Author: Pastor J.O. Lawal

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Don’t shut the door against His favour | By: J.O. Lawal | Fire in My Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: October 26, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 24

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

Those were the words spoken to Eli the priest by the man of God that was sent to him. God, as we see in the text, said that He was changing His mind about the family of this priest. He had promised them before that they would minister before Him forever. But because of him and his sons He said that what He had promised would no longer happen.

So, if you think God never changes His mind about people, you are wrong. Yes, God will never change His mind about Himself. And He will never change His mind about His standards of righteousness and justice. But just as we have Scriptures that show us that He will not go back on any promise He has made, we also have those that show us that He can change His mind about people, for good or for evil, based on their attitude towards Him and His instructions.

As we see in the case of Eli, God changed His mind about him and his family. First, He said that He would not allow them to minister before Him forever again. That means, at some point, this man would no longer have any descendant as a priest before God. Second, God said that He would no longer allow them to live long. Eli himself died at the age of ninety-eight (1Sam 4:14-15). But God said that he would be the last person in his family line to live as long as that. Others would start dying young, starting with his sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

Why, then, was God so mad at this man that He judged him in this manner? It was because he allowed his sons to desecrate the priestly office God had given to them as a gift. Of course, he was not the one that committed all the atrocities his sons committed with their office. But as the head priest in the land, he was in a position to punish them for their crimes. But he did not. He did not restrain them but allowed them to continue to abuse and misuse their priestly office and privileges. Therefore, he unconsciously shut the door of God’s favour against his family line and his descendants.

In like manner, if we are abusing whatever position of advantage or privilege God has given us, we may just be shutting His door of favour against our descendants. This is why certain individuals, who were wealthy during their lifetimes or who once occupied very great and important positions in the world died and disappeared with their names, wealth and honour. Yes, they may still have living descendants that bear their names. But when those names are mentioned, they don’t ring any bell in anybody’s ears. And that is because those who now bear those names are some nonentities or irresponsible persons that no serious person wants to associate with.

Now such things, as I already pointed out, often happen when people abuse their positions and shut God’s door of favour against themselves and their family line. And if we don’t want similar or worse experiences in our lives, we need to watch how we too use whatever position of advantage God places us in life. That is because it can go a long way in determining whether His favour shown to us will flow down our family line to our descendants after us or will end with us. And may God fill your heart with the humility and patience you need to use whatever position of favour He places you in life in ways that will not deny those coming after you a similar or greater experience of His kindness. Amen.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022

Has your love grown cold? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: October 23, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 25

Title: Has your love grown cold? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: October 23, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 25

Beloved: grace and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am very pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of October 2022. I pray that God will keep you pure and blameless, spirit, soul and body at the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

One of the things our Lord says will happen in the last days is that the love of most people will grow cold. Why will this happen? It is because wickedness will increase in the world. And is this not true today? Is wickedness not daily increasing all around us? (Cf. Matt 24:12)

Look at our country, for example. Look at the way banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, sexual immorality, swindling, money rituals, killing and misappropriation of public funds are daily increasing. Also, look at the way the use of hard drugs is becoming more and more widespread among our young ones. Yet most of our leaders don’t take these things to heart at all.

Therefore, many of God’s people have totally given up on righteous living. They now live and act as though they were never saved by the Lord. Many don’t even want anyone to demand that they live right again. Yet they call themselves Christians. And this agrees with what our Lord says about how increase in wickedness will make the love of most believers grow cold in the last days.

The question now is, “Has your love for the Lord not grown cold because of the increase in wickedness that the world is daily witnessing?” If you are no longer excited about the word of God and prayer, your love for Him has already grown cold. If fellowshipping with God’s people is now boring to you and you no longer look forward to it, your love has grown cold. If you now get upset each time you are confronted with the truth, your love has grown cold. Also, if you have become selfish and reluctant to give to God and to support others, your love for the Lord has probably gone cold.

Now if your love for the Lord has grown cold because the wickedness of this world has gotten to you, you are already in danger of being swept away with the wicked. Remember that the Lord says that it is only those who stand firm to the end that will be saved (Matt 24:13). That means those who are true believers in Him will never quit walking in His love and righteousness. Instead, they will remain steadfast to the very end and so be saved. But those who quit are showing that their faith has never been genuine at all. So, instead of being saved, they will be lost.

All of this is why the word of God says, “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2Peter 1:10-11NIV) Do you understand what this means? Well, it means that it is our job to daily confirm that we are genuinely saved by remaining steadfast in the love God. That is what will make us, like Stephen, receive a rich welcome into His eternal kingdom (Acts 8:54-60).

But if we have given up on the life He has called us to live, then, our so-called religion is useless and will ultimately take us nowhere. My prayer is that your faith in God and your love for Him will not end up being seeing by Him as a dead and useless, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2022, 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

He loves a cheerful giver | By: J.O. Lawal

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: October 19, 2022 | Number: Vol. 5, No. 23 | Series: Youth for Jesus

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2Cor 9:7-8NIV)

Giving, without doubt, is one of the most controversial practices of the Christian faith. And that is because of the way preachers often abuse and steal from people through it. But the fact that there are many abuses of the practice of giving does not mean that it should be altogether nullified or that there is no proper and acceptable way to handle it before God.

As we see in our opening bible text, God expects every one of His children to be a giver. That is why Paul says, “Each man should give…” So, if you are a child of God, don’t be left out in the grace and practice of giving. That is because it is the will of God for you. God has given to us the indescribable gift of His Son and is also daily freely giving us all things (Rom 8:32). And if we are truly grateful for what He has done and is still doing for us, we too should be giving to Him and to all the people He wants us to give to.

But then, even though God wants us all to be actively giving for His cause, there are things He also wants us to keep in mind when giving. Otherwise, there will be no reward for our giving. Remember that though Cain gave to God, He did not accept his offering. So, it is not every kind of giving that is acceptable to God. And if we give in a way that is not acceptable to Him, our giving will be rejected, wasted and not rewarded. Only God Himself, then, knows how many are daily or weekly wasting the so-called tithes, offerings, seeds and so forth they claim to be giving to Him.

Well, if you don’t want to waste whatever you are giving to God or to His people, pay attention to what Paul says in our opening bible text. And what does he say? First, he says when giving, give as you decide in your heart to give. That means no one is to determine for you what to give to God but you. Otherwise, that may affect your willingness and generosity in giving. And once these are affected, you can lose your reward for giving.

What, then, are we to say about assemblies where targets are given to brethren or to their pastors of what to give to God? They are missing it, regardless of how big or influential they may be in the eyes of the world and regardless of what results they may seem to be getting by acting in this fashion. And a day will come when all the people they have misled to waste their giving will see the truth. But it may have become too late then to change anything.

Am I, then, saying that anyone that gives to God in response to a target set for him by some church leader will surely miss his reward? No! If the person’s heart is right in giving to God, he will still have his reward. But once we set targets for people in matters of giving, the tendencies are high that they may not be giving willingly but reluctantly.

Now that takes us to the second thing Paul says to us in our opening text about giving. He says when giving, we are to give wholeheartedly and cheerfully, not reluctantly or under compulsion. That means you must give to God and to His people only because you want to give to them and not because someone is forcing, threatening or manipulating you to do so. If you do not want to give, don’t give, whatever your reasons may be for not wanting to give. God will certainly get His will done whether you give or not.

However, if you must give, then give cheerfully and willingly, not because you want to please or satisfy anyone but because you want to please God. That is because, as Paul further says, God loves a cheerful and not moody or reluctant giver. It does not matter what you are giving to Him, whether it is praise, worship, facility or time, God will cherish it, only if you give it cheerfully. But even if you bring all your wealth to Him, as long as you are not cheerful or happy or excited about giving it, it won’t win His heart. Therefore, you won’t have any reward for it.

You can now see why many give and don’t get to receive from God for their giving. They are not giving in line with His will. And if you want to separate yourself from such fruitless giving, start giving as you purpose in your heart and cheerfully too. Then, He who sees your heart will reward you in His own way and at His own time. He may not give you money in return for money or facility in return for facility. But He will surely reward you according to His grace and mercy, not just here on earth but also when His Son returns.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

Are you helpful to them? | Pst. J.O. Lawal | October 16, 2022 | Vol. 11, No. 24

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I welcome you to another week of the month of October 2022. And I pray that God will cause you to multiply in usefulness to Him and to those in your world, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he says this to him about John Mark: “…Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” (2Tim 4:11NIV) But there was a time Paul did not want this same Mark to travel with him at all in carrying out his ministry duties. And that was because he had once deserted him and Barnabas when they seriously needed him. So, Paul considered him at the time useless to him in ministry matters. (Cf. Acts 13:13; Acts 15:36-41)

But Mark did not remain useless to God or to His servants for life. He grew up in spiritual things. At some point, he acknowledged whatever bad habits or attitudes he had that made him useless to the people of God in his life and dealt with them by the power of the Spirit of God. So, later on in Paul’s life, he insisted that Timothy look for him and bring him to him, because he was helpful to him in his ministry.

There is another young man mentioned in the bible who had a similar life story. He too was once useless to his master, even though his name meant useful. In fact, he was so useless and irresponsible that he ran away from his master. But when he met Paul, he became born again. Since then, his life took on a new direction and he began to live up to his name, ‘useful’. And he became so useful to Paul that he felt like keeping him to be with him for life. But because he wanted his master to see how God had changed his life, to freely forgive him for all the bad things he had done to him and to also enjoy his usefulness, he sent him back to him. And I am talking about none other than Onesimus, Philemon’s servant. (Philemon 1)

We can see, then, that God has the power to make useless people useful and irresponsible people responsible, if they will yield their lives to him. And He wants to make you too useful and responsible in all your relationships. But are you willing to be useful and responsible to Him and in all your relationships? Unless you are willing to be useful in an increasing manner, God cannot do much for you. It is only those who are willing that God will enable to do those things that are necessary for them to become useful to those in their lives and to continually increase in usefulness.

Well, like Paul, leaders of every church of God need useful people to support them in their ministry and to keep moving the work forward. They need those they can rely on to support them with their time, spiritual gifts, money, skills and anything they have. And are you one of those people? Are you useful to your church leaders in any way? If they are thinking of those to rely on to get certain things done, will your name come to their minds at all? If this is not the case, then, you are useless to them. And if you are useless to your leaders in church, you are most likely useless to the God who has appointed them over you.

Do you, then, want to remain useless to them or do you want to become useful? That is the question for you to answer as you face this new week. And this goes beyond asking them, “How can I be useful to you?” It is also about showing them what things you can do to become useful to them. I pray that God will lead you away from everything that is making you useless to Him and to those in your world, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a fruitful week.

Copyright © 2022, 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

Unless they receive a personal judgement | Pst. J.O. Lawal | October 12, 2022 | Youth for Jesus | Vol. 5, No. 22

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

“Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.” (Ex 7:23NIV)

That was Pharaoh’s immediate and regular response to the disasters coming upon his land and his people as result of his refusal to obey God’s command. God had sent Moses and Aaron to him to command him to release His people, the nation of Israel, so that they would go and worship Him at a designated place. But he was unwilling to release them. Why? It was because he and his people were profiting from the miseries of the people of Israel. 

But then, when God intervened in the matter and began to afflict this monarch’s land, Egypt, because of His people, Israel, what should he have done? He should have let the people go, seeing that he had no power to resist God. Something similar happened when the Philistines defeated Israel in a battle and captured the Ark of God’s covenant during Eli’s time. Their land was grossly afflicted by God with an outbreak of tumours. (Cf. 1Sam 4-5)

And how did their leaders respond to that? They humbled themselves and sent back the Ark of God to Israel and with gifts. Why? It was because they cared more about their people and their welfare than their ego. And when they humbled themselves in this manner, God showed them mercy and withdrew His hand of judgment from them. (Cf. 1Sam 6)

Sadly, that was not the case with the Pharoh that Moses and Aaron had to deal with. When God began to afflict his people with all kinds of plagues, he did not take the matter to heart at all, as we see in our opening Scriptures. Initially, that was because his sorcerers and magicians were encouraging him with their witchcraft not to mind Moses and Aaron. But even when they realised that it was God’s fingers they were fighting against and withdrew themselves from the fight, he still would not take the matter seriously. 

Now why was this monarch like that? Why was it convenient for him to watch his people suffer and not do anything about their suffering, even though he knew the right thing to do? It was because he had not fully shared in the affliction of the land. But the very day the affliction of the land fully entered his place and took away his heir, he lost no time to set the Israelites free. (Cf. Ex 12:29-32)

What is this teaching us? It is that unless callous leaders share fully in the affliction of their people, they may never do what is right about their welfare. Just like Egypt of Moses’ time, different nations of the world today have leaders like Pharoah, who will see their people suffering, crying and wallowing in poverty and will still not take what they see to heart at all. There are equally leaders of organisations and industries like such. It does not matter what they hear or see about the suffering of those under them, they will not take it to heart.

Why? Some of these leaders, like Pharaoh, have diabolical people around them that are encouraging them to act indifferent to the plight of their people or the command of God. Some others just don’t have any conscience anymore. Their consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. So, even if the skies are falling down on their people, they will not be moved. The only thing that such people respond to is personal judgment.

Therefore, if you are under their leadership in any way and want relief from their oppressive and wicked rule, your constant prayer must be that God will move quickly to judge them in a personal way and let them have a full dose of the consequences of their wickedness. That is the only way you will ever be delivered from their bad leadership, if they do not have a divine encounter that will lead to their repentance. 

Then, if you too are like Pharaoh, indifferent towards the plight of those under your care, whether at home, in your office or wherever you may be, know that you are not far from receiving a personal and huge judgment from God, especially if those you are oppressing are crying out to God against you. so, repent now that you still have time to do so. Otherwise, the coming judgment may be too terrifying for you and those with you to bear.

Copyright © 2022, 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 2022 Pastor's Desk

Always learning but never gaining | Pst. J.O. Lawal | October 09, 2022 | Vol. 11, No. 23

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to the second week of the month of October 2022. I pray that Spirit of God will cleanse your life of everything that is limiting your fruitfulness with the word of God that is coming to you in this assembly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, says this about certain people in the church that he must not have anything to do with: “They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” (2Tim 3:6-7NIV) From what this apostle says here, we can see that one of the reasons he tells Timothy not to have anything to do with these brethren is that they are masters in the art of dominating and manipulating people, especially women.

But why is it often easy for them to manipulate and take over people’s lives and homes? It is because they usually go for those who are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. In other words, they don’t target everybody. Instead, they target those that are dull in learning and acting on spiritual truths.

I once heard that a certain prophet had a culture of sleeping with married women that came to him for prayers about the problems of their lives. Why was this man successful in doing that? It was because his victims were gullible. And why were they gullible? It was because they had refused to embrace the truth of God that they had been learning.

Was it that they did not know God’s mind about adultery? Or was it that no one ever taught them that having sexual intercourse with someone that you are not married to is wrong? They must have been taught these things again and again, especially if they were Christians. But it is one thing for people to be learning the truth from God; it is another thing for them to understand the truth they are learning and see how it is applicable to their everyday lives. 

When people fail to grasp the relevance of the truth they are learning in church, they will most likely not act on it. And it is such individuals that usually become preys of false teachers and false prophets. It is such people that easily fall for the deception of the devil and get corrupted, cheated or injured.

Now ask yourself, “Am I really learning anything from the things I am being taught in our church meetings?” You come week after week for church meetings to pray, worship God and learn His word. But are you really learning anything? Are you gaining the knowledge of the truth of Jesus through the things you are learning? And are you seeing the application of the truth you are learning to your life?

If your answer to all these questions is not ‘Yes’, then, you too are one of those that are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, we can’t trust you to act on the word of God that you are learning. Then even our prayers for you may not be able to protect you from those seeking to take advantage of you and ruin your life. My prayer, at any rate, is that God will fill your heart with a clear understanding of His word each time you hear it and also strengthen you to always act accordingly, so that you will never again be a prey of any liar or deceiver that Satan may send to ruin your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2022, 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

Be on your guard against them | By: J.O. Lawal |

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: October 05, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 21

“Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.” (2Tim 4:14-15NIV)

It is true that the word of God tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, so that we may be like God our Father, who shows mercy and kindness to even bad people (Matt 5:43-45). But that is not the only thing it tells us about how to relate to our enemies and those who persecute us. It also tells us to be on our guard against them. Otherwise, though we love them and are praying for their good, we may end up being victims of their wicked schemes.

For example, in our opening text, Paul tells Timothy to be on his guard against a certain man named Alexander the metal worker. Why? It is because he has been a victim of the man’s wickedness. He says, “He did me a great deal of harm.” What sort harm the man did Paul he does not say in this letter. But it was bad enough for him to warn Timothy to be on his guard against him, so that he too would not become a victim of the man’s wickedness.

In like manner, if we do not want to unnecessarily become victims of people’s wickedness, we must know those that we need to be on our guard against. For example, people who are directly attacking our faith in Christ Jesus are suspects in this matter. We must be on our guard against them. This, of course, does not mean we are to be like them and start attacking them as well or that we are not to pray for their salvation. No, we must not be like them. And we must not stop praying for their salvation, for that will be acting contrary to the will of God who wants all men to be saved (1Tim 2:1-4).

However, we must not foolishly or ignorantly walk into whatever traps they may be setting for us. Instead, apart from praying to God to frustrate their wicked plots against us, we must also be ready to take whatever legitimate step we can take as humans to stay away from their trouble. For example, when Paul learnt from his nephew that there was a plan afoot to assassinate him by some Jews, he did not dismiss it as a rumour or say, “Don’t worry. God will protect me from them.” Instead, he told the young man to discreetly inform the commander in whose barracks he was being held. And the commander did the needful and arranged some soldiers to take him to safety.

Why did Paul function like that, instead of foolishly or arrogantly walking into a death trap, all in the name of trusting God? It was because he knew that the reason God revealed the matter to him was so that he could act on it and save himself. And if he had not made a wise use of that revelation, he may have lost his life in the process and also ended his ministry before his time was up. We too must learn to use whatever God reveals to us about those who oppose us to protect ourselves. Otherwise, we may end up being victims of evil people without need. (Cf. Acts 23:12-34)

Apart from those who oppose our faith, people who are ruthlessly ambitious, envious or greedy are also individuals we must be on our guard against. They may not reveal themselves as our enemies in an open or direct manner. But some of them are like Joab, who would call you ‘brother’, even though he had the dagger he would use to kill you hidden away in his dress. And some of them are like Judas, who would betray you with a kiss to anyone who paid him enough money for your head. (Cf. 2Sam 20:8-10; Matt 26:47-50)

In any case, however close anyone may be to you and whatever pet name they may be calling you, as long as you know them to be greedy, ruthlessly ambitious or envious, be on your guard against them. And I pray that God himself will continue to keep you safe from all harm and from the schemes of wicked and unreasonable people, including enemies that pose as friends. Amen.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

Don’t be reluctant to do His will | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: October 25, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 22

Beloved: grace and peace without measure be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer. I welcome you with joy into the month of October 2022. My prayer is that your heart will be strengthened every day of the month to serve God wholeheartedly, so that you will be established in the place of His provisions for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

One of the things that the bible story of King Saul teaches us is that reluctance to fully do the will of God is as bad as complete disobedience to Him. And this could make us lose our place in His scheme of things. As the story goes, God, through Samuel, gave a direct command to King Saul to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites and everything they had. And did he go or not? He did. He went to fight the Amalekites and to destroy them and all their possessions.

However, when he got there, he failed to fully carry out the command of God. Look at how the bible puts that: “Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs — everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” (1Sam 15:7-9NIV)

Did you see that? Saul and his men were reluctant to destroy all the animals of the Amalekites because of greed. Yes, they killed all the people and all their worthless and weak animals. But they were unwilling to destroy the best of their animals. And how did God judge that? He judged it as complete disobedience to Him and rebellion against Him. Therefore, He took the kingdom away from Saul and his descendants after him and gave it to someone else.

In like manner, if we are reluctant to fully obey God in any area of our lives, He may judge it as total disobedience to Him in all ways. In other words, partial disobedience to God is nothing other than complete disobedience to Him. And that may cost us certain positions or promotion that He has already destined for us. Therefore, if there is any area of your life in which you are reluctant to act on the will of God, you need to retrace your steps and begin to do what is right before it is too late.

Personally, I know what it means to know what God wants of you and yet to be reluctant to do it. It may be because of certain temporary enjoyment you are deriving from acting contrary to His will or because of fear of people or because of love for the praise of people. Whatever the reason may be, being reluctant to do what God wants us to do can only ultimately put us in trouble.

Our Lord Jesus, writing to the church in Thyatira, says this about one of their women: “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” (Rev 2:21-23NIV) Did you see that? The Lord was going to punish that woman and those walking in her ways of adultery and idolatry with sickness and death. Why? It was because of her reluctance to repent and do His will.

So, no one can actually tell how the Lord will judge our reluctance to do His will in any area of our lives. And perhaps He is already judging us for our reluctance to wholeheartedly do His will in certain areas of our lives. We may never know this, if He does not reveal what He is doing to us. But whether we know or not, what is important is that we lose no time in doing what He expects of us in every area of our lives. Otherwise, things may get worse for us. I pray that God will set your heart right wherever you are reluctant to do His will and strengthen you to do what is right before it is too late. Amen.

Do have a great October 2022.

Copyright © 2022, 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

Learn to show proper respect | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 28, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 20

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Title: Learn to show proper respect | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 28, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 20

“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” (1Peter 2:17NIV) One of the things I have learnt by experience is that people, especially in my own part of the world, open doors of attention and favour more readily to those who show them proper respect. Someone may lack character or abilities in many ways. But if they know how to show proper respect to those in their lives or those that they come across, certain doors of favour will have been opened for them before anyone starts asking questions about their character or competence.

So, when we are told in our opening bible text to show proper respect to everyone, it is for our own good. You too know how you often feel when someone does not give you the level of respect you believe you deserve. You feel bad and irritated. You may not show it, so that you don’t appear arrogant. But you know in your heart that certain doors of favour, attention or help have automatically closed against that person who has disrespected you or who is continually disrespecting you.

In like manner, when you too disrespect people that you are supposed to respect or when you do not show them adequate and proper respect, you are unconsciously shutting against yourself certain doors of attention or favour that they are in a position to open for you. And unless God Himself ministers to them and causes them to overlook your flaws in this area, you may never get anything good from them in life.

By the way, some people so detest being disrespected that they are willing to punish those who disrespect them in very terrible ways. You may be familiar with the bible story of Haman and Mordecai. Why did Haman make a move to wipe out all the Jews in the kingdom of King Xerxes? It was because of Mordecai. But what did Mordecai do to him to warrant that? Mordecai would not give him the respect that he believed he deserved as the emperor’s right-hand man. (Cf. Esther 3-7)

Now was Mordecai right to disrespect the emperor’s right-hand man? No! God did not put this story in the bible to teach us that nothing is wrong with disrespecting our leaders or those we are supposed to honour. That would be against His will as revealed in all Scriptures. Rather, He put the story in the bible to show us how far certain people may go in order to punish those who disrespect them. (Cf. Rom 13:1-7; 1Peter 2:13-14)

Haman was willing to wipe out an entire nation of people simply because one of them dishonoured him. And if God had not stepped into the situation to show this wicked man, who was himself arrogant, that he had gone too far, many lives would have been lost in his quest to preserve his honour.

Interestingly, there are still people like Haman in the world today. There are still people that will be willing to take away your life, your job, your position or certain beautiful things that could be yours because you will not show them proper respect. And my prayer is that you will never be a victim of the anger of such people, in Jesus’ name.

However, you too should learn to recognise those in your life and in your world and to show them proper respect, based on their status or their relationship with you. Learn to show proper respect to your parents, the elderly people around you, your superiors at work, the dignitaries in the society, your instructors, your leaders in the church and even your friends. Yes, you may be older, richer or more knowledgeable than some of these people. But the word of God to you is that you are to show them proper respect. Otherwise, it is not only their reward that you may miss; you will also miss the reward of obeying God’s word.

Do you know that you can also close certain doors of favour against yourself by not showing your friends, subordinates or younger ones adequate respect? A younger person in your family or neighbourhood may be in a position to help you in certain ways. But if you are continually talking down to them and ignoring the need to respect their status in life, maybe their marital status or academic status, they may just shut their heart of compassion against you where they could have been of great help.

Remember that one major reason our Lord Jesus could not do any mighty work in His own hometown was that they did not show Him proper respect (Mark 6:1-6). And only God knows how many are missing the miracles and promotion that could be theirs because of a similar culture of disrespect. So, change your ways, if you are one of those arrogant and disrespectful ones that don’t take anyone seriously. Or else you may someday learn your lessons in a very hard way.

Copyright © 2022, 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 2022 Pastor's Desk

Don’t steal from them | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 25, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 21

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of September 2022. My prayer is that God will secure all that is yours and all that He has appointed this year for your enjoyment for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I offer that prayer for you because it is in keeping with the words of David’s Psalm that says, “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.” (Ps 16:5NIV) Who secured David’s inheritance in life for him? God! And who alone is able to secure our inheritance, profit, job, position, joy, peace, relationships and lives for us? God! And that is why we must learn to daily entrust everything that we have and that concerns us to Him.

However, as we trust God to secure our lot in life for us and keep us from being robbed or cheated, we too should see to it that we are not stealing from others or robbing them. The word of God says, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” (Eph 4:28NIV) So, in whatever way you are stealing from those around you, you have to stop it.

You know that we don’t have to carry a gun to steal from people before we steal from them. Anytime we take for ourselves what we are not permitted, authorised or privileged to take from others, we are stealing. Also, anytime we refuse to pay people, organisations or governments duly for services they have rendered to us or for jobs they have done for us, we are stealing from them. And these things will certainly affect the security of what belongs to us to one degree or the other.

Also, as we trust God to preserve our lot for us, we need to be careful that we are not stealing from Him. How do we steal from God? Is it by taking money for ourselves from offering bags or by breaking into a church meeting place and taking for ourselves the money or facilities there? Yes, by doing any of these things we will be stealing from God. And that will affect our safety and the safety of our possessions. But stealing from God is more serious than those. It also involves keeping back for ourselves what we should have given to God’s servants who are ministering to us.

Why did God call the Jews of Malachi’s day robbers? Was it because they broke into the temple’s treasury and stole things from there? No! It was because they would not give to God’s priests that were ministering to them the tithes and offerings meant for their upkeep. And why were they told to give these priests their tithes and offerings? It was because God did not give them any inheritance in the land and had commanded them to devote themselves to serving all the people. So, by not giving to those priests what was meant for them, the people were robbing them and also robbing God who had chosen them to serve them. No wonder they and their possessions were not safe from the activities of devourers. (Cf. Numbers 18; Malachi 3:8-12)

In like manner, the Lord has commanded us to take care of those He has sent to minister to us with our resources. Therefore, when He was sending out His apostles to preach, He did not give them any money to take along. Also, He did not leave any money for them when He was ascending into the heavens. And that was because He expected those that they were serving to take care of them. His words were, “The worker deserves his wages.” So, if those that they were serving would not take care of them, they would be stealing from them. That, of course, as the Lord points out, will keep the blessings of their ministries from fully settling on them. (Cf. Luke 10:1-7; 1Cor 9:14; Gal 6:6)

So, if we do not take giving to support our ministers of God seriously (AND ONLY FEW OFTEN TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY IN MOST OF OUR CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES), we are stealing from them and stealing from God. How, then, can we expect the blessings of their ministries to fully work in us or expect the things God has given to us to be kept safe from devourers? This explains why brethren hardly prosper in material things in assemblies where their leaders are not joyfully and adequately cared for. Such brethren may be devoted to staying away from sin and walking in righteousness. But they won’t prosper as brethren who are not as devoted to living in righteousness as they are but who are devoted to caring for their leaders.

Well, the point of all this is that if you are robbing God by robing His ministers of the things you are supposed to give to them or do for them, the manifestation and security of your prosperity will be adversely affected. So, repent now and begin to do what is right. Otherwise, Satan won’t stop seeing opportunities to steal from you.

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2022, 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)