Thanksgiving Thoughts

Thanksgiving Thoughts
by Pastor Roy Esposito

• From the comic strip “Mutts” – “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”

• A present Word: “Without gratitude, there can be no optimism.  Without optimism, there can be no hope.  “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” (Prov 13:12)

• Romans 10:17 – “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
• Hebrews 11:6 – Faith to please God – rewarded by seeking Him diligently

• Psalms 78: 1-4, 6-8,29,33

• ”His Salvation” – separates us from our lusts; sexual, misused gifts, corrupted feelings, and thoughts – SELF-ABSORBTION

• Blinded by lust – cannot see or hear God >>>> decline into confusion causing thoughts to become senseless.

• All because they chose to COMPLAIN and were not THANKFUL

• Complaining is the OPPOSITE of thankfulness!

• Francis Frangipane – “Every word spoken in a complaint as un-thankfulness is a spark lit by hell, sent to feed upon and consume our joy and destroy our HOPE.”
• H.W. Beecher – “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never gets as much as he thinks he deserves.”

• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18_{(NKJV & TPT)} – “Rejoice – Pray – Give Thanks IN everything”

• “When God gives us less than we think we deserve, He’s not teaching us that poverty is a virtue, but that thankfulness for what He’s already supplied is the key that unlocks the full potential of His grace through which we can do ALL things.”
  –PR

• Psalms 50:43_(AMP)