Rekindling the Flame of Gratitude

Someone once said, when gratitude dies on the altar of a man's heart, that man is well nigh hopeless. I'd like to ask you to turn to Psalm 146, if you would, and our message is entitled, Rekindling the Flame of Gratitude. Rekindling the Flame of Gratitude. Psalm 146.

And I'd like to read that and then a brief introduction before we get into our message tonight. Rekindling the Flame of Gratitude. Psalm 146, verse one. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord on my soul. While I live, I will praise the Lord. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Do not put your trust in princes nor in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs. He returns to his earth.

And that very day, his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers. He relieves the fatherless and widow by the way. But the way of the wicked, he turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever. Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord.

Just for a second, I want to read an introduction to place our message in a context. There's something almost magical about an intentionally made controlled fire. Now, I say intentionally made in control because one that's out of control or starts by accident can be very dangerous. But there is indeed something almost magical about an intentionally made controlled fire. For many of us, looking into a fire causes us to reflect on a variety of things. Like his father before him, my father-in-law used to dub a good fire as a noble fire. We all know what happens to even a noble fire if it's not refueled.

It slowly dies down to a few glowing embers and finally ends up as a heap of ashes. In this message, we are not likening fire to our salvation but to our condition or the condition of our praise. And what we can do to make certain that it's not merely a flicker or a smoldering ember but a noble flame, a worthy offering to God. In Psalm 146, the psalmist begins and ends this song with an emphatic, praise the Lord.

Charles Spurgeon wrote this profound statement. He said, when we praise God, let us rouse our innermost self, our central life. We have but one soul and if it be saved from eternal wrath, it's bound to praise its creator. Come heart, mind, thought, come my whole being, my soul, my all, be all on flame with joyful adoration. In other words, folks, praise God like a noble fire, a burning, consuming flame of gratitude. We see first of all in this psalm a determined exaltation of God in verses one and two. The psalmist writes, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. While I live, I will praise the Lord, I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. I want us to consider three things into this first heading, a determined exaltation of God. And that is first of all, a perpetual declaration, a perpetual declaration. Perpetual means continuing forever. And those who are in Christ will join angels and saints alike in praise to our God for eternity.

What a thought. But the question tonight that we need to reflect upon is how are you praising him now? How am I praising him now? The focus of the psalm is upon the Lord, all capital letters as you read in your Bible, or Jehovah. This name for God is used 11 different times in 10 short verses. John MacArthur states the following, the psalmist admonishes himself to offer praise to the Lord, Jehovah. The covenant name for God who is the eternal, independent, self-existent, all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present, sovereign, creator, sustainer, and orchestrator of all things.

Jehovah has always been, I am who I am, the one who is and will be. Beloved, your praise and my praise reflect our knowledge of who God is. If we study him little, if we meditate upon him little, that will directly affect our praise.

And the opposite is true also. In verse 2, the psalmist also says, I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. This word for God is Elohim, and Elohim, as a plural, I should say, of majesty, highlights God's oneness. Everything ascribed to deity finds its fullness in him.

He is the most high God because being itself finds expression ultimately in God. I would take you to Genesis 1, 26a, then God, the word Elohim, then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. I'm going to share another quote from a commentator, Adam Clark, and I wish that I had time to break this down into bite-sized pieces. I'll read it slowly, but it to me is profound, and it really challenged me. Adam Clark wrote this, we learn that God is the sole object of adoration, that the perfections of his nature are such as must astonish all of those who piously contemplate them and fill with horror all who would dare to give his glory to another or break his commandments, that consequently he should be worshiped with reverence and religious fear, and that every sincere worshiper may expect from him help in all his weaknesses, trials, difficulties, temptations, and freedom from the power of guilt, nature, and consequences of sin.

He concludes, and to be supported, defended, and saved to the uttermost and to the end. Folks, what you think of God affects your praise. When you think of God, are you ever simply astonished?

I must confess, I wish that that happened to me more often than it does. When we reflect upon who God is, we must agree with Adam Clark it should cause astonishment. The Puritan preacher Thomas Watson said this, the motion of our praise must be like the motion of our pulse which beats as long as life lasts. I would suggest this, that the absence or irregularity of a heartbeat indicates a serious physical issue, and the absence of praise or irregularity also indicates a serious spiritual issue.

Think about it for a moment. How would you rate your praise? The psalmist has a perpetual declaration, I will praise God throughout my life and into eternity. But the second thing that we want to consider under a determined exaltation of God is a practical definition. What is praise? What is praise? It means to be clear.

It was originally used of sound, but usually of color. It means to shine, hence to make a show, to boast, to rave, to celebrate, to glory. Think of a brilliant sunset.

Think of a glorious rainbow against a stormy sky. Our praise is to be of that magnitude. The foundation of our praise is true fear of the Lord. I've taught our teens, I teach my Bible class at the Christian school, this simple definition of fear of God.

As a matter of fact, we went over it again this morning in Sunday school. The fear of the Lord is a reverent attitude of awe and adoration, whereby the child of God guards and guides his or her thoughts, words, and deeds by the word of God for the glory of God. Two things, awe for what God has done, or awe for what God is, who he is, and adoration for what he's done. Let me say that again. We ought to have a reverent attitude of awe, and we have that awe for who he is, and a reverent attitude of adoration for what he's done on our behalf.

R.C. Sproul stated our proper response to him is to fall down in reverent worshipful fear. The Jews held this name Jehovah in such reverence that they often substituted Adonai in its place. Adonai stresses the sovereignty of God. And beloved, our praise for God, whether it's speaking or singing, our actions ought to be done in such a way that it brings glory to him and not ourselves. Psalm 115 verse 1 says, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory because of your mercy, because of your truth. May that be our prayer. We've looked at a perpetual declaration. We're going to praise God for time and for eternity. We've looked at a definition that talks of boasting about God. And finally, under this first heading of a determined exaltation of God, we want to look at a preeminent devotion.

And I've quoted several people. This one is A.W. Tozer. And notice that it goes back to 1978, 43 years. Compare what he says to what you see in the church today.

In 1978, A.W. Tozer wrote, The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking. With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine presence. We've lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity, this is 1978 now, modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life and the spirit. The words, Be still and know that I am God, mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshiper in this middle period of the 20th century. My goodness, if he could see what it's like today. Self-confidence, bustling worshiper, that is today, but today is on steroids.

Spurgeon, even back further than A.W. Tozer said, With holy awe let us pronounce the word Hallelujah and by it summon ourselves and all others to adore the God of the whole earth. I'm going to give you three texts that are the basis of this poem and I would challenge you to look these up. Exodus 24 verse 10, Exodus 24 verse 10, I'm not going to read them tonight because of time. Exodus 24, 10, Ezekiel 1, 26 through 28, Ezekiel 1, 26 through 28, and then finally the whole chapter of Revelation 4.

Exodus 24, 10, Ezekiel 1, 26 through 28, Revelation 4. If you were to read those texts and take the time to look up what the Hebrew and the Old Testament and the Greek and the New mean from some of those words, you would have adoration and awe. Let me read the poem. It's entitled Our Supreme and Glorious God. Great God, unsearchable thy ways, supreme beyond compare. In reverent adoration, Lord, our feeble praise we share. Thy glory is thy excellence unique to thee alone, spectacular in majesty, vast universe thy throne. For hungry souls, thy written word grants a faint glimpse of thee. Though dim, the image awes the mind and bows both heart and knee. Thy grander, matchless king of kings and mighty Lord of lords lead saints to meditate on thee and silently adore. Such blinding light like dazzling flames engulfs thy sapphire throne that rests upon a sea of glass like clearest crystal stone. The splendor of thy glory draws the heart to holy thoughts.

Its brilliance shames the rainbows boast and pales heaven's host to naught. Thy whisper mutes the thunder crash of lightning round thy throne, Jehovah, high and lofty one who calls all things thine own. Pure worship of the heavenly throng envelops me in praise, overwhelming me with joy that sets my grateful heart ablaze. None but thyself can fully know the glory that is thine. All tribute saints may offer thee, fall short by thy design.

Yet fearing thee and loving thee and walking in thy ways, I'll seek to glorify thy name beyond my earthbound days. Folks, when we do our very best to glorify God, it falls short by his design. There's no way that we can truly glorify and praise God for who he is.

We cannot comprehend him. And I would like to imagine that when we first are in the presence of God, either when Christ comes back for his own or takes us through the doorway of death, we will have adoration and awe in its purest forms. Do you habitually call your soul to praise Jehovah for who he is, for what he's done, for what he is doing, for what he will do? Or have you become somewhat complacent or careless in worship?

Do you need to rekindle the flame of gratitude? We have looked at a determined exaltation of God we've considered a perpetual declaration for time and eternity, a practical definition. Praise means to boast, to celebrate who God is and what he's done and is doing and will do. And finally, a preeminent devotion. Our praise should reflect awe and adoration. But secondly tonight, I want us to consider a delightful expectation of present and promised blessings.

A delightful expectation of present and promised blessings. And that's going to be verses 3 through 9a, but we'll start out first of all. The psalmist cautions a sober warning. Notice verses 3 and 4. He says, Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth, and that very day his plans perish.

In other words, don't be enticed to put your trust in government in general, in specific individuals, or in yourself. Psalm 33, 10 through 11 states this. The Lord, Jehovah, brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever.

The plans of his heart to all generations. Verses 16 through 22 state, No king is saved by the multi-divine army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety.

Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his mercy to develop, to deliver, I should say, their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield, for our heart shall rejoice in him because we've trusted in his holy name. Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in you.

History teaches us that most governments are no friend of grace. I want to read something that is a promotion for a book written by David Horowitz. Who is he? He is a prominent Jewish American leader. He is a conservative commentator.

Again, get this. This is a prominent Jewish American who happens to be a conservative commentator. Listen to what it says about his book. He's recently written a book entitled The War to Destroy Christian America. He contends that political extremists, militant fringe groups, and the press have Christianity in their sights. Folks, would you agree with that?

Think about what he said here. Political extremists, militant fringe groups, and the press have Christianity in their sights. Now that could be depressing if we hadn't had a psalm such as this. We need to take heart because the eye of the king of kings is on those who fear him and the battle is the Lord's.

The battle is the Lord's. Secondly, we see the psalmist's cautions with a sober warning, but secondly, the psalmist contemplates his supreme wealth. There are several things that we have that really ought to feed our praise without question. The first thing we see is the start of 5a, the wealth of our condition.

What is our condition? Look at the first part of verse 5. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help.

Could that be said of you? True happiness is inseparable from a relationship of the true and living God. The world futilely seeks happiness in all the wrong places, and I'll list a few for you.

They seek happiness in position, in power, in prosperity, in popularity. The list of God alternatives is as futile as it is endless. People want to find happiness anywhere but in God. Apart from God's grace, no natural man would come to Christ in conversion.

That's the second wealth that we need to look at, the wealth of our conversion. Look at the second part of verse 5, whose hope is in the Lord, and notice this, his God. The psalmist speaks of Jehovah being his Elohim. He has a personal relationship that exceeds gaining the whole world and losing his own soul.

And if you would, listen to just three texts. Our dependence upon God for our conversion is the theme in both the Old and the New Testaments. And beloved, no matter what comes down the pike, we ought to rest in this. If we have a confidence that we are one of God's children, that he's enabled us by faith to put our trust in him, there is a sense in which the best is yet to come, no matter what the immediate future. Listen to these three texts, two Old Testament, one of many New Testament, Deuteronomy 29, 2 through 4.

And think about this, our utter dependence upon God for our conversion, the wealth of our conversion. Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes on the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his lands, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and those great wonders. But to this day, the Lord, Jehovah, has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

That's profound. They saw the parting of the Red Sea. They saw all the diseases and plagues that God brought upon the Egyptians. And yet Moses ends this little section here. To this day, the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

One other text in the Old Testament, and I could have given many, Isaiah 43, 10 and 11. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, again, Jehovah. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.

Why did you choose us, God? That you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God for him, nor shall there be after me. I, even I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior. Is belief in Jehovah and in his Son the only means of salvation?

Indeed it is. One New Testament text, and again, I'll reference one, but we won't read the other one. Romans 8, 7 through 9. It says, Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those that are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.

Why do I make the emphasis that I do? Prior to regeneration and conversion, all individuals are in the flesh. We are all natural men.

Notice what it says. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit dwells in you.

If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. Beloved, we have a wealth of condition, happiness. We have the wealth of our conversion, eternal life. Third, we have the wealth of creation. Sometimes we read scripture, and we read it quickly, and we don't really think about simple statements like I'm about to read. Look at verse 6, the first part. Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.

Just a simple statement. Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. That statement is pregnant with amazing unfathomable truth. Let's call the statement that I just read a black line drawing like a kid would see in a coloring book.

And let me put some color to it now. You made heaven and earth. Heaven boasts 70 billion trillion stars.

Get your head wrapped around that one. Heaven boasts 70 billion trillion stars. That's taken from a secular website.

Listen to what Psalm 147 4 and 5 says. He counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. He likewise numbers the hairs of our head. Secondly, not only heaven boasts a host, 70 billion trillion stars, but earth and sea. He makes this statement. You made the sea and all that is in them. Just a simple statement. Scientists predict that there are 8.7 million species globally, of which 2.2 million are marine.

Their research suggests that some 86% of the species on earth and 91% in the ocean still await description. Now think about that, folks. And when you think about that and you read, you made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. The wealth of our creation. Genesis 1 26, God commands man to have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth. We're commanded to have dominion to subjugate, to reign as stewards.

But I want to get even more specific. We have a wealth of our creation when it comes to you and to me as individuals. God created us exactly the way He wanted us for His purposes. Familiar verses, Psalm 139, 13 through 16.

And some of the political hot potatoes that are going around today, this flies in the face of those. If you would not be politically correct to say, let me read it. For you formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. You saw my substance yet being unformed and in your book they all were written, but He's fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them. God has made each of us according to His blueprint for each of us just as He wanted us to be. And that includes people who may not measure up in some areas from the world standpoint. Let me insert a parenthetical here. You know, the battle over protecting unborn children that have Down syndrome or are of a race that is not wanted to any number of things.

If you've watched the news at all, that's the latest front line. Exodus 4-11 says this, So the Lord, again Jehovah, said to Moses, Who has made man's mouth, or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind, have not I the Lord? He made those who can speak or cannot speak, He made the mute, the deaf, the seeing, the blind. The man in John chapter 9, who was blind from birth, was old enough to be on his own.

I don't ask us, his parents said, go to him, he's of age. And yet he was blind from birth so that Jesus could pass him on a particular day at the exact spot where he was for what purpose, to bring glory to God. Folks, that's mind-boggling when you consider it.

A lifetime of blindness for just a few minutes. And in those few minutes, He glorified God. A final thing under our wealth, we've looked at our condition, happiness, our conversion.

It's all of unmerited grace. Our creation, both the earth that we're stewards of and our individual bodies, but this last one under this particular heading, a delightful expectation of present and promised blessings, the wealth of our covenant keeping God. The last part of verse 6 and the first part all the way through the first part of verse 9. He first of all in 6B through 7A, who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed. Charles Spurgeon gave this commentary, who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed. The Lord will never prevent His promise to fail. He's true to His own nature, true to the relationships which He has assumed, true to His covenant, true to His word, true to His Son.

He keeps true and is the keeper of all that is true. In Psalm 72, verse 4, Solomon wrote, He will bring justice to the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy and will break in pieces the oppressor. We have the assurance that our covenant keeping God will keep all of His promises.

Notice the last part of verse 7 all the way to the first part of verse 9. He's compassionate in His provision and protection. 7B, who gives food to the hungry, the Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord raises those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers. He relieves the fatherless and the widow.

I want to insert here something that I don't have in my notes, but I can't help but feel prompted to share this. Who gives food to the hungry. How does God give food to the hungry? He uses instruments of righteousness. He uses you. He uses me.

He doesn't provide manna like He did the children of Israel, but He uses us. And something kind of unique happened to me. I've given to people at exits before. I think it was Thursday or Friday of last week I was on my way to church and I was getting off the exit and I could see further down the exit to Route 62 and there was a gentleman standing there who did not have a coat.

All he had was a blanket around him. And I felt very strongly prompted to give him some money and a track. And I'm thinking, Lord, you're going to have to give me a red light for this to get done because there's dudes behind me.

I can't stop and say, here, will you read this? No red light. I had my wallet out. I had the money I intended to give. I put it in a track.

Kind of a funny thing about this. I had a stop track. What I thought was a stop track, if you've seen any of them. MacArthur puts them out.

They're excellent. The only problem is when I looked again, it had Alto on it. It was in Spanish.

It won't work. So I reached in quickly and got a different track, put the money in it, but it was a green light. So I went through the light, headed to church, and I had this overwhelming sense you need to turn around and give the guy the money. So I pulled in a development on 62, turned around, and I said, now, Lord, I'm going to need a stop light at that exit. Because there are dudes behind me on 62 for sure. I got up to that and, folks, I had just gone to the first development on 62.

Maybe a minute, if that. I got up to that exit, and he was nowhere to be seen. And not to be funny, but I even mentioned my wife. I wondered, I mean, it struck me, so was this an angel? Where did the dude go? And I'm looking to see if he was back off the road.

Disappeared. So I pulled into where the cafeteria, K&W cafeteria, turned around, came back out, started to church, and I said, well, Lord, you know my heart. I'd have given it to him if I could have. And I was going through this light just past the overpass.

I happened to look at Waffle House, and the guy was cutting across the parking lot. So I pulled in there, put my window down, and said, I'd like to give you this. And he was extremely appreciative. And I said, I just ask that you read this pamphlet that I'm giving you. And he said, I will.

Now, I give that, and it's like I tell the teens all the time. You give a personal illustration that anybody could give. Anybody can do that. That's not braggadocious. Any Christian can stop and give someone money and a track. The question is, do we do it? And I don't do it every time. I passed a guy on my exit tonight.

The green light kept going. But my point is this. Yes, God will provide, but often he uses us to do it.

Here's what Spurgeon said. The Lord raises those who are bowed down. He's looking at the big picture of these verses. He raises those who are bowed down. Jehovah consoles the bereaved. He cheers the defeated. He soulless the despondent.

He comforts the despairant. Let those who are bowed to the ground appeal to him, and he will speedily uplift them. Hebrews 13, 5 through 6. And you ought to read these verses in the amplified version sometime. The amplified is too laborious to get through, but it packs a punch when it comes to these verses. Let your conduct be without covetousness.

Be content with such things as you have. For he himself, Jehovah, he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord, all capital letters, Jehovah is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? And in the climate in which we live, folks, that's a great question. What can man do to us? Nothing eternally. Nothing eternally.

He might send us into the presence of God, but that's an okay thing. Third, and finally, we see a declared endless supremacy. We've looked at a determined exaltation. We've looked at a delightful expectation of present and promised blessings.

And now, very briefly, a declared endless supremacy. Look at the second part of 9 and verse 10. But the way of the wicked he turns upside down. The Lord, Jehovah, shall reign forever.

Your God, Elohim, O Zion to all generations, praise the Lord. And note that he states that God loves the righteous in verse 8. And he contrasts the righteous with the wicked in verse 9b, whom he will turn upside down. They may think that they're on the right side, the winning side now, but payday is coming.

Folks, I want to challenge you. Imagine the future of those who God loves. Imagine our future. Imagine the future of those whom he calls wicked. That word upside down, those words upside down, carries the idea of thwarting the way of the wicked.

It literally means to make crooked. We know what the final chapter is going to be. And for us, it's eternity in the presence of God. When God calls an end to time as we know it, it's the upright who will remain upright. In 1988, and again, this is something when you put it in historical context.

In 1988, commentator John Phillips wrote this. We're living in a lawless world where sin and death reign. All too often, wickedness and injustice, oppression and crime have their way. So it's not always easy to trace God's overruling providence.

Listen to this. We have to trust him where we cannot trace him. In the end, however, right always triumphs and wrong reaps the due reward of its deeds. The final setting of mankind's moral accounts is not always in our history books. The fact remains that God loves the righteous and turns the way of the wicked upside down.

A key phrase, key sentence. We have to trust him where we cannot trace him. If you want to put it another way, when we do not understand what God is doing, we need to have faith in who he is. Beloved, the source of our assurance is that the Lord shall reign forever as our shelter in the time of storm. And two things. That truth brings peace that the world cannot know.

And that truth should foster praise as a witness to a world that has rejected God and Christ. Application. What do you do when a noble fire dies down to where all that's left is a flicker or a few glowing embers? Just a practical question. What do you do when a noble fire dies down to where all that's left is a flicker or a few glowing embers? You blow on the embers and the result is typically a rebirth of the flame.

Then you feed the fire with fuel. How can this apply to spiritual apathy? How can we rekindle the flame of gratitude?

Four things in application. Ponder the wealth that we have in Jehovah as revealed in his word. Ponder the wealth that we have in Jehovah as revealed in his word. For us, in a very real sense, the best is yet to come. As Pastor Kern said this morning, we have a measurable blessing now in this life. But imagine being in a place where Jesus is.

The best is yet to come in that context. Ponder the wealth that we have in Jehovah. Pray for a grateful heart that does not take for granted what you have in his provision and protection.

Pray for a grateful heart that does not take for granted what you have in his provision and protection. I've probably said this from this pulpit before, but a life-changing event to me was when I went to Dominican Republic. The pastor sent me down there to see if a school in that place, actually it was Mexico. Been to Dominican Republic but this illustration was Mexico.

It's the school where Mark Webb is affiliated. And long story short, what happened to me was one of our trips was out to the village dump. And we were on a bus going to town, this town, and I saw what I thought was mountains in the distance. And as we got closer I realized that's not mountains at all, it's the trash heaps. And what gripped my heart was when we drove in there and we saw people picking through that trash. Picking through the trash.

We saw people living in huts made of rusty tin pieces, not full sheets, wood, that would not possibly keep out rain. And it impacted me to the point where it just goes against my grain to see waste. And I won't get into it more specific than that, but just say this, pray for a grateful heart that does not take for granted what you have in His provision and protection. Folks, what we see today as need may one day very quickly become luxury. Think about that because that's the case in most of the world.

Two more and we're done. Ponder the wealth, pray for a grateful heart, praise God in your thoughts and your words and in your songs for what He has given you in Christ. And let me say this, when I say praise God in your songs, sing privately. You know, you're expected to sing or make an attempt when we come to church, but there's nothing like just singing the praises of God with nobody there to impress. In my case, nobody there to scare, but sing privately.

It will do your heart good when you sing songs and you're thinking of the words. Let me give you an example. You want a definition of grace? His robes for mine, four words. That's grace. His robes for mine. I can't help but look at the chorus of that song.

God estranged from God. Jesus is crushed and thus the Father is pleased. You sing that on your own, you won't have any problem shedding a tear.

You won't have any problem being in awe and adoration. Ponder the wealth, pray for a grateful heart, praise God privately and publicly. And finally, provide fuel for the fire by reading and heeding His word. I want to close by reading this song, My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness.

It's by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend, but listen to the words. My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who bore my pain, who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again, who crushed my curse of sinfulness and clothed me in his light and wrote his law of righteousness with power upon my heart. My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who walks beside, who floods my weaknesses with strength and causes fears to fly, whose every promise is enough for every step I take, sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace. My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who reigns above, whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose every thought is love. For every day I have on earth is given by the King, so I will give my life, my all, to love and follow Him. Beloved, as we close tonight, do you need to rekindle the flame of gratitude in your own heart?

To some degree, we all need to. And may that be something that we truly desire to do in the days ahead. Father, I pray that you take what I've shared tonight and use it as you see fit. Lord, we are indeed a blessed people that need to be an eternally grateful people, and our praise should be public as a testimony to those about us. Father, we ask that you put your hedge about our church and about all churches that are faithful to the word of God. We ask that you put your hedge about our families. We pray for Christians throughout the world.

We know of genocide going on in many countries, Nigeria being one of them. We ask, Father, that in your sovereignty you would protect and provide for your people in ways that would bring honor to yourself. And Lord, we close with this desire. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.