Living A Life Of Gratitude
#chasingaftergratitude
Max Lucado – in his book ‘In the Eye of The Storm’ writes… …
An old man walks down a Florida beach.
The sun is setting like a huge orange ball on the distant horizon. The ocean waves are gently slapping the soft white sand. The smell of salt water stings the air.
The beach is nearly empty. There is no sun to entice the sunbathers. Not enough light for the fisherman. So, aside from a few joggers and strollers, this old guy is alone.
As he walks down the beach, in his bony hand he is carrying a bucket… It’s a bucket of shrimp. But the shrimp is not for him and it’s not for the fish. NO – it’s for the sea gulls.
He carries this bucket to an isolated pier cast in gold by the setting sun. He walks slowly to the end of the pier. It’s Friday night and the time has come for the weekly ritual.
He stands and waits.
And in just a few seconds the sky becomes a mass of dancing dots. The evening silence gives way to the loud sounds of screeching of birds. Seagulls are everywhere.
They fill the sky, they cover the pier… You see - they are on a journey to meet the old man.
AND - for almost an hour… this bushy- browed, shoulder-bent old man stands on the pier, surrounded by the birds of the sea, until the bucket of shrimp is completely gone.
AND - even after the food is gone, his feathered friends still linger. They linger as if they’re attracted to more than just food. They walk on the pier. And they all (the old man and hundreds of seas gulls) share a moment together.
Can you picture the scene…?
OKAY now I want you to file that scene away for awhile. We will open it up again at the end of our conversation….
Prayer…
MGCC – welcome to week seven of THE CHASE, going after the life we were created to live.
THIS WEEK - our entire nation will celebrate Thanksgiving.
AND – it is something we have been doing since President George Washington put ink to paper on October 3rd 1789… at the nation’s capital, located at the time in New York City.
HERE – is an excerpt from that Presidential Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to ACKNOWLEDGE the providence of ALMIGHTY GOD, to OBEY HIS WILL, to be GRATEFUL for HIS BENEFITS, and HUMBLY to implore HIS protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of PUBLIC THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER…
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next TO BE DEVOTED by the People of these States TO THE SERVICE OF THAT GREAT AND GLORIOUS BEING, who is the BENEFICENT AUTHOR OF ALL THE GOOD that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto HIM our sincere and humble thanks--for HIS KIND CARE AND PROTECTION of the People of this Country…
and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to THE GREAT LORD AND RULER OF NATIONS and beseech HIM TO PARDON our national and other transgressions-- TO ENABLE us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually-- TO RENDER OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT A BLESSING TO ALL THE PEOPLE…
Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Go: Washington
That’s pretty awesome stuff…
It sure would be great to leaders in Washington today who genuinely felt the same way…
BUT LISTEN - Thanksgiving is not a concept born in America.
INSTEAD - giving thanks is an idea born in the hearts of God’s people thousands of years ago… I MEAN – it (expressing thanks) is all over the bible from Genesis to Revelation.
IN - the gospels we see Jesus giving thanks to the Father 15 times… AND - we are told in Scripture that we are to…
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever
be overflowing with thankfulness
always give thanks to God
give thanks in all circumstances and
to present all our requests to God with thanksgiving..
QUESTION - do you know what 2 guys in Scripture talked about thanking God more than anyone else? One guy is from the OT and the other is from the NT…
David (~ 35 times) and Paul (~ 50 times).
YEAH – I don’t know but maybe this… is part of the reason why they were able to accomplish so much for God.
NOW – there are just 2 points in your notes this morning, the first is…
I Am Thankful For…
UNDERSTAND – if we were to list all the reasons that we as God’s people have to be thankful, we would be here until 3:00 pm today…at least.
HEY - do you remember this song from the movie The Sound of Music – “These are a few of my favorite things…
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad
WELL - this morning what I want to share with you “a few of my favorite things I thank God for.”
AND LISTEN – if you are a Jesus Follower, you have every reason to thank God for these things as well.
I’m Thankful For:
The Mercy and Grace God Shows Me
WHAT is mercy? Not getting what I deserve.
WHAT is grace? Getting what I don’t deserve.
CHECKOUT – what Paul writes in the second chapter of his letter to the church in Ephesus….
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:1-10
QUESTION - aren’t you glad that God doesn’t give you what you deserve? Aren’t you thankful that God gives you what you need (a savior, salvation freedom)?
LISTEN…
IF - our heart doesn’t explode with gratitude when we think about the mercy and grace of God…
THEN – we you have obviously forgotten how bad off you were before you met Christ.
We were dead. We were objects of God’s wrath. We had no hope. Our lives had no lasting meaning or purpose…
AND – they were full of guilt, fear, bitterness, worry, regrets. AND – there was nothing we could do to get rid of them.
UNDERSTAND…
BEFORE GRACE – we were headed to a Christ-less eternity in hell not heaven. AND AGAIN - there was nothing we could do about it. Our debt was too BIG. We could never be good enough to earn our salvation.
BUT THEN – mercy and grace came riding in on a donkey, and later hanging on a cross… AND THEY – changed everything…
I am so thankful for…
• God’s mercy and grace
• That Jesus paid it ALL!
• That these words of God through the pen of Paul are true.
You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. 22 But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent. – Colossians 1:21,22
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.– Romans 5:11,12
I am thankful to God for the mercy and grace that God has poured out on me…
AND – another one of my ‘favorite things…’
I am thankful for;
The Relationship That God Wants To Have With Me
So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
– Romans 5:11,12
UNDERSTAND - God did not just save me so that I would not go to hell – He also saved me so that my relationship with Him, could be restored…. So that I could be his friend, his child… yeah God!
QUESTION - are you thankful for the personal relationship that you can have with God?
Let me tell you… David certainly was…
I love you, LORD; you are MY strength. The LORD is MY rock, MY fortress, and MY deliverer; MY God is MY rock, in whom I find protection. He is MY shield, the power that saves me, and MY place of safety. - Psalm 18:1,2
Did you notice how many times David uses the word "my" in those 2 verses. I counted 8 times....
AND UNDERSTAND - what David is emphasizing here is his personal relationship with God... And he is thankful for that…
YOU SEE - to David, God was not some far off deity with a long white beard up in the clouds somewhere... A God, that he had to please, BUT - who didn't really know... On the contrary, David had a personal relationship with God...
A God who was His…
AND LISTEN - the only reason David had this relationship, was because God in His grace - had given him the opportunity to know him.
QUESTION…
ARE YOU - thankful for the personal relationship that you can have with God?
ARE YOU - thankful that the One True God, the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords ...
ARE YOU - thankful that God not only reached down from his heavenly throne… BUT - in His grace, He came down from His throne and entered this world… just to give you an opportunity to have a personal relationship with Him – to hang out with Him, to get to know Him?
UNDERSTAND - our God is not a God who is detached, distant and far off… INSTEAD – He is a God who desires to walk with us, take care of us… be with us.
I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. 21 Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. – John 17:20,21
A third reason I am thankful is because of;
The Purpose God Gives Me
UNDERSTAND - so many people live their lives without any purpose, without any direction…. They have no idea why they are here, where they are going OR what they are supposed to be doing. I used to live like that…
BUT not any more…
YOU SEE – I know that God (and that would be capital ‘G’ God) has a purpose and a plan for my life and I am so thankful for that…
ABOUT – 18 years ago I discovered the following verse in the book of Jeremiah… a verse written to a bunch of people who were going through a extremely difficult time. Because of their sin and rebellion God had allowed foreign nations to attack and oppress them… Their country was occupied by a foreign army. They had lost so much… They were feeling pretty certain that God was done with them…
“I know the plans I have for you,” Declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…” Jer 29:11
(btw I discovered those words when I was feeling like God’s plans for me… if He had any, were not very good. My first wife Jude was losing her ‘physical’ fight with cancer.
TIM/LAURIE…
LIFE - is not an accident.
YOU – are here for a reason.
YOU – were made for a purpose.
YOU – were God’s idea long before you were your parents’ idea.
UNDERSTAND – no baby is ever born by accident.
YEAH - there maybe illegitimate parents but there are never any illegitimate babies.
If you’re alive and you’re breathing, IF your heart and pulse are going, THEN - God has a plan for your life.
Isn’t that awesome? Doesn’t that give you hope?
AND – let me tell you something that I am just beginning discover, YOU SEE – for a long time I have been asking the wrong question, I’ve been asking, “God’s what is your will for my life?”
BUT – I now realize that this is the wrong question for me to ask – the question I need to ask is; “Lord, how can I live my life, to fulfill your will, to fulfill your purpose?”
(Do you see the difference?)
MGCC – Do you understand the incredible mind-blowing opportunity we’ve been given? An opportunity to partner with God in the greatest, in the most (significant, important, vital and meaningful) work of all time - Helping people get right with God – saving them from a Christ-less eternity AND not only that but bringing them freedom and fullness of life now….
THINK ABOUT IT - we get to bring people to God and then we get to watch him do his God thing!!!!
I am so thankful for the purpose, the meaning & eternal significance… God has given to my life
4th I am thankful for;
The Future God Has Planned For Me
Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. – John 14:1-3
Jesus is preparing a place for me… AND – heaven is going to be unbelievable. I will get a new body that will never die – a body that will never know pain, sickness or heartache. I will be reunited with all my loved ones who have died in the Lord, I will see them again…
LISTEN – if Ephesians 3:20 – if God doing immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine applies to anything - it most certainly applies to heaven…
CHECKOUT what John says about heaven in His Revelation;
Then I saw New Jerusalem, that holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband.
3 I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. 4 He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.
5 Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted. - Revelation 21:1-5,
Doesn’t that get your heart beating a little faster….?
5th I’m thankful for;
The Changes God Is Making In Me
YOU KNOW - I am so thankful that back in December of 1979 when I surrendered to Christ (in faith and repentance and was baptized into His name) that God because of His great love for me accepted me just as I was (and I wasn’t so good)…
BUT – do you know what? I am just as thankful that because of his great love for me – that God did not leave me like the way He found me….
AND LISTEN – not only am I grateful that I am not the same person I used to be… BUT – I am grateful for the person that I have yet to become.
YEAH – in December of 1979, God took a 19 year kid in the Navy named Steve Malone saved him from his sin, gave him a living hope and then he began chipping away at my life, molding me, shaping me, changing me, making me different…and praise the Lord – he is not through with me yet…
I can be more, I can be better…. I can become all that God desires and wants for me…
LET – me share a few verses – with you that speak to this change God brings about in us….
“God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Christ comes again…” Phil 1:6 (NCV)
“And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.” 2 Cor 3:18 (NLT)
LISTEN - many of you have seen radical transformation in your life. CHANGES - that no one else could have ever made, no human being, no program, no therapy could have done it. CHANGES - in your marriage, CHANGES - in your relationships, CHNAGES - in your attitudes, CHANGES - in your life.
YES…
I am thankful for
• The grace God has shown me
• The relationship God wants with me
• The purpose God gives me
• The future God has planned for me
• The changes God is making in me
THESE – are a few of my favorite things!
I Show My Thankfulness By…
Embracing This Mind-blowing Relationship
GUYS – He loves it when you do that… HE – loves when you come to Him not out of duty or to get something… BUT – out of gratitude and love… AND – it totally pumps Him when the words of Ps 42; express how you feel…
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. WHEN can I go and meet with God?”
I MEAN – how thankful can I be if I never open up this gift…
Praising God Publically
And when your people meet, I will praise you and thank you, Lord, in front of them all. – Ps 35:18 (CEV)
LISTEN – you did that today… God loves to hear his people sing praises… AND – how ell you sing is not the issue… The issue is why you sing…
(I sing loud)
Being Thankful In All Circumstances
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – God says be, “thankful in all circumstances…”
CIRCLE – “all circumstances…”
YOU SEE – one of the reasons that we think being thankful is hard or unrealistic is that – in this life stuff happens… AND – a lot of stuff is not so good…
BUT – notice Paul does not say be thankful ‘for’ all circumstances but rather be thankful ‘in’ all circumstances – and UNDERSTAND there is a big difference between those two words.
We need the proper perspective.
One young lady wrote home from college,
"Dear Mom: Sorry I haven’t written sooner. My arm really has been broken. I broke it, and my left leg, when I jumped from he second floor of my dormitory...when we had the fire. We were lucky. A young service station attendant saw the blaze and called the Fire Department. They were there in minutes. I was in the hospital for a few days. Paul, the service station attendant, came to see me every day. And because it was taking so long to get our dormitory liveable again, I moved in with him. He has been so nice. I must admit that I am pregnant. Paul and I plan to get married just as soon as he can get a divorce. I hope things are fine at home. I’m doing fine, and will write more when I get the chance. Love,
Your daughter, Susie
P.S. None of the above is true. But I did get a "C" in Sociology and flunked Chemistry. I just wanted you to receive this news in its "Proper Perspective!"
To be thankful in all circumstances, we need a proper perspective of our circumstances and of our God. Only then we will be able to give thanks to the Lord always.
BECAUSE – we know that in every circumstance God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to His purpose…(Rm 8:28)
Avoiding Complaining At All Costs
“Do everything without complaining or arguing…” Phil 2:14
UNDERSTAND - a huge barrier to us being a thankful people is grumbling & complaining… We live in a very blessed and rich country, but these blessings have produced a society of complainers.
We complain when our remote control is lost or doesn’t work and we have to change channels manually.
We complain about having to clean our big house
We complain when there is more than 1 person in line ahead of us at Kroger, the bank or Wal Mart.
We complain when we can’t find that 1 pair of shoes among 20.
I heard someone say one time, that if Americans were at the feeding of the 5,000 they would have complained to Jesus and the disciples about not getting lemon for the fish or honey butter for the bread.
LISTEN - grumbling & complaining are a serious problem, and it is really a sign of ingratitude, it is as if we are saying that life has somehow short changed us, when it reality we have been abundantly blessed.
And grumbling is not just isolated to our society, but it is found within the Lord’s church. And whenever or wherever it occurs - it is not a positive thing.
UNDERSTAND – to have grumbling and complaining spirit is a serious sin; I know some may think that it isn’t that bad, not when we compared to things like; murder, adultery and drug abuse. BUT if we are not careful grumbling can become the leading characteristic of our lives.
Grumbling; erodes our joy - harms our influence and insults the goodness of God. Avoid it at all cost – because if left unchecked it will spread and it will incur God’s wrath…
CHECKOUT – this severe warning in 1 Cor 10;
“Do not grumble as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel” (10:10)
(Numbers 16 – 15,000 people killed by a plague)
Appreciating What We Have
LISTEN – there is so much that we have in this life that we take for granted… There is so much that comes our way that we don’t even notice…
QUESTION – if the stars only came once a year – would you go out on that night to look at them…?
UNDERSTAND – you have many people and relationships in your life that if they were gone…
THEN you would notice…
Don’t wait until they’re gone – be thankful for those people now…
AND LISTEN – there are all kinds of things in life that we should be thankful for…
BUT – we don’t notice them until they are gone… Turn off your water for a day; turn off your heat – Then you’d notice be thankful now…
An experiment was done in New York's Central Park where an advertising firm dressed a man up as a blind man and gave him a cup to collect money. One day they put a sign around his neck that read, "I'm Blind." On that day he collected about $4.00. The next day they dressed him the same way, placed him in the same place but changed the sign to read, "It's Spring and I'm Blind."
That day he collected nearly $40.00. That day, those people realized & NOTICED, how blessed they were by the beautiful flowers, birds, the sunrise and sunset.
Expressing Thanks To Others Often
AND LISTEN – this is very important because -- gratitude unexpressed is really ingratitude....
They had no hope, they were outcasts, no one wanted them around, no one would even get near them , so they traveled around, living on scraps of food, sleeping in caves and under tree.. Their life was heading nowhere, they had few if any reason to go on. Luke records their story in;
LUKE 17
Only one came back to thank him.... Only one came back and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and submitted his life to Jesus... The others took their cleansing and ran. Maybe they thought, "that sure was nice of Jesus and sometime when it is convenient I am going to send him a card or give him a call and say thank you"... But that sometime never came.
FIRST – we need to express thanks now to people…
• Your family members (thanks for dinner, helping around the house..)
• People at central who serve
• People at work
• Your friends
• People who doors open for you, wait on you at a restaurant
LOOK for opportunities everyday to express thanks – through your words, cards, e-mails, notes..etc
Reaching Out To The Hurting
'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' - Mt 25:40
Sharing My Testimony
Isaiah 12:4 says this "Thank the Lord. Praise His name. Tell the world about His wondrous love and how mighty He is."
NOW - you know what a testimony is (you’ve seen court cases on TV). A testimony is not what the lawyers do. A testimony is what the witness does. LISTEN – when you give your testimony - you're not trying to pressure for a decision. You're just saying, "This is what I saw. This is what happened to me. This is what happened in my life."
UNDERSTAND - Nobody can give your testimony except you. You are the authority on your life. AND - if you don't give your testimony about how God has worked in your life, it's never going to be told. In all of history if you don't tell your story, it won't be told. God says that one of the ways we give thanks to Him is by telling our story, is by telling the world what God has done in our own lives.
A missionary was serving as a doctor in a medical mission in India for many years. In the region where he was there was progressive blindness. People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they matured."
But this missionary had developed a process which would arrest progressive blindness. So people came to him, he performed his operation, & they would leave realizing that they would have become blind, but now they were going to be able to see for the rest of their lives, because of him..
He said that they never said, "Thank you," NOT – because they were not grateful… BUT - because that phrase was not in their dialect. Instead, they spoke a word that meant, "I will tell your name." Wherever they went, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness.”
God has done some awesome things for YOU… And one way you say thank you is to tell others about what he has done for you – is to tell His name” wherever you go…
Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others…– Ps 107:2 (Msg
OKAY – there are some ways that you can say thank you to God…
(loving Him and loving people – being Him to people)
NOW – if you would, GO AHEAD and re-open that file of the old man on the pier in Florida feeding the sea gulls…
His name was Eddie Rickenbacker. And every Friday night until his death in 1973, he would walk with a large bucket of shrimp, slightly stooped over to an old broken down pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida…
Something happened in October 1942 – that prompted this man for the next 30 years to make this trip to fed seagulls…every Friday night (1500+ Fridays in a row)
You see, back in 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was sent on a mission to deliver a message to General Douglas MacArthur. With a handpicked crew in a B-17 known as the “Flying Fortress,” he set off across the South Pacific. Somewhere along the way, the crew became lost, the fuel ran out, and their plane went down.
All eight crew members escaped into the life rafts. They battled the weather, the weather, the sharks and the sun. BUT most of all they battled the hunger. After eight days, their rations were gone. They ran out of options. It would take a miracle for them to survive.
And the miracle occurred.
After an afternoon devotional service, that was closed with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise – the men tried to get some rest. As Rickenbacker was dozing with his hat over his eyes, something landed on his head. He would later say, “I knew that it was a sea gull. I don't know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food...if I could catch it."
And he did. The flesh was eaten. The intestines were used as fish bait and the crew survived.
QUESTION - What was a sea gull doing hundreds of miles away from land? Only God knows… But for whatever reason – he was there…
AND – because he was there – AND because Captain Eddie never forgot for 30 years - every Friday evening, about sunset...on a lonely stretch of beach along the eastern Florida seacoast...you could see an old man walking...white-haired, bushy-eye browed, slightly bent. His bucket filled with shrimp and his heart full of thanks, to remember that one who, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle – so he could live...
2,000 years ago; Jesus gave His life without a struggle so that you could live!
AND – those who remember…
Those who have not forgotten
Those who are grateful for the second chances
WILL
With buckets filled with expressed gratitude…
AND
with thanksgiving
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:6,7
