Month: September 2024

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

Hunger and thirst | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 29, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 13, No. 22

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the transition week between the months of September and October 2024. My prayer is that God will continually cause your heart to greatly thirst for Him, so that you can know Him as you should and so that you can enjoy all the good things He has in store for you. Amen.

The bible says this to us about how to know God adequately and be fully satisfied by Him in life: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5:6NIV) What is this telling us? It is that even though God wants to reveal Himself to us and fulfil His good intentions for our lives, it is only those of us who are hungry and thirsty for Him and for what He has for us that will end up being satisfied to the full. Those who are not hungry and thirsty for Him are showing that they can do without Him. So, even though they profess Him to be their God, all they can hope to enjoy are His general blessings.

Look at the bible, and you will see that those who knew God well and who also enjoyed His blessings in unusual ways were those who demonstrated great hunger and thirst for Him. For instance, we are told this about Moses and the children of Israel: “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel…” (Ps 103:7NIV) Can you see that there was a vast difference between the way God related to Moses and the way He related to the children of Israel? All that the children of Israel could see were God’s miraculous works done on their behalf. They could not understand why He did those works or what to do to make them happen.

But Moses could tell the reason God did whatever He did for the Israelites. He also could tell why God gave them the Laws He gave to them. And that was because he knew the ways of God. But how did he know God’s ways? Was it simply because God called him and also sent him to deliver the nation of Israel from Egypt? No! Rather, it was because he himself was hungry and thirsty to know God and to know His ways. Look at some of his prayers to God:

“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” (Ex 33:13NIV)

““Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”” (Ex 33:18NIV)

Did you see that? Moses was not satisfied with just being the leader of the nation of Israel. And he was not just satisfied with being a miracle worker. Instead, he also wanted to know God adequately and to see His glory. Why? He knew that he could only be the leader of the nation of Israel and a miracle worker for a while. At some point, he would die and leave everything. But if he knew God and saw his glory, he would live with Him forever. And because this was what he was hungry and thirsty for, God satisfied him with it.

Look also at David. Why did he know God the way he did, even though he was not a priest or a prophet like Moses? It was because he too was hungry and thirsty for Him. He once said, “Oh God, earnestly I seek you; my soul is thirsty for you, my body longs for you.” And did God satisfy him or not? He did. (Cf. Ps 63:1)

Therefore, if we too are hungry and thirsty for God, not for home videos, comedies, parties and other things that hardly edify, He will satisfy us with His fullness and the world will see His glory in us. And the truth is that most of us are not experiencing the glory of God in our lives the way we should because our hunger and thirst for Him is not enough. How, then, do we show that we are seriously hungry and thirsty for Him? We can show it by passionately and consistently going for His word, praying and fellowshipping with His people.

Remember that Nicodemus, though he was an old man and a great teacher in Israel, humbled himself and came to learn from the Lord Jesus one night (John 3:1-2). Why? He was thirsty for more of God. I can also remember going out of my way some years ago to borrow Christian books and sermon tapes from people who were not even my church brethren, just because I wanted to know more of God. And many times, I woke up in the middle of the night to read those books or listen to those tapes so that I could return them to their owners on time. What was that? Hunger and thirst for God! And did it pay off or not? It did.

So, if you are hungry and thirsty for God, you will surely know and enjoy Him beyond your expectations. But if you are not hungry and thirsty for Him, there are things you will never know or enjoy about Him. Pray, then, that He will daily awaken true and great hunger and thirst for Him in you, so that you may experience His fullness.

Have a lovely 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

Public sentiments | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 25, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 20

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date September 25, 2024
No Comments on Public sentiments | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 25, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 20

fire in my bones

“Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field for burial that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.” (2Chron 26:23NIV)

Why was Uzziah not buried where the kings before him had been buried? It was because he had leprosy. And how did that matter? Could his corpse contaminate the skeletons of his ancestors in their tomb? No! What is the difference between a leprous corpse and any other corpse? Isn’t a dead body a dead body, whether clean or leprous? It is.

Nevertheless, because the people of the land of Judah were all saying that Uzziah died a leprous king and should not be buried with the kings before him, his son who succeeded him and the palace administrators decided to bury him in a nearby cemetery. So, public sentiments prevailed.

But then, Uzziah was a great king and lover of God. The land was at rest all through the fifty-two years of his reign. And the people also prospered greatly during his reign because God was with him to give him marvellous help. Yet public sentiments would not allow him to get a befitting royal burial when he died. And that was because he allowed pride in his life and came under God’s judgment of leprosy. What a shame! (Cf. 2Chro 26:1-22)

Now what is the point of this? It is that public sentiments often mean a lot in life. And it does not matter whether these sentiments are founded on truth or falsehood, they can go a long way in determining how the majority will treat us. So, riding on public sentiments, an entirely useless and dishonesty person can attain an important position in the society. Similarly, through public sentiments, an upright and godly person like Jesus Christ may end up a cross.

Therefore, even though we, as children of God, should never live our lives for the praise of men, we must not allow ourselves to foolishly or ignorantly become victims of public sentiments. This, in fact, is one of the reasons our Lord Jesus says this to us: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:16NIV)

Did you see that? Our good works must be obvious and not advertised. In other words, we are to live in such a way that people will readily see that we are good and also full of good and righteous works. And where this is the case, we won’t need to pay anyone to advertise our good works; those good works will speak for themselves.

In any case, the Lord’s point is that public sentiments must always be in our favour, as far as doing what is good and righteous is concerned. Why? It is so that God may be praised because of us. This, of course, does not mean that people will love us or want to vote us into public offices because of our good and righteous works. Rather, it means that even if they have to reject or denounce us, it will not be because public sentiments present us as wicked, hypocritical or bias but because they present us as individuals who are too upright, righteous and honest to allow evil to reign. And that is not a bad testimony.

Therefore, as Paul did, let us learn to always do what is good and right, not just in the sight of God but also in the sight of men (2Cor 8:21). And let us equally learn to take advantage of God’s grace to rid our lives of all forms of obvious imperfections that could give room for blame. Then we won’t be foolishly or ignorantly building public sentiments against ourselves and the Christian faith.

Cheers!

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

Distinguish yourself for the miraculous | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 22, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 13, No. 21

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I gladly welcome you to the fourth week of the month of September 2024 and pray that God will equip you every day of the week with all that you need to receive and enjoy all His good provisions for you. Amen.

Now from what we see in Scriptures, those who receive God’s provisions for their lives in spectacular ways are often people who are ready to separate themselves from the crowd. Yes, they are often people who are ready to do what others will not do or what others are afraid of doing. Therefore, God will pass over others to perform astonishing miracles for them.

For instance, our Lord Jesus says this to us about Naaman and the widow of Zarephath:

“I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.”” (Luke 4:25-27NIV)

Did you see that? Even though there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha (in fact, four of them are mentioned in the bible in connection to a famine that occurred during Elisha’s time), we have no record that he healed any of them. Why? Did he not want to heal them? No! He would love to heal them. But none of them recognised him as possessing enough power of God to heal them. (Cf. 2Kings 7)

However, when Naaman the Syrian heard about him from a slave girl, he travelled all the way from his country to meet him. He did not look at the cost of doing so or the stress that would accompany it. He did not look at his position as a general or at the fact that the nation of Israel was subject to his own country at the time. Instead, he humbled himself and came to him. And when he did, he received an astonishing miracle of healing. His leprosy was cured. Why? He did what other lepers like himself would not do. He distinguished himself for the miraculous! (Cf. 2Kings 5)

What about the widow of Zarephath? Why did God pass over all the widows in Israel to find her during the three and a half years of famine that happened in Elijah’s time? It was because she distinguished herself as a cheerful giver. This woman was willing to share her last meal with the man of God, just because God had told her to do so. And because of that, not only were she and her son sustained with food during the famine, she also received a resurrection of her son when death came to steal him from her. (Cf. 1Kings 17)

What, then, is the point of all this? It is that if we are not willing to distinguish ourselves from others in zeal, in prayer, in meditating on God’s word and confessing it and also in giving, there are miracles that we will never witness in life. Are you, then, willing to distinguish yourself to receive unusual miracles from God?

Well, God is not going to force us to do anything to distinguish ourselves from others in order to receive from Him. But if we do so, He will surely pass over many to amaze us. And my prayer is that your heart will be strengthened to begin to do those things that will set you apart for usual miracles, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Study to activate wisdom | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 18, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 19

fire in my bones

“I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!” (Eccl 1:12-13NIV)

Who, in our opening text, said that he devoted himself to studying? It was Solomon. And why did he, of all people, need to study? At least, from what we see in Scriptures, God gave him wisdom, insight and a breadth of understanding that was beyond measure. What, then, did he need to study for? Was he not supposed to know everything by default?

Well, even though Solomon was unusually blessed by God with wisdom, insight and understanding, these things are not the same as knowledge. Indeed, wisdom, insight and understanding are needed to properly apply knowledge and make it profitable. But without knowledge all of them are still useless. That is because knowledge is the substance they work with.

How, then, do we gain knowledge? Knowledge, of course, is also a gift from God. But to say the fact, it is not really knowledge that is God’s gift; rather, it is the ability to know things or acquire knowledge that is God’s gift. In other words, when we say that God has given someone knowledge, what we actually mean is that God has given the person the ability to know things, to know all that he can know. If the person, then, will know all that he needs to know and that he can know, he will need to study. That means the person will need to apply his mind to know things and how they work.

Yes, God is able to make people know things supernaturally, that is, without having to study or learn them. But it is not in every situation that God reveals things to people supernaturally. In many cases, He does not. Why? It is because He has already given each of us the ability to study and learn to know things, to one degree or the other. And He expects us to employ this ability to the full.

If we, then, are employing it, He will not hesitate to reveal those things we can only know supernaturally to us, especially if we will ask Him. But if we will not employ the ability He has given to us to learn and know what we don’t need supernatural knowledge for, why should we expect Him to trust us with supernatural knowledge?

So, for the wisdom, insight, understanding and the ability to know things that that God gave to Solomon to shine, he would need to apply himself to studying everything he considered useful to him in life. Otherwise, nothing would become of these gifts that God had given to Him. And did he apply himself to studying or not? He did. In fact, he went as far as studying about plant life and animal life in order to stand out as a king of kings and as a man that was worth listening to by the whole world. (Cf. 1Kings 4:29-34)

Look also at our Lord Jesus Christ. Was it everything that He relied on supernatural knowledge to know? No! If He did that, there were a lot of things He would not know at all. But like other children, He too had to learn all kinds of things that would make Him fit for life. Then, in order to be able to live by the word of God and also handle it correctly with the wisdom of God in Him, He had to give Himself to studying it. And judging from the way He handled it, He surely studied it more than the religious leaders of the people.

In like manner, if we too will see God’s gifts of wisdom, insight, understanding and knowledge at work in tremendous ways in our lives, we must devote ourselves to studying His word, to studying life and to studying everything that is useful to succeeding in whatever field of life we have chosen to operate in. So, don’t run away from studying. Don’t be lazy in studying. It is one great way to activate God’s gifts of wisdom, insight and understanding that are already in you. Otherwise, you may end up small, useless or insignificant in life.

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

Faith and patience | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 15, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 13, No. 20

Beloved; grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the third week of the month of September 2024. My prayer is that God will daily strengthen your heart to continually walk with Him with patience, so that you can receive in full every good thing He wants you to have, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, faith in God is not the only thing required to receive from Him; patience is also required in order to receive from Him. In fact, there are things we will never receive and enjoy from God unless we walk with Him with patience. Why? One main reason is that God is not just interested in doing things for His people or in giving them things; He is also concerned about their full enjoyment of whatever He gives to them or does for them.

Therefore, before God does or gives anything to His people, He will first ensure that He has taken care of anything that may hinder that thing from bringing Him glory through their lives or that may hinder their full enjoyment of it. And that may take some time. If His people, then, do not understand the need to be patient in dealing with him, they will often miss out on many of the good things they are supposed to enjoy from His hands.

All of this is why the bible says to us, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Heb 6:12NIV) Did you see that? It takes both faith and patience to receive from God. So, even when we are certain that God wants us to have something, we must not just believe that He will give it to us; we must also patiently wait to receive it from Him.

Sadly, many of us believers do not want to be patient at all in receiving from God. We think once we have faith in God and are doing His will, all the good things He wants us to have should naturally begin to come to us. But this is not always so. Walking in faith with God and doing His will is like farming. A farmer does not plant his seed today and expect the harvest right away. Instead, he patiently takes care of what he has planted until the time of harvest.

Now that is exactly how it is with walking in faith with God and doing His will. We have to keep doing so until the time of harvest. But when is harvest time? We wouldn’t know. It is whenever it is. Truly, farmers, through experience, can tell when they will harvest their crops. But we cannot tell when we will harvest the promises of God for our lives or the rewards for doing His will. So, the word of God says this to us:

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (Heb 10:35-36NIV)

Did you see that? Don’t throw away your confidence in God because you are yet to see the harvest of His promises to you. Instead, persevere in doing His will until everything that is meant to be yours is yours. Yes, persevere in praying, in meditating on the word of God and confessing it and also in walking in righteousness. And as you do so, all that is meant to be yours will surely be yours by the grace of God, if you do not faint.

Have a splendid week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

A walk on the roof | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 11, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 18

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date September 11, 2024
2 Comments on A walk on the roof | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 11, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 18

fire in my bones

“All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”” (Dan 4:28-30NIV)

What made Nebuchadnezzar say such proud words to himself? The things he saw! What did he see? Well, he saw the beauty of his kingdom. And was anything wrong with that? No! Nothing is wrong with seeing beauty, the beauty of creation or the beauty of the works of our hands. But the conclusion we draw, having seen the beauty of creation or that of the works of our hands, may just be the difference between promotion and downfall for us.

As the account goes, when Nebuchadnezzar saw the beauty of his kingdom, his heart was lifted up with pride. He began to praise himself for being so mighty and powerful and for building everything he could see in Babylon for his own glory and majesty. But was he right? Did he actually have any power of his own to building himself anything? No, he didn’t!

Everything this king saw about Babylon that night, as beautiful as it was, was nothing but a gift to him from God. It did not come to him because he was some rare breed of humanity; neither did it come to him because he was better than the rest of mankind. But because he did not realize this, he allowed pride to fill his heart. So, he said what was too much for his mouth to say and was taught a very great lesson by God for it. He ran mad and lived like a beast in the jungle for some time. And if had not been for the mercy of God shown to him, he would have perished in that condition. (Cf. Dan 4:31-37)

But what led this man to experience all that? It was a walk on the roof. It was his walk on the roof of his palace one night that led him to see what he could not handle. Yes, being on the roof of his palace gave him an advantage to see what most people may not see in their entire lifetime. But he did not have enough humility to handle what he saw. So, the advantage he had turned into a disadvantage and almost cost him his life and his kingdom.

So, being in a position of advantage does not always prove advantageous to people. Yes, being in a position of advantage may give us the privilege of seeing, hearing or knowing what others may never know in their entire lifetime. But if we do not have the character to handle what we are privileged to see, hear or know, what is meant to be advantageous to us may end up becoming disastrous.

As we are further shown in the bible, David too experienced something similar to what King Nebuchadnezzar experienced. Look at how this is given to us in the bible:

“One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”” (2Sam 11:2-3NIV)

What made David see beautiful Bathsheba while she was taking her bath that night? A walk on the roof of his palace! If he were not the king of Israel at the time, he may not have the advantage of walking on the roof of the palace. But he was the king. And was that a bad thing? No, it was not at all. In fact, it was God that chose him to be king. So, he had every right to walk on the roof of the palace.

However, because he did not have sufficient strength of character to handle what his walk on the roof of his palace gave him the privilege of seeing, he ended up becoming an adulterer, a deceiver and murderer. And if he too, like Nebuchadnezzar, had not been shown mercy, he would have lost his life and his kingdom because of the matter. (Cf. 2Sam 11&12)

So, don’t just desire to be in an advantageous position, where you can see things, hear things and know things, even the secrets of darkness. Also, learn to pray to God to build you up to be able to handle whatever your position of advantage in life may throw at you. Learn to pray as well that God will keep you from seeing, hearing or knowing things that you cannot handle without destroying yourself. Otherwise, someday, you may just realize that all the things that seem to be advantageous to you are nothing but curses to your life. And may that not be your portion, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Cheers!

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

Be willing and obedient | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 08, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 13, No. 19

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great delight that I welcome you to the second week of the month of September 2024. My prayer is that your heart will be strengthened now and always to desire for yourself what God desires for you and to also discipline yourself to go for it. Amen.

One of the things we are consistently shown in Scriptures is that it is not enough for God to want us to have something; we too must also want to have whatever He wants us to have. Not only that, we must as well be ready to do whatever He wants us to do in order to have whatever He wants us to have. Otherwise, unless we are shown mercy, we will not have what He wants to have.

All this, of course, is why God say this to us through Isaiah: ““If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land…” (Isa 1:19NIV) From what God says here, what does He want us to have? It is the best of the place we are dwelling. And we must understand that He is not talking here about the best the place we are living in is currently dishing out to us. That is because the best the place we are living in is dishing out to us at the moment may not be good enough for us or for our families. But the best God has deposited in the place for us, which may not be visible to anybody yet, will always be more than good enough for us.

How, then, are we to access the best God has planted in our land for our good? First, as He shows us through Isaiah, we must be willing to have it. In other words, we must not be ready to settle down or be satisfied with anything that is less than His best for us. This, of course, is not to say that we are not to be thankful for what God has already given to us or done for us. We must always be thankful to God for everything He has done for us and is also doing in our lives. But as we are giving thanks to Him for what we are enjoying from His hands, we must also be moving forward to take hold of every other good thing He wants us to have. Otherwise, we will end up living lives that are inferior in quality to the kind He wants us to live.

Look at what is said in Scriptures about Joshua towards the end of his life: “When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, the LORD said to him, “You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.”” (Josh 13:1NIV) Did you see that? Even when Joshua had become very old, God still had very large areas of land for him to take over. That means he had not yet fully experienced the best God wanted to him have at the time. Sadly, his body had become too weak at the time to still take hold all of the things God wanted him to have. What a shame!

So, till our old age, God will always open our eyes to see His good provisions for us. And how beautiful will it be, if we are able to take and enjoy all of them? Well, one way for that to happen is for us to be willing and eager to have all of them. Otherwise, like Joshua, it is when we have become old and our bodies have become too weak to run around that we will be seeing all that we could have received and enjoyed from God’s hands. But it may have become too late by then. I pray that it will never become too late for you to realise God’s best for you and go for it. Amen.

The second thing God says we must do in order to enjoy the best He has for us in our land is to be obedient. In other words, we must give ourselves to following His instructions on how to take over and enjoy His best for us. Otherwise, even if we are willing to have His best, we will still not be able to access and enjoy it. And even if we access His best for us by following our own ways, whatever we receive in this manner can only introduce corruption into our lives. Therefore, we will end up not enjoying it the way we are supposed to enjoy it.

Now my prayer is that you will not only receive God’s best for you in this country, in spite of the situation of the country, but also enjoy it to the full. But you must be willing to receive and enjoy it and also obedient to all of God’s instructions to you.

Have a lovely week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Perfect your knowledge | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 04, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 17

fire in my bones

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” (1Cor 13:9-10NIV)

What does Paul mean here? Well, he means exactly what he says, which is that we all know in part. In other words, none of us knows everything there is to know in life, regardless of how much we may think we know. That being the case, we should never act like we know it all.

See, even if we are the wisest among men, we still don’t know all there is to know about life, not even to talk about knowing all there is to know about God. That is why Solomon, in his wisdom, says, “Then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.” (Eccl 8:17NIV)

Did you see that? Life is too much for any of us to completely comprehend. Yes, through the aid of the Spirit of God in us, each of us can know all that he needs to know to make sense out of living. But to know everything about life is beyond any of us. That perfection in knowledge will not come to us in this age but in the age to come that we are looking forward to.

Therefore, as I said before, we should never act like we know it all. That is the beginning of foolishness. Instead, first, we should learn to recognize our areas of inadequacy in knowledge. In other words, I must constantly know what I do not know and accept that I do not know it.

Of course, that I do not know something does not mean that I need to know it. I mean that it is not all knowledge that is useful to me. So, I don’t need to waste my time pursuing any form of knowledge that is useless or unprofitable to me. But if I must gain sufficient useful or needed knowledge in life, the key is to know what I do not know and accept that I do not know it. Otherwise, if demands should be made on me on the basis of what I assume or pretend to know, failure and disgrace are what will naturally follow.

The second way to respond to the fact that we know in part is to make effort to perfect our inadequacy in knowledge. That means instead for us to remain ignorant of what we need to know, whatever it may be, we should look out for those who know it and make effort to learn from them.

Yes, that may cost us something. True knowledge always costs people something. That is why many don’t make effort to perfect their inadequacy in knowledge. They are looking at how much they may end up paying for it. But it is not in all cases that knowledge costs money. There are times that all that it will cost us is humility, patience or (and) self-discipline. And if we are willing to pay the price, we will know what we need to know to move from where we are to where we should be.

Mind you, ignorance is also costly. In fact, a lot of times, it is costlier than knowledge. So, don’t keep yourself ignorant about God or about life, when and where you can learn and perfect your knowledge. Otherwise, you may end up being the enemy that will keep you stagnant for life.

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