In Everything Be Thankful

We should be grateful for the blessings in our lives, such as being alive and of sound mind, and for the ways God has protected us and provided for us. We should also care for and help others who are suffering, as they are also God's children. We should be thankful for God's deliverance and provision, even in the midst of spiritual battles. We should be grateful for answered prayers and for God's guidance and protection. The Bible tells us to give thanks in every situation, as it is God's will for us. Praise the Lord! The people of God, praise the Lord! We give glory to God this evening for life, for another Sunday in the land of the living. We are eternally grateful for God's faithfulness. We have been reflecting on this assignment and how we found favor in God's eyes, and He deemed it fit to call us to handle His Word. And we have been looking back at how God has been faithfully Sunday by Sunday, after Sunday, every Sunday since the month of March. God has faithfully showed up at these meetings and God has revealed to us deep mysteries of His kingdom. For this we are very grateful. This evening, with a heart of gratitude, we want to recognize that there is a reason. There are many, many reasons. When we look back over our lives, we are here now at the end of the year, 2023. Today being the 17th. Today is the 17th of December, 2023. We are at the very, very end of the month of December. We are in the last month of the year, 2023. Next week is Christmas. Many who started this year with us, many aren't here now. Not because we are better people. Not because we are better people. Not because those people who have left and gone to rest and gone to be with the Lord, not because they are bad people. We have found grace to be able to be alive, to testify of God's goodness in the land of the living. For this we ought to be grateful. We are not only alive and well, we are of sound mind. We are in our right minds. Many of us are advancing in age, and we are maybe beginning to observe that perhaps our minds are not as sharp. As they used to be, but we are still independent. We are still independent. We can move on our own. We can feed ourselves. We can go and buy groceries. We can do all those things that we need to do for ourselves without needing help. There are many, many people right now, and not every one of them is even old. There are many people, young and old, at this moment who are unable to do all these things unassisted. We ought to be grateful. How about the numerous times and ways in which God has saved us from trouble? God has saved us from disaster. God has saved us from harm. God has saved us from harm. How about the many times that we have driven facing oncoming traffic? It happened to me. It happened to me today. How about those moments when sometimes you feel so confused you don't even know if you're going or you're coming? You don't know if you're going or you're coming. Sometimes there are people, I have seen them on television, some people freeze. And they freeze. They need to be almost like unfrozen. They don't know what's happening. They lose their cognitive abilities momentarily. And here we are, able to work, able to earn an income, able to feed our families, able to put a roof over our heads and the heads of our families. We ought to be grateful. We ought to be grateful. How about the many ways, the many mistakes that God has smoothed over for us on the job, in business? How about the many near-fatal accidents that God has prevented? How about how God has kept a shield round about our children as they go to school? How about our babies? As they head off to school, we don't know what's going to happen. There are many children who have been to school and they never came back. They didn't make it back. Some devil's child goes up to an elementary school and shoots them all dead in the elementary class. Those are people's children, but your child wasn't one of them. We ought to be grateful. How about the many, many people who have cracked right down the middle under stress, trauma? They've been through so much and they cracked. They are right now in a psych ward, right out of their minds. But you, what you went through, what you went through, but for God, you would have lost your mind. But there you are, keeping it together. We ought to be grateful. There are people right now, right now, as I speak, who don't know where their next rent is coming from. They don't know where their next meal is coming from. They don't know how the bills are going to be paid. But you do. But you do. Even if you don't know, because I have been there. I have been there where by the 25th, the 26th of the month, I had no idea how the bills were going to be paid. One thing I did know was I have a God who holds all things in His hands. Because Psalm 24 verse 1 says, and I know this, I have lived it, the earth is the Lord's. The world and they that dwell therein, the earth is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's. The fullness in the earth, everything in the earth, what grows from the ground, what is in the bank, what is even in the hands of other people, the earth belongs to God. Everything in the earth, the fullness thereof belongs to God. The world, the entire world, not only that, the people, they that dwell in the earth belong to God. This is why when you trust in God and you have no idea where your next meal is coming from, your next rent is coming from, someone, a stranger comes to you and says, I want you to have this. They don't know you, but they belong to God also. You belong to God. The earth is the Lord's. The world, the fullness thereof, the world, everybody that dwells in the world, we all belong to God. And so, if there is a need in your life and you're looking to God to meet that need, He will use whatever is in the earth, whoever is in the earth. He will marshal everything in the earth to meet that need. And you will find yourself at the end of the month, by the first day of the next month, the rent is paid, the bills are paid, there's food on your table, and you're getting ready for the next month. We ought to be grateful that we serve a God who holds all things in His hand. And when we have a need, He will move any and everyone to get the need met. For us, God will move anyone, anything, to get our needs met. We ought to be grateful. This year, many things have happened this year. There have been two wars, major wars, fought this year. The Russia-Ukraine war, just like that. The Israeli-Palestinian war, just like that. Sometimes when I think about life and how, as humans, we can be so uncaring about things that don't affect us directly. Things that don't affect us personally. If it's happening in a different part of the world, if it's happening to others, we are good. But we shouldn't be that way, because those are God's children, too. Those people who are dying, those people who are being removed from their homes and who can't sleep at night, families who are separated, those are God's people, too. So we should care. And as much as we can, we should help. Because it could happen to anyone. It is only God's protection that keeps us safe. And so while pondering, while contemplating what's happening in other countries to other people, we should be very grateful for our own safety, that the name of Jesus is a strong tower over us and we are not in. We are not in the way of danger. We are not fighting a war in our backyard. We are in safety. We can sleep. We can sleep. Okay, there is inflation because of what's happening all over the world, but we still have something to eat. We don't have to lay in the bushes, hiding. We don't have to live in fear. We don't have to live in fear of gunfire, of warfare. God is good. And so even as we give thanks for our safety, we should always remember to pray for those who are in the way of harm, those who are unable to hide, unable to run away from danger. We should remember them in our prayer. Today, we are giving thanks to God for His deliverances this year, 2023, for His provision, for His restoration, for His grace. Many have fought serious spiritual battles this year. Many have been so, they have suffered such great spiritual warfare that many, even right now, they are surprised that they made it because at some point, it didn't look like they would. At some point, they almost gave up. But God, God who fights and wins, showed up. You fought that battle. You almost lost your mind. You almost lost your life. Maybe even a family member or two, maybe they lost their lives in that battle. And maybe you are still fighting that battle. Be grateful. Be thankful. Because there is a fourth man with you in that fire. There is a fourth man with you fighting that battle with you and for you. And in the end, it will end in testimony. It has to end in testimony. It has to end in testimony. Someone has to remain. Someone has to remain and stand to testify of the deliverance of Almighty God. We must be grateful to God for answered prayer. We must be grateful to God for direction. For all the times that we didn't leave home because something said, don't leave home today. Work from home today. Don't go out today. For all the times that we did leave home and something said, get up and go out today. And maybe in your neighborhood, maybe you are in college and something said to you, go study in the library today. Or don't go study in the library today. And then you find out later that something happened. But because of the voice of Almighty God who directs you, because the Bible says you will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it. Because of God's faithfulness, God's covenant of preservation over your life. He gives you advanced information. He leads you and leads you away from trouble. We ought to be grateful. The Bible, God's word, tells us we must be grateful. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18. The King James Version says, in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. God wants us to give thanks in everything. Not for everything, because you know, sometimes there are situations where we really can't thank God for those things. Sometimes it's impossible to thank God for some things. The Bible isn't asking us to give thanks for everything. But in everything we must give thanks. In every situation we must give thanks. We must give thanks. Because that is God's will for us. That's God's will for us. Everything that happens in our lives is an opportunity for God to manifest himself. What turns out for good sometimes begins looking very bad. Sometimes when you look at something that happened in your life and it was a wonderful event and today you are grateful, today it's a great memory for you. It's a wonderful memory. But if you look back, when you started out in that situation, it didn't start out looking good. You were afraid. You were anxious. You cried many tears. But look back, look at you now. Look at that situation now. God always meant it for good, even though it didn't start out looking good. This is why the Bible says in everything give thanks, because you don't know where it's going. You don't know the turns. You don't know how God is going to turn that situation around for his own glory. This is why even if you don't see it in the beginning, you don't see it looking good. Because the word of God says so, because it's the will of God for your life, give thanks in that situation. In the good, in the bad, in the in-between. Give thanks. That you are even alive to be in any situation, give thanks. Now someone who didn't make it, someone who didn't make it at all, has no opportunity to decide whether or not to give thanks. But you are alive, you are living. Give thanks. But you are alive, you are living. Give thanks. As you give thanks, you are doing what the Lord has asked for you to do in everything. And the Lord will do what he always does in everything. He takes control. Once you step in, into the will of God for you, which is to give thanks in everything. You are telling God, I trust you. If you said it, then that's it. I don't like how this thing looks. I have no power of my own to change it. I wish it didn't look this way. I wish I could turn it this other way. But I can't do nothing about this. I will do what you say. I will give thanks to you because you say so. I don't feel like it. But I'll do it anyhow. For you. Then, once you do that, you are stepping in to the will of God. In obedience and in trust. Right there, right away, God does what he does. He steps in to your situation and he takes control. As you know, what is impossible with man, is possible with God. With God. Luke 1.37 With God, all things are possible. Once you begin to submit to God's will, by giving thanks in everything. You will see the power of God that moves things easily and suddenly. Move that situation so easily, so suddenly. That when you look at the same situation, you don't believe it's the same one. Because God has done something that only he can do. And he moves, it's like a needle. The hand of God moves that needle. The needle moves and the situation moves. Once God moves that needle, you would find yourself in a different place. What was looking like an insurmountable problem, begins to look like a problem. It doesn't look so amazingly simple. When you look at the situation with fresh eyes, once God has taken charge and taken control, and you look at the same situation, it doesn't look the same. But you know it's the same situation. Because it's you, you're in it. One week ago, you were almost sure that this was going to be the end. One week after, the same situation, everything has changed so much, that you know that this is the hand of God. Why did this happen? Why did this happen? Because you stepped into the realm, the realm of thanksgiving, which is the will of God for you in every situation, in everything. Once you did that, you let go and you let God. And you fell into the hand of God. And the hand of God moved you. Moved you from where you were to where he wanted you to be. In the place of safety. The Bible says there were ten lepers healed by Jesus. Only one came back to say thank you. The other nine, they didn't see any need. They didn't see any need to come back and say thank you. Now the one who came back and said thank you, he didn't come back for any other reason. He didn't think there was going to be an additional healing or additional blessing or anything. He just had his thankful heart. He just had his thankful heart. He had an understanding that when someone has blessed you, especially when they did for you something you couldn't do for your own self, you go back, you say thank you. And in doing that, he was made whole. The others were healed, but he alone was made whole. Because there is reward in gratitude. There is reward in gratitude, showing gratitude, reward that money cannot buy. My counsel tonight is that before this year closes and we step into 2024, I want to encourage us to take our time to say thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for the near misses. Thank you for the near misses. If you didn't come through on this one, it would have been a situation. Thank you. Thank you for watching over me, watching over my household, Thank you for watching over me, watching over my household. Thank you for watching over my family. Thank you for those battles, the invisible battles that you have been fighting for me. Thank you for your invisible hand guiding me, watching me, helping me, hugging me, loving me. Thank you for your voice that I hear in my heart. When men reject me, you are there to encourage me. Thank you for the strength that you give me to work and work so hard. Thank you for preserving my mind and preserving my soul. Thank you for introducing yourself to me in new dimensions every time. Thank you for the enablement to pray and to tarry in the place of prayer. The place of prayer. The place of prayer is the place of power, the place of safety, but many cannot pray. Many cannot pray. There are Christians, believers who mock people who can't pray. I think that's not very wise because it's hard to pray. The reason it's so hard to pray is because there is great reward in prayer. Power, safety, vision, growth, intimacy with God. There is great reward. And so the ability to enter into the closet and pray is grace. It's grace. We all should pray because the Bible says men ought always to pray. We should always be praying and we should always be growing in prayer. In our ability to pray, in our intimacy with God, we should always be praying. Prayer should actually become easier for us as we pray and as we grow. But is it? No, really. Even people who pray, intercessors who pray, who have a prayer lifestyle, sometimes it's hard to pray. Sometimes it's hard to pray because it is by grace. This is why we must be thankful for even the ability to pray and to carry, to remain in the place of prayer. We should be thankful not only for the enablement to pray, but for results. It's one thing to pray. It's another thing to see results because you don't answer your own prayer. All you do is pray. You don't answer your own prayer. So when you pray and there is answer to your prayer, be grateful, be humble, and intercede for others who are on their way in this journey in prayer. We want to take time out tonight to say thank you to God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your wisdom, for your light, enlightenment, for discernment, for the way you teach us, for your wisdom. Thank you for the way you guide us, the way you instruct us, the way you direct us and redirect us, the way you enable us to do things that we ordinarily wouldn't be able to do. Thank you for divine ability. Thank you. Thank you for those tests. Many of our children, they go to school. Many are struggling with their education, struggling with taking tests, but we pray for them. But we pray for them. And they come back and they say, Mom, Dad, I don't know how it happened, but I knew it. When I began to write my test, it came to me. That's because the Spirit of God is the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of knowledge, the Spirit of counsel and might. The Bible says that God filled Bezalel, Aholib and Daniel with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in knowledge, in counsel, in understanding for curious works and all manner of craftsmanship. God even filled Daniel with His Spirit in literature. The Spirit of God is a writer. The Spirit of God is a writer. The Spirit of God is, He can write. He's a content writer. He writes articles. He writes books. He writes tests. So tonight, Holy Spirit, we thank you. Many don't believe, but Holy Spirit can teach you how to build an entire digital platform. Holy Spirit can teach you how to build an app from scratch and you know nothing. Holy Spirit can breathe on you and teach you how to build a missile. Holy Spirit can teach you how to do things you never knew you could do, that you couldn't actually do. The Spirit of God has the ability to do that, to teach you what you don't know. It's in the Word of God and it is true. So for this, Holy Spirit, we say thank you for your superior level of wisdom. We say thank you. Thank you, Holy Spirit, because you don't hoard your wisdom. You don't hoard your knowledge. You don't hoard your knowledge. There are people who have high level knowledge, but they don't teach anyone. Holy Spirit is our teacher. He's our helper. And if you open up yourself and your mind to Him, He will teach you. Tonight, we are really grateful. There are little things that happen in our lives that we know that, but for God. As I get older, I'm finding that I'm needing to be more mindful, especially when I'm driving, so I can stay safe. Sometimes I get disoriented. Sometimes when I'm driving, I find myself having to be more careful, having to pay more attention, to be more mindful. And that's because with age, with age, your cognitive abilities sometimes, they diminish. It's natural. It happens to everyone. But there are people younger than me who are already unable to use their minds. So we are thankful for the ability, even as we get older, to still be able to hold down a job, still be able to be intelligent, still be able to be sound in mind. And we know that God, as He did for Moses, will ensure that our vision will not grow dim, meaning that as we age, we will still have ideas. As we age, we still have vision for the future. And our natural ability will not diminish. We are grateful. Tonight, Lord, we just want to say thank you. We thank you for the food that you place on our tables. We thank you for work to do, for income, the opportunity to earn a living. We thank you for healing and for divine health. We thank you for sound mind. We thank you for our families. We thank you that here we are in the year 2023. You have saved our lives. You have preserved our lives. You have shown yourself faithful and mighty. We thank you for light, light to keep moving. We thank you for light to see the year coming, even though it hasn't come yet. We thank you for grace to enter into the year coming, 2024. We thank you for the grace to possess the gates of the next year. We thank you for 2024, which God has declared to be the year of promise. God has declared 2024 as the year of promise. And so, the grace to enter into the promise. We thank God in advance for the enablement to lay hold of the promise in 2024. We thank God now for the promise of next year, for the promise of life, for the promise of everything that pertains to life and to godliness. We thank our God. So, tonight we're going to end our meeting by praying for everyone who at this time are having a hard time being thankful. Maybe you're going through something and it's difficult for you to see why. You should be thankful. Tonight, Father, we thank you. We worship you, we honor you, we glorify your name. We pray for our brothers and our sisters who are going through something, who are laboring under a yoke, a burden of hardship. We ask, Lord, that your breath will go to them right now. Because you said, Lord Jesus, that your yoke is light, your yoke is light, your yoke is light. Lighting the load, Lord, lighting the load of someone who is listening right now. Lighten the load. Give them your yoke, for your yoke is light. Heal as many as stand in need of healing. Feed as many as need food and don't have food to eat. Manifest yourself, Lord. Let your love, your grace that brings salvation, your love, let your love travel right around the world, even in this season. Let your peace reign even in those war-torn areas. Let your peace, Lord. Let your love, let your hope, let your light by your spirit begin to run, your word run swiftly to these areas, these war-torn areas. Let there be peace, Lord, that your presence manifests that men may have rest in Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in this evening. As always, we are grateful to have shared fellowship with you this evening. Till next week, stay well, stay blessed, stay safe, and God bless you. Amen.