“Gratitude is more than an expression, it’s a posture.”
“Praise is the outward expression of an inward posture of gratitude.”
“Gratitude is rooted in remembering what God has done.”
“Blessings can make ungrateful people forget God.”
Deuteronomy 6:12 (NIV) Be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Joshua 3:15–17 (NIV) 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Joshua 4:1-9 (NIV) 1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” 8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
The Ark of the Covenant Reminds us: Ark of the “Testimony” 1. God’s Presence 2. God’s Precepts 3. God’s Provision 4. God’s Power 6. God’s Promotion
Isaiah 46:8-9 (NIV) 8 “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. 9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.
Stacking Stones 1. Get past the past- Burn regret
2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV) Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. Is your past a stepping stone or a stumbling block? “Regret will hold you in bondage to the past.”
“Monuments can become idols when they hinder progress.”
2. Don’t live in the “Good ol’ days.”
Ecclesiastes 7:10 (NIV) Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.
3. Develop your Story. 2 Corinthians 3:3 (NIV) You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
A. Start today B. Don’t bail in the process
C. Win some Battles “Your investment in the battle now will be your inspiration later.”
D. Celebrate every win E. Capture Moments
4. Share your story
Revelation 12:11 (NIV) They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
Luke 22:19–20 (NIV) 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
