Title: Teacher Paul's Praise/Colossians 2:6-7
It is said that the Macedonian church had overflowing joy in the midst of tribulation and many trials, and overflowed with abundant generosity despite being extremely poor. Today, even if we face the twilight path of our life at sunset, even if we are wandering in the desert of Bethsaida where we cannot find any food, even if we do not have a single denarius in our pocket, I hope that we can look up to God and give thanks. If we do this, we believe that the work of miracles and the work of creation will appear.
In John 11, when Jesus received the message that Lazarus was dead, he ran to the tomb of Lazarus and wept bitterly over the death of his beloved disciple. After that, Jesus offered a prayer of thanksgiving. “Father, I thank you for listening to me. I know that you have always listened to me. But I am saying these words for the people around me, so that they may believe that you have sent me.” When he gave the command, ‘Lazarus, come out’ in a loud voice, the body that had been wrapped around his face and body in towels and linens jumped up.
When Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed a prayer of thanks, a miraculous work began to appear. Even if it is filled with darkness like the wilderness of Bethsaida and there is no way out, even if it is a situation where you feel like there is no hope because you are trapped in a tomb of despair, I hope that you will be able to look up to the sky and give thanks to God. I believe that the gates of the tomb of despair will be opened and a miraculous work full of hope will appear.
2. Five miracles appear when you overflow with gratitude.
First, the depressed mood disappears. When gratitude disappears, it fills with melancholy thoughts, but after giving thanks, the depressed mood disappears.
Second, if you give thanks, the joy of life will overflow. When gratitude disappears, joy disappears, and you become resentful and irritated, but even in such a situation, if you overflow with gratitude, you will be filled with joy.
Third, if we overflow with gratitude, we will overflow with faith and hope for the future. Without gratitude, faith grows cold, doubts arise, and hope turns into despair. But if you overflow with gratitude, you will have faith and you will overflow with confidence and hope.
Fourth, if you are full of gratitude, you will have a positive attitude of mind However, if you are overflowing with gratitude, you will be able to think positively, look at the positive things, and say only positive things.
Fifth, if you give thanks, your heart will become generous toward God and people. When gratitude cools down, you become stingy and wretched, but when you are full of gratitude, you become a generous person to God and a desire to give something to your neighbours. For those who are grateful, these five miracles will appear.
Today, we live in a world full of sin, in which compassion and love are dry, cold, and sinful.
Hearing those words, you might be thinking that a biting person or a traitor is a little bit of a dog. Today we live in a world full of hardships, adversity, and storms, but no matter what hardships and storms come, I hope that we will not betray God or betray our faith. Like Jesus, we hope that we will be able to look up to heaven and give thanks before God.
3. If you stand firm in your faith, you can overflow with gratitude.
Verse 7 says, “Be rooted and built up in him, standing firm in the faith as you were taught, abounding with thanksgiving.” We must have our roots deeply rooted in Jesus and be built up. If we put the root of our faith deep in the Word and in Jesus, and build our faith based on the Word, it will not collapse even when storms and storms come. I believe that when we strengthen our faith as we receive the Word, we will not be shaken and we will not fall.
President Clinton of the United States seems to have a strong faith. In March, heavy snow in Washington, D.C. piled up more than 1m, halting all vehicles and making it impossible for people to walk. On Sunday, not many people came to the church because of the snow, but President Clinton and his wife went to a large church by walking on a road with more than 1m of snow. In the large chapel, it was almost impossible to come because of the snow, and about 30 people gathered to worship. President Clinton and his wife participated in the worship service. This fact was reported in newspapers and TV, and it is said that those with weak faith who did not go to church that day felt ashamed, and many people were moved to believe in Jesus.
A businessman living in Saint Louis set Sunday as the day of evangelism, held a service, took a tract and went out to the streets to evangelize to people he met, and said that he led more than 120 people a year, and there was a 10-year-old girl there. There was a girl who preached diligently and led 18 people to the Lord a year. A 17-year-old boy evangelized to an 80-year-old lawyer who said that he did not believe in Jesus. However, the boy is a lawyer, and the lawyer is over 80 years old. How much longer do you want to live in the world? Even if you go to church, there are not many days left to go to church. The moment I heard those words, the Holy Spirit was with me. I thought about how much longer I would live. I decided to believe in Jesus, and the next Sunday, I went to church, got saved, lived a religious life, and then went to heaven.
4. He told us to overflow with gratitude.
Some people do not give thanks even if there are many conditions for gratitude, but rather complain and complain. However, there are some people who always smile and overflow with gratitude even in a painful and painful environment. But the thing to remember is that the more you resent and complain, the more things you will resent and complain about, and the more you give thanks, the more things to be thankful for.
A famous Japanese theologian named Uchimoraganzo said, "It would be better to be bitten by a viper's tooth than to have an ungrateful child." When you raise children, you can only raise children who are grateful to their parents. However, it is better to be bitten by a viper's tooth than to raise a child who complains or resents. Gratitude is the practice of being happy and complaining is the practice of being unhappy.
After the Second World War, a Japanese officer returned to his hometown after the war was over. When he returned to his hometown, the war was devastating and the house he lived in was also burned to ashes. Seeing the people of his hometown live a miserable life amid starvation and nakedness, the military officer grew so much resentment and anger that he complained and lived in the world. As I lived like that, I got a strange disease without realizing it and became paralyzed. I was hospitalized and diagnosed, but I found out that it was a systemic cause, not a physical cause. The doctor's prescription told me to say "thank you" whenever I took medicine or food and to eat. One day, a daughter in middle school came to visit her father and bought grass bread and gave it to her father, saying, "Father, eat this." When my father saw the grass bread, he subconsciously said, "Thank God," and reached out to receive the grass bread. At that moment, his hands were spread out and his whole body was relaxed. The moment I gave thanks to God, my paralysis was completely healed and a miracle of health appeared. Hallelujah!
5. Gratitude is the driving force behind creating such miracles.
Beloved saints, he said that those who offer sacrifices with thanks give glory to God and experience salvation. I hope that you and I can always give thanks to God without grumbling, complaining, or getting irritated under any circumstances. May your heart be filled with gratitude. I hope you are full of gratitude. I bless you that that full of gratitude will overflow through your mouth, expression, and hands.