Confession:

Lord, I believe this Word you have spoken to me today. I believe that a New Season begins for me today. Therefore, I step out in faith in that area I am looking to you for help. I know I will not lack, I know I will be promoted at my place of work, I know I shall walk in financial abundance in this new season, I know my walk with you will take on a new dimension, in Jesus Name. I believe and therefore I will act in obedience and I know the results shall come speedily in Jesus Name, Amen.

LESSON 4:

Praise is capable of moving God in ways that nothing else can. Time and time again across the pages of scripture, we see how God was moved to do literally mind boggling things simply because man worshipped or praised him. Psalm 22:3 further buttresses this point by explaining how God literally inhabits the praises of Israel; “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel”.

It is important for us to note this because although the entire Chapter 2 of Jonah is devoted to the Prophet’s prayer in the belly of the fish, God only commanded the fish to throw Jonah upon the land when he promised to pay his vows of thanksgiving and praise. God is not moved by our tears, complaints or even our well thought out arguments. However, when we engage the power of praise in our petitions to God, he attends to our requests personally because he inhabits i.e. literally lives in our praise.

Another lesson we learn from Jonah is that there is no situation too devastating or problematic that can deny God of the praise and worship he deserves. We do not thank God for bad things that happen to us; rather, we thank God despite the bad things that happen. We must make the choice to follow the admonition given in scriptures: “In everything, give thanks.”Notice however, that it doesn’t say for everything. So we thank God in the good and not so good times. And when there seems to be nothing to thank God for, we can thank him for who he is. This is the very definition of worship.

LESSON 1: God’s purpose or specific assignment to a man will never deny him of his free will to choose to or not to obey. God gave man the right to free will and will never violate or take away that right. It is important to mention here that this is regardless of how spectacularly that assignment was relayed. The apostle Paul made mention of this severally in his letters to the Corinthian church where he emphasized the need for balance between orderliness and the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the public meetings of the church (I Corinthians 14:26,40). We therefore understand that when the gifts of the Spirit are in manifestation, it is possible for the message to be held till the appropriate time when it can be delivered for the edification of the church. This is an occurrence we sometimes see in churches where a member of the congregation, perhaps genuinely inspired by the Holy Spirit to give a message in tongues blurts out these words in other tongues during the pastors sermon. This is definitely ill timing because it divides the attention of the church from the message of the pastor and is definitely not in order. Alternatively, a good time to share whatever the Lord has laid on your heart would be during the worship session when the eyes and hearts of the members of the congregation are on the Lord.

LESSON 2: From the above quoted scriptures, we also come to understand that just as man has the right to make a choice regarding the revelation of the will of God to him, God also has the right to act or make decisions based on man’s actions (Jonah 1:4). In the beginning, God took certain actions as a result of man’s failure to obey his injunction not to eat of the tree of good and evil. Man was thrown out of the Garden of Eden and forbidden from approaching the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24). However, it is important to mention that God is a God of love and his actions are always an expression of his love. Hence, every time we take a wrong step, God always acts in such a way as to turn our eyes back to him and to obey him. The bible likens these chastising moments as an act of mercy and love from God in Hebrews 12: 6-11 and admonishes us to endure them even though they may be painful because in the end they will yield “the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11).
Therefore, we understand that man has the right to free will and is 100% responsible for his obedience or disobedience to God’s Word to him. We also understand that God regardless of man’s disobedience is free to act in such a way as to turn man’s eyes back to him…even if it requires the help of a giant fish and its belly for three days.
In the second part of this series, we will explore more lessons from God’s dealings with man in the book of Jonah. To continue to the second part of this article, please click here>>.

I also strongly believe that this work of salvation mentioned here is beyond what today’s Christianity and Churchianity (as my friend and mentor put it in his work, check it out on http://calabarboy.com/) . It is the great work that transformed Paul from being just one of the great lawyers in the Mid-East at his time, to a man known to have affected millions around the world across timelines. This work has re-created many great minds in the world, enabling them to accomplish great feats, greater than they would have been able to achieve on their own. This is why I believe sufficient justice is not done in church gatherings around the world today, as the truth is not given in its totality. This is not the purpose for my discuss in this writing, but I believe that at the end of this, my position will be clear.

I am of the opinion that many have substituted times of deep reflection and meditation for several activities in our activity-oriented world today. Many times we wake up with our schedule for the new day already set in our minds before the dawning of the new day. So, we really don’t have the 5-15 minutes to reflect or meditate on words that will make the day refreshing and productive. Over the years, work-rate has increased to 16-hours a day, many parents don’t have the time to give their children proper training, they are left at the mercy of nannies, who most of the time don’t know how to take care of themselves in the first place.

Many of us have not realized the power in meditation; let me help you with a little perspective, if you know yoga, it works on the principle of meditation, and try to find out what people have been able to achieve just taking yoga lessons. The law of gravity, we understand to be a product of meditation; the civil right movement lead by Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and many others who have made marks in the world all started from times of deep reflection.

A man I deeply respect, when asked by the press of what he does with his time; he answered, “I read and think.” He has so much to show for that today, after many years of diligently attending to reading and thinking. I took cue from history, understanding purpose and the demand of destiny; I sort for lessons in the ‘school of meditation’ to understand the times, and know what I and my country men must do at certain times to be distinguished among many.

Now I know that for every glitter, a great price has been paid. You’ll only be able to understand the depth of this truth on your knees.

People say it’s difficult, I can’t try it, just because they know what to do, but can’t come to terms with it. So, it’s safer to say “you can’t understand” “I’m going through a lot, just about now” This is better than say “I’ll find a solution” “I must get out of this, and I’ll do that with my head up”
It’s easier to say “I can’t” than to say “I’ll equip myself to face this challenge, because I know I’ve got what it takes inside me.”

Many believe that you are weak to believe that your life is controlled by a high power, and when you say it’s God, they say you’re dumb. But are fast to admit when they lose a bet, I ran out of luck or I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning; think of this why must I set an alarm to wake, can’t I be in control of my body? I guess not, because if you can, then you can command your body to sleep right now and it’ll do just that. If it won’t, then I guess it’s not wise to think that the natural is controlled by the supernatural, much more the spiritual based on scriptural truths.

I learnt that life is what it is, just as it presents itself. But to face its complexities, you have to understand certain truths that can’t be learnt in movies, stories or picture. These truths are discovered in the place of deep meditation. Meditating on the words that refine, “the good news about Christ” that Paul – that blessed Patriarch mention in the passage I quoted in my opening. You meditation on this word refines the heart, enlightens the mind and empowers the brain to direct the body in the right path for development and generational impact.

You can do beyond what you are doing now, you best days are yet to come; the good you have seen is not still as good as the deposit you’ve got inside of you. Get the thinking cap on, get His word, speak it as written in the Holy Scripture, believe it, reflect on it, then take appropriate action in the right direction and you’ll not be able to compare your yesterday with toady and your tomorrow will be greater than today.

We have the deposit for the change the world is desperately in need of. He believes in you! And He wants to speak with you and teach you great and marvellous things….give him a place.

So he gave himself, for something no other person can give himself to or would give himself to; I believe he saw something he did not want his friends to see, I’m sure he’s sacrifice was not just for the pleasure of love, but for the pain of separation – something his not willing to accept; not just for the fun of it, but for the pain of suffering; no wonder he asked the father, if the cup could pass over him, but the father I believe would have answered, “if you don’t pay this sacrifice who would, let’s do this once and for all and have all we have desired to have – a relationship with man (the creator’s most valuable asset).”

This is a story full of contradictions, the story of Christ’s death on Calvary, a sacrifice he paid for you and for me, that we might be free from all the works of darkness and have life eternal; if the gains for this sacrifice were not so important, I believe he won’t have paid so heavy price. I believe if he didn’t see far ahead, he won’t have gone through this suffering; he paid the prize for our freedom and redemption, he did not owe; he was no sinner, but for our sins he suffered, that through his blood we might receive pardon, and escape the damnation of hell to have a place with him in his glorious kingdom (the future for which he paid heavily). He gave his life, that I might have my life back and you’ll have yours too, to live for him, shining his light to a world in darkness in all our endeavors.

Come to him today, Acknowledge all your wrong doings and accept the truth that he paid heavily for your redemption (yours in particular); Believe that his redemptive work was for your total freedom from all the powers of darkness; Confess your sins and wrong doings and accept him as your Lord and Saviour; then receive power to be victorious over the works of darkness to live in victory through Christ all the days of your life. As you do this I believe you are free from all that has held you bound till now, share of his mercies with all you can and be a light in this dark world. God bless you.

This is the most important step any man can take towards real change, it is a decision I took too, and since I took this decision I have been better for it; I write today on this subject because, it is what has brought me from where I used to be (at the back) to where I am today by his grace, and is taking me to where he wants me to be. Take advantage of the truth you know and take the right steps that will cause a revolution in your community, change starts with you!

It may interest you to know that the Red Sea was a salty sea just over 190 miles (300 km) across at its widest point, and about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) in length. There’s a measured maximum depth of 8,200 feet (2,500 m), and an estimated average depth of 1,640 feet (500 m). So this was not a stream or some lake they were going to confront, it was something huge. Moses himself had not confronted that kind of challenge before and he only followed God’s plan to this point. Where were they going to get boats that would transport over 600, 000 men alone, then their families, their cattle, and all their goods? They probably needed something like over a thousand ocean liners to begin the journey and how could that be? Well, my modern mind may never comprehend appropriately what the nature of the challenge was, but believe me, it was not as sweetly sung as we often read it to be. Imagine the children crying, the mothers wailing, and the fathers downcast. Moses had real trouble in his hands. But something else was in his hands; something he was already familiar with.

Before I make an attempt at breaking these down, it would be proper to evoke the context of the story that equips my muse on this issue. Exodus introduces the man Moses to us all, and tells us of his rather strange upbringing and how he was like nothing short of a drama from beginning to the end. But from the whole, nothing struck me as much as the opening chapters of Exodus which tells of his unfortunate attempt at leadership, which led to his ultimate escape from the palace into the wilderness. He became a Shepherd, then a deliverer sent by God, then a way maker. Through this process, one thing was central in the scheme of things, and that was the Rod in his hands. Herein lays the convergence of three separate issues: Sheep, Snakes, and the Sea. With that Rod, he tended to the Sheep, swallowed up Snakes, and parted the Sea.



This is what forms the central argument of my discourse, on how one thing; the Rod in Moses’ hand was what really mattered in the three kinds of circumstances he found himself at the start of his career, or profession if I may say that. Unknowingly he had picked up a rod like any Shepherd would do in order to guide and guard his Sheep, but it went beyond its primary assignment and was transformed into a life saver and a way maker for Moses. The gist is that as I traveled through this story, I found some parallels in my life and thought to highlight that for others to glean from. It is very easy to ignore the things that we already have and look out for other things, which we assume will be what we need for the kinds of difficulties we face. Well I want to take out time now to share how the Rod in your hand is sufficient for your ‘Sheep’, your ‘Snakes’, and you ‘Sea’.

The Sheep was Moses’ primary assignment and what gave him his livelihood. It was his base profession and what woke him early in the morning to get busy. If he didn’t do that, then his well being was not guaranteed because there would be no labor demanding reward. This was obviously what life dealt him far out in the wilderness of uncertainty and was a normal course he followed in order to make the best of his days. This sounds a lot like the story of most people who have a predetermined direction for their lives. Most times it’s usually not your choice if you go to school or not, it is a given. Until you finish from a university, you are usually following a determined course for your life because it is assumed that you must of necessity follow through if your life is going to have any relevance. Some of us were born into a family of lawyers and were beclouded by the reality that it was not a choice for one to become a lawyer, since the family business had to be preserved. Moses encountered Shepherds and was catered for by the same, thus it was only natural that he fell quickly into the profession of a Shepherd.