A Recipe For Gratitude

This is the time of the year when our mothers, our great-grandmothers, our great-great-great-grandmothers, maybe a few of us may have some. And some of us men pull out some of our great recipes, our most cherished recipes that we have in our possession. Recipes that have been tried, tested, and are true. Ones that have become traditions for our family. And if that item wasn't prepared at this past Thanksgiving we had, something just wouldn't be right in the world. Something would be missing. Some of our recipes are quite easy. Some are even fun to make. Others take quite a bit of time. And you have learned that perfect trick of pulling it off in a way that it all comes together and it's successfully presented on the table. Time and experience have taught me a few things. Many times growing up, as a young man, I would be invited to a dinner and somebody would prepare an amazing dish. One that I really enjoy. And I would explain this to the person, exclaiming how much I enjoy this meal. This is wonderful. You've got to give me this recipe only to sit there and have a blank stare back at me and for her to say, this is a family secret. We don't share this recipe. Awkward situation, right? Not the easiest. And so as I've matured over the years, I've learned how to handle this in a little bit of a different approach. You sit there still saying how much you enjoy the meal, how wonderful it is, how you would, how you would, if, let's see, how would I phrase it now? So I would say something similar to, this is a wonderful recipe, one that I really enjoy. It sounds special. I've never had it this way. Is this something that you'd be willing to share now? Is this a family secret or something that you would share? And that helps us soften that transition to where they can say it's a secret or maybe they'd even bend the rules a little bit because of that approach and be willing to share the recipe. Recipes are very important to a lot of people. Over the years of cooking, have you ever forgotten that critical ingredient in your recipe? How did you come to realize it? How long did it take to realize it? Was it instantly? Was it, oh no, I forgot the... and you fill in the blank. I've done that a time or two.

Many critical items go into our recipes, and the same can be said for the emotion and the act of gratitude.

Gratitude is more than just one aspect of being thankful as we might think of it, but demonstrating real gratitude involves several different components, just like your prized family treasure of a recipe.

Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians as we get our baseline for what I want to talk about today. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18. A short verse, but one that's pretty deep again.

Here in the New King James Version, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18 says, In everything give thanks, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. In the New Living Translation, this verse reads, Be thankful in all circumstances. I like that.

Be thankful in all circumstances, not just the good days, not just the things that go right, not just when that recipe came together and you presented it and it was perfect. But you know what it says here? Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

In the book, The Howl of Happiness, by Sanya Lubomurski, she shines a light on gratitude as it relates to happiness. She states, It is thanking God. It is counting blessings. It is savoring. It is not taking things for granted. It is coping. It is present-oriented. Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, of hostility, worry, and irritation. The average person, however, probably associates gratitude with saying thank you for a gift or benefit received. She says, I invite you to consider a much broader definition. She goes on to say, She goes on to say, She goes on to say, I really enjoyed it and found that pretty profound. I'm going to repeat it.

She says, She goes on to say, She goes on to say, She goes on to say, Outside of our physical world, God has done tremendous things in our lives that we can't begin to take credit for, but these things have established our lives on an incredible path. Humility, in part, is recognizing that we and of ourselves are broken. We and in and of ourselves are broken, but that God can use broken people, and let's turn to Psalm 51, He can use a broken heart. He can use a broken heart to do great things. This is in Psalm 51.

Psalm 51, verse 16 and 17.

Here, verse 16 reads, So we see that we are to be broken. We are broken as people, but we are to have also a broken spirit, a broken contrite heart. God can work with someone who has a heart that doesn't think too highly of himself. People often use the word broken when referring to training a horse. You've got a wild horse that can't be ridden, can't be trained, but yet, in the process of breaking a horse, you get it to the point where it can follow instructions. God wants us to tame our hearts from the desires that our own human nature wants. It takes humility to be willing to tame our hearts and to allow them to become broken. This is why humility is a critical ingredient to gratitude. As part of the proclamation of Thanksgiving, delivered on October 20, 1863, President Lincoln said this, It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our nation, our national life, another year. Now therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday of November next, as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow citizens, wherever they may be, then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and ruler of the universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow citizens, after said, and here's the kicker, that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves. And he says, I really liked how he phrased President Lincoln on setting up Thanksgiving Day, that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves. Notice the Apostle Peter's words in 1 Peter, chapter 5. 1 Peter, chapter 5. We see another aspect of humility listed here by the Apostle Peter's words. 1 Peter 5 and verses 5 through 7. Here Peter says, It takes humility to trust God, that we can't control everything ourselves. We can't wrap our hands around everything that's going on in our life. We have to be humble, and we have to maintain a humble attitude. And so that's why humility is in our recipe for gratitude. It's the first ingredient in our recipe for gratitude. The next ingredient is a cup of contentment. We need a cup of contentment for this recipe. We live as a part of society that struggles with being content. I struggle with being content. I don't think that's a surprise. We live in a world where everybody's got the bigger TV. You go and you see that shiny or new appliance. You see that new item that you feel you need to have in your life. Then you drive home, and you pass the new homes that are being built. You see that nice green, lush yard. And then the neighbor who has that amazing rose bush. Why can't I grow roses like she can? It's tough in this world to be content. But when we lack contentment, we lack peace in our lives. When we lack contentment, we lack happiness in our lives. Peace and happiness are both side effects of having contentment. If we want to talk about someone who had every reason not to be content with his life, it would have been the Apostle Paul. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians 11.

2 Corinthians 11, verse 23.

2 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Here Paul is speaking of himself. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. And he's comparing himself to false teachers who were showing up creating problems, wanting money for their teachings. And he's saying, am I here for that? Let me tell you why I'm here.

And he goes on and says, are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. In labors, more abundant. In stripes above measure. In prison, more frequently. In death, more often. He says, from the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have been in the deep.

In journeys, often. In perils of water. In perils of robbers. In perils of my own countrymen. In perils of the Gentiles. In perils in the city. And in perils in the wilderness. In perils in the sea. In perils among false brethren. In weariness and toil. In sleeplessness, often. In hunger and thirst. In fastens, often. In cold. And nakedness. But then, what does Paul say in Philippians chapter 4?

I've got ahead a few books. Philippians chapter 4. In verse 11. Same person. Who went through all the difficulties. Which, if I had to go through those, would I have been content? I have to ask myself that question. And here in Philippians 4 verse 11. Paul himself says, Not that I speak in regard to need. For I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.

I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. Everywhere and all things. I have learned both to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He learned where contentment comes from. And it comes from Christ. Trusting, relying, knowing that we're in the best hands. The most capable hands that we can be in. What would it be like if we could find contentment in every situation of life? What weights would be lifted off our shoulders?

What level of happiness could we obtain? Would the joy of God fill our hearts? That feeling of contentment, that regardless of the situation, that our future is secure in God? What weights could be lifted off by having an attitude of commitment? A contentment? You can put in your notes Hebrews 13 verse 5, which I'll read from the New Living Translation. Hebrews 13 verse 5 reads, Don't love money. Be satisfied with what you have.

For God has said, I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. Do not love money. Be content with what you have. In his book, titled Jesus, Lord of Your Personality, Bob Russell gives this insight into the thoughts we sometimes battle. He says, Have you had a taste of the best this world has to offer?

You went to Hawaii once on vacation, so now it's harder for you to enjoy the state park. You've eaten at stake at Morton's, so it's harder to be thankful for a meal at Ponderosa. You've driven a jaguar, so now you can't be as content with your used Chevrolet. You cheered for a national champion, so now it's difficult to be grateful when your team had a good season but doesn't take home the title. Generally speaking, the more we have, the less grateful we are. It should be the opposite, he continues to say.

The more we have, the more thankful we should be. But it usually doesn't work that way, does it? He finishes, saying, It is a rare person who, when his cup frequently runs over, can give thanks to God instead of complaining about the limited size of his mug. I'm guilty as charged. I've done this. How many blessings have continually been poured out and poured out and poured out? I want more. It's tough at times to be content. It's tough to go through life when you see other things.

We live in a physical world. We enjoy physical items. Especially in this nation when it's been so blessed through the promises of Abraham. The gifts that God has given this nation that we are a part of. It is tough at times to be content because there is so much around us. But contentment is another one of those critical ingredients in our recipe for gratitude.

The next ingredient is a peck of praise. We do live, as I just mentioned, in such a blessed nation. We have such an abundance and diversity of food. All you have to do is you go to Kroger, you go to Meijer, and you walk in the...

Why am I blanking on it? Where are all the produce? The produce section. But all you have to do is you walk in that section of the store and you look around and you see the stocked shelves. The vast array of the colors. All the different types of fruits, vegetables. Most of them that I don't know how to even prepare. But they're there if I want to go buy them, if I know how to make them.

We live in such a blessed nation with so much abundance. We also have an abundance of safety. Is there crime? Yes. Is there really dark areas of crime? There are. But for the most part, we live in a very safe nation. We don't have to have a wall around our house with barbed wire on top. Does that sound crazy? It's not for people who live in South Africa. We know George and Kathy DeCampos from Cincinnati.

They moved several years back with their son. We had him over one night for dinner. We're sitting at our house and we had two windows in the corner where the table was. One of them mentioned, they looked out the window and said, You can see your neighbor's homes. I took a step back. What do you mean you can see your neighbor's homes? They said, In South Africa, you can't. Everybody has their own personal wall around their home for safety.

Everybody has a gate that you have the key and the opener, the clicker for, that will open the gate so you can come in and close it behind you. They said, To be able to see your neighbor and to not have to be fearful that they're going to come over and take your stuff or do harm to you. It never occurred to me that the freedom and the joy that we have, that we can see our neighbor's homes, we can see our neighbor's kids playing out in the yard, we can let our kids even play with our neighbor kids in their backyard.

That's a blessing that we have in this nation. We also have an abundance of freedom. The freedom that we experience here is unparalleled in the world. I try, personally, not to take that for granted, coming here, each Sabbath, wherever we congregate as God's people, to realize we don't have people kicking down our door waiting for us to join, to haul us away to prison. We don't have that fear of something going to happen where we can't fellowship, we can't worship God the way that we are right now.

We live with a lot of freedoms. Some will say we are losing our freedoms. I acknowledge that we are. We are losing some of our freedoms. But while we have the freedoms that we do today, let's praise God and be grateful that we can continue practicing our freedoms. Man's way wants to go contrary to God's, constantly. And in some ways, we will lose some of our freedoms.

But while we have them, let's enjoy what we have and let's continue to be thankful for our abundance of freedoms. These are just a few of the physical things we could praise God for. If we sat around and started writing a list, we could write all the way around this room.

The physical items that we have in this nation that we would be thankful for. The Psalms are a great resource for seeking out ways to praise God. You can take your pick. The Psalms are full of them.

But I chose Psalm 139 for today. Let's look at Psalm 139. Psalm 139, verse 6. The heading on mine says, For the chief musician, a psalm of David. So this is David. Verse 6, he says, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot obtain it. Just speaking of the knowledge that we have. And he says in verse 9, skip down to verse 9, Take the wings of the morning, and I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. He goes in verse 10, Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me, saying wherever he is at that God is there as well.

Verse 11, If I say, Surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light around me. God's deliverance again. Verse 12, Indeed the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as the day, that darkness and the light are both alike to you. That's how great our God is.

That darkness, light, doesn't matter to him. He knows where we're at. They are nothing to God. He's in full control. And that's how he thinks of us, the care that he views us as. He's got it all covered. Verse 14, I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. And verse 17, How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! How great the sum of them! There is so much that we have to be thankful for. Our physical health, the way that our bodies are designed, the way that we can wake up and be here today.

Everybody woke up today and is here today. It's a blessing that we have. How precious are God's thoughts, and how much do they mean to us that we can be grateful for them. Praise is something that we can do at any point in the day. That's the blessing we have, that God is there. He's not on vacation. He's not visiting relatives at Thanksgiving, and he's unreachable. He's not binging on Netflix. He's not watching the football game today. He can be in our presence, we can be in His presence at any time that we want to, in prayer.

He knows us. He cares for us. This is that God that we serve and that we have an intimate relationship with. Praise has to be part of our recipe for gratitude. The next ingredient is a twist of time. That's T-I-M-E, not T-H-Y-M-E, if anybody's wondering. A twist of time. Like any recipe you prepare for a meal, it takes time to bring it together and put it on the table. If it's one of those really special recipes, it may take a great deal of time to bring together. Taking time to actively consider our life and the things we are grateful for is part of the recipe for gratitude.

If we never take time and consider what it is that we are grateful for, then we'll never properly have gratitude in our lives. Without taking time to be grateful, you can't have a grateful heart. It's not possible. Time is critically necessary. In reading this past couple weeks about how some have developed more gratitude in their lives, there's lots of research, lots of books out there on it.

Many have built into their day an activity of journaling three to five things that they are grateful for every morning. It might sound like, wow, you'd run out of things pretty quick, wouldn't you? Many talked about you start off with this huge, long, full page of things. Your family, your husband, your job, things that you just are so grateful for. Life. But then as time goes on, it gets a little bit deeper. The whisk gets shorter, but they get more perm- or, I'm more intimate. You start appreciating the warm cup of coffee that you had the day before. That you could actually have coffee.

You appreciate the sun shine coming in the window and keeping you warm on a cold morning. You appreciate the peace that you have to just sit down and write a list. Many people have realized that when they do this, they can't help but to be happier, more content with life, more appreciative of the little things that they have.

Some do this on a regular schedule even once a week. Maybe every day seems a little daunting at first. Some do it every Sabbath. Some do it in their prayer time. It's a wonderful aspect of your prayers to include a portion of gratitude, things you're grateful for, things that went well yesterday, things that you appreciated in life, things that you have in your life.

But what studies have found is that those who take the time will naturally begin to be happier with their lives. In doing this, people actively consider on a regular basis what they are grateful for. This brings to their minds on a more regular basis positive and happier thoughts. In normal life, what do we get most passionate about? The things that go right or the things that go wrong in life?

How many times do I think that waiter or waitress that really went above and beyond? How many times has I gone out and I think the managers of the trash man who picks my trash up every week without fail or the mail person who drops my mail off every week without or every day not missing it, not mixing mine up?

But how many times have I called the manager up when I've had horrible service at the store or at a restaurant? That I've done more times because that's what I get passionate about. That's what I get upset about. It's part of our life. I don't think I'm alone in that. I try not to often now because I realize everybody's doing the best.

Everybody has different circumstances. People have bad days. I have my bad days and I'm glad people don't call me out on it. But often in life we do get passionate about things that go wrong, not the things that go right in life. In a normal day we can get caught up with the negative things that happen around us. And that's often what ruffles our feathers. Bringing to mind more often the things we are grateful for brings to mind more positive and uplifting things that naturally change our mood. It's hard to be thankful for your spouse or your children at the same time that you're frustrated with them. Can you be frustrated with your spouse or your children and be happy that you have them? Or vice versa? Can you be ecstatic? Can you see the joy in their eyes? Can you see the blessings that they are in your life? And then be frustrated with them at the same moment? It's hard. I don't think I could do that. That attitude of just being appreciative can do and can change your mindset. It can change our attitudes in the way that we carry ourselves. All of this takes time to do. Just like preparing that perfect recipe might have taken quite a bit of time this past week. It takes time to be grateful, but we can do it. So time is also one of those needed ingredients for gratitude. The next ingredient is an abundance of action. We need an abundance of action. Being grateful for what we have been given should move us to action in our lives. We know that God is the ultimate source of all of our blessings, and we must express our gratitude to Him. This is called transpersonal gratitude. Because if I say thank you to you, that's personal one-on-one. This is transpersonal gratitude, and it's the most important gratitude that we can have because we have been given so much by God. Once again, if we were to create a list, we could be here all day. There'd be no white space on this wall for the appreciation and the gratitude that we have for God. Some things to be grateful for, and I call this the spice mix of the message, the spice mix of the recipe for gratitude. Because it's kind of like a chili. You can put all the ingredients in there, but it's not chili until you add that spice mix.

It's not chili until you get everything. All the spices perfectly harmonize together. So part of our own personal spice mix, and the things to be grateful for to God, is first, our own personal relationship with God. Our own personal relationship. Like I mentioned, any time that you want, you can go before God's presence and have a personal conversation with our great Father. We can have an intimate relationship, a conversation with our Dad. That's the way He wants us to look at Him and refer to Him at times. He is our Father, but He wants that intimate. He's not a distant. He's not dislocated and away from us. That's something that's powerful, that we have a personal relationship with God, another item of our spice mix. We have the knowledge and the understanding that we have in our minds. We know it's a miracle to have our minds open and our consciences moved to want to follow God. I've mentioned before, many people have biblical knowledge, greater than I do, greater than probably most of us do. Yet, their hearts haven't been moved to be here, to follow the words that they understand.

Even Jesus references this in Luke 10.

Luke 10 and verse 21. Luke 10 and verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it seems good in your sight.

In verse 23, then he turned to his disciples and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear and have not heard it. Priceless information we have been given. Priceless knowledge. Can't be bought, but we have it. It is ours. People desire to have the peace that we have from God's Word. They want it, and we have it. So that's another item in the spice mix, this knowledge and understanding that we have.

Another item in our spice mix is God's mercy. God's mercy. And you can put in your notes Psalm 118 verse 29, which reads, Give thanks to the Lord. His mercy endures forever. Think about that for a minute. His mercy endures forever. Without bounds. Without limits. As a physical creation, we like to measure things in our world.

We like to measure our time, our distance from church, our distance to work. We like to measure the size of our house, the walls that we have to paint. We live in a physical world, and we do measure things so that we can more accurately see or understand the greatness of things that we have.

But we can't measure the depth of things on God's level. To measure God's mercy would be a wasted task, because it's unmeasurable to us. But for me, at times, I've thought about God's mercy. And I've tried to say, well, how far is it?

How wide is it? Where does it stop? Where does it go? We do try to measure things. And if I tried to measure it, I'd have to probably go to Exodus 25. Exodus 25. Because here in Exodus 25, we have God giving the dimensions and the size for the Ark of the Covenant. God says, you need to build this Ark, and I'm going to tell you how. Exodus 25. And we're not going to start in verse 10, but in verse 10, he starts going over the size, the type of wood, the gold, how to put it on and everything else, how much gold needs to be.

And then in verse 17, he gets to how I think I can measure, to some extent, God's mercy. Exodus 25 verse 17, you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. Verse 21, you shall put the mercy seat on top of the Ark, and in the Ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim, which are on the Ark of the testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

So this, as we know, is where God's presence would be when he would meet with Israel. And how I have often viewed this is, this is what we would cause thrown here in a physical way. And here he named his throne his mercy seat. Mercy seat of pure gold is what he called it. This is God we're talking about. He could have called this God's holy seat. It would have been fair. He could have called it God's great seat. God's mercy, or God's mighty seat. He could have called it God's powerful seat. He could have even called it God's eternal and everlasting seat. All of these would have perfectly fit for what he wanted to call it.

But he calls it his mercy seat. To me, that just shows to some degree the extent that his mercy goes for you and for me. It symbolizes the great, unmeasurable extent that he goes to pour out his mercy on us. Because he had every right to call it anything that he wanted to, and he chose to call it his mercy seat. That's how merciful God is to us, and how far his mercy will go for you and for me. Another aspect of our spice mix is God's love. You want to talk about another unmeasurable aspect of God?

It's his love. His love being so great that he did not even withhold from the world his own son's life. In John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God's love is unmeasurable. Another item of our spice mix, God's law. Again, you can put in your notes Psalm 100, verse 5. It says, And his truth endures to all generations. His truth, his law, his rules, his way of life go and extend to all generations. We have tested God's law, and we have seen that this way works.

This way works. The ways that we lead our family, the way that we conduct ourselves, the way that we interact with our co-workers, the way that we fellowship, this way works. We've tried it. We've tested it. But a lack of obedience indicates an attitude of being ungrateful.

I put all of our spice mix under this action ingredient in our recipe. But how do we actively express our gratitude to God for these things? We do this by actively sharing in all that God has given us as an outward action to those around us. What do you do with everything that God has given you? What have you done with all the abundance and the blessings you have? We should be moved to outward action to those around us.

John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying, As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Not just to say the words of gratitude, but then to live a life of gratitude.

Our expression of thankfulness to God will lead us to extend what He has extended to us to others that we interact with.

We all do enjoy being thanked for our actions. We enjoy that appreciation that when we do things that people show that to us. It feels good to be appreciated and thanked. As we enjoy these things ourselves, we should share our gratitude with others.

Let's turn to Matthew 7, verse 12.

Matthew 7, verse 12. Matthew 7, verse 12.

We are to thank others for the things that they do. We are to show appreciation verbally.

But we should also be moved to action. We should be moved to demonstrate our appreciation to God for everything He has given to us. Our spice mix, how great it tastes.

To show Him actively our appreciation by the way that we care and love others. This is in James, chapter 2, verse 14.

Can faith save Him?

James is getting back to the importance of not just saying kind words. You see a need. We have to fill it. We have to be physical. We have to act out our faith.

Our gratitude to God should move us to actively care for others in need, or to do helpful and appreciative things for others. An outward demonstration of God's love in our heart will lead us to action.

That's why action is another one of our ingredients for gratitude.

There is one warning I want to share today because it also needs to be covered, and that is the danger of ingratitude.

We do have quite a few examples in God's word of people who were ungrateful for the things that God had done for them.

God wants to pour out on us so many of His blessings that He has in mind for us, just as any good Father would want to pour out for His children. Abundance blessings, abundant gifts. God wants to do that for us, and He has.

But in Deuteronomy 8, we have God describing some of the blessings that He would pour out on Israel. He also, though, gives a warning.

Deuteronomy 8, verse 7.

Deuteronomy 8, verse 7.

This is God outlining everything that's going to be in the Promised Land, but also the dangers that come with these types of blessings. Deuteronomy 8, verse 7.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs that flow out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, His statutes, which I command you today. Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them, and when your heart herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold are multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led you through that great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty lands where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you to do good in the end, then you say in your heart, My power and the might of My hand have gained me this wealth. And verse 18, And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers as it is this day.

This is a danger of ingratitude that we need to be aware of because of the abundance that we have in this nation, because of the freedoms, because of the ability to go to that grocery store and to pick out that perfect piece of produce to come home and prepare it, that all of a sudden we say, My job has paid for these things. Yeah? It's produced money so you go to the grocery, but where did that knowledge come from? Where did that opportunity come from? Did God's favor go before us to get us that interview, to get us hired? Do we sometimes forget these things as we go through life, and are we ungrateful for what we have? Because we think it's been my control. I did this, and I did it well.

An attitude of being ungrateful or lacking gratitude has been all too common over the age of man. In time, Israel did become ungrateful for all that God had done for them. They fell away from the established truth of God's Word.

And so, again, in such a blessed nation as ours, we must also be careful that we do not do the same. This wasn't just a case for Israel. We can see even the Apostle Peter reminded his readers not to forget God's wonderful blessings in 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1, verse 2, right at the beginning of his book. 1 Peter 1, verse 2, he says, 2 He's saying, here's the abundance that you have in Christ. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 4. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here again, Peter is speaking about the spiritual blessings that we have received from God the Father and Jesus Christ, blessings that we must never forget and that we must constantly show our gratitude for. We have to watch out for an ungrateful attitude, because as life often does, it'll hit us hard from time to time.

I got 2x4 right across the forehead. We can get hit by things in life. In these times, it can be difficult to continue a mindset of gratitude. But as the definition described at the very beginning of this message, gratitude involves a focus on the present moment, on appreciating your life as it is today and what has made it so.

I was reminded last week of a powerful example of someone maintaining an attitude of gratitude in the midst of dealing with a disease that would eventually take his life. Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse of Baseball, famed for his 2,130 consecutive games' play streak, made one of the most memorable speeches in the history of sports.

Heartfelt and direct, this man with less than two years to live shared his feelings to a captivated audience that left tears rolling down many of their cheeks. It was on July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, when the long-time Yankee first baseman uttered the famous words at a home plate ceremony at Yankee Stadium. He says, When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat and vice versa, sends you a gift, that's something. When everybody down to the groundkeepers and those boys in the white coats remember you with trophies, that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you and squabbles with her own daughter, that's something. When you have a father and a mother who works all their lives so you can have an education and build your body, it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that's the finest I know. So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for. It's just a powerful example of someone grateful for the time and opportunity they were able to experience in the midst of finding out tragic news. We all have our trials. We all have our difficulties. But we all have God, and we must never forget that.

As we considered this past week which recipes we'd pull out of our boxes, which recipe books we'd open up and find that perfect dish that we wanted to prepare, let us consider and go forward considering a more important recipe, and that is the recipe for gratitude. As with any recipe, you may have your own twists or takes on preparing it just the way that you enjoy.

These are some of the points that I had thought about and prayed over, but I think the core of the recipe would be very similar for each one of us. This recipe consists of a heaping tablespoon of humility, a cup of contentment, a peck of praise, a twist of time, an abundance of action, and our own special spice mix of thankfulness for all the wonderful spiritual blessings that God pours out on our life personally. If we prepare this recipe on a regular basis, it will land sweetly on our lips and bring a warm feeling of gratitude to each of our hearts.