Let the people of God praise the Lord! Looking at the church this morning and I was wondering (within myself) that I hope we have not made a mistake, but God does not make mistake for declaring this month as our month of Open Heavens.
As we were driving out of the house and I looked at the cloud, my wife looked at my face because she knows that if there is one morning that an average Pastor grieves, it’s on Sunday morning; we all grief almost on daily basis but that Sunday morning can be very tense, if you talk to any pastor at all they will tell you; in fact from Saturday we’ll begin to pray, ‘Father let there be no rain tomorrow’, after the prayer and you are driving and suddenly you see the cloud change and you see everywhere, I said ah, she looked at my face and I took my face elsewhere because I didn’t want to talk, at that point, I said God, this thing.
But you see, the beauty of it is that He has promised that He will give us rain in due season and that came as a consolation – in due season, and if I ask you, is it the right season for rain to fall? You will not miss your blessing.
Father, we have come to say thank You; if we have zillion of tongues they are not just enough to express our gratitude, You have done so much for us, we can boldly without any ambiguity, without any fear or contradiction say it anywhere that we have seen Your goodness, You have been good to us, You have been good to our children, You have been good in our homes, You have been good in our lives, even in our health, You have been good, in our ministry You have been good, and in our nation, in spite of it all, You have been good, accept our thanks in Jesus name, accept our praises in Jesus name.
Thank You for all that You have done for us; from the time we were born even till this present time; we want to thank You especially for what You have done this May; for January, for February, for March, for April and for the month of May that has just concluded, Father we say glory be to Your name in the name of Jesus.
Thank You because the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former, and that gives us the conviction that this month will be better than before, Lord, take all the glory in Jesus name. Lord, we have come to do one thing today and it’s simply to return all the glory back to You, to count our blessings one by one and of course to give You the correspondence praise and worship.
Lord we pray, we may not be able to do it the way You expect us to do it, but we pray Lord that the much we are able to bring today, please accept it in Jesus name. Lord Almighty God, accept our sacrifice of worship today in Jesus name; let it come unto You as a sweet smelling savor in Jesus name.
And by it and through it Lord, You will enlarge our coast. Thank You for everything; I pray for Your children that are on their way, hasten their steps in Jesus name. Those who are meant to be here but have been prevented maybe by reason of flood, rain, inconveniences, transport, whatever, Lord wherever they are, minister unto them in Jesus name; we pray that their blessings will not pass them by. Thank You glorious Lord, in Jesus wonderful name we have prayed.
Good morning church and happy new month to you! It’s our month of Open Heavens; unto you, God will open the heavens, blessings will come your way, God will bring you refreshment – body, soul and spirit in the mighty name of Jesus. You will not suffer thirst, you will not suffer hunger in the mighty name of Jesus.
And underneath are His everlasting arms; God will nurture you, He will carry you, He will breathe on you and He will make you untouchable. It will be a month you will not forget in a hurry, by reasons of the great things the Lord will do for you, and it shall be a month of answered prayers and a month of miracle in the name of Jesus.
So we want to encourage every one of you to enjoy yourself, be at peace with yourself and be at peace with God, and I can assure you that it will be honky-dory for everybody. So I want to say congratulations of the new month, the Lord will bless you.
It shall be showers of blessings today in the name of Jesus. Like I told the workers this morning, please make sure you keep faith alive, remain strong, be positive about situation, I can assure you that you will laugh last in the name of Jesus.
Tomorrow by 6: 30 we’ll be having our prayer chain, the theme for tomorrow is “In Everything”, 1st Thessalonians 5: 17, the Lord will bless you as you join us to pray in Jesus name.
Very quickly, we want to give you the usual appetizer before our father in the Lord will come to dish the main meal, this is just to prepare you for thanksgiving, to challenge you to show your gratitude to the Almighty God. Deuteronomy 8: 1 – 14 (for better understanding).
“All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. 4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. 5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.
6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7 For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.(This month and this year, you will drink brass in Jesus name).
10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. 11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: 12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; 14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage”. May God bless the reading and the hearing of His words in Jesus name.
This morning very shortly, I’ll be talking to us on the topic “Remember the Lord”; the Israelites (the children of Israel) were close to entering into the Promised Land, that is the land of Canaan in fulfillment of God’s promise to them. Moses who happened to be their leader at the time, while calling them to faith and obedience to God recanted to them God’s past interventions and miracles, all that God has done for them in the course of their forty years journey.
He shared again God’s intentions for children of Israel and why they need from time to time recall and remember the goodness of God in their memory. The church became necessary because with the promise of prosperity of their new place of possession, their new place of abode also come the danger of forgetting God and the temptation to become materialistic like their sinful neighbor.
God spoke through Moses to the children of Israel, remember where you are coming from, and remember the journey you have undertaken. While for forty years you travelled on foot and your legs were not swollen; remember, while for forty years you travelled without rice, you travelled without beans, yet you were not hungry.
God in His own miraculous way decided to feed you with manna, and He put a prove, He said I need to let you know that even your fathers knew not what manna is all about because they were never given manna, but in your own time, you were given manna, you were the first generation and perhaps the last generation that fed on manna.
He said the clothes that you wore for forty years were never torn, everything remained the way they were, and He said I also need to remind you that when you ate, you ate your food without scarcity – there was no scarcity, you don’t need to rush your food, everybody had more than enough to eat.
He said I’m giving you this charge so that when you get to that land, you will not be overtaken by forgetfulness, you will not be overtaken by prosperity because the tendency is there for every man once you get rich, we forget about God; when people get rich, they forget about prayer and it becomes ‘tell me what your God can do that the government cannot do’ because you’re already comfortable.
So Moses recognized all these facts hence he decided to charge them, to give them that instruction ahead of time so that it will sink into their memory and provoke the consciousness of remembering what the Lord has done. And I pray in the name of Jesus that as we recall and make conscious effort to remember the things that God has done for us in our lives today and give God the corresponding grace, the Lord will grant unto us in Jesus name.
Remember the Lord is not an isolated reference in the Bible, because when you go from page to page, from chapter to chapter, from book to book in the Bible, you come across ‘remember the Lord’ a few times just to create that awareness for people to thank God, to recall the things that God has done for them in time past.
For instance, in Psalm 77: 11 & 12, David said “I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. 12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings”. Some other translation says I will talk about Your mighty works, Your mighty deeds, the things that You have done.
So to remember simply means to recall; to bring to mind an awareness of someone or something from the past and to forget not according to David, that we’ll also find in Psalm 103: 1 – 5, “2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”. So I told you, when you talk about remember, you talk about to recall and of course to bring to awareness and to forget not; David was intentional about it and of course he spoke to himself, he said my soul, bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits.
The charge to remember is simply necessary because human beings by nature are prone to forget things, especially the good things; it is a lot easier for people to recall bad experiences but it takes time for people to recall good things. For instance, if I point to one or two people now, tell me your saddest day, I can assure you, without blinking an eye they will tell you, in fact, they can list about two or three in less than one minute, but if you ask them, tell me your happiest day on the surface of the earth, they will ask you, is it from January to date or is it from another one, because human nature is conveniently designed to forget things, but that should not be especially talking about the goodness of God, talking about the kindness of God, we hold it a duty to recall and of course to appreciate God for them.
Now, why must we remember? Remembering the goodness of God is the cure for fainting in times of difficulty. It’s also the cure for backsliding in times of increasing prosperity.
Like I said, when people are blessed, when people become comfortable, you find out that you’ll start having issues with the attendance in the church because no hardship, economy is good, business is doing well, children are doing well, it’s hunky-dory at home, everything is cool, the question is that sometimes they want to say what do you want me to pray for, what is the need, everything is going on.
So in times of increased prosperity, the tendency is there for people to forget about God, so when you make it a point of duty to remember the goodness of God from time to time, it serves as a cure for fainting in times of difficulties and of course cure for backsliding in times of prosperity.
And furthermore, we ought to remember God’s provisions in our lives and of course the many battles that God has helped us to win. David took enough time (in Psalm 103: 1 – 5) to refresh his own memory about the things that God has done for him; he said “2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”; what are his benefits according to David? He said well, He forgives his iniquities, he remembered that it was God that forgave him his iniquities. He also recalled the fact that it was God that healeth all his diseases; he knew he was sick and he knew how he was able to overcome sickness. He also remembered that it was God that redeemed his life from destruction.
Brethren, you may not believe it but like David said, he said if it had not been the Lord on our side, do you know every day like the same David said, that even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, (he said) I fear no evil for thou hath with me. Do you know the amount of danger you walked through between your house and here this morning that God actually secured you against? You don’t know how many bullets that flew over your head that God in His own infinite mercy just directed to pass over your head.
Something happened along Lekki-Epe express road some few months back; a family (I’m sure you must have seen it because it trended online and I think in the papers), of five were in their home and a python crawled inside the house, that python cannot be less than 12ft, I saw it, very long, even the head was sold for about ₦38,000 or thereabout, and the innocent children slept on the floor and python was under the bed, that python from what I saw will conveniently swallow anybody less than 8 – 9 years old, even if it was a strike, perhaps that was enough to destroy one of those children, but God just did it in such a way that they slept, woke up, it was in the morning they saw Mr. Python, so they had to raise the alarm and people came and helped them to kill the python. When they brought the python out, then you will not believe that python slept in the same room.
David said He redeemed us from destruction; do you know how many times God has decided to keep us and dangers will be passing? Even the express road, you pass through the same road some other people will pass through and you will hear that an 18-seater bus has been hijacked and the occupants kidnapped, then you will be wondering but I passed through the place; you passed through the place because you carry the emblem of God, and these are things we need to thank God for, it is not automatic.
Then David went further to say He crowned him with loving kindness and tender mercies, and he said He satisfies his mouth with good things. I stand on this exalted altar this morning and I declare concerning you that God will satisfy your mouth with good things in the mighty name of Jesus. You will not eat what you see, but you will eat what you like in the mighty name of Jesus.
At this time of austerity measure, God will fend for you; He supplied the children of Israel manna and Moses testified to it that your forefathers knew not manna, (he said) but He gave you manna and you did not eat in scarceness – scarceness means scarcity, so in other words, there was more than enough to eat. I pray today, as you remember the Lord and thank Him for all that He has done, He will surprise you more and more in Jesus name.
He said He also renew our youth like the eagles. I was cracking a joke this morning that nobody wants to agree that he’s an old man, even a visibly old man will say I’m a young man, they will tell you age is at heart, praise the Lord! And apologies to our mommies, you hardly know a woman’s age; when you say how old are you, they will say don’t worry; but regardless of your age, it is God that brings renewal, it is God that brings that strength, and I pray today, that strength will not fail in Jesus name.
He counted his blessing and such memories sure up our face to face any challenge(s) that may come our way. You remember the testimony of David when he came face to face with Goliath, he said I remember when I was in the field a lion came, and at another time, a bear came and I tore them to pieces; he said the same God that helped me to overcome lion, to overcome bear will give me this uncircumcised philistines and God did. I pray in the name of Jesus that God will answer your prayer.
Number two, remembering the goodness of God every time move us to respond to our world in hope of a better future rather than fear. When you remember what God has done in the times past, it helps you to respond to your word as against fear. Ecclesiastes 9: 4 says for to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Remembering His goodness brethren helps us to keep hope alive, and I pray today that your hope shall be rekindled; you will not give up, you will not throw in the towel in the mighty name of Jesus. You will take your stand like Job; Job said even though he slays me, yet, will I trust in Him; no wonder the latter days of Job were better than his beginning. I trust and I decree that from today, your future will be better than your present in the name of Jesus Christ.
There is no cause for fear, God has not given us the spirit of fear, that’s what my Bible tells me in 2nd Timothy 1: 7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.
Number three, remembering God’s goodness or kindness or remembering God’s love fuels our love for others. It reinforces our love for others because God has shown us love and that also compels us to demonstrate same to others.
The last stanza of our hymnal today talks about the unbounded love of God, wonderful, deep and strong, and we are challenged in the Book of 1st John 4: 7 & 8, it says, “ Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love”. God’s love is unbounded, is wonderful, is deep and very strong.
And I want to tell you today brethren, that love is the true sense of service and genuine reconciliation with God. And Romans 13: 10 tells us that love is the fulfillment of the law, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law”.
Number four, the act of remembering strengthens our faith. When you remember God, you are remembering the things He has done, what you are doing indirectly is that you are strengthening your faith, and when your faith is strengthened, you are inspired to act, you are inspired to move forward.
In Psalm 125: 1, the Bible says they that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. So throughout the Bible, God’s people are encouraged to place their trust in Him and join Him as He restores and redeems our world.
And lastly, the most extraordinary goodness and kindness of God to remember is our salvation and preservation from sin. The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin; and in John 1: 11 & 12, the Bible says He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God; and in John 3: 16, the Bible 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.
So if you have been saved from the tyranny of sin by God’s wonderful grace, then you should be eternally grateful to Him. It is also a joyful experience telling others about being reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remembering God’s goodness always open up a well of unlimited favor from God according to Acts 3: 19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”. When you remember His goodness, He opens us that well of unlimited favor which is captured as a time of refreshing, time of peace, time of joy, time of progress, time of good health that in one or two years you can’t remember the last time you visited the hospital.
You know you save a lot of money; you’ll go to the hospital you’ll pay for consultation, you pay for drugs, you run tests, but when you don’t go there, you don’t know how much you have saved. I pray our doctors will continue to have business, but not with those of you that if you lean on God, we have to balance it, we have doctors here but my prayer is that in His own supernatural way, God will take care of them, but God can decide to remove you, He can decide to give you that cover and that is what salvation can do, that is what forgiveness can do.
So if you are here this morning and you have not given your life to Christ, you may see others jumping, you may see others rolling, you may see others laughing, salvation is personal, receiving blessings from God is personal, you must attract it, you must earn it and to earn it, forgiveness is key, repentance is key, ‘repent ye therefore, and be converted’, conversion is key.
Shall we rise on our feet. Just for a moment I want all of us to pause and recall the things that God has done for us and give Him praise for everything that He has done
[Altar call]
It is incumbent on us to remember God’s goodness and reciprocate with gratitude to Him from whom all blessings flow. Our God is faithful, He’s a faithful God, He’s a miracle working God; there was nothing He did in the past that He cannot do again.
Father we want to say thank You once again, from the depth of our hearts we declare Your praise, thank You for the opportunity to count our blessings, there is no doubt You have done so much for us and Lord Almighty God, as we remember all the good things You have done for us this morning, please Lord, give us that sense and that heart of gratitude in Jesus name.
Accept us and accept our worship; thank You for everything, and by reason of our worship today, we pray You will do more for us; by it, You will open unto us the door of unlimited favor and unlimited blessing, in Jesus name we have prayed.
For those who have received You, Your children who have taken the bold step, encounter them with Your mercy, forgive their past, and as You have promised, let today mark the beginning of refreshment in their lives – physically, spiritually, maritally and in every aspect of their lives, thank You glorious Father, in Jesus name we have prayed.
