Developing the Art of Being Thankful for Little Things
Psalm 100:4
May 29th 2011 PM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (Psalm
100:4)
A.
The older I get and the longer
I am saved, the more I need to be thankful!
B.
Just because I want to praise
and thank God more, doesn’t mean that I find it any easier!
C.
But being grateful, thankful,
appreciative of especially the little things, is far more important than getting
paid, owning a car, having good health, or almost anything else!
D.
Thankfulness is a gift from
God. And it must be sought for, and cultivated, or else you will miss the life
that God has so freely give you
II.
Message
A.
If there is ONE thing that
God is starved for, it is gratefulness (Rom 1:21)
1.
Jesus healed ten lepers, and
all but one ran off excited, healed, and unthankful!
2.
Mankind naturally is
unthankful
3.
People only love themselves,
and think of themselves
4.
Religious people only thank
God for their own greatness (Luke 18:11)
5.
Proud, successful people don’t
need to thank anyone
6.
Even depressed people –
thinking only of their situation, and their problems, and forgetting God
7.
We keep waiting for something
BIG to come our way, and we think that THEN we will really appreciate God, but
that is WHY nothing big comes our way!
8.
Become thankful for little
things – invisible things – simple things, and God will give you great things to
thank Him for!
B.
If there is one Barrier to
a Grateful Spirit, it is Self (Philp 3:3)
1.
We have all our wants, plans,
goals, needs – and yet have none of what Christ has for us! He offers life
abundant, and yet we cling to our past. Our plans. Our pains.
2.
Brokenness is the stripping
away of my self-reliance, of my self-sufficiency, of my self-gratification, and
me starting at zero
3.
Once there, every little thing
that comes my way, I become thankful for!
a.
A wealthy man will find it
hard to be thankful for a glass of water, but a thirsty man will smile and thank
God for it!
b.
A comfortable man will find it
hard to be thankful for a cloudy day, but a tired man, who has no home, will be
eternally grateful for a bit of shade from the hot sun!
4.
It takes losing to gain. Once
I lose everything, I finally start to gain (Philp 3:8-10)
5.
If you find it hard to be
thankful for little things, then YOU are in the way!
C.
Jesus thanked God for
Simple Things…
1.
A Small Meal
(John 6:2-9)
a.
A little lad
b.
A little bread and fish – a
tiny amount of food
c.
A lot of opportunity - to show
the greatness of God, and the greatness of praise!
1)
Even though it is hard
sometimes
2)
Like when He came to Lazarus’
tomb – Jesus was grateful for the opportunity to show just who He was, and how
He worked!
d.
Jesus was thankful for a small
meal and looked what happened!
2.
Simple Truths
(Luke 10:21)
a.
Jesus loved blowing people
away! He loved how marvellous the truths of God were!
1)
About the grace of God –
thieves and publicans could appreciate it
2)
About the love of God -
harlots could understand it
3)
About the faithfulness of God
– children could understand it
4)
About the victory over Satan –
fishermen understood it
b.
Too simple for the
hyper-educated
c.
Too little for the Religious
to handle
d.
But wonderful for the humble,
and hungry, and empty lives that clung on every word that Jesus spoke!
3.
God’s Specific Will
(Luke 22:17,19)
a.
He struggled with it as a Man
b.
But He always was thankful for
the path that His father had laid out for Him – and by-the-way, so am “I”
thankful for the path God laid out for His son!
4.
How automatically do you
thank God for such things?
D.
We Should Be Thankful…
Let me start
the list!
1.
For Forgiveness
(
a.
We have been accepted in the
Beloved!
b.
We HAVE the Victory, Freedom
from sin (1Cor 15:57; Rom 6:17)
c.
A present tense reality! “Ye
are washed!”
2.
For just Knowing God
(Jer 9:23,24)
a.
I know Him! I know where He
lives (Isa 57:15)
b.
Best, He knows me!
3.
For Every Meal
(1Tim 4:3,4)
a.
Can we simply be thankful for
food and raiment? (1Tim 6:8)
b.
Paul Thanked God for a simple
meal, and just being alive (Acts 27:18,20,27,33-35)
4.
For Every Day
(Psalm 118:24) – and tomorrow, and the next day! There are no days to NOT thank
God for!
5.
For Good Memories
(Philp 1:3)
a.
Hey! You are what you think
about!
b.
FORGET those hurtful times,
and sad times
c.
Like with a pregnancy – the
pain of delivery is quickly forgotten! Can you imagine if a child has to grow up
with a Mother constantly reminding them how much pain they experienced bringing
them into the world?!
d.
If you don’t have any good
memories (which is highly unlikely), then MAKE SOME by serving the Lord! Every
believer in that Bible made some eternal memories living for Christ! Read
Hebrews 11!!!
6.
For Our Purpose in Life
(1Tim 1:12)
a.
God calls every Christian to
do something
b.
We were saved to serve the
Lord
c.
We were designed to do
something for others first
d.
Take a look at where you are,
and start being thankful, and then maybe, just maybe, God will put you in a
better place knowing that you will be thankful there as well!
7.
For the Brethren
(Acts 28:15)
a.
How can you LOVE those whom
you are not thankful for?
b.
Paul loved Christians – every
one of them!
c.
They were family!
d.
Some were a nightmare towards
him, but he didn’t care!
e.
He was thankful when he was
around them!
f.
Overlooking a load of faults
and just loving them as they are!
8.
For Fellow-helpers
(2Cor 8:16)
a.
Paul couldn’t do what he did
(starting churches) alone
b.
And he knew how hard it was to
convince men to give up their lives and head off with him on his crazy
missionary church planting journeys
c.
And so, when a Silas came
along, and helped him preach, he was grateful
d.
When a Timothy joined up along
side
e.
When a Luke,
f.
HEY! When no one is helping,
and then ANYBODY comes along, you better believe how happy you will be!!! Not
because they are so smart, and so wise, but just because they are THERE!
9.
For those in authority
(1Tim 2:1)
a.
Are you thankful for Enda
Kenny? We need to pray for him
b.
But we need to be thankful for
him!
c.
For your boos
d.
Your husband
e.
Your Daddy
f.
Your pastor!
10.
For Ever
(Ps 30:12; 79:13) “I will bless the Lord at all times… continually… for ever”
11.
When Praying
(Philp 4:6) It is part of praying
12.
When Talking
- In the place of all the filthy words we used to say (Eph 5:4)
a.
Thank God for the day
b.
Thank God for the rain
c.
Thank God for the awful cup of
coffee
d.
Thank people for sitting with
you
e.
Thank people for putting up
with you
f.
Be thankful in your speaking!
g.
Thank your Mom or your wife
for everything! EVERYTHING!
h.
Thank your dad for everything
he does
i.
Thank you husband for marrying
you!
j.
Write a letter to Enda Kenny
and thank him for caring about
13.
When Troubled and
Persecuted (Matt 5:11,12; Dan 6:10)
14.
While It Matters Most
(Psalm 6:5)
15.
Even though it seems
Strange (Psalm 18:49)
16.
Even though it may cost
you something (Heb 13:15; 1Pet 2:19) and it
usually does!
III.
Conclusion
A.
Now, I have started the list,
you finish it!
B.
You cannot say thank you too
much…
1.
I don’t think you can say
thank you too much!
2.
I don’t think I can preach too
much about being grateful for everything
3.
I don’t think God minds just
being appreciated for everything – not just the big things
a.
Because God deserves a lot of
thank you’s
b.
Because Jesus taught us to be
thankful
C.
Start being thankful. Just
start.
1.
It doesn’t matter if it does
or doesn’t come naturally. START only saying nice things about people, food,
situations
2.
You are going to have to just
start saying Thank You for everything, whether you feel like it or not, and let
the peace of God keep your hearts (Philp 4:6,7)
3.
If you find it hard, realise
it is okay to ask God for a grateful heart – He will help you! He promises to
give you the GARMENT of PRAISE for the spirit of heaviness!
D.
Take note every day of what
you are thankful for – always on the lookout for something new to Thank God or
someone for
E.
Write those things down in a
notebook or diary,
F.
and thank God particularly for
each and every one! Don’t let a day go by that you don’t write a dozen new
things down that you are thankful for!
G.
See how long it takes you to
get to 1,000
Craig Ledbetter | Pastor | Bible Baptist Church | 021-4871234
+353-21-4871234 |
biblebc@gmail.com
www.biblebc.com