Back to Gratitude

You're listening to My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1564. Today's evil is called Back to Gratitude.

Hey there, we're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Good morning, everybody, and happy Thursday. Welcome to another episode of My Morning Devotional Podcast. My name is Rochelle Alesi, and I am your host this week. Thank you so much for staying with us through this week. As I know that we've had a little bit of a different topic, but I am so grateful for all of you and all of your feedback. Please write in the comments where you're listening from because we're leading here this uh Saturday to the 4th of July, and we've taken some time to really hit some topics about um our nation and America and freedom and honoring the sacrifice that many people have made. So I would love to know about your background. I want to know where you're from and just share. Share a little bit. What has this week stirred up in you that you want to talk about? I would love, love to hear it. Um, and uh maybe we can give you guys some shout-outs when we do our bonus episodes. So um, thank you so much. I really, really appreciate it. Um, so let's get into today's Devo. And I want to read from 1 Thessalonians 5, 18. And it says, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will in Jesus Christ. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ. I almost originally called this episode calling a generation back to gratitude, but it was too long of a title for the podcast. So I just named it back to gratitude. But the truth is, as I'm talking about our generations and generations, and our first episode was it was about our generation responding to God's call and his purpose, I think it's so important to bring this back to also gratitude because we've talked about honoring the sacrifice, the gift of freedom, but we can't forget about gratitude, because just like we honor what's come before us because it has gotten us here today, we also have to be thankful for what has come before us that has gotten us here today. And I believe that you and I can get to a place where we can be thankful for the good and for the bad because God uses it all for his purpose. It literally says here, for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ. God does not cause anything bad in your life or anything bad that's happened in history, but humans' decisions and human sin is what's caused by bad. But the Lord takes it all the good that he's created and the bad that we've created, and he uses it still for his will and he redeems it. So, because of that, we get to be grateful today. I know our generation has experienced a lot of because of where we are at in life and in history and the technology that we have. There's been so back and forth about the world being divided on views. I stand on this side and you stand on that side. And because you stand on this side, you believe in this, this, and that, and I disagree with everything that you agree with and everything that's come before that, if you're on this side. But guys, I think we can get to a not perfect place, but to a place when we can say, hey, we have to be grateful for everything that's come, the good and the bad, because we as believers, our trust is in the Lord, not in people that are in high places and in places of authority. We honor those places of authority, for our trust is fully in the Lord. And we have to believe that even in the good and in the bad of history, and even our current good and the bad, the Lord can use it all, the Lord can redeem it because it says it right here, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, for us to be thankful in our circumstances. The Lord's will is for you and I to be thankful in all circumstances. I know it can be so scary when a certain person enters a certain um level of influence, even if we don't agree with it. And we may think our life is over, our countries is going to be destroyed. And guys, I like I mentioned earlier, I was not born in the United States, and I live in Miami. I came here when I was 12, and a lot of our church people is actually so beautiful to see because our church is filled with so many different cultures and backgrounds and nationalities, and it's actually what makes our church like the best the best church in Miami because it's like our own little country. Miami truly is like our own little country, but it's so beautiful to see that um we all are just grateful to be here in America and see how the Lord has used even our bad from the past to get us here today. So there is good. The Lord is guiding, and we have to be so grateful for what we have here. A lot of people have left their countries because of what's happening, it's not good. The wrong people have made the wrong choices and is caused bad, not the Lord, but you see the Lord still providing for his children. He's brought you and me where we are today. If you're listening and you have a similar story, you can say, Hey, the Lord brought me here. It wasn't my country who made a way for me, it was the Lord. But he brought me to a country that supported that the way for us, that's provided a freedom for us to live here, to make our own businesses, to actually prosper. So we have to be thankful. We don't have to understand it all, but we do have to be thankful because the Lord says that this is his will in Christ Jesus, that you and I will be thankful in all circumstances. So let's not forget, let's remember God's blessings and let's respond in thanksgiving. Let's remember God's blessings and respond in thanksgiving. Let's pray today. Father God, I want to thank you for all the good and all the bad that's gotten us to where we are today. Lord, we know that the bad you did not cause. The bad was something that was created by humanity, by our sins, by our disobedience. But Lord, you are so good that even the bad you use and you redeem it for us to live where we are today. So, Lord, I thank you, Father, for your redemption. I pray that all of us today will pause for a moment and thank you for where we are today, for everything that you've used to bring us here today, for your safety, for your provision, for your leadership, for your guidance and your protection over our life, despite what's going on in the world. As your children, as children of God, we can say the Lord has provided and made a way for us despite anything else. So we say, Lord, today we respond in gratitude and we bless your name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.