Author: Pastor J.O. Lawal

“”I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.”” (Luke 4:24-27NIV)

Who said these words? It was our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom did He say them? It was to the people of His hometown. And why did He say such words to them? He said them because the people did not value Him and His ministry the way they should have.

Now why did the people of Jesus’ hometown not value Him the way people did in other places that He had been? It was because they thought that they knew Him well. And they did know Him well. They knew His earthly parents and His earthly brothers and sisters. They also knew His house. And they knew His trade. (Cf. Matt 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-5)

But that was all that they knew about Him, things that concerned His life in the natural realm. They did not know the spiritual man in Him. They did not know Him as the Son of God that was sent to save mankind. They did not know Him as their Messiah and King. And they did not know Him as a man of God.

Therefore, He could not do many mighty works among them, as He had done in all the other places He had gone. And this, as gospel writers note, shocked Him. Their unbelief surprised Him. You can see, then, that even God cannot operate well in an atmosphere of unbelief. He cannot operate well in an atmosphere of bitterness, jealousy, evil suspicions or resentment. So, if we permit any of these things in our lives, homes, workplaces or churches, even if Jesus were to physically come down from heaven and minister to us, He may not be able to help, save or lift us.

In any case, because of the attitude of the people of His hometown to Him, Jesus drew their attention to a very bitter truth, which is that servants of God don’t always get the kind of respect and honour they deserve among those closest to them in the flesh. Therefore, it is often outsiders that enjoy them and their grace of God upon their lives the more.

Now the Lord goes on to give us examples from the Scripture to back this reality up. First, He said even though there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time and when there was famine in the land, God did not send him to any of them. Instead, He sent him to a widow outside the land. And it was that widow that enjoyed the grace of his ministry during that period in order to survive the famine. (Cf. 1Kings 17)

Second, the Lord said even though there were many with leprosy in the land of Israel in Elisha’s time (a mention is even made of four of them in connection to the famine in Samaria), not one of them received their healing and cleansing through the ministry of Elisha. But when Naaman, a foreigner, travelled all the way down from his country to meet this man of God, he received his healing and cleansing, having humbled himself. (Cf. 2Kings 5&7)

What point, then, is the Lord making by saying these things? It is that the fact that we possess something or that something is readily available to us does not mean that we will enjoy its full benefits. If we do not place the right value on it, its benefits and blessings may just elude us. But if others, who do not have the kind of right or access that we have to that thing, will place the right value on it, they may just be the ones enjoying the benefits and blessings that should have been ours as well or ours in the first place.

So, don’t ever mistake possession for enjoyment. No, don’t misrepresent association for satisfaction. If you do not place the right value on the people and things God has placed in your life, you will not be able to enjoy well the blessings and benefits on your relationship with them. Yet, right before your eyes, others who value these people and things well may begin to draw all kinds of enjoyment from them in ways beyond your expectation. So, get rid of whatever is preventing you from placing the right value on the gifts of God in your life. Doing so will serve you well.

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)

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.” (Luke 19:1-4NIV)

Who was passing through Jericho? Jesus! Who wanted to see who He was? Zacchaeus! And why did he want to see what Jesus looked like? It must have been because he had heard a lot about him and his ministry and had somehow come to believe that He was truly in a position to help him find salvation and be accepted into God’s eternal kingdom.

But then, remember that Zacchaeus was not an acquaintance of Jesus. Remember also that Jesus had not come to Jericho to visit anyone. He was simply going through the place to Jerusalem. So, if Zacchaeus would succeed in seeing Him or interacting with Him, he would have to be really serious about it; he would have to overcome whatever hurdles that may be on his way.

Did this man, then, demonstrate seriousness or not in seeing Jesus? He did. How? Well, we are told in our opening text that this man, even though he was a very wealthy and influential man, ran ahead and climbed a tree in order to get a good look at Jesus. So, the first thing that showed that Zacchaeus was serious about seeing Jesus was that he laid aside his ego as a wealthy man in order to pursue the salvation of his soul.

The second thing that showed Zacchaeus’ seriousness in seeing Jesus was his willingness to act like a child in order to see Him. How did he act like a child? Well, he acted like a child by running ahead of the crowd following Jesus and climbing a tree. He knew that he was a short man. And though his being short may not have been a disadvantage to him in financial matters, it was going to be a disadvantage to him in dealing with the crowd that was with Jesus on that day that He was passing through Jericho. So, in order to overcome that disadvantage, he did what any child would not think twice to do – he ran ahead and climbed a tree in order to see Jesus. That was utter seriousness.

Now did this man’s seriousness pay off or not? It did, for the bible says a miracle of recognition actually happened that day for Zacchaeus. Jesus stopped right under the tree the man was and asked him to come down and take Him to his house. How did Jesus know that he was there on that tree? Then how did He know his name? Evidently, He knew all these things by divine revelations. (Cf. Luke 19:5-6)

In any case, all that was important to Zacchaeus was that his seriousness in seeking out Jesus for his salvation that day paid off. The Lord delayed His trip to Jerusalem for a while in order to come into his house and fellowship with him and his family. And even though all the religious people of the place were not happy about this, the Lord could care less. He was not going to deny a man that was serious about his salvation what he wanted. (Cf. Luke 19:7-10)

What, then, do we learn from this? Well, it is the same lessons that we have in Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 6, which reads, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Heb 11:6NIV) Who are the people that God rewards? It those who believe in Him and who demonstrate seriousness in seeking Him for whatever they need or want.

Observe that Jesus did not stop that day to go into the house of any of the people running after Him just for the sake of gazing at Him or touching Him as a celebrity. Rather, He stopped to go into the house of a man whose heart was so hungry and serious about seeing Him and receiving his salvation through Him that He climbed a tree. So, regardless of the number of the people living in this world, God can identify and tell those whose hearts are truly hungry and serious about knowing Him and having their needs met by Him. In fact, the bible says that His eyes are scanning all the heart for such people, so that He can show Himself strong on their behalf. (Cf. 2Chro 16:9)

The question, then, is, “Am I among those serious and diligent seekers of God?” How serious am I really about knowing God? How serious am I really about receiving whatever I need from Him? Well, the degree of our seriousness in relating to God has a lot to say about how He will relate to us and what degree of His glory we will witness. So, let us work on our seriousness in all our dealings with Him, and it will surely pay off.

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)

“But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.” (Judg 1:27NIV)

Why did the tribe of Manasseh not drive out the Canaanites in the land God had given to them? It was because those Canaanites were determined not to give up their land.

But God had already given that land to the Israelites? Not only that, God had given them the ability to take the land for themselves. Why, then, did they not proceed to drive out all the Canaanites there? At least, we are not told that they could not drive them out. If that were the case, then, it would mean that they attempted to drive them out but failed to do so.

What we are told, however, implies that they did not show much serious commitment in driving out those people. Why? Evidently, it was not because those people had enough power to resist them. Rather, it was because they found some ways to make them allow them to continue to live in the land.

What exactly did they do, then, to make the Israelites disobey God’s command to drive them out? What did they do to appease them and make them continue to live in the land? We would not know everything they did to make that happen, for we are not told in plain terms. But we do know from bible accounts that they somehow succeeded in making the Israelites fall in love with their girls and marry them. They also succeeded in making their men capture the hearts of Israelites girls and marry them. And they did that to save themselves; they did that because they were determined to stay in the land. (Cf. Judges 3:5-6)

So, determination is a force. It is a force that is powerful enough to prevent people from giving up. It is a force that drives people to think outside the box to find ways for themselves where there seems to be none. And where people are determined to do something, it will be hard, if not impossible, for you to stop them, if you are not more determined than they are, even if you have all the armies of God with you.. That, then, means that determination is a virtue we all must possess, if we are going to get anything meaningful done in life and if we will not allow ourselves to be enslaved by anyone or anything.

However, it is not enough for us to be determined to do something or not to do something; it is also important that we trust God to make our determination count. Otherwise, we may end up being destroyed through our determination. For instance, we are told in the book of Daniel that he was determined not to be defiled through the eating of the king’s food and wine. And because he was determined in this way, he found a way to talk to the chief official that was handling them about giving him and his friends permission not to eat what others were eating. (Cf. Dan 1:8)

Now did the man give him audience at all? He did! And did he grant his request? He did! Why? As we see in the account, it was because God granted him favour in the sight of the man and also brought about circumstances that encouraged the man to continue to favour him. If God had not granted him favour before the man, then, his determination could only have earned him trouble. (Cf. Dan 1:8-16)

So, while it is important that you are determined to do the will of God in your life, to be prosperous and to not be a slave of anyone or anything, don’t ever count on your determination. Instead, count on God. Determination is a powerful force indeed. But it cannot take the place of God in our lives, for it is actually a gift of God to us. Therefore, if we want it to work in our favour, our trust should not be in it but in the one who has given it to us. That way, He will be glad to make it count in our lives.

Finally, I must warn you not to employ determination in doing evil or anything contrary to the will of God. That is stubbornness. And it can only earn you sudden destruction, if you are not shown mercy. Then don’t misrepresent determination for desperation or recklessness. Otherwise, you will not only fail at whatever you are up to, you may also end up killing yourself before your time. 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)

“But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.” (2Kings 5:26-27NIV)

Why did Gehazi end up becoming leprous for life? It was because he took some gifts from Naaman the Aramean. As the story goes, Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram had come to Prophet Elisha for the healing of his leprosy. Now though, because of pride, he did not initially want to do what the prophet had told him to do, his wise servants succeeded in encouraging him to do it. And when he did what he was told to do, his leprosy vanished from him and his skin became as clean and smooth as that of a little boy. (Cf. 2Kings 5:1-14)

What happened to this man, of course, dazed him. So, he came back to Elisha, stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant.” (2Kings 5:15NIV) Did you see that? Naaman, a man of might and influence and one who had spent all his life worshiping all kinds of dumb gods, acknowledged right before all his servants that Yahweh is the only God in all the world. What a testimony!

But then, as a man of understanding, Naaman also knew that the right thing for him to do was to appreciate the man God had used for him, namely, Elisha. So, he offered him gifts, and he had actually brought along with him a lot of money and some very expensive sets of clothing (2Kings 5:5). But Elisha would have none of his gifts. And even though he persuaded him to take something from him, he would not accept any gift from him.

Why would Elisha not accept any gift from this man? Is it wrong for men of God to accept gifts of appreciation from those God has used them to bless? No, it is not wrong! As we see in the bible, it is God Himself that has commanded us to support those who share His word with us with our material things (1Cor 9:14; Gal 6:6). And as we also see in bible accounts of Elisha’s life and ministry, he used to allow people to entertain him and to give him gifts (2Kings 4).

So, it was not because it was wrong for men of God to accepts gifts of appreciation from those God has used them to bless that Elisha refused to collect anything from Naaman. Rather, it was because he wanted the man to go home with the testimony that God heals people free of charge. He wanted the man to go back home as a true worshipper of God. And that was exactly what happened. Naaman left Elisha, with faith in God in his heart. In fact, he even carried some soil from the land Israel with him to prepare for himself a place where he would be worshipping God in his house. (Cf. 2Kings 5:15-18)

Now supposing Naaman was to visit Elisha months or years after that incident and to bring him gifts, the situation might be different and the man of God may have received his gifts. But on that day, at that very hour, any gift received by Elisha from him would not truly be a gift of appreciation but a payment for his healing. And he did not want him to go home and back to his country with that impression. So, he would not take anything from him.

However, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, who had been watching what was happening all along was not happy at all that his master did not collect anything from Naaman. Maybe they were really low on money, food and clothing at the time and could really use Naaman’s gifts to make things easier for themselves. We would not know. But we do know from the account that instead for Gehazi to approach his master and ask him why he did not collect any gift from Naaman, he went behind him to meet Naaman and to receive some gifts for himself. And to make matters worse, he did that in the name of his master. So, because of greed and ignorance, Gehazi ruined the testimony God had given to Naaman. Not only that, he made his master, Elisha, look like an unstable man that really did not know what he wanted. (Cf. 2Kings 5:19-24)

Unfortunately for him, what he thought he did in secret was not hidden at all from his master. His master saw everything by revelation. So, he called him in and told him what he would have learnt, if he had asked him questions about how he related to Naaman instead of going to take gifts from him behind his back. He told him that that was a wrong time and situation to receive gifts from people, regardless of how great or expensive the gifts many be; rather, it was a time to freely give what God had freely given to them.

But the harm had already been done. Gehazi had already missed it and exposed himself and all his descendants after him to God’s judgment. They would be the bearers of the leprosy of Naaman to warn and remind men of the danger of greed and of not understanding the ways of God. What a shame!

Is there, then, any lesson for us in all this? Yes! First, it is that every time is not a time to collect things or receive things from people. And if we collect things from people at the wrong time, we may just be collecting some problems along with whatever we have collected from them, problems that what we have collected may not be able to solve. So, don’t let your circumstances, however bad they may be, be your motivation in collecting things from people. Instead, let the word of God be your guide. Then you will be able to save yourself from problems that are never meant to be yours in life.

Also, the account teaches us the importance of asking relevant questions, instead of acting on assumptions where we cannot understand why the people in our lives take decisions that are contrary to our expectations in handling certain matters. They may just have more light or revelations than us in such matters. And by asking them relevant questions, we will be able to understand them, accept their decisions and save ourselves from unseen dangers.

Elisha, evidently, had more light on spiritual matters than Gehazi. And if Gehazi, as I said before, had expressed his disappointment to him on that occasion instead of taking matters into his hand, he would have been told why it was wrong for them to take gifts from Naaman at the time. But because he did not do that, he had to learn the truth the hard way. May you never have to learn any lesson of life the hard way again, in Jesus’ name. But learn to never assume that you know better than your superiors or elders in spiritual or natural matters. It may be a costly assumption.

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)

“Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.” (Ex 16:19-20NIV)

What do we learn from our opening bible text? It is that corruption awaits anything that we are not meant to save here on earth that we save. As the account goes, God, through Moses, had instructed the Israelites on how to handle Manna, the food He was sending to them from heaven. And how were they to handle it? Each of them was to take only the exact measure of Manna that he could consume in one day and nothing more. Why? The reason was that God, who was supplying them this food, would always make sure they had enough of it for each day.

Unfortunately, there were some of these Israelites that would not pay any attention to what Moses had told them. So, they took more Manna than they needed in one day and kept the remaining part for the following day or days. But to their surprise, corruption had entered it before they woke up to see the light of the day after. So, they had to learn by experience that no one could preserve what God had not preserved.

In like manner, we too cannot preserve what God does not preserve. So, before we begin to save for the future or for the raining day, we need to be sure that what we are saving is what God wants us to save. Otherwise, like those Israelites, we also may just have to learn through some bitter experience that only what God preserves for us gets preserved.

Does this, then, mean we are not to save anything for the future at all but to consume everything that comes our way? No! Yes, it is true that our Lord Jesus teaches us that we should be content with asking God for today’s bread today (Matt 6:11&34). But that does not mean that God cannot give us more than today’s bread. He can. And He often gives us more than today’s bread, for He is always able to do immeasurably more than we can ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20).

Therefore, when He gives us more than today’s bread, He does not expect us to consume everything. Rather, He expects us to invest or save what is left. How, then, do we know what we are to invest and what we are to save from what God is giving to us? It takes divine revelations from Him to know these things. And where these are not given to people, they are bound to invest or save wrongly.

For instance, in the case of the Israelites above, when God wanted the people to save the Manna He was giving them for another day, He spoke to Moses about it. Look at how this is presented to us in the account:

“On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much — two omers for each person — and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'” So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.” (Ex 16:22-23NIV)

Did you see that? It was God that told Moses when the people should gather more than they would need for a day and to save part of it for the following day. And when they did, whatever was saved did not go bad at all. Rather, it was well preserved for their enjoyment. And who preserved it? It was God, the same God that had told them to save it.

So, when we invest or save on the basis of divine revelations, what we save will not be lost to corruption or devourers. Instead, it will be preserved for our enjoyment and for His glory. And this, of course, is also the explanation for what Jesus tells us about not storing up treasures for ourselves here on earth but storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven (Matt 6:19-21). Some have taken this to mean that God does not want us to save up anything in this world at all; rather, He wants us to give everything for His kingdom.

But that is far from the truth. Even our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who taught us these things had savings. And Judas Iscariot was His treasurer. Why, then, was He saving up money here on earth, if it is wrong for us to do so? He saved up money here on earth because it is not wrong to do so. He saved up money here on earth because doing so has its own advantages. For instance, it enables one to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. Also, it provides one some measure of security in times of famine or unexpected hardship. (Cf. Gen 41; John 12:4-6)

However, as our Lord Jesus also shows us, whatever we save here on earth can become corrupt, lost or stolen, unless God preserves it for us. Also, we will someday have to leave whatever we save up here on earth, for we brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out of it. What, then, will become of whatever we have saved up here on earth, when we eventually leave this place?

What became of the money Jesus was saving with Judas Iscariot? First, His money was not entirely safe with the man – he was stealing from it for his own personal enjoyment. Also, when the man died, nobody could tell what became of whatever was left of Jesus’ money with him. Everything simply disappeared with his death.

So, when Jesus tells us that money or treasures kept here on earth are in danger of being stolen or lost or of experiencing corruption, He is not saying so to totally discourage from saving here on earth. Rather, He is saying these things so that we will learn to reach out for divine revelations from God about the matter. That way, we won’t end up saving up here on earth what we should be saving up in heaven and lose our savings to corruption.

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)