Winds to Light

Hi, 

Disclaimer: This is a page from my diary, treat with care and restraint!

I was blessed to watch online the recent RCCG 2024 Convention with the theme 'Heaven'. On the first night, Baba Adeboye spoke on the topic "As pure as light". I was reminded by his message, how Jesus said we are the light of the world. 

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 

Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 

A thought flashed across my mind while I was meditating on 'Light', that indeed the first thing God created, by calling forth, was Light.

However, it is clear that the original nature of earth was 'Darkness' ... 

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 

Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

Gen 1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 

Gen 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness

And since Darkness is the original nature of the earth, Light is an external force that came to change the trajectory of Earth fulfilling the 1st law of thermodynamics - if I remember the dreaded 'Okeke' physics textbook correctly. Thus, Light is a product of God's energy. Or should I say, divine energy was exerted to produce light. Therefore, I posit that if a person is to be the light of this naturally dark world, he must have the same God kind of energy by which he/she will become light and even remain light as well.

This song flashes quickly in my mind (I have learnt to stop saying I heard a voice - that is now termed as 'mental illness') "Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning...". And I realized, we are the light of this world because we have the same Holy Spirit in us (who is attributed as both 'oil' and 'fire' in Christianese) that was moving upon the face of the waters in the formless, void and dark world. And the question arose in my mind that if this were to be the case, why should I ever be afraid of the formless future, the void hope of this world and the darkness where evil comes out to play?

So, a few days after Baba Adeboye spoke on how that God created the Heavens and the Earth. The Heavens was so good, He made it his dwelling place, and the Earth was not so good, he made it His footstool. And just as I type this, am thinking, why will a loving God place his beloved ones in a place that was not so good? "Well, I made it good when I said let there be light. I made it as good as heaven. And I made miniature me to manage it by following my way, but they left my way. And you know the rest of the story...

Jesus therefore alluded that the Ones with the Spirit of God in them are the light of the world, and our light naturally shines and disperses darkness. And another thought came that said "I have the solution to you being the light, I will put a bushel over you. You will shine so bright, but the world will not change its course because it cannot see you. Imagine that it is your Jesus who gave us the solution of how to curb you!" 

That thought came to my mind today while I was in church today, 11th August. As you very well know by now, I attend an Anglican Church in Ikosi Ketu and today, we had a special convention called Hosannah Hour, 7 Prophetic Hours of Prayer & Praise. The Diocesan Bishop came with the grace God has given him. While he was preaching, I was praying in the Spirit because I was burdened by that bushel scenario. I mean what is the point of shining brightly in a shut cave right? And a trail of the message by the Bishop caught my mind, He was saying 'roll the stone away'... wait first, lemme listen well, my attention pricked! He was saying, when Lazarus was in the tomb after being dead for 4 days, Jesus commanded roll the stone away...

Joh 11:39  Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

Joh 11:43  And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 

Joh 11:44  And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 

Side note: (I realize now that Angels must have carried Lazarus out - him being bound hand, foot and face!) 

Back to regular programming: Also, the Bishop continued saying, when Jesus was in the tomb, the angels came to roll the stone away

Mat 28:2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 

In this instance, the stone was rolled away because the visitors needed to see an empty tomb, this is because Jesus had already resurrected and left the place and not because Jesus needed a hand to loose the bounds on his hand feet and face - like Lazarus needed. Now, remember resurrected Jesus was not limited by walls or doors. He had entered another mode much greater than Naruto's Sage mode. 

Joh 20:19  Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 

 Side note: So, you get, His resurrected body had no limitations. And guess what guys, that is our future body. We have the Same Spirit as Jesus, we can have the same mind as Jesus, but we do not have the same body. Our born again transformation stops short of that.

Back to regular programming: Now, this is the gusher, only ignorance can keep me under the enemy's bushel or cave or tomb - whatever ... I have the same Spirit in me that resurrected Jesus and I have access to the same innumerable company of Angels - even though One is more than enough - to roll any damn stone away and set me loose. In fact, am loose right now in Jesus name, and am a light set on a hill top to change the course of the earth for Christ Jesus my Lord. (You can say that prayer as well!)

Rom_8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

If you saw me dancing in church today, now you know why... (;

The plot thickens...

that flash of thought I talked about came again and said 'I will send winds to blow out your light on that hill top, you are actually exposed there' ... Ahhhh, Satan be gone in Asa's voice!!! 

Well, this punch did not land on me for long, Holy Spirit just sent me an analogy in response and reminded me of a typical Yoruba coal stove. You see, I was opportune to serve at a small town in Imeko, Ogun state, don't ask me how, and I learnt how to use a coal stove. When using the coal stove, the wind is very important because it is a very key strategy to know the direction of the wind and face the aperture of the stove towards the wind. When you do this, the coals will burn brighter and hotter. And by this analogy, I saw it that no matter what wind blows, God will use it to make my light burn brighter and hotter even as I follow His leading.

Halleluiah!

But you, all this story am writing doesn't register because you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Do so now, to enjoy all that God has to offer and to be a light in this dark world. You also get to have the Spirit of God in you. Trust me, He is really cool!

written by,

Oladimeji Obidairo