Title: Let's be blessed (1 Chronicles 4:9-10)
Contents
Today is New Year's Day. Traditionally, our people have believed that good things will happen throughout the year if we pray for good luck and listen to a lot of good words on New Year's Day, and if we eat good food on New Year's Day, we will live a full life all year round. So, at least on this day, our people worked hard to make this day a holiday filled with good words and good food. So, when we think back on the vague memories of childhood, we don't know how long we waited and waited for this day.
I hope that it will be an opportunity for all the members of the congregation to think of such nostalgia once again. And I really wish you all good things all year round and the blessing of living to your fullest throughout the year. Through today's text, we see a man who lived a life full of blessings even though he was given a bad environment. Through these words, I hope that you too will become saints overflowing with blessings.
Jabez is a man who prayed and received blessings. Prayer always brings blessings. Jabez is said to be "more honorable" than his brother. However, it should be noted that Jabez was not a noble person by birth. The original meaning of the name Jabez is “man of sorrow, man of pain, man of affliction”. The Bible does not specifically record what kind of sorrow and pain they experienced. However, when his mother gave birth to him, he was given the name "Jabez" because of the painstaking labor involved. But he changed his life through prayer. The environment has changed. He became more honorable than his brothers.
What was the blessing that Jabez sought and received?
1. It is to broaden the scope.
It means to expand territory, boundaries, and limits.
The field must be widened. It should be expanded. Above all, the boundaries of faith and spiritual boundaries must be widened. There are some people who deny the world of faith just because I have not experienced it. But it is not right. It is something I have not experienced, but there is no limit to God's power.
Joseph was hated by his brothers and sold to merchants, alternating between slavery and imprisonment. It was really narrow. David was a shepherd boy. It was really narrow. Daniel was taken captive. Indeed, the boundaries of the environment seemed very narrow. However, they were all people who expanded their borders by the power of God.
Joseph became prime minister of Egypt. David became king of Israel. Daniel was taken captive, but he is the man who has expanded his reach to become the second greatest man after the king.
I wish to expand the influence of our members.
We hope that Hankwang Church's influence will expand.
One of Dale Gelloway's writings has this story. There was a church that refused to grow at all. The church had four members. This church refused to grow any further as four people united. Why do you think it was? Dale Galloway gave this answer. The reason was that the church had only four cemeteries. All of them were rivals because there were only 4 graves left and you had to get into them.
I often see many Christians who do not have more progressive or more advanced religious ideas, followed by the past, or too passive and closed-minded. The fact is that, despite the great vision God has given us and the clear purpose for which He has called us, we find many of these weaknesses in the past or in the world without ever increasing the size of our faith.
We need to broaden our horizons. You must cultivate your dreams and visions.
I look forward to expanding the influence of our people.
2. The hand of the Lord is with you.
To celebrate the emotional moment when the first automobile was produced in the history of the Republic of Turkey, a festival was held in front of the National Assembly and then President Cemal Gursel took a test drive. As the car carrying the president slid off with a bang, the onlookers roared with joy.
But the car went about 300 meters and then the engine went out with a bang. As the whole nation watched, the smile of the president, who he proudly test drove, disappeared, and his face began to harden. After a long, tense period of time, with officials running, technicians running and checking what's wrong, the manager comes and reports.
"Sorry Sir, I was so excited that I forgot to put gasoline in the car."
No matter how good a car is, it cannot go one step without oil.
Oil is the most important element in which a car moves.
The hand of the Lord is a helping hand. It's a guarding hand. The hand of the Lord is a righteous hand. The hand of the Lord is the hand crucified for us. A hand flowing with the blood of power. The work of salvation will appear where the Lord's touch can be reached. Souls that were dead in sin are revived, and the sick life is cleansed. You are safe when the hand of the Lord is with you. When the hand of the Lord is with you, there will be signs and miracles. In the hands of the Lord are riches and ears and power and power. May the hand of the Lord be with you, holding you and helping you abound.
3. It is to be freed from tribulation and to have no worries.
Futurists are predicting that tribulations will increase in the future, and worries will increase. And many of the traditional and magical things that have been established in the customs are all born out of a desire to be free from trouble and worry. I understand. Humans are strong, yet weak. He seems wise, yet he is foolish. In the face of tribulation and anxiety, human beings are infinitely small and shaken. So you do all sorts of superstitious things, and you become dependent on things you can't depend on.
For example, on the night of the Lunar New Year, there is a myth that a ghost named Gwanggwang enters the country and tries on people's shoes and wears them if it hits their feet. Therefore, both children and adults bring the god into the room. That night, everyone turns off the lights and goes to bed early, but a sieve is hung over the gate to prevent luminous ghosts. This is because the luminous ghost came and counted the holes in the sieve and counted again by mistake. It is said to make you go away when you cry
Everyone, when we lived a life without the Lord, we lived like this. And those dying souls who still live a life without the Lord are still living that way.
That is why we must preach the gospel. It is to help them live an abundant, wonderful, and beautiful life with the Gospel.
Everyone! If you have tried to control the life of the saints and have lived with a shameful heart without certainty, I hope you will fully recover your confidence during this time. The life of a saint is a life full of abundance and a wonderful life.
God blesses the children of God. He widens the boundaries, and the hand of the Lord is with you to help, to get you out of trouble, and to give you peace instead of worry.