We have a father

Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

We have a Father, Who is the Almighty God in heaven as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the Creator of heaven, earth, and everything therein. Power belongs to Him, and in exercising this power, He created the heaven and the earth, as the Bible made us understand in Genesis 1:1-4 saying, “In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth were 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. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” God created heaven and earth and everything therein, including human beings. If you read down to chapter 2 verse 26, you will see how God moulded man from the dust of the ground and breathed into the nostril to give it life. So, God owns us as His children. The lead scripture stated, “O Lord, thou art our father.” We are the product of His workshop; hence He owns our life and can take it at His own appointed time.

Again, it is stated in Isaiah 63:16, “Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledges us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.” Aside from the Jews, all the other nations are called the gentiles. The definition of the gentiles means the people who do not know God. By God’s grace, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the Cross of Calvary has opened the floodgate, admitting all other nations to come to God through our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls. As the scripture above put it, whether the Israelites acknowledge it or not, we are the children of God and He is our Father. He created everyone and gave life to all.

It is rather very unfortunate that many people, including the believers, conduct their lives as if they are fatherless. They pay deaf ears to divine instructions, not abiding by the laws given in the Bible, which is the compass for following God our Father. There is a special day, God our Father set aside for every one of His children to worship, serve and honour Him. But many will go and do their personal business that day without getting to the worship centre. As our Father, we all should serve, worship, and honour Him, but in most cases, the reverse is the case. That is why God is lamenting in Malachi 1:6 asking, “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? And if I am a master, where is my fear? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name”? How do you honour God as your Father? Do you place your business above the service of God? The Bible has made it clear that we should seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first, and whatever we need will be given to us. Life is not by struggle. If you commit your ways into God’s Hand, He will bring it to pass. If you work according to God’s Will, He will bless you in all things. The work of evangelism is the heartbeat of God. That is why He demands that His disciples should preach the gospel in season and out of season. The trumpet will soon sound and there is every need to preach the gospel in every part of this planet earth before the end of all things will come. The Father’s work demands urgency and must be finished; hence every child of God must wake up from his/her slumber to preach the gospel to perishing souls. If you have not been honouring God by doing the work, you should start by asking for forgiveness, asking Him to help you do His work and providing for your needs.

In Matthew 6:9-12 the Bible says, “After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread.12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” As our Father, we should honour Him and request for our needs from Him. For us to do God’s Will, we must be born-again by repenting from both known and unknown sins and asking God for forgiveness. When you are in line with God’s Will, honouring Him as your Father and doing the work with the best of your ability, God will work in your vineyard by blessing you in all things.

God cares for us; hence we must place Him above all things. It is then, His power will begin to manifest in our lives, in our businesses and every other thing we do. When we do His Will, He will give us the support and protection that a Father gives to His children. There is nothing hard for Him to do. The Bible is awash with the people that were blessed for recognising God as their Father and putting all their trust in Him. He blessed Abraham in all things. He made Joseph, a slave boy, Prime Minister in a foreign land. What He did in the time past could be repeated in your life. He has the power to do all things. The Bible says in Colossian 1:16, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” Power belongs to Him. Whenever He invokes it, He can bless, give protection, and make provision for all things. When you recognise Him as your Father, serving Him accordingly, all things will be yours in Jesus name.

Testimony Of The Lord’s Doing
My name is Sister Theresa Egbo. I reside at Ajegunle, Lagos. I joined this ministry in 2011. I thank God for making my family to become members of the Lord’s Chosen. God used me to pray for a woman and her baby’s sex was changed from female to male. One day, while returning home from the market, I sat beside a pregnant woman on the commercial bus conveying us. I told her to adjust that I wanted to arrange my goods. She said I should not be annoyed that she wanted to put to bed. I told her to go to the hospital, but she said her husband drove her away because she had given birth to four female children. She was crying, explaining that the scan had shown that the baby in her womb was a baby girl. As we were discussing, she was already having the signs of labour. She requested that I should pray for her. I told her that I am not a pastor, but she said she had heard that our General Overseer would pray and a baby girl would be turned into a baby boy in the womb. When she made this statement, I had to pray for her and tell God to prove His power. After praying, I told her to go and be delivered of a baby boy. I called a commercial motorcycle operator and told the man to take her to the hospital.

The next day, I went to the market, I heard someone shouting “Chosen woman come oooo.” I crossed to the other side and saw one man and the woman. I asked them what they wanted to buy. The woman told me that she was the one I prayed for the previous night and that she had given birth to a bouncing baby boy. She introduced the man with her as her husband. I told the man to pray to God and ask for forgiveness for sending his wife away. The man was remorseful for his actions but said the baby is a Chosen baby and that he would also become a member of the Lord’s Chosen. I thank God for this great miracle.

In another development, God saved me from armed robbers. I wanted to go to the market one morning, but I woke up late. As a result of this, it was hard to get a bus, but the one that eventually picked us stopped at Costain and the driver refused to continue. In an effort to look for another bus, I wanted to cross to the other side of the road. As I was moving, a commanding voice shouted that I should stop and that if I moved, he would shoot at me. I immediately declared that I am Chosen three times. He said nobody would save me that day. I heard another voice telling him to collect my phone, but he said I was proving stubborn. The man commanded him to shoot me. When he pulled the trigger, the gun did not work. He told their leader that the gun did not respond. Then the boss himself came to shoot me, but the gun did not go off as expected. He shot into the air and it responded as he wanted, but as he wanted to bring his hands down to shoot me, his hands hanged in the air. I picked up courage and asked him to give me the gun. Before I knew it, one of the gang members came from the bush and collected the gun and all of them ran away. That was how God saved me from being robbed and killed by the hoodlums.

However, something surprised me last week Wednesday. I went to the market, but the goods I wanted to buy were scarce. I decided to check at Costain Road market. While I was trekking, a vehicle was coming behind me and I heard a voice from the vehicle shouting “Chosen! Chosen!! Chosen!!!” Deliberately, I did not answer them and quickened my steps to reach where there were more people. They drove closer to me and some of them alighted from the vehicle; they said they wanted me to help them. One of them asked me why I put their brother in that condition. I said in my mind where is the God of my Pastor power, and immediately, I saw an old man wearing white apparel. He asked me what the problem was, and I told him that the people were attempting to attack me for nothing and that I wanted to go and buy goods. He told me not to go anywhere yet. I said but I am afraid. He said I should not be afraid because he was by my side. As he made this statement, my mind relaxed. The attackers explained themselves and the old man told them to cool down. He brought out a copy of the Bible and told me to give it to the armed robber that attacked me a few weeks ago and his hand hanged. He told me to go to the bus. When I opened the vehicle, I saw the man that attacked me lying down inside the bus. I looked at him and laughed. They told the old man that they wanted me to pray for their brother. According to them, since the day they had an encounter with me, he had not been himself. They had gone to the hospital and the doctors said if they amputated the hands, he would die. They had equally gone to native doctors, who directed them to go and meet the woman he had an encounter with. The old man asked them whether they were ready to give their lives to Christ. They answered in the affirmative. I gave the Bible to the armed robber and directed him to confess all his sins, which he did and the rest of them also confessed their sins. I collected the Bible and gave it back to the old man. We held hands together and I prayed for them. I told God to heal the sick one and they all chorused, amen. The old man told me to tell the sick one lying down in the vehicle to stand up. As I spoke to him, he stood up. The old man told me to tell them to untie the rope from his body, which they did. He told me to tell him to bring his hands down. I did as instructed and immediately he brought his hands down. When the hands were restored, the man was very happy. He exercised himself and shouted, “Is this me?”

I thank God for His mercies upon the young man and for delivering me from their hands and bullets. May His name be glorified!

• Sister Theresa Egbo, Ajegunle, Lagos.