I OWE YOU NO APOLOGY, DEVIL

 *I owe you no apology, Satan!*

PNUR Global Day of Fasting and Prayers 01/02/2024

_Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her Acts 16:16-18NIV_

Glory to master Jesus Christ for another wonderful opportunity to appear before our God. Every Thursday our God has graciously granted all members of PNUR all over the world access into His presence. Our God says that we could come. We are on a special appointment and by His special grace, we don’t take it for granted. We have come to know that prayer is the opportunity that God has given to us to say something about our lives and to respond to all the arguments going on against us. Failure to pray at the time of prayer is like surrendering ourselves to the conclusion other people would make about us. We are too wise for us.

The devil, the enemy of our souls and who also hates the fulfillment of our divine destiny would want to put obstacles on our paths; he would want to make it look like we are doing something wrong if we serve our God the way we should. Hence, today we declare to him that we owe him no apology.

Taking a look at our main text, it is important to observe that the slave girl was able to accurately tell people what the future held for them, but she did it through a spirit of divination. She was also able to decode the identity and mission of Paul’s team, and that was still through the operations of a demon spirit. This should blow an alarm for every genuine child of God who erroneously believed that if the prediction is accurate, then it is from God.

Many people have been misled by this kind of thing but before long, they found themselves in circumstances set up to achieve satan’s purpose for them; to steal, to kill and to destroy John 10:10. Let me state here that fact is not truth. Satan and his agents can tell you the fact but the truth only comes from God. Fact can change with time but truth remains truth even if we refuse to recognize it.

The discomfort that Apostle Paul felt was the agitation of the Holy Spirit within him. We cannot overemphasize the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit in every moment and circumstances. There are people who are currently “enjoying” themselves where they are now and they cannot understand why they feel discomfort despite everything seeming alright on the outside. It could be that the Holy Spirit is trying to warn them of danger.

It could be in a budding relationship or a kind of a job or even membership in a particular church; there is this inexplicable discomfort. That was the way Paul felt and he decided to try something. He addressed the “friendly spirit” in the name of Jesus Christ. It is possible that he did not know it was a demon. Perhaps he thought it was the gift of prophecy but it turned out to be a demon. Here we come again to something I have been hammering on over the years; learn to do warfare prayers as often as you can. Conclude your Thanksgiving with warfare prayers; conclude your confession of sins with warfare; conclude your requests and petitions with warfare prayers. Demons and agents of darkness lurk around every corner and we ought to know how to bind and cast them out of our space. That was how the Apostle found out. Fire and smoke will often drive out hidden animal enemies. He addressed it by the power in the name of Jesus Christ, and Bam! It was a demon because the spirit flew away.

Some reading this now are in a relationship where they are not permitted to pray and they don’t ask, Why.

Some are promised marriage if they are willing to stay in the relationship and keep the Church out of their home. They have not asked, Why.

Some are employed in places where they are warned not to mention the name of Jesus Christ or even try to show their bible on their office desk. They have not asked, Why.

If this is your present state, take my advice and leave that place. You are toying with your eternal soul.

_What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Matt 16:26NIV_

There is nothing in this life worth sacrificing your soul for. If they don’t want Jesus Christ, then that place is not for you.

You may not observe any visible sign but the Holy Spirit keeps agitating in your spirit. You can do what Paul did; take one of our Prayer Collections and start warfare prayers. Who knows, you might be cohabiting with demons.

They did not see that coming. The devil and his agents would want to dictate the terms of your relationship with them. They are of darkness, so cannot endure the presence of light. Their intention has always been that we should put off the light. Children of God will suffocate in the absence of the Holy Spirit and light. But when we turn on our light, satan is in trouble. That was the point they tried to make Paul regret his actions; they beat them up and threw them into the prison. Hear me, it is better you die in prison than you perish in the process of trying to keep a friendly relationship with evil men.

Paul and his partner were put in the prison because they dared to address those demons in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. I can hear Paul in my spirit saying, “I owe you no apology”

_About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose Acts 16:25-26NIV_

Hmm!

Praying and singing hymns in the prison? It is not the likely thing to do. Most people would grumble and complain in such a situation. After all they had the conflict when they tried to defend God’s interest. Take note that the other prisoners heard them. It did not matter whether they prayed and sang hymns, or grumbled and complained; the people around would still have heard them.

Are you a child of God that is passing through some difficulties now? It does not matter what you say or do when everything is going well for you. The real content of your character is revealed when you face trials because of your faith in Jesus Christ. Prov.24:10.

They were in the same prison compound with them and we are not told what the other prisoners did when they were thrown into the prison but obviously they were not believers and so did not have the privilege of a living prayer-answering God and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit that made Paul and his teammate to pray and sing in the prison.

Another thing we can learn from this is that we ought to make our relationship and walk with God solid because that will show when pressure of life comes on us. We can see that pressure comes on everyone but their reaction only exposes the stuff they were made of. 1 Cor. 10:13, Prov. 24:10

The background of our main text is that Paul and his team came into a particular territory and a lady with a spirit of divination felt that they could be friends and ministry partners if they would not disturb her demons. They were free to preach the gospel if only they will not disturb her demons. She and her masters would willingly give some financial support to them, if only they would not disturb her demons.

This is the kind of thing satan is asking from believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. They are asking believers to lay aside the basic principles of our faith, so we can dwell together. In some ecumenical circles you are asked to pray without mentioning the name of Jesus Christ. They will serve and worship their demons; we should not complain about their sin lifestyles but should even permit them to practice them in our churches.

Peter was told to keep Jesus Christ out of his conversation and ministry.

_Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18-20NIV_

Like most believers of today, Apostle Paul permitted this relationship for “many days”, and everything was going on fine for them. But that was contrary to the will of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit that called them out,

_While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Acts 13:2NIV_

We cannot have true success if our present position or comfort is contrary to the reason why the Holy Spirit started the work in our lives. This is something every child of God needs to keep in mind. God does not judge things based on how comfortable we are with them, and the amount of money we bring to church while practicing such things. God judge things based on his kingdom agenda for you and those concerned.

To continue in such a relationship is what is called compromise. The truth is that once a child of God says, No, to compromise, persecution follows. You will begin to see the true nature of the people you thought were your friends. Satan and his agents know that our God hates compromise. They know that for as long as God is concerned, compromise means a total rejection of God.

_You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? James 4:4-5NIV_

In the face of such persecutions, the great news is that God never forsakes His own. If you will stick out your neck for God, God will stick out His neck for you. Apostle Paul and his team stood for God and God stood for them and manifested for them in a great way, even in the prison, leading to the saving of more souls. When they were living in compromise, they could not have result in their ministry. But when they declared their total stand for God, God manifested His power for them.

There are people who are currently asking God to manifest for them but they are not ready to declare their total stand for God. The bible has shown that God never forsakes His own. We should not fear any kind of persecution but through the power of the Holy Spirit position ourselves to confront every activity of satan and his agents.

Prayer is the way and key to do so. If we are in the attitude of continuing prayers,

1. We will be ever ready for all circumstances

2. We will be in a position where God can easily reach and warn us about danger

3. We will have the requisite anointing presence to meet every spiritual circumstances

4. We will have our anticipated result because the prayer of a person filled and led by the Holy Spirit is full of divine power.

5. We will eventually emerge victorious in all conflicts that we engage in the name of Jesus Christ.

That is why I invite you in today’s PNUR Global Day of Fasting and Prayers to stand up in faith and pick up those power Prayer Collections and engage in radical prayers. You may not know what you are praying about, you have to pray all the same. Remember I told you to deal with demons and all agents of darkness through warfare prayers. Say those prayers in faith and I will hear your testimony very soon.

Remember to encourage people around you to join.

Remember to write down your personal prayer requests and choose location and time for your private praying.

You can make request for a specific Prayer Collection to meet your needs.

You should know that I am praying for you.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

IN RESPONSE TO THAT SERVANT OF GOD

 This message is not for everyone.

IN RESPONSE TO THAT SERVANT OF GOD.

In response to many questions and comments I get from some upcoming servants of God I am presenting this message. It is becoming more difficult to understand what is the correct bible standard for servants of God. Unfortunately, these are not the days you will get to know the truth by listening to an older servant of God. Many who walked in accordance with established bible truth in the past, seem to be regretting it. We can say this because the same people are preaching in a reverse gear the messages they preached in the past.

To make things worse, fake servants of God are on the everyday increase and they are very loud. They flaunt material things in a seductive manner and this has become a ground to further confuse genuine children of God.

I want to let us know that our confusion of mind does not in any way mean that our God is also confused.

Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." 2 Tim 2:19NIV

This brief meditation is addressed to those who truly belong to Jehovah. The foundation is sure; God knows you but you have the responsibility to intentionally turn away from wickedness of any guise.

In the past four years, I am sorry to say this, almost all the upcoming servants of God who approached me did not give any indication that they are looking for a closer walk with God. Some are seeking means to make more money because, according to them, they have been poor for too long. Others want me to teach them how they can prophesy. Don’t be deceived to think that they are seeking the gifts of the Holy Spirit. No. they want mystical powers that will enable them know the secret lives of people, call their phone numbers and see their villages. This is so they can attract attention to themselves and become popular in the city and as a result become rich in material things.

Many of these people have doubtful testimony of their salvation and very few of them belong to any local congregation. Some have succeeded to gain these mystical powers by joining Satanism and learning manipulative ways to hoodwink people. Many sincere seekers of the Lord Jesus Christ have fallen victims to these kinds of people and then conclude that there are no more genuine servants of God.

I want to declare here that there are yet many genuine servants of God. If you are a genuine servant of God who thinks that you are alone, I want you to recognize that the author of this meditation is genuine and there are yet many of us. It is to these genuine servants of God who are still standing that I write now.

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs — he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this 2 Tim 2:3-7NIV

Hardship or suffering is part of our inheritance as servants of Christ Jesus. If we want to face the truth, we must concede to the fact that the letter that Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy was not a general message to every Christian. In my book, “The Nazirite”, I made this emphasis that consecration is not a communal thing. Everyone who is serving Christ must be sure that he is in it by personal choice. The Apostle Paul used the phrase, a good soldier and it is easy for us to understand that there are those who are in the same faith as we are, but they are not soldiers. The clause, “good soldier” is not talking about training or expertise, instead it is saying, “soldier indeed”. It is important that we recognize that everyone who claims to be servants of Jesus Christ fall into this class,

For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things Phil 3:18-19NIV

The same Apostle Paul wrote this and he was not referring to some folks outside the Church. If you meet someone who claims to be a servant of the Lord who is not seeing suffering in Christian service as our entitlement, be warned that this one is living as an enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ and you must not emulate him or her. There are many who push up their shoulders as Christian leaders or supposing mentors and by the words of their mouth, they have shown that they no longer agree with the words of Apostle Paul to Timothy. They quote the same bible but subtly avoid some very vital points.

If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain 1 Tim 6:3-5NIV

Never in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ have we found a generation that so accurately confirms the words of the Apostle Paul. The Social Media is awash with controversies resulting from these men and women who have lost connection with the Holy Spirit. This has provided grounds for the servants of the devil to make spot of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This has further advanced satan’s course.

If a servant of God does not understand this, he will certainly have problems in his efforts to remain steadfast in the ministry. It is regrettable that many genuine seekers of the Lord Jesus Christ are confused. It is the duty of the genuine to step up and “occupy” till the Lord send this wave of revival we are expecting to manifest very soon.

To these genuine servants of God, the Apostle Paul advises them to borrow lessons from three areas.

Soldier – like the soldiers they must be dressed ready for action every time. They must not live like civilians, they must not eat what others eat and must not go where other people go. They must live the life of focus to please the Lord Jesus Christ who is their commander.

Athlete – For a sportsman to win the price, he undergoes a lot of personal discipline and training behind the scene. Personal fasting and prayers; study and meditation in the word of God are among the things we must devote ourselves to if we will be able to face the challenges associated to winning back the souls of men for the kingdom of God.  

Farmer – A wise farmer observes and takes advantage of the weather for the benefit of a good harvest. The darkness of this age tells us that we need to connect to the Holy Spirit for the right formulae to draw in the souls. We must choose our “seed” of the word of God by the help of the Holy Spirit and determine through His guidance the right soils that will give us the required harvest.

Take note of the way he summarises this advice;

Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Servant of God I want to tell you that you are not alone in this and it did not start with you or this generation. The best thing for us to do is to do our best to focus on Christ and where you can find any, connect to a fellowship of likeminded servants of God.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast 1 Peter 5:8-10NIV

I will like to hear from you.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

FIVE REASONS GOD MAY NEVER GRANT YOUR PRAYER REQUEST

 Very important for praying Christians

 *Five reasons God may never grant your prayer request* 

The Lord dropped these words into my spirit as I was praying for all PNUR family members this morning. I discovered it is something He wants me to share with you. We are known all over the word as a praying group of people. It is important that do not let the outward reputation that people hold about us deceive us to believe that God is Ok with everything we do. God wants us to get better every day and that is why He keeps talking to us with every opportunity He has.

While I was growing up in the Christian ministry I heard many teachings by reputed preachers which I have come to discover were misrepresentation of God in regards to prayer.

I have come to discover that there are many bible instances where God attended to the need of some people even though they never knew nor acknowledged Him. Pharaoh of Egypt and Cyrus the Persian received God’s support when they knew nothing about Him. Our perspective of God’s special is not in agreement with what I see in the bible.

I have come to discover that God has intervened in the affairs of people who did not have faith as we claim it. The widow of Nain (Luke7:11-17) was not even praying when the Lord Jesus Christ raised her son back to life.

I have come to discover that God is not offended when His children express fear or doubt. He rather steps in to calm their nerves and then show them the way out. Abraham and Peter both manifested fear and doubt.

I have come to understand that God answered prayers of people who did not know the word of God as we claim. The people of Nineveh in the book of Jonah and the military man Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 had zero knowledge of scriptures, yet their prayers received urgent response.

I have come to discover that God does not abandon people because they committed sin. Instead, He wants to step into their lives and show them the way out. King David and Apostle Paul are clear examples. (Rom5:8)

What then are the reasons that could make God not to respond to our prayers?

1.

God has His own will. God responds to prayers when that prayer agrees with His will. God saves someone when that person’s existence is tied to God’s agenda on earth. This is why some people still die despite much prayers.

I heard a man of God say, “If there is a man to pray, there is a God to answer. It is true that our God is a prayer answering God but it is also important that we recognize that He has things that fall within the list of things He would grant. If we pray intensely about something and back our prayers with many days and nights of fasting, God will not be bullied to grant to us our requests if they do not agree with His list of things to give to us.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us 1 John 5:14NIV

2.

God is not a murderer and nor does He delight in destruction. It must be heart-breaking to observe how many of our prayers are targeted at the destruction of other people’s lives. The truth is that sometimes we must destroy if we must build and some people must be killed if we must live in peace, but the God of the bible is not a murderous God. If your prayers are built on God killing people; whether enemies or oppressors, you can be sure that God will not grant many of your prayers. God sees and knows about the many evil things going on in this world and He is not waiting for your permission to destroy the world, if that were His will.

Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. 2 Sam 14:14NIV

When we refuse to forgive people and wish in our hearts and everyday prayers that something bad should happen to them in order to make us happy, we should know that we are distancing ourselves from the Spirit of God.

3.

God does not bless us or answer our prayers to feed our greed. Greed is defined as excessive intense desire for something for one’s selfish end. God wants to give us wealth but why do you want it? God is very willing to give a better paying job but why do you want it? To know where you fall in with this, ask yourself, “What have I been doing with the things I have now? 

Why do you need another car? Why do you need to travel abroad? Why do you need a bigger house? In what way would your acquiring these new things honour God and benefit mankind. Even though many people claim that they will use the new things they are praying for to serve God, you can easily judge their sincerity by observing what they are currently doing with what they have now.

4.

God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth 1 Tim 2:3-4NIV

The first point here is “God wants them saved”; when you table your prayer request before God also consider how it is connected to the salvation of other souls. When you express your dislike for people of other races and celebrate it when they are killed, you should know you are far from God’s will. In many churches in the city, their hearts are totally closed against strangers because they want to protect their expensive church properties from thieves. They will not even allow the stranger to express themselves before to start to insult them because their heart is full of hate and bitterness. No matter how bad you feel about those criminals, God wants them to be saved. Jesus Christ did not die for your expensive church properties but He died for them.

If your prayer request says that God should help you to kill everyone who does not like you, you can be sure that He will not grant that. 40 days fasting will not change that. If your prayers killed them, you killed them by witchcraft.

If you are asking God to grow your business but the things you produce are for the wasting of other people’s lives, you can be sure that God will not grant that. If you are seeking Visa to travel abroad at the expense of the little congregation that God has placed in your care, you should be sure that God is not the one sending you out. Except you receive a direct express word, please drop that plan.

“Saved” talks about evangelism and “Knowledge of the truth” talks of discipleship or caring for a body of believers. When the church board is making plans and they ignore this two, God cannot be part of those plans.

5.

God has His own intentions for you, your family, your city, your church congregation and everything else. He does not depend on your prayers to take a decision about this world.

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do Isa 46:10-11NIV

Unfortunately, some of us pray like all that God does is to sit down to respond to our prayers. One time I went to the Republic of Togo and my intention was to settle down there and work with a church congregation. After settling with some of the elders of the church, I returned to Nigeria to brief Joy. She was Ok with the plans. Then I returned to Togo, only for God to tell me in my dream that I should return to Nigeria and move to Port Harcourt. 

One would wonder, why was He quiet all the time I was making all that arrangement? To be candid, I was already fed-up with the PNUR vision and wanted to settle down in a church. But He is my boss. Joy was surprised when I returned to Nigeria to tell we were moving to Port Harcourt instead.

It is not always that God says, No, because we are going to commit sin. We can have very godly intentions and God steps in to say, “No, my child. This is not in my original intention for you”. In 2 Sam7:1-16, David felt guilty that he was living in a place better than where the Ark of God was kept. He invited his prophet and expressed his intention to build a temple for God. His prophet agreed with him and asked him to go ahead with his good intentions. But that night, God told Nathan to tell David that his good intentions was not in the original plans of God. God promised to bless him for the good intentions but He did not change His intentions to suit David’s plans.

As we want God to support our intentions in this New Year, we should try as much as possible to align our plans my God’s original purpose for us.

Remain in the place of prayers.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

Importance of Revelation in our walk

 _The importance of revelation in our walk_ 

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this New Year. The word of the Lord for us is quite encouraging; Rest on every side. My prayer is that you have the rest experientially in Jesus name.

We need to walk under divine revelation this year. Yes, we need to be in a position when things don’t take us by surprise. It is the manner of the enemy to steal in to cause us great harm and damage when we are not in the realms of revelation. When I say this, I am not implying those believers who are never serious with their spiritual life. Very spiritually disciplined children of God have suffered shock attacks too. Imagine the embarrassment Prophet Elisha faced when one of the most faithfully financial members of his ministry stormed in on him.

When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why." 2 Kings 4:27NIV 

This was the woman that gave him a comfortable lodging place; she was the woman who hosted him with fine meals; she was the woman that God gave a miracle child through the ministry of Elisha. Her family recognized him as their household prophet. How could it be that sickness and eventual death struck the family but Elisha did not receive any signal. She galloped wildly on her donkey to get to him and even while she took hold of his garment, a prophet of high standing like Elisha still did not receive any signals from the spirit.

Two incidences happened in Door of Hope Christian between 31st of December 2023 and 1st of January 2024; the first was the case of a man who came to Sunday service as a first timer. It was through a revelation that I learned that he was a spy who had intention to come to rob us after. The second was a spiritual report on one of my faithful workers and the Lord asked that I should stand over him as a prophetic cover to neutralize the planned attack on him.

Pastors, parents and heads of organizations should be bothered about this. As the spiritual authority over a group of people, you owe them to cover them through your prayers and receive signals through the Holy Spirit to cover them through your prophetic intercession. 

Back to our text; thank God that the woman’s son was recovered, it is important we recognize that it is not in all cases that people survive such attacks.

In another occasion still under Elisha, some of the young prophets had exposed themselves to possible death.

One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it 2 Kings 4:39-40NIV

How often are members of our churches and families exposed to great danger but those who hold spiritual authority are too blind to notice. Take note that they were already eating the food before some of them cried out their concern about the presence of poison in their food. At times it is a destructive teaching that has entered the church or some kind of lifestyle among the youths but the spiritual leaders are not sensitive enough to know it. It could even be a material danger. One time, while in the mission field of Dad Palm, with Joy and my children, a very dangerous snake had entered right into our sleeping place while we were all in bed. Someone had warned me that the false prophet in that area was angry about my activities of delivering people from the power of satan. That night he sent that snake to kill. Sudden I received a word from the Lord and I announced a bible passage loudly.

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven Rev 12:7-8NIV

I declared this passage and announced, “Satan, you are not strong enough”.

I don’t remember how many times I repeated this scripture before Kasarachi screamed out, “Daddy, there is a dangerous snake in this room”.

I want you to understand that spiritual alertness and that loud proclamation of that word of God was what paralysed that agenda of the devil.

In some congregations, they are currently operating with familiar spirits in the name of “prophetic ministry” but no one recognized it.  

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her Acts 16:16-18NIV

I personally had some agents of darkness come in to work with me in the name of church workers trying to exercise fake spiritual gifts, not in all cases was I able to decode them until certain circumstances started manifesting. One time a lady went outside rubbing her face in a nearby bush because the Lord struck her; she was an agent of darkness. In another instance, the power of God struck the head of a woman on a wall and she came out bleeding. Another messenger of the kingdom of darkness.

That was what happened with the Apostle Paul. He had a misunderstanding with the head of his team and still travelled under circumstances of strife. Even though some group of believers endorsed his arrogance and prayed for him, but God was not satisfied with this.

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches Acts 15:36-41NIV

These are among the many things that open doors to satan in the ministries of servants of God and our churches. The brothers commended Paul to the grace of God but it was not these brethren that sent them out in the first place. Paul was okay with human approval but God wanted him to go back and reconcile with his spiritual leader. Yes, Barnabas was his spiritual leader; it was Barnabas who picked him up when everyone else avoided him. How prone we are to forget our beginning. If you look carefully at the account of his ministry from that time, you will notice the obvious struggle. In fact, he later begged that Mark should be sent to him to assist his ministry. Thank God that Barnabas did not bow to popular opinions.

We are warned to be careful about ourselves when we think we are now very established and mature.  

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Cor 10:12NIV

Imagine that the great Apostle Paul was pushed about by a demon for many days and did not know it. It took the strife in his soul by the Holy Spirit before he could notice that there was something wrong. The reason being that the demon was saying things in his favour. 

Hmmm!

It is possible that someone who is reading this now could be in the same condition; you are currently sitting under a ministry that has roots in the devil. Maybe your ministry is “progressing” even when your ways are not right before God. You think everything is okay because people around you are giving you positive accolade. Someone may be somewhere that he is receiving a good salary but at the expense of the true purpose why God raised you. So you silence the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ has placed upon you. 

It was when the Apostle Paul took back the authority he had as a servant of God that the false peace evaporated and the war started. It was only then he returned to true soul winning again. Many believers think that it is okay to stay anywhere they are accepted. It is okay to stay, but it must not be at the expense the divine agenda for your life.

We need to operate in the realms of divine revelation, so we will not be operating as “blind bats”. 

I want you to pray now and ask the Lord to activate your sense of divine spiritual revelation as you match into this new year. Also ask the Holy Spirit to deposit in you the gifts of the Spirit you will need in your journey this year.

I will love to get your reactions.

Emma your brother, pnurnigeria@gmail.com