Today is our Thanksgiving Service. This message is a very serious and very important message, as it can transform your future.
Are you a grateful person? Are you grateful to God, grateful to your friends, grateful to your family, grateful to the people who helped you, who served you? Are you a person who is always saying “thank you” and showing appreciation even for the little things?
I want to read a text that speaks of ingratitude!
“As Jesus entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”” Luke 17:12-19 NKJV
The saddest part in this text is that nine of them, although they had all been equally healed, simply dropped out of the story altogether – we never heard of their return. They received the blessing they wanted and went their way.
They were blessed, but they don’t have a story, because they were ungrateful.
This is my message: Where are the grateful people? Where are those who were helped and blessed? They just take their blessing and disappear!
Only 1 out of 10 lepers was grateful for their blessing from Jesus.
What a sad picture! Of all the many people in the church who receive blessings from Jesus, so few return to thank Him or others who have helped them.
Unfortunately, ingratitude is a reality in many people’s lives. How many people came to this church with needs, needs that were met, were blessed, had doors opened, received the blessings and then did exactly what those 9 lepers did!
We do not help or bless anyone in order to hear them thank us or applaud us, however: gratitude is a distinctive quality of followers of Jesus that all of us should cultivate. We must honour and thank our Lord, but we should also be grateful to those who help us.
If you want to be a happy, blessed, and prosperous person, you must have this quality as part of your life.
CHOOSE GRATITUDE: CHANGE YOUR STORY
Be grateful to God and be grateful to the people around you. Be grateful for everything that the people around you do for you.
Let’s not be like the lepers. Ten were healed and only one, only one returned. If we look at it as a percentage, we could say that only 10% of people are grateful and 90% are ungrateful, spoiled children who always take things for granted.
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
Are you a grateful person? Are you a person who is always giving thanks for all that you have? Or are you always complaining about what you don’t have? Gratitude is a tremendous Biblical principle and it is also a Biblical ordinance. If you want to please God and bring God’s blessings into your life, you need to renew your mind and change your words.
Gratitude attracts the blessings of God, but complaints attract curses upon our lives!
“We must not complain, as some of them did—and they were destroyed by the Angel of Death. All these things happened to them as examples for others, and they were written down as a warning for us. For we live at a time when the end is about to come.” 1 Corinthians 10:10-11 GNT
In the same way that Gratitude attracts God’s blessings, complaints attract curses upon our lives.
Gratitude is a heavenly language that attracts the presence of God. Complaining is an evil language that attracts demons.
The text we read talks about the people of Israel. They had been freed from Egypt and were passing through the wilderness. It was their first obstacle, and they began to complain about all that they did not have. Because of their complaining, they remained in the desert for 40 years and did not enter the promised land. That’s why I said that this message is a very serious and very important message, as it can transform your future.
Let’s now read John 6:10-11, which is about the Power of Gratitude in Jesus’ life. You all know the story of the multiplication of loaves and fish. Jesus was teaching a large crowd, and these people had been with Him from morning until evening, and they were hungry. Jesus asks His disciples: What do we have to eat? There were only 5 loaves and 2 fish. Let’s see what Jesus does then.
“Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise the fish, as much as they wanted.” John 6:10-11 NKJV
Jesus did not complain that there was not enough food; He took the loaves, with a heart full of gratitude, He gave thanks, and the miracle happened. Here you see the power of Gratitude in Action!
What was not enough, through gratefulness, became more than enough.
When you are grateful to God for what you have, you move the hand of God in your favour, and God opens new doors for you.
I challenge you, please stop complaining about what you have or don’t have and thank God for what you do have.
Stop complaining about your job, your salary, your church, your leaders, your family and thank God for what He has given you, and you will see the hand of God moving over your life.
Let’s read another text about the power of gratitude!
“Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”” John 11:40-41 NKJV
John, chapter 11, talks about the death of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. His sisters called on Jesus because Lazarus was sick. But Jesus took too long to get there, and Lazarus died. What did Jesus do when faced with the situation of death?
Again, He looked to Heaven and thanked God! Jesus didn’t even pray for Lazarus; He just thanked God, and the miracle happened.
I know there are circumstances that make it very difficult to thank God. We may lose our peace, get sick, we may lose our jobs, face financial ruin, we may suffer losses. But when we recognise that God is God above all circumstances and give Him the glory He deserves, you open the door for miracles in your life!
Jesus’ gratitude resurrected Lazarus. Your gratitude can bring many things back to life as well!
Let’s now look at the power of gratitude at work in the life of the Apostle Paul and Silas.
“And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” Acts 16:23, 25-26 NKJV
Here we see that Paul and Silas were unjustly imprisoned for preaching the gospel. They had every reason to be complaining.
They could be saying:
God, why did You allow this to happen? God, why didn’t You protect us? God, we are suffering unjustly, and You do nothing to save us.
No, they didn’t say any of that. They were arrested, they were whipped, they were hurting all over, but around midnight they started praying and singing praises to God, and all the prisoners could hear them!
What are people listening from you? Complaints or gratitude?
It’s so sad to see Christians who claim to love God, yet are complaining all the time! If the weather gets cold, they complain because it’s too cold. If it gets warm, they complain because it’s too hot. If you have work, you complain that you are tired. If you don’t have a job, you complain you don’t have any money. Christians, please stop complaining, as complaining attracts curses and demons into your life!
Be grateful for what you have, be grateful for the people around you, and stop complaining. Paul and Silas were unjustly put in prison, but because of their gratitude and for not complaining, God caused an earthquake that opened the prison doors, and even the jailer was converted and born again.
Your gratitude can transform your life!
We need to repent of this sin, the sin of complaining! Beloved ones, God has many promises for you, but because of your ungrateful attitude, you can miss out on the best from God.
God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt, but they were people who never stopped complaining, and that’s why Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness and died without entering the promised land.
Where are the grateful people? Your attitude can determine your future. Remove this sin from your life!
CHOOSE GRATITUDE AND CHANGE YOUR STORY
I want to finish off by giving you some practical advice.
1- Learn to appreciate the small things and give thanks to God in all circumstances.
If you’re going to wait to feel grateful and happy only when good things happen, such as a job promotion or buying a new house, you will not experience the power of gratitude in your life. To enjoy the benefits of gratitude, you need to appreciate what you have, especially the little things.
2- Express your gratitude.
Besides feeling grateful, it’s important that you express it through your attitudes and words. Besides giving thanks to God, you also need to tell people how grateful you are for their presence in your life, show them how important someone’s help was to you. Share and express gratitude, and you will have a great life.
3- Replace complaints with gratitude.
Recognise that God is taking care of you and that you trust Him in every situation. Try to see the good side of every situation. For example, if you find yourself feeling down because it’s cold or raining and you need to get up for work, you’ll soon remember that at least you have a job, and many people don’t. Replace complaints with gratitude, and you will see God working many miracles in your life.
Have you thanked God today for simply being alive and breathing?
Because there are many people struggling even to breathe! Have you thanked Him for your health? There are so many people sick fighting for their lives. Do you always thank God before eating your meals? Because there are many people who don’t have anything to eat.
Are you grateful for your family, your spouse, your children, even if they are not perfect? We should be thankful because many no longer have their family members alive.
Are you thankful to God for your church, your community, and for the freedom to be in church’s services and meetings? Because in many countries they want to worship but cannot; they can be arrested because they don’t have religious freedom. Stop complaining and express your gratitude!
CHOOSE GRATITUDE AND CHANGE YOUR STORY
May the Lord bless you and help you to live in gratitude!