THE BIOGRAPHY OF A BACKSLIDER

"Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry. As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts. Everybody in Jerusalem knows this by now; they call the place Murder Meadow"  Acts 1:17-19 (MSG)

The above Biography is one of the most pathetic biographies in the history of man. It is the biography of a backslider. Every statement in that biography clearly brings to fore the fact that man can live in two worlds on earth. The first being the public world which is visible for all to see and the second, the private world which is not visible. These two worlds are inextricably tied together as what happens in the private world will eventually play out in the public world (Luke 8:17).  

Unfortunately, Judas Iscariot lacked the understanding of this salient truth. There was a sharp contrast between who he claimed to be in public and who he was in private. Judas was numbered with the disciples publicly but chose to drift away from them privately. He was a disciple in public but a backslider privately. He was a believer who stood aloof from the kingdom agenda. He was numbered with them but he was never a part of them. Judas was numbered with them but absent. He was numbered with them but not committed. He was numbered with them but not consecrated. In summary, Judas was a huge deficit or liability in the Balance Sheet of Heaven. That is the Biography of a backslider!

Beloved, who you are in public is important but who you are in private is even more important. You can occupy a highly revered position like Judas – the Treasurer and still be a misfit or disappointment to God privately. It is possible for your name to be on the membership register even when you are not a genuine member like Judas. Outwardly, Judas looked like he fitted in very well but inwardly he was in a slow state of rot. There was a corrupt and decaying process going on secretly within him. Outwardly he looked like a disciple but inwardly there was a terrible cancer that was spreading its wide tentacles rapidly but unknown to many people. He was a superstar in public but a traitor privately. 

It is quite unfortunate that there are many people like Judas Iscariot with the Biography of a backslider around us today.  They are Judas-like in private but Christ-like in public. They have drifted away from the cross privately but pretend as if they are still carrying the cross in public. They don’t seem to understand that the further away they get from the Cross privately, the greater the propensity for them to fail and become a deficit to heaven in public like Judas. On the other hand, the closer we get to the Cross privately the greater the degree of God’s glory, power and love that manifests within or through us publicly. 

''Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross'' is a wonderful hymn that re-echoes what should be the prayer point of those who sincerely desire to finish well and strong on earth: 

JESUS, KEEP ME NEAR THE CROSS By Fanny Crosby (1869)

Jesus, keep me near the cross,

There a precious fountain;

Free to all, a healing stream,

Flows from Calv'ry's mountain.

REFRAIN:

       In the cross, in the cross

       Be my glory ever,

       Till my ransomed soul shall find

       Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,

Love and mercy found me;

There the Bright and Morning Star

Shed His beams around me. 

   

Near the cross! I'll watch and wait,

Hoping, trusting ever;

Till I reach the golden strand,

Just beyond the river.

May God keep us near the cross till we reach the golden shore in Heaven. 

On behalf of my esteemed father in the Lord, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, I want to invite you to the November 2025 Special Holy Ghost Service. Date: Friday – Nov 7, 2025. Theme: THE EVE OF GLORY. Time: 7pm. Venue: Redemption City of God, Ogun State, Nigeria. 

Good day and God bless you.

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

https://okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com

THE OVERGROWN FOOTPATHS

The early Christian converts were very diligent about praying. Each one had their own special place outside the village where they went to pray in solitude. They reached these “prayer rooms” by using their own private footpaths through the bush. When grasses began to grow over any of these footpaths, it was evident that the person to whom it belonged was no longer praying. Therefore, anyone who noticed such overgrown grasses on any “prayer path,” would go to the prayerless believer and lovingly warn, “Brother, your footpath is covered with overgrown grasses!”

In Mark 14:32-40, Jesus Christ raised the issue of overgrown grasses on some footpaths in the garden of Gethsemane with his three closest disciples - Peter, James and John. The attitude and disposition of these three disciples clearly revealed that their footpaths were already overgrown with weeds as they were no longer active in the place of prayer. These disciples were sleeping when they should have been praying. They seemed to have embraced the philosophy of "Day-time believers" who sleep through the night like Koalas. They lack the understanding that the night hour is the most active period in the kingdom of darkness. In fact, the Bible says the night time is a very viable breeding ground for all kinds of wickedness and evil manifestations in the world (Micah 2:1, Matt 13:25, Psalms 91:6, Psalms 59:6). So, the night hour is a crucial time that believers must utilize wisely. They are not expected to pray only in the day time but at night also (Luke 18:7). This deep understanding made Jesus Christ  always spend quality time during the night to fellowship with His father (Luke 6:12-13). Therefore, if our perfect example, does not sleep throughout the night, then, why are believers sleeping like Peter, James and John in this generation? 

At such a time like this, when wickedness is increasing at an exponential rate, how can we be sleeping when the devil is busy working very hard to sow terrible tares into people’s lives (Matthew 13:25). This is a clear sign that the footpaths of many believers to the garden of prayer are completely overgrown with weeds. This is a very serious matter! We have become over confident, lazy and careless in climbing the mountain of prayer, especially at night. The giant of prayerlessness has swallowed up our personal devotion and sweet fellowship with God. Like the foolish Galatians, we have tried to use human strength and effort to complete the work of grace that the Holy Ghost started in the place of prayer (Galatians 3:3). What an absurdity!

I perceive God would like to wake up all believers with overgrown weeds on their footpaths in our generation from their slumber. God is sending a loving warning to every slumbering Peter, James and John in His kingdom. Are you one of them? Are your footpaths already overgrown with weeds? Has the giant of prayerlessness swallowed you up? Are your knees unbended? Has the mountain of sin, laziness and pride crippled your fellowship with God? Why are you no longer excited about the sweet hour of prayer as you used to do when you first got saved? Don't you think you need urgent help before it is too late? I sincerely think you do! 

Beloved, God is still asking us the same question he asked Peter, James and John several years ago. God is saying "Can you stay awake for just one hour to pray with me? Can you deny yourself of sleep just to seek my face at least one hour every night? Can you stop wasting your time watching movies or browsing the internet and fellowship with me?’’ Where are the praying men? Where are the praying women? Where are the praying children, teenagers and youths? What will be your response to these crucial questions that God is asking us? Please be sincere and wake up from your slumber! 

The lyrics of this wonderful hymn below captures the mind of God on this subject: 

I WANT THAT MOUNTAIN By Bill Harvey, 1989

I saw the Giant of Prayerlessness upon the mountain high;

He laughed so hard at my unbended knee.

No longer in the Wilderness I'll stay, and so I cry:

I want that mountain, it belongs to me!

Chorus:

          I want that mountain!  I want that mountain!

          Where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of Eshcol grow,

          I want that mountain!  I want that mountain!

          The mountain that my Lord has given me.

There was a Giant of Laziness who said I wouldn't go

And witness for the One who set me free.

I'll come from out the Wilderness, I'll witness now I know;

I want that mountain, it belongs to me!

One faithless Giant upon the crest of Hebron's lofty height

Has vowed that he's the one to make me flee.

I'll climb from out the Wilderness! and trust Jehovah's might!

I want that mountain, it belongs to me!

Let ev'ry Giant of Distress and Unbelief and Sin

Get ready now to vacate, for you see:

I've come from out the Wilderness! I know I'm going to win!

I want that mountain, it belongs to me!

May God rekindle fresh fire upon our prayer altars to consume all overgrown weeds on our footpaths to the secret place. May the giant of prayerlessness and mountain of laziness mocking our destiny in Christ Jesus be completely defeated so that we can begin to enjoy all the numerous benefits of abiding in the secret place of the most high at all times

Good day and God bless you.

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

https://okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com

A PLACE CALLED "THERE"

There are two places a man can be at any point in life. He can either be in a place called "HERE" or "THERE". The former stands for our current position or level while the latter represents the next level or place God wants us to be. 

One important attribute of the place called "HERE" is that it is usually not convenient to live in. The sons of the prophet confirmed this salient truth in 2 kings 6:1-2. They discovered that the seminary dormitory has become too small for the growing number of prophets-in-training and they desired to relocate to a more comfortable place. They had outgrown Here and were ready to move There. 

Literally, the difference between the two places i.e here and there, is one letter, "T", which means time. The wisest man that ever lived told us categorically in Ecclesiastes 9:11, that time and chance are the ticket and boarding pass on the flight to the place called "THERE" in journey of life. Time is the major factor in the placement of men on the ladder of destiny. No man can move from his "HERE" to "THERE" unless his time has come. Someone once said, "the most dangerous person on earth is the person whose time has come". 

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all" - Ecclesiastes  9:11

There are several examples of people who boarded flights to the place called "THERE" with the boarding pass of time in the Bible. One of such examples was Hannah. She discovered that she was in the place called "HERE" while her mate had settled down in the place called "THERE". She was the senior but did not have what her mate had because every month she kept on missing her time. But one day, she decide to settle the issue of missed time once and for all. She prayed fervently and God heard her and sent prophet Eli to hand over her missing boarding pass and ticket back to her. That same month, she boarded the flight of glory and moved from HERE to THERE in grand style. 

"The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me." John  5:7

Another good example is in John 5:1-7. The man by the pool of Bethesda had remained in the place called "HERE" for 38years. Anytime he attempted to move to his house which is a more convenient place, someone else usually jumped there ahead of him. Meaning, this man kept on missing the timing of his relocation to the place called "THERE" for 38years. But one day, he had an encounter with the one who is the custodian of time. And immediately, his missing boarding pass and ticket of time was found and his 38years tenancy in the place called "HERE" was terminated.

Beloved, like the sons of the prophets, Hannah and the sick man by the pool of Bethesda, you and I are not supposed to be a permanent resident in the place called "HERE". It is obvious many of us have outgrown our current position or level. It is time to move to a more spacious place. It is time to move from single to married, from barren to fruitful, from sickly to healthy, from lack to abundance, from jobless to gainfully employed. Your time to move to the place called "THERE" has finally come. Your Hannah will not return to Shiloh again empty handed in Jesus name. You are leaving your corner by the pool of Bethesda and never to return there again in Jesus name.

In conclusion, there are conditions to be fulfilled before you can move. You need to be resolute about your desire to change levels. You must be ready to cut down the beam required. This involves hard work and total commitment. Also, you must never take a step without carrying the God of your Elisha along. This is important because you will definitely need an anchor that will keep you standing when the wind of life blows. And if you are not yet saved, please surrender your life to Jesus today and he will become your anchor and compass to the place called "THERE" that you have been dreaming of.

As the Lord lives, before this landmark year is over, your own time of migration to the place called "THERE" shall surely come. You will become unstoppable like the sons of the prophets because your time of change of level shall surely come this year. Your flight of glory out of "HERE" to "THERE" shall not be cancelled in Jesus name.

Good day and God bless you.

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

https://okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com