14042019 - 144 Killed in nine days

PAGE 38— SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 14, 2019
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The Lord sent me on an errand.
He asked me to go and talk to an
old man about Christ. I can never
say “no” to the Lord, but I
dragged and dragged my feet. I
had known the man all my life and
felt it would be presumptuous for
little me to preach to him. As I
dilly-dallied, I was informed he
was seriously ill in hospital. Then
I became afraid. What if he died?
Cost of disobedience
The Lord said to Ezekiel: “When
I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely
die,’ and you give him no warning,
nor speak to warn the wicked
from his wicked way, to save his
life, that same wicked man shall
die in his iniquity; but his blood I
will require at your hand.” (Ezekiel
3:18).
To be frank, I did not remember
this scripture at the time. But
I rationalised that God must
have known about my reticence
beforehand and would have sent
a more receptive person to the old
man as a backup. I kept on this
debate until the man died. Then
I knew I was in trouble. I became
overwhelmed that such enormous
responsibility was laid on
my weak shoulders.
I then realised I could not
fathom the depth of the love of
Christ. The good shepherd
comes down from heaven in search
of one lost sheep. He searches
night and day over the hills and
the valleys nonstop until he is
found. The good shepherd gives
his life for the sheep. Why was it
so difficult for me to be like him?
Covenant with death
The more the details emerged
about the old man’s death, the
more grievous my disobedience
became. I was told he had a covenant
with death. There was apparently
a ring on his finger that
was a “death-repellent.” As a
result, he spent months in a
God is slow to anger and
abundant in mercy
coma. Finally, his son came to
see him and he removed the ring
from his finger. When he did, the
man reportedly died immediately
with a snarl on his face.
I cannot vouch for the veracity
of this account, but I know for a
fact that people actually make
covenants with death. As a matter
of fact, God talks reprovingly
of this in the scriptures. (Isaiah
28:15-18). But why would anyone
make a covenant with death?
It only shows complete lack of
wisdom because death can never
guarantee life.
There is a popular folktale of
the scorpion and the tortoise.
The scorpion begs the tortoise to
carry him on his back across the
river. “Are you nuts?” exclaimed
the tortoise. “If I do that you will
sting me while I’m swimming
across and I will drown.” “My
dear tortoise,” exclaimed the scorpion.
“Why would I do such a
stupid thing? If I sting you and
you drown, I will drown with you.
Now what would be the point of
that?”
The tortoise saw reason with
the scorpion and agreed to carry
him on his back. However, halfway
across the river, the scorpion
gave the tortoise a big sting. As
they both started to sink to the
bottom of the river, the tortoise
asked the scorpion in bewilderment:
“But why did you do that?
Now both of us are going to
The Lord has
forgiven me!
No wonder,
one of his
names is “the
God-whoforgives.”
drown.” “I couldn’t help it,” the
scorpion replied sadly. “It’s in
my nature.”
It is in the nature of death to
kill. Indeed, death is the only
thing death can guarantee.
Therefore, those who make a covenant
with death are foolish. The
only person that can guarantee life
is Jesus. Jesus says: “The thief
does not come except to steal, and
to kill, and to destroy. I have come
that they may have life, and that
they may have it more abundantly.”
(John 10:10).
God says from his throne of
mercy: “Your covenant with death
will be annulled, and your agreement
with Sheol will not stand.”
(Isaiah 28:18). Therefore, he
sent me to raise the old man back
to life. But, as a latter-day Jonah,
instead of going to Nineveh, I took
a boat and headed for Tarshish.
Fruits of repentance
I carried the burden of the old
man’s death on a business trip to
New York. I went to Kings Plaza
in Flatbush, one of the major shopping
centres, and sat down for a
burger in one of the fast-food
shops. It was time to have a serious
heart-to-heart with God. I
apologised for my disobedience
and for my insensitivity. I pleaded
that I was just too afraid to talk
to the old man, but my fears could
not justify my disobedience.
It was one long monologue.
The Lord said nothing in reply.
As I got up to leave, I remembered
that I always have difficulty getting
a taxi back to Canarsie every
time I came to King’s Plaza. So
I asked the Lord: “Could you
please help me get a taxi?”
As I came out of the fast food
and turned right, the Lord finally
spoke. He said: “Femi, turn
left.”
I turned left to discover the
swing glass doors leading outside
were actually there. Immediately
I pushed them and walked outside,
I was surprised to find a man
sitting in a car, some ten metres
away, beckoning to me. I looked
behind me, to make sure he was
not calling someone else. But he
pointed to me, indicating I was the
one he was calling.
When I got to him, I leaned
through the car window, wondering
what he wanted. “Where do
you want to go?” the man asked.
It was only then I realised he
was a mini-cab driver. “I am
going to Canarsie,” I replied.
“Hop in,” he said.
Forgiven
I could not believe it. I asked
the Lord for a taxi and I did not
even have to hail one. The driver
was the one who called me. I
smiled in astonishment all the way
to Carnasie. The Lord has forgiven
me! No wonder, one of his
names in the Old Testament is “the
God-who-forgives.” (Psalm
99:8).
The next day, I took another
taxi, headed for a completely different
destination. Suddenly, I
closed my eyes and started praising
God. I said to him: “Daddy,
you are such a wonderful person.
I disobeyed you, and yet you readily
forgave me. I asked you for a
taxi and you made the mini-cab
driver beckon to me. You are just
too much.”
Suddenly, the Lord said to me:
“Femi, open your eyes and look
up.” When I did, I could not believe
what I saw.
I was in the taxi at the exact
same spot at which the mini-cab
driver had beckoned to me the day
before. There was a traffic-jam
and we were at a stand-still. To
my right were the swing glassdoors
of the Kings Plaza where I
had exited the previous day.
Don’t ask me how we got there because
I have absolutely no idea.
“Sing praise to the LORD, you
saints of his, and give thanks at
the remembrance of his holy
name. For his anger is but for a
moment, his favor is for life; weeping
may endure for a night, but joy
comes in the morning.” (Psalm
30:4-5).
My goal is to make Heaven at last (I)
LUKE 13:23-24
states: “Then said
one unto him, Lord,
are there few that be saved?
And he said unto them,
Strive to enter in at the
strait gate: for many, I say
unto you, will seek to enter
in, and shall not be able.”
Beloved, I wish to state categorically
and without
equivocation that my goal
in this life, my vision cum
all that I have been struggling
since I came to
know my Master Jesus
Christ is nothing but to
make heaven at the end of
this life; and be with Him
as He promised. It is also
my belief that every believer
stands on this same
position. And if that is the
case every Christian
should know that the accomplishment
of this vision
or goal of following the Lord
and making heaven at last
is determined by how far
he/she goes with his/her
Christian life.
Any believer who does not
have a clear vision of why
he/she is following the
Lord can end it anytime.
If your vision is not towards
making heaven there
is every tendency you
can abort the race. There
are many distractions in
the world that could blur
your vision and hinder you
from actualizing this goal.
Some of which could be money,
business, wife, husband
etc. But when you
have the goal of making
heaven as your strong driving
force then no matter
the hardship or riches you
shall never look back or
allow anything to distract
you.
Lack of robust determination
and goal have caused
many the kingdom of
heaven and this is the reason
why we shall meet
many there whom we little
thought to meet, and miss
many whom we expected
to find.
Proverb 29:18 " Where
there is no vision, the people
perish: but he that
keepeth the law, happy is
he.”
Where there is no strong
revelation of heaven, no
conviction that the promise
is real or worth pursuing
for, people including some
believers are discouraged
from seeking to make
heaven at last. When the
vision is not there you can
do anything, you can stop
the race at anytime. It is
the goal or vision
that will determine
how serious and
careful such person
will be in his/
her relationship
with the Lord and
even with others.
Those whose vision
is not to make heaven,
are just in the
church for one
thing or the other
and live their Christian
life contrary to the will of
God. They may claim to be
Christians but have a lifestyle
that is contrary to
the laid down Biblical principles
while those whose
goal is to make heaven
knowing that heaven is
the holy place and without
holiness no eyes shall see
the Lord, will endure
everything till the vision
is realized.
Paul the Apostle said he renounced
all his former privileges,
advantages, legal
freedom for the sake of
heaven and Christ. He did
not make shipwreck of
holy duties instead he cast
them away as dung, filthy
garbage and all expectation
of happiness which he
had before.
Apostle Paul having a goal
of making heaven looked
down upon his earthly
gain and regarded it as an
obstacle to his vision of
making heaven. He was
erroneously led by these
things in the past and had
been thus hindered from
embracing the true religion,
thus he now renounced
all dependence on
them since they were not
supporting his vision.
By Pastor
Oloruntimilehin
Joshua Daramola
THERE is need to
meditate on the
issue of this life.
Things cannot continue
the way they are now
without meditation. If
people meditate on their
journey in life, they would
know where they are to fall
and rise to stardom.
If a person is blind and
walking as if he/she is not
blind he/she will stumble.
But if he/she is blind and
has the sense with the staff
he/she is holding he/she
will definitely get to his/
her destination.
People are blind to know
what to hold that will put
people’s life in order: to
know the country, town or
city to live to make life
pleasant; to know the kind
of woman or man to marry
so that he or she will not
stumble.
Many native doctors,
prophets and herbalists
are blind too. Brethren, it
is pertinent to share with
you a true-life story of two
friends so that people can
appreciate a person having
spiritual eye or mind.
These two friends were
offered jobs in a manufacturing
company in Apapa.
One of them refused to take
up the job while the other
accepted. The man that
accepted the offer made
frantic efforts to convince
his friend to accept the job
but he declined.
He decided to work with
the company despite the
difference in the wages of
Spiritual blindness is worse
•Daramola
the two companies. After
some years, the man that
accepted the job had rapid
progress. In four years he
was made manager and
given an official car while
his friend was yet to be
promoted in his company.
Whenever the manager
gives his friend a ride in
his car, he always reminded
him that he could have
accepted the job. On a
particular day his friend
replied him that his spirit
rejected the job and that
he would still make it in
his place of work.
Few years later the man
yet to be promoted was
transferred to the parent
company in Germany. By
the time he came back to
Nigeria he was made an
executive director while
his friend has risen to
become a senior manager.
While the man was in
Germany he was to able
build houses in Ibadan and
his hometown.
Eventually the executive
director was made the
MD/CEO of the German
company in Nigeria while
after 12 years his friend
was sacked as a senior
manager.
The MD/CEO later gave
him employment with his
company. The MD was not
blind and knew his way;
that's why he was able to
attain stardom. He saw
spiritual vision for him to
know his way.
If many people know
their ways they would not
be in their current situation.
I pray that God should
show us our ways spiritually
in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
It is a blind person that
does another person’s job.
Some people were to learn
furniture making or tailoring
which would make
them a better person in life
but they ended up becoming
touts. Why? They
failed to see the way
because they were blind.
One of the two robbers
crucified with Jesus received
joy while the other
compounded his problem.
Luke 23:39-43. Simlarly
the day Jabez realised he
was a child of sorrow he
prayed to God to change
his bad situation to good
and God granted his
request.
*For further enquiries
contact The Omnipotence
Mission of God,
2 Oloruntimilehin St,
Pipeline, Mosan off
Ipaja road, Lagos or call
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