Month: December 2022

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Put Him first | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 01, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 35

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I gladly welcome you to the first day of this new year, year 2023. My prayer is that all your steps in the year will be ordered by God in the path of rest, health and excellence, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Of first importance, we ought to give thanks to God for the gift of this new year. As you will agree with me, there were many who longed to be a part of this new year but who are now dead, for one reason or the other. Those of us, then, who are alive to witness the year and be a part of it ought to understand that it is not our strong desire, power or wisdom that has made our being a part of it possible. Rather, it is the mercy of God that has made it possible.

The bible says, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (Rom 9:16NIV) Since it is God’s mercy that has given us this new year as a gift, we ought to thank Him for it. Not only that, we ought to also make up our minds to use the gift of the new year to honour Him. Yes, it is normal for us to have dreams and aspirations for the year. But nothing may become of those dreams and aspirations, if we ignore the one that has given us the opportunity to dream and aspire or choose not to give Him His rightful place in our lives.

Once, while teaching His disciples about how to have their needs, dreams and aspirations fulfilled in life, our Lord Jesus said this to them: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33NIV) Now these words are still very much true today as they were when they first fell from the lips of the master. The only way to have all of our needs and dreams realised is to always put God first in our lives.

Yes, if we will not put Him first in our lives, we may have certain or even many of our needs, dreams and aspirations fulfilled in life. But when all has been said and done, if we have not put God first in our lives, we will realise that our most important needs in life have not been met and could not have been met. For instance, there is a longing in the heart of every man to live eternally. Yes, in the heart of every man is this urge to reach out to a life that is bigger and richer than the one we are living on this plane. We know that life is there ahead of us. And we know that we need it. Yet we can’t just fathom how to go about having it or how to take hold of it. (Cf. Ecc 3:11)

But God, the author of life, knows how to meet this eternal need of ours. Also, He possesses the power to meet it. Not only that, He cares about us and wants to meet this need and any other need we may have. No wonder the bible says that He cares about us and is daily devoted to bearing all our burdens. All that we need to do, then, to have Him take care of all our needs, aspirations and dreams is to put Him first in our lives. (Cf. Ps 68:19; 1Peter 5:7)

Now are we going to put Him first in our lives this new year? Will you put Him and all that matters to Him first in your life? If you will do that, then, as our Lord Jesus has made clear to us, there is none of your needs, material, spiritual or emotional, that He will not take care of. In fact, He will take care of even those needs of yours that you know nothing about and make sure you are absolutely satisfied when the year is over. And my prayer is that your heart will be strengthened to always put Him first in all your ways all through the year, so that nothing you need in the year will be unavailable to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Happy new year.

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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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

Remember your past | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: December 25, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 34

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to the last week of the year, year 2022. My prayer is that you will receive from God a perfection of all that concerns you in the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as we come into the last days of this year, it is important you rid your life of all forms of bitterness, hatred, hostility and selfishness, so that you may fully experience the blessings of God that have been poured out upon us in Christ Jesus. Yes, it may be because of the things that you have suffered from the hands of people that you are now bitter, hateful, selfish and hostile to others. But if you can remember that you too were once hostile, hateful, bitter and selfish towards God and yet He forgave you, you should have no problem ridding yourself of these things as you relate to others in your life.

While speaking to the children of Israel about the need for them to always release their brothers, who had served under them as slaves, every seven years, God said this: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.” (Deut 15:15NIV) Did you see that? God wanted these people to always keep in mind where they came from and how they were brought to where they were. They too had been slaves before. And it was God’s mercy that set them free, not their power, might or wisdom. So, in dealing with their slaves, God wanted them to remember this so that they would not be harsh towards them or deny them their liberty at the set time.

Unfortunately, centuries later, when these people had been well established in their land, they became perhaps even more wicked in treating their slaves than the Egyptians had treated their forefathers. So wicked were they in treating them that they would not set them free at the times appointed by God. And even when the word of the Lord came to them from Jeremiah about this, they would not listen. On the contrary, those who had already freed their slaves among them went back to forcefully take them back in order to enslave them again. So, they brought God’s judgment on themselves. (Cf. Jer 34)

In like manner, many of us today often forget how kind and gracious God has been to us in saving us from our sins and also in lifting us up from our mud of shame and poverty. We often forget those days in which we were crying out to God to save us from our sufferings and how He answered us and saved us. So, we deal ruthlessly and mercilessly with those in our lives and those under our authority. And we harden our hearts not to forgive or show mercy to those who have offended us or hurt us. Yet we expect the grace and goodness of God to abound towards us. How can that be?

Well, the word of God is coming to us now and commanding us to remember how kind God has been to us and so let go of all forms of malice, hatred, bitterness and hostility towards those in our lives, regardless of how bad or unfaithful they may have been to us. And as we do this, especially as we come to the last days of this year, all God’s blessings that have refused to manifest in our lives will begin to find expression. Then the new year ahead of us will overflow with honey and milk for us in every way.

Merry Christmas

Copyright © 2022, 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

Sooner or later|By: J.O. Lawal|Fire in My Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: December 21, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 32

“Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.” (Gen 13:10-13NIV)

Whose choice was it to go and live in Sodom? It was Lot’s choice. He was the one that made the decision for himself and his family. And did it look like a bad decision at the time? No! On the contrary, it looked like a very perfect one, a perfect decision that would catapult him and his family into a great enjoyment of prosperity for generations to come.

But as bible accounts show us, Lot’s choice to go and live in Sodom was a carnal one. It was a choice that was based only on what he saw. The portion of land he saw was indeed good and desirable. But his choice of it was only based on how well it would serve him and how greatly it would contribute to his wealth and prestige. He was not looking at the fact staying in that land would put him right among wicked and unreasonable people, right among scorpions and vipers.

Well, some years later, the implications of the choice he had made began to dawn on him. First, he, his family members and all their wealth were suddenly taken as captives along with all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. And it took the intervention of his uncle, Abraham, for them to be rescued and restored. (Cf. Gen 14)

Now he should have taken that as a warning from God to him. But he was too possessed and occupied with his business of making money that he could not even see things in that light. But not long afterwards, he started receiving the torture of his life while living among those wicked and unreasonable people. According to the bible, everyday this man saw and heard things that tortured his righteous soul, things that wanted to drive him crazy (2Pet 2:8).

But what led him into that situation? It was a carnal choice he made years before. And that choice eventually led him to lose his wife and all the things he had gathered through years of hard labour. In fact, by the time he was leaving Sodom, we have no record in the bible of his herdsmen and workers again. They all must have been lost by him to the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Cf. Gen 19)

What is the point of all this? It is simply that the choices we make now will sooner or later justify us or condemn us. God, through His word, has given us perfect and clear guidelines on how to make choices and decisions that will result in earthly and eternal prosperity, safety and peace of mind for us. And if we learn these guidelines and apply them to our lives, sooner or later, God’s wisdom will prove Him right in our lives and affairs. But if we ignore them and choose to follow our own schemes, sooner or later, we will see for ourselves how foolish we are to ignore God.

Now perhaps this is already true in your life. Perhaps certain carnal choices you made in the past are already haunting you and torturing you with undesirable circumstances. Don’t let things go from bad to worse before you cry out to God for restoration. See, whatever you are witnessing now as a result of your past bad choices, however terrible they may seem, may just be a warning to you from God that worse experiences are coming. So, take the warning and hurry to do the right thing. And God, who is rich and kind in mercy, will show you mercy, spare you and also restore you.

Cheers!