SAW THIS ARTICLE ONLINE. THOUGHT TO SHARE AS FOOD FOR THOUGHT, ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA. READ AND DRAW YOUR LESSONS FROM IT.
SELAH.

You may find this article a bit curious. And it may even make some Christians uncomfortable. But whichever way we look at it, we may all learn a few lessons.
Late July last year, I received an express instruction from the Lord to reach out to as many Nigerians as I could, to pray in a particular direction for the then forthcoming presidential election. And this is the direction He gave me, and they are still in these EXACT words on our prayer page – Lets Pray Daily for the Church in Nigeria:
“PRAYER FOCUS FOR A NEW BEGINNING FOR NIGERIA: O Lord, please give us a New Beginning in Nigeria through ELECTION 2015. By your mercy, please give us leaders after your heart. Leaders that will cause your will to be done as we seek to fulfil our destiny as a nation under your rule. Thank you for answered prayers, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pls join this prayer throughout August, and pls spread the word so that others can pray too. August is the 8th month, and 8 is the number of new beginning. Let's change the story of Nigeria!”
(It was only recently that I even noticed that the word CHANGE was in the line “Let’s change the story of Nigeria”. Of course, the word CHANGE later became the campaign platform for APC, the party that eventually won the election.)
In the Prayer Campaign, the focus was, as led by the Lord, on the number ‘8’. We were to pray earnestly in the 8th month of the year (August) because 8 is the number of NEW BEGINNING or NEW BIRTH. After seven days, a new week begins on the 8th day. There were 8 people in Noah’s Ark that gave the world a new beginning. David, the 8th son of Jesse, gave the nation Israel a new beginning of monarchy under God, etc.
The Prayer Campaign was well received. On Facebook alone, we reached over 80,000 people, and we had over 5,100 engagements in likes, comments, and shares. Of course, we also used a few other avenues/media to drive the campaign throughout that 8th month. A couple of friends here on Facebook even drew my attention to other people that the Lord was also telling to get Nigerians to pray in this direction into the womb of the coming election. (So this is nothing unique to me in any way. God uses many, many people in these matters.)
Here is the interesting bit. After EXACTLY 8 months of the commencement of the Prayer Campaign on the 8th month (August – March), in the early hours of the 9th month (April 1st), Prof Jega formally declared General Muhammadu Buhari as the president-elect of Nigeria. The inexplicable peace that trailed the post-election days, in spite of the much anticipated imbroglio, is seen by many of us as a clear divine manifestation of the hand of the Lord in the whole process.
Now, to the important reason of writing all these – there are a few lessons/
responsibilities here for the Church of Jesus Christ in Nigeria. Here are some of them:
(1) It is very clear that the top leadership of the Church in Nigeria was completely out of tune with what God was doing with ELECTION 2015. Our leaders in both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) endorsed Buhari’s opponent, incumbent President Jonathan, for the election. THEY WERE WRONG! They went in the opposite direction of what the Lord was doing! This calls for much soul-searching on the part of our leaders. They have a responsibility to be in tune with God, on behalf of whom they lead us.
(2) Following the leading example of our leaders, a lot of our brothers and sisters (DEFINITELY not all) rushed down the Jonathan path, without pausing to think and probably seek the face of the Lord. There were clear warning signs that could have given cause to pause and think. But maybe their thinking was, “Our Pastors cannot be wrong. They must have heard from God!” Well, they were wrong, and they did not hear from God! In this same way, if we follow our leaders without thinking, without pausing to seek the Lord, that is how many will BE LED STRAIGHT TO HELL FIRE! No man is infallible. Every believer MUST learn to seek the Lord.
(3) It was the post-Buhari victory days that show how deeply depravity has crept into the Church. Instead of pausing to contemplate and ask the Lord, “What are you doing, Lord? Please show us if/how we got it wrong.” Many of us have resorted into justifying our pro-Jonathan stance by saying things like, “Buhari out-rigged God’s will for Nigeria”, “Buhari’s election is a sign that God has abandoned Nigeria” etc. And flowing from this, they have been ATTACKING almost every step taken by Buhari since his victory was announced! To this camp, there is a HIGH SATANIC EXPECTATION that Buhari’s administration will fail woefully! They are just waiting to start the gloating! And these are born-again, spirit-filled believers! Brethren, we need to be careful; if Buhari’s election is God’s will for Nigeria (whether we like it or not), standing against him in a spiteful manner will be standing against the will of God for Nigeria. This does not mean we should not hold Buhari accountable for his leadership. We must robustly engage him in accountability – but only on the grounds of fairness.
(4) This is the most important for me. With Buhari, God is indeed giving Nigeria a NEW BEGINNING. But, what does this NEW BEGINNING mean? It is easy to just believe, as I also erroneously did initially, that it automatically means better public infrastructure, a more effective public service, accountability and probity in governance, etc. Hopefully, we will get all these and much more! But is this EXACTLY what the Lord means with the words ‘NEW BEGINNING’? I do not know for sure. And if you also do not know for sure, it means we MUST urgently go back to God to clarify what He means by ‘NEW BEGINNING’. Lest when God starts His work of NEW BEGINNING, we become confused, and like John the Baptist, we start asking Buhari, “Are you really the one to come….”
God’s promise of GOODNESS for Nigeria is still a prophecy. It has NOT come to pass fully in the physical. A prophecy is a tool for spiritual warfare (1 Timothy 1:18). When God reveals His mind, it is the duty of His children to pray it into existence, by holding on to God until He does what He has promised. THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THE CHURCH TO RELAX. The real work of a NEW BEGINNING starts now – on our knees, in our words, and by our conduct.
The Church is God’s principal vehicle for carrying out His will on earth. If Nigeria will get a NEW BEGINNING, IT MUST START FROM THE CHURCH!!! No workman works effectively with a crooked tool. The Lord will NOT use the Church to sanitise Nigeria IF we continue to dwell in the cesspit of carnality and corruption in the Church. We got it WRONG in choosing this new leader, but we can get it RIGHT in following him with clean hands and pure hearts – in the name of Jesus’ Christ.
Buhari is an old man that got into power with a lot of shady and questionable politicians hanging around him. We DARE NOT put our trust in this arrangement. Our trust MUST BE in God alone. So that when He uses this frail political structure to turn our country around, ALL THE GLORY will go to him, and NOT to General Buhari. For he is surrounded by wolves….
Church, please let us arise to the task of a NEW BEGINNING for the nation in which the Lord has planted us.
Thanks for reading, and God bless.
CAVEAT: At the beginning of this article I wrote a lot about number 8. We need to be careful about this. There is NOTHING intrinsically special about number 8. It is just a number! It may have worked in this instance because God spoke into it. If the Lord DOES NOT speak specifically to you about a number, and you dabble into it, you may be treading on the dangerous ground of numerology. Please remember that it is only at God’s EXPRESS COMMAND that we may relate with these matters. We DO NOT need ‘numbers’ to live the holy life that we have been called into. Thanks.
CHURCH WATCH IN NIGERIA

Joseph! Joseph!! Joseph!!!

www.nairaland.com/2338294/must-read-why-how-became

A must read

www.nairaland.com/2338294/must-read-why-how-became

A must read

Chronicles 7:14 - If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Nigeria will only fulfill her destiny as the church in Nigeria grows into hers. Our hope is not in politicians even though God works through them. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood...

It is God's perogative to set up kings or dethrone them. Our own God-given responsibility is to pray for whoever He sets up.