The Power of Gratitude: Thank Your Way into Fortune in 2024

We strive for goals, chase achievements, and yearn for the elusive.  What if the key to true fortune in 2024 lay not in seeking what we lack, but in cherishing what we already have?

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

🔺 Key Points 🔺

• The Science of Gratitude
• To Whom Do We Owe Our Gratitude?
• The Benefit of Gratitude
• A Magnet for Opportunities
• Gratitude to God
• Why You Need To Be Thankful To God
• Balancing Gratitude and Action
• Conclusion

In the pursuit of success and fortune, we often seek complex strategies, innovative ideas, and relentless dedication. However, amidst this quest, we might overlook a simple yet potent force - gratitude. As we step into the promising realm of 2024, understanding the transformative power of gratitude could be the key to unlocking unforeseen opportunities and shaping our destinies.  If you do what you did last year this year, you will most probably get the result you got last year.  Our actions or inactions are the seed we sow for the outcome we want.  If you got the result you truly desired and deserved last year, then you may need to continue on that with intensity, but if not, then it’s time to do things differently.  Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is what they call insanity.  This year, let's explore the transformative power of gratitude and how it can pave the way for a more prosperous and fulfilling future.

The Science of Gratitude: Sowing Seeds of Positivity

Gratitude isn't just a polite gesture or a feel-good notion; it's a state of mind that shapes our perspectives. Thank you is one of the magic words, and saying it when someone does something for you or completes a task, no matter how small, young, or lower in status the person is compared to you, can be mutually beneficial. Unfortunately, African culture teaches that it is demeaning to say please or thank you to a junior in age, status, or rank, but I can tell you without any equivocation that it is wrong to think that way.  Nothing is demeaning about living a life of absolute gratitude. It is neither a sign of respect or honour nor a lack of it; it’s simply a courtesy that can improve your relationship with others and your outcome. It’s backed by a wealth of scientific evidence. Studies have shown that regular gratitude practice leads to a cascade of benefits, including:

Enhanced Happiness and Well-being: By shifting our focus from what we lack to what we possess, gratitude cultivates a more positive outlook, boosting our happiness quotient.

Improved Mental and Physical Health: Research suggests that gratitude can strengthen the immune system, reduce stress, and combat depression and anxiety.

Stronger Relationships: Expressing appreciation to loved ones fosters deeper connections and strengthens bonds of trust and affection.

Increased Productivity and Motivation: A grateful mindset fuels a sense of purpose and inspires us to strive for our goals with greater enthusiasm.

 To Whom Do We Owe Our Gratitude?

We owe our gratitude to both Man and the Almighty God, the creator

Expressing Gratitude to Our Fellow Man

Gratitude isn't just an internal feeling; it thrives on expression. Let your appreciation blossom outward through your actions. According to John Mason, “A compliment is like verbal sunshine.”

Offer Heartfelt Thanks: A simple "thank you" to a friend, family member, or even a stranger, and all those who have shown you favour in the past and present, can have a profound impact. Let your words carry the weight of your genuine gratitude. Send a thank-you message to your boss for at least letting you have the job you are complaining about.

Practice Random Acts Of Kindness: lend a helping hand, offer a compliment, or simply smile at someone in need. These small gestures can ripple outward, creating a wave of positivity and fortune. Get more insight on random acts of kindness from Gateway International Church; they have it as an annual programme of activities.

Keep A Gratitude Journal: A journal helps you to think and reflect, and only “thinkful” people can be truly thankful. Dedicate a few minutes each day to recording what you're grateful for. This practice reinforces your appreciation and serves as a reminder of your blessings.

Engage In Acts Of Service: Volunteering your time to a cause you care about is a powerful way to express gratitude and positively impact the world.

From Seeds to Abundance: The Benefit of Gratitude

Gratitude is the seed from which abundance blooms. The Bible echoes this sentiment. "Whoever has will be given more, and they will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them," states the Gospel of Matthew 25:29, highlighting the power of gratitude in attracting abundance. This also goes to say that gratitude is not just what you say but what you show by what you do with what you are given. That is a topic for another day. But remember, gratitude is not a one-time act but a continuous journey. As you nurture this practice in 2024, witness the transformation it brings:

A Shift in Perspective: You'll begin to see the world through a lens of abundance, focusing on what you have rather than what you lack.  It also shifts your perspective from entitlement to being value-oriented.

Gratitude as A Magnet: As you appreciate what you already possess, you attract more positive experiences and opportunities into your life.  Gratitude just has a way of increasing what you have.

A Life of Purpose and Fulfilment: Gratitude fuels a sense of meaning and motivates you to contribute your unique gifts to the world.

The Grateful Mind: A Magnet for Opportunities

A mind steeped in gratitude is open and alert. It notices possibilities that others might overlook. Gratitude makes you liberal and solution-minded, shifting you from that myopic and self-centred mindset.  And as you know, it is only a liberal soul that will be made fat. Melody Beattie, the author, encapsulates this beautifully: "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

 Gratitude to God: An Act of Worship

When you worship God, you show faith and gratitude to Him for who He is to you.  "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17. King David even acknowledged God as the One who taught him and the result was obvious in his achievements as king of Israel. “He teaches my hands to make war So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” King David never allowed his talent and excellence to deprive him of his gratitude and worship of God, unlike Esau, who never recognised God as the One who gave him skill and strength so he depended on his strength alone.

No matter how strong, skilled, or talented you are, if you don’t receive help from God, you will be highly limited in life. You may be judged rich because you have money to spend and pay your bills but you cannot build a dynasty and trans-generational wealth with your strength alone. Whatsoever you have or are now is minute compared to where God wants you to be or have and your worshipful gratitude to Him will unlock more and more. King David, in all his victories in battles, acknowledged truthfully in Psalms 94:17, “If GOD hadn't been there for me, I never would have made it.” (MSG)

Why You Need To Be Thankful To God

Showing gratitude to a man who has done us a favour is good and it’s a sensible and honourable thing to do and I encourage it, as we have already discussed. Not honouring men was, as a matter of fact, one of Esau’s mistakes; nevertheless, my focus here is our gratitude to our Maker, the Almighty Jehovah, and again, Esau was guilty of it. We shall also be looking at some of the reasons why we should make worshipping God a daily habit.

Gratitude Shows Our Faith in God:

“But without faith, it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.”. Hebrews 11:6,(AMP).

Thanking God for Revel His Mind:

“Esau became a skilled hunter, growing strong and resourceful and as rugged as they come, according to the Bible. But he lived so completely in the present, depending solely on his own strength and resources, that he repeatedly failed to clearly see the future.” John C. Maxwell. Esau did not go beyond his physical strength and skill because he did not worship but relied exclusively on his own strength without realising that no one ever succeeds or prevails by strength alone. Everyone needs the guidance and protection of the Almighty to succeed in life and have good success, and that guidance is gotten at the place of thanksgiving. Esau was a hardworking man, a man of the wild but because he was not a man of gratitude, he remained aloof from the things that mattered and were considered valuable. 

Thankfulness And Gratitude End A Life Struggle:

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes]. James 1:17 [AMP]. Esau struggled for everything he had because he did not understand that worship minimises, if not eliminates, the life of struggle and smallness.  Worship has in it the key to unleashing anyone into prominence and generational celebrity status. Let nobody tell you that you don’t need God to be successful in your career or business. God gave everyone the capability to do things and be productive but He never expects you to do them independently. The Bible says in Isaiah, “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you, a voice will say, "This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 (NLT) He wants to guide you, and he can only do that if you are truly a grateful soul.

Gratitude Invites God into Your Affair:

Gratitude is what invites God into your affair and when He steps in, He takes over your battle and you hold your peace. Esau, in his strength, did not kill any lion or bear, but David did, and when he testified before King Saul, he attributed it to the Lord as the one who made it possible. “The LORD, who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will rescue me from this Philistine!" And when he faced Goliath in battle, he did not resort to his expertise but to the help of the Lord. He said to the enemy, “Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 1 Samuel 17:37, 46 (NLT). David relied on God in all his battles in life and, in some cases, put his life on the line but as a worshipper, he trusts completely and blindly in the ever-present help of God.

Your Thanksgiving Points Men To God:

Another characteristic of a thanks-giver is that their achievements point men to the Almighty and not themselves. David said to Goliath, “The whole world will know that there is a God in Israel." He was not talking about his own glory but wholeheartedly about God’s glory. Today, we are still using the incident as a testament to the saving power of God.

Gratitude Is the Key To Supernatural Abundance:

Gratitude is an act of worship, and as David St. Clair wrote, “Gratitude is the open door to abundance.” Whatever you thank God for multiply; this was demonstrated by Jesus.  Jesus took the bread and gave thanks and on the strength of that thanksgiving, five loaves of bread and two table-size fish became enough to feed five thousand men, excluding women and children and twelve baskets were gathered after being fed.

 Thanksgiving Secures Our Inheritance in God:

An Igbo adage says, “Ekeele oye na agwoo akidi o agwota ozo.”.  Meaning that when you praise someone for his or her good deeds, he or she will be encouraged to do more for you. Anything that you praise increases “Every time what you have is not enough, the way you let God know is to say, ‘Thank You, Lord. Thank You is the code in the spirit that says, God, I need more.” Apostle Joshua Selman. When we honour God by showing gratitude in worship to Him, we don’t just get more; we secure what has been given and make it generational.

Thanking God Guarantees Victory:

The children of Israel, on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land, met a great and seemingly insurmountable obstacle in Jericho. The walls of Jericho were impossible to break, but what strength could not do, worship did. All they needed to do was obey God, have absolute faith in Him and do the ridiculous thing He asked them to do. By singing and praising God around Jericho, they were able to bring down the walls and conquer Jericho. I think it was Oprah Winfrey who said, “I believe that grace is the direct response to gratitude; the more grateful you are, the more grace steps in and shows itself and mirrors the gratitude that you have.”

Gratitude Shows Contentment:

Apostle Paul wrote, “But godliness actually is a source of great gain when accompanied by contentment [that contentment which comes from a sense of inner confidence based on the sufficiency of God]. For we have brought nothing into the world, so [it is clear that] we cannot take anything out of it, either.”  People with entitlement mentalities don’t worship; they believe that they deserve even more than they have.  In the words of John C. Maxwell, “I think that gratitude is the least expressed but the most important virtue in a person’s life”.

Balancing Gratitude and Action

 While gratitude sets the stage, it is an action that takes centre stage in the pursuit of fortune. Gratitude should not be mistaken for passivity or complacency. As Tony Robbins, a renowned life coach, advocates, "The path to success is to take massive, determined action." Gratitude should propel you into action, instilling confidence, determination, and the positive attitude necessary to seize opportunities, knowing you have given thanks – which is by the way, the qualification for more.

In the tapestry of success and fortune, gratitude is a thread that weaves through every achievement. Its effects might not always be immediate or direct, but its subtle influence is undeniable. As we venture into the landscape of 2024 going forward, let us not overlook the immense power of being thankful—for it might just be the catalyst that shapes our fortunes.

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Conclusion

Gratitude is a transformative force that transcends mere appreciation. It's an active practice that rewires our thinking, fuels our resilience, and serves as a beacon for opportunities. As we embark on our journey through 2024 and beyond, let's embrace gratitude as a guiding principle, recognising its potential to pave the way for the fortune we seek. Let’s choose gratitude as our compass. Let's savour the richness of what we already have, express our appreciation to those around us, and watch as our lives blossom with the fruits of a grateful heart. May 2024 be the year we discover that true fortune lies not in acquiring more but in cherishing what we already possess. Remember, your journey to a grateful Fortune 2024 starts now. Plant the seeds of appreciation, water them with daily practice and actionable plans, and witness the abundant harvest of joy, prosperity, and well-being that awaits you.

Stay Safe And Stay Blessed. Jesus Is LORD

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