Scriptures: Luke 17:11-19, Psalms 100:4, Jeremiah 30:19, John 11:41-44

Right Remembering

This season has been such a significant time for me individually and for my family. It’s been a season of giving generously, a time where we war in the heavenlies to see prayers answered within our family and our church community. Importantly, it’s also a time to reflect on the goodness of God and allow praise and thanksgiving to flow because of how great God has been to us.

I live by this statement – ‘Thanksgiving flows from right remembering’. 

By deliberately remembering the right things about God and others I have found that thanksgiving always flows. However, the converse is also true – Dishonour flows from wrong remembering.

I see thanksgiving as a spiritual weapon!!

The Bible says that no matter what is taking place in our lives we are to remain in a posture of thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 

When we position our hearts and our words to allow thanksgiving to flow, it enables God to move in these ways:

1. Thanksgiving makes you whole

In Luke 17:11-19 we recount the story of the 10 lepers.      

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole.

 I want to be the one that will run back and fall at Jesus’ feet to say thanks. 

 2. Thanksgiving leads you into the presence of God (Psalms 100:4)

The Bible tells us we are to enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Thanksgiving has a frequency that opens gates and opportunities for your next.  

3. Thanksgiving prepares the way for multiplication (Jer 30:19)

Thanksgiving brings multiplication and creates an environment of big-ness around us. Remember the miracle of the loaves and fishes (Matt 14:17-20) – it was a meal for one that ended up being a meal for thousands with leftovers. The key for the multiplication was Jesus’ ability to look up to heaven and give thanks.

4. Thanksgiving paves the way for answered prayer (John 11:41, 43-44)

Jesus gave thanks before the miracle took place. Let’s align our belief systems to know that God hears and sees our prayer needs and despite the storms going on around us, our part is to simply come with a heart of thanksgiving. 

What are you thankful for today? 

Pray With Me:

Let’s make this a week where we petition heaven with right remembering and in our words lift up a collective voice of thanksgiving. 

Scripture: Psalms 150:1-6

Unending Celebration

Psalm 150 is literally just a list of why we should praise God. The thing that immediately grabs my attention is that all the reasons we have to celebrate are not dependent on us and our circumstances. This is so counter-cultural because most of our reasons to celebrate are based around milestones or successes like birthdays, a new job, a new member of the family – and while those things are great to celebrate, they don’t form the foundation of why we are to celebrate and have joyful thanksgiving around our lives. A Christian’s celebration is supposed to be consistent and not based around good or bad events. 

As Christians, the more we celebrate, the more we praise and thank our God, the greater our joy becomes. Especially in the Covid era, we can so easily forget to celebrate because of the craziness and chaos around our lives but God’s word says that regardless of circumstance and situation we are to praise God for His greatness, power and work in our lives. If the joy of the Lord is our strength, we become stronger in faith, more resilient as people when we celebrate more. You might have someone in your life who’s always upbeat and always thankful and you wonder how they can be that way. Celebration is not a feeling, it’s not a moment and it’s not only for the good times – if you can start to incorporate the celebration of your Saviour into your daily life, your whole countenance will change. You’ll light up rooms, you’ll be resilient in bad times, you’ll have greater vision for the future and you’ll please God. Celebration defeats victimhood, celebration defeats worry, celebration defeats hopelessness. 

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6). Today, start to praise God and celebrate His goodness no matter the situation you face and watch as your faith and your whole life start to go to new levels. 

Pray With Me:

God, You are good, You are powerful and You have done amazing things in my life. I celebrate You saving my soul, I celebrate You having a place for me in heaven and I celebrate Your Spirit being with me today. I’m so thankful for all You’ve done for me. I praise You. 

Scriptures: Psalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5, Psalms 116:7, Psalms 22:3, Proverbs 15:15

Laugh

Laughter, joy, thanksgiving and praise are some of the most underestimated weapons in our artillery as Christians.  We easily interrupt fear, worry, and anxiousness by remembering our blessings and giving thanks to God.  We easily transform the atmosphere of our circumstance by laughing out loud.

I remember enjoying lunch with a woman whom I greatly admire.  I was asking her questions about life, motherhood, ministry and just about anything else I could think of.  As our conversation continued I noticed something about her talk that made me pause internally.  She laughed… a lot.  She turned every topic into the positive and managed to laugh as she shared her stories and experiences with me.

I walked away from that lunch date asking myself, “when did you get so serious?”  Since then, I have asked God to instill a greater sense of joy in my heart.  How awesome to be like the kind of person found in Proverbs 31, who “laughs without fear of the future.”

When life gets too serious, our strength is drained and everything we once loved becomes a laborious effort. Proverbs tells us over and over the value of joy, laughter and thanksgiving to turn atmospheres around and to correct our soul (Proverbs 15:15, Proverbs 17:22). 

King David continually ordered his soul to get back into line.  This man suffered some of the cruelest assaults and private losses a person could face.  Some were the result of his own doing; others were through the unfair treatment at the hands of those he loved.  Yet the psalms he wrote are a record of this man’s conscious discipline to correct his heart (Psalm 42: 11 & 43: 5, Psalm 103:1-5).

When life gets on top of us it is remembering the goodness of God and giving thanks to Him for it that is the surest way back to peace (Psalm 116:7, Psalm 126:2-3).

Remember?!  Do you remember the amazing things He has done for you?  Do you remember that all these other things are only temporary and God is always good?  When the enemy raises his hand against you, you can rejoice because God is unfailingly faithful to His children.  He will come through – He always does!

Come on my friend!  When did you get so serious?  Lighten up!  Let out a laugh and thank God for His goodness.  Then laugh again – at yourself for taking yourself so seriously!

Laugh!

There is also a very pointed time to celebrate and party, and it’s usually important to do it in advance as a sign of faith. 

In Bible times a Jewish household would always have a fattened calf ready in preparation for a celebration. They were ready to party at any moment – I love that kind of faith.  

Faith that makes room for God, it makes room for a miracle and is in a constant state of party.  Praise and thanksgiving make room for God and He inhabits that room (Psalm 22:3).

When you praise God, your environment changes.  You might have spent the week camping in the valley, but when you start thanking Jesus in the midst of that atmosphere your view changes.  In actual fact, your location changes (Psalm 100:4).

When we praise God we move from the midst of our circumstances to the presence of God Himself.

When our confession changes, our location changes.

We are no longer describing the reality of the situation, but the reality of Jesus.  Our souls shift from seeing what the world sees to being able to again see Jesus over and above that situation

Praise magnifies God and minimises the problem.

Perhaps you’ve done enough intercession, worship and fasting.  Maybe it’s time to take off the mourning garments, shake off the dust and throw a praise party.  When was the last time your environment heard the sound of your laughter and a raucous praise given to your God?

Pray With Me:

Thank you Lord that my world changes when I lift up a heavenly laugh. Today despite my circumstances I choose to rejoice and laugh in Your presence and goodness. Help me to see things from a heavenly perspective and look past the temporary and instill in me the ability to let out a heavenly laugh once again. 

Scripture: Psalms 51:10

Sustainable Gratitude

Is it possible to be grateful all the time, even through trials? Yes it is!

Have you ever met a person who seems to always be positive and have an attitude of gratitude towards life? Maybe you’ve thought they’re weird, or somehow they missed the daily trials the rest of us have had to be constantly and consistently upbeat, right?

I, too, thought like this once, but to be honest I actually wished I knew how to be grateful through trials and in my everyday life. I thought it was due to some external factor that I was missing that would somehow ‘make’ me grateful. The truth is, it’s not whether my circumstances are perfect, or whether all my ducks are in a row that determines my gratitude levels – God says it’s my heart posture.  

In the Bible, David cried out to God “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:10).  He didn’t say help me behave better or be more resilient.  David prayed for the condition of his heart to be right. He recognised that all gratitude starts in the HEART, not in the circumstances.

The heart through scripture is the ‘inner man’ and in both the Hebrew and Greek it’s described as the ‘seat of our emotions, passions, joy, gladness, thoughts’.  Luke 6:45 adds that “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” – so, really the heart is that central place, or inner man, inside us which dictates our words, attitudes and emotions. Wow! No wonder David desperately wanted God to create a clean heart inside him!

In the Bible we see how Israel strayed away from God and made their own idols. They would often be reminded of the Lord, their God, who delivered them from Egypt. They were reminded of the Lord who did great things for their nation. God was their rescuer and deliverer.   

Even today we can be the same. So often we can stray from God, be distracted, idolise or dwell on wrong things. We need God to do what He did for Israel and give us a revelation in our hearts of how amazing He is – because when that fills our hearts, thankfulness, joy and gratitude overflows. Gratitude flows from the inside out.

And this is the key to being thankful in all seasons – no matter the circumstances or the trials we face. Ps Mike Mulheran preached a message awhile back and he said the statement “Thanksgiving flows from right remembering”.  Whether you feel you are in the desert right now and life feels tough or whether life is great and everything is smooth sailing – having a  revelation of God – what He has saved you from, His immeasurable love for you, His unending grace toward you, His majesty and mighty deeds, His abundant creation all around, your future with God – is what creates a thankful heart, overflowing with gratitude.  There is a new horizon of joy for you when your heart is fixed on the right things.  Determine today that this will be part of your life – and you will be known as the person who has joy through all seasons of life.

What do I do from here?

Let’s search for more than knowledge – but a revelation. Ask God to create a new heart inside us, founded on this revelation of who God is. 

Pray With Me:

God, You are steadfast and good, no matter the season I find myself in. Today I believe that who You are in my life isn’t dictated by my emotions or experience and that my joy is in knowing You are the same every day. You are always for me, not against me. You love me unconditionally and Your grace is sufficient for me everyday. God, create in me a clean heart that my emotions, thoughts, and confession will flow from;  that Your joy will be my strength and I will speak of your goodness and faithfulness all my days – Amen!

Scriptures: John 15:5-8, Ephesians 6:11-17

Fight With Joy

At first glance these two scriptures seem miles apart but if you hang with me I would like to share with you how they are connected and what on earth they have to do with being grateful and thankful for all that God has done for us. 

This passage in John teaches us the importance of remaining connected to the vine (that is Jesus), so that we bear fruit. When you think about it, none of us have apples growing out of our armpits, so clearly Jesus is talking about some other kind of fruit here. It would be some time before we would get the understanding that the fruit Jesus is referring to is actually the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23). 

The passage in Ephesians tells us that we are in a spiritual war and the way we fight is by having spiritual armour. Have you ever realised the weapons we wield to fight in this war are the fruits we bear by remaining in the vine? It is like a full circle; to fight looks like remaining in Jesus and by remaining in Jesus we bear fruit and that fruit become the weapons we use in the fight which keeps us remaining in Jesus. 

The fruit of ‘joy’ is just one of the weapons we can cultivate if we’re going to fight in this spiritual war. In this time and space of big feelings, valid feelings, wacky feelings, lack of feelings – I believe the weapon of joy has the power to transform selfishness into thankfulness, apathy into gratitude, idolatry into recognising the goodness of God. Because joy is not a feeling, rather, joy is the ability to believe that God is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do, despite what the reality of life looks like around us. 

Throughout this week, find some space to connect with God. I encourage you to put yourself in an environment and/or do whatever activity that helps you connect with Him. Then when you’re in that place I want you to remind yourself about the nature and character of God.

Ask yourself these questions:  

• What are the promises He’s given us in the Bible that you can make your foundation to stand upon?          
• What has He already done in your life that you can rejoice in?          
• When and how have you experienced the goodness of God?

We can cultivate the fruit of joy by reminding ourselves of what we believe, by standing upon what we believe, by reading and memorising scripture that backs up our beliefs, by claiming those beliefs so that we can rejoice in the goodness of God and not the goodness of our circumstances. And with this weapon, we can stand firm in this war. Glory!

Pray with me:

God I thank you for Your Word, I thank You for Your goodness towards me. Holy Spirit would You open my eyes, my heart, my mind and my understanding to recognise when You have been good to me. God I know that apart from You I will just wither away so I surrender again today and make the choice to be connected to You, to remain in You, to follow You. I love You Lord. Would You use me, fill me and lead me into all that You have for me today. Amen.

Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Proverbs 22:6, Philippians 4:6-7

Relational Gratitude

My three-and-a-bit year old son has the responsibility of selecting who will lead the prayer for our family meal together each night. More often than not, he selects himself and if he doesn’t attempt to lead us in the ‘Superman Grace’ song (which I regrettably taught him), he will list off the things he has enjoyed the most that day, including; painting, watching The Wiggles on TV, wrestling… finally ending with “thanks for the food for us.”

Sometimes he remembers to make mention of Jesus or God somewhere in the prayer, but occasionally when he hasn’t, Anna or I will ask, “Elijah, who are we thankful to…?” 

“JESUS!” is the reply, often at a ferocious volume.

Many years ago, a good friend of mine who follows Jesus, shared his disregard for the act of ‘grace’ or praying before a meal together. He suggested that it has become a mindless and almost superstitious ritual compared to earnest prayer. It reminds me of that common discussion point that has pervaded social media in Christian circles – “it’s not a religion, it’s a relationship!”

As a pastor and as a follower of Jesus, I’ve found that most people would agree that one of the central pillars of being Christ-like would include having a relationship with Christ. But like any important relationship I have, I know it is strengthened by regular habits and points of contact.

One of the most common attributes all healthy relationships have is gratitude. Your relationship with Jesus will only improve when you regularly show Him gratitude. It’s this lesson that I hope to pass on to my sons, and to you today. 

A healthy series of questions to consider are;   

• Am I truly grateful?   
• Do I express gratitude?   
• Am I expressing it often?

The more I practice gratitude, the more I am able to recognise just how much God has blessed me and my family. My flesh may want to get recognition for cooking a delicious meal, but ultimately every good gift comes from above (James 1:7). Recognising that God is good and that He alone is my source helps me to be confident in His security. 

I can also be confident in Elijah’s future if he can continually respond to the question, “who should we be thanking?” With “JESUS!” as the answer.

Pray with me:

Lord, I put my trust in you. You are good and you are the giver of all good things. Remind me of what you’ve done for me and soften my heart where I am troubled. I give thanks that I can talk to you always and that you hear me.

Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Proverbs 22:6, Philippians 4:6-7

Being a 1 out of 10 Person

I am great at reaching up high and finding people in big crowds. I was the top points scorer in my league for basketball and I like to think I am a good cook, but If I were to score myself at arts and craft I would give myself a 1 out of 10. I can remember sitting in art class at school and the teacher would draw this extravagant horse on the chalkboard. My attempt to reproduce this masterpiece ended up looking more like scribbles on a page. If I think back to my year 7 class, I was the only one that never officially received a pen license because my handwriting was so horrible. So now the secret’s out, I have been writing in pen illegitimately for 22 years. 

There’s a story in the Bible about a 1 out of 10 person found in Luke 17:11-19. All 10 men in this story had leprosy. This disease meant they were social outcasts, not allowed to touch, get close to anyone or even go to public places of worship. Leprosy had robbed them not only of their physical appearance but of their relationships, sense of purpose and value. They called out to Jesus, obeyed what He commanded and all 10 were healed. Unfortunately, just 1 out of 10 came back to Jesus to say thank you. They were desperate to be with Jesus when they had a prayer request, but only 1 came back to Jesus with gratitude when they had a praise report – what a challenge! 

I wonder if we spent the same time thanking God when our needs are met as we do asking God to meet our needs. Or even beyond that, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says to “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. It does not say FOR all circumstances, it says IN all circumstances. 

Imagine this – I’m at the shops and someone damages my car. When it happens I don’t say, “Praise God, this is great!” But even in that circumstance I can find something to be grateful for. We can always give thanks because of the love of Jesus displayed through the cross and His goodness towards us. Regardless of what life throws at us, our thankfulness is not based on our circumstances but on God’s character. Because of His goodness we can always find something to be thankful for in every circumstance and be the 1 out of 10 person that comes back to Jesus with gratitude. 

Here are 5 quick reasons why we should give thanks:

1. Because God is worthy of our praise  (Revelation 4:11)    
2. It’s the doorway to intimacy with God (Psalm 100:4)    
3. Grateful people are happier and easier to get along with    
4. Helps us to focus on the greatness of our God instead of our challenges    
5. No thanksgiving in the Lord = No Joy = No Strength = No Influence. That’s a pretty big deal! (Nehemiah 8:10)

So take a minute to write down what you are grateful for today. 

Pray With Me:

God, I thank you for all You have done for us. I thank You for Your grace that forgives me of all I have done and Your wonderful presence that never leaves me. I pray You would help us to be like that 1 out of 10 person in the story that would return to You in our everyday life and say thanks.