Gratefulness is a Power

There is Power, Power, wonder working Power in Gratefulness.

The word “Gratefulness” stands alone and carries a significant meaning that defies challenge from any other word you may use this thanksgiving season.  In other words there would be no meaningful thanksgiving without somebody being “Grateful”.  Somebody in here aught say, I’m Grateful today; amen,

A trivia for you; what crossed the road first gratefulness or thankfulness? 

Listen, I believe you can’t be thankful without first being grateful.  Amen.

May I ask you another question?  Is being Grateful a learned attitude or are we born grateful?  Do we need to be taught this behavior or did we come here with it?

How many of you say “we are born with this attitude of gratitude?”

How many of you say “we learn to be grateful in life and behave accordingly?” 

I see we have a split house here today and a house divided cannot stand.  Amen.

This is a good time to talk about the tenth lepers from the Galilee.

We will learn a powerful lesson in this account between the Grateful and the ungrateful; and between the Thankful and the unthankful.

Luke 17

11.  And it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that Jesus passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.   12.  And as Jesus entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:   13.  And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.   14.  And when Jesus saw them, Jesus said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.   15.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,  16.  And fell down on his face at Jesus feet, giving Jesus thanks: and he was a Samaritan.   17.  And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 

Listen I have come to declare to you today:  Who the nine brethren were that trotted off so fast that they never looked back to say anything to Jesus?  I submit to you today the names of the nine guilty ones.  The first one to trot off was brother ungrateful, who is graceless; the second is brother unthankful, who is thankless; the third is brother disrespectful, and then forgetfulness, who claims he just forgot to say thank you to Jesus; the fifth is brother inconsiderate, who is all about self along with brother disregard and brother unwilling, the eight brother is uncaring and the final ninth brother is brother insincere. 

These are the nine attitudes trotted off from Jesus without ever looking back and that still exist today; even after Jesus bestows His Grace and Mercy on their lives.

I hope and pray that you are not palling around with these attitudes or running with fellows that do, because you just might pick up their bad habits of taking Jesus and people for granted.  Don’t take anyone for granted; be grateful to all.  Amen.

Now let’s look at the “Grateful One”, who came back to give thanks to Jesus. 

He knew exactly what he had been going through dealing with that sickening deadly disease called leprosy.  It had separated him from his family and friends and disconnected him from his business and society.  This leprosy had locked him in a prison on a lonely desert place somewhere between Samaria and Galilee.  He was far away from home where no one in their right mind would ever come to visit him or rescue him from his plight. 

But Jesus, but Jesus, Jesus is willing to travel from heaven to hell and from coast to coast to seek and save souls who are lost.   Jesus the Great Physician came to heal the sick and save their sin sick soul.  Amen. Somebody ought to open their mouth and say, I’m Grateful, Grateful, and Grateful to the Lord. 

Jesus is the Savior of the world and of lepers too!  Jesus has come to restore all to their right place in God.  Amen.

When Mr. Grateful the tenth Leper saw Jesus and heard what Jesus said to him. 

Mr. Grateful knew everything was going to be alright now.  He knew that power to change his life had finally come.  Mr. Grateful remembered what his mama said.  That was to say thank you and to be grateful when folks do something for you and on your behalf.  She said, “There Is Power In Gratefulness.” 

Jesus saw Mr. Grateful when he returned and said,

 18.  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

 19.  And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Here is how I know that Mr. Gratitude was the tenth leper, because the bible says, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.  It’s just that simple.

What we witness in this account is one leper being totally cleansed and healed by the word of Jesus.  Mr. Gratitude may have been a stranger to Jesus on the outside, but a friend of Jesus on the inside.

Let me tell you what I mean, I show you a mystery about the soul of man.   We commonly say a couple things frequently; one is that heart reaches heart, which is true.  And secondly, you probably have heard someone say to another person, “Child you must be reading my mind.”  It’s because mind reaches other minds as well.  The mystery of soul is this; the soul in each of us reaches each of us.  If you understand what I’m saying then say, amen. This is why we are here today.  We have kindred spirits and our souls mutually agreed on kingdom principles. 

Let me shine just a little more light on this mystery of the soul, just like your body and mind has function to perform, likewise does your soul.  Your soul is where the operation of love emanates and stream from.  This is why the term soul mates has been popularized and you hear people use it to describe their most intimate relationship.  Also, another operation of the Soul is Grace and Mercy.

 Listen, the person that is a murderer or does sinful and hideous things we say they lost their mind and gone crazy.  We must recognize as people of God they have also lost touch with their soul and need immediate soul Salvation.   These types of people refuse to operate in love, grace and mercy, but rather suppress it and work against the Soul.

This is why it is absolutely critical we continue to take the Gospel into the entire world that souls can hear the Gospel and be saved.  Amen.

Jesus discerned the tenth lepers “Soul Gratitude” and knew he was truly grateful. 

That Power of Gratefulness is available now.  Allow your Soul to be filled the “Gratitude” not only during the “Thanksgiving Season, but everyday” and your Soul will rejoice in “God’s Grace”.  Amen.

Now the answer to the first question asked earlier;

We are born with the attitude of gratitude?   This house need not be split on this issue!  Yes we are!  And it is reinforced by life lessons until we die.

Listen saints of God, when we were born all of us come equipped for high performance.  We were born with “The Power of Gratitude”, because we were created in the image of God, who blew into our nostrils and we became living Souls.  We are what He is and He is what we are when we display His attributes.  Somebody say glory halleluiah here today!  I’m telling this thang!

I close with this, if you have lost your sense of gratitude now is the right time to call on Jesus and let Him restore you to your right place in God.

Psalms 34

18.  The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.   19.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.  22.  The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Preached by:  Rev. Sylvester Williams, Jr.

I.C.U., Ministries, Inc.

November 23, 2008