There's a theme that runs throughout the Bible.

Paul says in the book of Thessalonians,

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you
in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
He also says in Ephesians, "Make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving
thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:19-20).
Then in Colossians Paul says Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you
teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the
Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col.
3:15-17).
The Bibles point is clear. God deserves our thanks. God is more than worthy of our
gratitude. Today we are going to look at four truths about gratitude so we can give God the glory
He deserves. In todays message, God will impress you with something you should be grateful
for. When he does, take the time to praise Him. By the end of this message you'll have wonderful
things to speak to God.
The first truth about gratitude is this; gratitude does not come as we accumulate worldly
things, gratitude comes as we become more aware of Gods presence. Gratitude comes when we
experience the goodness of Jesus. Listen to how Ellen White puts it. "Let the fresh blessings of
each new day awaken praise in our hearts for these tokens of His loving care. When you open
your eyes in the morning, thank God that He has kept you through the night. Thank Him for His
peace in your heart. Morning, noon, and night, let gratitude as sweet perfume ascend to heaven."
We are grateful to God because we see Him present in our lives. We constantly receive
the good gifts of His grace. He is the one who provides us our job, our home, and our wonderful
family. It is He who wakes us in the morning and tenderly watches over us as we sleep. It is He
who brings our children safely home night after night. It is He who soothes our hurt and comforts
us in pain. We are grateful because Jesus is the God who is present.
God is present in your life because He loves you. These beautiful blessings are His gifts
to you every day. The book of James says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of the heavenly lights. God is a giver. Giving is an expression of His
goodness. A good God is active in our lives always granting us His blessed gifts. We show
gratitude to God because God is present with us every single day.
As we see God lavish on us gifts of grace that we do not deserve we are humbled at His
goodness. This brings us to our second truth about gratitude. Gratitude grows from humility. If
you believe someone owes you something, you will not be thankful when you receive it because
you think you deserve it. If you go and buy a car down at Dotsons Chevrolet you wont thank
Jerry for the amazing gift. The car is not a gift. You bought it and he owes it to you. However if
Jerry just gives you a car for no reason at all, you will be overwhelmed with gratitude. You
might say, "Thank you! I can't believe how good you are to me." You actually may be so full of
humility that you wont accept the care because you know you have done nothing to deserve it.
The problem is we sinners believe everything rightfully belong to us. We think the
government, the church, and our community owe us and so we become less grateful with the
gifts they give. The Bible actually tells us that ingratitude is a sign that your life is opposed to
God. Paul says, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks
to him, but their thinking became futile." The people thought God owed it to them! They saw no
reason to thank God because they believed they deserved His gifts. It is only when we
understand that we do not deserve Gods gifts that we will ever be grateful for receiving them.

Jesus knew what it was like to live a life of gratitude. Jesus knew that gratitude brought
with it a life of blessing. This is our third truth about gratitude. Showing gratitude to God leads to
the Lords blessing.
Back in Christs day every devout Jew would pray what was called the 18 blessings.
These blessings were not for us but for God! They were a simple way to give thanks to the Lord
and speak good to Him. The 18 blessings would begin with the simple phrase of, Blessed are
you God. Then the Jews would follow it up with why they were grateful. Blessed are you God
who heals the sick. Blessed are you God who takes care of our children. Blessed are you God
who watches over your people. By praying this way, the Jews were always focused on why they
were grateful to God.
It would seem that even Christs disciples prayed the 18. The book of Acts says, "One
day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon."
Three in the afternoon was the time Jews gathered at the temple to pray the 18 blessings. Right in
the middle of the day Christs disciples went to the temple and in the presence of God took the
time to give Him their gratitude. They were grateful for the Lords wonderful gifts.
This is one place where the modern church is in desperate need. We dont thank God
enough. Oh we ask for several things. But we dont often thank God and when we do thank God
we only thank Him for the big things. The early believers never acted that way. To them every
little thing was a blessing from God.
Psalm 24 says, "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof." Everything is a gift.
Dont just thank God for getting you a job. Thank Him for the wind on your face, the sunrise in
the morning, the friend who strengthened you in the hard times. When we do this we see the
Lord present in every area of our lives. Seeing the Lord work gives us the assurance that even
though things are not perfect, God is still there. This brings us to our fourth truth about gratitude,
we can be grateful to God even when life is not perfect.
When you have a strong relationship with God you learn to be grateful even if you are
dealing with imperfect people in imperfect situations. This happens because we understand that
even in the dirty parts of life God is present. He is there while someone screams at us, helping us
stay calm. He is there when we are falsely accused, aiding us in showing our true character. It is
in those imperfect times that we are tested and that testing pushes us into the arms of God. Even
in the hard times of life God is present and for that we are grateful. We should all pray to God
saying, God, you're right here. I don't carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. Thank
you, God, for always being with me. Thank you for never letting me go. Thank you for sending
your son Jesus so I could have relationship with you again. That should be everyones prayer.
Blessed are you God who stays with us in the imperfect times.
If you wait for perfect people and perfect circumstances to be grateful, you will have to
wait a long time. You must learn to bless God in both the good times and the bad. Why? Because
evil is a good thing? Suffering is a good thing? No, of course not. Those are bad things. But we
thank God because He is working through us and His Son to overcome these worldly evils.
A rabbi once said that, we are obligated to bless God at all times because we are always
in danger of being thankful only when good things come our way. When we do that we run the
risk of becoming ungrateful people. Being transformed by God means learning to see ways in
which God is at work, even in bad situations. "For I know that in all things God is at work for
good."

The grateful life with God is the one of the best gifts ever offered to the human race. God
asks each of us, "How much will you allow me to carry during an hour of suffering?" The more
we let God carry, the more grateful we become.
We owe our ultimate gratitude for God's ultimate gift. The Book of Common Prayer
records a beautiful prayer that we would all do well to memorize. "Almighty God, Father of all
mercies we your unworthy servants do give you the most humble and hearty thanks. We bless
you for our creation, our preservation, all the blessings of this life, but above all, for your
inestimable love in the redemption of our world by our Lord Jesus Christ."
We can be grateful for our friends, for our house and our cars, for money, for success
when it comes our way, for our jobs if we have them, but their absence cannot prevent us from
being grateful for God's greatest gift. So above all, followers of Jesus, in plenty and in need, in
palaces and in prison, thank God for his gift of Jesus: his matchless life, his unrivaled teachings,
his sacrificial death, his triumphant resurrection. "Blessed are you, O Lord."
This next week is Thanksgiving. It is more than a day to pig out on good food and add
another hole to your belt to accommodate your newfound girth. It is a day to express to God all
the things you have to be thankful for. This week I want you to try something special. If you
remember, earlier in our sermon we talked about the 18 blessings Jesus and His disciples prayed
to God. This week would be a perfect week for you to pray your own blessings to God.
Each night before you go to sleep, write down four blessings for which you are grateful
to God. You might want to use the form, "Blessed are you, O Lord." That's what ancient
Israelites would use for a blessing. For example, "Blessed are you, O Lord, who gave me this
friend I love."
You may want to spend time thinking God for your family, for your health, or food on
your table. Or maybe you are like me and you want to go a little deeper. Maybe you want to
spend time thanking God for His love, or the change He has brought in your heart, or for His
faithfulness even when you are not faithful to Him.
God is the God who loves you. Knowing how good God is how can we not pray in
gratitude? I read the quote earlier but it is too powerful to only read once. So I leave you with
this statement from Ellen White which speaks of the power of gratitude. "Let the fresh blessings
of each new day awaken praise in our hearts for these tokens of His loving care. When you open
your eyes in the morning, thank God that He has kept you through the night. Thank Him for His
peace in your heart. Morning, noon, and night, let gratitude as sweet perfume ascend to heaven."
May this be our response to the goodness of God as we enter in to the Thanksgiving
season this year. Let us pray.