CREATIVITY IN THANKSGIVING
Posted by Pastor E. A. Adeboye on Friday, November 27, 2009
Under: NOVEMBER 2009
CREATIVITY IN THANKSGIVING
Bible in One Year:
Friday, November 27, 2009
(Neh 4 - Neh 6)
Memorise: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful" (Col 3:15)
Read: Luke 17:11-19
11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
It is good to thank God for tangible material blessings - provision of a house, car, job, child, promotion, contract, answer to prayers, etc. But what gives God greater joy and provides you greater mileage in your faith record is when you thank God for unseen, intangible and seemingly negligible blessings such as sleeping and waking up, spiritual blessings, victory over unseen battles, etc. How often do you thank God for these? Sometime ago, I read about a man who was attacked by armed robbers. He was robbed of his property and beaten. Yet, he came to thank God. Many who saw no reason for him to thank God, began to ask why he had come to thank God. To them, if he had escaped the armed robbers or his property were intact, those would be justifiable reasons to thank God; but not when he was beaten and robbed. The man saw what they did not see, and said he was thanking God that he was robbed but was not a robber himself; that he had something somebody considered valuable to steal, and because they took his property, not his life. One lesson from this is that if you want to live a life of thanksgiving, you must considered what others take for granted and probe into the extreme possibilities of a negative event which did not take place. It calls for creativity!
The ten lepers had a divine appointment. They were going out while Jesus was coming in. May your path cross the Lord's today. Even though they were some distance away, they were outcasts, moving corpses and destined to die sooner or later, they still had something - their voices for which to thank Him. God never leaves you without something to thank Him for. As long as you have your mouth, you can call or thank Him and get out of trouble. The one who can speak out will always tell people where it is hurting. This is why I pity little children. An adage says, The inability to speak is the root of all ill-luck. As an undergraduate, I went to spend a week with my uncle. The pounded yam his wife served me was small. If I was going to spend just that day, I would have kept quiet. But since I had a week ahead of me, I did not want hunger to kill me, so I asked her if I was really welcome. And she said 'Yes'. With that, I requested for more food and she served me. Thank God you have a mouth. Use it to thank God from today. The more creative you are, the more the quality of your thanksgiving.
ACTION POINT:
Go on a creative ride as you thank God for all He has done for you. Thank Him in a different way from how you have always done it.
Bible in One Year:
Friday, November 27, 2009
(Neh 4 - Neh 6)
Memorise: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful" (Col 3:15)
Read: Luke 17:11-19
11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
It is good to thank God for tangible material blessings - provision of a house, car, job, child, promotion, contract, answer to prayers, etc. But what gives God greater joy and provides you greater mileage in your faith record is when you thank God for unseen, intangible and seemingly negligible blessings such as sleeping and waking up, spiritual blessings, victory over unseen battles, etc. How often do you thank God for these? Sometime ago, I read about a man who was attacked by armed robbers. He was robbed of his property and beaten. Yet, he came to thank God. Many who saw no reason for him to thank God, began to ask why he had come to thank God. To them, if he had escaped the armed robbers or his property were intact, those would be justifiable reasons to thank God; but not when he was beaten and robbed. The man saw what they did not see, and said he was thanking God that he was robbed but was not a robber himself; that he had something somebody considered valuable to steal, and because they took his property, not his life. One lesson from this is that if you want to live a life of thanksgiving, you must considered what others take for granted and probe into the extreme possibilities of a negative event which did not take place. It calls for creativity!
The ten lepers had a divine appointment. They were going out while Jesus was coming in. May your path cross the Lord's today. Even though they were some distance away, they were outcasts, moving corpses and destined to die sooner or later, they still had something - their voices for which to thank Him. God never leaves you without something to thank Him for. As long as you have your mouth, you can call or thank Him and get out of trouble. The one who can speak out will always tell people where it is hurting. This is why I pity little children. An adage says, The inability to speak is the root of all ill-luck. As an undergraduate, I went to spend a week with my uncle. The pounded yam his wife served me was small. If I was going to spend just that day, I would have kept quiet. But since I had a week ahead of me, I did not want hunger to kill me, so I asked her if I was really welcome. And she said 'Yes'. With that, I requested for more food and she served me. Thank God you have a mouth. Use it to thank God from today. The more creative you are, the more the quality of your thanksgiving.
ACTION POINT:
Go on a creative ride as you thank God for all He has done for you. Thank Him in a different way from how you have always done it.
In : NOVEMBER 2009
Tags: creativity in thanksgiving
Fondly known as G.O or Daddy G.O, Pastor Adeboye became the General Overseer (G.O) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1981. Sheer curiosity and the search for a solution to a personal problem led Pastor Adeboye to worship at RCCG – Ebute-Metta in 1973. It was a most unlikely place of worship for a professor of Mathematics as the church had very few educated people and it lacked the comfort and grandeur of the Orthodox churches.
His desire to reach the ends of the earth is captured in this statement, “I would love to have a breakthrough to such a height that I can lend to nations and preach on every television and radio station at least one hour per day.”
