News filtered in a few days ago concerning the demise and home-going of a general in all respect, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya
The body of Christ, especially in Nigeria, got a rude shock and it dawned on us that this wonderful amiable man of God has transitioned into glory.
His first wife, Pastor Bimbo Odukoya shook the entire landscape of Christianity in Nigeria with her novel message to Singles and Married before she passed away at the age of 45. It was as though she had lived a hundred years in terms of her impact on the body of Christ.
A deep appreciation even emanates when you discover that her ministry which shook the whole world when there was no social media, began with her obedience to her husband, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya.
He told her to speak to the singles and that was it! This is an excellent lesson for young wives to learn from! Rev Victor Adeyemi, who met Pastor Taiwo after the demise of his wife, attested that Pastor Taiwo kept saying she was a submissive woman!
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, a General Par Excellence
Fast forward, years after, Pastor Taiwo remarried, but sadly enough, his second wife also transitioned into glory.
He gallantly went through these earth-shaking griefs and continued in his assignment. He judged God faithful.
Now, he’s reunited with the loved ones he has lost, and he’s undoubtedly dancing and rejoicing, in that place where we would know as we are known!
Perhaps, you have a lot of questions in your heart, as I do too.
We are the ones that see such as loss, on the other side, death is conquered, it’s homegoing, and I can imagine mighty angels heralding and ushering this great man of God into eternity where there is no sadness, sorrow, or any form of grief.
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, a General Par Excellence
Everybody has something great to say about this man. He certainly lived and fulfilled his ministry. I had an encounter with him when he came to minister at Premier Hotel, Ibadan, in 2008, hosted by Rev Niyi Eboda.
I was pastorin at Triumphant Assembly under Rev Femi Oduwole, and we needed some finances to move into a new auditorium. I simply emptied what was in the church account at the time (N10,000) and wrote him a check when I saw the grace of God in his life.
It was a Wednesday. By the weekend of that week, we had in excess of a Million Naira, (from the same members) and we were able to move!
The grace of God on him was undeniable!
Several years later, Pastor Bimbo Odukoya’s Facebook page would be a platform that launched Kisses and Huggs Club into social media prominence!
Their impact cuts across! We will miss him, but he is happier where he is now!
We pray for his children, God will keep them and uphold them in Jesus’ name!
Let their lives challenge you to fulfill destiny and God’s purpose for your life!
Life is never delivered on the platform of ease! Yes, we will have victory as God’s children, but it’s not victory until there is a fight!
How far are you willing to fight for your relationships and marriage?
How willing are you to hang on to life and refuse to yield to the whims and caprices of the evil one?
Paul summarized his life as a “fight” by saying in 2Ti 4:7 that “I have fought a good fight…”
Again in in 1Ti 6:12, we are instructed to “fight the good fight of faith…”
David also said in Psa 144:1 “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight!”
So there is a fight, but we know through Jesus we already have the victory!
You are not fighting to lose! You are a winner already!
What is that path that must be avoided that leads to the place of hopelessness where you don’t even want to “fight” again?
How To Fight Against That Habit.
Below are the stages that lead to where you stop fighting.
1. Mistake
Everyone makes mistakes. We all do. Making a mistake is not the end, God said He will forgive!
2. Habit
When mistakes become repeated, it morphs into a habit! You are no longer being trapped here, you are the one designing the trap!
3. Denial
At this stage, you simply deny the habit when confronted and blatantly refuse to admit there is an issue to deal with. When you keep denying, you can’t be set free. At this stage, you can’t be helped at all.
4. Self Deception
At this stage, you offer all kinds of excuses for your habit. You say things like, “Everybody does this” If God disproves it, He should have killed me”
This is the stage the devil gets you to where you decide to keep living with the habit rather than fight it. At this stage, you are not interested in being helped.
5. Hopelessness
The last stage is where you lose hope and stop fighting!
You simply personalize the issue and tell yourself you can’t help it. You see yourself as defeated and there is no way out! You start telling yourself God is not wicked to punish you for whatever it is!
How To Fight Against That Habit
Can I tell you something this morning?
Don’t stop fighting! Fight with prayers. Fight by building capacity through reading, study, and research. Fight by seeking counsel.
Fight for that relationship and marriage and do not accept nonsense into your life!
Never accept the timetable of the devil for your life!
If you stop fighting, you won’t be able to fulfill God’s purpose for your life!
Like Apostle Paul, you must keep fighting and be able to say at the end, I have fought the good fight of faith!
How Not To Lose Your Spouse Before Losing Them. A lot of folks actually lose their loved ones before losing them in relationships and marriages.
Crisis doesn’t just show up from the blues. Storms don’t just erupt from nowhere, no, they have been brewing and getting ready for a long time, we don’t just pay attention to them or we just ignore them.
Every issue we ever face, either as singles in relationships or couples in marriage, would always give us warning signs!
We never fall into the marital pit in an instant, it’s always a descent, a gradual slide, and sometimes foolishly, an obvious one!
Our ego and pride would always conflict, seeing things are going down the drain and yet trying to prove a point that is really unnecessary
How Not To Lose Your Spouse Before Losing Them
Do you want to know how?
Do not under any circumstance stop communicating!
If you can keep talking, there is hope of resolving whatever situation or storm that might be raging!
The moment you keep quiet, you open the doors for the devil to come in with his assumptions, and we all know that assumptions are the lowest form of knowledge.
When you stop talking, you open your thought life to all kinds of suggestions, which are mostly untrue.
When you stop communicating, you begin to judge every movement, every body language and the reality is that you are mostly wrong at such times!
Once the devil gets you muted and shut out, know he has you exactly where he wants you!
So, what do you want to do? You want to keep talking! You want to keep talking till you eventually resolve that issue! That is how not to lose your spouse before losing them!
Hope you are blessed this morning.
God bless your relationships and marriage! Have a fantastic day ahead of you in Jesus’ name!
The Marital Way Of Escape. As the couple sat before the counseling table, frustrations laced every word spoken, and the expressions of their mien betrayed their hearts, they were both unhappy.
Their finances were in a mess. They were neck-deep in debt that refused to move.
Their career choices seemed out of place, and their bank accounts were in a coma.
Health-wise, they were not having the best of times.
The problems seemed to rear up their heads in every area of their lives.
What should they do?
What is that one thing that can bail you out irrespective of what you are facing?
As you navigate through the path of marriage as husband and wife, what is the most important thing?
What is that one thing that will solve every and any issue in marriage?
What is that one thing a husband and wife should never joke with?
The Marital Way Of Escape
Here we go.
No matter what you are facing right now in your marriage or home, no matter how the problems seemed insurmountable or gargantuan, you can get out.
The scriptures declare
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
There is nothing you are going through right now that does not have a way of escape.
Why is there a way of escape always?
Because God is faithful.
He will never abandon you! Read that again! Never!
Again, if you are a child of God, everything, I mean everything you are going through right now is not designed to kill you or snuff out the life in you.
They are designed to bring out the best in you, build your faith muscle and get you to that place where you can fearlessly take mountains and cities.
Then finally, understand there is always a way of escape.
Mortgage, buying a house, health issues, fruit of the womb, nagging wife, uncooperative husband, wayward children, impossible debts, bills to pay…and the list is endless.
Whatever it is, there is A WAY OF ESCAPE!
The Marital Way Of Escape
What is that way of escape?
That is our bone of contention this morning.
The way of escape is the way of God’s word.
In the midst of darkness, you only need a word that will lighten your path.
That is your way of escape. A word from the Lord.
You don’t need too many words.
You only need a word.
The word is the seed.
300 million sperm released. But only one is needed to fertilize and bring forth a baby, your man-child.
In the same way, you only need a word to bring forth that baby!
Sit down, study, meditate, and get a word from the Lord!
