Gratitude Finishes the Miracle: Faith That Perseveres

Where did Jesus find you? Where did Jesus find you? Was it in a hospital room when the diagnosis filled your heart with fear? Was it in a courtroom when your past life finally caught up with you? Was it at a graveside when tears of grief would not stop flowing? Was it during a night of depression when the morning felt very far away? Was it when the voices in your head were louder than the voices in the room? Was it in your car after a regretful argument with your husband or your wife? Or was it when you finally realized success and material stuff couldn't fulfill you any longer? [01:05:16] (63 seconds)  #TheMainThingIsTheCross

Make no mistake about it. Whatever happens in the life of a believer, in the life of a church, we must keep the main thing, the main thing, and the main thing is the cross of Jesus Christ. It's what he came for, to die, to be buried, and on the third day to rise for the propitiation of our sins, the forgiveness of our sins. That we might become sons and daughters of God, with our sins forgiven, and a mission planted inside of us. That is the main thing. [01:09:13] (46 seconds)  #BornAgainTransformation

And in Luke 17, verse 14, he gives them specific but unusual instructions. He says, go show yourself to the priests. Verse 14. So when he saw them, say saw them, he sees you. He sees you. Isn't that wonderful? That he sees you. And it's amazing because when we become aware that he sees us and we are seen, oh, everything else fades. Nothing else seems to matter as much because he sees us. He knows us. The Bible says that he knows every single hair on the top of your head. [01:20:45] (62 seconds)  #GodIsStillAtWork

As they went, they were cleansed. You see, the miracle happened in motion. Oh, you better dial into that one. I said the miracle happened in motion. The miracle happened as they started to move. Sight unseen. I don't see the transformation right now. But sight unseen, I'm moving. Mount Olivet. The Lord is saying to us, keep it moving. I said keep it moving. Don't pull up short. Don't quit before my finished work is finished in you. Ah, yeah. There is a finished work that God wants to do in you. [01:26:49] (65 seconds)  #WhereIsYourThankYou

And this is the critical moment for every believer. As we remember the multiple places in which Jesus found us. As we recall the multiple times in which mercy met us. What Jesus is wondering is, where is your thank you? Where is your thank you? Where is my thank you? And this is where our hearts begin to shift toward that place of gratitude. Because after the thank you, the real and the greater miracle begins to happen. If we don't pull up short. Where is our thank you? [01:31:22] (56 seconds)  #GratitudeEveryday

Ten were healed physically. Only one healed spiritually. They missed it. God can do the external things. Beloved, easy. What he wants to do in you is the eternal thing. Are you with me? And so as God meets us in various ways. At various places. What he wants for us is to turn to him. Not in a season of thanksgiving. Not on a day of thanksgiving. But a lifestyle of thanksgiving. And just simply say, God, thank you. Thank you. It could have been way different. It could have been ten times worse. [01:34:01] (56 seconds)  #UnitedInFaith

Gratitude and gratitude is a posture of the heart irrespective of circumstance. You know, that's why James, the Apostle James, could do what all of us strive to do when crazy stuff is going on. Now, he said what? Count it all. Let's say it again. Count it all when you fall into various trials. And then if you fast forward to the end of his conversation, he's basically saying that you can count it all joy now. You can be thankful now. You can have a heart of gratitude now because the end, he's going to grow you up. [01:35:55] (52 seconds)  #ReturnYourBlessings

We get confused with our intellectual prowess, our accomplishments, our titles in the world. We get confused with that and Christian maturity, two different things. You could be at the top of your game in the world and still be a baby in Jesus. So we don't want to confuse the two. And what James is saying is this route that we're taking ends in grown-up sons and daughters, mature, ready to do the Lord's good work. And so because we know that while we're in it, we can go ahead and count it all joy. [01:36:56] (53 seconds)

``The world pauses once a year to give thanks. But the sons and daughters of God live in gratitude every day. That's right. Gratitude will become the rhythm that carries us into this next season. And in this season, our gratitude declares one thing. I won't just receive, I'll return. I won't just enjoy the blessing, I'll honor the blesser. So again, I ask you, where did Jesus find you? And have you gone back to say thank you? Where did he find you? [01:39:06] (48 seconds)