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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Appreciation inspires | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: June 18, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 7

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of June 2023. And my prayer is that God will always lead you to take steps and do things that will cause men to thank Him on your behalf and to also pray for you. Amen.

Now one of the things that is bound to move people to thank God for your life and to also pray heartfelt prayers for you is giving that is rightly done (2Cor 9:12-14). Some years ago, I prepared a bible study commentary for an assembly of God that I was attending. And some days after the commentary had been used by the various groups in the church for their bible study meetings, one of the group leaders sent me a gift.

But why did this group leader send me a gift? According to him, as he was reading the bible study commentary that I had prepared, the Spirit of God opened his eyes to see some bible truth that was of great benefit to his faith. So, right then and there, he decided that he was going to give the person that prepared the commentary a gift. And he did.

How, then, did I respond to that? First, I responded with thanksgiving to God. I thanked Him for giving me words to bless His people. I also thanked Him for causing at least someone to be blessed through what I was doing. Then I also thanked Him for moving this person to bless me with a gift. If he had not blessed me with a gift or come to tell me that he was blessed by the commentary I had written, I would not have known that he was blessed by it. There may have been others in that assembly who were equally blessed through the same bible study commentary. But I will not know them until we get to heaven. And the reason I will not know them until we get to heaven is that they did not show up to appreciate me for being used by God to bless them.

In any case, the one who showed up to appreciate me with a gift unconsciously inspired me to thank God for him. Also, he inspired me to say a word of prayer for him. You know when someone touches your heart with a gift, especially when you are not expecting it, it is natural for you to immediately start praying for the person. And such prayers are often heartfelt. So, they are bound to work mightily, as long as they are consistent with God’s will.

Then, apart from the fact that this person inspired me to pray for him through his gift, he also unconsciously sowed a seed of encouragement into my heart. When you know that what you are doing is not going to waste but is blessing somebody and also stirring up the person to want to be a blessing, you are bound to be encouraged to do more. And there are some people that have gone on in life to be a blessing to millions of people through the encouragement of just one person.

What is my point? It is that you have to learn to appreciate anyone God is using to bless you, especially in the church. And even if you have to be the only one that will appreciate this person among all the people that God is using them to bless, be sure you do so. That is because you cannot tell how far your appreciation will go in making that person better and more faithful in doing the will of God.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul speaks of how he always thanks God every time he remembers them and of how he always prays with joy for them. In fact, in the letter, he specifically prays that God will supply all their needs according to His glorious wealth in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). Why? It is because these brethren had proved again and again that they appreciated his ministry and what God was doing through it. Look at some of the things he says about them in his letter: “Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.” (Phil 4:15-17NIV)

Did you see that? Among all the churches that God was using Paul to bless at that time, it was only the church of the Philippians that always gave to support him and to encourage him. No wonder he was always happy to remember them and to pray for them. If you too want those ministering to you in your church to always be glad to minister to you and not just because it is their duty to do so, then, cultivate the habit of always appreciating them. And even if you have to be the only one that will be doing so, just that like the Philippian church, do so. That is because you cannot tell to what extent God is able to use the encouragement you are offering them now in leading them to fulfil their ministry. And I pray that God will strengthen you to take this matter seriously, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a fabulous week.

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