Absolute Reason for Restoring Thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) 11/20/2022
24 Answer of the 1st 2nd 3rd RUTC:
Absolute Reason for Restoring Thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) 11/20/2022
This week is Thanksgiving week. What we must truly restore throughout this week is true thanksgiving within the gospel. One of the greatest problems we face today is lack of concentration and wrong concentration. A common disorder we see in across children and adults is ADHD. They lack the ability to concentrate, and thus feel constantly distracted. The resulting behavior can sometimes be aggressive. It can lead to depression, obsession, or addiction. It is a serious societal issue. Another big problem is that we lose gratitude in our lives. It has been prophesized as something that will happen in the end times (2 Timothy 3:1-2). Since we lack gratitude, everything becomes victim mentality, complaints, resentment, hatred, anger, and selfishness. When we can give thanks about the small things we have, we will come alive, and all our interpersonal relationships and our society will become fuller (creation of dynorphins, which is 4000 times stronger than endorphins).
- Thanksgiving is also spiritually very important.
1) We, as saved people of God, have no reason to fail or crumble. That is salvation. We have been freed, we have been given victory, and we have found our way. However, why do believers undergo so much stress, conflicts, suffering, and failure? This is the reason the Israelites repeatedly went through suffering and failure during their time in the wilderness after gaining freedom from 400 years of slavery (1Corinthians 10:11).
① Freedom from 400 years of slavery signifies freedom from curses and destiny that inevitably lead to failure. This is the mystery of Passover. There is a destiny that began because of one man Adam (Romans 5:12, 19). It is original sin. There is a destiny that flows down from our family line and ancestors. That is generational inheritance; a destiny that will never end. It is the curse of hell. When they applied the blood of the lamb (Christ), this curse ended. The world is full of people who still cannot escape this curse.
② Why did God send the Israelites to the wilderness? This is the mystery of the Pentecost. The wilderness represents the state of this world that we live in. Problems and suffering continue in the world, and they are unavoidable. We must experience how God takes responsibility for our saved lives in the midst of it all. God has given us everything we need. As we go through the process, we can receive healing in our hidden scars and slave mentalities that began in our past. It was God’s plan for the Israelites to be prepared, to save Canaan, and to inherit these blessings to their posterity. This is the reason God sends his Holy Spirit to the saved people of God for them to enjoy the guidance ad filling of the Holy Spirit.
③ Ultimately, God will make us into His masterpiece, and grow us into heavenly fruit. This is the mystery of the Feast of Ingathering. When we lose hold of thanksgiving, everything is a conflict. Later, we become deceived by Satan (Colossians 2:7).
① What is true worship and worship that bears answers? It is worship that restores thanksgiving (Psalms 50:24). We are talking about gratitude towards the Father who sent His Son for our curses, toward Christ who died and bore our curses, and toward the Holy Spirit who works in us with His power. Try thinking about one thing that touched you with grace during the week and give thanks during worship. You will be filled with answers.
② That is when the Holy Spirit and the blessing of the throne comes upon our lives. That is when we can communicate with God, and everything becomes a blessing. With the evidence of those blessings, we can save our church, the field, the world, and the future.
3) When we restore that thanksgiving, our inner scars, spiritual problems, broken relationships, and even uncurable diseases will be healed.
① When we pray in thanksgiving, God will guard our hearts and our minds (Philippians 4:6-7). When our hearts crumble, our spirituality, interpersonal relationships, and our health also deteriorate. Then, everything in our lives will be destroyed. Lay down your resentments for a moment ad seek out at least one thing you are thankful for. That is when the darkness breaks. Even scientifically, our brains will evolve and later, not many things will be a problem (blessing of memory and oblivion).
② When we truly pray in faith, God can even heal diseases and uncurable illnesses (James 5:15). However, that is not all. When we restore true thanksgiving, our entire lives will be healed and we will be used as the ones who save the world.
- What must we be thankful for? Be thankful for these three fundamental things. Here lies the reason we must always live in gratitude. It is the essence of the thanks we give during the Feast of Ingathering, or Thanksgiving.
1) Be thankful for the fact that we have been freed from eternal sin, curse, destiny, and hell. That is thanksgiving for the salvation we received (1Peter 1:8-9). Our past problems are finished, and everything will become a stepping stone (Isaiah 43:18-19). Our current problems are opportunities by which we can experience the gospel, and a time where we receive healing and our vessels become refined (Romans 8:28). Our future problems have been prepared by God, and it is a time schedule in which we can prepare for the eternity and grow deeper with God (2Timothy 4:7-8).
2) Now, be thankful in faith for the fact that God will change everything, even our inadequacies, into answers and blessings (2Corinthians 12:9).
① This is the reason he chose us who are lacking (1Corinthians 1:26-29), and he must raise us as witnesses before the world and our posterity. To help our weaknesses, he allowed us the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18).
② This is why the devotion we give when we are lacking is important. God wants us to experience how he himself fills us up and makes us overflow. The offering and devotion we give when we are in need is important (Philippians 4:15-19).
3) Be thankful in advance for the blessing in the upcoming future.
① Our first future is our children. Your prayer and devotion will undoubtedly be inherited to your future generations. To those who love God and follow God’s Word, that blessing will be inherited down to a thousand generations (Exodus 20:4-5). What do you think it means when it says that Timothy’s clean faith and devotion came from his mother and grandmother (2Timothy 1:5)? David’s faith and devotion began from his father Jesse. Who do you think David learned prayer and shepherding from? Jesse had the leisure to send chunks of cheese to the tribune of the cohort when he was sending David do run an errand to the battlefield (1Samuel 17:17).
② Our second future if eternity. For us who have been saved, it goes beyond the fact that we are free from eternal judgment. We will have a new beginning in the new heaven and new earth. There is a separate crown and glory that we will receive from God before the throne. We are individuals who have been prepared for that blessing. And we can enjoy the blessing of the throne in this world. This is another meaning of the Ingathering, or Thanksgiving. Many wealthy unbelievers are preparing for future cities and Mars in preparation for eternal life, but the only that awaits them if eternal judgment. God has already prepared a new heaven and new earth for His people. Do not be deceived by your current self, reality, and the reality of this age. Renew yourself looking toward the future, and devote yourself looking toward the eternal future.
Conclusion – May we all enjoy God’s answers that makes us overflow in thanksgiving, receive healing through thanksgiving, and prepare for the future in gratitude.