A Thankful Heart Dec 1st, 2024.
Today is the first day of Dec,2024. We are winding up the year 2024. Glory to God.
This year started with the prophetic night, this hall was so packed, ‘’God declared that this was the year of establishment’ ’Then a week after the prophetic night, we went into fasting for one week, we met every evening to pray and call on God.
Our theme during the prayer and fasting 2024 was: Ezra 8:21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
I talk and visit with so many of you, I have heard many testimonies. I have seen what God is doing in the church. God has been gracious to us brethren. Just this week we had two families buy their second home, beautiful homes.
The temptation to give yourself all the credits increases as you increase in greatness. You may feel the church has grown because you are a great person, your family is great because you are great-you forget how desperate you were before God when things were not in place.
Have you read Hosea 4:7 "The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me?"
The other danger is human want of more-it denies you the wisdom to reflect on what you already have. You focus on what you do not have and forget to be thankful for what you already have. The children of Israel focused so much on the moment of hunger and forgot the actions of a great God.
I once taught about keys to greatness, and I said having a thankful heart is a key to greatness.
“Even when life may be difficult, we should thank God for all He does for us—which we do not deserve.”
“Grumbling and gratitude are, for the child of God, in conflict. Be grateful and you won’t grumble. Grumble and you won’t be grateful.” Billy Graham
“A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord.
“When life is hard it’s easy to focus only on the bad things and forget all about the good things God has given us. But God has blessed every one of us in ways we often overlook.”
“Most of all, God has blessed us by giving us the privilege of knowing Him and walking with Him every day. He did this by sending His Son into the world to die for our sins.”
“No matter what you might be going through right now, God has blessed you far more than you probably imagine—not just with material goods, but with family, with freedom and with the ability to enjoy His gifts.”
“Everything we have comes from God; even if we worked for it or earned it, He still gave us the ability and the opportunity to do it.” James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.
“Grief’s darkness fades in the sunlight of thanksgiving.” Rev. Billy Graham.
WHEN YOU GIVE THANKS
When God calls us to give thanks,
1 Chronicles 16:8-9 Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!
· Give thanks to God. [Focus your gratitude to God]
· Call his name/declare that it is the Lord who has done this.
· Make his deeds known among the people // Do not shy from declaring the workings of God.
· Sing to him, sing psalms. // Repeat what God has done!!
· Talk of all his wonderful works.
· Thanksgiving is the recognition of dependence on God.
Psalms 9:1-2 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Thanksgiving is a powerful tool in the realm of men and of the spirit.
The backing of the Almighty determines how Men rise and reign in the Kingdom of God.
One of the greatest strengths of King David is his Lavished show of thanksgiving in his heart. In almost Half of the psalms, David is shouting his gratitude to the lord for his mighty hand upon his life.
when you carefully look at his background, he had shortcomings and he was a sinner like some of you. But he knew how to get to the very presence of God through praise and thanksgiving.
· Thanksgiving is a very powerful tool in the realm of men and of the spirit.
· The altitude of thanksgiving is a subscription for the next level in the realm of God.
· Pay attention to those people who always complains, they normally end the year in complaints.
· Thank God for what he has done though it might seem small in the eyes of men.
· The heart of gratitude and thanksgiving is the secret of his presence in our midst.
THANKSGIVING PREPARES THE WAY TO HIS PRESENCE.
Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
Just focus on thanking him.
Do not be too focused on what you need.
Thank him for what He has done.
Just thank him in the service, even before you ask for anything. Just thank him.
[JESUS] John 11:41-42 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Jesus had not prayed for Lazarus yet, but he was thanking God in advance.
But he knew the keys to opening the gates of heaven-Thanksgiving.
The worldly people know how to enter the hearts of kings through thanksgiving/praise. When they meet presidents, they don't just present their needs, they tell them how they appreciate their works and the great work he is doing then in that moment of happiness, they present their needs.
Thank God for the people in your life.
Your pastor, his family
Your church, the families in the church.
Your family.
THANKSGIVING/Praise preceEds victory
The road of thanksgiving is a sure way to victory in Christ.
2 Chronicles 20:20-21 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and the people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”
22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
A THANKFUL MAN KOWS THE SOURCE OF HIS PROVISION/victory.
Our thanksgiving today is a sign of recognition of the powerful hand of God that has given us victory.
Deuteronomy 8:11-18 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
Do not forget how you started. The humble beginnings.
So, people marry and many years down the line, they forget how they suffered together.
Children should never forget how their parents sacrificed for them.
This church must not forget the trenches we dug together.
This church must not forget how God gave us favor in every way.
This church must not forget how God gave us hidden treasures in this city-The church we are buying was empty before our church started, God held it for us.
He connected some of our leaders with the bank that is giving us credit and put things in place for this moment.
Never feel entitled and miss on blessings from God.
Lk 17:11-19 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”.”
The others may have felt entitled-they were Jews from Galilee.They felt they deserved the healing from Jesus, a man from their place.
The foreigner did not just go back to say thank you-he fell down on his knees and cried thank you.
Entitlements can get you off the blessings of God.
Do not reach a point where you feel entitled because you are the founder of this church, you helped so and so, or you did something. remember you did it for the glory of God.
When did you appreciate your family and friends?
Are you that person who thinks, “it’s the pastor's job”?
Are you that person who feels, “it’s every husband's job”?
Are you that person who feels, “it’s every wife’s job?”?
On Father’s Day, I take a lot of time to tell my father the many things he has done for me. I tell him why I think he I a great man.
We cannot hide the testimony of God’s Doing under the table.
The enemy can try to use the fear of looking proud to make you hide the testimony of the Lord’s doing.
we must glorify God and build the kingdom through our loud testimonies in thanksgiving.
Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
Psalm 22:22 “I will praise you to all my brothers; I will stand up before the congregation and testify of the wonderful things you have done.”
Psalm 66:16 “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.”
Give thanks to God for his faithfulness: Remember recalling the faithfulness of God builds up faith.
Give thanks for Gods sovereignty and providence. You must be that person who looks for the good to be thankful for.
Do not look for the bad from friends-remember the good.
Give thanks for the healing power.
It's okay to go out of the norms in thanking your God
1. Hannah Worshiped and Prayed
“Then Hannah prayed and said: ‘My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.” (1 Samuel 2:1 NIV)
2. Miriam Played the Tambourine and Danced
“Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.’” (Exodus 15:20-21)
3. Mary, Mother of Jesus, Sang Praises
“And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...” (Luke 1:46-47)
True thanksgiving must be followed with actions
I have taught you to be intentional in being thankful.
I must tell you that physical actions must follow your thanksgiving.
1 Samuel 2:24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
She made a radical decision in thanksgiving to God.
I’m sure she would miss her only son but she gave him out anyway.
I cannot imagine how Eli felt, neither can I imagine what happened as they went back home leaving their 8-year-old boy behind.
I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.,
Are you able to go back in thanksgiving and shout I’m the man who fasted praying, for a job, a visa, to pass an exam, for a wife……. We are the church that prayed for 123 ad God has answered and now we are acting in thanksgiving.
Hannah came back even after Eli had forgotten and she said, "I'm the woman"
Jacob is another man who acted in thanksgiving to God, he had promised to build an altar for God if God protected him on the way to and from Haran, when God did that, he came back to bethel and built an altar there for God.
Genesis 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
Genesis 33:2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.
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