Title: Stay awake with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2)
Contents
stay awake with thanksgiving
Col 4:2
Today is a day to reflect on the year and express gratitude. Psalm 100 tells us to enter the door of thanksgiving at all, just how important it is to be thankful. Ephesians 5:4 tells us to give thanks in words. Gratitude is beneficial, and the first is family reconciliation. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, I think of my childhood. My family was very poor and my parents fought often. My father was always resenting the world and swearing, and my children did not have enough to wear and eat and could not pay their tuition on time. My heart was full of dissatisfaction and I never thanked my parents. But when I was in my first year of high school, I became friends with the elder’s son while attending church, and when I go to his friend’s house, everyone is personal. Children have a habit of expressing gratitude to their parents. My friend's mother was thrilled to see the flowers blooming in the yard, but even when the roses bloomed in my house, no one mentioned it. My friend's house was always at peace because of gratitude, but my family was not at peace because it was full of complaints.
Third, the devil goes away. There's a story like this. When Satan persecuted the church to destroy the church, we were more united by faith. When we sowed the seeds of death, they said that martyrdom was the greatest glory, and they were more zealous. However, the seeds of complaints were sown and soon collapsed. Where there is resentment and complaints, Satan creates all kinds of misunderstandings and anger and destroys churches and families. But gratitude builds. Spiros Hyates says that the devil cannot take advantage of any circumstance if you give thanks.
Isaac Walton said, “God dwells in two places. One is heaven and the other is a place of gratitude.” Happiness is in the heart, and when this heart is filled with gratitude, you become happy. Poet Lee Hae-in said, “Grateful will make you beautiful, if you give thanks, you will be happy, if you give thanks, you will be warm”. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says that it is God's will to give thanks in everything. Happiness comes from being grateful for any difficulties.
A family of six lived in a single room. My family complained that the house was small. My father went to see the rabbi, and he asked me to live with the goat family in the same room. Then my family complained that it was cramped and smelly. This time the rabbi sends the goat family to the barn. However, when the goats went out, the whole family rejoiced that the room was enlarged. The size of the room has not changed, but my mind has changed. If you change your mind, everything is something to be grateful for. There are dead people, but I am grateful that they are still alive, and there are people who cannot move in the hospital, but I am thankful that they can move. I am grateful that I have a family, that I have been saved, and that I have something to eat. Jan Miller said that how happy a person is depends on the depth of his gratitude. The prophet Habakkuk said, “The fig tree does not bud, and the vine does not bear fruit… There is nothing to eat in the fields… Even if there are no cattle in the stall, I will rejoice in the LORD.” I found a condition to be thankful for even empty-handed. This is true gratitude.
So, how can we continue to be grateful? Today's text tells us to keep praying and be awake in prayer with thanksgiving. For gratitude to last, we must pray. If you pray, you will have the heart of God, but if you do not pray, negative human thoughts will come to you. The heart of God is a heart of peace, hope, and positivity. Here comes my thanks. As Valerie Anders said, “Thanksgiving is a never-graduating process.” In any situation, where there is gratitude, there is happiness. I bless you in the name of the Lord that you and I will become grateful for everything by always watching and praying.