“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (James 4:6)
A good number of people who know me can testify that I speak so much about humility and obedience to God. I hardly preach a message without mentioning any of them, directly or indirectly. Each time I preach about humility, I also do mention pride. Now, I know that many who follow my posts and listen to me preach, even on radio, may be wondering why I always speak about obedience, humility and pride. If you are one of such people, today, I will share with you something the Lord told me concerning humility. I strongly believe that this will bless you.
Sometime in 2017, the Lord asked me to go to the mountain of prayer and wait on him for three days. I was not to go alone. He asked me to go with two elders in the church. We went on that journey on the last week of November 2017 and camped on a prayer ground somewhere in a place known as “Aburi mountains” in Ghana. Like I have already mentioned, we were to stay there, pray and wait on the Lord for three days and three nights.
On the second night of our waiting, as we prayed and worshipped the Lord, the Holy Spirit began to speak to us through one of the sisters who were with me. The Lord spoke to us about our church. He gave directions concerning how He wants things to be done in the church. After that, He spoke about some issues concerning the Body of Christ as in general. One of them was about the lack of humility in the Body of Christ, especially by men of God. He made particular reference to men of God, whom He has anointed with the gifts of prophecy, healing, casting out of demons as well as the power to work signs and wonders. According to the Holy Spirit, many of them have been overtaken by the spirit of pride. What is the consequence of not walking in humility? That is what I want to share with you here.
As the Lord spoke to us that night, at a time, He asked me to put two chairs together, and I did.
“Frank,” He called out. That was me.
“Yes, Papa,” I replied. I have developed a Father-son relationship with the Lord. Anytime he speaks to me, he calls me by my name, and I always say “Papa” in response. I have taught everyone in our church to do the same. God is our Father. If He calls us by our names, we must respond appropriately. That strengthens the bond we have with Him. Unfortunately, many believers in Christ do not have this type of relationship with God. They see Him as an elusive “Spirit Being” living far away in heaven, beyond their reach.
Yes, God is a Spirit Being, however, He is our Father. No matter how far a father is from home, he is ever present in the lives of his children because he lives in their hearts. That should be the mind-set of every believer. God is in our heart, so, our Father, though, in heaven; He is never far away from us. If we have that understanding, it will be easy to cultivate a Father-son relationship with Him. By His grace, that is the type of relation we have established with the Lord. When he speaks to us, we have a conversation instead of getting a monologue from Him.
After my response, the Lord said, “I want to show you something that will help you end this journey well.”
“Yes, Papa,” I replied.
“Akosua,” He called out.
“Yes, Papa,” replied Akosua. Sisters Akosua and Gladys, the prophetess the Lord used to speak to us that night are members of the council.
“Go and sit on the floor behind the chairs,” said the Lord.
“Yes, Papa,” she replied. Akosua walked across the room and sat behind the two chairs I had set up as the Lord instructed. Then the prophetess whom the Lord was speaking through went and sat on one of the chairs. Before I continue, let me state clearly that up to that moment, I still had no clue what the Lord was doing. However, as a servant, I had to follow instructions.
So, by now, the two sisters with me were sitting down. One on the floor behind the two chairs; the other on one of the chairs. I was the only one standing.
“Frank,” continued the Lord.
“Papa,” I replied.
“Take some steps back,” said the Lord.
“Yes, Papa.” I took about five meters steps backward.
“Now, look at your sister,” He said. I looked towards them as directed by the Lord.
“What do you see?” Asked the Lord.
“Papa, I see the sister sitting on the chair and the empty chair beside her,” I replied.
“What about the one sitting on the floor behind her. Do you see her?”
“No, Papa. I can’t see her at all,” I replied, still wondering what it was all about.
“Why can’t you see her? He asked.
“Papa, I cannot see her because she has been covered by two chairs and the sister sitting in front of her,” I replied.
“You have spoken well, my son.” said the Lord.
“Thank you, sir,” I said. I was happy by the Lord’s response. Even at that time, I still had no clue what the Lord was doing.
“Now, go and check if Akosua is still behind the chair,” said the Lord.
“Yes, Papa,” I replied and walked over to where Akosua was. I had no doubt that she was there. However, I had to obey the Lord.
“She is here, my Lord.”
“Good! Now, go back to where you were standing earlier.”
I did as the Lord commanded.
“From where you are, do you still see her?”
“No, Papa.” I replied. By this time, my curiosity has increased seriously. I wanted to know what it was all about. However, the Lord was never in a hurry. He still had another question for me.
“Frank?”
“Papa.”
“If you did not see Akosua when she went to sit behind the chairs, would you have known that someone is there?”
“No, Papa,” I replied.
Indeed, with the two chairs before her and the other sister sitting on one of them, from where I stood, sister Akosua was totally invisible to me.
Going forward, the Lord asked me and sister Akosua to leave our positions and sit on the chairs. We did as was instructed. The prophetess once again stood in front of us as the Lord continued to use her to minister His word to us. Please note that I recorded the entire conversation with my phone to avoid missing anything.
“I have shown you what is happening in my church. A lot of my servants have become so big in their own eyes, they have taken my seat and put me on the floor,” said the Lord.
“When you go to many churches, people don’t see me at all. They see the Pastor. He is the god they worship,” he added.
I clearly understood what the Lord demonstrated after the explanation he gave. It made me sad. I know for sure that in many churches, the Holy Spirit is not regarded. The anointed Pastor is everything. The Holy Spirit is grieved about this. That’s why he revealed it to us. However, that is not all.
“Many people come to my house because of the man of God, not because of me. The man of God is the one they see. They don’t see I, the Lord. That is because the man of God has taken the place of God in their lives. They are more interested in his benefitting from his anointing than having a relationship with I the Lord me,” said the Lord.
“The day the pastor does not come to church; they won’t be happy. That is because their “god” did not come to church,” He added. I could sense that the Lord was seriously grieved. The more I listened to him, the sadder I became.
“How can a servant take the place of his master and expect the master to be happy with him?” I asked myself. This is what many men of God are doing. They have no idea how much they are grieving the Holy Spirit by their prideful attitude. As I was pondering over what the Lord said, He spoke again. This time around, it was advice to me. The Lord took his time to educate me on the need to remain a humble servant.
“Frank, if you want to remain in me and I in you, you must humble yourself. Remember that you are human and I am God. I am the Master; you are my servant. I am your Father; you are my son. If you call me Father, you must honour me. A father deserves honour from his child. Is it not so, Frank?”
“It is so, sir,” I replied. What the Lord said about a son honouring the father reminded me of the word of God, which He spoke through Prophet Malachi.
“A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, wherein have we despised thy name?”(Malachi 1:6)
How can a child who refuses to honour his father be blessed?
How can a servant who despises his master be rewarded with good things?
If indeed we call God our Father and Master, we must honour Him. How do we honour Him? We honour Him by making sure that we remain obedient to His word. The only way to achieve that is to be humble. The Lord won’t allow any man to take his place in the life of his children. Those who do that will perish. That night, the Lord told me to be guided by the things he revealed to us.
“My son, let this guide you. Be humble at all times. Make room for advice and willing to take correction. Never allow pride to rule your heart. Pride will put you in a place where no one can correct you.” That is a dangerous place to be. The only way to avoid such is by being humble. So, be humble, my child,” advised the Lord. After that, the Lord said something I will never forget.
“My son, listen to my words and learn from it. Because of pride, many of my anointed servants have taken my place in the lives of their followers. They have lifted themselves so high, no one can advise them. So, they continue to make mistakes that will cost them deeply. Many of them fall without knowing. Their sin has broken the covenant I have with them. Those are the people who will claim that they did great things in my name, but I will cast them out as workers of iniquity. Make sure you do not become part of them,” advised the Lord. As I pondered over what the Lord said, I remembered the scripture he used as an example.
“Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”(Matthew 7:21-23)
Whilst I was still digesting all that the Lord said, He spoke again:
“No matter how much you are anointed, if you chose to go your own way, I will leave you. And the sad thing is that when I leave, you won’t even know that I have left you. Many of my servants think that I am with them, but I have left them without their knowledge. Pride is the reason. They are disobedient to my word and have refused to take correction. I have no relationship with disobedient children. My son, do not be like them.”
The statement above made me shake that night. It has always remained in my mind. Again, the Lord gave me the following warning, which has become a standing order for me till this day.
“Frank.”
“Yes, Papa.”
“I always come to advise you because I love you. Again, that is because you are willing to allow me to speak to you through any vessel of my choice. Many of your brothers will never allow me to use someone to speak to them. They want to lead me instead of I to lead them. Who owns the church?
“The church is yours, sir,” I replied.
“The church is mine. The church is my bride. I bought her with my PRECIOUS BLOOD, yet, most of my servants won’t allow me to have fellowship with my bride. Frank, no one can advise me. I am the Lord. I do as I please. You don’t choose whom I should use to speak to you. I can speak to you directly or use someone else to do it. If you are humble and have no secret sin, you will not be afraid when I am speaking to you through someone. This is why many of you have failed. You refuse to allow me to do my work the way I chose to. That is pride. It has destroyed many of my anointed servants.
“My son, listen to my advice, and it will be well with you. You are a human being. You can go wrong without knowing. When that is the case, someone near you who has my spirit will notice it and put you in order. However, except you are humble enough to take corrections, you will never listen. Your attitude can make people leave you, even when they know you are falling into a ditch. Humility is the key.
“Do you understand me, my son?”
“Yes, my Lord,” I replied. I was very much afraid as I listened to the Lord that night. That was because the Lord has spoken to me about some great men of God, whom He said have derailed. These are men of God with great followers. They are anointed greatly. Their ministry is full of signs and wonders. However, their relationship with the Lord is no more cordial. This is because they fell into error and refused to repent.
Some years ago, the Lord gave me a message to deliver to a great man of God in Nigeria. He told the man of God had deviated and showed me the area he had fallen. He gave me a word of caution to the man of God. All the Lord wanted was repentance from the man of God. I traveled all the way from Accra, Ghana to Lagos, Nigeria and delivered the word of the Lord to the man of God. However, the error was never corrected. Three years later, the man of God died. I still feel sad about it. What happens if the Lord decides to judge him based on that error which he refused to repent from? Will he be counted as a worker of iniquity? Only the Lord knows.
There was no way I would know the implications of what the Lord was telling me and be comfortable. So, all through that night, I panicked, thinking about myself and the consequences of not being humble to the Lord. But then, the Lord had more to tell me.
“Frank!”
“Papa.”
“Like I said earlier, don’t ever put yourself in a place where nobody can correct you. Don’t avoid people who will see your error and not tell you the truth. That is pride. It will destroy you. It has already destroyed many. Don’t let it happen to you, my child,” advised the Lord.
That was how our conversation with the Lord ended that night. Believers in Christ, especially, church leaders must shun pride and embrace humility. God Placed Moses above all men because of his meekness and faithfulness to Him. It was not because of the anointing he carried.
We can be anointed more than all the Prophets in the Bible put together. However, if we are not humble, we cannot walk in obedience to the Lord. Therefore, let us be humble. He who is humble will always be obedient to the Lord.
I hope this testimony will help you to understand why I always harp on the need for us to humble. Thanks for your time. Check out the next for another interesting discussion. God bless you.
Source: “Truth be told (TBT) series”
Author: Apostle Frank B. Ogbu
Head Pastor/Overseer
Champion Grace Eternal Ministries
Ayikai Doblo, Amasaman
Accra, Ghana
Email: @apostlefrank01@gmail.com
Twitter: @apostlefrank01
Instagram: @apostlefrank01
Facebook:@pastorfrank1