Two weeks ago we talked about being GR8ing or GR8ful where I laid out the need for having an attitude of gratitude, the science to back up the fact that gratitude leads to a better life, We looked at some of the Scriptures that command us to be thankful, grateful people. We looked at examples of ingratitude, and we looked at some tremendous examples of gratitude. We even did a gratitude dance.
Last week, we looked at the story of the 10 lepers being healed by Jesus. Only one came back to say thank you. We also looked at some practical ways to become more thankful people. How many of you DID SOMETHING NEW at Thanksgiving to try to be more thankful?
The word of God tells us that this should be a continual, daily, attitude. That it shouldn't be about thanksgiving one day a year, but thanksliving all year round.
Listen to these Scriptures that back that up:
Eph. 5:1-4 - "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God."
Eph. 5:15-20 - "So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Phil. 4:4-7 - "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
I Thes. 5:16-18 - "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
We need to be thankful, grateful for the everyday stuff, the small stuff as I stressed last week. But we NEED to remember to truly be grateful, truly grateful for the spiritual stuff as well. When we don't maintain a thankful attitude about Jesus sacrifice on the cross for us, we take Him for granted.
Psalm 100 - "Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth! Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation."
I have met many Christians through my years in ministry that loved to worship God, loved to be in His Presence. I certainly hope that describes me and you. However, there is a process, a procedure to enter the King's court.
Have you ever been in the presence of the President of the United States? I have had the opportunity to be in the vicinity of the President on two occasions and a former president on another. I was just a few feet from President George HW Bush at the Springfield, MO airport when Air Force 1 touched down there. I was in Busch Stadium in STL when President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch. I was at the Teen Challenge banquet last year when former President Bush was the speaker. If you are going to be anywhere near the President, there is a process you have to go through. Metal detectors, possible pat down, Secret Service watching your every move, etc. Being in the presence of the President or royalty comes with a price. The key is in the process.
The key to being in the presence of our King is found in Psalm 100. "Enter His gates with THANKSGIVING, go into His courts with PRAISE."
I have met many people that just wanted to rush into His courts and feel His peace, the awesomeness of His power, the beauty of His presence but they didn't stop to be thankful for WHO HE IS and HOW HE HAS BLESSED US.
Does our attitude make a difference to God? Just to put it in our world, does having a thankful attitude make a difference in your relationships? Wives, does it make a difference for the rest of the evening if your husband comes home from work with a thankful, grateful mindset or a complaining, negative spirit?
Having a grateful mindset helps to set the tone for how the rest of the evening will go when you get home. It helps your spouse know that you see this as a team, that their needs and wants are important to you. In fact, one of the definitions of love that I share with pre-marital couples is this: "When meeting an emotional need of another becomes an emotional need of yours." We start to put the other person first simply because we love them, not for what we can get out of them.
God desires that we worship Him, but in addition to that He wants us to recognize all that He does for us. He is not some ego-maniac. He knows that WE NEED TO DO THIS, otherwise, we start to take Him for granted and start to act like we deserve all of our blessings, that they are a result of OUR hard work. That we are somehow ENTITLED!
If we start to act like we deserve all of the blessings in our lives, spiritually, I think we start to look a little like this:
VIDEO – “Coke” (can be found through sermoncentral)
God wants us to be thankful. Not looking around at what others have been blessed with and comparing ours to theirs, but grateful for what He has done for us. The Apostle Paul, in teaching the Thessalonian church, specifically noted that giving thanks in everything is God's will for us. God wants us to recognize that He is the source of all good things. When we acknowledge God's grace toward us and thank Him with grateful hearts it serves as a kind of inoculation against false pride. Thankfulness reminds us of who we are, and who God is. It not only rightly humbles us, but allows us to revel in God's provision.
I Thes. 5:16-18 - NLT - "Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
Not “thankful” for but “in”.
MSG - "Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live."
How does one live this way? The three keys are found in this passage.
1) Always Be Joyful
2) Never Stop Praying
3) Be Thankful in ALL Circumstances
There is a final statement - "for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." MSG - "This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live."
You are not living the way God wants you to if you don't CHOOSE to be joyful, if you don't pray regularly and if you aren't thankful in ALL circumstances. We ENTER His gates with thanksLIVING. Acknowledging that HE is the source of every blessing in our lives. That we don't deserve anything! But we receive His blessings with gratitude in our hearts!
Do you see how proper thanksLIVING leads us to the next step, which is to ENTER His courts with praise. Once you have thanked Him for everything He has DONE, next praise Him for WHO He IS!
1- I CAN BE THANKFUL THAT GOD IS A GOOD GOD
PSA 106:1 - "Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever."
What if He was a bad God? Can He change to become bad?
Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever"
James 1:17 - "Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven's lights. Unlike them, He never changes or casts shifting shadows"
2- I CAN BE THANKFUL FOR GOD’S UNFAILING LOVE
PSA 107:8 - "Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men"
I Cor. 13:8 - "Love NEVER fails"
What if His love failed?
3- I CAN BE THANKFUL THAT GOD IS ALWAYS NEAR ME
PSA 145:18 - "The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth."
James 4:8 - "Come close to God, and God will come close to you."
I can remember a lady in the church when I was growing up singing a special one Sunday. She sang Bette Midler's song "From a Distance". The lyrics of the chorus go like this:
"From a distance we are instruments
marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace.
They're the songs of every man.
God is watching us. God is watching us.
God is watching us from a distance."
What if Bette is right and God watches us from a distance? It's not right, He isn't some far off deity, God is near. We can draw nearer still.
4- I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL OF THE PRAYERS GOD HAS ANSWERED
PSA 118:21 - "I will give You thanks, for You answered me; You have become my salvation."
Can you list some prayers that God has answered for you? Some possible answered prayers:
For a spouse
For children
For salvation – If He never answered another prayer, this is enough.
For a job
For healing
For a wayward son or daughter
For a miracle of some sort
5- I CAN BE THANKFUL FOR THE BIBLE
PSA 119:62 - "At midnight I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous laws"
What would we do without the Bible? What good is the Bible? Why should you read the Bible? How about these reasons?
1. The world's best selling book EVER
2. Biblical faith is based on a historical event
3. Jesus was a real person in time and history
4. Believing in the Bible message changes lives
5. Filled with real people and real places
6. Jesus has dramatically affected history – This is 2011 AD
7. Brilliant people believe it to be true
8. Fulfils our deepest needs
To find love
"We love because God first loved us."
To know truth
"In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth ..."
To know God
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.'"
To overcome the fear of death
"Jesus ... by his death ... came to free those who all their lives were held in slavery by
their fear of death"
To find forgiveness
"To Jesus who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ... to him be glory
and power for ever and ever! Amen."
To find peace
(Jesus says) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace."
To find freedom
"So if the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed."
To find joy in life
"... and you are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."
To find security
"I believe that neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, neither height
nor depth. nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
9. The world's most widely distributed book
10. What the Bible says makes sense
There must be a Creator
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"
There is good and evil
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for
darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter"
We have trouble doing what is right
"'For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out'"
There will be a judgment for what we have done
"When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regards to sin and
unrighteousness and judgment"
We need forgiveness
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from
all righteousness"
6- I CAN BE THANKFUL FOR THE ETERNAL HOME GOD HAS GIVEN ME
HEB 12:28 - "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe"
I Cor. 2:8 - “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."
God is preparing a place for us that we should be thankful for
7- MOST OF ALL I AM THANKFUL FOR THE GIFT OF GOD’S OWN SON
2 COR 9:15 - "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"
Have you stopped to think about where YOU would be without Jesus? I know where I was without Jesus. Lost, without joy, without hope, directionless in life, in my sin. How about you?
I am thankful for the bridge, the cross. The BEST way to express your thanksLIVING to God is to receive Christ and start LIVING for him now.
