Gratitude

Isaiah 45 eight is the theme verse that we have begun the

year with, with this idea of God opening up the heavens and

raining righteousness upon us so that salvation and righteousness

would sprout up. It says it like this shower, oh

heavens from above, let the clean the clouds rain down

righteousness, let the earth open that salvation and

righteousness may bear fruit. Let the earth 'cause them both

to sprout. I, the Lord have caused it.

This is what we want. We want the righteousness of God

manifested in our lives and then through our lives in the lives

of other people. We want in our city, we want in

our county, we want the righteousness of God in our

community and businesses and the streets and homes and stores and

marriages and schools and beyond all the places we do art,

entertainment and recreation. We want the righteousness of God

to sprout up God to shower it down and for it to produce fruit

for God's glory. One of the ways that we've been

seeing that and one of the reasons why we're taking 4 words

in January is because of the work that God's been doing in

the schools and the the County School specifically that I

exposed you to last week as I interviewed Dr. Clint Terza.

As they've taken 4 words right out really of the one another

subscription and they're training them to every student,

every teacher and every administrator. 4 things the

Bible says human beings need to flourish.

Those 4 words we're actually taking one at a time on Sunday

mornings because they're manifestations.

They're ways that if righteousness was going to rain

in our city, you know what it sound like?

It sound like kindness, and it'd sound like gratitude, and it'd

sound like hope, and it'd sound like forgiveness.

And then guess who is going into these schools to do the training

for all these people on these biblical things?

Pastors of local churches. Unbelievable, right?

I mean, my goodness, if God was going to give an opportunity for

righteousness to reign, that's partly how it would look, no

doubt. But God wants to do this even in

more and more ways. But we're just taking a moment

to remind ourselves, starting off the year, if this is our

trajectory in focus, if this is what we're praying for, what we

want, then how should this practically actually look in our

lives? And so the word for today, right

out of Scripture is the word gratitude.

All right, I love Christian biography.

If you don't read stories of fateful Saints, let me just tell

you, you ought to It will bolster your faith.

I think people can disciple us from the grave If you'll read

what they wrote and how they follow Jesus by faith.

If you'll read their stories. One of the stories biographies

you should read is the titled The Hiding Place by Corey

Tenboom. All right.

She was the daughter of a Dutch watchmaker during the early

well, the years of World War 2 when Nazi Germany was seeking to

overtake and they were rounding up and confiscating the Jews and

of course the the horrors that took place during that time.

But many people like Corey and her sister Betsy and her father

were part of what they called the resistance where they

realized what was going on. And they actually to the risk of

their own health and safety and lives went out of their way to

provide name of the book a hiding place for people that are

being hunted by the government so they could hide and escape

with their lives. By the way, you'll read in the

home of how that father read the word of God to his family every

day. I mean, they're just little

things you'll pick up by reading about faithful Saints.

So guess what they were ready to do when evil came because they

were bolstered by the word of God.

They were ready. They were ready as weapons of

righteousness. And so they began to put their

lives on the line for others. And as you read the story,

you're going to find out that both the father and Betsy and

Corey are eventually taken into custody for what they were

doing. And they were put into

concentration camps. And as you can imagine, they

suffered horrendous horrors at the circumstances they endured

for the decision to operate righteously in the face of evil.

They were imprisoned at Ravensbrook concentration camp

and there their barracks were overcrowded.

The ladies, Betsy and Corey, had food that was poor and meager.

When they got food, their accommodations were filthy.

One of the most unbearable elements that they endured in

these barracks was a was a flea manifestation where Betsy

arrived and she got in her bunk and she said the lights went off

and all the sudden she felt her whole body being bitten by

something and they knew immediately.

What it was, what they suffered, was unbelievable.

And yet Corey had stuffed and hidden a copy of the word of

God, and on her it was never discovered.

And while behind bars and in these barracks, these two ladies

would lead a Bible study. It would start from one end and

it'd be translated and Polish and Hungarian and other

languages. As it made it, it made its way

down the barracks as the word of God was translated softly under

their breath so the guards wouldn't hear outside.

And they led countless ladies to Christ.

But as they did this, one of the things that they felt led to do

was what 1st Corinthians 518 says.

When Betsy was lying on her bed being bitten by fleece, she said

she felt like the Lord told her what the word of God says.

Give thanks in all circumstances, she whispered to

Corey. They ought to give thanks, to

which Corey said, Uh, uh, I'm not thanking God for the fleets.

There's no way, there's no way God could have anything good

going on because of these fleas. I can't imagine thanking God.

And yet Corey was eventually persuaded by her sister to obey

the word of God. They began to thank God even in

the circumstances and situation of being man, of being infested

with fleas, where the Bible study went on and countless

ladies went confessed Christ as a result.

And of course, Corey ends up surviving.

Betsy eventually finds out later on the reason why they were able

to have the Bible study and lead so many to Christ is because the

guards would not enter the barracks.

And do you know why the guards would never enter the barracks?

Because of the fleas that Betsy said.

You know what we ought to thank God for?

Without the fleas, there may have been no Bible study.

Maybe nobody led to Christ and they thank God even.

Even for the fleece, the Bible says to give thanks in all

circumstances. Our word that we're going to

look from the Scripture at today is gratitude.

One of the ways God wants to reign righteousness in our lives

and through our lives is through a life lived out of gratitude

grounded in the gospel. Gratitude.

What is it y'all? Gratitude is a way of seeing the

world. I want you to listen to a verse

of Scripture that ought to be an anchor point of our worldview as

believers. James 117 says every good.

Gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the

Father of lights with whom there's no variation or shadow

due to change. All gratitude is a worldview

that says life owes me nothing and everything I do have that's

good is a gift. And every gift is from God.

It's a worldview. The life owes me nothing, and

every good gift I have I've received, and I've received it

ultimately from God. This is what gratitude is.

Let's define it this way if you're follow along in your

notes. Gratitude is appreciating every

good gift in life and recognizing that it all

ultimately comes from God. No one should be more grateful

than a Christian. Let me give you a few reasons

why. A few reminders this morning for

us as believers. Second Corinthians 915 says

thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift.

Don't you think about that descriptor there of gift?

What gift have we been given and received as believers?

It's our salvation through Jesus Christ.

It's a gift that's inexpressible.

You can't fully put into words just how wonderful, just how

magnificent, just how breathtaking the fact that God

would love us so much in our sin and rebellion and ingratitude

towards Him. That He would send His one and

only Son to live a sinless life in our place.

To die and pay for our sin debt on the cross.

To be buried in a tomb tasting death and by the power of God go

victorious over death by walking out alive, never to die again.

Offering us forgiveness and life and eternity with Him.

If only we would believe by faith that He did it for us out

of His love. Unbelievable.

Inexpressible, right? This is why Christians ought to

be the most grateful people on the planet.

We've received what we could have never earned or deserved in

the Gospel. Let's keep going.

First Corinthians 1556 and 57 says this the sting of death is

sin. The power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord

Jesus Christ. We haven't yet seen Christ face

to face when he returns as we're going to do right now.

We're battling sin. We're battling the the forces of

darkness and the evil one who's got an agenda that's opposing in

opposition to God and every day is a good fight of faith as we

walk against the forces against us and yet we've been given the

victory through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12/28.

Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a a Kingdom that

cannot be shaken. You know, we got a future coming

that we cannot even put into works.

A new heavens and a new earth, The presence of God, life,

eternal life. I mean, try to wrap your mind

around this this afternoon. It'll blow your mind to keep you

awake during your nap. Forever, Forever with God.

Forever with God, with no more death, no more pain, no more

tears, no more struggle. Forever with God.

Life forever y'all. Gratitude ought to be the ground

we walk as Christians. It's our response daily as

children of God. It's our posture because of the

gospel. It is our attitude as followers

of Christ. Gratitude is the is the reality

of appreciating every good gift and recognizing it's all coming

from God. I just want to stop before I go

any further and ask you to ask yourself the question between

you and God. Have you received the

inexpressible gift of salvation through Jesus Christ?

Listen, that's where real gratitude begins.

When you realize what God has done for you that you couldn't

do for yourself. That changes everything.

And, and, and if you say I pastor God, I'm not, I'm not

sure that's happened for me. Then listen, right now what you

need to understand is what I told you earlier, what Jesus has

done for you, living for you, dying for you, and defeating

death for you. And the Bible says all who call

on the name of the Lord will be saved.

It's a matter of believing that Jesus is who he is.

He's done what he said he did as the Bible says so clearly, and

it's asking him for forgiveness to be your Lord and Savior and

giving your life to him as he's given his life for you.

You can call on him even now and receive salvation if you by

faith will receive it #2 Gratitude, y'all is a command

for all Christians in all. Circumstances to go back to that

First Thessalonians 518 give thanks in all circumstances for

this is the will of God for you in Jesus Christ.

Paul doesn't say notice he doesn't say give thanks for all

circumstances. What does he say?

Give thanks in prepositions matter.

That's a big difference between for all circumstances and in all

circumstances, there's a difference, right?

Some things we're going to experience in life are evil.

They are wicked, they are confusing and they're not of

God. And yet God is in control.

But even he allows us to experience things that are that

that are not good, that we that we obviously wouldn't want that

are evil and not of him. And yet he calls us through this

command to, even when we're walking through things in life

that we wouldn't want, that are painful and difficult to look

for God's presence, His promises, and his purpose that

he's working through these things in our lives.

And This is why no matter what we're going through, we can, by

the power of the Holy Spirit, actually give thanks to God.

No matter what the circumstances are, we can give thanks in all

circumstances. And like we put last week, do

you remember when we said that kindness is a spiritual weapon?

Gratitude is also a weapon of war.

In spiritual warfare. Gratitude is a response to

wickedness and the lies of the enemy that allows us to strike

back with the truth of God. Listen to how the lies of the

enemy will come your way. They're going to come in the

form of entitlement. There's going to be days the

devil whispers in your ear. You deserve better.

You deserve more. He's going to whisper to you,

you know, God's been better through comparison.

God's been better to him. God's been better to her.

God's holding out on you. And entitlement will creep in

and comparison will creep in. And this is the spiritual

warfare of the enemy. And then cynicism will kick in

and then you're going to think, well, it doesn't matter anymore.

God's checked out on me. I might as well check out on

him. And the lives of entitlement and

comparison and cynicism and gratitude is like a sword of the

truth of the Word of God, which you stand on the promises of

God, and you wield the truth back in the face of the enemy.

And you fight back by faith, by walking in gratitude based on

the promises of God, looking for His presence, seeing His purpose

and understanding, even when you don't know everything and

understand everything and can't see the destination.

God's right there with you. He's not left you nor forsaken

you. And so this is gratitude.

Gratitude is an act of war against unbelief.

Have you learned by the power of the Holy Spirit within you, to

give thanks in all circumstances?

I say by the power of the Holy Spirit, because you're not going

to do it in your power. You know a lot.

Of times we think the manifestation and work of the

Holy Spirit in our lives should be kind of like fireworks going

off. And that's usually not the way

it happens. The Holy Spirit wants to allow

you to do the ordinary mundane things that Scripture tells you

to do that you can't do without his help.

Where you just going to have to say, Lord, I don't see it, I

don't understand it, but I believe you.

And I'm going to trust your word just like Betsy and Corey and

Corey 10 Boom did while they were being bitten by fleas and

say, God, I don't know what these fleas are accomplishing.

But you know, the whole time God could see it, God could see it.

The whole time they couldn't see it, God could see it.

They trusted by faith. And that faith allowed them

eventually to see that God had a purpose even when they couldn't

see it. The great Bible commentator

Doctor Matthew Henry was once robbed.

As he walked along the highway Afterwards, his friends said

that there were four things that he said to them through being

robbed, that he was going to give thanks anyway.

Listen to this, he said. First, he was grateful that he

had never been robbed before. Second, though they took all my

money, he said, they didn't take very much.

Praise God. Third, though they took my,

though they took my money, they did not take my life.

Thank you, Lord. Finally, he said, I'm thankful

that it was I who was robbed and not I that robbed.

Got to think on that one for a second.

That's a little example, little insight.

What does it mean to give thanks in all?

Can you give thanks even when you've been mugged along the

highway? Yes, he did an example of just

that. This is someone who's learned to

give thanks in all circumstances.

Again, this is going to make you look and sound weird to

everybody else around you. They're not going to understand

you start living gratitude. You're going to start raining

righteousness. Salt and light is going to be

put in the wounds of people that are hard hearted toward God and

wondering what is that healing agent I'm being exposed to that

is radically different than living how I live.

Then you got an opportunity to give an answer for the hope that

you have. By the way, no matter what

situation or trial, there's always a reason to give thanks.

If Romans 828 is true and it is that for those who know God and

who love God and are called according to His purpose, all

things work together for what? For good for those who love Him

and are called according to His purpose.

And then furthermore, scripture shows us that practicing

gratitude is like an antidote to our anxiety.

Listen to Philippians 4-6 and seven.

Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and

supplication with a little small ingredient here we often we

think we can substitute that ingredient with something else.

Sometimes y'all try to cook like that.

Sometimes I have put a different ingredient in there than what it

calls for. God says it calls for

Thanksgiving, which Sir. And then let your request be

made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses what

human understanding it can't be explained.

It's supernatural, it's of the Holy Spirit, it's provided by

God, it's from heaven, it's not from earth, it's not in peel

form, it's not in person form. You can't go buy it on a shelf

form. It's from God form because it

passes all human understanding with not peace which passes

understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

shall the truth is right. So many, so many professing

Christians, including you and me, we struggle with often times

perpetually being pulled back into a cycle of living stressed

out of living, worried of living anxious of living in fear of

living insecure of living with a nervousness maybe about us and

what could happen and what if this or what if that what if and

God didn't design us to live that way.

And God says, you bring, you bring your stuff to me and you

bring it with an attitude of faith because you're not going

to give thanks. You're not going to give thanks

unless you believe God's good and then he can be trusted.

So it's that little ingredient that's got to come with it.

You bring your stuff to me and you bring it with Thanksgiving

and who I am. And you let me give you a way to

do life, that when Jesus has come to me, all who are weary

and have you late and I'll give you rest.

There's a way to do life that's abundant when we abide in

Christ. There's an antidote to our

anxiety. It's God's goodness and our

gratitude. How do you, how do you grow in

gratitude? Well, let me give you just three

simple things that I think are really easy to overlook.

Number one is to notice. Let me give you a, a verse that

should anchor how we notice the goodness of God and his goodness

is in our life. John 116 says from his fullness,

that's the fullness of Jesus Christ.

We've all received what grace upon grace the Bible doesn't

say. God drips grace like a dropper,

like from a eyedropper bottle. God says grace.

God flows in our lives wave after wave after wave, like the

ocean continuing to crash on the beach.

It just constant. It never stops.

The tide of God's grace is always in our lives and it is

always wave after wave. Grace upon grace of the kindness

and goodness of God. One man said gratitude begins

when a man stops treating grace is rare and starts recognizing

it as reality. The more clearly you see his

that's God's fullness, the more naturally thank you becomes the

posture of your soul. So we first must just notice

like the wake up and realize man, I need to notice the grace

and wave upon grace of God in my life.

That's all around me #2 is to think.

Once you notice, think about. Consider the source of

everything good in your life. Think about their origins.

Spend time remembering The Who, the what, the why, the how.

It's been said that gratitude is simply the art of paying

attention. And the more we pay attention,

the more we see what has always been true.

Our lives are soaked in grace. The third notice.

Think and think. Think, actually express

gratitude. Live by a habit of saying thank

you verbally, tangibly. Thank you notes and showing up

and blessing God. Waking up and writing down thank

you over and over for what God's given you in your prayer

journal. Waking up and smiling and living

with a grateful heart because of all the wave after wave after

wave of grace in the smallest of things in your life.

I'm going to show you a short video.

I know it's Christmas themed, but I think it's going to give

you a visual of what did. What would it be like to

actually notice and think about and thank?

For all the. Small things, like ordinary

things in our lives. Watch this.

I'm alive. I'm alive.

Yeah. Hey, Christy, you're here too.

I love you. I know.

What's happening? Hunting.

The power works. It's going.

It goes on and off. Whatever we want.

We've got clean water. That's great.

Look at that. I bet I know what this does.

Bring down the glorious water shoes.

Oh, what do we got here, guys? Food.

I love soup. What a a booth please.

Will you not have work just for something?

Come on. Listen here, Dee.

Do what, Jack? Be careful.

I have. A.

Car. Did you guys see this?

You have a car. A car.

And don't forget your coffee. You're the best.

That's pretty eye opening, isn't it?

I mean, you may be like, well, if somebody provided my

breakfast that way and handed me my keys and, you know, brought

me my briefcase and, I mean, handed me my coffee, I could

wake up like that every day too. And maybe so, right, be a little

bit easier, but just all the basic things of life.

I mean down to the very breath and our lungs is provided and

sustained by God. And This is why our lives are

wave after wave soaked in God's grace in all kinds of ordinary

and extraordinary ways. Famous author by the name of GK

Chesterton once wrote you say grace and what he means is by

saying thank you, praying before meals, you say grace before

meals. But I say grace before the

concert and the opera and the sporting event, before I open a

book, before I dip my pen in the ink.

What is he saying? He's saying listen.

Yeah, you may have the habit of stopping and saying thank you at

meal time. But listen, saying thank you

should be the habit and posture of a Christian at every time,

because everything that we experience, not just the food in

our mouths or on our plates, is a gift from God.

This is ought to be a way of life in which we live.

To live grateful is to live awake to the grace of God #3 I

want to point this out. Ingratitude.

Ingratitude is one of the worst of sins.

It's one of the worst of sins. Doctor HA Ironside, well known

preacher, theologian and writer of yesteryear had dinner at a

restaurant by himself and after he found his seat and he had

ordered his meal, a gentleman walked up to him and said,

Doctor Ironside, would you mind if I sat down with you?

To which he said, no, go right ahead, that's that's just fine.

Once his food arrived, Doctor Ironside bowed his head as was

his custom and silently prayed a prayer of thanks over his food,

to which the guest that had joined him looked at him and

asked the question. Doctor Ironside, do you have a

headache? No, I'm.

I'm fine. I feel fine.

I don't have a headache. Well, do you feel sick?

No. I, I I don't feel sick.

Is there something wrong with your food?

No, no, not that I can tell. Nothing's wrong with my food, he

said. Well I saw you sitting there and

then bow your head, I thought you must be sick.

Something that must be wrong with your food.

Something must be off. To which Doctor Ironside said,

no, I'm simply returning thanks to God, which is my habit every

time before I eat. To which this gentleman then

responded. Oh, you're one of those are you?

He said in response. I want you to know, Doctor

Ironside, that I never give thanks.

I earn my own money by the sweat of my own brow.

I don't have to give thanks to anybody when I eat, I just start

right in to witch. Doctor Ironside looked him in

the eye and said Yep, you're just like my dog.

He does the exact same thing. Now here's the non funny truth,

you ready? Many dogs and men act the exact

same towards God. Many dogs and men act the exact

same. The ones created in the image of

God, the ones that God sent his one and only Son for, often act

the same way as irrational animals towards the one who

sustains the molecules of oxygen in their blood.

It ought not be the sin of ingratitude.

You all actually started in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve

said, God, what you've given us is not enough.

We want more. We're ungrateful, God, for your

provisions that you've given us, we want more.

They rebelled against God. Sin entered the world.

The rest is history. Obviously one of the other

places in Scripture I want to show you just real quick that is

really one of the most powerful illustrations of the ugliness of

the sin of ingratitude comes out of Luke 17 as Luke records an

incident in the life of Jesus that goes like this beginning in

verse 11 on the way to Jerusalem.

He that's Jesus was passing along between Samaria and

Galilee and as he entered a village he was met by 10 lepers

who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying

Jesus Master have mercy on us. And when we saw them he said to

them go and show yourselves to the priest and as they went they

were cleansed. Then one of them when he saw

that he was healed turned back praising God with a loud voice

and he fell on his face at Jesus's feet giving him thanks.

Now he was a Samaritan and then Jesus answered, we're not ten

cleansed. Where are the 9 was no one found

to return and give praise to God except this foreigner and he

said to him, rise and go your way.

Your faith has made you well. Now this is fascinating, right?

To be a leper was to be someone who had a disease that was so

contagious and without cure that you were cut off from your

entire family, from your friends, from society.

You lived off in a commune with other lepers and you did not get

to participate in the normal walk of life of society.

You lived a totally different, cut off, separated, pretty

miserable life. There was no hope physically for

a leper. When they see Jesus, they don't

get close. They know kind of the social

custom not to get too close, but they call out.

They know this one has the power to heal.

They've heard they want help. They cry out in faith.

Jesus tells them to do something.

That sounds odd, right? He says go and show yourselves

to the priest. And that sounds weird, but

during the Old Testament days, the law prescribed if you were

healed, if you thought you were healed, you would go and show

yourself to the priest who would inspect and see and then declare

you clean if you were in fact healed.

Know what's odd about this is Jesus tells them to go show

themselves before they're before they're healed.

They got to exercise. Some faith and start walking and

they do. And guess what happens on the

way? They look down and their flesh

is completely restored, and yet they do what mankind generally

does in light of all the goodness of God.

In general, mankind does not return thanks to God, and the

story illustrates that. How many out of 10/1?

And this one? Not the one you would have

expected. This one was a Samaritan one

that was hated by Jews and hated Jews in return.

Ethnically, there were some differences that caused the two

to hate each other in ways they didn't even pass by or go

through one another's regions. And this Samaritan came to

Jesus, a Jew, the one you'd least expect to give thanks,

while 90% of them didn't, just went about their lives as if

Jesus had never done anything for them.

This is the ugliness of the sin of ingratitude, in fact.

The Bible in this story, you would think, well, that's

certainly that's not like typical.

That's not typical of mankind. No, it's in the Bible because

Jesus wants us to know that is typical of mankind.

In fact, the Bible reinforces it in other places like Romans

chapter one, verse 21. For even though they they're

he's talking about Paul's talking about mankind in general

and at large, although they knew God, they didn't honor him as

God or give what or give thanks. The majority of mankind has

chosen to act like a dog towards God and act like he hadn't given

him anything. Ingratitude is a sin, y'all?

That characterizes the lives. Of the lost, the don't know

Jesus, Second Timothy 3 one through 3 says.

But understand this, that this, that in the last days, as we get

closer to the return of Christ, there will come times of

difficulty. For people will be lovers of

self. Listen to this description and

ask yourself, is this not a description of the world we live

in? For people will be lovers of

self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient

to their parents, ungrateful. I mean, of all the sins you

would think are listed right there, you wouldn't think that'd

be one of them. Like maybe that doesn't sound

like a big deal, but when it's toward God, it colors the whole

deal. Ungrateful, unholy, heartless,

unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,

not loving, good, ingratitude. God's word says it's going to

only grow in the last days. This response towards God is not

going to decrease, it's going to increase.

Believers are called to live just the opposite.

Just the opposite. And in this way we reign

righteousness. In our lives, by the power of

the Holy Spirit, in the lives of others, y'all, it's been said

that we could actually do a measure, You could actually do a

measure of your spiritual health this morning by the single

criteria of gratitude. And here's how I'm about to list

off a bunch of things that are not going to be in your life,

that are not going to be healthy in your life, that are not going

to flourish in your life unless gratitude has been put in first.

Unless gratitude is in the foundation you ready So here's

just a list of things that they're not going to be true in

your life unless gratitude is happening.

Number one, you're not going to be a positive person unless

gratitude is in your life. You're not going to be a person

aware of God's presence unless gratitude is in your life.

You're not going to be a humble person unless gratitude is in

you're going to be like I earned my money by the sweat of my own

brow. God's got nothing to do with it.

You're not going to be peaceful because you're not going to be

bringing your stuff to God with Thanksgiving.

If gratitude is not, you're not going to have, you're not going

to be thoughtful of others without gratitude.

You're not going to be generous, you're not grateful, you're not

going to be unselfish, you're not going to be evangelistic,

You're not got you're not going to add an overflow of a love for

Jesus and love for God based on what he's done for you in the

gospel. Share with anybody else, unless

you're first grateful for what God has done for you in the

gospel, you're not going to be friendly, you're not going to be

contagious. You're not going to be

motivated, servant hearted, faithful, fruitful, or joyful.

And that's just a sample list of what's impacted in your life if

gratitude is not flowing from being grounded in the gospel of

Jesus Christ because of what He's done for you.

But we're not. This is something so simple, but

I'm telling you the tributaries of righteousness it produces are

pervasive in your life or not, depending on I came across this

statement. This guy's not even a believer

and yet he recognized the truth of a man by the name you'll

recognize of Cicero. But he said gratitude is the

mother of all virtues. You know, sometimes even a lost

person can speak the truth of God when they see it for

themselves. Y'all, when we struggle for

gratitude, we ought to examine the cause.

What I'm about to do next is list a few things that could be

could be a cause of a lack of gratitude in your life.

This list is not exhaustive, but this list is meant to be

introspective so that you can maybe just, hey, bounce these

off your heart. Bounce these off your mind, see

if you might be stuck or struggling in any of them and,

and, and, and you may have a decision to make #1 You might be

lacking gratitude because you might not be saved.

Doctor Richard Blackaby, son of Henry Blackaby, spoke to our

Bartow Baptist Minister ministerial association for

lunch on Wednesday. He made a statement when he was

talking out of John 3. When Jesus looks at Nicodemus

and says you must be born again, he says, listen, many people

have prayed A sinner's prayer that have not been truly born

again. You know, sometimes it's

possible to do something you think you should do or your

parents want you to do, or the church says you should do, or

you think the pastor thinks you should do, but it's not really.

It's not really from you, in the depths of your heart and your

soul with your faith in Jesus, not yours.

It may be something you did to please others or to do because

you thought it was the right thing, but prayed a prayer but

never been really changed by the love of God.

Calling out with all your heart and soul to be saved and

forgiven may not be saved #2 You might be dealing with doubt and

unbelief in the goodness and power of God.

You know how easy it is to begin doubting the power and goodness

of God when you're hurting. You start wondering, don't you,

God? Why God?

What God? What if all the sudden doubt and

unbelief to creep in #3 you could be infected with some

selfishness and worldliness, right?

It's not hard to go out into the world and see the world pursuing

what everything they think makes a human being happy.

More stuff, more pleasure, more me, more mine, more success,

more earthly things. It's pretty easy to get caught

up in that current, But if you do, you'll never actually be

satisfied. Somebody's always ahead of you

with a little bit more that can infect our hearts #4 we may have

contracted a critical spirit. You know what a critical spirit

is? It's what happens to a human

being when typically they've been hurt in the past and

they've never really fully healed from that hurt.

Don't you hate when a rock hits your windshield?

My kids keep asking me when am I going to replace my windshield?

Like, well, when I actually can't see through it or it

really becomes a problem. Kind of at the bottom.

It's not in my line of sight. So there you go.

I'm just being transparent right here, NSF.

You know, what happens is in life, we can be hit by rocks and

sometimes we refuse to have our windshield changed.

And So what happens is we can't see life outside of the the hurt

that we've experienced. And it colors everything we see.

It colors everything we say. It colors everything we do.

And then what happens is we're fearful it'll happen again.

So we exercise control. We got to control everything.

Or we're critical of others because you know what?

There's no way to see a positive outlook on life when my

windshield is cracked. Don't y'all know rocks fly

around here? You're going to get hit.

We fail to realize. Listen, God's in the business of

replacing windshields by His grace, but we just maybe haven't

let Him replace ours. Rob, you I.

Don't rob you of gratitude #5. We might be spiritually.

Lukewarm. You've kind of lost.

Your first love and joy in. Jesus, your zeal for God, your

passion and prayer and worship, love for the Word, gotten an

appetite for things of the world, and it's killing your

gratitude. Number six, we might be in

rebellion against God. This was the most extreme,

right? When you actually say God, I'm

going to turn my back on you. I'm going to raise my fist at

you, maybe even worse because God, I'm angry at you.

And that one will kill. Will kill gratitude y'all.

The truth is, thankfulness is a choice and it's a choice by

faith. You can only choose by the power

of the Holy Spirit and sometimes.

You got to pray, God. I don't want.

To be thankful. But God, I know you can make me

thankful. You can change my heart.

And God, I want to wage war on ungrateful ingratitude.

In my life. And all the things that are of

the enemy. And I want you to flow out of me

the fruit of what righteousness would bring in my life if I

chose gratitude. 4th And finally, let me just show you

this. Let me just be honest.

This is not Bible for what I'm about to tell you.

But I bring it up even just quickly because I want you to

recognize that even people who don't believe the Bible are

recognizing how good what the Bible says is true and what it

does in our lives. All right, so listen to this.

Practicing gratitude actually blesses every area of our lives,

even recognized by those who are not followers of Christ, people

that study this kind of thing. Studies show that gratitude

reduces stress, anxiety, and depression.

Gratitude improves sleep, strengthens our immune system,

lowers blood pressure and heart rate and relationships.

Gratitude strengthens connections with other people

and improves our overall well-being.

If you could go to the doctor and they could put that in pure

form, it would be called a miracle drug and we couldn't.

Afford it? They'd ask.

You to pay that much? God says listen, you just come.

To me, all you who are what weary and heavy laden, I'll

give. You.

I got a way to do life that's life giving.

I want to reign righteousness in your life and through your life

to others. But you got to choose by faith,

even when life's hard, to say that God is good and I will obey

even when I don't understand, so that God.

Can do what he's promised. To do.

In your life I. Want you to do something right

now, John and Priest seem. About to come out now.

The first service I don't think really wanted to do this, so I

need y'all to do a little better.

You ready? I need you to pull out your

phone, all right, because I'm asking.

You to send a text message. In the next 30 seconds.

So if I know you're looking at me.

You're not obeying what I'm asking to do, all right?

So you can't use your thumbs and look at me at the same time.

I want you to just say I. Want you to just practice

gratitude right now. Send a send a text to somebody

saying thank you for some. Reason now if you get a text

back that says what's going. On don't tell them.

Pastor Kyle told me to do. It all right, just said I was

led. It could have been your pastor,

could have been the Holy Spirit I was led to.

Just couldn't help but say thank you.

Tell them thankful. For something they've done.

Maybe for who they are, tell somebody thank you and when you

get done with that. I want you to put.

Your phone aside and. I want you to bow your head and

close your eyes because I want to go from texting somebody to

talking to God. Our prayer time before we

observe. The Lord's Supper.

Together, which, by the way, is one of the greatest acts not

just of remembrance, but of gratitude for what God has done

for us. I want us to simply have a

chance to voice out loud some things we're grateful to God

for. Maybe one sentence, prayers,

God, I'm grateful for this or for that.

Maybe something related to what we're about to celebrate in the

supper. For the gift of Jesus, His body,

his blood, his suffering, and His sacrifice for something

God's provided you. I want us to just simply enter a

time of expressing gratitude before we partake and remind

ourselves of the greatness of God's love for us.

So if you sent your text, I want you to bow your head, close your

eyes right now and somebody's going to start us.

Somebody's going to say something.

They're. Grateful for and I just want to

give us a couple minutes to do this and I'll finish this so

somebody start tell God something you're grateful for

somebody follow that and let's just voice our gratitude to God

right now somebody start father everything we.

Have is from you and. We say thank you.

God, I want. To ask that you would allow us

to live. Out every day that gratitude

because of Jesus and because of the power of the Holy Spirit in

US and Father as. We come to a time where we.

Come to the table that you've prepared before us, sending your

Son to take on human flesh, to actually live sinlessly, to pay

for the price of our sin on the cross, to suffer, to experience

the depth of the pain of He who knew no sin becoming sin for us,

that we might become the righteousness of God, That he

would go to the grave, that he would taste death, that he would

walk out alive by the power of God.

Lord Jesus, we rejoice. We rejoice in you by the gift of

your Son. And I pray that as we move into

a chance, Lord, now, to even physically participate in the

bread and the cup reminding us of the broken body and the shed

blood, that God, you'd flood us with gratitude for your

goodness. Lord, this would be what we live

out of. This would be the roots of our

lives. This would touch everything else

we do and say. And God, I pray.

That if we're struggling for any.

Reason for gratitude we would be willing to say, God have your

way. We surrender ours, change our

windshield, heal our hearts. God, we trust you even when the

fleas are biting. We trust that you're good.

I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.