THANKSGIVING SHOULD NEVER STOP BEING YOUR LIFESTYLE

Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr at CHoP

Now let’s give quality thanks unto God from the depth of our hearts. Give Him the praise that is due to His name. Let your voice be heard right now as you’re giving glory unto God, as you’re giving honour unto His name, as you’re celebrating the faithfulness of our God. Thank Him from the depth of your heart. Lord we say thank You. We bless Your name. You’re worthy of all praise. You’re worthy of all glory.

For these marvelous acts in our midst we say thank You. Appreciate Him. Those testimonies can only be God. Supernatural transformation, it can only be God, breaking of marital siege, it can only be God, miracle conception and delivery, it can only be God, breakthroughs on every side,it can only be God.

Father we say thank You we bless Your holy name. You’re worthy of all praise. Thank You mighty God in Jesus precious name we have prayed. Our Father in the name of Jesus we have come today to thank You for all that You have done for us, the testimonies that we have heard, they are the evidence of Your hand at work in our midst and for it we give You all the praise. Lord right now we ask of You that You will speak to us again today. Let Your Word transform us and let Your Word change us in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You mighty God in Jesus precious name we have prayed.

Our line of exhortation for this week has been

ENGAGING THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING FOR FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY

A prophecy is a declaration of divine intention. It is God speaking forth that which He intends to do. So prophecies are words and it’s important for us to understand that the greatest instruments of transformation are divine words. God utilizes His Words to establish change.
2nd Corinthians 3:18
The instrument with which God establishes change are His Words.

Romans 12:2
So if we’re going to see change, it is installed or enforced by God’s Word. It is receiving God’s Word that begins to trigger man’s change. So the starting point of transformation is the reception of God’s Word, but the catalyst for transformation is the release of man’s thanks in response to God’s Word. God requires man’s thanks.

Our offering of appreciation is what secures God’s hand for transformation. Whatever God says with His mouth, it will always take His hand to perform.

1st Kings 8:15
With the mouth God speaks for what He intends to do. With the heart man receives what God has spoken forth and with the mouth man releases gratitude back to God and with God’s hand God performs what He has spoken. So there must be an exchange. God releases His Word, man receives it with his heart and offers thanks back to God and God performs it with His hand.

Until there is the offering of gratitude to God, there is not the release of God’s performance towards man. That’s why the Bible makes us to understand very clearly in
1st Thessalonians 5:18

Hebrews 10:36
So the manifestation of God’s declaration only answers after man offers appreciation. It is thanksgiving therefore that is the catalyst for securing divine manifestation.

I’d like us to understand therefore that what we have received from God in terms of Prophetic Words are treasures for destiny but God’s expectation in order to perfect the facilitation of God’s Word is for us to offer appreciation.
When our thanks goes to God, His hand comes to us. It is our thanksgiving that goes to God, that secures His hand coming to us and when His hand comes in our direction, His Word is performed in our direction. My prayer for each one of us today is that God will grant each one of us the grace to sustain a life of thanksgiving.

Let’s look at this case study from Scriptures and this case study is Hezekiah.
Isaiah 38:1-5
Hezekiah offered fervent supplication and laid his case before God. He went before God and made His case clear. The Word came as a prophecy but that Word required performance.
Think of prophecy as intention. So how do we see God’s intention turned to God’s manifestation?

We see what happened here in Isaiah 38:20

Intention was available but manifestation was required. I have seen that he is ready, I have seen that he is set, therefore I will then begin to offer appreciation, I’ve not yet seen the manifestation but because He has declared His intention, I will start offering appreciation. We know the story, within three days Hezekiah was back totally sound because He offered thanks unto God to secure God’s hand in his direction.
I believe that each one of us have received Words from God all through the Prophetic Feast. God was very very liberal in spreading His Word in our direction.

He gave us prophetic pictures, He showed us things to come. He spoke concerning each one of us, declaring all of His intention. We saw the picture of the Promised Land. We saw ourselves installed in that Promised Land. He told us that He has taken us from the wilderness and brought us into the Land flowing with milk and honey.

He told us that our days will multiply as the days of Heaven on the earth. He told us we would not eat bread with scarceness. He made us to understand the picture of the reality of this Promised Land. He has given us Words, now turn to the Lord and give Him thanks.

It is when we offer gratitude to God that His hand of performance comes in our direction to begin to manifest His Words towards us. For each one of us this Promised Land shall be manifested practically.
So it will take our offering of gratitude, going back to Him with thanksgiving.

Ephesians 5:20
Giving thanks always, making sure gratitude becomes our lifestyle. It is one of the requirements of this new land. We must keep offering thanks unto God. We must keep blessing His holy name and as we’re doing so we see His hand continue to perform on our behalf. That shall be our experience in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beyond that we also discover that thanksgiving and praise will keep the Church of Christ growing, not only does it decorates our lives, but it keeps the Church of Christ growing.
Jeremiah 30:19
It does not only bring about our decoration but our multiplication. The Church continues to experience growth as we continue to offer thanks.
Acts 2:47
As we keep praising, He adds to us daily, as we keep offering thanks, He adds to us daily. That is why a praising Church is a growing Church. A thanksgiving Church is an ever advancing Church. The more we celebrate God, the more He multiplies us. That’s why thanksgiving must remain our lifestyle. We have seen it over the last forty years. Thanksgiving is a natural tradition of this Commission.

At every point in time there’s an offering of thanks. We complete a month we give thanks, we complete an operation we give thanks, we complete a year we give thanks. At the end of every year it’s thanksgiving. At the beginning of everything is thanksgiving. Every month we start with praise and thanksgiving, we conclude the month, it’s thanksgiving. Why? Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.

Psalms 100:4
By the time you start with thanks and end with thanks, in between the beginning and the end God fills the gap and when God fills the gap good fills the gap. Everything you can imagine begins to occur positively because between the beginning and the end the gap is filled by God and when God is the occupant of the gap then be sure that that gap is filled with good. That will become our experience in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lift up your hands and first of all just give thanks to God for the Words that you have received, the Prophetic Words concerning your Promised Land experience, give thanks. Give glory unto His name. Celebrate Him from the depth of your heart. Make sure your voice of thanksgiving is registered in high.

Appreciate Him for the good Land. The Promised Land that He has brought you into. The Land flowing with milk and honey, where you’re eating bread without scarceness, where you will live in goodly houses. If you can see yourself there give Him thanks for it.

As you’re appreciating Him, His hand is coming down towards you for performance. Give glory unto Him. Father we say thank You. You’re worthy of all the praise in Jesus mighty name.

• As you have offered gratitude unto God begin to enjoy divine performance.
• Every one of those descriptions of the Promised Land shall become your personal experience in the name of Jesus Christ.
• You will never have cause to say you’re sick.
• You will eat bread without scarceness.
• You will enjoy goodly houses.
• Your days will be multiplied as the days of Heaven on earth in the name of the Lord Jesus.
• There will be no cause for tears.
  So shall it be in Jesus precious name.
  Another day is here. Now speak to the day and make your decrees. Whatever you declare and whatever you decree God is sure to deliver. Declare and decree the blessing of the day. The day is packaged with turnarounds. Father thank You in Jesus precious name we have prayed.