MAN IS TOO EXPENSIVE TO BE MAINTAINED BY MAN.

I ONCE VISITED A YOUNG MAN IN THE HOSPITAL THAT PAYS 9,000 POUNDS TO OXIDIZE HIS BLOOD EVERY WEEK.
THE OXYGEN WE BREATHE FOR FREE, COULDN’T ENTER HIS BLOOD SO IT HAD TO BE MECHANIZED.

THIS IS JUST ONE BIOLOGICAL PROCESS. IF YOU ARE TO PAY FOR ALL THE BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN YOUR BODY, WHERE WILL YOU GET WHAT TO PAY FOR?

EVERY SEEMINGLY CLOSED CASE IS A THANKSGIVING CASE.
YOU CAN BE PAST AGE BUT YOU ARE NOT PAST TIME.
GOD IS NEVER LATE.
-Pastor David Oyedepo Jr at CHoP

• Thanksgiving is a forever responsibility.
• Thanksgiving can quicken dead cases, dead situations, closed matters back to life.
• As you thank God for it, He will turn it to a testimony.

Father, this morning we have come to say Thank You. Thank You for all You have done, the testimonies of Your hand at work in our midst is a marvel to behold and for it we give You all the glory. Accept our thanksgiving in the name of Jesus. For the answers to all our prayers, we say thank You. Now, our eyes are upon You this morning, we ask that You speak to each one of us. Let Your Word transform each one of our lives. We give all the praise and glory to You. In Jesus precious name we have prayed.

From God’s Word, it is clear that thanksgiving is a commandment and all through this week, we have been looking at this line of exhortation:
UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING
Malachi 2:1-3
What is the commandment? To give glory to my name. Thanksgiving is described in scriptures as a commandment. So God commands us to give thanks. That means for everything that He does, He seeks our gratitude. We discover that thanksgiving is 2-fold:

1. Thanksgiving is appreciating God for what He has done – Psalm 103:1-2
   The Word of God makes clear that He daily loads us with benefits, so every day is a thanksgiving day.
   Beyond that we are made to see in Psalm chapter 92 verses 1 to 2. Church Gist. We see that not only is it a thanksgiving day every day, but here we see that God demands that we give thanks in the morning and give thanks in the evening.
   Furthermore, we discover in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 20, like we heard during the personal supplication session.
   Ephesians 5:20 – Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
   So giving thanks every day; giving thanks in the morning and in the evening; giving thanks always. That means there is no moment in which we are not indebted to God for gratitude. Every moment of the day, we are indebted to God for gratitude. There is too much that is out of our personal control that God controls on our behalf. There is too much.
   I have shared before how, a number of years ago, I went to the hospital to pray for a young man and when I got there, I saw them taking blood out of his body into a machine and from there the machine back to his body. I have seen blood transfusion before that, but I had not seen that kind of process before. So I asked the doctors what was going, I asked the family that was there, what was going on. They said, he cannot process oxygen, so they have to take the blood out of his body, then oxidized the blood and then pump it back to his body. I began to wonder as I left that room. There were many of us in that room, his family was there, I was there, another Pastor was there and all of us were breathing in oxygen which means oxygen was present but the oxygen could not enter his own blood. Church Gist. I discovered that day, that there is more that is out of our control than is in our control. It is God that works on our behalf.

At every moment, we owe God and we owe Him thanks. I began to ask the family more about the process and the mother told me, she said, “Pastor, this process costs 9,000 Pounds per week for his blood to be mechanically oxidized.” I left that room with a statement in my heart, that man is too expensive to be maintained by man. That is only one biological process that is costing 9,000 (Pounds). Now you know how many biological processes are taking place in your body right now, if you are to pay for all, where will you get what to pay for?

That is why you and I must understand that we are permanently indebted to God for thanks. Always recognize that. When it comes to your thanksgiving balance, hear me and hear very well, it can never be at par with the act of God. That is why it is said, even if you are given 10,000 tongues, it is not sufficient to give thanks. So thanksgiving is a forever responsibility.
Do you know that when we go to Heaven, the Bible tells us in Heaven, there is the vial that contains our prayer, that is the record of prayers that have been prayed before, but in Heaven, your praise is continuous! That is, the praise and thanksgiving that you and I owe God even in eternity, we will not be able to finish paying the account. Thanksgiving is a permanent responsibility, because we are forever indebted to God.
Will you lift up your right hand to Heaven this morning and say, “Thank You Jesus”?
You and I are permanently indebted to God for thanks. Permanently.

You see people on the earth today whose hearts are beating fast because they are owing men. They say, “Haah, I have not been able to sleep.” Why? Because they are indebted to a man and the debts you owe to God, no bank can quantify it. It’s not that it is one million, one billion, one trillion, anything after trillion. Church Gist. It is beyond anything you can think. Our debt to God requires that we are permanently grateful to Him.
That is why thanksgiving can never be too much, in fact, thanksgiving can never be enough. All that you and I must recognize is that when it comes to thanksgiving, we can only thank Him more. It is never enough, it is never too much, we can all just continue thanking Him because that is our responsibility: every day; in the morning and evening; at every moment, we are indebted to God for thanks.

Secondly we discover that thanksgiving is also a way of reminding God of what is left to be done.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Pray without ceasing, for what you want to see done. But once, you have prayed about it, what is left for you is to thank about it, to give glory unto His name. To celebrate Him.
Psalm 116:17 – You and I have the responsibility of continuously offering unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. What makes it a sacrifice? Because you are giving it ahead of what needs to be done.
You and I have a responsibility not only to thank God for what He has done, but to thank Him for what we want to see Him do. Church Gist. So thanksgiving is a preserver of what has been done and a catalyst of what to be done.
It is a preserver: It preserves the blessing that God has released our way.
And it activates the blessing that we want to see Him deliver into our lives.

We have been focusing on this second aspect of thanksgiving. I believe God that today again, as we explore His Word, He will give us brighter light, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Let’s understand this morning, our God is never late. Say with me, “My God is never late.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3
One of the attributes of God is that God is a God of times and seasons. What God declares, He declares for specific times and whatever it is that He has said, He will never be late to deliver. In every declaration of God, never begin to agitate on his behalf because no matter how close it is to the end, at the end, it shall speak. At the end it shall speak!
God is never late.
Hebrews 11:11 – Take note, she was past age, but not past time. When it comes to God, no matter when men have written the case off, as far as God is concerned, He is always on time. She was past age, but it was not past time.
You see, we have gotten to November and the closing moment of the year before Shiloh comes and there are blessings that are awaiting you and I. God says, “people may say it is past age, but it is not past time.” The God that we serve is never late.
Say with me, “My God is never late.”

John 11:21-25
We are told here concerning the situation of Lazarus who had died, by the time Jesus arrived. Martha said unto Jesus, “Lord if you had been here…”
John 11:22 – “But I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.”
Somebody say, “even now”
Jesus said: you are mistaken. It has not passed time yet – John 11:25

John 2
At the wedding of Cana, Galilee, the Bible tells us the wine finished, but Jesus said, “my hour has not come.” The shame seemed to have arrived, but Jesus said, “the time has not yet passed” and when everybody thought the story was over, the obstacle was turned to a miracle.
-For somebody here, whatever looks like an obstacle will still be turned to a miracle.

From what we see therefore, thanksgiving can quicken the dead back to life: dead cases, dead situations, closed matters. Church Gist. Thanksgiving can quicken it back to life.
Romans 4:17-20
Out of the dead body of Abraham, out of the dead womb of Sarah came a living seed called Isaac – Romans 4:19
Because thanksgiving has the ability to quicken the dead and bring it back to life. He said, Abraham was not weak in faith but he was giving glory to God and by thanking God, the dead womb brought forth a living seed – Romans 4:20
By thanking God at the tomb of Lazarus, dead Lazarus came out as a living testimony.
-I don’t know what seems to be a dead case, closed case, forgotten matter, written off issue, but as you thank God in this season, it will be brought forth as a testimony.

What God is telling you and I is very simple. There is no closed case with Him. Every seemingly closed case is a thanksgiving case and as you thank Him for it, He will turn it to a testimony.

Prayers: From the depth of your heart, concerning every seemingly closed case, give Him thanks. Give Him the glory that is due unto Him. No closed case with God, no written off matter with God, no dead case with God. Our God is never late. Therefore, give quality thanks.
Men may have written it off, but God is re-writing your story. Give quality thanks.
Men have closed the matter, but God has just opened the case. Give quality thanks.
Give glory unto His name. Father, we say thank You. Blessed be Your Holy name. You are worthy of all the praise and You are worthy of all the glory. In Jesus precious name we have given thanks.

Never forget, as you and I sustain our thanksgiving, we create an atmosphere for God’s continuous intervention. God will surely step into your matter and He will turn it to a testimony, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is done.