“I Will Restore”

A while back, I read a poem by Myra Brooks Welch titled: “An old violin—the touch of a master”. This poem is based on an old, battered and scarred violin, which was put up for auction. Even the auctioneer thought it was hardly worth his while. He however still held up the old violin with a smile. “What am I bid, good people,” he cried. “Who starts the bidding for me? One dollar, one dollar! Do I hear two? Two dollars! Who makes it three? Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three….”
But no! A gray-haired man from the back of the room stepped forward and picked up the bow. He wiped the dust from the old violin, tightened the loose strings and played a sweet and pure melody. When he stopped playing, the auctioneer with a low and quiet voice said, “What now am I bid for this old violin? One thousand, one thousand! Do I hear two? Two thousand! Who makes it three?”
From being priced from a dollar to three thousand dollars, same musical instrument! What warranted the change in value from the auctioneer and bidders? The touch of the master! Put differently, the master’s intervention, coupled with his restorative ability. But for the master’s intervention, the violin would have remained a worthless object. Prior to the master’s touch, it was unable to do what it was created for. Everyone had written it off but the master knew just what to do in order to make the violin produce a pure and sweet melody, just as it was originally crafted for, even in spite of the wear and tear it had suffered over time.
Just like that old violin, we all in one area or the other are in need of the Master’s touch. He created us and He knows just what to do in order to fix every form of brokenness we may be experiencing.
The struggles entailed in day-to-day living, the process of self-discovery and diverse life challenges can sometimes leave us scarred and battered, and we end up losing our sense of self-worth: A child whose parents died when he or she was only a baby and had been tossed from one relative to the other and treated all his or her life like a slave. A woman or man whose spouse walked out on them without a reasonable explanation after they had given their all to that relationship. A sexual assault victim grappling with the trauma and guilt of being defiled. An unemployed graduate who had done all that was in his or her power to secure a job. An old spinster or bachelor who seemed to be left on the shelf with time and age not being on their side. The list is endless.
Do you feel like that old run-down violin without any inherent value, priced ridiculously by men? Always bear in mind, irrespective of your physical circumstances, that you are valuable in God’s eyes. And because you are valuable and are His beloved, God is saying to you today, “I will restore to you all that you have lost…you will end up praising the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you and you will not be ashamed.”

Believing opens you up to a world of possibilities

We all believe in something. Even the atheist who says there is no God believes that God does not exist. Believing is accepting something as true, genuine or real even when there is no physical evidence to prove the veracity of that thing or claim; this differentiates the believer from the unbeliever. A believer in Christ Jesus believes that He exists and He is who He says He is—the incarnate Son of God who came to the earth to give His life for the redemption of mankind. No one has seen God at any point in time, but when we consciously look around us, we see all of nature declaring His glory. Whoever comes to God must believe that God exists.
From a natural standpoint, it makes no sense accepting or believing in a person who you, your parents, grandparents or anyone in your ancestry had never seen. For people who depend largely on logic and are highly analytical, this can be a stumbling block because God cannot be explained, reasoned or analyzed. But we can accept in trust just like a little child that what and who He says He is, is the absolute truth.
Jesus Himself said except a person receives the Kingdom of God like a child, he or she would be unable to enter into it. He said this because He knew men (male and female) love to accept things they can reason out, unlike children who would simply believe whatever you tell them, even when it sounds ridiculous.
I once heard the story of a boy who after school waited at a particular spot different from the area designated as a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus stop. While waiting, an elderly man noticed him and asked him what he was doing there. He confidently told the older man that he was waiting for a BRT bus. The elderly man told him it was impossible for those types of buses to stop at that particular point, but the little boy insisted that he would wait and get a bus there. Five minutes later, a BRT bus pulled right beside the boy and picked him up, and the old man was very surprised.
Unknown to the elderly man, the bus driver was the little boy’s father. The boy fully trusted his father and had confidence in his father’s word, though it was an undesignated area (an impossible spot for boarding). What if the boy had not trusted his father but rather listened to the older man because of his age and the supposed impossibility of getting a bus there? He would have missed his father and the ride home.
Likewise, God is our heavenly Father. He has given us His Word to know those things that have been freely given to us. As His children, all He requires from us is to simply trust Him in line with what He has said to us through His Word, irrespective of how daunting the situation may be. Just like Jesus said to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, “If you believe, you would see the glory of God,” He is still saying to each one of us today, “If you can believe, all things are possible and you will see God’s glory.”
As you surrender to Him in absolute trust and believe every Word He has spoken concerning you, watch Him turn all your impossibilities to possibilities to the glory of His holy name.

Walk through your Open Doors

My granddaughter got her foot stuck in the railings whilst playing with them. It wasn’t painful, but as a child she got desperate to have her foot freed. Her parents jointly tried to pull her leg out. They decided that the best way would be to take off her shoe so her foot could smoothly slide out. But she screamed at the top of her voice, protesting the removal of her shoe. As a baby, she didn’t understand that removing her shoe was to make it easy for her foot to slide out of the railings.
This event mirrors the way we are with some decisions God makes for us. If God wants to removes our ‘shoe’ in order to save our ‘foot’, we scream and mourn the shoe, not realizing the miracle of getting out of the situation that was trying to trap us. Sometimes God won’t save you and save your shoe as well; you might have to let go of your shoe to save your foot.
I am reminded of the story of Lot in Genesis 19. When God opened the door of opportunity for him and his family to flee the destruction that was about to befall Sodom and Gomorrah, they lingered in the city despite warnings from the angels such that the angels had to take them by the hand till they got out of the city (verse 16). And when the angels advised them to flee to the mountain, Lot asked to flee to a nearby city called “Zoar” meaning ‘small’. It is obvious Lot and his family had a hard time letting go of Sodom and Gomorrah, and embracing the vastness of the ‘mountain’. They let go of the many opportunities and privileges the mountain had to offer by choosing ‘small’, forgetting that God knows and wants what is best for us always (Jeremiah 29:11). If He asks you to go to the mountain, it is in your best interest to walk through the door He has opened, trusting His reasons for shutting the other door.
Unfortunately, sometimes we struggle with God because we don’t like the doors He is holding open; so we stall, grumbling and refusing to walk through them. We think we know what is best for us and standby the shut or unopened door, eyeing it and hoping God will change His mind and lead us where we want.
I have had to counsel a lot of people who ask me to endorse their decision to marry someone they know God is telling them not to marry. If God is shutting the door on a relationship, trust that he will open another door. As Isaiah 34:16 says “…none will lack their mate.” Though the journey to obedience may be hard, the reward is unending; but the consequence of pursuing one’s own way is mostly disastrous.
You see, on the way to Zoar (the forced location), Lot’s wife disobeyed the instruction of the angels of the Lord. Shelooked back and turned into a pillar of salt. When you walk towards the open door, let go of the closed ones. Don’t look back. (Luke 9:62)
Today, I want you to make a decision to go through the door God is holding open, even if the way seems unfamiliar and narrow, and the path looks different from what you expect or are used to.
My prayer is that God will give you the strength to walk away from the doors He has shut and give you the confidence to walk through those He has opened for you in Jesus name.

Welcome to July, your month of Open Doors!

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things say He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: ‘I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.”
-Revelation 3:7-9 NKJV

Supernatural Abilities

What is your greatest desire in life, what do you want to see accomplished in your life time? Does it seem like a mirage or something that only happens in dream land? Or worse still, you have no idea or clue regarding what you want or desire. You just know that there is something locked deep within you, prompting you to reach out for more but you don’t know exactly where to begin from. I would like to admonish you not to give up but rather redirect your gaze on the One who can indeed make impossibilities possible and put your complete trust in Him by handing over those issues to Him in complete surrender.
When we hand over things that are of utmost importance to us, to God, we receive it back in a “resurrected” form, better than what was handed over in the first place. Take for instance the rod of Moses. When Moses ran away from Egypt, he became a shepherd and assisted his father in-law. A shepherd’s rod is one of the most important item or tool a shepherd carries along with him while taking the herds in and out for grazing. It is impossible to see a shepherd without a rod because, the rod is a means of defense and protection against predators and robbers. So, it must have been unsettling when God asked Moses to drop his rod (defense and protection) on the ground. The thought of safety and how he would defend himself and the flock, must have plagued his mind should there be an attack. Let us put ourself in Moses’ shoe- that was his first encounter with God, he wasn’t too certain of whom he was interacting with. But Moses heeded and dropped the rod on the ground and picked it after God asked him to.
God makes the ordinary, extraordinary. A mere rod in the hand of Moses became an instrument of the miraculous after it had been turned over to God. When we likewise turn our lives to Christ by accepting Him as our Lord and savior, His precious Holy Spirit takes permanent residence in us. The Holy Spirit within us is the divine enabler, who gives us the abilities to accomplish those things which hitherto we had struggled with; His presence in our lives distinguishes us from other people in the world.
After the disciples had been filled with the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) in the book of Acts, they became unusually bold in declaring God’s word and performed miracles which was visible for all to see, even the Sanhedrin could not deny that there was something different about them. Moses before his encounter with God sensed within him that he was meant to be a deliverer of his brethren, he tried accomplishing this feat with human wisdom and strength but ended at the back of the desert until he met God.
To unlock and accomplish all that is within you, you need the help of the Holy Spirit. He will take you beyond your natural abilities and make your natural supernatural. Make a decision today to have an intimate and dependent relationship with the Holy Spirit, He alone can put you over in all life circumstances. As you rely more on Him, He will bring out in you, abilities you never knew existed within you.

Supernatural Answers

 

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)

A very wise and famous king once said, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.” This is absolutely true because life is in phases, and no one is exempted from this. With every new phase, there arises corresponding needs and expectations. When we are in a particular phase of life and those activities that should naturally accompany such seasons are not in place, we get concerned and tend to ask questions. Different situations will generate different questions, which will require different answers. Some questions may be rhetorical but most times people ask questions because they need answers. Answers are solutions to one’s needs or challenges.

A person who is trusting God for a job, a life partner or a child would often ask, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I unable to have a child, a job or life partner? How long do I have to wait, and when will I get my heart’s desires?” Someone who may have exhausted every known option, but still cannot see a way out of their predicament, may ask, “Who is going to help me? How do I solve this problem?” Another person, who sees his contemporaries excelling, may ask, “What is wrong with me? Is this happening to me because of what I did? Am I doing something wrong, or is someone else responsible for what is happening to me?”

After examining him or herself, a person may feel he or she has lived and acted properly; has done everything necessary, yet nothing seems to be working. They may have prayed, fasted, sought counsel spiritually (talked with their pastors) and physically (sought professional help), sowed profusely and believed God, and yet experience no change in their situation.This can be very painful, especially when it seems God is answering everyone else but you. If you find yourself currently in this situation, don’t lose hope.

I would like you to see it this way: it could be that God is preparing you for the biggest miracle of all time. Like someone once said, “If two people go to a supermarket to shop for groceries, one person carries a basket, while the other picks a trolley. The one with the basket picks a few items, pays and returns home early to her children, who become joyous on seeing what their mother bought for them. But the one with the trolley would not finish shopping on time because of the numerous items she is buying. Her children would have to wait anxiously for her return. However, when she eventually gets home, their joy would know no bounds because of the amount of things she has bought.” You may be waiting because your trolley is bigger and God knows you have the capacity of pushing the trolley.

Peradventure you feel you are not getting answers because of the things you did wrong. If you have repented and asked God for forgiveness, be assured that God has forgiven you; He is not punishing you. You will therefore do yourself a lot of good by forgiving yourself. Perhaps you feel or think that someone is sabotaging your efforts or future. Be assured that no matter what they do, their plans have failed. Know that God’s power is above all. Don’t dwell on what they are doing; rather let your focus be on God.

It is not a coincidence that God has declared this month, which is the second to the last month of the year, the month of supernatural answers. Like our scripture for the month quoted above rightly says, when we call on Him, He will answer. So start calling on Him now. The appointed time is now! So instead of asking the questions you have been asking, I feel Jesus has a question for you. He is asking, “What will you have me do for you?” You need to answer His question with the promises He has given you concerning your situation. Once you do that, He will give you the answer you are looking for. And that answer is in His Word. I pray you receive your own answers this month in Jesus name.

Please send us your testimonies; they inspire us to do more. And if you require counselling or want me to prayerfully agree with you, feel free to send me a mail at pastornomthi@tfolc.org.

Kingdom Manifestations

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

During the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth as a man,the Bible records that He constantly taught and healed all who came to listen to Him. The focal point of His teachings was the gospel (good news) of the kingdom of God. He must have repeatedly taught about the kingdom of God which I think in a way ended up exasperating the Pharisees. This must have led them, among other things, to ask Him about the physical manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth.

The Pharisees sought and were on the lookout for a physical kingdom ruled by God but Jesus told them that the kingdom of God does not come with observation. One could not say it was either here or there; rather, it was within them. (And He is still saying the same thing to us—His children—today). That must have sounded awkward to the Pharisees or any right-thinking person because a kingdom refers to a domain, country, territory or state ruled by a monarch but God’s kingdom is unlike the kingdoms of the world.

The kingdom of God, simply put, means the reign or rule of God within and amidst us. It is when we allow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to govern and be in control of our lives. It is whom or what we yield (submit) ourselves to that has the rule over us, be it the flesh or the Spirit of God. For instance, a person who ‘loves the bottles’ (an alcoholic) does not have control over him or herself. Rather, the alcohol does and such a person would most likely keep disgracing him or herself under its influence. However, when we surrender completely to the Holy Spirit, loving even the unlovable and living right according to God’s word become effortless because we are enabled by the workings of the Holy Spirit in us.

As children of God, I admonish us to strive towards yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit. The more we yield ourselves, the more the life and nature of God flow out of us to those around us, touching and drawing them to Christ.Our focus should not be on the tangible aspects or needs of life such as food, material acquisition etc., though they are very important and God our father knows that we need them; it should rather be on seeking God’s kingdom. When we seek His rule in our lives and in our midst, according to Matthew 6:33, He will give us everything we need.

Remember the whole of creation is waiting for our manifestation (revealing) as the sons of God.When you see a prince or princess, it is impossible not to notice the sign of royalty; and we are royalties—kings and prieststo our God. People are waiting to see if what we profess to be is true or not, and a sure way to convince them is bydemonstrating it with our very lives. God will help us to truly represent Him to our world in Jesus name.

Welcome to our month of showing forth kingdom manifestations.

The Touch

Recently, I read about an old violin that was put up for auction. It was battered and scarred. The auctioneer thought it wasn’t worth spending much time and effort on but he still held it up with a smile and shouted: “What am I bidding, good folks?Who’ll start the bidding for me? A dollar;” then, “two! Only two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three? Three dollars once, three dollars twice; going for three….” But no. A gray-haired man from the back of the room, stepped forward and picked up the bow. He wiped the dust from the old violin, tightened the loose strings and played a sweet and pure melody.

The auctioneer and the people at the auction didn’t really see any good in the violin nor imagine it as an instrument that could produce something melodious, sweet and pure. All they saw were its scars and brokenness. They must have thought that nothing praiseworthy, like that sweet rendition, could have emerged from it. Hence, they were not ready to take a chance on it until it was dusted and refurbished by the old man.

Sadly, people most times behave in this manner. We come in contact every now and then with people whose lives seem out of tune—broken, battered and bruised. And we think that no good can ever emanate from them, hence we write them off. It’s easier to attach the least significance to, give up on and rationalize that that person, who had lived all his or her life on the street as a member of a notorious gang, is beyond redemption irrespective of his antecedent or what led him to the streets.

We find in the Bible thatSaul of Tarsus was a notorious persecutor of the church. He was instrumental to the jailing, maiming and death of so many believers during the early days of the church. That was until he had an encounter with the One who specializes in turning around people’s lives from the worst to the very best and gives a message out of a mess. After conversion, Saul, now Paul, took the message of the Kingdom to the Gentiles and single-handedly wrote about a third of the New Testament. What a transformation!

In our opening story, the man with the gray hair stepped forward, picked up, dusted, and demonstrated the violin’s use and worth. We all can choose to act like that old man by picking up someone who is wounded or broken, and with love restore hope, trust, confidence, dignity, purpose and faith in him or her. Better still, we can pattern our lives after that of our wonderful Saviour who out of compassion came to rescue us from the throes of death and destruction, and gave us the God-kind of life in abundance. We should strive, and indeed make it a habit,to constantly touch people’s lives with compassion.

Food for Thought

If you were to throw an elaborate party in the honour of the Lord – kill fatted cows, provide food and drinks in abundance from all parts of the world, what would God eat and drink from all your elaborate preparation of cuisines? Can we truly and really host God to a buffet or dinner? Bear in mind that he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the birds of the air, the beasts of the forest, the wild animals in the field and the various creatures in the vast ocean. All creations are His! If He was ever hungry, being the owner of the world, would He inform us?

So what do you give in return to such a magnificent and awesome person who owns it all or how do you show your appreciation in His honour? What does He require from us all and everything that has breath? It is simple yet profound.We hear about it all the time, we talk about it, we even expect it from others, yet it is something which we have come to take for granted: Gratitude- a heart of thanksgiving and praise.

In the course of everyday living, we lose sight of those things which seem to be minute and at times mundane but very essential to our overall well-being. For instance, what would you do if the air you breathe in free of charge suddenly ceases and is no longer available, or for every ounce of air you inhale, you are required to make a payment? Also, you get up daily from your bed thinking the alarm woke youup.You are able to stretch your body, lift your hands, walk on your feet, drink wateretc. and you take it for granted, as normal occurrence in day-to-day living. What if you were not able to do all these things?

I have come to realise that in the process of chasing after the big things/events of life, we oftentimes tend to lose sight of the little but essential things. Also, while waiting in expectation of major breaks in life, we forget the ones that have been coming in, though small but steadily, forgetting that the drops which are constant and steady usually result in the overflow. A lot of times we get so focused and wrapped up in those things which we are trusting God to do for us we fail to see that which he is presently doing, forgetting also that which He did in time past.

An adage says “He who shows gratitude for yesterday’s act of benevolence will receive more of such acts of goodness.” Naturally, when a person shows gratitude for an act of kindness, there is the tendency on the part of the giver to want to do more for that person because he or she is appreciative.

The book of psalms is replete with thanksgiving and praises unto the Lord. I take it that the sweet psalmist understood perfectly what it meant to be grateful. It must have been one of the reasons why God labelled him (David) a man after His own heart, and this also explains the victorious life he lived despite all the battles he faced in his lifetime.

When you praise God, you bring down His presence; and if you are a constant “praiser”, you carry His manifest presence with you everywhere you go. David was constantly a carrier of God’s manifest presence because of his attitude of being thankful. You can’t be a “praiser” and be a loser.

What God requires from us is a thankful heart, a grateful spirit that constantly declares His praise. The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies the Lord and guess what, because it a two-edged sword you also through the act of praise and thanksgiving execute the written judgment over the enemy.

Someone may say, “I don’t really have a reason to praise the Lord, much less be thankful.” But I tell you today is a good day to count your blessings despite the storms you have faced in life. At times it doesn’t make sense and it is quite hard explaining why somethings occur but if you look deeply, you will see the blessings in them.

Here is food for thought: He never promised that we will sail through life without hiccups, trials and challenges, but He gave His word to be with us through it all. His word is His bond and it is infallible. Right now, He is saying to you with all the love in His heart:“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2 NLT)

Let us cultivate the habit of being thankful always irrespective of our situation, keeping at the back of our mind that everything we see and experience is subject to change. And because God did it in times past, He will definitely do it againand again.

Supernatural Answers

While meditating on the theme for this month, this song dropped in my spirit:

“Jesus is the answer for the whole today

Above him there is no other

Jesus is the way”

I believe the greatest answer everyone needs is JESUS. That name answers every problem or situation.

Last month, I mentioned that God can make you an answer to someone. I think this is best done by introducing the person to Jesus.

This reminds me of a friend who was a party girl. Whenever she went to the club, she would dance so well that boys would offer to buy drinks for her and her friends.

One Sunday, she came to church after going to the club the night before. She insisted that she came in honour of my invitation (I, however do not remember inviting her that Sunday). When the altar call was made during the service, she came out to give her life to Christ (I sincerely doubted the genuineness of her action because I thought she did not understand what she was doing). But after that, she started coming for every service regularly, attended the believer’s class and even joined the choir. She was very faithful in the department and never complained even though we got home at 12am every Thursday because the venue for the choir rehearsal was very far from where we lived.

Regularly, she would ask me about the Bible and I would share a story from the scriptures with her. Fortunately, the senior pastor would always use the same story as a point of reference during his messages and this consolidated the scriptures for her.

I guess this made her love me because whenever we met in any store, she’d try to buy me the entire store. Her old friends disliked me because her conversion limited their opportunity of getting free drinks in the club.

The truth is that you should not expect the whole world to celebrate you when you become an answer to someone. Just continue to do whatever God has called you to do because your answer lies in being their answer.

The theme scripture, Matthew 7:7-9, says: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?”

I realized that there is a style of asking which does not involve the use of words. Proverbs 18:16 says “A man’s gift makes room for him…”

I think this was the style the Shunammite woman used when she decided to be nice to the prophet who did not ask for her help.  She did not help the prophet because she wanted a reward, but in being an answer to his problems, God used him to bring her own answer – a son.

One of the ways to get to God’s heart is to be an answer to His people’s problems.

Be deliberate about being good to people. Go out of your way for others and I am sure that God will reward you.

Your month of Supernatural Triumph

Whenever I hear of triumph, I always remember my personal experience.

In my primary school days, if you intended to fight with someone after school, you would say to the person: “The sun will stand still today.” But because my mum had warned me never to fight, I never got to use the phrase. So one day, while talking to a girl, I said out of excitement: “The sun will stand still today.” Although I did not really mean to fight with her, the news soon spread around school and the fight seemed inevitable because she insisted that I could not go back on my word.

Once we were dismissed from school, the students gathered and formed a ring. The stage was set for the fight. But before I could summon up the courage to get into the ring to fight, a friend of mine who was also very tough jumped into the ring and started fighting the other girl. My friend injured the girl and the fight ended with my group coming out victorious. We left the fight rejoicing and the girl never troubled me again.

Talk about triumph!

You see, I was not ignorant of my inability to fight and wished it was avoidable. But immediately the words were out of my mouth, the fight was inevitable. Like I did, you might have inadvertently gotten yourself into some battles through either your words or actions. The good news is that God is making you triumphant this month in Jesus name. Like the Psalmist, you will declare: “The Lord has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.” (Psalm 54:7)

The truth is that it is only from battles that victors emerge. And everyday we face different battles, most of which we cannot fight on our own; we need someone to fight them for us. Thank God for my friend who decided to fight for me. More important is the fact that we serve a God who is ever willing to fight our battles and give us victory.

The theme scripture for the month, 2 Corinthians 2:14, says:“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

Whenever we face a battle, we should believe that the outcome is fixed – victory for us. Our triumph will in turn bring about an increase in the knowledge of God.

In Exodus 8:17-19, Pharaoh’s magicians acknowledged God by declaring that “His finger” was at work when they could not replicate the third plague that God performed through the hand of Moses. At the end of the plagues, the Israelite’s triumphant exit from Egypt was inevitable. Whatever has held you captive, we declare “Time up” in Jesus name. You will triumphantly exit the land of your affliction in Jesus name.

This month, your triumph will herald an increase in the knowledge of God and all will see that the finger of God is upon you.