Give Thanks for God's Grace
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January 06, 2019 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"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
What is the reason that we cannot help but give thanks to God looking back on the past year? It's that every moment has been His grace, and in each moment we've been in His guidance and blessing.
Psalm 50:23 says, "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God." When we honor God with our thanksgiving, He opens a door of blessing that is greater than what we've already received. Now, what do we have to thank God for?
1. He Gave us Blessings for Our Souls to Be Prosperous As Well As Salvation
God gave us not only the grace of salvation but also He is leading us to the kingdom of heaven, by letting us become a believer who has true faith like the 'wheat'. When a farmer harvests, he will gather the wheat into the barn and burn the chaff away. In the same way, God will gather only wheat-like believers into heaven, namely those who obey the words of the Bible and practice God's will.
Today, many people do not believe when they hear the gospel, and even among the believers, there are many people who do not live by the word of the Lord. It's because they do not understand the will of God. They do not know how their souls can prosper or how to take hold of heavenly kingdom by force.
They don't even know that they have to circumcise their heart. Therefore, they don't try to live by the word nor cast off sins. Their souls cannot prosper even after a long time, and thus their spiritual faith can't increase, thereby being unable to receive answers from God.
But it is different for those have understood and realized what the purpose of human cultivation is by listening to many messages and witnessing powerful works of God. They don't think they are leading a good Christian life just by attending worship services and performing some church duties. They take hold of the best heavenly dwelling place, the city of New Jerusalem, by force, by putting the word of God into practice.
When these believers who have understood the true meaning of a Christian life and whose souls have become prosperous finally arrive at heavenly kingdom, God will pay them back with inexpressible glory and rewards for their endeavor. Therefore, we should be thankful from the center of our heart, for God has nursed us with the word of truth and blessed our souls to prosper.
2. His Grace to Let Our Faith Grow
With His Word, God has let us know clearly the way of salvation and how to get into better heavenly dwelling places. Sometimes, He also allows us times of trials to let our faith grow.
Some people cannot really discern how much measure of faith they have. Having just little faith, they think they have great faith. They are confident that they are wheat believers who are saved thinking, "I keep the Lord's Day and give tithes," and "I pray and do my God-given duty."
Of course, reflecting ourselves on the word, we can understand to some extent which level of faith we are at right now. However, we can check our faith more precisely in trials. Under trials, our hearts become more humble and poorer, and therefore, God's grace can come upon us for us to be able to realize our hidden shortcomings and change.
During the trials, we might not make confession of faith; we might not be thankful; or we might even change our minds. Through these acts we realize that we disobey God's will knowing what it is. Of course, at the moment of realizing our inner self, we sometimes experience heart-tearing pains with so much sorrow. However, through this experience we can cast off untruth that is deeply planted in heart, gain greater and firmer faith, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
After we pass the trials, we look at things in different ways and our attitude toward others changes. We can see everything with the eyes of faith, and now we can accept and act with humbleness towards those whom we could not accept before. We can deeply feel that the lust of this world is just like fog and we gain much more earnest hope for heavenly kingdom. We can understand the heart of the Father more deeply and give thanks to Him from the depth of our heart even more.
If we rely on God, He will hold us firm, and give us grace and strength to let us overcome any kind of difficulties (1 Cor. 10:13). God the Father knows better than anybody our situations and conditions, and He feels our pains together. Also, our Lord and the Holy Spirit make earnest intercessions so that we will overcome trials with faith. Therefore, we can receive all kinds of trials with thanksgiving and overcome them with faith, hope, and love.
3. God's Grace that Let You Repent and Have Hope of Heaven
Even though the wall of sin was very big and some of you were in a situation where you could not be saved, God opened the gate of His compassion to those who asked Him humbly, so that you could repent of your sins. He gave you not only the grace to repent of your sins but also He let you recover your hope that you had before. He gave you grace to recover the lost trust between you and Him, to store up rewards, and to run toward the heavenly kingdom with new hope.
In Exodus chapter 32, the sons of Israel made a golden calf and worshipped it because Moses' return from Mt. Sinai was delayed. They had already witnessed so many signs and wonders including the Ten Plagues. However, when Moses was not present for a moment, they sinned, stopped praying, and worshipped idols. They were about to be destroyed right away, but Moses risked His own life to save the people in asking God to save them. His act moved God's heart, and He showed mercy and compassion that goes beyond justice, and gave the sons of Israel a chance of repentance.
I cherish the members of the church so much, and I have been doing my best to lead them to heavenly kingdom. While pastoring so many souls, I can deeply feel the heart of Moses who prayed to God risking his own life.
There are believers who do not have true faith but commit sins even though I teach the truth day and night with tears and pray and fast for them continually. However, even at these occasions, I had to kneel down before the Father and ask Him with tears, without even having time to get discouraged or disappointed. Then, God gave them a chance of repentance and opened the door of hope for them to go into better heavenly dwelling place. I could not express my emotions and gratitude for that moment.
Without the grace and compassion of God, nobody can stand before Him, receive salvation, or go into heavenly kingdom. Moreover, with one's own righteousness and power, nobody can enter into New Jerusalem. You can be saved only by the grace of God. Only by His compassion can you be forgiven of all sins and iniquities and recover the hope of heaven that you lost.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope you will be full of thanks for the grace of God who let your spiritual faith increase. In the forthcoming New Year, may you please God and receive answers to all your prayers and give glory to God to the fullest extent, I pray this in the name of the Lord!
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