The Light Must Lead

A phone call from his mother changed his life completely

He was the first son

He had three older sisters

The three of them were living in America

The first one got pregnant and sent for their mother to travel down to America to help her out with the baby

The mother got there and settled in

Every time he called her, she would say all was well

He had a younger brother

Together they navigated the waters of business unsuccessfully

He found himself in the clearing and forwarding business

Even though he studied business administration at the University

His younger brother was a musicologist

He had a music school where he taught people how to play various musical instruments

His father was a poor man, a teacher who worked hard for several years but had nothing to show for his years of labor

They were not a religious family

His father’s short stint abroad as an exchange student in the ‘70s had such a great influence on him that he practically lived like he was a socialist even in Nigeria

He studied In East Germany and Russia for one year and two years respectively

It led to a complete change of orientation for him and by extension his family

Years down the line, their story was the same

A poor and bitter father who had nothing to show for his years of labour and sacrifice

A mother in the USA in her mid-sixties who was helping her daughters raise their children

Three sisters in the USA, married to their husbands and trying to find their footing in a foreign country

He was happy they were not dirt-poor

As bad as things were, only his brother was in debt to the tune of 20 million Naira

Apart from that they were coping somehow

Then he went to visit a friend at Surulere

The friend invited him to a program held by the brother in Jeans and T-shirt

The Program was titled Shabach

The month was October 2020

It was a bit difficult to be in Nigeria and avoid religion completely

He decided he would go with his friend and see what all the noise was about

When they got there the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt talked about Changing the Spiritual Order in a family in order to maximize supernatural Inheritance in Christ

It was all strange talk to him

He heard what was being said but it really didn’t sink into his depth

A month later, his mother called him

They were having a light conversation when he accidentally heard how his sister’s husband spoke to his mother on the phone

It was a very disrespectful tone

He said, “Mummy, are you the one Uncle So and So is talking to like that?”

His mother said, “Yes, I am the one they have turned to their housemaid in this house. Even their children whom I laboured to raise for the past fourteen years now talk down on me and treat me with disrespect. If not for shame, I would have packed my bags and returned to Nigeria but if I return to Nigeria where would I live?

Your father is squatting with his mother at the moment

I am living at the mercy of your oldest sister

You are squatting with friends and your brother is also squatting with friends

Your two other sisters are still battling immigration issues and are not yet fully settled in

So what am I supposed to do but endure?

You cannot imagine that your sister’s husband has tried six times to find me a husband here

He doesn’t like the fact that I have been living with them all these years

He sees me as a nuisance who has nowhere to go and he treats me that way

He is also teaching his children to treat me that way

Your sister has been stylishly telling me that I need to get a job and move out of their matrimonial home because her husband is not comfortable with me around

It is true that I came here to nurse one child and I have stayed around long enough to nurse three

I have also become a citizen while staying here but at what age and what job can I do on my own that will sustain me here?

I am a housemaid here, that is the truth, the only difference is I am not getting paid in cash at the end of the month

I am paid with insults daily and I am tired of it”

Wow!

By the time his mother was done speaking, he was in tears

The woman suffered too much not to have respite in her own daughter’s house

He understood how it looked to his sister’s husband

And where the disrespect came from

He also realized that he had been living far below his potential in life

He had become stoic like his father and adopted a que sera sera mindset

He reached out to his friend

He wanted to have a one-on-one session with the brother in Jeans and T-shirt

He remembered the brother’s teaching over a year ago

And how he guffawed at it at the time but the situation looked quite similar and he was determined to turn the tide

He got a phone number to call

They spoke for a while after he had sent him a message on Whatsapp

They met in November 2021

They had a brother-to-brother talk which led to his acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour

After he had given his life to Jesus and gotten filled with the Holy Spirit

The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt said let me show you two scriptures

Daniel 5: The Writing on the Wall

5 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

7 The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers[b] and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

10 The queen,[c] hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. 12 He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

13 So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. 16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

18 “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. 19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.

22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[d] have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

25 “This is the inscription that was written:

Mene, mene, tekel, parsin

26 “Here is what these words mean:

Mene[e]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

27 Tekel[f]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

28 Peres[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,[h] was slain, 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.[i]

Mathew 5: 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

After they had read the Scriptures out loud together, the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt said, “You are the first born again Christian in your family, this automatically makes you the head of the family now

The leaders you had before which are your parents and older siblings have done their administration the best way they can and it has not brought the family joy

Now it is your turn to take over and rule with fairness and equity

When you do this, the family will give their lives to Jesus and everybody’s life will be transformed.

The leadership of your parents and older siblings have been weighed and measured and found wanting

The government has been stripped off from their shoulders and given to you because you represent Christ and Christ rules and reigns over all things

You cannot be the light and hide under a bushel or be led by the nose by any other power or entity

This is the only way you can lead your family out of this situation

He understood

He couldn’t say how but he got it

When he got home, he made a plan to build a house where his parents would live in Nigeria

It was a race against time for him because he didn’t want his mother to be held responsible for the crash of his sister’s marriage

What he heard made him feel this might be close to happening

He went to visit his father in the village

He prayed with his father and blessed him

The brother in Jeans and T-shirt had told him that the one in Christ is higher and greater than anyone in the flesh

Regardless of age

He visited his younger brother too and blessed him

The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt had told him to look at Joseph

The 11th child and yet the one ordained by God to lead his siblings, family, and the world out of certain death

After praying with his father and brother, he and his friend started an online business

He handled the marketing aspect of the business while his friend handled the technical aspect of the business

Somehow, with ease, the business became a success

He built a house within a year and sent his mother a flight ticket to return her home

Within that same time, his father got involved with the local government’s rural education drive in their village and was appointed as one of the community representatives with the oil companies working in their village

Somehow, his father also built a house in the village that year

His younger brother paid off his debt and began to prosper too

By October 2023, they had two houses in the family

He had gotten married and given birth to a son

His mother had returned home from America

The marriage of his parents had been restored

His oldest sister and her husband had gotten a divorce and sorted out their messy marriage

His other two sisters had become citizens and well-established in the USA

It is true that when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Proverbs 29:2

PS: It has been a year and the testimony of Brother Azubuike Collins is a joy to share

I was teaching the students of PSSBC school 19 something on Mene Mene Tekel Upharshin yesterday night

Brother Azu was in the class and he decided to send this testimony after the class to buttress some of the things I taught

It is important to know how to apply the word of God in a manner that would make it produce the right result in your life

It is good to pray and make declarations but where you are the light and you are still being led by darkness you won’t produce any result

You cannot put the mundane above the spiritual, what is flesh is flesh, and what is spirit is spirit!

He that is from above is above all, please don’t forget this

Finally, under your rulership, the light shall spread all over

Every member of Brother Azubuike Collin’s family is now born again

He did not have to force anyone to accept the Lord

They saw the result and came to partake of the bread of life willingly

Hope you learned something

-GSW-