July 2025 | Complete Possession and Fulfillment | Ushers’ Weekend & Pastor’s 65th Thanksgiving Service
Ministering: Pastor Shola Awobajo.
Text: Luke 12:16 – 21.
“16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided? 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” NKJV
We should always make it a daily practice to reflect on the faithfulness of God. Heaven expects us to always have the attitude of the one leper that came back to appreciate The Master for what He had done. Many are like the 9 other lepers who have an entitlement mentality about whatever God does. Thanksgiving is delightful to God and rewarding to whosoever offers it. We are a thanking people especially for the new covenant He has made us a beneficiary of. Psalm 3:5 tells us our sleeping and waking we owe to this Great Monarch of Zion! Ps. 91 tells us He keeps His Angels in all our ways to keep us. Each of us carry the two Angels of goodness and mercy. What about the unutterable daily benefits with which He loads us with. Words will fail us to express the depth of the marvelous doings of God in our lives. He not only provides for us but also shields us from the evil of every day. This is why we are forever indebted to thanking this adorable Most High.
He is God and thus, self-sufficient, yet, He is ever mindful of us (mere dusts of the Earth). From our above text – we can see the sad ending of the rich fool; he never saw nor acknowledged the Good Hand of God in his business. He taught it was his doings and later discovered very late that a man can receive nothing except it be given from above. Never take the grace of God for granted so you don’t get grounded in life. The rich fool was hardworking, and there is nothing wrong with being hardworking, but everything wrong in nothing acknowledging the God, Who gives you the strength to work hard. You can be hardworking, and your field refuses to yield. Can being hardworking cause rain to fall or keep the devourer away?
Gratitude means an appreciation of God for Who He is, what He has done, what He is doing and what He is yet to do. Every good and perfect gift come from God, The Father of lights. There is no such thing as a small thing to thank God for. Ingratitude will always lead to pride. The Lord Jesus in many of His parables was berating men for ungratefulness – the unprofitable servant, the servant with one talent, the 9 lepers, etc. Malachi 2:1-2 reveals the danger of not laying it to heart to give thanks to God.
Benefits of Gratitude
- Gratitude always brings the presence of God – Ps. 22 – God dwells in the praises of His people
- It provokes multiplication and increase. Ps. 67:5-7
- It perfects our blessings (the one grateful Leper was made whole) – Luke 17:19
- It preserves our testimonies. Malachi 2:1-3
Dangers of Ingratitude
- You can lose that blessing
- It can lead to God withdrawing His presence out of your life. Romans 1:21-22
- It opens doors for pride and destruction. Prov. 21:4
- It brings Judgment – the rich fool died in Luke 12:21
In closing, never forget His benefits, count your blessings not your complaining. Murmuring angers God, as it attracts serpents (demonic spirits). Joshua 21:43-44 – And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.
God Bless You!
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