Month: May 2026

Categories
From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: An inherited God



Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 15, No. 5

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to this new week, which will be the first week in the month of June 2026. I pray that God will keep your heart faithful to Him to the very end, so that you will not lose whatever reward that ought to be yours for serving Him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, it is possible for those who claim to be serving God not to serve Him wholeheartedly. And where that is the case, they may lose their soul or lose the reward of their service. It all depends on the nature or degree of their unfaithfulness in their service to Him.

For example, this is what is said in the bible about a king of Judah:

“Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.” (2 Chron 25:1-2NIV)

Did you see that? King Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. How was that so? Well, as we see in the account of his reign that we have in the bible, Amaziah started out in obedience to God. He even obeyed God when it was not convenient for him to do so. (Cf. 2 Chro 25:1-12)

However, after he had defeated the Edomites in a battle, he brought back their gods to the land of Judah and began to worship them. Why would he do that? What exactly was he thinking? As we learn from the account, before he went to fight the Edomites, God had sent him a prophet to tell him what he needed to do to be victorious. And when he did it, he was victorious indeed. Why, then, would he turn his back on God?

Besides, common sense ought to have told him that choosing the gods of the Edomites as his gods was a stupid thing to do. That was because those gods could not save the Edomites themselves from his hands. Why, then, did he think they were the right gods for him to begin to worship?

Well, to say the fact, the problem with Amaziah was that he never really had a true revelation of the living God, the God of his ancestors. To him, He was just a God that he had inherited from his forefathers. So, he was not serving Him because he truly believed in Him. Rather, he was serving Him because that was what the people that raised him told him to be doing.

But after defeating the Edomites, he somehow began to feel that it was his power that made him defeat them and not God. Therefore, he concluded that it was time for him to choose his own gods. And from that time on, he began to make mistakes until he destroyed himself. (Cf. 2 Chro 25:14-28)

What is the point of this story? It is that we need to truly know God in order to serve Him wholeheartedly. Yes, we may have been born into Christian homes. That, however, does not mean that we already know God and Jesus Christ as we ought to know them. What we know about them may just be what we have inherited from our parents or what the people around us have passed on to us. And where that is the case, a time may come when that knowledge may not be adequate to keep us faithful to God. Then we may begin to misbehave and do things that will make us lose our souls or whatever rewards that could have been ours for serving Him.

Therefore, you need to be sure that your worship of God is born out of a personal conviction that He is God indeed. And you need to be sure that your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is born out of a personal conviction that He is Lord indeed. Otherwise, your so-called faith in Him may just be a lie after all. My prayer is that such will not be the case with you, when all has been said and done. Amen.

Do have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: When it’s nothing but darkness

Date: May 27, 2026

Series: Youth for JesusNumber: Vol. 9, No. 2

“Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.” (Luke 11:35NLT)

Those were the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples. And He said what He said to teach them the relevance of not acting under any form of assumption in life. Now look at His words again: “Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.” What does this mean? Well, to begin with, we need to know what light is. And what is light? Light, according to the word of God, is anything that makes things visible (Eph 5:14).

Therefore, how visible anything will be to us will be dependent on the quality of light we use in viewing it. If the light we are using to view something is really bright and good, we will be able to see it clearly and make the right judgment about it. But if the light we are using to view it is poor, we may not be able to see it clearly or make the right judgment about it. Have you ever tried to tell the colour of a dress under a very poor light? How easy was it for you to do so? Were you able to get the colour right? You most likely were unable to get the colour correctly until you brought it under some bright and good light. Also, have you ever tried to see your bones by merely staring at your body under the light of the sun or the moon? Did it work? It could never have worked. That’s simply because it takes some other form of light to be able to see your bones through your skin.

In like manner, if you want to see God, people and life itself clearly, you need to use the right form of light. And the right form of light to use is the word of God. Otherwise, you will find yourself often misjudging God, people, life and situations. And the price you will pay for that may be as high as your life or your soul.

For instance, King Ahab lost his life in a battle with the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead because he was operating with the wrong light. As the account shows, before that battle, he was counselled by King Jehoshaphat of Judah to seek the guidance of the Lord, which he did. He called his prophets together, about four hundred of them, to tell him the word of the Lord about the battle. And they all told him that he should go because the Lord would give him success. (Cf. 1 Kings 22:1-12)

But Jehoshaphat was not comfortable with the prophetic light of those prophets. Why? He was a spiritual man. So, he must have sensed that something was off with them. Therefore, he asked to know if they could get light from another prophet of God. And they did. They called in Micaiah to give them divine light about the situation. (Cf. 1 Kings 22:13-28)

Unfortunately, Ahab was not comfortable with the light of that man of God, Micaiah. He was not comfortable with it because his prophecy was not favourable to him. So, he chose to walk in the light of the other prophets, which was nothing but darkness. And he lost his life for doing so. (Cf. 1 Kings 22:29-40)

Now what is my point in all this? It is that one can lose their life while walking in a light that is nothing but darkness. It may be a prophetic light. It may be the light of someone’s experience or the light of certain traditions or culture. But as long as such light is not rooted in the true light of the word of God, it will prove to be nothing but darkness at some point. And those who use it may end up suffering greatly. (Cf. Is 50:10-11)

All this is why Jesus tells us to make sure that what we call light is not darkness. It is your job to do that. it is my job to do so. We all have to be willing to do the hard work involved in doing so with an honest heart. Otherwise, as I said before, the price we will pay for walking in a light that is nothing but darkness may be as high as our lives or souls. May God not let that be our lot, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: Jealousy may take over

ALAYTHIA BIBLE church

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 15, No. 4

Beloved: grace, mercy and love be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to the last week of this month, the month of May 2026. My prayer is that God will daily strengthen you to be fully committed to serving Him, so that other children of His can be encouraged to serve Him as well on account of you. Amen.

As we see in the bible, we can inspire the people of God around us to be devoted to serving Him through our faithfulness and endurance in doing His work. For instance, Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, speaks of how many people of God were encouraged to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ boldly through his devotion and endurance in preaching it, even to the point of being imprisoned because of it. (Cf. Phili 1:12-14)

So, if we are truly devoted to serving God, we may not be able to tell the degree to which it will encourage others around us to serve Him. I once heard of what a pastor did when he heard that another pastor single-handedly sponsored an evangelistic crusade. And what did he do? First, he took a huge sum of money and gave it to the pastor to appreciate him for sponsoring that crusade. Then he told him that he was giving him that money with a heart of prayer that God would enable him to also be able to do something similar someday.

Now did the pastor that sponsored the crusade know that what he did would inspire someone in that manner? No! He just did what he did because it was the will of God for him to do so. And by doing so, another person was encouraged to serve God more faithfully.But then, it is also possible for someone to see what another person is doing for God and be angry with the person or jealous of the person, instead of being encouraged to also serve God faithfully. As we see in the bible, the religious leaders of the Jews were jealous of Jesus because of what He was doing for the kingdom of God, instead of being inspired by His works to serve God faithfully themselves. So, they ended up killing Him. (Cf. Matt 27:18)

Also, we see that the Jews in a place called Pisidian Antioch were jealous of Paul and Barnabas when they saw what they were doing for the kingdom of God and how the gentiles were responding to it. Why were they jealous of them? They were jealous because even though they too had the word of God with them, they were not proclaiming it in truth to the gentiles. On the contrary, in most cases, they were simply treating those gentiles as unclean and undeserving of the grace of God.

But when Paul and Barnabas came to the place and began to do what they would not do and saw the impact their work was making on the gentiles, they became jealous and started insulting them and discrediting their message. Eventually, they drove them out of the place, when they realized that they could not stop the good work God was doing through them. (Cf. Acts 13:13-52)

What is this telling us? It is that if we will not devote ourselves to serving God or allow the good things others around us are doing for His kingdom to encourage us to serve Him well, anger and jealousy may take over our hearts. And where that is the case, instead for God to be able to use us as He is using others, Satan will be the one using us. Then we will find ourselves destroying the very work of God that we are supposed to be doing. And the kind of judgment this may bring on us may be unspeakable.S

o, if you don’t want jealousy to take over your heart and render you useless in God’s kingdom, be sure to devote yourself to serving Him in whatever way you can. And if you see others serving Him better than you are, be encouraged to learn from them so that you too can begin to do better in your service to Him. That way, you can be endowed with more grace from Him to increase in usefulness.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Deal with It

By: J.O. Lawal

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 9, No. 1

“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.” (James 3:14NIV)

Who is James speaking to here? He is speaking to believers in Christ Jesus. And he is saying that it is possible for them to nurse bitterness, envy, selfish ambition or any other form of evil in their hearts.Now does God expect any of His children to be bitter towards other people? No! Or does He expect any of them to be selfish or envious of another person? No!

Unfortunately, here and there, we find believers who are full of bitterness, envy or selfish ambitions. They may have all kinds of excuses for the presence of these things in their lives. But it won’t change the fact that they are nursing in them something that can make murderers of them.Look at Cain, for example. When God rejected his offering but accepted his brother’s, he got terribly upset. Therefore, God came to him to warn him to acknowledge his errors and deal with his anger. Why? It was so that his untreated anger will not give room for other forms of wickedness to take charge of him. (Cf. Gen 4:1-7)

Did Cain, then, listen to God? No, he did not. So, bitterness, envy and selfishness began to flood his heart. And before he knew what was happening to him, he had killed his own brother. Thus, he became the first murderer on the face of the earth. That, of course, brought him under God’s judgment. And life never remained the same for him afterwards. (Cf. Gen 4:8-16)

Now, so that we too will not end up like Cain, James warns us in our opening text of the need to deal with any form of bitterness, envy, selfishness or evil that may be in us. And how do we do that? First, don’t boast about it. In other words, don’t try to glorify something that is wrong by calling it a sweet name.

For instance, if you are selfish, don’t say that you are simply competitive. Or if you are envious of someone, don’t say that you just don’t like proud people around you. You are simply trying to glorify something destructive in your life. And as long as you are like that, you will never be free from the control of that thing.Second, don’t lie to yourself about the condition of your heart. If you are bitter towards someone, then, admit it. Don’t act as though everything were well between you and the person. In other words, don’t let anyone feel safe with you when they are not safe at all.

Instead, deal with the issue in your heart. And if you have to talk things out with the person involved so that your heart can be clear and free of evil, do so without delay. Otherwise, you too like Cain may end up murdering someone someday, even if you do not plan to do so. Then God’s judgment will have to come upon you for your wickedness. And who knows how He will judge?So, deal with whatever form of evil you have allowed to take root in your heart before it takes charge of you and turn you into a monster. And may the Spirit of God strengthen you to do so without delay, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: Another year of fellowship

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 15, No. 3

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of this month, the month of May 2026. My prayer is that God will perfect everything that concerns your life in the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we all know, we are celebrating today our fourteenth year of meeting together in this town as an assembly. And to begin with, I want to thank God for all that He has been to us, done for us, done among us and done through us during these years. May His glorious name be forever praised.Also, I want to thank all of us who see ourselves as full members of the assembly for allowing God to touch our hearts to join one another in fellowshipping with Him. I equally thank us for allowing ourselves to be led to fully participate in everything that is moving the church forward. My prayer is that the good Lord will keeping on working in us until all His good desires are realized in our lives, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as we begin another year of fellowship, I want to encourage us to devote ourselves more to the word of God, to prayer, to fellowshipping with one another and to sharing testimonies of God’s goodness to us with those around us. Why? The reason is that those are the things that the saints of old devoted themselves to. And by devoting themselves to these things, God was able to build all of them up to be great instruments in His hands in transforming the lives of many all around the world. (Cf. Acts 2:42-43 & 8:41)

Therefore, since we too want God to build each of us up to be greatly useful to Him in touching the lives of many around us, we must give ourselves like never before to His word, to prayer, to fellowshipping with one another and to sharing our testimonies with those around us. This, of course, may not be easy, for doing what is edifying does not always come easy. But it will be highly rewarding for us and for the people around us.I welcome you once again to another year of fellowshipping together in the grace of God. And I want you to look forward to a greater experience of God’s goodness in your life and in our assembly, as we all yield ourselves more to be led by His Spirit.God bless you.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Because he destroyed it

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 52

“Moreover, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger by the things he did, and becoming like the house of Jeroboam — and also because he destroyed it.” (1 Kings 16:7NIV)

Who did the word of the Lord come to, as we see in our opening text? It was Baasha and his house. And who was Baasha? He was the man that became king over the nation of Israel after Nadab son of Jeroboam. Now how did he become king? He became king by killing his master, Nadab. In fact, it wasn’t only Nadab that this man killed. He also killed every member of Jeroboam’s family, not leaving any one of them alive. (Cf. 1 Kings 15:25-29)

But then, what Baasha did to the house of Jeroboam was simply a fulfilment of the prophecy of a man of God, Ahijah the Shilonite. God had spoken through this prophet that He would destroy the entire household of Jeroboam. And that was because he deliberately led the whole nation of Israel into idolatry, even though he was God’s choice. So, when Nadab, his son, became king in his stead, God raised up Baasha to fulfil His word. (Cf. 1 Kings 14:14-16)

Sadly, after Baasha had become king, he began to misbehave. He too went on to commit the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. He did not turn away from it at all. Instead, he perpetuated it.But he was the one that destroyed the house of Jeroboam. And he knew that God gave him the power to destroy man’s house because of his wickedness. How come he too went ahead to commit the same acts of wickedness?Well, that is showing me that the fact that God uses me to condemn or judge an act of wickedness in someone doesn’t mean that I am not capable of committing the same act of wickedness or something worse.

No, it doesn’t mean that I am a better person. So, if I do not continually entrust myself to God in prayer and also allow His word to dwell in me and renew my mind, I may someday find myself committing the same acts of wickedness I have condemned or judged in others. Where that, then, is the case, unless God decides to show mercy, I can only expect Him to judge me the same way I have judged others. (Cf. Gal 6:1; James 2:13)

As we see in Baasha’s case, God said that one of the reasons He would wipe out his family in judgment was that he was the one that judged and destroyed the family of Jeroboam. If he had not been the one that destroyed that family in judgment, maybe he would have been spared. But God was not going to spare him because he gave himself to committing the same sins he had judged in others. Now all this is why our Lord Jesus warns us against judging others where we are yet to judge ourselves (Matt 7:1-5).

And we will do well to pay a very close attention to what He tells us about this. Otherwise, we may bring quick and sudden judgment on ourselves from God because of our ruthless judgment of others that are probably better than us in conduct or character. So, let us mind ourselves.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: Wicked and unreasonable people

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 15, No. 2

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of May 2026. I pray that God will protect you this week and throughout the remaining part of the year from wicked and unreasonable people wherever you turn, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul, in his second letter to the Thessalonians, says this: “…and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.” (2 Thess 3:2NKJV)

What are we to pray for? We are to pray that God will deliver us from wicked and unreasonable people. That means there are in the world people that are wicked and unreasonable. And such people are willing to take any step to harm anyone that offends them, even if it is no offence at all.

Also, such people hardly listen to pleas from anyone. Once they are bent on harming someone, they will surely do so, even if it is going to take them their entire lifetime or all their money. Therefore, unless God protects us against them, we will not be safe from their wickedness. For instance, a man called Haman was willing to kill Mordecai and all the Jews under the rule of King Xerxes because Mordecai was disrespectful to him. But Mordecai was just one person. Why, then, did Haman have to kill all the Jews because of him? The reason was that he was wicked and unreasonable. And if Mordecai and his people had not prayed for God’s intervention, many of them would have lost their lives because of Haman’s ruthlessness. (Cf. Esther 3-9)

What about King Herod? This man sent his soldiers to kill all the babies that were two years old and under in Bethlehem, jut to get rid of Jesus Christ when he was a baby. Why? He did not want Him to grow up to become the king of the Jews. And since he did not know who baby Jesus was, he decided to kill all the babies in Bethlehem, where Jesus had been born, that were about His age. If God, then, had not intervened in the matter, Jesus would have been killed before He had a chance to do what God had sent him to do here on earth. (Cf. Matt 2:1-18)

What is my point? It is that wicked and unreasonable people like Haman and Herod are still very much present in the world and around us. And Satan may move them anytime and for any reason to attack us. But God can protect us against them. We, however, should not wait until we are faced with threats from any of them before we learn to pray for God’s protection from them. Otherwise, we may have suffered from their hands before we have any chance to pray. So, learn to pray everyday that God will keep you and all that is yours safe all the time from all the wicked and unreasonable people around you. And it shall be so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: The right procedure

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 51

“Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.”” (1 Chron 15:11-13NIV)

Who said the words of our opening bible text? It was David. And what led him to say them? It was the experience that he and the people of Israel had when they first attempted to bring the Ark of God to the place they had prepared for it.Now what sort of experience did they have? It was a bad one. And it was bad because someone died while they were taking the Ark of God to the place prepared for it.As the account goes, they had placed the Ark of the Covenant on a new cart while moving it. But when they got to a certain place, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled. So, Uzzah, one of the two men guiding the Ark, reached out its hand to steady it, so that it might not fall off. But God got angry with him and killed him. (Cf. 1Chro 13:7-10

)That, of course, brought a sudden end to all the celebration of David and his people. They had to take the Ark of God to another place, to the house of a man named Obed-Edom. David asked them to do that because he was afraid of what might happen to him and his household, if the ark should be brought into his palace. But then, he later found out that the household of Obed-Edom was not harmed at all by the presence of the Ark of God there.

Instead, it was tremendously blessed. That prompted him to go and find out what went wrong when they were bringing the ark to the place he had prepared for it. And it was then that he realised that they did not carry the Ark of God at the time according to the prescribed way. (Cf. 1Chro 13:12-14)Now Solomon says this to us:“For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.” (Eccl 8:6NIV)

Did you see that? Just as there is the right time for everything to be done here on earth, there is also the right procedure for it. Otherwise, the effort, time, resources and even people expended on what we are doing may just go to waste. Not only that, we may get into trouble for using a wrong procedure for what we want to do, even though it is the right thing.David and his people wanted to do the right, something that naturally should earn them the praise of God. But they did not make enough effort to learn the prescribed way, the right procedure to follow in doing it.

So, a life was lost, even though their intentions were right.In like manner, time, resources, effort or people may be lost, if we will not learn the right procedure for anything we want to do in life. We may feel good about using the wrong procedure or feel bad about using the right procedure. But what matters in doing anything good and meaningful in life is not what we feel or how we feel; rather, it is our commitment to using the right procedure for doing it at the right time. So, always make effort to learn the right procedure for doing things, especially in areas of your ignorance. Otherwise, the consequences and pains that will follow may be irreversible.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: Do not grieve God


Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 15, No. 1

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is with great delight that I welcome you to the fifth month of this year, the month of May 2026. My prayer is that God will always keep you from doing anything that will grieve Him and make Him change His mind about fulfilling His plans for your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now I offered that prayer for you because it is possible for us to grieve God. Yes, it is possible for us to cause Him sorrow through the way we live and through our attitude towards His word. And that is because He loves us. It is only those that we love and care about that can grieve us or make us sorrowful. Those that we don’t love cannot grieve us, regardless of how badly they behave towards us. In fact, we will most likely not allow someone that we don’t love to do anything that will make us sorrowful.

But when someone that we love and cherish begins to treat us with disrespect, we will not be happy at all. And if the person continues to make us unhappy like that, we may just change our minds about them and withdraw our love from them. Then they will no longer be able to enjoy their relationship with us the way they used to.

In like manner, because God loves us, we can grieve Him. And if we should make grieving Him a culture, a time may come when He will change His mind about us and about His plans for us. How, then, are we not going to waste or ruin our lives, if that should happen?

For instance, this is said about why God removed King Saul from his place as ruler over the nation of Israel:

“Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.” (1Sam 15:10-11NIV)

Did you see that? God was grieved that He made Saul king over Israel. Why? The reason was that the man made it a habit to disregard His commands. To make matters worse, he had no sense of remorse at all. He found it hard to genuinely repent whenever he was rebuked or corrected. So, God changed His mind about him and replaced him with another person.

Now did Saul feel remorseful, when God changed his mind about him, and seek His face for mercy? No, he did not. Instead, he just carried on acting as king, as though nothing had happened. So, he ended up ruining his life and making nonsense of whatever good thing he did as a king for the nation of Israel.

But then, as we see in the account, Samuel, who was not the one that was removed from his position, continued to mourn before God for this man. In fact, at some point, God had to tell him to stop mourning for Saul and go and anoint someone else in his place (1 Sam 16:1). And why was he mourning for Saul like that? It was because he understood the gravity of grieving God and the need for genuine repentance if we have done so. Otherwise, we may just end up wasting our lives and whatever grace we have received from God.

All of this is why we too are warned in the Scriptures in this way:

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Eph 4:30NIV)

Did you see that? We must watch ourselves not to give ourselves to doing anything that will grieve the Spirit of God that is living in us. And if we have been grieving Him in any way, we should repent and seek His face for forgiveness without delay. Otherwise, like King Saul, we too may end up wasting all the love and grace He has showered on our lives. May that not be our lot, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely May 2026.

Copyright © 2026, 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: 08146472876)