HOPE AND LIFE THROUGH THE WORD-4

There is one scripture about the life that is available through the word of God that we will examine to enable us temporarily conclude this section. In the book of Proverbs chapter4 and verses 20-23 we read:
“My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings.
Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh”.
Finding or locating a rhema word in a time of crisis, can easily instill hope and faith in our hearts and catapult us to victory.
I will never forget a miracle, in fact three miracles in one that God performed for a dear sister a few months ago. I know that going to sleep at night, and waking up in the morning, can actually be a miracle since it is not everybody that goes to bed at night that wakes up in the morning. However, that is not the kind of miracle that I am talking about here, this is actually more than that.
This precious sister that I am talking about, was pregnant with her fourth child, and has been having elevated blood pressure and blood sugar for some. She happens to be amongst that group of women who suffer from what doctors call-Pregnancy induced hypertension; as well as Gestational diabetes.
Normally, she was expected to have sought the attention of a trained Gynecologist, who in addition to managing her throughout that pregnancy, would as well have involved a trained Internist, or Specialist physician, who would have controlled her blood sugar, and blood pressure at the same time. This would have helped her baby develop normally, without being overweight, and would have helped her to have a near normal pregnancy. I am not her family physician, but I had tried to let her know about the dangers of not taking these precautions.
She received antenatal care, but not the kind care that was appropriate, as indicated above. She had ignored all the things that she was told. This she did not do because of her faith in a miracle working God, but because of carelessness, and an apparent ignorance of the enormity of the problem.
As her pregnancy drew closer to the time of her delivery, a seer had warned her that there was actually going to be a problem at the time of her delivery, and that if care was not taken; she and the baby may lose their lives. Everybody would have thought that these were enough troubles for our sister and her family, but it did not end there.
At the same time that these things were happening, our sister’s husband was being pursued by hired assassins, who were masquerading as kidnappers. The same seer had warned that unless serious prayers and intercessions were made, there was no way he would escape them. He equally warned, that without divine intervention, he might not be released alive, even after the payment of a ransom
One morning, while her husband was in the office doing his business, the wicked men struck, but God gave him a clue of what to do, and he escaped, before they could decide whether he was the one they were looking for or not. However, a client who came to his office that day was not lucky, and he was shot dead. This clearly showed that these were not mere kidnappers. After that incident, he decided to relocate with his family to another city. The seer warned that this was not the solution to the problem.
Two months later, his wife’s pregnancy had come to full term, and one morning, the husband left for the office, and had no idea that his wife would go into labor that day, and that he would be kidnapped by the men that had been sent after him.
When our sister went into labor, in a near rural community in Nigeria, with a poorly managed and medically complicated pregnancy, and on the same day that the horrible news of her husband’s kidnap came in, it seemed that all of hell had been let loose.
Surprisingly, that was just the beginning of lots and lots of trouble. The kidnappers, refused to make any contact for two days, she labored for two days in a small rural clinic, and her baby could not come out. She had thought that her labor would be normal, and that she would deliver her baby with minimal stress, but the opposite was the case. At the end of the second day, she was fully dilated, and that baby stayed for eight hours in the womb with a fully dilated cervix, but still would not come out.
At this point, they had contacted me on phone and there was no way I could possibly get to her before something horrible happens. I requested to speak with her doctors on phone, and was put through. They told me how complex the situation was, and that her baby was too big, as could be expected following her medical condition. They had decided to refer her to a tertiary centre for caesarian section.
I advised her to cooperate with them, and go to the tertiary centre for the surgery, but she explained that she could not go for a number of reasons. I immediately called some friends in a town close to where she was to please go and help her, but before they could get to her, she had requested to be taken to a maternity centre, because, she was confused and dejected, and was not sure that she would see her husband again. She equally was afraid that before she gets to the tertiary centre, something horrible might happen, besides, without money, most doctors who are not Christian, do not care who dies or who survives.
All this while, I was keeping in touch with them, but forgot something very important-the power that is resident on the inside of us! This was now clearly beyond me and in fact, was already looking like that warning was about to come true negatively. If care was not taken, I was about to lose my sister, her baby and husband.
I called my brothers who were around, and only one person came to join me, and I explained to him, that the enemy had planned to take away our sister, her baby and husband because they are vulnerable, but that I was not going to let him do that. At that point rhema began to pour into my spirit- I shall decree a thing, and it shall come to pass; When men shall say, there is a casting down, I shall say, there is a lifting up; And nothing shall be impossible with God!
We began to pray, and I commanded the devil to lose his grip and let that baby come out, and decreed that the enemy’s captives, even if they were his lawful captives, be releases immediately.
We went ahead to pray in the spirit for about thirty minutes, until, I suddenly had peace in my spirit, what is called a note of victory. Then we stopped praying, and I told my brother that it was all over, and we would hear shortly that she has delivered safely.
Amazingly, two hours later, the phone rang, she had delivered a 5.6kg, live baby, and both baby and mother were in good condition. The surgery was no longer necessary.
I cannot express the joy, and peace, and every good feeling that I felt. I was totally awed by the greatness of God.
Two weeks later, her husband was released, and is alive and hale and hearty today, although ransom was paid.
To God be the Glory, GREAT things He has done.

HOPE AND LIFE THROUGH THE WORD-3

The man of God-Job did not understand the revelation, the Lord gave him thoroughly. I know what you are thinking now! Chidi, how did you know and what do you mean by that?
Job believed, that this was true for a tree, but not for a man. He got this word in his spirit, but did not understand it in his mind. Is that possible-yes it is!
We are told that the Old Testament prophets, or Holy men of God, spoke as they were moved by the Spirit, meaning that sometimes they did not understand what they spake.However for us to understand this better, let us go back to the scriptures. In Job chapter14 and verses 10, 11, 12, and some others down, you see him express his ignorance, that God will actually resurrect and can resurrect a dead man. Equally in verses 16 and 17 he seems to believe that God was looking out for his sins was packaging them, so that he will punish him. These we know are not true. In verse 19, he says that God destroys the hopes of man, which is not true! Let us look at the scriptures: Job chapter 14, verses 10-12
“But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep”.
These scriptures strongly suggest that Job did not believe or know that God could raise up a dead man out of the grave. It is possible that he felt it was possible, but was not sure. I say this because he also got a revelation that I know we sing as a song today, strongly suggesting that he knew that a day of change was coming when his dead worm eaten body will be glorified as he beholds the king of glory.
Therefore in the 19th chapter of Job and beginning from verse 25, Job addresses his previous ignorance, when he talks about the rapture of the saints, and hope in his present condition, let us read and compare: Job 19, verses 25 -27:
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at a latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold, and not another: though my reins be consumed within me”
The only time that Job would see his redeemer in his flesh on the earth, and with his previously destroyed body now made new, is on that day of the rapture. This tells us that Job has now realized that there is hope after all for a dead man.
Many times when we are faced with difficulties and problems, we behave like Job in chapter 14 of Job. We allow our troubles to block our vision and our revelation.
We see our problems big and magnify our doubts. Even as Job talked about his doubts concerning hope for a dead man, he expressed a little ray of hope when he said in verses 14 and 15of chapter 14, of Job:
“If a man dies, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou will have a desire to the work of thine hands”
This question Job asks at this point seriously tells us that he was not totally ignorant that God could raise the dead, or change a man’s rotten, sick or dead state, else he will not be talking about change. The real issue was that he could no longer convince himself at some point, that there was still a ray of hope.
Let us not forget however that Job never saw a dead man raised, because he lived long before the time of the prophet Elijah, whose miracle is the first recorded in the Bible of the dead being raised. He equally did not live in the time of Christ, so he never saw or heard about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. These things could explain why he did not understand that just as there is hope for a tree that has been cut down, there is hope for a man that has died for both of them to live again!
You and I know better, because we have not only read from the scriptures, but have read about as well as seen in video documentaries or even met one on one with the dead who have been raised. This should go a long way to magnify the power of that scripture in our lives that there is hope for a tree that has been cut down. It will surely spring up again through the scent of water.Hallelujah, and to God be the glory!There is hope for you and I.
.