Title: Life of Continuous Gratitude
Contents
This month, including Thanksgiving Day, we are talking about true thanksgiving. Today, in the last hour, we are going to talk about the principle reasons we should be thankful for.
The Bible says there is a time for everything. You can think of this as an important link, and for example, you will often see things that are consistently good, but once they start to go wrong, they can have unpredictable consequences. In this case, we use the expression ‘the pulse is cut off’ well. The same is true of our life of gratitude. You should always be grateful, but sometimes your Mac just crashes. But even in this case, we must be thankful so that complaints do not arise in our hearts.
For what reason can we continue our life of gratitude?
First, because God is with us.
We refer to this as ‘Emmanuel’. Matthew 1:23 already quotes Isaiah 7:14 and says, “Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel.” What God is with us, this is Immanuel.
If we look at the meaning of this Immanuel in more detail, it means that only God is with us in a state where there is no existence with us. Even today, nothing hurts a person more than loneliness. To say that I do not have co-workers, friends, or neighbors with me among so many people is truly lonely and miserable.
Our lives in the past have been like this, but now more than anyone else, God, our Father, promises to be with us. Hallelujah! More than anyone else in the world, God, who cannot be replaced with anything else, is the fact that He is with us.
He was with us even when we went on a lonely road. He was with me even when I was suffering alone. You were with me even when I was sick. You were with me even when I was having a hard time. Likewise, I believe that you will be with me forever in my future. This is why we should not let go of our gratitude line.
It is said that there are times in life when you need to make three difficult decisions. First, who will you spend your life with? and secondly, what are you going to do with your life? The third question is, how will you spend eternity? is a problem. If the first problem means marriage, the second problem means a job, and the third problem is a matter of faith. These three are complementary. However, the most important of these is the third issue, the issue of faith, that must be established first. Otherwise, even the first and second problems will be shaken at their roots.
Dear all! Who are you with today? Do you really believe that God is with you? Then, I hope you and I will believe that you are the happiest people in the world.
Second, because God is glorified.
We can see this example through Daniel. In Dan 2 chapter, Daniel is exalted by interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon during the Babylonian captivity. In Daniel 2:23, in the midst of this work, Daniel worshiped and gave thanks to God for giving him wisdom and power and making known all things he asked for.
Daniel, who interprets the king's dream, not only received the king's honor as a prisoner of war, but also brought about an amazing work that made the king of a foreign country praise God. In Daniel 2:47, the confession of King Nebuchadnezzar appears. “The king answered and said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of all kings; for you are able to reveal these secrets, and your God is the revealer of secrets.” Hallelujah!
This is a surprising fact. It is a great thing that a king with great power in pagan Babylon praises and acknowledges God. Although Daniel interpreted the dream, Daniel thanked God for the wisdom and power to interpret the dream, and the king also confessed and acknowledged this God. That's right. Are you still hesitant to say thanks? If so, I bless you in the name of the Lord that the passionate passion of thanksgiving will be restored once again in the image of Daniel.
We must remember that our words and actions cause us to know ‘Who God is?’ before they are means and ways of expressing ‘Who am I?’ God still wants to receive thanks and praise through us. In the name of the Lord, I pray that you will become dignified saints who give deeper thanks and praise to this God.
Third, because there is nothing to be discarded.
what do you mean? This means that in the Lord all things are new. Paul also confesses in 2 Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We are all new creations in the Lord.
Verse 4 of today's text says, "Everything that God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving." “Everything that God has made is good” is God’s evaluation of the creatures he made in the process of God’s creation. “God saw that it was good”. In other words, everything that God created is good if it is used correctly according to the principle of creation. Therefore, it shows that the principle of receiving with gratitude is important.
Any misuse of anything is worse than not using it. In this sense, what kind of person are we before God? From God's point of view, among the words spoken by Judas Iscariot, in Matthew 26:24, "The Son of Man goes as it is written about him, but woe to him who betrays him. It would have been better for me if that man had not been born." You will know what the word of the Lord means.
God did not make us useless. He created you as the most precious being in this world. Why? Because he does it all through us. Therefore, everything is new when you are in the Lord. Nothing dirty. Nothing ugly. It's always new and fresh. It's fun. I'm glad. This is the fact that we are valuable in the Lord.
Even if you are old, do not be discouraged. There is nothing to worry about even if you are lacking in what you have learned. Because it is important to have a heart to receive grace in the sight of God.
Dear saints, We are clearly children of God. And He is our Father. Then this confidence will renew us today. Please don't worry. Thank you always. Don't complain by revealing negative things, but look for good things and bring them out, and give thanks generously.
Gratitude is another way of giving thanks and coming out over and over again. Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become blessed saints who enjoy greater blessings and grace through a life of continuous gratitude.