UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUALITY

 Ibru Ecumenical Centre   Dealing with strange battles – Part I By John Okene 01 August 2021   |   3:11 am Okene Text: Eph. 6:12; 1Cor. 15:32 The word strange in this context refers to something odd, weird or queer. Strange battles mean battles that are unfamiliar, we are not used to them and don’t even understand them. It is like wrestling with shadows as we see in Eph. 6:12. The victims of such battles do not know why, how and when it started or they got engaged in it. In 1Cor. 15:32, Apostle Paul talks about fighting with a beast. This can be referred to as wicked and strange powers. There are no words to describe them because their modus operandi is beastly. I remember some years ago while I was handling the deliverance case of a parishioner, as I took time one night as usual to study and pray, I had a strange revelation. The heaven was opened and I saw a ladder extending down with a strange figure descending. This certainly was the second heaven, where the devil resides, the princ

 Ibru Ecumenical Centre   Dealing with village spirits By John Okene 17 October 2021   |   2:25 am Rev. John Okene Two of Jesus’ disciples were sent into the village of Bethphage to untie a donkey at a T-Junction. Bible scholars say that the two donkeys were an ass and a colt, which symbolises a mother and her child tied down at the entrance of the village. This explains how some people are tied spiritually in the village, while they struggle in the city to enter their breakthrough. Again, these donkeys were tied at a T-Junction, which represents an evil altar. They were destined great and were meant to be celebrated in the city, yet tied down in the village. The disciples sent to loosen the donkey were challenged by the men who kept watch over the donkey. I pray for you that every power questioning your freedom in life will be silenced permanently and may God visit your village and undo whatever had been done against you in Jesus name. There are evil altars where destinies of men have

  Ibru Ecumenical Centre     Defeating the giant of discouragement – Part 2 By  John Okene 13 November 2022   |   3:37 am Okene Text: Numbers 13:25-33; Numbers 14:1-10 We need to understand some of the characteristics of discouragement. Firstly, discouragement is contagious and could spread, like a spirit, from one person to another. So, you must be very careful if you are around someone that is deeply discouraged. Such people are full of complaints and would complain virtually about everything around them and if you keep on staying around them, before long you will begin to share their views. They do not see light at the end of the tunnel and, so, are never hopeful.    Secondly, discouragement is universal. It comes on anyone irrespective of race, colour, religion, age, tribe, social or economic status. Saints and sinners alike face it; no one is immune to it. We all have to overcome it.    Thirdly, discouragement has a spirit behind it. It is not from God, hence He told Joshua severa

 Ibru Ecumenical Centre   Dismantling ancient gates By John Okene 03 April 2022   |   4:16 am John Okene<br /> Gates are very significant in life. There are spiritual gates just as we have physical gates. A gate is a passage; it could also mean a barrier. The Bible talks about different kinds of gates. There is the city gate, there is the palace gates as we see in Ester 5:13. There is also a house gate as we see in the case of Lazarus in Lk. 16:20. Again, Acts 3:2 talks about a church gate and very importantly, there is a gate to your life. If the gate to a man’s life is shut, he will experience nothing significant, but if the gate is opened it causes men to release blessings unto him and even kings will be compelled to favour him. May the gate of your life remain opened to your helpers continually in Jesus’ name. There are spiritual gates that God uses to bring divine protection to the life of a man. In Mal. 3:10-12, God talks about opening the windows of heaven and this implies

  Ibru Ecumenical Centre     Dealing with the desert spirit – Part I By  John Okene 20 March 2022   |   3:50 am Okene Bible Passage: Deut. 8:15, Luke 11:24 Sometimes, when spirits are cast out of a person or place, they go through dry places as we see in Luke 11:24. This implies that certain spirits are called desert spirits and when such operate in the life of a man, he begins to have certain experiences. The desert is a dry and deserted place; it is a wasteland. When the desert spirit operates in the life of a man, it causes him to experience dryness and other strange occurrences. The desert spirit causes a man to gradually begin to experience what is called, “Desertification.” This is a process whereby one begins to physically experience some symptoms of desert life. It goes beyond the spiritual and manifests physically. There are powers responsible for this and it could be from an evil altar or a wicked person around you. May God expose and disgrace every of such powers in Jesus’ n

  Ibru Ecumenical Centre     Dealing with foundational problems – Part 2 By  John Okene 27 February 2022   |   3:59 am Okene Text: Jer. 16:1-11 Foundational problems are deep-rooted problems that can be traced to ones’ parents or ancestors. In our text, we see that the people never knew the cause of their problems until they make enquires and are told that their fathers had forsaken the Living God, going after other gods. There are numerous examples of foundational problems recorded in the scriptures. One of them is the case of Jericho, as we see in 2Kings 2:19. The people cried to Elisha that the town is seemingly good and well located, yet unproductive and the water is bad. This describes the situation of many people today; they appear to be doing well, but in actual fact are barren all round. Understand that your life is likened to a farmland (Matt. 13:25) where God has planted a lot of resources (wheat), but the activities of the evil ones (planting tares) will not let you manifest

 Ibru Ecumenical Centre   Demonic doorways – Part 1 By John Okene 17 January 2021   |   2:12 am John Okene<br /> Our Bible text from Mk. 7:25-30 tells us that a woman, whose daughter was tormented by a demon went to Jesus for divine intervention. When she returned home, she found that the devil had gone out. This implies that there is an entry and exit point for the devil. Eph. 4:27 says: “We should give no room for the devil to operate in our lives.” In Jn. 10:10, Jesus says there is a spiritual thief with a three-point agenda to steal, kill, destroy and it always has an entry point to access his victims. Most thieves don’t just break walls, but most often, get their access through the door or window. If I want to prevent thieves from coming to my house, I must fortify it with burglar proof, CCTV cameras, security dogs, personnels and other gadgets. So also in the spirit realm, if the devil wants to access a man’s life, there are doors he uses and so, it is important we understa

 Ibru Ecumenical Centre   The mystery of satanic exchange – part I By John Okene 12 September 2021   |   4:05 am Okene Text: 1 Kg 3:16-23 Our Bible text gives us a clear picture of the mystery of satanic exchange. These two women were friends who lived together in the same house and were each delivered of a baby the same period. One of them overlaid her baby at night and the child died. To overlay means to press down to the point of covering. At one time or another you must have had a similar experience of being pressed down when asleep, especially at night. You try to lift up yourself but you can’t because you were overlaid by an evil presence. You try to call the name Jesus but nobody hears you until you suddenly wake up. That is a sign of witchcraft oppression and it is called evil visitation. The child in our Bible text who was overlaid by its mother, certainly must have cried out yet the mother continued until the child died. Obviously, that woman was a witch and the child suffere