The book of Acts, chapter 26 verse 18 says, “To open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God that they might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
My assignment from God is to present the light of God so that the power in His light would turn men and women from the power of darkness to the glorious life in the light of God. From darkness to light, power of Satan to power of God. This is Apostle Paul’s testimony in Acts 26; the scripture quoted above. Apostle Paul was talking about his conversion. He was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians when Jesus told him to go to the gentiles to open their eyes to the gospel and light of God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Wherever there is a spiritual encounter, your eyes will be opened to see the power of God.
Without Jesus Christ in your life, you are in darkness. This is not the darkness which is a result of absence of physical light. Daylight or declivity has nothing to do with. Here we are talking about spiritual darkness. There are two spiritual realms – the realm of light and the realm of darkness. Satan is the head of the realm of darkness. Jesus is the head of the realm of light. The most powerful assignment that God has given to us as Christians is to turn people from the power of darkness to the power of light.
When you hear of power of darkness, there is the tendency for you to think of the occult – occultism, witchcraft, mammy spirit, Ogbanje, Emere, Yemoja, etc. But it will surprise you that you can still be a good man, not taking part in such evil practice, but still be under the influence of the power of darkness. The question you should ask yourself is: Who is controlling me? What power is controlling me? Am I being controlled by the power of righteousness or by the power of wickedness? If it is wickedness, then you are under the influence of the power of darkness, and Satan is your father. If you are constantly envying and in strife, there is no joy in your life, no peace, there is hatred, there is bitterness, and there is contention and everything that is not good. Even though you are a “big” man, you dress neatly and attend church services, deep down, there is something nasty, something not of God. It is because the devil has his hand on your inside and you are influenced and controlled by the powers of darkness.
Your nights and sleep are full of nightmares. You cannot sleep well because you are full of wickedness. There is iniquity in you and you are constantly thinking evil. Each time you hear good news about your brother you are upset. You do not like anything good to happen to anybody else but you. That is the power of darkness operating in your life. You are being propelled by satan. You are an agent in the hand of the devil to bring pain and affliction to others. It is amazing how some people just sit down to think of how to kill another person. That is not a normal situation. It is the effect of the influence of the powers of darkness that somebody will say to you; go and kill that fellow, he is an opponent and you do it. No matter how much you are paid, you don’t have to give in to the powers of darkness to kill anybody.
If you are in any way under the influence of the powers of darkness, you are going to go to hell: unless you turn from your evil. My assignment as I said in the scripture we quoted above is “To open (your) eyes so that (you) can be turned from the power of darkness into the power of light, from the power of Satan into the power of God.” God’s power is love: Love your enemies and not wish them dead. It is not to pray that God kills your enemies, rather your enemies live, that they might see the blessings of God upon your life.
Friends, let us turn from evil. The only way out of darkness is to follow the light – Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the son of the living God. He was sent to be a light unto the world, John 1:4-5 talks about Him. He was sent to be a light. Turn to Jesus. Once you turn to Jesus, you have turned to light. When you say no to selfishness, immorality and greed; you are saying yes to the light, yes to righteousness and yes to God.
“To turn men and women from the power of darkness to the power of light; from the power of satan to the power of God.” My prayer is that the power of God be released unto your life: and that the power, the yoke and burden of darkness be broken. I pray the light of Christ into your life; I pray the power of God into your home and atmosphere. I pray the power of light over our cities and over our nation. I release the spirit of salvation over our cities and over the lives of your children. I pray that you cause your children to become evangelists, to take the mantle of salvation to the world and tell men about the love of God; that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Father, touch men and women to go with this fire to evangelize our nation and the world, to turn people from darkness to light. Lord, have mercy and save your people from hell fire. No man can come to Jesus unless you draw them. Draw them unto you today because the days are evil. I pray that your hand be released over the lives of your people. Let the power of sin be broken and the love for sin be destroyed. Let them begin to love righteousness from this day. Let them begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness in the name of Jesus Christ.
There are three things I always say to people:
1. Get yourself a Bible and begin to study it – starting with the gospel according to St. John.
2. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
3. Look for a good Bible-believing Church where Jesus is preached in spirit and in truth as Lord and Saviour, go there and you will be blessed. The more you learn about God, the freer you become. I am glad that you have made up your mind to follow Jesus. Keep following Him; there should be no turning back.
NB: First published March 2014