Thankful and Grateful
Notes
Transcript
What do I want them to know? An attitude of gratitude brings joy, peace, and Gospel optimism
Why? we all want JOY, PEACE, and GOSPEL OPTIMISM
What do I want them to do? Reflect on the things we are to be grateful for such as; FORGIVENESS, God is Righteous and JUSTICE, RENEWS, HEALS
Why? It brings at attitude of gratitude that brings JOY, PEACE, and GOSPEL OPTISMISM
ME/WE
Thanksgiving is a time of year where we are culturally encouraged to pause, reflect, dwell, think, on the things we are thankful for....Some of you have family traditions where this is verbally expressed, where you share what you have been thankful for......IT is a time when uncle Jon
- It is out of this that you will hear uncle Jon say I am thankful for my job, he thought he was going to lose it, but the company kept him on.
- You hear your mom say I am so thankful for my family.
- You here the kids say I am thankful for my family and my toys.
- And of course you have grandpa saying and I am thankful for food and let’s eat!
THIS ARE FOND MEMORIES ANDS SOME OF US THINK THIS IS ARE MEMORIES NOT PRESENT REALITIES...
Some of us hear this though and say that was last year 2019 and the year before that and the year before that....Gratitude is not the word I think of when I 2020....There are other words that I can think of and they are not word synonymous with gratitude....they are the opposite of gratitude....
BUT FRIENDS THAT IS NOT TRUE....WE HAVE A LOT TO BE THANKFUL FOR.
Scripture does not have a 2020 or pandemic clause in that says EVERY year you can be grateful expect 2020 or a pandemic.
Also, what is so interesting is the ones who often praise the God the most in scripture are the ones who faced deeper and longer hardships than we are facing.
Has any of us been beaten or imprisoned for your faith?
Any one us get thrown into a literal lions den?
Have we had our families torn apart?
NO, and yet these forerunners of faith had this and much worse and they praised God all the time!
TENSION
BUT Why were they grateful?
Why did they feel the need to remember and the things they are grateful for?
What’s the big deal about remember or what you are thankful for or making about the big deal about what you are thankful for????
GOD COMMANDS IT OVER AND OVER
You see over and over scripture God says REMEMBER WHAT I HAVE DONE…THIS IS WHY THEY SET UP 12 stones in the land that whenever they would look at the 12 stones they would be reminding of what God has done from them....He is their HEAVENLY FATHER God who led them out of Egypt...
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
He is worthy of our gratitude and praise for all that He has done for us.
It is honoring Him and praising Him
I AM GOING TO ASCRIBE PRAISE TO ALL THAT GOD DONE IN MY LIFE
God has given us so much.
“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Why else is REMEMBER WHAT WE ARE THANKFUL FOR IMPORTANT, SPECIFICALLY FOR US??
2. An attitude of gratitude changes our life....How? HOW DOES AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE CHANGE MY LIFE.....when you have an attitude of gratitude you receive joy, peace, Gospel optimism (
When we realize what God has done we can leap for JOY, have PEACE because we know who sits on the throne we know who’s in control of it, and WE HAVE GOSPEL OPTIMISM working all things for good. (gospel optimism is optimism grounded in truth, God’s power, and promises....it is not a flimsy optimism like we have we some people the lottery…I hope I win I hope I win....and it is have been 30 years of that but they have not won yet…but this is the ticket)
The opposite is true when we attitude of ingratitude....it brings with it ANGER, BITTERNESS, JEALOUSLY WORRY, DOUBT, AND FEAR fruits of darkness and death....
or another way to put it
or another way to put it
“He who forgets the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness or joy”
“He who forgets the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness or joy”
Expression of gratefulness honors and thanks God and gives you attitude of gratitude that brings JOY, PEACE, GOSPEL OPTIMISM in YOUR LIFE
BUT WHAT ARE TO BE THANKFUL FOR? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
WHY CAN WE BE THANKFUL?
WE ARE GOING TO TURN TO PSALM 103 where David says 6 times “Bless the Lord” and lays out 8 thinks that David brings to life that we can be thankful for from Our Heavenly Father....today we will will cover 4 of them.
First place that I am going to go to the first place David goes to in Psalm 103
1. HEAVENLY FATHER WHO FORGIVES....FORGIVING HEAVENLY FATHER
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
WE HAVE A FATHER WHO FORGIVES US.
The is a bid deal....it is THE GREATEST BENEFIT THAT GOD GIVES US ALONGSIDE REDEMPTION
The GOOD NEWS IS WE HAVE A HEAVENLY FATHER and NOT a HEAVENLY BOSS....(YES HE IS KING)
THIS IS GOOD NEWS....Why is this good news? What’s the difference?
Your relationship with your BOSS is based on merit and performance....It is task oriented not relationship driven....
If you do well you get to keep your job and your relationship with your BOSS IS GREAT, BUT YOU if you under perform, screw up, lie, cheat, or steal what will a boss do with you???
Sever the relationship
On top of that fif we based our relationship with God on merit and performance what would our wages and worth be?
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here is what God says if we believe GOD IS THE BOSS and we base our worth on performance....we are DEAD....that’s a big problem....what can you do to raise yourself to life???NOTHING
BUT GOOD NEWS GOD IS NOT A BOSS, HIS A KING and HIS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
David knew this all to well.....David a man after God’s own heart....do you know what happens in his life???.... with being a man after God’s own heart does that mean that he is perfect??? NO
What happens in David’s life?
David has an affair with a married woman named Bathsheba and realize this is not God so he seeks to cover it up by having her husband Uriah killed by placing him at the front line in battle.
David a man after God’s own heart has an affair and is complicit in murder.....Folks there is only one hero in the Bible and it is God
What does God do to David?
God forgives David
But wait I thought we read in Ex 34:6-7 the most quoted verse in the Bible that God will by no means clear the guility
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Look what David writes in Ps 103:8-13
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
What is happening? To God’s elect, His children, he shows compassion and mercy because HE IS THEIR HEAVEN FATHER.
God is saying the same thing to us
Some of us are heavy laden with SIN and GOD SAYS IT HAS BEEN FORGIVEN…YOU PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE SINS FORGIVEN...
BECAUSE OF THIS WE CAN HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE that brings JOY, PEACE, and GOSPEL OPTIMISM
2. (Reason why we can be grateful is because God does not let the guilty go unpunished) He is a heavenly father who has righteousness and justice as the foundation of His throne.
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
The good news is we a have HEAVENLY FATHER who works RIGHTOUSNESS AND JUSTICE IN OUR LIVES.
TO MAKE SOMETHING RIGHTOUS MEANS TO MAKE IT STRAIGHT.
GOD MAKES THE CROOKED AND BROKEN right He seeks to make the crooked straight…the unjust, just…the oppressed released
God does not sit back passively, nor is He over powered, nor does He ever lose in court.....EVIL GUYS ALWAYS LOSE
For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
We see this fully play out in the story of the Exodus....
Israel was in captivity, slavery, and oppression in Egypt to a wicked and evil ruler name Pharaoh
GOD SAY NO MORE! PHARAOH LET ME PEOPLE GO
God raises up a redeemer named Moses
He goes to Pharaoh and gives him 10 chances to repent, 10 plagues…God is slow to get angry…but Pharaoh says no....So God delievers them
The same is true in our lives when God see injustice and unrighteousness done to you....God does not sit back....He is like how I am when I see injustice being done to my son....Oh no not on my watch...
When I see injustice happening to my kids I do not say, oh well that is life....I seek to have justice and righteousness happen…I stand up for my kids…but my power is limited....I cannot unright every wrong, but can....We can but our HOPE in the assurance of that God will RIGHT every WRONG
....It cannot be stopped
3. We can be an attitude of gratitude because we serve a a HEAVENLY FATHER WHO RENEWS
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Look at what John 7:37
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Our heavenly Father is fountain of renewal that we can go to over and over and over again....He will renew us so that our youth is renewed like eagles....that we can soar and fly.
ONE OF THE GREAT BLESSINGS WE HAVE DURING THIS PANDEMIC IS WE HAVE A WELL THAT NEVER RUNS....IF WE ARE THRISTY WE CAN RUN TO HIM OVER AND OVER....throughout the day
I have needed God’s renewal over and over in my life and I needed another does of renewal this week on Wednesday I become cast down and burdened because of the stay at home advisory....oh not again....I cannot handle this!!!
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
God renewed me by showing me I am in trial
God is growing me up, and many of us up if we will let Him
The is renewal gave me an attitude of gratitude that brought me JOY and PEACE
4. HEAVENLY FATHER WHO HEALS
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
Do we believe that?
Do we believe God will heal all of our diseases or even can heal our diseases? Do we
My wife is a walking miracle, not because of what happened to her but because what happened in her mom’s life.
Robyn’s mom at 19 had a disease that was going to prevent her from having children....all hope of kids was gone…until the night before the surgery these woman came into Robyn’s mom’s hospital room and laid hands on her and asked God to heal her....and then the surgery happened and the doctor went in and said, there is no work that needed to be done here reproductive oragans were teh most beautiful he’s every seen...
I have had a miracle in my life too....I don’t if you remember about 3 years ago I had an aliment needing surgury and did what James 5:14-15 says
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
I have been healed of depression
God still heals this side of heaven....He can do it....It does not always happen....but it ultimately happens with our redemption....all sickeness has been defeated...
We are not living in the land of the living, but we are in living in the land of the dying on the way to the land of the living....where there
AND GOD ULTIMATE HEALS THAT SIDE OF HEAVEN
US
Friends we have a lot to be thankful for…I just cover 4 things but that is the tip of the ice berg…there is more that God has done.
Some of you are thankful for a job
Some of you are thankful for spouse, kids, house
Crowns you with love
Food
Church
An attitude of gratitude brings JOY, PEACE, GOSPEL OPTIMISM and HONOR TO YOUR GOD.
What are you thankful for
The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people.
2. Father of RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
Many of us seen this with our earthly Fathers.
We have a court room to go to AND a God who leaves the courtroom.
Egypt
Foundation of His throne
3. Father who RENEWS
James
We have a fountain to go to
4. Father who HEALS ALL MY DISEASES
Our earthly fathers can bandage wounds, give comfort, BUT HE DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER TO HEAL DISEASES....THE GOOD NEWS IS WE HAVE A HEAVENLY FATHER WHO CAN HEAL MY DISEASES
I experienced this first hand with an aliment that I had 3 years ago