Everything You Thank, Grows

It's a really well known passage, but I'll will give you a context. That is the first time Jesus multiplied loaves of bread and fish. Then, if you've never read this story Jesus was preaching to five thousand men letting aside women and children. They were already following Jesus and listening to Jesus teachings. They were in the middle of the wilderness. That was far away from the town. Jesus then tells his disciples to feed the crowd because they were hungry. That people didn't expect a so long sermon. As they were for so long over there, they got really hungry and tired.

The disciples get worried. They start thinking that they don't have enough to feed five thousand people. Probably it's even more than five thousand due to women and children. Jesus asks: What do you have? There is a young man who has 5 loaves of bread and two fishes. Then look what verse 19 says.

Once I heard an American pastor called Tom Cranddle. He said something remarkable. He said: There is a secret in God's Kingdom. If you understand that secret your life is going to be totally transformed. Every single area of your life will change: finances, family, work, emotional area. Everything will be transformed if you understand this principle. God's Kingdom works like that: Everything You Thank, Grows. Everything you thank, multiply in your life. There is a key in God's Kingdom named Thankfulness. There is something that happens when we are able to be thankful towards everything that is around us. Listen to it: There is a key named thankfulness in God's Word. God's Kingdom works through gratefulness. If you want to see something growing in your life, you need to thank God for that. That is clear in here. Jesus gets 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Jesus question seems obvious. What is that for five thousand of people? And what is the natural consequence of our sinful nature. That is looking at that resource and complain. We mumble over that. "I don't believe, I have only that!; I can't believe, that is nothing; I can't believe that guy is so disorganized".

Then Jesus seize that opportunity to give the disciples a key. He gives the disciples a principle. Why? Because he takes those two loaves and fish, raise them up and thank God. That is the challenge for us here. How do we have a thankful heart before a really hard situation. There is: having five thousand people in front of you and five loaves in your hand. What Jesus wants to grow in us is a heart that is able to thank God in any circumstance. He takes those 5 loaves and fish and he thanks God for that resource. Then he passes over that resource to the disciples. And what does happen to the things you are thankful for? It grows! Whatever you are thank for, grows.

God wants to give us a grateful heart. There is a really cool concept in the Bible that we don't explore so much, that is "GRANTING". Granting means sharing a gift. Paul will say: I would really like to go over there to share spiritual gifts with you. The is a doctrine in the Bible. It's a basic one. That is "Laying on of hands". It happens we pray over each other and we release something that God has first put on me and it goes the other way as well. That is really nice. We can share gifts and not only stuff on Whatsapp. But it can't be the same for thankfulness. I wish everyone could come here and share thankfulness. But that is not possible because thankfulness is not a gift, it is choice.

You might be asking: wow, your life must be perfect then, you have no problems. Of course there are many problems in my life. But I have chosen not to focus on the problems. I've chosen to look just at what is good.

Let me give you another example. Open your Bible to Luke 17. You know, I was in Brazil in March. I remember I was at my ant's place. Some people from my family were also there. It had been a few weeks after my mom's passing. And a cousin of mine I used to hang out a lot when I was little comes up to me and say: It seems you aged a lot in a few weeks. A lot of concerns, right? You have your father here and the ministry in Poland. And I told her: I'm concerned with nothing, it's just oldness I think. She insisted, but how can't you be? I said my life belongs to him; the ministry belongs to him; my father's life belongs to him; my finances; everything. It remembers me PSalm 127.1. Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain; Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

The matter here is what you have chosen to look at. Where are you focusing on? Look how interesting that is, Luke 17:11-19. He found 10 lepers. When someone had leper, that person had to be removed from the town. There was no heal for leper. It was really contagious. Then the lepers needed to live outside the city. But leper needs to look for another leper to walk together. They were together and Jesus passed. They already knew about Jesus's deeds. They started yelling and Jesus tells them to go to the priest. I picture the scene: on their way, they start being healed. On their way, I believe one started to look at each other and say: Hey buddy, your skin is coming back to normal. All of them were healed on their way to the priest. One of them when realized he had been healed he didn't even go to the priest. I'm not going to the priest at all! He then comes back to Jesus. He went back yelling and knee before Jesus. What does he start to do? He starts to thank Jesus. Everything you thank, grows.

What did that man earn. What he earns from Jesus is some additional years of life. He would probably die in one or two years. By healing him, maybe Jesus gave him more 30 or 40 years. What did he have in his hands now? More 40 years of life. He then comes back with that 40 years and thank Jesus. Jesus looks at him and says: Go in peace, your faith has saved you. Everything you thank, grows. Do you know what those 40 years became? I became eternal life. That man is still alive with Jesus today. Why? Because everything you thank, grows.

It's time for to to be thankful. It's time for us to be thankful. Everything you thank, grows. But the reverse is also real. Please, memorize that: Complaining is demoniac intercession. Memorize that, I'm serious. Complaining is demoniac intercession. Why? Because complaining makes you focus on your problems instead of focusing on God. Complaining is a way to say that your problems are greater than your God. Complaining is a way of externalize what is happening out there is stronger of what dwells in me.

Thankfulness is a mark of maturity. Thankfulness is a treat of maturity. That's why it's impossible to share gratefulness. It's impossible praying for someone and say: Take gratefulness! It's impossible. Because maturity doesn't come immediately. No one becomes mature in just one worship service. Maturity is a process of choices on a daily basis that take years. It's to choose to be grateful. Complaining is a mark of immaturity. Complaining is an issue of perspective. Children are unable to have perspective. A kid can't step back and analyse his/her own life. Children live the moment. Children look just the next ten minutes of their lives. He fights because of silly stuff. Why? Because what matter for him is now.

Let me tell you a story. There is this brother in my country and some years ago he planned a trip to Disney. He saved some money and he was saying that at the exact week of the trip, the dollar increase roughly as twice as much. The trip would be much more expensive than what they were planning. They went anyway. He was saying that when you enter the park, you receive a map of what there is inside. His son was around 5 back then. At some point his son opened the paper map and somehow teared the map. What did happen? His son started crying desperately. Why? Because he didn't have the map anymore. The father then got on his knee in front of the son and said: Hey, You are at Disneyland! That map you are holding is just a picture of the place you are at. You're crying for the draw of the place you are. What is it? It's someone who are unable to have a perspective. Of course, He was five, he wouldn't have it. Some day he will have. But there are many people that are 30 or 40 years who still unable to have a perspective. He/She is complaining and are unable to take a step back and say: Man, my life is wonderful! But I have this problem, Renan. I tell you: take a step back and check how many blessings there are in your life. Someone once said: If you don't have any blessing to tell, start counting the beats of your heart. Is it still beating? You don't have reason to complain then. You have not paid one cent for the beats of your hearts ever since you were born.

God wants to give us perspective. Thare much more blessings in your life than problems. Where are you going to choose to look at? You know, when we start complaining, we work out a muscle inside us. We train our sight, to find out problems. People who have that kind of heart, he enters the room and the issues pop out before his eyes. He enters and starts to point immediately. Look who is in the church. That guy who is owing me 5 złotych. I lend him 5 złotych in 2008 and now he is showing up here. There are a lot of other nice people, but what is he looking at? Why? Because there is muscle well trained inside him in order to spot problems only. A muscle for demoniac intercession. That is the problem of complaining.

Take that. We always manifest the kingdom we are focused on. In every single situation you have the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God fighting. The question is: Which Kingdom do you choose to focus on? Your mouth will speak about the kingdom your heart is focused. The issue with complaining is that you will always manifest the kingdom you’re focused on. If you’re someone who has the habit of complaining, your sight are always on the issue. Our eyes can focus in just one thing. If you’re focusing on the problem, you’re not focusing on God. If you’re looking at God, you’re not looking at the problem. You will always manifest the Kingdom you’re focused on.

When you complain you are trained to find out evidences that prove that God’s promises are lies. I really want you to understand it. That’s really important. Numbers chapter 13. Whenever you complain, you train to find evidences that prove that God’s promises are lies. Let me explain what is going on here. There is the man called Joseph, he is son of Israel and he goes to the Egypt. He gets to the Egypt and he becomes the governor of Egypt. His story is very beautiful you must read it. Why does God make him to become the governor of Egypt? So he could be able to manage food during a period of drought that was to come. Joseph makes a plan, by God wisdom. He would gather food in barns. But in reality the main goal was to save his family. His family would become the twelve tribes of Israel. All his family moves to the Egypt. Then they start growing in the Egypt. They have many children. The Egyptians notice they are increasing a lot and make them slaves in the country. Then God calls Moses and set the Israel free from Egypt. However they need to take their way through the wilderness. They had to do it in order to get to the promise. What was the promise? What was the promise that Moses tells them that God promised? A promised land. A land flowing with milk and honey. A wonderful land, which would belong to them. They would lie on that land. They are walking towards that. And here in Numbers they are in front of that land. Picture along with me. They leave the Egypt; they go through the wilderness; go through a lot of difficulties. They finally get to the land.

What does Moses do then? He takes a representative of each tribe. He calls 12 spies. Those men are responsible to spy the land and bring a report. They spend 40 days spying the land. After 40 days they end spying the land and each one of them created a report of what they had seen. They brought the report to Moses and all the people of Israel. They brought a bunch of grapes as a prove. Then, they say to Moses: it’s truly a land that flows milk and honey, but the people who lives in there are powerful. The towns are huge and fortified. There was a man called Caleb, that after listen the report said: Let’s take the land, let’s do it now! We are able to. Then the other spies said: when can’t do it, they are much stronger than us. Those spies started talking bad things about the land. They said the land would swallow them.

Pay attention to this. Twelve man go to spy the land. Twelve man see the same land; the see the very same thing. Then why 10 of them comes with one report and 2 of them come with a completely different one? Why some of them said: We are in trouble! We’ve been walking for so long and we won’t have the promised land. And why 2 of them say: let’s do it! Let’s take that land! That land is ours! What is the difference? How can the very same scene cause two types of conclusion? How can see the same scene and come back totally excited and other people complaining? I wanna show you something that is really powerful here.

You will always see and perceive what you have already projected inside. There are many things going on here right now. Our brain is unable to capture everything that is going on here. I can’t focus on what he is writing and what she is talking to her at same time. We would go crazy with that. Then we are forced to focus in just a few things. What should we focus on? I wanna tell that we focus on the things that we already projected on our mind. We see outwards what we already imagined inwards. Let me give you an example.

Imagine a young boy. Maybe it has already happened to you or with your children, or even husband. The family sitting on the table. The father comes to the son and says: please bring me the salt. The salt in not on the table, it’s in the kitchen. The boy then replies: I don’t know where the salt is. The father says: the salt is in the kitchen, how come you don’t know? The buy replies: Ask to my mom, I don’t know where it is. The father gets irritated. Take the salt. The buy keeps on and on: I don’t know where the salt is. The boy goes but on his way straight to where the salt is. But he goes his way thinking: I don’t know where the salt is. Then he opens the cabinet and he doesn’t see the salt. He yells from the kitchen: See? The salt is not here! The mom comes: If I get there and find the salt.. The mom comes and take the salt that was right in front of his face.

That will change your life, I’m serious. How does our brain work? Our brain organize our focus to prove a thesis we already have in our mind. If in your mind you have the following thesis: Every single man is trash. Your brain will manage your focus to find evidences to prove the thesis you already built in your head. Then there will show up 99 good men in your life and your brain will make you look to the only 1 who is bad. And you’re gonna tell to yourself: See? I told you! I don’t know where the salt is!

Because my brain is set to think that what I am saying is true.

Those 10 men were part of ten tribes that during their way on the wilderness only complained! They are in front of the sea, and complain they are going to die, the God makes way through the sea; they get to the other side of the sea and start complaining about food. What were they thinking all the time? They were thinking there is no promised land; it is not gonna work. When they got to the land, their brain made them to look for evidences that could prove God’s promise was false. That’s the problem with complaining. You’re training your brain to think that God is a liar! Everything you thank, grows. Why? Because thanking is to train your brain to find evidences that God’s promises is true in your life. It’s to train your sight to get to an environment and say: Wow! God is wonderful! God is good!

Someone might ask you: Where are you seeing good things in this situation? You’re gonna say God is wonderful, you will point what is really going on. Thankfulness. We need a thankful heart. Who were the two spies who had a right heart? Joshua and Caleb. It’s nice because Joshua was Moses disciple. He was being trained by Moses. Joshua was the guy who waited on Moses when he climb up the mountain. Joshua was the guy who waited in front of the door whenever Moses entered the tent. What is the secret of a thankful heart? It’s to be exposed to the promises. Joshua was the guy who listened to the promises. listening, listening and listening. He would listen to what God had told to Moses all the time. He was listening all the time about the promise land. When he entered the land, his eyes could see only the things who proved that the promise was true. The secret to be thankful is to have your mind taken by God’s promises. It’s you read so much his promises that you are eyes start looking everywhere to prove that his promises are true. You are in a horrible situation, but you can only see good things. Because that is what your heart is filled with.

Let's read more the promises than our Facebook feed. We must read more of the promises instead of the news. Again, that thankful heart is a choice. Where are you going to focus? God of problems? God is so much greater than your problem and he doesn't give you more problem than what you can stand.

I want ti finish with 1 Thessalonians 5:16. Rejoice always; 17, pray continually. Verse 18, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you. All circumstances are not 90% of the time. It's always. Always is not sometimes.