Message Follow Up | Grattitude: Part 1 – Say It
Grattitude: Part 1 – Say It from Journey Church on Vimeo.
What I Say Matters…
It Reveals the Attitude of my Heart
Luke 17:11-19
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man,“Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
This weekend, we talked about having an attitude of Gratitude. This is constantly at war with the entitlement of our hearts. The entitlement that says “this is NOT FAIR”, “I want it NOW”, and “I deserve MORE”.
Notice in this story that all of the lepers are crying out for God to show them mercy. We all pray for God to bless us (even people who don’t trust or believe in God). We don’t know WHY every one of them was crying out to be healed. Maybe they thought they didn’t deserve this life. Maybe they had had enough and thought NOW is when they needed to be healed. I don’t know – but Jesus did. He already knew the heart of every person that was asking – YET our gracious Lord heals them all.
I love the response of the ONE that came back. It’s obvious where his heart was – it was pouring out of his mouth as he shouted PRAISE GOD! This is the heart of a man who understood gratitude. It was already in his heart… it just needed to come out. When Jesus comments on the ONE, it’s not because He was genuinely surprised – it was because He was teaching those around him that THIS FOREIGNER (not a Jew) had the right heart – while those who SHOULD HAVE known gave in to the entitlement that was in their heart already.
When is the last time you expressed your gratitude to God WITH WORDS?
William Arthur Ward said it this way, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” God KNOWS OUR HEARTS but there is amazing POWER in the SPOKEN PRAISE of His people. There is healing and joy and peace to be received when we speak from a heart of gratitude.
When is the last time you expressed your gratitude to others WITH WORDS?
This week – most of us will have an opportunity to be with family and friends, and there will be no greater opportunity to express your gratitude for those that God has placed in your life. Don’t ask people to read your mind – TELL THEM. Let your WORDS speak LIFE into those around you.
Remember:
What I Say Matters…
It Reveals the Attitude of my Heart.
Have an attitude of gratitude this weekend and let your words graciously respond to God and to those in your life. Happy Thanksgiving!