Finding God's Purpose in Everyday Thankfulness

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Coming up on Renewed Mindsets.

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You know, as believers we often cry out fix it, jesus.

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But do we cry out with the same passion and intensity as the words thank you, jesus.

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What I'm going to talk about today is a call for all of us to turn our thanksgiving into thanksliving.

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Let's go, boys.

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Hey, welcome to Renewed Mindsets, where we study the basics of the faith through the lens of our middle-aged experiences.

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I'm Rick.

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Welcome to the show where I help you, gen Xers and Millennials, navigate spiritually through a world that looks nothing like we expected back, when cars were square and mullets were totally awesome.

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I am so glad you're here.

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Scripture commands that we praise Him.

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It commands that the believer needs to praise and give thanks to God.

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Paul said men ought to always give thanks.

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That's what Paul says.

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1 Thessalonians 5 says in everything, give thanks because it is God's will for you.

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Romans 1.21 lets us know that it's actually evil to be unthankful.

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Psalm 118 says O give thanks to the Lord.

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Why?

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For he is good and his mercies endure forever.

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All throughout Scripture we see that thanksgiving was a part of life.

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From the Old Testament to the New Testament we see that with the children of Israel it was actually a law.

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It was an offering in Leviticus 7 to be made unto the Lord.

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We see that with the Philistine battle, when they came back from battle, in 2 Samuel 22, where they offered a thanksgiving of praise unto the Lord.

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We see that in the dedication of the temple with Solomon in 1 Kings, chapter 8, when he made a sacrificial thanksgiving unto the Lord.

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But even more than that, Jesus models thanksgiving the bread of life.

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Every time he broke bread you know what he did?

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He gave thanks.

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I know today we call it grace, but not for Jesus.

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He gave thanks.

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The bread of life was given.

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Thanks for bread, for earthly bread.

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Giving thanks.

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There's something about giving thanks that's supposed to echo in the life of the believer, and I know we find believers having something always to complain about the sin of the children of Israel.

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It wasn't that they were, you know, a large group, it's that they were always complaining.

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They complained about everything.

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The scripture says that we ought to always give thanks.

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Now, before I move on, let me go back to that.

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Romans 121, that says that it's evil to be unthankful.

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I had to do a little study on that myself.

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The scripture reads for although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

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Now I don't know about you, but I don't need for my heart to be darkened, especially because of not being thankful.

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So we need to always, always give thanks and be thankful.

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Just keep that in mind Now.

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What I'm fixing to talk about now is a story in Luke 17 about the 10 lepers.

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And as you listen, pick out the lesson.

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Pick out what I'm trying to talk about, see if you can catch it before me, because there was 10 lepers, leopards.

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I swear I didn't say leopards, I said lepers.

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There was 10 lepers and they all had a fix-it-Jesus request, but how many of them had a thank-you-Jesus attitude?

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So the village where these leopards are staying is a nameless village.

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Scripture doesn't tell us the name of it Jesus.

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Well, they weren't on Jesus' agenda.

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The Scripture says that Jesus was on his way to Samaria, and on his way to Samaria he's passing through and he goes through Galilee and there's this little nameless village.

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And this would have been just a regular, old ordinary day for these 10 lepers, except Jesus was coming by.

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It was their ordinary day and you know these lepers.

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They were outcasts.

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They were shunned.

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Their fingers were worn.

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They just had nubs.

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They had leprosy.

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It was a disease that had no cure.

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It would have been eating away their flesh, boils and sores, and open sores would have been all over their body.

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They'd have been weak and lame, and society had nothing to do with them.

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We don't know these people, but think about it.

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Who knows the last time they'd seen their children or their family or spouses?

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Because society made sure that they stayed away from everybody else, just all the normal people, though, and everywhere they went they had to yell out unclean, unclean, as if having that disease wasn't bad enough.

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They had to make sure everybody knew that they had the disease.

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Their skin would have been white like snow, so they tried to cover it so people wouldn't see.

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And so here they are, tucked away in this nameless village on a regular day, just a regular ordinary day, and Jesus walks by.

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And Jesus walked by, and the scripture says and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

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In the message translation, it says the word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood, in the neighborhood of their situation.

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Here comes Jesus.

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In the neighborhood of their leprosy, of their circumstance.

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Here comes Jesus.

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In the neighborhood of their leprosy, of their circumstance, here comes Jesus walking through, and I'm sure in that village there were other people needed healing, there were other people that had circumstances, but these 10 lepers seized the opportunity because Jesus was walking by.

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Just think about that In their neighborhood of their situation, here comes Jesus.

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That's a powerful word right there.

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How many of us just desire for Jesus just to walk by us.

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How many of us would love to have Jesus just pass by our doorstep of the house or the doorstep of this situation that we're in.

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Here's the thing, though.

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The Lord always makes himself available, but it's down to us.

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It's down to our action, our hunger, our desire to seize the opportunity.

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These lepers were probably not the only people that had problems in that village.

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In all likelihood they weren't the only people with issues, but on this particular day they were the only ones who had the drive and the hunger to seize the moment and pursue Jesus.

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You need to pursue Jesus.

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Don't allow Jesus to pass you by without being heard.

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Don't allow Jesus to walk by your village, your neighborhood and not touch you people.

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Let me jump back in.

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Just pay attention of why the lepers couldn't afford to let jesus just walk by and not be seen, okay.

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So, as he's walking by, leprosy would have attacked their larynx, their vocal cords.

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So the scripture doesn't say that they shouted.

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They lifted their voice because they couldn't scream.

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And here goes Jesus, as they see him at a distance.

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They heard about Jesus.

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I'm sure they heard about Jesus because they wouldn't have known to speak to him, had they not.

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This is the Jesus that, when blind eyes were shut and he came by, he gave them sight.

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This is the Jesus that spoke to lame people to stand up and walk.

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This is the same Jesus that speaks to possessed people.

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They were set free.

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All these people heard about Jesus.

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And here he comes, walking by, and these 10 seized that opportunity.

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Jesus Master, have mercy on us and if you would be wise, you would do the same thing right now.

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Jesus Master, have mercy, have mercy.

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You see my situation.

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Come into my neighborhood, jesus, and Jesus didn't even stop.

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He looks over at him.

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The scripture says and tells him go, show yourself to the priest.

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What kind of man is this?

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He didn't even stop.

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He didn't spit on him, he didn't wipe him.

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He didn't tell him to lay down or stand up or go dip in the Jordan.

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He didn't even stop, he didn't spit on them, he didn't wipe them, he didn't tell them to lay down or stand up or go dip in the Jordan.

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He just spoke.

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And the scripture says as they were on their way to the priest, the boils were disappearing, white skin was turning to healthy flesh, the skin that was rotting away began to be restored.

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They're thinking who is this man?

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It's Jesus.

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The miracle work in wonder.

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And here we go, we see him walking away.

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And as they're walking away, one saw it.

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You see, to be a thankful person.

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You've got to be able to see the goodness of the Lord in your life.

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You've got to be able to count your blessing.

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You got to be able to think about all the things that God has done for you, all the things that he's delivered you from the car crash that he stopped.

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All the things that he's delivered you from the car crash that he stopped.

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All the things that you could have gone through, the mindless issues that you were having when you didn't have peace at night.

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But God has given you sleep now, the marriage that he turned around, the illness that he brought you out of, the situation that he got you out of.

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You've got to be able to see it and give thanks.

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Now, this one man saw it, but he not only saw it, as they were walking away, because Jesus told them to walk away Go show yourself to the priest.

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So they're being obedient to Jesus, they weren't wrong.

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But as this man starts looking at himself, he's like whoa, hold on, hold on.

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I know the master said go show myself to the priest.

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But I can't just walk away from what he's done for me.

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I got to go back to find this man.

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I got to go back because he saved my life.

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You see, he covered you from that car accident, that, even though you went through something, god picked you up out of that bed.

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You got to go back and give thanks for all that, thanks for everything that he's done for you.

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So the Bible says you not only have to see it, but you have to say it.

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So he goes back to say what you can imagine, all the things, all the feelings that he was feeling at that moment.

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He didn't know how to reconcile what he was feeling, but I guarantee you two words came out of his mouth.

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Well, three, thank you, lord.

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I don't know how you did it for me, but thank you, jesus.

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I don't know how you delivered, I don't know what you did, I don't know what kind of power you have, but, lord, I thank you, lord, because no one else could have done it like you, lord, no one could have healed me like you, lord, no one could have delivered me like you have, lord.

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So, lord, all I have is a thank you.

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Jesus.

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Jesus, people, you need to look back and truth be told.

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You don't have to look far, because right now, today, you have something to be thankful for, and I know you do, because you got up this morning and you clicked your button and you're listening to this podcast.

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You got dressed.

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Hopefully you got dressed before you got in the car and hit play.

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You did all that, but God is wanting you to know.

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Did you stop for a moment to tell me?

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Thank you, I know you went to sleep last night and you thought you were controlling your own breathing.

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You thought, when the alarm went off, that you opened your eyes on your own.

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It was all your own power and your own strength.

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Yeah, but that breath in your lungs.

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I'm going to tell you something.

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I'm going to tell you who put it there.

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It's Jesus going to tell you something.

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I'm going to tell you who put it there.

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It's Jesus, and he wants to know when was the last time you told him.

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Thank you, lord.

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To live a life that's thankful, you have to choose to see the things that you're thankful for.

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That story could have ended at the close of verse 14.

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Because Jesus healed them.

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They were cleansed.

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That's common.

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That's what Jesus did.

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He went around and he healed people.

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We read that all the time, except for at verse 15.

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Verse 15 is what convicts all of us, because not only did he receive the healing, but he had to do something with what he received.

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And God is asking us to do something with which he's given us the blessings, the goodness, the outpour of his grace and his mercies in our lives.

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He wants us to do something with that, and this is why that one guy, that one leper, shakes everybody up.

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That's listening to me right now, because it points the finger at us.

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This leper came back and gave the Lord thanks.

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He not only saw the healing, but he just had to say it.

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Jesus is looking for hearts that are thankful.

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Jesus is looking for hearts that are thankful, that are remembering to praise him, that are remembering, to give him adoration for all that he has done in and through and throughout their lives.

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But it's not enough to see it, it's not enough to say it.

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We have to show our thanksgiving unto the Lord.

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I'm talking to you right now.

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Have you heard about this Jesus, the one who can not only heal lepers but heal your broken heart?

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This Jesus who can make old things new?

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This Jesus is the one who can turn situations around, even though society and people today will say that it can't be done.

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The lesson that you need to grab from what I've said today is be like that one leper who went back and said thank you.

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That's the one that wasn't just healed, but he was the one that was made whole.

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Wisdom for the Day, because a little wisdom goes a long way.

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You know there's verses throughout the whole Bible that point us back to God as our creator and our sustainer, and how we are supposed to be a thankful people.

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The list of things that we could do to praise him for is endless.

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So I've got just a few reasons to give thanks to God all year long, every day, and don't be surprised if more blessings come to your mind as you hear me.

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Firstly, give thanks for his love.

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Praise the Lord.

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Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

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His love endures forever.

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That's Psalm 106.1.

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God's love is just as strong for us today as it was in those scriptures in the past.

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He's still our Abba Father who seeks a relationship with us, and his deep and abiding love should lead us to praise him just like those that we read about in the Bible.

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How has God shown his love to you?

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Thank him for that.

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Thank him for his provision.

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You know from the earliest days of the Israelite nation God delivered his people from and led them through all kind of trials and hardships.

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There's so many accounts that tell of people responding with gratitude for how God watched over them in challenging times and their trust grew stronger and led them to pray with expectation going forward.

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I thank you and praise you, god of my ancestors.

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You have given me wisdom and power.

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Daniel 2.23.

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Do not be anxious about anything but prayer and petition with thanksgiving.

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Present your request to God.

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Philippians 4.6.

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It doesn't take much thought for us to come up with our own testimonies of how God has carried us in the hard times.

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He wants us to recognize that he, and no one else, is our provider and to hear our response.

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What situation has God provided for you?

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And to hear our response.

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What situation has God provided for you?

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You'll give thanks for his forgiveness.

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King David and the disciple Peter are just two examples in Scripture of men who were impacted by their sinful choices and later they received forgiveness from God.

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Both of those men were deeply challenged and changed in the process.

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Others join in with them in Scripture to express thanks for such amazing grace.

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Praise the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

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Who forgives all your sins?

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Psalm 103, 2 and 3.

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I will praise you, lord, although you are angry with me.

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Your anger has turned away and you've comforted me.

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Isaiah 12.1.

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Every believer throughout the ages has been able to hold on to the same promise of receiving God's forgiveness for sin, and we can feel that, that lightning of our spirit, and we can respond with gratitude.

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What sins has God forgiven you for?

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We can be thankful for His Word.

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Even before the Bible that we know existed today, its teachings and truths were shared.

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Sometimes it spread by word of mouth, other times it was in written form, but whatever way it reached the people, the word of God changed minds and hearts and it inspired gratitude in those that heard it.

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At midnight, I will rise and give you thanks for your righteous laws.

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Psalm 119, 62.

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Today, most of us are so blessed to have access to the whole Bible.

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On any given day, we can be impacted by the life-renewing power that's in its pages.

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God is pleased when we use this gift and thank Him for it.

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What Bible verse has made a difference in your faith?

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Walk with God.

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You can thank Him for His creation.

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Give thanks to the Lord of lords, to Him alone, who does great wonders, who, by His understanding, made the heavens, who spread out the earth upon the waters.

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We have the opportunity to appreciate God's handiwork.

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Just look up in the bright blue sky, or sit on the beach, or take a walk in the woods what's your favorite spot in nature to spend time?

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Thank God for it.

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We can thank God for his people.

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The Apostle Paul often expressed gratitude for his fellow Christians, for the encouragement and support that they gave him.

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He recognized that God was ministering to him through those believers and while giving them a chance to know the joy of serving the Lord, the feeling of power of community.

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It brought out praises.

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We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.

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1 Thessalonians 1, 2.

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I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and their faith in the Lord Jesus.

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We ought to all thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your face is growing more and more and the love of all you have for one another is increasing.

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2 Thessalonians 1 and 3.

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The church was part of God's plan for his people.

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Most of us who belong to a local church family can agree that there's comfort and strength to be found in fellowship and we're given the chance to serve each other and help each other grow closer in the Lord.

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We need to thank God.

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How has your church family made a difference in how you live?

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Thank God for his plan for us too.

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But thanks be to God.

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He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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1 Corinthians 15, 57.

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We give you thanks, lord, god Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

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Revelation 11, 17.

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The Apostle Paul wrote repeatedly that the followers of Christ have been set apart by God, and he taught that believers have the privilege and the responsibility of growing in holiness and that of joining the Lord.

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In his work, paul mentions God's plan for us to share numerous blessings through what Jesus did on the cross, victory over the enemy, restoration with God and eternal kingdom to a joy.

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How has God's plan for you now and in the future encouraged you?

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Just know that God gladly receives our praise.

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Saying thank you to God hardly seems like enough in the middle of all that he's done for us, but whenever we do that, he gladly receives our praises.

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Studying verses about thankfulness will bring us to a place of humility and a place of joy, and that's how God wants us to live every day.

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Psalm 116, 12-14 says what shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?

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I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

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I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

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Amen and amen.

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Well, that's all for this week's show.

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You know, the name of this show speaks my hope for you.

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It's taken from the words of Romans, chapter 12, verse 2.

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Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

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If you enjoyed what you heard, do me a favor, please, and tell someone you know about it.

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Send them a link in a text you know.

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You may even need to download it to their phone and show them what a podcast is.

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If it was valuable to you, it will be to them.

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Visit renewedmindsetscom to hear past episodes, read the blog and check out the new merch and, as always while you're there, send me a voicemail by clicking the button at the bottom right corner of the main page.

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Tell me what you think about this show.

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I just might play it on a future episode.

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Until next week.

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I'm rick, I love you.

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Are you ready to go See ya?

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The intro and outro music for the Renewed Mindsets podcast is Are you Ready?

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By Floodgate From the album Are you Ready?

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Copyright 2002, offbeat Ministries.

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Incorporated.

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Floodgate can be found on Apple Music and iTunes.

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Music used with permission.