Choosing a Heart of Gratefulness!

CHOOSE (your will in subjection to His will) DAILY! John 3:30 - "He must increase, but I MUST decrease." Submit to the Lord, rebuke the enemy, aloud, and CHOOSE the Lord's ways and not your ways. CHOOSE Christ and not the flesh!

Dependence on Him and the readiness for moment-by-moment submission to "Christ in me, the Hope of glory."

After dealing with pride, a new attitude engulfs us...the attitude of thankfulness. An humble person is the one who can be thankful - turns your eyes off yourself to the Lord. A thankful person knows they do not deserve anything, but has been given everything, knows the Lord is the Source. Do your thanksgivings outweigh your requests?

Stages of growth with thankful people: 1. Before the blessings - John 11:41...Raising of Lazarus 2. Midst of whatever - Daniel, determined to be obedient regardless of the consequences (1:8); Jonah 2:9 - "Voice of thanksgiving" 3. After the blessing: Exodus 14 Red Sea parted; 15:1 Singing Rev. 15 Singing

Paul and Silas (Acts 16) singing in prison.

Guard against becoming 1. Luke 12:16-21 2. Luke 18:9-14

In choosing to be dependent only upon the Lord, in choosing His ways and not your ways, HUMILITY will take the place of Pride. The Scriptures are clear regarding gratefulness. "Give thanks in ALL things!" This includes the good and what we might consider as the not so good...even those circumstances we view as bad. Romans 8:28-29

The Lord desires that we develop our "CHOOSER" - choose to turn from MY ways to His ways, to choose not to follow my fleshly impulses, but instead be moment-by-moment sensitive to the movement of the precious Holy Spirit - Jesus "in Me" - clothed in my humanity. Let the world see the evidence of Christ living in me - His life lived out through me!

Can we achieve Godly character through keeping rules or fulfilling formulas in our life? Can we ever be truly good without God? Matthew 19:17 "There is none good but One..." (In other words, He is saying that if you won't confess that He is God).
II Timothy 3:5...appearance of goodness without being truly good.

Our reactions/responses to every situation reveals what is built into our life. Having a heart of gratefulness will be in our lives as we train our choose to choose His life through us and not our fleshly reactions. We can see His perspective. Our emotions may and may not turn around...we cannot be dependent on our feelings to make the correct choice.

Psa. 100:4; 22:3 Thanksgiving is the key which allows us access into His gates and praise brings us into His courts. If not grateful...we will only grumble and complain. What is happening in your heart? God knows...expose yourself...allows the Light of the Lord to shine in the dark areas of your being and clean out the garbage. Grumbling and complaining is judging th3e Lord. You have thought that you can handle life better than the Lord. Do you accurately identify this as pride?

The Lord will show you that you are NOT God...your heart will be transformed. Seeing yourself in comparison to God cuts away lofty self-opinion and we are brought to an accurate look at our true worthlessness without Him. Our response to His worthiness is gratefulness for everything that touches our livies in any way!

Psalm 47:7 We need to have a good comprehension regarding the fact that God is King over everything. When we have a true understanding of Who God is, we can and will praise and thank Him in all things as we are told to do in I Thess. 5:18. We don't always like all that comes our way in life, but realizing God has sent it especially for us will go a long way in how we respond.

Program into your flesh computer new thoughts: All circumstances, people and things which come into my life are designed by God to develop more of Him and less of me...that He is in control and allowed the situation so that I might set aside my fleshly responses and allow Him through me to respond! I Cor. 10:13

Psalm 116:17 Sacrifice causes you to deny yourself...your feelings, etc. and choose His way of thinking. Although it seems like a sacrifice at first, it is a disguised blessings - re-directing focus onto Who God is!

Psa. 22:3 praise is a mark of God's people. Psa. 34:1 His praise is to continually in my mouth. BENEFIT: With the Lord dwelling in our praise, Satan cannot stand the heat!...praising becomes our best offensive spiritual warfare strategy!

Simple? Yes, but easy, No!!! Our emotions can be very strong and we will be tempted to allow them to dictate our living. Surrender yourself to Him with an attitude of gratefulness. You have nothing to lose and can only gain through placing yourself totally in His care and allowing His Spirit to live in and through you! CHOOSE right not to develop your attitude of gratitude!!!!

Father, I know that all circumstances, pelple and things which come into my life are designed by You to make more of You real in me and make less of me. I know that You are in control and allow every situation so taht I might set aside my fleshly responses and allow Christ throug me to respond! I choose once and for all to respond to circumstances, people and things with Your grace. I now that I must choose moment by moment in attitude, actions and words to continue to do so. Thank You for living in me which makes it possible.