How to be a THANKFUL person in a THANKLESS culture - 1 Chronicles 29:10-15

On Sunday, November 21, we talked about becoming a thankful person in a thankless culture. And not only is our culture full of thankless people, we are also an entitlement culture. We think we DESERVE stuff, relationships, and pretty much anything we want, when we want it. We so often confuse our wants with our needs, don't we? We learned from the Word that we are not naturally a thankful people. In fact, a person whose heart has not been changed by the grace of God will tend to be a person who lives a thankless life, fully believing that they are entitled to whatever it is they want or feel they need. Only a person whose heart has been changed by the grace of God can be a truly thankful person, especially in the midst of a hedonistic & narcissistic (remember those words?...here is a refresher...Hedonism - All about pleasure & getting what I want, when I want it; Narcissism - Totally into myself...I am number one!) Anyway, in a culture like ours it takes a transformed heart to produce a thankful person. We cannot transform our hearts or fake contentment & thankfulness. In the long run, and when things get tough, our hearts will reveal exactly who we are. Living in a culture like ours, even with transformed hearts, we have to FIGHT FOR THANKFUL HEARTS. We have to FIGHT to be full of contentment. How can we fight, and win? Check out David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-15 - He was able to have a thankful heart, no matter what, because he understood three important things about God, life, and himself. If you don't remember what those three things are, or you weren't with us for this particular Fight Club, here they are:
1. Understand the character (attributes) of God...Verses 10-11.

• Do you know who YOUR God is?

2. Understand that God is sovereign (He is in control, He does have a plan)...Verses 12-13.

•  Do you live like God is sovereign over your life?

3. Understand what we deserve apart from the grace of God (We would be without hope) Verses 14-15.

• Do you understand how hopeless (and pointless) life is apart from Jesus?

Our verse for this week is short and simple, and right from this passage. Like David, if we understand these three things, we will also have hearts that are willing and eager to say "Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." - 1 Chronicles 29:13