46 - Gratitude - Life is a Gift
The Jesse Tree: A Christmas Devotional for Individuals, Couples, & Families is a 24-day devotional that prepares us for the birth of Jesus. It is offered as a free eBook at chipdodd.com, and it can be purchased from Amazon. The Jesse Tree includes daily devotions that start with creation and end with the birth of Jesus. Each day has a list of ideas for extending the day’s “study” and opportunity for fellowship with your family, friends, and God. Your Jesse Tree will be covered in Bible-themed ornaments that will be a daily reminder of the stories you have read and the promise of the coming Messiah. Order now, the devotional begins December 1st.
There are three books that listeners may wish to go to about gratitude:
One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp which I mentioned in the last episode. This wonderful book deals a lot with gratitude that can come from loss and grief.
Gratitude Works and Little Book of Gratitude by Robert Emmons. These two very practical books were written by Emmons, a researcher who has studied the benefits of gratitude, how to develop it, and sustain it.
When we experience life as a gift, then we, as the receivers of the gifts in life, naturally have gratitude. Emmons and others have shown that having gratitude benefits our emotional and spiritual lives, as well as our physical well-being and our prosperity. Gratitude multiplies itself with its impact. When we yield to being in need of others and God, and experience the effect of needing, we receive a yield, or a harvest of benefits.
Not only do we have an expectation of good things in our lives, we also are able to recall good things in times of trouble. For example, recalling or remembering times when we received something good can help us persevere in troubled times. We can hang on to hope because of remembering.