FIVE STEPS TO BEING A GRATEFUL PERSON

I. Review Our Past
   A. The Bible discusses a form of Thanksgiving 136 times
   B. Forget not the benefits of God - Ps 103: 2-5
   C. Consider what great things God has done for you - I Sam 12:24
   D. We read how God cared for his saints in the scriptures but he also cares for YOU and has done many great things for us
   E. If we do not believe that - we have selected memory or we have amnesia

II . Refocus On Our Present
   A. Studying the Bible helps keep our focus on what God is doing for us now
   B. We give thanks for your wonderful works in our lives ( today )- Ps 75:1
   C. Praise the Lord ( today ) with a psalm and magnify him with Thanksgiving - Ps 69:30
   D. In everything ( today ) give thanks to God - I Thess 5:18
   E. When we remember how good God has been to us and the blessings we have today , it will change our lives

III. Restore Our Prospective
   A. As you have received Christ as Lord so walk in him abounding in Thanksgiving - Col 2:6-7
   B. Life is a matter of prospective ; are there only bad things in our lives OR are there both good and bad and we chose to focus on how good our God is to us ?
   C. We depress ourselves rather than be thankful for what God has/ is doing
   D. Every good and perfect gift comes from God - Jam 1:17

IV. Choose To Praise God
   A. Praising God is a choice - not how good are our circumstances
   B. I will praise God with a song - PS 69:30 ( written while he was in distress )
   C. Praising God in psalms , hymns , and spiritual songs giving thanks ALWAYS to the Lord - Eph 5 : 18-20
   D. Blessing man is a choice God makes every day

V. Renew Our Passion For God
   A. God rules over our lives - whether we know it or like it
   B. We can not let the enemy destroy what God has given us to bless our lives

VI . Conclusions
   A. A grateful / thankful person can get angry or depressed but he can not be angry or depressed and grateful at the same time
   B. Being a grateful person spills over in our lives and is seen by others
   C. Helen Keller pinned these words :
     
      They took away what should have been my eyes but I remembered Milton's Paradise
      They took away what should have been my ears but Beethoven came and wiped away my tears
      They took away what should have been my tongue but I talked to God when I was young
      He would not let them take away my soul and possessing it I POSSESS THE WHOLE !