Happy Thanksgiving week! What does Thanksgiving mean to you? Taking time to be THANKFUL, to be GRATEFUL hopefully.

For this message today, I am tying that thought to our theme for 2020, BECOMING. This has been one of my favorite theme words we have ever had. It was the right word for this particular year. By the way, we are only 6 weeks away from the reveal of our 2021 theme word. So, in that spirit, today, I want to talk about BECOMING…GRATEFUL.

Now, if you consider yourself a grateful person, you may be tempted to zone out or play Sudoku on your phone for the next 30 minutes. Please don’t do that. There are different levels, different SCHOOLS of Gratitude that I want to talk to you about today. Evaluate what grade you are in as we go along. And commit to GROWING to BECOMING more GRATEFUL.

Now, let me give you the bottom line right off the bat:

GRATITUDE isn’t in HAVING the MOST, but MAKING the MOST of what you HAVE

The happiest people on the planet are NOT the ones who have the most but who MAKE the MOST of what they have! I have seen that firsthand in very poor places in Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Haiti and Cuba. They could have fun for hours with a makeshift soccer ball made out of whatever they could find and tape up.

This Thursday, many of us will take time to thank God for His many gifts in our lives. And THAT IS a good thing. We NEED to do that! But DON’T stop there! God’s gifts by themselves are not enough to give you joy. They must be coupled with GRATITUDE.

From the book "Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier" by Robert Emmons. "An implicit assumption that many of us hold is that happiness depends on happenings - by what happens in our lives. We believe that success in life… makes people happier. Yet a recent review of the scientific literature on happiness revealed that happiness yields numerous rewards for the individual and precedes these outcomes. This means that happiness MAKES good things happen. It actually promotes positive outcomes.”

GRATITUDE isn’t in HAVING the MOST, but MAKING the MOST of what you HAVE

And IF that is true, and I believe it is, Biblically, scientifically, emotionally, then it is within our power to experience MORE JOY, IF we learn to be MORE GRATEFUL! So, in this journey to BECOMING GRATEFUL, we are going to go to SCHOOL.By the way, parts of this message were definitely inspired by a message from Steven Furtick. Our first stop is GRADE SCHOOL.

For that, I want to go back to Moses. When the Israelites were right across the river from the promised land, Moses was about to die. Deuteronomy is his final speech to them, so to speak, before he leaves them and before they enter the Promised Land. It is sort of like a pep talk to this younger generation of people that weren’t around when their parents rebelled. This speech is his way of saying, BEFORE you get to the PROMISED LAND, DON’T FORGET WHO BROUGHT YOU THERE! Moses had led them for 40 years in the desert and knew their tendencies of their preferences causing them to miss God’s provision.

· God miraculously provided daily bread (manna) every morning. God’s people whined because it wasn’t meat.
· God provided meat miraculously, they found something else to whine about.
· God’s people had a tendency to forget the PROVIDER, once they had the PROMISE.

Have you ever taken one of God’s blessings for granted once you had it?
· Complain and whine about your child’s behavior when at one time, you were SO thrilled to watch them sleep.
· Gripe about your spouse leaving socks on the floor when you were SO thankful that he chose you.
· Grumble about your car because it has too many miles or too many scratches or a funky smell because you have smashed French fries in the carpet or your just have kids when many people don’t have a reliable car at all.
· Get SO frustrated at your house and ALL of it’s shortcomings that you forget what a blessing it is to HAVE a HOUSE.

Is your focus on what you have or what you lack?

You CAN’T have your JOY BACK if your focus is on what you LACK!

So, the GRADE SCHOOL step to BECOMING…GRATEFUL is to PRACTICE being thankful…to God…FOR THE blessings that you HAVE.

God’s gifts alone cannot give you joy. They must be coupled with gratitude. BE THANKFUL…FOR THE…
· BE thankful…FOR THE…blessings in your life.
· BE thankful…FOR THE…things that you HAVE, not focused on what you DON’T HAVE.
· BE thankful…FOR THE…child that makes the mess and not focused on the mess.
· BE thankful…FOR THE…job that gets frustrating, but puts food on your table and a roof over your head.
· BE thankful…FOR THE..spouse and the ways that they bless your life, not focused on the things you WISH they did or gifts you WISH they had.
· BE thankful…FOR THE

So, maybe what you need in your life isn’t the next level of success or accumulation, but the next level of appreciation for what you have. If you grow in gifts but don’t BECOME more grateful, what have you really gained? If God gives you a gift, but you don’t know what to do with it, it won’t make you happy. Remember:

GRATITUDE isn’t in HAVING the MOST, but MAKING the MOST of what you HAVE

So, BE THANKFUL…FOR THE…is the beginning of gratitude. To do this, you must PRACTICE…GRATITUDE. How many of you know that gratitude is NOT natural! You are not naturally grateful. Your first sentence as a child is NOT “THANK YOU Mommy for sacrificing so much for me!” But it’s more likely to be “THAT is MINE!”

THIS is GRADE SCHOOL GRATITUDE! Do you remember being in grade school, learning how to write your letters? You PRACTICED over and over.

The GRADE SCHOOL level of GRATITUDE is make the time to PRACTICE it, SAY IT, EXPRESS it, DECLARE it, because as Andy Stanley has said,
“Unexpressed Gratitude feels like ingratitude!”

I think that is what Moses was saying, “When you have eaten your fill, BE SURE to PRAISE the Lord your God…FOR THE…”

SO, REMEMBER your blessings, COUNT your blessings, NAME your blessings, SAY your blessings! Don’t ACT like you DESERVE the gifts you have. But BE GRATEFUL…FOR THE… And by the way, when is the last time, you expressed it, or thought about ALL the gifts, ALL the blessings that fit in the “FOR THE” category in your life?

· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…use of my arms and legs…
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…ability to see or hear or taste or smell.
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…ability to have clean, running water at the turn of the faucet in my HOME.
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…ability to have a job, have a home, have a spouse, have a child.
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…blessing of living in a country that can gather together and worship the Lord freely.
· Let’s do some PRACTICING right now, what else can you THANK the LORD…FOR? If you are watching online, put it in the chat. Let’s name some,
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…
· Clothes on my back, the breath in my lungs, the roof over my head, the shoes on my feet, the ability to make my house warmer or cooler with just the touch of a button.
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…crazy family you let me have that I might not get to see this year or I might get to see this week.
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…grace that you gave me when I failed you this week.
· Thank you GOD…FOR THE…prayers that you answered in my life.
· THANK GOD…FOR THE…
· Turn to your neighbor and tell them ONE THING that you are thankful FOR. If you are watching online, put it in the chat.
Don’t forget:
GRATITUDE isn’t in HAVING the MOST, but MAKING the MOST of what you HAVE

Moses was teaching the people to be THANKFUL…FOR THE…PROVISION. SO important! But it’s an INTRO to GRATITUDE, not the FINAL EXAM. How good are you at PRAISING the Lord…FOR THE…BLESSINGS? Is your PRAISE past due? That is GRADE SCHOOL STUFF. Let’s move on to the next level. Maybe we could call this level…HIGH SCHOOL…because this is a much higher level of gratitude. We find this next level in the life of David.

David comes along and says,

This is good stuff. David was writing this in the valley. And he says something interesting that takes us to the next level of BECOMING GRATEFUL. He says:

Moses teaches us to thank God FOR THE…

David teaches us to thank God…EVEN THOUGH…This is a much HIGHER LEVEL of GRATITUDE! This is where you can have all hell breaking loose against one area of your life but you can still say,
It is well with my soul, when peace like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. WHATEVER my lot, YOU have taught me to say, IT IS WELL, IT IS WELL with my soul!
· IT IS WELL…EVEN THOUGH…I lost my job
· IT IS WELL…EVEN THOUGH…my heart is broken
· IT IS WELL…EVEN THOUGH…I’m going through the valley
· IT IS WELL…EVEN THOUGH…I lost somebody
· IT IS WELL… EVEN THOUGH…I’m tired and weary in the midst of 2020
· IT IS WELL… EVEN…THOUGH…

GRADE SCHOOL is where you learn to THANK GOD for the things that you CAN SEE.

THIS level, HIGH SCHOOL, is where you learn to trust God with the things that you CANNOT SEE!

EVEN THOUGH…I WALK THROUGH THE DARKEST VALLEY

This is where we decide what kind of Christians we are going to be. Are we only going to be thankful, grateful FOR THE…
· FOR THE…Food
· FOR THE…Finances
· FOR THE…Fiance’
· FOR THE…Favor

Or are we going to thank Him…
· EVEN THOUGH…I’m single
· EVEN THOUGH…I’m jobless
· EVEN THOUGH…I’m struggling
· EVEN THOUGH…I’m hurting

Am I only going to thank Him when I CAN SEE the evidence?

EVEN THOUGH…acknowledges His presence EVEN IN the presence of ENEMIES.

Psalm 23:5a – NIV – “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

This level of gratitude moves beyond being thankful for His PROVISION. This level is thankful for God’s PRESENCE…EVEN IN…the presence of your enemies. Can YOU keep your eyes fixed on Christ…EVEN IN the presence of your enemies.
· In the presence of your insecurities
· In the presence of your shortcomings
· In the presence of your addictions
· In the presence of your confusion
· In the presence of what you’ve lost
· In the presence of your enemies…look to God!

When you learn to be grateful to God, EVEN THOUGH and EVEN IN the presence of your enemies, you create a place for God to finish Psalm 23:5. A place where …

THAT IS NEXT LEVEL! REMEMBER…

GRATITUDE isn’t in HAVING the MOST, but MAKING the MOST of what you HAVE

This is HIGH SCHOOL! It’s a higher level of gratitude. Can you imagine the difference this could make in your life spiritually? IF in the face of your ultimate enemy, Satan, you can say:
· EVEN THOUGH…Everybody shout EVEN THOUGH…
· Shout it like you want the devil to hear it!
· EVEN THOUGH…you came at me, I’m still standing!
· EVEN THOUGH…you set an ambush against me….
· EVEN THOUGH…you tried to get me to give up…
· EVEN THOUGH…you tried to steal my hope, kill my dreams, destroy my destiny, I’M STILL STANDING!

In this SCHOOL, you have given up your expectations that things have to be good for you to be grateful. Instead, you might even say:

Things don’t have to be good for me to be GRATEFUL. I’m grateful because GOD is GOOD and GOD is FAITHFUL!

And when you are going through the darkness of the valley, don’t go back to GRADE SCHOOL where you can only thank God…FOR THE…good things and cry and complain about the tests and trials and tribulations in your life, but rather GROW UP! LEVEL UP! GROW UP in your faith! That is HIGH SCHOOL!

But there is one more level I want to talk to you about this morning. This is GRADUATE SCHOOL. This is DOCTORAL PROGRAM stuff. This is where you can earn a PHD. I’ve not achieved this level yet in my life. This can’t be learned in the classroom. This level can only be achieved in deep, dark, painful, places. We learn this one from PAUL, writing from a PRISON CELL in Rome.

This is the NEXT LEVEL of GRATITUDE…BECAUSE OF…

Paul was thankful, not FOR the pain that he had experienced, but for what the pain was producing in Him. You don’t have to be thankful FOR THE PAIN, FOR the diagnosis, FOR THE rejection, FOR THE abuse, but could you be thankful for what the pain is producing in your life.
· BECAUSE OF…sees the PURPOSE in the PAIN.
· BECAUSE OF…trusts the GREAT PHYSICIAN even when it hurts
· BECAUSE OF…trusts that God has a purpose and a plan, EVEN if you can’t see it, ESPECIALLY when you can’t see it…
· BECAUSE OF…trusts the cook even if you haven’t tasted the dish.

You just KNOW that it’s going to be GOOD!

When you praise God….FOR…what He’s given you, that’s great! You thanked Him for PROVISION. That is GRADE SCHOOL spirituality there. Way to go!

When you praise God IN SPITE of what the enemy is doing to you, EVEN THOUGH… that is pretty mature. You are going to make it THROUGH the valley, when you can do that.

But if you want a doctorate in faith, you can’t just praise God IN SPITE of it, you actually have to look at the trial that you are going through and say, “I KNOW that God KNOWS what He is doing in my life. I TRUST HIM. He WILL use THIS FOR MY GOOD! There is a PURPOSE in this season! Paul, in another place, wrote:

This is the …BECAUSE OF… kind of faith. We trust the GRAND CHEF that He can make something incredible out of the ingredients in my life. That is the doctorate level that James got to, when he wrote:

This is a GROWING, PRACTICING, BECOMING type faith that moves far beyond the GRADE SCHOOL of …FOR THE… PROVISION and even beyond the HIGH SCHOOL of the …EVEN THOUGH… of His PRESENCE and goes to the GRADUATE SCHOOL, the DOCTORAL program of …BECAUSE OF… that TRUSTS God’s PURPOSE in every PAIN!

GRATITUDE isn’t in HAVING the MOST, but MAKING the MOST of what you HAVE

So, let me ask this: Which SCHOOL are you in right now? Where might God want to GROW YOU in GRATITUDE? Help you on your journey to BECOMING…more like Jesus. We can’t do THAT, unless we LEARN to be GRATEFUL, EVEN THOUGH, and BECAUSE OF…

So, let’s PRACTICE some GRATITUDE RIGHT NOW! Be thankful that HE IS FAITHFUL EVEN in the HARDEST of TIMES!