Filling The Gap

FILLING THE GAP © Copyright 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission. All correspondence pertaining to the Book such as special discounts for bulk purchases, or permission to reproduce selections from the book should be sent to: [email protected] +2348034684143 ii

TABLE OF CONTENT Table of content iii Dedication iv Acknowledgment v Preface vi Introduction 08 Chapter One 11 Before the GAP – The Arrival 22 Chapter Two 33 The GAP – The Living 37 Chapter Three 43 After the GAP – The departure Chapter Four Steps into filling the GAP Chapter Five Final Note iii

DEDICATION I dedicate this book to the Fathers; God Almighty - my creator, Jesus Christ - my Saviour, The Holy Spirit - my Inspiration. My spiritual father, Rev. Ojo Peters Olumuyiwa, for creating a platform for me to fill the Gap. iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to my wife, Olanipekun Bukola Olawunmi who never stops telling me to sit down and write. Daddy and Mummy Ojo Peters for creating platform of ministry for me. Pst Olamide Adeoye who motivated me and shared with me the secrets of writing effortlessly. And to you Mrs Tolulope Alayande, you first told me that the message could be turned into book after sharing few things with you from the message on WhatsApp chat some years back. To you, Mrs Adenike Aberugba, Doctor Mrs Adefolalu F, S and Pst (Mrs) Olufunke Adeoye, you all fill a gap in proofreading this piece. Even when I thought I had finished work, Pst Olufunke (Mrs) Adeoye asked for chapter four. To you, Mr. Oyedele Segun (Availeth Graphics Lagos) and Mr. Richard Esumuru of VSL concept (my online graphics tutor) You are too much! v

PREFACE Although I can't recall the question now but I still remember the answer vividly; either Calendar or Almanac was needed to fill-in-the-gap. I seriously dread this type of examination during my days in the College. It wouldn't give you room to express yourself in explanation, no room for synonym, it is either you know it or not, it's just one- word answer. You either fill in the gap correctly or incorrectly and fail gallantly. On this particular day, I was about submitting after choosing Calendar when someone far behind my seat whispered Almanac to another student, imagine, not directly to me but I heard it. Almanac was contrary to my own answer. I gave it a second thought, considering changing the option from Calendar which I had initially filled the gap with to Almanac whispered by someone I didn't even know. Without much ado, I changed my mind to Almanac. Of course, you can guess the final answer – Calendar, my original option. I knew this after the examination when it was too late to reverse from the wrong whispering that prompted me into wrong decision. How could I have foolishly followed a whispering of an unknown being? Why did I trust an untested voice to take a decision that was to determine my success? Why did I delay in submitting after making the right choice? When did I even start depending on external feed in examination? All these were the questions running in my mind after discovering my foolish decision. That vi

one mark was what I needed to bring me to average mark but my decision to go for Almanac dropped me below average. Although this looks inconsequential but you will be surprise to know the numbers of people who are daily filling the gap of their lives and destiny with strange whispering from unknown and untested people. Many people depend on counsels from those that don't even trust themselves to take critical steps in life. Some other people take such steps by speculating. Even though speculation is not totally bad but in a serious, critical and life-determining situations like the issue of destiny, speculation is not only bad but dangerous. It will amount to gambling with the last dollar you have in a very risky condition. Whenever destiny is involved, life is at stake and so, gambling must be far from your options. It therefore becomes paramount to know and fill the gap with the right and accurate answer, rather than gambling due to inadequate knowledge which may lead to destruction. Hosea 4:6. says; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...” It is not a disease to lack knowledge but it is dangerous disease if you don't know and you don't know that you don't know. 07

INTRODUCTION The story of majority of individual follows a pathway from the womb to the tomb, skipping the gap in between the two. Few people follow another path that seems better because they fill their own gap. These few people are those that actually live before they leave. FILLING THE GAP is written to help you discover that other path or create your awareness to it so you can consciously tread there. Life does not count for those who only exist without living but those who live before leaving here. This book will help you to live before you leave by sensitising you into the discovery of uncommon path and filling the gap discovered in the path correctly so that you will not just move from the womb to the tomb like others. This book shines light into the revelational area of your manifestation so you can be conscious while you are here. It is a life that consciously lives in the path that can be said to have lived a life with godliness. 08

Life and godliness These are the two words that the Lord began to stir up in my spirit towards the end of year 2020. Those words were burning in me like fire. I later found out those words in 2 Peter 1:3; According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. (KJV). His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (ESV) For the fact that I had read this particular verse again and again hindered me from picking the revelation God was releasing to me afresh on time until I checked very well. I couldn't believe what I saw; God is not going to give again what He had already given. Wow! God has already given everything to everyone; I mean everything that pertains to life and godliness. Then I questioned myself inside, if this is true, which I know it is, then where are they? Why the scanty manifestation of this duo? Or better put, why are the children of God, with all the ability, gifting and talents tending towards godliness without any manifestation of life but of mouth? These and lots more were trying to find expression within me until it was implanted into my spirit that the answers are in between the womb and the tomb. The secret things belong to God but the ones that are 09

revealed belong to us and our generations to come. Deuteronomy 25:2. The truth is that, God has given all but man has not searched them out, since it is concealed, taking is not possible unless you search and find it. You can only take what you find while searching. Today’s success is a success for discovering something once concealed. Something needs to be discovered by you in order to be celebrated by your world. Taking the delivery of what is supplied or given is important in manifestation of life and godliness. Not fully taking what God has given is the reason for the gap. There are several people today who are just journeying from the womb to the tomb, while the gap between the two cries for attention, it is the attention you give to it that will rescue you and men around you from the detention of life. There is something here you need to pay attention to, something that will help you channel the course of your life correctly, something that will not permit you to live an empty life. There is life and godliness between the womb and the tomb. Get ready to FILL THE GAP. 10

CHAPTER ONE BEFORE THE GAP The Arrival Stage Like other normal undergraduate students, I had nursed the dream of becoming a Corps Member, and eventually I got to Arochukwu L.G.A of Abia State, the Eastern part of Nigeria in West Africa at the age of 30 as one, age nearly caught up with me, as a matter of fact, that was my fear. And now, I had the uniform on, Wow! The day I longed for finally arrived. The eighteen-seater Bus conveyed every one of us going in the direction of Arochukwu; Abriba, Ohafia and then Arochukwu, a long distance from the Orientation camp in Isiala Ngwa through the untarred-gullied-dusty-valley road. The murmuring and complains of other Corps Members in the Bus wouldn't allow you to hear any other thing as we covered some distance in the journey. Some were wailing and crying because Arochukwu as at 2004 was topographically a desert. Immediately the Ohafia's Corps Members alighted from the BEFORE THE GAP 11

Bus, oh my God, we entered into a jungle, I mean a deserted jungle, covering kilometres till we arrived Arochukwu Local Government that evening. The Local Government Secretariat had already closed and so, we were welcomed by the chirping of Birds and the screeching Bats that were feeding on the Cashew fruits that were over-ripped. Even though the sight of ripe Cashews beckoned unto me but then, the matter at hand did not give room for that. 'What am I doing in this bush was written on everybody's face. For the first time, it dawned on me I was to stay in the bush, amidst the screeching of bats for a whole year. I was just beginning to think of this when I suddenly heard one of us crying, I mean wailing seriously. I looked at the direction of the wailing. Oh my God! I could not believe 'mummy' was wailing, the biggest lady among us all. This lady was actually bigger than any one of us, not in age though but her stature was enough to scare away the ancient demons of the land, if any. So, the biggest also cry. Probably some of us had been looking at her as Madam. She practically shed tears; regretting being sent to 'this bush'. Her wailing scared me especially when, in her crying, she said, 'I am finished' but then, I muttered few words in my spirit asking God, 'why am I here?’ Why Am Here? This is one of the most important questions a man should always sincerely ask and find right answer to at every junction of life. This is because it determines every other thing; it determines what to do, who to do it with, when to stop doing or increase the speed of doing. Also, why you are birthed is more important to God than how you are birthed, quit the how and enter into the why because your fulfilment and beauty are BEFORE THE GAP 12

in it. So, ask yourself; ‘why am I here?’ It was the question I asked in my mind then, because I believe God cannot bring you to the world or any situation if he has no agenda for you as his own, for he knows the thought he thinks towards you. I knew quite well that I was not there by accident. If you don't quickly settle this in your mind, you will always be a victim of situations and circumstances. You are not an accidental being. Money in the Bush Why am I here Lord? What I heard in my spirit shocked me because I didn't expect it. “Igbe lowo wa” was what I heard. Meaning; money is found in the bush. My spirit was lifted with hope and expectations. The journey began because I needed to search it out. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter but that of a king is to search it out. Work began as I started encouraging others telling them that we have come for a purpose, a mission. And it must be fulfilled. Any face that is filled with tears of regret cannot see any place that is full of purpose of God. Tearful faces can't see the purpose because they have already seen something that is bringing them tears. What you see and hear matters to what you get just like I heard the wrong answer from an unknown person and I got it wrong. I searched it out. You need to get this clearly, that God said money is found in the bush does not make you to look at the bush and find money everywhere, you will have to do something, yes, I mean do something in the bush, there is an empty gap you will need to fill and fill correctly. Until then, you can't find anything. BEFORE THE GAP 13

Beginning here There are three stages in the life of everyone as captured in the table contents; - The arrival - The waiting - The departure These stages are the three major chapters of this book. The earlier we are aware of this and embrace the truth, the better life will be. Even if you have made up your mind to stop reading, wait and read these three stages of life, you must not be ignorant of. This is because, your attention is highly needed in one of the stages. ARRIVAL STAGE “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto nations. Jer 1:5. For everyone including you, there is a 'before' for your life. You are not just here by mistake or rather, God has not sent you here by mistake. Irrespective of where you are, what you have faced, or the scenario behind your birth, you were pre- thought, you have a 'before'. It is essential you have awareness of this. In your 'before'; the members of the trinity in divinity, headed by God the father himself, gathered to deliberate about you, after which you were wired according to that divine deliberation. It was the aftermath of the deliberation that brought about your formation in the womb. Though you weren't aware of it, you were not even there physically but it was real. There would not have been any need for your formation if there is nothing for you here. So, God has an assignment BEFORE THE GAP 14

unto execution, then he made a deliberation that brought about your formation. Your existence in the womb is a combination of a divine deliberation and divine formation. So, there is a season in your life called 'before I formed…' This season is both pre-womb and in-the-womb season before your physical appearance here. Nobody has after womb manifestation without both pre-womb deliberation and womb formation. You are needed here that is why you were formed and sent here. You are on an intentional divine mission. God is intentional Nothing just happens, you make it happen. You only happen when you make things happen. Anyone that is not intentional about life will stink in the detention of life. There is no life journey initiated by God that is accidental. God is always intentional in his acts. He intentionally does what He does with reasons. He focuses on the reasons, refusing to be distracted by what He sees or what happens around. No one can whisper answers to him. He has made you in His image, the Image that happens intentionally and correctly. No one happens accidentally and becomes what he/she is wired for. Being intentional will help you to prepare for what lies ahead. Everything I did in my place of primary assignment during my service year was prepared for years before that time when opportunity for the preparation opened for me. I made cool money that I didn't even need to spend my meagre allowance. Even though the School where we were deployed to was not ready to pay us, I didn't feel it, all I needed was where to lay my head. Little did I know that the life partner I BEFORE THE GAP 15

had spent years to pray about in my campus days was divinely located for me in the 'same bush'. Some months before that time, as the service year drew closer, as I saw the extent people were going to influence their postings to big cities. I had prayed to God to take me to His own state, and Io and behold, I was in Abia State, God's own State. You cannot be in the will of God and lack the purpose of God for your life. Everything about you is already planned and purposed by God before you were formed in your mother's womb. Pressing beyond the womb “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto nations. Jer 1:5. So, you are formed for a purpose with a person in a place. Don't forget this. The journey of life begins, after the divine deliberation, from the womb. Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb… Isa 44:2a. The operation of every individual begins here but the manifestation goes beyond here. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Lk 1:41 The womb is where your physical expression is incubated BEFORE THE GAP 16

and given an identity. There is no success or failure that is determined here. So irrespective of the dictation of your womb days, you are wired to live beyond the womb. The deformation many people experience in life is not from the womb, actual deformation happens beyond the belly, not in the belly. Look at Mr. Jabez; And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You will keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' So God granted him what he requested. 1 Chronicles 4:10. Five Damages From The Womb This man was still spineless and defenceless when accident occurred in his life and destiny so to say. It is important I spell out the five major damages the womb caused for him. 1. The womb cursed him 2. The womb reduced his territory 3. The womb positioned him against God and deprived him of God's hand 4. The womb exposed him to evil 5. The womb made his life to be pain-productive. You see, womb had deformed him as we can see from this scripture but then, he reformed himself beyond the womb. Those are the issues he addressed in his one-verse-prayer. Permanent or final deformation is not the one that another party does to you but the one you do to yourself in your passiveness. No loss is permanent until you agree to it. BEFORE THE GAP 17

Jabez changed his own even though womb has dented it, he collected the remote control of his life and pressed progress for himself. Beloved, you have arrived from the journey of the womb to cause a change beyond the womb. Inability to do it is the beginning of the real abortion. Four Categories of womb manifestation I need to quickly mention four categories of womb manifestation here. This will help us to appreciate life and prepare correctly to embrace what God has wired into you. 1. The unformed womb manifestation The unformed womb manifestation are Souls that are yet to be formed, they are yet to be allocated with body and as a result, they are not privileged to be reading what you are reading now. They cannot be part of the physical persons here on this planet even though they exist in the spirit realm. This was where you belonged before physical body was given to you. They are yet to taste the life in the womb. Concerning these ones, the Lord knows them as we see earlier from Jeremiah 1: 5. So God cannot release them here until he has something for them here. They are part of the cloud of witnesses in the spirit realm. Everyone on earth today once upon a time belonged here, irrespective of your colour, language or religion. 2. The unborn womb manifestation These ones are already released into the womb and are going through the process of complete formation in the womb. This complete process is what they need to be BEFORE THE GAP 18

launched into the physical earth. This formation is due to the fact that God has located them for something vital to carry out on earth. Except for this reason, God won't bring them into the womb. As critical and vital they may be, this book is not for them yet, however it is vital to know in order not to fall victim of a sudden fading away of glory. … The Lord has called me from the womb; from the matrix of my mother He has made mention of my name. Isaiah 49:1b 3. The never-born womb manifestation There are millions of formed babies that were not born even though they tasted the womb. Some of them, few months in the process of formation, rush out with blood. Some even have complete formation yet not birthed and some others, at birth after full formation don't tarry to carry glory to the fullness. The life that was forming in them dropped either by abortion, weak womb, cursed womb, accidental or careless womb or any other factors that can deprive them of life. Even though this book is not also about these ones, however it is expedient you know that God has assignment for them but unfortunately, opportunity to arrive for the assignment was not granted. 4. The born womb manifestation I will say much about these ones in another chapter, the reason is, they are the reason for filling the gap. They are the ones life and godliness has been released to. Everyone on earth today is in this category, including you and I. They are the ones who the whole earth awaits their manifestations. They are the ones that conquer the battle of the womb for scaling through. They are already birthed. However, it will interest you to know here that they have only succeeded BEFORE THE GAP 19

scaling through the first face of the battle of the womb. They were formed in the womb to form something outside the womb. So, the whole world awaits what they are formed to form. Deformation in life is nothing but failure to form what you are sent to form. That was why Mr. Jabez cried out when he discovered he was not forming anything. Something is written Behind every birth are three things that people consider to matter in life; 1. The ‘how’ of the birth – Manner of birth, the scenario surrounding the birth. 2. The ‘where’ of the birth – The place of the birth. 3. The ‘why’ of the birth – The purpose, the reason of the birth. The most important of these is the ‘why’ of the birth. You may be passive in the ‘how’ and ‘where’ of your birth, you dare not remain quiet in the why of your birth. Celebrating birthday is nothing when the ‘why’ of the birth is missing. The why defines the gap you are to fill and its scope. The gap is the reason why you have come. It is more important than the where and the how. So, what is written about you has been waiting for you before you came, that is why you are here, and now that you have come, it is your responsibility to search it out and fulfil it before your time is up. Look at Jeremiah again; “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou BEFORE THE GAP 20

camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto nations. Jer 1:5. Please note the word; 'before thou camest… And now look at Hebrew, … I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will o God. Heb 10:7 …before you came… now that you have come. There was an arrangement for you before you came, and now that you have come, there must never be any deviation between the two seasons. You have come, come to do what? This is a question that determines your living. A question that summarises your entire life. If you get it right and do it right, then you are said to have filled your own gap. It determines your responsibility. You are not responsible because you have responsibilities but because you are positively responding to your ability. BEFORE THE GAP 21

CHAPTER TWO THE GAP The Living Stage You may ask, “what is this gap all about” This is where the second stage of your life is determined, it is the gap between the womb and the tomb, the stage where success or failure will be given recognition and identity, a stage where you are either living or leaving depending on what you are putting in the gap. It is a place you make something to happen. Nothing just happens, you make it happen. You only happen when you make things happen. This is where your passing away or passing on will be determined. It is your waiting or doing stage, a stage that determines your living or leaving. There are two categories of people in the gap of their lives; - Those who are living and - Those who are leaving. (I will talk on them later in this chapter). THE GAP 22

LIVING STAGE Even though it is mandatory that everyone will leave this world one day, however, you must ensure you live before you leave. Majority are leaving, not living. Living is what you do when you are filling your own gap correctly. That is why you are here. That is where life and godliness will open up for you. Myles Munroe lived before leaving, even till now he lives because he filled the gap correctly. Just like thousand others. But some other people never lived before leaving and so, no one remembers them for anything today. Nothing just You have come to live. happens, you make it happen. While writing the examination paper I earlier mentioned, I was hung in between You only Almanac and Calendar. I eventually made happen when a right choice until a strange voice came in you make things happen. to influence me to change my mind and chose the wrong one that led to a reduction in my mark. Living is not going to be possible if all you do is to receive directives from strange voices to take action. Such action will to wrong destination. He who gives you instruction determines your action and direction; your direction determines your destination. Never live your life by the opinion of strange majority. There are thousands of people today, especially in this present generation, who no longer pay critical attention to the weightier matter of their lives and as a result they daily face and pursue such matters that majority are craving after, forgetting that majority who do not know or have what the gap needs don't carry any vote. He who has the requirements carries the vote, not the majority who don't have any clue of it. THE GAP 23

There are three musts of your gap; - You must be sure before you fill any gap. - You must actually fill it once you are sure. - You must make up your mind never to listen to other wrong dictates once it is filled. Fill your own gap There is a gap for everyone to fill, there is an opening to close up, a hole you are to fill after which life becomes smooth and balanced for you and the generations yet unborn, depending on the rightness or the wrongness of the content you fill the gap with. That is why I said that your accuracy matters, you cannot afford to gamble with it. Your accuracy in life determines your authority in life, in fact it determines your effective operations. Life will always offer you pseudo- answers or alternatives to God and to destiny but it is not everything life dictates to you that is needed in the gap of life which you are sent to fill. So, note it, there is a gap life has created for you to fill correctly. No one feels you correctly until you fill it rightly. Truly I failed that particular paper but then, I There is a gap life has created had written many examinations after that for you to fill one. This is not so in this issue; you don't correctly. No have any other gaps to fill or other time to fill one feels you it. And so, you cannot afford to fill it wrongly correctly until because you may never be opportune to you fill it rightly. write any other paper in life. Your failure in this stage will determine the fate of thousands of people that have been credited to your destiny account. So, it is not everything that is suggested or whispered to you by everyone that you need to journey with. You can never get better at the wrong course of life. That is why it is very expedient you know what the gap of your life needs and fill it correctly before the THE GAP 24

'pens' up'. Before Pen’s Up ‘Pen’s Up’ was what I heard after filling that gap with the wrong answer whispered by someone unknown. I started sweating, wishing something will undo my wrong having known that I was wrong, but then, it was too late. This is the same thing many people are wishing for today at old age. They wish they could have known better, they wished they had listened to instruction, they wished had attended the college, they wished they had married the lady/man they underrated, they wished they had read those books or attended that seminar, they wished they had paid that meagre amount for that online training. The list of the wishes is endless. You need to know that once the pen's up, the wishes are no longer relevant or attainable. You have come to live. Live correctly before Pen is up. Arrived to arise … I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will o God. Heb 10:7 …Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, Psalm 40:7 You have come to do. Yes! To do something written of you. Something that will be defining the story of your life correctly if done. Doing is an action that will determine what you put in the gap. So, it means there is a work for everyone including you. A work you must rise up and do. Intentions to do without the real action of doing makes you to leave your gap empty. Intention alone doesn't get anything done; you need to add right actions to your intention. In fact, this is the reason you will have everything pertaining to life and godliness as given THE GAP 25

by God, 1 Pet 1:3. You will not have it because he says it alone, you will not have it because you pray it alone but also because you do it in the accordance to what is written. Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 10:15 told us that grace was bestowed upon him but he bestowed labour upon the grace and then he became who he was. He didn't sit down to admire the grace bestowed upon him, rather he laboured (worked) with it and he became what was written in the volume of the book concerning his life. And he came out to tell us that God had given us EVERYTHING. So, the summation here is that, everything you need for life and godliness will be gotten while filling the gap. That is why filling the gap and filling it correctly matters. This is where many people are missing it, Ordinary they so much capitalise on God to do for people journey them what God has empowered and from the womb endowed them to do by themselves. It does to the tomb without paying not work this way. Rise to what you are attention to the needed here for, an assignment you are Gap...between assigned to sign. This is the gap you are sent to fill and it must be filled correctly. Don't jump it over wishing you would have filled it after 'pen's up. Your relevance in life is in filling the gap correctly. And you can never be correct until you constantly connect to the one that sends you here. Life cannot be balance once you fill it wrongly or leave it empty. Ordinary people journey from the womb to the tomb without paying attention to the Gap in-between but extra ordinary people stop un-between to make a mark Living is better than Existing These are the two categories of people around the gap of their lives as mentioned earlier. You need to know them because everyone falls into one of these; THE GAP 26

- Those who are living - fulfilling the reason why they are here in this world. - Those who are existing -They are moving away from divine purpose. They are skipping the gap or doing the wrong things therein and so, their time is flying away doing nothing around what is written of them. There is a very sharp difference between these two even though they look alike. In life, you are either living or existing. There are some parameters that describe those who are living; a. They have discovered why they are here on earth. b. They are daily pursuing what they have discovered. c. They are daily setting goals for themselves and appraise the same to know how far they are daily fulfilling in that which they have discovered. By so doing, they ensure they are doing something right and positive in the direction of their assignment. And they become something as written about them. On the contrary, those who are existing only mark numbers and follow others, they are not doing anything in the direction of why they are here probably because they don't know anything about it. It is living a life in alignment with the divine plan on the ground before you came that makes you part of the living. You were released here because there was a need in the heart of God, not your parent. God made a field for you here, and he sends you to cultivate it. It may be a field in education, agriculture, banking and finance, ministry digital marketing or business at large, mention it. THE GAP 27

There is a field for you. It is the gap you are to fill without which life will be perforated everywhere and leaks away. So, you are living when you are doing the assignment assigned to you with every divine requirement. The only whispering you need to fill the gap correctly is the whispering of the Holy Spirit, of the fathers, of the anointing and of the appointed son Heb 1:1,2. That is why you need your human spirit to be activated and sensitive to the divine whispering else, strangers will whisper wrong answers to you. Martha pursued what matter Jesus told Martha of the one thing that was needful. This is the one thing that gives your life a meaning and makes you a solution. Only God knows the number of people that are running a race that they are not designed for, a race they are not cut out for. It is a dangerous thing to pursue what you are not designed for, such a thing will re-design your life. Even though I like to do many things being a multi-talented self- motivated being, however I know one thing that matters in my destiny, I know the gap I am sent to fill. This you must also come to realise before night falls. He called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, occupy till I come. Luke 19:13. You are called to be on earth, it is not everyone that experiences the womb that actually survives the experience but you did, why? To occupy something, your successful arrival or delivery from the womb shows you answered the roll call. You need to therefore know the reason for the call. So, behind your life, and hanging around your neck is the purpose of God you are born to fulfil. God wants to bring you to his purpose, plan and counsel. You didn't just happen, there is a divine THE GAP 28

purpose behind your existence, you must capture that purpose and walk in it for your existence to make meaning to you and contribute to heavens' economy. If you don't capture it, the devil will capture you for a counter purpose which you must never allow, so do all you need to do to avoid it. Like a Cast in a Drama Life is like a stage where you and I are already casted for a role in a movie of life and destiny. So, it doesn't matter who you are, you are already casted for a role. You need to play it correctly. The events of your life (spiritual and physical) are documented in the book to have colourful and glorious life if only you can access it. Many people don't even know this not to talk of accessing it. Your life is a destiny that should happen in accordance to the volume of the books written. This is why it is important and essential you know what is documented about you, this will give you a road map to the direction of your life. You must settle down to discover what is written in the volumes of your own book, I mean what you are casted for in the original script. The settlement of your life is determined by your ability to settle down to know the contents of the document attached to your life. It is the manual that governs the operations and the activities of your life here. Let's look at Luke 1:11-17; 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink THE GAP 29

neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. One Scene The first thing I need you to know here is that, Zechariah was acting the script he was casted for, he was filling his own gap, there and then the Angel appeared to him in accordance to the script to deliver good news to him. I need you to just imagine what would have happened assuming Zechariah was not on the location that day, of course he would have missed out of that visitation. So, anyone that is absent in the location will be missing his Buried in the visitation. graveyard are the unwritten The script was written for the Angel to meet books and him not at home but at his duty post. There scripts, un-shot are several divine visitations and allocations and un-staged that have passed over many people for not drama... acting as scripted. So, what am I saying? Be in the location and act as casted by God else, you will be missing things. Another Scene Another thing I need you to see from the scripture is the release of the script of another person yet unborn. Everything about him was rightly spelt out even before he was born; the gap he was to fill, how to live before leaving. It occurs to me that there is always an announcement about you in heaven in accordance to a divine script, spelling out all you are to arrive THE GAP 30

here on earth to do. What was he casted for? Read again; 13 … and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. It doesn't matter what you are doing or acquiring, you will be kidding if it is not in accordance to what is spelt out in the manual of your life. Don't forget this; your life had happened in the spiritual, documented in the word of God, and you are sent here to walk and work as you had done in the past spirit realm without any deviation. Act according to the script, this is what gives you the director's support and commitment to give you further direction. That is how to fill the gap correctly. He wants you to do it as scripted otherwise, he will be seeking for a replacement for your role while you remain displaced. The chapter two of your life is a critical chapter that you cannot afford to be missing If you want to depart well. My father, Rev. Ojo Peters has a name for those who are not attending well to the divine dictates of their lives as SAM – meaning Silent, Absent and Missing. You are a ‘SAM’ when the chapter two of your life is; - Left un-attended to, THE GAP 31

- Poorly attended to or - Wrongly attended to. If anyone of these points to you, you are honouring the invitation of the tomb without living. These three categories of attention must be avoided at all cost before the gap closes. Buried in the graveyard are the unwritten books and scripts, un-shot and un-staged drama, un-sang songs coupled with unreconciled relationships. What will be your excuse to God if you leave here loaded, live to die empty because the gap will soon close, then comes after the gap. THE GAP 32

CHAPTER THREE AFTER THE GAP The departure stage The third and the final stage of life is the departure stage. A stage you must never accidentally cross to without adequate preparation which is mostly done by living. Thousands of people come out of the womb and cross to the tomb without living. They are only known in two minor seasons of their lives; 1. The season of their birth – Season A and 2. The season of their death – Season C The second season of their life (Season B) which is the most critical season is always skipped. The other two extreme seasons describe many people who have passed through life. Several of the grave you see are loaded with souls of men that heaven could witness only their birth and their death. In between these extremes are days of AFTER THE GAP 33

silence and darkness in their lives because they were not known. THE BEAUTY OF YOUR CHAPTER TWO Once a man crosses to chapter three, there is no more opportunity to live, in view of this, let me quickly spell out few glories with which you will be crowned if you do what is divinely assigned to you. They are features that mark out the chapter two of every man that lives before leaving. You must pay attention to them so that you will make a choice on how to fill the gap before it becomes too late to fill. The beauty of tear termination The arrival and the departure of a man is full of tears, both from him and from others; You cried coming from the womb, those around you will cry while departing to the tomb. So, both your arrival and your departure are filled with tears but in between the two tears is a season you have to correctly live to wipe away the tears by the life you live. This calls for a well spent chapter two, it is the correct attention you give to it that terminates tears. You can't be stopped from crying at arrival and you can't stop people from crying at your departure. It is your living that has control over the tears. That is the only opportunity you have to stop both the arrival and the departure tears. Don't be someone whose entire life is filled with tears. There is nothing that is missed in the life of a man who abandons the gap of his life. Fill your gap so that everyone can miss you after the gap. The beauty of consciousness You were not conscious when you arrived, so also when you will depart, in fact you can't command people to dress you up because you don't have control over that, the only conscious AFTER THE GAP 34

state of your life is in chapter two if you fill the gap correctly. It is therefore a terrible thing to be unconscious throughout your life time. The beauty of being an asset and not a liability Everyone wants assets, not liabilities because of the inestimable value of assets. Correct filling of the gap of your life makes you valuable. You are a plus to people and not a minus. You depend on people both at your arrival and departure. But in between the two, you are to be depended upon if only you will bridge the gap correctly. This is what makes you an asset. You need to rise up and do what you are sent to do so you can be a valuable asset you are sent to be. The beauty of responsibility You have no ability to respond to people and situations at arrival and at your departure, your correct filling of gap is sufficient to respond to people, it is what makes you responsible. Until you are responsible people will not respond to you. A chapter two that is well occupied makes you responsible. The beauty of dependence Both your arrival and your departure are characterised with seasons of depending on people around for everything including being carried, being dressed up, being fed, being bathed, being cared for etc. However, a correctly filled gap is depended upon by others. People look unto you for solutions of life instead of you looking unto them, but then, your living staged must be lived before you leave. AFTER THE GAP 35

The beauty of coverage Both arriving naked and leaving naked are normal, this is how everyone comes and leaves. Your nakedness was covered up by people when you arrived and the same thing will happen when you depart. It is, however abnormal and shameful to live a naked life. Naked living occurs when a man is not paying attention to the gap and fill it correctly. But when you fill it, you dress up your dressers and terminates nakedness in your life and in others. That is why the stage between the womb and the tomb is very critical. If you don't occupy it correctly and do all you need to do, it will be difficult to cover you, not to talk of another person. It is the only season you have to dress people up. You must never live all your life being dressed up by people. Live a correct life so that people can find cover in you. Success is a journey and not a destination, never say you have arrived when you are still journeying. The beauty of filling the gap with the necessary requirements as we journey in life cannot be exhausted. Don't lag behind in doing what you are wired to do when you have time to do it. This is because, nothing can be done again by those who have departed. Death is a departure or a separation or a disconnection of life from the entire system. It does not give anyone room to fill any abandoned gap once it comes, by then, pens will be up. But before then, write something with the pen today, something that the pen is created for. Your today is the bridge between your past and your future, build it solidly well to be able to carry your weight of future glory. AFTER THE GAP 36

CHAPTER FOUR STEPS INTO FILLING THE GAP He who ignores the matters that matter in life will never matter in life. Learn to prioritize matters in your life and allow the one that matters most matter to you. There are several important issues raised in this book that need to be spotted out in this chapter so you can practically step into filling the gap that is meant for you to give opportunity to the posterity to remember you for good. Looking again at the steps taken by Mr Jabez, you will discover that he called on the God of Israel. I need you to know that, you can never call successfully who you don't know. So, Jabez knew the Lord. To fill your own gap correctly; 1. You must know the Lord. The knowledge of the Lord does many things to you and for you. In fact, this is where your life actually begins to happen. 37STEPS INTO FILLING AFTER THE GAP

Your knowledge of the Lord opens your eyes to see what is written about you and empowers you to fulfil it. To me, the word; ‘fulfill’ is a combination of two words; FULL & FILL. That is ‘filling it to the fullness. This is what the knowledge of the Lord grants you. It empowers you to know it and fill it to the fullness because those that do know their God shall be strong and do exploit. Knowing God helps you to know yourself, to know people, to know what is to be done by you per time and also, it will help you to know and detect the voice you need to obey and the voice to ignore in order not to be a prey to strange voices that want to instruct you against the gap you are to fill as it happened to me in the examination. 2.Know your Identity By this, I mean you need to know who you are so that you will not aspire to live someone else’s life. Your identity matters in life. If you know yourself, you will not compete to be another person, instead, you will aspire to be you. Know yourself, know what is loaded in you, know your ability and capacity. All these are embedded in your identity. Know who you are so you can grow into it otherwise you will grow into who you are not, that will be a waste of who you are. You are you and you are unique, settle this in your mind and walk in this reality so that you can fill your own gap rightly. Not only this, you will always get to some junctions in life that situations of life will demand to know your identity before you are granted permission to fill anything, if you fail to fill the gap of your identity, you will be denied access to fill the gap of your destiny 3. Discover what you are wired for Everyone is wired for something; I mean to say that you are 38STEPS INTO FILLING AFTER THE GAP

divinely designed to design something. You have a potential and gifting that is unique to you alone. Living a life without discovering what to live for is a mere existing. You cannot fill any gap you have never discovered. There is a solution you are to bring to your word that will make you to cover the nakedness that the womb offers people. So, in the journey of filling your own gap correctly, discovery is inevitable. 4. Pursue it I always tell people around me about adding action to their intension if they must escape detention and oppression. Having discovered what you are wired for, rise to work with and walk in it. Do something positive in the direction of your purpose. Please not those words (positive and direction). Two words; a. Never do anything negative because it will reduce you and damage your gap. b. Never do the positive thing in a wrong direction because it will amount doing nothing. It is like a man who wants to develop his landed property and begins to develop another man’s landed property. He is just putting his labour in a wrong place. So always do something positive in the direction of your purpose, your dreams and goals. There is a gold inside your goals, you will miss the gold if you don't pursue your goals. You must also know that, life will not reward you for setting a goal, life will only reward you for scoring the goal you set, don't just set it, fire the post to score your goal. This is what you do when you pursue it. 5. Focus on it In life, it is natural to see many things that will compete with your attention, you will see things that will look like what you are 39STEPS INTO FILLING AFTER THE GAP

doing, you must never allow your attention to be broken if you must fill your gap correctly. Others are doing their own, don't abandon yours to join theirs. Distraction is inevitable but then, those who permit distraction will never command attention of people. To command positive attention, dispel distractions. 6. Shun alternatives This is what correct focus will help you to gain. There are junctions you will get to in life that things will seem not working and suggestions of alternatives will be coming to your mind, ignore them if actually you know what you are cut out for. The inflow of alternatives is the reason for the abandonment of the real thing and eventually the cause of abortion of divine purpose. 7. Submit for mentoring This is what many people don't like today but the truth is that, he who walks away from mentor will run into tormentor. You must have a mentor or a father over your head if the head must work out. Many people don't want to follow. Following is not bad especially if you follow the right person, someone who is wired for your empowerment, someone who carries what you intend to carry, someone who has walked in the path you intend walking, someone who has filled the type of the gap you about to fill, someone who has stories to tell and experiences to share, someone who can tell you to stop and start when the need be, without envying you, someone you can be reported to, someone that correct, instruct and rebuke you. Friends, if you find him or her, follow by serving him or her, by so doing, you are learning. Nobody will follow you in life until you have 40STEPS INTO FILLING AFTER THE GAP

someone you are following in life. You don't just know, someone shows you if you must know more, keep following. Goodness and mercy will surely follow the followers. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me and the days of my life... Psm 23:7. What you follow follows you. 8. Continuous knowledge and Improvement The path of the just is like a shining light that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. In the School of correct gap filling, knowledge is a vital tool. So apart from knowing the Lord, you must consciously sit down to know things especially in the field of the gap you are to fill. Never come to the point of ‘arrival mentality’. It stagnates. You will not do much or do anything at all unless you know and continue to know. Show me a man that stops knowing and I will show you a man that can never be known. Knowledge must be acquired at every stage of life. Deliberately go for knowledge, pursue it. consciously. Never clamour for earning at the expense of learning. If you refuse to learn something new in your field, no matter your age, you will soon be obsolete and irrelevant in the field. Learners are weightier than earners. You don't earn by earning, you earn by learning how to earn. If you don't learn to earn you will be earned by learners. Pay for knowledge to acquire it. Go for trainings, pay for trainings, sit for trainings, desire and love to be trained. This is how to gain knowledge that will develop you. Develop yourself, don't wait for people to develop you, it may not happen. Don't change the channel of the relationship that is training you though it is painful. 41STEPS INTO FILLING AFTER THE GAP

9. Critical Relationship Even though your presence is majorly needed in the gap of your life, you must also know that you can never fill it alone without critical relationships in your life, don't take this for granted. You need somebody to become somebody, don't abuse anybody if you must become somebody. Surround your life with people that matter. Among several forms of capital you need in life is social capital. When God wants to bless a man, he introduces a man to him. Don't allow the devil to box you into a corner of looking down on people. Correct relationship management is vital in your gap filling. Careless people mishandle relationship. Success will be a mirage for you if you are not succeeding in your relationship management capacity. Poor relationship management is the reason why several individual and organization will not last. Don't change the channel of the relationship that is blessing you if you must be a channel of blessing to others. Those who change it have their channels blocked. Value relationship above money because it is weightier and your own weight is measured more in people than in property. 10. Preparation. This is very vital like any other ones afore mentioned. It is needed at every level of gap filling. There is no level you get to that you will not need to prepare for the next level. Your performance in life is determined by your preparation. Proper preparation produces profitable performance. You can never perform better than your preparation. Even though royalty positions you for crowning, preparation places the crown on you. One major ingredient of preparation is training as mentioned earlier. 42STEPS INTO FILLING AFTER THE GAP

FINAL NOTE Life opens up in pages upon pages per time, and at every opening of the page, you are expected to write something as divinely dictated to you therein. It becomes dangerous if what you are writing is whispered to you by strangers to your destiny. There are many people whose own pages have opened but were not available to write anything. Some others were available but unconscious in life. Some others were conscious but fill in the wrong things. No one feels you correctly until you feel it rightly. You are not living if all you are waiting for is the tomb after tasting the womb. Live before you leave. Something about you needs to be discovered by you so you can live your life in accordance. The discovery is a function of revelation. Revelation precedes manifestation, and manifestation determines celebration. FINAL NOTE 43

You can only manifest what is revealed to you. Your manifestation here is not going to be possible if they are not revealed to you. This is where the devil plays a role in ensuring that the contents of the book remain hidden from you. And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals, Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. Revelation 5:1-4. He doesn't want you to know your source and resources, he doesn't want you to know the details of your life as well as the divine provisions that God has made for your well-being. You will never be able to walk in the fullness of what is written about you until they are revealed. Everything written about you is waiting for you to search it out and fulfil it, if you don't search it out, you will remain on the same spot beyond necessary, and not only this, you will not be able to access everything pertaining to life and godliness. Remember not everything that is seeking for your attention is needed to FILL INTO THE GAP. FINAL NOTE 44

The journey of life becomes incomplete and frustrating when you don't master the three stages of your life correctly and you jump from the womb to the tomb, skipping the centre stage. It is tantamount to just existing without living. There is a gap that needs to be filled correctly. Filling this gap is the reason you are here and it is the reason for FILLING THE GAP. This Book is written not just to open your eyes to the gap but to also boot into you, the necessary action you need to fill the gap correctly in order to live your life. You are sent here to live so that those who are credited to your account will be blessed and get fulfilled on your name. Your refusal to fill it correctly is an invitation to a strange and wrong filler. Get ready to fill your own gap. Olanipekun Bolaji Victor is an ordained minister of the gospel, a drama minister and an Alumni of Mount Zion Drama Institute. He is multi-talented and he is passionate in helping people gain direction unto fulfilment in life in the area of their talents. He is a prolific writer and an inspirational speaker. He is the Director of Voice of Mercy Theatre (VOMET) of Voice of Mercy Ministries. He co- authors the ABC of writing for earning, the book that is helping people gain access to Amazon with their own Books. Bolaji is a smartphone-film-making expert, training people digitally and physically on ground to achieve great results with their Android Phones. He is married to Olawunmi Olanipekun and they are blessed with Peniel and Amen.