Bishop David Oyedepo at 1st Service, Faith Tabernacle
*2 rooms for the Church Office; 3 rooms for the family; one toilet for the entire Church.
*We were busy thanking God.
*You drive in my house to go from one place to another.
*I better tell you this, the Church didn’t build it. Not one dime of this Church money is in it.
Father, speak to all of us today in a very unique way. Let no one return without an encounter with you, in Jesus precious name. You are blessed.
We have been looking at ‘Understanding the Wonders of Thanksgiving’ and we will be concluding that series today.
-But your thanksgiving is just beginning.
-It shall remain your lifelong addiction.
-No day will pass in your life again without saying Thank You Jesus.
-You will not only say it, you will mean it and God will take over your issues.
Remember that Prophetic Alert: Turn your issues to Thanksgiving and I will turn them into Testimonies.
You just turn them to thanksgiving, leave Me (God) to turn them into testimonies. Everything you genuinely thank God for, He turns them to testimonies. The ones that are testimonies before, He multiplies the testimonies and He goes ahead to perfect the testimonies.
Don’t ever let that leave you for life in the name of Jesus.
WHAT ARE WE THANKING GOD FOR?
We recognise that God is the Source of every blessing that we have experienced in life.
A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from above (John 3:27). Every blessing you and I may have experienced in life, God is the Source of them all (1 Corinthians 4:7).
Behind every good thing in our lives is God and so we must constantly return with thanksgiving to Him for His marvellous works in our lives. Paul the great said, “I am what I am by the grace of God” and that applies to you and me. No one can be any more than the grace of God makes him. When you appreciate His grace, He turns it to great grace and so you are just going up.
-You will never come down again in Jesus name.
1. In anticipation of perfection of all that concerns us.
We are thanking God in anticipation of the perfection of all things that concern us.
Psalm 138:8 – The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me..
The Lord has a program to perfect all that concerns you, so when you give Him thanks, He moves you from Good to Better and from Better to Perfect.
Romans 12:2
It’s all in phases. You thank God for good, it becomes better.
You thank God for better, it becomes perfect and what a joy, today is our Next Levels Banquet. You don’t change levels without thanksgiving. Nobody changes level without thanksgiving, so make your choice. No one changes level without thanksgiving.
You thank God for one room, it becomes 2 rooms.
You thank Him for two rooms, it becomes a flat.
You thank Him for a flat, it becomes a duplex.
You thank Him for a duplex, it’s on the way to becoming an estate.
Nobody changes level without genuine thanksgiving.
You don’t thank God for passing through school successfully, you are not close to getting a job. You thank God first to be a candidate for a job before the job is released.
You thank God for that job that doesn’t look like a job, before you get another one. Church Gist. You thank Him again for that one before He shows up again and promotes you.
Everything about you and me responds to thanksgiving as far as change of level is concerned. Very simple, it’s a missing point. People cry to God every day: Every day, “Oh God, oh God”
He says: What is wrong with you?
Let the people praise thee O God, then shall the earth yield her increase and God shall bless us
Psalm 67:6-7
You can’t access the fearful realm of His blessings without a heart of gratitude and praise unto God. It applies to all areas of life.
My prayer is that no one will miss it again.
We saw the story of the one leper that returned, “he was moved from cleansing to wholeness.”
Luke 17:15-19
You are made whole – Luke 17:19
All of them were cleansed: the leprosy thing is gone, the skin is no longer itching, but the hands were still like that, contours on the face; but after he returned with thanksgiving, the fingers came out, the cheeks came back, dignity restored. At the instance of thanksgiving.
Luke 17:12-19
It is the same way it goes. Our Thanklessness is responsible for our stagnation in most of the cases. We are just at the same spot because we never give God thanks.
“You mean I made only 10 Naira” – well, if you made nothing, what can you do?
“Father, I thank You for this bountiful blessing today” – He says, “What!” Then tomorrow, you make 100 Naira from your business.
“O Lord, I am very, very grateful for all You have done for me” – What? You are singing that hard, okay, make a thousand.
Then you start celebrating Him – Okay, ten thousand.
Like a joke! Mockers are mocking, God is busy making you. You are just changing levels. If you are not thankful, you will be at the same spot for a long time until you change gear and understand that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts.
-Somebody’s story is changing.
I saw this Church grew from the beginning: from 4, I saw it grew to 8, grew to 10, to 12, to 20. The thanksgiving addiction has been there all along and has not stopped growing forever. My God.
-That is what will happen to your business when you become addicted to a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Everything will keep changing level. If that’s you, let me hear your loudest Amen.
We are not just thanking God for things, we should thank Him for what He has done. We thank Him for what we want to see Him do by thanking Him when things are not happening.
He said, “in everything”: in season and out of season. Give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
That’s the will of God, then you obtain the promise in return. You give thanks in everything. Thank You Jesus.
-Somebody’s story is changing.
The interesting thing is this, God will always start us with the good, as we give thanks, He keeps adding to it. They began to praise Him, He began to add to the Church daily: it was getting better and better (Acts 2:47). It is ordained to be unto the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18). Thanksgiving is moving you towards the perfect day! Towards the perfect! It begins with good, then it turns better by adding to it and adding to it and adding to it, then you arrive at the perfect stage.
-You’ll get there. Let me hear your loudest Amen.
You don’t thank God for your jalopy, you get back on foot. But you thank God for your bicycle, you will soon ride a new car. Can I hear your Amen? It is all in your hand.
I told you, someone said to me, “Brother David, I learnt you got a car”
I said: Yes, God blessed me with a fantastic car.
“Did I hear it is Volkswagen Beetle”
I said: Yes
And he did like this (demonstrates with his hand).
But from that Beetle, we’ve been flying in the air since 1996.
You don’t want to be grounded, give thanks for where you are. Then you have committed God to change your level.
I wasn’t saying that to impress nobody. It’s in my heart. ‘Who dash monkey banana?’
How many of my age group, born the same day are dead?
Some went to school, never came out! Or disappeared to somewhere else.
Some are under the bridge.
Who am I that I should be so favoured? I mean my God.
We once were under a Grass Cathedral in this Church, in the city of Kaduna. You know Church built with Zana, but we would dance like mad people, see where we are today. I don’t know of anywhere in the world where a 100,000-seat sanctuary in being built. I don’t know of anywhere in the world but that’s what you are doing and you are also relaxed. No sweat, no struggle.
You don’t thank God for where you are, you are not changing level.
I think we have concluded.
One thing remaining that is missing in many people’s life today is lack of genuine thanksgiving.
Always murmuring, always complaining: nothing is working but your heart is beating! My God
Is there anyone here whose heart is not beating? And yet you say, “nothing is working”
You have a bed where you are going to sleep on tonight; ‘Nothing is working!’
You have where you are going tomorrow to work; ‘Nothing is working!’ My God.
You are married; ‘Nothing is working!’
You have children; ‘Nothing is working!’ My God.
Don’t get God angry with you. He has over favoured you, only that you don’t know.
He said, “let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6). Come on, give the Lord praise.
Can I have you say from the depth of your heart, “God you have over favoured me. You mean I am still here today. I am still on ground today. I am still in the Church today! Lord, you have over favoured me.”
Give the Lord a big hand of praise.
That’s why thanksgiving should become your addiction. He owns everything in His hands.
BENEFITS OF THANKSGIVING.
Includes guaranteed speedy answers to prayers. Maybe you don’t know that until you give thanks, your prayers are never heard. Until they are heard, your answers are not in view.
Philippians 4:6
He said, “be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
He doesn’t know what you are saying, until you say, ‘Thank You Jesus.’ Thank You is the concluding digit for your telephone prayer line to ring in Heaven; no matter how hard you try, you have 11 digits here in your local calls, if you make 10 without the last one, it won’t go.
So God is not hearing all the shouting you are making. God is not hearing. He said, “make your requests known…” He won’t know it until thanksgiving is put on a seal. Thanksgiving is the last digit on your prayer telephone number. It won’t ring in Heaven Sir, until thanksgiving is there. So you can now see many Prayer Warriors who are weary, they are worn out Sir. There are prayer warriors that are worn out. They are worn out because there is no thanksgiving. Nothing but every day:
“God see. See!! See where I am! I have been in this Church forever. See where I am! Nothing is working! Nothing.”
“See my cloth, see my shoe.”
If God is at fault, who gave you cloth? There are those who don’t know whether they are wearing cloth or not because they are off. They don’t know the difference at all. They just wonder why you are wearing rags and they are naked.
You better settle down. Until you understand this mystery, life can be miserable. Church Gist. Thanksgiving is what makes life honourable.
He that honours Me, I will honour (1 Samuel 2:30).
Every day, God is at fault! That’s why you are where you are
Every day!
God is ever at fault: you will be defending yourself all the time as if you are going to take Him to court.
“See, even people I brought to Church. See me now!” – it’s your attitude that has kept you in that spot
Nothing has gone down in my life ooo. One thing has not gone down. I am 52 years in the faith, one thing has not gone down. I am 40 years plus in Ministry, one thing has not gone down.
You better ask yourself why things are going down. Ask yourself why things are going down.
You join them in town, “How are things?”
Response: Well, the country, COVID-19, Economy saga.
You will just be talking like a garage man. A child of God?
Are things working? Yes, everything is working
Okay, sorry. He carries his trouble to somewhere else, but you join him to say “things are not working, in this country, can anything happen?”
Everything is happening for us in this country.
For this Church, everything is happening. There is nothing from outside here. Nothing from our Church is outside. My God.
What’s your problem? Are you the owner of COVID-19? What’s your problem?
Somebody said, “the school where I was teaching closed down because of COVID-19.”
I said, “other schools have started in the midst of COVID-19”, so there is a problem there.
Covenant (University) is working, Faith Academy is working, KHMS is working. COVID-19 has zero impact.
A life of thanksgiving never goes backward. Everybody addicted to thanksgiving never goes down.
So check your life Sir.
I’ve said all I need to say. Look, if you are not thankful, you will be empty, make your choice.
As I thanked God for Beetle, He turned it to a Plane.
What’s your problem?
We thanked God for a Grass Cathedral, my friend, He turned it into a Tabernacle of renown. My God.
We lived in the office, my family: Church office. 2 rooms, Office; 3 rooms for the family; one toilet for the entire Church. We were busy thanking God.
You drive in my house now to go from one place to another.
I better tell you this, the Church didn’t build it. Not one dime of this Church money is in it. My God.
You are not thanking God, that’s why your 3 rooms is reduced to 2 and from 2 to 1; from 1 you say, you are going to the village. Because you are not thankful.
You are not thankful.
We didn’t have a Church that had a floor. No floor. Any time it rained, water will be flowing in the Church but we were having a nice time. We even had guests from US, they were all there to see the water of life. My God.
Thank You Jesus.
God wants to change your story, allow Him to. Will you allow Him to?
He said, “one thing thou lackest.”
I know you are a Fasting Warrior, you are a Prayer Warrior, but you better become an addicted thanksgiving and things will keep changing for better in your life.
-You will never get stranded any more in life.
Give the Lord praise.
2. With thanksgiving we keep scaling new heights. In Psalm chapter 92 verse 1 and 2; then verse 12.
“He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon” – scaling new heights. The tallest of trees on the earth, the cedar in Lebanon.
You keep new heights with thanksgiving. You never hang around the same spot for any length of time. You keep scaling new heights. New heights!! Growing up like the Cedar in Lebanon. Growing from phase to phase. My God! That is the way it works.
3. Very importantly, thanksgiving secures God’s blessing in our lives.
It secures God’s blessings, it preserves it.
“Give glory to my name or I will curse your blessings. I have cursed them already because you didn’t lay it to heart” – Malachi 2:2
We lay it to heart to give glory to His name – Malachi 2:1-3
It’s a commandment (Malachi 2:1).
“I will spread dung upon your faces” – shame and reproach (Malachi 2:3).
Say with me, “God forbid.”
Thanksgiving preserves the blessings. There are temporal blessings, it is ingratitude that makes those blessings temporal. They are designed to be eternal. Whatsoever the Lord doeth is designed to be forever but without thanksgiving they are reverted (Ecclesiastes 3:14).
-May God’s blessings not be reverted in your life.
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