Seek A Posture Of Gratefulness Romans 1:21-23 Acts 17:24-25 1 Corinthians 4:7 Psalms 50:7-15 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Philippians 4:4-7 Colossians 3:15-17 Colossians 2:6-7 Psalms 100:1-5 Psalms 95:1-2 11.25.20

 

SEEK A POSTURE OF GRATEFULNESS

BREAD

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  Romans 1:21-23 (NIV)

 

²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)

 

⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?   1 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)

 

⁷ “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. ⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. ⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, ¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. ¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, ¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”   Psalms 50:7-15 (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)

 

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-7 (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)

 

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.   Colossians 2:6-7 (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)

 

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. ² Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  Psalms 95:1-2 (NIV)

 

BUTTER

 

“Gratitude is not an option for believers who want to splash in waves of grace...God commands His followers to be thankful.  Some spend a lot of time wondering about God's will for their lives. We can be absolutely certain of at least one aspect of His divine will: we are to be thankful! We are to give thanks! In all things!”  Ellen Vaughn

“Since I know I have nothing I have not received – I can’t even claim the breath in my lungs – all things come from His loving and good hands – all things.  I am to be grateful.  I must train my mind and my mouth to be perpetually thankful for all that He has given me.  God delights in the praise of His people.”   BHY

“We must persist in being thankful.  When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.  Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”   J. R. Miller

“If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness – he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you.  For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.  Could you therefore work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit, for it heals with a word speaking, and turns all that it touches into happiness.  It be the noblest sacrifice that the greatest saint can offer unto God.”  William Law

“Be thankful for the smallest blessing, and you will deserve to receive greater.  Value the least gifts no less than the greatest and simple graces as especial favors.  If you remember the dignity of the Giver, no gift will seem small or mean, for nothing can be valueless that is given by the Most High God.”    Thomas A Kempis 

“The world around us is training us to think we need more to be more joyful, when the truth is, if we’d just daily train ourselves to be more thankful, we get to be infinitely more joyful.  The more we need — is more thankfulness.”  Ann Voskamp

“The more thankfulness is present in us, the less vulnerable we are to sin. That’s why the Bible talks so much about thanksgiving. Thankful people have set their eyes on God (Hebrews 12:2), recognizing to some degree how much grace we are receiving right now (2 Corinthians 9:8), trusting him to cover all our sin and work our painful past for good (Romans 8:28), and looking to him for all we need tomorrow and into eternity (Philippians 4:19). Souls that learn to be content in God ‘in whatever situation’ (Philippians 4:11) are souls that are the least vulnerable to temptation, particularly covetous temptations.”  Jon Bloom

“We are often guilty of spiritual amnesia, Amen?  When things are going swimmingly well our focus tends towards our circumstances and comforts finding our joy and satisfaction in them rather than in the One Who bestowed them.  Sadly, it often takes crisis to shake us up, get our attention and help us to refocus on what is truly best rather than a mere worldly substitute.  All good things come from God’s hand and we are to be thankful for them but they are to be held loosely.  No tight grip for the child of the King unless it is to His Hand.”  BHY

“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

“A wonder-filled life is grateful attentiveness to the awe in our ordinary.”   Alia Joy

“You miss out on fully living the joy of your life, when you keep waiting for another life to make you joyful.  If you aren’t noticeably grateful with what you have right now, why think you’d be noticeably joyful when you have more?”   Ann Voskamp

“Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart — transforming the disposition and the whole character.  Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.  An occasional burst of praise, in the midst of years of complaining, is not what is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days; and no songs when skies are cloudy—will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always.  This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken.  We must persist in being thankful.  When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.  Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”   J. R. Miller

“What if you woke up tomorrow with only what you were grateful for today?”   Anonymous

HEART SAVOR

·         God loves a thankful heart.

·         We are to give thanks in all circumstances – ALL – as it demonstrates we know that we know that we know He has our best interest at heart.  And He Who created us always has our best interest at heart – no matter what our circumstances may be bellowing out.

·         A posture of gratefulness is imperative for a child of the King.