Count your blessings (1)
Text/ Psalm 100:1-4
1. Introduction
* Sing joyful praise to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with joy, come before him with song. Know that the LORD is our God. He is our Maker, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with praise, and into his courts with praise, give thanks to him, and bless his name; for the LORD is good; his lovingkindness endures forever; his faithfulness endures through generations (Psalm 100:1-4).
2. “Half the water left” VS “There is only half water”
November 2011 is Thanksgiving Month. In the paddy field in Jeongbae-ri, where I live, the harvests of rice, pepper, beans, sesame, radish, and cabbage, which farmers worked hard to plant and grow throughout the spring and summer, are over, and the field is now quiet. Every year during the harvest season, the media is noisy over the price of rice, pepper, and cabbage. Not surprisingly, this year as well, they say, “The price of rice has fallen, the price of red pepper has gone up too much, the price of cabbage has plummeted, so the fields are being plowed…”. However, the farmers are calmly preparing for next year's farming work. I think that this is the formidable strength of Korean farmers and commoners.
In addition, as of November 2011, the media reported that, as of November 2011, “the increase in youth unemployment rate - lower household income - rise in jeonse prices - soaring prices - increase in household debt - deepening polarization between the rich and the poor - difficulties in negotiating the Korea-US FTA - changes in the political landscape...etc.” Life is getting more and more difficult and hectic. However, looking back at the past, there is one very strange phenomenon for me. It is the fact that the national income of the Republic of Korea, which is said to be so unstable and hectic, is increasing year by year (of course, there are various explanations and perspectives on this issue - strangely, the rich have something to say about the rich and the poor according to the poor!). Therefore, I think that in times like these, we believers should praise chapter 429.
(1) When all the winds and waves in the world shake you, when your weak heart becomes discouraged
Count the blessings of the Lord, and you will know the great blessings of the Lord.
(2) When you go out with the cross on your back and the worries of the world
Count the blessings the Lord has given you, and you will always praise them without fear.
(3) When the powers of the world block your way, trust only the Lord and do not become discouraged.
Angels will protect you. Don't worry, just look ahead and go out.
(chorus) Count your blessings, and you will know the great blessings.
Count your blessings, and you will know the great blessings of the Lord.
3. It is time to count the blessings God has poured out on each of us in 2011.
The complaints, dissatisfaction, and resentment of many people in this world stem from living with self-disclosure (self-knowledge) that is not self-explanatory. In other words, the grace of heaven - the grace of the earth - the grace of man (heaven and earth man), "Sacred 恩 (seongseong) 罔極 (destruction)!" Because they take it for granted just as it is, despite the fact that they should and should receive it. We believers should live with great gratitude knowing that God's love, heaven, earth, nature, and the great grace of neighbors (parents-relatives-friends-teacher-farmers-workers-boss...etc) are really great graces.
first. First of all, we should be grateful for “being made as a man.” The wise men of the East also said, “The most precious thing in heaven and earth is only man!”. There is a passage like this in the Analects. “One day, Confucius came into the house, and the servant said, ‘There is a fire in the stable this day,’ the Master said, ‘Is anyone injured?
“The fact that I am a person the fact that you are a person!” There is nothing more mysterious, grateful, and thrilling than this.
second. We should be thankful that we have “healthy bodies and healthy minds” (mens sana in corpore sano).
What are you most anxious about in a family about to give birth - what are you praying most earnestly?
“A baby with a healthy body and a healthy mind.”
Even though we may become physically and mentally ill for various reasons, we can all struggle with the hope that we can be restored to the “healthy body and healthy mind” we were born with, and in grace You can win.
third. We should be grateful for “living in a good era - a good country - with good people.” I am grateful not to be born in a different era (primitive-feudal-communist society, etc.) .
兄弟