Thanksgiving
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January 04, 2015 |
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 "Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD, or can show forth all His praise? How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times!"
(Psalm 106:1-3)
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Let's give all thanks and glory to God who gave us His Word of blessing, 'I Will Do It'; protected us; blessed us; achieved His providence; and let us reap abundant fruit in 2014. As we sing the words to a hymn, "Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made…to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky…" we cannot but give thanks for God's love when we look back upon our lives. So, let's now look into what we should be thanking Him for.
1. We should thank God for blessing our souls to prosper
We should feel grateful to God because He didn't just save us but also He has been guiding us to become wheat-like believers who have sure faith to enter eternal Heaven. We received salvation by believing in the Lord, but it doesn't always lead to the accomplishment of the salvation. If a baby is sick and doesn't grow, he is likely to have a problem and may even die soon. In the same manner, even if we believe in the Lord and are born again, unless our faith increases it shows that we definitely have a problem in our believing life. In the worst case, we may even lose the faith that is sufficient to receive salvation.
At the time of harvest, farmers put wheat into the barn and burn the chaff. In the same way, at the time of harvest in human cultivation, God's true children who obey His Word will enter Heaven and those who lead improper Christian lives will be thrown into Hell like the chaff. Today many people do not believe when they hear the gospel, and even many believers do not live by the Word of God. They even don't know how to make their souls prosper, how to take hold of a better heavenly dwelling place, or why they should circumcise the heart. The souls of such believers are not able to prosper and even after a long time their faith can't grow.
But we have listened to many spiritual messages and witnessed God's powerful works. We could understand very well the purpose of human cultivation so we obeyed the Word of God and have been renewed as His true children. We also know that we should take hold of the best dwelling place in Heaven, so we have a specific goal in life. So, we do not seek earthly things but we need only to set our mind on the things above, namely Heaven (Colossians 3:1-2). Thus, we should be thankful to God who has blessed our souls to prosper and raised us with the truth.
2. We should thank God for His grace to increase our faith
God has shown us the way to salvation and a better dwelling place in Heaven through the word of life, and He has increased our faith through tests when they are necessary.
When tests or trials come, people can see their shortcomings and the measure of their faith is revealed. They fail to give thanks, use fleshly thoughts, show their pride, insist on their opinions, and argue with others. In these moments of trials we may feel heart-rending pains, but only when we discover ourselves through these situations and cast off untruthful things in the heart can we have greater and more perfect faith. That is why God allowed these tests and trials for us.
But as 1 Corinthians 10:13 reads, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it," God gives us only trials that we are able to endure as long as we pray unceasingly and rely on God.
But not knowing this heart and will of God, some people complain and begrudge God when they undergo hardships. Some of them might think of God as a fearful God. But God knows our circumstance better than anybody else and He feels our pains together with us. The Lord and the Holy Spirit also make earnest intercessions so that we can overcome trials with faith. If we understand this heart of God, we can receive all kinds of trials with thanksgiving and overcome them with faith, hope, and love.
When a baby first learns to walk, his parents just watch him walk by himself, and even when he falls down, they allow for him to stand up for himself. It is not because they are indifferent towards him. But they keep paying attention to their baby to protect him from danger. In the same manner, God allows trials for our faith to grow up, and in the trials, He protects us and guides us with great care.
I hope you realize this love of God and give thanks to Him with your heart all the time.
3. We should thank God for giving us hope for New Jerusalem
God is of forgiveness and of compassion. Many believers have committed sins with weak faith though they profess their faith in the Lord. But as long as they repented and tried again, God had compassion on them, forgave them, and gave them grace and strength so that they could continue their life in faith with more strength.
But some believers commit sins they must not commit though they have been Christians for a long time, know the truth, and have God-given duties. In this case, according to God's justice, the spirit of repentance cannot come down, so they find it hard for them to repent of their sins. Even if they manage to repent and barely receive salvation, they can't expect great honor in Heaven.
However, God gave such people special chances of forgiveness. Although they had great walls of sins against God or they couldn't be given the chance to be saved, when they prayed humbly before God, He opened the gate of His compassion to them.
God gave us not only the grace to repent of our sins but also He let us recover our hope: He encouraged us again to run towards New Jerusalem. God blessed us to recover the lost trust relation between God and us, to store up rewards, and to run for the heavenly kingdom with new hope.
When the Israelites made a golden calf and worshipped it after they had escaped from Egypt, God was so angry at them and He wanted to destroy them. Although they had seen many signs and wonders of God, when Moses was not present among them they made an idol which God hates most. Then, Moses risked his own life to save the people in asking God to save them. The prayer with love moved God's heart and He showed mercy and compassion that goes beyond justice, and gave the people of Israel the chance of repentance.
The same goes with Manmin and me. I have cherished and cared for all the souls that God has entrusted to me more than any family member or relative of mine, and I have tried my best to lead them to Heaven. When they didn't have true faith and committed sins, I knelt down before God and prayed for them with tears. I cried out with my life in prayer so that they would be led to salvation and moreover to New Jerusalem. God answered my prayer, so He gave them more chances of repentance and hope for a better dwelling place in Heaven.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we must give thanks to God always without forgetting His grace every moment of our lives. If we truly feel grateful, we should have our souls prosper, increase our faith, and become people of spirit and then of whole spirit. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will be the source of joy to God!
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