Today, we will talk about one of the most powerful spiritual tools that God has given us to shift our perception, to soften our hearts, to return us to peace, and to align us with His plan.
And that is exactly why Frederick’s, a student of A Course in Miracles, question is so important, so timely, and so holy.
🎧Click here to hear the audio version.
Here is what he asked:
QUESTION:
“Where does gratitude fit into God’s plan?
This is a question about how we live, how we love, how we heal, and how we recognize the presence of God in our daily lives.
So today, in the middle of this week of thanks, we’re going to go far deeper to explore the spiritual architecture of gratitude—
- why gratitude changes us
- why Jesus taught it so consistently
- and how it becomes a doorway into miracles
Because gratitude isn’t just something we do.
Gratitude is a way we return to who we truly are.
Where Does Gratitude Fit Into God’s Plan?
MY ANSWER:
Gratitude is powerful because it shifts our perception to Love faster than almost anything else. It sits right beside forgiveness.
A Course in Miracles teaches us that the only problem we ever have is misperception—seeing with the ego instead of Christ’s vision.
And gratitude = Christ’s vision.
It lifts us instantly out of fear, lack, and negative thinking and into the memory of Love. It takes us out of scarcity and into abundance, out of ego and back into our right mind.
A Course in Miracles tells us,
“Love is the way I walk in gratitude.”
And we are told in A Course in Miracles that Love is God.
Therefore, when I’m walking in the presence of our Creator (through the power of my own decision) gratitude is the emotion that bubbles up.
I remember that God is our Creator, and He created us like Himself.
This means, we have been given everything in our creation, and there is so much to be grateful for in that.
We have not only been given everything in our creation, but when we decide for gratitude—when we decide to be grateful—
then grievances cannot be:
- We cannot be grateful and resentful at the same time.
- We cannot be grateful and afraid at the same time.
- We cannot be grateful and judgmental at the same time.
To choose gratitude is to say:
I release the grievance.
I release the story.
I release the past.
I release the victimhood.
I release the control.
I release the judgment.
And I choose to see this moment through God’s eyes instead.
This is why gratitude is so spiritually potent.
It forces a choice. It interrupts the ego. It resets the mind toward what is real—toward God, toward Love, toward brotherhood.
When we shift into gratitude, we are choosing:
- Love over fear
- Connection over separation
- Abundance over lack
- The holy instant over our painful past
And it genuinely all shifts through one decision:
- the decision to be grateful for what is
- to be grateful for who we are
- to be grateful for what we have
Gratitude opens our ability to see things completely differently.
And when we see things differently, we feel differently. And when we feel differently, things can transform and change.
Even before the effects show up in our lives physically, gratitude aligns us mentally, energetically, and emotionally with that which is true.
And if gratitude can bring us into this awareness of what is true, then there truly is something to be grateful for.
This is why all my prayers start with:
“Thank you, God.”
Because we’re not asking or begging God for things—we are thanking Him.
- Thanking Him that He has already given us the solution to our problems.
- Thanking Him for life itself.
- Thanking Him for His Voice that helps us get out of our difficulties and troubles in our day.
And our A Course in Miracles tells us repeatedly:
“You will see what you choose to see, and the power of decision is your own.”
So gratitude is the conscious decision for Love, and that decision has miraculous consequences.
Could a Simple Gratitude Practice Change My Whole Day?
Some might ask,
“How can I apply gratitude to have these miraculous consequences?”
The way we actually use gratitude in a truly spiritual, grounded, real way is not just as a nice idea.
It’s a simple and powerful framework, inspired by A Course in Miracles.
So let’s go through it step by step:
Step One: Begin Your Day in Gratitude
This is how we apply gratitude to really make it work.
A Course in Miracles calls this the Rules for Decision in Chapter 30, but we can simply call it beginning our day with gratitude.
Before the ego speaks (before fear speaks, before the ego tries to grab hold of us) we intentionally set our mind and say something like:
“Thank you, God, for this breath, for this day, for this life. I choose to see with Your eyes today.”
Starting your day like this opens the channel for guidance.
And guidance is what will keep us in alignment with gratitude throughout the day.
Step Two: Use Gratitude as a Disruptor
When you’re triggered, overwhelmed, or spiraling into fear, pause and say:
“Thank you, God, that there is another way to see this.”
A Course in Miracles teaches us that we can pause and choose peace instead of whatever we’re feeling in the moment—and gratitude is the bridge to that peace.
Step Three: Practice a Grateful Vision Throughout the Day
Look deliberately for what you can thank God for.
Look for it. Look for it. Look for it.
Look for it in:
- a kind face,
- a moment of stillness,
- a lesson unfolding,
- a challenge that’s revealing old patterns to be healed,
- a breath that reminds you that you’re alive.
This re-trains the mind toward Heaven rather than the ego’s narrative.
Because you’re giving your mind permission to focus on what you’re grateful for, instead of letting the mind default into perceiving lack or problems you wish were different.
Gratitude allows your mind to focus on what is actually here, instead of the stories the ego is telling.
Step Four: Close Your Day in Gratitude
At night, instead of replaying worries and mistakes, let your final thoughts be:
“Thank you, God. I rest in You now.”
This grounds your mind in Love as you enter sleep, making your dreams gentler and your healing deeper.
Step Five: When You Don’t Feel Grateful… Say It Anyway
Sometimes gratitude feels like too much.
But those are the moments when it is the most transformative. The Course says your willingness is enough.
So even a whispered “thank you,” through clenched teeth, begins the shift. Gratitude does not demand perfection—just willingness, my friends.
So I encourage you to try on these practices:
- as soon as you wake up,
- throughout the day when you get tripped up,
- before you go to sleep,
- and even as something you offer to your friends and family.
It’s literally a way of being that can start to change everything.
How Does Gratitude Fit Inside God’s Plan for Me?
I really want to remind us why and how gratitude is part of God’s plan.
Gratitude is not something God asks of us because He needs it. It’s something God invites us into because we need it.
Gratitude aligns us with truth. God’s plan is the plan of awakening. It’s the plan of peace.
God’s plan is the remembering of who we really are and why we’re here.
Gratitude is the recognition of that plan—of who we are and why we are here.
Can You Break It Down A Bit More For Me?
So, first:
Gratitude recognizes the Love, the joy, the connection, the innocence, and the eternity that is what we are and what God is—and that is the goal of God’s plan.
We are grateful for what is true, and we acknowledge creation as God created it.
Second:
Gratitude undoes the ego.
This is one reason why it is essentially part of God’s plan. The ego survives on grievances, comparison, judgment, lack, and sin.
But A Course in Miracles tells us:
“What you behold is what you have chosen.”
So we don’t have to look upon the world through the ego’s lens.
We can look upon the world through gratitude, through a Christ lens:
- Gratitude chooses Heaven, and we will see it reflected here.
- Gratitude starves the ego—and therefore it becomes undone.
- Gratitude melts the illusion—so your old stories of the past fall away, and a new vision of the present blesses your sight instead.
- Gratitude returns us to the truth of our being. (peaceful)
And when we are returned to the truth of our being, the ego has no room to speak anymore, to chirp anymore, to direct our lives anymore—
We’ve chosen to be grateful that we are part of God.
And not part of this unconscious ego that wants to keep us feeling not good enough and unworthy all the time.
So, Gratitude Is The Fastest Way to Miracles?
Gratitude also opens the door for miracles.
A miracle, in A Course in Miracles, is a shift in perception—a shift from fear to Love.
Gratitude is the fastest way to shift our perception.
When you are grateful, you are willing. When you are willing, the Holy Spirit can guide you.
And when you are guided, you are literally inside God’s plan—and miracles will follow naturally.
They follow naturally because, as we said at the beginning of this talk, we were made by God. We were made by Love. And because we were created by Love, Love’s only response is gratitude.
When we choose gratitude:
- we come home to who we are
- to what we are
- to the truth that God has placed in us
- to our ability to work miracles together
What Happens When Gratitude Becomes Natural In My Life?
So my friends, gratitude is everything.
It not only helps us remain present and centered in the peace that is our birthright, it also helps us undo the past of the ego. It helps us return our minds to the awareness of who we are and why we’re here.
So focus on:
- being grateful for the small things.
- being grateful for the big things.
- allowing gratitude to pour through your heart and your mind.
If you’re going to see family or friends and celebrate the holidays, go there with gratitude in your heart, not the past.
We can let go of what happened before and choose to show up today as the Love that we are—to see the Love in other people and to be grateful for the truth about all of us.
Every moment of gratitude brings us one step closer to remembering Him and remembering our eternal reality.
We have so much to be grateful for—both big and small things.
Let not the craziness of our past, or our ego, or the world make us forget who we are and the power that we have.
I’m grateful for you. I’m grateful to walk this path with you.
And I thank you for the willingness you have to apply A Course in Miracles and these spiritual teachings to your life so you can be better and better every day and in every single way.
You are a beautiful demonstration of the light in the world, and I’m so grateful that we can do this together.
I invite you to reply to this email and share what you are grateful for today, so that we can continue to shine this gratitude from our hearts and minds and extend it into the world.
Feeling Called to Go Deeper With This Work?
I invite you to join my weekly A Course in Miracles Text Study Group with Spiritual Therapy.
This is an online space that’s specifically created for two kinds of people:
- Those who are deconstructing their religious beliefs.
They still love Jesus, but they want to heal and live life without the feelings of guilt or shame.
- Those who have been on the spiritual path for a while.
They’ve done a lot of the workshops and all the things to make themselves feel better and be better—but they realize there’s still something missing, and they’re ready to have that lasting peace, purpose, and consistency that God’s plan and His Will, as presented in A Course in Miracles, promise us.
Every Tuesday, we meet together—as deconstructing Christians and non-religious spiritual people—to dive into the teachings of A Course in Miracles.
Class begins with live, active spiritual therapy for about 30 minutes, and then the remainder of the class is dedicated to diving deep into the Text of the Course and truly, deeply applying it to our lives and our relationships.
This is something that I feel so deeply grateful to attend every single week, and everyone who shows up is truly part of our soul family.
So if you feel called in any way to dive deeper into your mind training, into your healing, into your gratitude process, then I invite you to join us on Tuesdays for our A Course in Miracles Text Group.
I’ll make sure that the links are below. You can sign up for free. Donations are welcome but never mandatory.
📖 Order A Course In Miracles Here
Wishing you a beautiful, blessed weekend and week ahead.
May peace and love guide you on your journey. 💖
If this message resonated with you, feel free to share it with others.
Much love to you, Beautiful Soul. ✌️
Britney
>>> If you find this topic interesting, click here, to watch this YouTube video I posted!
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