Title: The Grace of Gratitude!
Content: Grace of Gratitude 1 Timothy 1:12-14
There were two villages separated by a small ditch. One neighborhood is Gamsa Village and the other is Geumgeum Village. The people of Geumbulchon live complaining from spring to winter. I hate spring because of yellow dust, summer because of hot and mosquitoes, autumn because of leaves, and winter because of snow. People who live in Gamsa Village live in gratitude for anything. It is said that the scent of flowers is good in spring, and the shade of trees is good in summer. Many fruits are good in autumn and snow scenery is good in winter.
Dr. Norman Vinsett Peel was leaving the train, and a middle-aged couple sitting across from them sat down, and the wife kept complaining. The seats are uncomfortable, the seats are dirty, the car smells... My husband was joking. "Good morning. Dr. Phil, I am a lawyer and my wife is a manufacturer.” Dr. Phil said, “What do you manufacture?” “My wife is a manufacturer who always makes complaints,” he laughed.
Bride who lives with the groom of Jesus! Aren't you a disgruntled person like the wife of change history? If the saints living with Jesus complain as if they are eating, this is a big deal.
?? If you receive the thorn with thanks, it is grace.
When pricked by a thorn, they grimac and complain It is almost impossible to be thankful for suffering, joy, and sickness. But the Apostle Paul said that “the thorn in the flesh,” that is, rejoice greatly in disease. He prayed for healing and received an answer. Being healed is not the only answer. The answer was that he had given a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan, so that he would not be overconfident because he had received many revelations.
“This was to strike me so that I would not be overconfident. I begged the Lord three times to let the thorn in my flesh go away from me, and he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you. I will rejoice and boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore, for Christ's sake, I rejoice in weaknesses, insults, privations, persecutions, and afflictions, for in weakness I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). )
A thorn in the body is a disease. Even though it pierces the body like thorns and causes pain, “there is great joy, and the power of Christ” remains. God strengthened him who rejoices in weakness, reproach and poverty, persecution and hardship.
It is disease that weakens a person the most. When everyone gets sick, they become weak and disappointed. And when you go to jail, you get weak. I'm down and I'm out of breath. There is no joy and no gratitude in prison. But when Paul heard the news of the Thessalonian church in prison, “we always give thanks to God the Father for you and remember you in our prayers because we constantly remember your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope” (1 Thessalonians 1). :2-3) says.
“Memory” is important. Depressed people pick and remember only the depressing things that surround them. Only depressive stimuli are maximized and accepted. It makes you see things you shouldn't see, and makes you think things you shouldn't think about.
There is a saying in the Talmud, a Jewish life reading book, "The wisest person in the world is a learner, and the happiest person in the world is a person who lives with gratitude."
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you face trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3).
?? Even at the edge of a cliff, if you receive it with gratitude, you will prosper.
Daniel's gratitude was a brink of gratitude. The threat to life was on the brink. He was taken captive to Babylon at a young age. His life was a series of loneliness, tears, hardships and trials. Nevertheless, he was not a person who was pessimistic about his situation and lamented about his situation. He pioneered his own life with steadfastness and courage. He was young, but he had a purpose. I chose what to eat and what not to eat. There was a sweet temptation, but he overcame it with faith and kept himself.
Daniel's thanksgiving is in front of the lions' den. With the change of government, Dario became king. King Darius divided the country into 120 provinces, with 120 princes, and three prime ministers over them. King Darius trusted and favored Daniel the most among the prime ministers. The other prime ministers, together with the princes, envy Daniel and plot to drive him out.
Ethically and economically, there's nothing wrong with doing a follow-up. They dug a pit in religious matters. It is a ruse that if you pray to a god other than the king for the next 30 days, you will be thrown into the lions' den. The king didn't know what it was. It was regarded as building up one's own authority, so he put a fish seal on the document and published it. “When Daniel knew that this decree had been signed, he went back to his house and looked at the window that was opened toward Jerusalem in that room, and he knelt three times a day, praying and giving thanks to God, just as he had done before” (Daniel 6:10).
Threats to life drove him to the brink, but his prayers did not stop. I got down on my knees and thanked God. He was eventually thrown into the lions' den. But God shut the mouth of the hungry lion. Those who had thrown him into the lions' den replaced Daniel and made him food for the lions in the lions' den.
The Bible tells us that Daniel was thrown into the lions' den and was harmed in the lions' den. Daniel said to the king who had come to him in the lions' den. “My God has sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions, so that they have not harmed me; my innocence is evident, and I have done no harm to the king” (Daniel 6:22).
And even at the edge of the cliff, the end of the grateful person is recorded like this. “This Daniel prospered in the days of King Darius and in the days of Cyrus” (Daniel 6:28). If you receive death with thanksgiving and believe and pray, you will prosper.
?? If you receive your position with thanksgiving, you will be faithful.
Hearing the young pastor's words, he quickly knelt down. And said. “Pastor, I was only getting older and lacked faith and thought. I'm sorry, Pastor. I will obey.” Then he became the first elder.
Esau took the birthright lightly. He sold his birthright in exchange for a bowl of lentil soup from Jacob. His unrestrained and harsh emotions lost his position and power, and even the blessings of God.
The Apostle Paul speaks of the office he received:
“I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he has regarded me faithful and has entrusted me with the ministry. I was formerly a slanderer, persecutor, and assaulter, but on the contrary, I found mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. abounding with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:12-14)
What I am grateful for is what I have come to believe. I did not believe, but I came to believe by grace. It's just how shameful and apologetic for what I did without knowing when I didn't believe. I am not worthy of the position. I can't do it in my own strength. It can only be done if the Lord adds faith and love.
Esau is said to have considered the birthright of his birthright (Genesis 25:34). To be treated lightly and to be neglected is to be rude. It is devalued and despised. If you value the office you have been given and receive it with thanksgiving and be faithful, you will be a blessing to yourself and to God.
Focus your energy on what's important. A woman's body constantly releases all of its energy to conceive and give birth to a baby. This is a wonderful thing and a great thing. May you dedicate yourself to the glory of God with all the talents and gifts God has given you.
If you have the power to be thankful, the power to be thankful in any situation, you are a person with the ability to overcome the world. As the Earth rotates, it creates day and night. Because day and night must coexist. You have to work during the day and rest at night. Whatever is received with thanksgiving, nothing is to be thrown away.
The amount we can be thankful for is the measure of our faith. Some people see roses and complain about why there are thorns, while others rejoice when they see roses bloom among the thorns. Our gratitude is still worldly. I hope that you will be able to experience greater power by being able to be thankful for thorns and pain beyond health and abundance. I hope that you will experience the grace of reversal because you can be grateful not only on a flat life path, but also in the midst of failure and pain, and at the edge of a cliff. I hope that you will receive the office you have been given with thanksgiving and become faithful and become pillars of the temple.