Author: Pastor J.O. Lawal

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Domestic oppression |By: J.O. Lawal | FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones
Date: February 08, 2023 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 39

“Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.” Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.” (Neh 5:1-6NIV)

As we see in the book of Nehemiah, in order for the Jewish exiles that had returned to Jerusalem to be rid of the harassment and disgrace they were facing from the hostile gentiles surrounding them, Nehemiah had to leave his comfort zone as King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer and come home to help them. Was it easy for him to get this king’s permission to do this? No! He really could have lost his life in the process of seeking it. But because he had first sought the Lord’s face and favour before approaching the man, his request was miraculously granted. (Cf. Neh 1-2)

Now when he eventually came and began to labour for the welfare of his people, he thought it was only the oppression they were faced with from outside that he had to deal with; he did not know that he would have to handle domestic oppression as well. But it was not long after he had successfully dealt with the external forces contending with the welfare of his people that he realised that the people he was working hard to save were equally oppressing one another.

Remember that Moses also had a similar experience. He had, on one occasion, killed an Egyptian in his attempt to save one of his own. But to his surprise, it was not only the Egyptians that were oppressing his people. They themselves were oppressing themselves. And when he tried to point this out to one of them, he ended up having to run for his life for the next forty years. (Cf. Ex 2:11-15)

In any case, as we see in our opening text, Nehemiah was really angry when he realised that while he was labouring hard to help his people get established in the land, there were still among them those who were using their positions of advantage to oppress others. And he had to call their nobles and officials into a meeting and bound them with oaths and curses in order to solve the problem. Otherwise, all his labour to comfort the people and give them rest would have come to nothing because of the domestic oppression going on among them. (Cf. Neh 5:6-13)

Similarly, in Nigeria today, there is much distress everywhere for the citizenry. And is this because our leaders are so cruel and unfeeling? No! Yes, we cannot run away from the fact that many of our leaders have not done well at all in caring for the people. But the truth also is that much of the distress we are now experiencing is not a direct consequence of their ineptitude but that of the domestic oppression we too are subjecting ourselves to.

For example, can we in all honesty say that our leaders are totally to blame for the outrageous increase in fuel prices that we are now seeing? No! That is an offspring of domestic oppression. Or can we in all sincerity put all the blame for the scarcity of the new naira notes that we are seeing on our leaders? No! That is also a product of domestic oppression emanating from many of our commercial banks and POS operators. Or can we say that our leaders are totally to blame for the daylight robbery of many Nigerians by those in the power sector? No! That is equally a product of domestic oppression.

Yes, our economy has been badly managed by our leaders for many years. And no one, as I pointed out before, can excuse them from taking responsibility for that. But we are the ones making this economy daily worse through our greed. Our greed is the force driving us to use the poor leadership in the country as an excuse for pursuing unjust profit in every possible way. So, our pains and miseries are mostly self-inflicted and our oppression largely domestic.

If we, then, are going to witness any relief soon, we all must choose to end every form of domestic oppression we are perpetuating or sponsoring in our offices, business centers, neighbourhoods, schools and even religious assemblies. Remember that, right now, we don’t have any Nehemiah that will compel us to do what is right. So, if we don’t begin to do what is right as a matter of urgency, it may not be long before our beloved country is totally colonised again by foreigners.

Now this sort of colonisation, of course, is not going to be territorial, as it was before we gained independence. Rather, it is going to be an economic thing. In other words, our economic independence will totally be taken away from us and we will be nothing but economic slaves of some other nations. My prayer is that things will not degenerate to that level before we all come back to our senses or before God sends a Nehemiah to us to redeem our honour. Amen.

Copyright © 2023, 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)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

How to be preserved | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: February 05, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 40

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the month of February 2023. And I pray that God will protect you from all the evils of these last days that are ruining people’s faith and lives. Amen.

I offered that prayer to God for you because I know that it is His desire to preserve all of us that are His children from all the corruption and evils of these last days. In fact, the bible tells us that we can trust Him to preserve us because He is a faithful God (1Thess 5:23-24). But it is one thing for God to be committed to preserving our lives and faith; it is another thing for us to place ourselves where He can do so. If you do not position yourself where God can preserve your life and faith, you will not be safe. And that is not a curse. It is the reality.

How do you position yourself where God can preserve you from the corruption of these last days? It is by yielding yourself to the word of His truth, whether it is pleasant for you to accept or not. Paul, writing to Timothy in a letter, says this:

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2Tim 4:1-4NIV)

What does Paul tell Timothy to do in this text? First, he tells him to preach the word of God, not his ideas, the popular opinions of men, community stories or traditions. Second, he tells him to be ready to correct, rebuke and encourage the people of God, whether it is convenient for him or not. But is Timothy not supposed to be aware of these things already, since he is a pastor of pastors? He is supposed to be aware of them already.

Why, then, does he need someone to charge him to give himself to doing them? As we see in the text, it is because a time is coming (and that time is now here) when many so-called believers in Christ Jesus will not put up with sound doctrine but will look for those who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear. Paul, in fact, goes on to say that these people will turn their ears away from the truth in order to listen to myths and lies. And when this happens, there is every tendency that Timothy may feel that he is the one that is being too harsh and so want to change his sermons to suit them. So, Paul warns him before God and before Jesus Christ not to do so. Otherwise, he will ruin his ministry and lose his reward.

In like manner, many in the church today do not want to put up with the truth again, that is, if they have ever put up with it. That is why they keep going from one assembly to another assembly and never really settling down anywhere. They prefer leaders like Aaron who will give them whatever they want, even if it is an idol of gold, to leaders that will confront them with the truth about their lives and the will of God for them. (Cf. Exodus 32)

Now the truth is that such people cannot be preserved by God from being polluted or from being misled and destroyed by the devil. And if you don’t want to end up like them, if you want God to keep you safe and sound in the faith in these last days, you had better yield yourself to sound doctrine and spiritual discipline instead of looking for those who will pamper you until you are utterly destroyed. And know this: there are still some of us that will never change our sermons to suit you. Yes, there are still some of us that will never give you any golden calf to worship, regardless of what you say about us or think of us. That is because we are not answerable to you but to God who sent us. And may God grant you a heart that is ever humble to receive His word of truth without disputing. Amen.

Have a great February 2023.

Copyright © 2023, 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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Would He make a garment of skin for you too?| By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: February 01, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus| Number: Vol. 5, No. 38

“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (1Tim 2:9-10NIV)

The day we live in is one in which indecency and inappropriate dressing are now the order of the day. Yes, it is a day in which women, including some elderly ones, no longer see anything wrong with dressing like prostitutes or walking around almost naked.

Unfortunately, even our women in the church are not left out of this societal menace. Many of them are vitally contributing to it. And this is evident in the kinds of dresses they wear to our church meetings. No, they may not come for church meetings half-naked. But they will make sure they wear something that reveals enough of certain parts of their bodies, so that they could get someone’s attention. It is no wonder, then, that rape cases are daily multiplying at a very alarming rate in our country, just as cases of consensual sex among unmarried people are just too much to talk about.

But from what we see in our opening bible text, God’s people, God’s women, old or young, ought to be different in the way they dress and comport themselves. Is it that God does not want them to look beautiful and elegant when they dress? No! He wants His daughters to look beautiful and elegant wherever they appear. Otherwise, He would not create them to be beautiful.

Look, for example, at what the bible says about the daughters of Job that were later born to him: “The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.” (Job 42:14-15NIV) Who gave Job these extremely beautiful daughters? God! So, beauty, any degree of it, is a gift from God. And no should condemn or despise it.

Unfortunately, there are preachers who have mistaken what Paul says in this text to mean that God’s women are not to dress well or beautiful themselves at all, especially with articles of gold or silver. So, they condemn any woman who appears beautiful, without making any effort to find out what quality of life the person is living. But these same people may not see anything wrong with their own women braiding their hair or using bags or shoes with gold or silver plates. And that shows that they are ignorant of what this Scripture means.

I remember, for instance, how a so-called prophet once told a brother of mine that the Spirit of God wanted him to be careful of light complexioned ladies. Why? He had earlier that day seen him with a light complexioned lady. But did he know who she was to him? No! If he had, he would not have said that the Spirit of God told him what He obviously did not tell him.

In any case, what the Scripture we have above is telling us, first, is that God’s daughters are never to take their dressing or physical outlook more seriously than their conduct. So, we should not say that you, as a lady, are beautiful simply because of your hair-do, use of jewelleries and cost of wears but because you are a woman that is also rich in good deeds and character. In other words, if you are not rich in character, your physical beauty may as well be as good as worthless.

Second, this Scripture is telling us that when you dress, demonstrate decency. Cover what is meant to be covered and protect what should be protected. Yes, God has made you beautiful. But He does not want you to get outrageous in handling it. Or else you might soon turn yourself into a tool of seduction in the hand of the devil or open the door of your life for ungodly people or criminals to begin to desire you.

Remember that when the first man and the first women fell and the glory of God that was covering them left, the first thing they did was to cover their nakedness with garments of leaves. And when God came and met them in that condition, what did He do? He made garments of skin for them. Why? He could see that they were not adequately covered, even though it was just the two of them. (Cf. Gen 3)

Now if God should physically appear to you too today, what do you think He would do or say about your dressing? Would He freely settle down to relate to you or would He want to make a garment of skin for you to cover your nakedness? I am sure you know the answer. Therefore, what is acceptable to God is what you should always wear, whether you are a woman or a man and not what many of these movie, music or sport stars are leading you to wear. Otherwise, one might begin to wonder whether you are a child of God at all.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Take special note of them | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 29, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 39

Beloved: Grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of this year. And I pray that God will keep your heart right and humble before Him all the time, so that you will not experience any kind of downfall but elevation this year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As the bible tells us, pride is one of the major reasons people experience downfall or are prevented from experiencing elevation in life. If we are walking in pride, then, we may just be brought down from whatever position of advantage we are or prevented from rising beyond where we are in life. So, watch out for every form of pride and see to it that it is not allowed to take root in your life. (Cf. Prov 16:18; James 4:6-7; 1Pet 5:5-6)

Now one form of pride that God’s people don’t easily recognise but that is very much present in many of us is that which has to do with disobedience to spiritual authority. And when I am talking about spiritual authority, I am talking about those leaders that God has placed over you in your Christian assembly. These ones have been ordained by Him to feed you with His word and to watch over your soul through prayer and fellowship. So, I am not saying that every pastor, prophet, evangelist or apostle you meet is your spiritual leader and that you must obey them.

If someone is not your church leader, you are not under any obligation to follow any instruction he gives you, right or wrong, unless you have a relationship with the person and sees him as trustworthy. But if someone is your church leader, you are under an obligation to obey his instructions, as long as those instructions are consistent with the will of God. It is a shame, however, that we often find God’s people showing much regard for church leaders that are not directly over them while despising the ones that are directly over them in their Christian assemblies.

But this is wrong and contrary to the will of God for our lives. Paul, while addressing the Corinthians on this note, says that if they were supporting and respecting church leaders who were not directly over them, should they not support and respect him all the more, since he was their father in the faith and had never stopped ministering to them in the word of God and in prayer? They should. (Cf. 1Cor 9:11-12) In like manner, if you too find it convenient to support and respect church leaders that are not directly watching over you in the faith or that you have never even met, why should you find it hard to respect and support the leaders of your local assembly that are continually ministering to you even more? Well, one of the reasons we disrespect our church leaders in this manner is pride. When we feel that a church leader does not know enough or is not old enough or is not smart enough or is not educated enough to instruct or lead us, we will not obey them or take them seriously.

Also, when we are ignorant of the consequences of disobeying or disrespecting our church leaders, and many in the church today are ignorant of these things, we may freely disobey or despise them. But as we see in Scriptures, there are very terrible consequences for despising our spiritual leaders or encouraging rebellion against them, regardless of how young or unimpressive they may appear. So, warn yourself concerning these things. Otherwise, you may soon enough get into problems that God won’t save you from. (Cf. Num 12&17)

Finally, Paul says this to us about how we should relate to those who don’t take our leaders in the church seriously: “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (2Thess 3:14-15NIV) Did you see that? We are told to take special note of anyone in our Christian assembly that does not take our leaders seriously, talks anyhow about them or encourages rebellion against their instructions. Why? First, it is so that we may warn them. Second, it is so that if they do not take warning, we can separate ourselves from them. Otherwise, we may end up partaking in the consequences of their disobedience.

So, always watch how the people you move with in the church relate to spiritual authority, regardless of how much you like them. Then you will know whether they will contribute to your growth in the kingdom of God or to your downfall. And may God fill you with sufficient understanding, strength and boldness to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2023, 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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Stop multiplying failure| By: J.O. Lawal|Fire my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 25, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 37

“Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good…”” Ex 18:17NIV)
What was Moses, that great man of God, doing that was not good? It was his leadership approach that was not good. As the account shows us, before his father-in-law, Jethro, visited him, Moses used to sit down everyday to attend to all the disputes and concerns of the Israelites that he was taking to the Promised Land. And how many people are we looking at? According to the first census of these people that Moses took, we are looking at about six hundred thousand men, not counting their wives, children and servants (Num 1:46).

Why, then, was Moses all alone attending to all the disputes, requests and misunderstandings of all these people? It was because he felt that he was the only one that must do so. But where was that getting him and the people he was attending to? Nowhere! Evidently, the work was too much for him to handle. Therefore, he was utterly ineffective in handling it.

Unfortunately, Moses was ignoring the fact that he, as one man, was ineffective in leading all the people at that time. He was ignoring the fact that though he was a great spiritual leader, he was very poor in administrative matters. And why was he doing this to himself? It was because there was no one bold and wise enough to draw his attention to his folly, without disrespecting the anointing of God on his life. So, they all left him to continue to multiply failure.

We too can continue to multiply failure in certain or all the areas of our lives, if we are ignoring the fact that we are failing at what we are doing. It takes courage and sincerity to admit failure. It takes courage and sincerity to admit that what we are doing is not working and needs to be approached or addressed differently. But do we have these attributes in our lives, courage and sincerity?

When God saw that the world of Noah’s day was not working, did He not face that fact? He did! God did not lie to Himself about the fact that the world that He had created and given to humanity was not working at all and needed to be ended. And He did not wait for anybody to tell Him that this was the situation. Instead, He told Himself the truth about it and did the needful. Was He happy to do the needful, which involved destroying everything on the face of the earth, except Noah and his family? No! But He did what He had to do in order to give us another chance to recreate our world and live to fulfil His purpose for us. (Cf. Gen 6-9)

So, if what you are doing is not working, tell yourself the truth about it and begin to consider how to make things right. And don’t ignore the truth of your failure because nobody is saying anything to you about it or because certain ‘Yes people’ are encouraging you to keep multiplying failure. Remember that even though Moses was failing terribly in administering justice to the nation of Israel at that time, nobody among his people, not even his own brother Aaron, said anything to him about it. They all were probably telling him what he wanted to hear from them, which was not at all good for him or the people.

However, when God was going to save him, he moved his father-in-law to come and visit him, bringing along his wife and sons. And when he came, he immediately noticed the error of this man of God and lost no time at all in drawing his attention to it. He told him very plainly, as we see in our opening text, that what he was doing was wrong and would simply destroy him and the people. Then he went on to tell him the right thing to do, which was to delegate his administrative responsibilities among the various gifted people in the nation, if God permitted him to do so. And guess what? Moses listened to him and was rid of his ineffectiveness and failure in leadership. (Cf. Ex 18)

Now it is possible that you too, like Moses, have something you are doing that is not good and that is causing you to multiply failure. Then acknowledge it and deal with it without delay, if you know what it is. Don’t wait for a Jethro to come and point it out to you. That is because that Jethro may never come.

But if it is something you don’t know, my prayer is that God will send a Jethro to open your eyes to see it. And when He does send him, don’t let pride get in the way. Instead, humble yourself, listen, learn and get the needful done without wasting time at all. Otherwise, you will simply keep on multiplying failure.

Cheers!

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

The judgment of His word | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 22, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 38

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of the month of January 2023. My prayer is that everything God has been saying to you will succeed in making you the person He wants you to be in this world and not work against you on the last day. Amen.

Once, while addressing the Jews, Jesus said the following to them: “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.” (John 12:47-48NIV) From what the Lord said to these people, it is clear that it is not a new thing for people to hear His words and not act on them. So, if you have been hearing the word of God and not acting on it, it should not surprise anybody.

In any case, the Lord says that He is not ready to judge anyone that hears His word and rejects it. And that is because His mission at this time is not to judge people but to save them. That, however, does not mean that those who reject Him will not be judged at all. They will be judged at the last day. And who will judge them? According to the Lord, it is the very word that they have rejected that will stand in judgment against them on that day.

Therefore, if the word of God is coming to you and you are refusing to take it seriously and act on it, know that this same word will testify against you someday. And this is not something that will happen only in heaven but also here on earth. For instance, Solomon, while addressing his sons about adultery, makes it abundantly clear to them that if they will not pay attention to him, a day will come when they will remember his words and condemn themselves.

Look at his actual words about this: “At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”” (Prov 5:11-14NIV) Now has something like this ever happened to you? Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you began to condemn yourself for your own failure to act on the wise counsel you had received from your parents, church leaders or other good people in your life?

Well, I have been there. And trust me, it is not a nice experience at all. I am talking about a situation in which you know that you are the cause of your own trouble. That is because you can vividly remember all the words of warning and caution that you heard and that you failed to utilise. Then you begin to wish you had acted on them; you begin to wish you had not been stubborn. Yet you also know that the damage has already been done and that unless God shows you mercy, you will have to live and die with the mess you have made. And though you beat and condemn yourself at such a time, it will not change anything.

Now that is how the word of God judges people and how it will judge them on the last day. They will remember every truth they have heard and have failed to utilise. And they will know they have no excuse for failing God. They will know that they have no excuse for messing up their own lives or for choosing hell. But it will be too late to change anything then. It will be too late at that time to change the results they have gotten. So, they will have to live eternally with them.

But while we are still here in the world, there are things we can change. As long as we still have the breath of life in us, we can turn back from the path of disobedience to God and start listening to Him and taking His word seriously. That way, He can heal us, save us from the consequences of our past mistakes and set our lives right. Then we will not have to live forever regretting the wrong choices we have made. And my prayer is that you will take these words to heart and turn away from doing those things that will make the word of God stand against you someday in this world or on the day of the Lord. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2023, 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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Reputation means a lot| By: J.O. Lawal|Fire My Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 18, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 36

“And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.” (Ruth 3:11NIV)

Those were Boaz’s words to Ruth, when she came to him one night to request his hand in marriage. Now, for those of us who don’t understand the Jewish culture of the time, what Ruth was reported to have done on that occasion could only be taken by us as outrageous and shameless. “What sort of woman makes love advances at a man, if not a shameless one?” we would say.

But as far Jewish customs were concerned, there was nothing shameless or outrageous about what Ruth did that night. Under the law of Moses, widows were meant to remarry from among their in-laws and not outside the family. And each of them had a right to approach the elders of their town to report any brother-in-law that was in a position to remarry her but that would not do so, so that they would talk some sense into him. (Cf. Deut 25:5-10)

So, Ruth did not do anything wrong under the law of Moses by discreetly approaching Boaz and asking him to marry her. First, she was a widow. So, she had a right to remarry. Second, Boaz was her late husband’s kinsman. So, he was one of those in a position to marry her. Then, as the account goes, it was not even Ruth’s idea to meet the man in that manner, for she was not an Israelite and most probably did not know much about their laws and culture at the time. The idea was Naomi’s, Ruth’s mother-in-law. And if there was anyone that would put Ruth up to something shameless, she would be the last person. (Cf. Ruth 3:1-5)

More so, as we equally see in the account, Boaz did not act confused when Ruth did what her mother-in-law told her to do. Instead, he indicated that he understood clearly what she did and what it meant. In fact, he went on to tell her that there was another kinsman of her late husband that was more qualified to marry her than him. So, what the young woman did was in line with the marital laws and customs of the land at the time and should not be condemned by anybody.

Now is that to say that you too, as a single lady or young widow, are free to approach any man to ask his hand in marriage? That is not for me to say. I know the word of God does not give a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer to that. And if the customs of your country or community do not frown against doing so, you should be free to do so. But if the customs of your place are contrary to it, then, doing so may ultimately result in a reputational hazard for you. So, I won’t ask you to take the risk.

At any rate, even though what Ruth did to Boaz was in line with the customs of the land at the time, Boaz could as well have been irritated by it and rejected her proposal. But he did not. Why? It was because he knew Ruth to be a woman of character.

In fact, as we see in our opening bible text, he wasn’t the only one that knew her in that manner; everyone else in the town knew her to be so. In other words, this woman’s reputation for godliness, sanctity, hard work, diligence and love for family preceded her wherever she went. Therefore, Boaz was all happy and eager to do for her what she wanted, if their relative that was more qualified than him to have her would not do so. He, in fact, went out of his way to make sure the matter was settled in one day. And that was all because of the reputation of the woman involved. (Cf. Ruth 3-4)

In like manner, our reputation can get people to go out of their way to perform miracles for us to have what need or to save us from trouble or distress. And it can also get them to turn their backs on us or to do all that is in their power to hinder us from accessing or enjoying certain things. So, we need to watch the kind of reputation we are building where we are. Is it a reputation for godliness, honesty, compassion and diligence? Or is it a reputation for ungodliness, dishonesty, cruelty and laziness?

Whatever the case may be, our reputation will always precede us to either make way for us or hinder us. So, pay attention to the kind of reputation you are building among those in your life. And may God enable you to do what is right concerning this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Where do you need to excel? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 15, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 37

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to the third week of this new year. And I pray that God will cause you to excel in everything that is good and righteous in His sight every day of this new year, so that your life will cause all those around you to continually glorify His name, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul, in a letter to the Corinthians, says this: “But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2Cor 8:7NIV) In what things did the Corinthian brethren excel, as pointed out by this apostle? They excelled in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in zeal for God and also in love.

It is unfortunate that many people of God in our various assemblies all around the world today are far behind in these things. They are far behind in their faith in God, in their knowledge of Him, in their zeal for Him, in speaking with grace and in their love for another. Therefore, though they profess to know God, people find it hard to believe that they are related to Him.

And it is possible that we are also like that? We claim to know God but it is not obvious at all to those around us that we belong to Him. That is because there is nothing excellent about our faith, love, speech, knowledge and zeal for God. And this is not the will of God for us. His will for us is that we will excel in every good thing. If we, therefore, do not want to continue to live fruitless and unprofitable lives, we need to begin to take advantage of His grace that is ever available and sufficient to press to excel in those things that will cause men to glorify Him on account of us.

As we see in the case of the Corinthian brethren, Paul could confidently say that they were excellent in faith, in speech, in zeal, in knowledge and in love. The only area in which they were behind was that of giving. So, he said to them, “Just as you have been excellent in other fruit of the Spirit, you need to see to it that you also excel in the grace of giving.”

What that means is that there is no area of our lives in which God does not want us to be excellent. So, if there is any area of our lives in which we are coming behind, God will surely point it out to us. He may do this as we are examining our lives with His word by ourselves. Or He may do it through our church leaders or some other brethren.

Whatever the case may be, as long as God is showing us what areas of our lives in which we need to strive for excellence, we should not argue with Him or with His messengers or begin to make excuses for our being behind. Instead, we are to embrace what He is saying to us and begin to immediately strive for excellence where it needs to be obvious in our lives. That is what will show that we truly want to grow and become all that He wants us to be.

So, as you go this week, make a commitment to examine your life in the light of God’s word to see where you have been behind in excellence. And as you do this, the Spirit of God will open your eyes to see what you need to see and also strengthen you to do what you need to do to be where God wants you to be.

Have a very lovely week.

Copyright © 2023, 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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Destroy it before it destroys you |By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 11, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 35

“Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.” (2Sam 13:2NIV)

Why did Amnon, the first child of David, end up raping his half-sister, Tamar? It was because he refused to destroy the evil thought of having something with her that had possessed him. Was it his fault that this evil desire came to him? Not necessarily so! But not handling the evil desire and allowing himself to be possessed by it was entirely his fault.

According to the bible, we don’t have to do anything bad or wrong for evil thoughts to come to us. That is because the origin of every thought is the devil. Remember that, even right after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was still confronted by the devil with the thought of committing suicide. In fact, this evil thought was even supported by him with Scriptures. And if Jesus had not been sound enough in the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that He was able to demolish the evil thought, His ministry would have ended before it started. (Cf. Matt 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12)

So, whether we like it or not, we cannot escape being confronted with evil thoughts, desires and passions, as long as we are in this world. Yes, putting ourselves in certain conditions or relationships may expose us more readily or frequently to evil thoughts, desires or passions. But the word of God already makes it clear that regardless of where we are in this world, even if it is a monastery, evil thoughts will still locate us. That is because they are being sent by the devil and his demons to make war against our souls. (Cf. 1Pet 2:11)

Since this, then, is the case, it is on us to be determined to say ‘No’ to any evil thought, passion or desire that comes to us and to, in fact, destroy it. The word of God says:

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2Cor 10:4-5NIV)

Did you see that? As children of God, we have access to His divine power and provisions to demolish any satanic stronghold. And what strongholds are we talking about? As we see in the text, these strongholds are not witches, wizards or even demons; rather, they are thoughts. Yes, they are arguments and pretensions that are standing against the truth of God in our minds. In other words, we are taking about thoughts, desires, passions and philosophies that are contrary to the righteousness of God and that can be built up in our lives as fortresses of protection for evil behaviours.

Now what is our instruction about them? It is that we are to demolish them. We must not allow them to grow in us, not to talk of take us captive to do evil. But if we refuse to destroy them, if we are making excuses for them and giving them room to possess us, it won’t be long before they drive us to do the unthinkable and foolish. Then we may find ourselves, like Amnon, corrupting those that we are supposed to protect their purity or, like Judas Iscariot, betraying those we are supposed to honour and protect.

So, be determined to destroy every evil thought, desire or passion that Satan may send to war against your soul. Otherwise, it will ultimately destroy you and perhaps all that is dear to you as well, if you are not shown mercy. But will you be able to do this, if you cannot distinguish between thoughts that are contrary to God’s righteousness and the ones that are not? You won’t.

All of this is why you, like our Lord Jesus Christ, need to be sound in the word of God. You need to continually give yourself to reading, studying and meditating on His word. That way, you will be able to recognise even those wicked thoughts of the devil that appear righteous and legitimate and destroy them before they have any chance of hurting you.

Also, you need to give yourself to praying without ceasing, especially to be strengthened by God within. Otherwise, you will know what thoughts you must reject but may not have the strengthen to say ‘No’ to them. Then the Scripture will be true concerning you that says, “The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” And may that not be your experience in any area of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Cheers!

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Sheep among wolves | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 04, 2023 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 34

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matt 10:16NIV)

Our Lord Jesus, as we see from Scriptures, is a realist. He is someone that always speaks the truth and never lies to Himself or to anyone else about anything. And this is so that people can face the truth about their life’s circumstances.

For example, as we see in our opening bible text, He tells all His disciples that they must always see themselves as sheep among wolves, as long as they are in this world. That means they must never assume that those of this world will be kind or nice to them. On the contrary, they must always think of them as wolves that will devour them at any given opportunity.

And is this not true? Aren’t unbelievers and false believers always looking for ways to cheat, deceive, rob or oppress true children of God? In fact, once some people find out that you are a genuine Christian, all they will begin to plot is where and how they will take advantage of you. That is because they believe that most Christians are simple-minded, naïve individuals that can easily be outsmarted or abused.

Unfortunately, many true children of God are actually simple-minded and can easily be trampled upon. That is because they do not understand Christianity. The idea of Christianity they have is derived basically from the words of our Lord Jesus that say, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matt 5:39NIV) But what the Lord says here is figurative. In other words, He is simply teaching us the need to bear with those who shamefully treat us and not allow their wickedness to turn us into wicked people too.

And if you still don’t get what I am saying, just take a look at our Lord’s own earthly life. How many times did He give people the impression that they could slap Him as freely and easily as they might want? From what we see in Scriptures, He never gave anybody the impression that he was someone they could molest at will. But He also never used foul or abusive words in answering His opponents. And it was only when His time was up and He was faced with death on the cross that people were able to arrest and molest Him. Nevertheless, He did not give those slapping Him and those abusing Him the impression that what they were doing was nothing. If that were the case, He would not ask God to forgive them for unjustly punishing Him and taking His life in ignorance.

Therefore, except you are sure that your time is up and you are also certain that God wants you to glorify Him through death, don’t foolishly yield yourself to be devoured by the wolves of this world. And that is the point our Lord Jesus is communicating to us in our opening bible text. According to Him, as long as we are living in this world, we will always be like sheep among wolves. And since that is the case, we must be as shrewd as snakes and as harmless as doves in all our dealings with the people of the world.

Now that is a real challenge. I mean that it is not a joke to combine the cleverness of snakes with the innocence of doves in one person. Yet the Lord says that is what we must do, if we do not want to constantly be victims of the wolves around us that are seeking to devour us. So, while you make it your aim to live a good, godly and harmless life that God has called us to live in this world, you must also be very smart like a snake in handling those in your world.

Snakes, as we know, can indeed be killed or tamed by men. But they don’t ever put themselves in situations where anyone can easily hurt them or turn them into a prey. They are always quick to judge situations and to hide themselves where necessary. In like manner, while you cannot afford to be full of venoms and injurious like a snake, you must, like a snake, be quick to access people and situations and to stay out of trouble.

Look at our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was always going about doing good and healing all those who are oppressed of the devil, He was also always quick to judge circumstances and to disappear whenever danger was looming. In the same way, David, once when he found himself before an enemy king, was quick to change his disposition and to start acting like an insane person until he was sure of his safety. What about Paul the apostle? Once, while defending himself and the gospel of Jesus Christ before the religious leaders of the Jews that wanted to have his head, this man of God used their doctrinal disagreement on the subject of resurrection to confuse them. So, he was able to escape their evil judgment that day. (Cf. 1Sam 21:10-15; John 7:1; Acts 23:1-10)

You too should always be smart in dealing with those of this world and not give them any undue reason to see you as someone they can easily trample upon or oppress. Yes, be devoted to doing those good works God has called you to do. But never put yourself in any situation where people will think of you as someone they can oppress or outsmart at will. Otherwise, you may not live long enough to finish those good works God has recreated you to do.

Copyright © 2023, 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)