There is a choice we can make that has the potential to completely change the way we live, our relationships with others, and even our spiritual health. Our entire perspective will shift if we learn to live this way. What has such potential? The choice for true gratitude. Learning to be content and thankful is not just a mental health issue, it is the will of God for each us who claims to live ‘in Christ.’ Scripture says "No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT)
Gratitude reveals a heart that is humble before the Lord. In
Romans 1:21, Paul speaks of those who knew God but who “neither glorified
him as God nor gave thanks to him.” That awful passage includes a long list
of sins showing us the downward slide into sinfulness that flows from the
refusal to recognize God as Lord of all and thus, to give thanks in all
situations.
Luke tells us about some who received Jesus’ grace
and forgot the source of the blessing. Take a look - "As Jesus
continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and
Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying
out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show
yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, their leprosy disappeared.
One of
them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise
God, I’m healed!” He fell face down on the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking
him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I
heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Does only this foreigner return to give
glory to God?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has made
you well.” (Luke 17:11-19, NLT)
This is not about trying for positivity or saying the right kind of words without really meaning them. Genuine thanks is rooted in acceptance of God’s will, in humility that turns to Him with open hands and heart. When stormy times come - and they will - we can focus on what we lack or on what God provides. We can choice to turn towards complaint and misery or we can find a quiet place with Him and invite His peace to own us.
If we choose faith we will find the path of
simple gratitude which pleases the Lord
and opens up the possibilities
for Him to work in unforeseen ways on our behalf.
Will you invite the Spirit’s Presence to touch your life by giving up ‘a sacrifice of praise?’ (Hebrews 13:15)
The travails of the Israelites during the wilderness would
be almost comical if they were not so revealing of our own foibles. God led
them out of Egypt miraculously. He opened the Red Sea in front of them. He fed
them every day with manna. Yet, they continually complained, focusing only
on the hardships, which were real, instead of on God’s provisions for them.
Their ingratitude turned into fertile soil for the growth of the weeds of unbelief.
In that unbelief grew rebellion and they refused God’s will. He gave them over to their self-will and that generation wandered in the wilderness
until they all died off; never seeing the Promised Land. It was no joke!
In his final charge to Israel, Moses contrasted the life of blessings found in
devotion with the sorrows that come to those who abandon the Lord. Look at this
sobering passage. "Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully
and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in
nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against
you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you."
(Deuteronomy 28:47-48, NIV)
The writer of Hebrews brings their negative example to us and encourages us to choose humility and gratitude. "Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ." (Hebrews 3:12-14, NLT)
God is speaking to us- His children – asking us to guard our
hearts and minds. We, those of us who are ‘in Christ’ need not become part of
the growing statistics of depression, domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and
such things that are part of life in 2024. We can be different because of the
One who lives IN US, but we must yield ourselves to Him and choose a course of
surrendered obedience.
How can we do this? Not just with gritty determination. We do it by allowing faith to grow when we look higher than our circumstances, beyond our ‘light and momentary troubles’ and trust ourselves, our family, our future to Christ.
The word from the Word that I leave with you today is a call
to shift our sight higher.
"Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re
in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was
headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything
along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of
honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go
over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed
through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" (Hebrews 12:2-3,
The Message)
Take this moment to remind yourself that He knows your place, your difficulty, your joy - and confess - “You are Lord of all!” Then, choose simple gratitude today, and let God’s Presence find you. It is a real game-changer!
____________
(Video of this blog at this link)
When darkness tries to roll over my bones
When sorrow comes to steal the joy I own
When brokenness and pain is all I know
I won't be shaken I won't be shaken
My fear doesn't stand a chance
When I stand in Your love (repeat)
Shame no longer has a place to hide
I am not a captive to the lies
I'm not afraid to leave my past behind
I won't be shaken I won't be shaken
There's power that can break off every chain
There's power that can empty out a grave
There's resurrection power that can save
There's power in Your name power in Your name
Standing in Your love
Ethan Hulse | Josh Baldwin | Mark Harris | Rita Springer
© 2018 Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)
EGH Music Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)
Gateway Create Publishing (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])
CCLI License # 810055
