THE FIGHT FOR EBUKA
EPISODE 18 & 19
Ebuka wasn't okay with the idea of Daddy G.o sending favour away. He felt it will open room for more attacks. He didn't confront Daddy G.o, afterall he did it for his own good. He started praying. He told sister Tonia to be relentless in praying.
On Wednesday, Tonia did not come home from school. Her mum tried her number, switched off. Tonia sometimes stays back if she would have very early lectures but not without informing her mum.
-maybe there was no light to charge. Atlist she would have used eno's phone naw. (Eno is her course mate and friend ) i don't even have Eno's number. I told her to stay off school atlist this week. She is preparing for her wedding. School will not allow her listen. God please protect my child for me oooo. You blessing maketh rich ooo, it added no sorrow.
That night, at about 11pm, Tonia's mum's phone rang, it was pastor Ebuka.
-hello, mummy, good evening ma.
-good evening my pastor. How are you?
-I'm fine. Mum, please give the phone to my Angel, i want to speak to with her.
-argh, Tonia didn't come home o. Maybe she will be having early lectures. She didn't even call to inform me which is very much unlike her. Maybe there was no way to reach me. I don't know oo. She didn't call you too?
-No mum. She didn't. Don't worry mum. You're right. Maybe there was no means of reaching us. I will go check on her in school tomorrow. Mum, we need to pray. I had a very terrible dream. Tonia was hanged to be killed. I was given a rotten apple to eat if i want her alive. I refused to eat the apple and i refused to let them kill her. I fought so hard , my strength was already failing me before a man came and continued the fight and saved her from their hands in the dream. Mum, for the first time since i gave my life to christ I AM SCARED TO THE TEETH but i have a God and he will not suffer my foot to be moved. He that keepth me will not slumber, he that keepth isreal will neither slumber or sleep.
-heey!!!! My son, i am.scared too oooo. This dream, hmmm. God help us ooo.
-mum, don't be scared. The Lord is our light and salvation, whom shall we fear. The Lord is the strength of our lives, of whom shall we be afraid. When the wicked, even our enemies comes to eat up our life THEY STUMBLED AND FELL. Let us go into prayers. God will fight this fight.
-Amen ooooooo.
-good night ma.
The call ended.
Pastor Ebuka called bro divine and told him same thing. They started prayers immediately.
Pastor Ebuka woke up the next morning to a message that read thus........
"PASTOR EBUKA, IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR ANGEL AGAIN, LET'S MEET AT APPLE CAVE HOTEL, SUITE 102, 8PM. TONIGHT. DON'T PLAY SMART, I REPEAT, DON'T DARE PLAY SMART. IF YOU INVOLVE THE POLICE, SHE IS AS GOOD AS DEAD. COME ALONE"
Tears dropped from his eyes. He sat on the floor.
-satan, i will not eat this rotten apple. My Angel will come back to me alive and unhurt. The three hebrew boys where thrown into a fiery furnace because of the presence of the fourth man, they did not burn, not even the hairs on their head caught smoke, let alone fire. They walked out of the fire without a scratch, no burns, no smell of smoke. That fourth man is the JESUS i serve. He has gone before Tonia and he has made every fiery furnace a flowing fountain. Satan get ready, you started this war, you and all those involved will reap shame. OH LORD GOD, I DON'T KNOW HOW, I DON'T KNOW WHEN, BUT YOUR WORD SAYS, WHAT EVER I DEGREE HERE ON EARTH, IS ESTABLISHED IN HEAVEN. Lord i pass a degree, I WILL NOT EAT ANY ROTTEN APPLE, MY TONIA WILL COME BACK TODAY, SAFE, UNHARMED, WITHOUT A SCRATCH AND UNHURT ALL TO GLORY AND TO THE SHAME OF THE DEVIL.
He forwarded the message to daddy G.o, the leader of the prayer team of the headquarters, bro divine, leader of the prayer team of Ebenezer parish, all the prayer team leaders in all 10 parishes of Glorious invasion church. Bro divine and city of praise prayer team followed pastor Ebuka to camp.
Prayers were going on. Daddy G.o invited a C.I.D officer and showed him the text message. The officer asked for the phone number that was used to send the message. Daddy G.o kept calling pastor Ebuka, his phone was ringing, he wasn't picking. They were in the camp praying. The C.I.D officer had no choice but to leave. Daddy G.o promised to get back to him once he is able to connect with pastor EBUKA.
The sender kept sending messages to Pastor Ebuka's phone. Ebuka kept praying. Through out that day, he did not eat, he did not shower, he did not stop calling upon God. Prayer team left the camp ground around 7pm, bro divine left around 9pm. Pastor Ebuka was left. Bro divine pleaded he came home. The place was too cold to stay out and he wasn't having any sweater with him. Ebuka refused. He remained in the camp ground. He prayed and prayed. He started singing......
I know that my redeemer liveth
I know, he's not far from me ehee ehee ehee
I know when he will arise
The world will know that my redeemer liveth.
You are covenant keeping God
Yaweh, covenant keeping God
You are covenant keeping God
Yaweh covenant keeping God
You'll never leave me
You said that you won't forsake me
You are besides me and that's all that matters
The sun won't smite me, and the moon it will not harm me.
You are my keeper, Lord you're my anchor.
He continued to pray.......
My help in ages past
My hope for years to come
My shield and defender
The power of my strength
Owner of my life
Jessssuuuuussssssss!!!!!!
I cannot call upon your name and end up in shame
Oh Lord arise.
Fight for me.
As he prayed, Tonia's mum was calling. He wasn't picking.
After praying. He went to his bag and took out his phone. Loads of missed calls. Including Tonia's mum and then.....TONIA'S CALL CAME IN.
-Jesus!!! I'm i dreaming? (He picked and kept quiet)
-hello, my treasure, I'm back, thank you Jesus for saving my life.
Ebuka started crying.
-MY ANGEL is that you?
-yes, yes, it's me. I'm home. Only God did it. Only God.
-Are you hurt? Were you injured?
-no no no, I'm perfectly alright. No problem at all. My treasure only God did this. What i saw. I will gist you tomorrow. I'm very tired . Army men brought me home themselves.
-Jesus!!!!!!!. I'm coming to your place now.
-noooo, it's already late please. Tomorrow. Have you eaten?
-how can i? My angel, how can i?
-I'm so sorry i put you through this stress. We owe God huge thanks giving. He sent me a saviour when all my hopes were lost. Tomorrow,,i will gist you.
The call ended.
Ebuka started worshipping God. He started calling everyone, sharing the Good news.
Those who fight on their knees have got victory but those who fight on horses will see death, when all they have is DEFEAT. SOON, THE WAR WILL BE OVER AND SOON THE LOOSER WILL SUFFER. (panam percy paul)
The whole church was eager to know what happened to Tonia. Very early the next morning, Tonia's house was filled with people. Pastor Ebuka was first to Arrive. Tonia was still sleeping. He only needed to see her to be sure she is back, indeed she is back. He waited patiently till she woke up, freshened up and came out to the sitting room.
Everyone shouted when they saw her. Songs were rendered unto the Lord then Tonia started her testimony.
-praise the Lord!!!!! My brethren, i want to first if all say a very big thank you to this Great God. Who showed me undeserved kindness and saved me from the fiery darts of the enemy, who did not allow my enemies to rejoice over me. May his name be praised. I want to thank you all for your prayers, my daddy G.o, and special thanks goes to MY TREASURE here who stood in the gap all the while for me.
God bless you all. We closed from school at about 4pm, my friends and me were coming home so i saw sister juliet. She walked to me, i was so excited to see her. She offered to give us a lift, my friend Eno dragged me aside and told me not to, that her spirit doesn't accept juliet. I told her it was fine, she is our church member. We entered juliet's car, eno was to stop along the way, she lives off campus, very close to the school. After few minutes we saw a police check point. The police flagged Juliet down and started harrassing us. They told us to come down and asked us to get into their vehicle. I refused. I was like, for what ? What was our offence? One of the policemen now said i am the suspect, he collected eno's phone, juliet's phone and other girls phones and asked them to leave. He insisted i joined the van. I struggled, all to no avail. The next thing was handkerchief over my nose and that's all i could remember till i opened my eyes and found out i was tied to an iron chair. When i opened my eyes, all i,saw were masked people standing and looking at me. Then two men walked in.
-fool, he said as he slapped me. You want to marry PASTOR EBUKA, you won't. So long as we live, you won't marry him. Then i replied them, "THEN PREPARE TO DIE BECAUSE WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER, NO MAN CAN PUT ASUNDER. EBUKA IS GOING TO BE MY HUSBAND. EVEN THE DEVIL CAN'T STOP IT" he slapped me again saying he didn't ask me to talk. He said my freedom lies in EBUKA'S hands, if he does what he is asked to do, i will be free, if not, i should consider myself dead. I replied, "I SHALL NOT DIE, I WILL LIVE AND DECLARE THE GOODNESS OF GOD IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING". FOR THE LORD WILL FEED YOU WITH YOUR FLESH AND YOU SHALL DRINK YOUR OWN BLOOD AS SWEET WINE". The man slapped me again and asked me to shut up. All of a sudden the people standing, wearing mask were no longer seen. I was wondering who they were. I started praying. They sealed my mouth. I was praying in my spirit. After few hours, the two guys came back. The placed objects placed before me were knife, gun and a liquid substance boldly written poison, and the other, acid. because pastor Ebuka refused to comply, i have just ten seconds to choose one or they choose for me by themselves. The people on mask came around again, this time they spoke. That was how i got to know they were actually ladies. They were shouting "choose one. If we can't have him, nobody can,,choose one and die in peace". I could not hold back my tears. One of the ladies took the acid. She said she won't allow me die in peace, she will make me live in pain and suffer rejection because no matter how spiritual Pastor Ebuka is,he will never marry a deformed woman. Brethren i lost hope. I felt it was all over. I closed my eyes to receive the Acid bath when we heard "YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD NOW " The person walked into the place, it was a soldier. "If you move, i scatter your brain " they dropped the weapons. The other soldiers joined him. The unmasked the ladies, my brethren, when i saw their faces, i fainted. They were sister juliet, sister Ruth, sister jane and my prayer partner, the one daddy G.o dismissed from church. I couldn't believe it. In the house of God? One of the soldiers brought me home. He told me a man came to them and told them he saw policemen carry a lady into an uncompleted building. The lady has been shouting. The man actually sleeps in that uncompelted building. That was how i came home.
Pastor Ebuka fell to the ground with tears in his eyes and started worshipping this great God. Miracle working God. The defender of the defenceless, rescuer of the hopeless, life saver, life giver, he continued to worship the Lord, the whole brethren with him.
After everyone left, pastor Ebuka pleaded with Tonia not to step out of the house again until the wedding. Infact, Daddy G.o's personal driver came to pick her, she will be coming from there to the church. Mummy G.o was so excited to receive her. That Friday night, mummy G.o called her....
-Tonia dear, she smiled,congratulations once again. Newest bride in town.
-(she smiled ) thank you mummy.
-daughter, i am doing exactly thesame thing my own mother in the Lord did on my wedding eve. Same thing i have done for every sister especially the ones marrying ministers of God. To be frank, it is not easy being the wife of a minister of God, especially those who have refused to compromise their faith in Christ Jesus. I can proudly say to you my dear daughter that your husband to be, pastor Ebuka, is one of them. Listen to every word i am about to say to you. Write them on the table of your heart, let it sink deeply. If you can abide by them, my dear daughter you will laugh.
1, from tomorrow he is no longer pastor Ebuka to you o. Find one sweet name you will call him. He is now your husband. Allow him touch you. From the way i see Ebuka, he doesn't know how to pretend. Forget spirituality, he is a man o. He has blood flowing through his veins. Yessss, you know church people like to pretend . Be sweet to behold. Look fresh. I hope you have sweet looking things you will wear at home for him. Your armpits, you have to shave, look neat. Wear Anti-perspirants each time you are done with bathing.
2, Respect his spiritual decisions. He might be on a fast and decide not to eat all the delicious you prepared, accept in good faith. Help him through it. It is for your own Good. He might wish to have quiet time with God, allow him, help him achieve it.
3, follow his lead. Don't look at other wives of pastors. Look unto Jesus and follow your husband. Join your faith with his. Be physically involved and spiritually relevant. Don't relax and allow pray alone. Bible says, one will chase 10000 but 2, 20,000. Never seize to speak out if you see him derailing. Not shouting at him like a small boy o, he will even derail more. Correct him with love and the one your mouth cannot, your knee can.
4, if he is not fasting, and not on any spiritual exercise,please my dear daughter give him good food. Yes o. They eat once in a while. Like my own husband he will say, this week, I'm eating just one in a day and very light, i will be doing more of fruits. Don't you see how fitted he is looking? People sometimes say he doesn't look like G.o atall because he has no protruding tummy. (Laughter) yes ooo.
5- learn to forgive easily. Men of God are human beings too o. They can be annoying. They are not perfect. So learn to forgive easily. Pray for your husband. Be an example. Soon they will start mummying you too. Be careful. Some are coming close to use you to destroy your husband. Yessss, they will be coming with gifts, expensive clothes, seed of faith, some are for evil purpose. Test every spirit. Be careful what you discuss. Stand on the truth, nothing but the truth.
The rest, you will learn by yourself. May God bless your union.
-Ameeeen. Argh. Thanks so much mummy.i have really learnt alot.
It's saturday morning !!!!!!
To be continued.
Start dropping your lesson before the final episode
Are online gambling and sports betting new to your area? Are gambling advertisements catching your eye? Have you noticed sports and news shows covering the spread? Recent changes in laws have made gambling widely accessible, and its popularity has soared.
Occasional bets are rarely an issue. But uncontrolled gambling can lead to financial, psychological, physical, and social consequences, some of which are extreme. Understanding whether gambling is becoming a problem in your life can help you head off the worst of these issues and refocus on having more meaning, happiness, and psychological richness in your life. Gambling screening is a good first step.
Can you screen yourself for problem gambling?
Yes. Screening yourself is easy. The Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen (note: automatic download) is a validated way to screen for gambling disorder. It has three yes-or-no questions. Ask yourself:
During the past 12 months, have you become restless, irritable, or anxious when trying to stop/cut down on gambling? During the past 12 months, have you tried to keep your family or friends from knowing how much you gambled? During the past 12 months, did you have such financial trouble as a result of your gambling that you had to get help with living expenses from family, friends, or welfare? What do your answers mean?
Answering yes to any one of these questions suggests that you are at higher risk for experiencing gambling disorder. Put simply, this is an addiction to gambling. Like other expressions of addiction, for gambling this includes loss of control, craving, and continuing despite bad consequences. Unique to gambling, it also often means chasing your losses.
A yes doesn't mean that you are definitely experiencing a problem with gambling. But it might be valuable for you to seek a more in-depth assessment of your gambling behavior. To find an organization or person qualified to help, ask a health care provider, your local department of public health, or an advocacy group like the National Council on Problem Gambling.
Are you ready for change?
Your readiness to change a behavior matters when deciding the best first steps for making a change. If someone asks you whether you want to change your gambling, what would you say?
I never think about my gambling. | Sometimes I think about gambling less. | I have decided to gamble less. | I am already trying to cut back on my gambling. | I changed my gambling: I now do not gamble, or gamble less than before. |
Depending on your answer, you might seek out different solutions. What's most important initially is choosing a solution that feels like the right fit for you.
What if you don't feel ready to change? If you haven't thought about your gambling or only occasionally think about changing your gambling, you might explore lower intensity actions. For example, you could
read more about how gambling could create a problem for you listen to stories of those who have lived experience with gambling disorder. If you are committed to making a change or are already trying to change, you might seek out more engaging resources and strategies to support those decisions, like attending self-help groups or participating in treatment.
Read on for more details on choices you might make.
What options for change are available if you want to continue gambling?
If you want to keep gambling in some way, you might want to stick to lower-risk gambling guidelines:
gamble no more than 1% of household income gamble no more than four days per month avoid regularly gambling at more than two types of games, such as playing the lottery and betting on sports. Other ways to reduce your risk of gambling harm include:
Plan ahead and set your own personal limits. Keep your entertainment budget in mind if you decide to gamble. Consider leaving credit cards and debit cards at home and use cash instead. Schedule other activities directly after your gambling to create a time limit. Limit your use of alcohol and other drugs if you decide to gamble. What are easy first steps toward reducing or stopping gambling?
If you're just starting to think about change, consider learning more about gambling, problem gambling, and ways to change from
blogs, like The BASIS books like Change Your Gambling, Change Your Life podcasts like After Gambling, All-In, and Fall In, which offer expert interviews, personal recovery stories, and more. Some YouTube clips demystify gambling, such as how slot machines work, the limits of skill and knowledge in gambling, and how gambling can become an addiction. These sources might help you think about your own gambling in new ways, potentially identifying behaviors that you need to change.
What are some slightly more active steps toward change?
If you're looking for a slightly more active approach, you can consider engaging in traditional self-help experiences such as helplines and chatlines or Gamblers Anonymous.
Another option is self-help workbooks. Your First Step to Change is a popular workbook that provides information about problem gambling, self-screening exercises for gambling and related conditions like anxiety and depression, and change exercises to get started. A clinical trial of this resource suggested that users were more likely than others to report having recently abstained from gambling.
Watch out for gambling misinformation
As you investigate options, keep in mind that the quality of information available can vary and may even include misinformation. Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Research suggests that some common types of gambling misinformation might reinforce harmful beliefs or risky behaviors.
For example, some gambling books, websites, and other resources exaggerate your likelihood of winning, highlight win and loss streaks as important (especially for chance-based games like slots), and suggest ways to change your luck to gain an edge. These misleading ideas can help you to believe you're more likely to win than you actually are, and set you up for failure.
The bottom line
Taking a simple self-screening test can start you on a journey toward better gambling-related health. Keep in mind that change can take time and won't necessarily be a straight path.
If you take a step toward change and then a step back, nothing is stopping you from taking a step forward again. Talking with a care provider and getting a comprehensive assessment can help you understand whether formal treatment for gambling is a promising option for you.
Source: Harvard Health Publishing
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