With great joy of Jesus I welcome you back to this forum. Without a doubt it is God who is working in us both to Will and to do according to His good pleasure and therefore, to Him the glory for the grace to be back on this forum. I must sincerely apologize for the break in the flow. I pray every day that as these demands increase, divine capacity within us will more than increase in Jesus name. As I look further in the Acts of the Apostles, I discovered yet another factor responsible for the great achievements of the mostly unlearned followers of the man of Calvary. This secret is what I call – Kingdom motivated prayers. Prayer, as we all know is a divinely ordained act of involving heaven in the affairs of humanity. However, I see an inclination in the groaning of the apostles, the type of which is not too common in our time – that is requesting God to enforce His will on earth. I see their prayer meetings focusing mainly on Matthew 6:10 – “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” “And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Acts 5:49-41. I guess if this were to happen to any of us in this generation on the account of the gospel, we will summon our prayer team to go to the mountain to call down fire and brimstone on every enemy of our souls!   Finally brethren, may I suggest that we begin to focus less on ourselves and more on God? If we must take over territories for God, it has to be settled first in the spiritual before it becomes manifest in the physical. This is the divine pattern and that is what we must do. Until I see you in the next edition, if Jesus tarry in His coming, I commit to the hands of the one who is able to keep all of us from falling and failing. I appreciate your time. Maranatha! Your companion in the race – Ezekiel Oni.

Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth may pass away but not a jot or a title of God’s words shall go unfulfilled. Hence, the truth that Jesus Christ is coming back is sacrosanct and, therefore, as expectant pilgrims, we should do all within our power to ensure we both hasten the consummation of this expectation and are not caught napping on its crystallization. Consequently we have been looking at the necessity of understanding the times. You will recall that in the last edition we considered the fact that it is an age of relativism, where everything all depend on prevailing circumstances. Again, what time is it? It is an Information Age: It is an information rather than a revelation age. Information, defined as a message received and understood, by its very nature is powerful because it has capacity to either inform, reform or deform the mind. Just as we all rightly know, every man is a reflection of his mind. For instance, the bible says in Proverbs 23:7 that a man is exactly what he thinks (my own reflections). The greatest battle ever, is the battle of the mind. Unfortunately, this is where the spirit of the times has targeted to engage. While God through His Holy Spirit is calling for our attention, the spirit of the age is also, through various means, struggling for our attention. I was in a public place sometimes ago and, I was amazed at how everybody got glued to their hand devices checking up on one thing or the other on the net. As I sat down watching, the question that kept ringing in my mind was, how well and best can God reach these minds already preoccupied with every other thing, that appeal to the flesh, but God! To a large extent, in my opinion, a large proportion of these information are designed and targeted to distort and impair the free flow of the gospel in the heart of men. Because they appeal to the flesh, they therefore, command attention of men for a long time – have you observed that you hardly get distracted whenever you are reading through an ‘interesting’ post on your device? The implication of this is that, moments of meditation on the scriptures have shrunk very significantly for some unwary pilgrim. Productive thoughts have diminished with cheap availability of scraps that feed the flesh. Consequently, in times like these, what should be the attitude of the rightly focused believer?  I opine, and that very strongly, that as pilgrims, we should be selective about what we feed our minds on. In Philippians 4:8, the bible says “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Beloved, I believe if you can allow God to keep your mind sane at this time, I am sure you can as well keep your life save for eternity. The glory is indeed ahead and we strive to stay on course. Happy congress and wishing you Merry Christmas and a happy New Year all in advance. I like to pause here at this time and trust God to be with you again in the next edition, if Jesus tarry in His coming. Until then, God bless you and thanks for your time. Maranatha! Your companion in the race – EZEKIEL ONI.

Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Isaiah 8:12 Meditations: Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our anchor scripture today is a solemn warning by the Holy Spirit to Kingdom citizen. In John 17:16, Jesus said concerning us His followers “They are not of the world, even as am not of the world.” The preposition “of” in the above scripture indicates – part, content or quality. We can therefore say that the Christian is NOT part of the world neither does he carry the same content or possess the same quality as the world. He is completely different bag of beans! He cannot fit into the mold of the world in all areas of life and living. Exhortation: One major reason for the believers’ struggles is that we find it convenient to operate in the habitat of our adversary. I mean, we often want to be who we were not saved to be. Imagine me, a thoroughly bred Ekiti man (from south west, Nigeria) wanting to speak like like a European? You know I will have to be deliberate, struggle and dissipate a lot of energy and perhaps bite my tongue unnecessarily to pass across my message. So also is the challenge of the child of God speaking the language of the world. Operating in the kingdom principles takes away stress and vice versa. For instance, in our kingdom, we don’t confess sickness, we rather talk health and healing. We don’t respond to feelings, we walk by faith. We conquer by confronting intimidation not by being afraid. We don’t fear what others fear; our dread and fear is God. Isaiah 8:13. We don’t confess lack but rather we confess to what Jesus did at Calvary. 2 Corinthians 8:9. Therefore, when the child of God, unfortunately, enter into the fear mode, struggle starts and defeat become imminent. Our best is in our rest on God and His promises. We need to realize that words were not first spoken by God for interpersonal communications but rather as a conveyor of power. Hence God said “let there be and there was.” Genesis 1:3. Therefore, up till now words are weapons of war. That is why the child of God ought not to be an evangelist for fear or any negative statement but rather a communicator of divine will. We were born again by faith (Ephesians 2:8) and therefore we can only live by faith. Habakkuk 2:4. At this time when so many things are happening and happening fast, we must choose our words carefully and guard our hearts against fear. Be bold and courageous knowing that your conversation is not of this world. Philippians 3:20. Prayer: You shall not be a victim in Jesus name.

And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Exodus 7:1 Meditations: I bring you greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, The prince of peace. Glory be to God for the grace to reach you again. Our anchor scripture today was the charge God gave to Moses at a point in Egypt. This charge became necessary because it appeared the great man of God was becoming weary and unsteady in His faith in God. He had, hitherto acted on divine instructions and expected things to change but, rather, things became worse. Exodus 5:1- end. He thereafter tendered his letter of resignation to God. Exodus 6:11-12, 30. Hence this powerful statement in Exodus 7:1. Exhortation: As a child of God reading this message, your situation might be similar to that of Moses wondering if God ever spoke to you hitherto or whether you can still trust God’s words especially, in the face of either no evidence or contradictory evidences. I like to encourage you that nothing, absolutely nothing, is wrong with the word of God. All you need to do is to realize who you are and therefore, take your rightful place in destiny – You are a god. Moses did not know this until God fired that word into his spirit. In the strength of that Rhema he went back boldly to Pharaoh’s palace and God glorified Himself. Do you know that is who you are also as a New Testament Saint? Psalm 82:6. That means you are a supernatural being and therefore not subservient to nature. You are not subject to any virus or any negative situation for that matter. In John 3:8, the scriptures says “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Winds by its nature are invisible but they produce visible and undeniable results. Therefore, your proofs are expected to be inexplainable to science and nature! As a child of God, you carry the invincible and indestructible nature of God. You were raised up to tear down and to build up and not live a beggarly-nature-dependent life. Jeremiah 1:10. You need to realize that you carry the life of God in you. 1John 4:4. You were crafted to win but you must believe in who God says you are. 1John 5:4. Therefore, my reader, this is not a time to chicken out. It is not a time to be afraid. You are too loaded to fail. I know things may look like a long tunnel and stormy but be rest assure that you were designed to outlive the storm. It is rather a time to manifest our identity as gods. Moses saw the end of Pharaoh because he received the word of God in his spirit, believed and acted on it. I charge you to do same. Beloved, your real essence is your spiritual identity and not what is visible to the eyes of men. I encourage you therefore to align your life perfectly with God in all realms and honor Him with your choices. You shall win in Jesus name. We are here to win! Prayer: You are a god therefore, defeat is alien to your nature in Christ Jesus. Amen

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.   Hebrews 4:1;3. Meditations Royal greetings in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Great grace to you in Jesus name. Our anchor scriptures for today solemnly warns us to be careful of failing to enter into the divinely provided rest for us, God’s children. Bible scholars say there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible but Hebrews 4:1 says we should fear the danger of not entering God’s rest. It must be very dreadful then to be outside of God’s rest. However, what is that thing that qualify us for entrance? It is our faith in God. “For we which have believed do enter into His rest…” Hebrews 4:1a Exhortation Before The Almighty God created man in Genesis1:26, He had created all that man would need, not just to exist on earth but, to live to the fullest. Genesis 1:1-25. Which means that God had thought about you before you knew how to think for yourself. The same way, all that the child of God needs to live a fulfilled life are already in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 1:3, the scripture says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” Did you see that – “who hath (past tense) blessed us with ALL.” Furthermore, in 2 Peter 1:3, the Holy Ghost says “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” Again, the above scripture confirms that everything you and I need are already given. They are however only obtainable (according to our anchor scripture) by our faith in God. In Hebrews 11:2, the scripture says “For by it the elders obtained a good report.” You recall in Numbers 13, 14:1-12 that while ten people obtained bad reports about Canaan and died in the wilderness, only two people obtained good reports and entered into Canaan. Joshua and Caleb entered into the rest of God because they believed the report of God over and above what their eyes saw. Beloved the truth is that once God has given the destination, issues in transition does not have the power to stop your arrival. However, your faith in the promise of God is a vital ingredient for safe landing. In Matthew 14:26-32, Jesus walked on water and instructed Peter to join Him. Peter, resting on the words of Jesus, obtained an uncommon testimony by also walking on water. However, the moment He stopped resting on God’s word through unbelief, he entered into a restless mode and began sinking. May I please encourage you to take your rest in God. There are things you can do for yourself and there are things in your life that are God’s duties. May I therefore, admonish you to hands off God’s duties. Do your own and let God do His own. Rest on God and let Him take care of the rest. Brethren, it is time to enter into His rest. Prayers I pray that no storm shall succeed in stopping your journey in Jesus name.

Anchor Scripture: 1Chronicles 22:9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. Meditations: Great is the faithfulness of God towards us all and, to Him be glory for the opportunity to reach you again today. David, the king, had desired to build a befitting temple for God but God, turned down the offer. 2Samuel 7:1-16. Rather, God would prefer a seed of David (Solomon) who was going to be a man of rest to fulfill the desire of David. To rest is to experience ease, peace, relaxation and repose. Rest is the absence of stress, strain, anxiety or tension. This is the position to which God has called us hence, the Bible says we should labour to enter into His rest. Hebrews 4:11. Exhortation: In Ephesians 2:6, the Bible says “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: “ To sit is to assume a posture of rest. The above scripture tells us that God made us(past tense) to sit (rest) in the most impregnable place in the universe – in Christ Jesus. The Lord is encouraging someone reading this exhortation to please sit down – take your rest In Christ. Why run around when you can sit and have your victories, blessings, deliverances and miracles delivered to you. The heavenly places in Christ is the place of dominion for the New Testament believer but, the dominion is only possible for those who can sit down not for those who keep running around higgledy-piggledy. It is for those who trust and believe that Christ can! The other time Jesus was to feed about five thousand men apart from women and children. Even though the available resources were grossly inadequate, the first thing Jesus did was to instruct the people to sit down though they were on their way out of the crusade arena. Matthew 14:16-21. You know why? It is because “except you take your rest, you don’t ever get your ration.” Your ration is connected to your rest. Beloved, your ration in God is complete and available but you may not get access until you take your rest. At this time of global pandemonium caused by the pandemic, it is time for the Peculiar People of God to take their rest. Rest depicts your absolute trust in the ability of God. I encourage you to cease from your labour and enter Into His rest for your life. Shalom Prayers May the Lord turn your sweatiness to sweetness in Jesus name. Amen

Anchor Scripture: Mark 8:1-3 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. Meditations: Calvary greetings and may the peace of God abide with you now and forever. Our anchor scripture for today is a revelation of the heart and nature of our Savior. One of the basic needs of man is food and it has been the major driver of events in history of humanity. For instance, it was bread that made Jacob migrate to Egypt and it was bread that also made Elimelech relocate to Moab. The scripture above says the people were hungry and nothing to eat and Jesus, knowing the implications of the situation of the people immediately manifested His sufficiency to fill in the gap. Exhortation: Beloved, you will observe from the above scriptures that the people neither complained nor prayed to Jesus concerning this particular situation but He still attended to them. Therefore, I want to assure someone reading this short exhortation that: Jesus knows: We sometimes feel lonely and alone in certain situations of life and wonder if anyone truly know what we are passing through. Yes, your situation may be vague to men but be rest assured that it is NOT unknown to God because before Him all things are laid bare. Perhaps, the people did not know that Jesus knew they were hungry? He is the omniscient God. Can I just encourage someone reading this write up that Jesus is that friend that stick closer than brothers. Proverbs 18:24. Your parents may not know your inner struggles, you spouse may not know even your anointed pastor may not know but, Jesus knows. Just trust Him. Jesus cares: You know it is possible to know about something and yet do nothing about it. Jesus does not just know, He cares. In our anchor scripture, Jesus did not just know and kept quite, He took positive action towards solving the problem. He did that because He cared. Is that not the same reason He came to face Calvary head long? Yes, it is because He cares for your soul and my soul. Dearly beloved, everybody around you, because of their peculiar issues, may be nonchalant about your situation but know this of a truth that Jesus cares. The Bible says He had compassion on the people. In Matthew 8:2, He could have healed the leper from a distance but, you know what, He did the unthinkable by touching him. It was not a professional touch but a compassionate touch! Others ran away from him but Jesus drew him close enough to a touching distance because He cared. Brethren, cheer up, Jesus cares. Jesus is able: It is one thing to know, it is yet one thing to care but it is another thing to have the capacity to act. Jesus cannot be limited. Though the resources available was grossly insufficient to meet the need but when Jesus is involved, no good thing can be in short supply! He can turn your water to wine. John 2:1-11. He can restore your lost hope. Luke 7:11-14. He can disappoint your adversaries. Mark 5:1-20. He can forgive you and restore you. John 1:1-10. He can take away your embarrassment with supernatural provisions. Matthew 17:24-27. Brethren, the list is endless. Conclusion: let me stop here but note that all you need to do avail yourself of the blessings Jesus has to offer is: If you are not born again, please give your life to Him. Those people sought Him, hence He could help them. If you are born again, trust Him and keep your eyes fixed on Him. Prayers: You shall not be alone in Jesus name.

Anchor Scripture: 2 Samuel 6:3,7 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. Meditations Triumphant greetings in the name of The Resurrection and The Life – the Lord Jesus. We give God all the glory for the commencement of our journey back to normalcy after several days of lockdown due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, I admonish you to keep adhering strictly to directives by government and health officials. Keep clean and keep to recommended interpersonal physical distancing. Above all, continue to pray. In our last edition we saw the real reason behind Uzzah’s death while performing what looked like a noble task for God and, the need for us to realize that nothing outside of God can please Him. We trust the Holy Spirit to show us a few other things we can still learn. Exhortation: I personally believe that the noblest service on earth is service to our Creator, The Almighty God. Please note that such services are not limited to the four walls of a Cathedral. As a matter of fact, it could be in government, Corporate world, in Science etc. There are prescription in the word of God for all. However, it is of utmost importance for those who serve in the sanctuary, in particular, to pay attention (in addition to what we started to discussed in the last edition) to the following things while serving God: God is a stickler to process: Please I want us to know that God is not given to sentiments. If He was or is, He would not have allowed Jesus Christ to go Calvary or at the worst, He would have bailed Jesus out when, at the height of His agony cried “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?…” Mark 15:34. But He did not do either of the two. You know why? The price for the redemption of humanity must be paid and it could only be done via Calvary. Brethren, when it comes to service, follow divinely ordained process. You know there are a number of incidences in the Bible you will wonder why didn’t God do otherwise. Do you remember the story of the young prophet from Judah in 1Kings 13:1-22? He died cheaply because he compromised process. That will not be your portion in Jesus name. Even the Lord Jesus told John the Baptist to comply with process on His case. Brethren, the ancient land marks are still relevant in modern times – grace is not a Licence for compromise. Nothing can dent the image of God. In other words, the glory of God can not be diminished by anything. While reading through this story, I was wondering why God did not wait till the next day before punishing Uzzah. After all, He was the one being honored? The answer I got is “my glory predate the creation of man.” Wow! So no man can add or reduce Him. You remember what He told Jesus when He asked Him to glorify Himself? “… I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” John 12:27-28. He told Daddy E.A Adeboye that should he become proud for the things happening through his life then He would wipe his memory off the land of the living. Think about the devotion, commitment, sacrifice and consecration of this great man of God! You remember Israel still got to the promised land without MOSES. Please be careful. Nothing can diminish the glory of God. Therefore do not consider yourself too important and indispensable but kindly follow divine protocols. Conclusion: Dear pilgrim and choice vessel of the living God, I admonish you to be conscious of your service to God. Nadab and Abihu died prematurely because they served God wrongly. Leviticus 10:1-2. Please acquaint yourself with God and be humble. Keep your focus and make Him your desire for pleasure. We shall not serve unto condemnation in Jesus name. Prayer: You shall not lose your reward of service in Jesus name.