Luke 17:11-19 (NIV)
“The Other Nine”
*Some of us in this season, are still practicing a level of ingratitude. What do you do when people feel like they’re owed something? In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 it says in everything give thanks. The worst thing you can be is a child who is not thankful. It’s understandable when children are ungrateful, but what about adults who are ungrateful and feel like they’re owed things. We live in a culture that breeds a lack of being thankful, but every day the Lord wakes you up you ought to be thankful. Even if you have bills, don’t live where you want, or drive what you want to drive, be thankful because God let you see one more day. When’s the last time you checked on somebody? How many more people do we have to lose from wrestling with mental health before we understand the importance that we must get help, beyond being anointed and prayed over? Life at times can be difficult, make you want to quit, so you need to understand that you need a higher level of care to deal with life.
*When you feel like you have a reason to be ungrateful, because God didn’t come through for you, answer your prayers, or do things the way you wanted him to, every now and again you ought to think about someone else who’s struggling. How many people do we pass on a daily basis that could use some help? Think back to your own time when you didn’t have the job that you have, when you didn’t have the money, you have now. Think about the time when you were sitting there praying Lord to help you get an extension to keep the gas on, when you were trying to figure out how you were going to rob Peter to pay Paul.
*Be careful when you find yourself dealing with a condition and people are trying to push you away because they feel like you’re not regular. We live in a culture now that says if you don’t look like this, you’re not regular. Sometimes regardless of what you’re dealing with, when you need to call on the name of the Lord you will muster the strength even when you don’t have it. We keep standing at the door praying and praying for God to do this and that, and while we’re still on our knees God already answered what we’ve been praying for. Don’t be so deep and spiritual that you can’t recognize when God has answered your prayer. Sometimes you must stop praying about what God is not going to give you. It doesn’t matter how much you pray, if God said don’t do it, then don’t do it. If you would just listen to God, even in what we think is a mistake God can set us up to allow a mistake to be our greatest blessing. It may have caused you pain, but there was some beauty that came out of it. Forgive yourself, all of us have made bad decisions. Don’t let anyone guilt you or shame you, and make you think they have it all together, don’t come short, don’t make any mistakes, or have some things they wish they could take back. Sometimes God will let things come to the light to change your perspective.
*When God does something in your life, you should never feel like it’s an inconvenience to go back and tell God thank you. That’s where the level of ingratitude comes in our lives, when we don’t think we owe God a thank you. You owe God a thank you even for the storms that come in your life, because the storms built you and made you stronger, and showed you how much faith you did not have, so you could develop your faith. The storms in your life really let you see who is riding with you and not riding with you. They taught you how to lean and depend on the Lord. If you can be thankful in the storms God can bless you in ways that will blow your mind, because if you can thank God for the problems in your life you can thank him when he does good things in your life. Anything that comes in your life can only come by permission of God. We have to learn how to stop fussing and complaining, and saying you don’t want to go through this, because you have to go through it, so you learn how to be grateful.
*You think about what you left, but not what healed you. Some of us are like the other nine, because as soon as we pray Lord get me out of this, God gets you out of this, and we run right back to it. You wonder why you feel the way you do, and why you don’t have joy, peace, or happiness, because you keep going back to what God has allowed you to escape from. It’s not that God can’t get you out, but sometimes God will allow you to sit in what you thought you wanted. We can sometimes forget what the Lord has delivered us from. Even if you’re not fully delivered from what the Lord spared you from, there are some other people still living with the residual, and you came out with just a memory.
*Have you found yourself lately where you feel like you don’t owe God a thank you? Is it to much of an inconvenience of your time to spend with God in devotion? If God played back your screen time this week how much time did you spend with God? Would God be approving or disapproving of your time? Some of us are so guilty of giving people more time than we give to God. You have to learn to sop spending time with people that can do nothing for you, yet you ignore the one that can do everything for you. When you find yourself operating in ingratitude, you’re not worth talking about or talking to. We get caught up in moments of ingratitude. When you’re thankful to God, not only can he answer what you asked him for, but he can also give you what you need. Sometimes when you’re ungrateful you miss out on what you want and what you need. Make sure your attitude is right, because when God wants to bless you, but you have the wrong attitude you will miss out on your blessing.
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