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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Be of true help to them|By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: February 15, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 40

“..John Mark went with them as their assistant.” (Acts 13:5NIV)

Who did John Mark go with to assist? Paul and Barnabas! They were on their first missionary journey. And they needed a trusted brother from the church to be around them as their assistant. So, John Mark volunteered to go with them.

Now that reminds of a time in which I travelled with a highly respected pastor of mine to Accra in Ghana. He had just been transferred to the branch of our assembly in that city to get the work there established. And he seriously needed someone to be with him before his family would relocate to join him. So, when he asked me if I would want to go with him, I said ‘Yes’.

Why did I say ‘Yes’ to him? Was it because I was going to be preaching with him? No! Or was it because I was being given an opportunity to travel out of the country for the first time? Yes, that was part of it. I really wanted to see what life outside this country was then. But that was not my main reason for saying ‘Yes’ to him. My main reason for following him was that I saw that he could really use my assistance.

So, I went with him, not to preach with him but to help him in whatever way he wanted me to help him. That, of course, involved handling house chores for him, running errands for him, taking his phone calls and so forth. And when I was leaving about three months later, he wished he could keep me with him a little longer. But since he couldn’t, he sent me off with this prayer that I will never forget: God will grant that you will never lack helpers in your life.

Now what greater reward could I have hoped to receive from him other than those heartfelt words of prayer? None! And that is the greatest reward you too could ever get from anybody for faithfully and willingly making yourself available to serve them, especially in their moment of need. But will you get it? Will there be people in your life praying for you every time they remember you for being such a great help and comfort to them in their lives?

Paul, while addressing Timothy in a letter, says this about a man called Onesiphorus:

“May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.” (2Tim 1:16-18NIV)

At a time when everybody abandoned Paul because of his chains, at a time when he was feeling all alone because there was no one around to minister to him with words of encouragement or resources, Onesiphorus was there for him. This man went out of his way to look for this apostle when he came to Rome. It was difficult for him to find him. But he did not relent until he found him and ministered to him. And all that Paul could do was pray heartfelt prayers for him and for his household that they would find mercy on the day of the Lord.

Unfortunately, even today, just as it was with Paul in those days, leaders often find it hard to find trusted and willing people to stand by them to assist or support them. Yes, they often find it hard to find people who will willingly want to make their load lighter, not because of what they want to get or because they are paid to do so but because they truly care. And this is equally true in the church. I mean that, even in the church, it is often hard to find people who are always genuinely looking out for their church leaders and seeking ways to make their load lighter. Most of us only want to serve if there is something for us to gain and if and only if it is convenient.

This, of course, explains why most of our leaders pray for us simply because it is their job to do so and not also because we are continually inspiring them to pray for us. It also explains why we are having fewer and fewer servant leaders in the church. Most of our leaders have not learnt how to genuinely and willingly serve others. How, then, can they teach others to do so? So, they have to resort to the use of money, force or manipulation to get people to do their bidding. And that is how many of them have ended up surrounding themselves with people who are only loyal to themselves and their bellies and not love servants.

Now my prayer is that you will not wake up one day to find out that all the people around you are loyal only to themselves and not at all to you. I also pray that God will provide you with true and willing helpers in your life, helpers who will continually seek to make your life and work easier and more productive. But you too should learn to sow the seed of true help and assistance into the lives of the leaders in your life, both in the church and outside the church. And their heartfelt prayers will water that seed, so that it will bear a great harvest of helpers for you someday.

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General Post

Keep an eye on them | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: February 12, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 41

Beloved: grace and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to another week of the month of February 2023. I pray that God Himself will keep you pure and blameless, spirit, soul and body, at the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we see in the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus Christ is coming back for His church at the time set by God the Father. But He is not coming for a defiled or polluted church. Rather, He is coming for a church that is blameless, spotless and without wrinkle. All of this is why we are told by Peter to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him when He returns. (Cf. Eph 5:26; 2Pet 3:14)

But can we really be spotless, blameless and unashamed before Him when He returns? Yes, we can. We can because the Spirit of God is in us and is faithfully committed to making sure this is so. Yes, He is working all the time to ensure that the good work that He began in us when we became born again is carried on till the day of the Lord. So, our being blameless when our Lord returns is not going to be merely a product of our desire or effort but a product of the labour of the Spirit of God in us and over us. (Cf. Phil 1:6 & 2:12-13)

Nevertheless, we must still desire to be blameless when He returns. Not only that, we must also be taking advantage of His grace to live the kind of life He wants us to live. Otherwise, we may end up frustrating all that He is doing to keep us blameless.

Furthermore, it is important that we keep an eye on one another, so that Satan will not succeed in luring any of us away to destroy his faith and life. The bible says the following to us on this note:

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” (Heb 3:12NIV)

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.” (Heb 12:15-17NIV)

Did you see that? If we all will remain pure and blameless when our Lord Jesus returns, we must keep an eye on ourselves. That way, we can take bold steps to correct, rebuke and protect our brethren, if we sense that Satan is working to ensnare them through jealousy, greed, bitterness, rebellion, discontentment, fornication or any other sinful act.

For instance, when members of Chole’s family of the Corinthian church saw that carnality had taken over that church, they lost not time at all in informing Paul the Apostle, their spiritual leader, about it. They could see that division, jealousy, pride, sexual immorality, cheating and lack of consideration for the faith of young believers were tearing apart this church. So, they wrote to this apostle about it and asked for his timely intervention. That was why he wrote 1Corinthians. So, that letter was an answer to the cry and prayer of certain brethren who wanted to see the church of God remain pure and blameless at Jesus’ return. (Cf. 1Cor 1:11-12)

Unfortunately, when some brethren do similar things today, when they begin to make effort to keep their assembly sanctified unto the Lord, other brethren may start calling them names and quarrelling with them. Why? They are still in love with darkness. So, they don’t want its works to be exposed or dealt with. And if we permit such people to silence and supress the truth in our midst, we will only be helping them to destroy themselves and others and to also tarnish God’s reputation.

Therefore, if you care at all about our being blameless before Jesus when He returns, keep an eye not just on yourself but also on your brethren. And if you see them missing it in any way, don’t hesitate to confront them or those who can help them with the truth, whether they are happy about it or not. But, one day, they will either thank you for doing the needful in saving them or blame themselves for rejecting the will of God for their lives.

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

Domestic oppression |By: J.O. Lawal | FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones
Date: February 08, 2023 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 39

“Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.” Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.” (Neh 5:1-6NIV)

As we see in the book of Nehemiah, in order for the Jewish exiles that had returned to Jerusalem to be rid of the harassment and disgrace they were facing from the hostile gentiles surrounding them, Nehemiah had to leave his comfort zone as King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer and come home to help them. Was it easy for him to get this king’s permission to do this? No! He really could have lost his life in the process of seeking it. But because he had first sought the Lord’s face and favour before approaching the man, his request was miraculously granted. (Cf. Neh 1-2)

Now when he eventually came and began to labour for the welfare of his people, he thought it was only the oppression they were faced with from outside that he had to deal with; he did not know that he would have to handle domestic oppression as well. But it was not long after he had successfully dealt with the external forces contending with the welfare of his people that he realised that the people he was working hard to save were equally oppressing one another.

Remember that Moses also had a similar experience. He had, on one occasion, killed an Egyptian in his attempt to save one of his own. But to his surprise, it was not only the Egyptians that were oppressing his people. They themselves were oppressing themselves. And when he tried to point this out to one of them, he ended up having to run for his life for the next forty years. (Cf. Ex 2:11-15)

In any case, as we see in our opening text, Nehemiah was really angry when he realised that while he was labouring hard to help his people get established in the land, there were still among them those who were using their positions of advantage to oppress others. And he had to call their nobles and officials into a meeting and bound them with oaths and curses in order to solve the problem. Otherwise, all his labour to comfort the people and give them rest would have come to nothing because of the domestic oppression going on among them. (Cf. Neh 5:6-13)

Similarly, in Nigeria today, there is much distress everywhere for the citizenry. And is this because our leaders are so cruel and unfeeling? No! Yes, we cannot run away from the fact that many of our leaders have not done well at all in caring for the people. But the truth also is that much of the distress we are now experiencing is not a direct consequence of their ineptitude but that of the domestic oppression we too are subjecting ourselves to.

For example, can we in all honesty say that our leaders are totally to blame for the outrageous increase in fuel prices that we are now seeing? No! That is an offspring of domestic oppression. Or can we in all sincerity put all the blame for the scarcity of the new naira notes that we are seeing on our leaders? No! That is also a product of domestic oppression emanating from many of our commercial banks and POS operators. Or can we say that our leaders are totally to blame for the daylight robbery of many Nigerians by those in the power sector? No! That is equally a product of domestic oppression.

Yes, our economy has been badly managed by our leaders for many years. And no one, as I pointed out before, can excuse them from taking responsibility for that. But we are the ones making this economy daily worse through our greed. Our greed is the force driving us to use the poor leadership in the country as an excuse for pursuing unjust profit in every possible way. So, our pains and miseries are mostly self-inflicted and our oppression largely domestic.

If we, then, are going to witness any relief soon, we all must choose to end every form of domestic oppression we are perpetuating or sponsoring in our offices, business centers, neighbourhoods, schools and even religious assemblies. Remember that, right now, we don’t have any Nehemiah that will compel us to do what is right. So, if we don’t begin to do what is right as a matter of urgency, it may not be long before our beloved country is totally colonised again by foreigners.

Now this sort of colonisation, of course, is not going to be territorial, as it was before we gained independence. Rather, it is going to be an economic thing. In other words, our economic independence will totally be taken away from us and we will be nothing but economic slaves of some other nations. My prayer is that things will not degenerate to that level before we all come back to our senses or before God sends a Nehemiah to us to redeem our honour. Amen.

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

How to be preserved | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: February 05, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 40

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the month of February 2023. And I pray that God will protect you from all the evils of these last days that are ruining people’s faith and lives. Amen.

I offered that prayer to God for you because I know that it is His desire to preserve all of us that are His children from all the corruption and evils of these last days. In fact, the bible tells us that we can trust Him to preserve us because He is a faithful God (1Thess 5:23-24). But it is one thing for God to be committed to preserving our lives and faith; it is another thing for us to place ourselves where He can do so. If you do not position yourself where God can preserve your life and faith, you will not be safe. And that is not a curse. It is the reality.

How do you position yourself where God can preserve you from the corruption of these last days? It is by yielding yourself to the word of His truth, whether it is pleasant for you to accept or not. Paul, writing to Timothy in a letter, says this:

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2Tim 4:1-4NIV)

What does Paul tell Timothy to do in this text? First, he tells him to preach the word of God, not his ideas, the popular opinions of men, community stories or traditions. Second, he tells him to be ready to correct, rebuke and encourage the people of God, whether it is convenient for him or not. But is Timothy not supposed to be aware of these things already, since he is a pastor of pastors? He is supposed to be aware of them already.

Why, then, does he need someone to charge him to give himself to doing them? As we see in the text, it is because a time is coming (and that time is now here) when many so-called believers in Christ Jesus will not put up with sound doctrine but will look for those who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear. Paul, in fact, goes on to say that these people will turn their ears away from the truth in order to listen to myths and lies. And when this happens, there is every tendency that Timothy may feel that he is the one that is being too harsh and so want to change his sermons to suit them. So, Paul warns him before God and before Jesus Christ not to do so. Otherwise, he will ruin his ministry and lose his reward.

In like manner, many in the church today do not want to put up with the truth again, that is, if they have ever put up with it. That is why they keep going from one assembly to another assembly and never really settling down anywhere. They prefer leaders like Aaron who will give them whatever they want, even if it is an idol of gold, to leaders that will confront them with the truth about their lives and the will of God for them. (Cf. Exodus 32)

Now the truth is that such people cannot be preserved by God from being polluted or from being misled and destroyed by the devil. And if you don’t want to end up like them, if you want God to keep you safe and sound in the faith in these last days, you had better yield yourself to sound doctrine and spiritual discipline instead of looking for those who will pamper you until you are utterly destroyed. And know this: there are still some of us that will never change our sermons to suit you. Yes, there are still some of us that will never give you any golden calf to worship, regardless of what you say about us or think of us. That is because we are not answerable to you but to God who sent us. And may God grant you a heart that is ever humble to receive His word of truth without disputing. Amen.

Have a great February 2023.

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

Would He make a garment of skin for you too?| By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: February 01, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus| Number: Vol. 5, No. 38

“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (1Tim 2:9-10NIV)

The day we live in is one in which indecency and inappropriate dressing are now the order of the day. Yes, it is a day in which women, including some elderly ones, no longer see anything wrong with dressing like prostitutes or walking around almost naked.

Unfortunately, even our women in the church are not left out of this societal menace. Many of them are vitally contributing to it. And this is evident in the kinds of dresses they wear to our church meetings. No, they may not come for church meetings half-naked. But they will make sure they wear something that reveals enough of certain parts of their bodies, so that they could get someone’s attention. It is no wonder, then, that rape cases are daily multiplying at a very alarming rate in our country, just as cases of consensual sex among unmarried people are just too much to talk about.

But from what we see in our opening bible text, God’s people, God’s women, old or young, ought to be different in the way they dress and comport themselves. Is it that God does not want them to look beautiful and elegant when they dress? No! He wants His daughters to look beautiful and elegant wherever they appear. Otherwise, He would not create them to be beautiful.

Look, for example, at what the bible says about the daughters of Job that were later born to him: “The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.” (Job 42:14-15NIV) Who gave Job these extremely beautiful daughters? God! So, beauty, any degree of it, is a gift from God. And no should condemn or despise it.

Unfortunately, there are preachers who have mistaken what Paul says in this text to mean that God’s women are not to dress well or beautiful themselves at all, especially with articles of gold or silver. So, they condemn any woman who appears beautiful, without making any effort to find out what quality of life the person is living. But these same people may not see anything wrong with their own women braiding their hair or using bags or shoes with gold or silver plates. And that shows that they are ignorant of what this Scripture means.

I remember, for instance, how a so-called prophet once told a brother of mine that the Spirit of God wanted him to be careful of light complexioned ladies. Why? He had earlier that day seen him with a light complexioned lady. But did he know who she was to him? No! If he had, he would not have said that the Spirit of God told him what He obviously did not tell him.

In any case, what the Scripture we have above is telling us, first, is that God’s daughters are never to take their dressing or physical outlook more seriously than their conduct. So, we should not say that you, as a lady, are beautiful simply because of your hair-do, use of jewelleries and cost of wears but because you are a woman that is also rich in good deeds and character. In other words, if you are not rich in character, your physical beauty may as well be as good as worthless.

Second, this Scripture is telling us that when you dress, demonstrate decency. Cover what is meant to be covered and protect what should be protected. Yes, God has made you beautiful. But He does not want you to get outrageous in handling it. Or else you might soon turn yourself into a tool of seduction in the hand of the devil or open the door of your life for ungodly people or criminals to begin to desire you.

Remember that when the first man and the first women fell and the glory of God that was covering them left, the first thing they did was to cover their nakedness with garments of leaves. And when God came and met them in that condition, what did He do? He made garments of skin for them. Why? He could see that they were not adequately covered, even though it was just the two of them. (Cf. Gen 3)

Now if God should physically appear to you too today, what do you think He would do or say about your dressing? Would He freely settle down to relate to you or would He want to make a garment of skin for you to cover your nakedness? I am sure you know the answer. Therefore, what is acceptable to God is what you should always wear, whether you are a woman or a man and not what many of these movie, music or sport stars are leading you to wear. Otherwise, one might begin to wonder whether you are a child of God at all.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Take special note of them | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 29, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 39

Beloved: Grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of this year. And I pray that God will keep your heart right and humble before Him all the time, so that you will not experience any kind of downfall but elevation this year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As the bible tells us, pride is one of the major reasons people experience downfall or are prevented from experiencing elevation in life. If we are walking in pride, then, we may just be brought down from whatever position of advantage we are or prevented from rising beyond where we are in life. So, watch out for every form of pride and see to it that it is not allowed to take root in your life. (Cf. Prov 16:18; James 4:6-7; 1Pet 5:5-6)

Now one form of pride that God’s people don’t easily recognise but that is very much present in many of us is that which has to do with disobedience to spiritual authority. And when I am talking about spiritual authority, I am talking about those leaders that God has placed over you in your Christian assembly. These ones have been ordained by Him to feed you with His word and to watch over your soul through prayer and fellowship. So, I am not saying that every pastor, prophet, evangelist or apostle you meet is your spiritual leader and that you must obey them.

If someone is not your church leader, you are not under any obligation to follow any instruction he gives you, right or wrong, unless you have a relationship with the person and sees him as trustworthy. But if someone is your church leader, you are under an obligation to obey his instructions, as long as those instructions are consistent with the will of God. It is a shame, however, that we often find God’s people showing much regard for church leaders that are not directly over them while despising the ones that are directly over them in their Christian assemblies.

But this is wrong and contrary to the will of God for our lives. Paul, while addressing the Corinthians on this note, says that if they were supporting and respecting church leaders who were not directly over them, should they not support and respect him all the more, since he was their father in the faith and had never stopped ministering to them in the word of God and in prayer? They should. (Cf. 1Cor 9:11-12) In like manner, if you too find it convenient to support and respect church leaders that are not directly watching over you in the faith or that you have never even met, why should you find it hard to respect and support the leaders of your local assembly that are continually ministering to you even more? Well, one of the reasons we disrespect our church leaders in this manner is pride. When we feel that a church leader does not know enough or is not old enough or is not smart enough or is not educated enough to instruct or lead us, we will not obey them or take them seriously.

Also, when we are ignorant of the consequences of disobeying or disrespecting our church leaders, and many in the church today are ignorant of these things, we may freely disobey or despise them. But as we see in Scriptures, there are very terrible consequences for despising our spiritual leaders or encouraging rebellion against them, regardless of how young or unimpressive they may appear. So, warn yourself concerning these things. Otherwise, you may soon enough get into problems that God won’t save you from. (Cf. Num 12&17)

Finally, Paul says this to us about how we should relate to those who don’t take our leaders in the church seriously: “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (2Thess 3:14-15NIV) Did you see that? We are told to take special note of anyone in our Christian assembly that does not take our leaders seriously, talks anyhow about them or encourages rebellion against their instructions. Why? First, it is so that we may warn them. Second, it is so that if they do not take warning, we can separate ourselves from them. Otherwise, we may end up partaking in the consequences of their disobedience.

So, always watch how the people you move with in the church relate to spiritual authority, regardless of how much you like them. Then you will know whether they will contribute to your growth in the kingdom of God or to your downfall. And may God fill you with sufficient understanding, strength and boldness to do this, in Jesus’ name. 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

Title: Stop multiplying failure| By: J.O. Lawal|Fire my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 25, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 37

“Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good…”” Ex 18:17NIV)
What was Moses, that great man of God, doing that was not good? It was his leadership approach that was not good. As the account shows us, before his father-in-law, Jethro, visited him, Moses used to sit down everyday to attend to all the disputes and concerns of the Israelites that he was taking to the Promised Land. And how many people are we looking at? According to the first census of these people that Moses took, we are looking at about six hundred thousand men, not counting their wives, children and servants (Num 1:46).

Why, then, was Moses all alone attending to all the disputes, requests and misunderstandings of all these people? It was because he felt that he was the only one that must do so. But where was that getting him and the people he was attending to? Nowhere! Evidently, the work was too much for him to handle. Therefore, he was utterly ineffective in handling it.

Unfortunately, Moses was ignoring the fact that he, as one man, was ineffective in leading all the people at that time. He was ignoring the fact that though he was a great spiritual leader, he was very poor in administrative matters. And why was he doing this to himself? It was because there was no one bold and wise enough to draw his attention to his folly, without disrespecting the anointing of God on his life. So, they all left him to continue to multiply failure.

We too can continue to multiply failure in certain or all the areas of our lives, if we are ignoring the fact that we are failing at what we are doing. It takes courage and sincerity to admit failure. It takes courage and sincerity to admit that what we are doing is not working and needs to be approached or addressed differently. But do we have these attributes in our lives, courage and sincerity?

When God saw that the world of Noah’s day was not working, did He not face that fact? He did! God did not lie to Himself about the fact that the world that He had created and given to humanity was not working at all and needed to be ended. And He did not wait for anybody to tell Him that this was the situation. Instead, He told Himself the truth about it and did the needful. Was He happy to do the needful, which involved destroying everything on the face of the earth, except Noah and his family? No! But He did what He had to do in order to give us another chance to recreate our world and live to fulfil His purpose for us. (Cf. Gen 6-9)

So, if what you are doing is not working, tell yourself the truth about it and begin to consider how to make things right. And don’t ignore the truth of your failure because nobody is saying anything to you about it or because certain ‘Yes people’ are encouraging you to keep multiplying failure. Remember that even though Moses was failing terribly in administering justice to the nation of Israel at that time, nobody among his people, not even his own brother Aaron, said anything to him about it. They all were probably telling him what he wanted to hear from them, which was not at all good for him or the people.

However, when God was going to save him, he moved his father-in-law to come and visit him, bringing along his wife and sons. And when he came, he immediately noticed the error of this man of God and lost no time at all in drawing his attention to it. He told him very plainly, as we see in our opening text, that what he was doing was wrong and would simply destroy him and the people. Then he went on to tell him the right thing to do, which was to delegate his administrative responsibilities among the various gifted people in the nation, if God permitted him to do so. And guess what? Moses listened to him and was rid of his ineffectiveness and failure in leadership. (Cf. Ex 18)

Now it is possible that you too, like Moses, have something you are doing that is not good and that is causing you to multiply failure. Then acknowledge it and deal with it without delay, if you know what it is. Don’t wait for a Jethro to come and point it out to you. That is because that Jethro may never come.

But if it is something you don’t know, my prayer is that God will send a Jethro to open your eyes to see it. And when He does send him, don’t let pride get in the way. Instead, humble yourself, listen, learn and get the needful done without wasting time at all. Otherwise, you will simply keep on multiplying failure.

Cheers!

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

The judgment of His word | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 22, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 38

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you 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 January 2023. My prayer is that everything God has been saying to you will succeed in making you the person He wants you to be in this world and not work against you on the last day. Amen.

Once, while addressing the Jews, Jesus said the following to them: “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.” (John 12:47-48NIV) From what the Lord said to these people, it is clear that it is not a new thing for people to hear His words and not act on them. So, if you have been hearing the word of God and not acting on it, it should not surprise anybody.

In any case, the Lord says that He is not ready to judge anyone that hears His word and rejects it. And that is because His mission at this time is not to judge people but to save them. That, however, does not mean that those who reject Him will not be judged at all. They will be judged at the last day. And who will judge them? According to the Lord, it is the very word that they have rejected that will stand in judgment against them on that day.

Therefore, if the word of God is coming to you and you are refusing to take it seriously and act on it, know that this same word will testify against you someday. And this is not something that will happen only in heaven but also here on earth. For instance, Solomon, while addressing his sons about adultery, makes it abundantly clear to them that if they will not pay attention to him, a day will come when they will remember his words and condemn themselves.

Look at his actual words about this: “At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”” (Prov 5:11-14NIV) Now has something like this ever happened to you? Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you began to condemn yourself for your own failure to act on the wise counsel you had received from your parents, church leaders or other good people in your life?

Well, I have been there. And trust me, it is not a nice experience at all. I am talking about a situation in which you know that you are the cause of your own trouble. That is because you can vividly remember all the words of warning and caution that you heard and that you failed to utilise. Then you begin to wish you had acted on them; you begin to wish you had not been stubborn. Yet you also know that the damage has already been done and that unless God shows you mercy, you will have to live and die with the mess you have made. And though you beat and condemn yourself at such a time, it will not change anything.

Now that is how the word of God judges people and how it will judge them on the last day. They will remember every truth they have heard and have failed to utilise. And they will know they have no excuse for failing God. They will know that they have no excuse for messing up their own lives or for choosing hell. But it will be too late to change anything then. It will be too late at that time to change the results they have gotten. So, they will have to live eternally with them.

But while we are still here in the world, there are things we can change. As long as we still have the breath of life in us, we can turn back from the path of disobedience to God and start listening to Him and taking His word seriously. That way, He can heal us, save us from the consequences of our past mistakes and set our lives right. Then we will not have to live forever regretting the wrong choices we have made. And my prayer is that you will take these words to heart and turn away from doing those things that will make the word of God stand against you someday in this world or on the day of the Lord. 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)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Reputation means a lot| By: J.O. Lawal|Fire My Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 18, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 36

“And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.” (Ruth 3:11NIV)

Those were Boaz’s words to Ruth, when she came to him one night to request his hand in marriage. Now, for those of us who don’t understand the Jewish culture of the time, what Ruth was reported to have done on that occasion could only be taken by us as outrageous and shameless. “What sort of woman makes love advances at a man, if not a shameless one?” we would say.

But as far Jewish customs were concerned, there was nothing shameless or outrageous about what Ruth did that night. Under the law of Moses, widows were meant to remarry from among their in-laws and not outside the family. And each of them had a right to approach the elders of their town to report any brother-in-law that was in a position to remarry her but that would not do so, so that they would talk some sense into him. (Cf. Deut 25:5-10)

So, Ruth did not do anything wrong under the law of Moses by discreetly approaching Boaz and asking him to marry her. First, she was a widow. So, she had a right to remarry. Second, Boaz was her late husband’s kinsman. So, he was one of those in a position to marry her. Then, as the account goes, it was not even Ruth’s idea to meet the man in that manner, for she was not an Israelite and most probably did not know much about their laws and culture at the time. The idea was Naomi’s, Ruth’s mother-in-law. And if there was anyone that would put Ruth up to something shameless, she would be the last person. (Cf. Ruth 3:1-5)

More so, as we equally see in the account, Boaz did not act confused when Ruth did what her mother-in-law told her to do. Instead, he indicated that he understood clearly what she did and what it meant. In fact, he went on to tell her that there was another kinsman of her late husband that was more qualified to marry her than him. So, what the young woman did was in line with the marital laws and customs of the land at the time and should not be condemned by anybody.

Now is that to say that you too, as a single lady or young widow, are free to approach any man to ask his hand in marriage? That is not for me to say. I know the word of God does not give a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer to that. And if the customs of your country or community do not frown against doing so, you should be free to do so. But if the customs of your place are contrary to it, then, doing so may ultimately result in a reputational hazard for you. So, I won’t ask you to take the risk.

At any rate, even though what Ruth did to Boaz was in line with the customs of the land at the time, Boaz could as well have been irritated by it and rejected her proposal. But he did not. Why? It was because he knew Ruth to be a woman of character.

In fact, as we see in our opening bible text, he wasn’t the only one that knew her in that manner; everyone else in the town knew her to be so. In other words, this woman’s reputation for godliness, sanctity, hard work, diligence and love for family preceded her wherever she went. Therefore, Boaz was all happy and eager to do for her what she wanted, if their relative that was more qualified than him to have her would not do so. He, in fact, went out of his way to make sure the matter was settled in one day. And that was all because of the reputation of the woman involved. (Cf. Ruth 3-4)

In like manner, our reputation can get people to go out of their way to perform miracles for us to have what need or to save us from trouble or distress. And it can also get them to turn their backs on us or to do all that is in their power to hinder us from accessing or enjoying certain things. So, we need to watch the kind of reputation we are building where we are. Is it a reputation for godliness, honesty, compassion and diligence? Or is it a reputation for ungodliness, dishonesty, cruelty and laziness?

Whatever the case may be, our reputation will always precede us to either make way for us or hinder us. So, pay attention to the kind of reputation you are building among those in your life. And may God enable you to do what is right concerning this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Where do you need to excel? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 15, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 37

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 third week of this new year. And I pray that God will cause you to excel in everything that is good and righteous in His sight every day of this new year, so that your life will cause all those around you to continually glorify His name, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul, in a letter to the Corinthians, says this: “But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2Cor 8:7NIV) In what things did the Corinthian brethren excel, as pointed out by this apostle? They excelled in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in zeal for God and also in love.

It is unfortunate that many people of God in our various assemblies all around the world today are far behind in these things. They are far behind in their faith in God, in their knowledge of Him, in their zeal for Him, in speaking with grace and in their love for another. Therefore, though they profess to know God, people find it hard to believe that they are related to Him.

And it is possible that we are also like that? We claim to know God but it is not obvious at all to those around us that we belong to Him. That is because there is nothing excellent about our faith, love, speech, knowledge and zeal for God. And this is not the will of God for us. His will for us is that we will excel in every good thing. If we, therefore, do not want to continue to live fruitless and unprofitable lives, we need to begin to take advantage of His grace that is ever available and sufficient to press to excel in those things that will cause men to glorify Him on account of us.

As we see in the case of the Corinthian brethren, Paul could confidently say that they were excellent in faith, in speech, in zeal, in knowledge and in love. The only area in which they were behind was that of giving. So, he said to them, “Just as you have been excellent in other fruit of the Spirit, you need to see to it that you also excel in the grace of giving.”

What that means is that there is no area of our lives in which God does not want us to be excellent. So, if there is any area of our lives in which we are coming behind, God will surely point it out to us. He may do this as we are examining our lives with His word by ourselves. Or He may do it through our church leaders or some other brethren.

Whatever the case may be, as long as God is showing us what areas of our lives in which we need to strive for excellence, we should not argue with Him or with His messengers or begin to make excuses for our being behind. Instead, we are to embrace what He is saying to us and begin to immediately strive for excellence where it needs to be obvious in our lives. That is what will show that we truly want to grow and become all that He wants us to be.

So, as you go this week, make a commitment to examine your life in the light of God’s word to see where you have been behind in excellence. And as you do this, the Spirit of God will open your eyes to see what you need to see and also strengthen you to do what you need to do to be where God wants you to be.

Have a very 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)