Choosing Gratitude: Week 7

Hello, friend! Are you ready to begin your journey toward greater joy? Join us for our Summer 2023 Book Club-Style Bible Study. We're reading "Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy" by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. This book challenges and equips us to live a life of gratitude.

What is gratitude? Gratitude is a choice. It is a decision to focus on the good things in our lives, even when things are difficult. When we choose gratitude, we are choosing to be happy and content. Why is gratitude important?

Gratitude has many benefits, including:

• Increased happiness and well-being
• Reduced stress and anxiety
• Improved physical health
• Stronger relationships
• Increased creativity and productivity

GRAB YOUR BOOK HERE AND LET'S GET STARTED!

"When we take simple blessings for granted as if they were owed to us, or conversely, when we start to think that our house, our car, our wardrobe, or our general station in life is beneath what we deserve, ingratitude finds all the oxygen it needs to thrive.

One of the unseemly side-effects of all the effort and energy our society has invested in building our individual and collective self-esteem is that our culture is now rife with this super-high level of deservedness." —Nancy DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude

So how do we cultivate a life of gratitude? There are many ways to cultivate gratitude, here are a few:

• Keep a gratitude journal.
• Write thank-you notes to people who have blessed you.
• Spend time each day reflecting on the good things in your life.
• Express your gratitude to God in prayer.

Join us for this study! Each weekly post will be posted on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 here on the blog, June 6 - August 1. Feel free to discuss the book and share your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Let's make cultivating gratitude a priority in our lives this summer!

What are you grateful for?

We hear that question quite frequently. Especially during the Thanksgiving season. This is “Gratitude 101.” The basics.    

But though we may have a list a mile long containing things that we are grateful for, our list most likely would differ from that of our unsaved neighbor’s, not only in its content but also in its purpose. 

This has been a theme throughout this study. Christian gratitude is different than the world’s gratitude, and it is paramount that we come to understand and embrace Christian gratitude. Gratitude that not only sees the million-and-one things on this earth that we enjoy—the obvious things, but that also sees the many more things that come from the heart of our generous God. 

It is these, the inanimate gifts from the heart of God, that I am grateful for and that motivate me to keep going. To not give up. To keep serving. To keep loving in a very broken world. The older I become the more my eyes are opened to my own brokenness and the brokenness around me. It can get discouraging at times. It’s ugly. But I must have eyes to see God’s goodness in the land of the living. ​

"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalm 27:13-14

What a verse that screams HOPE!

This, my friends, is just another unique quality of Christian gratitude. My eyes may see broken, broken, broken, but my heart sees grace, grace, grace!

Paul told the Ephesian Christians,

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Ephesians 1:18

Open your eyes! Are you seeing only with your physical eyes, or are you seeing with the eyes of your heart? I want the eyes of my heart to be opened to see. To see the graces of God in this broken world.

Though we are referring to spiritual blessings, we cannot deny the blessings we see with our physical eyes. These visible, material blessings are given to us by a good God. We must regularly be thanking Him as He brings them to us. ​

"Let us daily praise God for common mercies—common as we frequently call them, and yet so priceless that when deprived of them we are ready to perish." —Charles Spurgeon

Whether it is our abode, apparel, apples, or asparagus; our beds, our blankets, our books or our breakfast - they can be taken for granted. You can go right down the alphabet naming thousands of things we take for granted every day.   

As a side note, a fun game to play on your next trip would be, “I’m thankful for ________________.”  The first person would state an item beginning with the letter “A”, the second person would repeat the first item beginning with “A”, and add a second item that begins with the letter “B”, and so on. This is a fun memory game for children, or for those whose minds are getting old and need to be exercised. It may also help you fall asleep at night as you go through the alphabet thanking God for the many good things He’s given you. ​

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

God is always good, and always gives good things. Tangible and intangible. It is when we cross over into the intangible that the list is longer than we can even comprehend. These intangibles are spiritual blessings. ​

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...". Ephesians 1:3

This passage goes on to describe just a few of these spiritual blessings. Take a moment to turn to the first chapter of Ephesians and read through verse ten. Spiritual blessings abound!​

• He chose us
• In love He predestined us to be in His family
• In Christ we have been redeemed through His blood
• We have been forgiven
• He has lavished the riches of His grace upon us

And so much more! Can you name any other spiritual blessings? ​

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, the author of Choosing Gratitude, suggests a few that compel us to give thanks:

1. Be grateful for God’s nearness
   "We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Uour name is near." Psalm 71:5
   
   He is nearer than we know. Right here. “I will never leave you or forsake you,” He says in Hebrews 13:5. Psalm 139 tells us that there is nowhere that we can go that would be away from His presence. 
   
   We cry out with thankfulness when we remember the reason for His nearness: Jesus took on Himself the wrath of God that we deserved. Because of our sins, He died in our place, He rose, He ascended to the Father. Now He sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us. 
   
   We rejoice that though He is in heaven, we are not left alone. He gave His Spirit to live in the hearts of those who believe. Hallelujah! 
   
   "...be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5b
   
   Be content. Choose gratitude.
   
   
2. Be grateful for God’s holiness and faithfulness
   I have many times thanked God for His faithfulness, but do I ever thank Him for His holiness? His unshakable holiness. It is hard to thank Him for His holiness when I am so unholy. He is always holy. Always true. Always right. I can count on it, and there is something about this that is very comforting. That causes gratitude to well up in my heart. 
   
   "Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name!" Psalm 30:4
   
   
3. Be grateful for God’s mercy
   "He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." Psalm 103:14
   
   Ephesians 2:4 tells us that He is rich in mercy. I am so grateful for His mercy. Where would I be without it?
   
   His many blessings continue to fall like rain—His salvation, His calling... the list is endless. 
   

We must give testimony to others of tangible gifts, of spiritual blessings, and also the relational blessings He gives. God chooses to send us good gifts through our friends, our family, and other believers. 

​The apostle Paul lets us know in his letters that even the things we receive from others are from God, and Paul consistently thanks God for them—their faithfulness, generosity, love—Paul’s life was marked with gratitude. And so should ours be. 

I must not take acts of kindness and sacrifice for granted. I may never fully know the impact of a note or some other demonstration of gratitude. Thank God for those relational blessings, and may He use my life to be a blessing to others.

Reasons for giving thanks are abundant!

"Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! ...Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Psalm 68:19; 103:2

What are you especially grateful for today? God's nearness? His holiness and faithfulness? Or, His incredible mercy towards us?

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Christian Gratitude Journal for Women

This ​Christian Gratitude Journal for Women is produced by Pretty Simple Press. It's a 52-week inspirational guide to a life with more prayer and less stress.

This Gratitude Journal is designed to help us cultivate an attitude of gratitude. It's a self-exploration journal that encourages us to focus on being thankful for what we have. We'll focus on the big things in life, as well as the simple joys. Each well-designed and deeply-inspirational weekly spread contains space for us to journal. We'll journal three things we are thankful for. We will also discover thoughtful weekly Scripture.

If we begin each day by writing down three things we are thankful for we're on our way to a lifetime of gratitude. Whether it's a family member, a dear friend, or the ability to read a good book. We will begin each day on the right path.

Grab this journal and begin a daily habit of focusing on the blessings!

GRAB YOUR CHRISTIAN GRATITUDE JOURNAL FOR WOMEN HERE

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