Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy

Choosing
Gratitude

YOUR JOURNEY TO JOY

Nancy Leigh DeMoss
with Lawrence Kimbrough

M OODY P UBLISHERS
CHICAGO

2009 by
N ANCY L EIGH D E M OSS

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
Copyright 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Emphasis in Scripture quotations is the authors.

All websites listed herein are accurate at the time of publication, but may change in the future or cease to exist. The listing of website references and resources does not imply publisher endorsement of the sites entire contents. Groups, corporations, and organizations are listed for informational purposes, and listing does not imply publisher endorsement of their activities.

Editor: Betsey Newenhuyse
Cover Design: The DesignWorks Group, Inc.
Interior Design: Smartt Guys design
Cover Image: Shutterstock/RF

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DeMoss, Nancy Leigh.
Choosing gratitude : your journey to joy / Nancy Leigh DeMoss with
Lawrence Kimbrough.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8024-3252-0

1. GratitudeReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Kimbrough,
Lawrence, 1963-II. Title.
BV4647.G8D46 2009
241.4dc22

2009019693

This book is printed on acid free recycled paper containing 30% PCW (Post Consumer Waste) and manufactured in the United States of America by Thompson Shore.

We hope you enjoy this book from Moody Publishers. Our goal is to provide high-quality, thought-provoking books and products that connect truth to your real needs and challenges. For more information on other books and products written and produced from a biblical perspective, go to www.moodypublishers.com or write to:

Moody Publishers
820 N. LaSalle Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60610

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Printed in the United States of America

Gratefulnesse

Thou that has given so much to me,
Give me one thing morea grateful heart.

I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst Thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of Thee.

Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

G EORGE H ERBERT (15931633)

With gratitude to

Byron Paulus, Executive Director of Life Action Ministries

One of the greatest joys of my life has been the blessing
of serving with you and Sue in the ministry of revival
for these past thirty years, as part of the Life Action team.

and

Greg Thornton, Vice-President and Publisher for Moody Publishers

What a privilege it has been to partner with you and the Moody team
over the past ten years, in the writing and release of (now) ten books.

You are two dear friends and fellow-servants.
I thank the Lord for your wise leadership and godly counsel
and for your prayers and encouragement,
all of which have helped me stay in the race and have
made me a more fruitful servant of Christ.

Only eternity will reveal all the hearts that have been revived
and the lives that have been transformed
as a result of your humble, faithful service for Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria

So many people do things for me or to meas a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, someone has to help me out of bed, pour the coffee, get me dressed, brush my hair, brush my teeth, blow my nose and Im always quick to say, Thank you. And I mean it.

Whats more, I say it a lot. I remember when Judy, my executive assistant, came into my office and asked if she could borrow $10. I was busy, so I absentmindedly told her to take the bill out of my wallet, which she did. When I heard my purse snap shut, I automatically said in a cheery voice, Thank you! Immediately, a friend standing nearby said, What did you thank her for? Shes the one who ought to thank you. I guess Im just programmed to express gratitude to people.

Oh, if it were only that way with the Lord Jesus. If only we were better programmed to be gratefulnot only to peoplebut to Him, lifting appreciative prayers countless times during the day. Sadly, lack of gratitudeand often ingratituderesides in our hearts. Thats scary. Lack of a thankful spirit carries serious penaltiesa quick read of Romans chapter 1 tells us that. And if a thankless spirit was the undoing of a generation eons ago, is it any different for us? In fact, you and I know God far better than those to whom He revealed Himself through mere creationwe have even more to be thankful for!

And so Ive been giving thanks for most of my paralyzed life. Not only giving thanks in everything, as one part of the Bible tells us, but always giving thanks to God the Father for everything as another part commands (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Ephesians 5:1920 NIV ). Most of us are able to thank God for His grace, comfort, and sustaining power in a trial, but we dont thank Him for the problem, just finding Him in it.

But many decades in a wheelchair have taught me to not segregate my Savior from the suffering He allows, as though a broken neckor in your case, a broken ankle, heart, or homemerely happens and then God shows up after the fact to wrestle something good out of it. No, the God of the Bible is bigger than that. Much bigger.

And so is the capacity of your soul. Maybe this wheelchair felt like a horrible tragedy in the beginning, but I give God thanks in my wheelchair Im grateful for my quadriplegia. Its a bruising of a blessing. A gift wrapped in black. Its the shadowy companion that walks with me daily, pulling and pushing me into the arms of my Savior. And thats where the joy is.

My friend Nancy Leigh explains this so beautifully in her precious new book Choosing Gratitude. And it needs explaining! Its hard to hold on to gratitude; its hard to find joy when youre looking into the jaws of mind-bending pain or heart-wrenching disappointment. But you have quite a guide in Nancy because she is ever so careful not to separate God from the suffering He allows in your life. She makes the connection between gratitude and joy.

Nancy leads you, step by step, through those select Scriptures and insights that are your journey into heaven-sent joy. Not a here-today-and-gone-tomorrow kind of gladness, but a deep and profound joy that simply cannot and will not be shaken. A joy that even sees you through those things youd be quick to call tragedies.

In Choosing Gratitude, youll discover that your afflictionthat is, your wheelchair, whatever it isfalls well within the overarching decrees of God. Your hardship and heartache come from His wise and kind hand and for that, you can be grateful. In it