MY CASE WAS ALREADY SETTLED IN HEAVEN

Sunday, 26 April 2009

By Segun Otokiti

The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) needs no introduction. For those who
may not be familiar with the name of the church, the simple mention of Synagogue or
Prophet T.B Joshua will ring a bell. However, the church and its founder, T.B Joshua, as
he’s popularly called, are not only popular for doing the work of healing and charity,
but also enmeshed in controversy over the genuineness of their claim to divine call. At
a point, the controversy became so intense that none of the other ministers of God
wanted to have anything doing with either the church or its founder. Of particular
concern to other men of God is the origin of Pastor T.B Joshua and the power he uses
in healing. Segun Otokiti met him recently and he narrated how the journey started.
Below are the excerpts of the narration.

“I do not need to go very far to cite or give an example of what I am saying because
my experience in life is enough to illustrate this philosophy or principle of life. As we
said earlier, many things could cause one to stop between steps. I could still
remember vividly when I sat for and passed the entrance examination into the
Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

“I was invited for the interview and had to board the train from Lagos to Kaduna.
Behold, on our journey the train developed some serious faults that kept us in the
bush in Jebba for six horrible days with little or no provision. I was on the railway line
in Jebba while the interview was going on in Kaduna and there was nothing I could do
to help the situation as I lacked the means to arrange for an alternative way of
transporting myself to the venue of the interview. So I missed the whole thing.

“This was how the ambition to enlist into the military was aborted by what was
obviously an act of fate. Who knows what would have happened if I had successfully
attended that interview. I actually felt very bitter that I had missed another chance of
making it in life.

“With a very heavy heart I went to the village to complain to my mother of how so
many opportunities had slipped by. Little would I have reasoned that it was one of
those stops between steps in my spiritual walk with God until my mother did her best
to calm me down, saying: “My son, do not mind the seeming appearance of things as
of today. If am ever confident of any child, you are that child. Do not be afraid of what
the future holds for you, because I know if anyone is destined to fail, you are not the
one. I am so sure of your future breakthrough, considering the strength of the
predictions and prophecies about you even before you were born. I cannot forget so
easily what I experienced when I was pregnant with you, and I know God cannot lie.
My son, whatever you may be going through today, just take it as a temporary
setback, meant to prepare you for the challenges ahead. Don’t forget your name is
‘Temitope’ ( meaning what you (God) do is worthy of thanks) and, by the grace of God,
the whole world shall have the cause to thank God for your sake.”

“After this encounter with my mother, I began to look at whatever came my way with
a more mature mind whose focus was on God alone. I mean, the maturity that comes
from faith in the finished works of our lord Jesus Christ. My case was already settled in
heaven. Here I am today in your midst; I can boast of what God is doing for us.
Hallelujah! You are all witnesses.
“In my spiritual walk with God I have experienced both good and hard times. Who
knows what would have happened if those temporary stops did not come at intervals.
Consider how my education suffered epileptic fits. Today I am in school the next day
I’m out. When God is executing his plan in our lives , he also designs and arranges
events which continue to unfold until his purpose is revealed. The ups and downs in
my education were part of the events that revealed the purpose of God in my life.
Remember, the man who is poor is not the man that has no money, but one without a
dream. They are suffering that have no dream. They are poor that have no dream.

“Before I knew it, I had gone around six different colleges in less than one year. I
enrolled for the examinations of JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculation Board) four
times and on each occasion it was either I forgot my acknowledgment card and other
necessary documents or there was an accident on the way to the exam venues.
People who saw what was happening to me simply attributed my predicament to
either sin or non-seriousness on my part. But those with the maturity that comes from
faith, like my mother, saw it as mere stopping intervals or natural stops in my spiritual
walk with God.

“In James 4:7, we are told to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. If we
examine carefully our attitudes toward certain situations, we would see how much we
willingly submit ourselves to the devil each time we view things with the maturity that
comes from the experience is based on what is seen, what is heard and what
circumstances look like. When your maturity is derived from circumstantial factors
other than faith, your level of maturity would continue to fluctuate rather than being
stable. This is why I am enabled to maintain a balance and stable approach to the
challenges that come my way every day. I am not moved by what people say or do
concerning my relationship with God. I submit myself to His direct will which is good
and perfect with no evil in it. Sometimes, God uses foolish things to strengthen our
desire for him.

“In Luke 22:32, Jesus said to Peter, “I pray that your faith would not fail”. This means,
all men make mistakes but people of God get back up. Certainly we would fall, but
with Jesus supporting our positions, we would soon get back up.”

Source: The Nigerian Compass

http://www.compassnews.net/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=
16194:my-case-was-already-settled-in-heaven--joshua&catid=46:sunday&Itemid=186