Sunday Southerner –Ananzo’s Corner

Sunday, February 22, 2025

“Continued from last week.

It therefore goes without saying that many people wander because they are either lost, going through a season of correction/punishment or missing a part of/fragment of their souls that have been fragmented due to unholy communication and associations.

If you come across anyone wondering, would you please point them to the only place they will get those fragments put back together? – Jesus Christ. If you are the person wandering, don’t continue in that wandering, run to Jesus for help. As simple and foolish as it sounds to the world, it is the only place to get the solution to that problem.

Let me give a little insight into those who have suffered as a result of wrong associations leading to wandering. Over 20 years ago, I listened to a message by Pastor Paul Adefarasin where he preached on the impact of sexual immorality on a person’s soul and spirit.

He helped reaffirm teachings by Apostle Paul (nice similarity on names) in 1 Corinthians 6:16a which says “or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two shall become one flesh”.

He explained that if you sleep with one person, you are basically sleeping with all the spirits of the sexual partners they have had in the past. That in turn means all the demons that the person has picked over the course of their sex life will have a free flow and get access to you and will happily destroy the virtues and essence the Lord in His hesed (loving-kindnesses) has blessed you with.

You will notice that there follows a season of wandering where relationships and alliances are formed and continuously broken because people have lost virtue or essence and seem to be looking for something.

Pastor Tiffany Buckner explain this in an interesting manner. That when a demon that has had previous access to you through sexual intimacy craves to satisfy its lustful and evil desires, it will begin to create a yearning for contact and communication; so you will realize that someone you slept with five years ago will start calling you to check up on you, ask for a meet and hang out which will end up in an encounter that will further take your essence, destroy, steal and mess up the destiny that you have been trying to patch up together (my people run for your dear life when such a number shows up on your call log). Further wandering will only result in more of these associations.

The problem with wandering is that lack of stewardship and accountability for the talents God has gifted us. The plan of the evil one is to make sure you literally waste the gift you have. And even if you are a Christ follower, the pan is that when you get to heaven, you will have no crowns lay at the feet of your King and Maker.

People, don’t remain silent, cry out to God and resolve to get spiritual help once you notice tendencies of a wandering spirit cos you will surely account for the gifts you have been blessed with.

Now back to Psalm 23. According to Trapp, sheep by their nature are quick to wander away from the shepherd; so foolish that it will stand and perish if not saved and driven away from harm by the shepherd.3 Philip Keller further explains that when the fleas and parasites trouble the sheep they will not lie down but when the oil pours they will rest from fear, friction and flies.4

Prophetess Tiffany Montgomery helped to explain the notion of anointing the head with oil.

She explained that the fleas attack the face of the sheep which have no way of waving them off. They would stick to the face, nose and head of the sheep and possibly suffocate them as well as cause infection. Per internet search, historically, shepherds applied olive oil mixed with spices to sheep’s heads to repel insects, prevent disease, and heal wounds from thorns.

Shepherds used oil to repel these prevent flies from laying eggs in a sheep’s nose, which could cause fatal infections.5 This act of anointing the sheep with oil represents God’s active, daily protection against spiritual and emotional harm.

So by the mercies of God, when you have wandered as sheep then come to your senses and return back to your shepherd, you will find that a table has been prepared for you in the presence of your enemies (all those who hate the peace and prosperity of your soul) and your head will be anointed with oil.

The oil which drips all the way down, will slide down the face, head and chin of the lamb onto the ground. It is like that with the demonic attacks and evil that attack us. If the demons ‘jam’ the oil and anointing of the Holy Spirit, it would just be ‘odeeshi’ (an Igbo phrase meaning “invincible”, “it does not leak” or “it does not penetrate”) for the sheep because of the Lord’s protection.

Fortunately, that oil for us as it is for the sheep, is a hedge of protection over us, an impenetrable forcefield of power. Consequently, whatever fire they meet while attacking the sheep, “na dem carry themselves come”!!!

The hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is one that brings me to tears every time I listen to it as I am reminded of about how I am quick to wander from my heavenly Father. Per external search, it was written by Robert Robinson in 1758 at age 22, and the lyrics first appeared in a hymnal in 1759.

The hymn’s history is deeply personal, reflecting Robinson’s own life from a rebellious youth to a born-again Christian who was passionate about his faith and aware of his own human tendency to stray.6 The Shane and Shane version is just amazing.

Take time to listen to it while following the words on Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) – by Shane & Shane (Lyric Video) | Hymns Live and be blessed. It’s on repeat in my home. Please give your heart to the Lord!!

Per the lyrics in verse 3:

Oh, to grace how great a debtor, Daily I’m constrained to be.

Let Thy goodness like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.

Here’s my heart; O, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

One usually reaches a point where you have wandered for so long that you become weary and begin to call on the name of the Lord to come to your rescue. That’s when another song “Weary Traveller by Jordan St Cyr” comes to mind for me, to remind me that we weren’t meant to do this thing called life alone.

That would be the perfect time to cry out loud to our Life-source, Jesus to rescue you and bring you back to the remaining 99 sheep. The chorus says “Weary traveler, restless soul, you were never meant to walk this road alone. It’ll all be worth it so just hold on, weary traveller, you won’t be weary long”.

I will end with St. Augustine’s famous phrase, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. Dearly beloved, you will find your rest only in the loving arms of The Father, so run to Him. Thank you.

Postscript

This piece is dedicated to my sweet mother Elizabeth Ibi Owuiba who passed away on Jan 2nd, 2026. Chai, this loss hit differently!!!

Also, I have 2 phrases I want to share my thoughts on. Kindly post in the comment section which one we should start with.

i. “Lord make me STRONG; Lord make me SOFT” by Stacey Thacker or

ii. “Pray for your children. Wrestle with God for them night and day” by Charles Spurgeon.