Thriving Words

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; - Ephesians 5:20 Year 2017 has been a mixed year to many people, to some it's a bittersweet year, to some, it was their year, they had it great. Whatever and however this year 2017 might have been to you, all you have to do is give thanks. Perhaps, you lost someone close, maybe your business took a nosedive... whatever thing that befell you and it ain't good. All you need do is give thanks. We give thanks to God in all situation regardless of what it might be. God is good both in the good and bad times. We must learn to give thanks for all our circumstances. We know that our Heavenly Father sovereignly controls all men and all circumstances. If we really believe this, we will certainly thank God at all times, and thus prove that our kingdom is of heaven and not of this world. Then Satan will lose his power over us. Only then will we be able to wage an effective warf

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? - Luke 17:15-17 From the above verses; Jesus healed ten lepers, only one came back to thank God. Jesus asked of the other nine lepers because He expected all of them to be come back and gives thanks. God expects us to come back to Him with thanksgiving for the things He has done. Don't be like the remaining nine lepers that didn't come back to thank God. 2017 is coming to an end, looking back from the start of the year, God has been faithful and favorable until us. We absolutely have no reason not to thank Him. It's only those who are thankful for the past that will receive more in the future. Ungrateful folks wouldn't receive more. Nothing should stop you from thanking God. Show gr

“When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the LORD, it must be sacrificed properly so it will be accepted on your behalf”   - Leviticus 22:29 NLT A thanksgiving that is not from a sincere heart can't be accepted by God. We must understand this; Thanksgiving is not just to thank God for formality sake. Nope! We should Thank God because He alone deserves our thanks. When you starts thanking God just to fulfill an obligation, you are missing it. Perhaps you only thank God because  your local assembly does it once a month is still wrong.  For our thanksgiving to be acceptable, it must be sincere and intentional. Thank Him for His provision, protection, direction, guidance etc. Our thanksgiving becomes Unacceptable the moment it is done in insincerity. God looks inwardly, He knows our every motive. Is your thanksgiving a show off? He knows. Are you truly thanking God from the depth of your heart? He Knows.  You can't be thankful outwardly and you are ingrate inwardl

“When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the LORD, it must be sacrificed properly so it will be accepted on your behalf”   - Leviticus 22:29 NLT We continue on the study on Unacceptable Thanksgiving. What makes our thanksgiving Unacceptable; Sin:  Sin will make you unacceptable to God, and if you’re not acceptable to God, your thanksgiving can’t be acceptable to Him. Repent of your sins before you offer thanksgiving to God. God is first interested in you before He is interested in whatever you want to give Him including your Thanksgiving.   For our thanksgiving to be acceptable to God, we have to be in a right standing with Him. You can't properly thank God while yet in sin. You can't be disobeying him and yet thanking Him. See that your conscience is devoid of any guilt as you come to offer thanksgiving to God.  That’s why it’s important to avoid whatever constitutes sin in your life and resolve any outstanding issues with people as much as possible.  Let

“When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the LORD, it must be sacrificed properly so it will be accepted on your behalf” (Lev 22:29 NLT). God wants us to offer thanksgiving to Him but it is not all thanksgiving that God accepts. Any thanksgiving that is not accepted by God is therefore a waste on the part of the person who offers it.  While it's good to thank God, it is good to thank Him right. There are many things that could make a Thanksgiving wrong; Thanksgiving must be Freewill: a forced thanksgiving is not acceptable. You must never be coerce or forced into giving thanks to God. Don’t do thanksgiving grudgingly; it won’t be accepted by God. God can do without your thanksgiving; He has enough heavenly beings offering Him quality worship day and night  (Rev 4:8-11) Your Thanksgiving to God must be voluntary. Don’t offer thanksgiving to God under duress even when there is a call for the whole church to do thanksgiving. You’re not bound to thank Him but it’

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and  supplication  with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. - Philippians 4:6 Apostle Paul in closing his letter to the Philippians Church as read in the above verse (Philippians 4:6) gave them a very vital advice. Be careful for nothing simply means not to worry or be afraid. He is telling them not to fret. Instead of worrying about things, He said pray it to God in Thanksgiving. Instead of worrying about the situation of things, prayerfully and thankfully tell God about it. Worrying solve absolutely nothing but a thanksgiving Prayer changes a lot of things. Paul said in Prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, our requests should make known to God. One secret of Thanksgiving is this: God honour those who are thankful. Thanksgiving is an act of worship. When you are difficult situation, and you offer a thanksgiving prayer to God, that is an ac of faith. God exactly knows what we are going through

10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:10-11 Today is popularly called Christmas Day. Though no one knew the exact day Jesus was born unto this earth, but virtually everyone do celebrate December 25 as His birth-day. It's has been like that since over 300 years A.D. The reason for this season is Jesus. We should offer thanksgiving to God for sending His only begotten Son, Jesus into this earth. Human race has hope because Jesus came to save us. One of the ways we show thanksgiving in this season is to show love to one another especially the less privileged around us. Our Thanksgiving should be love-filled. Share the good news, tell people about Jesus and why He came to the earth. The birth of Jesus is a cause for celebration no doubt, but more importantly, it's a reason for Th

 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Our thanksgiving should be unlimited. Even If we have thousands tongue to thank God with, it can never be enough. Looking all around you, you will always find a reason to thank God. This year might be so challenging for you, things might not have gone smoothly as you expected, nevertheless you have got to thank God. We do not thank God FOR difficult situation but we thank God IN difficult situation. Don't just be that person that only does thanksgiving when things are going on fine. Don't be that person that thank God seasonally. Don't be that person that thank God only when they have a 'big' testimony to share. Don't be that person that just thank God just because the preacher asked them to. God has been so good from ages past. No one else deserves our appreciation more than Him. You will be

Be kind/thankful to one another... - Ephesians 4:32 In the spirit of thanksgiving. While we thank God firstly, we must also learn to say thank you to people who have been good, helpful and supportive to us.  Some people are simply vessels of God's love to you and indeed they deserve to be thanks. When people gives you something good, do say thank you to them. Don't be ungrateful towards people because that would isolate you.  It should never be hard for you to say Thank You to people. The words 'Thank You' should never be far from your mouth. This is a month of Thanksgiving. Look  back and thank those people who have been there for you. Your family, loved ones and even strangers. It's a season of thanksgiving. Let us all thank God and thank the people who deserves our thanks. Like I have always emphasized, you can never thank enough... It's another lovely Saturday, a joyful day. I pray this day will be a good day for you.   Good Morni

" Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”  -Psalms 107:1 We have so much to be grateful to God for in this life, each and everyday. Another aspect we should always thank God For is over our loved ones. We must learn to thank God for His amazing power and work in the lives of our loved ones, thank Him for His goodness and blessings over our loved ones.  That you have someone to love and be loved is a good reason for Thanksgiving. Be grateful to God for the loved ones you have. The same way you thank God for your own life is the same way you thank God for your loved ones lives. Appreciation to God over our loved ones  Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on God afresh. If you are not thanking God for the loved ones around you, then we do not know what it means to love and be loved. God has been the source of our love. Our loved ones are so special and dear to us, let's learn to thank God for their lives. The capaci

You knit me together in my mother’s womb… I thank you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made - Psalm.139:12 Do you thank God for creating you?  You are not accidentally born. Your parents might not plan to have you born but God knew exactly that you will be born. A special reason to thank God is for creating you to serve Him. Thank God for your birth and for keeping you since you were born till now. Thank God because you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Looking back from when you are born till this present moment, you'd know only God could have brought you this far. Our thanksgiving should have no bounds. It should be limitless considering how many years we have spent on this earth enjoying the goodness of God. No matter how old you are, God knew your journey before you were even formed. You been born into this earth is a privilege and an honour to give glory to God. Thank God for your birth day. He choose you for a purpose which is why you are born. Yo

Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.  - Psalms 75:1 This month theme is Thanksgiving. There is power in ThanksGiving. When we give God our thanks and praise the way the Bible tells us, we release supernatural authority over whatever situation we are facing. Biblical thanksgiving is not just a worldly tradition or a religious activity, but rather an everyday spiritual tool. It frees us from stress and pressure while God is getting personally involved on our behalf. When we are grateful, thankful Christians, powerful supernatural forces from heaven are unleashed that cause things to work for us the way they should. A thankful believer is a powerful believer. A life that is grateful is a life that will experience more good things.  One major reason why thanksgiving is powerful is that Thanksgiving draws heavenly attention to us. When we give thanks, we draw heaven's attention to us. An

"...give thanks to Him and praise His name” - Psalm 100:4 When someone does something for you or gives you gifts, the natural response to such person should be Thanksgiving i.e to say Thank You. But what happened when we don't give thanks?  • Lack of Joy: Thanksgiving brings Joy. When we refuse to be thankful, we become joyless.  Joy is not situational.  Happiness is.  Joy is found in the good times and the bad.  Being ungrateful and lacking in thanksgiving block your ability to know and experience joy.  Being thankful fast tracks your ability to be joyful. • We miss out on worshipping God: Worship starts with Thanksgiving. You can't worship God without been thankful.  I’m yet to find the verse that says, “Come before God with the saddest and most frustrated self you’ve got.  Give to God out of the tightly grasped dollars in your pocket.  Enter his courts with complaining on your lips.”  No, the Psalms actually say: “Let us come before him with thanksgiv

I will never forget your commandments, for you have used them to restore my joy and health.  - Psalms 119:93 We continue on reasons for Thanksgiving.  Another reason to thank God for is Good health. Sometimes a quick visit to the hospital will bring to your consciousness and reality that God is good and faithful to you. You fall ill and you got healed. Be grateful to God for preservation of life. God is the one the blesses us with sound health. Thank God for good health. You are alive, hale and healthy is enough reason to thank God for. So many times God has restored our health back even when we thought it's going to get worst. You don't need to be sick before you appreciate God for good health.  Even if you are sick, you still have reason to thank God. Thank Him in advance for healing, for restoration of health.  Good health is good wealth. For that fact you can read this and understand is a basis for Thanksgiving. Dear friend, it's a blessed n

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:  - Colossians 1:12-14 Another reason to thank God for is Forgiveness of Sin. While we are yet sinners, Jesus died for us. God has forgiven us totally through Jesus our Lord. Imagine if God didn't forgive your sins, how would your life has turn out? Thank God for forgiveness because His forgiveness gave you a right standing with Him. We all have sinned and fall short of His glory. The priceless forgiveness of God which occur through the death and resurrection of Jesus is reason for us to be thankful to. We averted condemnation through that forgiveness. We should be thankful because we are forgiven. The forgiveness of sins is what has prevent judgement been execu

Offer unto God  thanksgiving ;  - Psalm 50:14 Third reason to be thankful for: Thank God for His mercies. God has been so merciful, which is why you must be thankful. If not for God's mercy, we would have been consumed. Mercy stood in the gap for us not to be condemned. Thanking God for Mercies should be a daily duty. The mercies of the Lord endures forever.  Fourthly, Thank God for His benefits. The Bible says in Psalm 68:19 " Blessed  be  the Lord,  who  daily loadeth us  with benefits, even  the God of our salvation". God has consistently bless you daily, He is  God that daily and fully supplies us. He is our shepherd that hasn't make us to lack. We are beneficiaries of God's goodness, thank Him for that. It's my Prayer for you that you will sing a new song of Thanksgiving in this very week. Good Morning and do have a thankful week 

Give thanks to the God of gods.  - Psalm 136:2 The first reason why we should Thank God is because Of Who He is. Our thanksgiving shouldn't be only as result of what God has done or the things we have received from Him. We should cultivate the habit of thanking God for who He is. Who God is is alone to kickstart out Thanksgiving. He is the I AM THAT I AM. He is God even before time began. He is the ANCIENT OF DAYS. Come to think of it, Who else is worthy of our praise if not Jehovah God? The second reason we gotta thank God is for the salvation of our souls. The fact that you are saved is a big reason to be grateful to God. When you know the importance of been saved, you won't stop thanking God for it. We are safe because we are saved. I pray that your heart be full of gratitude everyday unto God. Good Morning and a beautiful day to you,

O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: - Psalm 107:1 Thanksgiving should be our lifestyle. We should live a consistent thankful life. Our thanksgiving mood shouldn't be fluctuating perhaps because of challenges we faced. Our Thanksgiving shouldn't be material-based. We should be thankful to God for how far He has brought us. Because He is good. One important fact thanks-givers got to understand is this: God blesses us not necessarily because we are good but because He is good. Look back, you think things are bad, think again... God's goodness is ever everlasting.  Thank God for His goodness. He is a good God. Infact, He is the reason for this season. Only Him is God and God alone, He is God all by Himself. Thinking of the magnificence of the Almighty alone spur us into thanksgiving. Imagine yourself to God yet He so much cares about you, He had good thoughts to give you an unexpected end. The devil is so good at portraying God in a bad light to

Enter into His gates with  thanksgiving , and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. - Psalm 100:4 It's a brand new day, a brand new month. I'm so excited not just because it's just a new month but because it's December, a month that naturally has this thanksgiving theme. One has the privilege of looking back from a definite period, (January - December). On Thriving Words this month, virtually all post will be centered on Thanksgiving. We all have reasons to give thanks. No matter what has happened or what is happening, we all have reasons (not just one or two or three but numerous reasons) to give thanks to God. When we don't give thanks, we are doing ourselves more harm than good.  Thanksgiving should come to us naturally.  We shouldn't be forced to say Thank You. We shouldn't be cajoled to give thanks. It should flow from us naturally. Join me as we study on the theme Thanksgiving.  This is my prayer for

15. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.  - 2 Timothy 2:15-16 Yesterday, I got into a heated argument with a friend.  We were arguing on our basis for doing certain things. We both use the Bible but our interpretation was so different. One thing I notice is this: my friend interpret the Bible in the light of f what some preachers/teachers had written about it especially the world renowned ones. Do you know you can justify almost every doctrine you practiced in the Bible, good or bad? I can be killing people and I will simply refer you to the Bible. I can be doing some weird things and you will found it in the Bible. Elisha committed genocide and we could simply back him up that the spirit of God was upon him. So many weird things people do and you will be shocked they will back it up in the Bible. Recent

For we are labourers together (TeamPlayer) with God:...   - 1 Corinthians 3:9 One beautiful thing about teamwork is you achieve more. God didn't designed to do it alone. That is why in the body of Christ, everybody has a role to play, different roles but one mission. We are called to be team player. Just like in Football, everybody can't be a striker, everybody can't be a goalkeeper,  everyone has its own role on the field.  Paul's role as a team member was to plant, Apollo another team member role was to water. Too much individualistic trait is hampering the growth of the body of believers today. We all have different skills, talents and gifts, the purpose of teamwork is to harmonize all those talents for a common purpose. Paul lay emphasis on this in  1 Corinthians chapter 12.  We need each other to go furthe r and that is why we must be a TeamPlayer. You can't achieve much on your own.  An organization that negates the power of teamwork will be

"...I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone." - Number 11:17 Teamwork is simply to work together with other people to achieve a common goal. One early thing we learnt about God is Team Work. He said in  Genesis 1:25 "Let us make man......". He didn't say "Let me make man.....".   From ages past, it has been so evidential that working as a team far outweigh working alone. Together we achieve more. Together, we have more. Together our defense is better. Jesus while on earth father twelve disciples, He was actually building a team. He knew the importance of teamwork where each individual will brings his talents, skills, suggestion to the table. Nehemiah chapter 3 gives us insight on how the wall of Jerusalem was built, which family built which part and so on. Nehemiah wa

W Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? - Judges 1:1 I continue on the need for us to consult God before embarking on a project. You and I do not know  tommorrow, but God knows everything including tommorrow, won't it be wise for us to ask Him about the tommorrow. The Israelites knew this because that was how Joshua had led them.  Prayer is one way to consult with God: Prayer is not a monologue, it's a dialogue but unfortunately most has turned it into a monologue affair thus making it one-sided. We connect to God in prayer and in the place of prayer, we receive direction; We receive clarity to our confuse state; we receive divine guidance.  One major tool in consulting is communication and to communicate is to pray. We fight less, win more in the place of prayer. A prayerless life is a powerless life, without it, you won&#

Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? - Judges 1:1 Joshua the leader of the Israelite is dead, and the people don't know what next to do concerning the decision on who to fight for them against the Canaanites. The lesson in this verse is simple and straight forward;  Who you consult before taking a major decision is a determining factor in how well the decision will go.  The people of Israel can decide to choose anyone without consulting God but they know better. If there is anyone that know it all, know it best and never make mistake, it is God. One major thing I have learnt in life is this:  when you stick to what God says, you can't fail.  Yeah our human wisdom really do tell us what to do and how to do it but it's nevertheless limited. Throughout the pages if the Bible, God has never for once lost a battle. He is the first and