Cold Embers

Relationships will affect your fellowship with the Holy Spirit
When I was a pastor, I was on fire for the Lord
I was 29 when I became an altar minister at a Pentecostal church
Miracles were the norm, with glorious testimonies after every ministration
I was the youth pastor and my senior pastor encouraged me to grow in grace
I grew to the extent that church members and others preferred to come to me for prayer and counseling after every service
My boss didn’t mind (his wife minded) but that is a story for another day
I was a journalist at this time and the job would sometimes take me away from church for several days
I had been called into ministry and the journalism job became a hindrance instead of a blessing
I decided I had to let it go so that I can fulfill my calling but then what do I do for money?
I have a family and a man who does not provide for members of his own household is worse than an infidel!
I prayed and one morning a friend came to my house crying that he had just been sacked from his job as a customer care representative
This friend was very desperate because his wife was pregnant I held hands with him to pray
Then I saw a church in Magodo, on the notice board of the church, I notice an advertisement for a job
I told the friend to take a drive with me
When we got to this job we found the advert
The vacancy was for a personal assistant but the date for Submission of the application had closed
My friend said he would apply, and I told him I would apply too
We both applied
A few weeks later we were invited for the interview and I was chosen.
My friend also got a job a week later, as a PA in another church.
The man I was employed to work with was a “big man”
By this, I meant he was working with an oil firm and he was very rich
He was also the pastor of a big church
He was a model of a sort
His wife knew him, I didn’t
Right after I got the job, his wife collected my phone number and said “I will be calling you because Daddy is often busy, when I call you, you must pick my call and you must never lie to me”
I said Yes ma!
I resumed at my desk on May 4, and I realized I was in trouble
The man was a premium womanizer
His driver, employed by the church was also a womanizer
The three of us always move together
When I pray in the spirit the man will tell me to shut up, if I hum a song he would say I have no manners, if I talk about the Gospel in his presence he would say “I didn’t employ you for religiosity, your duty is to your principal. Study your principal And adapt.
So I stopped praying or humming or preaching the gospel
He benched me for two weeks and told me I’d lose my job if I don’t get my acts together
Being benched meant I stayed at the office and couldn’t go out with him and the driver
It also meant I might lose my job
The admin of the ministry told me to buckle up and be matured, this is real life!
I had a wife and two children to think of, plus I remember that when I got the job I was given a pep talk by my madam on how I must try to keep the job as it is in ministry and what I had always
wanted
After the two weeks, I was restored to his entourage and I adapted
I booked hotel rooms for him and his babes and lied to his wife at will
Whenever the wife called to find out where her husband was, I’d come up with a colourful story
Before my boss returns to the car, I Oils have sent him a message detailing what I told his wife
I remember a day one of my boss’s babes came to the office and they got kissing
His wife arrived too and I stood by the door and prevented her access to the office
Of course, somebody had told her that they saw the car of the babe and all but I told her my boss was having a counseling session and she couldn’t come in!
Toh!
We dragged it and she left in a hoof but I didn’t care
I told my boss afterward and he went home and told his wife I had acted contrary to his instructions that she must have access to him at all times
I took the blame and madam’s bad eye for several months
What I was doing bruised me badly, I became depressed at a point and returned to drinking and smoking
It started gradually but that spiritual hotness I had was quickly doused by the bitter waters of inconsistency
My wife noticed it and spoke to some friends from my former church
She said “My husband has backslid, he has stopped praying and he now smells funny when he comes home in the night”
Our family friends came to the house to ask me what was wrong, I admitted that I had lost my way and I cannot find a way out of the pit because the pit is my job”
I worked from Sunday to Sunday and whenever my boss was ministering, I watched on the laptop in my office because I cannot relate to his sermons. What was he preaching and to whom?”
My friends gave me a wide counsel
They said your church runs two services, our run one, we will talk to our pastor and you can come to our church for the first service which closes by 11 am. After the service, you can drive to your office and wait for your boss to finish his second service That way he won’t notice you’re missing and you can have fellowship again.
I saw the wisdom in it and started this the following Sunday.
Within a month I was back on the altar, ministering during the mid-week services and sometimes leading prayers during the Sunday service.
It was glorious
As if I never stopped ministering in the first place
The church I served with grew and the supernatural returned
Yippee
That was my saving Grace, the bad habits I had returned to dropped like stones and I was free again
Hallelujah
A few months later I went for a conference with my boss at Ibadan
He pulled one of his stunts again & I told God to either change my job or change my boss
Exactly one month later, my boss was transferred and I got a new boss
A godly man who saw me as a child of God and supported me to grow in my walk with the Holy Spirit Why have I written this, evil communication corrupts good manners!
Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are!
As a believer, you must watch out for relationships that will take you off course and cut them off if you can
A bad friend can lead you in the wrong path and so can a bad role model
My boss still pastors a church, the last time I heard of him, his wife caught him red-handed (for the umpteenth time) and reported him to their father in the Lord
The issue was handled and I pray he has changed.
Are you in a relationship with the Holy Spirit and keeping ungodly friends?
You are not as powerless as you think
Talk to the Holy Spirit about it and be honest
Do whatever he tells you to do and be sincere
Your path will shine brighter and brighter and he will bring you to a future and a hope designed for you!

Ciao!