{"status":200,"userMsg":"Post fetched successfully","devMsg":"Post fetched successfully","data":{"id":481,"uuid":"4998bcd9-5922-431e-a06d-a2b8c2d1d4ba","title":"UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING – Part 4","excerpts":"What is Thanksgiving?\nIt is ascribing all the glory to GOD for where we are - Jer. 13:15-17 / 1Cor. 15:10\nThe Danger of Taking the Glory\nJeremiah 13:15–17 reminds us to acknowledge the Lord and give Him the glory. One of the greatest dangers after receiving a blessing is to forget the One who made it possible.\n\nA proud person may say:\n“It is because of my knowledge.”\n“It is because I studied.”\n“It is because of my qualifications.”\n“It is because I worked hard.”\n“It is because of my connections.”","content":"What is Thanksgiving?\nIt is ascribing all the glory to GOD for where we are - Jer. 13:15-17 / 1Cor. 15:10\nThe Danger of Taking the Glory\nJeremiah 13:15–17 reminds us to acknowledge the Lord and give Him the glory. One of the greatest dangers after receiving a blessing is to forget the One who made it possible.\n\nA proud person may say:\n“It is because of my knowledge.”\n“It is because I studied.”\n“It is because of my qualifications.”\n“It is because I worked hard.”\n“It is because of my connections.”\n\nBut the question is: Who gave you the ability to learn? Who gave you the strength to work? Who opened the opportunity? Who preserved your life to see the result?\n\nOur education, skills, qualifications, intelligence, connections, and hard work all have their place, but we must never allow the instrument to take the glory that belongs to God.\nPaul understood this principle when he said:\n“But by the grace of God I am what I am.” — 1 Corinthians 15:10\n\nTherefore, thanksgiving should become a habit and a lifestyle.\nWhen God gives, we acknowledge Him.\nWhen God opens a door, we acknowledge Him.\nWhen God preserves us, we acknowledge Him.\nWhen God takes something away, we still trust Him.\nWhen we succeed, we give Him the glory.\n\n \nThanksgiving shifts our focus from what we have achieved to the One who made it possible.\n\n\nWhat About Those Who Don't Know God?\nSometimes we look at people who do not know God and ask:\n“How come they are also successful? How come they have wealth, opportunities, intelligence, businesses and possessions?”\nThe existence of someone's success does not mean that God is absent.\nGod remains the Creator and source of life, ability, wisdom, opportunity, and provision. People may enjoy blessings without recognizing the One behind them.\nTherefore, our response should not be:\n“They don't know God, so God cannot be responsible for what they have.”\nRather, it should remind us of the importance of acknowledging the Giver rather than worshipping the gift.\nWe Must Not Confuse the Gift With the Giver\n\nThe devil can also tempt, deceive, and offer attractive things with destructive intentions. Something can look like a blessing while ultimately leading a person away from God.\nThat is why we should not judge blessings simply by their appearance.\nNot everything that looks good is necessarily good for us.\n\nThe question should be:\n“Where did this come from, and where is it taking me?”\nA genuine blessing should not cause us to forget God. Instead, the more God gives us, the more grateful and dependent upon Him we should become.\n\nNever allow what God has given you to make you forget the God who gave it.\nYour certificate is not your source.\nYour intelligence is not your source.\nYour job is not your source.\nYour business is not your source.\nYour connections are not your source.\nYour strength is not your source.\n\nGod is the source. \n\nWhy must we give thanks?\n• For the preservation of our blessings - Mal. 2:1-3 /Psa. 28:5\nWe should not take God's blessings for granted. What God has given us must continually be committed to Him with gratitude.\n\nWhat are we thanking God for?\n? For supernatural supplies – Ps. 145:16/ 2 Pet. 1:3\nA. Supernatural Supplies\nGod is our ultimate source and provider.\nWhen we say “supernatural supplies,” we mean the things God provides for us beyond what our human strength, ability, income, or resources alone can explain or accomplish.\n\n1. Provision for our needs\nPsalm 145:16 says that God opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing.\nWe thank God for:\nFood and water\nClothing\nShelter\nFinances\nTransportation ( i remember walking 4-5 kilometers to church use be )\nDaily necessities\nResources for our families\n\n2. Opportunities we did not create ourselves\nSometimes God provides through an opportunity that we could not have arranged by ourselves.\n\nFor example:\nA job opportunity\nA business opportunity\nA promotion\nA contract\nA connection with the right person\nAn opportunity to learn or develop a skill\n\nWe can work hard, but we cannot control every door that opens for us.\n\n3. Strength and ability\n2 Peter 1:3 says that God's divine power has given us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.”\nSo we don't only thank God for things. We thank Him for the capacity to obtain and use those things.\n\nFor example:\nWisdom\nKnowledge\nUnderstanding\nCreativity\nStrength\nGood judgment\nSkills\nAbility to work\n\nYou may say:\n“I studied for the examination, but God gave me the understanding and strength to study.”\nOr:\n“I worked for the promotion, but God gave me the health, wisdom, opportunity, and favor that made it possible.”\n\n4. Provision at the right time\nSometimes supernatural supply is not necessarily an abundance of money or possessions. It can be having exactly what is needed at the right time.\nYou may not have everything you want, but somehow you have what you need to continue.\nThat is also a reason for thanksgiving.\n\n5. Things we did not even know we needed\nThere are times when God provides or makes a way before we even recognize the need.\nThis is why thanksgiving should not be limited to the things we can see.\nThe deeper point:\nSupernatural supply is not just about receiving things from God. It is recognizing that God is our ultimate source.\nYour salary may come from your employer, but God is the one who gives you the ability to work.\nYour business may generate income, but God can give you the wisdom, customers, opportunities, and strength to operate it.\nYour qualification may come from your studies, but God gave you the mind and opportunity to acquire it.\nSo we don't worship the channel; we thank the Source.\nPsalm 145:16 ? God opens His hand.\n2 Peter 1:3 ? God's divine power provides what pertains to life and godliness.\n\nThat is why we can say:\n“Lord, I thank You not only for what You have given me, but for being the Source behind everything that has made my life possible.” \n\n\n? For divine protection – Ps. 127:1-3/ Ps 34:7\nMany times, God's protection is invisible. We may never know how many dangers He has prevented from reaching us.\nDivine protection means recognizing that our safety, preservation, and security ultimately depend on God. There are many dangers we see, but there are also dangers we never see or even know existed.\n\nPsalm 127:1 teaches that:\n“Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”\n\nThis does not mean we should stop taking precautions or doing our part. It means that human security alone is not enough. We can have security systems, police, doctors, insurance, technology, strong doors, and people watching over us—but ultimately, God is our keeper.\n\nWhat are we thanking God for when we talk about divine protection?\n1. Protection from dangers we know about\n\nThere are situations where we clearly see God's intervention:\nAccidents we escaped,\nIllnesses we recovered from,\nDangerous situations we survived,\nAttacks that did not succeed,\nPeople who intended harm but could not accomplish it,\n\nSometimes we look back and say, “If God had not helped me, I don't know what would have happened.”\n2. Protection from dangers we never knew about\nThis is one of the most powerful reasons to give thanks.\nYou may travel from one place to another and arrive safely, without knowing what God prevented along the way.\nYou may sleep peacefully at night without knowing what could have happened around you.\nYou may go to work and return home without knowing the dangers that God kept away from you.\nTherefore, we should not only thank God for the dangers we escaped; we should thank Him for the dangers we never knew existed.\n\n3. Protection of our families\nPsalm 127 connects God's protection with the home and family.\nWe thank God for preserving:\nOur children\nOur spouses\nOur parents\nOur siblings\nOur relatives\nOur homes\n\nWe may not be physically present with them every moment, but God can watch over them when we cannot.\n\n4. Protection from evil\nPsalm 34:7 says:\n“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” This gives us the picture of God surrounding and defending His people.\n\nThere are battles we know about, and there are battles we don't know about.\nThere are attacks we see, and there are attacks God stops before they reach us.\nA powerful point for Thanksgiving\nSometimes we thank God because something happened.\nBut sometimes we should thank God because something did not happen.\n\nYou can say:\n“Lord, I thank You not only for the accidents You helped me escape, but also for the accidents I never knew were coming.”\n“I thank You not only for the enemies I saw, but also for the enemies I never knew existed.”\n“I thank You for the dangers You delivered me from and the dangers You prevented from ever reaching me.”\nThe main lesson\nWe cannot see everything God has protected us from.\nThat is why thanksgiving should not depend only on what we can identify.\n\nEvery morning we wake up, every journey we complete, every night we sleep peacefully, and every day our families are preserved can become an opportunity to say:\n\n“Father, thank You for Your divine protection. I may not know everything You have protected me from, but I acknowledge that Your hand has been upon my life.” \n? For rendering our enemies helpless - Ps. 138:1,7/ Ps 23:5\n? God can preserve His people even in the presence of opposition and make a way where enemies intended to cause harm.\nnm  \n? Key lesson: Thanksgiving recognizes that our victory is not merely the result of our own strength; God is the One who fights for us and gives us victory.\n? Main Thought\n? Thanksgiving is more than saying \"Thank You, Lord.\" It is recognizing God's hand in our preservation, provision, protection, and victory.\n\n\n\n","encoded_content":null,"username":"jvava","author":"anonymous","visibility":1,"category":"sermon","quiz":null,"communities":null,"view_access":null,"edit_access":null,"state_vector":null,"sync_tracker":"de5c247b-cca7-45b6-b5b0-dcd2d9bc78f6","created_at":"2026-08-26T17:00:44.000Z","updated_at":"2026-08-26T17:58:39.000Z"}}