Faith Heels Fear's Knees

Faith Heels

Fear’sKnees

or

F O R W A R D

n this book “Faith Heels or Fear's Knees”, Faith Akpovwa

systematically demystifies fear and revelationaly exposes faith Ias the only panacea for living in a world that opens and shut

every day with fears and uncertainty.

These eight chapters of this book, from the prelude to the conclusion

will impact your life permanently. I encourage you not to just read this

God inspired lessons but study it again and again to harvest the

wonderful insights and practical lessons from her life's journey so far,

for God does not waste experiences.

As you journey with the author of this book, you will see scriptures

turning into pictures (evidence of things not seen). These are priceless

truths that can turn a fear-slave to a faith-walk Christian.

My prayer is that the body of Christ will use this book to develop

necessary perspective, conviction, character and courage needed for

the Christian race.

Pastor Ernest Idahosa

Church of God Mission Int'l

Peniel Chapel

2 | Forward

Faith

Fear

I dedicate this book to God Almighty, He has been my source of

strength, and inspiration. By His sufficient Grace, I made it

through, I owe my life to you Father. There is no true success

other than that which you breathe into.

I also dedicate this book to my dad, Barr. Godwin Akpovwa

whom I profoundly pray for will be blessed by this book.

D E D I C A T I O N

aith is our gaze fully on God's abilities, not ours. The

moment that gaze is shifted to ourselves and our Fsituations, not God, fear begins to have a way. We lose

our identity through fear. We all have an identity in Christ which

is the fullness of God and fear is aimed at robbing us of the

knowledge of this. Wonder why scriptures say “my people perish

for lack of knowledge”? We are only trampled upon by fear when

we forget or choose not to recognize that our true identity and

fullness is found in Christ.

Being tormented by fear for some years and in that span of time

and still learning, I would say that I forgot or didn't take into

cognizance the essence of my name, hence, my identity. The

situations I was faced with around my life birthed so much fear on

the inside of me, and fear was future for me if God had not

I N T R O D U C T I O N

intervened.

I knew Hebrews 11 so well, I knew the faith definition as well and

felt very proud when I heard my name “faith” included in

sermons topics but I never had a revelation of the name I was

called. What an irony. A girl called Faith with fearful thoughts,

mindsets, and habits.

This became a great lesson to me when a word dropped into my

spirit asking me “what is your name”? And this is the issue. We

have a name, an identity in Christ, which is His fullness, His

strength, and abilities but we often don't believe in it because of

situations and happenings around us, and sometimes ignorance.

We sometimes just possess head knowledge of who we are but

not fully understanding whose we are, so we lose our hold on the

identity we have in Christ. Now, due to the weight of fear or how

big the issue or challenge we face seem to be, we forget who we

are in Christ and what God has placed inside of us.

I realized that we lose your identity each time we forget that there

is a God inside of us whose characteristics we also possess!

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but

8 | Introduction

Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by

faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Gal 2:20.

Being on fear's knees is a state of being subject to, being

controlled by or ruled by fear, while being on faith heels is the

confident and bold disposition to face fear which is what God

wants us to have.

The light

The light casts out fear, that light is the word of God; the light is

the truth, not the situation. It lays bare the weakness of fear in the

presence of faith. For so many years, I tried to overcome fear

through so many means but all efforts were futile and the truth

that I have found out is that there is no successful battle against

fear except with the word of God. Company may fail you, quick

fixes will do same but the word of God slices fear into pieces by

its power.

The word is light and it illuminates all dark areas of fear in our

lives. I pray that through this book, every kind of fear standing

bold or subtle in your life shall be shut down and replaced with

Faith Heels or Fear’s Knees | 9

faith.

Scripture says, “If thou has faith as little as a mustard seed, thou

shall say unto this mountain be thou thrown into the sea and it will

be done”. Only faith changes things, fear doesn't, instead, it births

it. When you begin to activate your faith, fear begins to give way

and vice versa. But faith is got through the word of God; See why

the enemy sends all manner of distractions to keep us away from

the word?

The Faith shield

Why faith at all? You may ask. These are the times where we will

hear of wars and rumors of wars, we will see danger, heart breaks,

happenings intending to keep us afraid and so God has given us

the faith shield to withstand these. Above all, our faith will be

tried individually. If there were no happenings intending to keep

us afraid, God wouldn't have bothered to give us His word of

faith. The bible says ;

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you

can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

10 | Introduction

Ephesians 6:16

Theologians have confirmed the 365 “fear not's” in the bible, and we

conclude that each one of them is for each day of the year. This shows

God's concern and his heart in making us know that He wants us to live a

life devoid of fear.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the

world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer; I have overcome

the world." John 16:33(KJV)

This scripture did not use the word “might”, but “shall”. But take note,

Jesus Christ encouraged His disciples even before breaking the news of

“sure” trouble, he said...

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

In other words, peace does not come from material satisfaction,

possessions or earthly defenses, barb wires or high gates. Peace comes

from God. There is no other hope we have for peace in the midst of

trouble or turmoil other than in Christ Jesus.

I once by the spirit of God encouraged my mother when she was going

through a pretty difficult time at her work place, I said “if you have no

opposition, no interference and the work of God in your life just goes


very smooth, then check it, there is a high probability that you're not

working for God”, and we giggled about it. But i further illustrated that

it is hard, quite rare to see people who have fully given their lives to the

devil going through one problem, trouble or turmoil. This is because the

devil knows their destructive end. When we have our momentary

tribulations or troubles as Christians, it doesn't mean that the lord has

failed us or hasn't fulfilled his promises but it also validates our status as

Christians by declaring that you are Christ's, you have 'officially'

become a threat to the kingdom of darkness and what they do is try to

attack and we as Christians often chicken out forgetting who we really

are. The things we are afraid of are afraid of us. Faith is key.often

12 | Introduction

The Prelude to Fear

C H A P T E R

01

For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed

to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good

news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message

they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with

FAITH (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute

trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those

who heard it; neither were they united in FAITH with the ones

[Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).

- Hebrews 4:2(AMP)

o have faith is as important as having life itself. One can't

really access God's benefits of life without faith. God has Tgiven us so much, he has enriched us with his promises,

but just as we use currencies/Money to purchase things, Faith is the

currency for which we obtain God's promises. It's no magic, faith is an

action word which when put into action both in words and in deeds

without doubt, will yield a harvest of blessings.

Hebrews 4:2 says,

For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed

to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good

news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; -

Sometimes, people believe that the time of the old was better than now

in terms of God speaking, and some others believe that despite the

clarity in which God had spoken to his chosen ones in the old, like

Moses, Elijah, Daniel, David and the rest prophets, they would prefer

the time and dispensation of the Holy spirit(today). But, whether the old

or new testament method of communication, God's clear voice through

Moses was as clear to God's people (the Israelites when they heard the

news of their deliverance from bondage from Egypt) as it is now when

we hear the Holy Spirit remind us of God's promises for us through

God's word.

Did you know?

Despite the clarity, surety and display of God's majestic powers to the

Israelites, the word they received was not of benefit to them because

they did not mix it with faith? As simple as that may sound, that caused

14 | The Prelude to Fear

the lives of all the Israelites except two (Joshua and Caleb). That's why

faith is as important as life itself.

"But the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not

mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in

absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness)

by those who heard it".

Heb 4:2

We have been blessed with so much, blessed with abundance of grace,

protection, provision, supply, good health and the very best of life, but

most times, we overlook them and reduce them to just a word and not

THE word from God and THE word of Truth. But this was the SAME

word that came to the Israelites but it profited them nothing because of

their unbelief. One may say “no, it's not the same”, but let's see again

what Hebrews 4:2 says,

For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to

us JUST AS TRULY as they (the Israelites) did.

As the group of people who believe the Old Testament method of

communication (God to His people) was clearer, to their advantage,

yes, the word the Israelites got for their deliverance was clear enough


just like the ones we see in God's word today like.

“If God be for us, who can be against us” Romans 8:31,

“by his stripes you are healed" (Isaiah 53:5), and like

“Christ in me, the hope of Glory”(Col 1:17)

"The lord shall supply all your needs according to His riches in

glory" (Philippians 4:19) and, “None shall want her mate” Isaiah

34:16 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

(Philippians 4:13),

And all the numerous promises we have in the word today.

Some of us have heard God speak to us directly about his promises but

the promise does us no good because we lack faith or have little faith in

the face of our huge battles. There comes a point where little faith

amounts to nothing, so, we increase it and the key to increasing our faith

is in the study, revelation and believe on the word of God. The word of

God, the bible, has scriptures that contain dozes to increase our faith

and rid us of our fears.

There was a time I asked God diligently in prayers about an issue, after I

prayed, my prayers were answered, I had it come easy but I encountered

some real time struggles concerning it along the way but I overcame.


So, due to the stress and struggles I saw people go through because of

this , I just got thankful to God and whispered to myself “ thank God He

made it easy for me” and behold, just like a conversation, I heard God's

Spirit say immediately “it could have been easier if you had more

faith”. Then I began to think about it.

I came to understand that the measure of your faith determines the kind

of result you get.

The Word's effectiveness

The word of God is described later in that chapter as Alive and Full

of power.

"For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it

active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any

two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life

(soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the

deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and

judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart"

-Hebrews 4:12)

Based on the word of God and through some experiences, I've come to


understand that fear can be felt by indeed anyone, irrespective of

position or experience. The reasons for fear could differ from person to

person, just as our faces differ. Fear could be reverential or dread

(terror). we see Abraham in the bible whose position with God was that

of a friend, still, he had the fear of God when God told him to lay the life

of his only son (sought for years) as a sacrifice. In fact, the bible

recorded in Genesis 22:12 " now I know that you fear the Lord for you

have not withheld your son from me, your only son".

It is a clear that this kind of fear that Abraham possessed only revealed

his faith in God. Knowing that God who had been merciful through his

entire life would have a good reason for taking his son, and Abraham

had absolute reliance on God's word knowing that it will at the end work

for good. To reveal our lack of faith in God's word, sometimes we hold

back mediocre things of less worth for the fear that God may not give us

better ones. That is a sign of lack of faith in God.

I believe a handful of us will bind that "evil spirit" that will speak such

instruction and then deny we recognize God's voice but Abraham did

not do that, he had the fear of God, this is called the reverential fear. It

has to do with profound awe, honor or respect to someone superior.


Reverential fear is fear that we all should possess as followers of Christ,

the word says, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom; but the

foolish despise wisdom and instruction''(Proverbs 1:7).

Reverential fear is one kind of fear. On the other hand, the fear we are

dealing with in this book is that of terror, fright, uneasiness, trepidation,

disquietude and so on. Just as the needs/cares of life increase, so the

tendency to fear increases, however, it is expedient to increase our faith

to face every challenge, battle or need.

When fear takes hold of a person, it brings one down on fears knees

which is a state of being subject to, controlled by or ruled by fear but

standing on the heels of faith is the confident and bold disposition to

face fear at any given time and this is the stand God wants us all to have.

Received thought

When I look back at some of the occurrences I once went through, I

often think that I would have done better if I knew better. I would have

had it easier if I had more faith. I have both experienced and seen in the

lives of others how fear takes hold of a person even before the evil or

tragedy they even expect happens.


Fear just needs a little prelude to manifest, and I call this a “received

thought” The biblical Job's dreadful experience confirms that when he

said;

“What I always feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened

to me”. Job 3:25.

Thoughts are like balloons, when thrown at you and you don't pick it up,

it falls down, bursts or the wind blows it away but when the “thought”

balloon is caught by an individual, and he does not only pick it but fills it

with more air, then, he has received that thought. Fearful thoughts may

blow as winds daily but cultivate the habit of refusing them. Do not

catch them and nurse them. Have you thought about what could have

been different if Job's fearful thought was refused? Job 3:25

Fear puts in varied thoughts in a person that if one subscribes to, will

make one too weak to confront the situation. There are numerous

dangers of fear including the very important fact that we will live less of

God's promises if we keep being afraid. The Bible says in Hebrews 6:12

that "we do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who

through faith and patience inherit what has been promised”

Rather than magnifying fear, we should magnify faith instead. Fear


only has a place to reside in the mind, heart and thought of the ignorant.

People who do not know and do not bother to know the power lying

inside of them to resist fear when it comes, but praise God, we are no

longer bound by fear or the ignorance that causes fear. The bible says,

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those

living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2.

There is a light that has shone to drive out the fears that have hidden in

us for so long and that light is the word. That word spoken about in John

1:1 which was referred to as “God” is the light I speak about. So, from

now on watch as you gain a foothold on “faith heels” through this word.

My experience.

th28 November 2008

It was a Friday morning and Biology was the first course we had on

High School grade 5 time table from 7:20am-8:00am. Biology was

taught by Mr. Lagan who was always very prompt to class and also

scholarly in his field, this made his classes somewhat exciting for us.

Our hopes were dashed on this Friday morning when the highly

anticipated class seemed like it was taking a decade to commence. We


had waited for almost an hour but he wasn't forthcoming, with anxiety

and dissatisfaction in most faces, we sought to find out what was going

on. I mean, the atmosphere was dreary, gloomy faces, unsure winks all

around just like we have it at times of crises and disasters.

To comfortably sit our doubts, not many teachers resumed work that

morning. The time for breakfast was hurried, the bell rang! “Ok, there's

got to be so much more about these abnormalities”, we thought. Then as

I always do and everyone who knew how to “check peace” did, I

checked the skies to see if it was smoky and it was!

Since I grew in the north of Nigeria (Kaduna state) and schooled for a

good number of years in Jos, plateau State, also in the north, my

childhood and growing up was somewhat characterized by fear of

death, killings, burnings, and crises. I had a template as a ready guard to

flee at the appearance of any worrying outlook. Well, that was not

unwise but wise as a matter of fact. But it built fear inside of me. My

heart will skip at any loud sound then, it will race so fast when I see

smoke anywhere and these shaped me in entirety.

So, we were worried and thinking, as we proceeded to the dining hall,

we noticed that the whistles blown usually by the school prefects to


alert the students for school activities were not blown. Suddenly, we

saw traders, university students (the university close by) and the

villagers running in one direction. The thread of smoke around now

gave us a clearer understanding of what was going on. From house to

house, the smokes climbed and now reached towards us. I was a boarder

and my home was many miles away from school, my sister had just left

the boarding school barely a year before this so I knew I was all alone.

Seeing the sights of human butchers and heard stories, everyone's mind

was either racing or not at peace

Well, we got to the dining hall, it was bread, egg and tea we had in the

boarding house on Friday mornings but my heart raced too fast to think

of eating any meal. We all peered from the windows and through the

fence to see what was going on outside, the crowd running just outside

the gate and the sight of the growing tenseness of the panic made us seek

escape to save our lives and just when the students were about to run

out, our Principal barged into the old dining hall door and said these

words “fear not! Because God is on the throne” and to comfort

ourselves, we started singing. He lead in two songs (2) Christian power

songs, which were “oh Lord come down and manifest your power” and


the old Christian song “no matter what the devil says, I shall

stand” and you know in such overwrought situations, the words of the

songs jump right out the mouth before the supposed line is sang and you

really don't know if you are tearful, joyful or fearful, all you do is shake

your head and sing.

Fear, uncertainty, and panic like a flood in most hearts looking through

the window and planning the run out just in case what one feared

happens. We were then told to go back to our dormitories and lock the

dormitory doors and our room doors. When we went in, it was pin drop

silence, like a grave yard. The prefects did not need to come round to tell

us to be quiet as they did usually; we were our own prefects, keeping

silent on our own. We lived those days in fear, sounds of gunshots woke

us up when we tried to sleep, and we would say stories to ourselves to

ease the fear till morning.

News upon news, panic upon panic and the school sheltered some

people who had lost their homes due to the destruction of their houses

by the rioters and we shared our meals with them. These meals that were

normally really little was now shared; most of us starved a lot through

that period because aside the already halved food, our seniors came


earlier to eat the food on our tables.

All the while we were locked up in school; we seldom knew that there

was 24 hours curfew imposed by the government in the state after a day

or two of the crises. Those who had “faith”, had it through and thrived to

keep it strong but those who did not, feared the days through but

assuredly those who had faith wouldn't have amounted to 3% of the

population in school then. Well, the curfew was relapsed and we were

told to call our parents to pick us from school. Mine was a different case,

my mates got the news as a happy one, but mine was a sad one. There

was no way my parents could come and pick me because I stayed miles

away from where I schooled. So, sadly I concluded that I will stay in

the empty school after the only friend I hoped will let me stay at her

house told me that she also did not know where she was going to,

though she left anyway. Just when I gave up, a classmate asked me to

follow her home; that was a great relief to me. I got there and stayed

with her till the state was relatively peaceful, and then I left for home.

A documented experience though not in full details of one of the events

where I didn't only dine with fear but was an embodiment of fear and

fear was future for me if it wasn't checked.


Fear is simply a trap it is not as strong as it poses to be

For so many years, I tried to overcome fear through many means but all

efforts I tried were futile. The founded truth is that there's no successful

battle against fear less of the word of God. I have concluded this way

because what we hold dear to fight fear often lets us down. Friends will

fail, relationships will do same, self-pity will make it worse, and

thoughts will feed it, except those that have a foundation on the word of

God. The bible says in Exodus 20:2-3 “I am the Lord your God who

brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no

other god before me.”

The more we try to seek help from other places, the more they fail

because the Lord will not permit us to have any god before Him.

Everything we ask God for has already been provided for through the

cross of Jesus. If we need anything at any point in time in our lives, we

have to look back to the cross to gain it.

Furthermore, Exodus 20:2-3 as indicated earlier, makes us understand

that God has 'brought us' not 'He is bringing us' but He has brought us

out of slavery such as fear and if we need any help handling fear, we

should look to the Lord God who has brought us out of such slavery and


not to any other god.

Other than the word of God, nothing.

There is no successful maneuver of the word of God to fight fear.

Praying definitely casts out fear but have you tried praying and fear still

stands bold and stares at you and it's almost like fear is saying

“LOL”(laugh out loud)? And you say, “am I not praying?”, “What am I

doing wrong?” But how to face fear is not by praying in fear but it is to

speak the word of God to God and to the situation while the enemy is

listening. I have realized that the kind of prayer we pray reveals either

our level of faith or fear. Let's go by an illustration;


Faith

Fear


Which of these kinds of prayer do you think will be more effective? Oh

yes, I hear you say “the prayer of faith”. Why the faith prayers will

always work is the substance that comes with the word of God, and that

is life. That life brings life to dead situations, that life is God himself

through His word, it calleth things that be not as though they were

(Romans 4:16-17).

The difference is that God is being reminded of his word (not that he

Faith prayer

Father, I believe in your word

that says, if you delivered my

soul from death, you will

deliver my feet from falling(Ps

56:13)

Lord, I believe in your word that

says, The Lord shall teach thee

the way he shall choose. (Ps

32:8) Be it unto me according to

your word.

Fear prayer

Father, please do not let me

fall by the way side.

Lord, I don't want to make

mistakes, please help me.

forgot but he wants to see your level of faith, believe in the word and

trust in him), your spirit finds peace and the devil is being defeated.

I did not know such a great weapon of warfare against fear that I had and

hadn't used until I was in desperate need for a solution in the heat of

some experiences I had to face.

When you use a word of God directly to counter fear in faith (strong and

steadfast believe that the word works), it will neutralize every fear

concerning that issue. You will absolutely feel like turning back time to

give a lash or two on all the fears that made you shrink in torment from

your past.

What is fear?

Fear is torment. Fear is slavery. Fear is the anticipated feeling of bad

experiences. It may be injustice, harm, damage, sin and more. Fear is an

unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of

danger. Fear can be likened to trepidation, anxiety, dread, panic and so

on. I call these more subtle ways to describe fear but all are still forms of

fear.

Fear is a limit point. This obviously contradicts one of God's nature


which is 'limitless', and another called 'untamable'. Nothing limits like

fear. There is a whole world of ability and potentials invested in and on

each and every one of God's people, but fear hampers the ability to

maximize these potentials inside of us. Yet, God has given us this same

ability to be limitless in what we do, “we are like Him”, we possess also

his attributes but fear limits us and often times seeks

to box our dreams, purpose and abilities.

Fear is an illegal entity that often finds its way through the entrance

point of our hearts. If housed or accommodated, creates thoughts of

inadequacy, disability, weakness, failure, deficiency and insufficiency.

Guard your heart with all diligence for out of this comes the issues of

life. Proverbs 4:23

The only gateway for things to happen or not to happen is in our heart. If

the entrance point of our heart has a weak guard that is not strong

enough to fight or resist thoughts of fear, the chances are that we will

house fear. An imaginary picture of this will be a mansion with

valuable, exceptional, and priceless treasures with no form of security,

no barb wires, no dogs, no security men and at most just a gate with a

sleeping guard man.


In the same light, God has given us valuable, exceptional and priceless

treasures for our lives and God so good has also entrusted us with the

responsibility to guard these valuable, exceptional and priceless

treasures and if you or me, the guard man is always asleep, fear will gain

a pass into our heart of treasures. But if we are always alert with the

word of God both in our mouth and in our spirit, we will guard our

hearts from all forms of fear.

What is faith?

Faith is the assurance that what you will declare or have declared will

break every thought of fear or limits caused by fear and give you what

you hope for. Faith is the ability to go against the tide of fear using the

word of God. It is the currency to obtain God's promises. The bible

defines faith as the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about

what we do not see and the amplified bible puts it thus; “leaning on the

entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in

His power, wisdom, and goodness.”

It has been said that faith is not necessarily the absence of fear at any

given time of our lives, but it is the presence of courage to confront and


face fear. This means that situations will come to try to make us afraid

but we will be victorious if we stand bold as strong guard men to our

hearts and declare God's word to those situations and fear will be

defeated.

The key to our rest

There is rest from our worries, troubles, and fears on earth and the key

that opens this rest place is faith.

THEREFORE, WHILE the promise of entering His rest still holds and is

offered [today], let us be afraid [to distrust it], lest any of you should

think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it. Heb

4:1(amplified bible)

The word in Hebrews 4:1 is actually a warning to us all that we should

not be afraid and then distrust this promise of rest for if we do, just like

the Israelites, the word of promise, knowledge we have received will be

of no benefit to us(chapter 4)

To straighten this up, faith and believe are two different things. Faith

does not “try to get” or “believes to get.” Faith takes hold of what in

actual has not been seen or felt, as though it is seen or felt.


What do you expect?

Both definitions of faith and fear have something in common which is

the word “expectation”. It is used in the definition of fear as

“anticipation”, while in faith; it is the word “hope”. Faith is a product of

what you believe in, while fear is the product of what you anticipate.

Both are expectant of something. What do you expect? Faith or fear?

Prayer: “Father, increase in me the zeal to study your word, open my

eyes to behold revelations that will crumble every fear in my life.” In

Jesus name. Amen


CHAPTER ONE

FAITH HEELS POINTS

v When you use a word of God directly to counter fear in faith (strong

and steadfast believe that the word works), it will neutralize every fear

concerning that issue you just encountered.

v God has given us valuable, exceptional and priceless treasures for our

lives and God so good has also entrusted us with the responsibility to

guard these treasures, are you a strong guard or a sleeping guard?

v Nothing limits like fear. There is a whole world of abilities and

potentials invested in and on each and every one of God's people but

fear hampers the ability to maximize the potential inside of us.


How Did Fear Get In?

C H A P T E R

02

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine

power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty

opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought

captive to obey Christ

2 Cor 10:4-5

y this passage we can also identify 4 (four) things the

devil uses to deposit fear in us. They are strongholds, Barguments, opinions and thoughts.

1. Strongholds

The word stronghold has diverse definitions but what applies here is

that which says a stronghold is an area where most people have the same

belief system, values, and expectations. The word that comes to mind

when I hear the word stronghold is the word “norm” which is a standard

pattern of behavior that is considered as normal. They are also past

happenings or events that recur, they are things that have happened and

keep happening and they have a way of shaping a person's belief and

soon become strongholds.

Some examples of statements that suggest a stronghold are;

Ÿ 50 percent of marriages are likely to end up in divorce”,

Ÿ They have said “cancer killed my grandparents and the generations

before them died of it”, am I far from that?

Ÿ “one has to compromise just a little to the standard of the world to

be loved and be accepted”,

Ÿ “my cousins all got pregnant out of wedlock, I'm not far from that”,

Ÿ “my family members dropped out of school and are all living in

abject poverty, I certainly will not escape that”,

Ÿ “I might just end up like my father, living other people's dreams and

never mine” and the list goes on and on.

Strongholds have a way of grouping thoughts in patterns that suddenly,

one just gets afraid of some certain things and then allows opportunities

36 | How Did Fear Get In?

to pass by because of the fore-thought that he/she will end up just the

way others did. Something I realized about strongholds is that they

might not be so bold in a person's thoughts, they could be so subtle that

you hardly realize that they are there, you just for no reason exempt

yourself from some activities or have “natural” fear for some things, not

trying at all or being complacent in handling some issues for fear of

what has happened in the past. This is very rampant in the issue of

marriage.

A refuge!

Another point we should note about a stronghold is that it is like a refuge

place. This might seem positive but it is not, using this context. Refuge

is like a covering for rest and one does not want to get out of this rest so,

he or she “rests” in the stories or beliefs that has been told from the past.

People who have these strongholds shrink into shells and boxes that

these strongholds have created, therefore agrees with the norm.

Strongholds make people stay back and hold back what they have

because they do not believe that what they have is good enough. Words

like this are always heard from people, who have preferred to stay in

this kind of 'refuge',


Ÿ “I rather rest here and not try at all, what if I fail?”

Ÿ “What if what they said happened to those who went ahead of me

happens to me?” I rather stay safe in my comfort zone.

Ÿ “What if my bad experiences of the past recur?” it is sure safe not to

even try.

Meanwhile the word of God says “the weapons are divine power to cast

down any stronghold that raises itself above the knowledge of God”.

Strongholds are to be cast down especially when they do not correlate

with the word of truth.

2 Corinthians 10:5(NASB) says, “We are destroying speculations and

every lofty thing risen against the knowledge of God, and we are taking

every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

I struggled with strongholds at some points in my life. At a time, it was

the stronghold of which I thought that if I hadn't as much as others; I

shouldn't even venture trying to think I was somebody or anybody at all.

This was because I saw that the people who were accepted had material

things I didn't have, so, I looked down on myself. Then, I did not know

exactly how those ideas got into me, I just felt I needed to be somebody


else to gain acceptance or have the things people have to gain little

confidence. I thought that I had to act some way, dress someway and

speak in some certain ways that was totally not me just to be accepted

and loved.

Later on, I got to understand that it was due to my 'earthly' background

that I thought that way, and certainly not my heavenly father's because

rather, the word of truth says I am now a joint heir with Christ, cut off

from every 'earthly' background or nurturing to Christ's. The bible says,

Hearken, my beloved children, did not God choose them that are poor

as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he

promised to them that love him? James 2:5

I did not know this and everything I felt like fear, inferiority complex,

non-acceptance, I blamed to my background. Such a background that

did not give us so much exposure, inferiority complex caused by lack of

some material things which others had and we hadn't, a childhood of

non-acceptance because of how much I weighed and looked and a war-

like environment.

This is totally an ungodly conception I had, because the bible clearly

states in 1 Peter 2:9 that we are a chosen generation, a royal


priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar (special, God's special

possession, distinct, rare kind, inimitable) people; that ye should show

forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his

marvelous light. Oh how ignorance makes a light condescend to

darkness to have a fellowship with it!

As I looked daily into the word of God, I began to see the reflection of

who I am in Christ. So I started working to change what was in me that I

needed to change. I had to take every thought captive to the obedience

of Christ day by day and little by little. Some character traits that were

not right were low self-esteem, looks, decency, and lack of knowledge

which was exchanged with knowledge and increased faith. I began to

know that I was to prosper in godliness, health, looks, and other spheres

of life. .

I did not know what I had inside, that I was royal, I did not know what

gifts God had put in me and I also did not know that I was God's own

special possession to be kept as though God were living in the inside of

me. Meanwhile, I went all around with the fear that I won't be accepted.

But since the light of the word of God shone to me, I became aware of

the bountiful riches of God's gifts bestowed on me. I appreciated myself


and knew I was royal, that I didn't have the best clothes did not mean I

was not rich with inexplicable blessings, I knew that I was defined by

what was inside of me and beautiful because I am created in his image.

v

What you have or don't have does not define you, what defines you

is the knowledge of who you are in the word of God

v

I had a challenge while growing because I was really fat in primary

school and for that, I had a very low self-esteem, I really didn't have

many friends, just those that also had the acceptance problem could

really hang out with me and few others. When my mates played games

and wanted to choose their players, I was often the last to be chosen and

I was among those who were selected to leave groups because of low

performance and maybe because 'I was not as smart and fast as the

others'. I was side-lined in numerous things.

All these shaped my thoughts in a particular way that made me feel

unaccepted and I unconsciously and gradually did not just like to get

involved in school activities. The few times I tried, I was bounced back,


the only thing I successfully joined the others to do was to go on one

French competition after so much plea. I was kicked out from the cadet

club, dance and sometimes, I was kept to perform at the back of my

mates to show that at least I was not kicked out totally.

This went on and on but little did I know that these occurrences

were forming strongholds in my mind that even when I got really

slim after boarding school, I still had a low self-esteem. This

illustration does not look like what Christ came to earth to die for;

He came that I should have life and live life abundantly, not living

less of the life He died for me to have. Strongholds are to be torn

down by the word of God.

v

Don't live less of the life Jesus Christ died for you to have because

of fear.

v

2. Arguments

This is a discussion in which people express different opinions about

something. What are your thoughts implying that are not in line with the


word of God? What are your dreams suggesting to you that do not

concur with the word of God? What are the situations around you

advocating that is different from the word?

I remember a time I was searching through the scriptures and God gave

me a word which I was running with for a period of time. These

scriptures are in Isaiah 65 and 66 and I had the scriptures in my head so

well, though I did not know for what situations exactly I had them for, I

just declared them. Most times, God gives us some scriptures to face

some trials beforehand so that we can be victorious with the word. So,

all I did was to proclaim it and with time, the word sank into my spirit.

Little did I know that situations and trials will come soonest to argue out

those scriptures.

Each of those scriptures were being tried one after the other by

arguments and it was as if God was trying me to know if I could stand

trials with those scriptures he had given me or let them go and give into

fear. Psalms 26:2 says, test me Lord and try me, examine my heart and

my mind. So, this was one of those tests.


v

Hold firm to the scriptures for they will keep you firm in the face of

fear.

v

On one bright afternoon, I was studying the word and suddenly a flash

came before my eyes of a scenario where my dad was dying slowly and

an instruction came to me that the particular scripture I was reading, I

was to speak it to my dad to fight the devil and he will live again. I

waved the thought, rejected it and just prayed that my dad won't die.

That same night, my dad fell very ill and even to the point of death, the

scene was a terrible one. I haven't experienced death of a family

member so it was terrific and I almost gave into what my eyes were

seeing, how my dad was slowly decreasing in strength and falling out of

his grip on the cup he held.

The Lord reminded me of the instruction he gave me that same

afternoon like a quick flash and I began to declare;

“No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old

man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a

hundred years old”


“For as the days of the tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen

one will enjoy the works of their hand” Isaiah 65:20,22 (N I V)

And it seemed like a tussle between the sight of it and what the word of

God was saying and soon he got back strength and was taken to the

clinic that night and today he is restored to health.

Another trial on the word came when I had a dream and this was the

time when we lived in a place that was only safe because the word of

God said in the scriptures that “my people shall live in safety and

undisturbed places of rest” but in the 'actual', what the eyes could see

did not exactly depict safety because we had been robbed severally and

disturbed but this did not alter the promise but a training ground to

strengthen my faith.

I had a dream that some persons were shot dead in my neighborhood

and a family member of mine was one. There was turmoil and

confusion on our street. Then I woke up, the dream seemed real. I didn't

know if I was to call my mum to join me in prayers or stay put. I was so

troubled then I went to her and saw that she had just got done with her

prayers and was sleeping peacefully in the sitting room and I didn't want

to wake her up. This was a time God was teaching me how to fight


battles by the word of God and alone. So, I went back to my room and

that was when the bulb thought it was best to black out. Then I thought

to myself “today you just have to fight this”, and then I began praying

from past 2:00am at night, I took hold of the scriptures and that was one

forceful prayer I've ever had. I prayed using the word then I went back

to sleep and I had another dream. The dream had no choice but to

reverse itself. I dreamt the exact opposite of what I had dreamt of

before.

This is because by the leading of spirit of God to his word, I fought

with the thought I had from that dream that there will be death,

weeping and wailing but Isaiah 65:19-20

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the

sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never

again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days or an old

man who does not live out his years and one who dies at a hundred

will be thought a mere child”

The devil had no choice than to reverse the dream and I had victory.

Yet another trial came and these where characterized by series of battles

we had to fight as a family, in health, security, finances and they were


just numerous. This was me who always told people “I can't remember

the last time I went to the hospital for any health issue or taken

injection” but all of a sudden, I fell very ill and had to be taken to the

hospital every day. I even had to stop writing this book. Truthfully, I

almost thought I was being played in my believe in God because these

situations came at once like a mighty flood, the pain every day, the

news, I had to battle with my health and I thought it was over. At a time I

started seeing all the negative things in our lives ever since I was born. I

had no idea of the good things anymore. I simply forgot them because I

was overwhelmed by the immediate situations. It is usually at this point

that the devil magnifies the trials of 3weeks to make you feel like it's

been on for 30 years just to kill your faith.

v

The Devil magnifies a trial of 3 weeks to make you feel like it's

been on for 30 years just to make you lose faith

v

The devil makes a molehill seem like a mountain but God makes a

mountain a molehill. I was reproved by God for lacking faith in the

things I faced and soon enough, I started looking unto God and


suddenly, I began to remember the awesome things God had done for us

in the past and even started seeing the good in the present situation. God

has been so good to us and we as a family have for long been enjoying

good health and did not realize it. Just as Job said, shall we accept good

from God and not trouble? This gave me an understanding that we

should trust God in both good and in bad times.

The Lord made me remember the scripture which this situation was

arguing, “Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery? Says

the Lord. Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? Says our

God”

And I realized that the Lord will not forsake us in our pain and that in

due season there will be manifestation and step by step, day by day, little

by little we would come out of our struggles.

Through this scripture, I also know that Nigeria will manifest soon

because all the heart aches and pain are all birth pains and the Lord will

bring us to delivery and manifestation.

3. Opinions

An opinion is a view someone takes about an issue especially when it's


based on personal knowledge. It's a belief stronger than an impression

and less strong than positive knowledge. From the foregoing, we can

see that an opinion is merely a suggestion or perception and it is not

necessarily a fact or the truth concerning an issue. And the only fact that

we believe in is God's report. It reminds me of the song, “Whose report

shall you believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord”.

Some people may call you names but whose report shall you believe?

Some may tie you to your past by telling you that you can't get any better

but whose report do you believe? I don't know about you, but I will

believe the report of the Lord and his report says that his blood has

washed my sins away, that I am a new creature , I am free from

condemnation, no more chains holding me, by his stripes I am healed!

No opinion can set itself higher than the word of God when you speak

and believe the word of God. The bible says;

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two

edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,

and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and

intents of the heart” Hebrews 4:12. Just speak the word.



4. Thoughts

Thoughts are powerful. They have the power to become, to “take form”

and they also have the power to destroy/scatter. For as a man thinketh in

his heart, so is he. What is in your heart corresponds with what you are,

what you see, what you will become and what you will see. You can

control only one thing in the world and that is the way you think,

however, when you take complete control of your thoughts, you take

control over all the other aspects of your life. This means that thoughts

can be controlled and should be controlled.

I once assumed that thoughts were just meant to be and as they come,

they were to be agreed with whether they were bad or good. But that is a

wrong mindset. Thoughts are to be controlled by destroying any one

that does not agree with the word of God. This is achieved when you

speak the word of God.

Controlling our thoughts is a responsibility

If one ever wants to control thoughts, then one needs to be disciplined. I

define discipline as a conscious continuous commitment to begin or end

something which could be in character, habits or anything that needs to

be changed. So we have to continuously and consciously manage and

control thoughts. Persons, who happen to be like I was, thinking

thoughts were free-born and should be let free, will have to control

thoughts committedly using the word of God to counter any thought

that brings fear or disagrees with the word of God.

Knowledge of God

One day, a centurion decided that if it is so easy to get a job done by

commanding one of his soldiers, it will be much easier to get a miracle

just by a word from God. At this point, one may be wondering, “how do

I get this faith already”? But by this scripture, we know that faith comes

by knowing, believing and speaking the word of God.

The perfect neutralizer to fear is the knowledge, believe and declaration

of the word of God. Just one word you hold on to can totally crush

arguments, opinions and thoughts. But ignorance (not knowing

scriptures and believing in it) can make fear dominate one's mind. How

many times do we sit and humble ourselves before God to seek his face

concerning certain issues that put fear in us? No matter how busy we get

if the time for business is taking away the time for the word of God, we


should try our best to find time because we are only defeated by fear

because we don't know the word and believe it.

This isn't about going to church yet, there is a place for that but this is

about your personal study and fellowship with God. The church teaches

you how to study but the church cannot come to create time for us to

study; we have to figure our bible study lives ourselves. Most scriptures

I have used to fight the enemy, I found in my personal bible study even if

I was caught many times before that. In that same Isaiah that the Lord

used to fight my battles mentioned in the last chapter, the scripture that

struck me the most is Isaiah 66:2 which says,

These are the ones I look on with favor; those who are humble and

contrite in spirit and tremble at my word.

Humility means submission. Some of us will simply not study because

we think the answer to our problem is common sense but most times

even with common sense, what we fear happens to us and we are

swallowed up by fear. Sometimes, we also think we have experienced a

lot so we will use the lessons learnt from past experiences to avert our

fears but that also does not work out all the time.

I made series of mistakes when came to relationships. I thought I had


experienced a lot and I knew what it took to have a better one. I kept

moving from one to the other, getting hurt, disrespected and even

dumped but until I submitted to word of God, I had no victory over my

fears. Even when I found God and submitted, I still thought that it was

logical to date in the church so I had another in the church and that

caused me more hurt and didn't also work out. That was when I realized

that total submission to be taught by God, instructed and directed by

him daily in humility is wise and beneficial not 'common sense' as we

call it.

Have you submitted to hearing the word of God? Do you have a contrite

spirit? A contrite spirit has to do with a repentant spirit, a heart of a child.

It is not also all about submitting to God but also obedience to him.

You may sacrifice all you want, speak in tongues, be a hearty servant of

God but do you have a contrite spirit? I never knew I had a problem with

submission until I had to surrender all I had (that he gave me), all my

earthly wisdom (foolishness to God) and pleasures (time wasting) to

God. I pray that as I increase in knowledge daily through the word, I

may also increase in submission to God. The bible puts it like this,


"He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices

a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a grain

offering, like one who offers pig's blood; he who makes a memorial

offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.

These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their

abominations; I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring

their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I

spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and

chose that in which I did not delight." Isa 66:3-4

This is simply why peoples fear will keep coming to them, and this is

not what God delights in, but it is a way to correct us and put us back in

the right direction. It is for our own good, what does God have to gain

punishing those he loves? If only we knew how powerful we are with

the word of God, we will thank him for the situations he makes us pass

through to drive us to the word of God. But we sometimes prefer our

own way, our timing, our own place, our choice, in our terms, wisdom

and this is what the Lord terms as offerings and sacrifices, our own

subtle and clever ways of bypassing his will for us.


For emphasis, I say this yet again because the devil knows how

powerful you and I will be proclaiming the word of God when he

throws fear at us, so he never lets us get a stress less hold of the word of

God. Isn't it funny when you are about to study, the red beep light on

your phone comes on? PING!!! MESSAGE-“Hey dear, I need advice;

my uncle just lost his wife. Do I travel to see him? And remember the

devil is subtle so he can't be detected as fast as one might think, and you

think to yourself “I'm doing God's work, let me quickly answer her and

get back. Before you know it, other messages come to your phone and

the adviser is advising and 9pm comes and you say “oh my God I did it

again, so sleepy, tomorrow I'll wake early and you know the rest.

It is after a long while one realizes that things get at you, you get

overwhelmed by issues you ordinarily(with the word) will get past, you

get sad easily when things happen and you look back and remember that

your bible study life had a problem somewhere. Like I said, the devil is

subtle, I'm not saying that it is wrong to give an advice to someone who

needs it, but the time and nature is to be checked. You wouldn't have

seen those messages if your phone was on silent or if you have a fixed

time for bible study. The bible says be wise as serpents this is so we do


not get ensnared by the devil. We ought to have spiritual priorities to

know what ought to come first.

Prayer

Father, give me your Spirit of Wisdom and revelation to guide me

through life, to reveal to me the exact words to cast down any

stronghold, thoughts, argument, or opinion that exalts itself higher than

you in my life. In Jesus name. Amen


CHAPTER TWO

FAITH HEELS POINTS

v

suddenly, one just finds himself/herself afraid of some certain

things

v What you have or don't have does not define you, what defines

you is the knowledge of who you are in the word of God.

v Don't live less of the life Jesus Christ died for you to have because

of fear.

v God gives us some scriptures to face some trials beforehand so

that we can be victorious with the word.

v The Devil magnifies a trial of 3 weeks to make you feel like it's

been on for 30 years to make you lose faith

v Strongholds make people stay back and hold back what they have

because they do not believe that what they have is good enough.

Strongholds have a way of grouping thoughts in patterns that



My Experience, My Life

C H A P T E R

03

“No one can be too careful, no security can be 100 percent trusted

until you place your life and valuables in the hands of God”

he instant you magnify your courage whether in time past

or the present, you start to draw strength from the inside of Tyou. But I'll share how I started the journey of learning

courage and faith. Before the faith stories, I'll share the fears I once had.

Crises, bombs and uncertainty

The environment I grew up in wasn't exactly a tranquil one. If you live

in the northern part of Nigeria, you will assuredly understand the fear

that envelopes those that live here and the uncertainty that is all over the

air. Running helter-skelter during times of crises and war-like situations

is part of my experience too.

In the north, one is so vigilant trying to watch if the roads have as much

people driving by or walking pass as the other days, checking the skies

(the daily routine check) before one moves lest you meet a surprise on

the way because the news might not pick up the crises update before you

do. I had an experience or two were we had to walk on the road seeing

dead bodies after crises and was hurried out of school for the same

reason severally.

The environment had a way of boxing us into a particular type of

lifestyle. The fear lifestyle and if one is not careful, one will have a

whole life patterned by fear.

One was always on guard to take to the heels as soon as you hear “they

have started oo”, or “sharia ya zo” (in Hausa language which means

“the fight has started”). Sometimes it didn't even matter what the person

meant, as far as he/she said “they have started oo”, you'll take to your

heels. That's how “alert” we are in the north.

There were times we had to travel to the south and wait for the cool of

the state before we came back and we kept coming back. I know at this

point, people may ask, “what are they still doing there?” Southerners by

origin, living in the north

60 | My Experience, My Life

At this point, I was young, about 6 years old or younger. I hadn't known

much of the word of God but my mum always told us to spread out our

five fingers and she'll say each finger represented I WILL NEVER

LEAVE YOU. I guess she got that from the scripture Deuteronomy31:8

which says,

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave

you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

She bought many spiritual books to train us up in the way of the Lord.

My mum did all she could to grow us up in a godly way.

Once, after taking refuge in the south during a crises period, we got back

to the north and we finally moved to a manageable place when the state

was building up its ruins. Then the need to further our education arose,

and Jos, Plateau state was the best option then because it was a peaceful

northern state.

My dad, having this knowledge, including the fact that the school was a

Baptist High school (his Christian alma mater), decided to send my

sister and I to school there but after few years, crises started in the most

'peaceful' northern state. Panic arose yet again when I was almost done

with school. The little story at the beginning of this book was one of my


experiences that I documented during the crises in the year 2008.

Being worn out by the Series of crises and killings, my heart was fixed

on schooling somewhere in the south of Nigeria which did not have

such crises issues. So, gaining admission into the University that was in

the south of Nigeria, Benin City to be precise, was a breakthrough for

me because I no longer had to put up with the security issues in the

north.

Back in the north, there were still threats to bomb the places my parents

worked, offices and schools. I always wondered in my heart if we

weren't serving God good enough, or if we weren't in God's will but

these experiences taught me that we will have some stormy days as

Christians, no matter how far we choose to run but the joy we have is

that our safety in all these is guaranteed. The bible says

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him

out of them all.”

Ps 34:19

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the

rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you

shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2


This implies that someday, sometime troubles will come but they are

not to overwhelm us but to show that we indeed have a savior who is

mighty to save. Thus we learn the lesson of faith, absolute trust and

confidence in God.

Christianity is not an escape route from troubles. People have left the

faith because some teachings have made them believe that it's a taboo to

face trials and people who don't really know the word are made to

believe this and in little time they get frustrated and term Christianity as

bogus or false but we know that “For everyone who has been born of

God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the

world— even our faith”. 1John 5:4

v

Christianity is not an escape route from troubles. But the troubles

are not to overwhelm us, they are to make us stronger

v

Troubles are not to be feared they are to strengthen your faith.

Sharing the house with robbers

It took another level of faith to live where we stayed. Even though I


successfully “ran” from the north, I still had no choice but to get back

there after school because my parents still lived there. And my parents

successfully “ran” from the city area, far from the town where the

bombers found crowded locations to let the bombs off and crises started

from. Yet! And Yet!, the new house we stayed was another training

ground to deal with fear.

We lived in a house joined with a neighbor whose house was filled with

cultists, drug addicts, thieves, smokers, and the street was filled with all

kinds of people. We were robbed several times and your guess is as

good as mine as to the group of people who do the robbery. It got so bad

that in a year, we were robbed twice and a third attempt. This taught me

that until we have learned the lessons and gotten a complete knowledge

of what God is training us to see, we will keep going through the tests.

And I still believe that trials are not there to kill you but are there to do

five major things to us;

1. Strengthen your faith.

2. Know that God is mighty to save in any situation and trust to him

knowing this.

3. To deepen our relationship with God.


4. To have a testimony to heal others.

5. To gain steadfastness i.e. when we see worst things; they are not

strong enough to fail our faith.

James said to the twelve tribes,

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and

complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

Walking on water

Had I not faced this fears and trials, I wouldn't have known what it

meant to have faith in God and even discovered my purpose on a clear

platform. Remember the story of peter walking on water? And when he

looked at the waves of the sea and he began sinking? Matt 14:28-32. I

never knew I was also on water in the midst of these trials. I realized that

each time I sought God's face and waited on him concerning the

situation, I always had hope and I was joyful even in the midst.

Sometimes the word of God comes to me like water upon my heart and


I'll be so peaceful in the midst of it all, people that knew just a little about

us often asked how I was hopeful through it all but it is simply God's

word that sustained me.

I never felt like I had problems because God took them out of my mind

but when I looked at the situation (the water) and the sounds of the

neighbors screaming and injecting themselves with drugs and all, fear

often gripped my mind and thoughts of what if..? What if..? Kept

coming. We would creep in and out of the house when we going out and

stay quiet when we were in. We hid all electronics before we went out;

in short, we lived like prisoners in our house. We would stay indoors all

day and just hear the noises of birds and their rattling of sticks in the

trees and sometimes pay attention to what is being done in the next

house or any noise that suggested advances just in case we needed to

raise an alarm. Well I'm sure you'll ask questions like why couldn't they

call the police? But it seems like the police knew them more than we did

and nothing came out of their researches so we just let it be.

These situations made me stronger because I got to know how to pray,

how to energize my faith. But when I looked at the waves of the sea, I

sank. There was a time I almost sank in faith because I fixed my gaze on


the problems and not on God, and there was also a time I actually sank (I

gave up). The first time, the Lord by his mercies taught me how to

encourage myself through the scriptures and look beyond what I was

seeing and when I sought Gods face he gave me some scriptures like

Isaiah 12, especially verse 2..

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my defense, and he has become my

salvation." Isaiah 12:2

This scripture caused a major breakthrough in my life. I now came to

the realization that God is my salvation, my safety, in him was my

security and I needed not be afraid. He has become my strength and

defense which is both my security man and the strength I needed. I

became conscious of this fact that I was no longer moved by sounds the

neighbors made or threats they posed.

This is just like the example given in chapter one about a house that has

many valuables though has no security. The truth is that no one can be

too careful, no security can be 100 percent trusted until you entrust your

life and valuables in the hands of God. I did this and trusted God to be


my defense and not the earthly security measures we had put up and I

began to have peace.

Soon enough, God allowed a greater trial to know if I really understood

the previous message he gave me but sadly, I did but not deep enough to

stand in the midst of the new situation. The second time I looked at the

waves of the sea, I sank. The bible says, Search me, God and know my

heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalms 139:23. I just

thought that the issues became worse than the previous and got

overwhelmed by it. Meanwhile, God sought to make me know that this

word was not limited only to my security but also relating to all the other

issues of my life including health, finances, destiny and every other

thing.

God so wise tested me in a way I seldom expected. Aside the security

issues, I began to get angry and agitated that my family and I had to go

through all those situations even when we have served God, why we

had to live in a house that was constantly under attack. I thought and

thought why we hadn't the resources to move out and why we all had to

sleep with one eye open and why we had to live like prisoners. I got

overwhelmed and I just felt tired of it all, I struggled to have my


devotions, I was weak in my spirit and was not strong enough to resist.

And this is exactly the point where the devil always seeks to find us. He

is looking for just one moment when you will just be weak in faith; fear

is all the permission he needs.

I started entertaining all kinds of thoughts and instead of casting them

away, I nursed them. I had thoughts that after the 3 times of robbery that

something bad will happen to me or my sister who stayed home all day,

I mean hearing the sounds of these boys in the next house and knowing

what they did inside, every sound placed a fearful thought in my mind..

After these thoughts I tried to 'console' myself with some other thoughts

because I knew I was entertaining fear so I got rid of them with others

that really didn't please God. These new thoughts were not bad thoughts

as such but they were what I was made to understand later through the

word of God as “anxious thoughts”.

NOTE

We often times do not realize salient commands in the bible and we

sometimes focus on the big laws but when we read with understanding,

we will get to realize that the “put to death”, “put on” are commands as


well and are meant to be obeyed also.

v

He is looking for just one moment when you will just be weak; fear is

just the permission he needs to manifest.

v

I didn't stop reading the bible and praying though study and prayer time

was occupied by thoughts of the future, how I would work to ease my

parents from their struggles, get a better place to stay, how I'll work in a

company. I had literarily applied for all the scholarships in my mind and

in my thoughts, though I hadn't any valid certificates, I had gone for

interviews and rejected jobs that offered to pay me less than some

amounts and these were all in my thoughts which I used to console

myself. There were other thoughts I entertained all day that in reality I

was far from.

The devil does not come bad, if he comes in that way, we'll be able to

detect him. So he's poses as an angel of light.

I had some accidents while walking in the house because I was thinking.

Things slipped out my hands and if you asked me then what I was doing,

I'll tell you I was 'planning' and since everyone knew me as a serious


one, they never questioned my unserious thoughts. They didn't know.

v

No thought of consolation is reality, only thoughts from the word

of God is.

v

These thoughts went on and on and as the days went by, I became more

and more frustrated because I couldn't get the things I thought of all day.

Then another bomb dropped off and killed quite a number in the town

which made us panic again and then state government pronounced a

24hour curfew in the state and trust our brothers and sisters in the south

who always call to ask us if we are not tired of the north yet and make

statements like “won't you come back home?”, or they will say parables

like “if a side of a river does not produce fishes, fish on the other side”

and these statement always got us dad thinking.

I remembered the word

While trying to have faith, praying and also my eyes on the situation, I

stumbled upon my watch word for the season. Before I share the word,

let me quickly add this,


Guard your heart with all diligence for out of this comes the issues of

life. Proverbs 4:23.

Do away with those words, those films, those books, the news, those

blogs, those friends and all that bring fear to your heart because you will

be amazed to know how madly the devil runs after that one word that

will avert you from fear or error. He uses all these means to get into us.

The moment you give him a little chance through sin, being faint in faith

and in spirit, you'll be amazed that you can't remember such a popular

scripture as John 3:16.

The bible spoke about the seeds which fell on the thorns and Jesus said

the words were chocked by the worries of life.

Other seeds fell among thorns which grew and chocked the plants.

Matthew 13:7

And our Lord Jesus interprets it in chapter 32 as

The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear God's

word, but all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the worries of

life and the lure of wealth so no fruit is produced. Matt 13:32(NLT).

So, I forgot the watch word that was even once the lock screen message

on my phone. I once read this every day to myself but looking at the


situation, watching the news and having some wrong thoughts chocked

the word out of me. This word is found in Psalms;

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go and I will

counsel you with my loving eyes upon you. Psalms 32:8

I totally forgot this message and started making plans for myself and

daydreaming about them. When I found this word, I started proclaiming

it all over again and I began to have a burden in my heart. I knew I was

supposed to be doing something but I didn't know what exactly it was.

Following a wise counsel, I waited on the Lord and hung on the word

for He said He will guide me and He did and that was the birth of this

book. I was instructed to write what I've been through and this book will

heal a lot of people. This book started by healing me first because I felt

joy when I saw things happening and I'll say “I will include that in the

book” instead of being fearful about them.

Anxious thoughts

I was reminded of a scripture during a bible study “Do not be anxious

about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with

thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6



I finally saw where I had faltered, I realized that I had been having

anxious thoughts, going ahead of God's timing, getting frustrated

almost blaming my parents for all we've been through, thereby

displeasing God because I saw my strength, (which is obviously

nothing) not God's.

Many times the devil wanted to keep me on my knees to make me feel

like I had done the worst thing by letting myself give in to the situations,

(that's what he specializes in doing, he gives you a thought or action and

later accuses you of thinking about it or doing it) and so, I condemned

myself but it's not about how many times we fall, it's about picking our

pieces to start with God again. He will make it all better again because

that's what he specializes in. I urge you, do not hold back, let go of that

guilt, it's the devil's trick. Get back to God and let him give you peace

like a soothing relief.

v

Never subscribe to any thought or action the devil lures you to

have, because, he will later accuse you of it.

v

Lately, I have come to love the newness of starting again, I'm sure the

devil has gotten weary over trying to use falling to hold me down

because I know that God has made everything beautiful in its time and

this knowledge gives me so much joy and my heart is opened to receive

much more than I've ever had before. The latter is much greater than the

former. Not to say we should take pleasure in falling but if we fall, we

should have confidence that God will accept us and we'll be higher

soonest than we used to be both in knowledge and deeds.

v

It is not about how many times you fall, but it's about picking the

pieces to start with God again

v

Stay and learn

Nothing in this world is to be feared. It is only to be understood. This is a

great saying by Marie Curie. From this viewpoint, we can say that if we

only understood what God's will for us is par time, we will not fear the

terror or problems we see. We will know that God does not intend to

bring us evil but to bring us to an expected end. But how do we know we

are in his will? People are so anxious to know what God's will is and


God is even more concerned to show us but most times we search all the

wrong places to find it.

There is not a knowing of where you ought to be and your purpose aside

from He who made you. I was told of an experience of a pastor who had

gone to pray for a particular lady and her husband, and during the

meeting, the lady continuously and persuasively asked the pastor to tell

her what God had told him concerning her , the pastor ignored. After so

much persuasion, she said again that there is surely a word from God for

her, the pastor told her, “honestly ma, I have no word from God for you,

I just came to pray for you”. That is what some of us do, we just want to

know, at any cost and this leads some to false prophets, sweet talkers

that make one feel good about something that may never happen.

This pastor could simply have said something that he thought or

through perception or psychology uttered something that was

seemingly true but in actual sense, would be false. This may cause

unnecessary expectations, hopelessness, or engaging in the pursuit of

something unreal.

If you want to know Gods will, who you are and where you ought to be,

you look in the word of God and stay there. Many of us are so desperate


seeking people and making guesses of where we ought to be because we

have refused to humble ourselves to study. It seems pretty cumbersome

to study the word of God especially at the beginning but we all have to

start one day at a time to get an understanding of where we ought to be.

Most importantly, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. A routine is

necessary to keep one in check. Laziness is a trap and should be

corrected with discipline in other to study His word and be in fellowship

with Him.

Get a bible plan or draw one for yourself with discipline (continuous,

conscious effort), try to go by it and don't treat yourself too harshly

when you miss any day just try to pick it up quickly. Even a chapter a

day is okay as far as understanding and the Holy Spirit's leading is

involved. Don't be too anxious to reach the pace of someone else who

studies 4hours non-stop. Take a step at a time.

There was a time when I had some concerns. When I had an awesome

prayer time or bible study time, one subtle concern comes to my mind

“what if this good time you've spent with God does not continue

tomorrow”? And then I'll get worried. Then one day, it came like a flash

in my mind “the Lord's prayer”, the part of “give us this day our daily


bread” and the Lord began to ask me questions that made me realize that

it is not my making that I have a quality time in his presence and that He

is responsible to give me what I desire only if I abandon myself in his

arms and take a day at a time.

v

You will have the quality time you desire in your fellowship with God

only if you take a day at a time and abandon yourself in his arms daily.

v

You may have some challenges in bible study but master how to

overcome them in the unique way God deals with you and get used to it

because the word of God is the only place where you can find out who

you are and who you ought to be. The word of God is a reflection of who

we are. James 1:23-25

23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man

who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24. For he looks at

himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the

one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres,

being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in

his doing.


After praying, and doing all God wants us to do and situations don't

change, we should have the attitude of staying and learning. This is

going through the process with God.

Not every thorny path means one is not in God plan. This is because

when we know that we are in God's will, we are sure of his covering, we

know his intent towards us is good and not of evil.

There were times I felt like running away from the house we lived. I

would try to press my dad and mum to leave the location because of the

robbery but somehow, there wasn't the provision to leave. There was a

time when the situation got worse, mum went almost through the town

to search for a house but it was either the rent was too high to afford, too

small to contain us, or too exposed to crises effects and bad security.

I realized that it was simply Gods way of saying “stay and learn” I used

to get frustrated in the past saying “WHEN WILL THINGS

CHANGE”? But when people come with bigger situations for me to

counsel them, what comes out from my mouth borne from the spirit of

God, often amazes me and them as well. This is because in every

situation, when you seek the Lord, he heals you with a word and

reserves the experience for you to heal others. Often times, when you


speak, you never know how it got in your heart but it is through your

experiences it came.

I got a word

I came across a word in Jeremiah 30:10 and from chapter 17 through 24;

I was amazed at the word. The word indicated that God has promised

that “no one will make us afraid”. There was in me a witness that I had

found the answers I have been looking for and I have been on fears

knees just because I did not know the word.

Jacob will again have peace and security and no one will make him

afraid,10

*I will restore the fortunes of Jacobs's tents and have compassion on his

dwelling

The city will be rebuilt on her ruins and the palace will stand in its

proper place”18

In my heart I knew that I had a word in my spirit and I knew that nothing

will ever take this word from me because the devil is so crafty that he

first of all, he breaks down your defense by stealing the word of God

from you, then he sends fear but this was more than what the devil could


take, it was divine.

I did not even bother to get back to regain the word that I knew and had

in my storage for times like this, all I knew was that I had a new word

giving to me personally and it is stuck in my spirit. Sometimes

situations will come but how much word in your spirit determines how

firm you will stand, being confident of what God has promised you.

Our pastors will shout all they can to get the word in your spirit but

sometimes experiences must birth the word that can never be taken

from you. Nevertheless be on guard with the word to antidote the fear of

the enemy which is intended to cripple your faith.

v

Situations will come but how much word in your spirit determines

how firm you will stand, being confident of God has promised to you

v

Soon, the neighbors paraded round and their noises at night that

ordinarily got me worried and fearful couldn't even move me an inch. I

could see them on the road when they give me that stern look but I'll

look and be confident that God was with me and no one could make me

afraid. Meanwhile, this will get me down on fear's knees prior to this,


but I knew I had something that was rich and real and as far as I was

concerned, I now had a new revelation that the word of God which is

God had stepped into my spirit and as I moved, He moved. This word

went so far in me that the news of bombs did not shake me anymore, I

was made so steadfast, not moving or shaking at the sight and sound of

evil.

I declared seriously this scriptures, just one day of fervent prayers and

believe in this scripture “Jacob will again have peace and security and

no one will make him afraid,”. I prayed as though I was a violent man.

This day, I was left alone in the house and the lack of some needed

things at home got me praying like Hannah and in less than a week all

the boys in that house evacuated and we never heard of them again even

to the extent that I started worrying about them. No robbery, no

screams, we weed smell, no boys, their house became empty till date

and till now the house is habited by their uncle. Hallelujah!! What the

word of God can do.

My parents Tried for so many years to leave this city or move to a

better residential area but God did not let it, if we have moved, I'm

sure I won't be writing this book and maybe I wouldn't have known


God much . That's why I hold on to this scripture “For I know the

plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for

evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

If you know God's will par time for your life, you won't be struggling to

leave a situation or a place God wants you to be because you are

conscious of the fact that he wants to train you right there, where you

are. He will not take you to a place that he has not prepared you for. I

believe God has taken me through these experiences to build and

strengthen my faith and also you reading this book that is either living in

fear or uncertainty of various situations. This is to make you know that

the word works wonders if you just take hold of it.

When I started this book, some of those circumstances that were

illustrated were on including the theft but before I started writing, in

pain one day I asked God that before I finish this book, I wanted to have

a change in those situations and this particular victory over the

neighbors is the first testimony and there is more to come. The next

edition, the experiences will be continued. I thank Jesus Christ our

savior who is indeed mighty to save.


CHAPTER THREE

FAITH HEELS POINTS

v

troubles are not to overwhelm us, they are to make us stronger

v Troubles are not to be feared they are to strengthen your faith

v No one can be too careful, no security can be 100 percent trusted

until you place your life and valuables in the hands of God

v He is looking for just one moment when you will just be weak;

fear is just the permission he needs.

v Salient commands in the bible are to be obeyed also the “put to

death”, “put on” are commands as well and are meant to be obeyed

also.

v No thought of consolation is reality, only thoughts from the word

of God is.

Christianity is not an escape route from troubles. But the


v

avert you from fear or errors. Guard your heart

v Never subscribe to any thought or action the devil lures you to

have, because, he will later accuse you of it.

v There is not a knowing of where you ought to be and our purpose

aside from He who made you.

v You will have the quality time you desire in your fellowship with

God only if you take a day at a time and abandon yourself in his

arms daily.

v Sometimes situations will come but how much word in your spirit

determines how firm you will stand, being confident of what God

has promised to you.

v Fear is all the permission the enemy needs.

The devil runs tirelessly and madly after that one word that will



What Went In? - The 5 Points of Access

C H A P T E R

04

hen I was little, I can remember how I absolutely

wasn't afraid of the dark, in fact my elder ones never Wstroke a match stick so they would always pass the

match stick to me because they thought I was the bold one. I would do

some unimaginable things that children of my age were thoroughly

afraid to do and I took pride in that. I had big dreams that one won't

imagine, as I imagined them, I wanted to become them. There were no

limits, but overtime as I got exposed to knowledge of certain things, got

exposed to fearful situations, I changed.

I became scared of things, I got exposed to discouragement which made

me think that I couldn't become everything I dreamed of, I became

scared of the dark, I chickened out over things I formerly would have

been so bold to face. My mum always expressed her disappointment

when she said “what happened to you?” and with my head down I'll

answer sadly 'I don't know'. This was a child that had no iota of fear

inside of her. Something had happened that changed me. What

happened to me? What changed? The answer to that is SOMETHING

WENT IN.

I was told of things, saw things, felt things. I was told of stories of

strange happenings of the dark, saw death and the perils of the aftermath

of crises and understood what this harm could do. I withdrew quietly

because I was sidelined at some points and agreed that other people

were better than me.

Fear became the order of the day, for a girl whose name is Faith,

ironically.

This brings us to the 5 points of access. To break this down just a little

bit more, in primary school most children are taught about the five

senses which are the eye, ear, nose, mouth and skin. We can use that to

illustrate is the though they are not exactly same but in

this context, the nose will be likened to perception and the skin to

emotions.

These are access points or passages to things that will either cause fear

or build faith and the choice is ours to choose which we will consent to

5 points of access

88 | What Went In? - The 5 Points of Access


THE EYE MOVIES SITUATIONS

THE EAR MUSIC NEWS

THE MOUTH DECLARATIONS TALK

OUREMOTIONS FEAR FEELINGS

OURPERCEPTION EXPERIENCES STRONGHOLDS

gain access into us.

Here is a graphical representation of the effect of the things we see, hear,

speak, our perceptions and our emotions on our faith. Each of these

access points have an effect on the acceptance and willingness to study

the word of God and believe in the word of God. The higher the effect of

these on our faith, the bigger fear becomes.

The dark series represent the effect of what we see, hear, speak, our

perception, emotions and believe on our faith. As we notice, the mouth,

i.e. what we speak has the highest effect on our faith as said in the bible,

the power of life and death lies in the mouth and those who love it will

eat it fruits. Proverbs 18:21. What we speak has that high effect on our


0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

The eye The ear The mouth Ourperception

Ouremotions

The effect

The word

Your belief

The faith-fear effect graph

faith because when one speaks negative things, the manifestation of

God's word is trampled on in that life. The tongue is a fire, a world of

iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole

body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

James 3:6.KJV. We cannot speak fear and expect faith, we cannot speak

unbelief and then expect to believe.

We put to halt the manifestation of God's word in our lives when we

speak words that are not of faith.

What we hear has the second highest effect on our faith. As we have

explained, the higher the effect of hearing negative things, the higher

the risk of exposure to fear. When one hears and accepts negative

things, the desire to read the word of God is low and so is believe in the

word of God.

What We See

This is why we should continuously shut our eyes to things that do not

give us hope and things that kill our faith. The effect of what we see on

our faith is also on the high side. Mathew 6:22-23 says, “The eye is the

lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of


light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be filled with

darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that

darkness?

This means that what we see either brings hope, believe, faith, to us or

brings hopelessness, darkness, doubt and fear to us. We should always

be mindful of what we see, what we see could build faith or bring fear.

When we see things that bring hopelessness, fear and doubt, our study

of the word of God reduces because of doubt. Sometimes, what one

hears brings fear and bible study is not really a hobby anymore for such

person and believe in the word becomes low, very low.

Our perception has also effect on our faith but not as much as what hear,

speak or see. The effect is not as much as the others because perceptions

can change easy when one hears the word of God. And Jesus said to

Simon “launch out into the deep and cast your net” but Simon who

through his past experience perceived that there will be no good

outcome from fishing again, complained saying “master, we have

toiled all day” but he still said “nevertheless at your word, I will cast the

net”. Luke 5:5. This means that our perception of things can change so

fast immediately we hear the word of God. So, as we perceive things


that intend to weaken our faith, we should hasten to the word.

Using love as a good example of emotions, as humans will always seek

to find love or be loved, in this search, many have gotten hurt but there is

a word to build a defense to all such hurt. The bible says “nothing shall

by any means hurt me”. Emotions are good but exposure to the wrong

ones leads to fear

FEAR IS THE BIRTH OF WHAT GOES IN.

The eye sight

A good friend of mine always says “we learn to unlearn”. It is

sometimes startling to see what an “ordinary” eye sight at an awful

experience can do to a person's entire life, it can change them forever,

their thinking, some may abstain from particular activities, way of life

or people due to experiences. For example, I had a classmate in

secondary school that has seen his mother die of a fish bone while eating

and I was told that he wouldn't eat fish because of that experience. I also

know of a lady who would give almost every man a slap that approaches

her because she has seen some experiences that made her hate men from

the past and that awful experience shaped her life, her thinking and her


attitude towards men. Some sights are good while some have to change

to be able to unlearn what has been birth in the mind.

The eye is a passage leading to the mind which is where thoughts are

conceived. Though I was bold when I was much younger and fearless,

but as I watched people fall into danger doing the things I was once bold

to do, seen movies that created fearful pictures in my mind and seen the

disaster crises had done to lives and properties, soon enough, fear began

to creep into me and I retreated from doing a lot. I can remember my

mum saying “what happened to you, you were not afraid of these

things?” and I'll ask myself “Faith, what is now wrong with you?” But

all these were results of what I had seen. Soon enough, as I grew older

and became more knowledgeable with the things of God, I realized that

guarding what I see, heard, spoke, perceived and exposure to emotions

should be a conscious effort and it is my duty to permit or bounce

anything that does not agree with the word of truth.

I came to the understanding that even if I could not completely stop my

eye from seeing all things, I could limit them by the films I watched, by

the places I go to and by stories I heard from friends.

Though it was quite difficult at first but I preferred to live without fear


and without the scary dreams than to engage in those conversations or

watch films that deposited fear in me. This made the process of

dropping fearful thoughts faster. Most times, we have to make a choice

and go for what we really want and let every other thing go.

I began to control what I watched until I was considered “weird”

when I told people that I hadn't watched any movie in a year because

it seemed like almost all had a scene or two that passively dropped

something I got bothered about. I later got an alternative which were

comedies (clean ones though). One habit that was quite difficult to

drop was hearing “gist” and this is what God has to deliver we ladies

from. But thank God I overcame by the grace to excuse myself when

the subject being discussed was an enemy to faith.

Hallelujah, God by his grace assisted me to limit to the barest minimum

every negative thing that sought to use my eye sight as an access point

for fear. Things that brought fear through my sight were dealt with, I no

longer watched movies that brought fear, could excuse myself when

anything that wasn't building my faith was being discussed but all those

efforts would have gotten me a perfect result if I replaced the empty


spaces.

Replace the spaces you create

I did not replace those spaces I had just created with faith teachings,

with the word of God. I became idle, I really didn't know I was, I just

took pride in my 'latest' accomplishments and if I were asked, “won't

you join us to watch this”?, with pride I'll reply “oh no. I don't do

movies”. Yet I was empty. The bible says that 'when an impure spirit

comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does

not find it. Then it will say, I will return to the house I left. When it

arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.

Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself,

they go in and live there. And the final condition of the person is worse

than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. Matt 12:

43-45

I had cleaned myself and carefully guarded my eyesight but I had

nothing in my mind to replace the information I had carried in me for

long. I was empty, I had no sermons audio or video, I only read my

bible once in a while, hardly went to church and if I went, I was with my


phone all the time or looking at the choir performance or being

distracted by something else.

v

When you're done limiting what you see, hear and think, don't stop

there. Replace it with faith teaching.

v

So I would sit idle as people watched films and be alone in the hostel

when people went out and then some other worse things took over my

mind. This is where some of us make mistakes, we abstain and not refill.

If the devil does not have access in one part, he will try another; the

word of God says “so that Satan will not outwit us... we are not unaware

of his schemes.” 2 Corinthians 2:11. In the light of this, as we put to

death by God's power sin or any vice that stands in the way of our faith

in God or His word, we should also begin to fill our hearts with the word

of God and as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians “Let the word

richly dwell in you” this is so we can be able to withstand the devil's

schemes. An idle man is the devils workshop. We must replace the old

ways with new ways.


Live by faith and not by sight

Time went by and I got to start church well again and joined the choir

which was a solid ground, we had fellowship, we encouraged each

other and I had a solid foundation through the choir. In three years there

was a miraculous change in me, everyone could testify that it was a

whole new me being transformed more into the likeness of Christ.

As I was able to limit what I saw and I thought I was through with that

phase, bigger challenges arose and God was beginning to work on me

concerning a greater level of controlling my eyesight and this is when it

came to situations that seemed to put fear in me. Some issues arose and

God taught me how to shift my attention from the situation and turn to

God. For the bible says we live by faith and not by sight. He taught me

step by step that whatever I go through, I shouldn't see the situation but

look through faith's eye then get hope from God.

The second access point

The ear and hearing

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of

life.”. Proverbs 4:18.


To be vigilant means watchful, on your guard, attentive, alert, and the

opposite of the word vigilant is “slack” which also means loosed,

relaxed, inattentive and the list goes on and on.

Many times we do not take this scripture with the urgency and

seriousness that it ought to be taken with, thus, we see it at an optional

activity and not a duty. fastest

access point to the heart.

Starting with the news, these days we can only limit what we hear but

anyway and anyhow, we must hear things. But an adage says that “a bird

can poop on one's head but one can stop it from laying a nest on their

head”. There is always a way out but gluing one's eye to the T.V at every

giving time is definitely not one. I often wonder why people love to

spread bad news than good news. A thousand good things can happen in

a day but one bad will take the headlines of news and broadcasts.

Let me give an illustration, there are times bombs go off in the north

(where I live) but people in my village (south) know the exact point it

happened while we, living in the north won't have heard a thing or had

the slightest idea of what had happened. People from all parts of the

country begin to panic about things they know little about, just a little

Personally, I think that the ear is the


bad news will destabilize a person and I think that is sad. I have been

there and it is ignorance that gets us on the knees of fear but if we know

our God we will be strong and do exploits in the land.

The street where I lived was highly populated and very lively when we

moved in but as crises went on, soon, all our friends were gone and the

street became very lonely and less populated unlike before. People ran

away, not saying they shouldn't have gone but when you have an

assignment to do on the land, there is no need to run away from that

purpose because God who has given you the work to do is able to keep

you from harm. Though this was difficult to understand, but when there

was no way to leave, I began to understand the message. The bible says

in Daniel 11:32 'those who know their God will be strong and they will

do exploits'.

Sometime back, there was this epidemic in Nigeria and some other

countries called Ebola. I could never imagine the broadcasts I got that

period, it was alarming and annoying. I never saw even one

encouraging message then I asked on my social media platform page,

“Why do people love bad news? So many good things happened today

but we did not hear of them, we only get to hear bad news, why?” This


was frustrating for me because in time back, I have tried to put of good

news but people didn't find those good news interesting. It is like

individuals itch more to be the bearers of bad news than good news.

News of course should be spread especially when it is of importance but

a little encouragement beneath it brings hope. Most times, the way the

news are highlighted, one finds out that it is not as bad as it is but these

people just put captions which they believe should catch the attention of

the audience, meanwhile, it brings fear.

Overtime, I've learnt that when something gets one concerned, it could

be God's way to make one work in that area of concern. So I began to

make those around me feel light about the situation until the day I heard

the news that Nigerians should bath with salt to prevent the disease.

Though not a scientist, I found that very ridiculous and I composed a

broad cast reading

“How steadfast are you? Being tossed by any wind of teaching or news

you hear? (Eph 4:14) or being rooted in the word of God? Col 2:7. The

only one thing that the news should drive us to is the word of God, I

don't know what you heard but I know what my bible says “He who is

born of God has overcome the world” you remember the Egyptians? All



those tragedies (the seven plagues) came on them but NONE touched

the Israelites, we are under a covenant but only if you know it. Here we

are bathing in fear, walking in fear, being tossed around by any news

and not being steadfast”.

After that incident, I was told that in a particular place, the whole

neighborhood had no salt because they were all bought and three

children died that day because fear made some mothers feed their little

children with salt water and bathed them in it, and the adverse effect of

salt to the children who already had pending health issues killed them. I

felt so bad and the bible said something about this in Hosea 4:6 “my

people perish for lack of knowledge”. It costs not to know. The lesson

we should learn from this is to let everything we hear drive us to the

word of God. If you have a good relationship with God, he will put a

word in your spirit during prayers, bible study, or fellowship that will

get you going through tough times.

v

It costs not to know. The word of God will help you escape a lot of

mistakes.

v

The Third Access Point

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes

out of the mouth; this defiles a person." Matt 15:11

The things we say with our mouth are proclamations and the word

“proclaim” means to announce something publicly and formally. So,

the words that come from our mouth, whether shouted or in a low tone

has been announced to both God and the devil, to both angels and

demons and immediately our words are acted upon. What you proclaim

either defiles or edifies you. The mouth is our greatest weapon of

warfare, with the mouth we declare, with the mouth we pray and Jesus

defeated the devil in the wilderness during the temptation by the words

which he spoke from his mouth. “Death and life are in the power of the

tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Proverbs 18:21

Moses spoke to the Isrealites in Deut 32:47 “these words are not just

idle words for you- they are your life. By them you will live long in the

land you are crossing the Jordan to possess”. The word we speak will

either make us possess our inheritance in Christ and all he died for or

will make us lose it by speaking words that do not agree with our faith.

What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. As explained


earlier, all the 5 access points have just one destination. All roads lead to

the heart and Matt 15:18 says “But what comes out of the mouth

proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person”. And from the

abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The word of the mouth is the

exact representation of what is in the heart. If the word of God resides in

your heart, it will reflect by the words you speak, either faith words or

fear words.

The Fourth Access Point

Perception

This has to do with your view, your opinion, your take or assessment on

an issue. If we do not see things from the perspective of God's word, fear

uses such as an entry point. For a heart that is void of God's word is

already free space. As I write this book, You won't imagine the thoughts

that sometimes try to chip in some false ideas I mean like “what if you

don't finish this book”, “you know you have started on this lane before

and the notebook you used to write the book almost became a paper for

things to be bought from the market. In fact. it even became a jotter” but

no! I don't ignore these thoughts I speak against them and in less than a


minute they are gone. I begin to declare that “everything I touch is

blessed”. The Lord had said He will lead me and guide me in the way I

should go and of course yes the other book I started years back was

turned into a jotter and abandoned and other projects were unfinished

too but all those happened because I did not know as much as I know

now. I declare “if God is for me …who can be against me?”. I begin to

say things like “Those who trust in the Lord are like mount Zion, which

cannot be shaken but endures forever. Psalms 125:1. 'When the wicked,

even mine enemies and my foes, advance against me to devour me, they

stumbled and fell'. Psalms 27:2 before I know it, all these thoughts

begin to crumble and fall because they are lies that are made to crumble

at just one word of truth and the believe in the word.

Oh yes, the devil will bring thoughts of fear your way even when you

are doing God's will, he did that to our Lord Jesus Christ even on his

way to the greatest victory, the cross.

When the devil begins to sell to you his opinions or ideas, do not let your

perception of the situation be guided by his opinion but let it be guided

by God's word.

Like the illustration about the bird, “you can stop a bird from pooping


on your head but you sure can stop it from making a nest on your head”.

The devil will always speak no matter how anointed one becomes but

even Jesus Christ was tempted in the wilderness but he spoke back. Our

power manifests when we speak back.

Proverbs 24: 10 says, “if you falter in a time of trouble, how small is

your strength”. This, to me is a very challenging scripture. And our

strength lies in the power of God through the spoken word of God.

These also imply that troubles also come to test our strength.

The Fifth Access Point

Emotion

A salient access point the devil uses to put fear in us is our emotions.

A vulnerable heart is a fine space for fear. One of the first things God

deals with in us is our emotions because He knows that if we are

victorious in our emotions we can have control over almost every

other part of our lives.

We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar

people to show forth the praises of him who has brought us out of

darkness into the perfect light. We should consider ourselves as this and


not less. Past experiences where we have made ourselves vulnerable to

wrong emotions have left scars and they are most times not noticed

quickly but they have a way of putting fear in our hearts for the future.

Some people could not control what they were exposed to like in cases

of rape, emotional mistreatment, divorces, mental harassment and so

on, should see emotional control as a task to be carried out by the help of

the Holy Spirit. We should not be held bound by our past experiences

but speak faith and rebuild our broken walls through God's word.

Job said, even a dead tree when it is cut short, at the scent of water it

shall sprout again so there is hope for you and I

That's why we should all be careful what goes in. Four major check

points are;

1. What do I listen to?

2. Who are my friends?

3. What do I watch?

4. Who and what do I expose my feelings to?

Again, these are points that have access to us. We should guard against

anything that does not agree with the laws and commands of God.


Outward or physical means by which fear goes into the heart of a person

and come out through diverse ways but have one purpose and one

direction, the heart.

Often times, we are tempted to speak about the supposedly 'big' laws in

the bible and scarcely relate with the salient laws. Do Not Fear is a law

to be obeyed, just like “Put on” the whole armor of God so you can

withstand the vices of the evil one, “do away with” all appearance of

evil, “guard against” the issues of life from your heart, “and put to

death” deeds of the flesh, these are also commands.

What do I listen to?

Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give

way to the wicked. Proverbs 25:26

Just as mud pollutes clean water, that is how words, songs, news and the

other things we hear pollute our minds.

News

The News acquaints with information that is good to keep people

informed and aware about happenings in their environment, however,

news could be an awful bearer of bad news that work against our faith.


Sometimes I deliberately turn off anything that brings news because I

noticed overtime that the media form captions that is believed to

capture the public's eye, however, it brings fear. They actually may not

have us in mind or realize that their catchy captions and content sends

fear and moreover, the news may not be as bad as they say it. When the

news sends fear to you, hasten to the word to antidote fear.

Music

This is a very controversial topic however; God will take us through it.

People often speak about worldly songs and gospel songs and some say

they shouldn't be judged for singing worldly songs. I'm not trying to

make a chasm between which is good and which isn't but any song that

does not build up your faith, makes you think negative or makes you

entertain thoughts that are not godly should not be sang or listened to.

Personally I had to battle with this for years. I love singing and in the

past I would sing whatever came my way. Then, I would sing songs that

made me vulnerable emotionally, accept anything, and got me into

some relationship that were not called for.

I remember one song that suggested that indeed no matter how badly

you are treated, love is all that mattered, in fact one said “I love the way


you treat me bad”, and I'm here wondering how I successfully sang all

those songs. Music is the easiest way to speak negative to yourself

without knowing it. Every song should be thoroughly checked before

sang.

Some songs may suggest to you all manner of evil but the word of God

says “guard your heart”. Many are subtle; especially musical videos,

they place thoughts and imaginations that do not agree with the word of

God and these fight against our faith. Always remember that you cannot

sing praises to God and use the same lips to sing songs that will give

glory to the devil and also remember the scripture that says “Does a

spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can

a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?

Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water”. James 3:10-12. Meaning we

can't use the same mouth we use to speak faith and also use the same to

speak fear, it is either one of them.

Discussions

This is where all sort of conversations takes place but we should always

be aware that for every discussion there is either an opportunity to speak


faith words or fear words. When the conversation is intended to weaken

your faith, God always creates an escape route for us to leave. If you are

sensitive to it, you will find that escape route. But it is one thing to find

the escape route and it is another to use it. Many times I knew that God

provided multiple chances to leave a discussion that will weaken my

faith but I was too concerned of how the others will feel so I just stayed

till the end of it, I felt guilty and at the end of the day, the words are

already registered in my heart.

Above all things, guard your heart with all diligence (be vigilant, with

everything) for out it flows the issues of life Proverbs 4:23

Friends should be chosen carefully because some may like to pass

fearful information through bad experiences that tend to build

strongholds of fear. The bible says, “it is not good to eat too much honey,

nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep. Proverbs

25:27. Some friends will relentlessly keep talking about things they

know will bring controversy and doubt in God's word. Watch such

friends. When you hear such friends, find the nearest escape route and

be sure God will provide one.


CHAPTER FOUR

FAITH HEELS POINTS

v

stop there. Replace it with faith teaching.

v It costs not to know. The word of God will help you escape a lot

of mistakes.

v Most times, we have to make a choice and go for what we really

want and let every other thing go.

v A vulnerable heart is a vulnerable space for fear.

v Music is the easiest way to speak negatively to your own self

without even knowing it. Every song should be thoroughly

checked before sang.

v In every ungodly conversation that brings fear, the Lord always

creates an escape route for you to leave. Be conscious of it and

find it.

When you're done limiting what you see, hear and think, don't


Fear Junct ions

C H A P T E R

05

ear has taken different forms today. There are subtle and

milder terms we give to fear and this is one of the reasons Fwhy most people seldom see their problems as fear-related.

We have terms like phobia, concern, allergy, and many more. This

chapter is to enlighten and make us conscious of some kinds of fear that

may come subtly at some points in our lives. We should be ready with

our weapons of faith to conquer fear at such points. This is called fear

junctions.

When faith is in, fear goes out. When fear is in, faith goes out. The word

of God says that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink and so is

faith. As said earlier, faith comes by a consistent and conscientious

knowing of the word of God. When you hear the word of God,

experiences try them to see if you really know them and this strengthens

our faith. Thus, “the testing of your faith produces perseverance”.

James 1:3.

Your faith may be tried at some points but win with the word of God and

take hold of what you believe in. The fear of uncertainty is one form of

fear that could be used to know how firm one's faith is. When people

have no knowledge of what will happen next in their lives, or are not

able to predict what is going to happen next, the fear of uncertainty

begins to chip in few thoughts in the mind of such people. When such

thoughts come, raise up the shield of faith by speaking “the Lord shall

go before me, He will make the crooked paths straight.” Isaiah 45:2

For the Lord is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory: no

good thing shall he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalms 84:7

When thoughts come, just develop a defensive word of God in your

spirit, it waters down fear. Say things like “God is already in my future,

making the crooked paths straight, I may not be there, but when I get

there, the Lord shall supply”.

7 fear junctions are identified in this book. The various ways to conquer

each fear at their junctions is below every instance of fear that one may

be faced with. Be ready with your faith to overcome them at each point

they surface.

114 | Fear Junctions

The 7 fear junctions;

1. Fear to start

2. Fear of criticism

3. Fear of uncertainty

4. Fear to start all over

5. Fear of failure

6. Fear of change

7. Fear of death

Fear to start

About 2 years back, I started writing a book titled “lay aside and gain a

step”. It was so difficult to start. Fear to start held me back from

finishing that book; so, I ended up using the book to write market lists,

and to jot various things. It was all mixed up because of the fear to start.

Then, I would postpone and postpone the writing of the book, till I

never visited the book again. I had various fears that held me back from

starting that book, I remember one was that the book seemed too big for

me to write, it was work, big work for me.

Later on, I heard a message by Katherine Kuhlman titled “how to be


filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit”, she said, “It becomes work,

without the Holy Spirit”. In other words, what is seen as a big task is

really nothing with the help of the Holy Spirit.

How we conquer fear to start

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring

forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Psalms 37:5

Be led by the Spirit of God.

Fear to start overwhelms those who sail less of the spirit of God, i.e., not

seeking the help of the Holy Spirit, and lacking in proper guidance,

leading or direction from God. I realize that who I was 2 years back is

the same me now but the word of God has added knowledge to me. I just

dived into writing the book without proper direction to start it.

We do not just bear the name “Christians” but we do because of the

meaning which is “followers of Christ”. We ought to follow Christ in

every little or big detail of our lives. This keeps us from time wasting

and making mistakes. This is the expectation of a Christian and not just

the name. Not only is being led by Christ an expectation, it is also a rule

and if ignored, it exposes us to fear. I have started some things in my life


and fear almost consumed me because I wasn't sure of God's hand being

in it or not. Soon, I became exposed to the fear that faced me because I

did not seek proper guidance from God before I went into them. James

1:8 mentioned that an unstable, a double minded person should not

expect from God, such a person is like the waves of the sea and is tossed

by the wind.

Hence, the wind of fear to start can take one off-course if that person is

not steadfast in the knowledge of God concerning that issue. So, before

embarking on any project, we should develop the habit of seeking God's

face on whether it is His will or not. This shows trust in God and He will

direct the path of those who call on Him.

Be sure of his timing; by having a word and a strong conviction

before starting.

Secondly, I dabbled into a vision I seldom knew about. I thought I knew,

but I didn't. I had seen myself write, but the timing was not right. I hadn't

received directives from God through his word, so, what came was just

enough to make me doubt.

Isaiah 48:17 says, “I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is

best for you, who directs you in the way you should go”. I hadn't a strong


conviction to start. When there is a conviction from our inner witness,

fear to start will be conquered because you know that God is involved in

it and he will not leave you by the way side. This alone gives you

confidence because you are sure that His grace is sufficient for you.

Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:3

But this time was different, I was sure, I waited on Him and I heard his

instructions. God provided grace for me even when all sorts of

discouragements came, I was well rooted this time because I was led

and had a conviction. To start any project, fear cannot bring you down

from achievement if you are convicted by God's word. His grace will be

sufficient for the work.

Trust in God

After we are sure of the timing by getting a word and having a strong

conviction, what helps us gain confidence is trusting God that he is able

to carry us through till the end. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in

him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday. Ps 37:5.

This scripture cannot be fully understood in this context without


emphasizing trust in God. Our trust in God roots us deep and when fear

comes, it cannot be strong enough to pull us off our stand.

Trust is unwavering faith and absolute confidence in the knowledge

that God will bring us through till the end of the journey we start with

Him. Nevertheless, I do not take the lessons I learnt for granted, in fact,

it is some of those experiences that made me a better writer and God

taught me how to wait on Him, be convicted, and follow his leading

through writing. This indicates that though sometimes it looks like we

failed and messed up but we should trust in the Lord knowing that all

things not some, not only the good, not only the bad, but all things

works together for our good.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love

God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Knowledge and understanding

Get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget my words or turn away

from them. Proverbs 4:5

We need to have proper understanding and knowledge concerning what

we want to start and that will avert fear. For which of you, intending to


build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he

have sufficient to finish it? Luke 14:28

We shouldn't embark on a journey we have no personal knowledge of.

This scripture says we should sit and count the cost of whatever we

intend to do in marriage, finance, business, housing, starting a family,

and so on. It includes every single aspect of our lives. We are to count

the cost. Counting the cost involves asking God questions and asking

our own self questions of the realities in front of us, though, making

exemptions for where in clarity God informs us to go against the tide i.e,

the outlook of things and still move. David in the bible is an example of

asking God questions. And David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I pursue

after this troop? Shall I overtake them?" He answered him, "Pursue, for

you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all." 1 Sam

30:8.

Fear cannot overcome or intimidate anyone who has the knowledge of

God concerning that issue, except, one gives in to it.

Fear of criticism

What I think is the cause of the fear of criticism is not wanting to accept


the fact that we will all be criticized. Most times, we do not want to face

criticism. The bible says “take your cross and follow me” criticism was

a cross Jesus himself bore. Mark 11:27 says

“they arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the

Temple Courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders

came to him and said, “by what authority are you doing these things?” .

As seen, these are not unbelievers; these are priests even from the

temple courts. They were people just like Christians, and they criticized

Jesus. There are so many scriptures that narrate the criticism Jesus

Christ faced with both believers and unbelievers, so why do we expect

less?

How to overcome the fear of criticism

v Know that it is sure to happen and prepare for it.

I would love to tell you that since you are doing the right thing by

acknowledging God, critics won't come, but that will be a lie. In fact,

following God's will alone is like nectar that attracts critics. John 15:18-

21

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If

you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because


you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the

world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not

greater than his master. ' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute

you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things

they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know

him who sent me.”

It is a cross we have to bear and when we get used to the knowledge that

critics will come, we won't have to be afraid of them because we expect

them.

Criticism is to express disapproval of somebody or something.

Especially in our work of faith, or embarking on something new, we

will face criticism. We can pray all we want and no matter how

impeccable we are in living right or doing well in good works, people

will still criticize.

When one accepts the call of God or gives his/her live to Christ, I often

say that's a call to be set apart from the things you once did. In this same

vein, you were in the crowd and you pulled yourself out by following

God's call, hoping not to be noticed but you get disappointed by the way

you are noticed even more and all forms of criticism is made for you.


Apostle Paul said when he spoke about the Nature of true apostleship in

1 Corinthians 4:3, “but with me, it is a very small thing that I should be

judged of you; or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not my own self”. So,

we shouldn't be afraid of criticism, we should ask God for grace to face

it and ignore it if need be.

Whosoever answers the call should be ready to be seen because if you

pull out, there are more chances that you will be clearly noticed and

people will start asking “is she's not with us again?”, “what's he feeling

like?”, is he the first to know God?”. Personally, I was told an old friend

said “I just hate her”. Some of these statements could discourage one if

one is not ready for them. Move on, pick up the cross, they will later

come and acknowledge the God you serve, if you do not relent.

When I began my more serious work with God in the university, I had so

many critics from my course mates, roommates, and old friends. I knew

that it was going to be the price I'll have to pay to get restored to my

place in God and as the bible says, “Always carrying in the body the

death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our

bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus

'sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.


2 Corinthians 4:10-11

We should change our mindset about criticism and instead of running

away from them; get ready with the word of God to counter any word

that seems to make us curl back into a shell. This is because, the devil

intends to discourage us through this means, and they are there to make

us quit running the race. It could be in your job, your walk with God, it

could be from anywhere but we should ask God for grace and strength

to face them.

Know that they will spread your fame

Jesus Christ had critics even from those in the church, outside the

church, and rumor carriers, but they were the ones who spread his fame.

News about him spread over the whole region of Galilee. Mark 1:28.

This fame of Christ Jesus in Galilee was prompted by the critics who

asked him of whose authority he cast out demons and in Matt 9:26, and

Luke 4:14, his news was spread. The people criticizing you don't know

that they are helping you fulfill God's will for your life. The advantage

of critics are;

Ÿ They are witnesses to what God is doing in your life

Ÿ They propel your progress and,


Ÿ They will spread your fame with their own mouth.

v Look to God

Critiques could come from family and friends as well. Even people you

may look up to. They may be so many around you criticizing, but one

with God is majority.

As I would have it, when I got to this part of writing the fear junctions, I

informed someone about this book who gave me the impression that he

has been writing his book for the past 4years and haven't finished and I

sounded rather ridiculous that I was almost done with mine in such a

short time. I thought about it and the biblical basis he gave was good

enough to let me quit. So, I came to God in prayers. I was then reminded

by God that I am mandated to do this and he also reminded me about the

grace available in various ways just to write, like the speed in typing, the

images, thoughts, ideas and scriptures that flash in my head when

writing. This often came very fast but God gave me speed to type along

with the speed of the ideas that kept coming. When God reminded me

about all these abilities he had given me, I realized that there was no

way I would be writing this book for four years, or be discouraged by

those words so I picked up again and I moved on.


If I didn't go through this experience; I wouldn't have had a better

description to give here. Knowing who is inside of you and working

things through you will clear all doubts even if people of God try to

come to take you off-course.

Fear of uncertainty

I hear people say, if I could just know what God wants me do exactly,

the when, the where, and the how, I'll definitely do his will. But often

times, God does not show the exact blueprints of a man's destiny,

though there are special cases; Sometimes He unravels his will to us

step by step.

Just like Jonah, if we were spoken to by God to go to Nineveh, we might

have taken the same action Jonah took, because even when God told

him the where, the when and the how, he still tried to run away from the

task.

v Anchor on his word

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will counsel

you with my eye upon you. Psalms 32:8

When you find yourself at the junction of uncertainty, always anchor on


God's promises to guide, direct and instruct you in the way you should

go. Isaiah 47:17 says “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy

One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who

leads you in the way you should go”.

Always know these scriptures and when you search the scriptures daily,

you will find more scriptures that are just there to lead you to

accomplish the task you are embarking on.

Fear to start all over

Learning trust in God again is like a baby learning to walk. After the

crawl, in the attempt to walk, one may fall again but a baby learns to

anchor on something, a chair or the mother. When you want to start all

over, you may try and fall sometimes but keep anchoring on God's

word.

For every little achievement, unlike a baby who does not have the

knowledge to do so, give God thanks for every victory you get. That

strengthens you. Never get to the point in conquering fear or other

things be insensitive to your little / much achievements. Every single

achievement you make in your walk with God, give thanks for it. That



helps you realize that if you could be victorious in the past, you can be

again.

How to overcome fear to start over;

Know that his grace is sufficient

My grace is sufficient for you and my strength is made perfect in

your weakness 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Know that our God is a God who specializes in cleaning the mess of our

past and making it into a message to heal souls. Know that grace is

marshaled for times such as this. Grace is designed for the weak days,

for those who don't deserve it.

Grace is unmerited, it's for all. It is for the thief that has just come to

Christ, the harlot that has lost time, the weary, the sick, the broken, the

unstable, it is for Paul the persecutor of Christians. It is for David the

adulterer and murderer. It is for you and I who necessarily don't deserve

it. His grace is sufficient for our weakness.

When our lives seems like God is not there, we should know that he

will never leave us and trust in his unchanging hands.

Fear of failure

It's appalling the kinds of fear that the devil throws at us. When one is

standing, the devil whispers “what if you fall”, when one falls, he

whispers again “what if you never rise again? If you raise your faith

through God's word to overcome fear, you will notice that those

whispers in your ear that brings fear are only threats without power to

back it up; the manifestation of such voices only come when they have

been licensed. We give license to fear by accepting fear. Today, we have

an answer to how to overcome the fear of failure, it is, “Resist the fear of

failure and it will flee from you”. Reject it, speak against it, never nurse

it and antidote it with the word of God.

I remember a time back in school when I got so busy and I found out I

had little time to read for a test that was holding the next day. The test

came and I wrote anyway, I was happy that the little I read came out and

thought I answered it well. When I came out of the hall, I was told that I

answered a wrong question. So, I began to wonder what to do with 2/40

in my whole test assessment. I didn't know what to do. They didn't give

us any more tests! Then exam came, I was almost blank on the third

question I just did a summary and believed God, and went to pray. I kept


praying for a miracle and throughout the holidays, I believed, I spoke

every morning concerning that paper, I spoke the word of God. I kept

declaring “I shall not carry over any course, I shall not fail”. When the

results came, I got a B in the course. Fear does not change anything,

only faith does.

Fear of change

The only thing that is constant in this world is change. Nothing can stop

change from happening; seize every opportunity you have and make the

best of it because you might not have that opportunity next time.

If your full house has changed to be an empty house, use the changed

situation to walk round and pray instead of complain of boredom. If

there's no power supply, use the time to study or have some play time

with family members. If there is no job, use is to build yourself with

sermons or books that will help in self-development and ministry. If

there is no spouse yet, use the time to invest in your life and ministry.

When there is no money, train your faith, and when there is money,

invest.

There is always something to do in every changed situation. In this


world, there are times and seasons (Eccl 2) and God had designed night

and day as well as spring time and harvest. Nothing is going to stop

change from happening, adapt to it and maximize it.

v Trust in God's judgment and know your inheritance

Most times, we are scared of change because there is no trust in God. If

you and I still have a problem with trusting God then there is a high

probability that we do not know God well enough. For example, we are

scared of change sometimes when God has asked us set ourselves apart

from a company that God wants us to do away with. Because we do not

trust God's judgment to know that his leading is for our own good, we

are afraid. If God asks us to rid some attitudes, friends, relationships,

and so on, we should trust that He has an expected end in mind because

He knows the end from the beginning. Do not let the Devil let you settle

for mediocre things because of distrust in God.

Fear of death

I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord . Psalm 118: 17.

When you still have to fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life, the

fear of death should be far from you. God will see to it that you are kept


safe from harm till His purpose for your life is accomplished (declaring

the works of the Lord). After this, death will be called rest, and not a

thing to dread.

Isn't it amazing? I've lived in the north of Nigeria all my life where

terrorist activities are hottest. When I was in primary school, I schooled

near the town and in fact stayed in the midst of the rioters for about ten

years but I couldn't die because Gods purpose for my life was not yet

accomplished. On two occasions, my dad came back with a bashed

windscreen after the crises but there was not even a scratch on his body

those two times. All my family members have witnessed crises of one

form or the other but none of us died. We are five and complete till this

day.

All these promises about long life come to pass in the life of one who

knows the word and believes in it. Someday we shall die but death

shouldn't be a threat to our faith. How God miraculously takes me and

my family members out of the crises scene shows that God will rescue

you before harm takes place in a particular area. Just like Lot, before

destruction happens, God would have sent His own messengers to take

you to a peace place. Have faith. God will keep you safe.


King David prophesied which appeared later in Acts 2:25-27, it says,

“The Lord will not abandon his servant Jesus to the realm of the dead

'and he will not also abandon you and I if we believe.

"'I saw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I will

not be shaken; therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my

flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon me to the realm

of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made

known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.”

Acts 2:25-27.

We are so blessed! Oh how joyful I get when I see this scripture. We are

afraid because we do not know the inheritance we have in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:3 which says “Praise be to God our Father of our lord

Jesus Christ who has blessed us in heavenly realm with every spiritual

blessing in Christ”. Ephesians 1:18 “that the eyes of our hearts be

enlightened, that we may know what is the hope to which he has called

you and the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints”. May we

begin to understand the great riches of promises God has for us and

begin to claim it in our walk.



Faith Heels - A Bold Fai th Step

C H A P T E R

06

Store it in the bank and be a good customer

n a certain day, I met one of my pastors and he said

these words “studying the word of God is like storing Omoney in the bank. On the day you need it; God will

bring it back to your understanding just the way you can get back

your stored cash in a bank”. While I was pondering on this word, I

also realized that a good bank always seek to develop a cordial

relationship with the customers that have save much more than

others. They also treat old customers and those who they have a

personal relationship with better than the others.

I thought further and asked myself “what about in a case where there

is a queue and you need the cash urgently?” by this, I meant in a case

where one needs the word to fight an urgent situation and it seems

like the word is so far. Then I answered myself “oh, if one has a

cordial relationship with the bank staff due to high savings or old

customer relationship, one will be attended to faster.

I likened this to having the word of God in a Spirit for the days when

we need it to face fear. If you have a cordial relationship with God

which is often through bible study, prayer and fellowship, you will

never be on queue or be frustrated when you need the word to fight

fear.

One time, I was struggling with bible study because I sensed that I

was not having the understanding of what I was studying. I had a

yearly bible plan that I was fairly keeping up with, but I hadn't this

deep conviction of the word I read.

I felt this way because when I went for bible study or fellowship, I

couldn't quite catch on the scriptures as the others did especially

when they started quoting scriptures.

Instead of building myself, I was trying to compete with others. I

compared myself with others until I came across a scripture that says,

“those who compare themselves with others are not wise.

2 Corinthians 10:12. I heard in my spirit countless times, “ do not let

anybody be your measuring stick, don't you know that as you study,

136 | Faith Heels - A Bold Faith Step

you study by the spirit and the spirit will make those words available

in its time?.” It began to work for me, I began to remember scriptures

when I faced situations. I also applied this understanding in my

academics. Each time I wanted to study, I often prayed these prayers

“Father now I am studying, as I read, I read into my Spirit and I

believe that when I need this knowledge during tests or exams, you

will bring it back to my understanding”

Even if sometimes, I hadn't the proper understanding that I desired at

that point in time, I was not bothered because the Holy Spirit inside

of me has captured that particular place and will bring it to my

remembrance when I needed it. This always worked for me.

During exams, I either filled up my scripts leaving no space or I

asked for an extra sheet when writing a test or exam, I was never

short of words or blank. Praise God.

So, in my bible study I believed this word and soon enough, when

people came around me to speak to them concerning some issues in

their lives, I was surprised at the words that came out of my mouth

reminded me by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit brought them to

my remembrance and when I prayed concerning some issues that


troubled me, those scriptures just come to me and I begin to speak it.

The scriptures says “but the advocate, the holy spirit , whom the

father will send in my name , will teach you all things and remind

you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26. The Holy Spirit

will teach us all things and remind us of everything God has said to

us in our time of study (all you have stored in the bank). It's a

promise we should hold unto.

To conquer fear, trust the Holy Spirit to bring back the word of God

to your remembrance to overcome every form of fear.

Thankfulness is a major key

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Where you are may not be where you wish to be but be thankful that

where you are isn't where you used to be. An important secret we

need to know to be on faith heels is thankfulness. If you learn to be

grateful at all times. There are fewer chances of us falling into the pit

of fear if we are thankful. When we see that God word has worked in

our lives, thankfulness helps us believe that He will do it again. But


when we are ungrateful, we tend to overlook what God does for us

and begin to see the next challenge as too big for God to handle, this

causes fear.

If I did not acknowledge God's faithfulness to my family and I

throughout the crises situations, there is no way I will be able to

conceive in my spirit that he can do much more for me. When I was

about leaving the university, I was faced with the fear of the

uncertainty. I had such good time while in school and my church

most especially. I had prayed that God will make a way for me to

return back to the state I schooled because I so much loved my

experience and my church. The sound teaching, the encouragement,

the reproof, I simply thought there will be no place better.

Asides church, I was also afraid of what was going to happen next, I

did not want my life to end up ordinary. Then God chastised me, and

He began to cast my mind back to how I got admission into the

secondary school, how he saw me through all the crises there in Jos,

Nigeria. God reminded me of how I had long written in an old book

3 years before I entered the university that I wanted to school in that

particular school and how my desires came to pass. Even if I had


written a federal school examination which was more affordable for

us then, God still made His will come to pass in my life. In fact,

when I wrote the examinations, I can remember telling my mum

“mum, I'll write this exam but I will not attend this school” and she

began to plead with me saying “ I know your eye is fixed on the

private university but my daughter don't look there because we can't

afford it” . I relented. After all said and done, I wasn't granted

admission into the federal university. It was at this time that God

miraculously provided for me through school to attend the private

school and , in fact my first hostel was the most expensive in school

then. Now God provided till I left, his hands were mighty upon me

gaining favor here and there while in school. Now, because I saw that

as a usual favor, I did not really acknowledge God for doing it for

me. And I heard, “if I took you this far, why will I leave you on the

way?”

God was teaching me how to trust that He who did it before is more

than able to do it again. But I wouldn't have gone through this period

of the fear of uncertainty if I acknowledged God for He had done,

and gave thanks for it. I would have tied my life in a particular place


when God had a better place for me.

Know his will

Wait And Listen “Are U In Gods Will?”

As children, mum always told us when we left home for school “if

you go beyond the limits I expect you to be, my prayers will not

cover you”. Though for us, this meant anything that happened to us

outside the place which she has knowledge of, is our doing. Anything

outside God's will that causes us harm or pain is our doing. The fault

is often ours because we do not inquire from God. When we know

His will and the path don't seem really glamorous, we go for the easy

path and God so faithful finds us, and puts us back on track.

God may not leave us totally but when we are not operating in his

will, we are outside the plan, outside the cover and it takes mercy to

bring us back home without a scar.

Understanding God's will

God's will is only identified by people who identify with God. The

bible says:


God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit

and in truth. John 4:24.

What does it mean to worship? In this context and according to

Romans 12:2 ,I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of

God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable

unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Worship includes your whole embodiment. Worship is the service we

render unto God as people who have decided to follow Him. It is not

necessarily the songs we sing on Sundays or fellowship, but worship

is our lives in total submission to God. Our body as an instrument of

service unto God. Jesus Christ in His conversation with the woman at

the well, said these, “those that worship, must worship [serve,

follow] Him in spirit and in truth.”

The subject of the Spirit of God cannot be overemphasized; the Spirit

of the Lord is the guide for a believer so whoever wishes to know the

will of God for His or her life has to be led by the Spirit. The Spirit

of God reveals the heart of God concerning any matter of our life

including Gods will and purpose for our life.

You must have the inner witness. 7 ways to know the voice of the


inner witness and they are:-

1. The inner witness is different from reasoning thoughts.

2. The inner witness is not a physical feeling

3. The inner witness is best identified by eliminating other voices

i.e. the voice of flesh, the voice of the soul or mind, reasons.

4. The inner witness is an impression of peace

5. There is a strong conviction

6. It is an unexplainable knowing

7. The inner witness is repetitive.

Why do I say this?

Because people normally think that anything that is not working is

surely not Gods will for them but this is not true. Yea I have stayed in

the north all my life and all my life I've always wanted to leave the

north because of the crises, death and terrorist attacks but that

doesn't mean that this place isn't God's will for me. When I started

realizing that the reason why God allowed me to go through all I did

was to be able to preach against fear, I wasted no more time trying to

pity myself or asking why I am away from all my friends and away


from sanity and stability. I quickly began writing and working on

what God instructed me to do after I sought his face.

I didn't just immediately know I was to write to encourage people in

fact writing was the last thing on my mind. What happened was in

my spirit I keep hearing “take a step of faith” and I had strong

impressions that I had something to do. I sought God's face for some

days and he gave me the answer, He told me to write.

Gods will, now what's next?

Mistakes we make sometimes is identifying Gods will and then

going back to work in our own understanding. The relationship with

the root and the soil is not a seasonal one, it is continuous till the end

of time except of course the tree is uprooted. Why we keep going to

God when we make mistakes is because we've not learned the act of

“abiding” and being continuously rooted in Christ. It is not about

knowing the will it is about who does the will. Who is contrite in his

or heart and who trembles at the word of God which means willing

to do his will at any cost.

“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to

be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who


is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Isa 66:2

Each time God gives us a word, we should receive it just like a child

will, take it, work with it and trust that he who has said it, will bring

it to fruition.


CHAPTER SIX

FAITH HEELS POINTS

v

things as the others will make you lose your unique course.

v It is not about knowing the will it is about who does the will.

v The Spirit of God reveals the heart of God concerning any

matter of our life including Gods will and purpose for our life.

Do not let anybody be your measuring stick. Living or doing


Search The Antidote

C H A P T E R

07

“These instructions are not empty words, “they are your life! By

obeying them, you will enjoy long life in the land you will occupy

[possess] when you cross the Jordan river”, Deut 32:47

e are all on our way to possess a land of promise, be it

in ministry, health, marriage, business, academics, Wspiritual life, eternity, and so on. We are all on the

journey to possess God's Promised Land. In our quest to occupy this

land of promise, fear comes on the way to hinder but praise God we

have the victory by the word of God. Deuteronomy 32:47 says these

words are not empty words, they are our life. They will give us life and

help us to defeat any obstacle on our way to obtain the land of promise

in our desired estate.

Writing this book was indeed a tussle with God's promise and the

enemy. There were days I could not type, and for the first time since I

grew and can remember, I fell so ill that I was taken to the hospital. I

could not stand up almost all day but I always say that that experience

was God designed not to kill me but to make one understand so many

things. Personally, I understood more that really this book was God's

will and the enemy was trying to work against it.

The doctor told my mother that from the severity of the test results, I

was supposed to be on admission. Many things tried to stop me on the

way but the word of God was a sure deliverer. God held my hands up by

His word. Obstacles may come but never quit, hang on the word of

Gods truth and you will be victorious.

“Search the Antidote”

“Fear weakens, search the antidote; Faith strengthens, it's in the word”

No matter how far one may have come with God, fear will speak.

Demons spoke to Jesus before he cast them out. Our own lord Jesus

Christ was tempted after fasting 40 days and nights. Imagine, after 3

days fast I feel so lifted in my spirit and just have this belief that I can

take over the world, but God fasted 40 days and the Devil still spoke to

148 | Search The Antidote

Him.

When the enemy speaks through fear, immediately search the antidote

in the word of God. Don't give the word time to think on it, just speak the

word. At the temptation of Jesus, as the devil spoke, he spoke right

back. He didn't give the devil time to reason it; God attacked those

thoughts and suggestions back with the word. Get a pill, a scripture for

any sickness of fear as soon as you feel it.


Fear speaks

“ like the others, you

will finally backslide

and fall”

Speak the Word, without

pause

You have made wide a

path for my feet to keep

them from slipping.

2 Sam 22:37//

He has preserved our

lives and kept our feet

from slipping Ps 66:9

Search

the Antidote


“if you leave, you won't

get anywhere better than

here”

“Men / women are all

the same, all wicked.

Just settle for anyone

since you can't get a

good one”

“ God does not love

you, you will end up

frustrated, despised and

lonely”

“Hear the death news

everywhere? Bombs,

crises, poverty, diseases?

get prepared yours

might be soon”

The path of the

righteous is like the

morning sun, shining

ever brighter till the full

light of day. Prov 4:18

But the lord will not

leave them in the power

of the wicked.

Ps 37:33a//

no one who hopes in you

will ever be put to

shame. Ps 25:3

For as high as the

heavens are above the

earth, so is his love

great for those who fear

him. Ps 103:11

I will not die but live,

and proclaim what the

lord has done.

Ps 118:17//

my people shall live in


who told said you have

any gifts or talents, just

stay back , don't bother”

peaceful dwelling

places, in secure homes,

in undisturbed places of

rest Isa 32:18

I praise you because I

am fearfully and

wonderfully made; your

works are wonderful, I

know that full well.

Ps 139:14.

You have exalted my

horn like that of a wild

ox, fine oils(anointing)

have been poured on me.

Ps 92:10

Encourage Yourself in the Lord

“sometimes you have to encourage yourself, sometimes you have to

speak victory during the test, and no matter how you feel, speak the

word and you will be healed, speak over yourself, encourage yourself in

the lord” Donald Lawrence and tri-city singers.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him,

because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons

and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his

God.1 Sam 30:6.

I wonder how our fathers in the Old Testament really stood firm in their

faith through their trials. There was not really as much word as we have

now in terms of bibles, books, CDs, journals and technology to bring

the word closer. Here, in the case of David in this trouble time.

Scriptures did not say, “and God said, David, be encouraged” but he

encouraged himself in the lord and did not give into the problem he was

seeing. We have scriptures, pastors, motivational speakers, but all our

bible fathers did was believe in God.

Sometimes you just have to say things to yourself to give you strength.

Shedrack, Meshack and Abednego just believed and said to the king, “O


Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it

be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning

fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if

not, be it known unto thee, O king that we will not serve thy gods, nor

worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

Oh what guts! But the amazing thing is that they had no scripture to say

to king Nebuchadnezzar.

This was self-encouragement from faith in God. Sometimes we need

not to give the devil the credit on any matter in our lives. Let's rather say

“I rather die believing God than to give in to fear that the devil is

throwing at me”. And make positive declaration that will make the

devil know that he cannot win the battle



Concluding

C H A P T E R

08

At the end, it all works for our good

When you want a rainbow, ask for rain and that rain comes with a

heavy storm for a rainbow, so when you ask God for a breakthrough,

you're simply asking God for a challenge.

- Anonymous

od does not allow us go through some difficult problems

in life because He wants to punish us; He wants us to Gunderstand and have confident in his unfailing love for

us, strengthen us, build us to be a testimony to heal others. He wants us

to be aware of the factors which make us forget that there is a God inside

of us.

The number one factor that makes us forget our strength in God and

give into fear is sin. I have seen and experienced what sin does to an

individual. Sin makes you lose your identity. It makes one lose boldness

to face God. Who we really are, is fearless, righteous, strong, steadfast

(never shaking), bold, rich. That is our identity

The devil doesn't have access to your heart when it is “well hidden in

Christ”. Note: not hidden, but well hidden. The devil may tempt you

from your surrounding factors but he can't get into your heart and spirit

if it is well hidden in Christ.

I can't desire faith in its fullest and dwell in sin, the devil will laugh at me

and tell me “who is she fooling?”

Many people often hate the procedure but love the outcome. The

mixing of the cake actually gets one worn out sometimes, but the

outcome is lovely. So many people want to reach the extent where

nothing moves them, and want to work on FAITH HEELS but the price

is righteous living and word study.

A Pastor once said that the devil is in constant battle with your spirit

soaring. When he sees that you about the get a bible, then the hunger to

do something else is most voracious and when you want to kneel to

pray, then sleep is most pleasant. This is because the devil wants us to be

subject to him through fear. He intends to make fear deprive us of the

156 | Concluding

abundance Christ has promised. So, we shouldn't be complacent, we

should fight every desire that opposes our faith walk.

Each time we overcome in our faith walk, our faith rules, on the other

hand each time we allow things come in between our walk in faith, fear

comes in.

At this point there is a call just behind this page. If you are tired of living

in fear, if you are so vexed in your spirit about the devils dictatorship

over your life through fear, please say this prayer with me on the next

page and by faith I believe that God will begin to walk with you in your

faith walk and teach you His ways. He will cast out every form of

darkness in you that may appear as fear.

Fear makes one lose his/her identity, fear punished me for years that I

forgot my name was Faith even shortly before I started this book. I

realized soon after, that my name itself is the antidote for fear. Do not

lose your identity by letting fear into your life. Stand bold on faith heels


IT WILL BUILD YOU

IT WORKS FOR OUR GOOD

Last week, I got a message from a friend who was deeply distressed. I

asked what the problem was and she began to narrate her issues, she was

going through a lot. When I get such calls or massages, the first thing I

do is ask “God what do you want me to say”. I am just a channel that

God wants to use, if I don't seek the source, then I will be speaking from

my vain mind which is totally unfruitful.

Then I heard in my Spirit, “tell her what you've been through”. I did just

that. That alone encouraged her, she was shocked that I was still fine and

it seemed to her that nothing was wrong with me and I absolutely did not

feel like I had been through much because His grace had kept me. And

she said “I want to be as strong as you are”.

Then, I told her “it is through situations like this, I became strong”. I

hadn't even told her half of what I had been through or what I was

presently going through.

I can preach today because I went through this and learnt. I can talk and

write because I've been there and as a matter of fact God numbs the pain

of every situation through his word in my Spirit. Fill your spirit with the

word and it will all work out for your good. God bless you.

158 | Concluding

THE CALL to Faith

For the believer

Dear Lord Jesus, I come to you with an understanding of who you are,

knowing that the Life you gave for me is to live in faith and not in fear. I

am here rededicating myself to trust in your word again.

I take authority and I bring every fearful thought under Christ this day

and I declare that from today I will walk on FAITH HEELS. Thank you

Father for answering me. In Jesus Name

CONGRATULATIONS.

Have a beautiful faith walk.

THE CALL to faith

For the unsaved

Rom 10: 9 says “if thou shall with confess with your mouth the Lord

Jesus; and shalt believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord that God hath

raised him from the dead, you shalt be saved.”

IT IS AS EASY AS A DECLARATION..

My LORD JESUS, I COME TO YOU TODAY, KNOWING HOW

SHORT I AM WITHOUT YOU. COME INTO MY LIFE FROM


THIS DAY, I BELIEVE YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD; I BELIEVE

YOU DIED AND ROSE AGAIN. I BELIEVE YOU PAID THE

PRICE FOR ME.

BEGIN A NEW WORK INSIDE OF ME. HELP ME TO LOVE YOU,

HELP ME TO KNOW YOU, HOLD MY HANDS STEP BY STEP

THROUGH LIFE AND HELP ME TO HAVE FAITH IN YOU.

THANK YOU FATHER FOR SAVING ME. IN JESUS NAME.

AMEN

Now, you can walk on faith heels not on fears knees. Don't go back to

those movies, those discussions, those sites, take control over your

emotions and put every word to practice in word of God and this book.

More than this book love the word of God and read it every day. We love

you but God loves you best.

158 | Concluding

Help lines

For more details and to order for this book, call our help lines below. If

you also need counseling, we will be so glad to hear from you and share

with you.

Call

0811 229 6192 | 0813 681 9801

References:

Ÿ Merriam Webster Dictionary, Online sources

Ÿ Marie Curie, Quote

Ÿ Katherine Kuhlman, Video Tape “How to be filled and

controlled by the Holy Spirit”

Ÿ Bishop Dag Heward Mills, Audio Tape “How to identify the

voice of the inner witness”.

Ÿ Donald Lawrence, gospel music, “encourage yourself”


160 | Concluding

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

There is not a gift as important as knowing and possessing the riches of our inheritance in

Christ. We, having a full understanding of this is alone a threat to the enemy. So, he uses

the weapon of fear to make us live less of our inheritance in Christ Jesus. Faith Akpovwa

through the help of the Holy Spirit discovered ways to dispel the forces of fear in this

book “Faith Heels or Fear's Knees”. The book is intended to help people stand on the

heels of faith which is being “in control of”, and having a confident disposition to face

fear, and not on fears knees which is being “subject to” or “cowed down” by fear. This

book handles subjects which include:

Ÿ How fear gets in,

Ÿ How to antidote fear with the word of God,

Ÿ The faith disposition one should possess at each junction where fear is likely to come,

Ÿ Guarding our hearts from fearful thoughts ,

Ÿ Gods counsel through her experiences.

-Faith Akpovwa

Having been through some experiences that sought to

shrink her in fear and rob her of her identity, Faith

realized after a long time of being cowed down by

fear that her name Faith was not a coincidence.

Then, she sought to find out what Gods

purpose for her life was and God took her by

His hands, using her experiences to teach her

precepts on dealing with fear. She found

purpose and from then began to write and

teach people on ways to conquer fear and to

find purpose as well. With the motto “For I am

not ashamed of the Gospel”, she founded her

ministry which is aimed at preaching the gospel through

books, music and teachings.

Documents

Faith Heels Fear's Knees