Month: March 2024

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

His power is available for us | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 31, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 48

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to a new week and also to the last day of this month. I pray that, as we move into a new month this week, the month of April 2024, God will cause the power that raised our Lord Jesus from the dead to raise you too up from where you are to where you are supposed to be in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we all know, many Christians all around the world are today celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and rightly so. However, the celebration of His resurrection must go beyond what we choose a day to handle; rather, it is something we are supposed to be doing every day. And we will be celebrating His resurrection every day and every moment of our lives, if we fully understand what it means to us.

Now what does His resurrection mean to us? The bible actually mentions a number of things that it means to us. And one of them is that it makes the same power that raised Him from the dead available to those who believe in Him. Look at how Paul puts that in a prayer for the church:

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Eph 1:18-21NIV)

What is the focus of Paul’s prayer here? First, it is that God will open our eyes to know the eternal hope to which He has called us. Second, it is that He will make us understand how rich and glorious God’s inheritance, the beautiful things He has deposited in us, is. Third, it is that God will make us know His incomparably great power for those of us who believe.

Now what does Paul say about God’s incomparably great power? He says it is for those of us who believe. In other words, God’s great power is available for you and me to utilise. But we will not utilise it the way we ought to, if we do not know how great and powerful it is.

So, Paul gives us an example of the working and greatness of this power. And it is that of the raising of our Lord Jesus Chrit from the dead. According to him, it is this power that God released into Jesus when He wanted to raise Him from the dead. So, without anybody praying or fasting for Him and without anybody laying hands on Him, this power released Him from the jaws of death, even though He had been dead for three days. Hallelujah!

Then Paul goes on to also tell us that it was this same power that enabled Jesus to ascend on high and seat at the right hand of God, far above every authority and power and far above every name and title that can be given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. So, we are looking at a kind of power before which death cannot stand. Yes, we are looking at a kind of power that cannot be kept from exalting people to where God wants them to be. And this power has been made available for those of us who believe. Not only that, it is now at work in us as well. (Cf. Eph 3:20)

Therefore, first, we should continually give thanks to God for making this power, the power of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, available to us. Second, we should, like Paul, always pray that God will cause us to appreciate this power and how it works, so that we can daily utilise it to destroy anything that is called death in our lives and also utilise it to rise above every challenge of life and be the people God wants us to be. And may we be strengthened by the Spirit of God to give ourselves to doing these things, so that the benefits of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ will not elude us. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2024, 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)

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

We cannot surprise Him | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 27, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 46

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 27, 2024
3 Comments on We cannot surprise Him | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 27, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 46

fire in my bones

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.” (Deut 17:14-15NIV)

When the elders of Israel came to Samuel, who had been their judge for years, and requested that he give them a king, was he surprised? No, he was not surprised at all. Of course, he was not happy about it. Why was he not happy about it? First, it was because it showed that his sons, whom he had appointed as judges over the people, had terribly failed and disappointed them. (Cf. 1Sam 8:1-6)

Second, Samuel was not happy about their request because it showed that they were not after learning the will of God about the matter but had already come up with their own will. So, what they wanted was not for God to tell them anything about who would be their next judge but for Him to permit them to become like the nations around them and have their own king. That means they did not think that God’s philosophy of giving them judges was the best. They saw it as inferior to the philosophy of having kings, which the nations around them held.

But is man’s philosophy of having kings actually superior to God’s philosophy of giving him judges? No! As God told Samuel to tell the people, a king is not among his people as their equal; rather, he is among them as their ruler. So, he is going to exercise dominion over them, using whatever means he considers necessary. And they will just have to be subject to him, regardless of what they think about him and his ability to lead them. Otherwise, he will make sure their lives are utterly miserable. (Cf. 1Sam 8:6-18)

A judge, God’s chosen judge, however, is different from a king. He does not see himself as a ruler of his people but as their equal. So, he knows that for them to accept his leadership, he will have to earn it. And that was the case with all the judges that God had given the nation of Israel before they started having kings. All of them earned their right to lead the people and to be respected by them.

That, of course, also is how it ought to be in every place where democracy is practised today. Those who lead should be men and women who have earned their right to lead and to be respected through their persistence in doing good works and through their consistent display of wisdom and diligence in managing their own affairs. And is this the case where you are?

In any case, as I already pointed out, even though Samuel was not happy that the people were rejecting God’s plan and going for man’s plan, he was not surprised at all. Why? It was because, years before that happened, God had already said that a time would come when the people would do that. When did He say that? It was when the people were still with Moses in the wilderness and had not yet come into the Promised Land.

Now we see that in our opening bible verses. We see God announcing years ahead that the Israelites would one day demand to have a king over them, just like the nations around them. So, in addition to the points I already shared on Samuel’s unhappiness about their request for a king, another reason he was unhappy was that the word of God was eventually coming to pass in his own time. It was in his time that the people rejected God’s leadership plan for them and chose to adopt the plan of men.

In any event, since God had always known that the Israelites would someday ask for a king instead of a judge, their request for a king in Samuel’s time did not surprise Him. On the contrary, He was already prepared for them. In other words, before they made that request, He had been nurturing the man who would be their first king. So, when they made the request, He simply told Samuel to listen to them and give them what they wanted. And to make the job easy for the prophet, He lost no time at all in sending him Saul, the man who later became their first king. (Cf. 1Sam 9-10)

In like manner, when Saul began to misbehave, Samuel became unhappy again, not understanding why God’s choice would turn bad almost overnight. But again, as we see in the bible, Saul’s misbehaviour was not a surprise to God at all. Yes, He was very unhappy about it. But He was not surprised. Otherwise, He would not have prepared young David to replace him. (Cf. 1Sam 3-16)

What is the point of all this? It is that we cannot surprise God. Otherwise, He would not be God. But He is God. And as God, He knows everything, the end from the beginning. So, He is able to fix any situation for us, as long as we allow Him to fix it. Yes, we may have surprised ourselves and perhaps others around us with the mess we have made of our lives, homes or affairs. But God is not surprised at all. He has always known how things will turn out. He has always known where we will listen to Him and not fall and where we will not listen and fall. Also, He has always known where others will unduly interfere with our lives and mess things up for us.

So, He probably has a million and one solutions standing by for us for every problem. All He needs us to do is to just allow Him to fix things for us. And they will be fixed, however messed up they may seem. But as long as we keep thinking that He is always as surprised about the happenings of our lives as we are, we will continue to think of Him as a clueless God, as a God who has to settle down first to think of how to deal with our problems. And where that is the case, unless we are shown mercy by Him, we may never escape from the ruins of our lives.

Copyright © 2024, 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)

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

We too can do the impossible | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 25, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 47

Pastor J.O. Lawal

Beloved: grace and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will strengthen you to continually fix your gaze on Him and on His word, so that you can walk in victory over every limitation of life and become all that He wants you to be, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In the gospel of Matthew, he records an incident for us in which Jesus walked on the water. As the account goes, one night and after a meeting, He had made his disciples get into a boat to go on ahead of Him to a place called Gennesaret, while He went to pray. And none of them bothered to ask Him how He would join them. They just left because He had said that they should leave. (Cf. Matt 14:14-22)

However, when He was done praying, seeing that the wind was contrary to them, He went out to meet them, walking on the water. And when they saw Him, they were all terrified and began to cry out in fear, thinking that they were seeing a ghost. But He told them not to be afraid and that He was the one. (Cf. Matt 14:24-27)

Now, as soon as Peter heard that it was Jesus that was walking on the water, he just said, “Lord, if it is you, then, tell me to come to you on the water.” Did he think about this before saying it? No! But somehow, in his heart, he just knew that if it was indeed the Lord Jesus that was walking on the water, He was in a position to speak the word of authority and power that would enable him also to do the same thing. And that was exactly what happened. When he made that request, the Lord answered and said, “Come!” (Cf. Matt 14:28-29)

Did Peter, then, walk on the water or not? He did! He walked on the water in the full view of the other disciples with him in the boat. However, Matthew goes on to tell us that when this man saw the wind, he became afraid and began to sink. Then he cried out to the Lord to save him. And did He save him or not? He saved him and they both walked back to the boat on the water. But He told him that the reason he began to sink was that he doubted and that it was his doubt that weakened his great faith and turned it into little faith. (Cf. Matt 14:28-32)

In any case, it will always be on record that Peter did the impossible by walking on the water with our Lord Jesus. Yes, it will always be on record that he did what no other disciples of the Lord did. Why? First, it was because he desired to do so. Second, it was because the Lord gave the word that he could do so. See, desiring to do or have something is not enough. If there is no word from God to back it up, it can only result in pains or in disasters. That means faith in God must be based on His word and not on our desires or feelings or on the experiences of others. And there have been those who ignorantly injured themselves because they were trying to use faith that was not based on a sure revelation of God’s word.

The third reason Peter walked on the water with Jesus was that he acted on the word of the Lord that said, “Come!” If he had not acted on that word, he would not have walked on the water as he did. But note that when the Lord answered Peter, He did not say, “Come, Peter!” Instead, He said, “Come!” That means that word of authority and power was for every one of them in the boat. But it was only Peter that acted on it. It was only Peter that stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. Others just simply stood in the boat in amazement, watching their friend and partner walk on the water to meet Jesus.

Why was that so? It was so because Peter was the only one at that time that had in him a desire that was strong enough to do what the Lord had said that all of them could do. And the lesson for us simple, which is that we too can do the impossible through our faith in the Lord Jesus. Yes, we too can separate ourselves from other people and walk on the waters of sicknesses, poverty, stagnation, fear and death. And that is because the word of God has said that we could. All that we need, then, is to strongly desire to do so, to daily take those steps of faith that God is asking us to take and to fix our gaze on Jesus. Then, before anybody knows what is happening, we would have done the impossible and opened the door for many to praise God on our behalf.

Do have a splendid week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Don’t run with insufficient revelation|Fire in my bones

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 21, 2024
1 Comment on Title: Don’t run with insufficient revelation|Fire in my bones

fire in my bones

Date: March 20, 2024|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 45

“Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not? The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”” (Judg 20:26-28NIV)

Why did the Israelites go up to Bethel to weep before the Lord? It was because they had suffered defeat at the hands of the Benjamites two times in a space of two days. And why did they have to fight the Benjamites, who were Israelites like them?Well, according to the account, certain men of the tribe of Benjamin did something outrageous, something unheard of in the land. They raped a woman all night and left her for death. And they did that because they were unable to lay hands on the woman’s husband and rape him. So, there were sodomites in the land of Benjamin at the time. (Cf. Judges 19)

Now, because of that, the people of all the other tribes of Israel gathered together and demanded that the leaders of Benjamin should hand over those wicked people to be dealt with according to the Laws of Moses. But they refused. So, again, according to the Laws of Moses, the remaining people of Israel saw it as their obligation to punish the people of Benjamin for condoning wickedness among them. And they called their men to arms and moved out to fight them. (Cf. Deut 13:12-18)

But then, before they went to fight the Benjamites, they inquired of the Lord. Look at what is said in the bible about that: “The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?” The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”” (Judg 20:18NIV) Did the Lord answer them when they called to Him or not? He did! Yet, as the account further shows us, they lost that first battle against the Benjamites.

That, of course, made them weep before the Lord. But they did not give up. Instead, they inquired of Him again to know whether they should go to fight the Benjamites. And His response again was, “Go up against them.” Yet they lost the second battle as well. (Cf. Judges 20:19-25)What, then, was the problem? Was God being deceitful in dealing with these people? Was He deliberately luring them to destruction? At least, what they wanted to do was a good thing. They wanted to maintain justice and righteousness in their land. And that was in accordance with His law.

Why, then, would He disgrace them like that?Well, the answers to these questions and other related ones about the matter are all in the passage. Yes, they first inquired of the Lord about who should first attack the Benjamites. But they did not ask Him when they should attack them and whether they would succeed in the attack or not. So, it was only the question that they asked Him, perhaps using the Urim and Thummim that were with their high priest, that He answered. (Cf. Ex 28:30; 1Sam 28:6)

Also, when they asked God the second time if they should attack the Benjamites again, they did not ask when to attack them or what would be the outcome of the attack. They only wanted to know if it was right for them to attack them. And He answered the question they had asked Him, telling them that it was right for them to do so. But He did not answer the question they did not ask, which was whether they would succeed or not. Well, having lost terribly twice, as we are shown in our opening text, they approached God the third time about the same matter, asking the same insufficient question.

But this time, God showed them mercy and answered the more important question that they were not asking, which was, “Are we going to succeed in this attack or not?” God told them that they would succeed. And they did succeed.What is the point of this for us? It is that it is not enough for us to pray about a matter; we also need to pray and study the word of God adequately about it before jumping into conclusions. Yes, we need to ask God sufficient questions in prayer and in His word about any matter we are presenting to Him before concluding on any course of action about it. Otherwise, we may find ourselves injured while sincerely following God’s word or revelation.

And that we will be because we are running with insufficient revelation.See, the fact that something is good, right and in line with the will of God for us does not mean that we will meet with success and satisfaction while doing it. There are good things that we do not at the moment have sufficient strength to handle. And there are good things that the time is not yet ripe for us to do. If we, then, rush ahead to handle such good things without a sure conviction that God Himself is ready for them, we may find ourselves being confronted with forces too much for us to handle. And like the Israelites of that time, we may find ourselves being defeated back-to-back, even though God is on our side.

Now perhaps this is the situation we are dealing with in certain areas of our lives. Perhaps we have been having series of defeat where we believe we are in the will of God. We too, like those Israelites, should not allow discouragement to set in. Instead, we should turn to God again in prayer and in His word, so that we can get sufficient revelation of what is wrong and what needs to be done. And He will surely show us compassion and answer us.Cheers!

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

You too can be a Comforter | By: J.O. LAWAL | Date: March 17, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 46

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will cause you to experience His comfort in every way so that you too can be a comforter to all the people in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says these words that are worthy of our attention: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2Cor 1:3-4NIV) Why does Paul praise God in this bible text? He praises Him for being a comforter to him.

Now have you also known God as a comforter? Paul tells us that He is a comforter. In fact, he tells us that God is more than a comforter – He is the Father of compassion and God of all true comfort. In other words, every form of true compassion and comfort emanate from God. So, if you need compassion and comfort in your life, turn to God wholeheartedly. And He will show you great compassion and also comfort you in every way, in spite of your weaknesses and failures.

As Paul points out to us in that bible text, even though he and his ministry companions had all kinds of troubles and trials in life, God comforted them in every one of them. How did God do that? He does not share the details us. But it is clear that the kind of comfort they received from God was so great that they were full of praise for it. Also, the kind of comfort they received from Him was so great that they were able to comfort others too who were in any trouble with it.

This is showing us that it is those who have truly experienced God’s compassion and comfort and are grateful for them that can truly comfort others. Those who don’t know God’s compassion and comfort cannot be true comforters to the suffering or troubled ones around them. Look at Job’s friends, for instance. Even though they were all wealthy, wise and righteous men, they could not comfort him in his time of distress. They simply added to his pains. Why? It was because they did not know that all the comfort they were enjoying in their lives did not come to them as a result of their righteous works and diligent labour but as a result of God’s compassion.

In like manner, if we too think that we have earned whatever measure of comfort we are enjoying in life, we will not see any reason to be compassionate towards others and comfort them. Instead, we will often assume that the reason they are suffering in life is that they are not righteous or hardworking enough. But we are not enjoying our lives because we are righteous and hardworking, even though God wants us to be righteous and hardworking. Rather, we are enjoying our lives because God has chosen to be compassionate to us and to comfort us. And if we fail to realise this and give Him praise for it, we may soon enough begin to lose whatever measure of comfort we have until we realise and admit that He is the true source of all comfort.

Well, the point I am making is that if you need any form of comfort in your life at the moment, turn to God, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort for it. And He will show you compassion and comfort you. Then, as you are daily experiencing His comfort in your life, open your eyes to those around you that you too can comfort with the comfort you are receiving from Him. This, of course, goes beyond giving people money. That is because there are people that will not have any relief, even if they are given all the money in the world. But a word of prayer or a word of admonition given to them by the leading of the Spirit of God can set them free from all their fears and troubles and fill their lives with comfort.

So, don’t rely on your money or position in comforting anybody. Instead, rely on God, who is the source of all true comfort, for everything you need to truly comfort those in your life. And my prayer is that God will make you a true comforter to all the people around you that are in distress, so that they can glorify His name because of you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

He could not handle it | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 13, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 44

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 13, 2024
3 Comments on He could not handle it | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 13, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 44

fire in my bones

“Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel — loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?'” Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact die.”” (2Kings 8:9-11NIV)

There are all kinds of Scriptures that point to the fact that God loves to reveal His will to humans and to confide in them about what He is doing or what will happen in the future. He, in fact, invites us to call to Him and that He will answer us and tell us great and unsearchable things we do not know (Jer 33:3).

Nevertheless, we also know from Scriptures and from experience that it is not everything happening in our lives or around us that God reveals to us in advance. For example, when the only son of the Shunamite woman died and she came to Elisha to protest about it, the man of God said this to Gehazi, who had wanted to drive her away: “…Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” (2Kings 4:27NIV)

Did you see that? Even though Elisha was an acclaimed prophet of God, there was things that God would not reveal to him. The death of that woman’s son was one of them. And not only did God not reveal to him that the boy was going to die young, He also did not tell him why He would not reveal it to him.

Well, the simple reason God would not reveal these things to him was that he could not handle His revelations about them. See, the fact that someone is a prophet does not mean that he can handle every revelation God gives to him. A true prophet of God can misrepresent God’s revelation or misapply it. And that may not be because he wants to deliberately do so but because he is ignorant of God’s purpose in revealing to him whatever he has revealed to him.

Our Lord Jesus, just before He went to the cross, said this to His disciples: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (John 16:12NIV) Did you see that? Even though the Lord was addressing His mighty apostles here, apostles that had ministered with Him for some years and had been used by God for many great things, He still made it clear to them that it was not everything He had in mind to tell them that they could bear. They, then, would have to wait until they received the Holy Spirit, who would progressively guide them into all truth, before they could know all that He intended to tell them (John 16:13).

In like manner, even if God has it in mind to show us something, He may still choose not to show us, if He is certain that we cannot handle it. So, if we are praying to Him to reveal certain things to us about a matter and He is not showing us anything, it may just be that we cannot handle what He is going to show us.

For instance, as we see in our opening text, when King Ben-Hadad wanted to find out from God through Elisha whether he was going to recover for his illness, the prophet told Hazael, the army general he had sent to him, that he should tell him that he would recover. But he also went on to tell Hazael that God had revealed to him that he would not recover.

Why, then, did he tell him not to disclose the truth to his master? Was it God that told him to say that? We don’t have any express answer to that question in the account. But it is safe to assume that Elisha told him to say that so that Ben-Hadad would not rush to select his successor, who would most likely be one of his sons.

And was anything wrong with that? No! However, according to the revelation given to Elisha, God had not chosen any of Beh-Hadad’s sons to be king after him. Instead, He had chosen Hazael, his army commander, to be his successor. It is possible, then, that he may hurry to choose a different successor for himself, if he got to know that he was going to die and not live. (Cf. 2Kings 8:13)

The question, then, is this: Supposing Ben-Hadad chose someone else as his successor instead of Hazael, would that have stopped God’s word from being fulfilled? No! As we see in the bible, even though King Saul did all he could to put his son, Jonathan, on the throne instead of David, the man anointed by God as his successor, he still failed. And the word of God came to pass.

So, even if Ben-Hadad had chosen someone else as king in Hazael’s place, God would still have put Hazael on the throne at the right time. Unfortunately, even though it is hard to say whether Elisha said too much to Hazael about the matter or not, the man could not handle the revelation given to him, the revelation that his master would die and that he would be king after him. How do we know that? We know because the account further shows us that he would not wait for his master to die peacefully in his bed. Instead, he assassinated him and announced himself to be king after his death. (Cf. 2Kings 8:14-15)

Therefore, even though this man became king as God had said, he did not become king according to His plans. So, he will surely stand someday before God’s throne to answer for his crime. But what if he had not been given a revelation of what was going to happen, would he have foolishly interfered with God’s plans the way he had done? No!

So, anytime God chooses not to reveal certain things to us, it is for our good. It is so that we will not, like Hazael or Rebekah, unduly interfere with His plans and mess things up for ourselves and others. We will do well, then, to accept and respect His decision to reveal or not to reveal certain things to us, instead of trying to pressure Him to reveal to us what we cannot handle. The consequences of acting like that will surely not be palatable for us to deal with. So, let us watch ourselves.

Copyright © 2024, 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)

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

Who told them to leave? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 10, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 45

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 9, 2024
1 Comment on Who told them to leave? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 10, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 45

Pastor J.O. Lawal

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be made abundant to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to another week of the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will fill your heart with adequate and complete knowledge of the right steps to take to walk in victory over the current economic and security problems of our country, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

It is no news that our country is really facing very serious economic and security challenges. And it is only God’s intervention that will see us through. That is why we, who know Him, must not stop praying to Him until our joy is full over the nation. Remember that our Lord Jesus tells us to ask until our joy is full. So, as long as our joy is not yet full over our nation, we must keep on praying to God for her. (Cf. John 16:24)

But then, while we eagerly expect God to intervene and save our nation, we, as individuals, also need to know the right steps to take to flourish and not be destroyed by the problems of the nation. And the only person that can show us what to do is God. So, as we are praying to Him for our country, we must also be praying to Him for ourselves. We must be praying to Him that He will fill our hearts with the exact knowledge of what to do to walk through this trying period of the nation and come out victorious. And if we will sincerely do so, He will surely answer us and guide us in the way we should go.

Again, remember that the word of God tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, to acknowledge Him in all our ways and to not lean on our own understanding. That way, He will lead us in the path of victory. It is sad, however, that even many among God’s people are no longer counting on Him to guide them in the way they should go during this period. Instead, they are relying on their wisdom and understanding. And those who are functioning like this are abound to suffer disgrace, sooner or later, if they are not shown mercy by God. (Cf. Prov 3:5-6)

Remember the story of Naomi and her family members. They all left the land of Israel for the land of Moab because there was a very severe famine in the land. But who told them to leave? Was it God? We are not told that at all. But we are told that Naomi ended up regretting what they did. That was because she was the only one of them that came back home alive. And even though she came back alive, she came back with nothing. (Cf. Ruth 1)

But consider the case of the Shunammite woman, whose son Elisha had raised from the dead. There was a time that she too left the land of Israel with her family because of famine. But did she lose her family members or her possessions where they relocated to? No! Instead, as we are shown in the bible, when the famine was over, she came back with her people, alive and well. Not only that, the king commanded that everything she had left behind be given back to her, including all the money made on her possessions. (Cf. 2Kings 8:3-6)

Why was this woman favoured like this? It was because the steps she took to leave the land during that period of famine was commanded by the Lord. Look at what the bible says about that: “Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the LORD has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.” (2Kings 8:1-2NIV)

Did you see that? That woman did not just run away from the land with her family members because she felt it was the right thing for her to do. Rather, she left the land because her spiritual leader, Prophet Elisha, told her that it was the will of God for her to do so. So, she was simply obeying the command of God. No wonder she did not regret it.

We too will not regret it, if we will allow God to lead us during this period of national crises instead of jumping here and there to do anything that comes to our minds or anything that others around us are doing. And He will lead us, if we will pray to Him to do so. How? It may be through the Scriptures, through visions or dreams, through angels or through our spiritual leaders. But God will surely lead us to prosper, in spite of everything, as long as we keep our hearts open to be led by Him.

Do have a splendid week.

Tags alaythia bible church, christianity, counsel, From pastor's desk, wisdom

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

The Spirit of God stirred him up | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 06, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 43

fire in my bones

“The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (Judg 13:24-25NIV)

What was Samson born for? He was born to begin the deliverance of the nation of Israel from the hand of the Philistines. And did he do what he was born for or not? He did it. Of course, based on what we have in Scriptures, indiscipline, lust and weakness with women affected his focus greatly and even led to his untimely death. But he actually lived his life to do nothing else other than to fight for the deliverance of his people.

Now what made it possible for Samson to give himself, in spite of all the distractions in his life, to fighting the Philistines, as he had been ordained and born to do? The answer is in our opening bible text, which tells us that the Spirit of God stirred him up. We are not told how old he was when the Spirit of God began to stir him up to do what he was born to do. But we are told that while he was still in Mahaneh Dan, as a young and single man, the Spirit of God began to stir him up.

So, it was not because Samson’s parents motivated him to take up arms and begin to fight the Philistines that he began to fight them. And it was not because he joined the army of Israel and was highly inspired by one of the commanders that he took it as his business to fight the Philistines for the deliverance of Israel at any chance he got. Rather, it was because the Spirit of God stirred him up to do so.

As we see in the bible, the Israelites at that time were too afraid of the Philistines to fight them or to rebel against them. That was why when the Philistines once demanded that they hand Samson over to them to be killed, they did not hesitate at all to do so. So, if Samson was expecting any form of motivation or encouragement to fight the Philistines from anyone, it surely would not come from his own people, the Israelites. It had to come from somewhere else. And it did come from somewhere else – it came from the Spirit of God. (Cf. Judges 15)

In what ways, then, did the Spirit of God stir up or motivate this young man to fight for the deliverance of his people and fulfil God’s purpose for his life? First, it was by causing him to passionately hate the oppression they were suffering from the hands of the Philistines. If he had not passionately hated what the Philistines were doing to them, he would most likely not have thought of doing anything about it.

Second, the Spirit of God stirred him up to recognize and utilize the divine fighting power and skills in him to deal with the Philistines and give the Israelites rest. Hating oppression is one thing; having the ability and confidence to reject and end it is another. If all that Samson had was just hatred for the oppressive rule of the Philistines and no power to end it, he would most likely have ended up getting himself killed before his time. But he had more than hatred for the oppression of the Philistines; he also had divine abilities from God to end their oppression. Nevertheless, if the Spirit of God had not stirred him up and emboldened him to use those abilities to save his people, they would have amount to nothing.

In the same manner, even though God has a purpose for each of us in this life and has also given to us everything we need to accomplish it, that purpose may not be realized, if the Spirit of God does not wake us up and stir us up to accomplish it. That is because we, like Samson, may not have anyone around us to motivate us or encourage us to take advantage of His grace to accomplish His purpose for our lives. No, we may not have anyone around us who is seeing what God is seeing in us and who is ready to give us the needed encouragement or support to labour to be all that God wants us to be and do all that He wants us to do. But if we have the Spirit of God in us and with us, He will give us all the motivation and courage we need to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

Thankfully, all of us who are children of God have the Spirit of God in us and with us. And one of the reasons He is with us and in us is to stir up and motivate us to be all that God wants us to be and do all that He wants us to do in life. So, even if nobody is interested in what we are and can accomplish, we can expect Him to stand by us all the way, giving us all the courage, encouragement, wisdom and determination that we need to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

We too, however, must not quench His motivation. In other words, when He is stirring us up and moving us, we need to get up and move. Otherwise, everything He is doing in us and with us may just go to waste. So, Paul says this to Timothy: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2Tim 1:6-7NIV)

Did you see that? It is not the job of the Holy Spirit to fan into flame what God has given to us. That is our job. Yes, He is in us to stir us up to accomplish God’s purpose for us in life. But it is on us, as He stirs us up, to take all the gifts, abilities, skills and education God has given to us and shine with them, using them to make life better for us and for others in our world. And we can do this because the Spirit of God in us will always furnish us with sufficient power, love and self-discipline to do so.

What, then, are we waiting for? Let us roll up our sleeves and get working, as the Spirit is moving. And great and awesome things will be done by God here on earth through us.

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Tags alaythia bible church, christianity, Fire in my bones, wisdom

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

Protests are not enough | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 03, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 44

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another month of the year, the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will bring us times of refreshing in every part of the country in the month and also preserve you and your family to fully enjoy the times of refreshing that He will bring to us. Amen.

As we all can see, our country has been plunged into a terrible season of famine. That is why even though many are working hard and smart, it is getting harder and harder for them to survive. What we need, then, is divine intervention, not more hard work, not more protests.

Now don’t get me wrong. Hard work is important and has its place in life. Therefore, the word of God admonishes us to be hard working and not lazy. Then protests too have their own place in life, that is, when they are not motivated by a spirit of rebellion or geared towards making an already bad situation worse. For instance, when Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On protested against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, God judged them and all the people with them with a strange kind of death. The ground opened its mouth and swallowed all of them. Why? They were out to destroy the leadership of the anointed of God among them and turn the entire nation away from the will of God. (Cf. Num 16)

However, when the five daughters of a man called Zelophehad protested to Moses that their father’s house should not be neglected in the sharing of the inheritance, simply because he did not have a male child, God did not rebuke or punish them. Instead, He granted their request. Why? It was because they were not seeking to tear apart the leadership of Moses or to stir up the people against him. Rather, they just wanted him to know that it would be unjust for their father’s house to be set aside in the sharing of the Promised land. (Cf. Num 27:1-7)

So, it is not wrong to protest against something that is not working or right where we are. Otherwise, those in authority or in a position to change things may just assume that everything is fine with everybody. For instance, during Elisha’s time, there was a famine in Israel that turned some of the people to beasts, beasts that were already eating their own children. And the king, living in the comfort of his palace, would not have known anything about what the famine was doing to his people, if one of the women that were already eating their babies had not come to protest to him. (Cf. 2Kings 6:24-30)

But then, even though the protest of that woman woke the king up, it only made him realise that he had been far removed from the plight of his people. It did not solve the problem. In fact, the king had no solution to the problem on ground, for it was beyond his intelligence. So, all that he could do was wear a mourning cloth and threaten the most recognized prophet in the land at the time, Elisha. Why? He thought it was because he was not interceding enough for the land that things got as bad as that. (Cf. 2Kings 6:30-31)

Therefore, even where protests are in order, they cannot give leaders solutions to the problems of their land or of their people. If they do not know what to do to help their people, then, then protests won’t solve whatever problem that is on ground. As I pointed out earlier, the protest of that woman did not end the famine in the land of Israel. But it woke the king up to the need for divine intervention. And did God intervene or not? He did by addressing the root of the famine the land was having and giving them overnight prosperity. (Cf. 2Kings 7)

In like manner, God can deal with all the roots of the famine we are now experiencing in our country and also give us overnight prosperity. And we don’t need to wait until people start eating their own children or until there are bloody protests everywhere before we who know Him begin to call on Him for His urgent intervention. But how many of us still believe that God can really turn things around for our good in this country? It is those who still believe that will not stop praying to Him until miracles of deliverance happen for us. They are also the ones that will taste and enjoy the deliverance that is coming. And may your heart be strengthened to be numbered among them, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid March 2024.

Tags alaythia bible church, christianity, Faith, From pastor's desk, wisdom