Author: Pastor J.O. Lawal

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General Post The fruit of the Spirit

Title: God wants us to bear fruit

Date: June 29, 2025

Series: Fruit bearing

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Last week, we began to look at ‘Fruit bearing in Christianity’. And I began to show us from scriptures that God wants those of us who are his children to bear fruit. We have reasons, of course, that He wants us to bear fruit, which are:

1. He chose and appointed us to bear fruit. We were recreated, chosen and recreated by Him to bear fruit.

2. We have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that puts us in a position where we can bear fruit.

3. It brings God’s glory when we bear fruit.I want you to take those three things and put them in your heart. I don’t want you to forget them.

Maybe you should say these things after me: God wants us to bear fruit because He has chosen us and appointed us to bear fruit. That’s one. Two, He wants us to bear fruit because we have a relationship with Him that puts us in that position where we can bear fruit. Three, it brings Him glory when we bear fruit. Put those three things in mind.Now we rounded off by speaking about the nature of fruit that we are meant to bear. God indeed wants us to bear fruit. But what sort of fruit does He want us to bear?

Jesus, speaking to us in St. John’s Gospel Chapter 15, tells us that God wants us to bear fruit. But we need to know what sort of fruit He wants us to bear.I gave us a suggestion. I said there are preachers who believe that when Jesus says that He has chosen and appointed us to bring forth fruit, it means that we should go out and begin to preach the good news. For them, it is as we bring souls into the kingdom of God that we are bearing fruit.

While that sounds good, it is not an explanation for what Jesus says. It is not even consistent with the body of truth that we are given in Scriptures about bearing fruit.See, it is not only in St. John’s Gospel Chapter 15 that we are told something about bringing forth fruit. There are other passages of Scriptures in which we are shown that God is expecting us to bear fruit. And we are also given instructions on the nature of fruit He wants us to bear. So, before we proceed on how to bear fruit, we need to know the nature of fruit God expects us to bear. We need to know God’s expectations.

What is God expecting of us? We need to know what sort of demands God is placing on us. Yes, we have come into a relationship with Him. But we do need to know what He expects of us.Because this is often the problem with those of us who are Christians. We are, for the most part ignorant, of what God expects of us. How does God expect us to behave? How does He expect us to function? What are the things He wants us to be doing? It’s not just about talking about living to please God. It’s so easy to talk about living to please God. It’s so easy to tell somebody, “Don’t you know you ought to be living to please God?”

But how do I live to please God? What will I be doing that will make him able to say that I am pleasing God? Jesus says, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” (John 8:29NIV)

This is coming from Jesus: The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. My emphasis is on ‘always’. He’s not just telling us that He does what pleases God. He also tells us the frequency. He says, “I always do what pleases Him.”Now I’ve asked myself if I too can say that. I love to say that. I want to say that.

I’m not sure I can say that at the moment, but I’m aiming for it. I want to get to a point in my walk with God that I will be able to say, “I always do what pleases you.” I want to be able to tell Him that you know that I always do what pleases you. He [Jesus} wasn’t guessing. There was no doubt about it. He knew that He always pleased God. Interestingly, God said the same thing about Him. God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” That means God agreed with him that He always did what pleased him.

Now how many Christians know whether they are pleasing God or not? Can you tell if the life you are living now is pleasing God? Can you tell if the things you are doing right now are pleasing God? Is it even on your heart to please Him? It is said in Scriptures about Enoch that he had this testimony that he pleased God. Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God. The man knew that he pleased God. That must have been because he knew God’s demands. He knew what God expected of him. And we too, as believers, need to know what God expects of us. We need to know how He expects us to live. We need to know how he expects us to function. So, (Cf. Hebrews 11:5)

Well, we are talking about fruit bearing and are saying that we need to know what sort of fruit God expects us to bear. And I’m saying that it has nothing to do with soul-winning or evangelizing our world. Nothing is wrong with soul-winning. Nothing is wrong with evangelizing our world. There are scriptures that point to the fact that God wants us to be reaching out with His word to those in our world. But ultimately, the results are determined by Him.

We do our bit in preaching the word of God, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. But the one who determines the results is God, not human beings. And so, when Jesus is talking about fruit bearing, He’s not dealing with preaching the good news. It’s possible for you to be preaching the good news and not be bearing the kind of fruit God wants to be here. It is possible.

Yes, as I pointed out already, since we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we are put in that position where we can bear fruit. He describes that relationship as that between a vine and its branches. It follows, then, that the sort of fruit He wants us to bear is that which is consistent with His own character.

He is the vine. We are the branches, as He puts it in St. John’s Gospel chapter 15. That being the case, the kind of fruit He expects us to bear is that which is associated with who He is, that which is associated with His character. I need to give us some scriptures. Let me start with Isaiah chapter 5. From verse 1, it says:“I will sing. I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile east side. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.

Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I’m going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its edge, and it will be destroyed. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated. And briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.

The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed, for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” (Isaiah 5:1-7NIV)

Now this is a passage talking about fruit bearing. It speaks of the vineyard of Isaiah’s beloved and all the things that his beloved did to take care of the vineyard.

Unfortunately, though he was looking for good fruits from the trees there, what was he getting? Bad fruits!Now, in explaining or in talking about what the vineyard and the fruits that it was bearing mean, what does he say? He refers to the vineyard as people, right? Then, in talking about the fruit, he refers to the fruit as character. He says, “I am looking for justice. But what do I see? Bloodshed! I am looking for righteousness. But what do I see? Cries of distress””So, here, when the Lord is talking about fruit bearing, it has to do with people’s conduct; it has to do with people’s character.

And as I give us some other passages of scriptures where fruit bearing is mentioned, you will see that they are consistent. Or let me say that Scriptures consistently point out that when God is speaking about fruit bearing, He’s talking about godly character; He’s talking about people’s character.

Let’s also look at St. Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 3. As a background, John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, came and began to preach, calling people back to God. Here are some of the things said by Luke about his ministry: “John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9NIV)

Now, in preaching to the people, what did John the Baptist say? He said produce fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, if you are coming to God, you must bring up fruit that shows that you have actually turned to God. If you call yourself a child of God, you must bring forth fruit that will show those of the world that you are indeed a child of God.If you stand before an orange tree, you don’t need to ask that tree, “Are you an orange tree or something else?” What do you need to look out for? The fruit! Jesus says a tree is recognized by its fruit.

So, if I am a child of God, I will be recognized by my fruit.And remember, in St. Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7, speaking about false prophets, Jesus says, “By their fruit, you will recognize them.” He does not say by their preaching. He does not say by their sermons. Now we don’t recognize people as children of God through their sermons.

Yes, their sermons may give us the impression that they are children of God. But that’s not the true test. If you want to know whether someone is of God or not, you are not going to be looking at the person’s sermons.

Also, you are not going to be looking at the person’s gifts. Someone may prophesy, and the prophecy will come to pass. Now you may, on account of that, mistake that person for a child of God. But the person may not be a child of God. Someone may be working miracles. And you may mistake that person for a child of God. But the person may not be a child of God. That is because even Satan can work miracles. Satan can prophesy. (Cf. 2Thessalonians 2:9)

By the way, sometimes God can borrow people to prophesy. God can use a non-believer to prophesy to you. And the unbeliever may not even know that he is prophesying. John, speaking about one of the high priests of the time of our Lord Jesus Christ, said the man prophesied. The man said, “Is it not better for one person to die for the entire country than for the whole country to perish?” And John said that he was unconsciously prophesying when he said that.

And those listening did not even know he was prophesying. But he was prophesying about the death of Jesus Christ, how He would die to save the Jews and all mankind. Interestingly, the man himself did not even know they were prophesying. So, what happened was that God borrowed his mouth for a while and used it to prophesy. (Cf. John 11:49-52)

The point is that God can borrow people and use them to do something spiritual for a while. It does not mean that they belong to him. At least Jesus speaks about those who will come to Him on the day of judgment and say, “Did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not heal the sick in your name?” Yet He will say to them, “I do not know you.” (Cf. Matthew 7:21-23)

But how can somebody prophesy in the name of Jesus and He will still tell them, “I do not know you?” And how will someone heal the sick in the name of Jesus and yet Jesus will tell the person, “I do not know you?” Do you think Jesus will not say to Judas Iscariot, “I do not know you?” Hello? Hello? Is somebody with me?Judas Iscariot lived with Jesus. He traveled with Jesus. He slept with Jesus. He ate with Jesus. He managed Jesus’ money.

Not only that, Jesus entrusted Judas with authority to preach the good news, to heal the sick, to drive out demons. And Judas wasn’t just entrusted with that authority, he used it. He went out with others and preached the good news. He went out with others and healed the sick. He went out with others and drove out demons.

Yet the Lord referred to him as the son of perdition, right?So, guess what? With my own sanctified imagination, I am considering the fact that on the day of judgment Judas will face Jesus and say, “Lord, we did all these things together.

Do you really mean that you’re sending me to hell?” Have you ever thought about that? Do you think Judas will not try to appeal to Jesus on the basis of their relationship? Would he not say, “You called me. You chose me. Remember, I managed your money. Yes, I messed up, but are you saying that all those things that we did together did not mean anything to you?”

So, bearing fruit is not about being a good preacher. It’s not about having certain spiritual gifts or healing gifts or gifts of prophecy or gifts of speaking in diverse tongues and all of that. No. It has to do with bringing forth godly character. Now what we are dealing with is a relationship. If indeed He is the vine and we are His branches, and indeed He is the vine and we are His branches, then if we are going to bring forth fruit, the fruit we will bring forth should reflect His character, not something else.

And so, here in Luke 3, John the Baptist is saying, “Don’t just say that you are turning to God. You also need to bring forth fruit that is in keeping with repentance.” Why? As he points out, the axe is already at the root of the trees. And every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Personally, I love the way the people responded to John the Baptist. They did not assume that they understood what he was saying. Yes, he was speaking to them about bringing forth fruit. He said, “You need to bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.” But they would not assume that they understood what he was talking about. So, they asked him, “What should we do then?” (Cf. Luke 3:10)

Now look at his response. He did not tell them to go and start preaching the good news. He did not tell them to go out and start winning the unbelievers and the pagans around them. What did he tell them? Look at it: “John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” (Luke 3:11NIV)

What is that? Goodness! If you belong to God, you bring forth the fruit of goodness; you bring forth the fruit of love. The one who has two shirts should give one to the one who does not have any, that is, if you have two. You can’t give what you don’t have. Since you have two, you can give one. John doesn’t say the one who has one should give to the one who doesn’t have any.

Instead, he says the one who has two should give one to the one who has none. That is goodness. That is a manifestation of love.Luke goes on in the next verse, saying, “Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.” (Luke 3:12NIV)

What is he talking about? Character! Don’t extort the people. That’s what he’s saying.So, you know, when we’re talking about fruit bearing, it has to do with character, godly character. It’s not about speaking in tongues, for instance. People would not know you as belonging to God just because you speak in tongues or just because you prophesy or because you know how to pray heavens down or because you keep your bible on your desk in your office.

If you walk to any office today and see somebody with a bible on his desk, how would you feel? I mean, naturally you should feel comfortable that I’m dealing with a Christian here. So, things should be easy. But from experience, some of us have not made things easy for those who come to us for help.

To say the fact, sometimes, when you meet those who appear to be Christians, you probably will just begin to think that you’re in for trouble. But should it be like that? No! John says, “Don’t take any more than you are required to.” This has to do with character. Don’t cheat people. Don’t oppress people. That is what he is saying.

Luke goes on in verse 14, saying, “Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”” Look at the classes of people coming to him. None of them assumed that they knew what he was talking about. Each one of them wanted to know God’s demands on their lives. You understand? What should we do? What was his answer? Look at it: “He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.”” (Luke 3:14NIV)

Did you see that? Be content with your pay. What does this have to do with? It has to do with character. So, when we’re talking about bringing forth fruit, we’re talking about exhibiting godly character where we live, where we work. It’s not about talking. Yes, there’s a place of talking about Jesus. But before we’re going to be getting opportunities to talk about Jesus, there must be something that will invite people to want to know about Him, something that will want people to want to know about him.

Writing to Titus, Paul says we can make Christianity attractive. And just as we can make Christianity attractive, we can also make Christianity unappealing. Then nobody wants to hear our sermons. Whether they are going to make sense or not, they don’t even want to hear them. Because the life we are living is not appealing. What will make the life we are living appealing is our exhibition of the character of God. (Cf. Titus 2:9-10)

So, for us as believers, we must always place great emphasis on an exhibition of godly character. It’s not enough to be born again. Being born again is just, how would I put it, a means to an end. That’s the starting point. Now the idea of saying, “Oh, I’m a Christian in the heart. God sees my heart,” doesn’t work with Christianity. If what is in your heart is good, then, it will reflect in your character. If you indeed have a relationship with the Lord, then, it will reflect in the fruit that you bear.

I ask myself, “If I have a relationship with Him indeed, it should show in the fruit that I bear. It should show in the quality of life that I live. It should show in the way I talk, in the way I behave, in the way I act. It should show.” People didn’t come to Jesus just because His sermons were great. People came to Him because His character was good too. People were glad to be around Him. Look at those people that followed Him up and down, those old men and women – they were not young like that.

Why did they follow Him like that? There’s something about His character.What is it about your character? Is it appealing? Is your character appealing? Is your way of life appealing? Is your way of life attractive to those that are around you? The way you talk, is there anybody that would like to talk the way you talk? The way you react to things, is there anybody around you that would like to react to things the way you react to things? The way you conduct yourself among people, is there anybody around you that would love to do the same? Is there anybody admiring your life? That’s the point.

If no one is admiring your life, then something is wrong. What are we dealing with? We are dealing with fruit bearing. And we are talking about the nature of fruit that God wants us to bear.

Why? We have that relationship with Him. And if indeed we have that relationship with Him, then, it should show in the quality of fruit, the nature of fruits that we bear.It’s another week. What sort of fruit are you going to bear this week where you live, where you work, where you do business, where you..

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From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: If you think you are standing firm

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 10

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be abundantly multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour. I am glad to welcome you to another week of the month of July 2025. My prayer is that God will keep you from falling into any trap set by the devil to ruin your soul. Amen.

Now is God really able to keep us from falling into traps set by the devil to destroy our lives and souls? Yes, He is! The bible says this about Him: “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24-25NIV)

Did you see that? God has the ability to keep us from falling. Not only that, He has the ability to present us to Himself without fault and with great joy. And to say the fact, if He does not keep us from falling, we will surely fall and not make it into His eternal kingdom. Also, if He does not present us to Himself without fault and with joy, we will not be able to stand before the Lord Jesus when He appears in His glory.

Therefore, we must learn to entrust ourselves to Him in prayer, daily asking Him to use His power to keep us from falling or failing Him in this world. Then we must never assume that we cannot fall because we are praying, studying Scriptures, giving and living righteous lives at the moment. That is because it is when we feel most secure in our walk of faith that we are most vulnerable to satanic attacks.

Remember that even though Jesus prayed and went without food for forty days and forty nights, Satan still came to tempt Him. And if He had not been full of the word of God and the strength of the Holy Spirit, He would have fallen and failed God.

So, regardless of how upright your life may appear to be now, always remember this Scripture: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1Cor 10:12NIV)When must we be careful not to fall? It is when we think we are standing firm. The person that knows that he is not standing firm where he is does not need anybody to tell him to be careful not to fall. He knows that if he is not careful, he will surely fall.

But the one that sees himself as secure where he is may not see any reason to be careful not to fall. That is why his fall may be too sudden for him to notice. Then there may be no remedy for him.

When did Moses miss it? It was when it looked like he already knew everything about God and could never offend Him. And when did David miss it? It was when his kingdom had been firmly secured in his hands. So, the time we need to be most careful not to fall into Satan’s traps is when everything is going on well for us in our walk with God and in our lives. And if we fail to realise this and act accordingly, the price we will pay for our arrogance may too much for us to bear. (Cf. Num 20; 2Sam 11)

All of this is why we must trust God completely to keep us from falling or failing Him, instead of assuming that we will be safe because we are devoted to prayer, the word of God, righteous living and giving.

Our trust must never be in any good thing we are doing to please God. Rather, it must always be in God Himself. Otherwise, if we are not shown mercy, we will fall where we never think we can. I pray that none of us will fall away from the place of God’s grace for us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2025, 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)

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Fire in my Bones General Post

Title: Don’t be wicked

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 8

“But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.” (Gen 38:7NIV)

Who was wicked in the Lord’s sight? It was Er. And who was Er? He was Judah’s firstborn son. Now Judah was one of the sons of Jacob. And though he could not be referred to as a very good man himself, he was the one that the blessing of the coming Messiah was given to by God through his father (Gen 49:8-12).

In any case, because Er was Judah’s son, he was someone that was supposed to know God and live in His fear. But evidently, he did not live in the fear of God at all. Instead, he was referred to as wicked. How was Er wicked? We are not told in the account. But if God says that someone is wicked, then, the person must be utterly wicked.For example, we are told this in the bible about the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas: “Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.” (1Sam 2:12NIV)

Did you see that? Even though these men were priests of God, He still regarded them as wicked. Why? They had no regard for Him. And because they had no regard for Him, they abused their positions as priests, oppressing, cheating and corrupting the people of God under their leadership. (Cf. 1Sam 2:13-36)

So, to be wicked is to act without regard for the Lord. Yes, to be wicked is to do things as though God did not exist and would not do anything whatsoever about whatever you do. But God will definitely do something about whatever each of us does. He will do something about it because He is the judge of all mankind and also possesses the power to put everyone where they belong

.If you, then, are wicked, don’t expect God to ignore your wickedness. He will not ignore it. No, He may not deal with you for your wickedness right away. But He will surely deal with it when the time is ripe. And when He does, you may not know how He will judge.

In Er’s case, God judged his wickedness with death. The man died before his father. Also, in the case of Eli’s sons, God judged them too with death. So, they died before their father. And who knows how many have died before their time because of their wickedness? Only God knows.

Well, the point I am making is don’t be wicked. Don’t treat people as if there were no God that would judge between you and them, regardless of what advantage you may have over them. Otherwise, you may just be calling for your own death before you are ready to embrace it.

Categories
General Post The fruit of the Spirit

Title: God wants us to bear fruit

Date: June 22, 2025

Series: Fruit bearing

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God, as we see in Scriptures, wants those of us who are His children to bear fruit; He wants us to bring forth fruit. Let’s turn to St. John’s Gospel, chapter 15, and look at what Jesus has to say about that. From verse 8, it says: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (NIV)

So, bringing forth fruit or our bearing fruit is to God’s glory or it brings God glory. And Jesus here says that as we bring forth fruit, we are showing ourselves to be His disciples.

Now I’m just trying to lay a foundation here. So I may not be able to take much of this, this morning. But I want you to take note of the fact that God wants us to bring forth fruit because doing so brings Him glory.Then, skip to verse 16 of the same chapter: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (John 15:16NIV)

Here again, Jesus says, you did not choose me; instead, I chose you. We did not choose Him; He chose us. So, the reason we are saved is that He chose us. The reason you are born again is that He chose you.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam did not choose God; he chose the devil. So, it’s not in the natural man to choose God. The natural man will always choose the devil, ever since he fell. But we have been saved because God chose us, because He chose us and called us to Himself.

Yes, He called us back to himself. That’s why we are now saved. And Jesus is placing His fingers on that here, saying that we did not choose Him; He chose us.Not only did He choose us, He also appointed us. Appointed us to do what? Appointed us to bear fruit! Of course, in dealing with this, we are going to be looking at:

– Why God wants us to bear fruit.- What sort of fruit He wants us to bear.

– How do we bear fruit as much as he wants us to?

– The consequences of not bringing forth fruit.

Those are the things we are going to be looking at as we are dealing with this together. And I want you to keep them in mind. Well, here, Jesus is already showing us one of the reasons He expects us to bear fruit. He expects us to bear fruit because He has appointed us to do so. So, it is consistent with God’s purpose for our lives that we bring forth fruit. He wants us to bring forth fruit. He chose us to bring forth fruit.

He appointed us to bring forth fruit. We can summarize all that by saying that we have been recreated by Him to bring forth fruit. So, we are not expected to do anything contrary because that’s what He has appointed us to do.I’ll take you back to the first few verses of the chapter. And what is said in them has to do with our relationship with Him. What I am saying is that apart from the fact that He has appointed us to bring forth fruits, we also have a relationship with Him that puts us in a position to bring forth fruit.

You know, you may be appointed to do something, but it does not mean that you have the ability to do that thing. That somebody has chosen you to do something or appointed you to do something does not mean that you have what it takes to do that thing. You may not have what it takes to do that thing. And if you do not have what it takes to do that thing, even though you have been appointed to do it, you are still going to be a failure at it.

So, though the Lord has appointed us to bring forth fruit, if we do not have what it takes to bring forth fruit, we are still going to fail. It doesn’t matter how hard we try. A lot of times people try hard to do things, yet they fail. And the question they are not asking themselves is if they have the ability to do what they are trying to do.

For instance, you hear of students who have written maybe WAEC examinations like three or four times and they are yet to make all their papers. And they are telling themselves to try harder. But see, this is not a question of how hard you try. It’s a question of ability. If you have the ability to do something, then it will be worth it to try and try to get that thing done. That is because you already have the ability to do it. Yes, maybe there are certain things that are limiting you. And you might want to deal with those things. So, in the process of trying, you are dealing with those things that are limiting you.

But if you don’t have the ability to do something, it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you can only fail. Because the ability is not there. So, if we do not have the ability to bring forth fruit, it doesn’t matter how hard we try, we won’t be able to do so.Now we may be trying to live to please God. But pleasing God is not really something that we try to do. Of course, we may tell ourselves to make effort. And there are scriptures that point to the fact that we should make effort, that we should try to do what pleases God.

But essentially, we must have what it takes to please Him. Because if we do not have what it takes to please Him, then it doesn’t matter how hard we try to please Him. We won’t be able to please Him.If I find myself struggling to do something, I don’t want to struggle harder. I want to ask myself, “Do I have the strength to do this? Do I have what it takes to do this?” Struggling harder is not the solution. Gaining sufficient strength to do it is the solution.

If you are engaged in a fight with somebody, maybe a physical fight or a physical struggle, how do you win? Now, growing up, some of us would probably have been exposed to situations in which you have to physically fight somebody. But you may fight somebody 10 times and the person will beat you 10 times. Or let’s go to the field of boxing. You can meet an opponent in a boxing ring 5 times and he will beat you 5 times. He will beat you all the time.

Why? Now if somebody is telling you, “Let’s try harder,” the person is going to get you killed. Because trying harder is not the solution. The solution is, “Do you have the ability to contend with this person?” So, if you want to contend with the person and win, you will need to gain ability; you need to gain strength; you need to gain skills.

And until you are sure that you have gained sufficient strength, sufficient skills and sufficient stamina to deal with the person in the ring, don’t bother. Because one of these days, you may die in the ring. Some months ago, there was a Nigerian boxer that died. He died in the ring. And as I was reading the review, it was said that he had been told that he was not medically fit for that fight.

So, he was not supposed to be in the ring in the first place. If fact, he had already cancelled the fight. But they increased the money he would get, if he should fight. They told him, “Okay, what if we pay you additional money, will you still fight.”

Now I can’t remember the money that was added to what he was supposed to be paid. But he agreed to the fight. And I watched the clip, how he died. It wasn’t that he took any serious hits. He just staggered and fell down at some point. And the rest is now history.

So, I’m saying that living to please God is not a function of trying to please him. It’s a function of having the ability to do so. And I’m saying that in the light of what we are looking at. Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bring forth fruit.”

And I’m saying that must mean that we have what it takes to bring forth fruit. If we do not have what it takes to bring forth fruit, even though He’s appointed us to bring forth fruit, we won’t be able to bring forth fruit. But thankfully, we have what it takes to bring forth fruit because we have a relationship, a relationship with Him that puts us in the position to bring forth the kind of fruit that He’s asking us to bring forth.

We’re still going to look at the kind of fruit He wants us to bring forth, maybe not this morning, but we’re going to look at it. But let’s first of all look at what He says about our relationship with Him, that relationship that places us in the position to bring forth fruit, the kind of fruit that He wants us to bring forth.

So, let us go back to verse 5, the same gospel and the same chapter. And it says:“I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5NIV)

Now the Lord is describing our relationship with him here. And how does he describe it? He refers to himself as the vine and to us as the branches.

That’s our relationship. The branches are a part of the vine, right? And what part of the vine brings forth fruit? What part of any tree brings forth fruit? The branch! So, the branch is a part of the tree, an inseparable part of the tree, to put it that way. And it is the part of the tree that brings forth fruit. If it is not in the tree, it doesn’t have a relationship with it. So, it cannot bring forth fruit. But as long as it’s in the tree, the tree supplies it with everything that it needs to bring forth fruit.

So, the reason branches bring forth fruit is that they are part of the tree. They don’t struggle to bring forth fruit. They are not supposed to try to bring forth fruit. They only need to be a part of the tree to bring forth fruit. Can you relate to what I’m talking about? And the Lord is saying that He is the vine and we are the branches.

So, we are a part of Him.We talk all the time about being in Christ. What does that even mean to you? When you tell yourself that you’re in Christ or when you say to others, “I am in Christ,” what does it mean to you? This is what it should mean to you: that you have a relationship with Him; that you are connected to Him; that He is your source and you are drawing from him.

Now because He is your source, there are things that you should naturally do. There are things that the doing of them should be natural for you. Bearing fruit should be natural for us. It should not be something that we’ll struggle to do. It should not be something that we’ll fight to do. It is something that should be natural for us. That is because we have a relationship. We have a relationship with the Lord that places us in that position where we can naturally bring forth fruit. But there are reasons He wants us to bring forth fruit. And He gives us two of them here [in John 15:5&16]:

– He has appointed us to do so.

– We have a relationship with Him that enables us to do so.

But then, before we begin to look at how to take advantage of that relationship to bring forth fruit, we need to know what sort of fruit He expects us to bear.

Because here He tells us that it brings God glory when we bring forth much fruit. But what sort of fruit? You know, I’ve heard this from several preachers: When Jesus says that He has chosen us and appointed us to bring forth fruit, He means that we are to be evangelizing. In other words, they are saying that the fruit He’s referring to has to do with soul winning, bringing people into the kingdom.

But before I really considered Scriptures carefully to see what they said about this matter, I always had issues with that reasoning. It just sounded somehow to me. It didn’t sound good in my ears. Well, the first thing we need to consider is that the only person that can save any soul is God Himself. None of us can save any soul God has not saved. So, it is not your preaching that will save people; it is God that will save them.

Yes, He may use your preaching to save them. But ultimately, He is the one that saves people. He is the one that makes people have faith to be saved. And if He does not make them have faith to be saved, it doesn’t matter how grand your sermon is, it won’t result in their salvation. So, we can’t save anybody. You cannot save anybody. I cannot save anybody. I do not have the power to save anybody. The word of God is very clear about that.

Now that’s one of the reasons Christians are warned not to marry unbelievers. Don’t have it in mind that you are going to change the person. Don’t have it in mind that, by the time the person is exposed to your faith, he’s going to have a changed mind. You do not have the power to change anybody’s mind. The only one with the power to change people’s minds is God. And He has not succeeded yet in changing people’s minds.

I mean, there are millions of people, billions of people in the world today. How many of them has God succeeded in changing their mind? God possesses all power, yet He’s not been able to employ that power to save everybody, to get everybody to be born again. So, what makes you think you can get anybody born again through your preaching? You can’t. That is God’s job.Well, I’m saying that when Jesus is talking about bringing forth fruit, He’s not referring to soul winning; He’s not referring to evangelizing.

Now that’s not to say that He doesn’t want us to evangelize. That’s not to say that He doesn’t want us to preach the gospel. He wants us to preach the gospel, based on the ability [and opportunities] that He has given to each of us. But the main thing, the main thing He’s asking us to do is to bear fruit. And the truth is that when we understand the nature of fruit He wants us to bear, and we are bearing it abundantly, we have no problems at all in saving souls. I’m telling you:

we’ll be making it easy for Him, very easy for Him to save souls, to bless lives, if we are bearing in abundance the fruit He wants us to bear.So, first, we need to know what sort of fruit He wants us to bear. Because if we do not know what sort of fruit He wants us to bear, then, we can’t tell whether we are bearing it or not.

Are you following my point? But let me just say this before I close, because my time is already up: He refers to Himself as the vine and we as the branches. So, if we are to bring forth fruit, think about it yourself, what sort of fruit do you think we should naturally bring forth? It makes sense to say we should naturally bring forth the fruit of His character, right?

So, when He’s asking us to bring forth fruit, He’s simply talking about bringing forth the fruit of His own character, the fruit of who He is. In other words, we are to manifest his character.Remember that it’s also Jesus that says a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 12:33).

A tree is known by its fruit, not just by the leaves. A tree is not a mango tree just because it looks like a mango tree. If it is not bringing forth mangoes, at some point, you’re going to change your mind about it. Think about it. If you look at a tree that’s naturally supposed to bring forth mangoes and you start seeing oranges on the tree, are you not going to think that something is wrong somewhere?

So, when He’s saying that we are to bring forth fruit, having already shown us our relationship with Him, we should know that the kind of fruit He’s talking about has to do with His own character. He’s asking us to bring forth fruit that is consistent with His character.

Now I don’t want to press this further than that this morning. But I believe that, up to this point, you understand what I’m trying to share with you, right? Let’s bow our heads and thank God for His word.

Categories
From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: Only He has the power of perfection

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 9

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the transition week between the months of June and July 2025.

My prayer is that God will perfect all that concerns your life, as we move into the other half of the year in the week. Amen.

David, in one of his psalms, says, “The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” (Ps 138:8NKJV)

Who will perfect that which concerns David? The Lord! Why? The reason is that only He possesses the power of perfection. And if He does not perfect that which concerns our lives, there is nothing we do to perfect our lives that will work.

Do we, then, need perfection in any area of our lives? If we do not know or think that we need perfection in any area of our lives, we will not desire it or go for it. David, for instance, could see that he needed perfection in certain areas of his life when he wrote this psalm.

Truly, God had given him a position of honour, peace of mind, good health and wealth. Yet he could see that there were things in his life, home and kingdom that needed to be set right and perfected. And instead of worrying about these things or trying to fix them himself, he entrusted them to God, saying, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.”

In like manner, we too must first acknowledge the things that need perfection in our lives, regardless of how good things may be going for us at the moment. Otherwise, we will not see the need to entrust them to God, the only one with the power of perfection. Then, when we have identified those things that need perfection in our lives, we should not try to handle them with our wisdom or strength. Instead, we should hand them over to God.

Why should we do that? The reason, as I pointed out already, is that we do not have the power of perfection. Only God has it. And if we try to play God in perfecting those things concerning our lives, however simple those things may be, we will soon see that we have made bad situations worse for ourselves.

Remember King Jeroboam.Remember that it was God that ordained him as king over the nation of Israel. But when he saw certain things that could affect his rule, he did not turn to God to perfect what He had started in his life. Instead, he resorted to his own wisdom. Therefore, he brought destruction upon himself, his household and the nation as a whole. (Cf. 1Kings 11-14)

Now I pray that we will not bring destruction on ourselves or others around us in our attempt to perfect the things that concern our lives. But we must learn to commit our lives and affairs to God in prayer for their perfection. That is because He cares about us and also possesses the power to perfect all that concerns us.

Have a splendid week.

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Change the content

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 7

“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matthew 12:34-35NIV)

Those are the words of our Lord Jesus to us on how to be good people or bad people. And how do I become either a good person or a bad one? It is all about what I deposit or invest in my life.As our Lord asks in our opening text, “How can someone who is full of poison say or do anything good?” It is not possible. That person will have to change the content of his life for that to happen.

Otherwise, regardless of how hard he tries, he can never say anything good, unless, of course, God borrows his mouth for a moment.So, do you want to be a good person, in word and in conduct, begin to store goodness in your life.

Yes, begin to deliberately load yourself with words, thoughts and images of goodness. And you can do that by exposing yourself continually to the word of God. That is because His word is the word of goodness. And if you feed on it long enough, it will fill you with sufficient power of goodness to recreate your heart and also your conduct. Then you will find yourself unconsciously and naturally exhibiting and promoting goodness.

In like manner, if you really want to be or remain a bad person, you just need to feed yourself long enough with bad words, thoughts and images. And before you know it, everyone around you will have no doubt whatsoever about the fact that you are Satan’s firstborn. That is because you will be utterly bad and corrupt.

But then, I also need to say that even if you do not want to be a bad person but a good one, as long as you keep feasting on bad and useless words, thoughts and images, you will not be able to stop yourself from being a bad, corrupt and useless person. It is just what it is.

Similarly, even if you do not want to be a good person but a bad one, as long as you continue to feed on the word of God’s goodness, filling yourself with good thoughts and images through it, you won’t be able to help yourself from manifesting goodness.

So, whether your life will manifest goodness or evil all depends on the content of your heart. What, then, do you want in manifestation in your life, goodness or evil? Well, all you need is to change the content of your heart accordingly. My counsel, nevertheless, is that you change the content to what is good.C

heers!

Categories
From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: Do not harden your heart

Series: From Pastor’s Desk|Number: Vol. 14, No. 8

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of June 2025. My prayer is that your ears will never be deaf to whatever the Spirit of God is saying to you, so that you will always be safe in living the life God wants you to live. Amen.

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 3, we are given this admonition: “So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”” (Heb 3:7-8NIV) Who is speaking to us here? The Holy Spirit! And what is He saying to us? He is telling us that as long as it is called today, we should not harden our hearts when God is talking to us. In other words, we should not insist on doing our own thing, when God has already told us what He wants us to do. 

Now why should we not harden our hearts, when God is speaking to us? The reason is that doing so will surely result in disgrace, pain or destruction for us. Remember what is said in the bible about the Pharoah that would not let the children of Israel go and worship God. It is said that this king hardened his heart and would not do what God commanded. He continually turned deaf ears to what God was saying to him. And how did that end for him and his people? It ended very badly. (Cf. Ex 8:15&32)

But then, someone may say, “But it was God Himself that hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Why, then, should anybody blame him?” It is true that God hardened the man’s heart. And why did He do that? First, it was because the man himself was never ready to listen to what God had to say. That is showing us that our unwillingness to listen to what God is saying to us can only result in the hardening of our hearts. That means each time we choose to turn a deaf ear to what God is saying to us, our hearts will become more hardened to His truth. Then it will become more and more difficult for us to repent and save ourselves from His judgment. (Cf. Ex 9:12; Ex 10:20&27)

Another reason God hardened Pharaoh’s heart was to teach us that only He has the power to make people repent. And if He does not use this power to make them repent, there is nothing that is said to them or done for them that will make them repent. Remember that each time God’s judgment came on Egypt because of Pharaoh’s stubbornness, he would ask Moses to plead with Him for him and his people. But the moment he experienced some relief, he would harden his heart again. 

So, experiencing God’s goodness or mercy in great ways is not enough to make anyone listen to Him. He Himself has to work on our hearts to make us listen to what He is saying to us. Otherwise, even if He puts us in Eden, as He did with Adam and Eve, we will still harden our hearts against Him and force Him to drive us out of there.

All of this is why, as you go this week, learn to make it your prayer everyday that God will keep you from hardening your heart against whatever He is saying to you. That way, you will always be safe to enjoy His goodness and mercy in life. 

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2025, 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: Act your part

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 8, No. 6

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31NIV)

Who said these words? It was the father of the prodigal son that said them. And who did he say them to? He said them to his elder son?Now why did he say these words to the young man? The reason was that he was complaining that he was not being fairly treated by him.

Look at what he actually said to him:”But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ (Luke 15:29-31NIV)

What do we see from this young man’s protest to his father? We see anger. We see frustration. We also see bitterness. But should he have been angry, frustrated and bitter in this sense? No! Why, then, were these things present in his life? They were present there because he would not live in the consciousness of who he was. They were present there because he would not act his part as the elder son of his father and heir to everything the man had.He, as he pointed out to his father, had been slaving himself for him for years.

In other words, he had been doing all kinds of jobs for the man, including those meant for servants or slaves. But who asked him to act like that? Was it his father? It could not have been his father.Truly, he was meant to obey his father in everything good and right. But he was not meant to do that as a slave but as a son. In other words, he was to do whatever his father asked him to do, not with the consciousness of someone being used but with the consciousness of one that would in the long run enjoy the fruit of all that he was doing.

Mind you, as his younger brother pointed out when he came back to his senses, even their father’s servants were living in some measure of luxury (Luke 15:17). Therefore, neither of them had any legitimate reason to be living like a slave.

Unfortunately, he did not fully appreciate this. So, he would not act his part and enjoy himself as a son and heir to all that their father had. Instead, he was waiting for his father to command him to enjoy what already belonged to him before he would do so.

But he, unlike his foolish younger brother, had the training, discipline and wisdom needed to enjoy his inheritance. All he needed was to appreciate the fact that all that his father had belonged to him, especially since his younger brother had already received his own share of the inheritance, and act accordingly. But he would not learn the need to act his part until his foolish and reckless brother came back home and was treated to a great celebration by their father with part of his own inheritance.

In like manner, until certain people begin to enjoy in very unusual ways the benefits of our relationship with God or our relationships with some people, we may not wake up to the need to cherish what God has done for us or given to us. And where that is the case, the best thing for us to do is not to get angry, bitter or frustrated. That will only make a bad situation worse. Instead, it is to begin to act our part in such relationships and stop denying ourselves the enjoyment of what is ours.

So, start acting your part as a child and heir of God in every situation you find yourself. Yes, lay claim on everything that God has already said is yours without hesitation or fear, in the name of His Son Jesus. And it will be yours to enjoy. Then start acting your part in all your relationships with people.

Yes, fully act your part as a father, mother, husband, wife, child, sister, brother, church member, employer, employee, neighbour or citizen, as the case may apply. And may God readily bring about circumstances that will wake you up to begin to act your part in all your relationships, so that you may fully enjoy all that God has provided for your enjoyment through them. Amen.

Cheers!

Categories
Fire in my Bones General Post Youth for Jesus

Title: Recognising your comforters

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 7

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 June 2025. My prayer is that you will receive full comfort of the Spirit of God wherever you are hurting or downcast in your life. Amen.

Now one of the ways God comforts us in our moments of trials or challenges is by sending people to do things for us that will comfort us. For instance, Paul says this to the Corinthians about how God comforted them when they were in Macedonia: “For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn — conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” (2Cor 7:5-6NIV)

Did you see that? Paul was very clear about the fact that things were not easy for him and his companions at all when they were preaching the gospel in Macedonia. They were harassed and troubled everywhere they turned. That means they were always on the edge of trouble. So, fear was not far from them at all.How, then, did God take care of them during that period, so that they did not lose their mind and give up? It was by sending Titus, another ministry companion of theirs, to them. And what did Titus do when he came to them? Paul does not say in the account. But he does tell us that God comforted them through the coming of the man.

So, though they had been downcast before he came, they were comforted and refreshed in their spirits by his coming.In like manner, God can send people into our lives to comfort and lift us up in our trials. But are we going to recognise them? If Paul had not recognised Titus as the comforter sent by God to comfort and lift them up in Macedonia, would he not have missed his comfort? He would have missed it.

Yes, he and the others may have been praying to God for comfort from all their trials at the time. But if they had not recognised the one sent by God to comfort them, if they had simply seen his coming as an unnecessary burden, they would have missed the answer to their prayer.So, it is one thing for God to send us comforters in answer to our prayers; it is another thing to recognise them and allow them to comfort us. One of the reasons many of God’s people don’t enjoy comfort in their lives as they should is that they don’t recognise the people He has sent to comfort them.

Why? One main reason is that these people have their own weaknesses as well. Therefore, they can have behaviour that will irritate or anger or mislead others. And if we focus only on those wrong things in their lives, we may end up ignoring, abusing or even corrupting them and miss the comfort God has sent them to give to us.All of this is why we should learn to pray that God will always enable us to recognise those He is sending to our lives to comfort and lift us up, so that we will relate to them appropriately and fully enjoy their comfort. And may you be strengthened to daily take this seriously, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2025, 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: Responding to threats

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 6

“But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” (Nehemiah 4:7-9NIV)

Why were Sanballat and his associates angry that the Jews of their time were making progress in repairing the walls of Jerusalem? They were angry because they would no longer be able to profit from the miseries of those Jews as they used to. And there are still people like Sanballat and his associates today, people who never want others to be free from oppression or poverty because they are profiting from it. Now when such people begin to see you making progress or doing things that will hinder them from profiting from your misery or misfortune, they will not be happy.

Besides, they may even begin to take steps to keep you where you are, where they can continue to profit from your sorrow and pain. And that was the case with Sanballat and his associates. Not only were they not happy with Nehemiah and the Jews because they were making progress in building the walls of Jerusalem and ending all the forms of harassment they had been experiencing, they also began to take steps towards causing them trouble.

How, then, did Nehemiah and the other leaders of the Jews respond to the threat of these people? They responded to it in two ways. First, they prayed to God about it. In other words, they asked God to pay attention to what their enemies were saying and planning against them, so that He may frustrate them.

Why? It was because they knew that unless God kept them safe from the threats and wicked plots of these wicked people, they would not be able to keep themselves safe from them.In like manner, when we are being threatened or harassed, we must learn to pray to God and not ignore what Satan is using people to do against us. Nehemiah and his people did not ignore Sanballat and his men.

Otherwise, they would have been caught by surprise and frustrated or destroyed. And if we too don’t want those threatening us to catch us unguarded, we had better never ignore their threats, however feeble they may seem.

Instead, we should pray to God about them, so that we may always have His protection from their evil thoughts and schemes. Otherwise, we may end up feeling sorry for ourselves when these enemies are through with us.The second thing Nehemiah and his people did was to keep watch on the activities of their enemies, day and night.

Why? It was so that they would be regularly updated on what they were doing and be able to prepare themselves for it. And that was a manifestation of wisdom on their part.See, it is not everything needed for our safety that God will do for us.

There are things He will not do to keep us safe because He knows that He has given us the wisdom, strength and resources to do them. And if we fail to do these things for ourselves, we will not be able to blame Him for not keeping us safe.Keeping an eye on what Sanballat and his associates were doing was something that Nehemiah and his men could do. And they did not expect God to do it for them. Instead, they did it themselves. And it paid off, for it made their enemies see that they were not stupid people that they could easily attack and frustrate.

In like manner, keeping an eye on what anyone threatening or harassing you is up to will let them know that you are not stupid but sharp and attentive.

In fact, it will make them think twice before they take any step against you. And since keeping an eye on them is something you can do, do it, instead of waiting for God to do it for you.

Otherwise, you may ignorantly or foolishly take steps that will make you fall into their traps.Who, then, are you going to blame, if that should happen? Yourself!

So, learn and embrace the wisdom of God to keep yourself safe from all kinds of threats. And may God’s loving eye continually watch over your life. Amen.