Today's Topic: The Grateful Person

In our time, things were not sold off shelves. When buying something, the salesperson would weigh it for you. Items were behind the counter. There was a salesperson who sold things exceptionally well. People enjoyed buying from her. Later, some scholars studied and observed her. They found that she never grabbed a large amount and subtracted from the scale. Instead, she always added to it. Actually, the amount bought was the same. Everything weighed was the same. But people preferred the feeling of adding, not subtracting. This revealed a person's nature. The nature is that people like continuous addition.

When we carefully observe this world, we find that some people gain more, while others gain less. Some have blessings, while others receive curses. This is true even among Christians. Some Christians receive many blessings. The same is true for churches. Some gain much, while others gain little.

I pondered, researched, and observed this. I hoped to understand the mystery. Of course, if we knew how to gain more, we would gain more. As a result, I discovered a secret! Grateful people gain more. Ungrateful people, even what they have will be taken away. Give to those who have. The heart of man is truly key! The Bible also says that the effects of our lives come from the heart. Whether our heart is a grateful heart, an ordinary heart, or an ungrateful heart, determines the effects of our lives.

A friend told me, Pastor Liu, birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural laws. I pondered this for a while and didn't speak. I wondered if this meant we should helplessly accept reality?

A girl was studying in Singapore. Three years ago, her father died of cancer, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. A few months ago, her mother was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia and hospitalized. She had to return to take care of her mother. What kind of life is this! The day before yesterday, someone I knew who had cancer died. Sister YX's colleague also had cancer and died within a month of being diagnosed with lung cancer.

I asked myself, can such tragedies be avoided? How do people end up like this? I am not the kind of person who helplessly accepts reality. I hope for a better way of life! In fact, more than twenty years ago, when I was at my wit's end, I hoped for a better way of life. I didn't want to helplessly accept what was happening. As a result, I sought God! Seeking God seems like superstition. But there is truly a God in this world. Knowing God and living according to His word makes all the difference! I am so grateful that although I cannot prove it to you, if I had followed my own path, the tragedy would be mine today. I am so grateful that I came to know God and know that in Him there is nothing but grace!

Today, if you are still living according to your own ideas, I want to tell you, don't think that the tragedies that befell them won't happen to you! When it happens, it will be too late. Don't helplessly accept the so-called natural laws! - Start seeking a better way of life!

Brothers and sisters, do not be ignorant. Our choices are closely related to what we receive! Your destiny is the result of your own choices! You reap what you sow! We choose how to live, and we live out the consequences.

If we have already received much grace, experienced God's wonders, and experienced God's blessings, we should receive even more! Do not be ignorant, who does not want to receive more? God has prepared exceedingly abundant grace for us! We have only received a little.

Making a grateful person is my choice! I thank God, I thank God in everything! No matter what happens, I thank God! (All the way, it is all grace)

Because for the grateful person, God gives more, and for the ungrateful person, even what he has will be taken away and given to those who have!

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— Eph 2:9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

The focus of this passage – everything is God's grace!

The Christian faith is a faith of grace! When we receive grace, did we do anything for God? No! When our sicknesses are healed, did we do anything for God? No! We simply accept! When we are rescued from disaster, what did we do for God? Nothing!

We are saved by grace through faith. We simply draw upon God's grace by faith!

When I received grace, what did I do? I did nothing. Then how did I receive it? Because God loves me, when I was still a sinner, living in a curse, God...

I was originally dead, a person sentenced to death, now I can live, grace

What I cannot prove is what would happen if I did not believe in the Lord. We only have one path, either to be blessed or to be cursed.

But I am very clear in my heart that if it were not for the Lord Jesus bearing my curse, I would be living in a curse. Now I am alive, now I am blessed, all is grace! All is given to me by God! This is not what I deserve. I was originally living in a curse, now it is all because God gave Jesus Christ, incarnated, died for my curse, resurrected for me, and gave the Holy Spirit.

The foundation is grace plus faith

Rick Joyner's The Final Quest

Can gain more – climb higher! The higher the more!

Pastor Kalandais book There's More

Higher standards

Someone fell and lost grace. That is forgetting that grace is the foundation! It's not what we did, but freely received!

Outside of grace, fighting with the devil cannot be victorious!

People will lose God's grace – based on works

People who receive grace forget that it is grace and lose grace! King Saul is a classic example of forgetting grace! As a result, he was tormented by the devil throughout his life, living in pain, and dying in pain!

King Saul – why did he get the throne – God gave it to him freely. Originally he was not a king. Originally, he was looking for a donkey.

But later he forgot and tried hard to keep his throne. As a result, he lost grace and became a curse.

Once a person does not know that what we receive is freely received, they will lose God's grace.

There is a passage in The Final Quest – fighting in the devil's territory cannot be victorious

Don't think that we can do something to gain God's grace. Saul, was miserable because he wanted to do something himself!

Forget grace, forget that what we receive today is not what we deserve. You won't be entangled!

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Don't hold on tightly for yourself. You can't hold on! Still be a grateful person, and there will be more!

Why do people criticize and judge – because they are based on works and do not know that it is God's doing. Once you feel that God is not working, and I have to do something, you will be cursed. If you feel that the method is wrong – you criticize, and the result is criticism and judgment – based on works – the result is a curse

Keep our eyes on the grace we have already received

What our eyes see is what we get. If we see grace, we get grace. If we see bad things, we will criticize and judge, and what we get is bad.

For patients with serious illnesses, what is difficult to deal with is their vision! People's thoughts are very deep!

We listen to sermons translated into English: Some people who do not understand can listen in Mandarin. Later, someone told me that they didn't understand. I asked, what part don't you understand? She said she didn't understand English. You see, there are two types of people: one who sees what they have received, and one who sees what they have not received.

If a husband and wife live together and see what they have received, it is a happy marriage. If they see what they cannot get, it is an unhappy marriage.

If we are grateful for everything and know that everything is received – a happy life

What you see is all yours. This is why God took Abraham outdoors and told him to look in the four directions, saying, All that you see is yours! Abraham developed a good habit, often looking at the stars in the sky with eyes of faith! Counting the grace that God has given him, and then he received it!

When children take exams, some parents see that their children have been admitted to university, but some parents say, why isn't it Peking University?

Looking at the Israelites leaving Egypt, complaining in the wilderness, experiencing God's power, not understanding, after serving, I found that there are really many ungrateful people! The problem with people is trusting themselves. Relying on yourself is a very strict logical system. How you think, how reasonable. But the result is not good!

Change our perspective!

The whole thing is bad, not that there is nothing good, but that there is something wrong with our hearts! At any time, we will see bad things!

Grace is given by God, not what we deserve

Grace is not the wages of labor! Wages are not grace. Grace is freely received. All given by God!

If it comes freely, losing it is like not losing it at all! If we can see everything as grace, we won't be frantic when we lose it! If it wasn't mine to begin with, losing it doesn't mean losing anything. This is the perspective of a spiritual person. In the end, they gain even more! That's the person who is grateful!

An ungrateful person feels that what they gain is what they deserve, and what they lose is what they shouldn't have lost. As a result, they lose even more. God dislikes such people! A grateful person is thankful for what they gain, which they didn't deserve, and is thankful for what they lose, which never belonged to them anyway! As a result, they gain even more!

King David – when he killed Goliath, he could have become Saul's son-in-law, but Saul gave his eldest daughter to someone else. David didn't feel he lost anything because it wasn't his to begin with. Later, Saul wanted to give his second daughter, Michal, to David in marriage. David said, This is no small matter. Do you think it's a small thing to be the king's son-in-law? He meant that his family was so humble, how could he be the king's son-in-law! Saul wanted to use the Philistines to kill David, so he told David to bring 100 Philistine foreskins in order to marry Michal. As a result, David actually killed 200 Philistines! Later, his superior pursued him – David called himself a dog, a flea! I was originally a dog, a dead man, unworthy of any grace. But now that I have received it, what is there to lose?

David knew he was nothing to begin with, let alone losing anything! That is why God made David the king of Israel, saying, I have found a man after my own heart!

When King David was overthrown by his son Absalom and driven from the throne, what did he say? This throne was not mine to begin with. My ability to be king was a grace that fell from heaven. If you want to take it, then take it. May God have mercy on this old dog. When King Saul was chasing me, I was just a puppy, and now I am just an old dog. May God have mercy on me!

What have you lost? Everything comes from God. Which of them is mine? I came naked, and I will go naked. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. What does it matter if it's gone?

I had nothing to begin with, so I am grateful for what I have now!

Why seek out so many unhappy things? As if some things were originally yours, and you lost them?

I was originally a worthless person, just a sinner, originally destined to die, to perish, to encounter disasters, to suffer severe and prolonged illnesses, and great and strange calamities – but God has spared me from these disasters! What qualifications do I have to be ungrateful! God has spared me from the penalty of death. Why can't I forgive others for what they owe me? I originally owed a debt I couldn't repay, but God forgave it all. What qualifications do I have to judge others? What qualifications do I have to count what others owe me!

Foolish people, wake up! Everything is a grace from God! Do you want more grace? - Learn to be grateful! Learn to see what you have already received! Learn to offer what you have to God!

Rick Joyner – climbing that mountain – the foundation is salvation, the grace of redemption. When you fall from grace, you lose God's favor.

Without God's grace, how can you be happy? How can you not be in pain?

Criticism and judgment – lose God's grace.

What do you have that you did not receive? If everything is received, everything is gained, what is there to fuss about?

The duty to be fulfilled – is none other than enjoying what God has given.

Hold on tightly to grace

Rick – born without arms, without legs, only a short leg. Nick, a man without limbs from Life Without Limbs, wrote a book called Life Without Limits. How can a person without limbs live? He can live by grace, and as a result, he becomes a person without limits! Nick can hold on to grace, or he can choose to complain. Those who hold on to grace are grateful for what they already have!

He relies on faith to draw on God's grace throughout his life! As a result, he has become a miracle of this generation!

Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

A newcomer to the church told me, I have been educated for so many years, I can't change it all at once. - The reason is that he feels it is reasonable. What is in accordance with human reason is of no use. His own wife had the same thoughts as him before, abandoning God. Later, she contracted an incurable disease, and then she began to believe in the Lord. God had mercy on her again and healed her, and now she is walking on the path of believing in the Lord and being blessed.

My original appearance: is that of a dead man!

Today is God's grace.

Faith-based – all grace, behavior-based – criticism and judgment.

After we receive grace, what happens? Is that it? No, there is more!

There is more!

Serving is grace.

My life was not mine to begin with. Isn't it only right that I offer it to God?

Serving is grace! Serving is glory! The effects of serving follow us.

Those who are given by God are increasingly grateful, and those who are critical are increasingly fewer.

Because I want to gain more, therefore because of faith, we serve! Service itself is grace!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; Rom 5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

The founder of Good TV, Brother Tseng Kuo-sheng of Taipei Ling Liang Church, his wife had cancer, was suffering at home, the company was in financial trouble, the performance was poor, all around him was crisis, and he prayed in the office for three hours after work. - Draw grace in service, God's grace is sufficient for us!

There was a brother who went out in the morning and came back in the evening, and his roommate jumped off the building. There was a sister who originally had depression, but later was healed. Her classmate jumped off the building because of work problems. Cutting her wrists and jumping off the building. - Originally, I was the one who was going to jump off the building. Today, God saved me and delivered me from death. Shouldn't I be grateful?

Nothing can stop us from serving God, because today we are alive, although there are all kinds of suffering, but it is all grace! That is the grace of becoming experienced! Rejoice in the hope that more of God's grace will come upon us!

Isaiah 43:1-2, let us read it together once: But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. This is not simple. Those who do not believe in God do not know that there are such words. After we believe in Jesus and accept God's word, we can see that in this letter that God has given us, there are very considerable promises.

I know that passing through water and fire is all grace, and God's grace will be manifested more and more among us! The people of the world are gone after passing through water and fire, but we pass through water and fire with a grateful heart and see great grace! Water and fire cannot do anything to us, because we have God's seal on us!

Conclusion: Even if we die, we must be grateful people!

There are so many things to be grateful for! I don't know how much grace I have received, but I don't know it. As long as I live, I am grateful! Psalm 91:5-7, let us read it aloud together once: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

With a grateful heart, being a grateful person, this word will be fulfilled in you!

What our generation needs most is such protection! Amen!

This is what is said to you, it is said to you personally. Read this passage aloud once every day, meditate on it in your heart, and then start your day. We can feel how much strength and ability this passage will become for us. This passage, I often recite in my heart, and live with it. The Lord's staff will guide and lead me. As long as you know that the Lord is with you, and pray and declare in this way: The Lord's staff and the Lord's rod lead me. The staff is used to open the way, and the rod is used to drive away wild beasts. The staff refers to leading the way, and the rod refers to the power of salvation.