Author: Pastor J.O. Lawal

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Before the evil day comes | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 26, 2025 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 39

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of January 2025. I pray that God will daily encourage you to always take advantage of His grace to be strong in Him, so that no evil day will triumph over you. Amen.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Eph 6:13NIV) What is the instruction to the people God here? It is to put on the full armour of God. In other words, they are to take advantage of whatever God has provided for their protection to keep themselves protected. So, this is not something God will do for them; rather, it is what they will do for themselves.

Now why is it important for God’s people to do this? It is so that they will be able to stand their ground, when the evil day comes. So, it is certain that some evil days will come for every child of God. Truly, there is no day that does not have evil in it, to one degree or the other. But there are days in which certain evils are particularly directed to each of us. And it is because of such days that we need to stay protected with God’s armour.

For example, there was a time that some people ganged up against Daniel to destroy him. How? It was by tricking King Darious to order everyone in his kingdom not to pray to any god at all but him. And as the order stated, any disobedience to it would land the one involved in the den of lions. (Cf. Daniel 6:1-9)

Why did these men make this kind of move? It was because they knew that the reason they had not been able to destroy Daniel was that he was a man of prayer and also one who feared God. Therefore, their thought was that if they could get him not to pray to God for at least one month, they should be able to get him and destroy him. And if he still chose to pray, against the king’s order, then, he would end up in the den of lions. So, for them, there was not escape for the man at all.

But they failed. They failed because Daniel never stopped praying to God, in spite of the king’s edict. Instead, he continued to pray and to pray in such a way that even his enemies would know that he was praying. But that was an evil day for him. It was a day in which all the wicked officials of King Darius were against him. It was a day that even the king could not help or save him. (Cf. Daniel 6:10)

Why, then, did he continue to pray to God? He continued to pray to Him because he had come to see God as his all in all. This man had been meditating on the word of God and praying for years. And that had built his faith up to the point that no threat from anybody could move him. So, even though everyone was against him during that period, he wasn’t moved at all. That was because he knew that God would keep him safe.

Did God, then, keep him safe or not? He did keep him safe and also put all his enemies to shame. But what if he had not been building his faith up before that evil day came? Would he not have been destroyed? He would most likely have been destroyed.

What is the point of this, then? It is that we should not wait until the evil day comes before we start building up our faith in God or seeking His protection. To say the fact, we may not even remember or be bold enough to seek God’s protection when the evil day comes, if we have not been used to entrusting our lives to Him.

Thinks about this: Will someone who will not pray when there is no law against praying pray, if there should be a law against it? Not likely! So, you will most likely not demonstrate in God in the day of adversity a faith that you don’t have in him in the day of prosperity. That is why it is now that you must put on the full armour of God. Otherwise, you will have no answer for the devil when the evil day comes.

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)

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Lot or Ruth | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 22, 2025 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 37

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date January 22, 2025
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“Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.” (Gen 13:10-13NIV)

Why did Lot choose to live near Sodom? The reason was that he was only considering how doing so would promote his prosperity and not how it would injure his soul. Lot, as we are shown in the bible, was a righteous man (2Peter 2:7). He was a man that feared God so much that he did all that he could to raise his two daughters as virgins, even while living in Sodom, a land of immorality.

But what was he doing in Sodom, in the first place? At the time he left for Sodom, as we see in our opening text, the men of Sodom were already sinning greatly against the Lord. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before God’s judgment came on them. Yet Lot took his family and possessions to go and live near them and later among them. Why?

Well, as I pointed out earlier, it was because of the material gains that his heart was after that he did so. Could he not have gained material wealth somewhere else? He could! But that may have cost him more time, more effort and more labour. And he did not seem to have the patience for all that. So, he decided to settle for what seemed to be the easiest way to accomplishing his desire of become wealthier. He went to live in Sodom.

However, when God decided to judge Sodom, Lot could not save his wealth or possessions. In fact, he could not save his wife that day but lost her. Also, though he was able to save his daughters from the destruction that came upon Sodom, he could not save their souls from the immorality of Sodom. They later committed incest with him. And these things agree with the words of our Lord Jesus that say: “The one who wants to save his soul will lose it, but the one who loses his soul for my sake will find it. (Cf. Gen 19; Matt 16:25)

Now contrast what Lot did with what Ruth did. Ruth also was once confronted with the choice of staying in Moab with her family and friends and that of leaving Moab with her mother-in-law for the land of Israel. And at that time, since she had already lost her husband and wealth and had no child, staying in Moab promised to give her a quick restoration of her joy and prosperity. But leaving for the land of Israel promised her nothing but more and greater pains and suffering. (Cf. Ruth 1)

Yet this woman chose to go to the land of Israel with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Why? The reason was that she no longer wanted to be a part of the idolatry of Moab, the land of her people. Ruth, as the account goes, knew that going back to live with her people, having already known the Lord, would surely injure her faith. Did she know to what extent doing so would injure her faith? No! But wasn’t willing to take the risk. So, she left Moab for Israel and had to endure a life of poverty for a while because of that.

But because Ruth put her relationship with God first, instead of her enjoyment of material things, she eventually gained all the wealth and happiness she could have hoped for in life. Not only that, she reaped an indescribable spiritual reward for what she did. God ordained that it was through her line that our Lord Jesus would come. Hallelujah! (Cf. Ruth 2-4; Matt 1:5-6)

Now why am I bringing this to you? It is to let you know that you can choose to either be Lot or Ruth in this life. If you are often or always putting your enjoyment of life ahead of your relationship with God, then, you are Lot. And like Lot, you may end up losing everything you are trying to gain or save, including your soul. That is because you are bound to be making decisions that will jeopardise everything for you, even though they may appear easy enough to lead you to quick prosperity and enjoyment of life.

But if you always put your relationship with God first, even where it exposes your life to hardship, pain or death, you are Ruth. And like Ruth, you will not only see your soul preserved by God but also see everything you need to make sense out of living handed over to you.

Which, then, will it be? Will you be Lot or will you be Ruth? I pray that your heart will be guided and strengthened to always choose wisely, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Only few people | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 19, 2025 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 38

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date January 18, 2025
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Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to another week of the month of January 2025. My prayer is that God will wake you up to recognize all the duties of your ministry and also strengthen you to begin to carry them out without delay. Amen.

Paul, in a letter to Timothy, says this to him: “…discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2Tim 4:5NIV) Why does he say this to him? He says it to him because he is sure that he knows his ministry and the responsibilities that go with it. If Timothy does not know the duties of his ministry, then, he won’t be able to fulfil all of them on purpose. Yes, he may accidentally carry some of the duties of his ministry, even if he does not know them. But he won’t be able to deliberately and fully carry out duties that he knows nothing about.

Now if Timothy is not fully discharging the duties of his ministry, then, God will not be able to bless everyone He wants to bless through his ministry the way He wants to. And will God be happy about that? No, He won’t. So, He will have to find ways to wake him up to do all that he is supposed to do or find some other people that will do what he is supposed to do that he is neglecting.

In like manner, God is expecting every child of His in the church today to recognise the duties of his ministry and also begin to carry them out. Otherwise, He will not be able to bless people through them as He wants to. And where this is the case, He will have to seek ways to wake them up to do what they are neglecting or find some other people to do it.

Unfortunately, even though God is doing all He can to wake many of us up to begin to do all the duties of our ministry, we are often unwilling to do so because of fear, laziness, distraction, greed or ignorance. Therefore, often, He also has to call upon others to pick up and do what we are refusing to do. This is why, in many Christian assemblies, it is the same few people that are committed to the word of God that are also often committed to attending prayer meetings, visiting others, giving and even taking care of their church meeting places.

For instance, in a letter to the Corinthians, Paul says this to them: “I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you.” (1Cor 16:17NIV) Did you see that? These three men were evidently elders of the church in Corinth. That means they must have had a lot of responsibilities to shoulder at the time. Yet, as large as the Corinthian church must have been at the time, it was still these three men that supported Paul with their resources in order to make up for what the whole church should have done.

Now is that a good thing to be happening in any church of God? No! Should only few people be bearing the burdens that all the members of an assembly are supposed to be bearing? No! Is it not possible for those few people to become tired or discouraged at some point and not want to do anything again? It is possible. And we have had people who became discouraged and stopped attending their church meetings altogether because they were overwhelmed by the burdens they were bearing.

Then even if such people do not become discouraged, will they not be the only ones that will get rewarded by God for what their entire churches are supposed to be rewarded for? They will be the only ones. That is because God will never reward anyone for what the person has not done for him. Apart from that, the growth and development of an assembly in which only few people are responsible for everything being done will be slow. You can now see why we have several assemblies in our land that have been around for years but are still babies in fruitfulness and usefulness.

In any case, I am sharing these things with you to let you know that it is not a good thing for us as an assembly to leave what all of us are supposed to be doing for God for only few people. And if this has been the case, then, we have unconsciously been limiting the growth and usefulness of our assembly and perhaps also filling some people among us with discouragement. So, we need to repent and pick up our duties in praying, giving, visiting others and so forth. Then our church will begin to grow and increase in usefulness as it should and we also will not lose our reward to others.

Have a splendid week.

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

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Don’t put up with it | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 15, 2025 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 36

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date January 15, 2025
No Comments on Don’t put up with it | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 15, 2025 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 36

“You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.” (2 Corinthians 11:19 -21NIV)

A pastor once threw a mug at one of his church office staff because he was angry with her. Thankfully, the mug did not hit her. So, she lived to tell the story. But did she resign and stop working with the man? No, she did not. Instead, she continued to work with him and to put up with his excesses and abuses, even publicly adoring and praising him.

Why? Was it because she was acting on the word of God that commands us to hold our church leaders in the highest regard? Yes, in her mind, that was exactly what she was doing. But the truth is that she was simply being foolish, as we are clearly shown in the word of God.

Also, a sister once told me how she ended up sleeping with her pastor a couple of times. And how did she end up doing that? Well, she ended up doing so because the man told her that part of her ministry duties was to satisfy him sexually. And did she believe that? No, she did not! But did she leave the assembly or stay away from the man? No! Instead, she continued to submit to him as her church leader until he began to have his way with her.

Now, from what she also told me, she was not the only one being treated by the man in that manner. There were some others like her. Yet none of them had the liver to expose his wickedness to other leaders in the church or to run away from him. Instead, they all continued to put up with his nonsense, hoping that he would be transferred to another chapter soon, so that their misery could end. Why would they do that? The reason was that they all were foolish.

Why did I say that they were all foolish? I said so because, as we see in our opening bible text, it is foolishness that makes God’s people put up with things like that. See, it is not the will of God for His children to be abused by their leaders or to be subjected by their leaders to any kind of inhumane treatment.

Unfortunately, even when Paul was writing these things to the people of God, there were church leaders that were abusive and overbearing. Yes, at the time, there were church leaders that were enslaving, exploiting and taking advantage of their brethren. Also, there church leaders at the time that were arrogant enough to slap their brethren in the face.

Now one would naturally expect that brethren who were being treated in that manner would resist such leaders firmly and refuse to be enslaved or cheated or abused by them. But as Paul equally shows us in that text, that wasn’t the case at all. On the contrary, those brethren put up with all the inhumane treatment they were receiving from their leaders. And that shocked this apostle to the bones, for he knew that he and his ministry companions could never ever think of treating anybody in that manner.

Interestingly, these same brethren, especially the ones in Corinth, that Paul would dare not maltreat, abuse or cheat would not respect him or see to his welfare. Instead, it was those who were exploiting, abusing, cheating and maltreating them that they were giving all their respect to and also supporting with their resources. How ironic!

In like manner, even today, many of God’s people hardly treat with utmost respect church leaders that treat them as Christ would treat them, that is, with love and respect. They hardly give them their support. And that is largely because they unconsciously see them as weak. But these same brethren may be willing to give up their eyes for those that maltreat, abuse, enslave and exploit them. How ironic!

Wel, the wisdom of the Spirit of God is telling us in our opening text through Apostle Paul that it is not humility at all to put up with enslavement, exploitation or any form of abuse of authority in the church. Rather, it is stupidity. Those who do so, then, are simply promoting bad leadership and wickedness in the church of God. And they will be first among those who will reap and eat the fruit of what they are sowing.

Therefore, don’t put up with any form of leadership enslavement or exploitation in the church or wherever you are. Instead, stand up against it with the word of God and with prayer. And you don’t have to be abusive or disrespectful in order to do so. You just need to let those involved know that God has not permitted you to be a slave of anybody or to be treated like an animal. And if getting out of that environment is what will make you live to enjoy the freedom that is yours in Christ Jesus, please do so.

May God keep your life and soul safe all the time from the activities of wicked, corrupt and unreasonable people, even in the church. Amen.

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

If you want better results | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 12, 2025 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 37

Pastor J.O. Lawal

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great delight that I welcome you into another week of the month of January 2025. I pray that God will lead you by His Spirit to take all the necessary steps for you to excel in all your ways in the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, at the beginning of a new year like this, it is common for people to begin to desire to live better lives and get better results in their endeavours. And nothing is wrong with that. However, desiring to live a better life is not enough to live a better life. Likewise, desiring to get better results in life is not enough get better results. If we are not doing enough of those things that will make us live better lives and get better results in our endeavours, we will not live better lives or get better results.

The bible says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Gal 6:7NIV) What does this mean? It means that God has already established a law that says that it is what a man sows in life that he will reap. So, first, you cannot reap what you have not sowed. Second, you cannot change the harvest of what you have planted – what you have planted is what you are going to reap.

If you, then, want to live a better life and also get better results in your endeavours this year, the first question you need to ask yourself is, “Am I planting anything at all that will make me live a better life and get better results?” If you are not planting anything into life, you should not expect anything in return. It is only those who are planting that can look forward to a harvest of what they are planting.

The second question you need to ask yourself is, “What kind of seeds am I planting?” As I told you before, you cannot change the harvest of any seed you have planted. What you plant is what you will reap. So, if you want a better life and better results this year, you may want to change the seeds you are planting. If, for example, what you have been planting are seeds corrupted with fear, laziness, selfishness, bitterness, grumbling or evil speaking, you must change them to seeds of faith, love, hard work, generosity, prayer and the word of God. Otherwise, it does not matter how hard you try this year, you will not live a better life or get better results. On the contrary, things may even get worse for you.

Then, even if what you have been planting are seeds of faith, love, hard work, generosity, prayer and the word of God, you need to plant more of them in order to reap more of them in form of a better life and better results. Remember again that it is what you plant that you will reap. Truly, God is able to multiply greatly the harvest of what you have planted. But He can only multiply what you have planted and not what you have not planted. So, if it is a hundred seed that you plant, it is that one hundred seed that He will multiply for you. And if it is a thousand seed that you plant, it is also that one thousand seed that He will multiply for you. There is no favouritism with Him.

Therefore, if you desire to experience greater success and enjoyment this year, be ready to plant more good seeds. And as you do so, I pray that God will multiply greatly the fruit of your labour and give you rest on every side, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Your hard work or His generosity | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 08, 2025 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 35

fire in my bones

“”But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’” (Matt 20:13-16NIV)

Those were the words of a landowner that our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of in a parable of His. According to the parable, this landowner had gone out very early one morning to hire people to work in his vineyard. And when he got his first set of workers, he agreed to pay them a denarius at the end of the day’s work. So, they went into his vineyard and began to work. (Cf. Matt 20:1-2)

Then, some hours later, he went out again to get more people to work in this same vineyard and told them that he would pay them something fair at the end of the day’s work. So, they also went to work in his vineyard. (Cf. Matt 20:3-5)

However, as this man could clearly see, the people he had brought in to work for him were not enough to get the day’s job done. So, he kept on going out to bring in more people to work for him till the very last hour of the day. And at the end of the day’s job, when it was time to pay his workers, he instructed his foreman to pay everybody the same thing, including those who worked for only one hour. This, of course, infuriated those whom he had hired during the early hours of that day. They felt that it was unfair of him to pay them, who had worked hard all day in the hot sun, the same wages as those who only worked for one or three hours of the day. So, they began to grumble against the man. (Cf. Matt 20:5-12)

Now were they right to grumble and protest against this landowner? Judging from a human point of view, we might say that they were right to do so. But judging from God’s point of view, they were not right to protest or grumble at all. Why?

Well, as we see in our opening text, the man paid them exactly what they had agreed to collect from him when he was going to hire them. So, he did not cheat or defraud them at all. He only gave them what they had bargained for.

But in dealing with others who worked for him that day, especially those who worked only for one hour, he did not pay them according to their labour but according to his generosity. Why did he act like that? We are not told in clear terms in the account. But it could be that he was impressed by their perseverance in waiting until they got a job.

As the account goes, before he brought these men into his vineyard to work that evening, he had asked them why they were standing in the market place all day long doing nothing? And they had told him that it was because nobody gave them a job. So, it was not because they were lazy and unwilling to work that they stood for a whole day in the market place doing nothing. Rather, it was because nobody gave them a job to do.

Now these men could have gone back home in the afternoon of that day, since nobody was going to hire them. But they did not. Instead, they decided to wait until the very last hour of the day to see if anyone would still eventually hire them. And their perseverance paid off. Someone came and hired them, even though he knew that they would only be able to work for one hour. Not only that, that person decided to pay them a whole day’s wages when they done working for him. And that shows us that it pays to persevere in doing the right thing.

See, doing the right thing may not immediately yield us a good result. But if we don’t give up on doing it, God will surely make it pay off, even in what we might call the last hour. So, don’t turn away in anger, discouragement or disappointment from doing that right thing you are doing. Don’t give up on it because nobody is paying attention to it or showing any interest in it or in you. Just keep on doing it and trusting God. And when the time is ripe, He will do for you what will let you know that doing the right thing is never a waste of time.

In any case, why does the Lord share this parable with us? He shares it with us to show us how God rewards people in life and in His kingdom. And how does He reward them? First, He rewards them according to their labour. Second, He rewards them according to His kindness and generosity. And it is the one that they desire out of these two, then, that will determine how He rewards them.

In other words, if you want Him to reward you on the basis of your hard work and diligence, then, He will do so. The only thing is that you may not like what you will get. But if you want Him to look beyond your labour and reward you according to His kindness and generosity, then, you can be sure that what you will get will be beyond what your years, months, weeks or days of hard work can ever bring to you.

Which, then, is it going to be this year? Will you want God to reward you according to your hard work or according to His generosity? As for me, I will want Him to reward me according to His kindness and generosity.

Cheers!

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

General Post

He gives the increase | By: Johnson O. Lawal | Date: January 01, 2025 | Series: New Year Sermon

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date January 4, 2025
1 Comment on He gives the increase | By: Johnson O. Lawal | Date: January 01, 2025 | Series: New Year Sermon

I want to welcome you once again for the new year and I pray that all God’s good intentions for the year for you will be fully accomplished, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now if you have been in this assembly for a while, you will know that you shouldn’t expect me to say that this year will be a year of ‘so and so’ for you. That is because the year can be anything you desire it to be for you, as long as you put your trust in God. The bible says all things are possible for the one who believes (Mark 9:23). So, whatever you can believe God to make the year be for you, that is what He will make it be for you, as long as it is consistent with His will.

In any case, I want to share some things with you that I know will help you to increase tremendously in fruitfulness and usefulness in God’s hand this new year. And I am taking them from 1Corinthians, chapter 3. It says from verse 6:

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.” (1Corinthians 3:6-7NIV)

Here Paul is showing us certain conditions that must be met, if we, as God’s children, will increase in fruitfulness and usefulness in life. And from what he says, we can see that we have our own duties in experiencing fruitfulness and usefulness in life. God will not perform these duties for us, if we will not perform them. So, we need to know what these duties of ours are and give ourselves to performing them. Otherwise, we will not increase in fruitfulness or usefulness in life.

Then God also has His own duties, which He must perform for us to increase in fruitfulness and usefulness in life. We cannot perform these duties for Him. So, if He does not perform them, there is no amount of effort we make towards increase in fruitfulness and usefulness in life that will amount to anything.

Now what must we do, if we want to increase in fruitfulness and usefulness in life? According to what Paul tells us in that text, we, like farmers, must be involved in planting and watering, if we must increase in fruitfulness and usefulness in life. So, if you want to increase in fruitfulness and usefulness in every area of your life this year, you must be involved in planting and watering.

See, the one who does not plant ought not to expect to reap anything. Yes, we often quote the Scripture that says, “Whatever a man sows is what he will reap.” And that is a fact. But then, if a man plants nothing, he is also going to reap nothing. (Cf. Galatians 6:7)

Truly, there are times that God makes people partake in the fruit of other people’s labour. For instance, parents often partake in the fruit of the labour of their children, just as children too often partake in the fruit of the labour of their parents. A husband also may partake in the fruit of the labour of his wife, just as a wife may partake in the fruit of the labour of her husband. Friends too can partake in the fruit of the labour of one another. Then the weak ones and the poor ones in the land may partake in the fruit of the labour of the rich and strong ones around them.

But what I am talking about here is partaking in the fruit of the labour of others, not stealing the fruit of their labour. And wherever God allows this, it is because those who are involved have been labouring themselves or are too young or weak to take care of themselves. Where people are old and strong enough to take care of themselves, God expects them to be involved in one form of legitimate labour or the other. And if they won’t do this, then, they have no right to partake in the fruit of the labour of others. The word of God says that the one that will not work must not eat. Otherwise, he will be nothing but a thief of the fruit of the labour of others. (Cf. 2Thessalonians 3:10)

Jesus once said this to His disciples: “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:38NIV) Why did He do this? First, He did it out of His generosity. Second, He did it because these disciples had been labouring with Him. Harvesting itself is labour. But the one who has not been involved in any kind of legitimate labour ought not to partake in any form of harvest. Otherwise, he will be seen as nothing but a thief.

Well, the point I am making is that you have to be planting something, if you want to reap this year. If you want to reap success, then, you must be planting seeds of success. And if you want to increase in usefulness, you must plant seeds of usefulness. That is your duty. God will not do it for you.

Now what are the things you must plant this year, if you want to increase in fruitfulness and usefulness? First, you must be planting the seed of the word of God in every area of your life. This is important, if you want fruitfulness that will abide and stand the test of time and the test of challenges. And if you want to increase in usefulness continually, regardless of the circumstances of your life or of your world, you must plant the seed of the word of God in every area of your life.

Remember that our Lord Jesus likens the man who hears His word and acts on it to one who dug deep to build his house on the rock. When the rain and the storm came and beat against that house, it stood firm – it was not shaken at all. Then He likens the man who hears His word and does not act on it to one who built his house on the ground without foundation. When the rain and the storm came and beat against that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. (Cf. Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49)

What is the point? It is that those who are building their lives on the word of God will be able to stand the test of time and the test of challenges. Their lives, homes and whatever it is they are building with the word of God will not collapse, irrespective of the times they find themselves or the challenges they are faced with. But those who are not building their lives on the word of God, either because they do not have His word at all or because they have it but won’t act on it, will not be able to keep what they are building from collapsing when they are confronted with certain seasons or challenges of life.

So, if you want your life, your promotion, your success or whatever it is you want to have or accomplish this year to be able to stand the test of time and of challenges, be sure you are planting the seed of the word of God into every area of your life and also doing whatever you are doing on the basis of His word. If you will give yourself to doing this, then, the results you are going to be getting in life are those that the word of God says. In other words, your success, promotion, advancement, peace of mind, health and anything else in your life that you are feeding with the word of God will be dictated by the word of God and not by the economy or political conditions of where you are.

Then you must also be planting the seed of prayer into your life this year, if you want to receive increased fruitfulness and usefulness from God’s hand. Jesus says, “Ask and you will receive.” If you, then, want to be receiving God’s provisions for you to be fruitful and useful in life this year, you must be asking God for whatever you need. Yes, you must take seriously the word of God that says that men ought to always pray and not to give up. (Cf. Matthew 7:7; Luke 18:1)

More so, if you want comfort and encouragement in your life this year, you must give yourself to planting the seed of Christian fellowship. If you don’t want to be all by yourself in handling whatever you are doing in life this year, then, take Christian fellowship seriously. God, of course, will be with you wherever you go to comfort and strengthen you. But there are measures of comfort that He cannot give to you, if you will not stay in fellowship with His children.

So, make effort to stay in fellowship with God’s righteous and good people this year. Otherwise, you should not expect the fruit or harvest of doing so in your life. What I am saying is that there are good things that will not happen in your life, if you won’t fellowship with God’s righteous and good people. If you, then, don’t want to miss any good thing God has ordained that you should enjoy this year, stay in fellowship with God’s people.

Furthermore, you must be willing to plant the seed of your skills, labour, money, diligence and faithfulness in profitable ventures this year. As I told you before, you cannot reap what you do not plant. So, if you want more money this year to take care of your bills and to be generous to others, you must be willing to plant the seed of money, hard work, skills, diligence and faithfulness into profitable activities, ventures or enterprises in the year. If you will not plant seeds of these things into life this year, you should not be expecting abundance, promotion or advancement in your life. So, it is important that you are willing to plant the right seeds this year, seeds that will result in your increased fruitfulness and usefulness in life.

Where, then, will you find the seeds that you need to plant into life this year? It is from God. Look at what Paul says in 2Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 10:

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” (NIV)

Who is God speaking about here? He is speaking about God. And what is he telling us about Him? He is telling us that He is the one that gives seed to the sower and bread to eat. Now that is interesting and highly encouraging. That is because regardless of what is happening in this country and all around the world this year, you can expect God to give you food to eat all through the year.

You can see why I told you that you must be sowing seeds of prayer into life this year. There are things you will not receive from God, if you will not plant seeds of prayer. Yes, there are things God does for people without their asking. He does these things for them as their creator and in His mercy. So, we can refer to them as general blessings from Him to all men. But there are specific things that individuals need in their lives. And some of these things will not be received by them from God, if they will not pray to Him.

Well, Paul says God gives seed to the sower and bread for food. So, as I said, you can expect God to daily make available for you the bread you need to eat. All you need is to ask Him for it. Remember that Jesus says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” You too can daily ask God for today’s bread this year. And He will answer you. But remember that you need more than natural bread to survive – you also need the bread of God’s word. So, of first importance, learn to daily ask God for the bread of His word that you need. And He will answer you and feed you to satisfaction, so that you will not be hungry and begin to run after the errors and lies of men. Then you can expect the natural bread you need to follow.

More than that, you can ask God for the seeds you need to sow into life this year. You need the seed of the word of God, for instance. So, you should daily ask Him to give you the seed of His word to sow into your life and into your world. And He will answer you.

Also, ask Him for the seed of business ideas, wisdom, understanding, knowledge and money that you need to plant into life this year. Then you can ask Him for the seed of people, the right people in your life. God is able to give you the right people to plant into your life, business, marriage, ministry and so forth. So, ask Him for the seed of the right people that you need. In short, ask Him to give you every seed you need to sow into life this year in order to increase in fruitfulness and usefulness. And He will answer you, for He is the one that gives the farmer seed to sow.

Now there is another thing God must do in order for us to increase in fruitfulness and usefulness in life. And it is that He must give increase to whatever we plant. In the text I first read to you, Paul says it is God that gives the increase. And that is true. If God does not give increase to whatever we plant, our labour will be fruitless. My prayer is that your labour this year will not be fruitless or a waste of time.

Well, it is important that as we are planting and watering this year, as we are planting and watering the seeds of our skills, hard work, diligence, faithfulness, money, knowledge and so forth, we keep in mind the fact that the one that will give us increase for these things is God Himself. So, we must trust Him for increase in all that we do. As I said before, if He does not give increase to whatever we are doing, it will amount to nothing.

Thankfully, God is willing to give increase to the fruit of our labour, if we will acknowledge Him. In Genesis, chapter 26, we are told of Isaac and of how he wanted to leave for Egypt because of the famine where he was. But then, he received a word from God not to go to Egypt but to stay where he was. Why? God wanted to bless him where he was. So, he stayed in Gerah. I pray that you too will receive from God this year every word you need to stay in the right place. Amen.

At any rate, though Isaac stayed in Gerah, as God had instructed him, he did not stay idle there. He did not fold his arms, waiting for God to bring him the food and whatever else he needed to care for himself and his household. Instead, he gave himself to some legitimate labour – he gave himself to farming. Look at what is said about this:

“Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.” (Genesis 26:12NIV)

Did you see that? This man planted something where he was. Otherwise, he would not have reaped anything. But he planted some crops that same year that God had spoken to him. And that same year, as we see in the account, he reaped a hundredfold. Why? It was because the Lord blessed him.
In like manner, I want you too to expect increase on the fruit of your labour this year. That is because you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. So, give yourself to planting this year as you have never done. Plant the seed of the word of God, the seed of prayer and the seed of Christian fellowship as you have never done. And God will multiply the harvest for you. You will reap a hundredfold or even a thousandfold of what you plant.

In the same way, plant the seed of money, skills, education, diligence and faithfulness as you have never done before this year. And God, who gives increase to people’s labour, will give increase to the fruit of your labour. All you need is to acknowledge Him and entrust your labour into His hands. Don’t labour on anything without entrusting the results into His hands. Otherwise, everything may just go to waste. I pray that you will not labour in vain this year but will receive a great harvest of everything you plant this same year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore. Amen.

Happy new year.

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)

Tags New year, New year message

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

My prayers for you | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 05, 2025 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 36

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date January 4, 2025
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Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the first Sunday of this new year, year 2025. Clearly, it is because of the goodness of the Lord that we are alive and well to witness the new year. So, I want you to join me in singing the song that says:

Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
All I have to say is ‘Thank you, Lord.’

Now, as we begin this new year, I want to offer for you too the prayers of Apostle John for a friend of his, which read: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” (3John 2NIV) What is the first thing John is asking God to do for his friend? It is that He will cause him to enjoy good health.

Why is that important? It is important because without good health, it will be hard, if not impossible, for anybody to do anything tangible for God, for himself or for others. Also, without good health, people cannot enjoy their lives or any good thing they have. And I want you to be able to do all kinds of tangible things for God, for yourself and for others this year. I also want you to be able to enjoy your life, your relationships and whatever good thing God does for you or gives to you in the year. Therefore, just as John prays for good health for his friend, I also pray that you too will enjoy good health all through this new year, so that you will be strong enough to do whatever good thing your heart desires to do and so that you will enjoy your life and everything you have. Amen.

What is the second thing John asks God to do for his friend? It is that He will cause all things to go well with him. Don’t you too want all things to go well with you this year? Don’t you want all things to go well with your family, business, education, ministry and anything else that concerns your life this year? I want all things to go well with me this year. And my prayer is that all things will go well with you too every day of this new year. Amen.

Then the third thing John asks God to do for his friend is that He will make his soul get along well with Him. In other words, John wants God to make this man sound spiritually. He does not want him to be a prosperous healthy man that is living a godless, foolish or meaningless life. I also don’t want you to be a prosperous healthy person that is living a reckless or useless life this year. That is why my prayer for you too is that God will make you sound spiritually in every way this year, so that your health and wealth will be used to honour Him.

Well, those are my prayers for you as we begin this year. And as I look forward to doing all kinds of great things together with you in the year, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore. Amen.

Happy new year.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Do your very best | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 01, 2025 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 34

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date January 1, 2025
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“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2Tim 2:15-16NIV)

I rejoice in the Lord with you, as we come into this new year, year 2025. My prayer is that God, in His mercy and love, will perfect all that concerns you in the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as we are starting this new year together, I want to encourage you with the words of Paul the apostle, which we have in our opening text. And what do they say? They tell us to do our best to present ourselves to God as one approved, workmen and workwomen who do not need to be ashamed and who are correctly handling the word of truth.

What is this telling us? It is that gaining God’s approval is not automatic. Yes, all that we needed to do in order for Him to accept us as His people was put our faith in the Lord Jesus. But in order to live lives that He approves of, lives that He will continually reward and honour, we must make effort to daily learn those things that please Him and to also do them.

As Paul further shows us in that text, if we are not making effort to gain God’s approval through the way we live and through the things we do, we will often find ourselves ashamed to stand before Him. There are many today who are ashamed to stand before God to pray or to do anything. And is that because God does not love them or because He has rejected them? No! Rather, it is because they know that the lives they are living and the things they are doing are not worthy of Him or presentable to Him.

To say the fact, the lives and the works of some people are not even presentable to people like them. I mean that they themselves are ashamed to let others see their lives and their works for what they really are. How, then, will they feel confident before God about their lives and works?

Now don’t miss my point. I am not saying that our good lives or good works give us any ground to declare ourselves as righteous before God. Nobody’s good works are good enough to make Him righteous before God. Only God Himself can make us righteous before Him. And it is through our faith in His Son Jesus Christ that He makes us righteous before Him. Also, it is only through our faith in Christ Jesus that we qualify to stand before God unashamed.

However, we must also understand that if we truly have faith in Him, we will also be serious about living our lives the way He wants us to live them and handling whatever we are doing in life the way He wants us to handle it. Otherwise, we will often find ourselves ashamed of ourselves and of our works, when we are confronted with the truth about them.

John, in one of his epistles, says this to us: “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” (1John 2:28NIV) Did you see that? If we want to face the Lord Jesus confidently and unashamed when He returns, we need to remain in Him and also continue to live our lives and to do our works, whatever they may be, to honour Him. Otherwise, when He shows up, even though He is not going to reject us or cast us away, we will not be happy with ourselves for letting Him down in life.

So, as you face this new year, do your very best to show yourself as one approved of God. Yes, do your very best to be devoted to learning what pleases Him in all that you do and to doing it. And remember that His grace is sufficient for you. Remember also that you can do all things through Christ that strengthens you. So, don’t attempt to make excuses for doing things that you will be ashamed to let God know about or to present to Him. And may His grace continually overflow to you for a life that is excellent before Him in the year. Amen.

Happy 2025.

FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

And your joy will be complete |By: J.O. Lawal | Date: December 29, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 13, No. 35

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great joy that I welcome you to the transition week between this year, 2024, and the new year ahead of us, year 2025. My prayer that is that God will see to it that you move into the new year with overflowing joy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one of the ways to experience overflowing joy over ever matter of our lives is to pray. Jesus says this to us about joy: “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:24NIV) Did you see that? How do we experience complete joy or fullness of joy in our lives? It is by praying to God.

So, what we need to do is to identify those areas of our lives in which we are not happy at all or in which our joy is not full and begin to talk to God about them. And the Lord Jesus has already assured us that if we will do so, we will receive answers to our prayers and that will result in fullness of joy for us. It is now up to us to either pray in order to experience fullness of joy in our lives or not to pray and remain sad.

For instance, as we are told in the bible, Hannah used to be a very sorrowful woman. Why? First, it was because she was barren. Second, it was because the second wife of her husband, Peninnah, used to torment her because of her barrenness. Truly, her husband, Elkanah, often did his best to comfort and make her happy. But his comfort was never sufficient to keep her from crying or being sorrowful. (Cf. 1Sam 1:1-8)

However, one day, Hannah decided that she was going to talk to God about that which was making her sorrowful every day. And after that prayer session, sorrow disappeared from her life. Look at what the bible says about that: “…Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.” (1Sam 1:18NIV) Did you see that? Through prayer the joy of the Lord rose up in Hannah’s heart and drove away her sorrow. Not only that, through her prayer that day, she received a baby boy from the Lord. And that, of course, made her joy overflow.

In like manner, if we will pray to God about any matter that is bothering us or filling us with sorrow, He will answer us. How? He will first cause His joy to well up in our hearts and drive away our sorrow. Then He will cause the answers to our prayers to manifest. That way, His joy that is in our heart will begin to overflow and result in thanksgiving to Him.

So, though we are in the last days of this year, I want you to know that it is not too late for you to have sorrow banished from your life in all ways or to experience overflowing joy over every matter that is bringing you distress. All you need to do is pray to God, as Hannah, did. Yes, pray to Him out of a sincere heart, telling Him everything that is bothering your heart and what you want Him to do about it. And He will answer you, drive away your sorrow and also perform for you miracles that will cause you to overflow with joy, even before this year ends.

Now, as I look forward to hearing your testimonies, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore. Amen.

Happy new year in advance.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)