DIVINE INTERVENTION: WHY GOD SAVED BISHOP OYEDEPO FROM DEATH

Mercy and grace, provoked by prayers force the hand of the Lord to do the miraculous. ‘’And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” Joel 2:28-32     In spite of the promises of God, nobody journeys through life unopposed. God would always permit challenges or rough edges, no matter how spiritually powerful a human being is. Reason – So that humanity might acknowledge His majesty.  Satan is always working against the plan of God. The reason is that all good works, especially those having the potential of depopulating the kingdom of hell face stiff opposition from the devil and its cohorts; hence the need to step up intercessions, fasting and seeking the face of God for fruitful journeys thoughlife.

God Himself said in Jeremiah 33:3 “call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” And the Lord does nothing without showing it to His prophets (Amos 3); hence Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Oyedepo’s spiritual father had seen the vision of Bishop David Oyedepo’s ordeal in the space, during which his private jet almost crashed. According to Bishop Oyedepo, PastorAdeboye showed up in his house on the morning before the journey to pray for him: “According to the word of God, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord will hit the earth, there will be a restoration of sonship and fatherhood to the body of Christ.“On Friday preceding the journey that we made, my father in the Lord showed up at 6:30 early in the morning and saw a vision and wasn’t sleeping, and said, ‘Lord, Lord, why seek the living among the dead? No, no…’’So, he took off and landed here before 6:30am. ‘’No, there was no idea that he was coming, and there was no discussion after it. ‘’The heart of the father will be drawn to the heart of the son to defend.He saw the vision because God wanted him to see it so that the impending catastrophe would be avoided.

So severe was the incident that almost cost the Oyedepos their lives that a thanksgiving service was held to give glory to God for His intervention. Oyedepo, a highly cerebral man of God, backed with tremendous faith in the ability of the Creator to do the impossible explained that:“There was a mid-air crisis, there was serious turbulence, but there was no apprehension. Jesus took control.“He landed the plane safely. ‘’And we were just celebrating the faithfulness of God”Those conversant with spiritual principles know too well that there is no one that is living in this world unopposed. The devil is roaring everyday seeking for people to devour.Apparently, God revealed the occurrence to Pastor Adeboye so it could be averted through prayers. Yes, you might say the intervention was the result of the dexterity of the pilot. But the spiritual controls the physical.Why did it happen undetected before the flight even if it was a human or mechanical error? Prayers do the miraculous; including signs and wonders by the Holy Spirit.Prayers and supplications to God are very necessary.Prayers position people for supernatural victories, give peace and hope, and spiritual sight that gives people power to subdue the devil and its cohorts.

If the Lord opens our spiritual eyes to the demons moving around, and as He protects those who belong to Him, we probably would appreciate God better. Elisha’s servant, as recorded in 2 Kinks: 17 was disturbed that enemies were closing in on them:‘’And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha’’. The God that decreed for that incident to happen has never changed. For those who belong to God, especially carriers of the covenant, divine protection is assured as God would always move to defend those who belong to Him. (Job 5:19-27) You might ask: Why did it happen to Bishop David Oyedepo, a tremendous man of God? Rev. (Mrs) Abimbola Adetuberu, notes that“The throne is actually a comfort zone, but it attracts the opposition; because success attracts enemies. ‘’Nobody fights a failure. ‘’Esther understood this, which was why she was able to fast alongside others”. And that spiritual negligence could be very costly. The Holy Bible recognizes the potency of the negative powers of Satan and highlights its possible exploits if given a chance. Apostle Paul highlights the fact that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”

Arising from the above narration, it would be illuminating here to render a true-life account of an encounter of God’s people with witches in the United Kingdom.  Bishop Francis Wale Oke recounted, how witches in London, decided to fast in order to accomplish their evil desire of disrupting church services held at Kensington Temple (then pastored by late Wyn Lewis) on the grounds that they were being disturbed by the propagation of the word of God. Wyn Lewis had to ask the congregation to also fast and pray harder against the witches for the people of God to be victorious!Bishop Chris Kwakpovwe notes in one of his publications that “some of your secret enemies declare evil fasting programmes just to turn your life into a hard, barren and dry ground! There are secret powers that want you to weep! Others want you to suffer shame, stagnation and demotion.‘’The storms of life are inevitable; and there is a beautiful rainbow attached to every ugly and raging storm.’’

Congratulations to a brainy man of God and apostle of faith, Bishop David Oyedepo for escaping from the clutches of death. Warm felicitation to the Winners Chapel family,the Body of Christ, and Nigeria, on this divine intervention by God Who is the only Being and Almighty Who could protect. I also urge the Body of Christ to remain united and refrain from utterances that could promote disunity. If Adeboye requests that God gives him the enablement to establish churches at locations of a minute’s walk apart, that is his prerogative. If members refuse to kick through the proper channels about how tithes are spent, lets leave them alone. There is no perfect church. Only God Almighty is the true Judge to whom all servants of God remain answerable when their journeys on earth terminate.