ACKNOWLEDGE GOD, ALWAYS!
This Sunday service, a build-up on last week’s when the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua exposed the traits of religious worshipping in contrast to true Christianity, was another learning experience of the deep things of the Holy Spirit. Engaging the congregation in a sermon that was abound in practical and spiritual applications for Spirit-filled prayer that brings Jesus on the scene, he described the heart as a communication point and therefore, worthy of purity and embodiment of peace within. Prayer, he said, should be from one’s heart because ‘the heart is the medium God uses to speak to us.’ He explained: “Heart means spirit. Your spirit must be immersed in the Spirit of God to declare the peace. If your spirit has not joined itself to the Spirit of God, there can be no peace of heart. It is not all up to God; certainly, it is not all up to you. Your genuine willingness and God’s ability must come together.”
Teaching about the folly of seeking material things above things of God, he said, “The dividend of peace of heart is contentment; you will be content and stop comparing yourself to others. A man may be poor, yet be a friend of God. When your wealth is more than your spiritual life or you are known all over the world but it is not from God, all that you have will be spending you instead of you spending it. That is, money is spending you.”
“If your spiritual life is zero, your life is zero. The Bible says ‘the wealth I give you is not as the world gives.’ One can get wealth by other means but the difference between the one from God and the one from other ways, is peace of heart. You are to prosper in your spiritual life. If you are not prospering in your spiritual life, it will be enslaved by your financial life. This is why the Lord has given us this day to build your spiritual life. God is busy building Himself into us, making Himself a part of us.”
The man of God then prophesied to the congregation before proceeding to minister healing and deliverance at the prayer line where many souls were set free from the grip of the devil at the mention of the name, Jesus!
Earlier, Wise Man Christopher educated those listening about how wrong it is to seek the face of God for personal reasons and sidelining Him when all is well. His message was titled: WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD and its proof text was taken from Deuteronomy 8:10-20. He said: “If you want to enjoy forgiveness, healing, deliverance, blessing, prosperity and victory forever, you must discover the need to acknowledge God, the Source. No one closes the source of water and expects it to flow; but he who cares for and sincerely appreciates the source of the water, will continue to enjoy a steady supply.”
He also said, “The danger of seeking forgiveness, healing, deliverance, blessing and prosperity only to forget the source after the needs are met is that, when the blessings diminish and finally fade away, one begins to see Jesus in a bad light and ask obvious questions: Why are we poor or sick again? Why are we entangled again in our problems?”
He advised, “If you are to have victory over the situation you are in, you should appreciate the good works of our Lord, Jesus Christ and His presence around you.Thank Him for lifting you up when you stumble. Thank Him for not allowing your enemy to rejoice over you. Many have gone because of the same sickness or problem that you had in the past but here you are living freely. Those who are placed on top of a horse should always remember those who cannot ride on a donkey; the privileged should remember the less privileged.When you think about God and all His blessings upon your life, your greediness, grumbling and doubt will give way to praises.”
TESTIMONIES
Hundreds of people came forward to testify to the greatness and goodness of God. Below are just a few of the many wonderful testimonies which prove that Jesus still heals, delivers and supplies for all of man’s needs.
ANOINTING WATER WASHED ME TO PROSPERITY!
Mr Precious Nnadi and his wife were living in woeful poverty. However hard they tried, they only managed to walk in full circles of poverty – from one financial problem to another. With breakthrough seemingly impossible, they decided to relocate to Lagos but they could not afford it. Borrowing money from friends after a long struggle, they finally arrived in Lagos where they rented a tiny room. In the wife’s own words, they ‘smelled of poverty’. Meanwhile, they had heard of how God was blessing people at The SCOAN and decided to visit in search of divine solution. He received the Anointing Water and Anointing Stickers, went home and continued to hunt for a job – any kind of job that would put food on the table. Soon, one of his friends introduced him to a clearing and forwarding business but they were deceitful people. As a child of God, he was shocked. He wanted to do the same job decently and earn clean money. He continued to minister the Anointing Water and asking God to locate him. Soon, things changed. People started giving him small jobs and eventually, big offers followed. From 20,000 naira a day, he was now making up to 500,000 naira. More money poured in and they were able to move from the small hut into a more spacious apartment. Their life having improved, he decided to economically empower his wife and asked her to find a space for a shop of her own. He stocked the shop beyond the wife’s expectation. But that was not all. He asked her one day to go to the car dealer and pick the car of her choice. He paid cash and since then, a family that could not even afford a loaf of bread and had to borrow money, now leads a prosperous and happy life all because of Jesus!
FROM DEMOTION TO PROMOTION!
If there is one who knows the real meaning of demotion and stagnation in life, Mr Bartholomew Okougbosun from Edo state, Nigeria, is the one. He was faced with spiritual attacks, setback and nightmares. At a specific time at night, he would have a creepy experience of a cockroach falling on his head and crawling over him. With the help of his wife, he would turn the room upside down, hunting for the filthy creature but would not find it, let alone catch any. In the midst of this confusion, he was also having an affair with a strange woman in his dreams. When this happened, nothing would work out for him the next day. He was employed by the federal government in the Youth Service Corp. While his peers were getting promotions and progressing in life, he remained frustratingly chained to stagnation. At one point, they wanted to actually demote him. Because he was the best for the job, he was astounded to see his name on the retrenchment list. He knew then that his situation was not ordinary and decided to seek Heavenly intervention. He came to The SCOAN where he received the Anointing Water and in faith prayed, asking God to reverse his demotion and manifest His greatness in his life. He ministered it in his home, on himself and at his office. One day, he received a call from his office. He was not perturbed, having left the battle in the able hands of God and true to his belief, not only had he been retained in his job, but was also promoted. He is now head of another local government with greater responsibility. Praise God!
ASTOUNDING FAITH BRACELET TESTIMONIES FROM THE YOUTH!
At least ten youth came forward to give incredible testimonies of how they had experienced the powerful presence of God through the Faith Bracelet which they received recently from the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua. The enemy behind the spiritual battles they were facing was exposed by the Faith Bracelet they had received. They talked of how the Holy Spirit, through the Faith Bracelet, had set them free from spiritual attacks, chronic addictions to pornography and many vices associated with the modern generation.
One of the youth, Joseph Chukwuma, had been battling with the spirit of lust. In school, he had joined a gang of bad friends who started influencing him in many negative ways, skipping classes, following girls and many other things. The evil spirit affected his academic performance. Lustful thoughts had taken over his mind and this led him to making love with a strange woman in his dreams. Like the rest of the youth, when he received his Faith Bracelet, he began to meditate, asking God to ‘Take more of me and give me more of You – Your holiness, kindness, peace, love, hope, and faithfulness’. That same day, he slipped into sleep and had a dream where he saw himself in a gang of his notorious friends. He then saw Prophet T.B. Joshua pass by and he tried to walk towards him but his friends held him back. They tied a tight noose around his legs and waist so that he couldn’t move. Suddenly, he saw that he was holding his Faith Bracelet. A great strength came upon him and he tore the rope off. Something ministered to his heart to touch the leader of the gang with his Faith Bracelet who fell to the ground and the rest of the gang panicked and fled. He was able to move forward and reach where the man of God was standing. Smiling, filled with joy and victory, he spoke a word to parents that technology was destroying youth like him all over the world and they should try to get the Faith Bracelet for their children to capture their thoughts to the glory of God.
Success Ozeghe testified that she had suffered ceased menstruation for two years. When the time came for her to meditate on the Word of God or pray, nothing would happen and it affected her emotionally and spiritually. After receiving her Faith Bracelet, she started to meditate that God should take more of her and give her more of Him. She had a dream and saw a tall, giant man who wanted to stab her with a sharp object. She held her Faith Bracelet and immediately saw a sharp object appear. She grabbed it and quickly threw it at the giant, hitting him on the forehead. He fell to the ground dead. Not long after, when she woke up, she discovered that her menstruation had started to flow again after two years.
Miracle Ogbodo, another youth, was addicted to playing computer games. When he woke up in the morning, all that preoccupied his mind was playing games. This affected his education. In class, he would be playing games on his phone instead of listening to the lectures. At home, he would not listen to his parents as all they did, said or asked was distracting him from what he loved the most – playing games. He also had a spirit of anger which made him act violently towards everybody around him, especially when he was not able to play computer games. When he received the Faith Bracelet and got home that day, something strange happened. As he sat down to play games as usual, he found that instead of reaching for his phone or computer to play games, he took the Faith Bracelet from his wrist and started meditating the Word of God. Now, he spends his time counting his faith with the Faith Bracelet, meditating with it and staying connected to God.
CEASED MENSTRUATION FLOWS AFTER SEVEN YEARS
Mrs Mbecho Emilia from Cameroon was suffering from ceased menstruation and hormonal imbalance. For seven years, the affliction caused her pain and trauma. It was in the midst of such tribulation that she decided to visit The SCOAN and seek the face of God. She received the Anointing Water and back home, she prayed and ministered it by spraying it into her mouth and on her stomach, asking God to intervene in her issue. That night, she had a dream. She saw herself in a theatre where she was being operated on. When she woke up from sleep, her menstruation had resumed. When she went back to the hospital for an examination, the doctors were stunned at the miracle that had happened in her life. What they could not solve, Jesus did – a further confirmation of the truth that man may treat but healing is of the Lord! She advised people not to lose hope in God.
EMMANUEL TV IS ‘LIGHTNING PROOF’
Mr Yemi Ajayi and his wife came to The SCOAN from Kwara State in northern Nigeria for the first time to give this compelling testimony. In July 2013, they were at home watching their favourite channel, Emmanuel TV and something mysterious happened. It started raining and suddenly they heard the sound of terrifying thunderstorm. Lightning burst into the room through the window and hovered over them. It then shot to the television, circled the screen three times and went out as quickly as it came. None of the 21 people who were in the room were hurt neither did it affect any electrical appliance. Everyone started to praise God for their miraculous survival which was brought about by the presence of Emmanuel TV that was on. It was reported that strange lightning strikes had been killing people in the same area.
Narrating their miraculous escape, Mr Ajayi said of Prophet T.B. Joshua, “We might see him as a human being with a modest stature but the mighty power of God inside him is of immeasurable size!” Prophet T.B. Joshua said that the lightning had been sent by evil forces to kill a woman in their midst but had encountered the voice of God coming through Emmanuel TV and was dispelled.
DELIVERANCE FROM SPIRIT OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND SUICIDE
From birth, Miss Divine’s life was one filled with pain and hatred. She was a product of rape, her mother having been raped while in secondary school. Angry that the incident had interrupted her education, her mother who was living in Ghana then, waited until the little girl was seven years old and brought her to Nigeria at the pretext of visiting relatives. But her mother left her with them. It was when she was 12 that she discovered they were not even distant relatives.
Divine became a house help. Although she was able to go to school, she could see that she was not a complete member of the family. She lacked love and felt unwanted. As time passed, she would be passed on from one family to another. When her mother called her on the rare occasions she did, she would sign off the phone conversation by reminding her that she had interrupted her life.
Thank God, Divine at one point stayed with a businesswoman who was into clothing design. It was there she learnt the art and was able to start her life from that point. Later on in life, a friend she trusted enticed her to travel to Lagos where she said she would easily get a contract as a model. But it was a lie and she was instead, initiated into prostitution. On that fateful day, the other girls she had found in the compound posing as models called for a welcoming party. While everyone was drinking alcoholic drinks, she asked for a soft drink because she had never tasted alcohol before. They gave her a soft drink but, unknown to her, it had been drugged. The moment she drank it, she slipped into a deep sleep and when she woke up, she discovered she had incisions on her legs. She also discovered that she had an anklet on her ankle and jewellery around her waist. She had been initiated into prostitution and through that, wherever she went to, she would always come back to them. Without any notice, a man was brought into the house and raped her while everyone was watching.
She bled profusely and thought she would die. Gathering courage, she packed her bag the following day while no one was watching and bolted out the door. As she left, she did not even know where she was escaping to. A young man, Mr Kingsley found her sitting helplessly on the street and brought her to The SCOAN. After the New Anointing Water was ministered to her, the evil spirit in her manifested, identifying itself as the spirit of suicide and sexual harassment. She was then delivered in the name of Jesus Christ. Since that time, she is free and her dreams have become blissful.
The service ended with the ministration of The New Anointing Water to the congregation with diverse healings and deliverances!
