How A 70-Year-Old Man Heaped Burning Coals Of Fire On My Head Two Days Ago

Sometimes I don't seem to understand how people begin to reason once they cross 50 years...

Here I was, a first year student of Federal University Lokoja, with no friend or family in Kogi State of Nigeria

Just when I thought I had scaled the COVID-19 hurdle, the water in the Kainji Dam overflowed it's boundaries, flooding everywhere in its path

Sadly, the compound where I live was in its path, and the waters started pouring in, just like it did when it flooded the Titanic in 1912

My apartment is on the ground floor of a 2 storey building, and I could see the water rushing towards my door with full force

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 — 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭

Everything I owned was at the risk of being destroyed by the flood

Then I heard a knock on my door — the person was banging, actually

He said I should leave everything else and come upstairs to his apartment

I immediately recognized the voice...

It was Papa Johnny

You see... I hated Papa Johnny because of a fall-out he had with my dad 12 years ago

In anger, I'd sworn never to have anything to do with him

Even when other people spoke about how nice and caring he is

𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘢 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘯𝘺'𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧

I didn't even know that he had relocated to Lokoja

Then, Papa Johnny sent his young son to come in and bring me upstairs

And these were his words:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨!

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴”

Reluctantly, I followed him upstairs with my important documents and a few things I could lay my hands on

That, my dear friend, was how my life and property were preserved

While in Papa Johnny's house, I thought about 2 things

First, I thought about the people who mocked Noah and refused to believe him, when he built the ark and said that a flood was coming

Some of them may have even hated his guts

But do you know that any one of them who decided to heed Noah's instruction and enter the ark would have been saved?

𝘕𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴

𝘕𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘁

If God could prepare to accommodate that number of animals, I have no doubt that there would have still been enough room for as many humans as would have come

And that's my message to you today

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿...

Nearer today than it was 25 years ago when you first heard that “Jesus is coming SOON”

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘬

The ark is Jesus...

And you get in by accepting His sacrifice

It does not matter now how your life is/was

If you'd accept Him today, everything changes

There's room in Christ for you, and you will be safer in Christ

Just say this prayer with me, sincerely:

“𝗢 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁, 𝗦𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗱. 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱. 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.

𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘆.

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲, 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲; 𝗜’𝗺 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹! 𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗹𝘂𝗷𝗮𝗵!”

If you said that prayer, Congratulations to you!

You are now in The Ark

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗱'𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆!

𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀... 𝗧𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲,

𝗜𝗻𝗶

𝗣𝗦: So, here's the second thing I thought about:

Papa Johnny, with his kind gesture, did something that was spoken about in 2 portions of the Bible

Proverbs 25:22 and Romans 12:20:

“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD”

Okay... You can go back now and say that prayer

PPS: I just realised that this is the first time I'm talking to you this month

So, it's a Happy New Month to you from me

Stay blessed