Grateful Hearts

By Margaret D. Mitchell
Week of January 21, 2024

A couple of weeks ago, during quiet time with our Lord, Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, saying, “Grateful hearts are surrounded by life.”

He revealed to me that He desires to create a lifestyle of gratitude in His people. This involves not only becoming grateful to Him for what He will do in our lives but to also be grateful for the pathway of surrender that facilitates it. 

God is making us aware of our need for Him right now because of the level of risk and reach of abundance that He’s bringing us into (Psalm 65:11).

Outward Abundance

This is an expansive give-up-to-go-up way to abundance, where we will begin to experience the outward blessings, while remembering how they came about. And to the extent that it will become a new way of life forward to affect generations. 

Where many have known Him as the God of the impossible in the secret place, they will now know Him as the God of the impossible outward blessing.

He will reframe what His sufferers endured as they listen to Him. He will reveal more of Himself in the midst that may have been missed earlier to help them finally get on top of painful circumstances and lead this outworking of abundance, while continuing to follow Him. 

So, those who have suffered through the laying down of limitations time after time, feeling like all they experienced was suffering after suffering but still holding onto hope for promised goodness they had not seen, will now experience the outward blessing upon blessing. 

Purposed to Build Legacy

God will use them to rebuild legacy. So, some of those blessings will involve contracts. 

And there will be such a deep level of gratitude that will propel them onward. Many will experience Amos 9:13 CEB, which confirms that 

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when the one who plows will overtake the one who gathers, when the one who crushes grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed. The mountains will drip wine, and all the hills will flow with it. I will improve the circumstances of my people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; and they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them upon their land, and they will never again be plucked up out of the land that I have given them, says the LORD your God.

So, the way there is to surrender more to His will and His ways, seek Him for His wisdom, carefully follow His precepts and do the work at hand.

Release of Unholiness

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He’s finally releasing the ties that interfered with those who walk with Him for so many years— in spirit, in mindset and even in physical proximity. He is severing ungodly ties and establishing new boundaries so all can live freer and more aligned with Him.

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He’s bringing a finality to ungodly co-dependencies that have transgressed beyond their assignments to grow and train others. This is to encourage more dependency on Him. 

He revealed that it’s time to move on past old limitations into a lifestyle of integrity beyond the grasp of what was to live better and far better lives that will bring Him greater glory. 

So, in this season, where alignments will surface into manifestations, God’s people can watch and marvel as He graciously shows up to do that which only He can do as they continue to do what He instructs.

Creating an Honor Society

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He desires to create an “honor society” and that He is building it to reveal Himself to the world as a God of Honor. In doing so, He is inviting us to return to honor and justice. 

He is inviting us to return to the knowledge of Him. To come to know Him as Wonderful Counselor and see justice. To align with Him and come to know Him as Mighty God. 

He is inviting us to interact from a heart of wisdom and impart wisdom to impact society, which requires us to lean into Him, not on our own understanding.

In a vision, I saw The Lord ask, “Does wisdom sync down?” 

“No,” He said. “Wisdom lifts. Therefore, rise. Come up higher with Me. And access wisdom.” 

Unusual Access

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He is about to give His people unusual access to what’s critical. Many are about to be personally escorted into the most important places. 

This requires that we humble ourselves before God. Turn to Him and watch Him open the doors for us. It won’t be the way others got in. It will be a unique passage that is not open to all. It will be a better way, a protected way, a more direct way and a more honorable way. It will be a passage of authority.

This is one way that God will make a way where there appears to be none. 

These necessary entrances are reserved for those who walk in divinely-purposed assignments. They are not reserved for the masses and are not visible to them. God has aligned workers standing by to show His surrendered ones the way and lead them through to critical points of their destinies. 

Keep Growing & Going

So, faithfully reach for God and keep growing in Him. Keep working what He instructed you to do, even if you have to begin again, knowing better this time around. Even if you have to get creative and work around some obstacles. 

Remember, immature Peter denied Jesus three times and was forgiven each time. Mature Peter became part of Jesus’ inner circle.

We can be encouraged that God has more restoration for us as we progress with Him. He is the God of more than enough. And it’s time to overflow with His goodness in our assignments to bring Him more glory in the earth.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen.

Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.