Gratitude

My, Devotion to Him #237

Verse Passage: Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – NIV

Growing up I was under the assumption that this verse was saying to give thanks for everything and in everything. I was confused because I did not understand but it did not help the way it was said either. I was always wondering, why would I give thanks for some things that happen that are unfair or that hurt?

Thankfully, that is not what this passage is saying. But what it is saying is possibly just as difficult to do during certain times in our life. 

We are to live in a state of thanksgiving. Living out a life of gratitude to the One who provides for us. Thanksgiving is a practice we use or should use to focus on what God has done for us and to thank Him for it. Gratitude is a characteristic we develop the more we use it. It is us living in a state of readiness to show thanksgiving or appreciation and to return kindness when it is given. 

Jesus wants us to find peace. He often talks about the peace only He can give. And we’ve been given a way to obtain such a peace. We are to come to Jesus in prayer and offer up our request. In the same moment we are to offer up our gratitude to Him. It’s hard to have a positive outlook inside a negative situation and it’s just as hard to be without peace when you are in the mist of God and you have surrendered yourself with Him. When we actually take action to purposefully look around we can see God’s constant presence in gratitude and therefore should have a willingness and eagerness to be around such a thing. 

Gratitude is like an activation ingredient. Once you begin to use it there are things within it that activate and you get the results from that activation. Gratitude creates a flow of more blessing into your life. Which by the same measure having ingratitude, fear, doubt, etc has the opposite effect. 

PLEASE LISTEN! What we (you) sow into our (your) life and into others, and even the atmosphere around us (yourself) in turn we (you) shall reap from all that sowing that. Good and bad we (you) shall reap. 

Verse Passage: Matthew 13:23 “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” – NIV

I recently have come in contact with a very negative person and everything if true in her life is just the worst. Luckily from her I can contrast and compare to someone who has a very positive life. And in reading the word you can see that there is much power in words. I know it’s hard not to entertain the negatives around you because it seems like there are so many more that are around every day. But instead of entertaining them, let us fight them. Fight them with God, fight them with the Word, fight with the blood, fight with the anointing, fight with the authority, fight with the Name that is above all other names!

One of the most important things you can do to help yourself is not to articulate. DO NOT EXPRESS the negative. I believe that in doing this you are reducing the strength of your opponent in half. It will then be much easier for you to finish it off since you have reduced the battlefield down to the mental field. 

Verse Passage: Psalm 19:14 “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” – NIV

How long has it been since you last counted your blessings? It’s so easy when someone ask of you to tell what has gone wrong or what are the negatives of a certain situation. It should be easier for us to be able to recount and visualize the blessings God has given and all that He has done for us and is still doing for us. 

When we have a heart of thanksgiving we have the chance to transform the way we act, think, and respond to any and all situations we find ourself in. Developing, obtaining, and keeping a constant beat of gratitude will not only change us. It will certainly be a critical factor that changes the church body, your household, your workplace, your city, your state, your nation. 

Together in a gratitude lifestyle I believe we would see change in the most unprecedented ways. I believe a nation could be changed when its people have a heartbeat of gratitude.   

God bless. 

Copyright © 2020 by Jacob Olinger