APPRECIATING THE INFLUENCE OF THE GOD FACTOR IN YOUR JOURNEY OF LIFE

Appreciating the influence of the God factor in your journey of life. Ecclesiastes chapter 9:1, New Living Translation, it says, "I have observed something else: Under the sun, the fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy, and those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It's all decided by chance. It's all decided by chance by being in the right place at the right time."

And one major takeaway from this scripture is that in the journey of life, only God, only God can guarantee how things will turn out. Only God can guarantee how things will turn out. It's been observed over time, in every generation, great potential do not always translate to reality. The brightest students in our college days, university days, sometimes, sometimes do not really attain certain heights that everyone believed they should be able to attain. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle, those who are educated don't always lead successful lives, bright prospects don't always turn out successful. These are realities of life.

And so, the God factor refers to the undeniable influence of God in the events that happen around our lives. Recognizing the God factor is the acknowledgment of God's mercy. It is an acknowledgment of God's grace. God's grace, God's grace is an acknowledgment of divine protection. Divine protection is an acknowledgment of divine help. Divine help, it's an acknowledgment. Acknowledging the God factor is an acknowledgment of divine intervention. It's an acknowledgment of divine favor, divine blessings upon our lives in our journey so far. So, on a consistent basis, we are expected to express our gratitude to God for His evident influence in the things that are happening in our lives.

What are the secrets of your success so far? What can you point out as the secret of your success so far? Putting aside the God factor. And I can tell you that there are people who have done exactly what you have done, but they did not get the result you have gotten. There are even some people who have done more of exactly the same things you have done. Is it hard work? Is it focused? Exactly the same thing you have done, they've done twice, and they didn't get the result you God. We are not saying those factors are not important, they're very important. But we are telling the point is this: as long as we are on the surface of this Earth, there are many factors that neutralize potentials, that neutralize prospects, negative factors, evil forces. So it takes God being on your side for you to become what you are supposed to become, what you are supposed to become.

And we could then ask at this point, what exact, what is gratitude? Gratitude is the act of being thankful for something. It's the act of being thankful for something. Say thank you up to a minimum of 10 times every day. Even when you are paying someone for doing something for you, you can still tell the person, "Thank you." Someone serves you, someone attends to you, even if you pay them wages at the end of the month for their services, you can still tell the person, "Thank you." Gratitude is the art of being thankful for something. It could be something that you have received, your loved one has received. It could be something you have achieved. It could be something you have completed. And I say by the Spirit of God to certain people looking at me, listening to this message now, that the grace to complete projects is being released upon you right now. When God helps you to finish something, including educational programs, not necessarily for yourself alone, for your loved ones. Your child has just finished one stage of the three major stages of the journey in school, be grateful to God. Completed the second stage, be grateful to God. Completed the third stage, then be grateful to God.

Gratitude is about making a deliberate effort to show you appreciate something. Deliberate effort, deliberate effort with something that has been done either for you, your loved ones, or even for someone you may not be close to. We don't always have to be beneficiaries of something good that has been done for us to express gratitude to the person who has done it. If I have been hearing of certain good things someone has done, someone has done, so even if I'm not part of that, my people are not part of that, when I meet such a person, I would, I would acknowledge it and appreciate the person, pray for the person that God will bless him more for those good things I have had that he has done, that she has done.

Expressing gratitude to God is not optional. It's not optional. Please listen to this message carefully because just one day, listen to this, one day of quality Thanksgiving to God can change the next five years for you. Just one day, one day. The necessity of gratitude is, it is, it is compulsory, especially when things are difficult, things are really, really stressful, or someone has suffered some losses. Yes, at all times. In Deuteronomy 8:18, in Deuteronomy 8:8, the first part of it, King James version says, "But thou shall remember the Lord thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power, grace, ability, wisdom, open doors, opportunities to get well." Grateful people are those who always think back. Grateful people are those who always think back. What had been done for them by different people? They always think back. Grateful people are those who make deliberate efforts to express their gratitude.

And let's take note of this: the church will have a responsibility to teach every believer to have a sense of gratitude. Unbelievers, those that are yet to be converted, should be able to observe that this is one of the character traits of a true Christian. That true Christians, true disciples of Christ, they have a sense of gratitude. That means if you treat them well, they, they, they will be conscious of it, and it will manifest also in the way they will act towards you in the days ahead. We have a responsibility to teach our children to have a sense of gratitude. God expects us to express our gratitude and appreciation to Him if we really feel so, if we really feel so.

And how can we always have a sense of gratitude? I just mentioned two of them. One, we need to consistently, we need to be consistently thankful for those things that God has already done. Always remember, remember that there are things that God has done for you, for your family, for your group, that others are still wishing for, that others are still praying for. So what God has already done for you is the hard desire of many others. Let's always be consistently thankful to God for what He has already done. The enemy wants you to focus on what has not yet been. That's, that's, that's always a pattern. Bombard your mind with such thoughts. But let us always focus on what God has done and remember that others, some of them even older than us, some of them who have even paid a higher price than us, are still wishing and waiting and hoping to receive what God has already done for us. And I pray for someone here that that good thing that God has done for you, the Lord will make it permanent. Your joy will be full, and your joy will be permanent also.

We need to be consistently thankful for those things that God has enabled us to achieve. For those things that God has enabled us to achieve. Those things He has enabled, because there are some things you will achieve that once you achieve it, it's for life. It's for life. You have a first class, it's for life, and it's going to open doors for you for life. Those things that God has enabled you to achieve. And always remember that there are things that God has helped you to achieve, achieve, that others are still wishing for, that others are still praying for.

Now, there are different ways of expressing Thanksgiving. Number one, thank God for specific things He has done. Specific things He has done. Count your blessings one by one. One by one. Just as we have a prayer list of things we are asking God to do, we should also have a list for points of Thanksgiving. And that list should include some things that were prayer requests in the past which God answered. So when you are not thanking God, those things also should be mentioned. Lord, at a time I was asking You for this, but in Your faithfulness, You made it a reality. I needed this, and You also made it a reality. And you know, there are some things that at a point in time, we, we wonder how it is going to be solved, how it is going to happen. Have you been in that experience? You wonder how, how will this thing, how will it happen? And today, when you look back, God made a way. So express your gratitude by thanking God for notable things He has done. And let me tell you something, as long as you are alive, your blessing upon your life will still come to pass. So always thank God that God has preserved your life. And you, God has preserved your life. Yeah, God has preserved your life because as long as you are still alive, things can change. Things can change for good. Notable things He has done for your family, thank Him. Thank Him. Notable things He has done at your workplace, thank Him. Notable things He has done for your church, thank Him. Thank Him for prayers He has answered in the last 12 months, thank Him. The last 12 months. Think back. Think back.

Number two, another way you can express your Thanksgiving is by publicly sharing testimonies of what God has done. In Mark 5:20, Easy to Read Version, it says, "So the man left and told the people in the ten towns about the great things Jesus did for him." Intentionally, he went from town to town and told the people what about the great things Jesus did for him. And it's anywhere he shared his testimony, there was a, there was a predictable reaction. And what was that? The Bible says, "Everyone that had his testimony of Jesus, everyone that had the great things Jesus did for him, were amazed." And that already tells you that such people will, from that moment now, looking forward to meeting Jesus and also hearing from Him. Your testimony could be written. It's not every time you may need to stand and physically testify. You can also put it in writing. But there are some testimonies that could go, become too emotional. Put it in writing, and it could be publicly read out for everyone to glorify God. It could also be via.

And number three, by giving. Proverbs 3:9, it says, Easy to Read Version, "It says, honor the Lord with your wealth and the first part of your harvest." Honor Him. Thanksgiving is a day to honor God. It's a day to honor God. And one of the ways individually, as a family, as a, as a group, we honor God is by giving. So you can give money, you can also give other types of material gifts. You can give something needed in the church. You can also replace something in the church with a new one or a better one, a better quality of what was there before. There are many other ways when it comes to giving. But I just want to talk about giving to the church because giving to the church has come under excessive satanic attacks in recent years. People, there are people that make it look as if you are foolish when you do anything for God's church. You give anything to God's church, they make it look as if you are stupid, you don't know what you are doing. And many of them, they will be happy if you take that same money and use it for any other thing, provided it is not for the church, or for a particular church, for any particular church. It's a satanic attack. It's a satanic attack.

There are different degrees of gratitude. Different degrees of gratitude. Your depth of gratitude can sometimes be measured by how far you go to express it. It can also be measured by the quality of whatever you choose to do, the quality of whatever you choose to give in expression of your gratitude. The most acceptable Thanksgiving, the type of Thanksgiving that is preferred by God, is the one that comes from your personal initiative. From your personal initiative. You are not forced, you're not compelled. Comes from your personal initiative. Another type of Thanksgiving that is preferred by God is the one that comes from a willing heart. That comes from a cheerful and willing heart. Exodus 25:1-2, 2 Corinthians 9:7. God loves a cheerful giver.

Now, there are benefits of honoring God. So many benefits. And that is why when we decide to honor God, let's flow with the persuasions of our heart. Let's flow with the persuasions of our heart. Value influences the extent of honor that you will give. The value you place on someone will influence the, the extent of honor that you will accord that person. The extent of honor you will accord that person. The value you place on someone will influence how far you can go to honor that person. In John 12:3, John 12:3, New Living Translation, it said, "Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume, expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance." Now, if you look at two verses after, you see Judas Iscariot making some sarcastic comments. But you, in his comments, in verse 5, he also confirmed the value of that perfume because he was saying, "Ah, they could have sold this thing, and so much money could have come from the value of this perfume that this woman has just poured on Jesus just to honor Him." She was the one that placed higher value on the person of our Lord Jesus. So honor is more of works than words. Yes, honor is more of works than words. Honor your father is more of works than words. Honor your father and your mother is more of works than words. There is a, there is a place for "Daddy, Mommy, God will bless you," you say it verbally, and it's good. But there's also a place for you to impact something to them, do something to honor them that will cost you something. Honor involves substance. Honor involves substance. We are talking about honoring God now. Honor must cost you something.

In Proverbs 3:9-10, King James version, it says, "Honor the Lord with thy substance, with your substance, and with the fruits of all thy increase." And it comes with a promise. He says, "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." The voice, he says, "Pay tribute." Can somebody say, "Pay tribute"? Pay tribute. That is why I said earlier that one of the ways you honor God is through. Is through. There are different ways of paying tribute, but you can pay tribute to someone by testifying, by testifying about that person. He said, "Pay tribute to the Eternal in all of your affairs. Honor Him with the best of what you make. That way, you will prosper to the fullest."

And so, let me just round it up with the benefits of the annual Thanksgiving. It opens doors of blessings. It opens doors of grace. It opens doors of favor. When you offer an excellent Thanksgiving for the year, for the year that has just ended, God becomes more committed to make the following year more fruitful for you and those that have joined you to offer the Thanksgiving. That is why it's also wise, it's always wise to invite some of your friends, invite some of your loved ones because you may be surprised that when they join you for Thanksgiving, some of them, based on how God will minister to them at that same service, may join you now to render something of greater value to God in Thanksgiving without you telling them. And that will be happening simply because you are the one that invited them to the meeting. So when you do this, God will open doors in the New Year. Thanksgiving, most God to do more for a grateful family, a grateful individual, and a grateful church. May your family be counted by God as one of those grateful families on the surface of this Earth.

So how can you and your family offer a befitting annual Thanksgiving to God? One, invite friends and loved ones. Then also, you must make up your mind what exactly you would want to do to honor God. Decide also on behalf of your family. Consult at the family level. Then also, if you want to testify, you want to share a very special testimony, this is a time also to inform the ministerial team so you can be interviewed on time because we have to present the best of so many testimonies that people may want to share. Time will not permit us to take all of them. Testify to the glory of God. And then, of course, on that day, if you remember that it's going to be a day of high praise, quality worship, singing, dancing, jubilation, testimony, and celebration. So come well prepared to honor God in this dimension.

And in closing, start it now. Start it this year. Start it now. Don't wait until you have the exact quality of what you really wish to offer God before you offer Thanksgiving to Him. There is a word of wisdom in Ecclesiastes 11:4. Ecclesiastes 11:4, Amplified Bible, it says, "He who watches the wind." What does that imply? It says, "Waiting for all conditions to be perfect, all conditions to be perfect, will not sow seed. We will not sow seed." If you are waiting, you will not sow seed. And he who looks at the clouds will not reap a harvest. Start with what you have. Start with what is available. And then in Luke chapter 16:10, Luke 16:10, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, it says, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much." If you can offer quality Thanksgiving to God at a more modest level in life, then it is guaranteed that if God now promotes you to a much higher level, empowers you to a much higher level, you will also do the same thing. Start it now. Start it now. Turn to your neighbor and say, "Neighbor, neighbor, start it now. Start it now. This is your time."