Somto Ufondu

I was around 5 when, I am strongly convinced, I first heard the distinct voice of God. But, not until I was 11 (2002) did I have a personal encounter with Him. I was in my room that night, about to pray before bed, when I saw a revelation of how filthy my heart was. I didn't argue with God that I was too young to have such amount of filth ('cause I believed I was a 'good boy,' by human standards, at least). I simply cried uncontrollably in brokenness of heart - "The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God" (Psalm 51:17) - and He didn't.

Still crying uncontrollably, I left my room and went to the living room, where my parents were watching the nightly news on TV. After I managed to tell them about the revelation I saw, my sweet mum took me to her room and led me to Christ. I got saved that night. And 6 years later, I discovered my purpose and assignment on earth, which is raising up men and women to be godly, and teaching them the simplicity of Christianity. More than a decade later, I am still fulfilling that purpose to His glory. Hallelujah!

Let It Rain! – A 1-Kings-18-Analogy of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Reading Time: 12 minutes

Thinking about this COVID-19 pandemic, I couldn’t help but think about prophet Elijah’s time during the drought. I wouldn’t want to narrate the whole story but I want to highlight some key lessons in the events recorded in 1 Kings 18:1-46 (you might want to go through that, even if only for a refresher). And since seven is the spiritual number for perfection, I have decided to have them in seven points. It is my prayer that after going through this post, you will understand the role you too can play for God to rain down His presence, power and glory on the earth. Hallelujah! Let it rain.

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus – #14

Reading Time: 3 minutes

two outstretched palms having mustard seeds in them, relating to fasting and prayer and weak faith vs small faith — Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash

**There Is a Huge Difference between a Weak Faith and a Small Faith (Matthew 17:14-21)**

While Jesus was away on a short retreat to the mountain with three of his most trusted disciples (see Matthew 17:1), a man brought his son who was a “lunatic and sore vexed” (KJV) to Jesus’ disciples to cure him. They tried to exercise the power that Jesus had given to them, but couldn’t. Now, these disciples of Jesus were the same set to whom He had previously given “power to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness” – Matthew 10:1. When Jesus first gave them that authority to perform miracles, they had not fully known Him. They were ‘baby Christians’. Yet, they were still able to achieve tremendous success; for, even demons submitted to them in the name of Jesus (Luke 10:17). So, what went wrong this time?

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus – #13

Reading Time: 3 minutes

wrapped gift boxes — Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

God’s blessing/healing comes with a guarantee of perfection. (Matthew 14:34-36; John 5:5, 8-9; Mark 5:34; Luke 17:19; Mark 8:22-25)

In the above passages, we find Jesus healing several people with different conditions, among them, a woman with twelve years of constant bleeding, a blind man, the leper, a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, and several other people who touched the hem of His garment and were healed. We also find a recurring theme: “perfectly whole”. Everyone that Jesus heals can be sure of one truth: it is a forever healing. In other words, God’s blessing is a lifetime warranty.

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus – #12

Reading Time: 3 minutes

bad storm — Photo by Sebastian Molina fotografía on Unsplash

Sometimes, God allows bad situations to come to us, in order to teach us some of the principles of life. (Matthew 14:23-33)

Here, we find Jesus describing Peter as having “little faith”. Jesus sends His disciples away in a boat to cross over to the other side of the country, yet He Himself stays behind to dismiss the multitudes, and afterwards goes up a mountain to pray. He knew the weather forecast, He knew that some strong wind was going to blow contrary to their direction and put them in harm’s way, He knew that their faith was still too small to trust Him without seeing Him physically present with them. He knew all this, yet He still sends them into the eye of the storm literally.

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus – #11

Reading Time: 2 minutes

food — Physical meal: Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

God is interested in both your spiritual health as well as your physical well-being. (Matthew 14:13-21; 15:32-39)

Today, we look at the miracle of the loaves of bread and a few fish. It happened twice while Jesus was having a sort of conference with his followers. In one of those “conferences,” the people had been there all day, and in the other, they had been there for 3 days, receiving from Jesus some spiritual meal for their spiritual health. And in both instances, they had been very tired and hungry towards the end of His teaching. Also, both occasions saw, at least, 4,000 people in attendance.

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus – #10

Reading Time: 2 minutes

No twisted condition, however complex, is impossible for God to fix. (Matthew 12:22-23)

a twisted tree — Photo by Juvian Duff on Unsplash

Today’s lesson is going to be short and straightforward. Most of Jesus’ recorded miracles applied to cases that were impossible for men to fix. But in today’s text, we see a man who was not only tormented by demons (probably insanity) but was also blind and couldn’t speak. All on one man. 😥 It was indeed a complex situation. And what can we draw from this miracle? We find from this that, no matter how battered or shattered someone’s life might be, God can still fix them up. Furthermore, God is still in the business of fixing people up. He asked Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” – Genesis 18:14. Then, He also asked Jeremiah, saying, “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?” – Jeremiah 32:27.

Why Do You Worry or Fear?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

woman sitting with knees propped up, and head bowed — Photo by Mike Palmowski on Unsplash

In many parts of the Bible, we find Jesus rebuking people, especially his followers, for doubting Him or the power of God. One such scenario that I want to focus on today is in Matthew.

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus – #9

Reading Time: 3 minutes

When it is your time for a miracle, even the devil cannot stop it from happening. (Matthew 12:9-13)

Software Crash

Let me begin by telling you a quick story. After I typed this 9th lesson on my computer, the software I was using crashed before I could save it. But, I had to remind myself that I write all these by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and not from my own wisdom. I also realized that when it was my time and turn to be used by God, not even a computer application could stop me. Haha! 😂 So, I just got my own fair share of challenges against my resolve to be a blessing to others. 💪 Position yourself to receive your miracle after reading this post. 😉

Going into the miracle…

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus – #8

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Every bad condition is an opportunity for God to reveal His power. (John 9:1-11; Matthew 15:31)

two-women-bowing-heads-in-prayer — Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

One of the 30 lessons drawn from the miracles of Jesus is that God can use any condition in your life to reveal His power. The passages above tell the story of Jesus’ encounter with a man that was born blind. Everybody that knew the man believed he (in his previous life, as per the concept of reincarnation) or his parents must have done something terribly wrong to deserve being in such horrible situation. Jesus had to seize this opportunity to correct that mindset.

Why Are You Hiding Your Talent?

Reading Time: 4 minutes

stacks of coins — Photo: “Moneybox” by Дмитрий Куляев is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Many of us have read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 several times. And most of us (if not all of us) have been able to make the connection between those talents in that parable and the gifts/graces which God has given each of us. However, today, I want to write about another connection which only a few might have drawn. Let me begin by summarizing the story.