guise of appearing to walk in faith for the things that you don’t have…all the while you are missing the blessing of enjoying what you DO have.

God has been really, really good to America.  We need not forget that….what does the Word say?

Psalm 9:17
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.