THE WITNESS OF THE LORD

Glory, glory, glory to God in three persons, the blessed holy Trinity.

Jesus, anoint my lips and fingers with a fresh oil and speak to us so that your name will always be glorified.

Acts 1: 8 “ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Sometimes when we hear some people talk or reason, we wonder if they really know who they are in Christ. You head some people say “ Father, come and deliver me”. Babies pray that way. God can answer that prayer by His mercy and deliver you but when you grow or become a witness, he wouldn’t mind you and you maybe wondering why answers aren’t coming. It’s because in Luke 10:19 He said “ Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” He expects you to exercise the authority and power He has given to you over that demon responsible for your challenge and you are there crying out to Him. “ Masa”, you are a witness to His power. Let the devil know you know who you are and what you have.

The scripture above clearly said, “ ….you will be my witnesses….”. This was a statement made by Jesus Himself to his disciples of whom you are now because when you got born again, you received the life of God in your spirit man. This means, you are no longer an ordinary person even though you may appear the same way physically speaking.

Moreover, if God wants to do something in the earth realm, He will surely need a man to carry out that assignment. The same principle applies to the devil, he also can’t function adequately without a man.

If you decide to represent Jesus or the devil, you become a witness. But in the name of Jesus, you and your entire family shall never represent the devil and anything that looks like him.

God almighty is so powerful that in Luke 19: 40 He says “ if these should hold their peace( humans) these stones ( inanimate things ) would immediately cry out. You and I will never allow that to happen as long as we have breath in us!!!

Elsewhere, in Psalms 19 : 1, we read “ The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiworks. Even though, inanimate things including the heavens can attest to God’s eternal power and ascribe glory to God, the Bible says” the earth, God has given to the children of men” ( Psalms 115:16). We are the ones to whom this place has been given to to manage and carry out His assignments on His behalf. I mean we are ambassadors of Christ.

An ambassador represents his country in a foreign land. The decision an ambassador takes in the absence of his president in a foreign land is assumed has been taken by the president himself. When you appear where there’s darkness, your light must appear to prove you belong to Jesus. One day, a demon possessed girl was sent to come and destroy me. I was a teacher by then and I didn’t know who the girl in question really was and I also didn’t know God’s hand was so strong on my life. She joined my class as a student and as she got closer to me, she started feeling dizzy and experiencing a terrible headache. But she never gave up. Devils don’t easily give up but we Christians unfortunately do. The more she got closer, the more she held her head in pain and asked me, who am I? I smiled and said I’m a child of God and she was like “ that’s why”. She added by saying she had a confession to make to me. The confession was that anytime she approached me, a Great Light shone upon and around me and that was responsible for her sudden acute headache and dizziness. Praise God in the highest! She went on to say “she knows she belongs to the dark world and that I belong to the Light”. The long and short of this story is that even as a teacher, I represented God in my class by His grace so you too can do same in any field God had called you to function.

In fact, until people see the glory of God in your life, family, marriage, business, you are not yet an ambassador of Christ but rather just a Christian if you are born again. Being a witness of Christ has nothing to do with a denomination or a church but you the person or the child of God.

So, if a Christian is not a witness, who then is a witness? It’s true, to become a witness, you have to be a Christian first. That’s the first stage that cannot be overemphasized.

Someone who sees or has personal knowledge of something is a witness. What have you personally seen or what personal knowledge do you have about Christ, that you can replicate when the need arises for His glory?

Someone called to give evidence in a court is also a witness. When your family says, prove to us that your God can heal, can you prove it to them by healing your family members’ whose health have defied modern and traditional medicine? If yes, you are a witness, to Jesus healing power.

Finally, a witness is someone who is called upon to witness an event or action, such as a wedding or the signing of a document. When there are weddings are you called to come and grace the occasion because your people know the hand of the Lord is upon you? Remember, being a witness for God is for the whole body of Christ. It’s not limited to those in the five fold ministry.

Also remember, Jesus went to a wedding in the Bible and showed us what it meant to be a witness there. If you can dedicate your children to God instead of dedicating them to a familiar spirit, you are a witness of the Lord. He doesn’t need to come down and do that because you are around.

Wake up! What dimension of God do you represent as a witness apart from your title at work or church or wherever you go or are? Do the broken-hearted feel comfortable when they are with you? If yes, the Holy Spirit’s ministry of a comforter is finding expression in you and through you and that’s an eternal witness.

Did Jesus cheat people when he was on earth? The answer is a capital NO. If you are fair in all your dealings with men and make sure people are paid after working for you and in fact they are happy working for you, you are a kingdom representative. Kudos to you! We are in a generation where we can’t tell who an eternal witness is from who a satanic witness is. Unfortunately, it’s Christians who behave like worldly people in our offices. You hear statements like “ We are all Christians but……..”. Brother if you make such statements consistently, I personally doubt your salvation. Yes, you are not a Christian, let alone an eternal witness because when the Master was on earth, we never heard statements like “ I’m Jesus but in this situation, let’s go the way of the world”. If he didn’t do that why do you do so? Jesus didn’t falsify documents to make money so you just can’t do same. Don’t sit there and say “ but…”. My friend, the fact that everyone is doing a wrong thing doesn’t mean everyone is like that. There are still remnants for Christ Jesus and they are the people we call the witnesses of the Lord.

You maybe so poor now but trust me when you begin to put into practice kingdom principles responsible for kingdom financial wealth and freedom and add diligence to what you do, sister those who doubted your God wouldn’t need you to preach to them before joining you to your church. This is because you would have proven to them that “even though he ( Jesus) was rich, he become poor so that you can become rich”. It’s not everyone who is moved by the word of God. In addition to the word, some need the prophetic, power or they want to see you represent wealth to genuinely give their hearts to Jesus. Hence, a witness is needed!

A witness is also a martyr. This is what most Christians don’t like hearing. We want preaching, prophetic utterances and power which I believe in and walk in by His grace. But see, there is a place for that.

A martyr is someone who willingly accepts being put to “ death “ for adhering openly to one’s religious beliefs; notably saints canonized after martyrdom. Some of the disciples of Jesus died as martyrs. Luke, the physician, was hanged on an olive tree. Matthias [Disciple who filled the place of Judas Acts 1:20-26 ] was stoned and beheaded at Jerusalem. Apostle Paul (Saul who wrote half of the New Testament was beheaded by Emperor Nero at Rome. Where was God, when they were killing them? Did they renounce their faith to avoid being killed? No!!!

Do you believe enough to die for Christ? The three Hebrew boys said, “even if you throw us into that blazing furnace, we will not bow to your God.” Do you understand? How many of us can confidently say to the devil that even if we have no children, we will never go and see a jujuman for solution but still believe in God for our miracle?

James 1: 2-3: “ My brethren, count it all show when ye fall unto divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith workers patience”. Count it all joy when you are not married and you are growing. God cannot disappoint you like the three Hebrew boys in that furnace. Once he sees your heart and knows you mean what you say and trust in Him, He will reach out to you. Job never broke down in calamity. In pain, agony, when his wife even said, “ curse your God” and die, his reply was “ even if he slays me, yet will I trust him”. Eiii!!! That sickness can do its worse but it cannot kill you for like Job keep saying “ my redeemer liveth”. And remember, for you as witness, that infirmity is not unto death, but for the glory of God to manifest in your life and through you”. You shall not die but live to declare the works of the Living God in the land of the living”. Are u a witness? You could have slept with that man for that job, but you said no way, and he sacked you. Don’t worry my sister! You did what was right in God’s eyes.

Some of you are sexually molested because you did not dial the number of immorality. Some of you have been unemployed since you said no to that witness of the devil and are therefore struggling. Witness of Jesus, hear the word of the Lord, maintain your integrity, look up to Jesus for there’s fire in his eyes, he sees everything, knows the secrets of men and he’s the righteous Judge. Mark my words, since you have come out from among them, he will sanctify you. Yes, I know it’s not an easy thing, it’s an ordeal you must go through and after that you shall receive “ the promise”. Without tests, you have no testimony. The song writer said “ through it all, through it all, I have learnt to trust in Jesus, I have learnt to trust in God, through it all, through it all, I’ve learnt to depend upon His word.

As a witness, you can’t afford to be smoking and telling me you do that because the weather is cold. Jesus never smoked. If you feel cold, start praying in the Holy Ghost and be moving about. Please, your excuse is unacceptable. Science itself is against it. People felt cold and never destroyed themselves so what are you saying? Don’t let the devil deceive you. You are not married but living with a man. God still loves you and wants you to do the right thing so start doing the right thing. For you to say you are with him because you have no place to sleep is not the attribute of a witness. Go and look for something to do with your life. You may have to go and sleep in kiosks or under a bridge or with friends who may maltreat you. Don’t worry, it’s part of the process of your training. When God finally remembers you, you will become a source of encouragement to others. Suffer for Christ now and tomorrow you will smile. Don’t enjoy in iniquity now and cry tomorrow. Don’t you think some ladies went through same ordeal and came out victorious? I mean they didn’t go and live with a man who is not their husbands but decided to live in deplorable conditions for sometime and later God honored them? You can do same or even better only if you believe, receive grace and make up your mind. The suffering is for a while.

As a witness, you are a proof producer and a martyr.

Jesus loves you all! You are blessed!

Dr. David Tobi Ogoudou