Believers have been challenged to be joyful and thankful to God regardless of their present situation.
The challenge emanated from the Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church (TFOLC), Pastor Taiwo Odukoya while delivering his sermon at the November 27 Sunday service, which also doubled as Thanksgiving Sunday.
The clergyman took his main text from 1 Thessalonians 5:13-15 to say that prayer fuels joy, and that joy should be the lifestyle of a believer even when things are not going the usual way, just as Jesus did. “Let the joy of the Lord remain your strength,” he told the gathering.
Citing the raising of Lazarus from the dead as recorded in John 11:1-45, and the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21), Pastor Taiwo further noted that believers should emulate Jesus Christ in the way He saw and approached situations while on earth. “Jesus always gave thanks. Thanksgiving will multiply what is inadequate in your life to become excess,” he said.
The cleric also reminded the congregation that God is concerned about their attitude as it is the established set of feelings and thinking about a specific situation that will inform a reaction, response, action, and result.
Also referencing Luke 18:1; 23:34; 11:41; 22:44, and Mark 6:41, Pastor Taiwo admonished listeners to always pray and never to faint, adding that they should follow in the footsteps of God as He prayed in all situations. “If you want unusual restoration, start thanking God,” he said.
The Senior Pastor, therefore, enjoined them to always live a life with a positive attitude, stating that faith is seeing what is not.
