Our Father and our God we bow before You this morning, we give You all praise, we give You all honor, we return all the glory back to You for all that You have done for us; thank You because You are God and beside You there is none else, You are a mighty God, You do glorious things, and just like Your children have sung not too long ago, You are a faithful God, Your faithfulness is time tested, Your faithfulness is evergreen.
Thank You for the power that is in Your name; thank You because at the mention of Your name every knee shall bow – of things on earth and things in heaven; Father for all these and more we bow before You this morning, take all the glory in Jesus name.
Thank You for the honor and the privilege to be alive, thank You because today we are not in the cell but right here we are in Your presence; thank You because today we are not lying helpless in the hospital, but Lord today we have come to give You praise; thank You for everything that You have done for us, thank You for what You are doing and thank You for what You will continue to do, take all the glory Father in Jesus name.
One thing we have come to do today Lord is to give You praise, Lord please accept us and accept our worship in the name of Jesus. Thank You for the past months – January and February, thank You for Your mighty hands upon our lives and thank You Father for this new month, thank You because the benefits and the glory of this month will surpass those of the previous ones, accept our thanks in the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord Almighty we ask with every sense of humility that there shall be manifestation of Your power in our life; in every area, manifest Your power, manifest Yourself, manifest Your grace and let us be blessed in Jesus name.
We pray for all Your children who have been faithful in the payment of their tithes and the giving of their offerings, Lord that You will always remember them for good in Jesus name. Unto them oh Lord Almighty God shall be the fulfillment of Your promises in the name of Jesus Christ. Rebuke devourer for their sake in the name of Jesus Christ and let it be well with every one of us, thank You for everything.
As we go into this thanksgiving service, we invite Your precious Spirit to come along with us in Jesus name, and at the end of everything Lord, let only Your name be exalted and let us be blessed and let the shame be unto the devil, in Jesus wonderful name we have prayed.
Good morning church, happy new month to everyone of you, it shall be a month of progress, a month of joy, a month of peace, a month of inexplicable favor and God will bless you and there shall be manifestations of God’s power in your life in the name of Jesus.
Let me announce that this month has been declared as our month of His Power; the Bible tells us in Psalm 110: 3 that in the day of His power His people shall be willing, that is in consonant with what the Bible tells us in Isaiah, it says if you are willing and obedient you will eat the fruits of the land, so there is willingness, and I pray that the awesome presence and the awesome power of God will stir up that willingness that will be sufficient enough for you to receive your desires in the name of Jesus Christ.
And by the grace of God, tomorrow we’ll be having our prayer chain, and of course the theme for tomorrow is From Trial to Testimony, so I look forward to seeing every one of you, the text is Genesis 26: 12 – 23, and the Lord will bless you mightily in Jesus name.
Today as we all know is our thanksgiving service day and with time we’ll have to link up with the national, but I know our Father in the Lord will be doing the thanksgiving service today at the Redemption Camp (as much as I guess), but by the grace of God, on or before then we’ll share the word as usual, and I want to thank God for the success of the special Holy Ghost service which of course is a commemoration of the 82nd birthday of our father in the Lord, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, we pray that the presence of God will continue to rest and abide with him and God will continue to guide and lead him and that he will not mislead us and we will not also mislead him in the name of Jesus, and together we’ll all make heaven in Jesus mighty name. So I celebrate all our celebrants of this month, from glory to glory the Lord will take you in Jesus name; you will live your life to the fullness; our daddy is 82 now, so we use him as a point of contact to longevity, we will all live long in Jesus name.
Habakkuk 3: 17 – 19, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.19 The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places”.
I decree in the mighty name of Jesus that from today, God will make you to walk in your high places in the name of Jesus.
This morning within the short time that we have, I’ll be talking to us on the exaltation that I have titled “Appreciating the Lord for His Nature”, you can say “Thanking God for His Nature”, you can say “Appreciating God for His Nature”, you are still very much in order.
Talking about God’s nature is simply talking about His character; now, talking about His character, you talk about what makes God who He is and makes Him above all; the nature of God speaks volumes to His attributes, capacity and sovereignty, and learning to be thankful is about much more than just your immediate circumstances, it’s not a product of the immediate stuff.
You can’t let what is going on in your life determi9ne the level of thanksgiving in your life. As a man, as a woman, if you allow what is going on around you to determine your thankfulness, to determine your gratitude, you’ll be missing it, rather, your thankfulness and my thankfulness must spring from our understanding of God’s character.
When you dig into the back-story of Habakkuk, you will realize that it’s a ‘dark book’; it happened when Israel had just lost its reform minded king, named Josiah, he had just been killed and the nation of Israel had a slip back into sin and apostasy, then Prophet Habakkuk struggled with God’s silence and unwillingness to judge Israel as at that time, and we see in that scripture that we read today that the prophet prayed for God to revive His work in Israel, not to leave Israel in the dark and that He should continue to carry Israel as it used to be before they slid into sin and apostasy.
And that was why towards the end of the third chapter, which of course happened to be the concluding book of Habakkuk (because Habakkuk has just three chapters), you’ll discover that prophet Habakkuk engaged in ‘intense prayers’, and from verses 17 – 18, because he prayed, because he recognized the potential hardship that will come with God’s judgment and for God being silent, for God being unwilling to carry them on, he knew that it signals a gloomy future and he prayed that that hardship, that difficulty that will follow God’s judgment could be averted.
But notwithstanding, the difficulties that Habakkuk encountered, he resolved from what we have seen to take joy in God’s salvation. He said I will take, even if the fig tree will not blossom … (he said) but I will rejoice in His salvation. And brethren, the salvation of God was offered to us on a platter of gold; often time, we tend to judge everything from our own limited perspective, and unless we have what we believe we should, we see no reason to be thankful but that is not Habakkuk’s perspective.
He tells us to show gratitude even if we don’t have what we desire yet; he encouraged that we need to prioritize what God is doing in a situation over our own wants and needs, and today, we can learn from him (Prophet Habakkuk) to rejoice even during troubling times such as the case is today.
Just last week I think I spoke to us on the need to confront our fears, that often times, the things that cause us fear only appear in our imaginations because they are not real. Our ultimate source of thanksgiving should come not necessarily from what we have already, but also from what God has revealed about Himself, that’s talking about His nature or character, therefore, we should make it a duty to thank God for these wonderful and glorious attributes.
I will take us through a few of them as long as time permits;
Number one: we must thank God for His love. John 3: 16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. There’s also another interesting scriptures in Romans 5: 8, it says “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, what a great nature; the first thing was His magnanimity of sending His only begotten Son.
He did this even ahead of time, He did it in advance for us. He said He commendeth His love towards us while we were yet sinners, He paid the price for our sin and I want to tell us today that God bestows His blessings without discrimination, and as followers of Jesus, we are children of God and we should manifest that family likeness by doing good to all, even to those who deserve the opposite.
We have more than enough to thank God for; I shared with them during the workers meeting this morning that to him that is joined to the living, there is hope, because a living dog is better than a dead lion. Today, we have listening to us men and women of great future, it is not impossible we have future governors in the house this morning, future managing directors of banks, future managing directors of oil companies, future presidents, future senators, so it’s to say that let’s thank God for today and thank God for tomorrow.
Jesus Christ does not only work for the present, He works for the future and that’s why we must be intentional about thanking Him for His love.
Number two: we need to thank Him for His patience, 2nd Peter 3: 8 & 9, it says “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.
The word ‘longsuffering’ there stands for patience; God is not slack concerning His promise, if God has promised that He will make you great, the fact that it has not happened now does not mean that it will not happen; if God has declared you as mother of nations, if it has not happened now does not mean that it will not happen. What God does is that He gives us that long rope to pull, He gives us that long way to go and at the appropriate time, because the scripture tells us that the word that has come out of His mouth will not fall to the ground for nothing, God is a God of His word, our God is patient.
The truth of the matter today is that many of us are quick to write someone off, but our God is a God of second chance, we must learn from the One who is so patient with us and also learn to be patient with others. That scripture says He does not wish that anyone should perish; so patience is hard to come by in today’s fast-paced world but it is a key virtue for developing Godly character and spiritual fruitfulness.
Number three: thank God for His salvation, Romans 10: 13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. I said it earlier that our God does not discriminate and here He confirms it, He says whosoever (whether young or old, whether male or female, whether rich or poor, whether famous or not) shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Since no man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is open to all and there is nothing else to hinder us from entering except unbelief, and I pray that today as we praise Him, every barrier of unbelief shall be pulled down in the name of Jesus Christ.
Number four: Another nature of God to thank God for is His sovereignty, Ephesians 1: 11 says, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”: brethren, God is sovereign, everything that He does is after the counsel of His own will, no wonder we are encouraged that in all things, we should give thanks, for that is the will of God for our lives.
Now we have seen that He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will; there is a will of God in what is happening to you. Whatever is happening, whatever you are going through, there is a measure of the will of God in it.
In Proverbs 19: 21, the Bible says there are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord shall stand. I decree today that the counsel of God for your life will stand; the counsel of God for your business will stand; the counsel of God for your marriage will stand; the counsel of God for your academics will stand; the counsel of God for your career will stand in the mighty name of Jesus.
There are many devices in the heart of man, but get one thing straight, it is the one that is in line with His plan, it is the one that is in line with His purpose that will stand. Suffice to say the plans of the devil will not come to pass in your life, so if it is only for that, you have every reason to thank the Almighty God.
No wonder He says for I know the thoughts that I have towards you, the thought of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end; by the apostolic authority, I decree and declare today that everything will end in praise for you in Jesus name. Even the current economic crisis, by the time it is over, you will be among those who will testify to the goodness of God; you will say that it was hard – you know we’ve heard testimonies of – you will call them funny testimonies, somebody said I wish Covid did not end and you will say ha, but he said he made the most of his money during Covid period.
There is nothing God cannot do, thank God for the current situation and thank God for what He will do for you in the future.
Number five: thank Him for His wisdom, Proverbs 2: 1 – 5, “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God”.
Brethren, wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is in fact the practical side of moral goodness; when you talk about wisdom, you talk about the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in His fullness only in God, and wisdom helps to make better contribution to your community by balancing your needs and boundaries with those of others, in other words, it keeps you from trouble.
When you see a man who lacks wisdom, he thinks about himself alone and that is part of the challenges we have in the nation; most of our representatives, most of our leaders think about themselves alone – award this contract for the construction of a road, a road that’s meant for millions of people, they will pocket it, at the end of the day they will die and leave it. If only they are wise, they will know that when you heap up all these things, at the end of the day you don’t get to enjoy it, and that’s why the Bible says a fool accumulates money but they don’t know who is going to spend it.
Wisdom is the practical side of moral goodness, so we must be wise, that’s why Deuteronomy 32: 29 says if only they were wise, if only they were knowledgeable, they will think about their end. When you see unwise people, they don’t think about tomorrow, they behave like fools – we will pack it, we will enjoy, we will make merry, we will do this, forgetting the fact that the owner of life can knock at any point in time.
In Ecclesiastes 10: 10, the Bible says wisdom is profitable to direct, and talking about wisdom, God is the major source o wisdom. James 1: 5 says is there any one of you that lacks wisdom, come to Me, ask rom God; “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him”. He alone (God) is naturally, entirely and invariably wise; I pray that God Almighty will fill us with the spirit of wisdom in Jesus name.
And lastly for today, thank God or His mercy, Psalm 103: 8, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy”; and Romans 9: 15 & 16, “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy”. Brethren, the mercy of God is all embracing mercy, and guess what it does, it breaks down barriers erected by men and sin.
Mercy, (according to the scriptures in James 2: 12 & 13) prevails over judgment; Bible says, ‘and mercy triumph over judgment’, and when you talk about mercy, it relates to forgiveness or withholding punishment. When somebody has done something wrong and is deserving of punishment, when mercy is activated, then in place of punishment, mercy is given, forgiveness is received. And I pray today in the mighty name of Jesus that everyone under the influence of my voice will have an encounter with mercy this morning in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross of Calvary and He’s counting on each and every one of us to come boldly. In the first scriptures that we read this morning, the Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; all you need to do this morning is to just cry unto Him and of course you will be saved.
In conclusion, everything about God is great; everything about God is vast; everything about God is incomparable. God never forgets, He never fails, He never falters and of course He never relents in His words; whatever He says He will do, He will surely do it.
Hebrews 12: 26, “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven”; brethren, we are receiving an unshakeable kingdom, why is this kingdom so firm and so strong? It is simply because the Author and the Finisher of the kingdom Himself is no other than God Himself who is unshakeable.
And what this means for us is that we can look pass our immediate situation towards a kingdom that we are inheriting; what we can trust is steadfast and trustworthy and this should be our cause for thanksgiving in our lives.
I’m sure we are all ready today to thank the Lord for all that He has done, forgetting the situation around, forgetting the inflation level, forgetting about the FX rate, forgetting about the losses being declared by the multinationals, we must step in the shoes of Prophet Habakkuk, we must side step the dark days and look into the future.
So I want you to bow down your heads and begin to worship God, glorify His name; thank Him for what He has done, thank Him for His grace, thank Him for His favor, thank Him for His mercy, thank Him for His sovereignty, thank Him for His wisdom, thank Him for everything (that the Lord has done, that the Lord is doing and the Lord will continue to do); magnify His holy name, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
In John 3: 16 that we read, the Bible says For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life; in the light of that scripture if you are here today, you want to say God, I surrender to You, I want to reciprocate the love that You have demonstrated, and I want to (Lord Almighty) launch into the realm of Your mercy, I want an encounter of Your mercy…
[Altar call]
Father in heaven we want to say thank You; thank You for the entrance into Your word that giveth life; thank You Father once again, You have showed us Lord Almighty God the pathway to thanksgiving; You have shown us the example of Prophet Habakkuk and today Lord Almighty God, all of us by resort have agreed that we will follow in that same footstep by not looking at what is happening around us but looking at the future, Lord as we offer our thanksgiving and praise this morning, let them come unto You as a sweet smelling savor in Jesus name.
If there be any barrier left by reason of our worship, by reason of our thanksgiving, Father let them be pulled down in Jesus name, have Your way in the name of Jesus.
For Your children that have come out to say Lord, we want to reciprocate Your love and we want to have an encounter with Your mercy; the Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, this is exactly what they have demonstrated, Father we pray in the name of Jesus that You will receive them, save their souls in the name of Jesus. Forgive their sins in the name of Jesus; write their names in the Book of Life in the mighty name of Jesus.
From today, consistently for the rest of their lives, let mercy continue to serve as their advocate, and for the rest of us, Father please, never leave us alone, thank You glorious Lord, in Jesus wonderful name we have prayed.
