Give Thanks.

SF.3.8.2013 Give Thanks. Let us look at what it means to give thanks. When we give thanks we first have requirements. We are grateful when we have attained something or achieved something. Then we are filled with joy, happiness and feel good. But according to God’s Word we are to be grateful for no other reason than that we are living under God’s grace according to His will. We were once dead for all eternity, but it was through the blood of Jesus in which we are allowed to stand before God. This is a miracle. This is why we are grateful. But we do not find this a reason to be grateful. Why? We take for granted that Jesus died for me. Many Jewish people do not believe that the Messiah has come. They still wait for Him to come even today. But Jesus Christ did come, He did die for us, and through His death we have been saved and given life and made a child of His kingdom, and as a bride to the Bridegroom we are to be grateful. These are the reasons we are to be grateful. We give thanks when we get to eat the food we want. We are grateful when we have the clothes or the things we want. We say we are grateful and filled with joy if we have a good job or in a higher position than others. But in God’s Word and when we live in truth, we will face suffering, hardships, and we will face discouragement and frustration. We will face persecution and though we may have done nothing wrong we will be falsely accused. Even then we are to be filled with joy and thanks. We do not do this well. It is difficult for me at times as well. Somedays it seems fine and then other days it is my inability to forgive and therefore there is no gratitude. If someone slanders me or makes my life difficult, rather than thanks I am disappointed. The reason? Because things are not going the way I want. Not according to the Word, but not meeting my satisfaction, that is why I am ungrateful. We tell God “anything but that.” We complain that the other person did me wrong so why should I be grateful. I know the the words in the Bible but because that person has acted a certain way to me I am unable to be grateful. This is how we make excuses. We are to be grateful in the Lord, not in the circumstance. We are to be grateful and joyful in the Lord because we are in Him and He in us. It is not about our circumstance or environment. We are to truly be grateful and joyful but to what extent are we truly so? How grateful are you when things that you want and desire to do are not? What about the students who are not getting the grades they want? Even then are you grateful? We are to be grateful for God’s grace. God is allowing you to face trials so that you can be prepared for greater things. If you receive a bad grade because you did not study then you deserve the bad grade. But if you did your best and studied hard and still did not get a good grade can you still be grateful? Gratitude is difficult. If you have been looking forward to a promotion but someone who you think is not as qualified gets the promotion, can you bless them and be grateful? We cannot. We compare their qualifications with ours. We consider ourselves better than them. We complain about the company and also complain to God. We ask God what is it that we have done wrong? What is it that I lack that I am unable to get promoted? What have I done so wrong? I keep the Sabbath. I tithe. I give my time for the church. I even did my best at work. What is it that I lack compared to the other person that I was not the one to be promoted? Those of us who do business. We ask God why are we not blessed when we live according to His Word when those others lie, steal and cheat in business and are doing well? We tell God that we are going to have to start doing business like they do because we need to provide for our families but with the income we have now it is not possible so we complain to God. But God does not want us to concern ourselves with what we eat and need but He desires that we first stand right before Him. He is saying to first be one with Him. But we fail to do so. Rather we put demands on our allegiance telling Him that if He grants our requests we will follow Him, whether it be good grades, passing exams, or meeting financial needs. We are doing everything in reverse. God wants us to first seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Then He will give is the things we ask for. But we first ask for the things we want and after we receive it, then we will pledge our allegiance to Him, give tithes, serve in the church, do missions and give extra in the offerings. This is backwards. God desires that we first are one with Him. He says, “accompany Me.” He desires that we walk in His path. God trains up the individuals He desires to use for His glory, but we do not want to be trained but only seek to sit in that place. God desires that we first stand before Him. He desires that we accompany Him. God desires to train us up in the manner He desires to use us. We are to face trials. Then God’s will can be known. Then we will not be ridiculed by others. Without sacrifice, no one will listen to the message we share. We are not to make sacrifices according to the world but we are to make sacrifices according to God’s will. When I look back in my life I do not really see much sacrifice. In my mind, I think that I have laid down many things and made many sacrifices, help others, love others, but in truth when we examine our hearts, we have only done so to the degree that we see as enough, never doing do to the degree that God desires because we do not have that much faith. We are not grateful. Jesus Christ gave us Himself completely. What does that mean? God the Father, gave us His one and only Son. God the Father also gave us everything. But we only want to give a little. We want to give a little and keep everything else for ourselves. My children, my family, my business, my friends, everything according to my standards. The friends we like are the ones who meet our standards, who answer us the way we like, and do our requests. We do not want to see the friends who tell us our wrongs and try to help us live right. Why? Because it is difficult for us. Because we do not have our way. Because they get in our way. They stop us from going down the path we want. We cannot be grateful. We are the same way with God. God desires we go right, but we want to go to the left because the path He shows us seems to be difficult. We tell God no and say we must go left. We tell God to wait for us because we need to go to the left and go do what we want to do today. Then when we encounter a problem we ask God why He did not stop us. God tells us that He has used may people to try and stop us and He has been patient with us. We hear this quite often. There are many testimonies of people who have converted from other religions and they all at some point ask God why did He not come to them sooner, but God responds by saying that He has sent many people, but it was they who refused to listen. Even now God is saying the same thing to us. But our response is to put the blame on someone and say that it was because of that person I could not believe in Jesus. We are believers but likewise those around us look at us and judge us. But because we are doing so much wrong that we are unable to share the gospel and the and the message cannot be delivered. But we point our fingers at them who are nonbelievers. When have you been such a great believer? God truly desires that His Gospel is spread to the ends of the earth. Unless I am dead to myself and completely obedient, love the God, grateful, and joyful the message will not be spread to the ends of the earth. We must be grateful so that we can serve God wholeheartedly. We cannot serve God without gratitude because then we are working against Him and hate Him. What must we do? We must truly get into the Word and be grateful. We are not to be grateful for having our needs met but we are to grateful simply for God’s grace. We are to be grateful because of our faith in Jesus. It is an incredible grace that we have been chosen to come before God, to fellowship with Him and worship Him. We are to be grateful. Rather we come before God with an attitude that we deserve something because we came to church while others are doing what they enjoy doing. We ask Him to bless us for having come to church. Will God accept our worship? We are to come before God in joy and gratitude and offer up our worship to Him because God the Father, sent His one and only Son, Jesus to save me, and because we are so grateful we sing praises to Him and worship Him. This is God’s will for us in our lives. Even today, God is going to ask you to do something that you will think is impossible. Die a little more. Let go more of your pride. Love and forgive those who hate you. When God asks us to do this we do not have the heart to do so. We are ungrateful and unable to be so. Do not think about anything else. God has died for me. God is always telling me to forgive someone. I tell Him that I cannot I am having difficulty doing so. Then God asks me “what happens if I do not forgive you?” He used to ask me this when early in my faith. But it is the same today. Sometimes when I have something that I am disappointed or frustrated about the Lord asks me, “what if I had not sent Jesus to you?” “what if I did not forgive you, where would you go?” He says “Forgive them as I have forgiven you.” Things got easier as I started to forgive the things that which I could not forgive in the beginning. But on days that my spirit was not right, and my heart was heavy then forgiveness became difficult. Once you have forgiven it does not last. You must keep doing so. Even small things at times are difficult to forgive. We do not have in our hearts to do so. This happens especially between spouses and parents and their children. You can choose to not see other people and when you do not see them you feel as though you have forgiven them. You did not forgive but because you do not see them everything seems fine. If we do not truly forgive the ones who are closest to us then this will be a stumbling block. Our relationship with God will not be restored. There are things that have happened between you and your children. They may think that they are going on well, but in the eyes of the parent it is not so. After a word or two you decide to just let them be. You think that they will figure it out. But there is a difference between forgiving and covering up which is not forgiveness. It is not love. God asks me, if I do not forgive my children then who will? Do you think that God is pleased with everything that you do? Does God love us and forgive us because we please Him? No. Parents are not to raise up their child to their preference. We are to raise them up in a manner that pleases God, as children of God, as workers of His kingdom, and as His servants. At times it will not be what we may like. Why? Because what God desires and what I desire are not the same things. God raises His children according to His will. But, we as parents raise our children according to our preferences. This is why we express displeasure at times. That is wrong. There are things that God is not pleased with and we must be sure to teach that to them. But there are times that the children are right. Being a parent does not mean that you are always right. But as parents we use our position of authority and demand complete obedience. This is not right. We are to still love and forgive our children. This does not mean that the child has the right to oppose and rebel against their parents in disobedience. That is not so. When the parent is wrong but you in obedience say yes, then God will move in the heart of your parent and show them what is wrong. It is wrong if a child refuses to obey because they think that the parent is wrong. If you see something that your parent is doing wrong then bring it up to them and explain. If they do not listen then pray. Pray that God will move in their hearts. We are all the same. Both parent and children. Each wants to do what they want. Do not complain behind their backs. We must truly pray. We must truly be grateful in our hearts. When we are grateful then we can forgive. We can love. We can bless. But if cannot be grateful then we cannot bless others. Even though there are people who are wrong, you cannot fix them. I have tried and could not fix people. Only God, through the Holy Spirit can people change. But there are many people who have been touched by the Holy Spirit yet refuse to change. It is true, there are too many people who refuse to change. How can you change someone who refuses to listen to the Holy Spirit. How can we try to change those who do know God’s grace when there are those who know God’s grace and yet refuse to change. It is not your power to do so. It belongs in the hand of God. If for this reason you become upset and condemn yourself and are unable to be grateful then you are the one who suffers. Do not try to change them. After you have given them a warning or two then let it be. You are only bringing down your faith. I must be joyful and grateful in the Lord. I must be grateful, I must stand first, I must live right before God so that others around me will see me and believe in God. I will be a witness. Do not look at your neighbor, but be the first to stand right before God. I must be the one to be grateful first. We have no requirements for being grateful. Please, think about being grateful daily in your lives. I am going to give you homework. Keep a daily record of the things that you are grateful for in a notebook. Try to write at least one thing down, If you find twenty or thirty things then write it all down. Even if you feel you have nothing to write, before you go to bed write at least one thing down. Then, when you first find things to be grateful for, you no longer see your neighbors faults but you begin to have a heart of love. May you live a life of victorious life in faith. Sermon by Pastor Joy Lee Translation by Miguel Park