God is good

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him (of necessity and on the authority of His Word), and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

O taste and see that the Lord (our God) is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.

                                                                    Psalms 34:1-3, 8 AMP

The book of Psalms is one of my favorites to read in the bible. Why? It’s filled with  beautiful eloquent expressions of praise and prayer to God Almighty and great words of advice and wisdom. Reading the book of Psalms offers comfort to my soul each time am passing through problems or challenges. The first part of verse 8 says “O taste and see that the Lord is good”. Indeed , I have experienced the goodness of God in various way over the years and one of such happened recently in January .

JEHOVAH RAPHA

Several years ago when I was around 8years old, an incident happened during the school break period. On that day, I was on the school playing field with some of my friends running and having fun.  After playing for a while, we went our separate ways, some to get a drink and others for more fun activities.

There was a swing set nearby with kids taking turns pushing each other,  also a long concrete cylindrical pipe used in building culverts. The  pipe had been on the playground for a long time and students sit on it to talk and play. I decided to take a rest by sitting on the concrete pipe and proceeded to daydream away. Unknown to me, two of my friends were back from their water break and  decided to surprise me by pushing the pipe. They with other mischievous kids around pushed the pipe, it moved and in the suddenness of movement, I pitched forward, fell and my left foot became trapped under the pipe.

When the students saw what happened, most ran off to hide, while a few ran to call the attention of adults around. The pipe was eventually moved off my foot and  I was carried to the principal’s office, who then called my parents. When we got to the hospital, my foot was put in cast due to some broken bones.  After several weeks recuperating at home, I returned to school a different person who could no longer be as physically active like before and in my childishness cut off friendship with those responsible. The injury left a mark as a little bone protruded out from the inner lower side of my foot close to the ankle.

As  years went by,  efforts to be active especially in sports was curtailed due to the injury, each time I either run or jump, a popping sound emanates from my ankle and end up in pain.  Sometimes taking a wrong step or slipping also brings about pain around my ankle and I would start to limp which can last for several days.  On the 15th of January this year,  I was about stepping out for a short walk and stooped down to pick up  keys that fell from my hand. As I did so,  pain started in and around my ankle and I had to cancel the planned walk. The pain lasted through the rest of the day, therefore could not  put my whole weight on it when walking.

There had been a week of prayer and fasting at the Church which was ending that night, the focus of prayers on that day  was for those that need healing. During the prayers, I felt led to ask for prayers for my ankle and was prayed for by the pastor, who also shared a bible passage with me. He read from the book of Psalms 18:36 NIV “You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.” Holding on to the promise of God in that passage, I started to walk up and down the hallways putting my weight equally on my feet and noticed that the level of pain had reduced.

The next day being Saturday was a busy one for me and I did not remember my foot or ankle that was paining me till after lunch. God perfected my healing while I slept, all praise, glory and honor to God Almighty who answered my prayers and showered me with grace and mercy.

"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

Jeremiah 33:27 NIV

There are many instances of healing through the scriptures by God, His Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles.  I have heard of several testimonies of healing in our present age and time. Healing does not have to be physical, it can be spiritual, emotional or material. We may have been praying for healing for decades or years and are yet to receive it, I will encourage us not to stop praying, believing and hoping for it. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Christ’s  death on the cross of Calvary accomplished our healing and one day that healing will be brought to fulfillment in our lives. So let’s reach out in faith and begin to declare our healing.  

Continue reading for a second testimony below:

The Light of God

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:5

“You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” Psalms 18:28

“And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.” Genesis 1:3

During the process of setting up this blog,  I had to get and design some pictures that would be used for the logo,  background and write ups. One Friday night in early January, I had a dream in which there was brilliant light radiating out of darkness and the words declaring God’s glory. On waking up, I told my kids to remind me to take a picture of the sunset that day.

That Saturday was a busy one  but I kept remembering the sunset of my dream, suddenly a light bulb went off in my mind. I already have a picture that looks like a sunset! The picture was taken in the year 2000 and there was a great testimony surrounding it. The picture was in a collection of printed pictures I had in a bag in one of the boxes in storage. I had to mutter a quick prayer that the quality of the picture will still be okay and it was when i found it. The testimony around the picture is as follows:

After graduating from University in 99’ I embarked on National Youth Service which was a one year compulsory program run by the government of Nigeria to foster unity among the citizens.  I was posted to Plateau State in central Nigeria for the compulsory service and subsequently lived in Jos {state capital} for the next one year. During the National youth service, I joined the Nigerian Christian Corpers fellowship {NCCF} Bukuru branch. Bukuru is a town not far from the main city of Jos. As Christian Corpers the goal was to not only to have fellowship with one another but also carry out the great commission by organizing different activities and programs for the populace around us.

Towards the tail end of the National service, those of us in Bukuru branch organized a crusade to be held in one of the outlying villages around Bukuru. A lot of preparations went into the planning both spiritually and physically.  We learned that no one had ever organized a crusade in that village before and that there was a powerful witch doctor residing there. This news did not deter us but made us more determined to win souls for Christ in that village.

On the day of the crusade, things began falling apart with different issues that could prevent the holding of the crusade but  we went ahead with it. The crusade was scheduled to start at 5:30PM and shortly before then, the sky grew dark like there was a big thunderstorm on the way. The air around the village and crusade ground was quite oppressive and the villagers that had shown up decided to go back home out of fear.

Knowing that the “weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds”  2 Cor 10:4, some of us {members of NCCF} gathered together to pray and call upon God to lift the darkness.

After a while, which was around 7PM , we opened our eyes to see such a glorious sight! the Sun shining out of the darkness was a beautiful sight to behold. Instantly the air on the Crusade ground changed and everyone was amazed; those among us with cameras proceeded to take pictures of the sky as a way to remember a great wonder. The crusade eventually held that same night with many giving their lives to Christ. Their  names and addresses was recorded and given to local churches around Bukuru for follow up.

Image of the bright light shining out of a dark sky

Take Away:

No matter the darkness that surrounds you, God’s light will shine and the darkness will flee. 

Scripture verses are taken from NIV and King James version of the Bible.


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