Series: From Pastor’s desk Number: Vol. 15, No. 27
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the first week of the month of November 2026. My prayer is that God will turn around everything that has been done against you this year for your good, as we journey through the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we see in the bible, after the death of Jacob, the brothers of Joseph were afraid that he may want to punish them for all the terrible things they had done to him. So, they sent a message to him to tell him that their father had left a message for him, pleading with him to forgive them of all the harm that they had done to him. When Joseph heard this, he wept. And here is the report of what he said to them:
“But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day.”” (Gen 50:19-20 NET)
Did you see that? Joseph was not going to punish his brothers or pay them back with evil for the evil they did to him. Why? He saw God at work in everything that happened to him. He saw how He turned all that his brothers did to harm him around for his good. Therefore, he did not see any reason he should punish them for their wickedness. Whatever punishment God and their consciences were giving them was enough for them.
In like manner, God is able to turn around for you good all the evil things people have done or are doing against you. What is important is that you keep putting your trust in Him. The bible says that everyone who puts their trust in Him will not be put to shame (Rom 10:11). So, as long as your trust is in Him, you will not be put to shame, regardless of what people may do to harm you.
Then don’t be lazy. Joseph was not lazy. Yes, he found himself in very unpleasant situations in life. Yet he did not allow that to turn him into a lazy person. Instead, he worked hard wherever he found himself. And God rewarded his hard and diligent work with promotion and prosperity. (Cf. Gen 39-40)
Now God still rewards people’s hard and diligent work with promotion and prosperity, in spite of how unpleasant the situations they have found themselves may be. So, though you have found yourself in an unpleasant position in life, keep working hard and diligently. At the right time, God will reward your hard work with promotion and prosperity in ways beyond your expectations.
Finally, you must keep on walking in righteousness. Otherwise, you may give room for the enemy to thwart God’s plans for your life. Joseph did not allow himself to be infected with the wickedness in his brothers. He did not allow the evil things they did to him to turn him also into an evil person. Instead, he kept on walking in the fear of God in every situation he found himself. Therefore, Satan was unable to thwart God’s plans for his life.
You too should not allow the wickedness being done to you to turn you into a wicked person. Instead, keep on walking in the path of righteousness. And when the time is ripe, God will turn everything around for your good and lift you up. My prayer, then, is that God will strengthen your heart to keep these words in mind, as you go through this month, and to also act on them. Amen.
“From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.” (1 Sam 22:3-4 HCSB)
Why did David leave his father and mother with the king of Moab? First, it was because he was being severely persecuted by Saul, the king of Israel of the time. As the account shows us, Saul had become so jealous of David at the time that he was able to kill or destroy anyone that was standing in his way. He, in fact, destroyed the priests in Nob along with their families and possessions because their leader, Ahimelech, ignorantly assisted David when he came to him. And Saul acted like that because the Spirit of God had left him and an evil spirit had begun to torment him. (Cf. 1 Sam 16:14 & 1 Sam 22:11-23)
You can, then, see that it was not wise at all for David to leave any of his family member where Saul could easily access and destroy them. That was why he removed his parents from the land of Israel and took them to the king of Moab for safety.
But there was another reason David acted like that. And it had to do with the fact that he did not know exactly what God would do for him and when He would do it. Without controversy, God had anointed him king over Israel in place of Saul. So, he was convinced that he would sit on the throne of Israel some day.
However, he could not tell exactly how God would make him sit on the throne of Israel or when He would make him sit on it. That was because Saul was still very much alive at the time. Also, the Israelites had not said that they no longer wanted him as their king. And since God had not told him exactly when his own reign would begin, the best he could do was wait.
But then, what would he be doing while he was waiting? Whatever his hands could find! Remember that the bible says that whatever your hands find, do it with all your might. In other words, don’t give yourself to idleness because everything you are supposed to be doing with your life is not yet clear to you. Instead, give yourself to doing whatever comes to you naturally. Yes, give yourself to doing whatever good and righteous thing you have the ability to do where you are. And as you give yourself to doing that, God will lead you to the fullness of His plans for you at the set time. (Cf. Ecc 9:10)
Now that was what David did. Since he was not yet sure of how and when God would fulfil His plans for him, he began to take all the wise and righteous steps he had the ability and resources to take at the time. That was what led him to run away from Saul to the land of the Philistines. That also was what led him to take his parents away from the land of Israel to the king of Moab for safety. And when the time was ripe for God to put him on the throne of Israel, no one could stop him from sitting on it.
In like manner, the fact that God has revealed some things about His plans for you does not mean you know when and how He will realise them. And inasmuch as you do not know when and how He will realise His plans for you, just give yourself to doing those wise and legitimate things that you have the ability, resources and influence to do in your current situation. That is how to prepare yourself or keep yourself safe for the time of the fulfilment of His plans for you.
Also, if you have been praying to God for clarity on what steps to take in a situation and you are not yet getting it, don’t become discouraged or apprehensive. Instead, give yourself to doing whatever righteous and wise things you have the abilities to do until you become sure of what God is doing or the direction He is leading you. That is because God reveals things to us only on need-basis and also acts on our behalf according to His own schedule.
Therefore, we cannot make Him reveal to us what He has no intention to reveal to us or force Him to act before the time He has set. But by doing those things that come naturally to us, we can make ourselves ready to receive or partake in whatever He is doing on our behalf when the time is set. So, even if you are not sure of what God is up to about your situation, just keep on acting wisely and diligently where you are and based on your abilities. Then you will be ready whenever He is ready.
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 the last week of the month of October 2026. My prayer is that the things that are meant for your prosperity in life will never again be hidden from you at any stage in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we see in the bible, if people’s eyes are not opened by God to see the things that they need to do to experience peace and prosperity, so that they can begin to do them, they may struggle throughout the days of their lives and still not experience peace and prosperity. For instance, if God had not opened the eyes of Ruth in time, having lost her husband, to begin to take those steps that will result in restoration and a lifetime of peace and prosperity for her, we may never have known anything about her. (Cf. Ruth 1)
But God opened her eyes, first, to forsake the gods of her people and to embrace Him as her God. Then, when it did not make sense for her to follow her mother-in-law and begin to take care of her, God opened the eyes of her heart to see that doing so was the right thing for her to do. And she did so.
Now because she took it upon herself to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to the land of Israel in order to worship God and to take care of the old woman, God moved the woman to lead her to take the step that turned everything around for her good. Look at some of the things the bible says about that:
“At that time, Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure.”” (Ruth 3:1NET)
Did you see that? Naomi took it upon herself to make sure that Ruth, who had lost her husband at a tender age and who also was childless, was restored and established in a home of love, joy, peace and prosperity. And God made her succeed. So, Ruth became an ancestor of David and also of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Cf. Ruth 3-4)
But why did Naomi take it upon herself to do that for Ruth? The reason was that Ruth herself had been good to her. Apart from the fact that Ruth had come to know the God of Israel as the true God and had wanted to serve Him for the rest of her life, she also had compassion of Naomi, who had lost her two sons and who also had no grandchild to take care of her. That was why she stayed with her when they came back to the land of Israel and was taking care of her, instead of immediately going to remarry. And since Naomi herself was not selfish, it was not long at all before she began to work on making Ruth too happy again.
What is the point of this, then? It is that by being genuinely helpful to the people in our lives that truly need help, we may just be clearing the way for our own lives to be established in peace and prosperity. The people we are helping may not look like those who can contribute anything significant to our success and peace of mind in life, just like Naomi did not look like someone that had anything good to contribute to the life of Ruth. In fact, she herself told Ruth before they left the land of Moab that she had nothing good to offer her again. Yet Ruth followed her. Why? She was not thinking about what the woman could do for her but about what she could do to make life easy for her. But as God would have it, it was Naomi that eventually led her to a home of peace, joy and abundance of all good things.
So, don’t close your eyes to what God is showing you about those around you that you can help, those that you can make life easier for. These may be some elderly people around, some children in the neighborhood, some family members or church members or some colleagues at work or in school. Whoever they may be, take advantage of whatever opportunity God is giving you to make life easier for them. That is because you may not know how God can use what you are doing for them to make life easy for you too, now or in the future.
Then, if God is using anybody to make life easy for you, don’t be selfish in relating to them. Don’t focus only on what you are gaining from them. You too should think of what they can gain from you. Think of what you also can do to make life easy for them. Otherwise, at some point, God may close the door of the help you are getting through them. And that may hurt you terribly. So, be concerned about the welfare of all those who are concerned about your welfare. And may God continually fill your life with rest. Amen.
By: J.O. Lawal Date: October 21, 2026 Series: Youth for Jesus Number: Vol. 9, No. 23
“All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new.” (Acts 17:21 NET)
Those were Luke’s words about the people living in Athens during his time, the time that he was accompanying Paul the apostle on his apostolic missions. And what do we learn from his comment about those people? It is that there is nothing new under the sun.
Solomon, in that wonderful book of his, Ecclesiastes, declares to us that there is nothing new under the sun. And by that, he is not referring to new technologies or inventions; rather, he is referring to new happenings or occurrences. Yet people have never stopped looking forward to hearing or seeing something new that is happening under the sun. (Cf. Ecclesiastes 1:9–10)
As we see in our opening text, the Athenians and the foreigners living among them during Paul and Luke’s time were always busy seeking to hear and to speak about the new things happening in their world. And that was because they failed to realize that there was nothing happening during their time that was totally strange or entirely new. Everything they were hearing and witnessing had happened before. If they had been doing their research well, they would have known that and stopped wasting valuable time, energy and resources on promoting old and stale news.
In like manner, many of us today have cultivated the Athenian habit. We daily waste much valuable time, energy and resources on seeking to hear or see something new that is happening under the sun. And there are many platforms that are aiding us in doing so. These platforms, of course, were not created by their owners to aid a waste of our time, energy and resources. On the contrary, they were created to make the handling of our lives, affairs, relationships and businesses easier for many of us.
But like the people of Athens of that time, many of us have reduced every platform given to us to a tool for wasting valuable time, energy and resources on discussing ancient issues that are wearing modern attire. What, then, are we going to gain from doing so? We will not gain anything that those who first did what we are now doing did not gain.
So, though there are many platforms through which you can be loaded with all kinds of so-called strange happenings or new revelations, choose not to use any of them to waste your time, energy or resources on anything that is not edifying. Instead, always think of how you can use every platform available to you as an opportunity to make life easier, better and more profitable for you and others in your world.
Now, indeed, some things may appear new or strange to you. That, however, does not mean that they are actually strange. You are the one who is just finding out about them. Therefore, even in dealing with such things, your focus should always be how profitable they can be to you. And if you cannot see them as profitable in any serious sense, waste no time in discarding them. And may God continually keep you from wasting your life on irrelevances or non-essentials. Amen.
SUNDAY 18TH OCTOBER 2026 – RECEIVING THROUGH SERVANTS OF GOD
I want to further and briefly share with us on ‘Receiving through servants of God’. We have actually digressed a little into looking at some other ways through which we may receive from God. The first thing I pointed out is that we can only receive what God has provided. Anything God has not provided, we cannot receive. Our faith cannot lay claim to something that God has not provided. So, when we are talking about receiving from God, our focus must be on receiving from Him what He has provided. That is why we need to be educated in the knowledge of God’s provisions for us. And we must keep that in mind.
Then we looked at a number of ways through which we can receive from God. As I pointed out, we can receive from God through prayer. We can also receive from God by declaring His word, saying the same thing in agreement with Him. Then, last week, we looked at something else about receiving from God, which has to do with seeking out God’s provisions.
I will read to you again from Matthew 7:7, which says:
“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.” (NIV)
Now Jesus is not saying the same thing using different phrases or words in this text. Rather, He is saying different things. He is showing us different ways to receive from God, what we may call ‘Receiving dimensions’. First, He speaks about asking, which has to do with praying to receive what God has provided. Then He speaks about seeking, which has to do with going out to lay claim to what God has provided for you. And there is a third thing, which is knocking. He says the one who knocks will have the door opened to him. So, knock, and the door will be opened to you.
When do you need to knock? It is when you want to gain access to something, and you realize that the door to access that thing has been shut. That is when you need to knock. You may have the right to the place that you want to enter, but as long as the door is locked, what do you do to gain access? You knock. Even if you do not have the right to access the place that you want to enter, when you get there and find the door locked, what do you do? You knock!
So, we knock when we believe that what we need is behind a closed door. This shows us something about God’s provisions: there are provisions of God for us that are behind some closed doors. If we are to access those provisions, we must knock on those doors. There are opportunities that God wants us to take advantage of that are behind some closed doors. If we want to take advantage of those opportunities, then we must knock on those doors.
Now we have an assurance from God that if we knock, the door will be opened to us. What we need to understand, then, is those cases in which we need to knock. I think I should dwell on this aspect this morning because of the little time that we have.
See, there are times that we stand in front of open doors and we are still expecting God to open them. So, it is not every time that people are expecting God to open certain doors for them that God actually needs to open those doors. The reason is that those doors are already open. They are standing before open doors; it is just that they do not know. And where you are standing before an open door and you do not know, it does not matter what you say or what you do, what God has provided for you will not be yours, unless you go in and take it.
Let me give you some Scriptures to validate that:
Revelation 3: The Church in Philadelphia In Revelation chapter 3, we have a letter that the Lord Jesus Christ wrote to the church in Philadelphia. From verse 7, it says:
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut…” (Revelation 3:7-8NIV)
The Lord is bringing this church a word, which is that He has already placed before them an open door which no one can shut. Will they, then, need to knock on that door? No. Why? It is already open. And the Lord is drawing their attention to the fact that the door has already been opened.
Now we may not know what door the Lord is referring to here. But I am sure that when the members of that church received the letter, they understood what the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking about. He was telling them that He had already opened a door for them which no one could shut. So what they must do was enter, because there was already an open door for them.
1 Corinthians 16: Paul at Ephesus Let us look at another example from the Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 16, from verse 8. This is worth noting.
“But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” (1Corinthians 16:8-9NIV)
Paul is informing the brethren in Corinth that a great door for effective ministry has opened to him in Ephesus. Therefore, he has chosen to remain there to take advantage of that open door. You see that Paul needed to know that there was an open door; otherwise, he would not have made any effort to take advantage of it. He was not praying that God would open a door for him. It was not by knocking that God would open a door for him. The door was already open. It was up to him to enter and make the most of it.
Hebrews 3: The Door of God’s Rest Now let me give you an additional example from Hebrews chapter 3, from verse 15.
“As has just been said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’ Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:15-19NIV)
This is a reference to what happened to the children of Israel whom Moses brought out of the land of Egypt to take into the Promised Land. When they got to the threshold of the Promised Land, they were unwilling to enter. Why? They were unwilling to enter because they did not know, or did not believe, that God had opened the door for them.
God wanted them to have rest. We are talking about a door of God’s rest here. They had been in Egypt for decades, in fact centuries, of suffering. But God, by His mighty hand, led them out of Egypt so that they could enter the place of rest He had prepared for them. For them to enter that place of rest, God needed to open the door to the place. And God did that. He opened the door for them to enter the Promised Land. But they were unwilling to enter. They did not believe that the door had been opened for them.
So, there was an open door for them to enter into God’s rest, but they would not use it, because they did not believe that it had been opened. Why did they not believe? They were afraid of what was behind the door: the giants. They did not even think that God could open that door for them to take the land. So when it was time for them to enter the land, they would not enter it. Therefore, God swore that none of them would enter His rest. So they all wasted away in the wilderness.
The Point What is the point I am making? When Jesus is talking about knocking on doors, it is not every door that is locked. It is not every door of God’s provisions for us that is locked and that we need to knock on. There are doors that have already been opened for us.
Of course, we may need divine revelations to know that certain doors have been opened for us, which is why, of necessity, we must continually pray that God will open our eyes to see those doors that He has already opened, so that we can begin to take appropriate steps to take advantage of them. Can you relate what I am talking about?
I am saying this because a lot of times we find God’s people praying that God will open certain doors for them, doors which are already open. And if a door is open right before you and you are still asking God to open it, how do you expect Him to respond? The best He can do is to open your eyes to see. As He said to the church in Philadelphia, “See, I have placed before you an open door which no one can shut.”
So I want you to keep this in mind this morning: you may have certain doors that you have been knocking on, expecting God to open them. They may be doors of favor, doors of opportunity, doors of rest or doors of promotion. Now you need to find out whether those doors are actually shut or not. If they are not shut and you are expecting God to open them, you are wasting your time. Hebrews 4:16: The Door of Grace Maybe I can add one more point before I close. In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16, we are told:
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
There is an open door here. What God is saying is that anytime you need grace, anytime you need mercy, you will find an open door for it. He says, come boldly, because the door is wide open. If you are waiting for God to open a door of mercy for you, you are wasting your time, because that door is open. Your part is to go inside and take it.
For somebody who needs salvation: the door of salvation is wide open. You do not need to be knocking on the door of salvation for God to open it, because it is already wide open. What God wants you to do is to come inside and take salvation.
So there are doors that are already open before us, and my prayer is that God will open our eyes to see those doors, so that we can go in and begin to make the most of what is ours, what God has already provided for us.
But since Jesus says, “Knock, and the door will be opened to you,” it means that there are doors that have not been opened. And we need to knock on them; otherwise they will remain shut. We have a guarantee that if we knock on those doors, they will be opened for us. But we must do the knocking, for we cannot open them ourselves.
If you have the key to a door, you do not need to knock; all you do is open it and go inside. But if you do not have the key, unless you want to break the door, you cannot go in without having the door opened for you. And if you break into a place that you have no authority to enter, what will you be regarded as? A thief! A burglar! And you will be given the treatment of a burglar.
Well then, since there are doors that are shut, we have a duty to knock on them. But we also need to know which doors are shut and need our knocking. When we know them, we know it is our duty to knock, and we can begin to knock and expect God to open them for us. Is that clear this morning?
Let us bow our heads and thank God: We ask, O God, that you open our eyes to see those doors that you have opened for us, doors of your provisions, so that we may go in and begin to make the most of your provisions for us. Amen.
Keynote Not every door needs a knock. Some are already open, and the need is not to ask God to open them, but to ask Him to open our eyes to see them and then walk in. Knock only on doors that are truly shut, and trust that every such door will open.
• Receive only what God has provided, so know His provisions. • Asking, seeking and knocking are three distinct ways of receiving. • Open doors need entering, not knocking: Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-8), Paul at Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8-9), grace and salvation (Hebrews 4:16). • Israel failed to enter the open door of rest through unbelief and fear (Hebrews 3:15-19). • For doors that are shut, knock, and the promise stands (Matthew 7:7)
Series: From Pastor’s desk Number: Vol. 15, No. 25
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is with great delight that I welcome you to another week of the month of October 2026. I pray that God will daily renew you in strength to faithfully carry out all the good works He has recreated you to do, so that you may have your reward from Him in full. Amen.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he says this to us:
“For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.” (Eph 2:10NET)
What did God recreate us for, as we see in this bible text? He recreated us to do the good works that He prepared ahead of time for us to do. So, there are good works God will want each of us to do with our time here on earth. And do we know them? If we don’t know them, we must begin to pray to Him to daily fill our hearts with revelations about them, so that we may devote ourselves to doing them.
Why is this important? It is important because God will only reward us on the basis of the good works He has assigned to each of us. He will not reward us on the basis of the good works He has not assigned us to do. In fact, we can only meet with frustration and failure, if we should attempt to do any good work He has not assigned us to do. It is only those good works He has assigned us to do that we can expect to succeed at and be rewarded for. So, it is important that each of us know all the good works God will want him to do on a daily basis. That way, we can give ourselves to doing them.
But then, knowing the good works God will want us to do is not enough; we also have to be eager to do them. It is when we are eager to do the good works that He wants us to do that we will be motivated to study the Scriptures about them and to also pray to succeed at doing them. And one of the reasons God has purified us in Christ Jesus is that we may be eager to do good works. Look at what Paul says about this:
“He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good.” (Titus 2:14NET)
Did you see that? The purification work of the Spirit of God in our lives ought to take care of any form of indifference that may be in us towards doing the will of God. So, if you realize that you are not eager to serve God or to do good to others around you, or if you are always complaining or making excuses anytime you are called upon to do something good for others, it may be that you are stubbornly hindering the work of the Holy Spirit in you. That is because there is no way He will be fully at work in you and you will not always be eager to do any good work that God may call upon you to do, whether in your family, neighbourhood, school, office, church or anywhere you find yourself.
In any case, the point I am making is that it is only those who are eager to do good that the Spirit of God will find it easy to lead to do all the good works God will want them to do here on earth. If you, then, are lacking in eagerness to do good, you should begin to pray that the Spirit of God will rid your life of all forms of lack of enthusiasm to do good. That way, you too can be led to begin to do all the good works God will have you do before your time here on earth is done. And when you stand before Him in His eternal kingdom, great will be your reward.
“When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp, bringing with her camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.” (2 Chron. 9:1-2 NET)
What made the Queen of Sheba leave her country to come to Solomon? It was the news she had heard about him. She had heard that Solomon was a wise king, wiser than all the other wise men of his time. And how would she know whether what she had heard was true? It was by coming to challenge his wisdom and see if he would live up to the reputation he had among many at the time.
Now, did Solomon live up to the reputation he had among the people of that time? He did. As we see in our opening text, there was no question the Queen of Sheba asked him that was too difficult or complex for him to answer. He answered all her questions. Look at how her reaction is reported in the Bible:
“She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight was true! I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! Your wisdom surpasses what was reported to me.”” (2 Chron. 9:5-6 NET)
Did you see that? Solomon did not fail the test of reputation given to him by that woman. In fact, he surpassed her expectations. Why was that so? It was so because he was not living a lie. Solomon was not trying to act wise or to prove himself wiser than others. He was actually extremely wise. So he naturally and consistently said wise things and did wise things. Anyone who had interacted with him was bound to report him as an unusually wise person.
Also, Solomon did not fail that woman’s test of reputation because he would not encourage anybody to flatter him or to feed people propaganda about him. Therefore, most of those who spoke of his wisdom and greatness understated things. That was why the Queen of Sheba was even more surprised when she came to challenge him with difficult questions. What lessons, then, are there in all this for us? It is that whatever reputation we desire to have, or are laboring to have, among people will surely be challenged at one point or another. And it may not be challenged by those we expect or at the time we expect. Will it, then, prove to be true or false?
Well, that will depend on whether we have been true in the way we live or whether we have been living a lie. If we have been true in the way we live, and have not been painting a false image of ourselves for the world, we will be free to be ourselves, regardless of whom we may be relating to. But if we have been living a lie, the true test of our reputation will come from strangers. They are the ones who will expose us as frauds when we are least prepared.
So, if you want to maintain a good reputation, you had better not be living a lie. Instead, like Solomon, be consistently true to your character, regardless of whom you are relating to. That way, wherever your name is mentioned, it is the same thing everyone will be saying about you.
Title: Eye serviceBy: J.O. LawalDate: October 11, 2026Series: From Pastor’s deskNumber: Vol. 15, No. 24
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours immeasurably from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of the month of October 2026. My prayer is that God will daily strengthen your heart to function with sincerity of mind in every situation you may find yourself, whether people are looking or not, so that your life will always cause people to praise His holy name. Amen.
Why did Potiphar make Joseph the administrator of everything he had, apart from his wife? The reason was that he was someone that could be trusted to do what was right, whether someone was watching him or not.
That means Joseph was not a man given to eye-service. Rather, he was someone that would do what was right and profitable for his master, not only in his presence but also in his absence. No wonder everything his master had flourished under his care. (Cf. Gen 39:1-6)
Now that is the kind of person God wants each of His children to be. He wants us to be individuals that the people in our lives can trust to do what is right, whether they are there with us or not. Look at the following Scriptures:“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.” (Phil 1:27NIV)
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.” (Col 3:22-25NIV)
What are these Scriptures telling us? They are telling us to be people that both God and man can trust to do what is right in whatever situation we are, whether we are being watched or not. Why? The reason is that it is only those who live in this manner that will eventually have the praise of God, even if they do not have the opportunity to occupy any great position in this current life.
Now am I that kind of person that God and people can trust to do what is right and good in all my relationships, whether I am being watched or not? Are you too that kind of person? Can those that we are living with, working with, working for or in the same church trust us to always do what is right and good, whether they are with us or not? See, the world has never been in shortage of men pleasers.
So, if you are someone that is not given to eye service but who will always do what is good and right, whether people are watching or not, the people relating to you will always consider themselves blessed. That is because they will know that they do not need to worry about anything that is placed under your care – you will handle it with utmost diligence.
But if are one given to eye service, it will not be long before the people around you discover you for what you really are. And though they may not publicly condemn you, they will keep it in mind that you will never represent them well in any matter unless they are there. How that, then, will affect you is not what anyone can say.
Therefore, begin to deliberately pray to God to rid your life of everything that has to do with eye-service and strengthen your heart to always be sincere and diligent. That way, you will be able to attain those heights that He wants you to reach in life.
Date: October 07, 2026 Series: Youth for Jesus Number: Vol. 9, No. 21
“He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.'” He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.'” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.” (Gen 32:17-21NIV)
Who gave his servants the instructions we have in our opening text? It was Jacob. And on what occasion did he give them the instructions? He gave them the instructions when he was planning to meet his twin and elder brother, Esau, having been away from home for about twenty years.
Now why did he give his servants such very specific instructions? As we see in the account, the reason was that he was looking for a way to pacify Esau. And why did he need to pacify the man? The reason was that they did not part ways on a good note when he left the house.
As bible accounts go, before leaving home, Jacob, with the motivation and assistance of their mother, had used trick to take the blessing that their father, Isaac, had wanted to give to Esau. This, of course, made Esau so furious that he began to nurse the notion of killing him. And when their mother heard about it, he persuaded Isaac to send Jacob far away from home to his uncle, Laban. So, in a sense, one could say that Jacob actually ran away from home because of Esau. (Cf. Gen 27&28)
But then, though about twenty years had passed since that incident, Jacob was not sure if Esau would still not want to harm him. So, when he heard that Esau was coming to him with his four hundred warriors, he had to first spend some time to pray to God about the matter for mercy. Then, on his own part, he had to think of how to pacify Esau with all kinds of gifts.
Therefore, what we have in our opening text is given to us to show something about the effort he made in pacifying his brother. And this is teaching us that if we have truly hurt people and need to make amends, we should not shy away from doing so as quickly as possible. Otherwise, even when decades have passed, the relationship we have refused to heal may still show up to threaten our peace of mind.
Another important lesson to pick from this situation is that wherever we are making effort to heal an injured relationship or to gain someone’s favour, we need to choose our words carefully. As we see in Jacob’s case, even though the gifts he prepared for Esau were quite expensive, he still needed to instruct his servants that would deliver them to choose their words carefully when addressing Esau. Look at what he said to them:
“And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’”
Did you see that? He told his servants not to make the mistake of saying to Esau, “Your brother Jacob is coming behind us.” Rather, he told them to say, “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” Why? He knew that he did not deserve to be given the treatment of a brother by Esau, for he himself did not treat him as his own brother but as a rival. If he, then, would gain his favour and mercy, calling himself his brother in that hour may be a foolish thing.
So, he chose to abase himself before him, referring to himself as his servant. And he had to make that point very clear to his servants that were taking his gifts to Esau. Otherwise, they may just make a bad situation worse through their wrong choice of words. And that is wisdom.
Now, of course, it was the mercy of God that eventually and actually ended the years of hate and bitterness that had been between these two men. But if Jacob too had not humbled himself in that situation and chosen his words carefully, he may have made it difficult for God to help him, even though he had prayed to Him.
Therefore, even if you are praying to God for mercy or favour in any situation, still learn to choose your words carefully in handling it. Otherwise, if your words do not communicate enough humility, respect and wisdom where you need favour or mercy, even God may not be able to help you. So, mind yourself.
Date: October 04, 2026 Series: From Pastor’s desk Number: Vol. 15, No. 23
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace without measure be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Redeemer. I am delighted to welcome you to the first week of the month of October 2026. My prayer is that wherever you go God will keep you from being a victim of the deceit of the false preachers of these last days. Amen.
As we are shown in the bible, the last days are days in which there will be many false preachers. And these will be used by the devil to deceive many people and turn them away from the truth. Therefore, we are given the following instructions in the bible about them:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them…” (Matt 7:15-16NIV)
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1NIV)
What are the instructions given to us in these bible texts? First, we are to watch out for false preachers. Why are we to watch out for them? The reason is that they are cunning. They will not immediately reveal their true intentions to us when they come to us. Instead, they will present themselves as people who care about us and want to see us prosper. But they are after devouring our lives through greed, sexual immorality and other acts of wickedness.
Our second instruction is to test all the preachers coming to us. Why? The reason is that we may detect the false ones among them. As we see in those bible texts, many false preachers have gone out into the world. And from where have they gone out into the world? From the church! So, before we commit ourselves to following any preacher, we are told to first test them.
How, then, do we test them? We are to test them with the word of God. The word of God is very clear about how to tell true preachers from fake ones. For instance, the word of God says that by their fruit you will know them. So, any preacher that is not bearing the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience, meekness, self-control and other acts of goodness mentioned in the bible, is not of God. And we should stay away from him.
Also, any preacher whose ministry conduct is not in agreement with what we have in the bible is not of God. And we have many of them today who do all kinds of things that are not in agreement with the word of God. They offer prayers that are contrary to the word of God. They abuse celestial beings. They sell oil, water and other things. They also practise sorcery in the name of conducting deliverance sessions for people.
Now the word of God tells us that we must stay away from such people, regardless of how great the signs, miracles and wonders they are performing may be. Otherwise, Satan will use them to ruin our lives. Also, by associating ourselves with them, we may become partakers of whatever judgment of God that comes upon them. So, stay away from false preachers. It is in your interest to do so.
