THEY ARE ANGRY FROM THE START AND YET THEY EXPECT TO BE REWARDED. IT WON’T WORK.
GOD IS SELECTIVE ABOUT WHAT HE ACCEPTS. SERVICE MAY BE OFFERED, BUT GOD DETERMINES WHAT SERVICE IS RECEIVED.
DON’T SERVE GOD AS IF GOD PUTS A LOAD ON YOUR HEAD.
EVERY GOOD THING IN YOUR LIFE IS AS RECEIVED, NOT ACHIEVED. IT IS ONLY A MENTALLY BLIND MAN THAT WILL BE UNGRATEFUL.
IF YOUR SERVICE IS NOT JOYFUL IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
EVEN WHEN WE ARE THANKING GOD ALWAYS WE ARE ONLY PAYING DEBT WITH DEBT
THANKING GOD IS TO BE DONE AT ALL TIMES
-Pastor David Oyedepo Jr at CHoP
*Serve Him with joy, serve Him with gladness.
*We owe God thanks. In fact, thanksgiving is a permanent debt, you cannot pay it.
*Every department of our lives are pointers to the faithfulness of God.
*You will be doing it permanently even when you get to Heaven.
*It is the beginning of a working week, nothing will cease working for you this week.
Our Father, this morning, we have come to give glory and praise to You. We celebrate You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for the awesome testimonies we have heard. No one can do these things, only Your mighty hand can do them and for it, we give You all the praise. For the answers to our prayers, we say thank You. Now Lord, our eyes are upon You again. Lord, speak to each one of us again, by Your Word let our lives be transformed. In Jesus precious name we have prayed.
From God’s Word, it is clear that the more joyful we are, the greater our access to revelation.
Isaiah 12:3 – It is the degree of joy that you have that determines the access that you and I can get to revelation. Let’s be reminded from God’s Word that when it comes to revelation, it is not what you can attain. It is what God gives you access to. You don’t just seek for it and find it, except He shows it to you.
Luke 24:45 – Understanding of the scriptures is not a product of personal labour as it were. It is a product of spiritual understanding which is granted to us by God.
Ephesians 1:17
What you will know is what God shows.
Deuteronomy 29:29 – Revelation is not the product of perspiration. It is God who opens us up to see what He is showing.
Ephesians 1:18 – God is the One who opens your eyes. But for us to have our eyes opened, there must be an atmosphere that must be set in place.
Psalm 16:11 – You will open my eyes to see it, in thy presence is fullness of joy. For anyone to gain access to God who shows, there is the requirement of joy. That means the more joyful you are the more lighted you become! Church Gist. When your joy goes out, your light goes out.
According to scriptures, it is the degree of light that you access that determines the heights you can scale.
Isaiah 60:1-3
It is light that will put you on a flight, but it is joy that will give you access to light. Where joy is absent, light is absent. That is why you discover that when the devil wants to frustrate your progress, he seeks to eradicate your joy. Because if the joy can go out, he knows that the light can go out and in the Kingdom, progress is made by light – Proverbs 4:18
It is light that pushes man forward, it is light that pushes man upward.
-From today, your joy will never go out.
Furthermore, we discover in scriptures that it takes joy and rejoicing to provoke divine intervention. That is what is required to experience our desired breakthroughs in life. Divine intervention. For God to step in, joy and rejoicing is a fundamental requirement.
2 Chronicles 20:22-24
They entered into their victory, they broke forth, without needing to fight. God dissolved the opposition. That is what occurs when you and I engage this force of joy and rejoicing. We create an atmosphere for divine intervention.
-I believe God for each one of us, in this month of November, God will step in on your behalf.
Through this week, we will be looking at this line of exhortation captioned:
ENGAGING THE POWER OF JOY AND REJOICING
Very quickly this morning, let’s take note of the following.
No man can receive anything except it is given to him from above – John 3:27, 31
Clearly from scriptures, it is made clear to us that if you are going to gain access to anything, it has one source. Any good thing, in any department of our lives, has one source and that is God.
1 Corinthians 4:7
Please hear this, every good thing in your life is as received, not achieved. Church Gist. Make no mistake.
James 1:17 – every good and every perfect. It doesn’t matter what it is, in every department of your life, if it is good, it is God. You and I must understand that we can receive nothing, except it is given to us from above.
Psalm 103:1-5
Every good thing about your life is a product of the hand of God. So wherever you see good, behind it is God. Anything department of your life where you see good, behind that good is God. That means behind that good, there is someone to be grateful to and that is God.
That is why when a man can look very well, if he can see very well, he will never lack points to thank. It is only a man who is mentally blind that will be ungrateful, because every department of our lives are pointers to the faithfulness of God. That is why you and I must maintain the attitude of gratitude and praise.
Secondly, we must understand that serving God does not guarantee rewards. It is serving God with joy and gladness of heart that does.
“O I am serving God”: It will guarantee your results except you are doing it with gladness of heart.
If you listened to the second testimony that was read to us, that individual said they committed themselves to serving the Lord: to doing so in Kingdom Advancement prayers, to doing so in Outreaches, to doing so in Praising God, to doing so in Celebrating God’s faithfulness and all of that, she said, with a positive attitude. Positivity. Doing it joyfully. You know you can serve God grudgingly and you can also serve God joyfully. Church Gist. But take note of this, God is not bound to receive every service offered to Him.
Service may be offered, but God determines what Service is received. For any service to be receivable by God, it must be offered joyfully to Him.
Hebrews 12:28 – “Let us serve God acceptably…” So not every service is acceptable.
What makes our service acceptable among other things? 2 Corinthians 9:7
He wants us to serve Him cheerfully, to serve Him joyfully. That is the key. It is not just about serving God but how are you serving Him? Are you serving Him as a burden?
Jeremiah 23:34 – We have this very clear warning, “say not the burden of the Lord.” The moment serving God becomes a burden, it cannot carry reward. Don’t serve God as if God puts load on your head, serve Him with joy, serve Him with gladness.
The Psalmist said, “I was glad when they said, Let us go into the house of the Lord” – Psalm 122:1
The Psalmist said, “better is a day in your court than a thousand in the tent of wickedness” – Psalm 84:10
That is what you call serving Him with joy. Your heart must be gladdened at every opportunity to serve Him. You must have excitement. It is another opportunity, do it with joy. It’s not enough to be present. There are people who are present at everything, but joyful at nothing.
Present at everything: Covenant Hour (of Prayer) – present; Outreach – present; Midweek Service – present; Sunday Service – present for all; Service Unit – present. But everything done with annoyance. You see them, they are angry from the start and yet they are expecting to be rewarded. It won’t work. You see, God is selective about what He accepts. Very selective and He selects what is offered to Him joyfully.
You know if somebody is serving you food and the person is very angry. As they are serving you food, it is a risk to eat it. Is that not true?
You go to a restaurant and the person looks at you with annoyance, brings the food and drops it gbam: it is better you take your load and go because you don’t know what is inside the plate.
If it is not joyful, it is not acceptable, that is how it is with God. You come with your service and offer it to God and you do it joylessly: God steps out. He refuses to accept it.
-From today, your stewardship will be acceptable.
Therefore, the charge to us is simple. Continue to celebrate God for His manifold grace. Keep celebrating Him for His manifold grace. There is no one of us that does not owe God praise. There is none of us that does not owe God thanks. In fact, thanksgiving is a permanent debt, you cannot pay it.
Somebody says, “Pastor, but I keep thanking God ‘na’, how can I be owing God?’
Even the breath you will use to thank God is still a debt you are incurring. Can you imagine someone that is paying his debt with debt? That is what our gratitude is, you are paying debt with debt.
If you owe 10,000 (Naira) and you pay 10,000 (Naira) by owing another 10,000 (Naira). What do you still owe? 10,000 (Naira).
The challenge is that because you are not even paying all the time, the debt has been growing and if God decides to charge interest, then you will know that it is a long term debt. That is why (with) thanksgiving, you will be doing it permanently even when you get to Heaven.
Prayers: Start paying some of that debt right now. Father, thank You. For Your manifold grace. You are too good to me, You are too faithful to me, You are too kind to me, You are too merciful to me, You are too helpful to me.
Will you thank Him from the depth of your heart? Will you appreciate Him from the depth of your heart?
You can never thank Him too much. It’s a permanent debt, give honour to Him, give adoration to Him. Appreciate Him, glorify Him, celebrate Him, honour Him this morning.
Father, thank You. If you can recall His goodness, begin to mention it to Him, in the various areas of your life. He has kept you, He has preserved you, He has upheld you, He has blessed you, He has decorated you, He has advanced you, He has set you free, He has lifted you.
Wil you give glory to Him? Will you give honour to Him? Will you give adoration to Him?
Father, thank You. Blessed be Your holy name. In Jesus precious name we have prayed.
As you have offered thanks to Him, His blessings will keep multiplying upon your life. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is done.
SPEAK TO THE DAY
Right now, another day is here. The beginning of another working week. Speak to the day, speak to the week. Make your decree and declarations concerning the day and the week. You shall decree a thing and our God will deliver it. Speak forth right now. Make your decrees, make your declarations!!
Father, thank You, in Jesus precious name we have prayed.
-This day is declared blessed.
-It is the beginning of a working week, nothing will cease working for you this week.
-All through this week, all things work together for your good.
-It shall be for you a week of blessings, a week of testimonies, a week of visitations. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So shall it be in Jesus precious name. It is done.
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