An Attitude of Gratitude

Posted by Paula White - Sun, November 29, 2009 at 11:52 AM

Click here to download the sermon notes for “An Attitude of Gratitude”.

Rarely are things as they first appear, not what happens but how we respond… Thank God no matter what happens… The challenge = Can you be grateful “in” all circumstances?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (MESG) Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Verse 23 May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

I. A Big God Doesn’t Live in Little Places
a. Its required for empowered and purposeful living
a. You are continually either growing into a bigger and better “Christ-like” person or shrinking into a little, bitter person
i. You are living “expanded” or “contracted”
b. God wants to be BIG in you and through you! John 10:10
i. However, you can’t go to a higher ground if you are living on a lower level
1. As long as you complain, you will remain
2. When you start to praise, you will get raised
a. Complainers remain
b. Praisers get raised
3. Begin to re-frame your life by adapting a “student” and not a “victim: mentality
4. Whatever life event you face , choose not to “waste” your trial, but turn your pain into purpose
a. It may not be God sent but it can be God used

“It isn’t the past which holds us back, it’s the future and how we undermined it today”, -Viktor Frankl (he survived the concentration camps for 3 years)

Can you trust that the Rolling Stones had a little revelation when they sang, “You might not get what you want, but you get what you need”…☺

Genesis 50:19-20 (NIV) But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Genesis 50:19-20 Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I’ll take care of you and your children.” He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.

II. Developing and Attitude of Gratitude
a. God said “Give thanks (in) all things” Not (for) all things
i. Attitude is
1. A state of mind or feeling
2. A disposition
ii. Gratitude is
1. The feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
2. it etymology is = thankful and pleasing
3. from the root of “gratus” or “grace”
a. God’s favor or help
i. Pleasing, quality, favor, good will, agreeable
ii. It’s from the “pie base” “giver” = to praise, welcome, sing, announces

4. To be grateful is to praise
a. When I praise there is always provision by God’s presence
b. Whatever you appreciate, appreciates
i. This is where you build a life of value

Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

b. The only way I can “praise” or have an attitude of gratitude of gratitude “in” all things is by His grace (kindness and favor)

1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

c. When “grace” is your case, you are non-judgmental of…
i. Yourself
ii. Others
iii. Events or situations

Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

III. Don’t Ever Underestimate the Power and Strength of Grace
a. Gratitude is rooted in grace
b. Without grace I cannot truly be appreciative and thankful
c. So, when I’m gracious (enjoying favor), I an=m grateful
i. Making conscious decisions to look for what is right and appreciating it
Gratefulness means experiencing “Great – Fullness” = feeling full in every moment, appreciating exactly what it is.
d. Happiness is not what makes us grateful, it is gratefulness that makes us happy
i. Attitudes effect atmospheres
ii. Atmospheres influence actions
1. Bad attitude = Bad atmosphere = Bad action

e. But, like the woman who came to worship with the Alabaster Box in Mark chapter 14
i. You can change an atmosphere with an attitude of gratitude
ii. She walked into a hostile environment with one purpose = to say, “Thank You” Mark 14:3-9
1. She had a purpose with her worship
2. She had not come to ask anything of him, but only to say one thing – “Thanks”

IV. Jesus Expresses with Clarity, How We are to Approach Him

Psalms 100:2-5 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 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. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

a. Verse 4 reveals the “right order” or approach for being received by God.
b. It’s our passage way or entry into the very throne room of God
c. As we draw near to Him through “true worship”, it is what moves the heart of God and touches Him
i. There is an “acceptable” approach” to God – to enter into Thanksgiving
d. Verse 4 also reveals 3 keys to accessing God
i. Enter His gates with thanksgiving
1. gates = (Hebrew) (shah-ar) an opening or portal
2. thanksgiving = thanks or gratitude offering, extension of hand
a. referred to as a “peace offering” or heave/wave
i. Deuteronomy 12:18, 16:11
ii. Jude 20 :26, 21:4
iii. In fellowship (agreement) this sacrifice is celebrated
1. covering of sin
2. forgiveness by God
3. restoration of a right meaningful relationship with God and life itself

V. 3 Kinds of Peace Offerings
a. Thank offerings in response to an unsolicited special divine blessing
b. Votive (vowed) offerings in pursuit of making a request or pledge to God
c. Freewill offerings spontaneously presented in worship and praise
i. In His courts with praise
1. praise = (Hebrew) (teh-hil-law) laudation – specifically a hymn
a. to be clear of sound
b. to make show
c. to boast
d. to be clamorously foolish
e. to rave
f. to celebrate
ii. Give thanks to Him and Bless His name
1. Be thankful = (Hebrew) (yadah)
a. to hold out the hand
b. to throw, especially to worship with extended hands
2. Bless = (Hebrew) (barah) to kneel as act of adoration
a. When you worship, you are prostrating yourself before God
b. You are submitting your sense of superiority to God

VI. God Never Asks You to Understand Him
a. He only asks to obey Him
b. It doesn’t say “You will understand the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind” Matthew 22:37 (Love)
c. We will never figure Him out because he dwells in unapproachable light and no mortal man can approach Him 1 Timothy 6:16
d. He discloses Himself to us when, where and how He chooses and when He doesn’t want us to see Him, He hides Himself in His glory. Jeremiah chapter 29
e. Our only choice He puts before us, “come and worship Me”
i. Worship = comes from anglo-saxon compound word (weorthscype)
1. weorth = worth, value or respect
2. scype = to shape or to build something
3. Both words together = weorthscype = to shape or build worth, value or respect
f. Every aspect of your being should frame the worth, value and respect due to His name and person
i. Worthship = denotes the worthiness of the one receiving special honor or devotion
ii. This enlightens and gives understanding to the magnitude of her worship (Mary)
1. it was a demonstration of His value in her life
2. another root of “ship” = when we offer worship to God, we literally become vessels or “ships” immersed in His infinite worth and value

VII. The Art of Altar Building
a. Years ago, potters used to put their earthenware vases in ovens to temper them
b. One major problem was they didn’t have the technical gear we have today, so they would “play it by ear”
i. No two pieces were made alike
ii. The potter would know when the piece was done when the heat would make it “sing”
iii. A noise would emanah from the tempered pottery in the heat of a furnace when it reached the proper heat point
1. the pottery would literally “sing in the furnace” and that’s how they knew when to remove it
iv. The affliction you go through is the environment God uses for you to excel Isaiah 48:10
v. David declares, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” Psalms 119
vi. Adversity gives you the advantage
1. The more you are pressed, the more you are empowered
vii. This woman worshipped in an angry atmosphere. They were mad about her praise
1. Don’t let anyone shut you up- Praise Anyhow!
2. Obedience is your highest form of worship 1Samuel 15:22

Hebrews 5:8-9 (NIV) Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

VIII. Are You Singing Yet?
a. When you are in the heat of affliction, the only thing you can do that has any substance or value is WORSHIP!
i. Complainers remain
ii. Praisers are raised

Psalms 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

b. God’s throne is as significant as you want to make it through your praise
c. Now, if He dwells in the midst of your praise, how much of a throne do you want Him to have?
i. As you praise Him, you are shaping a throne for God Almighty Himself, in your life
ii. When you worship Him, you are sacrificing your life and body on an altar of surrender as a living sacrifice
1. This says to God- “You are my Lord, I am confident you are sovereign and lean on you for all life”
a. Abraham (our father of faith) sets example or a pattern for us to worship as a lifestyle

Genesis 12:7-8 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

Genesis 13:18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

b. Altar = (Hebrew) (mizbeach) describes a structure that has one function or reason for existence = The slaughter of sacrifices
i. Every time you worship, you are shaping, building and constructing something holy to the Lord
ii. You are building an altar, a meeting place for God

It is your attitude of gratitude that causes greatness to expand you. Everyday you either expand or shrink… Decide, “I’m tired of living little, I’m shifting today, by His Grace”…

An Attitude of Gratitude

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