THE LIFE OF GRATITUDE

Charles Billingsley, Scott Bullman, and Jonathan Falwell 

Part One

Psalm 100:1-5 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.3 Know that the Lord, He is God;It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

1. Gratitude leads to Praise 

Notice the order in which the writer of the Psalm puts it:

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

The Psalmist was reminding all nations that this privilege to enter the gates of God should make us thankful! He has invited us in, and we didn’t even have to knock on the door, or receive a special summons! The invitation is there because of Jesus.

A beautiful picture of Gratitude that leads to praise is in Luke 7.

Luke 7:44-48 (NLT) Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. 47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

2. Praise leads to gratitude 

Her brokenness led to gratitude 

3. Blessing leads to praise and gratitude

Luke 17:15-16 – And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, 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.

Psalm 100:2-5Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

The more thankful we become, the more we will praise Him. 

The more we praise Him, the more thankful we become. 

Part Two

Psalm 136:1 (NIV) “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”

GOD IS GOOD….AND ALL THE TIME…

• “If every day were a good day, there would be no good days.”
• Without bad days or even normal days, we wouldn’t recognize or appreciate the good ones. But everyday…He’s worthy of our praise! 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)– “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

• A constant mindset of thankfulness. An ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE
• God wants GRATITUDE to be the primary motivation behind everything we say and do.
• It is a SIGN of SPIRITUAL MATURITY

Colossians 2:6-7 (CSB) So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.

“Overflowing with gratitude…”

• In our singing…
• In our remembering His work on the cross… (COMMUNION)
• In our giving…“…God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:7

Whether TIME – ENERGY – RESOURCES…God’s people should be known for their GENEROSITY.

“Giving is what we do. Generous is who we are.” – Craig Groeschel

Paul urges the Corinthian Church to be GENEROUS in their giving.

2 Cor. 8:1-5 (NKJV) “Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. 2 They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. 3 For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. 5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.” 

Three Markers of Generous Givers

1. Give WILLINGLY

No pressure…No pride…they simply want to.

• “Generosity is love in action. You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.” – Rick Warren

2. Give PURPOSEFULLY

2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV) Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give…”

• This looks different for each person…
• “God is more impressed with the attitude of our heart than the amount in our hand.” – Gary Hamrick

3. Give SACRIFICIALLY

This is what the church in Macedonia was doing.

• They gave not only what they could afford, but far more.
• Mark 12:43-44 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.
• You can never outgive God!!! He is a GENEROUS GIVER!

Part Three 

Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 136:1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

We learn three important lessons on the basis of our gratitude in these verses (and so many more):

1. God is good

No matter our circumstances, we should be grateful and mindful of the continuous goodness of God

2. He is worthy to be praised

No matter the outcome of our circumstances, God has something greater

3. His mercy is forever

No matter the response to our circumstances, God will never give up on us