GRATITUDE
– THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT
BREAD
12 I know
what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned
the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through
him who gives me strength. Philippians
4:12-13 (NIV)
16 Be
joyful always; 17 pray
continually; 18 give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
15 Be
very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every
opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the
Lord's will is. 18 Do not
get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the
Spirit. 19 Speak
to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in
your heart to the Lord, 20 always
giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Ephesians 5:15-20 (NIV)
1 Shout for joy to the Lord,
all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord
with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that
the Lord is God. It is he who made
us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with
praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures
forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalms
100:1-5 (NIV)
9 For
this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for
you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all
spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good
work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his
glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom
of light. 13 For he
has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of
the Son he loves, 14 in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)
15 Let
the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were
called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you
teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether
in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
the Father through him. Colossians
3:15-17 (NIV)
2 Devote
yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Also Christians are to be thankful. An
attitude of gratitude contributes to an enjoyment of spiritual tranquillity,
whereas grumbling makes for inner agitation.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
“To be grateful for the good things that happen in our
lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the
bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well
as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard
spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank
you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep
dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and
those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a
gift of God to be grateful for. Let's
not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and
trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.” Henri
Nouwen
“Patience in the
moment only comes from gratefulness for the moment. …. ” Ann
Voskamp“But, grateful eyes truly do see grace and goodness, even in the most difficult and unattractive packages. The Gratitude Syndrome makes you desire what you already have rather than always needing to have what you think you desire. Gratitude makes life’s horizon bright and big rather than dark and distant. It turns what you have into more than enough.” Jennifer Rothschild
“The root of joy is gratefulness … It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” David Steindl-Rast
“To be able to enjoy fully the many good things the world has to offer, we must be detached from them. To be detached does not mean to be indifferent or uninterested. It means to be nonpossessive. Life is a gift to be grateful for and not a property to cling to. A nonpossessive life is a free life. But such freedom is only possible when we have a deep sense of belonging. To whom then do we belong? We belong to God, and the God to whom we belong has sent us into the world to proclaim in his Name that all of creation is created in and by love and calls us to gratitude and joy. That is what the "detached" life is all about. It is a life in which we are free to offer praise and thanksgiving.” Henri Nouwen
“Thanksgiving
is good, but thanks-living is better.” Matthew Henry
“It is so easy to give thanks for what one naturally chooses, but
that does not cover the ‘everything’ of the text...One morning lately, in
speaking of some small trouble, I quoted ‘In everything give thanks,’ and at
once someone answered ‘But I cannot give thanks for everything.’ Now if our God
tells us to do a thing and we say cannot, there is something wrong somewhere,
for we all know the words ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengthens
me’ - that is, all things commanded. It is treason to say 'I cannot.’ But first
we should make sure that we are commanded to do this. The text says give thanks IN everything, not
FOR everything. All God's biddings are enablings. We can do that. We will do that.” Amy Carmichael
HEART SAVOR
- · I am to be careful how I live – not as unwise but as wise – choosing to be grateful in all things through the power He will provide. This results in tranquil contentment. 1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? James 4:1 (NIV). Sometimes we may need to get our “wanters” fixed.
- · Christ’s peace with rule in our hearts as we remain thankful.
- · God loves me and He only allows things in my life for my ultimate good and His glory.
