Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
Be Thankful
Can gratitude truly transform your life? Discover how adopting an attitude of thankfulness can impact your spiritual journey and daily interactions. As we reflect on 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we explore the importance of giving thanks in all circumstances, not just during Thanksgiving. Hear inspiring stories from our community about the blessings of family, health, and faith, reminding us that spiritual growth stems from appreciating the abundance around us.
Well, let's get into the Word. Are y'all ready to get into the Word, hallelujah. We don't take these moments for granted. Times in the presence of God, we don't take these for granted. They're sweet. They're so sweet. God is so good.
Speaker 1:I'm so happy you guys are here tonight. My name is Selena Griner. I'm the youth pastor around here and our daughter, allison, is in, is bringing the word in youth, and so I know that they'll. She's anointed to bring the word, to share the word, to proclaim the word, and I know those teenagers will get filled up, amen. So I am so happy to be here with you tonight. We just wanted to share a couple of scriptures with you guys.
Speaker 1:Let's start out in prayer, father. We thank you, lord, for today. This is the day you've made. We'll rejoice and be glad in it, and so I thank you, father, for your word, lord. It's alive, it's powerful, it's sharp. I thank you, lord, that our hearts are open and sensitive and teachable to your word, lord. Our ears are open to what you have to say tonight, and so I thank you, lord, that we're not hearing for somebody else, but we're hearing for ourselves, and so we thank you that growing is changing, father, and so we thank you. We're growing from glory to glory In Jesus' name, amen, amen. And so it's Thanksgiving week, happy Thanksgiving, and of course, tonight I'm going to be teaching on being thankful, amen, being thankful. You know, thankfulness it's not a holiday, it's a lifestyle. It's not just okay Thanksgiving week and I'm thankful. A lot of times families get together and we'll go around the table and we say what we're thankful for. But we should be doing that all the time, right, all the time, all year round, and the word has a lot to say about thankfulness and having an attitude of gratitude. Amen, amen. So 1 Thessalonians 5, 18 and the new King James and I'll try to go slower, cause I didn't get the sound with my scriptures, so hopefully they can put them God in Christ Jesus for you.
Speaker 1:And then in the Passion Translation. Of course I'm going to read a scripture in the Passion Translation and in the midst of everything, be always giving thanks, for this is God's perfect. Everybody say perfect, perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus. And so this is his perfect plan, simple instructions, right? We need to give thanks. We need to be people that are thankful In the midst, in the passion. It says, in the midst of everything. Give thanks. In the midst of the good times, the bad times, the difficult times, the stormy weather, the sunshine. We are to give thanks all the time, because this is the perfect, it's the perfect will of God to always be giving thanks. And so I had a couple of you guys write down what you're thankful for and I'm going to read from these index cards I might have to put on my glasses. From these index cards I might have to put on my glasses my wife Even though she does not obey I think I know who wrote this one down God's faithfulness.
Speaker 1:Through difficulties, nothing is wasted. The setbacks are to set you up For a comeback. That's right. Amen, amen. I am thankful for knowing God's son, jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. When you have all three, it opens up many doors. Matthew 6, 33.
Speaker 1:Amen, that's so good. These are the glory days, not the gloomy days. Amen, amen, say yes to that. I'm thankful for my parents that are in heaven, both without pain and suffering. Amen, we're just all passing on through. Passing on through, thankful for salvation. Holy Spirit, family, health, mind and family, home.
Speaker 1:American citizen, christian friends, gwc church, pastor John and Sister Gladys Every day that God gives me. Amen, that's so good. I thank God for everything Life. Okay, I'll read a couple more. Y'all did good.
Speaker 1:I'm thankful for my miracle, for 2020 vision any day now. Amen, amen, we agree. Yes, that he shall. Son of man, that he has okay, let me change his mind. Okay, yes, wait for it, but it shall surely come. Amen, we agree. 2020 vision. Amen, 2020 vision. Jesus, his love. I'm thankful for life in Christ my family, my church, family, pastor and family, shelter, food, clothing, god-given abilities, health, grace, mercy God is good Faithfulness, friends, the privilege of prayer and a dependable car Amen, we need that in Houston. I am thankful for God, for everything he does for me, and I'm also thankful for my pastor. I am thankful for authority, activity of my limbs, great health, my kids, a great church, a pastor who stands flat footed and preaches the word of God, and that my knees are healed. My grandbaby moved to live with her dad Amen, so a lot of.
Speaker 1:I had so many wonderful things to say that what you guys are thankful for, thankful for Tom oh, miss Teresa wrote her name on this one. Oh, that's so sweet. You're thankful for your husband. Sweet, um, hold on, and his over, yes, will live. I can't read your handwriting. Ms Teresa, yeah, praise God, you have a lot to be thankful for, sweet lady, and thankful for my church family. We are thankful for you and Mr Tom.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to cry. Why do you make me cry? I'm not going to cry. I'm thankful that I'm saved from my family. Cry, I'm not going to cry. I'm thankful that I'm saved from my family, church, family and a great career. Praise God. So a lot of y'all. We have a lot to be thankful for. Amen, we do. We have a lot to be thankful for. And so, just as 1 Thessalonians 5 says, this is God's perfect plan. It's his perfect plan for us to be thankful.
Speaker 1:Luke 17, I'm going to talk about the 10 lepers, and I taught in children's church this morning with the littles and this was the story that I taught them. You know it's always so fun to teach different age groups and the questions they have and the responses, and you know they're so inquisitive and just so sweet. But we taught on the 10 lepers. So, luke 17, 11 through 19,. And I'll read it in New King James Luke 17, 11.
Speaker 1:Now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then, as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off, and they lifted up their voices and said Jesus, master, have mercy on us. So when he saw them, he said to them go, show yourselves to the priest. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said were there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner? And he said to him arise, go your way.
Speaker 1:And so Jesus was on this journey and you know he came across 10 lepers. But I love the heart of Jesus. I love you know that he didn't give him a long list of things to do. Just go, show yourself to the priest, right, take another step of faith, right, keep moving towards the Lord. He didn't give him this long list. You got to do this and you got to go here and you got to go there and you got to get cleaned up first and you got to no, he just said hey, go show yourselves to the priest, right? And so here was this one. And so all of them were cleansed, but one one came back and said thank you, right. Well, like, where are the other nine? The other nine got cleansed and were healed, but one that one came back and said thank you, thank you for healing me, thank you for cleansing me.
Speaker 1:And so we should be like that one. We should be like that one that comes back and doesn't forget the Lord, right? Because our natural ability has a tendency to forget, right, forget not all his benefits. Who heals you, who forgives you, who redeems you? And so, naturally, the natural man has a tendency to forget, and so we have to make sure that we're not living out of the natural man, that we are a spirit being right, we have this body and we have a soul, and so we have to make sure our spirit man is strong and that we're always like the one that came back giving thanks. So I just have two soul, and so we have to make sure our spirit man is strong and that we're always like the one that came back giving thanks. So I just have two points.
Speaker 1:Number one thankful in our words. And so we have to make sure. You know, mark Hankins, pastor Mark Hankins says there's no such thing as unexpressed thanks. There's no such thing, right? You can think about it all you want, but if those words didn't come out of your mouth, it wasn't Thanksgiving, right? And so we have to make sure that we're thankful in our words.
Speaker 1:Psalm 100, verse 4, says enter his gates. What did we just do? We entered his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name. And so we have to make sure, if we're feeling down, if we're feeling low, you know, you have to make sure that that what's coming out of your mouth, watch what are the words that we're saying. You know they're so important. What are the words that we're saying? You know they're so important. And so we have to make sure that they're words filled with life, that they're words filled with love and joy and peace. And so here we enter his gates with thanksgiving, and it's not just on Sunday night or Sunday morning, but you can enter his gates with thanksgiving every day. When you're at home, when you're in the car, you can thank the Lord. We get to thank the Lord, right?
Speaker 1:And so we have to make sure that we're not complaining, that we're not in distress, right, and so we want to make sure that we're living a life that's a thankful life. That's a thankful life, not a life that's from chaos to chaos, problem to problem, to problem to problem, right, and so complaining to complaining, to complaining, to complaining, then you'll always, if you're always complaining the word talks about complaining Philippians 2.14 says do all things, everybody, say all, all means all, do all things without complaining and disputing. And I put down here if you're proactive in thanksgiving, it will naturally destroy complaining, naturally, if you're proactive and just being thankful Now, the facts are the facts right. Now, the facts are the facts right. There may be a situation, okay, but it's our choice as to whether we're going to complain about it or praise about it or be thankful about it in everything. Just going back to 1 Thessalonians and that's the perfect plan of God is to be thankful in everything.
Speaker 1:And so we want to make sure that we're not complaining, that we're always thankful, that we have a thankful heart. You know, we're people of God. It starts with Jesus. Right, it's we're, we're believers. It starts with Jesus. You know he went to the cross, and so without him we'd be stuck. Without him we would have anything, but we're not without him, we're with him, amen. And he's with us. And so we have access. We have access to the faith, we have access. We've been redeemed, and so we want to make sure that our words are thankful words, amen. To make sure that our words are thankful words, amen. And so you find this a lot. I wrote this one verse down, but if you read Paul's letters, you find it a lot. You know Philippians 1, 3,.
Speaker 1:I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. He's starting out this letter. He always, he's always very thankful in his letters. Not talking about tonight, about being thankful for people, but we should be thankful for people. If you say, oh, I don't like people, Well then you don't like God's creation because God created people, right? Oh, people get on my nerves. Well then you don't like God's creation. No, we have to. Paul was always thankful for people. He was like, and wrote about it right. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. When I think about you, I thank God for you, and so we should be the same way, right, we should be the same way. When I think about you. I thank God for you, amen.
Speaker 1:And so we have to make sure that thankfulness, you know it's in our words, it's not silent, and so our voice it's being used. We have to say something. We can't just be silent. We have to proclaim the goodness of God, we have to proclaim his faithfulness. We have to proclaim it Right, it's the fruit of our lips giving thanks. Right, it's the fruit of our lips giving thanks. And so it's the seed that's in there. But you know, it doesn't come. There's no fruit if you don't say anything. So there's a seed. A lot of times we hear, we can hear. You know, a lot of us have been raised in church all our entire lives and we've heard word, we heard many great messages.
Speaker 1:I mean I grew up under well, when I was little I went to a Spanish church and they got some words. I mean, like Spanish people, we loud, right, you go to a Spanish church, like it's loud, they sing loud songs. I love it, I'm going to sing. They sing all kinds of. I mean it was just loud.
Speaker 1:And so I grew up going to a Spanish church when I was little, loved it, loved it, um, just, I loved all my children's church teachers, my mom's friends, I mean I was little, they would always, you know, because I have blue eyes and I'm like sick out in a Spanish church, a little white girl with blue eyes and and they'd always have to touch my. It's like this thing that they do oh, no, te do ojo, and then I'd touch my eyes. I'm like get your hands off of my eyes, what are you doing? Don't touch me, please stop. But then, as sixth grade, fifth grade, going on to sixth grade, we went to Lakewood and I loved Lakewood. I, you know, met so many new, just teenagers and friends, and just the world opened up. And you know, that's where I met my husband, jay, but so many, yep, so many wonderful preachers that I've listened to.
Speaker 1:We go to Rhema and you know, just sitting under all of that word. But the point, all of that is the fruit of our lips. So there's a seed in there, but it bears much fruit when we say something because we can hear it, and we can hear it, or you can hear it every Sunday and for years, a year, five years, ten years, 20 years rolls around. But what are we saying? We have to make sure that it's bearing fruit, and it's bearing fruit, not rotten fruit, which is complaining fruit. We complain if we murmur, if we gossip, but no, make sure it's bearing good fruit, fruit of thankfulness. And so our words are very important, what we say is very important, not only in church, but what you say at the house. Right, a lot of people want the best behavior at church, but once we get out into the, you know there's been fights here at the church, right, like you think, people will be on their best behavior, but sometimes flesh is flesh. But no, hey, listen, we have to make sure that our words line up with the word of God, amen, that our words are his words, not our own words.
Speaker 1:John 4, 23 through 24, sorry, john 4, 23 through 24 says but the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And so we lift up our voice in worship. You know, if there's true worship, that means there must be false worship and false praise. He's looking for true, true worshipers, not somebody who put on a face, come to church and just pretend. No, no, true true worship in obedience. Obedience is true worship. Doing the word of God is true worship. Lifting up our hands in praise to him for what all he's done is true worship. So it comes, it's a heart thing. And so here he's saying hey, the hour's come with the true worshipers, and so we have to make sure we're worshiping him in spirit and in truth. The truth of his word of why we worship, not so I can get something from you, god, just because of who you are. I worship you, I love you because of who you are and what you've done in my life.
Speaker 1:First Peter, 2.9, and then you can. James says but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim. Royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim. What are you going to proclaim? Griping, complaining, the economy, the government, my husband, my wife, the kids, my aunt, uncle, thanksgiving week you know we're going to be. No that you may proclaim the praises of who? Of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light Once and for all. When you said yes to Jesus, he called you out from darkness into his marvelous light.
Speaker 1:So you're chosen, not choisen sorry, I sometimes combine words chosen your royalty, and so royalty talks a certain way, royalty acts a certain way, and so, as believers, we have to make sure that we're proclaiming the praises. I thank you, god, I praise you, lord. I thank you, lord, that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and so we have to make sure that we're proclaim, lord, that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and so we have to make sure that we're proclaiming that we're using our voice to give God praise. That word praise, it means value or price. To proclaim God's worth and merit with everything you have, with everything that we have, we praise him, we thank him. Hebrews 13, 15 in the Amplified Classic. Hebrews 13, 15,.
Speaker 1:The Amplified Classic says through him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of my lips that thankfully, acknowledge and confess and glorify his name. And so I like here that it says in the Amplify let us constantly right, and so there's a sacrifice. Why do you think it says it's a sacrifice of praise? Because your flesh doesn't want to praise. Your flesh at 5 am does not, and when you go to bed at midnight it does not, right, it does not want to wake up and praise. It does not want to wake, it doesn't when you're busy and when you're going through things, when you've been hit with maybe a doctor's report or just whatever may be going on. It doesn't want to pray. So it's a sacrifice of praise, right, and so it's putting our flesh aside, Putting our flesh aside, and it involves our lips Right To give God praise and involves saying something and putting our flesh aside and praising him, the fruit which is the fruit of my lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify his name.
Speaker 1:And so we're to constantly do it at all times, constantly, just praise him. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah, gloria Dios A su nombre. Right, just constantly, just out of the whim, just all the time, like what was that? No, just constantly. It should be a habit of just thanking him, praising him. I glorify your name, I thank you, lord, praying over your family, praying over your coworkers, praying over yourself, praying over pastor, and so just constantly thanking him and glorifying his name and digging deeper, yes, to say thank you, but then to say thank you for what? For what he's done. You know, it's a level one, like if you just say thank you for what? For what he's done? You know it's, it's a level one, like if you just say thank you to somebody but then if you say, thank you so much for cooking me that dinner that chicken parmesan was like top notch and when you go further and you, hey, let's take it up a notch and and and just thank him for all that he's done.
Speaker 1:Constantly, at all times, we offer up a sacrifice of praise. It will be a sacrifice, but you have to tell your flesh to shut up. Right, and I usually don't say shut up, but in this instance I'm going to say shut up, because we told our kids don't you be saying those words? We can say be quiet, but we don't say that we're not mean. Okay, in our house we're not mean, we don't say those words. But you can tell the devil to shut up. That's fine. You can tell him to shut up and you can tell your flesh to shut up no flesh. And so it's a sacrifice of praise.
Speaker 1:And so our words, our voice, you know your praise is what's going to change your marriage. Our voice, you know your praise is what's. It's what's going to change your marriage. Your praise is what's going to change your kids. Your praise is what's going to change your situation. Right, your praise is what's going to change the situation. Not you glooming, not you just being silent. Well, I'm not a talker, no, you lose by default if you don't talk.
Speaker 1:We have to, we have to constantly just give him praise, give him thanks, the fruit of our lips, giving him praise and thanks. And so it's the praise that's going to change the situation, and again in the good times and the bad times, all the time. So we need to be obedient to his see Luke 4, 6, I believe. And the devil said to him all this authority I will give you and their glory, for this has been delivered to me and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. And Jesus answered and said to him get behind me, satan, for it is written you shall worship the Lord, your God, and him only shall you serve. And then he goes on. I won't read that one. But so get behind me, me saying, for it is written you shall worship the Lord, your God, and him only shall you serve.
Speaker 1:And so we have to make sure, like in our daily, that you know when things, when you get weighed down, that we're not going to stop praising that we, those words can come out of our mouth, just like Jesus said, to say get behind me, no, you shall not tempt me. You shall not tempt the Lord, your God, right, and so we have to. We have to make sure that our words are lined up with his word and that we know there's an enemy. Enemy out there, but our focus isn't on the enemy, our focus is just on praising him. Right, we know there's an enemy, our focus is just on praising him. Right, we know there's an enemy. We know we put the full armor of God. We know our weapons are not carnal but mighty through God, right, and so we know those things. But praise is always in our mouth. Thanksgiving is always in our mouth, right, we don't focus on the gloom and the doom. We have to make sure that we're always thankful. And it's a heart thing, right, it's a perspective thing. The glass is not always half empty, it's half full. And so it's making sure that we keep the word of God in front of our eyes, and then so we're thankful in our words and then we're thankful also in our thoughts.
Speaker 1:Second Timothy 1, 7 in the New King James says for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind, and I like it. In the Amplified Classic it says for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, of cowardice, of craving and cringing and fawning fear, but he has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. I like that. A well-balanced mind, a sound mind, a sound mind belongs to us. Right, he bore a tormented mind on the cross.
Speaker 1:If your mind is tormented, that's not from God. If you can't keep still, that's not from God. If your brain is going here and there and everywhere, and it's been to Alaska and it's up and it's down and it's good and it's freaking out, that's a tormented mind. It's not a peaceful mind. Well, it runs in my family. No, the blood of Jesus is greater than that. Right, there is no freak out moments, there are none.
Speaker 1:No, because here the scripture he says that is sound mind. He wants us to have not a spirit of fear, not cringing and fawning fear, but he's given us a spirit of power and love and a calm, calm and well balanced mind. And so we have to cooperate. Right, jesus did what he did for us on the cross. Thank you, jesus. But then there requires cooperation. Right, we have to cooperate. We can either say yes, okay, lord, your word says in second Timothy that you haven't given me a spirit of fear, so that's not mine, right, he hasn't given me a tormented mind, that's not mine, that's on the cross, you. What you've given me is a spirit, a calm, right, a calm and well-balanced mind, and so we have to cooperate with that that mind, that our mind is well-balanced mind, and so we have to cooperate with that that mind. That our mind is well-balanced, it's disciplined, disciplined Big word, a lot to it.
Speaker 1:Disciplined. Disciplined in our thoughts, right, disciplined in our body. That goes back to the sacrifice of praise. Right, disciplined in our body, that goes back to the sacrifice of praise, right. And so we have to oh well, only you know going deeper with God. You know, maybe you only prayed for five minutes. Well, let's go deeper, let's go a little deeper, let's do 10 minutes, let's do 30 minutes, like sacrifice of praise. And so your mind, you can't just run off, right, it has to be well-balanced, it has to be disciplined, it has to be controlled, and so a mind can ruin your life.
Speaker 1:And I taught on imagination in the teens that you know if you just imagination is so powerful. God gave us an imagination, right, and we have to make sure how we use our imagination, not just to let it run wild. A disciplined mind God gave us a disciplined mind, but again, it's up to us. It's up to us, we have to cooperate with it. We have to cooperate with what Jesus did on the cross for us, because it's there, right, the table has been set All the Thanksgiving dinner, it's there right, and for us just to look at, it looks good, looks nice, the china's nice, the turkey looks nice and buttery and shiny and all the things.
Speaker 1:But then to not partake it, and that's what a lot of Christians do. They know, they hear Pastor John Griner, they hear Pastor Sunday morning okay, these are the benefits. But then they don't partake on Monday, right, they just go back to their sin or go back to whatever they're thinking about. But pastor said it on Sunday, no, you didn't partake, right. So there's a cooperation on our end to partake of it, to do, to act upon the word right, and it starts in our thought life, it starts with being thankful in our thoughts. And so, again, god doesn't want us to have fear, a mind you know can ruin your life. And so we have to make sure we hey, we have the word inside of us, we have the Holy spirit. He didn't leave us as orphans. We have the Holy spirit inside of us, and so we. It requires cooperation. So I want to cooperate. Do you guys want to cooperate? Amen.
Speaker 1:Philippians four, six through nine, and the amplified classic says do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, definite request with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God, continue with thanksgiving, and God's peace shall be yours. That tranquil state of a soul, assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and mine, in Christ Jesus. And then it goes on to say for the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise. Think on and weigh and take account of these things. Fix your mind on them. And so your mind should be fixed on these things. If your mind is fixed on something now, so this is this. Right, here is the criteria right Of a thought that must be met before it's allowed into your mind. Right here. So if you're wondering what you think about, what you're thinking about, go to this right.
Speaker 1:Is that thought? Is it, is it just, is it pure, is it lovely, is it lovable, is it kind, is it gracious? So that's the criteria right there. Right, that's all part of living the life that God planned us to live. And then, in verse nine, it says practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace, of untroubled and undisturbed well-being, will be with you. So there's a promise when you practice these things, then you'll have peace. Until then, hey, again, it's up to us.
Speaker 1:So here he's given the list of criteria of what a thought right is, whether it's allowed to be, you know, part of our thought process, and we have to make sure, hey, is it true, is it worthy, is it honorable? And so this is part of living the life that God created us to live, right, is it worthy of praise? Is that thought I'm thinking? If I'm thinking about what they're thinking about me? That's not. That's not a you know for Philippians 4. And so we have to make sure that we're thankful in our thoughts, that we're thankful in our words and what we say, and that we're thankful in our thoughts Because it starts with the thought right, that's where the battlefield is in our thoughts. And so a couple of I'll end with this a couple of thankful scriptures.
Speaker 1:Again, the Bible's full of thanksgiving, you know, being thankful and praising God. Psalm 9, 1 through 2, new King James says I will praise you, o Lord, with my whole heart. I will tell of all of your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in you. I will sing praises to your name, o Most High.
Speaker 1:Psalm 28, 7 in New King James says the Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him and I am helped. When you trust in God, you're helped, right, versus when you trust in man. When you're looking to man, you'll always. It'll fall short. Don't look to man, look to God. Right, we look to God, the Lord. He's our strength, he's our shield. My heart trusted in him. My heart is not in a man, my heart is not in a people's opinion or this, whatever. My heart trusts in God. That's where my help comes from right, our help comes from him. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices. Right, so you can lift your hands all you want, but then your heart be troubled. Right, come church, yay, praise Jesus, but then your heart's troubled, right. And so we have to make sure that our heart is just for God, that our heart is teachable, it's moldable, right, it says. My heart greatly rejoices and with, with my song, I will praise him because, god, you helped me through tough times. You were there for me when nobody else was, and so I thank you, lord, for all that you've done in my life. And so my heart rejoices and then, therefore, I lift hands in true worship.
Speaker 1:Right, not with, like trying to out, put the outside in. Right, that's conforming, that that's being conformed to this world, trying to put on a try, okay, but then eventually it's, it's from the inside out, right, thankfulness is from the inside out, right, like the words that come out. You know, you said something like oh, that was harsh did didn't mean to say that it was kind of harsh, no, it's in there, you just didn't mean to let it come out. It's in your heart, right, like we've all done that. Don't be looking so holy, right, and so like yikes, no, no, it's just a hard thing.
Speaker 1:We have to make sure to always be thankful for everybody and, in every circumstance, always be thankful and grateful through everything right. Psalm 86, 12, I will praise you, o Lord, my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify your name forevermore. And then Psalm 136, 2 in the New Living and this was our memory verse in Children's Church says give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever. And so we can live a lifestyle of thankfulness. Again, it's not just a holiday, but it's a lifestyle where we're thankful and there's no such thing as an express Thanksgiving. You can think about it, but until it comes out of your mouth it's not Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1:And so we always have to make sure we're teachable, we're moldable, that you know in every circumstance that we're always praising God, that we're always thanking God from a true heart, from a real heart, right From a heart. Yeah, maybe your heart's been battered and torn and hurt. But you know what? God is the mender of broken hearts. God is the mender of broken hearts. Only he can do it, only he can help you, amen. And so when you allow him to chisel that off of you, then your answers will be sweet, right, the more chiseling, the more he's like.
Speaker 1:You know, when your words maybe don't line up quite yet with the word of God, god's merciful, he's gracious, right, he doesn't beat you upside the head like don't, no, dummy, he doesn't say that your parents might have said that, but like, god doesn't do that. God is so good, he's so gracious, he's so loving, he loves you and he's thankful for you. He created you, he created a masterpiece, amen. So I just wanted to encourage you with that and I'll end in prayer and be thankful. You know, because not only you know thankfulness, it's people are watching you, right. And so if they know you're a Christian and they're like see, you know, if the words don't line up with the lifestyle, then we have to make sure that they line up and that we're thankful.
Speaker 1:The words coming out of our mouth are thankful and gracious, and not to just the people we get along with, but to everybody, right. To everybody. We have to make sure that we're always thankful, that we're always praising God. Amen. We have a lot to be thankful.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, father. We thank you, lord, for your word. We thank you, father, that your word says in 1 Thessalonians and everything, give thanks, father. So we thank you, father, that we are thankful for what you've done. We're thankful for Jesus, we're thankful that you gave us your very best. You gave us your one, and only you gave us Jesus, and I thank you, lord, that in that, father, we partake. We partake of what Jesus did for us. We partake. We don't leave anything, any gift or any promise that belongs to us. We don't leave it at the table, we don't just look at it and observe it, father, but we partake of it, we partake of it. We partake of the blood of Jesus. It is our new. We're dancing out of our grave clothes, just like we sang. We're dancing out of our grave clothes, just like we sang. We're dancing out of our grave clothes. And so we put on new clothes, father, clothes that smell like you, clothes that are wrapped in your fragrance of what is pure and what is lovely and what is gracious and of a good report. We thank you, father. We thank you that we wrap ourselves, we put on those clothes.
Speaker 1:Father, we're thankful people. Lord, we'll be like the one leper that came back and said thank you, thank you, father, we worship you. We thank you, lord, thank you for all that you've done in our lives and through our lives, father. It's not only for us, father, but it's for our world, it's for this generation that's lost. There is no such thing as a hopeless person, no matter how evil. You love them. You love them and have a plan for their life. And so we thank you, father.
Speaker 1:We thank you, lord, for the ones that need to be here. We call in the ones, the hungry ones, those who want to worship you in spirit and in truth, those who don't have an agenda but just want to worship you in spirit and in truth, those who don't have an agenda but just want to worship you and love you for who you are. And so we thank you, father, we thank you, lord. We call those in, we call those in. And the ones that are here, father, I thank you that you have fortified them. You have equipped them, father. They are equipped, father, with peace. They are equipped to do your will, lord, they shall not fall away.
Speaker 1:Lord, you know what's going on in their lives. You see what's going on and I thank you that you have strengthened them. You strengthened the feeble knees. Lord, you see every situation. You know what's going on in the heart of man and I thank you, lord, that you are very present help in times of trouble. You're a very present help in times of trouble. Thank you, father, thank you, lord. We won't be like the one that ignored, that came by and ignored father, but we, we are a help to those. We are a help to those, lord, that are in need. Thank Lord that we're conduits of love. Love is our mandate. Kindness is our mandate. Proclaiming your word, father, to a lost and dying world is our mandate. May we never forget Father. We are thankful, we are so thankful. Thank you, jesus, thank you Lord.