Gratitude | Pr. Julian

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Let's get into God's word today.

So we are in a team and a season, and

our season this year twenty twenty six as a church is.

Revival, right, revival? What is revival?

Revival is when something that is lifeless or a bit

down or call or a life that is really I

don't know, dormant right or even lack of life, something

that's dead right, and you want it to be revived.

Bring back the vibrancy, bring back the life, bring back

the spirit, bring back the fire.

That is revival.

And today I want to talk about how a real

life is a thankful life. Power revived life is a

thankful life. So the word for today is gratitude. Gratitude.

Turn to your neighbor and stay gratitude. Gratitude. What are

you thankful for today? What do you appreciate today? Before

I go into gratitude, let's a quick recap about what

revival is. Okay, So the last time I was preaching,

we have this theme of revival, and if you remember,

I have this statement which revival is the restoration of

God's manifest presence in his people, right. God revival is

the restoration of God's manifest presence in his people.

Right.

If you're a Christian here and you have received Jesus

as the Lord and Savior, then we know that God

said that he lives in us, right, and his manifest

presence is in us.

Right.

And if we really have this all powerful, living God

of the universe, created the world, saved us, living in us,

his presence with us, would we be revived? Right if

we know that, if we know that, oh man, I

have this wonderful Savior living in my heart, I would

live my life so much more uplifted, so much more, encouraged,

so much more, so much more joy and liberty.

Right. So that was what we learned previously.

And if you remember, if you remember, we went through

John chapter fourteen, verse twenty three, so it's not the slides,

but if you remember, this is what we spoke about.

John fourteen twenty three says this, if anyone loves me,

he will keep my word, and my father will love him,

and we will come to him and make our home

with him.

Right, if anyone.

Loves me, he will keep my word, and my father

will love him, and we will come and make our

home with him. So a lifestyle of revival if you

want to continue living in revival, living with the reality

that God lives in us, realizing that we are restored

and we have God's manifest presence with us. We need

to love God and keep his commandments. So that's what

we went through previously. Where God is Lord, where he

is enthron, where he is worshiped and love.

That is where he dwelts.

We sang the song earlier in habit Lord, I just

want you to I just want your presence. I want

your prejuice to be with me. All I want is you.

And how do we get God's presence is we need

to love God keep these commandments. All right, So that

was why you went through previously, and today we want

to look at A revived life is a thankful life.

A revived life is a thankful life. So we're gonna

talk about gratitude today. We're going to talk about thankfulness.

We're going to talk about how it's important to be

grateful for our life this morning, and that's a reflection

of what a life means to be revived. Okay, let

me start with a short story. I found this I

found this a diary of a dog and a cat

recently online and it was written by this lady called

Susan Gabriel. So I wantn't read that diary to you

this morning. We'll start with the diary of a dog.

You know the diary, right, So imagine if a dog

and if you have dogs here as pets.

Okay, a few of you.

Imagine a dog could write a diary and one day

he wakes up and writes the diary. This is what

it would look like, the dog's diary. AAM dog food

my favorite thing. Nine thirty am a car ride my

favorite thing. Nine forty am a walk in the park

my favorite thing. Ten thirty am. Got rapped and petted

my favorite thing. Twelve am bones my favorite thing. One

pm played in the yard my favorite thing. Three PM

whagged my tail my favorite thing. Five PM dinner my

favorite thing. Seven PM got to play ball my favorite thing.

Eight pm Wow, watch TV with the people my favorite thing.

Eleven PM slipping on the bit my favorite thing. That's

the dog's diary. The cat's diary, Day nine hundred and

eighty two of my captivit.

My captives continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat.

While the others inmates an eye of fed hash or

some dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the

rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order

to keep up my strength.

The only thing that.

Keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an

attempt to discuss them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today,

I decapitated a mouse and dropped this hitless body at

their feet. It happens if you have cats, you know,

all right. I had hoped this would strike fear in

their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they

merely made condescending comments about what a good little hunter

I am. There was some sort of assembly of their

accomplice tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the

duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises

and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was

due to the power of allergies. I must learn what

this means and how to use this to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in my attempt to assassinate

one of my tormentors by weaving around his legs as

he was walking.

I must try this again tomorrow. But at the top

of the stairs.

I'm convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.

The dog receive special privileges. He is regularly released and

seems to be more than willing to return. The bird

must be an informant. I observed him communicate with the

guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every movement.

My captors have arranged protecting custody for him, then elevated self,

so he's safe for now. The diary of a dog

versus the diary of a cat? What's the difference? Perspective?

They both have the same master.

Personality. How many cat owners here? I know? I know too.

To get cats and dogs, So you know, right, you

see the difference? A yeah, I mean it's a it's

a bit of a it's a story, right, But they

both have the same master.

They both probably went through the.

Same thing or the same day, but both have completely

different attitudes or perspective or a stand on what the

day was. To the dog, everything was my favorite thing.

I'm thankful the car ride, walking in the park, wagging

is still playing in the yard, playing ball.

Everything was my favorite thing. And dogs in general are

a bit like that.

They seem to be more grateful to be living in

the same house as us. Yeah, we had a dog

when I was growing up, so, uh, forgiving dogs are

were forgiving cats? I don't know, like we never had

cats before. Uh, I guess the all cats are the same.

But in general, cats have that that demur aura or

personality that feel like, yeah, maybe a bit more cool

and and I would say, maybe a bit less appreciative

for being in the house with us. What's the different,

same master, same day, different attitudes. So we're gonna talk

about gratitude today and our two key versus we'll go

to right now. One Corinthians eight, verse three. This is

the amplified version one Corinthians eight, verse three. But if

anyone loves God again, a revived life is someone that

is full of love for God. And you can't be

revived and not be thankful, right, So, like you know,

I'm if I'm a person that's full of life, I'm revived.

I love today, I love God. God has saved me.

And I walk into the room, I'm like, it's a

bad day. I hate my life. Those words won't come out.

It doesn't give right. If you are fully revived, you

full of life, I full of love. The expression and

outpouring of death is thankfulness and gratitude. So one Corinthians

a tree. But if anyone loves God amplified version, we

all feeled reverence. So we fear God. When he's in

the room, we honor him. We know that he's God

o our lives. We revere him obedience and gratitude, thankfulness.

He is known by him as his very own and

is greatly loved. Next verse some one hundred, some one

hundred verses four five. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, enter

his gates with thanksgiving, and he's cards with praise. Give

thanks to him and praise his name.

So the Word of God says that.

To be part of God's fullness, his manifest presence, we

enter in true thanksgiving. We enter in true gratitude. What

are some benefits of thanksgiving?

Right?

What are some benefits of thanksgiving? From some one hundred

we see that gratitude is the door to God's presence

and his fullness. Gratitude is the door to God's presence

and his fullness. One Thesalonians five six and eighteen eventualies

as well. Gratitude puts us in God's will, It says, rejoice, always, pray, continually,

give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will

for you in Christ.

Use that you want to be in God's will, we

give thanks. You also know that.

In the presence of God, that's freedom, that's liberty. So

thankfulness is that gateway into our liberty, into our freedom.

You know in Philippines for sixty seven, you know, be

anxious for nothing but everything in h by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving, make your requests be known to God. And

the peace of God, which is the passes understanding of

God our hearts in life. So if you want God's peace,

thanksgiving right. So some one hundred again says, we enter

his gates with thanksgiving, and and today we have this

object here. Do you know what this is? It is

a door stopper. But do you know we have a

door over there. Let's try this, hey, guys, enter his

with thanksgiving, right, enter his gates with thanksgiving.

It's okay. Then I kind of come in again.

So I have this small little rubber object here, which

is very common in some of our houses. And in

the hotel, right, and I want to go through the

door into God's presence, into his gates.

Hope no one walks in.

Now. I just put that rubber doorstopper under the door

trying to go into God's presence. Oh, I kind of

opened the door. It stuck, right, Okay, fire heads are

to take it away. This small little rubber piece of

doorstopper can inhabit or can be a deterrence to our thanksgiving.

Right.

So what I'm trying to say is that there may

be small things in our lives that can deter or

can put a stop to our thanksgiving, and need to

be careful about that. So what are the doorstoppers to gratitude?

What are the door stoppers to gratitude? Just like that

dog and cat. Like for the dog, every little thing

makes him happy, every little thing my favorite thing. But

for the cat, every little thing becomes an annoyance or

becomes a stopper to gratitude. So today we're going to

look at three potential doorstoppers that could stop our thankfulness.

Three potential doorstoppers that could stop our thankfulness. Doorstop on

number one, comparing comparison envy, coveteousness oneting what the other

person has, comparing my life to another person that can

creep up into our lives, and instead of being thankful

for where we are, we will start to compare, comparing

as a doorstopper to a thankful heart. We look at

one quick scripture in Matthew chapter twenty. Jesus told the

people a parable. It was about a parable is a story, right,

that represents what he wants to say. He said there

was a landowner or a person that owns land. He

owns a farm, and he went on to hire different

workers throughout the day. So he went out and saw

a bunch of workers there and in the morning, and

you know, as the day started he saw a few

of them looking working or just standing around, and got

them to what they work on on my land. I'll

pay you one denarius, which is around ten to forty

US dollars for the whole day, right, so maybe about

one hundred wing it. I'll pay you this amount of money.

You go and work. We have an agreement, okay. So

the workers went on to work, and then as the

day went on, at mid morning, and then at twelve pm,

and at three pm, and at five pm.

He went on recruiting more.

People to come and work in his farm on his land,

and he said, work for me. At the end of

the day, I will pay you what's due to you.

And then we're not We go on to read this scripture.

So at the end of the day, he started paying

the last worker first, right, started paying the worker that

started working at five pm. So the worker that started

being working at five pm only worked for a couple

of hours. And what we see is they got one

denarious as well. And we see in verse ten. So

when those when those came who were hired first early

in the day.

They expected to receive more.

Why because they saw that the workers that we only

worked for a couple of hours also got one denarious.

They started the comparing process. Already I'm looking at the

other person. Right, They expected to receive more, But each

one of them also received a denarious, which was the agreement.

When they received it, oh, they began to.

Grumble sounds familiar against the landowner. Those who are hired

last worked only one hour, they said, and you have

made them equal to us who have borne the burden

of the work and the heat of the day. This

is what the landowners said, but he answered one of them,

I am not being unfair to you. Friend, Friend, didn't

you agree to work for a denarius?

Take your pay and go?

I want to give the one who was hired last

the same as I gave you. Don't I have the

right to do what I want with my own money?

Or are you envious? Because I am generous? This is

the Bible? How do you feel about that reading that story?

Was it unfair? Yes, yes, it was unfair. If I

was a lawyer and they that that work, that five

PM came came to appoint me as a lawyer to

fight for him in court, I.

Would it seems unfair. But the fact is.

Life is unfair. The fact is life is unfair. Why

why are some of us born in Malaysia? Someone was

born in Australia, the land of milk and honey, where

is nice and cold? All day yesterday we were at

our kids sports activity and by like ten ten am

or nine to tms, like nobody was standing on the

field anymore. Already you only go to the field, you

have to run. Everyone was like at the shape right

because it's just so hot?

Why did you?

Why why am I here? God it's unfair. Why why

was I dealt this card?

God? Why was I given this? Parents?

My dad, who says is my father, doesn't treat me

like it's my father. He does the opposite of that.

You know, life is unfair. Life is unfair, and the

more we try to look at the other person and compare,

the more it will cause us grief and frustration. Right,

So here's the truth. According to the Bible, it doesn't

matter what the other person gets or what the other

person did. It doesn't matter what the other how many

hours the other person worked throughout the day, doesn't matter,

because the truth is we are stewards and we are

responsible for only our own lives. In Matthew chapter twenty five,

there's another story called the Parable of the Talents, where

each of the different servants received different amounts of talents.

So one got ten, one got five, one got one.

We can ask us, all, why did the what did

God only give one this one talent to this person

and give the other person ten? We can ask that question,

But the fact is the conclusion of the story is

those who were faithful with what they were responsible of

they received the same blessing. They received the exact same blessing,

Well done, good and faithful servants, Well done, good and

faithful serven. So in this life here on earth, we

should not let comparison creep into our lives. If we

allow comparison to creep into our lives, we are putting

that rubber stopper into the door, and it's making us

not be grateful. How do we take away the doorstopper

of comparing? We have contentment. We have contentment. God has

never planned for us to compare. Everyone is as steward

responsible for their own lives. Even your spouse is not

someone I should compare with. Right, even your partner and

she makes more money than me, you go to the

next slide, she makes more money than me. Why no,

take away the doorstopper of comparing and put on contentment

and we will be thankful. Contentment in the Bible is

an inward spiritual satisfaction that comes from trusting in God's

provision rather than external circumstances or environment. Right, let's look

at two scriptures one timately six, six to eight. But

godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing

into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

But if we have food and clothing. We will be

content with that. He rules thirteen five. Keep your lives

free from the love of money and be content with

what you have. Because God has never said, never will

I leave you, never will I forsake you. We are

to be content with God. We are to be content

with God. Nowadays is very easy to compare because we

have social media. Right, everyone else seems happier, fitter, more

successful than me.

But contentment says that my life is real.

I'm surrounded with people, I'm love, I'm I have a

God that says he will never leave me or forsake me,

and I'm on a journey. It's not a perfection. You

don't compare. We can't be be contented. Oh the other

person got doubt a better hand in life.

I don't know. The other person.

Has so many kids, such a big family, and I'm

here struggling. Our job is not to compare. Contentment says

that I'm grateful for what I have now and I

want to be faithful to develop what I have been given. Amen,

those stop, but number one is comparing? How do we

strike that off? Be contented?

Those stop? But number two, where's my doorstop? Ber I

don't know where is it. Those stop, But number two

is complaining.

So if you're not careful and we keep on comparing,

we might you might start to grumble and complain.

Right in the Bible, if you've seen the.

That, if you've seen our rad the story of the

Prince of Egypt, and God was the champion to save

the Israelites away from Egypt, right from slavery. So God

to Moses did a wonderful miracle of rescuing the whole

nation of Israel out of slavery.

But what proceeded after that was.

In Exodus sixteen, the whole community complained about hunger. Then

the people grumble about thirst. Then the people complain about

wanting meet instead of manner. Then the people wanted to

appoint a new leader. So what happened after this miraculous,

miraculous work of God rescuing the people all the signs

and wonders that they did to Pharaoh, Instead of gratefulness

and appreciation and thankfulness, they went on to start complaining.

And we know that the complaining heart caused delay in

the promise because they had to circle the desert for

another forty years, and in fact, it almost costed them

God's presence, because God said, you guys can go into

the promise without My presence.

Right.

So, complaining is the next doorstopper to thankfulness and appreciation.

And I want to say that often we complain because

we forget. We complain because we forget. We forget how

good God is. We forget how good our life is

actually now. We forget how good our parents are to us.

We forget of all the provision and the life that

we have right now. So to strike off the second

doorstopper of.

Complaining, we need to remember.

Remember some one hundred and three of us do says this,

Praise the Lord my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Praise the Lord my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

because you can very easily forget sometimes all that God

has done. First Psalm seventy seven, I will remember the

deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your miracles

of long ago. This is David speaking to himself right like,

I don't want to be complaining. I don't want to

be grumbling. I don't want to fall into the trap

of not being thankful. So I'm telling myself I will

remember the deeds of the Lord what he has done

for me. Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

I will consider all your works and meditate on all

your mighty deeds. Can I encury you today to meditate

on all of God's my t ds?

What does that mean? How do you meditate?

You keep thinking about what God has done first instead

of thinking about m Man, today's bad day. Woke up

and like kids really shouting downstairs. You're fighting over a balloon.

It really happened this morning. Yeah, man, today's gonna be

a bad day.

Going to the car part and it's like no parking.

They put us into this hole, so small and hot, grumbling.

What a bad day.

Yeah, I made myself right this this morning. Meditate on

all is my t dads. I told myself, Remember that

God uncertain my prayer last.

Week at work he did.

Remember that I am still able to drive and come

to church today.

Hey guys, you're here man, Thank God.

I'm pretty sure there are people who can't go to

church today.

Right.

Remember how God protected and healed my mom to cancer

two years ago. Remember that God protected and healed my

son's dislocated elbow a few days ago. Remember that I

have the Holy Spirit to ask for help. Remember that

Jesus died on the cross for me to take away

my sincensingness. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. Meditate on

all of God's my tds. And I was third and

last doorstopper. It's circumstance. The stopper number one was comparing.

How do we take that away? We can be contented.

Door stopper number two is complaining, grumbling. How do we

take that away? We remember God's faithfulness. Door stopper number

three is circumstance and circumstance or our situation can also

be a door stopper to thankfulness. And I want to

acknowledge first that this is not a small door stopper.

This is a big door stopper because out of the

three doorstoppers, this is the one where actually we cannot decide.

Sometimes we can't decide to get out of the circumstance.

We can't decide to get out of the situation. But

I want to tell you this morning that our circumstance

should not dictate the level of our gratitude. Our circumstance,

our situation, the situation of our life right now should

not dictate the level of our gratitude. I'm going to

say that again, the challenges you are going to right

now should not dictate the level of our thankfulness to God.

Because we should be thankful in every season. We should

be thankful in every situation. Let's look at one Thessalonians

five sixteen to eighteen. We've been going through this scripture

as well. Remember this is the two easiest versus to

remember members in the Bible.

Verse sixteen, rejoice always. That's one.

Verse twoards, verse seventeen pray continually. And then verse eighteen

staties give thanks in all circumstances, give thanks in all circumstances.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will

for you in Christ Jesus. Give thanks in all circumstances.

Circumstances should not dictate our gratitude. It's easier say than done.

It's easier say than done. Philippines for six to seven.

Don't worry about anything. Don't worry about anything in state,

pray about everything. So circumstances can cause us to worry

and have anxiety lives, but the Bible says this, don't

worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what

you need and thank Him for all he has done. Right,

So when there's circumstances that causes us anxiety and worry,

God tells us to thank him for all he has done.

Then you'll experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace. Will God your hearts and minds as you.

Live in Christ, Jesus, how do we take away the

doorstopper of circumstance?

We need to know God.

Knowing God knowing God removes the doorstopper of circumstance. Remember

that even in every circumstance, the Bible tells us to

be thankful. A few days ago, I was with with

my team in a company retreat and I had the

opportunity to have some good conversations with our team, and

one conversation really sticked out to me. It was with

a person in my team who's from another faith, from

the majority faith in Malaysia, and she began to tell

me about her daughter, who is I think now nine

or ten years old, but when they had her, when

she was very young, or she just she just came

to the world.

Right.

She told me she was in the hospital, baby came

out and the doctor then proceeded to tell her that

your daughter will likely be blind. She has an eye

condition that will likely cause blindness. And she told me.

She screamed in the hospital. She screamed, but I know

it's going to be a good story because I can

see that little sparkle in her eyes. And the next

thing she said, right was was what that really struck me.

She said, her doctor is a very strong Christian, right,

and the doctor told her that you can either see

this situation as a really bad circumstance or you can

look at it as an opportunity.

To see life a different way.

The thing that struck me was like the doctor had

the faith for her because the doctor knew God. And

and uh so when she said that, I'm like, oh man,

it's gonna be a good story.

I'm like, tell me, tell me what happened, right, So

they went on.

I mean, it was a very long process of many

years of different surgeries to replace the lens in her eyes.

But because she had this person, a Christian doctor in

the process that knew God, that brought hope in a

circumstance that seemed so bad, it changed everything.

It changed everything.

And I love that story because how do we take

away the doorstop of circumstance to our thanksgiving. We need

to know God. We need to know God Some one

hundred and seven, Verse one, Give thanks to the Lord

for he is good, his love and the us forever. Right,

So is going through this? If you're go into a

challenging situation, and I know many of us are, how

do we continue to be filled with gratitude and thankfulness? Is?

We need to know God. We need to know who

he is. We need to know that she is good.

We need to know that she's love and yours forever.

If we think the opposite, oh man, it's going to

be bad. Why did God put me into this situation?

Why did does he one to make me suffer? That

is not how we be thankful. If circumstances blocking our

thankfulness and we want to have gratitude, I'm telling you

this morning that she is good, that she's love and

yours forever. No, He loves us so much. Know that

God really wants the best for us. God really wants

the best for us, even if the situation doesn't seem

like it. Know that she wants us to grow and mature.

Know that he wants to provide for us. Know that

God wants to protect us. Know that he wants to

heal us. Know that there is not a single ill

intention God has against us. Know that there is not

a single even the smallest bit of ill intention for

our lives.

That is not truth.

If you have the smallest thought that I'm here because

God is trying to punish me, that it's not truth.

That is not truth. God wants the best for us.

Know that He gave his only son to die for us.

How do we think be thankful truth different difficult circumstances.

We need to know God.

So my final statement is this, circumstances do not reflect

God's love for us. Circumstances, your situation, whether it's good

or whether it's bad, it does not reflect God's love

for you.

God loves you despite the circumstance.

Listen to this uh this interview recently on the g

o I Game of Impossible podcasts with Idris and Lyon Jalla,

and they were speaking to this person who's not a

business person. She was She is from a child cancer

care and GEO non government, non government organization. Her name

is jody' sim and she does she does something so

amazing like she she has a halfway home in Sarawak

to house children who live very far away from hospitals

so they can get cancer treatment. Right, she has this

house and and the thing with her job or her

role is she often sees grief. She often sees difficulty

because one of the worst things in life is like

seeing children suffer, right, especially to cancer. And its Java

answer this question like, how do you process grief?

You see so much grief every day. You see so much.

Grief every day, and the different people they're higher into

the angio also needs to be able to handle these

kind of difficult situations. She was very honest the answer.

She said, many times she felt like giving up because

she actually can decide to get out of the situation. Right,

She can decide, I can't take this anymore, I'm not

going to do this, I'm not gonna be part of

this organization. Do something else, not have so much grief.

But the children that go through that, they can't decide.

She said that the children that go through this very

difficult process of treatment, they cannot decide.

They have to go through that very difficult circumstance.

But the one thing she said which stood out to

me again was she said the word appreciation. How do

I go through life? How do I go through my

job that has so much grief? I have appreciation. I'm

thankful that I got to meet this child and that

made such an impact on my life. I'm thankful that

I got to meet the different families, the moms and

the dads. So this morning, I want to encourage us that, indeed,

I know, situations or circumstances, sometimes something we cannot decide

to get out of.

It's difficult, and.

Yeah, the Word of God says in one Thessalonians five

sixteen to eighteen, rejoice, always pray, continually give thanks in

all circumstances. And we can only do this if we

know how much God loves us that even in those situations,

God is God, God is King. God knows he will

be my provider, he will be my healer. Therefore, circumstances

do not reflect God's love for us. He loves us.

But our gratitude reflects our love for God.

Our gratitude.

Reflects our love for God. How thankful we are, how

appreciative we are, that's a reflection of our love for God.

So this morning I want to encourage all of us

that Indeed, we have a good God. Indeed, we have

a God that loves us in every situation. And I

want to encourage all of us that He sees everything.

He knows the number of hairs on our heads, he

knows every struggle we go through, He knows the difficulties

that we face, and she loves us so much.

And our type of faith today is to have gratitude

towards you.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as church org. We

are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that

this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God, bless