2015.11.08_Give Thanks in the Spirit

Ascribe glory to God in accordance with His will

God is He who receives glory. Our faith is about ascribing glory to God. Idolaters do not give glory to their idols but only ask that their wishes be granted. As those who serve God, we should not follow such ways of the worldly people, but give glory to God.

Idolaters do not have any promises or guarantees from their idols but simply pray to them when it comes to things like their children’s university entrance exams or employment. This is a typical characteristic of mysticism. However the problem is that there are some among Christians who live religious lives according to their own emotions irrespective of God’s promises.

The church is the body of Jesus Christ. And God said of Jesus Christ, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). If God was pleased with Jesus Christ, the church which is Christ’s body ought to be pleasing to God also. However if the church does not follow God’s will and instead go after the wicked ways of the worldly people, how can God be pleased?

Here lies the reason we need to be born again. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:3). No matter how hard we try to fulfill God’s will, it is impossible if we rely on our flesh. We cannot please God with any of that which our ancestors have passed on to us. In order to please God, we must be born again of Heaven and live according to God’s ways.

The essence of our worship to God is not asking Him to grant our requests. To glorify God and thus please Him is at the heart of worship. The church, the body of Jesus Christ, is the fullness of Him who fills all things (Eph 2:23). If we would seek only God’s will as members of the church, God who fills all things will certainly help us. On the contrary, if we ignore the word of God and follow our own feelings in our faith lives, it will be hard to receive God’s help.

After Moses led Israel out of Egypt and went up Mount Sinai to receive God’s commandments, what did the people do? They molded a gold calf, dancing and celebrating around it. This took place even before God’s word had been given them. It was simply out of their emotions that they were rejoicing, irrespective of God’s word. However the faith of Christians has nothing to do with such mysticism.

Live by the Holy Spirit

It is imperative that we receive the help of the Holy Spirit in order to understand God’s word. Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (Jn 14:26). Among Jesus’ disciples were some who could not understand His words and left (Jn 6:66). Though they followed Jesus, they were unable to understand His words since they did not have the help of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus asked the rest of His disciples if they were going to leave too, Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). That’s right. What we also need are the words of eternal life. Some people leave the church saying they feel burdened to lead a church life. However they would never leave the church if they had really understood the words of eternal life. This is the reason why we need to be filled by the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus shed His blood on the cross and redeemed mankind, why did He not then say to His disciples to go out immediately and preach the Gospel, and instead tell them not to leave Jerusalem but wait for the Holy Spirit, saying that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes” (Acts 1:4-8)? This is because nobody can become a true Christian without the help of the Holy Spirit.

A Christian should think with the support of the Holy Spirit, worship in the Spirit, serve by the help of the Holy Spirit, speak and lead our faith lives by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit as the Counselor. The Counselor helps us, comforts and protects. It is difficult for anyone to have spiritual joy if they lead their church lives purely by relying on their flesh. Only those who live by the help of the Holy Spirit will truly have joy in their spirit.

Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn 15:11). People tend to be happy when they make a lot of money, get into a good job, or their business booms. However, there may be times when we have to suffer ordeals and sorrow on account of that which is actually pleasing to God. Even if we do encounter such situations, we should be able to rejoice in the Holy Spirit.

Rejoice in the Holy Spirit

It says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 that we should rejoice always. Man does not always have pleasant moments. Nevertheless, God tells us to rejoice always. This is made possible only when we have God’s joy through the Holy Spirit. A great number of people despise God, despise the One who died on the cross and resurrected, and despise the Holy Spirit. Even though they have received God’s amazing love, instead of being filled with joy, they are fearful and unhappy, trapped inside their dismal and dark circumstances.

Upon hearing the Lord say, “Come on the water”, Peter walked on water, and at that time, Peter looked only at the Lord. But when the wind blew and the waves rolled, he turned to look at his surroundings and immediately fear took over him. Eventually he drowned. At times we may be put in poor and difficult circumstances. Even so we must not forget that we have united with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Savior who redeemed us by His blood, who resurrected and ascended to Heaven, and sent us the Holy Spirit.

Pray through the Holy Spirit

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, it says we must pray without ceasing. No matter how much a person prays, he cannot keep praying when he is asleep. However, the person who relies on the Holy Spirit can draw God’s attention even while he is sleeping, for the Holy Spirit intercedes for him. Romans 8:26-28 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Everyone, even a person of great faith, is bound to have weaknesses. The Holy Spirit makes intercessions for us in order to help us in our weaknesses.

Give thanks in the Holy Spirit

It is also written in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that we must give thanks in everything. This means we ought to give thanks through the Holy Spirit. When a large crowd was with Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus wanted to give them something to eat. However all that the disciple had to bring was five loaves of bread and two fish. What Jesus did with them was give thanks through the Holy Spirit (Matt 14:19). As a result, the people which numbered five thousand excluding women and children were able to eat until they were satisfied.

In the early days of my faith, that is, two weeks after I first started going to church was the Thanksgiving. I asked the members of the church what I should prepare for Thanksgiving and they told me to bring some of the crops harvested. Since most of them were farmers and people rarely had any cash, they generally gave grains as their Thanksgiving offering. But as I was not involved in farming at the time and had no money either, I decided to give the rice we had at home. However, all the rice we had was just enough to cook one meal’s worth of porridge for our family. I wrapped that in a cloth and took it to church on Thanksgiving Day. People had brought bags of rice (roughly 80kg) and placed it on top of a large table in front of the pulpit. I put my rice wrapped in a small cloth on top of the other rice bags, but mine looked so little compared to the rest. When people who came later put their bags of rice on the table, mine was pushed over to the corner. And when the pastor called out the names of everyone who offered rice that day and blessed them, my name was not even mentioned.

When I returned home that afternoon, nothing was left to eat at home. I decided to head to the rice fields where stacks of rice straws were heaped, to pick tender shoots of mugwort to eat, which often grew underneath those rice straws. A friend from junior highschool happened to be passing by on his bicycle and stopped in front of me. He was managing a shop with his brother selling rice. He asked me where I was going. I told I was going to pick some greens to feed the rabbit. He stared at me for quite a while, and then went his way on his bicycle. That evening, a worker from that friend’s rice store came to our house with a bag of rice. So I ran to my friend’s shop right away. When I told him to take back the rice because I was unable to pay him, he took me to a backstreet and slapped my face really hard. “When did I ask you to pay me?” Suddenly my eyes became red and teary, and we both cried.

Do not quench the Holy Spirit

In this way, God gave me a hundred times the rice I gave as my first ever Thanksgiving offering. For someone who had just started his faith life, it was the most incredible experience. With what I learned from that experience, I do my best to give thank offerings even to this day. As 1 Thessalonians 5:19 warns us not to quench the Holy Spirit, whenever I was moved to give something to God, I never ignored it. Once a bonfire is quenched, it is not easy to light it again and hence it is very important not to put it out in the first place. Similarly, once the Holy Spirit is quenched, it is very difficult to be led by the Holy Spirit again. Therefore we should never ignore the inspirations given us by the Holy Spirit.

When Thanksgiving or other yearly feasts are near, people decide to give a rich thank offering to God, but after a while change their minds thinking, since I’m going through difficult circumstances right now, I’ll give my offering later when I make a lot of money. However we must be aware that it is important to give feast offerings within the set period of time (Deut 23:21). If we delay, it is the same as a farmer failing to plant rice seedlings in season, when they are supposed to be planted. How can the farmer harvest anything if he fails to plant in season?

Let us own our blessing through thanksgiving

It continues to say in 1 Thessalonians 5:20 that we should not despise prophecies. God said He would bless us if we overcome the desires of our flesh and obey God’s word. These kinds of words are prophecies. Rather than relying on such prophecies, many people these days tend to act based on their own convictions. Though they might feel convinced that they can achieve something by a particular way, there is no promise of God in such convictions. God promised to bless us when we bring Him pleasure. And we need to put our trust in this kind of prophecy. Even if we do not get to see it in our day, the blessing God promised us will surely be manifest even through our children.

It continues to say in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” It is evil to disobey the will of God. It is also evil to quench the Holy Spirit. The same goes for despising prophecies and not giving thanks. God does not help those who are evil.

At one time, a leper came before the Lord and was healed. Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them” (Matt 8:4). This means that the one who is healed must first give thanks to God and thus own his healing forever. Whoever acknowledges God’s doing will definitely not be stingy in giving thanks to God.

It is important that we lead our faith lives by the Holy Spirit. Rather than harboring resentment in our hearts, we must ascribe glory to God. We should acknowledge the working of the Holy Spirit within us and follow the Holy Spirit. God will give His promised blessings to those who rely on the Holy Spirit and their children.