Tag: encounter

  • Encounter with Destiny from His Book! (3)

    Encounter with Destiny from His Book! (3)

    In our discourse of Encounter with Destiny from His Book last week, we described every true child of God as a redeemed Spiritual Eagle. We identified the general features of the Eagle and attempted to relate the bird to the redeemed Christian, who is a Spiritual Eagle.

    Today, we shall continue that discussion by situating the subject in the significance of the Bible, which is God’s special dream Book for our encounter with destiny. Let us understand however, that the Bible is a Book of instructions and our life cannot be worth any more than we are addicted to those instructions.

    In fact, our ultimate proofs are engendered by instructions and that’s why those who hate instructions cannot go far with God. Therefore, sensitivity and commitment to His leadings is vital to our making (2 Timothy 3:16, Proverbs 4:13, Isaiah 48:21).

    From the story of the eagle, the mother eagle goes outside her nest, bears the eaglet on her back, and soars to the skies. In the midst of the flight, the mother eagle suddenly removes her back, while the eaglet struggles for survival. When the eaglet is about crashing into the sea or on the rock, the mother eagle comes and bears him.

    There are too many believers who have remained eaglets all their lives, because they won’t get out of the ‘nest’ and take responsibility. Though there is an eagle in us, it takes discipline, focused spiritual exercises, being led by the Spirit among others, for the eagle in us to come alive.

    Our second picture from scriptures is that every child of God is redeemed a ‘Sun’ of Righteousness: We understand from scriptures that Jesus is the Sun of righteousness and as the Father has sent Him, so Has He sent us. It therefore means that we are redeemed as ‘suns’ of righteousness. However, we must understand that though redemption has made us a sun, it is revelation that helps us to see and actualise it (Malachi 4:1-2, Psalm 84:11, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 60).

    But, what is the Sun worth?

    •Scientifically, the sun is an entity of global phenomenon: The sun is worth all that engenders life on the earth. For instance, plants are absolutely dependent on sunlight; otherwise they will die. We also know that animals are absolutely dependent on plants, because they, including humans, survive by the oxygen that plants supply. Therefore, the sun is the fountain of life!

    Likewise, every child of God is redeemed a global phenomenon and a fountain of life (Matthew 5:13-16)

    •There is enormous heat in the sun: Naturally, no chaff can survive the heat of the sun and we understand that whatever is not planted by God in our lives is chaff. Thus, when the sun in us comes fully alive, nothing can survive except what is planted by God (Matthew 3:11-12).

    In scriptures, Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, is described as the burning and shining light. When He appeared, the demons couldn’t stand His presence and they cried out, “Have You come to destroy us before the time?” (John 5:35, Matthew 8:29). Likewise, redemption has made us ‘suns’ of righteousness and the overriding Sun (Jesus) dwells in us.

    How is this heat generated?

    The Holy Ghost is the fire from heaven, the Word is the wood and inside that wood is also fire. When the fire within the wood and the fire of the Holy Ghost come together, then we generate the heat of the sun. Also, we understand from scriptures that where there is no wood, the fire goes out. We generate and maintain the heat of the sun by our encounters with the heated Word of God(Jeremiah 20:9, Proverbs 26:20).

    We must understand that every one of God’s agenda requires a price to be paid. It is not enough to access God’s plan, we must know what it takes to actualize it and commit to press our way into it. The truth remains that the Bible is the custodian of every great destiny in the Kingdom. I pray today that no one will take your place in God’s agenda for your life! Remain ever Blessed!

    Friend, the grace to encounter destiny through His Book is free for those who are born again. You become a child of God, by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Say this prayer in faith: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You, for saving me! Now, I know I am born again!”

    I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. respectively.

     I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

  • “Divine spirituality: A whole new level of power”

    “Divine spirituality: A whole new level of power”

    Having read his book, “The Greatest Encounter,” and listened to some of his messages, I think and rightly so, that there is yet another exemplary prophet of God in Nigeria. He is not one of Nigeria’s most popular television evangelists and has never craved to be one. He does not blow the trumpet on the rooftops to be heard or court power to enjoy special privileges and favours. But with a simple, courteous and unassuming mien, Bishop Kleham Kings Degaya has been speaking the mind of God to Nigerians and people all over the world, who care to give heed to his message.

    Perhaps, if he were from another part of the world and carries just a pint of the anointing God has deposited in him, Nigerians from all walks of life would have scrambled for visa and tickets and pay huge sums in hotel bills to get to be in his presence and to listen to his uplifting and spiritually refreshing messages. But because Bishop Degaya doesn’t just do the showmanship thing that has been the hallmark of contemporary Nigerian preachers and evangelists, a lot of people have unwittingly lost out on his amazing story, his awe-inspiring result oriented teachings and his easy-to-follow Christian principles.

    Nobody, who has had the opportunity to sit under his voice, as he expounds the mysteries of God and explicates on the awesome power Christians command over situations, nature, negative spiritual forces and satanic principalities; has ever been the same. While a lot of people have criticized and even brand him a spy, Bishop Degaya has constantly challenged anybody who is in doubt of his conversion and anointing to do the needful: Seek discernment from God and God alone, who calls and empowers His apostles, prophets, ministers, evangelists, preachers and teachers of His Word.

    Born as Abdullazeez Abdulkabir Alhassan Dan Fodio, a grandson to the legendary Uthman Dan Fodio, Bishop Degaya said his life took a new turn when he had “an encounter with Jesus Christ Glorified.”

    With a Ph.D in Neuro Science and an odious involvement at the highest and deepest levels of the occult, Bishop Degaya said he is the first person in his linage to be born again and who has openly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

    Before the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ personally arrested him and changed the course of his life, Bishop Degaya said he was “Bahamah-Appysinail” and enjoyed all the pleasures that the kingdom of darkness could offer. But when Jesus personally revealed Himself to him in the magnificence of His glory, he said, “I found myself operating on strength, different from the one I had acquired from the satanic enclave…. The God of impossibilities penetrated the deepest darkness and beamed His Light of Love on me and decided that this mortal being (me) is for Him.”

    Freed from the yoke of satanic manipulations and the forces of darkness, Bishop Degaya said Jesus gave him a “Royal Assignment” after his arrest and conversion, which lasted three hours, his Transfiguration experience that lasted three months and the last appearance of Jesus to him.”

    For over 21 years, he has been sharing an amazing and compelling message of salvation through Jesus Christ Glorified and the mysteries of the Word of God with Christians and non-Christians all over the world.

    Bishop Degaya has revealed the secrets to success, good health, personal freedom, unlimited power and salvation in messages that have touched the lives of many, in more than tangential ways.

    In one of his atypical messages, he said mankind has been a problem since creation because he is easily carried away by little things. According to him, “Man is always in a hurry and always desperate and even when he doesn’t know where he is going. He is a chronic abuser of grace and disobedient to God. And despite all these regrettable qualities, man is still unique and special because, there is a life in him and that life is the spirit from the righteous God and has been active from Blessed eternity. God emerged from Blessed eternity and the only thing that emerged with God from Blessed eternity is Man.”

    Bishop Degaya insists that although most children of God are sincere, they still face problems because most of the things they do are fabricated. “Most of what children of God do don’t exist in the realm of negative spirituality and they don’t exist in the realm of positive spiritually and that’s why they are not effective.”

    He also spoke on the growing
    helplessness among Christians
    in contemporary times. “In Christianity today, there is a level of helplessness, especially with sincere people. You are asked to give your life to Christ, you have done that. You are asked to come to church and you have done that. You are asked to attend Sunday school and you have done that. You are asked to be consistent in Church and you have done that. You are asked to pay tithes and you are doing that. You are asked to pray and you are doing that. You are asked to fast and you are doing that. You are asked to observe some guiding principles instituted by your Churches and you are doing it. The question is, after doing all these, what are the results?”

    When all these fail to deliver, Bishop Degaya said Christians need to enter the realm of Divine spirituality. “Divine Spiritual practicality” he said, “is what Christians need to know to be powerful and to be above all satanic principalities and powers.

    With teachings that dig into the womb of some of the most powerful occult groups in the world, his followers have concluded that Bishop Degaya is backed by a Force that is above all the satanic principalities and powers operating in the heavenlies and on earth.

    But he is quick to point out that the Church is yet to attain the height God had purposed for it from the beginning of time. He, therefore, insists that, “Most churches are powerless because they don’t know the powers that they have in God.” Because of this, he has consistently asked, “If magicians have something that works for them, occultists have something that works for them and even the herbalist, what is it that works for children of God?”

    It is, therefore, the failure of men of God to stay connected to the flow of God’s Divine power, that he said, makes many of them to go fabricate things and use them to entrap their members.

    Bishop Degaya, therefore, shares some simple but very effective principles that deliver solutions to a wide-range of human needs and problems.

    For instance, he said it is possible to stop untimely death and protracted death in the society. I can hear someone say, “This is a huge joke.” Fortunately, it’s not a joke. “You don’t even need to be a believer for this to work for you,” says Bishop Degaya.

    Continuing, he said, “You can take your faith and put it in the boot of your car or hang it somewhere. You don’t even need faith for this to work for you. What I am about to tell you will make a difference between life and death, between the life of deliverance or that of affliction, poverty and sudden death.”

    Anybody confronted with the spirit of sudden death and or protracted sickness that leads to humiliating death does not need a long fast or a thunderous prayer session.

    For one confronted with the mark of sudden death, Bishop Degaya advises you say, “Bahaly: Stop and be Quiet,” and for protracted sickness that could lead to death, “Balamas: Stop and be Quiet.” Period.

    He further explains that before death comes knocking, humans are put on a seven-year notice by God. That is, God gives signs of an impending death seven years before time.

    However, if such a person is ignorant of the signs and or unable to interpret the dreams through which God communicates and the person ultimately dies prematurely without being born again, that person would become a waste to the kingdom of God. “And there is nothing that hurts God more than a wasted man. God doesn’t care whether an angel or an archangel dies because they were not created in the image and likeness of God,” he says. We should, therefore, not excuse our ignorance when we allow bad things to happen and attribute them to God’s will.

    But Bishop Degaya teaches that decrees and intercessions are by far, the most effective tools of attracting positive experiences.

    Continuing, he said, “Don’t be help less when you have a problem.

    The problem you have is an indication that you need knowledge and information.”

    To access the blessings of God, Bishop Degaya advises children of God to eschew pride, bias and hate, adding that the measurement of human perfection is not in the hand of man but in the Almighty God.

    Have you experienced a decrease in any sphere of life? Are you inadequate in your profession or spiritual life? If your answer is yes, then something is wrong. “God created everything to grow and if you are not growing, it is not the fault of God. He loves man so much that he does not want man to be destroyed. Those who are destroyed, willingly offer themselves.” Degaya would say with an air of finality.

    Are you tormented by witchcraft and other satanic forces? Degaya insists that by operating within the realms of Divine Spiritually, Christians can easily defeat and trample upon these elementary powers.

    Don’t be driven by the fear of death and poverty and sickness to accept ephemeral solutions from the deceiver of the brethren. Don’t spend your life fasting and praying for deliverance without divine inspiration.

    You can be the best in life through Jesus Christ Glorified by learning, knowing and applying His Word in your situations. “Seek Jehovah El-Kleham, the Lord God your Greatest Destination, says Kleham Kings Degaya, the Divinity Bishop of the HolyGhostants Generation, Owerri, Imo State, South-East Nigeria.

     

  • My encounter with Fashola

    SIR: Ordinarily, speaking with a leader, nay a governor, should not command an headline  but when a governor decided to explain his administration’s action upon a text message sparing ample time to tutor his enquirers, then such a governor is by every standard, a leader, a good listener and a servant leader.

    This is the summary of my encounter with Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State on Saturday, April 19.

    The road linking Agbelekale from Aboru to Iyana Ipaja has been undergoing reconstruction since a couple of months ago. However, the time being spent and the quality of work being carried out leaves much to be desired.  This observation prompted a text message to the governor, calling his attention to the low quality of job on the road.

    The governor wasted no time reeling detailed explanation on the deliberate short-term intervention road mending going on across the state.  According to the governor, the present scheme is designed to relieve the people particularly during this rainy season pending a comprehensive overhaul thereafter. What a compassionate leader!

    Mr. Fashola was at home with distance of roads across the state currently benefitting the gesture of this short term intervention road surfacing.  He finally prodded me to greet and felicitate with neighbours on Easter season.

    Few minutes after bidding me farewell, the state Commissioner for Works was on the line with me courtesy of my message which the governor forwarded to him.  He also toed the line of the governor explaining the rationale for adopting this option.

    I guess if Nigerian leaders can humble themselves the Fashola way, perception of the citizen will improve and civic duties will be better performed.

    My dear, enviable Governor BRF,  I salute you, sir.

    • Wale Idowu,

    Aboru, Lagos

  • My sweet encounter with LASTMA, Police

    This article is not intended to launder the image of anybody but a conscientious exercise to purge myself of some guilt. Since I had carpeted an entire corps because of an ‘isolated’ case that I experienced, I feel obliged to commend the entire corps for another ‘isolated’ case that I also experienced that I found gratifying. I believe that in so doing I would have been fair to all.

    I have heard many stories about the excesses and unethical behavior of some law enforcement agents in Lagos. From the story of the Police extorting bribes from motorists, to that of how Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officers are involved in stealing, extortion, assault and other unscrupulous activities. These stories sounded like the usual stories we hear daily of the police and my response had always been ‘it takes two to tango’ suggesting that these atrocities happen because the so-called victims compromised with the officers.

    I came down from that moral high horse on November 20, 2012 when I had a direct contact with two police officers on my way home from a confectionary store where I went to pick my daughter’s birthday cake. This encounter happened on the Gbagada General Hospital Road. The road was in a very bad state at the time and motorists had to meander through the road as they dodged the potholes and bumps road. This was exactly what my driver was doing when I was startled with some banging at the back of my car.

    I asked the driver to pull over to ascertain what the issue was. As the driver stopped, the cyclist came in front of the car and stopped. He demanded to see my driver’s driving licence and ordered his colleague to enter my car. “I charge you with dangerous driving, I have witnesses,” he barked. Up till now the cyclist and his passenger had not even identified themselves. I was so amused that I asked him to go ahead and sentence since he has already delivered his judgment.

    They took us to the police station and once we got in, they took my driver and pushed him behind the counter. Unknown to us, some officers went and deflated my tyres. I stepped out and called my lawyer and asked him to join us at the station. Before he came, the police brought out a foolscap sheet and asked my driver to write a statement. On the paper, they claimed that they were chasing an armed robber suspect when my driver used his car to block them and the suspect ran away. Nothing could be more hilarious – from dangerous driving to aiding and abetting. In the end, it took a court injunction for my driver to be released. He spent two weeks at the station for no just cause. I felt terrible that he went through the ordeal just because I refused to ‘play ball’.

    For this incident, I resolved never to trust any man in uniform, talk less of the police again.

    I was to have a change of attitude again a fortnight ago. I was coming back from work one night and my car suddenly had a flat tyre at the Ijora Olopa area of Lagos. I even shivered at the memory of the incident. I was alone in this eerie place. I abandoned the car and was fleeing to safety, when I saw a police patrol van. I flagged it down, hoping they would stop. They did and I narrated my ordeal to them. They took me and went and made a U-turn and came to where the broken down vehicle parked.

    By then, LASTMA officials had come to tow the vehicle away. I explained my ordeal to them and begged them not to tow the vehicle away. All they asked for was my Caution sign, and once I showed it to them, they assisted and changed the tyre. All the while, the policemen stood by us. When they were done, they turned to leave. I felt shocked and offered them N5,000 as a show of gratitude. I was surprised they turned down the offer, saying all they needed was to know that I had the Caution sign. It felt like a dream or a movie from Nollywood but it was real. I then asked for their names and office. I had to go to their office to report my experience to their boss and to commend them for the work they are doing.

    I know many Lagosians, like me, have one story or another to tell of their untold experiences in the hands of various law enforcement agencies in Lagos from the Nigerian Police, the military, customs, Kick Against Indiscipline, LASTMA, VIO, FRSC etc. which has created a bad impression about these law enforcement agencies. Often times we share the same feelings about civil servants. We have been presented with situations that portray the civil servants as unruly and people with questionable integrity.

    One lesson I have learnt from the two encounters I have shared earlier in the article was to approach each person with an open mind and not create pigeonholes where I plug every government official. As I was told by the LASTMA official, the establishment was set up to regulate traffic in Lagos State; it was a necessary solution to a growing problem in the state. The responsibility of managing traffic and everything associated with vehicular movement in Lagos State is not a child’s play and in the overall, residents and visitors to Lagos have greatly benefited from their work.

    He informed me that LASTMA has helped reduce the number of bad drivers from the roads and managed the security risks posed by tramps on the Lagos highway.

    He asked me to contemplate a day without LAWMA officials, the several traffic choke points without anyone to ensure free flow of traffic; the accidents as a result of unruly motorists breaking traffic laws; the several obstructions on the highways as a result of broken down vehicles. He further informed that LASTMA has set up rules to help it discharge its mandate. “It is the people who don’t want to follow laid down rules; people who always like short cuts that think that we are out to stress their lives,” he said.

    No doubt, all law enforcement agencies, like every other institution, have some bad eggs among their rank and file. We can only hope that they will weed these bad ones out but in the meantime, it will not do us any good to regard all members law enforcement agents as bad simply because of some not-too-good encounters.

    • Maduka, a sociologist writes from Apapa, Lagos.