Author: Pastor J.O. Lawal

From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: Why they perished

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 48

Beloved: Grace, mercy and peace to you without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is with great delight that I welcome you to the transition week between the months of March and April 2026. My prayer is that God will be merciful to you every day and keep your ears from being deaf to the whatever rebuke His Spirit may be bringing to you, so that you will not expose yourself to sudden destruction. Amen.

Why did the sons of Eli perish without remedy? It was because their ears were deaf to the rebuke of the Spirit of God. As we see in the bible, even though these men were priests in the house of God, they were also sons of Belial, sons of the devil. Why? The reason was that they had no regard for God. (Cf. 1Sam 2:12-17)

How, then, did they become priests in the house of God, seeing that they had no regard for Him? Favouritism! What I am saying is that the only reason they were priests in the house of God was that their father was the high priest of Israel at the time. If he had not been the high priest, they would have been made priests in the land, even though they came from the family of priests.Today, we also find in many churches people who have no fear of God in them serving as leaders. Why? Favouritism!

In other words, these ones are leaders because of their relationships with certain church leaders and not because God has chosen them to lead His people. So, they too can only be like the sons of Eli, children of Belial, in their conduct.In any case, when Eli began to get all kinds of bad reports about these sons of his, he called them and rebuked them. And did they listen to him? No, they did not listen to him. Why? Look at what the bible says about that:“No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD’s people. If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death.” (1Sam 2:24-25NIV)

Why would Eli’s sons not listen to their father? The reason was that God was determined to destroy them. And why was God determined to destroy them? He was determined to destroy them because they had formed a culture of rejecting His word of rebuke.Now this is teaching us to never reject the rebuke of the Spirit of God. That is because doing so may soon become a culture for us. And once it becomes a culture for us to reject His rebuke, we are bound to expose ourselves to God’s judgement, if we are not shown mercy. My prayer, then, is that you will not stubbornly expose yourself to His judgment in any area of your life. But you must watch yourself.Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2026, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Walk with the wise

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 25, 2026
No Comments on Title: Walk with the wise

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 45

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” (Proverbs 13:20NIV) Who is talking to us in our opening bible text? It is Solomon. And what is his instruction to us? it is that we should walk with the wise. In other words, we are to make wise people our companions.Now why do we need to do that? Why do we need to make wise people our companions?

According to Solomon, it is one of the ways to become wise. And as he further points out, if we ignore this instruction and decide to choose fools as our companions, we are bound to suffer one form of harm or the other. It is only a matter of time.But then, we must also understand that walking with wise people will not necessarily make us wise. It is our purpose of walking with them and our attitude towards learning from them that will determine whether our walk with them will result in our becoming wise or not.

What I am saying is that we have to be intentional in choosing to walk with wise people. That means we must intentionally look out for people that are truly wise around us that we can walk or fellowship with. Doing that in itself will be wisdom on our part. But it has to be done because there is no guarantee that wise people will freely flow into our lives. And where wise people are not readily around us to walk with, we had better begin to look elsewhere for companionship.Also, apart from being purposeful about choosing wise people as our companions, we also need to be purposeful about learning from them ways of wisdom. Otherwise, though we walk with them for decades, we will still not be wise.

Rehoboam, for instance, lived with his father Solomon for a number of years before he became king in his place. Yet he did not demonstrate wisdom at all but foolishness at the beginning of his reign. Why? His focus was most likely not on learning ways of wisdom from his father but on some other things. What other things? We are not told what they might be in the account. Perhaps his focus was just on becoming the next king after his father or on pleasure or on his father’s wealth.At any rate, though Rehoboam had a very rare privilege of being the son of Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived on earth before Jesus came, and also of living with him, he did not learn much wisdom from him. That was because he was not intentional about learning wisdom from him. So, he ended up having fools as his companions and suffering terribly for it. (Cf. 1Kings 12; 2Chro 10)

Now we too can expect to suffer terribly in life, if our companions are fools. And if we don’t want that, we had better begin to intentionally look out for the wise people among all the people in our lives that we will choose as our companions or counsellors. And once we recognise them, we should begin to take every righteous step that will make it possible for us to walk with them and also learn from them. Then perhaps we already have some of such people as our companions, we should not make the mistake of wasting the opportunity we have to learn from them by focussing our attention on less important things like pleasure, riches or positions in our relationships with them. Otherwise, even if we gain these things through our relationships with them, we, like Rehoboam, will still lose them at some point for our lack of wisdom. So, let us mind ourselves.

From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: Faithfulness in little things

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 22, 2026

ALAYTHIA BIBLE church

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 47

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is with great delight that I welcome you to another week of the month of March 2026. My prayer is that God will strengthen you to be faithful to Him every day, so that He can lift you up to be all that He wants you to be in life. Amen.

As we see in the bible, one of the things God considers in lifting people up is their attitude towards the little things He has entrusted to them. Look at the way our Lord Jesus puts this for us:”Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12NIV)

From what we can see here, God is interested in our attitude towards handling little things. Why? It is one of the things that will show whether we will be faithful and profitable in handling much things or not. So, if God is not promoting or increasing you in good things, it may just be that you have been unfaithful in small things.Also, we can see from this text that God is concerned about our attitude towards handling material things. Why? It is one of the ways He can tell whether we can handle spiritual things well or not. That is why He does not entrust spiritual truths and responsibilities to people who have shown themselves to be lazy or unfaithful in handling the things of this world. They will allow His work to suffer or corrupt it.

Finally, from the text, we can see that God is interested in how we handle other people’s possessions or work. If we handle what belongs to others well, we are showing ourselves as ready to receive the good things He has in store for us. But if we will not handle what belongs to others well, we will be showing ourselves as not ready to receive the good things He has for us. What this means is that one of the ways God tests our readiness to receive more from Him or to be promoted is by considering how well we handle what belongs to other people. If you, then, have not been treating the jobs or things other people have been giving you well, know that you are already hindering your own promotion and prosperity.Well, my point in all this is that God highly values our faithfulness in handling little things and in our management of the things of this world.

If you, then, want Him to elevate you and also prosper you greatly, begin to demonstrate faithfulness and diligence in handling anything entrusted to you. Remember Joseph. Remember that God did not just lift him up to be the administrator of Egypt without first testing his faithfulness as a child in his father’s house, as a slave in Potiphar’s house and as a prisoner in the land of Egypt. So, however low or bad the situation you are in may be, show yourself there as someone that people and God can rely on. And if you will be patient, you will soon experience the glory of God for your promotion and prosperity.

Have a lovely week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Even if you deserve it

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 18, 2026

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 44

“Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.” (1Sam 16:19-20NIV)

Why did Jesse send gifts to King Saul, as we see in our opening text? It was to appreciate him for choosing his son to be his personal musician in the palace. So, the gifts were not sent to bribe him to take David in as his musician but to appreciate him for already doing so.But why did he have to appreciate Saul in that manner? At least, David was chosen to serve him because he was highly skilful in playing the harp. He must actually have been the best in doing so in the country at the time.

Nevertheless, if the king, for any reason, had refused to have him, what would he have done? Nothing! Or if some of the officials of the king had decided to mess the selection process up and chosen someone less worthy of the service, what would David and his father have done? Nothing!So, even though David was chosen on merit, his father was still wise enough to know that he was supposed to appreciate the king for choosing him. And while we are not told in clear terms how King Saul responded to that show of appreciation, we are told from the account that he actually went on to like David very much. He, in fact, so liked him that he sent word to his father to allow him to remain permanently in his service. (Cf. 1Sam 16:21-22)

What, then, is this teaching us? It is that we must learn to recognise where appreciation is needed and give it. For many of us, it is only when people have given us or done for us something we don’t deserve that we think of the need to appreciate them. Therefore, we may not see the need to show appreciation where we think we deserve or are entitled to have what is coming to us. This is why we usually don’t show enough appreciation to our parents, husbands, wives, children, brethren or leaders in the church and other people that are close to us. We think we deserve or are entitled to whatever they are doing to us or for us.

But even if you deserve or are qualified or entitled to have something, it may still not come to you. You may be denied it, robbed of it or cheated of it for various reasons. If you, then, have not been denied what you are qualified or entitled to have, you should first be thankful to God for delivering it to you. Also, you should do whatever you can to appreciate anyone that He may have used in making that thing yours. That is because you may not be able to say what other doors of goodness doing so may open for you.

Finally, if someone that has gotten something on merit has enough sense to appreciate those used by God to secure that thing for him, you who are receiving whatever you are not qualified or entitled to have should know that you have no excuse for being lacking in appreciation.

So, learn to appreciate those God is using to lift you up or to open doors of prosperity to you, not just with words of mouth but also with meaningful gifts, however little those gifts may be. This is not bribery. This is appreciation. And if bribes can make people go out of their way to twist situations and systems, imagine what genuinely shown appreciation can do in setting things right.

Therefore, whether you deserve that good thing coming to you or not, recognise where to show appreciation for it and show it. May God continually fill you with the wisdom to do the right thing, as far as this matter is concerned. Amen.

From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: Don’t discourage them

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 14, 2026

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 46

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of March 2026. My prayer is that God will make the week beautiful for you and your family. Amen.

As we begin this new week, I want to enjoin you to be one who always encourages the people of God around you to do His will through your words and actions. See, all that some people need to give themselves to fully doing the will of God is just a word of encouragement from someone. In like manner, all that some people need to excuse themselves from doing the will of God is just someone that will discourage them, either by their words or actions.

And if you should allow yourself to be used by the devil to discourage anyone from doing the will of God, you can be sure that God will deal with you accordingly.For example, when the children of Israel were coming close to entering the Promised land, having wandered in the wilderness for forty years, the Reubenites and the Gadites came to Moses with a request. And it was that he should permit them not to cross the Jordan river over to the land of the Canaanites. Why? The reason was that the place before the Jordan was suitable for their livestock. And they had very large flocks and herds. (Cf. Num 32:1-5)

How, then, did Moses respond to their request? Look at what is said about that in the bible:“Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the LORD has given them? This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the LORD had given them.”” (Num 32:6-10NIV)

Did you see that? Moses told the people that what they were up to would discourage the other Israelites from doing the will of God by crossing the Jordan to possess the Promised Land. He, in fact, used the occasion to remind them that the reason they all spent forty years wandering in the wilderness was that their parents also discouraged one another from possessing the Promised Land. Those Reubenites and Gadites, then, had to assure Moses that they would first cross the Jordan to help the other Israelites in possessing the Promised Land before they would come back to settle in their own land before he freely granted their request. (Cf. Num 32:16-23)

What is this teaching us? It is that God never looks with favour on anyone who discourages others from doing His will. Instead, He always judges them. And since we cannot tell how He would judge us if we should discourage anyone from doing His will, we need to be careful not to be the reason anyone will not do what God wants or enjoy His provisions for their lives through what we say or do. And may the Spirit of God always strengthen us to act accordingly. Amen.Have a lovely week.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: First investigate it

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 12, 2026

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 43

“Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:3-4NIV)

In our opening bible text, we find part of the introduction of Luke to his gospel concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we learn from what he says in this introduction? First, we learn that he originally wrote this gospel for the reading of a nobleman called Theophilus. The sort of position Theophilus was occupying at the time is something we cannot tell from the text. But by referring to him as ‘Most excellent Theophilus’, we can safely assume that the man must be occupying a very powerful and influential position wherever he was at the time.The second thing we learn from the text was that even though Luke was a believer in Christ Jesus at the time, he did not just believe everything he was told and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Instead, he first carried out a careful, thorough and extensive investigation about the things he was hearing and learning before embracing them as true. Why did he do that? Well, first, he did that because he did not want to be acting on lies or fabricated stories. Second, it was because he lived during the days of the early preachers of the gospel and so nothing stopped him from verifying the things that they were saying to see whether they were true or not.

Third, it was so that he would not be leading others too, including Theophilus, to believe a lie.Now we find something similar to this in the attitude of the Jews in Berea towards the preaching of Paul, when he came to them. Look at what the bible says about this:“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” (Acts 17:11-12NIV)

Did you see that? These people did not just accept Paul’s sermons as true because he called himself an apostle of the Messiah that they had been waiting for. Instead, every day they took out time to investigate what he was teaching them in the Scriptures to see if it was true. And when they realised that it was true, many of them believed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with joy.So, you can see that the apostles of old encouraged their audience to investigate the things they were teaching them. They did not just ask them to accept their messages as true because they were apostles. Otherwise, they would be preventing them from gaining the confidence they needed to defend their own faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That being the case, learn to investigate whatever you are being taught in the church and in life by anybody. Investigate it using the Scriptures and other relevant resources that are at your disposal. Don’t just accept anything as true on the strength of anybody’s title, position, education, fame or experience. That is a cheap way to be misled into believing and acting on lies or errors. And where that is the case, you will have only yourself to blame for whatever you suffer for believing and acting on any lie or error. So, mind yourself.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Take responsibility for it

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 4, 2026
2 Comments on Title: Take responsibility for it

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 42

“”Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”” (Jonah 1:12NIV

)A number of years ago, while I was working with a bank, an app was developed and deployed by the IT department of the bank to aid transferring of funds into multiple accounts at the same time. And was that not a good and progressive thing? It was.However, that app malfunctioned when one of my colleagues attempted to use it in transferring the salaries of some government workers into their accounts. Instead of crediting the designated bank accounts, it credited accounts of workers of another government agency in another state. And sadly, some of those whose accounts were wrongly credited in this manner were not gracious enough to report the error in time.

On the contrary, they went ahead and began to spend the money.Well, when it was eventually discovered that a big error had been committed, guess who was asked to take responsibility for it? My colleague that used the app! That, of course, got me so upset that I had to take up the matter with some of our bosses at the time. And in the heat of the dealing with it, I remember saying these words to one of them: “Any of us can make mistakes, for we are all humans. So, a system we create can also make mistakes. But if anyone created a system that failed, he should at least be gracious and honest enough to take responsibility for it, instead of seeking to make others pay for his mess.” What is my point? It is that mistakes and accidents happen in life for various reasons. Even the word of God confirms that (Deut 19:4-5).

But mistakes and accidents don’t happen by themselves. People make them happen. And where you are responsible for a mistake, an error or an accident that has occurred, you should not waste time to take responsibility for it. Otherwise, you may allow innocent people to suffer for you. How, then, will you face God in such a situation?As we see in our opening text, Jonah stepped up to take responsibility for the mishap that those he was travelling with at the time were experiencing on the sea. Why? It was because the reason trouble came upon them was that he was running away from doing the will of God. So, if their trouble would go away, he must be thrown into the sea, as he pointed out to them. And would that not mean death for him? It would. But unless that was done, the people with him would lose more than their cargo; they would lose their lives as well.

Now, as the account further shows us, those with him did not want to do what he told them at all. Why? They did not want to become murders while trying to save themselves. But soon enough, they realised that God was the one judging Jonah indeed. Therefore, unless they threw him overboard, they would all perish. So, they did the needful and saved their lives. And by doing the needful, they gave room for Jonah himself to repent and receive God’s mercy for salvation and restoration. (Cf. Jonah 1&2)

What is that showing us? It is that while it may be hard for us to take responsibility for our errors or mistakes, doing so, especially with a heart of humility, can open God’s door of mercy and favour to us. So, instead, of suffering for our errors, we can be shown mercy for forgiveness, salvation and restoration. But if, instead of taking responsibility for our blunders, we allow others to suffer for them, whether out of fear or sheer wickedness, God will not fail to judge us at the right time. And who knows how He will judge?

From Pastor's Desk 2026 Pastor's Desk

Title: First deal with your own problems

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date February 28, 2026

ALAYTHIA BIBLE church

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 44

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is with great joy that I welcome you to the third month of this year, the month of March 2026. My prayer is that God will set right anything that is not in line with His will in your life, so that the manifestations of His blessings in your life will no longer be hindered. Amen.

Now I offered that prayer for you because there are times that the reason certain blessings of God are not manifesting in our lives is that some things are wrong in our lives and need to be taken care of. And we may not even be paying attention to these wrong things, so that we can trust God to take care of them for us. Instead, our attention may be on what is wrong with the lives of others around us. And unless we turn our eyes away from what is wrong with other people to what is wrong with us, so that we may deal with them, the manifestation of some blessings of God will continue to elude us.

Remember that our Lord Jesus says this to us:“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matt 7:3-5NIV)

Did you see that? We can be busy analysing the problems in the lives of others while we fail to first deal with the problems in our own lives, which are more likely bigger. And that is hypocrisy. It is hypocrisy because unless we first deal with the big problems in our own lives, we cannot help others deal with the small problems in their lives.

So, instead of wasting your time considering all that is wrong in the lives of others around you, begin to talk to God about those things that you can see to be wrong in your own life. And as you do this, His mercy will flow abundantly to you for your restoration.For example, when David and his people were running away from Absalom, a man called Shimei began to curse and to stone him and his officials. And when one of his soldiers asked for permission to go and cut of the man’s head, David rebuked him. Why? The reason was that Shimei was not the rebel that drove him out of his palace. It was his own son, Absalom, that drove him out. And Absalom was able to drive him out of the palace in that manner because he failed as a father. (Cf. 2Sam 16:5-13)

If there was anyone, then, that David needed to deal with at the time, it was he himself, not Shimei. And that was exactly what he did. He focussed all his attention at the time on reflecting on his errors as a father and praying to God for mercy. And did God answer him or not? He did.So, if we want God’s mercy and favour to work in our lives unhindered, our attention must first be on dealing with those things in our lives that are not in line with His will instead of on talking about what is wrong with the lives of others. And may the Spirit of God daily grant us all the strength we need to do this, so that none of the blessings meant for our lives will elude us again. Amen.Have a lovely March 2026.

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Since he was living in Sodom

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date February 25, 2026
No Comments on Title: Since he was living in Sodom

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 40

“They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.” (Gen 14:12NIV)

Who was living in Sodom, as we see in our opening text? It was Lot, Abraham’s nephew. And who carried him and his possessions off? The kings that attacked Sodom! But why?Well, as the account goes, the king of Sodom and his ally kings had been subject to Kedorlaomer king of Elam for twelve years. But they rebelled in the thirteenth year. Why? Maybe they felt that they had become strong enough to gain their independence. We would not know for sure. (Cf. Gen 14:1-4)

However, we do know from the account that when Kedorlaomer and his allies attacked them, they fled before them into the hills. So, these kings went into their cities to carry off all their people, goods and food. And that was when Lot and his possessions were carried off, since he too was living in Sodom at the time.It follows, then, that if Lot had not been living in Sodom at the time, he and his possessions would not have been carried off in that manner. But since he was living there, he too suffered the fate of all the people living there.

Thankfully, somebody reported this matter in time to Abraham, Lot’s uncle. Then, out of his concern for the man and because of his faith in God, he gathered his men and attacked those powerful kings. And even though it looked like a suicide attempt, God gave him victory over them. So, he was able to rescue Lot and his possessions. (Cf. Gen 14:13-16)

But was Lot supposed to be in Sodom in the first place? No! As we see in the account of his journey with his uncle, Abraham, it was greed that led him to go and live in Sodom. Truly, at the time, it was no longer convenient for he and Abraham to be living together. That was because they both had great possessions and the land could no longer support them. (Cf. Gen 13:1-7)

Therefore, Abraham, his uncle, told him to choose what part of the land he would move into and occupy. And instead for him to show some respect and tell the man, who actually had been taking care of him since his own father died, to choose where to go and live for him, he saw the situation as an opportunity to outshine him. That was why he chose the part of the land that looked like the garden of the Lord for himself. (Cf. Gen 13:8-13)

But the choice he made that day put him right among the people of Sodom. And these people were sinning greatly against the Lord at the time. So, they were a people marked for destruction. That means destruction was bound to come upon them at some point. It was only a matter of time. And since Lot had chosen to stay with them, he too was bound to experience whatever form of judgment or destruction that came upon them. You can see why he and his possessions were first carried off by those kings that attacked Sodom and why he would also later lose everything he owned, including his wife, when God’s judgment finally came upon that land.

Now what is all this teaching us? It is that where we live, stay, work or school matters a lot. Certain places may look like places of opportunities or advantages to us. But being there may expose us to challenges of life that we have no answers for. And if we are not shown mercy by God while in such places, we may lose more than our lives and possessions there; we may lose our souls as well.

Therefore, don’t choose to be anywhere merely because of what you see, hear or feel about the place. Instead, always pray to God to fill your heart with divine revelations about where to be, from time to time. That way, you can trust Him to lead you all the time to be in the right place at the right time, away from unnecessary challenges and troubles of life.Cheers!

From Pastor's Desk 2026 General Post Pastor's Desk

Title: The right attitude towards rebuke

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date February 21, 2026
No Comments on Title: The right attitude towards rebuke

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 43

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to the last week of this month, the month of February 2026. My prayer is that God will always keep your heart humble to receive His word, even if it is a word of rebuke, so that His purpose for your life may be fully realised. Amen.

One of the things that are difficult for us to receive from God is a word of rebuke. We often don’t find it hard to accept His word of blessing or praise. But when He decides to rebuke us, we may get angry with Him or with the people that He is using to rebuke us. And that will surely hinder the fulfilment of His purpose in our lives or expose us to judgment.

As we see in Scriptures, God does not rebuke us because He just delights in condemning us or our works. Rather, He rebukes us when we are wrong. And that is so that we may repent and not expose ourselves to His judgment. Our attitude towards His rebuke, then, is what will tell whether His word of rebuke will do our lives good or not.

For example, even though King Asa had been a godly king, when God rebuked him for putting his trust in men instead of in Him, he got angry. He was so angry with God that he put the prophet God had sent to him in jail and also oppressed some of the people of his land. Therefore, the word of rebuke sent to him could not do him any good and turn him away from the path of destruction. No wonder he died sick and before his time. (Cf. 2Chro 16)

But then, to one’s surprise, when God sent a word of rebuke through Prophet Elijah to King Ahab, that wicked king, he accepted it humbly. The word so humbled him that he tore his clothes, fasted and went around meekly. So, instead for God to judge him immediately, He postponed the judgment to the time of his son. (Cf. 1Kings 21)

Now you can see that you can be known as a righteous person and yet have a bad attitude towards rebuke. Yet someone that is known for being wicked or useless may have a good attitude towards it. And where this is the case, that so-called bad person will experience the mercy of God for forgiveness and preservation.

But you, with your so-called righteousness, will miss out on His goodness because of your stubbornness and bad attitude towards His word of rebuke.So, anytime you are being rebuked by God for doing what is wrong or inappropriate, accept it with meekness. Don’t argue. Don’t try to justify yourself. Yes, the person God is using to rebuke you may be harsh. Yet accept the word of rebuke coming to you, as long as it is the truth. And even though you think that you have been misrepresented, still be meek enough to first listen to any word of rebuke coming to you before explaining yourself.

That way, you will not present yourself as stubborn and expose yourself to God’s judgment.Remember that you don’t know everything. None of us knows everything. Only God does. And if He will be able to perfect His purpose in our lives, we must have the right attitude towards rebuke. Otherwise, we may end up like King Asa. May that not be our lot in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely week.