God wants His loving children to receive blessings both in spirit and body on the earth as well as receive heavenly rewards. In 2017, let's enjoy abundant answers and blessings through thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving, the Passage Way through which We Pull Down Answers from God
When we are experiencing conditions that are good, we will all give thanks to God. But if we can give thanks even in situations in which it is almost impossible for us to give thanks, it is a proof of faith. As 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, to give thanks in all things is the expression of obedience to God's will.
And God's children should not just stay at this level of giving thanks in obedience to God's will. Just by the fact that we are saved, we should be able to give thanks in all things. Without the grace of God we would fall into eternal fire and suffer forever. Thinking about this, we can understand how great a gift of God it is to receive salvation and reach the beautiful Heaven. Therefore, we all should give thanks in all things.
Next, to give thanks is the expression of faith in the Word of God. Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." If we believe in this verse because we believe in God, we will not be disappointed even if there is no answer right now. Because we believe that God will give us the best response to what we are asking at the best time, then it doesn't matter even if the physical conditions or situations get worse. Thus, thanksgiving comes from faith. The kind of such faith is spiritual faith given by God from above.
There are two kinds of faith; fleshly faith and spiritual faith. With fleshly faith, people believe only what they can see and what agrees to their thoughts. However, we should believe the Word of God from the heart, and only then can we obey in deeds. Without deeds, the faith is deemed dead as written in James 2:26. With such fleshly faith void of deeds, we cannot receive answers and blessings. Moreover, it does not lead you to salvation, so you should have spiritual faith accompanied by deeds.
Spiritual faith enables you to believe the Word of God although it does not agree to your knowledge and thoughts, and once you believe, the belief will never change under any condition of reality (Hebrews 11:1-2). In addition, this kind of faith is not just knowledge but is followed by deeds as proof. Thus, people with spiritual faith can receive answers through prayer even though what they ask for seems impossible to happen. In order to have spiritual faith, we must obey the Word that we have learned in deeds.
If we have spiritual faith, we can give thanks even if the situation goes wrong. When we give thanks, God changes the situations into good ones and makes things impossible possible and possible even better. As said, thanksgiving is the expression of our faith in the Word of God, and that of obedience to His Word. In other words, it is the passage way through which we can pull down answers and blessings from above by fulfilling the justice of God.
Thanksgiving, the Power to Change Ourselves
A true believing life is to fill our hearts with the Word of God by diligently learning and hearing it. Namely, we have to get rid of untruths in our hearts and replace it with goodness and love. If we walk in the Light as God is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7).
We are thankful that we can listen to the spiritual word and we are also moved by the mysterious providence of God contained in the Bible. We also confess as in Psalm 119:103, "How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" It's like for the pure gold to come out from the furnace, it has to be refined in fire to remove the impurities. Likewise, to have the heart of truth which is clean and pure without any spot or blemish, we have to go through certain processes.
First, we have to discover the sins and evil in us that is against the Word of God. And we have to remove them. If we fight against sins to the point of shedding blood and cast away evil from the heart, we can lead a joyful, thankful, and happy Christian life in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
But some people lose heart when they find out the untruths. They think they have been leading a faithful Christian life, so that when they find out that they have such evil in them, they are surprised or become disappointed. If you feel disheartened, it shows that you have not cast away the evil, but proves that you mistakenly thought it had been thrown away. The evil just remained inactive.
Philippians 4:13 reads, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." If we cry out in prayer to be renewed in the truth, God will pour down grace and strength upon us and the Holy Spirit will help us so that we can cast off untruth. If you gave up in discouragement and failed to give thanks, you missed a chance of a great spiritual blessing. You overcome it only with thanks.
1 Peter 1:7 says, "So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Let's give thanks and be joyful in hope when we find out evil in us and thereby receive the strength to change so that we can stand on the rock of faith, enter spirit and whole spirit.
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