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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

God opened her eyes | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: August 06, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 14

from pastor's desk

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to the month of August 2023. And I pray that God will open your eyes to see all that He has provided for you to flourish and enjoy your life and all that is yours in the month and throughout the remaining part of the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

After Abraham had sent Hagar and her son, Ishmael, away from his house, the two of them wandered in the desert of Beersheba until their water was gone. Then Ishmael began to faint right before his mother. And when she could no longer bear the sight, she put him under some bushes and moved some distance away from him to sob. (Cf. Gen 21:14-16)

But was that the best Hagar could do to protect her son? No! Of course, it was not a happy moment for them at all. They had just been driven away from Abraham’s household, where they did not lack love and comfort. To make matters worse, they were driven out with nothing but some food and a skin of water. Yes, they were no longer slaves. But they were free people without money, a home or direction. That was why they wandered in the desert till they used up all the water with them. And since they were in a desert, the possibility of getting water to drink was nearly non-existent. So, their situation was truly a hopeless one.

However, Hagar had lived for years with Abraham. So, there was no way she would not have learnt about his God, the Almighty God, who made him rich and also gave him a son in his old age. In fact, the reason her own son, Ishmael, was circumcised was that Abraham was a worshipper of this God. Why, then, did she not call on Him for help and salvation in that moment of hopelessness? Why did she give up and start waiting for death to take away her son?

Now we don’t have answers in the bible to these questions. But what happened to her shows us that it is possible for us to know a lot about God and to even have around us people who have witnessed His power and favour in great ways and still not remember to call on Him in our moment of need. And where this is the case, we may end up being swallowed up by our problems, if we are not shown mercy.

Hagar would have lost her son that day and maybe her own life too, if God had not shown them mercy. Yes, both of them were crying. But they were not crying directly to God for help. They were simply crying because of their pains and hopelessness. But God, who is rich in mercy, came to them, when He heard Ishmael crying, and gave them a word of comfort and hope. He told them that He would make Ishmael into a great nation. (Cf. Gen 21:18)

Then, besides telling Hagar and Ishamel not to give up on life but to look forward to a glorious future, God also opened Hagar’s eyes to see a well of water where they were in that desert (Gen 21:19). Think about it. All the time these people were crying and dying for lack of water there was a well of water with them from which they could get and drink as much water as they wanted. Yet they did not see it. They did not see it because their eyes were not opened to see it. And if God had not shown them mercy and opened their eyes to see it, they would just have perished in that desert, even though what they needed to survive was right there with them.

In like manner, if God does not open our eyes to see certain provisions of His for our enjoyment, progress or peace of mind, we may find ourselves suffering where we are meant to be living like kings. And there are many children of God all over the world that are suffering where they ought to be enjoying themselves. Perhaps you too are one of them. Then you ought to open your mouth and pray to God to open your eyes to see His provisions for you where you are, instead of considering changing your location, as many are now doing.

See, if your eyes cannot see God’s provisions for you to prosper in the desert, what is the guarantee that they will be opened to see His provisions in the so-called land of plenty that you want to run to? There is none. And would it not be a big shame for you to get to a land of plenty and still not be able to prosper? It would be! So, instead of suffering in silence like Hagar or thinking of running away, open your mouth and ask God to open your eyes to see all that He has provided for you and your household to prosper. And He will answer you and prepare a table of delicacies for you in your desert.

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2023, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Don’t become useless to Him|By: J.O. Lawal|Fire in my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

“But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” (1Sam 13:14NIV)

Those were Samuel’s words to King Saul after he took it on himself to offer to God sacrifices that Samuel ought to have offered to Him. And why did he do that? He did it because he got tired of waiting for Samuel. As the account goes, Samuel had told him to give him seven days to be with him and make sacrifices to God before he would engage in the battle that was before him.

But for reasons not disclosed in the bible, Samuel was late in coming. So, Saul decided to usurp his authority and make the sacrifices the man was supposed to offer. Unfortunately for him, just as he finished making the offering, Samuel came. And all he had left to do was pronounce God’s judgment on him. (Cf. 1Sam 13)

Now what was God’s judgment concerning Saul? It was that He had already replaced him with someone else. But did God really have to do that? Why did He not give him another chance to redeem himself? Well, God did not give him another chance because it was useless to do so. As we also find out in the bible, after this incident, God sent Samuel to him again to give him another assignment. And how did he handle it? Unfaithfully, as usual! He went and did his own thing, not want God had commanded him to do. (Cf. 1Sam 15)

So, Saul at that time had already developed an independent mind. That means he was only after doing what pleased him and not what pleased God, who anointed him and made him king over His people, Israel. Therefore, he could not be trusted by God. No, God did not remove him from his throne immediately.

In fact, He allowed him to reign for forty-two years. But He never gave him any task or assignment again till he died. So, those years of his reign were nothing but useless years, as far as God was concerned, just as he too had become nothing but a useless king.What is the point of all this? It is that God is taking note of our attitude towards whatever task He gives to us. If we are handling the tasks He gives to us diligently and faithfully, whether they are tasks He gives to us directly or those that He gives to us through others, He will continue to give us more tasks. And as He gives us more tasks, He will also multiply His grace in our lives to do them. So, we will find ourselves increasing in usefulness, fruitfulness and relevance before Him.

But if we cultivate the habit of handling the tasks God gives to us as we please, a time is coming when He will have nothing else to say to us again. He will simply find someone else who will do what He wants.

Don’t we also function in like manner? We do! If, for instance, we have a tailor or carpenter that is always doing what he pleases with our work and not what we want, are we going to keep giving him jobs to do for us? No, we will not, especially when he is not the only carpenter in town. Why? We don’t want use all our time arguing with someone that has no mind or intention of satisfying us.

In the same vein, God also does not want to use all His time arguing with us, when it is clear we have no intention of doing what will please or satisfy Him. This is why, as we see in our opening text, He is always searching for people who are after His heart. Why? They are those who will willingly and faithfully do what He wants and not be arguing with Him or doing their own thing. So, if you are not one of those who are after satisfying God always in living for Him and also in handling His work, you are simply making yourself ready for redundancy in His kingdom.

That, of course, does not mean that God will reject you as His child. He won’t reject you as His child, if you do not reject Him as your Father. But the fact that you are His child does not mean that He considers you as someone He can entrust His work to. And if He is not entrusting His work to you, then, you are nothing but a useless child. I pray that you will not end up living the rest of your life as a useless child of God, in Jesus’ name.

But you also need to examine your ways and your attitude towards whatever tasks you are currently handling for the Lord and make amends where necessary. It is well with your soul.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Use your brain too | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: July 30, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 13

Beloved: grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to this new week, the transition week between the months of July and August 2023. And I pray that God will continually fill your heart with adequate wisdom to use whatever challenges you are faced with in life as a stepping stone to greater heights. Amen.

As we see in Scriptures, God never says we are not going to face challenges in this world. On the contrary, He tells us that in this world we will face all kinds of tribulations. However, He also tells us that we should cheer up, even though we cannot totally avoid problems in this world. Why? It is because He will always be with us in every situation to make us victorious. (Cf. John 16:33; Heb 13:5-6)

Now one of the ways God makes us walk in victory over the challenges that come our way is by filling us with the wisdom of His Spirit to tackle them. And how do we receive His wisdom for every challenge we are confronted with? The first thing we need to know is that God has already given us His wisdom in the person of Christ. That is because the bible says God has made Christ Jesus wisdom for us. So, all of us who are children of God already have His wisdom in us. And we should learn to always say to ourselves, “I have the wisdom of God in me.” (Cf. 1Cor 1:30)

Having God’s wisdom in us, however, is not the same thing as using it or demonstrating it. And God’s intention, according to Scriptures, is to demonstrate His wisdom through us to all His creation (Eph 3:10). Therefore, every challenge we are faced with is an opportunity for the wisdom of God to be demonstrated through us.

How, then, do we cause God’s wisdom that is already in us to be manifested or demonstrated in the face of life’s challenges? First, we can do that by studying and meditating on God’s word. Paul tells Timothy that the word of God is able to make us wise to experience salvation through Christ Jesus (2Tim 3:15). So, if you want God’s wisdom to be readily working in your life in dealing with any challenge you may be faced with, give yourself to daily studying and meditating on the Holy Scriptures.

The second way to cause God’s wisdom to manifest in us is through prayer. James tells us that anyone that lacks wisdom should ask God for it without doubting, and God will give it to him. Is that not contrary to Paul’s words that say that we already have God’s wisdom? No, it is not contrary to it at all. It is only complementing it. What James is actually referring to is the manifestation of the wisdom of God in our lives. He is saying that if we find ourselves in a situation in which we are confused and do not know what right decisions to make, we should pray to God to cause the wisdom we need in that situation to manifest in us. And if we will do that, God will surely answer us. So, don’t ever speak of being confused again. Instead, always ask God to cause His wisdom to manifest in you to deal with any situation that wants to confuse you. (Cf. James 1:5-8)

The third way to cause God’s wisdom that is in us to manifest is for us to settle down to think about whatever challenge we are faced with and how to handle it. See, God Himself gave us the ability to think and examine life’s issues. And the more we utilize this ability, the more His wisdom will find expression in us, even if we are not Christians.

Unfortunately, many of us who are God’s children do not want to think or use our heads at all in dealing with our challenges. Yes, we may be praying and even studying Scriptures. But when it comes to looking at the problems we are faced with and carefully considering what righteous steps we can take on our own to handle them, we are nowhere to be found. All we want is for God to do everything for us. But God will not do for us what He has given us the ability to do for ourselves. And unless we do these things ourselves, we may remain stagnant and defeated in life, all in the name of waiting for God.

All around us are people who are not religious at all, people who don’t take God seriously in any way. Yet some of these are moving forward in life. Why? They have learnt to use the ability God has given to them to plan their lives and consider ways to solve whatever problems they are faced with. So, wisdom, God’s wisdom or satanic wisdom is often available for them to utilize. Our Lord, in fact, speaks of one of such people in a parable and of how he used satanic wisdom to rescue himself from unemployment. And the Lord concludes that parable by saying that the children of the world are smarter than God’s children in handling life’s matters. Why? It is because they use their God-give brains more often than we do. (Cf. Luke 16:1-8)

So, if you want God’s wisdom to always be at work in solving your life’s challenges, if you want His wisdom to take you from that place of poverty and shame to great heights of wealth and honour, learn to use your head too. Yes, continually pray and study the word of God with great passion. But don’t forget that God has blessed you with a powerful brain that can solve all kinds of problems too. So, use it. And as you do, the wisdom of God will begin to freely flow through you in ways beyond human reasoning.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2023, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Not entirely evil|By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: July 26, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 11

“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:15-16NIV)

What is Paul’s instruction to us in our opening bible text? It is for us to be very careful how we live. Why do we need exercise caution or carefulness in the way we live? According to Paul, the reason is that the days we are living in are evil.

Is Paul now saying that every day is an evil day? Yes, that is exactly what he is saying. And is that in line with the mind of God? Yes, it is in line with the mind of God. That is because our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when addressing us about the need not worry about tomorrow, says this to us: “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:34NIV)

That means every day is loaded with enough trouble, enough evil to ruin anybody. However, the evil of any day does not have to ruin us or destroy us. And it will not ruin us or destroy us, if we know how to live. But if we do not know how to live, even the good of any day we witness may not do us any good at all.

As Paul equally shows us in that text, though the days we live in are evil days, something we all can attest to, they are also days of opportunities. In other words, the days we live in are not entirely evil but also good. What is important, therefore, is for us to recognise the good in every day and make the most of it to defeat the evil in it.

Now that is what Paul refers to as living wisely, living carefully, living thoughtfully. Yes, each new day will bring its own kinds of evil to our world.

But we must not just focus our attention on the evil happening in it but also on the opportunities God is making available to turn the evil happening in it around for our good. The bible says this to us about God: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28NIV)

Did you see that? Just as our enemy, the devil, is working hard to fill every day with evil for us, God, our Father, is also working to turn every ugly situation around for our good. And whose work do you think will naturally prevail? God’s work!

So, instead for you to allow all the bad things happening around you or to you to make you lose your mind and start misbehaving, focus your attention on the good things God is doing on your behalf and how you can make the most of them to frustrate the devil and defeat every evil thing he is doing to bring you down.

That was how Joseph functioned when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. He did not focus on his slavery but on the opportunities that it afforded him to rise and shine. And did he rise and shine or not? He did. (Cf. Gen 39)

Also, when he was in the prison, he did not focus his attention on the bad things happening in the prison and what they could do to him. Rather, he focussed his attention on the good things happening there, on the opportunities available for him there to rise and shine.

And did he rise and shine or not? He did. In, fact, he went on from there to become the prime minister of the land of Egypt. (Cf. Gen 39-41)

In like manner, what will spell wisdom for us, especially those of us living in Nigeria now and who are faced with unnumbered problems, is to stop looking only at all the bad things that are happening in our land and to also start looking out for the opportunities God is providing through them to turn things around for our good.

And as we recognise these opportunities and begin to utilise them, we will soon see that the evil days are not entirely evil after all – they are also loaded with all kinds of good things for us to enjoy and flourish. My prayer is that God will open your eyes to see the good He has in store for you every remaining day of your life and also lead and strengthen you to make the most of it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: You must master it|By: J.O. Lawal|Fire in my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: July 19, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 10

“Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”” (Gen 4:6-7NIV)

Why did Cain end up killing his brother, Abel? It was because he failed to listen to God’s warning. As the account goes, after God had rejected his offering, he got terribly angry with his brother. But was he supposed to be angry with his brother?

No! Was his brother the one that rejected his offering? No! Or was his brother the one that kept him from living right before God, so that his offering would be acceptable? No! Nevertheless, Cain held his brother responsible for his own failure to get God’s approval. In like manner, we have many today who hold people who have absolutely nothing to do with their failure, stagnation or poverty in life responsible for it.

So, instead for them to examine their lives careful in order to see what they are missing or getting wrong, all they will be busy doing is considering how the progress of others is affecting their own progress.

I remember how I once had to sound a friend and colleague of mine out along this line. She and a number of others in my office had been terribly upset that very day with certain colleagues of ours that were handling their jobs anyhow. And I did not see anything wrong with that. It is proper for any of us to be upset with those we are working together, if they are slowing us down or messing up our work.

However, this friend of mine went beyond being upset that day to expressing her bitterness by saying, “We get to do all the work. And these ones that are messing up get to take all the money.

Yet they don’t have better papers than we do.” So, I had to immediately stop her from fuelling her bitterness by drawing her attention to the fact those so-called slothful colleagues of ours were not the reason she was not being highly paid by the company. Granted, those people may be slothful. But their slothfulness had nothing to do with her low wages. It was her choice to accept that job, even though the pay was low – nobody forced her to take it. So, holding those people responsible for her low pay was totally out of line. And if she did not quickly get rid of that idea, she would soon enough be filled with bitterness against them, something that may drive her to do something that would ruin them and her as well.

Now that was what happened to Cain. Because he held his brother responsible for God’s rejection of his offering, hatred for him began to fill his heart. So, God had to immediately step in and warn him. Why would God do that? God just rejected his offering. Yet He came to warn him. That means He did not reject his offering because He did not love him. Rather, He rejected it because He wanted him to see that he was not living right and needed to repent.

Otherwise, his entire life would end up being a waste.So, the fact that God has sent a word of rebuke to you about anything wrong that you are doing does not mean that He hates you. Rather, it means that He loves you and does not want you to continue to do what will destroy you or to keep on following a path that will end in ruins and regret. As the bible tells us, it is those that God loves that He rebukes; it is those that He accepts as His own that He disciplines. So, if He is continually setting you right, consider yourself precious to Him. (Cf. Heb 12:5-6)

Unfortunately, Cain did not see the love of God for him in the rejection of his offering. Also, he did not see it in the warning that came to him to guard his heart against all the evil thoughts that were coming to him. So, he ended up murdering his own brother, the very one he was supposed to protect. And that, of course, brought God’s judgment on him. (Cf. Gen 4:8-16)

What is the point of this? It is that if we do not watch the kinds of thoughts we permit in our hearts and master them or take them captive, we may end up holding the wrong people responsible for the failure, shame or stagnation our lives are experiencing. Or we may end up seeking happiness, satisfaction or peace of mind in wrong relationships or activities. And where this is the case, we may end up destroying the very people we are meant to protect. (Cf. 2Cor 10:5)

Look at Amnon, the first son of David, also. Because he would not master his thoughts, he began to seek enjoyment and sexual satisfaction from his own blood sister. So, he ended up raping her, a sister that he was supposed to be protecting from rapists. And that took away not just the throne of Israel from him but also his life. (Cf. 2Sam 13)

So, if you have been tolerating or nursing evil thoughts in your hearts, you may just be preparing yourself to harm those you are supposed to love, cherish and protect. And the word of God is coming to you now to warn you, saying, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Be willing and obedient | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: July 23, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 12

Beloved: grace, peace and mercy be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of July 2023. I pray that none of the things God wants you to have in the month will elude you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one of the things we are shown in Scriptures is that it is not enough for God to want us to have something or be something. We too must be willing and pressing to be what He wants us to be. And this must be done according to His will. Otherwise, we will not be what He wants us to be.

For example, in the book of Isaiah, God says this to us: “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land…” (Isa 1:19NIV) What is this showing us? First, it is showing us that God wants us to have and enjoy the best of everything wherever we are. No, we may not be enjoying the best of life where we are at the moment, perhaps because of our family background, level of education, lack of financial intelligence and so forth. But that does not change the fact that the will of God is for us to have and enjoy the best wherever we are.

Second, this Scripture is showing us that even though God wants the best for us, we too have our own roles to play in having and enjoying it. And what are those roles? First, we must be willing to have and enjoy the best that He wants for us. God is not going to force us to have or take anything from Him. We have to be willing to have what He is offering. Otherwise, we are not going to have it.

God, for instance, wanted all the children of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt to have the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. But many of them did not make it into that land. Why? They were not willing to take it. Why were they not willing? Fear! The fear of the giants in the land made them unwilling to have it. But God knew that there were giants there before offering them the land. All He needed from them was a willingness to receive it. And it would be theirs. But because they were not willing to have it, they lost it and perished in the wilderness. Only the willing ones among them made it into the land.

If we too are willing to have what God wants us to have, He will deliver it to us, regardless of how hard getting it may seem. And how do we show that we are willing to have the best God wants us to have in life and be the best He wants us to be? We show it by passionately studying His word to know all that He has provided for our enjoyment. We show it by praying to Him without ceasing to bring to pass all His good plans for us. And we show it by taking whatever righteous steps we have the ability to take to be what He wants us to be and to have what He wants us to have.

Now the second thing we need to have and enjoy the best God wants us to have in life is obedience. God has His own ways of making us have and enjoy His provisions for us. And it is only by following those ways that we can enjoy them. So, even if we are willing to have what God wants us to have and become what He wants us to become, if we do not follow His ways and plans for us with a heart of obedience, we will miss it. And even if we do have what He wants us to have by following our own ways, there will certainly be consequences, consequences that may take away things greater than we have already gotten from us.

For example, there was a time that God wanted to give the children of Israel water to drink from a rock. And He told Moses to speak to the rock right in front of everyone and that the rock would bring forth water for them. But because Moses was seriously angry at the time with the people, he disobeyed God by striking the rock twice with his rod. And surprisingly, water came out of the rock for the people to drink. But God told him that he would not enter the Promised land because of his disobedience. (Cf. Num 20:1-13)

You can see, then, that it is possible for us to be disobeying God and still be experiencing some measure of His goodness and favour in our lives. But as it was in the case of Moses, our disobedience may end up taking away from us the very best of things God wants us to have. Therefore, we must watch ourselves and see to it that just as we are willing to have what God wants for us, we are also obedient to His instructions. My prayer is that the strength to function like this will be greatly at work in us at all times. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2023, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church --This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com  or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

You must master it | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: July 19, 2023 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 10

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

“Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”” (Gen 4:6-7NIV)

Why did Cain end up killing his brother, Abel? It was because he failed to listen to God’s warning. As the account goes, after God had rejected his offering, he got terribly angry with his brother. But was he supposed to be angry with his brother? No! Was his brother the one that rejected his offering? No! Or was his brother the one that kept him from living right before God, so that his offering would be acceptable? No!

Nevertheless, Cain held his brother responsible for his own failure to get God’s approval. In like manner, we have many today who hold people who have absolutely nothing to do with their failure, stagnation or poverty in life responsible for it. So, instead for them to examine their lives careful in order to see what they are missing or getting wrong, all they will be busy doing is considering how the progress of others is affecting their own progress.

I remember how I once had to sound a friend and colleague of mine out along this line. She and a number of others in my office had been terribly upset that very day with certain colleagues of ours that were handling their jobs anyhow. And I did not see anything wrong with that. It is proper for any of us to be upset with those we are working together, if they are slowing us down or messing up our work.

However, this friend of mine went beyond being upset that day to expressing her bitterness by saying, “We get to do all the work. And these ones that are messing up get to take all the money. Yet they don’t have better papers than we do.” So, I had to immediately stop her from fuelling her bitterness by drawing her attention to the fact those so-called slothful colleagues of ours were not the reason she was not being highly paid by the company.

Granted, those people may be slothful. But their slothfulness had nothing to do with her low wages. It was her choice to accept that job, even though the pay was low – nobody forced her to take it. So, holding those people responsible for her low pay was totally out of line. And if she did not quickly get rid of that idea, she would soon enough be filled with bitterness against them, something that may drive her to do something that would ruin them and her as well.

Now that was what happened to Cain. Because he held his brother responsible for God’s rejection of his offering, hatred for him began to fill his heart. So, God had to immediately step in and warn him. Why would God do that? God just rejected his offering. Yet He came to warn him. That means He did not reject his offering because He did not love him. Rather, He rejected it because He wanted him to see that he was not living right and needed to repent. Otherwise, his entire life would end up being a waste.

So, the fact that God has sent a word of rebuke to you about anything wrong that you are doing does not mean that He hates you. Rather, it means that He loves you and does not want you to continue to do what will destroy you or to keep on following a path that will end in ruins and regret. As the bible tells us, it is those that God loves that He rebukes; it is those that He accepts as His own that He disciplines. So, if He is continually setting you right, consider yourself precious to Him. (Cf. Heb 12:5-6)

Unfortunately, Cain did not see the love of God for him in the rejection of his offering. Also, he did not see it in the warning that came to him to guard his heart against all the evil thoughts that were coming to him. So, he ended up murdering his own brother, the very one he was supposed to protect. And that, of course, brought God’s judgment on him. (Cf. Gen 4:8-16)

What is the point of this? It is that if we do not watch the kinds of thoughts we permit in our hearts and master them or take them captive, we may end up holding the wrong people responsible for the failure, shame or stagnation our lives are experiencing. Or we may end up seeking happiness, satisfaction or peace of mind in wrong relationships or activities. And where this is the case, we may end up destroying the very people we are meant to protect. (Cf. 2Cor 10:5)

Look at Amnon, the first son of David, also. Because he would not master his thoughts, he began to seek enjoyment and sexual satisfaction from his own blood sister. So, he ended up raping her, a sister that he was supposed to be protecting from rapists. And that took away not just the throne of Israel from him but also his life. (Cf. 2Sam 13)

So, if you have been tolerating or nursing evil thoughts in your hearts, you may just be preparing yourself to harm those you are supposed to love, cherish and protect. And the word of God is coming to you now to warn you, saying, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Copyright © 2023, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

They can only lose their souls | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: July 16, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s | Desk Number: Vol. 12, No. 11

Beloved: grace and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of July 2023. I pray that God will continue to keep you safe from the corruption of these last days and make you stand before our Lord Jesus pure and blameless when He returns. Amen.

Recently, I saw some very disturbing videos on the internet of some of our young men and women in the country stripping themselves naked, even in some big markets, all in the name of playing a game. They call it flip-game challenge. And many are getting involved in this madness boldly. Why? They just want to make themselves happy and forget their pains and sorrows. And they don’t care what they have to do to make that happen. Then some see this as a means to make easy money on the internet.

Now all this brings to my mind one of the things our Lord Jesus says about the last days. He says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matt 24:12-13NIV) What will increase in the last days? Wickedness! Immorality! Deceit! And how will the increase in these things affect God’s children? It will make the love of many of them for the Lord become cold. In other words, they will no longer be passionate or fervent in living for the Lord or in serving Him. That, of course, will be because they too want to keep in step with their friends, lovers, family members, neighbours and so forth that do not know the Lord.

But the Lord is also very clear to us about the fact that it is only who remain firm in their love for Him and devotion to Him to the very end that will make their salvation complete. Those who give up on Him or on righteous living because of the wickedness, immorality, deceit, bitterness or jealousy around them can only lose their souls. So, don’t let any of the terrible things the people around you are doing to take care of themselves, protect themselves or make themselves happy make the fire of your love for God die. Instead, condemn their acts, turn away from them and cling to the Lord. That will be your wisdom.

Remember that the Lord Jesus says, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt 16:25NIV) What this means is that all your friends, family members, colleagues at work or in school, neighbours or even church members that think they are going to save themselves or make themselves happy by stealing, getting drunk or getting involved in prostitution or money rituals will someday realise that they have not saved or made themselves happy at all but have only destroyed themselves. And if you allow them to entice you to be involved in their sins, you too will someday realise that you have destroyed yourself and perhaps the people you love in your attempt to save your life.

Which is it going to be, then? Will you remain true in your devotion to the Lord, regardless of the challenges life may throw at you, and depend on Him for victory, peace and joy in every situation? Or will you join all the people around you that are daily destroying themselves while they are trying to save themselves? Well, the ball is in your court. My prayer, however, is that the Spirit of God will strengthen your heart not to foolishly join the world in running a race that is bound to end in destruction. Amen.

Have a glorious week.

Copyright © 2023, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Callous or passionate|Fire in my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: July 12, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 9

“When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the community by making atonement for them before the LORD. Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.” Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.” (Lev 10:16-20NIV)

Why was Moses angry with Eleazar and Ithamar? It was because they neglected something of the will of God that they should have done. They were supposed to have eaten the meat of a goat that had been offered for sin offering before the Lord. Instead, they had it burnt up.

So, Moses was angry with them for not doing the will of God on that occasion. Now was he right to be angry with them for not doing the will of God that day? Yes, he was right to be angry with them for not doing the will of God that day. In fact, he would be right to be angry with them for not doing the will of God any day. That is because the will of God is not something we choose to do anytime we like.

Rather, it is something we must be devoted to doing every moment of our lives.Mind you, there are consequences for not doing the will of God for us. And that is something that someone like Moses was well acquainted with. He had seen how God judged Pharaoh and the Egyptians for their rebellion against Him. He had also seen how He judged many of the Israelites in the wilderness for various sins.

So, he was not going to allow anybody under his leadership to behave anyhow, without regard for the word of God. Instead, he would passionately set himself against that person.In like manner, wherever we are acting in leadership capacity, we must show ourselves as passionate in standing against wickedness, oppression, cheating, stealing and any other kind of evil.

That way, those under us will know that any form of wickedness on their part will not be overlooked or swept under the carpet. Instead, it will be brought out in the open and judged. And that will make them apply caution or restraint anytime they want to do something nasty or silly.

Nonetheless, we need to know when and where to put our passion for righteousness to prevail aside and instead show compassion to those who have failed to meet up with our expectations or what is required of them.

And that, as we see in our opening bible text, was where Moses missed it when he was rebuking Eleazar and Ithamar for not doing the will of God on the day mentioned.As the bible equally shows us, something terrible had earlier happened that same day to the elder brothers of these men, that is, Nadab and Abihu. For reasons not disclosed in Scriptures, the two of them had offered unauthorised fire before the Lord, contrary to His command.

So, a fire came out from His presence and instantly consumed them. They were not even warned or given any opportunity to repent and change their ways. Conversely, they were immediately put to death by God. And He was not sorry about killing them. Instead, He told others to be warned. (Cf. Leviticus 10:1-5)

Then, as if that were not enough, He told Moses to tell Aaron and his remaining two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, not to mourn for those who had died like the rest of the people. Otherwise, they too would die and cause trouble for the entire nation. Why? They were God’s anointed priests. So, they must not defile the anointing on them with mourning. (Cf. Leviticus 10:6-7)

Now try to imagine how Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar must have felt that day. Try to imagine what must have been going on in their minds about the matter and about their ministry as priests. It is possible that they were even saying to themselves, “Did we volunteer to be priests? Was it not God Himself that chose us? Why, then, must He place this kind of burden on us?” You can see, then, that such a day was not one in which they would want to eat anything or have a feast, even though the Lord had commanded it.

And that was exactly what Aaron pointed out to Moses when he, in his passion for God’s honour, began to rebuke them for not performing their priestly duty of eating some sin offering. He told him that even God would not have been pleased with him, if he had treated the death of his sons as nothing and had begun to feast on some sin offering meat. That would have painted him as a callous and insensitive father.

How, then, could a callous and insensitive father be a true and compassionate high priest for the people?In any case, when he said these things to Moses, as the account shows us, he was satisfied. In other words, Aaron’s words opened Moses’ own eyes to the fact that he had allowed his passion for God to rob him of compassion. The men that died were his own blood too. They were his nephews. Yes, they died for their sins.

But he should still have comforted their father and brothers instead of getting angry with them for neglecting some of their priestly duties that day. What if those who died were his own sons? Would he have carried on with his work that day as though nothing had happened?

Well, the point of this is that we must know where to draw the line between being zealous for God’s honour and being brutal, callous or unfeeling. Yes, we should be passionate about anything that concerns God, His honour and His work.

However, we must not allow our passion or zeal to make us become insensitive or callous in dealing with those who are unable to keep in step with us in doing God’s will or work because they are genuinely hurting or troubled in their lives.

Otherwise, as Aaron showed Moses, we will be acting contrary to the nature of God our Father, who is not only strict but also compassionate. And that may ruin whatever we are trying to do for Him instead of building it. So, be careful.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Act like Ruth | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: July 09, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 10

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of the month of July 2023. My prayer is that nothing needed for your prosperity and peace will be hidden from you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

One of the things we are shown in Scriptures is that we must never use the challenges of our lives as an excuse for living meaningless and unprofitable lives. Instead, in spite of the challenges we may be faced with, we are to open our eyes to see what legitimate things we can do with our hands to make life better for ourselves and those around us. And it is those who function in this manner that will experience God’s glory and exaltation in their lives, regardless of how lowly their positions in life may be.

For example, when Ruth came to the land of Israel with Naomi, her mother-in-law, she came with nothing and to meet nothing. She came to a place where she had no friend or family member to turn to for help. Yet she had to survive and take care of herself and her aged mother-in-law. And did she start crying because of that and saying that she had made a mistake by leaving all her people behind and following Naomi? No! Or did she go out to start prostituting herself? No! (Cf. Ruth 1:19-22)

See, Ruth had very genuine reasons for leaving her people and the comfort she could have been enjoying with them. She wanted to get away from the idolatry, sexual immorality and wickedness that were widespread among them. And it was her decision to do this that made her follow her mother-in-law, a woman who had nothing to offer her, to the land of Israel. So, she knew that she would most likely start life as one of the poorest people in the land when she got there. Yet she came because she would rather be a poor person among God’s people than be the richest of people among the wicked (Ps 84:10).

In like manner, our choice to live for Jesus Christ may place us in a position of poverty or shame in our society. But that does not mean that God wants us to stay in that position forever. What He wants is for His people to be above and not below. So, regardless of how lowly our position in life right now may be, God is able to lift us up from there to where we should be.

However, we also must be willing to act like Ruth in whatever lowly position we may now find ourselves in order to experience God’s favour and elevation. And how did she act in order to be lifted out of poverty into wealth and comfort? First, instead of complaining about her situation or messing around with her body, she found herself a job. This woman did not sit down at her home with her mother-in-law praying and expecting God to be sending money to them. Instead, she went out to look for a job. And God led her to find one, even though the job could only take care of their daily food at the time. (Cf. Ruth 2:1-3)

Now I am not saying that God could not have been sending money to Ruth and Naomi at home. He could. But could they tell when He was going to send it or how much He was going to send each time He did send them money? No! And since He had not said that they could not go out and work and make money, it would only be wise for Ruth to go out and work and expect God to make money available for her by doing so.

So, while it is alright for you to pray and expect God to miraculously supply your needs, you must also find a job to do, for God has commanded it (Eph 4:28; 1Thess 4:11-12). Get yourself a job to do, then, as long as it is legitimate, instead of complaining, stealing or messing up your body to make money. That way, God can supply your needs through that job and through any other miraculous means He may choose.

The second thing Ruth did was to be diligent in doing the job she found. Yes, it was a lowly job she found at that time. But she did it in such a way that the foreman of the field in which she was working took notice of her and spoke highly of her to his master, Boaz, who happened to be a relative of Ruth’s late husband. And that opened a great door of favour for her. If you too will do whatever job you are handling now with all your heart and might, it may just be what God will use in leading you to meet those who will favour you and lift you up. (Cf. Ruth 2; Ecc 9:10)

The third thing to emulate from Ruth was her willingness to accept godly counsel (Ruth 3-4). Yes, she had a godly mother-in-law who was always there to counsel her on the right steps to take. But if she had not taken her counsel seriously, she would not have come out of poverty and be known as we know her today. You too must recognise the people God has planted in your life to give you sound counsel. And as they counsel you, take it seriously and act on it. For their counsel, not even money, may be the very thing you need to rise above all your challenges in life. My prayer is that God will strengthen you to embrace these things and apply them to your life without delay. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2023, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)