Looking Back: Nil

By Ossy Ossy

Inspirational “Looking Back” is based on chastening/Rebuke. How God choose one irrespective of the persons ways that are not satisfactory to men. Psalm 75:7” it is God who judges: He brings one down and exalts another” looking back tells us more of Gods Mercy. Romans 9:15 all king James version. and how wisdom is accorded to the ones that He love through mercy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Sep 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781982234850

Ossy Ossy

Ossy Ossy, is a graduate of art, a painter in various mediums and styles. haven seen or pass through huddles in life, as a survival and a Christian, was inspired to document things as was revealed to him.

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Copyright © 2019 Ossy Ossy.

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All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3484-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3485-0 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:  09/19/2019

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1 The Storm: A Writer’s Testimony, Struggle in Life, and True Experience

Chapter 2 Leaning on God A Complete and Absolute Surrender to God’s Will

Chapter 3 Divine Deliverance and Understanding The Power of Fasting and Prayer

Chapter 4 Principles of Faith, Training Your Faith to Maturity, and Living by Faith

Chapter 5 Divine Healing

Chapter 6 Catalyst for Successful Living

Chapter 7 The Holy Spirit—Who Is the Holy Spirit?

Chapter 8 Spiritual Leadership and Biblical Management

Chapter 9 Divine, Spiritual, and Natural Intervention

Chapter 10 The Soul and the Spirit, Part 1

Chapter 11 The Soul and the Spirit, Part 2

Chapter 12 Biblical Management and Strategies

Chapter 13 Supernatural Wisdom

Chapter 14 Integrity The Quality of Integrity, Cultivating a Life of Integrity

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to God first, for His unfailing love. Thank you also to my wife, for her support morally and spiritually and for standing by me all the way through writing this book, and to my friends I lost in the desert, in prison, and in the wilderness of life, for with them, God gave me revelation and made my testimony a success. May their souls rest perfectly with Jesus Christ. Amen!

PREFACE

Looking Back is the story of my journey through the struggles of my life and how God, through His love, mercy, and word, rescued me from the pit of despair and hopelessness and took me to graze from a valley and to the mountaintop of unspeakable joy, freedom, and peace in the Holy Ghost and a new beginning in life through Christ Jesus.

The word of God is a two-edged sword that cuts through all our ways of life, just as it affected mine. As I was a graduate of art and had worked in a reputable bank, my involvement in crime and fraudulent activities was much easier to execute, the practical aspect of the negative side of me. The Bible says in Romans 1:28, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." This was exactly the situation I found myself in; I ended up selling my soul and integrity to the devil.

This is the true story of how God brought back a young man whom He loves so dearly and gave him back his lost life more abundantly, just like Jonah, whom the Lord sent to minister to the people of Nineveh and relocated to Tarsus. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3).

It was during my relocation that I got a revelation, which was God’s recipe that enabled me to be catapulted from where I was to where I am now. Glory to His name on high! In this book, there are instructions, lessons, and messages I got from God while in the wilderness of life.

This story carries no exaggeration or fiction. It is meant to teach us the basics of life in all manners of human existence, with reference to God’s words and teachings. It will touch our needs as His children, for He knows who we are and what all our needs are. No matter how far or deep we are in sin, He’s able to save us. All He wants from us is to have a perfect walk with Him. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect (Genesis 17:1).

It is the Lord showing the revival of a lost son, from death to resurrection! Glory to God!

CHAPTER 1

The Storm: A Writer’s Testimony, Struggle in Life, and True Experience

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore, despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hand make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles and yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

—Job 5:17–19

I GRADUATED FROM a college of technology in Nigeria in 1993. Having worked as a banker in a reputable bank, I found it easy to become involved in crime, for I did not put God first in my life. The Bible says in Romans 1:28, And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. This was so in my life. I found myself doing things that were never expected of the real me. I sold my integrity and started a business without asking the Lord first for His leading. This one collapsed because it wasn’t of the Lord. Once again, I lost all. Traveling far from home and from all my troubles was the only thing that seemed right to me. In doing so, I would be free from shame, not knowing that I was just stepping into my wilderness in life. This was the beginning of the Lord’s chastisement.

In August 1998, I sold all I had in order to travel outside the country. To where? I did not know. I left home for North Africa. Along the way, I made friends who were criminals and ex-soldiers of various countries, although I didn’t know that at the time. After I had spent a few weeks with them, we moved to a nearby country. Arriving at this environment was our calculated plan to travel through the desert to North Africa. This transit point is the largest in that desert. In this city, trucks are packed as a means of transportation across the Sahara Desert and every border of North Africa.

My new friends told me that we would be able to make it to Europe from North Africa. And the country had the longest coast in North Africa, which was shared with most European countries on the Mediterranean Sea. As the financier of the trip, I was most relaxed; my friends were the guides. They had been on this route on several occasions before. One of my friends spoke Hausa and Arabic. This was an added advantage to this mysterious journey.

As we progressed, the presence and love of God was all over me, like with the Israelites enjoying the presence of God even in their sinful state. That’s how God’s presence evolved around me, as God remained faithful to me. Everyone we encountered during the trip favored us, including the soldiers at every border, as brutal as they might be to other travelers.

First Transit City

In the city before us lay the departure center for this journey, what Heathrow International Airport is to world travelers in London. Here, people converged from every part of Africa with the hope of making it to Europe. In this transit point, passengers stayed for weeks and months while the organizers of the trucks hustled for more passengers.

As the journey got closer, passengers were asked to hang up all their belongings and basic needs, like fried cassava flour with fried meat and water. On our truck for this mysterious journey were veterans of the trans-Saharan trade. They too had tied up all their goods around the truck, making the truck look like a masquerade.

After we had spent three weeks in transit in this strange city, every truck was set to hit the desert. Having the knowledge that the desert journey was dangerous, before we started, we all prayed. And for the first time, I heard a still, small voice say, I am with you. Fear not!

At the end of the week, we started the trip early in the morning. Every truck was lined up in a convoy with approximately a hundred passengers per truck, plus goods and bags.

Finally, all the trucks came to a stop. It was a good moment for passengers to refresh themselves and eat good food. But as for me, my cassava powder, peanuts, and sugar were my food. I took advantage of the break to make friends by moving around and professing Jesus to the people on board. Wearing my two-piece suit instead of jalabia (Muslim hooded attire), I looked like a diplomat lost in the wilderness. I had this calmness that all was well in me, so everyone wanted to associate with me. The state of this calmness helped my group greatly, as we had all we needed, like food and water from well-wishers. This lasted for as long as the journey progressed.

Ibrahim had been so helpful from the onset of this journey for his fluency in Arabic and Hausa, as this trip was not his first. Meet Pastor Mark was his introduction of me to the rest of the crew before leading the group prayers at every stop. The Lord proved that He was with us, according to His promises. Psalm 91:4 says, He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. God revealed to me in a vision that I should be still and that He took my battle personally through Jesus Christ.

Next, we encamped at a well that had been dug by the French. This was the cleanest water I had ever seen. This water