Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy [Hardcover]

Nancy Leigh DeMoss (Author), Joni Eareckson Tada (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: August 4, 2009

Gratitude is a choice. If we fail to chose it, by default we choose ingratitude. And once allowed into the heart, ingratitude does not come by itself, but with other seedy companions that only succeed in stealing joy. To not choose gratitude is more costly than we usually realize. When we do choose a lifestyle of heartfelt, humble gratitude, we are mindful of the benefits received from our gracious Savior and those He has placed around us. 

By intentionally thanking God and others, bitterness and entitlement are replaced with joy and the humble realization of just how undeserving we really are. Derived from a popular Revive Our Hearts radio series,  Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy challenges and equips the reader to live a life of intention. A life based on thankfulness for the freedom Christ has provided and for the blessings of others.

As a bonus, a 30-day plan of journaling, prayer and activities to help the reader on her path to joy is included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

How easy it is to feel and be grateful when circumstances are good. But the real test of genuine faith is our heart's response when life is difficult. Today we are facing uncertainty individually and as a nation, and the question before us is whether we will trust, with thankful hearts, the sovereign God who rules over all or succumb to fear and self-pity. Nancy's book on gratitude is a guide worth following in stressful times, for she shows us that giving thanks in all things is the key to a peaceful, joy-filled heart in every circumstance of life.
-Barbara Rainey, cofounder of FamilyLife

Given what Christ has done for us, our lives should overflow with gratitude. Sadly, too often they don't. Choosing Gratitude speaks powerfully to one of our most important issues as individuals, families, and churches. Nancy Leigh DeMoss is biblical, honest, challenging, and practical. I enthusiastically recommend this book.
-Randy Alcorn, bestselling author of If God is Good

About the Author

NANCY LEIGH DEMOSS is a mentor and "spiritual mother" to hundreds of thousands of women who have read her bestselling books and who listen to her two daily radio programs, Revive Our Hearts and the one-minute feature Seeking Him. Through these programs, she calls women to revival and biblical womanhood. Her love for the Word and the Lord Jesus are infectious and permeate her online outreaches, conference messages, books, and radio programs. Her books have sold more than 2,000,000 copies, and include Lies Women Believe, Choosing Forgiveness, A Place of Quiet Rest, A Thirty Day Walk with God in the Psalms, Brokenness: The Heart God Revives, Surrender: The Heart God Controls, and Holiness: The Heart God Purifies. She also co-authored Seeking Him, Lies Young Women Believe, True Woman 101: Divine Design, and is the general editor of Becoming God's True Woman.Nancy is frequently a speaker at women's conferences. In October 2008, Revive Our Hearts hosted the first True Woman Conference in the Chicago area, which sought to help women everywhere discover and embrace God's design and mission for their lives. Over 6,000 women attended True Woman '08, and three more national conferences were held in 2010. The ministry continues to hold additional national conferences and trainings for leaders in women's ministry for which Nancy is a keynote speaker.Nancy grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a family deeply committed to Christ and to the mission of world evangelization. At an early age, she surrendered her life to Christ and to His call to fulltime service.Nancy graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in piano performance and went on to serve as the Primary Children's Ministries Director in a large local church. Since 1980, she has served on the staff of Life Action Ministries, a revival ministry based in Buchanan, Michigan. .

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Moody Publishers; New Edition edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802432522
• ISBN-13: 978-0802432520
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Leigh DeMoss mentors millions of women through Revive Our Hearts and the True Woman Movement, calling them to heart revival and biblical womanhood. Her love for the Word and the Lord Jesus are infectious, and permeate her online outreaches, conference messages, books, and two daily nationally syndicated radio programs--Revive Our Hearts and Seeking Him with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Her books have sold more than 1,000,000 copies.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gratitude is the way to Joy! January 7, 2010

By GraceforWomen

Format:Hardcover

Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a great read. If you are a fan of her writing, you will not be disappointed in this book. I thought I was a generally grateful person, once I read this book I realized how much work I need to do in my own life.

I'm not going to sugar coat this; if you read this book, be prepared for conviction almost instantly. She starts by pointing out that "gratitude feels optional...an acceptable sin," and then clearly shows that an ungrateful heart is a sinful heart. On page 24, the author describes how our whining and complaining attitudes are from our lack of the Holy Spirit. I was particularly struck by her use of Romans 1:21, where Paul lists ingratitude along with the "terrible sins". I don't often think of ungratefulness as a "terrible sin" but it is.

At the end of chapter 3, I was feeling like a complete ingrate! I can see so many things in my own life that need to change. I was relieved to discover some reasons for gratitude and why it is so important in our daily lives. I had never really thought about the fact that Jesus was giving thanks at the Last Supper. He knew what would happen to Him that night, yet He was grateful. Would we be grateful if we were facing the same circumstances?

The author also connects our gratitude with our prayer life. This was an aspect of gratitude I had never considered before. "If you've always wanted prayer to be as natural as breathing, then pave the way with gratitude." It's true. If we have a thankful hearts we want to commune with the One who gives all good things. The author also challenges us to give thanks not only to God but to also to other people. On p. 119 she points out that Paul thanks people in all but 4 epistles. The thankful example of Paul was preserved in Scripture for a reason.

An especially great part of this book is that it includes a 30 day devotional in the back of the book. Each day includes a scripture reading and a small devotional. At the end is a challenging statement to help you reflect on the gratitude in your life each day.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to increase the gratitude in their own life. Truly, this is an area everyone can improve on in their own life. Get this book and begin your journey to joy!

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Choosing Gratitude November 7, 2009

By theShepherdz VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I was recently sent a copy of this book and have to admit that I'm a little scared to really dive into it. Nancy DeMoss tackles the subject of gratitude and joy in her new book Choosing Gratitude. This book takes on more than just being thankful for things ... a topic that is especially prevalent at this time of the year. This is deep thankfulness and gratitude for every situation that we are, including (especially) that suffering that is in each of our lives.

I see situations like this in mine and my friends' lives right now:

~ watching a family member grow sicker and sicker.
~ a wife watching her husband sign papers. She never, ever anticipated divorce.
~ the child with a genetic illness. Right now, things are okay, but it won't always be that way.
~ the burden of unsaved family members.
~ the job that doesn't come after so many prayers.

Ms. DeMoss understands that it is hard to hold on to gratitude ... "hard to find joy when you are looking in mind-bending pain or heart-wrenching disappointment." Those words there that I quoted? That's Joni Erikson Tada - a woman who most of are well-aware of and can't even fathom the life that she lives daily in a wheelchair as a quadrapalegic. (And she has lived that way since she was an older teen.) Joni writes the foreword to this book, and if she says that Nancy DeMoss has something to say about gratitude, I'm ready to listen.

But really, it's not Ms. DeMoss that has something to say about gratitude. It's the Lord. If there is anyone (even more than Joni) that understands finding joy in the midst of such sorrow, it's our God. The one that watched His chosen people rebel against Him daily in the Old Testament. That watched His Son mocked and scorned by His own people. In spite of all that our Lord had, and wants us to have, a deep and profound joy that can't be shaken.

One of the things that I like about this book is that at the back of it is a 30 day devotional guide to walk you through some of the points that Ms. DeMoss makes in her book. Give you time to digest all she has written and in turn, hopefully work some of that out in your own life. This looks like an excellent book (and resource) and one I'm glad to add to my library.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Choose This Good Book! October 25, 2009

By Mandy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

This question, posed on the back cover, is the perfect way to sum up this book. Nancy Leigh Demoss shares why our life should be full of gratitude and how we can have that kind of depth in our life. We can trade in our whine for worship! When we accept the grace of God in our life we can be full of gratitude for what He has given us...even if it appears to be "bad" in our eyes. I enjoyed the many real life examples of people who have traded in the blues for a heart of gratitude and the incredible perspective they have on life in the midst of some very overwhelming circumstances. Also, Nancy does not leave you hanging as you attempt to apply all that you have learned, she gives a hands-on Bible study to work through at the end of the book. (Or in this case, a printable PDF on the last CD.) It can easily be used without the book and makes for a great follow up on what you have read rather than just putting the book back on your shelf and moving on to the next one. While I would recommend this book in print or audio, I have to say that I really enjoyed the audio version as I worked around the house and surrounded myself in good teaching. Christian Taylor has a beautiful voice that is easy and enjoyable to listen to.