WEBVTT 00:02.461 --> 00:09.170 [SPEAKER_00]: High Praise Podcasts. 00:09.190 --> 00:10.631 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey everybody, this is Pastor Josh. 00:10.651 --> 00:16.139 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll leave Pastor here at High Praise and I want to thank you for downloading today's podcast. 00:16.159 --> 00:20.044 [SPEAKER_00]: We know that this message is going to encourage and bless you. 00:20.444 --> 00:25.110 [SPEAKER_00]: So I want you to open up your heart and receive with the Lord as for you today. 00:25.327 --> 00:29.179 [SPEAKER_00]: This time of year, we are very contemplative and appreciative. 00:29.199 --> 00:33.733 [SPEAKER_00]: But I want you to understand this, Thanksgiving is more than just, or should be more than just a holiday. 00:34.979 --> 00:48.498 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanksgiving and gratitude should be something that we don't just practice the fourth or third day in November because we know we're about to throw down on some dressing and pumpkin pie and become pie. 00:48.858 --> 00:55.688 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we're thankful that we get to be glutton for a day and feel like we are relieved from the pressure of it because it's just what we do, baby. 00:56.967 --> 00:57.228 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 00:58.069 --> 01:01.416 [SPEAKER_00]: It should be so much more than that. 01:01.436 --> 01:06.427 [SPEAKER_00]: It is for more than, as a Christian, as a believer, how many believers do we have in the room this morning? 01:06.868 --> 01:12.580 [SPEAKER_00]: As a believer, you are intended to not just have moments 01:12.560 --> 01:20.109 [SPEAKER_00]: or a day of gratitude, but we are intended to live our lives with a lifestyle of gratitude. 01:20.529 --> 01:22.972 [SPEAKER_00]: It is not a moment, it's a lifestyle. 01:23.293 --> 01:39.732 [SPEAKER_00]: Just like your Christianity is not something that you step into on Sunday, and then step out of on Monday, your heart of gratitude, isn't something you step into because you know Grandpa's going to go around the table before we eat and make everybody say something they're thankful for. 01:39.712 --> 01:43.216 [SPEAKER_00]: So you've got to search your soul to find the one thing you're going to say. 01:43.256 --> 01:46.359 [SPEAKER_00]: It should be an attitude. 01:46.399 --> 01:51.645 [SPEAKER_00]: It should be a disposition that we live in all the days of our lives. 01:51.665 --> 01:52.906 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's read this in Psalm 100. 01:52.946 --> 01:56.870 [SPEAKER_00]: It says, make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands. 01:57.731 --> 01:58.953 [SPEAKER_00]: How many part of all you lands? 02:00.815 --> 02:01.575 [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody, all you short. 02:02.036 --> 02:03.998 [SPEAKER_00]: It says, it's served the Lord with what? 02:04.484 --> 02:05.485 [SPEAKER_00]: Shout it out with what? 02:06.366 --> 02:08.729 [SPEAKER_00]: Gladness, come before His presence with singing. 02:09.170 --> 02:10.672 [SPEAKER_00]: Know that the Lord He is God. 02:10.732 --> 02:12.875 [SPEAKER_00]: It is He who has made us, not we ourselves. 02:13.315 --> 02:15.638 [SPEAKER_00]: We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 02:15.658 --> 02:17.060 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all are familiar with this next part. 02:17.080 --> 02:17.961 [SPEAKER_00]: Probably most of you are. 02:18.442 --> 02:24.990 [SPEAKER_00]: Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving and into His courts with praise be. 02:25.392 --> 02:27.834 [SPEAKER_00]: thankful to Him and bless His name. 02:28.214 --> 02:36.682 [SPEAKER_00]: For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth in doors to all generations. 02:36.702 --> 02:37.723 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, hallelujah, hear me. 02:38.003 --> 02:40.705 [SPEAKER_00]: The truth of who God is and what He's done is at for one generation. 02:44.669 --> 02:48.152 [SPEAKER_00]: The truth of who He is and what He's done wasn't just for Mama but not for you. 02:49.773 --> 02:54.117 [SPEAKER_00]: The truth of who He is and what He's done for your family wasn't just for Grandma and Grandpa but not for you. 02:54.856 --> 02:56.965 [SPEAKER_00]: The truth of who he is was for R.L. 02:56.985 --> 02:57.897 [SPEAKER_00]: and Wanda Gay. 02:59.176 --> 03:10.827 [SPEAKER_00]: and it was for Robert and Stacey Gay, and it's for Joshua and Miranda Gay, and it's for Josiah, and it's for Hanna Lee, and it's for Eliza, and it's for Eva, it's for all generations. 03:11.128 --> 03:26.162 [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, if you have nothing else to be thankful for, you should be thankful for this fact, that the truth and the power and the majesty and the goodness of who God is isn't just for you, and it's not just expressed in your life, it is for your family, it is for your generations, 03:26.142 --> 03:38.362 [SPEAKER_00]: It's for your children, it's for your grandchildren, it's for your great grandchildren, it's for your great great grandchildren, it doesn't stop with you, it continues and flows into all generations. 03:38.643 --> 03:44.252 [SPEAKER_00]: This morning we saw people get, we saw, we saw teenagers get baptized that mom and daddy were in the room. 03:44.232 --> 03:56.991 [SPEAKER_00]: And one day those kids will have kids and we believe in we stand on their kids are going to be baptized And their kids are going to know Jesus and their kids are going to serve the Lord That's what we have to be thankful for. 03:57.251 --> 04:09.109 [SPEAKER_00]: He is faithful not just to me, but he is faithful into all generations What is gratitude gratitude is simply this state or quality of being thankful 04:10.355 --> 04:15.081 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think that we can overstate the importance of gratitude. 04:16.443 --> 04:19.667 [SPEAKER_00]: It's one of the most important things that you can possibly do. 04:20.208 --> 04:25.916 [SPEAKER_00]: That's one of the Psalmist, what we just read, he stresses to serve the Lord with gladness. 04:27.257 --> 04:28.679 [SPEAKER_00]: Serve the Lord with gladness. 04:28.779 --> 04:36.750 [SPEAKER_00]: I think somewhere along the line, we have lists, or some of us have listened to people, we've heard voices, they're like the Christian way. 04:40.595 --> 04:43.078 [SPEAKER_00]: My scripture says, the way of the transgressor is hard. 04:45.401 --> 04:46.743 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not a transgressor. 04:47.944 --> 04:48.625 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody. 04:49.426 --> 04:50.227 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a Christian. 04:51.008 --> 04:52.310 [SPEAKER_00]: I've been bought with the blood. 04:52.390 --> 04:55.795 [SPEAKER_00]: My sin, come on, has been paid for. 04:56.075 --> 04:59.219 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus has defeated the power of death and the grave. 04:59.620 --> 05:03.885 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have anything to be sad about, but I've got a whole lot to be glad about. 05:04.895 --> 05:08.181 [SPEAKER_00]: This doesn't mean I'm just, we're just going this morning. 05:08.201 --> 05:10.405 [SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't mean that life doesn't throw things at you. 05:12.047 --> 05:13.550 [SPEAKER_00]: How many of her had life throw something at you? 05:15.553 --> 05:19.580 [SPEAKER_00]: Four of you in the room, the rest of y'all just been smooth sailing baby. 05:19.801 --> 05:21.844 [SPEAKER_00]: How many of you have had life throw something at you? 05:21.864 --> 05:22.586 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, wave at me. 05:23.006 --> 05:26.312 [SPEAKER_00]: We've all had life throw curve balls. 05:27.524 --> 05:36.300 [SPEAKER_00]: more than one, and we probably stood at the plate and swung and struck out when life threw the curb balls and we didn't respond the way we should have. 05:38.023 --> 05:39.787 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what you do whenever you strike out? 05:40.829 --> 05:42.732 [SPEAKER_00]: You get back up and you're swinging again. 05:43.454 --> 05:47.017 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what you do, whenever you feel like you're down on out, you get back in the fight. 05:47.538 --> 05:55.245 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what you do, whenever you go three and out in the drive, you go re-huttle, you go recalibrate, and you get back out there and you drive again, right? 05:55.566 --> 05:58.288 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying life is always easy. 05:59.269 --> 06:04.414 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not all of us encounter issues, obstacles, problems, right? 06:04.434 --> 06:07.397 [SPEAKER_00]: There's things going on in the world right now that are not easy. 06:07.918 --> 06:11.301 [SPEAKER_00]: I know there's some of you in this room that right now you're not getting paid. 06:12.158 --> 06:20.700 [SPEAKER_00]: And you're having to go to work, going to having to go to work and get paid can be difficult enough sometimes, right? 06:21.777 --> 06:24.441 [SPEAKER_00]: But going to work and not getting paid is a whole other thing. 06:24.861 --> 06:28.286 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying that's not difficult, that is difficult. 06:28.707 --> 06:33.774 [SPEAKER_00]: I know some of you go through, are going through and have gone through family situations that are contrary. 06:34.114 --> 06:43.768 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying those things are easy and that you should just wake up every day, clicking your heels, but at the same time at a certain point, we have to go today is the day. 06:44.727 --> 06:50.432 [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord has made, and I will rejoice, and what be glad in it. 06:50.953 --> 06:53.676 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't say be sad, it says be glad in it. 06:53.936 --> 06:59.321 [SPEAKER_00]: We have to make a choice to embrace gratitude for everything God has done. 06:59.521 --> 07:03.065 [SPEAKER_00]: When I'm facing something that looks contrary, you know what I do? 07:03.345 --> 07:06.428 [SPEAKER_00]: I look back and thank God for something he's done in my past. 07:06.448 --> 07:11.933 [SPEAKER_00]: If I don't feel like I have something to be thankful for right now, I'm gonna pull back on something he's done before. 07:11.913 --> 07:19.367 [SPEAKER_00]: with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving to encourage myself and build myself up because this is the day the Lord is made. 07:19.607 --> 07:33.212 [SPEAKER_00]: And if I need to rejoice, which sometimes means remains to do again, that sometimes I pull back on something that he's done previously, and I celebrate that again. 07:34.340 --> 07:36.423 [SPEAKER_00]: It may have been 10 years ago, that's okay. 07:36.664 --> 07:40.770 [SPEAKER_00]: If I feel like I don't have anything going in my life right now, I'm going to rejoice. 07:41.631 --> 07:44.575 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to pull back and I'm going to say, God, we're going to celebrate what you did again. 07:44.856 --> 07:48.481 [SPEAKER_00]: Because celebrating what you've done before is going to bring me through what I'm going through right now. 07:48.742 --> 07:50.164 [SPEAKER_00]: And you're going to bring me into promise. 07:50.184 --> 07:51.746 [SPEAKER_00]: And you're going to bring me into destiny. 07:52.007 --> 07:53.829 [SPEAKER_00]: And you're going to come out this like a diamond. 07:56.273 --> 07:56.854 [SPEAKER_00]: You all win me? 07:58.216 --> 08:00.820 [SPEAKER_00]: You should be glad that you get to serve the Lord. 08:01.002 --> 08:02.804 [SPEAKER_00]: Feel like you have anything else to be thankful for. 08:02.864 --> 08:04.406 [SPEAKER_00]: You get to serve God. 08:06.588 --> 08:07.509 [SPEAKER_00]: I should make you glad. 08:07.569 --> 08:11.012 [SPEAKER_00]: You shouldn't be sad, you should be glad, you should be thankful. 08:11.973 --> 08:16.178 [SPEAKER_00]: You should serve the Lord with gratitude, I've said it before, but nobody likes Eor. 08:19.541 --> 08:20.202 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all remember Eor? 08:21.824 --> 08:24.026 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of y'all grew up to save. 08:24.086 --> 08:26.048 [SPEAKER_00]: Twenty the poo was even evil in your household. 08:29.453 --> 08:31.917 [SPEAKER_00]: encourages anxiety and depression we can't watch that stuff. 08:33.559 --> 08:34.821 [SPEAKER_00]: Talking bears, demonic. 08:38.727 --> 08:38.947 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 08:40.870 --> 08:41.571 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all remember EOR? 08:42.352 --> 08:43.895 [SPEAKER_00]: The chronically depressed donkey? 08:46.378 --> 08:48.101 [SPEAKER_00]: EOR needed restored ministry, right? 08:49.122 --> 08:50.284 [SPEAKER_00]: And needed the joy of the Lord. 08:50.364 --> 08:54.811 [SPEAKER_00]: EOR has this famous saying, when EOR says good morning, EOR. 08:55.492 --> 08:58.937 [SPEAKER_00]: He goes, if it is a good morning, 09:01.600 --> 09:04.963 [SPEAKER_00]: You ever met, you ever been to church, and you met the Christian New Year before? 09:05.424 --> 09:07.286 [SPEAKER_00]: But don't look around the room anybody right now. 09:07.306 --> 09:08.527 [SPEAKER_00]: Keep your eyes right up here on me. 09:11.330 --> 09:13.252 [SPEAKER_00]: You're eyes are gonna wanna wonder, yeah I have. 09:16.975 --> 09:18.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, don't let your eyes wander. 09:18.517 --> 09:18.977 [SPEAKER_00]: Stay right here. 09:20.779 --> 09:22.000 [SPEAKER_00]: We've all met the Christian New Year. 09:22.761 --> 09:23.522 [SPEAKER_00]: How you doing today? 09:24.343 --> 09:28.907 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm not singing it. 09:32.144 --> 09:38.390 [SPEAKER_00]: I made plans on Thursday because the weatherman said it was going to be clear, but then it rained. 09:39.732 --> 09:41.073 [SPEAKER_00]: Can't never trust nobody. 09:45.558 --> 09:45.758 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 09:47.099 --> 09:50.423 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, listen, I'm not saying we all walk around constantly with our head and the sand. 09:50.463 --> 09:52.765 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't, and if you have a problem, you don't tell anybody. 09:53.065 --> 09:53.966 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not what I'm saying. 09:54.206 --> 09:59.772 [SPEAKER_00]: But there is a difference between telling somebody what you're going through for them to bear your burden. 10:00.342 --> 10:10.207 [SPEAKER_00]: bear a burden with you and to encourage you and to pray for you and then seeking pity and you get mad if somebody's like you're going to do something, let me pray for you like that's not what I wanted. 10:12.473 --> 10:14.318 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want you to pray with me. 10:14.956 --> 10:19.260 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want you to encourage me what I wanted you to do was feel bad for me. 10:19.881 --> 10:21.983 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a difference between these things, right? 10:22.523 --> 10:24.765 [SPEAKER_00]: It's good to go to people that can help you. 10:25.386 --> 10:29.189 [SPEAKER_00]: It's good to go to people that will pick you up whenever you feel like you can't stand. 10:29.530 --> 10:33.033 [SPEAKER_00]: It's good to go to people that will pray with you and stand in the gap with you. 10:33.413 --> 10:40.000 [SPEAKER_00]: It is not healthy to go to people that are gonna that are gonna moan and belly ache and complain and poor baby you, that's not good. 10:41.421 --> 10:42.482 [SPEAKER_00]: There is a difference. 10:43.323 --> 10:47.970 [SPEAKER_00]: because one will help you get through and the other will keep you in the mud, right? 10:48.391 --> 10:51.676 [SPEAKER_00]: We need them, we need less E-ores and we need more tickers. 10:57.284 --> 10:57.384 [UNKNOWN]: Yeah. 10:57.404 --> 10:57.504 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 10:57.524 --> 10:58.225 [SPEAKER_00]: Bounce the bouncy. 10:59.127 --> 11:00.068 [SPEAKER_00]: Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. 11:02.211 --> 11:04.555 [SPEAKER_00]: The most wonderful thing about tickers, that's not even a word. 11:05.463 --> 11:06.424 [SPEAKER_00]: It's that I'm the only one. 11:06.604 --> 11:10.649 [SPEAKER_00]: We need a church full of people that are just tickers, no matter what happens, they're just going to keep on bouncing. 11:11.050 --> 11:12.311 [SPEAKER_00]: We're just going to keep on going. 11:12.552 --> 11:18.739 [SPEAKER_00]: We're just going to keep on rolling, because you know what, today's the day the Lord has made, and I'm going to rejoice, and be glad in it. 11:20.021 --> 11:22.283 [SPEAKER_00]: The Psalmist says here to enter his gates with thanksgiving. 11:22.944 --> 11:27.910 [SPEAKER_00]: Could we say it like this that thanksgiving becomes the starting line for encountering God? 11:29.611 --> 11:32.775 [SPEAKER_00]: If you lack gratitude, you will lack encounter with God. 11:33.516 --> 11:34.377 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of people. 11:34.437 --> 11:36.019 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just not experiencing God, Pastor. 11:37.681 --> 11:39.282 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't feel this presence right now. 11:40.804 --> 11:45.149 [SPEAKER_00]: I just, you know, I come into worship and everybody else is shouting and I'm just like, I don't feel it today. 11:45.850 --> 11:52.378 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, what if you crucified your flesh, which were commanded to do continually in the New Testament? 11:53.270 --> 12:00.178 [SPEAKER_00]: What if you crucified the way that you felt and you started thanking him in spite of what you felt? 12:00.198 --> 12:02.881 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't need to be driven by what we feel. 12:04.343 --> 12:06.145 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to be driven by what he says. 12:07.167 --> 12:09.429 [SPEAKER_00]: I've got a pastor friend who mentioned this. 12:09.930 --> 12:12.693 [SPEAKER_00]: They feelings belong, excuse me. 12:12.713 --> 12:14.976 [SPEAKER_00]: Feelings deserve a seat on the bus. 12:15.917 --> 12:17.539 [SPEAKER_00]: They just can't drive the bus. 12:19.713 --> 12:23.077 [SPEAKER_00]: Your feelings are valid, your feelings deserve a seat on the bus. 12:23.357 --> 12:27.883 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't just completely ignore the way that we feel, but our feelings can't drive the bus. 12:28.163 --> 12:29.825 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what has to drive the bus? 12:30.146 --> 12:31.587 [SPEAKER_00]: The truth of the word of God. 12:31.828 --> 12:33.490 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what has to drive the bus? 12:33.710 --> 12:35.472 [SPEAKER_00]: The truth of who the spirit is. 12:35.732 --> 12:38.596 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what has to, we have to, I'm just full of things to say. 12:38.616 --> 12:39.437 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what we have to do? 12:39.457 --> 12:42.100 [SPEAKER_00]: But times, it's a stupid song, but sometimes you have to let Jesus take the wheel. 12:45.144 --> 12:49.669 [SPEAKER_00]: I just defended half you in this room by saying, it's a stupid song. 12:51.775 --> 12:57.425 [SPEAKER_00]: We have to let Jesus take the wheel of the bus of our life and say, feelings, you're going to get out of the driver's seat. 12:57.766 --> 13:05.118 [SPEAKER_00]: And we have to begin to offer up praise, offer up thanksgiving, because if you lack gratitude, you will lack encounter with God. 13:06.280 --> 13:10.708 [SPEAKER_00]: If you feel like you aren't experiencing God, my question is this, are you living a life full of gratitude? 13:12.992 --> 13:16.298 [SPEAKER_00]: You can't get into the gates if you aren't living in thanksgiving. 13:17.257 --> 13:22.342 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody, it enters this place of access and denied when you live complaining. 13:23.403 --> 13:26.065 [SPEAKER_00]: The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, why? 13:26.546 --> 13:29.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Because they complained, right? 13:30.950 --> 13:33.712 [SPEAKER_00]: You just, let's just, can we get down to where the rubber meets the road for a moment? 13:33.732 --> 13:34.213 [SPEAKER_00]: Is that all right? 13:34.853 --> 13:44.142 [SPEAKER_00]: Complaining is really just a verbal expression of the lack of our faith, right? 13:44.510 --> 13:45.051 [SPEAKER_00]: You all with me? 13:45.492 --> 13:46.574 [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, I'm going to say this real quick. 13:46.594 --> 13:49.098 [SPEAKER_00]: When I point a finger at you, there's three back pointed at me, right? 13:49.118 --> 13:51.383 [SPEAKER_00]: I've failed it this before. 13:52.064 --> 13:55.049 [SPEAKER_00]: All of us in this room have probably failed this test at some point in time. 13:55.710 --> 13:57.173 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not okay. 13:57.654 --> 14:02.603 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not the worst thing on the face of the planet if you fail the test. 14:02.836 --> 14:10.583 [SPEAKER_00]: The worst thing is if you fail the test and fail the test, and fail the test, don't learn, course correct, and pass the test. 14:10.983 --> 14:13.546 [SPEAKER_00]: We've all failed tests before, in life. 14:14.126 --> 14:15.768 [SPEAKER_00]: How many failed tests I like before, right? 14:16.448 --> 14:19.691 [SPEAKER_00]: And there's something about God, God just does pop quizzes constantly. 14:20.972 --> 14:23.094 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't get to study, well, should have been prepared. 14:25.416 --> 14:25.637 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 14:27.779 --> 14:29.420 [SPEAKER_00]: We've all failed these tests before. 14:30.261 --> 14:31.662 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't fail it again. 14:32.114 --> 14:32.374 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 14:32.855 --> 14:37.720 [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of the day, the children are vicious. 14:37.740 --> 14:39.222 [SPEAKER_00]: If you go back, I don't have time to go through the whole story. 14:39.502 --> 14:42.526 [SPEAKER_00]: But if you go into the story where they go and spy out the land of Canaan, right? 14:43.066 --> 14:46.630 [SPEAKER_00]: They come back, to come back with a good report, to come back with a bad report. 14:46.650 --> 14:48.312 [SPEAKER_00]: What was their bad report rooted in? 14:48.432 --> 14:49.193 [SPEAKER_00]: A lack of faith. 14:49.894 --> 14:53.718 [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't really believe what God had said, which then caused them to do what? 14:54.058 --> 14:55.540 [SPEAKER_00]: To verbally complain. 14:56.819 --> 15:06.999 [SPEAKER_00]: to speak negatively, and we're not the confession characters who walk around trying to correct the way everybody talks, but let me just say this the way that you talk does matter. 15:07.941 --> 15:11.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those that love it will eat the fruit they're of. 15:11.969 --> 15:14.254 [SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna have to eat what you say. 15:15.162 --> 15:16.404 [SPEAKER_00]: What we say matters. 15:16.985 --> 15:22.714 [SPEAKER_00]: Complaining is not a healthy way to live, complaining, kept them out of the promise. 15:23.395 --> 15:29.184 [SPEAKER_00]: And if complaining, kept them out of the promise, likewise gratitude will bring you into the promise. 15:30.627 --> 15:35.314 [SPEAKER_00]: If you can't live your life with gratitude, you will lack other key principles in your life. 15:35.716 --> 15:38.722 [SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, this isn't something just known by biblical writers. 15:39.263 --> 15:42.168 [SPEAKER_00]: This is something that even worldly philosophers realize. 15:42.929 --> 15:49.101 [SPEAKER_00]: Marcus Cicero said this that gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but it is the parent of all others. 15:50.920 --> 15:53.884 [SPEAKER_00]: It is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. 15:54.244 --> 15:59.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Cicero is telling us that all virtues, all good things, flow from a heart of gratitude. 16:00.411 --> 16:16.290 [SPEAKER_00]: If somebody who is in a worldly culture realize that, how much more so should the people of God understand this, that all other virtues begin with this place of living with a heart and an understanding of gratitude. 16:16.330 --> 16:20.235 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to say it again, Christians should be 16:20.215 --> 16:33.737 [SPEAKER_00]: grateful people on this planet, the idea that believers should be the most mournful, that we should be the ones who sing tested and tried. 16:35.299 --> 16:38.264 [SPEAKER_00]: I ain't singing it, but I'm sure you'll hear it again. 16:38.284 --> 16:45.295 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, next week, right, a couple of weeks. 16:45.848 --> 16:50.376 [SPEAKER_00]: The reality is this, we shouldn't live in that manner. 16:50.917 --> 17:00.534 [SPEAKER_00]: We should be the most thankful, have the most gratitude, live our lives with the most joy of any people that are on the face of this earth. 17:00.554 --> 17:00.834 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 17:01.175 --> 17:04.701 [SPEAKER_00]: We can be grateful because our name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. 17:05.170 --> 17:08.154 [SPEAKER_00]: We can be grateful because we were lost and now we're found. 17:08.815 --> 17:18.588 [SPEAKER_00]: We can be thankful because we're surrounded by a community of people that I know whenever I can't fight for myself, I've got some people that are going to stand and fight for me. 17:19.008 --> 17:23.734 [SPEAKER_00]: We can be grateful because some of you in this room you were sick and God healed you. 17:24.095 --> 17:24.175 [SPEAKER_00]: We 17:24.155 --> 17:28.641 [SPEAKER_00]: We can be grateful, there are some of you in this room, you were told you wouldn't have children. 17:28.861 --> 17:31.084 [SPEAKER_00]: And you've got babies back in nursery right now. 17:31.385 --> 17:41.118 [SPEAKER_00]: We can be grateful, some of you were bound in oppression and depression and all sorts of other issues and you're now living in freedom and liberty all the days of your life. 17:41.138 --> 17:46.585 [SPEAKER_00]: We can be thankful and we should be grateful for everything God has done. 17:46.605 --> 17:53.875 [SPEAKER_00]: If we can't be grateful, we need to deal a little bit deeper into what God has done in us and what God is doing for us. 17:55.222 --> 17:56.484 [SPEAKER_00]: I just don't know if I have anything. 17:56.584 --> 17:57.265 [SPEAKER_00]: Take a breath. 17:59.488 --> 18:01.251 [SPEAKER_00]: You've got another day to serve God. 18:02.112 --> 18:03.334 [SPEAKER_00]: Not everybody's got that. 18:05.336 --> 18:07.039 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if I've got something to be grateful for. 18:07.079 --> 18:10.283 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're married, your spouse should be insulted that you even think that way. 18:12.687 --> 18:13.688 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody. 18:15.952 --> 18:18.075 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have nothing to be grateful for. 18:18.355 --> 18:19.336 [SPEAKER_00]: Look at your kids. 18:20.658 --> 18:21.840 [SPEAKER_00]: Do they act right all the time? 18:21.880 --> 18:23.322 [SPEAKER_00]: But of course not their kids. 18:24.263 --> 18:25.907 [SPEAKER_00]: But you can be grateful and thankful. 18:26.969 --> 18:27.550 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, y'all. 18:29.334 --> 18:29.856 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. 18:29.936 --> 18:31.419 [SPEAKER_00]: I just, you know, the economy's rough. 18:31.459 --> 18:34.666 [SPEAKER_00]: Grocery prices are expensive, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 18:34.686 --> 18:36.290 [SPEAKER_00]: You got a job, hopefully. 18:38.495 --> 18:38.856 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on. 18:39.497 --> 18:39.658 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on. 18:39.678 --> 18:41.682 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all don't look at me in that tone of voice this morning. 18:43.568 --> 18:45.171 [SPEAKER_00]: Once again, this is what we want. 18:45.711 --> 18:49.818 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't want people, oftentimes, to come and show us what we have to be grateful for. 18:50.479 --> 18:54.145 [SPEAKER_00]: We want somebody to come alongside us and tell us all the things that we should be mad about. 18:55.507 --> 18:55.807 [SPEAKER_00]: All right? 18:55.827 --> 18:57.730 [SPEAKER_00]: I know what's on the time, but it's just the truth. 18:57.750 --> 19:00.074 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what the media is constantly doing to us. 19:00.595 --> 19:04.861 [SPEAKER_00]: Rage bait is the currency of the day. 19:05.843 --> 19:08.547 [SPEAKER_00]: We want to give you everything that's going to make you mad. 19:10.147 --> 19:21.016 [SPEAKER_00]: Regardless of what side of the aisle you're on, regardless of what you believe, regardless of what you think, there is somebody who's gonna tell you everything's wrong and begin to stir the rage inside of you. 19:21.477 --> 19:23.683 [SPEAKER_00]: Rage will not lead to gratitude. 19:25.739 --> 19:31.687 [SPEAKER_00]: constantly meditating on everything going the wrong way will not bring you gratitude. 19:31.747 --> 19:45.686 [SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of you have to be plugged in right now because you're watching what's going on with the shutdown and jobs and all that I understand but at the end of the day even if that front we say this when we feel that frustration mounting you got to take a timeout. 19:48.329 --> 19:50.292 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on. 19:53.276 --> 19:53.957 [SPEAKER_00]: Be 19:54.865 --> 20:07.959 [SPEAKER_00]: I take a time out, tell everything else to pause, and I'm gonna re-center and refocus on what God has done in me, and what God has done for me, and I'm gonna focus on those things, time me and let's get back to living life. 20:08.540 --> 20:19.171 [SPEAKER_00]: If that means you got to shut off the news, if it means you need to delete TikTok and Instagram, Twitter, or X, or Z, or whatever you wanna call it this week, they'll always be Twitter to me. 20:20.212 --> 20:22.695 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever it is, you need to delete off your phone. 20:23.013 --> 20:30.705 [SPEAKER_00]: that's causing those negative feelings and emotions to well-up, and you do what you need to do, because your peace is not worth information. 20:32.728 --> 20:33.389 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't want to say it again. 20:33.689 --> 20:35.893 [SPEAKER_00]: Your peace is not worth information. 20:36.193 --> 20:41.101 [SPEAKER_00]: Your gratitude is not, and forefitting that is not worth, I gotta stay plugged in. 20:42.402 --> 20:43.644 [SPEAKER_00]: Never know when I might be needed. 20:44.045 --> 20:44.586 [SPEAKER_00]: Feel what? 20:49.734 --> 20:51.957 [SPEAKER_00]: There's no one in this room that's gonna get a call. 20:53.810 --> 21:01.257 [SPEAKER_00]: Tomorrow from Congress, all right, we've reached the end of all of our resources. 21:01.297 --> 21:03.580 [SPEAKER_00]: We're calling you to see what we need to do to fix this problem. 21:04.120 --> 21:05.522 [SPEAKER_00]: I know that y'all have all the fixes. 21:05.562 --> 21:15.852 [SPEAKER_00]: Trust me, ain't nobody calling you, just keep going, y'all with me, you have something to be thankful for. 21:17.253 --> 21:20.897 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead of complaining about what you don't have, what if you have gratitude for what you do have? 21:21.670 --> 21:27.797 [SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing worse than when blessed people complain. 21:27.817 --> 21:28.898 [SPEAKER_00]: Where are the parents at in the room? 21:30.720 --> 21:33.363 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all know what I'm talking about, right? 21:34.604 --> 21:38.908 [SPEAKER_00]: Eva came up, Eva's about to be six years old, she came up to me the other day, she came up to see her the night. 21:38.928 --> 21:39.749 [SPEAKER_00]: She was, I'm bored. 21:43.393 --> 21:44.554 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have anything to do. 21:46.977 --> 21:49.720 [SPEAKER_00]: Your phone died, mom, and I just don't know what to do with my life. 21:54.020 --> 22:00.670 [SPEAKER_00]: We told her, like, your room has 372 stuffed animals in it. 22:04.555 --> 22:05.336 [SPEAKER_00]: Go play. 22:07.599 --> 22:08.661 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to do that right now. 22:11.565 --> 22:11.765 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 22:13.167 --> 22:21.599 [SPEAKER_00]: And something inside of parents in those moments are like, you have everything under the sun, right? 22:21.619 --> 22:23.402 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently Furby's everything again. 22:26.656 --> 22:29.941 [SPEAKER_00]: where my parents had, even though there's this new toy. 22:32.745 --> 22:36.571 [SPEAKER_00]: Just a little thing in it talks, and also I'm gonna say, she's talking about a Furby? 22:37.472 --> 22:39.576 [SPEAKER_00]: She's like, yeah, Furby's their popular again. 22:40.317 --> 22:46.386 [SPEAKER_00]: So Eva, if you got a prize from our trip, she got a couple Furby's, it was like, play with your Furby's, you've had those for like three days. 22:48.425 --> 22:53.773 [SPEAKER_00]: There is nothing worse, nothing more frustrating when blessed people complain. 22:54.074 --> 22:57.198 [SPEAKER_00]: How do you think you're heavenly father feels with everything that he's blessed you with? 22:58.621 --> 23:01.986 [SPEAKER_00]: Spiritual Blessings, natural blessings, then we're like, you just ain't enough. 23:04.570 --> 23:05.351 [SPEAKER_00]: I need something else. 23:06.012 --> 23:06.613 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't understand? 23:06.653 --> 23:11.260 [SPEAKER_00]: I had a bad day and I hurt my emotions. 23:12.640 --> 23:14.682 [SPEAKER_00]: We have so much to be thankful for. 23:15.302 --> 23:17.925 [SPEAKER_00]: We cannot allow in gratitude to overwhelm us. 23:17.965 --> 23:18.405 [SPEAKER_00]: I gotta hurry. 23:18.805 --> 23:23.289 [SPEAKER_00]: One of the most underrated things about gratitude is that it's a weapon against the enemy of your soul. 23:23.309 --> 23:25.171 [SPEAKER_00]: Gratitude becomes a weapon against your enemy. 23:25.531 --> 23:27.653 [SPEAKER_00]: It's more than just giving you the warm and fuzzies. 23:28.614 --> 23:40.825 [SPEAKER_00]: Gratitude is not about you having your system shocked with tripped offend on the fourth Thursday of November and sitting with under beside the warm glow of the Christmas tree. 23:42.745 --> 23:46.709 [SPEAKER_00]: and Chevy Chase when Christmas vacation on the TV, right? 23:47.630 --> 23:50.473 [SPEAKER_00]: Plugging the lights together and be like, I'm just so grateful and thankful right now. 23:50.793 --> 23:52.114 [SPEAKER_00]: It is so much more than that. 23:53.355 --> 23:55.618 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a weapon against the enemy of your soul. 23:56.979 --> 23:58.961 [SPEAKER_00]: Your misery is the goal of the enemy. 24:00.642 --> 24:11.453 [SPEAKER_00]: A recent study showed that one in three Americans, a 33% is good math skills, report consistent issues 24:11.737 --> 24:19.184 [SPEAKER_00]: One in three, and if we were really honest, the number is probably actually higher than that, because some people are gonna be honest. 24:19.204 --> 24:32.296 [SPEAKER_00]: The number greatly increases among Gen Z and millennials, with 49% of those between the ages of 18 and 24, saying that they are constantly facing issues of anxiety and depression. 24:32.857 --> 24:34.619 [SPEAKER_00]: We talk about this week a little bit. 24:34.639 --> 24:39.263 [SPEAKER_00]: Depression means that you are mournful over something in your past. 24:39.513 --> 24:41.718 [SPEAKER_00]: Anxiety means you're scared of your future. 24:42.660 --> 24:44.865 [SPEAKER_00]: So at the end of the day, one of these two things is happening. 24:44.885 --> 24:46.188 [SPEAKER_00]: People are more full of their pastors. 24:46.208 --> 24:52.341 [SPEAKER_00]: They can't fix, or they are anxious about what's to come, which also they have very little control over. 24:53.249 --> 25:03.946 [SPEAKER_00]: And we have these things, and those between the ages of 25 and 49, that's my generation, it's 38% of us that say we encountered these things on a daily basis. 25:04.246 --> 25:05.849 [SPEAKER_00]: But I want to get something straight this morning. 25:05.869 --> 25:07.251 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to hear me if you don't hear anything else. 25:07.632 --> 25:10.937 [SPEAKER_00]: Anxiety and depression are not from God. 25:12.925 --> 25:13.947 [SPEAKER_00]: They are not from God. 25:14.568 --> 25:17.452 [SPEAKER_00]: It isn't something you have to live all the days of your life with. 25:18.053 --> 25:25.626 [SPEAKER_00]: You can overcome and you can live in victory in a world that is being rapidly overcome with mental health issues, anxiety, depression, fear. 25:26.026 --> 25:28.831 [SPEAKER_00]: One of the greatest answers is the weapon of gratitude. 25:30.654 --> 25:33.178 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to overcome in your strength. 25:33.530 --> 25:36.194 [SPEAKER_00]: We overcome by giving thanks for his strength. 25:36.934 --> 25:39.898 [SPEAKER_00]: We overcome by giving thanks not because we're so great. 25:40.339 --> 25:44.545 [SPEAKER_00]: We overcome by giving thanks because he is so great. 25:44.565 --> 25:45.646 [SPEAKER_00]: Gratitude builds faith. 25:45.866 --> 25:48.089 [SPEAKER_00]: I already said that when you were hurt your victories, you get stronger. 25:48.690 --> 25:49.711 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith gives you victory. 25:50.092 --> 25:54.057 [SPEAKER_00]: First on five, this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. 25:54.978 --> 25:56.580 [SPEAKER_00]: When you live in gratitude, you'll live in faith. 25:57.662 --> 25:59.284 [SPEAKER_00]: When you live in faith, you'll live in victory. 26:00.985 --> 26:06.316 [SPEAKER_00]: When you live in victory, anxiety and depression and fear have to flee from you. 26:06.757 --> 26:12.750 [SPEAKER_00]: And here's the cool thing, when I close with this kind of story, and that is this, that even science backs this idea up. 26:13.574 --> 26:21.268 [SPEAKER_00]: Research has shown that consciously practicing gratitude can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. 26:22.030 --> 26:36.156 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, there was a scientific study that a single act of thoughtful gratitude creates what they called an immediate increase, 10% increase in happiness, and a 35% reduction in depressive symptoms. 26:37.908 --> 26:41.733 [SPEAKER_00]: Berkeley ran a study in 2017 with 300 participants that found this. 26:42.394 --> 26:43.696 [SPEAKER_00]: They were split into three groups. 26:43.977 --> 26:45.338 [SPEAKER_00]: All the groups received counseling. 26:46.520 --> 26:51.547 [SPEAKER_00]: Group one was instructed to write a letter of gratitude each week. 26:51.567 --> 26:59.959 [SPEAKER_00]: Group two was encouraged to write a letter each week expressing something about a negative experience they had that week. 26:59.979 --> 27:01.661 [SPEAKER_00]: And group three, they told them, don't do anything. 27:03.223 --> 27:07.189 [SPEAKER_00]: Compared with the other participants 27:07.844 --> 27:10.147 [SPEAKER_00]: or only received counts like we didn't write it all. 27:11.608 --> 27:21.320 [SPEAKER_00]: The ones who wrote the gratitude letters reported significantly better mental health four weeks and 12 weeks after their writing exercise ended. 27:22.301 --> 27:32.873 [SPEAKER_00]: Surprisingly, they also exercised more, had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on the sources of aggravation. 27:34.675 --> 27:38.682 [SPEAKER_00]: Berkley, a secular college, came to this conclusion. 27:39.283 --> 27:41.447 [SPEAKER_00]: Gratitude, this was their conclusion. 27:41.888 --> 27:46.176 [SPEAKER_00]: Gratitude will unshackle you from toxic emotions. 27:49.321 --> 27:53.869 [SPEAKER_00]: Gratitude will unshackle you from toxic emotions. 27:53.929 --> 27:57.055 [SPEAKER_00]: I know that's a big millennial Gen Z word, everything's toxic. 27:59.802 --> 28:02.705 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be, which by the way, I'm a millennial, so I'm not poking fun. 28:02.745 --> 28:03.426 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a real thing. 28:03.846 --> 28:09.152 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be un-shackled from toxicity, practice gratitude. 28:10.354 --> 28:16.000 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be un-shackled from anxious thoughts, practice gratitude. 28:16.640 --> 28:22.487 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be un-shackled from depressive feelings, practice gratitude. 28:22.867 --> 28:24.569 [SPEAKER_00]: And some of you may need, I'm going to leave you home work. 28:26.131 --> 28:27.312 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to give you a prescription. 28:29.637 --> 28:30.518 [SPEAKER_00]: Here's your prescription. 28:31.619 --> 28:43.895 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead of sharing and reposting, all of the negative stuff that you see on social media, what if you took a moment and you went on your Instagram? 28:43.915 --> 28:45.316 [SPEAKER_00]: You went on your Facebook? 28:45.637 --> 28:47.900 [SPEAKER_00]: Or you just pulled out your journal or whatever? 28:48.220 --> 28:52.185 [SPEAKER_00]: And you took a moment and you wrote every week something that you were thankful for. 28:52.165 --> 28:56.809 [SPEAKER_00]: What if you took a moment and you began to rehearse how much God has done for you? 28:57.130 --> 29:00.893 [SPEAKER_00]: What if you took a moment and you wrote how thankful you were for your spouse? 29:00.933 --> 29:05.057 [SPEAKER_00]: And what a blessing they were instead of complaining because they left something on the ground. 29:05.077 --> 29:08.401 [SPEAKER_00]: Or because they didn't cook dinner the way you wanted it cooked. 29:09.462 --> 29:10.803 [SPEAKER_00]: Cookin' your body, God. 29:10.823 --> 29:13.245 [SPEAKER_00]: You can't cook it. 29:13.265 --> 29:14.927 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I got time for it. 29:14.947 --> 29:15.527 [SPEAKER_00]: Cook it yourself. 29:18.030 --> 29:18.911 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not what I wanted. 29:19.311 --> 29:20.232 [SPEAKER_00]: They should have known. 29:21.967 --> 29:22.468 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all with me? 29:23.689 --> 29:32.720 [SPEAKER_00]: What if we began to practice gratitude rather than practicing fear, anxiety, complaining? 29:33.340 --> 29:35.142 [SPEAKER_00]: How much would our lives change? 29:36.444 --> 29:37.425 [SPEAKER_00]: How much would our lives change? 29:37.465 --> 29:38.186 [SPEAKER_00]: I said it earlier. 29:38.667 --> 29:43.552 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't feel like you have anything else, you are alive today. 29:43.572 --> 29:46.776 [SPEAKER_00]: You can be thankful, or y'all with me, center your feet. 29:49.490 --> 29:52.694 [SPEAKER_00]: I believe this when you begin to operate in gratitude, we sing it. 29:53.235 --> 29:57.982 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lion that begins to roar as you express thanksgiving. 29:59.484 --> 30:02.268 [SPEAKER_00]: It's more than just a nice, contemplative thought. 30:02.608 --> 30:07.776 [SPEAKER_00]: There is a roar behind your gratitude that causes your enemy to be paralyzed. 30:07.796 --> 30:08.256 [SPEAKER_00]: Lift your hands. 30:08.737 --> 30:11.701 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for your patience and all went along this morning. 30:11.721 --> 30:12.462 [SPEAKER_00]: Lift your hands, Father. 30:13.003 --> 30:13.604 [SPEAKER_00]: We thank you today. 30:13.624 --> 30:18.130 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to pray to me, say, Father, I thank you for everything. 30:18.397 --> 30:21.542 [SPEAKER_00]: that you've done for me and you've done for my family. 30:22.264 --> 30:29.156 [SPEAKER_00]: Today, I stand here with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving. 30:29.797 --> 30:35.186 [SPEAKER_00]: And I say, thank you, Lord, for everything that you've done for me. 30:35.246 --> 30:40.776 [SPEAKER_00]: I repent for any area where I've complained. 30:40.756 --> 30:43.780 [SPEAKER_00]: where I've murmured, where I've been unthinkable. 30:44.401 --> 30:59.704 [SPEAKER_00]: And I say, today, I make a choice to live in Thanksgiving, to live in gratitude, to live with a thankful heart, all the days of my life, in Jesus' mighty name, that come on, if you believe me, can you give the Lord a praise? 30:59.724 --> 31:03.229 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again for downloading this podcast. 31:03.269 --> 31:07.135 [SPEAKER_00]: We trust that this message has blessed, encouraged, and 31:07.469 --> 31:11.236 [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure you subscribe so you never miss a message here from High Braise. 31:11.757 --> 31:20.294 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, you can follow us on social media, on Facebook and on Instagram, and don't forget to go subscribe to our YouTube channel. 31:20.314 --> 31:22.579 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll be back soon with another incredible message. 31:22.719 --> 31:24.803 [SPEAKER_00]: God bless you and have a great week.