Attitude of Gratitude

 Attitude of Gratitude 

June 15, 2026

Philippians 4:6 (NKJV) 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Ephesians 5:20 (NKJV) 

giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Having the mind of Christ involves adopting several attitudes. One of these is gratitude. We once had a pastor that printed signs that said “Attitude of Gratitude”, and had us tape it to our bathroom mirror where we would see it first thing every morning. I don’t remember how long that sign stayed there. That house has been sold and that pastor has moved on to his eternal reward, but the lesson remains. If you want to live with the mind of Christ, start your day with an attitude of gratitude. 

This has always been difficult for me. I spent my working life looking for faults in paper making equipment that could be fixed, and investigating inefficiencies that could be improved. That is an attitude of continuous improvement, which leads to increasing productivity, but does not foster a sense of gratitude for what you have. In order to give thanks for all things, you have to be grateful for what you have now, being confident that God will supply anything that is lacking.

So endeavor to give thanks always for all things and make your requests known to God with thanksgiving. Such an attitude will lead you to have the mind of Christ and drawn you closer to the Lord. Shalom.

 

Being Blessed

 Being Blest

April 4, 2025

Matthew 5:1-12

The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes

1When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Do you want to be blest? In the sermon on the mount, Jesus started off by listing the kind of people that are blessed. It’s not a list that you would find in any popular self help book about getting ahead in business. But it is a list that describes a faithful disciple of Jesus. Meek, gentle, righteous, just, peacemaker, etc. But one attitude that is not listed, but that I think is also very important is gratitude. 

Colossians 2:6-7

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and establishedin your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

When you walk in the Spirit for awhile, and He establishes you in your faith, you will be blest, and you attitude should be an overflowing gratitude. That is one area that I’m not very good at. When we consider all that the Lord has brought us through, all that he has taught us, and all the blessings that he has given into our lives, we need to be grateful. When you look at the beatitudes, not everything in that list appears to be a blessing at the time; poor in spirit, hunger and thirst for righteousness, being insulted and persecuted. But the Lord said that you are blessed when you go through these things with the proper attitude, and a key part of a good attitude is gratitude. We once has a pastor that made up little signs saying “Attitude of Gratitude” which we out in our bathroom mirror so we would be reminded every morning to be grateful. 

So Lord, help us to be grateful for all of our blessings, even when they don’t look pleasant at first. As the old hymn said, 

“Count your blessings, 

Name them one by one.

Count your blessings,

See what God has done.”

So be blessed and be a blessing today.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

 Philippians 4:4-6 (NASB95) 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Psalm 7:17 (NASB95)

I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Colossians 3:17 (NASB95)

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Revelation 11:17 (NASB95)

saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.

In Everything Give Thanks

 In Everything Give Thanks

November 27, 2024

Yesterday we were looking at the passage in 1 Thessalonians where it talks about out encouraging one another. If you read further in chapter 5, you find these verses:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Now brace yourself. I’m going to reveal a deep theology truth here. Are you ready? The word translated “everything” here has the Greek meaning…. Everything! … I  know that shocking, right? I know you were hoping there was some hidden meaning that says to be thankful for the good things and to bless God when things are going your way. But nooooo… everything means every-thing, all-things, whatever and whenever. That hardly seems fair does it. Well I’ll let you in on another deep secret… God is not fair. It was not fair for Jesus to have to die for you sins and it’s not fair for you to have to forgive someone 70 times 7 when they haven’t even apologized. God is not fair,  but He is just. It is justice that demands a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and required us to forgive one another as the Lord has forgiven us. And yes, it is just for us to rejoice even when we don’t feel like it. When we rejoice always and give hanks in everything  we acknowledge that God is good and that His goodness is in everything around us. We may not always see it at first, but if you look hard, and especially look back you will see God’s goodness in everything.

How many times has something happened to you that appeared to be bad but turned out for the best. Did you ever suffer through a broken relationship that helped you to minister to someone else in their time of need and brokenness? There were even stories from 9/11 of people who got caught in traffic or missed a train connection which caused them to be late for work at the twin towers, and that mishap saved their lives when the towers came down. So it may not be fair, and it certainly is not logical, but we are to give thanks in everything. It even says here that it is God’s will that you do so! So tomorrow when you gather with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving , consider what you can be thankful for and rejoice. And I haven’t even started on “pray without ceasing”…. Till next time…

Rejoice

 Rejoice

November 15, 2024

Philippians 4:4-9

4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

In recent posts we have been talking about recent events and what it will take to bring revival to the land. Today, I would like to look at one key to reviving your own hope. “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice.” Looking at the world situation can get us down, but we need to look up. Remember that the Lord sits on his throne in the heavenlies. Remember Psalm 2 and how the Lord reacts to the plots of world leaders.

Psalms 2:4

4He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

If the Lord can laugh at them, then we should not be anxious for anything. We can rejoice in the goodness of God and trust Him in all things. The Apostle Paul goes on to say that we can pray with thanksgiving and we will have peace which passes understanding. I for one, like to understand everything, but have learned that it is better to trust the Lord and just rejoice when you see all the silliness that world leaders try to do. In the end, it is the Lord that is on His throne and every knee will bow.

The second part of this key to peaceful living is found in verses 8 and 9. In addition to rejoicing, we should think on things that are honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise. We can control our attitude. It’s not easy in this world where competing thoughts fill the airwaves, but it is possible. Part of not being anxious is to just take a break and meditate on the goodness of God. It is a choice whether to obsess on the evils of the world or to rejoice in the goodness of God.

So this then is one key to revival. In order to bring the gospel of peace to the world, we need to be at peace in our own soul. The Apostle Paul tells on in this letter to the Philippians how to do that. He ends this discourse with the famous and often quoted out of context verse: Philippians 4:13

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The “all things” follows the rejoicing and right thinking and practicing these things. When we get out act together, then the Lord will provide the peace and strength in all things.

The Lord Sits on His Throne

 The Lord Sits on His Throne

November 6, 2024

Psalms 2:1-6 (ESV) 

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, againstthe LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 

4He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 (ESV) 

13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if mypeople who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Today is a real Psalms 2 day. The nations have raged and the rulers of the earth have plotted against the Lord, but the Lord sits in heaven and laughs! It’s is a great victory for righteousness that many of God’s people won in the election, but we need to not forget 2 Chronicles 7:14. Now we need to pray in earnest that all of God’s people humble themselves and pray so that the Lord can complete the healing of our land. Today we are thankful for a great victory, but the work of cleaning out the evil from our land has just begun. We need to seek His face and all of us need to turn from our wicked ways. Evil will not go quietly into the night, so we must be Ephesians 6 type warriors and keep praying and keep working to hold the evil doers accountable.

 

I’m so thankful that the Lord is sitting on the throne and that He has given us one more chance to heal our nation. And now is truly a time for healing and reconciliation. There have been many people caught up in the evils of our age; child trafficking,j abortion, drug addiction, economic hardship, etc. We need to pray for them and bring the message of hope and healing to them. “We the people…” means all the people of Americas. Let us pray that the gospel of peace will reach every heart that is troubled today so that we can all rejoice together at what the Lord has done.

Gratitude

 Gratitude

November 3, 2024

Colossians 2:6-7

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and establishedin your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude^g2169

Gratitude. Thankfulness. In the Greek, Eucharistia:

g2169. εὐχαριστία eucharistia ; from 2170; thankfulness, giving of thanks:--

giving of thanks(3), gratefully*(1), gratitude(2), thankfulness(1), thanks(2), thanksgiving(4), thanksgivings(2).

And in another passage, thanksgiving is coupled with rejoicing:

Philippians 4:4-7

4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving^g2169 let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Last time we were talking about attitude. I once had a pastor that had us make a sign saying “Attitude of Gratitude”, and had us post in on the bathroom mirror where we would see it first thing every morning. I certainly need to be reminded of this in the morning! Thankfulness is not one of my natural attributes, but is something that I need to cultivate. As the Apostle Paul says, an attitude of gratitude is essential for our walk with Jesus, and rejoicing with thanksgiving will result in peace. We certainly need the peace of God in this day and age! 

As I write this, I am traveling, visiting family. I am certainly grateful for family. It’s pretty easy to rejoice and be grateful when you are watching a young child laugh and play. Paul says “be anxious for nothing”. It’s that anxiety over the problems of the world that rob us of the youthful attitude of joy and peace. Help us be more like little children, just taking joy in each day and being grateful for all the little things.

In the verse in Colossians , Paul tells us that walking with Jesus with an attitude of thankfulness will help establish us in the faith. We absolutely need faith to live in these times. The US elections are just a couple of days away, and we need to have faith the the Lord is with us in difficult times, and be grateful that we live in a nation where we are free to worship the Lord and to participate in our government by voting.So, be anxious for nothing, but pray and be grateful. The Lord is on His throne. Jesus is Lord!

Psalm 100- Enter His Gates

 Psalm 100- Enter His Gates

Psalms 100:1-5 (NKJV) 1 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. 

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the LORD, He [is] God; [It is] He [who] has made us, and not we ourselves; [We are ]His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gateswith thanksgiving, [And] into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, [and] bless His name. 5 For the LORD [is] good; His mercy [is] everlasting, And His truth [endures] to all generations.

Psalm 100 is one of the most beloved of all the Psalms. You will find some version of this psalm in most hymnals and psalters used throughoutchurch history. In the Methodist Hymnal, there is a version of “Old 100” that was written around 1551. One reason that this psalmhas such enduring popularity is that it contains the key to entering into the presence of God.

4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, [And] into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, [and] bless His name

In Old Testament times, these worshipers approached the temple in a spirit of thanksgiving and praise, but they also came bearing blood offerings for the alter. This is no longer the case. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews explained how  it is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that gives us the right to approach the Lord with thanksgiving and praise in New Covenant times.

Hebrews 13:10-12 (NKJV) 

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is broughtinto the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV) 

Thereforeby Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of [our] lips, giving thanks to His name.

Therefore, we now may approach the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving for what Jesus has done, and offering the sacrifice of praise, which is the only sacrifice now required. The blood of the lamb, that is Jesus, has paid the price for our redemption, so we may now freely enter into the pretense of the Lord with thanksgiving and praise only. No longer do we need to bring the blood of bulls and rams to be able to enter the holy place.

So indeed, we make a joyful noise to the Lord. And not just a select few, but all nations and people groups may now enter when they have accepted the salvation purchased by the blood of Jesus.  We see the culmination of this worship and praise in the book of Revelations.

Revelation 5:9-14 (NKJV)

9And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power [Be] to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

How glorious will it be when we see those from every tribe and nation join with all the angels and living creatures and the elders of old, all gathered around the throne, praising God, giving thanks, and entering into true worship. It will be a great and glorious day indeed! And it all started with a humble psalm about entering his gates with thanksgiving and entering his courts with praise.

Psalm 42- As the Deer

 Psalm 42- As the Deer

Psalms 42:1-2 (NET) 

1 As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God!

2 Ithirst for God, for the living God. I say, "When will I be able to go and appear in God's presence?"

This is an appropriate psalm for this season in Texas. It’s been a very hot and dry summer and the streams have all dried up. We put out water for the deer and they eagerly come up for a drink even though it is close to the house. Their desperate thirst overcomes their fear of humans.

Are we that desperate in our seeking the living God? Do we cry out to the Lord in our troubles like the psalmist does?

Psalms 42:3-11 (NET) 

3I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, "Where is your God?" 4 I will remember and weep! For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God, shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. 

5Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention. 6 I am depressed, so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, from Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 

7One deep stream calls out to another at the sound of your waterfalls; all your billows and waves overwhelm me. 8 By day the LORD decrees his loyal love, and by night he gives me a song, a prayer to the living God. 9 I will pray to God, my high ridge: "Why do you ignore me? Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me?" 10 My enemies' taunts cut into me to the bone, as they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 

11Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention.

None of us like trouble, but sometimes the only thing that convinces us to call out to the Lord is a time of difficulty. The important thing to remember is to call out to the Lord and not get bitter. The danger is our tendency to turn inward and blame the Lord for our problems instead of waiting for Him to deliver us. We need to be like the deer and seek out the stream of water and wait in the Lord for His refreshing. 

Psalms 42:11 (NKJV) 

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of mycountenance and my God.

Hope in God distinguishes us from the unbelievers around us. Everyone has their own trials but only those who have hope in God are able to overcome them with a good attitude. Praising the Lord in the midst of difficulties marks us as “a peculiar people” who don’t give in to the spirit of the age but instead rely on the Spirit of God to sustain us and empower us to love out neighbors, even when we ourselves have circumstances that could cause us to worry, so don’t be downcast but hope in the Lord and praise God no matter what is happening in your life.