The power of appreciation

Psalm 150:6 let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise you the Lord.

There is power in appreciation. One the thing appreciation does is it opens door. Because of what God did for Solomon , he offered a thousand burnt offering to say thank You. All odds were against him to succeed David on the throne . Why ? David – his father and king preferred the younger of brother of Absalom – Adonijah for his good looks (1 Kings 1:5-6) , besides that he was a product of adultery which caused the death of an innocent man ( 2 Kings 11:1-27) and to make matters worse he lacked wisdom - a must have for any king .God was so impressed with Solomon's appreciation that He asked him what shall I give to you? In 1 Kings 11:28 , Jeroboam got an opportunity to serve before the king and he decided show appreciation by working very hard. The king noticed this and made him the officer over all the labour force of the house of Joseph. Another man who knew how to show appreciation was Paul. After all the evil he had done, Jesus called him to ministry . He was so thankful so he decided to show Jesus his appreciation by committing his life to evangelism. The Lord decided that if Paul will appreciate Him like this then He will anoint him so mightily that aprons from his body will be able to cast away demons – Acts 19:12 .Appreciation does not only open doors but it keeps doors that are already opened open indefinitely or permanently .After Solomon 's first offering , the Lord visited him and blessed him .Solomon did not take the Lord's visit for granted so he decided to appreciate God for His visit. During the temple dedication he brought an offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep to say thank you. God accepted the offering by sending fire from heaven to consume the offering . After this God blessed Solomon to the extent that silver was considered worthless during his reign -1 Kings 10:21.Jeroboam continued to work hard and the Lord made him king – 1 kings 12:20 .Paul did not rest on his oars but kept on appreciating God by working hard. The Lord took him to see his reward while he was still alive ,1 Timothy 4:8

Lack of appreciation Is deadly. One thing it does is it shuts door. An opportunity arose for Nabal in 1 Samuel 25:2-44 to show appreciation to the people who helped protect his shepherd and sheep in the desert and he refused .The Lord put an end to his journey on earth. In Luke 17:11-19 is the story of the ten lepers Jesus cured. After they received their healing , only one returned to thank God . While the other nine were only cleansed , he was the only one that was made whole which meant every other sickness in his life- physically,materially ,maritally were taken care of.

It is very important we all learn to appreciate God and appreciate people God has used to help us. How do you appreciate God ? Thank Him .According to Psalm 150:6 one way to appreciate God for the gift of life is by praising Him When we pay our tithes we are simply appreciating God for giving us a job and the good health to do the job. Lets appreciating our bosses and employers by working hard to support the Organization. Lets appreciate people who help us by telling them thank you. When people lend us things lets return it in time ,this is part of showing appreciation. Couples should appreciate each other – the wife should humbled her self and the husband should love her. Children should appreciate their parents by studying and passing with good grades. One important way to appreciate our salvation is by witnessing about Christ to our friends and family.

ACTION POINT : Learn to appreciate God, People and opportunities.