Attitude of Gratitude

The Finding Emet radio program aims to help individuals understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. It features the teachings of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. The program encourages listeners to visit the Emet Ministries website for additional resources and to submit prayer requests. Bumper stickers are discussed as a way for people to express personal, religious, or political statements. The importance of giving thanks and having a grateful heart is emphasized, as it is seen as a key to experiencing an abundant life. The scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 is referenced, which states that giving thanks in everything is the will of God. The power of thanksgiving and praise is highlighted, and a story from the book of Numbers is mentioned to illustrate the importance of having a grateful attitude even in difficult circumstances. Hello, and welcome to the Finding Emet radio program. Emet is the Hebrew word for truth. This program will help you understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The Finding Emet radio program features the teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. Prepare your heart to receive the Emet, the truth of the scriptures. More audio lessons and teaching articles are available at the www.emetministries.com website. Please visit our site to find all things spiritual, including a free online Bible search program, or submit your prayer requests. That's www.emetministries.com, or www.findemet.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Let's welcome our teacher, Daniel Rendleman, as he helps us find the Emet. Any time you take a ride down the road, any time you get in your car, crank up the ignition, and you go, you are sure to see something as you travel. Travel short distances, long distances, cross country, you're going to see a handful of cars that have got these little bumper stickers on them. We've seen them. We've seen the little emblems, the fish. The Christians have the fish, and then the evolutionists have the fish with legs sticking out. You've seen those? Interesting. You look at bumper stickers, and anything and everything can be discussed on a bumper sticker. These people that write these things, it's amazing how they can do it. And these various personal, religious, or political statements that are there, they're thought-provoking. You have one of my car that says, in Yahweh we trust, Baruch Hashem. I found a few on the internet I thought I would share with you, real bumper stickers. I've actually seen some of these that I thought were interesting. The first one I've actually seen, and it says, answer my prayer, steal this car. Real friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies. You know, when I was growing up, I had a 1987 Ford Escort, and I paid $350 for it. I was so poor it had to be in installments, literally, okay? And it was held together by the bumper stickers. If it wasn't for the bumper stickers and the dirt, it would have fallen apart at any time. And it was bad. It was bad. Bumper stickers help. How about this one? So many cats, so few recipes. That was only for the Chinese restaurants, only people that worked there. Fat people are hard to kidnap. I've seen that one. I've seen that one. How about this one? Filthy, stinking rich. Two out of three ain't bad. How about that? Jesus is coming. Look busy. If you like Osama, vote Obama. Oh, never mind. Beer, it's not just for breakfast anymore. Oh, well, I'll keep going. You know, you've seen these with, like, my kid's an honor roll student, you know, proud soccer mom. How about this one? My hockey mom can beat up your soccer mom. Cover me, I'm changing lanes. Horn broken, watch for finger. Ooh, ooh. How about this one? Forget world peace, visualize using your turn signal. Wouldn't we like that? I think my favorite that I found on the internet, you can actually order, said this. I have the body of a god, Buddha. One more, can I do one more? We've seen the WWJD, you know, what would Jesus do? I found one in a little cartoon picture that says, what would Scooby do? What would Scooby do? What would Scooby do? All right, how about that? Have you ever wondered if Yahweh had a bumper sticker? I mean, think about it. If the heavenly Cadillac in the sky, if it had a bumper sticker on it, what would it say? What would it say? Well, maybe it was a BMW, a Benz. If Yahweh had a bumper sticker, what do you think it would say? I love heaven? Maybe, you know, down with Islam? I don't know. How about repent sinner? Repent sinner? It could say, go to hell or go to heaven? What? Your place or mine? I like that. Your place or mine? It could say all these things. Your place or mine? How about fear not? That's another good one, fear not? What could that be? There's no trailer hitch on a hearse? What was I thinking? That would be, Yahweh's bumper sticker would say, what was I thinking? I think that's pretty good. But I'm going to submit to you today that it would say something totally different. It would say just two words. His bumper sticker would say two words that would speak to everybody, sinner or saint, and that could change their lives. Two words. You fool. No. It would be two words, repeated 42 times in the scriptures. Give, not money, give thanks. Give thanks. 42 times it's repeated in the scriptures. Now, we know that as a song, I believe it was Don Mullen wrote, Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. We know that? It's more than just a song. It would have been his bumper sticker, you know, that BMW in the sky, just passing by, part of the clouds, right between Neptune and Pluto or whatever it is out there. Give thanks. Thanksgiving is a spiritual force. And I believe, I'm going to say something real radical. Say this, he's radical. He's radical. I believe thanksgiving, giving thanks, giving praise, can fix all of our problems. A-L-L spells all. That is a radical statement, but I believe it from the bottom of my heart. Giving thanks, saying thank you, looking with a heart of gratitude at our lives. The key to having the abundant life is to not allow the circumstances and the bad things stop you from being thankful and joyful. That's the key to an abundant life. It's not a six CD set, it's not a bunch of books, it's not a key chain, and it's not even a bumper sticker. It's stopping the circumstances and the things that happen in life, not allowing them to stop us from being thankful. Because let me tell you, we all get there, we may all be there right now. Giving thanks. In the book of Thessalonians, Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, it's an interesting statement that is made. There's so many people that are out there in the world in search, they want to know what's God's will for my life. They want to know it. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 18. In everything, give thanks. For this is the will of Yahweh and the Messiah, Yehoshua, concerning you. We think His will is for us to grow up one day and to be president, or to be a school bus driver, or to be a general manager of a business, or to be a mom of five kids. His will is for no matter what you do, no matter what you go through, no matter how good it is, no matter how hard it is, that you give thanks. In fact, read it in context, it says this, Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, quench not the spirit, despise not prophesy. Did you know that when we stop being thankful, we are quenching the spirit? When we start looking at everyone else in their lives and saying, Oh, me, oh my. When we start comparing ourselves, and when we begin to look around and say, I want more. There's got to be more in life than this. That quenches the spirit of Yahweh. Because He wants us to give thanks in that situation, and give thanks that it's going to get better. It's okay to be having a bad day and say, Oh, Yahweh, I thank you, but tomorrow's going to be better. You know, that's the best thing about a bad day. It's only 24 hours long. And then it's over. We've got a whole new opportunity to change it. In everything, give thanks. Does that mean everything is good that happens to you, Gregory? No. Is it good you've got a big old snake chasing you with seven rattlers going on? No, that's not good. But give thanks. In everything. To show you the power of thanksgiving, of praise, gratitude, turn with me to the book of Bamidbar. Now, Bamidbar is the fourth book in the Bible. If you're turning in English, it's the book of Numbers. Bamidbar means in the wilderness. Midbar is Hebrew for wilderness. Ba is a prefix. Bamidbar. In the wilderness, guess what we're going to learn about? Giving thanks. It's easy to praise Yahweh when things are good. It's easy to say thank you when things are going well. When you win that lottery, that Powerball jackpot, $222 million, when you've got a negative bank account, what do we do? We don't want to come out of the bedroom. Much less have to go out the door and be a part of the world and our families. Numbers chapter 13 tells us the story of a special group of people who were chosen for a ministry, for a calling. These people were chosen, one from every tribe. And they were given a job to do. They were given a task to accomplish. They were told to go. And their names are given in the scriptures. And they were told to go to the Promised Land and spy it out. Verse 17 of Numbers chapter 13 Moshe sent them out to spy out the land and said unto them, Get you up out of this way southward. Go into the mountain. See the land, what it is. And the people that dwelleth there, whether they be strong or weak, few or many, and what the land is that they dwell in, good or bad, and what cities that they be dwelling in, where intense or strongholds. And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, or wood therein or not, and be of good courage, bringeth the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first striped grains. So they went and they searched out the land. They were told to go into the land of promise. Yahweh said, I'm leading you to a land full of milk and honey. A great land. He tells them to go and spy it out. And in verse 28 they come back they search for 40 days 40 days testing, trials they spy it out they go through this and they say, oh yes it's full of milk and honey. But verse 28, nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land the cities are walled and very great we saw children of Enoch there. And all these bad guys are there. We can't do it. It's too hard. It's too big. It's too bad. They were going off they were going off of what they saw they were going off of it was real. It was painful. They had all these hopes and desires and dreams to go into the land and everything was going to be good and yet here, guess what happens? They go and it's not what they thought it was going to be. Did you ever feel like those spies? You get to where you wanted to be you get to that promised land you get to the top of the ladder and realize it's leaning on the wrong building Did you ever get there? Like this is what it's all about? And they said, no, we can't do it. In verse 30 Caleb filled the people and said, let us go up at once and possess it and be able to overcome it He spoke in faith and he said he didn't deny the fact that it was what they said He didn't say, oh no, no, you're not right He didn't say, oh, you're crazy What did he say? We can do it No matter what we face, no matter how big, no matter how bad we can do it. He's always on our side. He didn't say, oh, are you nuts? It was easy, that was a piece of cake He didn't deny the fact But he said, we can do it with Yahweh We are able to overcome it Say this with me We are able to overcome it We can do it The question is, whose voice are we going to listen to? The two faithful spies or the ten spies who saw it and saw doom and gloom and all this pain and problem The two were grateful for what they saw Yahoshua, Joshua and Caleb In Numbers chapter 14, it continues the story Joshua is now speaking In verse 7, and it says The land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land If Yahweh delights in us He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey Only rebel not against Yahweh Neither fear the people of the land Yahweh has departed from them Yahweh is with us, fear them not That's some good preaching Fear not, Yahweh is with us And so the voice is going out there From Joshua, from Yahshua From Yahoshua, from the Messiah saying Fear not, you can do it, you can make it And what happens? Yahshua turns to stone them Same situation Different day The difference between Joshua and Caleb and the ten who were unfaithful was their attitude I believe they had an attitude of gratitude But they saw it and they thanked Yahweh They said we can do it The opposite of that is what? Worry and fear and strife That's the world's way Think about it, the world always says I want more I was recently at Savannah And we go to walk by the riverfront Where the Savannah River comes in from the ocean And I saw this boat and I said Oh that's a boat, I looked to the right and said And the person that was with me said look to the left Daniel Oh my That wasn't a boat, that one had three boats on the back of it It was so big, it was like a huge yacht Must have been 200 feet long I took a picture of it with my phone Standing way back and couldn't get all of it in the picture I couldn't pay the taxes on just the wood in it You know what I'm saying? It was huge But first I thought boy that's a boat A little small one compared to the large one Well the world got their boat They have their boat but that's oh wait a minute I want a bigger boat, I want a better boat Wanting more Always more It's okay to want more Want a bigger house, right? Maybe, maybe not, I know I do There's seven of us in a three bedroom house We all sleep on bunk beds, even my wife and I It's all stacked up in the house It's crazy We know each other very well We even have to share toothbrushes it's so small We don't get to put more than one in there, it's so bad So it's okay to say I want a better house But do you know what I need to do first? I need to be thankful for what I have now And as I'm thankful for today and I'm looking at today Tomorrow will take care of itself You know we put gasoline in a car to give it power Gratitude is what empowers our faith and our life It's so simple but we forget it We forget it Spiritual exercises have to be hard sometimes Oh I got to get up and I'm going to study Torah for four hours And I'm going to pray for two hours before I do that And I'm going to go visit the sick and do this You know we think that these spiritual exercises have to be hard Gratitude is not hard physically It's hard mentally because we have to look past the reality And say thank you Let me say this Gratitude, being thankful, is a feeling that we choose Guess what else? Ingratitude is also a feeling that we choose Now we choose to celebrate Thanksgiving Turkey day, you know Get all the family together to have a fight I mean to have dinner We get everybody together for Thanksgiving And we choose one day out of the year, that's Thanksgiving That is so wrong, ladies and gentlemen Every day should be, it is Yahweh's will What is Yahweh's will? To give thanks in all circumstances It's a spiritual force like gravity And as I said for anybody and everybody No matter who you are If you will become grateful to Yahweh Your life will change Even a sinner, if that sinner wakes up one day and says I thank you for life, for breath You know what that's going to do? That's going to start their journey towards finding the truth Romans chapter 1 speaks of that You can see that there is a creator just by looking around with gratitude And you know what else gravity does? Gravity pulls things, doesn't it? Doesn't it? I mean, look at some of y'all Y'all are old, you're getting pulled down You drop something, it's going to fall You drop something, it's going to fall, that's gravity Because gravity is attracting things down Did you know that gravity attracts things to your life? Have you heard the phrase What you see is what you get? What you see is what you get The ten spies saw plagues, they saw problems They saw pain, guess what they got? They sure did, didn't they? But the two faithful ones who saw in faith What they saw is what they got They had to go through those 40 years, but they were able to come out of those 40 years Joshua led the Israelites If all we think about is how bad things are It's going to get worse Can I get a big amen? It's the truth We complain and moan if we feel bad Talk about how sorry our boss is, our wife is Our husband is, our friends are Our synagogue is, our car Anything and everything, all we do is talk about it, guess what we're going to do? We're going to bring more of that into our life It's like a power of attraction What you think about What you think about What you think about Is what you bring about What happens when we praise? When we get our mind off of ourselves What's the blessing? Blessed are you Yahweh? Our mind changes, doesn't it? Our mind changes And then guess what happens? Our life changes The Jewish rabbis have said that we should say at least 100 blessings a day 100 I don't know about you, but maybe it's good to start with 10 Right? Just 10 And say it with kavanah, with meaning, with devotion We get the grace We rush through it, whether it's in Hebrew or English Say thanks Doesn't it say, do not be deceived Whatsoever man sows, he shall reap Planted a garden this year Of sorts Tilled up the land 2 or 3 times Was so excited Got it ready Went and bought some seeds Went out to plant And I planted 2 or 3 packs of radishes I love radishes I want to do this Well then the sun started coming down I have to plant the rest tomorrow Well tomorrow it started raining The next day it rained The next day I was busy, the next day I was out of town So I've got This huge garden Tilled up land, a bunch of weeds and radishes But you know what happened I went out to that garden last week to start weeding I said I'm going to get rid of these weeds And I'm going to finally plant some of these plants I start pulling stuff up, I'm pulling up radishes I didn't know the difference between a radish And a hole in the wall I couldn't believe it And I get back down on my knees and I start digging in the dirt Putting the radish back in I started jumping up and down I'm a farmer, I can make weeds and radishes You see I had it It was there The seed had been planted It was on something else and I forgot all about it I didn't even recognize Radishes when they're ripe they've got little flowers that come out the top I didn't know that, I had no idea Literally between a radish and a rose I couldn't tell you the difference And so I missed it I missed it We let things go by and we missed them We miss them because we get so preoccupied With the other stuff that's happening I thought all the radishes had washed away with the rain Yet they were there, the blessing was there Let me tell you the blessings are there for us Whatever you need, I said all Sickness, pain, problems, money, friends, family Car, whatever it is that you need It's there I have all of my needs according to His riches in Kavod In glory, Philippians 4.19 It is there As the man thinks in his heart so he is, Proverbs 23.7 Guess what If all I'm thinking about is my garden Guess what I'm going to do when I get home I'm going to go work in the garden I'm going to know the difference between a radish And a bigger garden What you think about is what you bring about The challenge is to recognize the blessings To recognize the radishes Or do we just think about the problems Where is the focus We can say that we don't have a focus We do focus, we don't have Some people settle Some people settle and say It is what it is You heard that before It is what it is Or they say it must be God's will Must be always will Or they say You know him, I can't change him You know her, I can't change him No, no, no You might not be able to change That person or that circumstance You might not have any control That's missing the point Yahweh can change it Yahweh can change that person Yahweh can change your circumstance Yahweh can change lives No longer should we say it is what it is That's just giving in If something bad is occurring If you're being robbed of what you should receive Justice If you know that you deserve this job And you don't have it And you say there's nothing more I can do You're giving up You're like those ten spies It is what it is It be what it be Or we can be like Joshua and Caleb and say With Yahweh, I can do it Yahweh can change it, Yahweh can do it If we can give thanks instead of giving in Gratitude Our faith empowers gratitude This is a really neat verse In Galatians chapter 5 verse 6 I want to show you how faith works You ever think about how faith works We say, oh you gotta have faith the size of a seed of mustard And you can speak to this mountain and be thou removed We don't even have faith The bird flu comes, we get scared The bird flu comes, we get scared Oh it's another conspiracy, oh it's another this, it's another that We get all scared Where's the faith in that? Do you know how faith works? If you've got a lack of faith If you're praying and not seeing answers It could be because we're not understanding how faith works Galatians chapter 5 verse 6 Galutia in Hebrew Chapter 5 verse 6 For in Yahoshua Messiah Neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision But faith works through love Faith works through love Love is what empowers our faith to move To move mountains, to move people If you truly love somebody And let's say they're in a sinful lifestyle They're on drugs They watch Oprah They're just in a really bad situation Okay, bad situation Do you just say, if you truly love them Do you just say, it is what it is Do we go to Yahweh and say, Yahweh I love this person, empower my faith Faith works through love I thank you that they are not on drugs anymore I thank you that they are born again I thank you that they are seeking you I thank you that they have stayed away from Oprah I thank you that things are better for this person And you might say, Daniel that's crazy It's not reality Exactly It's not this reality It's faith But we're so scared to speak in faith Because we're so scared we're going to be a flake Sometimes we are I'm not saying that old name it and claim it Blab it and grab it and all that kind of stuff And you will attract it into your life Or into their life Gratitude shows that you are not a victim Maggie, you're not a victim You might have had some bad things that happened to your life But you're not a victim You are the master of your destiny You choose tomorrow, you choose today Jerry, you're not a victim I'm not a victim I give thanks to Yahweh that I'm better Gratitude shows that No matter what has occurred in our lives No matter what happened Yahweh works the best for us And we believe that In the book of Acts We can read a story about some guys that had the attitude of gratitude That we shouldn't have You ever been like that before? You just don't want to be spiritual sometimes I'm sick of praying, I'm sick of going to synagogue I'm sick of doing this, I'm sick of that Just leave me alone Shut the door, leave me alone Is it just me? But sometimes we just get tired, we get wore out People hurt us Sometimes we're just sick of living And yet, in Acts chapter 16 We see two guys Paul, Rabbi Shaul And Silas And they were Moving in the spirit They were praying for people They were ministering the gospel And you know what happened? Everything good happened in their life Right? Everything just was hunky-dory, they were walking in spirit and everything was good Is that what happened? No it's not They were put in jail Think of like Alcatraz jail, don't think of what we have today Don't think of cable TV and massage therapy at 2 o'clock This week we have Zen massages Only for those on death row though No! Talk about real jail Stones all around, probably rats on the ground Bad Chained up Beaten to a pulp Verse 23 Verse 22 And the multitudes rose up together against them, rent off their clothing, commanded to beat them Naked Can you put yourself in their shoes for a minute? They didn't have any shoes, they were naked Put yourself there for a minute All your clothes ripped off Then you're beaten Many stripes Then they take you out and they take this whip and they beat your back It rips your skin off You're bleeding, the pain is throbbing You can't go get a Darvocet, you can't go get a Tylenol, it's not around They've got you Throw you into prison and leave you for dead They say, you know what, just watch them They put these stalks on their feet so they can't walk Hands so they can't move If that was me I would be I would I cry if I get a hangnail I would just, I would be My goodness, it's bad I would want to die I would just say, take me now I can't handle anymore And I just I would give up And yet we read At midnight they prayed And sang praises unto Elohim And the prisoners heard them, verse 25 That's a testimony That when you're going through hard times You're in shackles, you're in chains, things are just bad And yet you can praise Yahweh, you can give thanks People see that The prisoners saw it The guards saw it And it was at midnight They lifted up their voices I can hear it now, echoing through the ages Maybe they sang the Shema Baruch atah Yahweh And in verse 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake So that the foundations of the prison were shaken Immediately all the doors were opened And everyone's bands were loosed And the keeper of the prison awaked out of his sleep And seeing the prison doors, he drew out his sword And would have killed himself, supposing the prisoners had been fled He called for a light Fell down before Paul in silence And he said, Sir, what must I do To be saved You know, it is When we go through these hard times Because there are hard times When we claim to Yahweh and we praise Him through the storm He will use us He will use us To reach others This is not the idea of positive thinking This is not the power of positive thinking This is gratitude And it frees us from the negativity And removes the calls and the chains of the enemy You can't say thank you Yahweh And be in a bad mood at the same time Maybe you can at first But the more you begin to think And guess what happens to that mood It goes away, doesn't it You've gone into a worship service before Just feeling down and depressed A garment of heaviness on And what happens When you get into praise, when you get into singing They were able to reach out to the fellow prisoners And to the guards There is a connection Everybody say connection Between Gratitude In helping others Because when we are thankful We see our circumstances We are thankful And then we help someone else Remember the time During the temple That the farmers Were told to leave their corners Was that for them It was for the poor, it was for the needy When we give When we give to others Time, effort, attention, money We are telling Yahweh, we are even telling the universe That our needs are met And you know what, when you do that It takes your eyes off of your problems Went recently and ministered at a homeless shelter I don't care how bad I felt when I got there I felt so much better when I left When we give to someone We create a vacuum to receive back Give and it will come back to you, good measure Good measure Shaking down, pressed together and running over Remember the alabaster box Broken at Yeshua's feet, remember the widow's mite Now we show love Blessings flow where the gratitude shows Blessings flow where the gratitude shows Blessings flow where the gratitude shows Paul and Silas saw this I'll teach you a phrase, some of you know this A Hebrew phrase, very simple, easy to remember Todah Rabah Say it with me Todah Rabah Todah Rabah Todah Rabah Todah is a Hebrew word Spelled Tav Vav Dalet Hay If you were to look this up In the Strong's Concordance You would find a very interesting definition Hebrew Dictionary Strong's Dictionary You would see that it means thank you Todah, thank you Rabah means very much Gratefully Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Todah Rabah What's interesting though is that The actual definition of Todah Is to make a confession Is to make a confession To praise To extend the hand Like a choir of worshippers Todah Now The letters that spell Todah Are also pictures for us Todah The last letter of the alphabet Is a sign, is a symbol It's a picture of a mark or of a stamp Okay One time it was written like a, some say a cross But more like an X with a circle around it Like X marks the spot, here's the stamp, here's the seal The Vav of course The man, the number 6 The Dalet Is a picture of a doorway Now the Vav was a picture of a nail Or of a man, the 6th man was a picture of a nail or a hook And then the He means to behold So what does the word Todah mean? When we say Todah, when we say thank you We are actually giving thanks to what? We're saying behold The door, the nail The sign Tav, the sign Vav, the nail Dalet is the door He means to behold, to look So when we say Todah, it brings us back to Yeshua The sign Of the door, of the nail What happened At the door with the nail During Torah times Who remembers? You had an indentured servant or slave who said You know what, I could go my own way But I don't want to, I want to stay with you You're going to take care of me no matter what happens And they would take a nail And they would go to the doorway and they would pierce the ear At the doorway And that was a sign for people to behold That you know what, this man made a choice Even though he could have gone his own way He made a choice to stay with his master That's what Todah means I'm making a choice to give thanks to my master To stay with my master, to be thankful To know that he wants the best for me It is good to give thanks to Yahweh To sing praises to his name most high Todah, Todah Rabbah A confession, and we think of confession in the Catholic sense I did something bad, I better confess No Confession as in a positive confession Of thanksgiving and looking in Thanks, thank you Yahweh Todah, Abba Yahweh Thank you Father Yahweh When our confession is positive towards Yahweh's goodness Guess what that does? It attracts more of that into our lives What happens when we're negative? Negative into our lives How about you, Luther? You get out of the bed on the wrong side of the bed You stomp your toe and it just goes downhill from there You ever been there? You should have one of those days But I tell you, if you were to stop in the middle of that day And begin to praise Yahweh and thank Yahweh And bless Yahweh and say Todah Yahweh A traditional prayer By the Jewish people is 12 words long It's called Moday Ani It starts with I gratefully thank you Moday, gratefully, Ani is I Interesting story that a couple years ago These psychologists and these doctors were studying The fact that people who woke up As soon as they woke up Would stand up out of the bed They were studying the fact that many times people pass out When they do that It's reoccurring that this has actually happened You jump out of the bed and people can actually pass out Because of doing that And after these studies they said that you really need 12 seconds For your body to wake up You need 12 seconds for your mind to say Stand up Otherwise that rush of the blood and getting the body going Is too much, 12 seconds As they were looking at that they said How can we help people learn this And one of the doctors during the study He said I've got an idea I said ok, what is it? He said every morning I say a prayer before I get out of bed Every day is 12 words in Hebrew And it takes me about one second To say each word He said if I can start my day Every day by saying thank you before I get out of the bed It's going to go better And so the scientists took that of course discussed it And passed on whatever But it was an idea of saying let's start the day with praise Start the day with thanksgiving That 12 seconds makes a difference It does Because I've been there, you get out of the bed and you're running late You've hit the snooze and you don't remember hitting the snooze You slept through the alarm clock and it's going on for 3 hours You know what I'm talking about? A train could go through my bedroom I wouldn't know it Because the bunk beds That's the sound Now what happens when we get out of the bed? We don't pass out because we say Mo day on knee We get dressed, don't we? I hope so, right Don? We get dressed Turn to Psalm 33 Psalm 33 When we get out of the bed We put one foot down to say thank We put another foot down to say you And every step to the bathroom Thank you Would that hurt anything? Would that help us? Practical Look at Psalm 33 Rejoice in Yahweh, oh you righteous Sing unto him a new song Play skillfully with a loud voice For the word of Yahweh is right And all his works are done in truth It's a beautiful Psalm Don't miss verse 1 because it tells you how you're supposed to dress Don't you want to look your best when you get up sometimes? Got to look good? Got an important meeting during the day? Praise is comely on the upright What does your translation say? Praise is comely on the upright? Did y'all say that? Praise looks good on you is what he's saying It's comely on the upright Hey, you're looking good It's like Yahweh and his angels when we get up in the morning And we begin to praise, he's looking down and saying He's blowing it all out today He's looking sharp, he's dressed to the nines Whatever that means He is dressed, he is looking sharp And you know what? When you dress good, you feel good And when you dress like a bum, you feel like a bum And he says praise looks good It's comely on the upright So turn to your neighbor and say you look good When you praise, don't forget that part When you praise I'm going to tell on you, is that alright? Matthew, I'm going to tell on you I get to lead Praise and Worship I've been doing this for, gosh, almost 14, 13, 14 years Baptist Church, Baptist Gospel Church And people who are really into the worship You can tell Because I get to see them, I'm standing up in the front And I look out at people Everybody else is looking towards me And I'm there at the church leading the praise and worship And some people are just like a knot on a log I ain't lifting my hands, I ain't singing, I ain't doing nothing I'm just going to sit here and wait for this fool to get done Some people will lift up their watch They did this to me, they point to their watch They'd wave in the air, hurry up But then I'd look over to the right And I'd see people just all into it, their countenance changed It's the same with you guys We get into worship, I'm leading worship I'm looking out You can't fool me, you can't fool Yahweh Some of you are playing tic-tac-toe when we're supposed to be singing Now come on We've got everything on our mind other than praising and worshipping And then others are just all into it Now there are distractions, I mean there are children That have to be taken into consideration Sometimes the music is too loud, sometimes it's too soft We've got to work all that out But when it comes down to it, people who are really into the worship It changes how we look Do you notice what the Psalms say? Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness He ain't heavy, he's my brother Alright, put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness And it makes a difference Over the years I've learned to do something When I stand in front of people to lead worship It's very sad You ready for this Gregory? I've learned to close my eyes and not look at anybody You know why? Because I got depressed I'd look out there and I'd see People not worshipping We're standing before the king of kings We've got time to sing with one voice And people are just drinking coffee Doing their checkbook Doing their nails, talking on the cell phone So I've gotten to where I just don't even want to look anymore How do you think Yahweh feels? That's why it's important we give our best Praise looks good on you So the next time you go to worship and go to sing Even if it's to get in your car and cut on some praise music No, but you know what? You're looking good You're looking good April, you're looking good when you sing and when you dance Dress our best through the day Gratitude is also connected to kindness When we're kind to someone We're showing gratitude Show me a person who's rude or unkind to others And that's a person who has a gratitude problem Think about it Remember the rich young ruler? Remember him? He came To Yeshua in Luke chapter 18 Luke 18 He says, oh good teacher What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? What does it take To have eternal life? And Yeshua says to him You know the commandments Do not commit adultery This is verse 20 Do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness Honor your father and mother And he says, all these I've kept from my youth He had Torah obedience But he lacked something Look here Now when Yehoshua heard these things He said unto him, yet lacketh thou one thing Sell all you have, distribute unto the poor Shall have treasure in heaven Come and follow me And we heard this, he was sorrowful because he was very rich What did he lack? He lacked gratitude He was blessed He was a person of integrity He attracted these good things to his life But because he wasn't grateful to Yahweh He didn't understand that you can give away everything And Yahweh will return it to you You cannot out give him Don't ask me for some money when we get done But you cannot out give him He had Torah obedience but he wasn't thankful One of the biggest forms of gratitude is giving Because it creates that vacuum When we're happy, when we're grateful, when we're focused on the good We attract more But when we're sad and depressed, you know how hard it is to get out of depression? It's hard So what do we have to do? We start with a little bit of light It's darkness We start with a little bit of light A little bit more of light And that light is gratitude, that light is saying thank you Yahweh I want to finish with a few words Sickness and gratitude Scientists have proven That 75 to 85% Of all sickness Is related to stress A recent study showed that 90% Of all doctors visits in America Was directly related back to stress Do you believe it? I do Nerves and stomach You know what I'm saying? Ridding your life Of many sicknesses and stress Is as simple as changing your mind Notice I said simple Not easy It's not easy But it's simple Here's a simple way to look at it When you give something Attention, energy and focus That's what you get You get more of it When you give something attention, energy and focus You attract more of that into your life So my wife and I go out to eat And we look back at our kids who are in the car And we say you better behave I'll take you to the bathroom They don't behave They do exactly what we said Not to do because we were giving the bad behavior Attention, energy and focus We were basically telling them We want you to misbehave So what should I have done? Number one, I should expect them to behave But number two, I should remind them of our manners Let's enjoy it Not, you better behave Because they're just going to do the opposite I'm already thinking they're going to misbehave Right? I'm probably right anyway I'm just already thinking they're going to misbehave You ever notice why children are better for someone else Than they are for their parents Isn't that right? Because we as parents sometimes Expect our children to misbehave And they just live right up to our expectations So it's time to change that As we're faced with life's challenges We choose either gratitude or ingratitude No middle ground No middle ground, Don Steven, there are two types of people in the world Those who thank you and those who do not Those who write thank you cards, those who do not Those who feel gratitude and those who do not When your body has a disease Do you know what that is? Think of the word disease, dis-ease It means that your body is not at ease Something is not right on the inside Negative cells, infections, viruses cannot live Within a body of a person who is thankful and grateful I'm not saying you're not going to catch the cold Because you're happy all the time That's not what I'm saying But we can ward off, I believe, demonic sicknesses And even some physical sicknesses By having gratitude and thankfulness It's like medicine to the body So let's step aside And think about the good things Toda Just say Toda Toda To feel it So what am I talking about? I'm saying this Rebecca is having a hard time Rebecca needs a new job So instead of complaining to Yahweh Moaning and complaining in prayer about how bad her job is That's not prayer, y'all Most people, that's what they call prayer A little bit of praise Oh, Father Yahweh in heaven Complain, complain, complain, complain That's not prayer, that's complaining Religious complaining What we should do instead of complaining about how bad it is Begin to thank Yahweh For your new job Begin to thank Him for coming through for you Just begin to say, Toda Yahweh, I am thankful I am grateful to you, now that And you will see these things begin to occur But when you have expectations Oh, it's just going to be a bad day Guess what it's going to be? A bad day But we got to act upon it, we got to feel it Thankfulness You read in the Bible in Genesis about Adam Yahweh did some pretty good things for Adam, didn't He? Created Adam, created Eve, let Him name the animals Do you ever see Adam offering sacrifices? Do you ever see Adam saying thank you? Is Adam a grateful person? No And do you know what Adam does? He sins When we are not grateful We are susceptible to sin, to problems, to negativity, to pain Look at Abraham Every other minute he's offering sacrifices And he's tested but he makes it through We easily fall or fail Or get frustrated when we don't give thanks The challenge is don't let it be a bumper sticker I've got a list right here, I keep it in my car And it says this, I am grateful to Yahweh Now that this And do you know what? Half of this stuff is not reality from what I see And I believe it as I feel it, as I experience it I am grateful to Yahweh That I am... How about this one? I'll read you a couple of my own personal, is that ok? And I encourage you to do this, make a list And repeat it, I am grateful to Yahweh Now that I am positive Inspirational and healthy I am grateful to Yahweh that I have the best of everything As blessing is my birthright I am grateful to Yahweh That I am a successful And abundant witness I am grateful to Yahweh That I have my dream home I am grateful to Yahweh Now that I have more than enough time For work, family, and ministry I am grateful to Yahweh Now that I have wisdom, knowledge, and understanding I am grateful to Yahweh Now that I have an abundance of money To use for the glory of Yahweh I am grateful to Yahweh Now that my relationships are meaningful and life changing I am grateful to Yahweh Now that I am excited about my future I am grateful to Yahweh Now that I hear the voice of Yahweh and follow in obedience I am grateful to Yahweh Now that my children are well behaved I am grateful to Yahweh that I have perfect vision Perfect health, perfect weight I am grateful to Yahweh that I receive Income through multiple sources And so it goes on and on and on You might say, Daniel, that's crazy I'm telling you Thankfulness, praising, thanking Yahweh I got a couple of ideas for you That's one Is to make a list And to say, I am grateful to Yahweh now that... And write on it what you need, what's in your life Start your day with praise Twelve seconds Don't get out of the bed until you've said thank you Here's a real simple challenge For the next seven days, every day Write down ten things that you are thankful for Count your blessings Just count your blessings And by the end of the week you'll have seventy things that you're thankful for And guess what? The next week, start over You'll have a hundred and forty And as you begin to go over that list, you will be amazed at how blessed we are How about this one? Once a week, why not take some time and write thank you cards to people And maybe even write one to Yahweh U.S. postage not required for that one Memorize verses on giving thanks Say Toda Rava All day long Toda Yahweh Do acts of kindness as you get your mind off of yourself and your problems Guess what happens? You're doing good to help someone else That's gratitude showing Give, help others Thank good thoughts It's not just supposed to be some bumper sticker Yahweh wants us to talk about it Yahweh wants us to be grateful To see ourselves differently And to truly allow this to affect us So the question is, will we? Will we? Will we say thanks to Yahweh When things get bad And you know what else that means? In faith When they start to moan and complain Guess what you can do? How about this Matthew, you can say How about say something good about that So Melanie, next time somebody is complaining about Maggie You look at them and say, why don't you say something good about Maggie Don, next time somebody is saying something bad about Rabbi You say, why don't you say something good about Rabbi Dead in the tracks, that's what I do at work I manage 40 people 45 different dramas And when I hear someone complaining, I simply say to them I want you to tell me something good about that person And it stops them We have to make a choice to be thankful I would encourage you tonight to be like those spies And be thankful Praise Yahweh in the midst of the storm To go through the promised land, Amen www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com www.FindEMet.com