Where are the Nine? pt3
Sunday Service 5th June, 2022
Text: Luke 17:11-19
Minister: Rev. Dr. Sola Akinkuolie
Message Excerpt
Our text as we know and have read, reveals gratitude as a key attribute of the believer. However, a lot of believers today are ungrateful and exert energy on grumblings and murmurings based on present needs to the neglect of true worship for God’s inestimable blessings; chief of which is life and health. It is sad that the want and lack of mundane and ephemeral things hamper true thanksgiving and praise. It is however worse for those who receive the blessings and straight way forget the giver of the blessings. Whereas, the purpose of the blessing is to bring the recipient closer to the giver. Ingratitude is a posture of the heart and is synonymous to pride. As the receiver, not showing gratitude shows that you inwardly attribute the blessings to your merit as what you deserve and worked for. However, the one who is grateful is humble, deferring to God. Many remember God in their distress and soon forget Him immediately after their deliverance. The answers to protracted request and needs should the beginning of a new relationship with the Father. We pray so loud today as believers but hardly ever truly praise. Ingratitude carries in it, a degree of injustice to the giver. Never deny God the glory due Him. Psalm 50:14-15; 2 Samuel 9:1. David in 2 Samuel 9:1; remembered the goodness of Jonathan towards him. Jonathan was the rightful heir to the throne of his father Saul but loved and preferred David. This act was remembered by David and he sought to show same goodness to Jonathan’s offspring. The major problem causing ingratitude is forgetting, not remembering sand not considering what has been done; little wonder, the song writer says count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Why are Believers Ungrateful?
1. Being callous, carefree and strong hearted; not caring about the source of all blessings.
2. Thoughtlessness; never considering anything nor reflecting on situations.
3. Pride and arrogance; attributing interventions to supposed merit.
4. Envy and comparison; Comparing your achievements and blessings to those of others. 5. Continued analysis on supposed demands that will result from your thanksgiving; This is a strong character of the one who is tight-fisted. Having a thought that you will rather not thank God because your thanksgiving will make you positioned to of necessity be of help to people. Whereas, your being blessed is for this purpose, just as God told Abraham. I will bless you and cause you to be a blessing. 6. Worldliness and carnality; extreme love of self and lusts for the world. 7. Lack of an independent mind; Others around are ungrateful; and I have to tow the same line. 8. Procrastination; Always pushing forward opportunities for thanksgiving. Consequences of Ingratitude
1. The blessings might turn into a curse.
2. Refusal of answers to future requests.
3. God might most definitely chastise you, so as to redirect your heart to Him as the source.
How to Be Grateful
1. Be humble
2. Glorify Him for your salvation. Never call your deliverance from sin as small;
3. Call no blessing small; acknowledge it and give thanks to the giver.
4. Always compare your past moment of affliction to your present mercy at the moment.
5. Serve God with all your resources. You are a steward of all He has given; even the life you seem to call yours. The moment He calls for that life; only then will you realize it is His gift to you.
Prayers
1. O Lord, have mercy on me for all my moments of ingratitude.
2. Father, help me to always remember what you have done in my life, what you are doing now and where you are taking me to.
3. I receive today all I have lost by reason of ingratitude in the name of Jesus. 4. O Lord, pour upon me the spirit of gratitude, gratefulness and thanksgiving.
