"The Spirit of Thanksgiving” 

By:   Pastor Milton Coats

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Ephesians 5:18-20 says “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”.

I’m gonna stop short of saying the spirit of thanksgiving is the Holy Spirit.  But I will say the spirit of thanksgiving is an expression of being filled with the Holy Spirit.  In verse 20 where it says “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; that’s anchored to verse 18 where it says be filled with the spirit.  Actually, verse 18 instructs us not to be drunk with wine wherein is excess.  The wine spoken of here is natural wine and getting drunk on it leads to many evils.  Instead, we are encouraged to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  It is interesting to me that on the day of Pentecost, the believers who got filled with the Holy Spirit were accused of being drunk with new wine. (Acts 2:12-17) But Peter standing up with the eleven gave explanation in Acts 2:15-17.  These are not drunk as ye suppose, but this is a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.  It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

The scripture teaches there is a difference between being born of the spirit and being filled with the spirit.  When we are born again, we receive eternal life.  The life and nature of God recreate our spirit, our inner man.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit is an experience coming after salvation that empowers the believer for service.  It is available to you!

This month, God has impressed upon my heart to issue a Holy Ghost challenge.  Spirit filled believers who have been letting their gift lie dormant are challenged to stir it up and pray a minimum of 30 minutes a day.  Believers who are not spirit filled are to thank God for saving them and ask him to fill them with his precious Holy Spirit.  This is to be done 30 minutes a day until Thanksgiving.  I believe if you are willing and obedient, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the end results.

Child of God, an attitude of gratitude produces thanksgiving… “The Spirit of Thanksgiving”!