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The Power of Gratitude

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Sometimes gratitude hurts.

Life isn’t always kind, and when we find ourselves struggling over circumstances we wouldn’t choose, we don’t naturally feel grateful. In fact, we tend to get angry. Even bitter.

Yet our opening scripture suggests that God desires for us to give thanks in all circumstances. Every one. That includes the good and the bad.

This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, beloved. Gratitude.

 Why would gratitude be so important to God? Perhaps the next verse offers some insight.

Do not quench the Spirit. Verse 19 

Ingratitude stops the flow of the Spirit, hindering God’s work in our midst. Praise and thanksgiving, on the other hand, release God’s Spirit to move.

Ingratitude stops the flow of the Spirit in our lives. Gratitude releases it. Share on X

You see, thanksgiving carries us into His presence.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! Psalm 100:4

When we choose gratitude—even when we’re hurting or don’t understand our present circumstances—we choose to enter into God’s goodness. That choice—to focus on what is good instead of what’s presently lacking—removes the enemy’s power and invites God in. You see, perspective is everything.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22

According to Jesus, how we view something directly relates to what we experience in our body. The light we long for comes from seeing with a healthy perspective. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. When we view things through a faulty lens—the lens of negativity—our body takes on the darkness of our wrong perspective. It actually gives the enemy a position of power in our lives—and permission to torment us.

“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Matthew 6:23

I wonder, dear one, if you wrestle with the pull of the darkness in your own life. Hopelessness, anxiety, and depression are crippling lives in greater measure than we’ve ever seen, particularly within the body of Christ.

Yet we have this promise about our Savior,

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5  

Do you want to live the overcoming promises of God’s Word, beloved? Do you want to dwell in the power of the light? Choose gratitude. Find something to be thankful for, and dwell on that. Let your lips offer a sacrifice of praise, especially during times of sorrow. You will discover that gratitude ushers you into the presence of God.

I’ve watched this happen in the life of my mother-in-law over the last couple of years.

Pain in her body has kept her from doing many of the things she loves to do. She spends most of her days at home. Hurting. But I have watched a sweet peace fall over her, as she’s chosen not to dwell on what she’s lost, but rather all that she has.

She tells me, “I have so much time, time to think of all the blessings God has given me. My beautiful family. His faithfulness to us.”

And I’ve watched a beautiful miracle unfold through her. You see, the presence of God falls on her and flows through her when she speaks. A friend of mine visited her recently wanting to encourage her. Instead, she was profoundly blessed by the encouragement she received! God’s presence flowed to my friend and lifted her own weary heart.

Why? Because my mother-in-law has spent the last years dwelling in the courts of her King. Her gratitude ushered her through His gates, allowing Him to minister to her soul. And that allows Him to show up without her even trying. Her heart is already engaged with His, and He’s right there, ready to give.

When our hearts stay engaged with God's Spirit, He shows up without our even trying. Share on X

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving season, I wonder if we can go a little deeper. Beyond pumpkins and lovely wooden signs declaring thanks, what if we engaged our hearts? Let’s fill our bodies with light as we look at our lives through the lens of gratitude and declare our thanks to the Giver of every good gift.

As you enter His courts with your praise, He may just surprise you.

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Do You Know What You Carry?

“For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Mark 4:25

I recently shared a little piece of my journey with you. After an amazing encounter with Jesus, I discovered my heart resisted what God showed me about myself. Instead of embracing His beautiful truth, something deep inside kept insisting on a lesser version.

And that’s precisely the result our enemy hopes to achieve, dear one. If he can convince us to continue to live in our brokenness instead of Christ’s provision for us, he can hinder God’s movement through us. Only faith unleashes the power of God’s promises. If you and I want to see God revealed in our midst, we need to know what He says about us.

Only faith unleashes the power of God's promises. #FaithUnleashesPower Share on X

We need to understand what we carry.

I’m reminded of a story involving Peter and John in Acts 3. As they headed into the temple at the hour of prayer, a man who had been lame from birth asked them for money. Peter responded with something the man did not expect.

And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”  And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. Acts 3:4-5

I wonder how many times the man had lived this very scene. Verse 2 reveals that he was carried and laid daily at the temple gate to ask for alms. I imagine the monotony of the routine left him with little expectation. How many temple visitors passed by pretending not to see him? Still others may have tossed him a coin without ever actually looking at his face.  

And yet this day, Peter and John looked right at him, asking him to do the same. “Look at us.” Their response got his attention, stirring the lame man’s heart with hopeful expectation. Surely these two would provide him something.

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Acts 3:6-7

I can only imagine what the man must have thought in that life-changing moment. He extended his hand to receive coins from a stranger. Instead, the hand he reached toward raised him to his feet.  And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

Most of us can’t remember our first steps. This man, lame from birth, would never forget his.

And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:8-10

I think we could use a little wonder and amazement, don’t you? Wouldn’t you love to see Jesus revealing Himself powerfully in our midst? I believe that’s something He longs to give.

You see, Hebrews 13:8 declares simply,

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Jesus hasn’t changed, dear one. If our experience has changed since He first birthed His church, that only leaves one explanation. We’ve changed.

Take a look at Peter’s words when he addressed the crowd to reveal the power behind this miraculous healing.

And His name [Jesus]—by faith in His name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. Acts 3:16

Faith in the name of Jesus gave an invalid perfect health. Legs that had never stood before lifted him to his feet. Muscles that should have atrophied from years without use carried him into the temple. And he didn’t just walk. He leapt! 

What had been dead came alive, all because of faith. Sounds like the Gospel message to me.

Faith brings life. #GospelMessage Share on X 

But whose faith, dear one?

This part of the story intrigues me the most. You see, it wasn’t the faith of the lame man that ushered in his miracle. It was Peter’s faith that produced a work of God on his behalf.

I can’t seem to let go of Peter’s words to the lame beggar.

“I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Peter knew what he had.

He knew exactly who he was and what was available to him in Jesus. And he knew he was free to give it. He didn’t define himself by his mistakes or limit his possibilities by his past. He believed what Jesus said about him, and his belief poured out blessing on a man who had no faith.

I wonder, dear one. Have we limited God’s power on earth because we refuse to see ourselves as the people God says we are? Is Jesus simply waiting for us to embrace what He says we carry?

Perhaps it’s a good time to revisit our opening scripture.

“For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Mark 4:25 

Jesus repeats those words five times in the four gospels. [See Matthew 13:12, Matthew 25:29, Mark 4:25, Luke 8:18, and Luke 19:26]  I think He may be trying to get our attention.

At first glance Jesus’ words appear confusing. How can God take something from someone with nothing?  

Take a look at His words again. 

From the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

What if Jesus’ words reveal that this man’s problem isn’t really that he didn’t have, but rather that he didn’t acknowledge and use what he had? The consequences are clear. If we don’t use it, we lose it.

You and I need to know what we have, dear one.

Let’s stop allowing unbelief to quench the Spirit of God. It’s not our place to tell God how He should move. He manifests His Spirit through each of us as He chooses (1 Corinthians 12:11). But if He’s going to release His work through you, He will require something of you.

A little faith.

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