Explore the deep ideas about being thankful and thinking about spirituality in a special talk called “Understanding Thanksgiving” by Apostle Johnson Suleman, the President and General Overseeing of Omega Fire Ministry. He shares really wise thoughts that go beyond just the regular way we think about being grateful. With his strong words, he invites us to understand Thanksgiving in a bigger way, not just as a usual thing we do, but as a strong way to show our faith and connection with something divine. Come join us as we learn more about spiritual ideas and make our hearts richer with the powerful teachings in this talk.

UNDERSTANDING THANKSGIVING

TEXT: Psalms 34:8 and Psalms 95:2

Psalms 34:8

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalms 95:2

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Prayer Point: My father, my father, in the name of Jesus, henceforth, I will taste and see the goodness of God.

Note:

From our text in Psalms 34:8, you can taste God’s goodness, and it can become real in your mouth.

God does not want you to just give thanks; he also wants your thanksgiving to be loud. There is a way a man can have thanksgiving, and the thanksgiving will have a voice.

Deep thinkers are great thinkers! This means When you take a retrospective of your life and see how much you have enjoyed the mercies of God,  you’ll know how big and how much you’ll thank God. When you see a man thanking God deeply, you’ll know that he has thought deeply.

If you really want to thank God well, you need to think well. No man is alive as a result of his/her strength, capacity, or expertise. Some richer men are better, but God kept you alive and strong.

When you see a mad person on the road, God is trying to show you that it could have been you. Some mad people are intelligent. Some of those mad people out there may be there as a result of family problems, hereditary problems, health issues, or satanic arrows.

1 Samuel 2:9- He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

Your being alive is never a factor about you, but it is by the grace of God

1 Corinthians 15- But by the grace of God, I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

When you put all of these I just mentioned into consideration before thanking God, your thanksgiving becomes voluminous.

In Psalm 136 the bible says,  Give thanks: Thanksgiving is a command, not advice or an opinion. So, when you’re not giving thanks, you are violating heaven’s instruction.

Anything you receive from God must be capped up with thanksgiving. so, reception demands Thanksgiving. Once you receive anything, you owe him thanksgiving.

There are many people today, God has done wonderful things for them but they’ll never come out to testify. They think it’s their strength.

Psm 147:7.. .. p. praise is an element of Thanksgiving .

psm 100:4. .. So, anytime you say lord I thank you, you’re actually hitting the gates of heaven.

xxx.. Thanksgiving, gives you access to heaven’s gate. Philp 4:6. P.

thanksgiving, is an application for more. Anytime you say father I thank you, you open up qualification for the next level of promotion, dignity and more.

Col 4:2.p.. So, thanksgiving is a warfare strategy.  For you to win battles of life, you must never forget the place of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving also has the same potential and capacity of prayer. 1 tim4:4. Ntl, msg, Niv… Thanksgiving silences rejection. When something is bad, and you thank God for it, it becomes Good.

Things that thanksgiving does..

1.Thanksgiving provokes multiplication:

Jer 30:19.p. So, your multiplication and your glorification is tied to your thanksgiving or appreciation.

When you lack appreciation, you are denied multiplication. Anything you want to increase, thank God for it. Anything you thank God for, multiplies, using Jesus as an example, when he lifted up the bread, he thanked God and it multiplied.  You’re the one limiting your multiplication if you’re not thankful. Appreciation is not only confessed but applied.

Anything you mumor for depreciates and vice-versa. For example you are complaining to God that you just have only three cups of rice that it’ll be small for you and your family, when you complain to must as you are cooking, it may Get burnt, this is also as a result of your lack of appreciation to God.

In the Kingdom of God, emotions cannot break principles. Principles is superior to emotions. Until you settle what needs to be settled you can never be settled. (The bible says, forever oh God your word is settled.).

Inability to thank God is an application for smallness in life. You will automatically have covenant with smallness if you live a life of unappreciation.

If God lifts you up, without stress you need to be grateful. One of the keys to increase to expansion or glorification is thanksgiving.  God is not to0 be held responsible for your smallness, it could be simply lack of appreciation. Thank you, Jesus should never finish in your mouth.

2.God Hates ingratitude” luke 17:14-18..p..  

On a normal circumstance the 10 lepers should go to the priest. As they were going, one returned.

The Jews felt entitled that a fellow Jews man has healed them.  Familiarity is what brings entitlement. The Samaritan saw himself as unqualified. Familiarity with God brings familiar spirit. Psm 31:15.

There are people that fasted, prayed for a journey but they still got an accident, but God brought you out.

One was whole, one was healed. It means its in your thanksgiving that you’ll get your wholeness. Wholeness is total completeness in all ramification.

(I am what I am by the grace of God.. shows a heart of gr)

Prayer.. I repent from the sin of ingratitude.

///

Your preservation is in your appreciation. You thanksgiving is your key to high living.

Every intervention of God needs thanksgiving to be perfected. Nothing is established until thanksgiving or gratitude is initiated.

When you thank God for today it creates tomorrow.

3.Thanksgiving must be done with sacrifices:

Psm 50:14, Psm 107:22.

Thanksgiving without sacrificial is a waste of thanksgiving. Eg God kept you last year, you bought cars, lands, didn’t land in the hospital.

God does not need to kept you alive to proof that he is God neither does he has to proof that he, his God. There are people you think that does not have money until when sickness shows up, you’ll be amazing where and how they’ll get a particular money.

If you combine the two words. THANKS+ GIVING, it is after you thanking God then you give. Thanksgiving is incomplete without Giving.

God does not need your money; he wants to see your faith and love. Sacrifice is an expression of Love.

God is not a Ponzi scheme or crypto currency, but when we are doing all these, let us do it on the platter of love.

2 sam 24:24,

You ingratitude angers angel. Your level of sacrifice shows your dept of gratitude.

Song…

“Am alive today because God kept me…”

In Psalm 62:11, the Bible says

“God has spoken once twice have I heard this that power belongs to God”

In Daniel 7:13-14, the Bible says:

“Daniel saw in a night vision,

he saw the Ancient of Days sitting down and he saw someone

like the Son of man brought before him and was brought near unto him.

And unto the Son of man was given kingdom dominion,

authority that his kingdom will be without end.”

While  Jesus Christ was here, He was constantly referring to Himself as the Son of man and then He

said in John 3:35:

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand”

Now all the things He has handed over to Him includes what the Father said: “Power belongs to me.”

Matthew 28:18:

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Now if all power in Heaven and on earth had been given to Jesus then there is none left for Satan. All the time that the Lord was here with His disciples, they watched Him admiringly as He performed miracles upon miracles. In fact, when they saw Him still the storm in Mark 4, they said in verse 41

“…What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

However, very soon, deep within them there was a hunger for power. I am yet to meet a normal Christian who does not want the power of God I am yet to meet any Christian who will not be willing to give anything to have that power to heal the sick, raise the dead, open blind eyes and to just do miracles for God I am yet to meet somebody who wants to be a powerless Christian

After some time, as the disciples watched the lame begin to walk and the lepers cleansed, they could not keep it to themselves anymore so they asked Him in John 6: 28 & 29 how they too can make miracles happen. He told them that they have to believe the One that sent Him In Matthew 17:14-20 they could not heal the boy who was demon-possessed They wanted to know why they could not heal him. Jesus Christ told them that this kind does not go out but by prayer and fasting

In John 14:12, Jesus Christ said

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me,

the works that I do shall he do also, and greater Corks than

these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

In a sense, they were sad because they did not want Him to go but somehow if He goes, power will come particularly as He said in John 16:7

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth, It is expedient for you

that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;

but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

A night came and they sat at meal together. They thought it was an ordinary meal like before but then Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave to the disciples. He said the bread was His body. He also took wine and shared and said it was His blood, for the remission of sins. They were to perform this ceremony in remembrance of Him.

They were sad because He was going but they were exited that power will soon come When I was a much younger Christian, the Lord revealed to me that there is a link between the wine of the Holy Communion and power.

Each time 1 drink that wine something happened to me My body used to shake in those days violently like what happens to a generator when you have just started it Now I am older, I am a bit more composed. I had to exercise great control not to throw away the glass in those days

The Lord died and rose from the dead and He appeared to the disciples for some days Then when He was about to leave in Acts 1:6-8, the disciples cornered him again and asked one question and they kept the second one to themselves. The Lord, however, answered both of them They wanted to know whether He would return the kingdom to Israel and He answered that it was the Father who would decide. The other question that was inferred was when they would receive power To this, He said that they would receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon them

I want to appeal to you because the Bible says let every man examine himself before taking the Lord’s Supper Do not take the meal unworthily If you do, it may kill you. If you know that you are not yet baptized by immersion, do not force yourself to eat. You can eat after you have done your baptism.

If you know that someone has offended you and you have not forgiven, do so now. The One unto whom all power belongs is willing to share with you It will be a great joy to the Almighty God to see all of us full of His power. If you say you are hungry for power, He is more than hungry to release the power to you. Something extraordinary is going to happen to you

# ALL POWER BELONGS TO HIM

#pastor e.a Adeboye Messages

ALSO, READ IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE By Pastor E.A Adeboye

John 14:1-3:

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God,

believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. if it were not

so, I Would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,

and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.”

When Jesus Christ was talking to us about His Father’s house, He said there are many mansions there The best fellow to tell you about a man’s house is the son. Jesus said in John 14:6 that he Way, the Truth, and the Life The One who is the Truth can never lie so we know that whatever He tells us must be true Now He said in His Father’s house, there are many mansions.

The scene in Heaven is extremely beautiful, that even the street there is of gold In other words, the best gold you may say you have is ordinary dust over there. When Paul was caught to the third heavens and he saw the glory of the Father’s house, he said what he saw there was very difficult for any man to describe. He said because of what he saw, nothing could separate him from the love of God.

Your best friend, the Lord Jesus Christ, said for you to enter into that place, it is better that you cut your right hand if it is going to hinder you. He said if your right eye is going to cause you to miss that place, pluck it out and throw it away.

Now because the place is so beautiful, God said in Isaiah 35:8 that He will not allow any unclean thing to enter there to spoil the beauty. That is why the Bible says in Ephesians 5:27 that anyone who is going to be part of the Bride of Christ must be without spots, without wrinkles and without any blemish.

Now, I know people will be telling you it is impossible to be perfect. The next time you hear that, say, “Get thee behind me Satan,” because the word of God says be therefore perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect. It can be agreed that you might not be able to do it on your own, but thank God for the Holy Spirit. If you call upon Him to help you, He will help you.

However, if you think that you are going to Heaven and there is only one blemish in your life, I am sorry you will not go. If you rob God, you will not go. You do not pay your tithe and you say you are going to Heaven. Who i deceiving whom? Even robbers on earth that are stealing on the highways know that they are not going to Heaven

Why must Jesus Christ go and prepare a place, when there are many mansions? There are many mansions but they are not for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. In Heaven. everything is reserved. Every mansion has a name on it. Every seat around the table of the wedding of the Lamb has a name on it. There is another important thing you need to do, if you want to go to Heaven. You must live holy. That goes without saying. The Bible says without holiness, no man

shall see God. If somebody should tell you that it is not possible to live holy, that fellow is saying it is impossible to go to Heaven.

Apart from living holy, you must be a soul winner. Why? Jesus Christ said in John 15:1-2:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh

away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,

 that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Whenever you find somebody who backslides and can not be restored, finds out very well, he has not been a soul winner because if God tears somebody away, who is going to bring the fellow back? That is why you must decide right now, not only to live holy but to begin to win souls on a daily basis. Holiness without soul-winning will lead you straight to hell because anyone who is not bearing fruit, God would tear away.

This brings us to one crucial point. In Heaven, there are many mansions and the names of the owners are written in the Book of Life. From time to time, the angels go round and wipe away some names and put others there. You can read it in Revelations 22:19:

“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,

God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,

and from the things which are written in this book.”

In fact, years ago, when Israel offended God and God said He was going to destroy them and Moses began to intercede, finally Moses said, “Lord if you will not forgive them, take my name away from your book.” God refused because it is those who offend that would be punished. The mere fact that your place is reserved means you have to do something serious to make sure the reservation is not canceled. In Revelation 3:11, the Bible says:

“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

There is a possibility that if you are careless, somebody may take your crown. I pray that nobody will take your crown.

The choice is yours. Do you want to be in that great mansion up there? Are you going to allow anything in this world to rob you of what is there? Jesus Christ said what does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? He said what can any man give in exchange for his soul?

#pastor e.a Adeboye Messages

ALSO READ, CURSES AND BLESSINGS by PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE

Numbers 23:8:

“How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?”

Then the All-Sufficient One has blessed you, no one can curse you.

What is a Curse?

A curse is an invitation to an evil supernatural power to fight against somebody that you are cursing; to weaken the fellow, to cause the fellow to fail and to cause sorrow for that person. When Goliath came against David, he cursed him in the name of his gods. In other words, he was saying his god would fight David. In Numbers 22:2-6, Balak invited Balaam to come and curse Israel for him. He said Israel was too strong for him.

Proverbs 26:2:

“As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.”

In other words, if anybody curses you and you have not done anything, the curse will not work. Many curses are provoked by sin. For example Genesis 3:14-19, when man sinned, God came and began to curse

What are the natures of a curse?

all those who participated in the sin, beginning with the serpent, then the woman and ended up with the man. If not for the sin that led to that curse, women would have been producing their children as easily as the animal in the bush. I am sure you know that animals in the bush have no midwives. I have been in the bush for a long time, I am yet to find an animal that died giving birth. Because sin came, delivery became a problem. Because curse came, man has to sweat before he can eat.

There is another kind of curse that could be called Anikura kind of curse. Anikura was a thief in Lagos several years ago. He was such a notorious thief that a musician waxed a record about him. I think I heard the record for the first time in 1952. The song says Anikura will not ask you not to trade. He will not ask you not to make gains, but he will make sure that you do not take the gains home. In other words, he will wait until you have succeeded, then he will pounce on you and collect your blessing. Bible scholars also like that one to what they call Curse of Lor’ Lot prospered in Sodom and Gomorrah. He became very rich but he lost everything in one day. Every curse that is waiting for you to prosper before pouncing on you will be broken in Jesus’ Name.

This kind of curse also works on backsliders. When you read the story of the prodigal son, as soon as he became separated from a blessed father, he ran into trouble. Lot got into trouble because he was separated from a man who was blessed.

There is another nature of a curse and that is the fact that it goes from generation to generation. It might be working on the grandfather, then works on the father, then on the children and so on. God said in Exodus 20:3 5:

” Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am

a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;”

There are some houses for example where if their women give birth to baby girls, they must not eat oil or salt for seven days. For a baby boy, it will be nine days. Can you imagine eating without oil, without salt for seven or nine days, because you have just given birth?

Who can curse?

The devil, for example, can curse. Surely, the devil does not bless anyone. John 10:10 says:

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

That is all that the devil wants to do. He is just to kill, to steal and to destroy. All the agents of the devil know how to curse too. John 8:44:

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

The people who have authority over you can also pronounce a curse and it will work. For example, your parents. If you offend them and they curse you, it can work. When you read Genesis 9:20-25 you find Noah there cursing his son and that curse worked on that son for several hundreds of years. A husband can also curse a wife. Wives should be careful how they treat their

husbands. Husbands should also be careful before they

open their mouths against their wives.

In Genesis 31:31-35, Jacob cursed Rachael, unknowingly of course. He simply said whosoever stole the idol of Laban should die. He did not know that Rachael had stolen the idol of her father. The next time Rachael conceived, she died at childbirth because the husband had pronounced a curse on her.

Another fellow that can pronounce curse on you and it will work is your spiritual father. It is a very dangerous thing to annoy your spiritual father because if he curses you, the curse will begin to work almost immediately. You know the story in 2 Kings 5:25-27 when Elisha cursed Gehazi. The curse worked immediately. If God curses you, who is going to deliver you? When you read Genesis 4:8 12 you find God pronouncing a curse on Cain, and you know the result. If somebody is under a curse, the fellow would be working like an elephant and will be eating like a rat. As he is trying to move forward, there are forces he cannot see that are pushing him back. As he tries to rise, there are forces far beyond his ability pressing him down.

Who can break a curse?

Anyone who has an authority higher than the authority of the one who placed the curse on you can break a curse. It works like the judiciary in human life. For example if the Magistrate Court sentences you to an imprisonment and you appeal to the High Court. If the High Court Judge says you are not guilty, then the imprisonment is quashed. If your father or your husband curses you, your spiritual father or your Pastor can break the curse. If your Pastor curses you, the one who ordained him can break the curse. If God gives you judgement and you say you appeal, who is going to be your lawyer? Who will be the final judge?

How are curses broken?

Anointing breaks curses. Isaiah 10:27 says the anointing breaks the yoke. In Job 22:28 we find that the word of God says we shall decree a thing and it shall be established unto us. We discover that just as a curse is in place by pronouncement, in the same manner it is broken by the same pronouncement. After you have broken a curse, you will discover that the fellow involved will start afresh. However, years that have been lost may never be regained.

Nevertheless, you can help the fellow further by not only breaking the curse in his life, but now pronouncing a blessing on him. The blessing will now accelerate his progress.

What is a Blessing?

A blessing is an invitation to supernaturally good forces to assist a person to succeed, to overcome and to increase. For example in Genesis 27:26-29 Isaac blessed Jacob. The greatest prayer you can receive is, “God bless you. Once God blesses you, everything you touch will prosper. Like curses, blessings normally do not come without a reason. In Deuteronomy 28:1-2 God said:

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken

diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to

observe and to do all his commandments which I

command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:” you do not do certain things blessings may not come. If Many of us want blessings but we are not ready to pray for them. We are not ready to work for them. In Genesis 12:1-3 the Bible tells us that God pronounced seven blessings on Abraham:

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt

be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Often, when God is going to pronounce a blessing on you, He will give a condition.

Who Can Bless?

Those who have authority over you can bless you. Your husband can bless and it will work. Your father and mother can bless you and it will work. Another fellow that can bless you and it would work is your spiritual father. When your Pastor says “God bless you,” it is going to work. If your brother shakes hands with you and says, ” God bless you,” he is merely greeting you. It is like saying, “Good morning,” which is another way of saying, “I wish your morning will be good.” It will take your father, your mother, your husband and your spiritual father to bless you.

The nature of blessing is that just like a curse, it flows downstream. As it goes downstream, it becomes bigger and wider. God blessed Abraham and Abraham became great. By the time the blessing jumped on Isaac it had become very great. By the time the blessing got to Jacob, Jacob had become exceedingly great. At the time the blessing jumped on Joseph, not only did he become the ruler of Egypt, he was used to save the world of that time.

Just as someone can provoke a curse by annoying someone who is going to pronounce the curse, in the same manner you can provoke a blessing. In other words, you can do something that can cause someone to say it will be well with you. In Genesis 27:1-4, Isaac said to Esau that he wanted to pronounce a blessing on him. To do this, he asked that Esau cook him his best meal. This was to provoke the blessing. However, before Esau could carry out the instruction, Jacob had got wind of what was to happen and he impersonated Esau. Isaac blessed Jacob. By the time Esau came back, it was too late. Isaac had poured all the blessings of Jacob.

There was also a time in Genesis 22:15-18 when Abraham did something that provoked God’s blessing, God said:

“And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD,

for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

In 2 Samuel 6:11-12, the Bible tells us that when the children of Israel were trying to bring the Ark of God to Jerusalem, an accident happened on the way and someone died. David said the Ark was dangerous so it should be put in the house of Obededom.

God blessed the house of Obededom. News came to David that God had blessed the house of Obededom because of the Ark. David went immediately to claim back the Ark. Then as they were taking the Ark back to Jerusalem, David began to dance. He danced so much before the Almighty God that he did not care he was the king. There and then, God promised that his kingdom would never end.

Another person that provoked the blessing of God was Solomon. In 2 Chronicles 1:6-12, Solomon gave one thousand offerings to the Lord. God then decided to pay him a visit. God asked him to ask for anything he wanted. He asked for wisdom and understanding but God added wealth, fame, long life and peace.

If you want God to bless you, you must be living the life of holiness and total obedience. God said if you would hearken diligently to His voice to observe and to do all that He commands you, then blessings will come upon you and overtake you. When God decides to bless you, it will get to a stage when you would say it is too much.

ALSO, READ What Does The Bible Say About Narcissism?