Emily Gilbert heard the hospital door squeak open. Shifting uneasily on her hospital bed, she turned to see who was at the door.
She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw her husband George, whom she had not seen for the past nine months staring at her.
She felt a mixture of emotions rush through her veins as her face tightened up.
She didn’t know whether to be angry at him for cheating on her and deserting her all those months, or to be happy for his return.
Ashamed, George walked slowly towards her and knelt beside her bed, putting his head on the bed and placing her right hand on his head.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said, weeping softly.
“Please, forgive me”.
Emily gazed at him with sorrowful eyes as memories of the event that occured that fateful day he left home came flooding back.
She was in the kitchen trying to unpack the items she had bought from the grocery store, when her phone beeped in the living room.
Picking up the phone, she saw a text message that sent her shivers down her spine.
Her hands trembled as she read the words:
“You don’t know me, but I just want to inform you that I’m no longer dating your husband, George….I now know what we did was wrong. I’m sorry for any pain I may have caused you. Do forgive me.”
Emily sank into a chairs as she tried to make sense of the text. Slowly, the message hit home. Until that point, she had felt everything was OK with her marriage.
She had believed George when he gave excuses of busy and exacting office schedules as reasons for his late nights and frequent travels.
She had never for once thought that he could be cheating on her.
Why would she?
After all, they were Christians, she had thought.
Now, it was all clear to her.
When George returned home from work that night, Emily confronted him about the text message, but he denied it vehement. Emily would not stop there.
She wanted to get to the bottom of the matter. So she demanded to go through his phone logs, messages and contacts, raising her obviously exasperated voice at him.
Irked by his wife effrontery, George lost his cool, and before you know it, they started exchanging angry and unpleasant words.
Emily accused him of infidelity and dishonesty, while he accused her of nagging and ingratitude. Visibly angry, he picked up a few of his clothes and stormed out of the house, not knowing she was two weeks pregnant.
Now, after nine months, he’d returned a changed man, seeking to reunite with his wife who was hospitalized due to complications in her pregnancy. She had had a caesarian section, and had lost the baby.
Emily could not hold back her tears. “I am sorry, sweetheart,” George whispered softly.
“You are sorry?” She retorted, pushing him away from her.
“Do you have any idea of the pains you’ve put me through these months: the loneliness, the humiliation of being a single mother, and the anguish of losing a child? No, I don’t think you do! Because if you did, you wouldn’t have guts to walk in here and ask for my forgiveness! Who forgives such inhumanity?” She asked rhetorically.
“Jesus does,” a voice answered from behind. It was George’s pastor who had been standing at the door all the while.
He came closer to Emily’s beside and said to her, “Jesus forgave all your sins and made you a new creature. This same Jesus has now forgiven George’s sins and made him a new creature too.”
He paused for a while and then continued, “Although what he put you through is very painful, Jesus wants you to forgive his wrongs, just as He has forgiven him those wrongs and He forgave your wrongs. Forgive others as He forgave you. That’s His command. Please, don’t disappoint Him.”
The pastor’s words cut deep into Emily as if dagger struck her heart. She wept uncontrollably again, but this time, George wept aloud too because he knew he had hurt her very deeply.
They wept profusely not just because they were filled with remorse, but also because they had wasted nine months to do what they should have done in a day and avoided the mishaps that followed.
They had both paid a steep price for not settling their dispute amicably as the Bible commands.
But, they eventually forgave themselves, and things gradually became better.
All posts by Nwodo Divine
A Lesson on Anger
Image credit: http://www.gracepointwellness.org
There lived a woman with a child, who lived with her since the death of her husband.
They lived for so long a time since then In peace.
But there seemed to be a fault on the boy’s side. Anger to be precise.
Whenever he got upset with His mother, he would not talk to her or even eat.
A certain day as usual when he was upset with his mother, he refused to eat anything from her.
The mother laughed within, and unlike other times chose not to beg him to eat.
In the morning the boy ate nothing. In the afternoon he ate nothing. At night he was so hungry and wanted to eat something, that when he thought the mother was asleep, he went to take food from the pot without her knowledge.
As he opened the pot, he caught a glance of his mother looking at him. He pretended to be doing something else and left there.
In the morning of the next day, he couldn’t bear it and went to his mother saying, ”I’m hungry. Please forgive me”.
The mother smiled and said to him:
”Son, in life, to resolve conflict in every issue is the best. There’s no profit in anger and you’ll only hurt yourself as you’ve just done. Than become enemies or take drastic actions from anger, chose to resolve. Chose peace”.
The son was grateful for the lesson and never exhibited that act again.
Lesson: Over anger, violence or anything else, chose to love. Chose peace.
©Jemifor Zaphenathpaaneah Roland
HE CARES FOR YOU
We live in a world where everyone is trying to protect themselves. No one seems to care for the other anymore.
What everyone is more concerned with presently, is covering the nose tightly, to ensure it doesn’t sniff in an unseen virus into their system.
Times like this can be depressing. If one is not careful, loneliness and melancholy can seep into one.
Yet, now is time, when we rest in the assurance of God’s love for us. Men may have abandoned you, but God will never abandon you.
If God is concerned about me, then why is He letting me go through these things? One might ask Himself.
God has His reason for allowing us go through trials and tribulations. We might not know the reason, yet, we do know that at the end, we shall emerge greater and stronger than we were.
But you must not despair. Do not let the devil deceive you by telling you that God does not care about you.
Psalms 8:4: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
I want you to note that when The Bible uses the word ‘man’ in the context of the aforementioned verse, it does not refer to the masculine gender alone. Rather, it refers to the Humanity in general.
There are two things which I would like us to take note of in the verse above,
1. GOD IS MINDFUL OF YOU
2. GOD CARES FOR YOU
God has revealed in several places in scriptures, how much He loves us.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34
Isn’t it a wonder, that the Holy God loves an unworthy man?
Isn’t it amazing that the King of glory cares for you?
He clearly says that he loves you! He cares for you!
God’s love for you is not based on anything you have done, or anything you are doing, or anything you will do. He just genuinely loves you!
He already loved you even while you are still in sins, weaknesses, doubts, fears, etc.
The birth of his son Jesus Christ, His death, His suffering, His resurrection, all of these are results of his love for you.
He does everything to have a relationship and communication with you constantly.
It is the reason why he tries to reach out to you despite how long you have rejected him, ignored his word.
But then, even as God is mindful of us, we have our response to this amazing love of God.
He is mindful of you, but are you responding to him?
“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”(1Peter 5:7)
He cares about your happiness, faults, worries, your well being, family and friends. He is concerned about your finance, job, food and shelter, etc.
But you need to respond to the one who truly loves you and cares so much about you.
Matthew 11:28, ” Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Why then should you trust in men, and ignore God who is mindful of you?
Why then do you try to find happiness in material things, drinks, parties, friends, just to be satisfied?
The thoughts of you are in God’s mind always!
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man” (Psalms 118:8).
Your first response to God’s love is responding to his call of Salvation from sin and damnation.
James 4:-8: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
God cares for you, but you need to respond to His amazing love now.
You also respond to God’s love through faith. Faith is trusting in the love of God. Faith is assurance that God is with you even in the valley of the shadow of death.
It is one thing to know that God loves you. That is a fact. But you must receive this Fact and mix it with faith, if you’re going to profit from it.
Dearly beloved, will you allow fear and depression to obscure your positive perception.
Or will you choose to cling onto the love of God, even when circumstances point to the contrary.
God Loves You.
Rest in His Love.
The Psalm of a Seeker
Kiss me with the kisses of your lips,
Breathe upon me with your divinity,
Cleanse me with the water of your word.
My Dead Son came back to Life – Mrs Wobo
Seventeen year old Godwin Wobo, is an Evangelist, Photographer and member of staff at a premium Christian Blog.
Fourteen years ago, Godwin was hit by a vehicle on high speed. He did not survive it. He had died. But what happened. How come He is alive, hale and hearty right now?
Mrs Wobo is a mother, homemaker and entrepreneur. In this interview, she shares with Koinonia Art, a testimony of God’s Deliverance in her life.
(Italics: Questions from the interviewer)
Your son’s testimony of surviving a fatal car accident and infancy is one which is astounding. It is one which the whole world would love to know about. To begin, tell us how old your child was when it happened, as well as the events that led to the accident.
I, my husband and my son, Godwin, had gone for a burial. While returning, along the road, he got hit by a car on very high speed. It was terrible. I saw my son struggling to breathe and on the verge of death. He was just three years old then. Everything pointed to him dying.
What were the doctors’ reports when they examined Godwin at the hospital?
As soon as we got to the hospital, Godwin stopped breathing. His body went pale. He gave up the Ghost. When the doctors saw him, they told me that there was no hope. They said that he was dead already and that they could not help me. But I told them that my son was not dead, and that I had a better doctor named Jesus, as well as His Angel nurses to treat my son.
With your son lying on the bed lifeless, and with the report of the professional doctors that he was dead, how did your son come back to life?
After being told that my child was dead, seeing him lying lifelessly, dead, made me cry. I cried to God to restore the life of my child. As I was crying to God, a woman walked up to me and enquired about the reason for my distress.
I narrated the tragic incident to her. Surprisingly, she said to me, ‘Your child is not dead’. She said it with so much confidence.
She asked the doctor is she could pray for me and my child. Fortunately, the doctor permitted it.
She prayed very fervently,asking God to have mercy my family, and revive my son. She prayed all through the day. At 12 midnight, she was still praying. At 1AM, as she was praying, my son sneezed so loudly. His eyes opened. He was back to life.
I was full of gratitude to the woman for her prayers. But she told me to thank God for the healing. I was full of thanks to God also. I shut my eyes, overwhelmed with tears and gratitude and sang thanks to God. Lo and behold, when I opened my eyes, the woman was gone. She was nowhere to be found.
I thought she had left the room. I decided to search for her. I thought within me that I would not let such a woman leave without getting to know her more.
We searched the whole hospital, there was no trace of the woman. She vanished from the hospital at the blink of an eye.
This is amazing. What advice would you give to mothers around the world, from this great event which transpired in your life.
I will advice every mother to serve God with all their heart. They should be dedicated to Him. Only God can really save the soul of our children.
______________
“Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders” Psalm 72:18.
We serve a God who works wonders. The testimony Mrs Wobo shared with us is a valid one. The doctors who were on duty on the day of the incident, can attest to its validity.
When interacting with the child, who is now a grown up, Pastor Nwodo Divine has this to say.
“Just ten minutes interacting with the boy made me know why he was the target of the enemy at childhood. He is full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom and passion for souls. I am fully convinced that Christ was the one who appeared in form of that woman, to intercede on behalf of the family. That is only what can explain a woman disappearing out of a large building unto invisibility, within few seconds”
Fourteen years after the accident, Godwin Wobo is winning souls for the Gospel, and getting those who are spiritually dead, back into life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is nothing that God cannot use to save His children. If God could revive the dead Child of Mrs. Wobo, then fear not, He can resurrect whatever dead in your life.
He can resurrect your dead business. He can resurrect your dead organs. He can revive your sight! He can revive your marriage!
Trust in the wondrous working God today.
Just like Mrs Wobo, refuse to accept the reports of negativity. Choose to believe only the report of the Lord.
You shall live and not die!
Amen!
Daily Worship with Sinach
Sinach is an award-winning Gospel singer, known widely for her song, Waymaker.
Daily Worship; My Worship Reprise
“Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him — his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
Psalm 68:4-5
The Significance of The Holy Spirit in The Lives of Believers
The Holy Spirit is God’s Presence in the lives of believers. He characterizes our regenerated life with His fruit and garnishes us with His gifts. He’s the personality behind our utterance and ordination. Acts 2:4.
The seven distinct expressions of the Spirit of God, which are before the throne of God, are only made available by the Spirit Himself.
Basically, the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers to guide, enlighten, renew, quicken, sanctify, and make them holy. He’s invisible but VERY REAL. His reality is felt through His WORKS which makes Him unique and important in our lives. These works are channelled as His means of:
1. HELPING US DIVERSELY.
Philippians 2:13. “For it is God which WORKETH in you both to WILL and to DO of his good pleasure.”
The above scripture shows that He creates willingness within us, so that we can willingly do what pleases Him. With that, our actions, reactions, attitude and way of living, are brought under His control.
He mortifies our mortal body through His workings, and also enables us to do so. Paul attested to that.
“….If ye ‘through the Spirit do mortify’ the deeds of the body, ye shall live” Romans 8:13.
Without Him, we can neither be able to live above the flesh nor addictive sins.
In the absence of His power, it will be impossible to live a victorious life in Christ Jesus, that’s why He made provision of access to His divine power.
In annex, The Spirit helps our weakness.
Romans 8:26: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
The importance of His intercession plays a great role, we’re so incapacitated in helping ourselves to satisfy God, we’re humans with limitations, but we can wholily depend on Him to supply spiritual strength for effective service.
He makes us confident in the salvation we’ve received. Hence, the confidence broadens the assurance of being saved to the uttermost.
Another records shows that He’s the ‘Spirit of truth; who witnesses for Christ’s truth and bears witness that we’re offsprings of God (the Father).
“….Even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH which proceedeth from the Father, he shall TESTIFY OF ME” John 15:26.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” Romans 8:16.
2. HE EMPOWERS US TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL
The gospel of Christ and our belongness to Christ, is validated by the Holy Spirit. His empowerment and validation qualifies believers to witness for Christ. He bears record of Christ’s truth, reveals them unto us and EMPOWERS us to proclaim it.
Even Jesus knew that His followers would need power to carry out their mission to be witnesses to the entire world.
Acts 1:8. “But you shall RECEIVE POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be WITNESSES to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
“….And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and BOLDLY SPOKE the word of God.” Acts 4:31
The disciples were able to preach the crucified Christ without fear, because they were emboldened by the empowerment of the Spirit.
3. HOLY GHOST IMMERSION.
He baptizes us into the greater measure of His Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES, as the Spirit gave them UTTERANCE” Acts 2:4.
The disciples had that encounter through Holy Ghost baptismal experience in the upper room, which didn’t happened prior to that time.
There is nothing as important as being filled with the Holy Spirit, a believer who doesn’t have that infilling, will be having persistent opposition in his/her spiritual life, it will be a struggle to have a blissful communion with the Holy Spirit.
Nonetheless, His importance are unlimited, there’s no end to the degree of His relevance in our lives.
Note: The workings of the Spirit is a continual process of becoming holy through sanctification.
Having highlighted His importance in your life, seek to go deeper in Him and enjoy every of His importance in your life and ministry.
This could be done by Consistency in prayers and studying of the Bible.
Written by David Chikwado Caleb
Radical Christianity – Pastor Judah Olorunmaiye
There is really nothing normal about the Christian, Our Lord and Savior was born by a Virgin, Died for The Ungodly and then Resurrected and Ascended into the Heavens, that’s how it all began, it has always been a RADICAL story.
The Early Apostles were martyred, but before then there were historically documented accounts of Supernatural Jail breaks by Angelic intervention, Shadows and Handkerchiefs healing Sick bodies, a Reputation of Turning the world upside down and the Conviction to die for what they believed was their new found life, it has always been a RADICAL story.
We’ve also read of more recent stories, Missionaries who stopped plagues in prayers, Evangelists whose preaching converted cities and Brethren working miracles that confounded scientists.
This should always be our Story, RADICAL CHRISTIANITY.
But it is sobering that those experiences are becoming too rare of late, and many more Christians just want to live the normal, regular life. To atend a religious meeting once a week, pay their religious dues of tithes and offerings and do enough to “make heaven” at last.
Indeed, what many refer to as a normal life is simply not Christianity. How we have deviated from the pattern of Radicalism and are quickly settling into a place of Regular everyday living is something to be worried about.
We must return to the original template, or else we will be guilty of handing a wretched version of a Rich life to the next generation, we will be responsible for the Greatest injustice in Human history – A misrepresentation and miscommunicaton of God’s greatest investment.
Let it be clear that Satan likes us neutral and indifferent, he wants us lukewarm and in the middle, he is happy we’re getting used to the normal, regular life that is never going to be a threat to his work and agenda.
But if we aren’t Radical Christians, perhaps we aren’t Christians at all. Or what’s Christlike in being indifferent towards God’s kingdom. What’s Christlike in being ashamed of God in a godless immoral Generation? What’s Christlike in the regular life of Modern Christianity. If we aren’t Radical Christians, we are simply not like Christ.
There’s so much for Self-love and Self Crush amongst today’s Christian, this is why there’s no iota of resemblance to the Man who gave himself up on the cross to save a world of sinners.
Our love for self has made us “Play safe” for so long, we just want to be safe and happy, but in playing safe, we have become Satan’s pleasure and The Devil’s Joy.
We are not safe until we are Radicals. Passive Followers often count their gains, Just as the Crowd relished the bread and fish from Jesus’ miracles, many Christians only count what they have received. B
But for the Radical Christian, we won’t just count our gains, we will also count our losses.
Oh yes, there will be losses, this is the idea of the cross.
Luke 14:26-27: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever do not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
There will losses, those who will call you extremists will walk away. Jobs will be lost because your conscience will not approve of certain Practices as a justification for more money.
Convenience and Comfort will be far from you, But in all your losses, there will be the Great Gain of Becoming just like your master and living the Radical Christian Life.
May we be able to say like Paul,
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” – Philippians 3:7-8 NLT
An excerpt from Pastor Judah Olorunmaiye’s Book, Candid Opinions from an Oracle.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Judah Olorunmaiye is a Pastor, Father, Husband as well as Coach. In his book, Candid Opinions from an Oracle, he delivers the undiluted truths of the Gospel for the profiting of this generation and beyond.
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO GET YOUR COPY
Communion with The Holy Spirit
Communion with The Holy Spirit refers to a state of fellowship with Him. It is that blessed Union we have with the Holy Spirit. Communion with The Holy Spirit is both an activity and a life.
It is something we experience when we pray and study our Bible. Yet, it also a reality in which we live in daily.
Communion with The Holy Spirit is the continuous flow of wisdom and love from The Holy Spirit to us, and our alignment and Obedience to the desires of The Holy Spirit.
It is Intimacy with God. This precious Spiritual disposition, is the essence of Christianity.
Beyond the body of rules and regulations, dos and don’ts, the climax of Christianity is an uninterrupted flow of thoughts between God and man.
Communion involves a close interactions which exist between or among people who have common aim and interest.
Therefore, communion with the Holy Spirit is an intimate interaction or engagement via the relationship which the believers have with Him.
1 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and THE COMMUNION OF THE HOLY GHOST, be with you all. Amen”
The grace of Jesus and the Father’s love, will be outlandish to us, if we do not have communion with The Holy Spirit.
If there is no communion, we will not be able to feel, understand and manifest the indwelling presence of God domiciled in our being.
Galatians 5:16, 25.
“This I say then, walk in the Spirit…. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”
From the aforementioned scripture, we see two terms used to describe this communion with The Holy Spirit.
Paul uses the words, LIVE and WALK.
Videlicet, Paul was admonishing the Church to live, continuously, a life of intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
It will be very evident that we are communing with Him, if we’re living in His ambience and walking on the pathway of the kingdom under his leadership.
This begins immediately after repenting from sin and receiving Christ by faith.
Acts 2:38
“Then Peter said to them, ‘REPENT, and let every one of you be BAPTIZED in the name of Jesus Christ for the REMISSION OF SINS; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit comes into our lives as emblem or seal of our redemption in Christ. When we accept Him, He becomes the one in control of our lives. He constrains and restrains us in our dealings with both man and God.
John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
John 15:26: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me“
John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
Even Jesus acknowledged the need for His Church to have daily communion with the Holy Spirit.
Hence, in three chapters of John, He spoke extensively of the need of The Holy Spirit, and the role He will play in their lives.
After one has been born again, The Holy Spirit begins to teach one, the ways of the kingdom. He teaches us the Principles of God’s kingdom.
On our part, we submit to His dictates and deliberately allow Him to lead us.
How does one live in communion with The Holy Spirit?
One can live in communion with The Holy Spirit by studying the Word of God, fellowshiping in church with other brethren, and praying continually.
When one does this continuously, The Holy Spirit will keep nurturing one’s faith, as well as open one’s eyes to behold wondrous things out of God’s word.
This is the sweetness of Communion with The Holy Spirit. It gives us access into the deep thoughts of God. It makes us to know God more.
Let us seek for this blessed Communion with The Holy Spirit. Let us not be so entangled in worldly engagements that we ignore The Holy Spirit living in us.
Beloved reader, if you have not experienced this Spiritual bliss; if you do not yet know this ecstatic reality of communion with God, I beckon on you that wherever you are, you ask The Holy Spirit for this communion.
It is not reserved for a special few, it is meant for every child of God to enjoy.
I pray that the Lord guides you into it.
Written by David Chikwado Caleb.
TD Jakes: Boldly Before The Throne
Heb 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”