HOLINESS REVIVAL MOVEMENT WORLDWIDE
EVERY WORD OF GOD FOR DAILY LIVING
BY PASTOR PAUL RIKA
(Int. Director Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide)
DATE: MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
TOPIC: TESTIMONY – MY WIFE’S CHANGED LIFE BROUGHT ME TO HOLINESS MOVEMENT – Part 2
TEXT: Ephesians 4:22-24
Key verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Continued from yesterday.
I boarded a commercial vehicle to Gwagwalada town motor park and stepping out; I had to wait for another vehicle to take me to Kwali where the campground is located. As I waited, I saw a cigarette seller and was tempted to smoke. As I attempted to buy from the seller, I heard an inner voice said if you smoke, you will be smelling cigarettes. Anothr voice said if you drink soda water, nobody will know, so I looked for soda water but could not get one.
Meanwhile, I was still waiting for a commercial vehicle to Kwali, so I walked a bit forward and asked for soda water. As I was about paying for it, I heard a shout of “Kwali, Kwali,” which signaled the arrival of a Kwali-bound vehicle. I abandoned the soda water and ran to the vehicle. I got to the camp before the program started in the evening, and I started having an urge to smoke. I said in my mind, let me go around to see if this place they call holy ground will sell cigarettes or not. I looked everywhere, but no cigarettes. I said to myself, “How will I stay without smoking?” Then I resolved within myself, “If I don’t smoke in this place today, I will never smoke in my life again.”
The program finished that night, and I went to sleep. The next morning, I went to take my bath, but people were many. There was a shortage of buckets to fetch water, so I decided to go outside the camp. I found a place where you paid money to bathe and noticed some cigarette sellers and smokers in the vicinity. I took my bath and came out, but to my greatest surprise, I was irritated by the smell of cigarette smoke coming out from there.
I returned to the camp as Pastor Rika finished his message, and I joined others for the altar call. There and then, I covenanted with God that I will never smoke again in my life. After returning home from the conference, anytime I feel an urge to smoke, I would remind myself of the promise I made to God. My friends were surprised by my change. I want to thank God for delivering me from the spirit of smoking, which I thought I could never overcome. Jesus did it for me, and since then, I have not gone back to it. Praise God for His mercy!
Thought for the day: With God all things are possible.
Song for the day: He has done for me, he has done for me.
Bible reading for the day: Psalm 50-52; Acts 27:1-25
©elijahben
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