All posts by : Simbo Odunaiya

The authors of our current Bible Study textbook stated that the Church in America is in decline. They went further to say that good Christian people are lost as to what to do about this problem.

The Latest Pew Research conducted in the year 2010, by Gregory Smith, Todd Wilson, and Ron Edmondson confirmed the author’s statement above. According to the Pew Research, Church attendance is down by 10%, only 49% of Millennials identify themselves as Christians; the number of Americans who classify themselves as “religious nones” has grown by 30% in the past decade; only 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians, down by 12% over the past decade. The article concluded by asking whether these numbers concern you and if so, where do we go from here?

Jesus said in the book of Matthew 16: 18 – “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not overcome it.” (NIV)

We Christians know that the Word of God is true and permanent. But how does Jesus plan to accomplish the task of building His Church when He is no longer here in person to do so?

Well, we all know full well that Jesus is the Master Orchestrator and as such He never did anything without extensive planning. In order to accomplish His goal of building His Church, He established the higher institution of learning otherwise known as Discipleship University. The Bible recalls that He trained His twelve disciples at this institution for three years. His plan, as we now know it today, is that each of His disciples upon graduation would engage in discipling other people, one person at a time. Apparently, you and I and every Christian today is a disciple of Jesus Christ and as such, He desires our unflinching commitment of discipling other people one person at a time. This is the only way the Lord can multiply His disciples in our time.

Jesus said in the book of John 17: 4 – “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (NIV).  Jesus is saying in this passage of the Bible that He completed the project of discipling His disciples and He is handing over the baton to them (to us) to go out and disciple other people in the world.

Jesus commanded us in the book of Matthew 28: 19-20 by saying “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It is obvious from the above Bible passage that the business of discipling other people is a command, therefore it is not an option. It is also clear that the work of discipling others is not set aside for Pastors and Ministers only but for every Christian! And that is why, I believe that Christ International Community Church is ready and committed more than ever before to make disciples of other people in our world, one person at a time.

God Almighty said in the book of 1^st Samuel that “But Samuel replied: “does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying the voice of the Lord. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” There is a dead sacrifice and there is a living sacrifice!

What are you and I going to do about the Lord’s command in Matthew 28? Are we going to join the winning team by discipling others for God or are we going to sit on the fence and watch others engage in the business of soul-winning? I pray we will not lose our position in Him.

May the Lord of Hosts quicken our hearts and enlarge our coasts to be a committed living sacrifice.

Blessings!

There is a lot of confusion out there in terms of what our faith teaches us.  People are being confused daily because of false doctrine.  The warning of our Lord Jesus Christ about false prophets (Matthew 24:4-5) is coming to pass and many of us are still too complacent about it.  I just watched a video where a preacher was trying to prove that anyone who greets another person with the word “Hello” will go to hell.  Her proof?  The word “Hello” is formed with a combination of “Hell” and “o”. This is just one example of the confusion out there.  These have led to too many Christians struggling with what they believe.  In fact, there seems to be many who still do not understand precisely what they believe in.  It is our responsibilities as followers of Christ to make sure that the good news is spread undiluted and unadulterated.  Therefore, every Christian must make sure that they are well discipled.  What we hear on Sundays in many Churches is just not enough.  Studying with other brethren offers the opportunity to discuss and ask questions about your faith.  This is the place where we get clarity when brethren jointly look at different life topics and their significance to our faith and our lives. 

It is also important that a Christian has someone to look up to.  Someone to ask questions about the Word.  Someone who can help lead them to maturity. The Word of God in Ephesians 4:13 states that we all need to be built up “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” The idea, as the same chapter states in verse 14-15, is so that “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ….” 

There was a story I heard a while ago about a snake handling Preacher in Kentucky, who was killed due to snake bites he received during a Worship Service.  The Pastor belongs to a sect where they routinely handled serpents during their Worship Service.  Their belief that the serpents will do them no harm is based on Psalm 91 where it is stated in verse 13 that “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.”  The Pastor and the Church members believe that if they have “God’s power”, the snakes can do them no harm.  They also believe that if they worship without the snakes, then they are not following the Word of God.  I am not really sure about this belief of theirs, but I would think that if these people know the Lord they serve, and if they know the Christ they believe in, they will understand that this same Psalm that they quote for their foolishness is the same one that Satan quoted when he decided to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ.  If they had learnt just a few things about the Jesus Christ they are supposed to believe in, they will know of His answer to Satan in Luke 4:12 where He said, “it is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”  One wonders if these people know their actions in handing snakes amounts to nothing but testing the Lord?  I think they spend so much time perfecting their tricks with the snakes that they do not even have time to study the Word of God. Incredibly, their leader, the Pastor, died from snake bites!  What message does this then send to the believers?

There are different doctrines out there in the World today.  Many of them do not even have any basis in the Word of God, a lot of them seek to turn the Word of God on its head, and there are also many that try to stretch the Word of God too far.  We need to be prepared by studying the Word of God.  Let us prepare ourselves by making time to study His Word.  Gather with the brethren and study.  The idea is to make sure that in unity of faith we do not get tossed around by waves or winds of doctrines that are out there; and to make sure that we live our lives in His Will because when we are discipled, we can turn around and disciple others with the right message.

All Christian belief must culminate in service or else the belief itself will wither away. Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  It is when we let our light shine before men that our service, which is itself a form of worship, will be obvious to people and God will be glorified.  Have you however noticed that when it comes to serving God, we always manage to come up will all kinds of excuses? It did not just start; this has been human nature for a long time.  The interesting thing is that, call to service for us is not just a simple request.  When God gives a task, it comes in the form of a call, not a request.  When we begin to give excuses, we tend to forget that the God who made the call knows our abilities and our short comings before He called us.  Sometimes you ask folks to pray, and they tell you they do not know how to pray.  Turn around and see the same person at the scene of a fruitless argument and you wonder what the excuse was all about.

In Exodus 3, when the Lord first called Moses for the task of delivering the Israelites from Egypt, his immediate thought was that God was asking Him to be the deliverer.  His response was “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”  What he thought of was all the excuses why he will not be the right fit to do the job. Many times, we get ourselves in this kind of situation.  We forget that whatever the Lord calls us to do, He is only asking us to be instruments in His hands.  What power do we have of our own?  What knowledge do we have of our own?  We belong to God and every knowledge, wisdom, and power that we may think we have come from the Lord.  So, when we give excuses, we do so because of our own sense of inadequacy or insufficiency.  The Word of God in 2 Corinthians 9:8 however says, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  God promised Moses He will accompany him on the task.  It still was not good enough for Moses because when God told him what he should say to the Hebrews, he still argued about not being eloquent and being slow in speech (Exodus 4:10).  God however answered him and said, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute?  “Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:11-12).  We, too, might doubt God’s abilities, but by His Spirit, we will be given exactly what we need at the exact time we need it.  He never sends us on a task to abandon us.

The call to serve that is placed on all of us is a divine call.  Sometimes we may feel like we have insufficient skills for the task at hand.  We must remember that the Lord who called will not abandon us, rather He will equip us for the task at hand.  We must not be the people whose response to every call from God is excuses upon excuses.  We have heard it said many times that following Christ comes at a price, but we have already committed to this path, so we should have no excuse for excuses.  The call to service for Christians means that we must come wholeheartedly and be ready to give all of ourselves to God’s service. It may be natural for us to sometimes feel very inadequate for the job that God calls us to do; we must however remember that “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).  The excuses we give sometimes speak to our lack of faith or low view of God.

The most untenable reason we give excuses when called to do God’s work is because we are simply unwilling.  We are caught up with a load of care and in the web of nothingness that we become unwilling to do God’s work.  When our heart is not there, then the burden to serve God is not there.  Too many of us are too comfortable in our own lifestyles that we are unwilling to give up the ease, conveniences, and predictability of our schedules to relinquish control to the Lord.  We prefer our past-times to serving God.  There is nothing wrong with having past-times or relaxation times, but if we are committed enough, we can plan our time to give us time to serve the Lord.  Remember the Word of God, “If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14:33). 

The old year, 2021, is behind us now. Its record is made, as difficult as it was, and cannot be changed. Doubtless, there is much in it we would like to change, some things we wish we had done differently, some things we left undone, some regrets, many things we hoped never happened and, hopefully, there were some good too in that year.  As difficult as the year may have been, those of us here have been privileged to crossover to a new year, a privilege that comes with a lot of responsibilities.  As we stand here in the beginning of a New Year, it is a good time to reflect on the year that has just ended and look forward into the year that has just begun. It is also a good time for God’s people to take inventory of their walk with the Lord. We should take a very close look at where we are in our relationship with Him. We need to examine ourselves and see where we have been, where we are, and where the Lord wants us to be.

There have also been challenges in the past year.  The year may have been whatever it was for you.  For some it may have been disappointing.  For some others it was the best year they have ever had.  Whatever last year may have been for you, I am asking you this year to keep the faith and keep your mind open for what the Lord is about to do.  For those who thought last year was a failure, the good thing about a new year is that we can begin again.  Living through a difficult year has its elements of discouragement but trusting in a God that routinely turns things around should be enough encouragement for us to hang on.

In Matthew 1 we read about the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Four of the five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ had bad foundations.  Rahab was a prostitute, until she helped the spies and later married one of them, Salman; Ruth was a Moabite, a product of incest, and God had banned Moabites from His congregation. She married Boaz and the rest like they say is history; Tamar was the woman who had a child for her own father-in-law, Judah.  Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah.  Remember she committed adultery with David; did not go unpunished but gave birth to the wisest King in Israel.  Let us thank God that we are alive at the beginning of a New Year and, like these folks we have the opportunity for a new beginning.  Beloved, the Bible says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, the old things have passed away, and all things are new (2 Cor. 5:17).    God in His love has given us another chance for our stories to be rewritten.  Let us take the challenge and obey our God and Creator, let us allow Him to rule our lives.  Let us focus on Him completely and our lives will not be the same again because they will be lived for Him.

For a while now we have meditated on how to love God with the whole of our hearts and how to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  The question we must ask now is “are we transformed?”  How have these things changed our lives?  Are we living our lives for Christ now?  The Word of God in James 1:22 asks us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  Are we doing what we are hearing?  More than doing what we are hearing, are we bearing fruits for the Kingdom?  Christ wants us to be doers of His Word, people who walk the talk.  Christ Himself left a legacy for us, a legacy He fully expects us to follow.  What are we leaving for our children and what are we leaving for future Christians?  Our purpose as Christians is to fulfill the task of the master.  His Word for us is to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”.  How much of that have we done? Can we claim to love the Lord if we have not obeyed the instruction of the Son?  If we have not told our neighbor about the good news, can we claim to love them as we love ourselves? 

If we are to master the scriptural principles of true biblical fellowship, we must master this truth that true greatness in the Kingdom of heaven consists in serving one another. Jesus said, “… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Mt. 20:26).  We must also learn that when God calls you to himself, he also calls you to be a servant, an instrument in His redeeming hands. We will serve God by serving God’s children and the most crucial part of that is making sure all of His children hear the good news. We have been transformed to serve.  The message of reconciliation has been committed to us (2 Corinthians 5:19b).  All God’s children are called into ministry, and each of them needs the daily intervention this ministry provides because God’s plan is that through the faithful ministry of every part, the whole body will grow to full maturity in Christ.  Thus, each of us needs to tighten our belts and be ready to be about our Father’s business.  Let the discipled be ready to disciple others because our call as followers of Christ is only perfected when a disciple becomes a discipler.  This is where the rubber meets the road; it is a brand-new year, and we must all get to work.  

January 2, 2022 – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Christmas Day 2021 has come and gone, but the Spirit of Christmas is still with us.  In many hearts Christmas is not just a day but a season.  A season of joy, happiness, and manifest love. Christmas is the season when abundant love flows freely in everyone’s heart. In fact, the Christmas season is a time of overflowing love.  Love suddenly comes alive at Christmas as if it is a gadget that can be switched on and off.  It fills every home, every workplace, and every Church.  It is the time of the year when the prayers of Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 3:12 rings loud and clear in every ear and is answered in every heart.  “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”  This is a prayer for love to fill every heart even as it is extended to everyone.  We thank God for this season because it is a season when God’s desire for His children to love one another as they love themselves is most manifested.

There are other people out there who do not get this love at Christmas thing.  There are folks out there who have turned Christmas into the time that people are exploited.  The crass consumerism of many of us aids this exploitation.  We must however continue to remind ourselves as children of God that the reason for this season is Christ Himself.  It is the unmatched love the Lord has for His children that led Him to send His son to reconcile us with Him.  The reason for the joy in the air should be because we know that without Christ’s coming, we will not know what would have become of our relationship with God.  Where will our hope be? Where will our salvation be?  Knowing these therefore, we must develop a new discipline as children of God.   Let us develop a spirit of contentment with what we already have and look outward to see what other people need with the desire of helping meet them.

Yes, the Christmas Day may be gone, but can we in the spirit of the season continue to spread love to all people as the Lord desires of us?  In 1 Thessalonian 3, Apostle Paul first praised the Church at Thessalonica because he saw their faith as part of the apostolic mission of the Church.  He then proceeded to pray for them that their love may abound and overflow because he also knew that faith without love is nothing.  If the love within us must be seen as overflowing, then it requires us as children of God to step up and step forward in faith loving everyone and helping to meet the needs of God’s people.  We must make our love known to the world by fleshing out our love, and not just thinking about it, or saying it, but acting on it.  If we must make the love of Christ known to all people, it will take more than words – it requires action. Every love shared must show tangible results.  Every love shared must involve some sacrifice on our part.  Many times, the act of love on our part are dangerously sacrificial.  It is when we still engage in these love acts, despite the dangerous sacrifice on our part, that we can claim the love of Christ is overflowing in our hearts. 

Our love is overflowing when it leaves a great impact or impression.  When something leaves a lasting impact, then it lives in the memory beyond the normal length of its days.  My brothers and sisters, rather than share your love to those who do not need it this season, seek out the poor, the sick, those who are looking for someone to hold them, those who are yearning for a listening ear, and show them your love.  We all are able to make lasting memories when we love, the only impetus is that our hearts must be overflowing with love.  The point I am trying to make is that there is more to Christmas than the carols, the gift exchanges, the sumptuous dinners etc., but it takes a heart overflowing with love to see them.  The day is gone the season is still here, so, it is not late to reach out and touch somebody with overflowing love.  The love that Christ brought to our hearts at Christmas should also not be limited to this season.  Let it flow abundantly throughout the year and throughout our lifetime.  That is when it can be said that we are truly followers of Christ.

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else this season and always!

The Christmas season has always been a time of manifest joy and hope.  The people of God rejoice in the great celebrations of the birth of our Lord and Savior.  He is not only the reason for this season, He has also come to rekindle hope, living hope, in the hearts of His people.  The Christ we celebrate came into the world heralding joy and peace as He came, even as He was born in a place meant for raising horses.  The humble beginning of our Savior, born in a stable, did not in any way diminish the dignity and honor that is accorded His name all over the world today.  Angels heralded His coming and shepherds gathered in holy adoration as they worshipped a child King who was born in a manger.  Wise men followed a star to offer gifts and pay homage to the King that was born in a stable.  This is a great lesson for us children of God, that humble beginnings do not nullify our God-given dignity.  The conferral of dignity is of God, and our station or lot in life does not remove this dignity. 

All of us children of God have an inherent dignity that is a-priori conferred on us because we have been created in the image of God. “We have been fearfully and wonderfully made” – Psalm 139:14. Being poor, being sick, becoming an alcoholic, or running out of our luck does not remove this grace given by God Himself. Our human nature tends to respect and acknowledge the dignity that we ourselves develop through our earthly struggle and neglect to recognize the dignity we have by the fact of our being created in God’s image.  We spend time and effort trying to develop our own dignity and once we attain success, we tend to look down on others who are not as successful as we are. We strip them of their God given dignity.  There is nothing wrong with the dignity we build for ourselves, but we must remember that it is individualistic.  However, when we also help to build others, we fulfill God’s instruction to us to love others as we love ourselves and also help to improve self-worth and dignity.  Helping others to succeed is helping to develop or restore dignity.

One of the songs we like to sing is “Everywhere He went, He was doing good, Almighty Healer, He healed the leapers, When the cripples saw Him, they started walking. Everywhere He went my God was doing good.”  Our Lord gave attention to all these people and in so doing conferred dignity upon them.  Our mission as followers of Christ is to do the same.  We must give adequate attention to the sick and the broken hearted, and in so doing also confer dignity and honor on them.  The Word of God teaches us to “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” – 1 Peter 2:17. Honoring all people presumes that we recognize the dignity in all people.

One thing is sure about us Christians.  We do know the right thing to do, but something gets in the way, and we do not do them the way we are supposed to.  The Christian founding fathers of America recognized the inherent worth in every creation of God which they said is self-evident.  They so much believed in this self-evident dignity that the Lord has blessed each of His creation that were created in His image with that they included these words in the declaration of independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  They are in essence saying everyone has the right to live in dignity. We all have a role to play in ensuring that this indeed is the case.  Christ said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” – John 13:34-35.  This is what we have been called to do.  Loving one another involves recognizing the dignity in one another, and where the dignity is already affected, we do all we can to help restore it.

People of God, especially in this season of hope and joy, let us help to restore hope and joy by recognizing the inherent dignity of our fellow men and treating them with that esteem.  The angels, shepherds, and wise men of the Nativity story respected the dignity of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, even in their humble circumstances.  His immediate needs were met by various visitors who came bearing gifts.  We are called to do no less as we seek and serve Christ in all people.  The lives we live are supposed to reflect the heart of God and the Word of God teaches that our God is a God of compassion, mercy, and justice.  So, we must in all circumstances strive to show compassion and mercy to all people, while we also seek justice for all people regardless of their station in life.  May the joy and peace of this season remain with you now and always.

There is one subject I always like to avoid talking about, money.  This is not because money is not important in Christendom, but because of how it has become the main focus of many in Christendom.  And I know what the Word of God says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” – 1 Timothy 6:10.  I do not want to be pierced with evil at all.  However, the same Word of God enjoins us to give generously.  While money is not my main focus, it is still one of the lessons we must learn, especially the part about giving.  It is Christmas season, it is a season of love, hope, and peace.  It is also a season of giving.  This is the season we all reach out to friends, foes, and family alike in the spirit of giving.  May we receive as much as we give, and even more, in this season.  The Word of God teaches that there is a direct relationship between what we give and how much we are blessed.  In any case, money is a necessity in the Christian ministry.  A lot of the things that the Bible instructs us to do require money for the actions to be meaningful.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus said “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Whenever we give God pours out blessings in return. Giving is not limited to offering at Church.  There are many ways we can give. Giving to a friend in need, giving to a brother in need, giving to the helpless, and to those who are out on their luck are all part of giving.  Any time we give in this way God will always bless us in return, but it is never a one-to-one correspondence. God will normally bless us back in multiples.  This is a principle that even non-Christians understand.  Moslems may even understand this God’s law of giving better than we Christians do.  When I was growing up, many times we saw the Moslems in our neighborhood gather children in the neighborhood and cook a lot of food for them.  In my language, it is called “saara”, a process whereby you give in the expectation that God will bless you in return.  Then there are also Islamic acts like “Zakat” and “Sadaqah”, whereby one gives alms voluntarily to those in need in order to please God.  If these folks understand the importance of giving, how much more those of us who know that we have received the greatest gift of all.  “Give and it will be given to you” is a law of God that works, but we must remember that every law of God functions only from the standpoint of righteousness.  We must give because we trust God and because we obey him, not as a sacrifice for a get-rich-quick scheme, only then, will God bless us in return. 

“Give and it will be given to you…”  Looking over this statement one sees that giving encompasses the two keys to Christian living: faith and obedience.  “Give” is an imperative word.  This means it is a command.  Then it is followed by a promise of God, that if we obey the command, God is faithful, and He will bless us.  So, this is about trust and obedience.  Believe God’s promises and obey His commands.  In either of these cases, not to give is a sin.  It is a sin against God when we do not give. It means we do not trust Him to do what He says He would do.  It is also a sin against God because we are not obeying His commands. 

This same principle is in 2 Corinthians 9:6 – “He who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully.”  God will measure out to us according to what we measured out in our giving.  If we give a lot, we receive a lot.  We also read in Acts 20:35 that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”.  In other words, what we give away brings us a greater blessing than what we receive.  That should be enough.  Do you want to be most blessed?  Then give without reservation.  Give with all your heart.  Not to me or to any Pastor out there, but to the work of God and to those who are in need. 

There are folks out there who have a good understanding of God’s law of giving better than some others.  They give unreservedly and are blessed unreservedly.  It is very straightforward.  Generosity in giving results in a greater reward from God. So, if you want to be blessed beyond your wildest imagination, then give.  But I want you to remember, “each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”.  Don’t go and borrow money to give to God; God’s kind of giving is not a money-doubling or gambling kind of giving.  Give according to how you have been blessed, if you tell a lie, God sees every lie.  Give the way you have been blessed and God gives back more. Then you give more again, and He gives even more.  It is simple.  It is straight forward.  You give, He gives back more, good measure, until it overflows.

The annual Thanksgiving this year has moved on and the Christmas season is moving in.  Yes, it is a season of giving thanks.  As we move from the Thanksgiving Holidays to the Christmas season and finally to the dawn of a New Year, there is always this urge to thank God.  We all suddenly realize that only grace has kept us thus far.  We suddenly realize that being alive to celebrate these once-in-a-year festivities is a blessing from God and we feel this need to thank Him.  We have spent time showing gratitude to our God for all the blessings He has bestowed on us.  Yet, the biggest blessing of all is the gift of Jesus Christ to mankind.  The truth of the matter is that we must always thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants us, who belong to Christ, to live.  Our sense of gratitude should not be based on whether we feel blessed materially or not.  Of course, that is what we do.  Even sometimes when we are blessed, some of us still neglect to thank God.  In fact, usually, more people are ungrateful than those who are. In Luke 17 Jesus was amazed that only one person out of ten individuals came back, when he realized that he was healed, to say thank you. We need to learn to thank God for His goodness in our lives. When He causes us to excel in our chosen field, let us point people to Him, for there is nothing we have that we did not receive from Him (John 3:27).  We must also thank God for circumstances that we perceive as bad. Thank Him because of His abiding presence with you in that situation. Thank Him because you know that by His promises you will come out of your situation victorious.

Sometimes you may think the favors you just received are small favors; thank God for them anyway because every time you thank God for the small things you see, God turns them into big favors.  Remember when Jesus Christ thanked God for five loaves of bread and two small fishes, a whole crowd of people were fed (John 6:11). We need to learn to thank God even for the “small things” on a regular basis. Don’t focus so much on the things that are not working so well, focus on the things that are working for you, this will cause a tremendous release in your spirit and it will move the heart of God.

Giving thanks has a lot of benefits.  The Bible tells us that when we give thanks through praise, the earth yields its increase for us (Psalm 67:5-6).  This means that our jobs, our careers, our businesses will all receive the blessings of God.  When we give thanks, even in our ailing conditions, the Lord himself will give us perfect healing.  When we give thanks, our hopeless situations are turned around because we receive heavenly attention.  When we give thanks, our attitude of gratitude is always remembered like the woman with the Alabaster jar (Matthew 26:6-15). Thanksgiving brings multiplication (Jeremiah 30:19) and God will cause glory to manifest in the lives of those who thank Him.  Finally, when we thank God, it commands His presence (Psalm 22:3).  When we thank God, we feel His presence just the same way the Israelites felt it.  God’s presence is everywhere, but His manifest presence isn’t everywhere. When we praise God, we invite His manifest presence to overwhelm our circumstance. The presence of God in a man’s life is what sets him apart.

Brothers and sisters, no matter our situation let us always thank God. Thanksgiving magnifies God over our situation (Psalm 69:30). It causes Him to focus on that situation. Giving thanks to God is not an option for us Christians. Thankfulness should flow naturally from the Christian who realizes the great gift of salvation offered through the sacrifice of God’s son on the cross. It is a new month.  A month that ushers in the remembrance of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Whatever we do let us thank God and praise His name.  His mercies endureth forever.  O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His loving kindness is everlasting. (1 Chronicles 16:34).  “Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29:13).  To You God be all the glory and adoration for ever more.  In this season, and all seasons we thank you!

Naturally at Thanksgiving, we take stock of all the great and wonderful things that the Lord has done for us and we thank God for them.  It is usually an inexhaustible list of God’s goodness and mercy.  We serve a God that is always Good, and so we see that in every plan and step we make in our lives, God is there doing good.  We have more than enough reasons to be thankful for what God has done for us directly.  One thing Apostle Paul is noted for is that he also thanks God for the good that is indirectly done to him, especially through the people God placed in his life.

So, on this Thanksgiving Sunday, let me just say, I thank God for you.  I thank God for you for various reasons, but especially for making you an instrument of grace and blessings in my life.  It is instructive that in Roman 1:8, Apostle Paul made it a priority to express gratitude to God on behalf of the Romans.  This is a common theme whenever Paul writes to Churches or individuals.  First, He thanks God for them.  In Romans 1:8, He says, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.” In 1 Corinthians 1:4, he also thanked God for the Corinthians, “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge”. In Ephesians 1:15 he went a step further.  Not only did he thank God for them, but he also said a prayer for them. “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”   We must have a habit of thanking God for each other. God placed people in our lives to be a blessing for us, and we must always appreciate God for that blessing. Thank God for your Church members and say a prayer for them if you have not already done so.  May our prayers of faith be acceptable unto our God in Jesus’ Name.

So today, in step with the great Apostle Paul, I thank God through Jesus Christ for your faith and your resilience through the past couple of years.  It had been two years we did not expect we will experience in our lifetime.  We have always heard that there are pandemics, but let us just say that I, for one, was fully satisfied to keep it in the realms of conjecture and academic studies.  However, it has been our reality for the past 24 months.  It has taken courage, resilience and well-placed faith in God, and people of faith that God places in our lives, for us to still be standing and praising our God most high.  I thank the God that gives this strength, and that brought people to our lives to keep us going.

As Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you” – Philippians 1:3.  Every day, I thank God for you in my life. I thank God for your fellowship of the gospel.  I thank God for you because of how He has made you a light to the world.  I thank God everyday for you, for making you a helper and a blessing; I thank God for making you a shoulder to lean on and to also cry on sometimes.  I thank God for placing you here, side by side with the people of God, even in these crucial times, to jointly spread love, when the love of God is so much needed by the people of God in our world today.  I believe that God gave us everything when he placed us here to be there for each other, supporting each other, praying for each other, and helping to carry each other’s burden.

Wonderful people of God, let us thank God for each other because He has brought us close to each as part of His divine plan. When we are down, we lift each other up, we pray for each other, we encourage each other but above all we keep motivating each other to stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to life everlasting.  The Word of God says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  Your presence in my life has made it possible for me to keep this Word of God.  So, I thank God for you, for making you a part of my life. May we continue to find pleasure in Him as we play our role in fulfilling His divine mission.

There are many consequences of misnaming.  Even for the most unassuming, when we misname people or call people a derogatory name, there is usually a hint of arrogance involved.  Yes, without really saying it, there is an “I am better than you” in that subtle misnaming. When we, Christians, deal with people that appear “lost” to us in an arrogant, overbearing way, it pushes them away from our faith when all the chips are down.  In the meantime, in our minds we are thinking how great we have been after we have quoted all the Bible passages that come to us at that time.  The truth of the matter is that, if the gospel we preach, as well as our demeanor, is not filled with grace and love, we should not be patting ourselves on the back because we are just “a sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal” – 1 Cor. 13:1 (NKJV).  Every action we take and words we utter as Christians must be in the light of the Word of God and they do have consequences for the Gospel.  When we distort names, we come off as arrogant, and the Bible states those who act arrogantly give themselves distorted names too – “A proud and haughty man – “Scoffer” is his name; He acts with arrogant pride” – Proverbs 21:24 (NKJV).

In our Christian walk, as we seek knowledge and maturity, if we are not careful, we can develop this feeling that we know more than others, which is otherwise known as arrogance.  People who have acquired some measure of spiritual insight either due to revelations or due to their own diligent inquisition tend to have this form of arrogance which if not immediately checked can lead to their fall.  The Bible tells us that those who are arrogant and have a haughty heart are an abomination to Him: “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished”- Proverbs 16:5 (NKJV).  Spiritual arrogance can present a real and present danger for spiritual seekers. Just by the very nature of spiritual search and growth, we all tend to find some satisfying and serious personal truth on our spiritual journey and if we are not careful it can result in a feeling of “I am all that”, “been there, done that”.  This inherent danger that is in growing spiritually is precisely why our faith teaches us the exact opposite of arrogance which is humility.

We cannot be effective soldiers for Christ if we always proceed from the point of arrogance or “I know and they know not”.  If our major aim is to win souls for Christ then as leaders, ministers, or Christian brothers and sisters, we should never consider ourselves as learned while others are ignorant.  Leaders should never see in themselves any superiority because superior feelings covet superior treatments.  If we want to touch people’s souls, then we must proceed from the point of lowliness and humility.  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves”- (Philippians 2:3).  Spiritual arrogance is bad news.  Ironically this trait is not easy for us to understand.  By their fruits you shall know them.  For example, spiritually arrogant folks do not like to pray with others except they are leading the prayer.  They do not like to meet with others except they are calling the shots.  Put them in charge of a committee and before you know it, it becomes a one-person committee.  Why?  Because in our minds we have already labelled the others non-achievers.  These are traits but it is much deeper than that.  It can be referred to as Spiritual arrogance.

Spiritual arrogance is bad news.  The kind of spiritual arrogance that causes one to refer to another Christian as a “spiritual nonentity” is arrogance of the worst kind, because it seeks to put down.  When a Christian knowingly calls another person a derogatory name, there is some spiritual arrogance involved.  We are allowed to make judgments for our own decision-making but our Lord frowns at name calling just because we can or because we think we are better.  The worst danger of spiritual arrogance is how it makes us lose sight of our own accountability.  When we are spiritually arrogant, we begin to see ourselves more and more as the source of our spirituality.  Everything is because of what we do.  We think it is because we pray more than the others.  Sometimes we believe it is because we read the Bible more than others and other times, we believe it is because we have superior understanding than others.  We lose touch with grace. Brethren, we must not want to lose touch with grace because we are whatever we are by His grace.  This is why Apostle Paul makes that warning very loud and clear, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” -1 Corinthians 10:12 (NKJV). We will not fall in Jesus’ name.