Author: Pastor J.O. Lawal

“But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here — provided the men have kept themselves from women.” David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s things are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!”” (1Sam 21:4-5NIV)

That was part of the conversation David had with Ahimelech the priest, when he was running away from King Saul. And as we see in their conversation, David desired to have some loaves of bread from this priest, so that he and his men would have something to eat on their journey. But the man of God told him that he only had consecrated bread with him.

Now was anything wrong with giving David and his men consecrated bread? Yes, everything was wrong with it. That was because only anointed priests were allowed by God to eat it. But then, as Ahimelech told David, those who were not anointed priests could also partake of this bread on one condition. And what was that condition? It was on the condition that they had stayed away from any kind of sexual relations on the day they were to eat it. (Cf. Lev 24:5-9)

What is this showing us? Well, first, let me tell you what it is not showing us. It is not showing us that married people must abstain from sexual relations with their spouses in order to be fit to serve God or to experience His power. Of course, the word of God also admonishes married people not to use all their time for sexual relations. Otherwise, they will be distracted and unable to fully give themselves to prayer and other things of the Spirit. But sexual relations are legitimate for married people. So, they don’t get defiled or rendered useless to God by them. (Cf. 1Cor 7:1-5)

However, those who are not married must watch themselves against sexual relations, any kind of sexual relations. And those who are married too must watch themselves against sexual relations with people that are not their spouses. That is because these things will defile them and make them unfit for God to use to accomplish His good purpose. So, wherever you are and whatever you do, stay away from sexual impurity.

As we see in David’s case above, even though he and his men were not entitled to having or eating consecrated bread, he was still able to get it for them on the occasion mentioned. And that was because of their abstinence from sexual impurity. In fact, as he pointed out, even when he and his men went out on missions that were unholy or ordinary, they still kept themselves from impurity. And that is telling us that it is not only when we are going to be involved in some spiritual activities that we are to keep ourselves pure before the Lord; we must also keep ourselves pure before Him when handling natural matters.

There are believers, for instance, who stay away from impurities and ungodly things only when they are fasting or when they are going to be preaching, singing, ushering or doing something that is connected to Christian service. When they are not going to be involved in anything connected to service in God’s kingdom, they will give themselves freely to all kinds of ungodly and immoral things. And what they do not know is that there is nothing like seasonal or occasional purity before God. If you are not going to commit yourself to a life of purity before Him, then, your occasional purity will not serve His purpose.

Now what is God’s purpose for us? His purpose is that He will be able to use us for any kind of good work anywhere we find ourselves. And it is those of us who maintain a life of purity before Him that He can use to do so. Those who give themselves to purity only occasionally aren’t fit for His use in this sense. If you, then, want Him to be able to use you for any kind of good work, including the good work that He might have used an apostle, prophet or pastor to do, make sure your life remains pure even in handling natural or ordinary things.

God bless you.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.” He answered, “No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people.” But Moses said, “Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes. If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.”” (Num 10:29-32NIV)

In our opening text, we have a brief conversation between Moses and his brother-in-law, Hobab. And as we see in the conversation, Moses earnestly desired that this man would stay with them all through their journey into the Promised Land. Why? At least, the man was not God. So, he was not the one to lead and protect them on their way into the Promised Land. Why, then, would Moses, a great man of God, be eager to have him, who was not even an Israelite, on their side?

Well, even though God was the one protecting and leading the Israelites on their journey, showing them when to move and when to stop, He would not step out of heaven to give them details of where to camp and where not to camp and how to stay safe in a wilderness that was loaded with all kinds of danger. They needed a man to do that. And Hobab happened to be the right person for the job.

But as I pointed out already, Hobab was not an Israelite. The only reason he was with the Israelites at the time was Moses. He was his brother-in-law and must have come to visit him. When did he come to visit him? We are not told in the bible. It may be when his father, Jethro, came to visit him. Or it may be that he came at a different time.

However, his coming to Moses proved to be very profitable for the man of God and his people. During that short stay, the man showed himself as someone that was highly helpful in showing them how to stay safe in the wilderness. That, of course, was why Moses did not want him to leave them but to stay.

We too must be individuals that people will love to have around them. And that is by being truly helpful to them in unforgettable ways. So, don’t be a liability to anyone. Yes, all of us need helpers in our lives. But we too must learn to be helpful to our helpers. And even if we are just visiting, we should be thoughtful enough to help our hosts in ways that they will always have good and fond memories of our stay with them, however short it may be.

Well, Moses, having thought much about how helpful Hobab had been to the entire Israelite community during his short stay with them, wished he could make him permanently stay with them. But the man was unwilling to stay. And that must have been because he wanted to return to his country and to his people in order to realise whatever dreams he had for himself.

How, then, did Moses make him stay with them? First, it was by letting him know how highly they valued his generous and free help to them. Second, it was by assuring him that they would share with him whatever good things the Lord gave to them. That means his stay with them would not be a waste of time or a waste of his life – he too would be treated as one of them, qualified to enjoy as much goodness of God as any of them when they came into the Promised Land.

What is this telling us? It is that we too should learn to place proper value on our relationships with those in our lives. See, there are people that God has planted in our lives to make life easy for us in various ways. And these people are actually working, fulfilling His will in our lives. It will be wise of us, then, to value highly what they are doing for us and to show it.

What I mean is that we must learn to verbally express our appreciation to all the people God has been using to make life easy, meaningful and profitable for us. In other words, don’t keep your appreciation of others to yourself. Instead, express it to them clearly and wholeheartedly. Otherwise, how will they know that you truly appreciate them?

Then learn to share the good things of your life with those that are contributing to your prosperity, progress and peace of mind. Yes, God is the giver of all good things. But it is people that He often uses to give the good things of life to us. So, as we are showing Him gratitude for the good things He is giving us, we should also be showing heartfelt gratitude to those He is using for us. And one fine way to do that is not to be selfish with the good things He is giving us but to freely share them with those He has used in making it possible for these things to come to us. Otherwise, we may at some point lose the help they are giving to us to some other people who will duly appreciate them.

So, as we come to this season of celebration, remember all the people that have been instrumental to your enjoyment of life this year and share good things with them. How far doing that will go is not what I can say? But it may just make the Hobab in them stay with you for life. Or what do you think?

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“David had just said, “It’s been useless — all my watching over this fellow’s property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”” (1Sam 25:21-22NIV)

David, as we are told in the bible, was one of those few people that God commended for their unwavering loyalty to Him. In fact, God said concerning him, “I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:22NIV) And is there a better testimony that God can give about anyone than this? I don’t think so. That, then, puts David among those saints of old whose lives are worthy of emulation.

However, as we equally see in the bible, it is not everything about David’s life that is worthy of emulation. For instance, as we see in our opening text, David once planned to attack and destroy the entire household of an innocent man. And who was that innocent man? His name was Nabal.

Now someone may say, “Wait a minute! How could you say that Nabal was an innocent man? Doesn’t the bible say that he was a mean and wicked man?” Yes, it is true that the bible says that Nabal was an arrogant, selfish and wicked man. And for being that kind of man, he deserved to be judged and punished by God. (Cf. 1Sam 25:2-3)

However, on the occasion we are dealing with, Nabal was innocent and did not deserve death from the hands of David. Yes, he despised David and his men, when they came to ask him for some material support. And that was not just because he was a stingy man but also because he did not know them and wasn’t interested in knowing them.

At least, this same Nabal threw a banquet for his workers. That means he was not altogether stingy and cruel. If he, then, had known David and his men, as others in Israel knew him, he would most likely have treated them differently on that occasion, that is, with courtesy.

Besides, as the account also shows us, Nabal was not under any obligation to give anything to David and his men. Yes, they served as a shield to his shepherds when they happened to be together in the same area. They did not abuse or molest them or steal from them. Instead, they protected them in whatever way they could. (Cf. 1Sam 25:15-16)

But then, did David and his men treat those people kindly because they wanted a reward from their master? No! Rather, they did what they did because it was the right thing for them to do, as those who knew the Lord and also had His fear in them.

Therefore, the one they should have expected their full reward from was God, whom they had honoured, not Nabal. And even if Nabal was to give them anything, it was supposed to be in form of appreciation and not entitlement.

Unfortunately, on that occasion, David missed it. He got carried away with a feeling of entitlement because of what he and his men had done for Nabal’s shepherds. So, he allowed himself to be offended by the man’s refusal to appreciate them. That, of course, was why he was determined to destroy him and his entire household. And if God had not sent Abigail to stop him in time, he would have become a murderer.

Therefore, don’t be like David in this sense. Don’t be someone that forces others to appreciate him or that victimises others for not appreciating him. Is it good for anyone to be ungrateful? No! But you must realise that the only person that can properly appreciate us for any good we do is God Himself. And He has promised to do just that, when the time is ripe and if we do not give up on doing good. So, whether people appreciate us for our good works or not, God will surely appreciate us at the right time. (Cf. 1Cor 15:58; Gal 6:9; Heb 6:10)

Then we must also not forget that many of us too have been ungrateful in our dealings with God. Yet He does not victimise us or force us to appreciate Him. Instead, He labours everyday to draw our attention to all that He is doing for our good, so that we may gain understanding and begin to duly appreciate Him.

In like manner, we too should allow people to come by themselves to an understanding of the need to appreciate us, instead of trying to take it from them by force. Otherwise, we may end up becoming worse than them, as we oppress, victimise or punish them for being ungrateful to us. And where that is the case, we will not only be robbing ourselves of whatever appreciation that should have come to us from God for our good acts but also exposing ourselves to His judgment. When next you, then, want to take appreciation or gratitude from people by force or manipulation, remember these things.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:32NIV)

Who said these words? It was the Lord Jesus Christ. And why did He say them? He said them because He actually wanted us to remember Lot’s wife. And what are we to remember about Lot’s wife? It is the fact that she illustrates for us the danger of a moment’s disobedience to God’s instruction.

As the account goes, in His mercy, God had decided to spare Lot and his family on the day that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their many sins. So, through His angels that were to carry out the destruction of these two cities, they were instructed to run for their lives and never to stop or look back until they have gotten to safety. Otherwise, they would be destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah. (Cf. Gen 19)

But why would God tell them not to stop or look back while they were running away from those two cities? The reason was that He did not want them to be double-minded about leaving them. He Himself was not double-minded about the destruction of the cities. He had already made up His mind to destroy them and there was no going back. Anyone, then, that would be saved from the destruction coming on them could not afford to be double-minded about running away from them. In other words, the person could not afford to stop or look back on the way to see whether what God had said about their destruction was going to happen or not. Otherwise, he would lose his life along with them.

Unfortunately, Lot’s wife did not seem to get this. So, at some point while they were fleeing, she stopped and looked back. That means she became double-minded about the whole thing. Otherwise, why did she stop and look back? If she was not entertaining doubts about the destruction of those cities, would she have stopped to look back? If she was certain that she had made the right decision about running for her life, would she have stopped to look back? And if she had not been wishing she could take along more of her possessions, would she have stopped to look back?

In any case, by stopping and looking back that day, against God’s clear instruction, Lot’s wife made herself liable to destruction. So, she became a pillar of salt, as a testimony to the double-minded and the disobedient. You can see, then, that the Lord is telling us to remember this incident so that we too will not become double-minded or disobedient like her in our walk of faith and endanger our souls.

As we see in the bible, those of us who believe in Christ Jesus have already fled from this wicked and corrupt generation to become partakers of God’s eternal kingdom. And we cannot afford to be double-minded about that. In fact, we must not be double-minded about it. Instead, we must keep on running towards our goal, never stopping and never looking back to consider the empty way of life we have left behind. That is because one moment of stopping to look back at whatever we have left behind may expose us to God’s judgment and turn us into another pillar of salt. Yes, it may make a mess of our lives and faith and hinder us from finishing well our race to God’s eternal kingdom.

Now my prayer is that you will not become another pillar of salt that will be serving as a warning to the people of God. But you too must know that you cannot be double-minded about your faith in Christ Jesus. No, you cannot be wishing you could go back and enjoy more of the ways of this world. And you cannot be wondering whether you made the right decision or not by coming to Jesus. Doing that may turn you to another Lot’s wife and, of course, another pillar of salt. Therefore, mind yourself.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“”Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and your father’s house would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.” (1Sam 2:30-33NIV)

Those were very strong words from God to the household of Eli. And from what He said to them, it is clear that excellence, health and peace of mind would be far from them, even from their unborn children. But why should God give this kind of judgment to this family?

Well, from what we see in the account, it was because of the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. And what was so special about them that God would curse their father’s entire household because of them? Again, as we see in the account, these young men were scoundrels, wicked and unreasonable people who had no regard for God at all. (Cf. 1Sam 2:12)

But they were raised in the house of the Lord. They were, in fact, raised as priests of the Lord. And from what we know in the bible, they were raised by the same person that raised Samuel. They were raised by their father, Eli. But Samuel did not turn out to be bad, wicked or unreasonable. Instead, he turned out to be a faithful servant of the Lord.

What, then, was the problem with Eli’s sons? Why could not the same training that made Samuel a great man of God make them great men of God? The reason was that they would not allow the word of God to dwell in their hearts.

Now the bible tells us that when people refuse to retain the word of God in their hearts, they will, at some point, be given over by God to do things that are not convenient, things that will ultimately destroy them. And that was what happened to Hophni and Phinehas. God, at some point, gave them over to impurities because they would not retain His knowledge in their hearts or give Him regard. Therefore, their wickedness degenerated to a point where they began to shamelessly sleep with the women that were working at the entrance of the Lord’s tabernacle. (Cf. Rom 1:28)

What, then, did their father do when he saw that they had utterly lost their way and were on the verge of self-destruct? He called them and rebuked them. And did that work? No, it did not work. They did not listen to him. And what did he do when he realised that they would not listen to his words of rebuke? Nothing! He just let them be. (Cf. 1Sam 2:22-25)

But could he really have done anything else to stop them from destroying themselves? Yes! He could have removed them from their positions as priests and sent them far away from the Lord’s tabernacle. That way, he could cleanse the house of God of their impurities and corruption. And doing that would have satisfied the God of justice. But he did not do so. Why? We are not given the reason for that in the bible.

At any rate, because Eli failed to judge these sons of his, he opened the door for God’s judgment to come upon his entire household. And as we see in our opening bible text, the judgment that came upon them was so severe that no right-thinking person would want to marry from their family or into their family. That judgment ruined their future. But was it really God’s judgment that ruined their future? No! It was their sin that ruined the future for them.

In like manner, our sins and errors can ruin the future for us and our family lines. And there are many in the world today that are already ruining the future for themselves and their descendants through greed, sexual immorality, bloodshed, oppression or some other forms of wicked practices. While these ones may think that they are enjoying themselves right now, they are actually taking away peace, joy, honour and excellence from their descendants that will come after them. And unless such descendants of theirs know God truly and give themselves to living for Him, they will not be able to separate themselves from partaking in the judgment on their ancestors.

So, watch the way you live and how you use your various positions and privileges in life. Don’t ruin the future with your present. Otherwise, those coming after you may turn your name into a curse. Then, if, as a child of God, you are currently partaking in some generational curse or judgment, begin to steadfastly take your stand against it, in the name of Jesus. That is because you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. So, you can refuse to share in any ugly generational experience of your natural family. And may you find sufficient strength in God to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)