REFLECTED

I have seen the goodness of God
I know that feeling of bursting joy
I know the taste of unending smiles
I have held testimonies I used to hear of

I know what waiting can feel like
I know the taste of faith-filled professions
I have had to encourage my aching heart
I have had to look into the dark with hope

I know how easy it is to forget those days
I have made a habit of just praying for the next thing
I have let my prayers eclipse the blessings of the past
I know my problems now but I know these testimonies too

I have been a recipient of the benevolence of God
I have God to thank for all that I have and all that I am
I know God has been more than kind to me and mine
I know I can no longer let my present pain steal my gratitude

  • Ezeonyeka Godswill
    (c) 2023

A LETTER TO MY OLD RUGGED CROSS

Dear old rugged cross
Blessed are you among wood and timber
Because on you rested the greatest sacrifice ever
On that night at Golgotha
On you was my Jesus crucified
And now I stand justified
Before the God of my salvation and life

Dear old rugged cross
It hurts to tell you that many are lost
And those who remain cling to a civilised cross
They have forsaken the ancient landmark
While on a self-satisfaction task
Ignorantly falling to damnation on a fast track

Yes you may have seen some violence
But not as much as there is in my presence
For the love of men wax cold
And iniquity is in abundance
The time of true faith fades away
And religion, false belief finds its way
And unfortunately, the Christians refuse to take their place

I must confess you are quite heavy
And I might stumble and fall on this journey
But all my cares on Jesus I lay
Dear old rugged cross
On you, I sacrifice all my flaws
As I wait for my Lord’s applause

Yours sincerely,
The Young Believer


Ezeonyeka Godswill
(C) 2011

Chief’s son

Imagine just for a moment
That father and mother had tossed you
Because you hurt them to immeasurable lengths
Imagine you became an orphan and you deserved to

An orphan on the street surviving
You make a habit of peeping into Chief’s house
You know you shouldn’t, but you just want a glimpse
Of life, of everything good on the other side of this wall

You imagine if you could get a job
You will prove yourself worthy of existing so close to Chief
You daydream of seeing Chief smile and hand you a bonus loaf
Working for Chief would be everything, but you have nothing

The least in Chief’s house outranks you
You have a stained history, and your skills fail you
Chief is kind but the worker must earn the pay he is due
Your orphaned soul sighs as your hope dies anew

Now imagine Chief finds you at your spot
Seems unlikely but what if Chief took you to the other side
What if Chief announced to everyone your speedy adoption?
What if you went from orphan to son in the shortest possible time?

Imagine the servants’ puzzled faces
The ones you envied now wait on your next command
Imagine your shock as Chief takes you to your own spaces
You can feel your lack disappear as Chief holds your hand

Chief invites you to walk with him
Chief says he has grown to love you
Chief has given you an inheritance of all that is his
Chief has made your life completely new

Now stop imagining, the moment is gone
Chief is still in the room, he still wants to adopt you
You don’t have to stay orphaned in this world alone
Take Chief’s invitation, your transformation is due

You don’t have to work for this
But you will learn to walk with Chief
And when you taste the goodness that Chief brings
May you never think you earned this

– Ezeonyeka Godswill
(c) 2022

SCREENS

There used to be a time
When we could see other people’s eyes
And wonder at the marvel of God
Somehow we got bored

We hold up glasses to see through
To mask our blindness to see the truth
It is no wonder we want to go bigger and brighter
The façade of sight needs all the detail to seem true

One day we would make a name for ourselves
Caged in a sphere of flat screens and power pixels
We would revel in our blinded solitary prison
A lonely community of cyborgs existing

– Ezeonyeka Godswill
(c) 2022

Whose Honour Do You Seek?

In a generation where everyone wants their voice to be heard and their face to be known, you need to determine right at the inception whose honour you are going to be after. Know that in the journey to stardom, so many people and things do vie for the travellers’ attention on the way. Many will also make themselves vulnerable just to be identified with the most famous in the land. They will do everything possible to be seen with them, just to show to the public that they are important too. They will do all possible for acceptance. This is sure selling well in this generation. Highly rampant!

But whose honour do you seek, God’s or man’s? Who are you out to please? Note, trying to gain the approval of a man will only make you compromise in some ways, just that you may be accepted. It will cause you to modify some Christly convictions you’ve held so preciously. The Lord Jesus is asking you to dare to stand out today! In your expedition to stardom, don’t follow the conventional but the primordially set God’s standard. Don’t (for whatever reason) wane in the right things you’ve known of the Lord, even if you look odd. Stay believing rightly by seeking the honour that comes only from God.

“How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?”

John 5:44
Funmi P. Adebayo is a preacher of the gospel of Christ and believes that His gospel covers everything, as God is God of all things without an exemption at all. God has helped him found a ministry by the name, THE SIMPLE LIFE OF CHRIST MINISTRY (AKA THE RESTING PLACE), the platform through which God’s Spirit is helping him to reach out to the world with the simple message of Jesus Christ and by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, which is solely for the defense and the confirmation of the same gospel of Christ.

Kindness Versus Love

Kindness is a display of charitable behavior towards someone, while love means a profound and caring affection towards someone. Clearly, kindness and love don’t mean the same thing. Kindness is what one shows to the outsider, while love is for the insiders. It’s not rightly acceptable to say you are kind to your own children. You simply love them. You are to be kind to someone out there but loving to your own family. Thus, love is certainly of a higher value than kindness.

The prodigal son’s elder brother only knew and lived on their father’s kindness. He never knew nor understood their father’s love. He kept doing many things to please the father who was already pleased with him. On the day his brother returned home, the Scripture apprises to us that he was in the field till quite a later time of the day, whereas the main servants were already at home. One would wonder what he was doing out there all alone. By living only on his dad’s kindness, he only could SOMEDAY expect to receive a kid goat from his dad, when everything, including the fatted calf which was later killed for his brother, was for him to enjoy had he understood his dad’s love.

Hmm, it’s sad to know that many children of God are living exactly like this prodigal son’s older brother. They only know of God’s kindness, never His love all their life. They relate with Papa God as His hired servants when they are actually His beloved children. And mere kindness never gets anybody the best, only love does, always. God is kind toward everybody but especially loves His own children. You may have started on God’s kindness, as we all somehow do, but you don’t remain there. You need to move on to knowing and receiving God’s love that you may experience and enjoy God’s best in life henceforth.


The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Jeremiah 31:3
Funmi P. Adebayo is a preacher of the gospel of Christ and believes that His gospel covers everything, as God is God of all things without an exemption at all. God has helped him found a ministry by the name, THE SIMPLE LIFE OF CHRIST MINISTRY (AKA THE RESTING PLACE), the platform through which God’s Spirit is helping him to reach out to the world with the simple message of Jesus Christ and by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, which is solely for the defense and the confirmation of the same gospel of Christ.

The Evening Will Tell

When we think of a group of children in an open place, somehow playtime should come to mind. During holidays or weekends, children could be seen gathering at the house of one person. They will play together and have fun. Sometimes some mothers will serve all of them some snacks. These children can sometimes get along so well, that if a total stranger happens to come around, they may not know whose child is which. But no matter how long they stay and play together, the evening time will always reveal who among them belong(s) in that particular house. The rest will have to go back to their respective houses one way or another.

Jesus said that the servant does not remain in the house forever, only the son does. We may all be rolling together now like we are God’s children, but the evening time will reveal who really is God’s; those who will remain with God. Those who aren’t will surely be sent away. Unlike the children’s case, only two homes are involved here, God’s and the devil’s. If you aren’t God’s, you are automatically the devil’s. So, as we all appear to be God’s children now, playing together at this temporary home, called earth, while God keeps serving us some good meals, do make sure you are God’s indeed. Don’t wait till the evening time before you know where you belong.

Please, thoughtfully answer this, Are you a son or a servant?

[34]Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth (is doing) sin is the servant of sin.
[35]And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever.

John 8:34-35

– Funmi P. Adebayo
(c) 2022

Funmi P. Adebayo is a preacher of the gospel of Christ and believes that His gospel covers everything, as God is God of all things without an exemption at all. God has helped him found a ministry by the name, THE SIMPLE LIFE OF CHRIST MINISTRY (AKA THE RESTING PLACE), the platform through which God’s Spirit is helping him to reach out to the world with the simple message of Jesus Christ and by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, which is solely for the defense and the confirmation of the same gospel of Christ.