By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
The general overseer and founder, God’s Greater Grace General Assembly Intl Incorporated, Benin, Rev Sunny Akenbor, has urged believers in Christ not to invest their time and energy in wallowing and ruminating on the problems life itself has thrown at them but should always look up to the one who has the ability to do all things even more than what they can ever imagined.
He made the appeal while speaking on the theme: “The secret of thanksgiving” at the Sunday church service in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Rev. Akenbor, taking his bible reading from the book of Philippians 4:6, he said God Himself has already given us a soft landing by telling believers not to be anxious but should always present their request to Him through thanksgiving.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”, Philippians 4:6 said.
Akenbor said Jesus Christ Himself led by example when He visited the tomb of Lazarus by not allowing Himself to be depressed by the circumstances at the moment.
He said when Jesus got to Lazarus tomb, He didn’t look at the problem rather He gave thanks to God in anticipation of what God can do.
“Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
“Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.”
“Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” .So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.
“I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.
“Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” .The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go”, John 11:38-44.
Additionally, he said Jesus also demonstrated it when he fed the multitudes, adding that, Thanksgiving has a multiplier effects in the live of a believer.
“After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
“And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
“And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
“And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
“When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
“And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
“Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
“One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
“And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
“And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
“When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
“Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten”, John 6:1-13.
The clergyman further advised the children of God to always show gratitude to God who has kept them to the middle of the year when some of their contemporaries who so wished to have seen today are no more adding that, it is the Lord’s mercy that they are not consumed.
“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not”, Lamentations 3:22.
He noted that believers who failed to be grateful to God for all that He has done, are likened to the nine lepers who were healed but refused to show gratitude to God.
