ElijahList.com   05.17

"Facing Battles? God Has Your Back! His Voice and Glory are Your Rear Guard"

Ella Onakoya, London, United Kingdom

God has an eternal unbreakable covenant of protection with His people. Despite the various attacks the Body of Christ is experiencing from the enemy, the Lord is reassuring us of His covenant of protection. He is never taken by surprise by what befalls us. In His foresight and wisdom, He has made plans for us to be protected. I hear Him say that, His voice will bring your deliverance. His glory will not desert you in the place of your fiercest battle.

There are various Scriptures in the Bible that attest to God's covenant of protection with us. Deuteronomy 33:26 is majestic in its description of the power of God to protect: "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the clouds to help you and on the clouds in His Majesty." Psalm 91 talks about us being protected in His secret place and in Isaiah 58:8 the Lord promises that His glory will be our rearguard. The Lord spoke to me about various ways we can be positioned to enter into His covenant of protection.

His Voice Will Speak Clearly to Strengthen You to Stand Firm in Your Full Armor

"The enemy had sought to paralyze me with fear but the Lord's voice paralyzed the onslaught of fear and stopped it in its tracks."

Recently the Lord spoke to me through an event that reinforced His faithfulness in delivering us from unexpected attacks. I was at an airport in London on my way to minister in the US. I was carrying several luggage bags and sought help from a gentleman to help me carry one of my pieces of luggage up the escalator. He obliged and took my luggage as he was getting up the escalator just in front of me. Suddenly he lost his grip on his hard-cased luggage and he stumbled. His luggage fell on my chest hitting me sharply with force. I cried out at the sudden pain and unexpectedness of it and naturally felt myself about to go on a downward spiral. Suddenly the still small voice of God in me spoke with loudness and clarity: "You must not fall."

His voice gave me strength and in that split second I knew I had to stand firm, almost supporting the man in front of me. I braced myself standing firm, gripping the side rails with my legs firmly rooted. The man was able to regain his balance as I regained mine, also stopping what could have been the natural progression of my fall. All around me people were asking if I was Okay. I'm thankful to Jesus for giving me that split-second decision on how to react. Were it not so, probably several of us would have fallen down the escalator and would have been very badly hurt.

I believe the Lord would have me encourage you through this incident. If you've been hit by a sudden shock of calamity or bad news, brace yourself and stand firm. Jesus has your back. Do not allow what you are going through to send you on a downward spiral. Your decision to stand strong will not only strengthen you, it will strengthen others too. I believe the voice of God positioned me to stand so the Lord's glory could support my back and prevent my fall. His voice is releasing strength in these days of intense battles for us to do all we can to stand. Ephesians 6 encourages us to take on the full armor of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. When we stand firm, we are positioned for victory!

The Voice of God Through His Word Will Break the Backbone of Setbacks

The Lord is restoring a revival of His Word that releases truth to set us free and protect us from evil. His Word is eternal, faithful and sure. He is calling us to make good warfare through His Word so that our faith will not be shipwrecked. Fresh ability to stand and secure our victory is released as the truth of His Word anchors our soul. 

Recently, just days before 2017, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. This was unexpected as I had felt quite well. Throughout the day of the diagnosis, my blood pressure was taken and it was consistently high. One of the hospital staff was concerned, asking if I was sick. The systolic measurement was 177 while the diastolic measurement was also higher than normal. I was told that when the blood pressure reads 160, I really should be taking medication for treatment.

As I heard the news, I began to ponder on how this condition had affected my family with some from my Dad's side of the family having died from it. My itinerary ministry schedule is quite busy and I wondered how this news would alter my ministry lifestyle. I know of some ministers who are unable to travel because they have high blood pressure due to doctors' orders.

I came home that day, sitting in my bedroom, feeling a momentary panic as thoughts almost overwhelmed me. Friends, be watchful in your moments of vulnerability for this is often the time the voice of the enemy seeks to ring louder than the truth of God's love for us. The Lord understands our frame, for He made us but he has also made us with the ability to break through situations that want to break us if only we would heed His voice in those moments.

Thoughts from the enemy flooded my mind, reminding me of members of my family currently being treated for high blood pressure. His deceptive voice took on the wiliness of the serpentine nature he used to deceive Eve in the garden as he whispered to me, "Do you not know all healing ministers die of sickness at some point? You are no different as the same will happen to you."

"His voice will bring your deliverance. His glory will not desert you in the place of your fiercest battle."

The enemy, as he whispered his deception to me, had not bargained that the Lord would be my very present help in trouble. The Lord was with me and supernaturally I felt as if my hand was guided to automatically open my Bible to John 10 and the voice of the Lord rang clear and true from the pages as His Words came alive.

I heard His voice of truth through the pages saying, "My sheep hear My voice, the voice of a strange one they do not hear" (see John 10:4-5). He spoke again, "The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but I come to bring life and life more abundantly" (see John 10:10). The enemy had sought to paralyze me with fear but the Lord's voice paralyzed the onslaught of fear and stopped it in its tracks. He warned me gently not to allow the enemy to ascribe to him what the enemy does.

The Lord has come to destroy the enemy's work in our lives! (see 1 John 3:8.) He told me to trust Him and that He would heal me. For 4 days, without taking any medication from the hospital (I am not against people taking medication as the Lord can choose to bring relief to us through that) I praised the Lord continually, meditating on His healing Word and ingesting His Word like medicine to my body. I reminded myself of those the Lord had used me to pray for with high blood pressure who had testified of being healed. I saturated my spirit with His healing Word as I slept with healing Scriptures at night. I took authority and broke generational curses of sickness in my family.

After 4 days I went back to the hospital. The doctor took my blood pressure several times. It had gone down to 116 from the previously read 177! It was a fantastic result as the doctor declared my body had returned to normal and has remained normal to-date. I rejoiced that the Lord had healed me as He said He would and thanked Him that I could continue in my call with my busy schedule of ministry and not be hampered by the setback the enemy had planned. His eternal Word had bolstered my faith so I could receive my healing in the glory realm! 

Armor Bearers Arise!

Lastly, I feel the Lord impressing on me the need for us as a Body to stand in unity, providing intercessory cover for each other. Years ago, the Lord showed me a picture of a body standing in unity, their hands stretched forth to pray for the ones in front of them. As each stood as armor bearers, their prayer covered and protected the ones in front while they themselves were covered by the armor bearers standing at their back. These prayers released the glory of God which covered and protected each Believer.

Our standing in the gap for each other is a powerful strategy from Heaven which is infinitely effective in breaking the enemy's yokes. Do not think Heaven is unaware of what you are going through, for the Lord is releasing strength though His voice, His glory and His Body that is standing in obedience to cover and pray as armor bearers. It's not a season for defeat but a time of victory! 

Ella Onakoya
Harvest of the Nations
Email: info@harvestofthenations.com
Website: www.harvestofthenations.com

Ella Onakoya is the founder of Harvest of the Nations. She is a full-time itinerant minister and author based in the UK who has been traveling for several years to preach a message of revival and awakening to Believers in churches; she also preaches the Gospel to the lost and unsaved in many parts of the world. The ministry also aims to equip, activate, and disciple Believers in their calling to do the works that Jesus did. As an evangelist and prophetic revivalist, Ella Onakoya travels and ministers extensively in Asia, Africa, Europe, the UK, and in America with God fulfilling His Words with signs and wonders as she speaks at crusades, conferences, church revival meetings, and equipping schools.

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