Month: June 2023

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: When may I do something for myself?|Fire in my Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: June 28, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 7

“Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”” (Gen 30:29-30NIV)

Who was Jacob talking to in our opening bible text? It was his father-in-law, Laban. As the account goes, Jacob had been working for Laban for more than fourteen years at the time they were having this conversation. And all through the years that he worked for him, taking care of his livestock, things only got better for him. In other words, the man became richer and richer while Jacob was working for him.

And why? It was because God was with Jacob.See, there are times that wicked people become wealthy and great in life because of the presence of certain children of God in their lives. And if, because of their ignorance of this fact, they should begin to maltreat these children of God or drive them away from their lives, the favour of God that they have been enjoying because of them will naturally cease. That, of course, is when they will know that the prosperity and peace they have been enjoying are not a result of their hard work or smartness but a result of God’s favour at work in the lives of His children that have been in their lives.

Now that exactly is how it was with Laban. Laban, as we see in the bible, was a business shark and cheat, a very manipulative and dangerous man. So, even though Jacob himself was a very smart and cunny person, he still could not handle him. In fact, as he would point out when they were going to finally part, Laban cheated him ten different times, underpaying him for his hard labour and service (Gen 31:41).

And there was simply nothing he could do to beat him at his game.Yet God blessed the household of this wicked, dangerous and manipulative man. Why? It was because of Jacob. Jacob was an inheritor of the blessing God gave Abraham. So, naturally, whatever he laid his hands on, whether it was his own business or someone else’s business, was bound to prosper. And that is how it should be for all God’s children who have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3).

Whatever we lay our hands on ought to prosper, regardless of who owns it. However, if we will not be like Jacob and always walk in the consciousness of the blessings of God at work in us, things may keep dying and failing in our hands. Jacob knew that he was blessed of God and that whatever he handled was bound to prosper.

So, as we see in our opening text, he was bold to tell Laban that the presence of God in his life was the reason for the prosperity of his household. And we too must be able to boldly say the same things to the unbelievers around us that God’s presence in our lives is the reason for our prosperity and whatever degree of prosperity whatever we are handling for them is experiencing.

But then, as we also learn from the bible story of Laban and Jacob, it was not only Jacob that knew the secret of Laban’s prosperity. Laban also knew. How did he know? It was by divination. He himself told Jacob this. In other words, when Laban could no longer explain the reason he was getting richer and richer, he had to go and consult some diviners to find out why. And that was when he was told that Jacob was the reason. So, he decided that he would do whatever he could to keep him with him permanently. (Cf. Genesis 30:27-285)

Now who would not want to act like Laban? If you were given some sure word that your greatness in life is tied to the presence of some friend, neighbour or family member, would you not want to do all that you could to keep them forever with you? You would. But then, whether such a person would willingly and lovingly stay with you or not would be dependent on the kind of treatment you gave them.

And that was where Laban failed.As he himself pointed out, he knew that Jacob was the reason God was blessing him. Yet he was not kind to him at all but was cheating him. His plan was just to keep using him to advance himself until he would become useless to him. And when Jacob saw that he would never be able to stand on his own to care for his family, if he continued to serve him in that manner, he told him that he wanted to leave. That, of course, led the two of them to revisit their contract and to make room for Jacob’s prosperity. And he surely went on to prosper and to surpass Laban himself in prosperity.

What, then, is the point of all this? First, it is that you should learn to treat very well anyone God is using to prosper or advance you in life. Otherwise, a day may come when they will wake up and change the terms of their relationship with you. And if that should happen, the terms and conditions you may arrive at may not favour you, as it was the case with Laban. Then the pains and regrets that may follow will be all yours to live with.Second, don’t waste your time or life on relationships or jobs that are not focussed on building you up and preparing you to be able to stand on your own in the future.

Yes, you may, for some reasons, have to be with people or work in places that don’t have much money or prestige to readily offer you. That does not mean that is how things will be for life. Things can change. Then that person or job that does not have anything to readily offer you today may be offering you things that you will enjoy for the rest of your life.

However, don’t waste your time or life with anyone or in any place, if, even if it is not able to offer you much money, it is not offering you any training or opportunity for you to be built up and make your future solid. Otherwise, one day, when you are no longer needed there and perhaps have been completely used up, you may just realise that you have nothing to start afresh with or to rest on.

And who are you going to blame then? None other but yourself! So, wake up now, as Jacob did, and start asking, “When may I do something for myself?”

Categories
FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Why was she raped? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: June 25, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 8

Beloved: grace and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of June 2023. My prayer is that God will always keep you from falling in love with the ways of the people of this world, so that you will not expose yourself to shame or destruction, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we are shown in the bible, there was a time that Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, was raped by a young prince called Shechem. And this eventually led her brothers, Levi and Simeon, to going on a vengeful mission of sacking the whole city of the prince. It is not a new thing, then, for people to rape people. And it is not a new thing for people to go to any extent, including wiping out an entire family, town or ethnic group in a quest to punishing one person’s offence. So, before you hurt anybody, always remember that it is not everyone that we will leave vengeance for God. Some may go to the extent of punishing your entire family for your sin against them. (Cf. Gen 34)

But then, how did Dinah end up being raped by that man? The bible answers that for us by saying, “Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her.” (Gen 34:1-2NIV) So, what gave Shechem access to Dinah was the fact that she left her father’s house to go and visit the women of the land. If she had not left her father’s house to go and be with the girls of the land, she would not have become a victim of rape.

What is that telling you? It is that you need to be mindful of where you allow your legs to take you. It is not everywhere that is safe for you to go. It is not every friend or colleague at work that is safe for you to visit. So, before you start visiting or going out for recreation with people, be sure you know how safe whatever place they are taking you will be for you. And if you are not sure a certain place you are going will be safe for you under normal circumstances, you should know that going there may not worth the risk, if it is not the gospel of Jesus that is taking you there.

Do you know that there are even places you must not take the gospel of Jesus to, if you do not have an express instruction from the Lord to do so? We read in Scriptures that the Spirit of Christ forbade Paul the apostle and his companions from going to certain places to preach. Why? We are not told. Could it be that God did not want the people in those places to be saved? No, it could not be that. That is because the bible tells us that He wants all men to be saved. (Cf. Acts 16:6-8; 1Tim 2:3-4)

Why, then, did He forbid those men from entering those places to preach the gospel in them? It may just be that they may not be safe in them at that time. So, before you, as a man, start taking the gospel to prostitutes in their taverns, be sure you hear correctly from God. And before you, as a woman, start taking the gospel to street thugs at their joints, be sure the Spirit of God is leading you. Otherwise, you may end up suffering the same fate as Dinah Jacob.

Well, as we even see in Dinah’s case, she did not go to the women of the land because she wanted to turn them away from the worship of Idols to God. Rather, she went to visit them. That means she thought of them as friends and wanted to be in their company. Perhaps she felt bored that day and just wanted to get away from their boring house, where there was no partying, no crazy music to dance to and no comedians to make one forget his sorrows. But by the end of that day, it had dawned on her that their boring house was the only safe place for her to be in that town.

Today, we have many Christians, especially ladies, who, like Dinah Jacob, think the ways of the kingdom of God are boring. So, they want to try a little of the ways of those of the world. No, they don’t want to dress almost naked like them, go to night parties like them or keep many boyfriends or girlfriends like them. But they want to have a little feel or taste of what they are doing. And you can see this being expressed in the way they dress and conduct themselves when they are not in church meetings and also in the way they use the social media.

Now such people, if they are not shown mercy, will most likely end up ruined in one way or the other like Dinah Jacob. Then all that they have been labouring to preserve in their lives will be lost in almost an instant. And the shame that will follow may the very thing that will make their ruin permanent. So, before you step out of the boundaries of God’s instructions for you, don’t think only of what you will gain by doing so but also of what you will lose by doing so. My prayer is that God will keep you from foolishly or arrogantly running to any place where you will be destroyed. Amen.

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)

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: The honourable rapist | By: J.O. Lawal| Fire in my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones
Date: June 21, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 6


“The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's household, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter.” (Gen 34:19NIV)

Who was being referred to as the most honoured of all his father’s household in our opening text? It was a prince called Shechem. And what made him a person of interest in bible accounts? It was the fact that he raped Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. So, Shechem was a rapist. Yes, he is referred to in Scriptures as the most honourable of all the people in his daddy’s family. Still, he was an honourable rapist. 

Now how does one relate to that? If the most respected person in a family is a rapist, what then will the other members of that family be? Murderers! Kidnappers! Human traffickers! Swindlers! They just can’t be anything near good.

Well, what is the point of this? It is that we must learn to pay close attention to the kinds of people in the lives of those we are relating to before we open our lives to them or make friends of them. That is because doing so will surely give us some insight into who they themselves may be or what they may be capable of doing.

We are not told in the bible if Shechem and Dinah had been relating as friends before he raped her. But we are told that he was seriously in love with her and was, in fact, tender in talking to her (Gen 34:3). And if someone is always tender and kind in talking to you or in relating to you, you will most likely begin to feel safe around the person at some point. But you may really not be safe with them at all. 

As Dinah later realised, she was not at all safe with Shechem, even though he was the most honourable man of the house of Hamor. That was because the young man was a rapist. But could she have known or suspected that he was capable of raping her? Yes, I believe she could have known. And she, in fact, would have known, if she had not been ignoring the kinds of people the members of the young man’s household were.

See, as long as the family members or close companions of anyone you are relating to are wicked, violent or troublesome, it will be foolish of you to assume that they will be an exception among them. Yes, sometimes, we do have such exceptions. For instance, we are told in the bible that Prince Abijah, the son of King Jeroboam, was the only good person in his father’s household – he was the only exception there. So, God said that he was the only one that would be buried after his death. Others would perish and be eaten up by birds and dogs, receiving no proper burial. (Cf. 1Kings 14)

Therefore, sometimes, someone could be the good exception among their evil family members or companions, just as someone could be the evil exception among their good family members or companions. But in most cases, people’s character is hardly different from the character of those that they flock with. So, even if, like Shechem, someone is good, kind and tender to you, don’t assume that they are just as you see them, inasmuch as the people with whom they live or do things together are evil, violent or unfaithful. 

Truly, the person in question may not be as horrible as their companions are. They, like Shechem, may be the most honourable among them. But that does not mean that they are harmless and will not hurt you anytime the opportunity to do so presents itself. So, harm yourself with caution when you are dealing with them, even if you want to give them a chance to prove that they are different from those in their lives. Otherwise, the price you will pay for assuming that they are what they are not may be worse than the one Dinah paid for hers.