1st Service, Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland
*Where our thanksgiving stops, it’s where forward movement stops.
*May you never stop your way forward again.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 5:20
We are indebted to God in thanksgiving under all situations and circumstances. God said to me, “if you’ve lost anything, I am the reason why you have not lost everything; so give thanks.”
You lost your job, that’s okay: did you lose your life? so you can get another job.
You lost your business: oh that’s quite costly, but you haven’t lost your life.
Micah 7:8
The righteous falls 7 times: you’ve only seen it once – Give thanks (Proverbs 24:16)
Thanksgiving: It’s one of the most powerful mystery of the Kingdom. Addiction to thanksgiving will make you a Turnaround Personality on the earth.
God never stops working with Thanks-givers. He never stops working for Thanks-givers.
You are going to see wonders.
ENGAGING THE TURNAROUND POWER OF THANKSGIVING
How much Turnaround Power is in Thanksgiving?
Jesus said, “Father, I thank You for you hear Me always and I thank You because You have heard me now even though Lazarus is smelling and stinking” – John 11:41-42
“Lazarus, I have given thanks – come out”; he that was dead came forth (John 11:43-44).
That’s how much Turnaround power is loaded in the mystery of thanksgiving: it’s able to bring 4-day dead back to life.
Mary said, “by now he is stinking, he’s being there 4 days” (John 11:39)
Jesus: Stop that, I hold a mystery in my hand, it will turn every stinking situation to an enviable testimony (John 11:40-41,43).
That’s how much turnaround power is in thanksgiving: that’s why the devil pushes God’s people to keep complaining and murmuring so as to complicate their matters for them and mess up their situations. They that murmured in the wilderness were destroyed of the destroyer (1 Corinthians 10:10).
Murmuring is poisonous, nobody must murmur again from here.
Murmuring is dangerous: it’s a risk. Don’t take it, it is costly.
They were destroyed for murmuring: they were not assisted, they were not helped; their reasons not withstanding.
It’s one of the fundamental protocols of the Kingdom: You don’t murmur to get at God’s help. He turns His back on murmurers. God gets angry with complainants.
The people complained and God heard it; the anger of God was unleashed on them, their reason for complaining notwithstanding (Numbers 11:1).
Now, you find people complaining everywhere, every day: they don’t know that they are turning God’s help away from themselves.
Every genuine thanksgiving usually results into praise which brings God’s presence down to us: that’s what triggers a turnaround.
Every genuine thanksgiving evolves into praise (Psalm 92:1).
Praise will provoke divine presence and divine presence will always make the difference.
Until God came down, Israel didn’t come out of captivity: you want to come out of captivity, then bring God down by genuine thanksgiving which usually evolves into praise and that brings God’s presence down and that bails you and I out of captivity.
We can’t secure His presence without thanksgiving that graduates into praise because it is genuine from the heart (Psalm 100:4).
Without God, you and I can do nothing. Without Praise, you can’t have God. You can pray and fast for 50 years, that won’t make a difference.
No matter how hard you pray, a dolphin will not attend Faith Tabernacle service, it can’t survive it.
No matter how you join your hands and your hearts, “Oh Dolphin come, you must attend this service today.”
Dolphin’s response: Oh prayer warriors, I can’t. I will stop being a dolphin if I do. I can’t breathe outside water.
In the same vein, no matter how hard you pray, God will only come down in the midst of praise. Without a thankful, praiseful life, you can’t secure God’s presence. Just like you can’t secure the presence of a fish in the finest auditorium in the world because it can’t survive there.
I’ve seen many prayer warriors who are weary but, in His presence, you go from strength to strength.
Many Prayer Warriors are worn out: “Oh God….you must hear me today.”
The difference between God hearing you and God coming down to you is too wide.
When God comes down, barriers clear out.
Just singing His praise from a heart of gratitude (James 5:13). The songs you sing under distress is a noise in the ears of God.
“Is any merry?” – are you joyful? You can’t be thankful and not be joyful. The reason people are not joyful is because they are not thankful.
“I thought I would build my house this year”: and some of the times, they are living in their house right now, it’s another one they want to build.
“I thought my business would expand this year of ‘Breaking Limits’ by 10 times but it only multiplied by 5”
Response: you see and I prayed, 21 days of prayers and fasting!
If you are not grateful, you cannot be joyful!
If you are not joyful, you cannot be praiseful!
If you are not praiseful, you will lack God’s presence.
If you lack God’s presence, you are equal to zero.
Without Me, you can do nothing (John 15:5).
Has God done you well? In case you don’t know, the fact that you are seated here today is a proof that God has done you well.
You are not one year old, through out the year, God kept you. He never slept because of you, He never slumbered because of you. This is how He sat over your bed and watching over everything that may want to hit you.
John 11:39-44
When Israel came out of Egypt, God was in the midst of them (Psalm 114:1-7).
God’s presence causes your troubles to tremble. They clear the way for you, the same way they clear the way for the Almighty God because your praise has brought God down to your situation.
This is why thanksgiving is vital for everyone that desires to experience Turnaround in his life.
Psalm 24:7-10
Whatever clears the way for the King of glory, clears the way for the one that carries His presence. So you carry His presence, barriers clear the way for you as if they did not exist.
“As they began to sing, the foundations of the prison was shaken, every man’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16:25-26).
“They are going to kill us tomorrow, but we are still alive today, let’s praise Him” – Thank You Lord, all we have to say is Thank You Lord.
They sand God into the prison. As God stepped in, the earth trembled (Acts 16:25-30, Psalm 99:1).
As God came down through their praise, the unusual took place.
Give Him thanks for everything that people marvel in your life. Give Him thanks for it. Don’t pose as if you achieved it, it’s simply an ‘en-gracement.’
In everything: give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Then things keep turning in your favour.
Among other things, thanksgiving releases fresh oil upon the believer that triggers supernatural victory over the battles of life
‘Thanks-Givers’ don’t run oil dry (Psalm 92:1,10).
Supernatural victory (Psalm 92:11).
Thanksgiving entitles the believer to fresh oil and fresh oil entitles him to supernatural victory over the battles of life.
Come out of that situation and start celebrating your God in truth and in deed. The anointing require for your victory will come and your victory will become a walk over.
Jonah still had his breath in the belly of the fish (Jonah 2:9-10). The voice of thanksgiving moved God in heaven to speak to the fish.
2 Chronicles 20:21
They were just at the verge of being consumed, they said, “help me praise the Lord, His mercies endure forever.” As they began to celebrate God’s faithfulness, when they were yet to see, God set ambushment against their enemies and they were all smitten; not one of them escaped (2 Chronicles 20:24).
As the voice of thanksgiving ascended unto Heaven, God came down to give them the victory. They didn’t have to fight, He took over their battle.
Thanksgiving is a mystery that guarantees sweatless triumph over the battles of life.
Your struggles are over.
This Commission does not struggle over anything. Why? He taught us how to hand over our battles to Him: through the mystery of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in the morning, thanksgiving in the afternoon, thanksgiving in the night.
*Your days of struggles are finally over.
There used to be a writer many years ago: when he concludes anything he writes, ‘the struggle continues’.
Thanksgiving empowers covenant people to flourish even in hard times (Psalm 92:1-2;12-13).
The righteous that is committed to that, shall flourish like a palm tree that knows no dry season and like the cedar in Lebanon, the tallest among trees (Psalm 92:12)
As you give thanks, you keep flourishing: His presence causes you to flourish even in hard times.
You keep scaling new heights as you keep lifting Jesus up.
Isaiah 51:1-3
Thanksgiving turns our wilderness to Eden and our desert to the garden of the Lord. ‘Thanks-givers’ don’t know dry season. Dry season cannot survive with God’s presence. Wherever God dwells, dry season cannot be there. It’s always fullness (John 1:16).
There is no dry season with God: for His fullness, we have all received grace for grace.
Something is breaking forth in someone’s life today because by the Word you are hearing, an end is coming to every form complaining and murmuring in your life.
We must beware of the cost of not giving thanks, maybe that will help you get addicted to thanksgiving.
HOW COSTLY IS A LIFE THAT IS VOID OF THANKSGIVING?
- Lack of thanksgiving can turn anyone’s glory to shame (Malachi 2:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:10)
- It can stop our way forward (Luke 17:17-19; Proverbs 4:18, Isaiah 29:13)
- It can lead believers into captivity (John 8:36, Jeremiah 13:15-17)
- Lack of thanksgiving destroys just as pride does (Psalm 28:5, Proverbs 4:18)
