Thanksgiving Changes Lives
Bible passage: Colossians 2:6-7
“6. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7. rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ”
According to the church calendar, there are two thanksgiving days in a year; It's the Feast of Harvest and Thanksgiving Day.
The Feast of Harvest is a feast derived from the Old Testament, but Thanksgiving Day is not a feast derived from the Bible, but was originated by Puritans in the United States. The Feast of Harvest is also called the Feast of first-fruits, which means ‘the season of harvesting the first ripe fruits.’ Therefore, the Feast of Harvest is a season to give thanks to God by harvesting the first ripe fruits of the year's crops, barley and wheat. Feast of Harvest symbolizes ending the first half of the year with thanksgiving and starting the second half with thanksgiving.
Let me tell you a few words about thanksgiving in the hope that you will all become believers who are thankful with your heart, with your lips, with your material things, and with your whole body, and that your entire life changes. 1. You need to create a circuit of thanksgiving. These days, brain science has developed, and a lot of knowledge and data that was previously unknown is being published. Among them, there are many articles that medically prove how important an attitude of thanksgiving is to human life.
For example, serotonin and dopamine, which are known as hormones that affect human emotions, are known as hormones that regulate human mood. Among these, serotonin is known to be involved in small joys and the joy felt in everyday life, so it is nicknamed the happiness hormone. For example, if you suffer from depression and go to the hospital, the hospital will prescribe medication; It is said that the antidepressant medication prescribed is a medication that increases the level of the serotonin hormone. When depression comes, you need to take various measures, such as getting a lot of sunlight, but if you develop a thankful mind when depression comes, this thankful mind has the same effect as the antidepressant medication prescribed by the hospital. It is said that a foreign university conducted an experiment as follows: People who were depressed were gathered together and divided into two groups.
One group was asked to write down the things they were thankful for, even in depressing and difficult situations. Even if it's not a big thing, even if it's something small and insignificant, they were told to keep thinking about it and write down the things they were thankful for. Another group was asked to write down their dark, depressed, and difficult state of mind. And after a few weeks, it was checked whether there was any difference between the two groups. Although the situation was depressing and dark, the group that forced themselves to write with thanksgiving in mind showed that their situation of depression improved, they slept better than before, and their anxiety symptoms disappeared. Then, they asked people who experienced these changes to write down their thanksgiving consistently, and when they scanned their brains three months later, they found that many changes had occurred in their brains.
When stimulated through this series of experiment, the thanksgiving circuit in the human brain is opened more and the function of thanksgiving is strengthened, but the function of the circuit for resentment and complaints is weakened. Which of these two if strengthened has a huge impact on a person's happiness. How much does the Bible emphasize thanksgiving? This is because God, who created humans, knows what humans must do to become happy. Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Becoming a ‘thankful person’ is a more specific request than simply ‘be thankful’.
It means opening the circuit of thanksgiving in your brain more, becoming a developed person, and living a life always filled with thanksgiving. God wants us to be thankful people. Why would He want it? Since God is the One who created humans, He knows how humans can live happily, so we should be thankful no matter what the circumstances are. Some people say “I want to be thankful, but I have nothing to be thankful for.” Why can’t you be thankful? Is it because even if you want to be thankful, you have nothing to be thankful for? Today’s scripture says the following about it: Verse 7 of the scripture says, “having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with thankfulness. ”
When it comes to who can be thankful, it is ‘those who stand firm in their faith.’ It's not that we can't be thankful because we don't have anything to be thankful for, it's that we can't be thankful because we don't have the faith to be thankful. In other words, we cannot be thankful because the thanksgiving circuit in our brain is blocked. Are you confident that you are standing firm in your faith? There are elders, deacons, deaconesses, and young people of good faith here. How do you prove your faith?
“I have a developed thanksgiving circuit.” This proves it. It is simple for Nairobi Manmin Church to become a spiritually hot church. When a church gathers people with a developed thanksgiving circuit, it becomes a revival church. A person who is thankful even when there is nothing to be thankful of is a person with good faith. Who else do you know who has good faith? The person who smiles even though it is not funny is a person of good faith. God blesses such a person. It's here too. Quickly wake up those ‘unbelieving people who think faith is good’ but never smile. If you are thankful even for small things, thankful like a child, and happy even for nothing, the circuits in your brain will open and strengthen, and the circuits for resentment and complaints will, on the contrary, become smaller.
The process of Adam and Eve's fall can also be explained by this. It is true that the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was so appetizing that they ate it. Genesis 3:6 says, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” But, on the other hand, you can think of it differently. The tree of knowledge of good and evil in the center of the garden is not the only thing that is good for food and pleasing to the eye. Genesis 2:9 says, “The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.”
Here, the trees are ‘all trees.’ It has said, ‘All kinds of trees.’ Not only the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was good for food and pleasing to the eye, but everything that God had made was good for food. It was all beautiful to see. So, it is not right to say that Adam and Eve ate the food because it was so tasty. To be precise, Adam and Eve ate it because they were ungrateful. They ate it because they were greedy. Because they were not satisfied, they could not be thankful, and because they were not thankful, they neglected the Word of God. Cervantes, an early Spanish novelist, once said this. ‘The greatest sin humans commit is not being thankful. ‘Hell is full of ungrateful people.’ ’ There is a Western proverb that says: “Happiness comes in through the door of thanksgiving and goes out through the door of complaint.” Everyone was happy when they were newlyweds. So why is happiness gone now? If you want happiness for your family, please close the door to complaints.
What should you do to close the door to complaints? Please know that activating the thanksgiving circuit in your brain reduces the circuit of complaints and resentment. Look at the Old Testament character Daniel as said in Daniel 6:10, which says, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” What did he do to God? It says that he was grateful. What can you be thankful for when your political enemies are trying to frame you and kill you? Would you have something to be thankful for three times a day? 6 Daniel had a developed a circuit of thanksgiving. God used this person to be a leader in those dark days. If you want your sons and daughters to become great people, you need to develop their thanksgiving circuit from an early age. The following is from the book ‘The Miracle of Gratitude that Changes My Life’.
A child of Korean descent living in Boston, USA, became the champion in an all- American high school debate competition. How incredible this was is that after he became a champion, from all the ‘Ivy League’ universities in the United States, including Harvard University and Yale University, he was offered a full scholarship and offered him to come to their school. When a TV reporter asked, “How did you raise her to become such an amazing child, and what is your secret?” her parents reportedly said one thing. “I had them write thank you notes. That’s it, I only taught one thing.” From a young age, he was taught to write down 5 things he was thankful for every day. It is said that if you do not do the 5 things of gratitude properly, you will not be allowed to sleep.
From an early age, the child had to pass 5 circuits before he could sleep. When he went to school and studied and came home, he would summarize his thanksgiving in one line and write it down in his notebook. In other words, the training in writing came naturally. It is said that what the child naturally acquires in this process are observation, vocabulary, logic, insight, creativity, analysis, and tolerance. I also hope that will have children like this. The brain circuit of thanksgiving develops from an early age. So, there was nothing stopping them from holding a debate competition. They say that because they are logical, independent, and confident, their hearts are armed with thanksgiving, and their lives are filled with thanksgiving, they easily overcome any difficulties they face. When I look at church members, there are people who smile and express their thanksgiving well. These people truly bless me from their hearts. Why do you smile so much and give thanks so easily? This is because the brain's thanksgiving circuit is open and developed. I am blessed that the training to open the congregation’s thanksgiving circuit will begin today.
Now, starting on the 21st of July, it has been announced a contest to take pictures of rainbows and heart clouds. You don't know how much thankful I feel when a rainbow and heart-shaped clouds appear in the sky. Isn’t there anyone who says, “Why are you so thankful for that little cloud?” The prophet Elijah saw a cloud as big as the palm of his hand, and it rained heavily. How much more blessed would it be if it were a heart-shaped cloud instead of a palm cloud?
2. You need to practice being thankful for this moment today. Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 tells us to live with gratitude for this moment today, saying, ‘there is a season and a time for everything under the heaven.’ Life is vanity, but despite this, we must regard life as a gift from God and live the life that God has given us as a gift with joy and happiness. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 says, “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor - this is the gift of God.” We have important homework in our lives. 8 There are problems we must solve throughout our lives. What could it be?
The homework we must solve is to cherish the life God has given us as a gift and live happily and joyfully. God wants us to have a happy and joyful life and to use our lives for His glory. As the senior pastor of Manmin Church in Nairobi, if there is a task I need to solve in my life, it is to be truly happy in the Lord and live happily in ministry as the senior pastor of our church. In order to live our lives happily and joyfully like people who have received a good gift, we must enjoy this moment today with thanksgiving. There is a poem called “Small Joy” by the famous Korean poet Lee Hae-in. Let me introduce the first part only. “For a person to go a long way, he must be familiar with small joys. When I open my eyes in the morning, I sing a little joy, and when I close my eyes at night, I sing a little joy.
As I keep singing, small joys become a big light and illuminate my life.” If you do not ignore the present but hold on to reality and live faithfully in the present moment, God will organize your disordered life. Just as if you draw a circle with a compass, even a complicated and messy circle turns out to be a neat and beautiful circle, similarly, our lives become neatly organized. You should think of your life as a gift from God and be thankful. Thankfulness is a discipline. Be thankful in all things. There is a book called ‘Conditions of Gratitude’. In it, it is said, ‘Gratitude cannot change the environment, but it does change a person’s attitude.’ A Korean pastor immigrated to the United States to serve as a pastor, and there was a deaconess in that church called ‘Wang Sister.’ Her nickname is ‘Sister Wang’, but she is called ‘Sister Wang’ because she had a history of kicking out three senior pastors.
However, after Pastor Lee took office, the relationship became soured for some reason. No matter how much the pastor tried to reconcile, she would not accept it. For example, when the pastor holds out his hand for a handshake, she shakes her hand away and turns away. For the pastor, no matter how many believers there were, if even one person feels sorry for the pastor, if the pastor is hurt, or if the pastor’s favor is refused, it is difficult to sleep. So, Pastor Lee was also distressed. He couldn't sleep and was pressed down by scissors while he was sleeping. After spending such a painful time, he was so distressed that he thought he would rather leave the church. In the end, it was time for Sister Wang to kick out the fourth pastor.
The pastor fasted and prayed for the last three days before resigning, and it seemed like God gave him these words during his prayers. “Why do you only hate one-sidedly and don’t know how to be thankful?” The pastor always thought the problem was because the other person hated him and refused his favor, but in fact, just as there are two sides to a coin, the pastor realized through fasting that he had the same feelings toward the deaconess. After fasting and praying, he made one big decision. He started writing down his thankfulness to the deaconess with whom his relationship was broken in order to recall good memories. After writing for three hours, he had nothing more to write about. He wrote it because he was forced to, so it didn't really move his heart.
So, he said he even thought about just tearing it up. However, he decided that he would fill in 100 things once he had written them, and started writing again. And he squeezed and squeezed his thoughts and wrote about 80 of them, but no more came out. So, the pastor was so distressed that he lay down and got up again and again and whined while writing, but in the end he filled out all 100 things he was thankful for. Then the day broke and it was already dawn. After completing 100 things like this, a change came to Pastor Lee before Sister Wang changed. Even though he was forced to write it, as he was writing it while concentrating his thoughts, a thought suddenly occurred to the pastor: ‘That deacon also has many good qualities, so why did I hate him so much?
Did I only see the bad points instead of the good points?’ And a very important realization came to him: he realized that his eyes had been covered with glasses of hatred for that deaconess. In our human relationships, when we hear something unpleasant from someone or something happens that we don't like, the relationship is broken, and at that moment, without realizing it, we are put on the glasses of hatred for that person. If you wear red glasses, no matter how white you see, everything looks red. Once the glasses of hatred are put on, you hate everything that person does. Is it so bad that they even say they hate you without giving you anything? But the problem was that he was afraid of the deaconess, so he didn't have the courage to personally deliver the 100 thank-you letters that he had written all night. So, early in the morning, while he was still sleeping, every house in America had a mailbox, and he put the thank you letter in it and ran away back home. If it were like normal people, when they found a letter in their mailbox, they would say, “Pastor! You sent a letter. I have received it well." Well, it could be said that it was a phone call, but even after 3 days, there was no contact.
The pastor started to be afraid, thinking, “Didn't the thank you letter make the deaconess more angry?” Then came Sunday. The deaconess showed up, and the deaconess and the senior pastor made eye contact, but this deaconess looked completely different and ran towards him with her arms raised high and said the following: “Is the pastor human? I was so mean to the pastor to get him kicked out, but he said he was 100 thankful. After reading the letter, I shed so many tears that I almost had an accident while driving.” So, it is said that those 100 letters of gratitude led to a dramatic reconciliation with the deaconess. So, through this incident, the pastor realized that thankfulness is very important, came to Korea, went from church to church, started the ‘100 Gratitude Movement’, and was used by God. In the Bible, 1 Timothy 4:4-5 says, “ …….nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” These are words that apply directly to our lives. In any case, if you receive it with thanksgiving, there is nothing to throw away.
It becomes difficult because the glasses of hatred are placed over one's eyes. We can realize that interpersonal relationships also require training to take off the glasses of hatred and approach them with thanksgiving with holiness through God, His Word, and prayer. You need this training to accept all the pain and suffering that comes to you in your daily life with thanksgiving. Psalm 34:1-3 says, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.” It's plain if you just read it.
However, Psalm Chapter 34 is ‘a poem written by David after he pretended to be crazy in front of King Abimelech and was kicked out.’ King Saul, the most powerful person in the country, threatened that he would hunt down David to the ends of the earth and kill him because he was unable to catch him. David ran here and there, but when he had no place to escape, he ran all the way to the enemy territory and barely survived because he was drooling like a madman. In this situation, all of David's pride was shattered. Isn't it a mystery how he wrote a poem overflowing with thanksgiving and praise while drooling in front of his enemies, desperately trying to save his life? When looking at how this was possible, the answer is found in verse 1. He decided, ‘I will praise (or bless) the LORD.’ He decided to be thankful in any situation and to praise myself no matter what he encounter.
So even in such a shameful and humiliating situation, thanksgiving emerged. Just as Psalm 44:8 says, “In God we have boasted all day long, And we will give thanks to Your name forever,” you too, like David, decide to be eternally thankful no matter the situation. However, thanksgiving should not just be a decision; it should be made into a habit. According to Eugene Peterson’s ‘Message Bible’, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.” This is the lifestyle that God desires for you in Christ Jesus.” The term ‘lifestyle’ means ‘This is the way God wants you.’ Thanksgiving is not one of the many virtues that Christians must have, but is the lifestyle that God wants Christians to have. We, with our sinful nature, have too many paths to complaining and dissatisfaction. Complaining comes so naturally and without even thinking about it.
That is not the way God wants Christians to live. If I am truly a true Christian, I must create a circuit of thanksgiving. We need to create a habitual thanksgiving circuit. The word we know well in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 is grammatically in the present tense in Greek, which means that thanksgiving is not a one-time thing, but continuous. Eating every day doesn't mean you don't have to eat today just because you ate yesterday. You must eat it every day. Moreover, breathing must be done dozens of times in a minute, let alone an hour a day. Just as nothing happens if you don't eat or breathe, thanksgiving has to be done that way. The verbs Paul uses here are plural. The reason these verbs are plural is that thanksgiving is not an individual and private thing, but a collective and public Christian duty. These three things are not guidelines given to individuals, but are given communally during worship. Thanksgiving is not something that only a few people of good faith do, but it means that all members of the church should do it as a whole at the church level. That's why he asked all the brothers to read this letter.
1 Thessalonians 5:27 says, “I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.” Therefore, dear believers, I hope you all live a life of thanksgiving. I hope that the members of our main church here, the members of the local sanctuaries, and the members of the online local sanctuaries will all become thankful people. 3. We must develop the mental muscle called ‘thanksgiving.’ There is a word called 'resilience', which refers to the 'mental strength' that allows you to jump higher by not sitting down when faced with various adversities, trials and failures, big or small, but rather using them as a stepping stone to leap forward. Our lives are always a series of trials and adversities, big and small. Life is a process of constantly overcoming the trials and adversities that come our way.
There are major trials such as illness, accidents, divorce, bankruptcy, death of a family member, and the risk of war, but small problems such as small mistakes and irritation that we experience in our daily lives are also among the trials that we must overcome. Some people encounter trials and adversity and once they fall, that is the end. There is no recovery. They can't get up again. However, even if some people fall due to trials and adversity, they quickly get back up like Ottogi. If you fall, get up again, if you fall, get up again. Which side are you on? A person with such strong ‘resilience of recovery’ means that his or her mental muscles have been developed to that extent. When the human body exercises a lot, it builds muscle. When young people exercise a lot, their biceps and triceps muscles become enormous. However, the muscles of the mind can also be developed. Some of you may say, “I was born weak-willed.” However, the truth is that humans are made to feel fear, anxiety, and worry because of their sinful nature.
Most humans are born with a weak mind. The important thing is how much you develop your mental muscles. A life of faith and church life is nothing else but the strengthening of the muscles of the mind. We build our physical muscles through exercise, and we build our mental muscles through Sunday worship services, Wednesday worship services, and Daniel night prayer meetings. When I was a student and teenager, I was also a very weak-hearted person. I couldn't express myself properly, I was disappointed by even the smallest things, and when someone pointed out or criticized me, I quickly became angry and got hurt. But now I don't get hurt by most things. For example, even if I hear something about a personal attack, I think about it a little and then quickly regain my composure. I don’t really worry about it. So, I have strong resilience. Some people cannot sleep at night when they hear criticism or suffer injustice, but I leave it to God and sleep well. God has trained the ‘muscles of my heart’ to be powerful and strong. However, when reading the Book of Acts, there is a person who has really strong mental muscles and great ‘elasticity of recovery.’
And this is Apostle Paul. In Acts 14:19 and below verses, the Apostle Paul went to Lystra and preached the gospel and was stoned to death. It says, “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.” However, if you look at Acts 14:20-21, it says, “But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. They preached the Gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch.” If an ordinary person were to be stoned to death, their entire body would be covered in blood, bruised, and their bones would be damaged, so even if they were lucky enough to survive, they would have to rest and receive treatment for several months to see whether their body would recover or not.
However, it is said that Apostle Paul immediately got up and went back to the city, preached the Gospel, and made many people disciples. Apostle Paul was truly a man with extremely strong ‘resilience’ and extremely strong ‘heart muscles.’ How can we strengthen our ‘mental muscles’ and have strong ‘resilience’? A person who has made academic contributions in this field is Professor Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist and Nobel Prize winner in economics. He said that two selves coexist in humans: the ‘experience self’ and the ‘memory self’ . The ‘experience self’ refers to the ‘me’ who feels the situation I am currently experiencing, and the ‘memory self’ refers to the ‘me’ who gives meaning to and interprets the events I experienced through the experience ego. When a person with high ‘resilience’ encounters adversity, he or she gives positive meaning to the adversity and turns it into an opportunity. Regarding events felt and experienced by the 'experience self', another self, the 'memory self', gives positive meaning to one's hardships and adversities, and it can be said that a person with the ability to interpret them positively is a person with high resilience. Our lives don't go the way we want. We always face new problems.
At this time, rather than being frustrated by the problem, you should use the problem as an opportunity to grow yourself. People with high resilience give positive meaning to past events experienced by their experiential self through their ‘memory self.’ So, they mobilize the human and material resources they have to look at the problem in a new way and create the best solution. Looking at Psalm Chapter 23, we can see how positive and healthy ‘memory self’ David has. Psalm Chapter 23 is based on David's experiences and feelings as a shepherd when he was a boy. At that time, being a shepherd was not a very good job. Moreover, although he had seven older brothers, David, the youngest, had to tend the sheep alone and with difficulty. Looking at it this way, David's childhood was not happy, and it can be evaluated as lonely, boring, depressed, forsaken, and difficult.
This is the feeling and experience of David’s ‘experienced self’ as a boy. However, David's other self, the 'memory self', reinterprets his experiences by giving positive meaning to his feelings and experiences, and that is Psalm Chapter 23. Psalm 23:1-6 says, [1] The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. [2] He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. [3] He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. [4] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. [5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. [6] Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. After graduating from college in my 20s, I became seriously ill and became so ill that I could not function as a human being. This is what my ‘experience self’ feels. However, if I had an unhealthy ‘memory self’, I would say that getting sick in my youth was a great loss, shame, and misfortune in my life. However, because I have a healthy 'memory self', when I was mired in illness when I was young, God came to me, met me, cured me of my illness, and gave me the mission of becoming a pastor.
I can say that it was a blessing and happiness for me. In this way, when the memory self positively interprets the experiences of the past years felt by the experiential self, the muscles of the mind are strengthened and ‘resilience’ becomes stronger. What kind of ‘memory self’ do you live with? In what way do you remember the pain and suffering that you have experienced over the years? Thanksgiving plays a central role in helping the ‘memory self’ positively interpret the experiences of the ‘experiential self.’ “It was difficult at the time, but I am thankful. Because of that, I met God, my faith grew, and I am achieving sanctification.
Now, I can see how great the Lord’s love is for me, and I live with the power of the Lord’s love every day.” If you can say, “I am so thankful that You have refined me through trials and pain, even though I used to waver and fall from time to time, and have now made me into a believer who cannot be swayed to the left or right,” then you have become a person with strong ‘heart muscles.’ I hope that through thanksgiving, you will increase your resilience and strengthen your ‘heart muscles.’ Psalm 50:23 says, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to the blameless I will show my salvation.” Conclusion The rose flower complained like this to its Creator. “God, why are you giving me such a hard time by giving me thorns?” God answered like this. “I never gave you thorns; rather, I gave you, who were thorns, roses.” There is a saying, ‘Life is interpretation.’ Looking at the thorn, I thought, “God, why did you give me thorns and make me live such a difficult life?
There are people who live such depressed lives.” “God, I thank you for loving someone like me who is like a thorn, curing my disease, giving me grace so I can spread the Word, and guiding me like a rose to become the senior pastor of Nairobi Manmin Church.” Instead of looking at the thorns, I looked at the roses and was thankful, and that made me smile and life became joyful and overflowing with happiness.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you too just as said in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” As it says, don’t worry about anything and become a thankful person. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will expand your circuit of thanksgiving, become a person who is thankful for this moment today, strengthen the muscles of your heart, and strengthen your ‘resilience of recovery’ to easily overcome any trials and adversity. - END -
