Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. When you rise in the morning, the first thing you ought to do is to worship your God and to utter a prayer in all of our ways, with our families, with our friends. We ought to step by step pray without ceasing. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can build habits for an abundant life.
Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, always thankful. Gratitude. is an attitude which is perpetual and habitual in the life of the believer. The scripture says that we are to please God by serving Him with thankful hearts.
And it's a good thing to set aside time such as Thanksgiving. to focus on giving thanks. But you know that Thanksgiving should be a lifestyle. And It becomes a habit when we practice gratitude daily in our lives. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
Beginning at verse 16. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. and give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the spirit. Then look down at verse 23.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely. Do it.
Gratitude is an attitude that should be a lifestyle for the believer. And I've noticed in my own life when we develop godly habits, so often we think of habits as being. Negative, a negative thing that we have bad habits. But of course, the way to overcome bad habits is to develop. good habits and for the Christian godly Habits.
A large part of Christian virtue consists in forming the right habits in our lives.
Someone said, We first make our habits, and then our habits. Make us. And most everything about us is a result of the habits that frame Our lives. And certainly, as we give thanks again and again and again, gratitude becomes the habit. of our hearts.
And as we look at this passage here, there are really several other kinds of habits that should be developed. Daily as a discipline, as a devotion in the believer's life. And I'm going to mention those habits and hopefully encourage you. and me to form these habits in our lives. The first habit that I want to mention is the habit of joyfulness.
The habit of joyfulness. That's why the scripture says that we are to rejoice. In the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. 1 Thessalonians, as we just read, said, rejoice evermore. In the book of Proverbs, we're told that joy is a continual feast.
for the believer. We're told that joy is medicine for the soul. for a joyful heart produces a cheerful countenance. We know that joy comes out of the heart. not based on external circumstances or conditions in our lives, something much better, something much deeper than that.
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. And Jesus said, these things have I spoken unto you that your joy may be full. We learn from the life of Nehemiah that joy is our strength because Nehemiah 8, 10 says, the joy of the Lord is my strength. If Satan can steal your joy, if circumstances can rob you of your joy, then your strength is gone. How many tired, worn-out, defeated people do we see every day because they have no joy?
We know that joy even affects the body. A merry heart does good like a medicine. That's what the scripture says. And so this joy that we have in Jesus is to be continual. You know, on Thanksgiving, we pig out, we eat, and it's a feast, and before you know it, you're sick of eating.
You say, I'm never going to eat again. I'm going on a diet even before Christmas. And it's just, you know, food can't really satisfy ultimately, but Christ is a continual source and feast in our lives. And so this is continual. This joy is conspicuous.
Say, if you have joy in your heart, let it show up on your face. Let Christ in you. Reveal his joy. There is pleasure in sin for only a season. But Jesus gives us continual joy and it just keeps getting better and better and better when you walk with the Lord.
So I'm saying that if you want to live with this Thankful heart and thankful spirit, then develop the habit, develop the habit of Joyfulness. But there's another habit that is mentioned here. And that is the habit of prayerfulness. What does the scripture say there in 1 Thessalonians 5? Pray Without Ceasing.
Pray without ceasing. Now prayer as a habit must be cultivated in our lives. When we do, It is because we recognize our dependence upon Christ. Our dependence upon our God for everything. The scripture is not suggesting here that prayer is to be a perpetual activity, but rather it is to be a perpetual attitude in life.
It is a way of life. a lifestyle. Certainly Jesus demonstrated this prayerfulness in his own life, often rising before the sun was up to pray. Often in days of great exertion and pressure, pausing to pray, Jesus prayed about everything. And when his disciples came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray, they had seen something in the prayer life of Jesus that absolutely captivated their hearts.
Lord, teach us to pray. And even in the prayer that he taught us to pray, that model prayer, we have an example as to how we are to pray. And this is a daily prayer to be offered unto God. Not necessarily the words, though certainly the words are beautifully put and beautifully given, the Lord's prayer or the model prayer, but a pattern for praying in our lives, that we are to perpetually praise God in our prayers, that we are to perpetually ask God for his guidance and his provision and his protection, even to the smallest things such as praying for daily bread. Jesus was saying, look, even something as simple and as basic and necessary as bread, pray for it daily because you are completely dependent upon God who is the bread of heaven.
Everything that we have comes from him and we ought to acknowledge him. We ought to receive from him and pray. Perpetually. I love Proverbs 3, 6. That if we acknowledge the Lord in all things, trust in the Lord with all your heart, verse 5.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. The prayerfulness that I'm talking about might be described as mindfulness. of God's presence. Of God's protection, of God's provision in our lives, step by step in life. To live in prayer, to pray without ceasing, is to acknowledge God in all things.
Too often, we think that God is interested only in the big things of our lives.
So we don't pray much unless the big things come along. a big problem. Or a big situation or an illness or something of that nature. Big things. But did you know that God is interested in every area of our lives?
Not just the big things, but the smallest things.
Someone said to their preacher, said Come on now, do you really think that God is interested in the little old things of my life? And the preacher wisely said, Madam, can you imagine anything in your life that is big to God? You see, everything, big or small or in between in our lives, is no problem for God if we bring it to Him. He invites us to come to him anywhere, anytime, about anything. And God will be involved in your life if you will invite him.
And that's why I'm saying that when you get in your car and drive to the office, acknowledge God's presence in your life. When you rise in the morning, the first thing you ought to do is to worship your God and to utter a prayer.
Sometimes we just offer a sentence to God, acknowledging his presence and thanking him for his goodness. In all of our ways, with our families, with our friends, we ought to step by step pray without ceasing. depending upon him, trusting him, welcoming him into every arena of our lives. When you pray, Lord, bless my kids, or Lord, protect my family, or Lord, give me a great day. You are acknowledging the Lord and you are praying perpetually as you give him.
Your day. and the steps of your day. And it's not in the length of our prayers, but the depth of our prayers in which we connect with God. Certainly, it's true that we will not pray everywhere until we pray somewhere. And I certainly advise you to have a daily prayer time and a quiet time and a devotional time and a scripture time because you won't pray everywhere until you pray somewhere.
You won't pray at all times until you pray at some time. But I believe it's also true that the reverse of that is a fact: that you won't pray somewhere until you pray everywhere. And you won't pray about everything until you can pray about anything. in your life. Praying without ceasing is to live consciously and continuously and Constantly recognizing God's presence in your life.
When we pray for something as simple as daily bread.
Something as basic as bread, we're acknowledging our dependency upon Him. These are habits of joyfulness. Habits. of prayerfulness. that please God.
and glorify God. and make life. an expression of our gratitude every day. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message: Always thankful. As you're enjoying this week of Thanksgiving, we all know Christmas is right around the corner.
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Now, let's get back to today's message. Always thankful.
Well, he does go on to say that we are to give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
So the next habit that we obviously should talk about would be the habit of thankfulness. There's the habit of Joyfulness, there's the habit of prayerfulness and then there's the habit of Thankfulness. I read just this week that more than any other habit, Gratitude will determine your happiness in life. I believe that's true. And as Commanded here in Scripture.
This is not just a suggestion for the Christian. This is a commandment. It is imperative as these other brief admonitions would be. We are to give thanks perpetually and we are to give thanks obediently. It is a command, not an option.
Now most of us Can Remember and realize Our gratitude at special times and special seasons. when we stop to think about it. I don't know what. The problem is for so many who failed to give thanks. Like those lepers who were healed by Jesus and only.
Of the ten, only one came back to give thanks. I'm sure all of them had excuses. Mm-hmm. Crazy kinds of excuses as to why they didn't come back and thank Jesus. For their healing.
Now remember, he's just healed them of of the most dread disease of the times. But only one came to say things.
So you have to wonder why some people are ungrateful. As I was thinking about it and wondering about it, why would we not say thanks all the time? I thought of several reasons. One is we have so much abundant privilege. And if you grow up getting everything you want, And you think that you are entitled to easiness in life.
When you don't get your way, you're not going to be grateful. If you think that life is going to be free of pain and free of suffering and free of problems, then when problems come, when pain enters your life, then you will find, because life is not perfect, you'll start focusing on everything that's wrong instead of so much that is right in your life. And so often because we've had it so good. We are like spoiled children. who do not say thanks.
affluent experiences in life. I mean, you know, if you've had the best, it's hard to go back to just good. We get accustomed to our blessings and to the experiences of life and it's hard to go back if we have to go back. I tell you another reason that I think people are ungrateful in life and don't practice this thankfulness in their lives is because they have negative companions. ungrateful people surrounding them.
The Bible says bad company corrupts good character. And that's so true. And if all your friends are grumpy old men, It won't be long before you'll join their grumpiness. The contrast, of course, is true as well. If you choose positive, Joyful, prayerful.
Mindful Grateful people. then this attitude will rub off on you. If you want to win in anything, certainly if you want to win in life, you be positive and you get yourself around positive people. who give thanks. Not the gripers, the complainers, the whiners who don't know how to enjoy life.
But you Love Jesus and serve Christ and live with. thankfulness and joyfulness and prayerfulness and there's one final word. He says we are to live with hopefulness. Hopefulness. He says there in verse 23 that Jesus is coming and because Jesus is coming soon, we ought to live on tiptoe with expectations.
We ought to get ready by sanctifying ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, that we are to be fit before God, body, mind, and soul, and therefore ready and responsive to the coming of our Lord. It is the habit of hopefulness. It is leaning forward into life. It's the way the Apostle Paul lived. He said it best in Philippians 3: I press on towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ.
That is the habit of hopefulness. Knowing that we can be formed into the image of Christ, body, soul, and spirit. To press on, the mark is Christ's likeness. It is forward by faith, onward and upward. We are to live with expectations.
And it's truly more than trite to say, if you are a believer, that the best is yet to come. In this passage, 1 Thessalonians 5, there's a little sentence in there. This is little short staccato sentences that admonish us and encourage us in our habits. But he says, do not quench the spirit. Do not quench the spirit.
The word quench there means to extinguish. or to restrict or to retard. Energy. The energy referred to here is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Do not Resist the Spirit.
Do not. Restrict the Spirit. Do not douse the fire of the Spirit of God in your life. In other words, he's saying stay passionate about life. We are ignited with a holy fire.
And God has given us his spirit to empower us and energize us to live godly lives, to share our faith, to guide our steps, to infuse our worship. And therefore, we are always looking up. Because we know Perhaps today. That Christ is coming again. that we are born and bound for glory.
And there's no reason to live our lives with disappointment because hope does not disappoint. There's no reason to live our lives with defeat because we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is no reason to fear life or to fear death because we have a living hope, a blessed hope, an eternal hope in Jesus Christ. And therefore, we are to live every day with this spirit of hopefulness. I love that old gospel song, this world is not my home, I'm just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue and the angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. That is our spirit. that we are elevated. into his presence on a daily basis. It's living with hopefulness.
No fear. No failure. Because we have hope. in Jesus.
Someone said what oxygen is to the lungs, hope is. to the believer. Divine oxygen. for daily living. And we breathe the hope of God.
because of what Christ has done for us. The reason that we have hope is not because we're just thinking positively. But the reason we have hope is the hope within us. That Christ died our sins. That he rose again on the third day, that he conquered sin, death, and hell, and that we can be forgiven and changed and empowered for living and embraced in eternity because of what Christ has done for us and is doing for us.
Every single day and eternally.
So there they are. I could mention others, but right out of this passage, four... habits. Remember we said earlier, That first we form our habits and then our habits form us. Whatever you are in life is because of the habits.
You have developed.
So develop the habit. of joyfulness. Rejoice evermore. Development The habit. of prayerfulness.
Pray without ceasing. Develop the habit. thankfulness. Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
The Bible says God is good. Give thanks for the Lord is good. It doesn't say, well, I can't give thanks because I don't feel good. It doesn't say give thanks because you feel good. It says give thanks because God is good.
So develop the habit. of thankfulness. and by all means Live with this habit of hopefulness. Knowing that in Christ Our faith in our future. is secure.
You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message. Always thankful.
It's easy to get caught in the cycle of always trying to do more, be more, and carry it all by yourself. As a result, so many people battle stress and anxiety, especially around the holidays. But that's not God's heart for you. And in his booklet, Breaking Free from Stress. Dr.
Jack Graham speaks directly to the anxious heart, offering biblical hope to those who feel weighed down and wrung out by stress. Drawing from Psalm 23 and real-life stories, he reminds you that while stress is inevitable, living enslaved to it is not. Breaking Free from Stress is our thank you for your gift of $10 or more to help proclaim the gospel through PowerPoint. And when you give, know that your support helps take God's word across the airwaves, into homes, prisons, and hearts all over the world. To request your copy of Breaking Free From Stress, text Stress.
That's stress to 59-789. As you're enjoying this week of Thanksgiving, we all know Christmas is right around the corner. During this Advent Christmas season, will you join Dr. Grant in preparing our hearts to celebrate the arrival of King Jesus? If you're up for celebrating the reason for the season with us, just take your phone and text the word ADVENT to 59-789.
Again, text Advent to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? It's a real good thing to take time out to give thanks this time of year, but of course, thanksgiving is not a one-time event in the life of the Christian. Gratitude should be a part of your daily life. And the Bible reveals some very godly habits that you and I need to develop in order to be grateful people all year round.
The first habit is the habit of joyfulness. 1 Thessalonians 5.16 says, Rejoice always.
Now, it's important to remember that this kind of joy isn't found in external circumstances. It's found in focusing on Jesus, in living your faith in the midst of every kind of circumstance. The second habit of a thankful person is prayerfulness. 1 Thessalonians 5.17. Pray without ceasing.
Now, I know that's a big challenge to pray without ceasing, but the Bible is telling you and me that we need to live life with a mindfulness of God's presence. all the time. We do this by acknowledging Him throughout the day, develop a habit of talking to Him, taking breaks and receiving His blessing, experiencing life and life with Him every step of the way, in both the good times as well as the bad times. Finally, being thankful requires the habit of hopefulness.
Now, this is not wishful thinking. This is believing and trusting in God. It is being hopeful that not only is He coming again, but that He is coming for you, and that as a believer, you can have hope in Him. There is no reason to give up in life. You have a future in hope.
I love the scripture which says, I know the plans that I have for you, plans not to harm you, but plans to bless you, to give you a future and a hope.
So, what about you? Are you living in joyfulness? Are you living in prayerfulness? Are you living in hopefulness? Remember, these are the habits that we are to keep, and they're also commands that God enables us to keep.
So I challenge you today and every day. Cultivate the habit of thanksgiving in your life. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Graham's booklet, Breaking Free from Stress as Our Thanks.
Just text the word stress to 59-789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about what it looks like to lead a life of thanksgiving. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
