TOPIC: GRATEFULNESS
TEXT: LUKE 17:12-19
SPEAKER: SIS. MERCY ILLUEBBEY

DATE: 11TH JUNE 2023 | 1ST SERVICE

Luke 17:12-19 (KJV)

 12 And as he 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 he saw them, he 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 his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

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.ave not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

INTRODUCTION

We’ve seen in the scriptures in verse 15 that “And one of them, when he saw…” it took one of them to see that God has done something for him, you cannot be grateful to God if you have not seen what He has done for you and because you have not seen does not mean that He has not done anything for you. Until you see what God has done for you, you will not come back with a grateful heart to give thanks.

Ephesians 4:17-21, for you to be grateful to God you must learn and you must decide on what you have learnt.

Is it God’s will for us to be grateful to Him? Yes, it is! From our text, we saw that Christ healed 10 people and He was expecting that when they received their healing, they will come back to Him and give thanks. That is why He asked in verse 17, “…but where are the nine?”. But only one man went back, threw himself at Jesus and gave thanks for his healing.

Do we have the heart of throwing ourselves to Jesus and giving thanks? Forgetting our positions, titles, and money in our accounts and even forgetting the problems that do not end. We have to acknowledge that Jesus is our sustainer.

PRAYER:

Thank you, Jesus for sustaining me, for having mercy upon me, and for all you do for me, I see them Lord and my eyes are opened, I am grateful Lord, I am not ignorant but I am grateful Lord.

Some of us try to look for a reason why we got our miracle but may we not be ungrateful to God in Jesus’ name! Amen! An unteachable heart is blinded and gives all kinds of excuses for its healing, 1 John 5:14-15.

If you prayed and got answers to your prayers then you should return the thanks to Him. You are never too busy to take your requests to God, how can u now be busy to go back and thank Him? The same manner you used to ask God for things, you should use that same manner to thank Him when your testimony comes.

Blessings from Gratefulness:

Genesis 4:3-8, it brings God’s favour, acceptance and attention. We can see that Cain and Abel both went to sacrifice to God and when God came down to accept the sacrifice, He looked down on Abel’s own with favour. When we are grateful to God, when we come to God in the way and manner that pleases Him then we get the blessings from gratefulness.

You don’t choose how you want to praise God, He had given us the guidelines that we should come to Him with an open heart, Psalm 100:4. When we go to God’s presence, we go with a grateful heart, we go happy, appreciating Him with thanksgiving in our heart amidst all problems and circumstances because we are alive is a big reason to praise God.

Conclusion:

If you don’t have a reason to give thanks, thank God for God, thank Him for Jesus who died for your sins, and thank Him for the gift of the Holy Spirit helping you every day, that is enough reason to be grateful. Psalms 92:1-2, we thank God in the days of gladness and the days of sorrows.