Oluwafemi Ifesanmi

Opening Scripture: Luke 17:32  :  "Remember Lot’s wife." The story of Lot’s wife is one of the most sobering warnings in the Bible. She was at the threshold of deliverance but never made it through. She was almost saved but still lost. How tragic it is to be so close to salvation, yet miss it! Many people today are in the same situation. T hey are close to salvation, they know about God, they attend church, they have Christian friends, but they have not fully committed to Christ. They are standing at the edge of deliverance, but something is holding them back. "The transformation of lot's wife into a pillar of salt serves as a striking and enduring symbol of the dangers of disobedience and the consequences of clinging to the past, her act of looking back was not merely a physical turn off the head, but a manifestation of a heart unwilling to fully embrace the path of obedience and trust in God's guidance. In examining the significance of lot's wife turning ...

When something is unprecedented, it is extraordinary and stands out due to its novelty and lack of prior occurrence . It is often used in contexts where there is a significant departure from the norm or an event of exceptional magnitude. It has been scientifically proven with clear and resonating evidence; the story of the flood that covered the earth’s surface. With distinct details recorded in the Bible, we’re told that God spoke to a man named Noah. Haven found him righteous, HE required him to build an Ark informing him that rain would fall and cause the earth to be flooded. The news of rain falling was very unprecedented since there had never been rain on earth in those days (Genesis 2:5-6) . God didn’t inform Noah of the time/season when the rain would come. And for an event that never had   once happened, this man believed, built the Ark, and took on the task of evangelism head-on. For over 120 years of evangelism to the people of the world, he had only 7 congregations wh...

 What does it mean to flee? It means to aggressively run away, with an exponentially increased intensity in running! Let me illustrate to you what it means to flee fornication…abstain from all appearances of evil. Do you remember the “ebola scare” a few years ago, well I was in one of the “high possibility zones” so I can tell you about it. PH was on red alert during those periods, and people took serious extra measures…handshakes became sacred, and people instead invented newer methods of greetings, like raising both hands to give respect (very similar to the Agbero’s “twale”), Hand Sanitizers became common place, a highly sought-after commodity...people avoided body contact with others (as everybody was a suspect even when looking normal)…you need to see people hugging their bodies tight in busses, avoiding body contact with others…but tell me, how can you avoid contact with the sweaty bodies of others in a packed bus on a sunny afternoon… and of course you remember the sal...

About nine years before (2011), I came to the reality of a near-death experience. I was in a little hall room with some people and I watched helplessly as death began to take hold of the people I was with. The numbers of those I kinda knew began to reduce as the deceased increased. The horrible truth of the movie industry was confirmed as I saw the vigorous shaking as a result of the struggle between life and death at which more often than not, death prevailed.   All I could do was rely on my Father’s word in Psalms 91:7 which says “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee .” Even though this was my watch word, I was indeed petrified knowing that if care wasn’t taken, I’d soon end up with the dead. Faced with that reality, I began to ponder over my life experiences which make that saying true that when faced with death, all of one’s life would begin to flash before one's eye; all I could use to console myself was...

Have you ever seen fishermen at work? I watch a documentary about them and found out how rigorous the work could be; casting out their nets, waiting for a while and when the harvest comes: extra effort is required to draw the net into the boat and that’s for the mechanically assisted method how much more when there is no machine to assist. The normal phenomena in life as concerned with bountiful harvest is that there must be a required input of hard work; almost like saying “What you sow, you’ll reap.” Over time, we’ve come to realize that this is not always so for at some point in life, we have heard, seen or somewhat experienced demeaning results irrespective of the large effort inputted. Such result could be due to human influence or at times just beyond control and one begins to wonder - why? The story of St Luke 5:1-7 tells of a similar situation turned joy. There we see some full grown hard-working ‘professional’ fishermen who had Toiled All Night and caught nothing but dirt in...

[Lesson from John 21:3-17] “So when they have dinned, Jesus said unto Simon Peter – Simon, son of Jonas lovest thou me more than these?” What made Jesus say this to Peter? Perhaps we should take it from the onset when he encountered Jesus. [Luke 5:4 –11] Having toiled all night, Peters fishing business was beginning to flop, Jesus came into the scene and intervened then Peter had a humongous profit- one at which he probably never had before for it was indeed net-breaking.  Seeing this he was afraid and was not sure if he was good enough for the Master. Jesus told him to fear not for He would make Peter fishers of men. That sounds like a good business deal. Peter seeing all that was done might have thought ‘why would I settle for this large temporary profit when I could ALWAYS have the source of unending wealth (referring to Jesus) with me. So Peter left all the fishes and followed Jesus, but we see Peter after a while still having the ‘what’s in it for me attitude’; he said somet...

The story of ‘Blind Bartimaeus’ is one quite full of lessons if only we take time to peruse it. At the beginning, we see Jesus coming out of Jericho with His Disciples and great multitudes following Him. Its a quite general perception that the Leader with a large entourage is more often than not usually among the crowd at the forefront and having a larger crowd following. Mr Bartimaeus who at this stage of his life had adapted to the norm of each day’s hustle and bustle, perceived something strange – a larger crowd than usual which to him signified something extraordinary happening. Verse 47 says “when he heard that it was Jesus”, which means he most likely had inquired about the event and his colleagues might have been there with him as well. Having confirmed his enquiry, he cried out for mercy. His cry was quite perturbing that those around him tried to silence him but to no avail; until he got the attention he required. Mark 10: 46-52. Lessons learnt: This man understood the sit...

Time... what an indispensable commodity it is; given freely and equally to all and can't be altered. The same 24 hours is allocated daily to everyone whether high/low, rich/poor, strong/weak,.. whatever the status. Right from the process of fertilization, everyone partakes in the non-mandatory yet compulsory race of time. We all want to grow - engage in things which exhibit growth in various facets. However, some unexpected occurrence could arise and growth gets hindered. One gets the more irated when even after so much struggle/toil to achieve a specified growth, an extremely minute progress is experienced or an impotent result or worse still retrogression is experienced. Yet, time waits for no one. What do you do in such situation. The book of John chapter 5, verses 5 to 7 gives a story about a man who had an unexpected delay in time; it says: " And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had bee...

This is the story of one Man Yet it is the story of us all This is not just a story It is history This is not just history It is His Story Are you a child of sorrow? He was the King of Sorrows Do you think yourself depressed? He dined with anguish of soul in the house of Death Are you deserted of hope? He was acquainted with grief Do you think yourself lonely? He had no single friend in His greatest hour of need Do you think yourself sinful? All of sins converged in Him God’s Cup of Wrath was fully emptied by Him Clothed with our sins He was MADE sin And became accursed of God Behold the Man; who hath known sorrow like Him? All ye Depressed, look unto Him All ye deserted of hope, behold your King of Sorrows He has triumphed See, He brings joy, He leads your fears captive He comes bearing gifts He took your diseases and sorrows Became cursed for your blessings Judgement and mercy in Him accomplished All of sins debited in Him All of Grace only He can cr...

The human mind is most usually characterised with Anxiety. It’s not a sin to be anxious actually, but at times, we are usually anxious and worried about things beyond our control. Be it concerning Financial matters, or relationship or whatever... One thing is sure – Things need / take time to grow. God has created all things and made them beautiful; HE has set the course for growth in all things; therefore, bypassing this order most-often usually lead to grave consequences in future. How do I mean? Taking the case of Adam as an example; he was a fully grown Man - but had the brain of a small child. He was inexperienced, hadn’t learnt anything and was given the duty of a manager. Thus; he failed. However, since plan A (Adam) failed, GOD created a plan B: which is why Jesus (although being a God) came to the world in form of a child. He had to experience the growth and passed through all forms of struggles, hunger, temptations, trials, pain… For verily he took not on him the nature o...

Several years before I saw a movie titled Pinocchio. The character Pinocchio was a wooden puppet made by a skilled old carpenter named Gepetto. One thing led to another and a fairy gave life to the wooden puppet.  Pinocchio, although still a wooden puppet began to see, walk, talk, and ear like a normal boy. The old man fell in love with it and treated it like his child. Pinocchio got lost one day and his father went in search of him, he traveled across seas to other countries and on the way, his boat capsized and he was swallowed by a big fish. After several scenes, Pinocchio also got swallowed by the same fish and he met his father in the belly of the big fish, it was a great reunion for them. The scene of the fish's belly was quite interesting. Although being a fable, it was a fairly big room partially flooded probably to the ankle. I remember seeing a table and I think a lit lantern... well it was obvious that after several weeks in the belly Gepetto had started living comfo...

Just as I previously described a snake experience, years later I had a similar experience in the same house. This time around I saw the elongated body of the snake under the parked vehicle as it wrapped itself around a helpless frog. It was getting ready to consume its prey when I saw it. As quiet and quickly as I could, I went in to inform my siblings. Apologies to all forms of animal right activists, I live in a geographical environment where snakes are dreaded and almost always killed; so we came out to... well you know – finish the job. By this time, the frog wasn’t visible anymore, rather a snake with a protruded belly was seen. Noticing us, it picked up the pace but was sluggish at doing that. It retreated for a hole in the vehicle wheels rim, however due to its previously swallowed meal, the obtrusive part of its body couldn’t fit in the hole. Its last resort was to regurgitate its meal. The unbelievable happened as the snake vomited the frog whole in other to escape. It as we...

Some years before I had a little experience which left me pondering. I was in the compound of my house that day enjoying the cool breeze and ruminating. I suddenly noticed a strange looking creature approaching me. I fixed my gaze on it and saw the appearance of a soil brown creature which had an unusually long green tail hopping towards me. It drew nearer and at this point, I became petrified so I barked out at it. At the blaring of my voice it was revealed. I then realised it was an endangered frog running to me for salvation. It was being chased almost neck and neck by a green snake. At the sound of my voice, the desire of the frog came through as the snake lifted up its head, saw me and retreated. Although the frog didn’t come up to meet me but I could almost hear it say thank you; it was indeed a close call to death for the frog. On a norm, the frog wouldn’t want to be sighted by me let alone run to me for help; as a matter of fact, it must have initially spotted me but...

When we pray, we have the intuition that GOD is able to do what we request and that makes us say our prayers. We wait at times to get answers to our prayers, while at times we aren’t sure if our prayers have been answered because the signs we expect isn’t what we see. To this effect GOD says Follow Me. The question now is Have you been Following HIM? When you are frequent with Him, you will recognise HIS idiosyncrasies. You would be like Elijah who saw the big signs of wind which broke the mountains, enormous earthquake and fire but still knew that GOD wasn’t there. You would recognise HIS Still small voice and follow Him. An example of a character in the Bible who would have made great impact if only He had left all and Followed was John. His testimony records saying “And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:33)...

This morning, we had our usual family devotion and treated the the topic "Good Neighborliness" ( Open Heavens devotional) . We were taught (in summary) to do good unto others as it will later on affect us in future (i.e. depending on how we had previously treated others). Not long after (still in the cold morning), I went to get somethings in the neighborhood and as I was returning home (right in front of my house), a vehicle parked by my side and the driver beckoned to me. (I thought- "oh another description of a location to give, let me hear where to". However, I was surprised at his request) He asked me to do him a favor saying in his local dialect that someone didn't close the boot of his vehicle properly, so I should help him raise it up and close it properly. "Oh, no harm done", I thought and although being skeptical, I wanted to oblige. I looked upon the boot of the vehicle and as I was about venturing into the "favor", in a split seco...

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. John 4:18" Devotion : The opening scripture has given us a standard of rule to measure true love. This must be taken seriously in order to identify true love on the one hand and false love on the other. True love/perfect love cast out fear, doubt, and anxiety. Therefore, any time you want to demonstrate love and you feel fear, doubt, and anxiety, please don't exercise love because your heart is telling you that there is something fishy about the subject of your love, that is, the one to whom you want to demonstrate/show love. The subject/person may either be taking advantage of you or looking for your destruction. The enemy also reads the Bible and seeks to rob us of our blessing by using his children against us. On the other hand, if you are about to show love to someone and you have no fear, doubt, and anxiety, go ahead and demonstrate ...

A pair of fetuses gradually began to develop in a womb, days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Soon they were used to each other and their practically small and tight surrounding. One day, the first communicated with the other saying "I hear voices, there seems to be something more than this current environment we are"; the other kept quiet and went about his business. "Didn't you hear me, or haven't you noticed strange things happening around here: vibrations, movement, voices... I believe there's more to this present place". The other one looked at his neighbor disdainfully and retorted "if there's something else, why haven't we seen it since all these while; we were both small and have gradually grown this big that this place is even too tight, and it's been long we've been hearing voices and feeling vibrations but still nothing has happened,... Please if you don't have anything important to say, leave me alone....

"Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Romans 12:14" Devotion : The opening scripture has given us a key to eternal blessings. It exhorts us to bless those who persecute us; we should bless and not curse. As Christians, we have a forward and upward life: this means that we have been called only to blessings and not curses. We are the light of the world and must show the world the right way to live a godly life. When we curse, we are not living our nature and the enemy can creep in and destroy. Some of those who persecute us have a chance of being born again; therefore, if we curse them, all those who have the chance to receive Christ will miss this chance and go to hell. We reap what we sow; if we sow curses, we will reap curses, and if we sow blessings, we will reap blessings. Finally, our Lord Jesus Christ did not curse people - He only cursed a fig tree. Dearly beloved, have you been persecuted before? How did you handle it? Good day to you.

I sometimes think about the various experiences of some Mighty men when they cried out after having that Feeling of dejection. Relating their experiences with situations of life, I’ve realized that its quite decipherable to hold on. How do I mean? Taking a look at the life of men of valour recorded in the Word of God; they all had the idiosyncrasy of a good/fair enough beginning and a glorious ending; But what happened before the Glorious end product of the lives of most of them wasn’t pleasant. Each had their own obnoxious moment and at some point might have started doubting their faith; but one sure thing they did was to hold on. In life there are series of unpleasant moments we might have to go through; but as children of God, we could refer to these trial periods as the ‘Purification Processes’, likening it to the case of purifying gold. Gold in its crude/ore form is usually not attractive and at times could be mistaken for dirt (if you aren’t conversant with such). Before its ...

 "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Matthew 5:44" Devotion : Jesus Christ asked His disciples to love their enemies. Have you asked yourself what enemies Jesus Christ is asking His disciples to love? Of course, Jesus is not asking His disciples to love the devil and his children. There are people who seem to oppose us or hate us but when we love them, they will have a change of heart and receive the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we have been blessed to be a blessing so we cannot curse; we need to show the world that we are of a different spirit. Lastly, pray for those who have been deceived into despitefully using and persecuting us; when we pray for them, the evil power behind their actions is dealt with and they are converted unto the LORD. Christians have a duty to pray for discernment to know the enemies they are to love, bless,...