REALITIES MINISTRIES

“The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.” (Gen 39:2-6NIV)

Those were the words spoken to describe Joseph’s stay in the house of Potiphar, his Egyptian master. First, it is reported that God was with him, even though he was there as a slave boy. And because God was with him, he found favour in the eyes of his master. That means his master became fond of him and took interest in his welfare and work. So, it does not matter how low the place you are in life may be, God can still favour you there. Yes, He is still able to make those around you there become interested in you and in your success.

But then, Joseph did not just become successful in Potiphar’s house because God caused him to find favour in the man’s eyes. There was something else involved, which was that he too took advantage of God’s favour that he had received to make himself useful. As the account shows, God gave Joseph success in everything he did. But could He have given him success, if he was not doing anything at all? No! It is someone that is working, taking on responsibilities and challenges, that God can give success to. But the one that is lazy or slothful, who is constantly looking for a way to avoid responsibilities where he lives or works, is only fooling himself, if he is expecting God to make him successful in life. How will that happen? In exactly what way will God make him successful?

Joseph was busy in Potiphar’s house. He was not lazy or slothful. He was not running away responsibilities or work challenges. So, in everything he set out to do, God made sure he succeeded. Then when his master saw that he succeeded in handling whatever task he was given, he kept giving more and more responsibilities until he handed everything about his household over to him. And did he regret doing this? Not at all! As the bible tells us, from the time he put Joseph in charge of all his household, God made him exceedingly prosperous. You can, then, imagine how this man must have felt when he eventually lost him to intrigues of his wife and had him imprisoned.

In any case, even in the prison, Joseph did not allow himself to become useless. Why? It was because he knew that God was with him and was able to make him successful there too, if he would settle down to work and make himself useful to the people there. And that was exactly what happened? First, God again made him find favour in the eyes of the prison warden. Second, as he gave himself to handling whatever task that was given to him there diligently, God made sure he succeeded at it. Before long, then, the prison warden could no longer do without him – he just literally put him in charge of everything going on in the prison and found something else for himself to do. And it was while Joseph continued to labour to make himself more and more useful to those in the prison with him that he met the man that God eventually used to bring him to greatness. (Cf. Gen 39-41)

Now I am sure you too want to become great in life in some way. But you must understand that great people are useful and not useless people. They are individuals that move things and make things better wherever they are, not individuals who are constantly seeking ways to excuse themselves from responsibilities. So, if you really want to attain that great height you desire in life, don’t just ask for God’s favour; also make yourself useful in that low place where you are now. Let those around you see that you can be trusted with tasks, people and resources. Work so hard and diligently that they will have that feeling in them that if you are around, certain things will not be left unattended to or allowed to get spoilt. That way, God’s favour on your life will not be wasted but be made to work for your advantage.

And remember this: People may not like you for any reason whatsoever. But if you are useful and profitable, they have an excuse to keep you around them. But even if people are in love with you, and you are useless and incapable of adding value to their lives, at some point, they will find a way to separate themselves from you. So, wake up and begin to cultivate those virtues that will make you increase in usefulness day by day.

By: J.O. Lawal | Date: October 14, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 22

Copyright © 2020, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com | alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.””

(1Sam 8:4-5NIV)

As we see in the Scriptures, there is no human being that is infallible or incapable of making mistakes. In fact, James says in his letter that all of us stumble in many ways (James 3:2). The only person that is infallible is God. Therefore, there may be times when the most upright among us will miss it. And if this happens, we need to be careful not to use their failure as an excuse to deliberately fail God in any area of our lives. That is because doing that will only expose us to God’s judgment.

For instance, as we see in our opening text, there was a time that the elders of the nation of Israel approached Samuel and asked him to give them a king. Why? It was because of what they perceived to be a failure on Samuel’s part. And in what way did they think he failed them? It was by appointing his two sons as judges over them (1Sam 8:1).

Now we are not told whether Samuel sought God’s face or not before making his children judges over the nation of Israel. But we are told that his children did not walk in his ways. Why? Was it because he did not train them well? No, nothing like that is said in the bible. I know many preachers have erroneously taught that Samuel was as bad as Eli in raising his children. But the bible does not say that at all. And it is wrong to make it say so. What the bible says is that his children did not follow his example but turned aside after dishonest gain and began to pervert justice (1Sam 8:3). That means they were not raised this way at all. It was at some point that they chose to walk in their own ways. And this perhaps was why God never reprimanded or forsook Samuel because of them, as He reprimanded Eli because of his children.

In any case, the elders of the people decided to use this situation as an excuse to ask Samuel to give them a king. But all along God had been their invisible king. And He had been the one raising and anointing judges, who served as His representatives, for them. So, when they asked Samuel for a human and visible king, they were unconsciously rejecting the kingship of God over them. And that was one of the reasons they abandoned God totally years later and ended up in captivity. Their kings led them away from the worship of God to the worship of idols.

What should they have done instead of asking for a king? They should have asked Samuel to pray to God for them, so that He may appoint true judges who would not pervert justice over them, that is, in place of Samuel’s sons? But because they had never been happy with the fact that they did not have their own king like the other nations around them, they used the misbehaviour of Samuel’s sons as their excuse for rejecting God as their king.

In like manner, there are many today that are living in sin because certain people of God around them are living in sin or have done some wrong things in the past, things that they have repented of. And anytime such people are confronted with the reality about what they are doing, they will immediately say, “So and so are also doing the same thing,” or “So and so have also done something similar in the past.” But what they do not realise is that even though the bible actually makes it clear that God will not hold guiltless anyone that is responsible for the fall of others, it does not mean that the one that falls will not at all pay for their own sins (Luke 17:1-3). They will pay for them, especially when they are sinning wilfully.
For example, why did Adam eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden? Was it because he did not know it was wrong of him to do so? No! Rather, it was because his wife ate it. And when God asked him, “Why did you do this?” He lost no time in saying, “It was because the woman you put here with me ate it and gave me some of it to eat.” In other words, Adam deliberately decided to sin against God because his wife sinned against Him. But did God declare him guiltless because he imitated his wife in sinning? No! Instead, He passed a heavy judgment on him and also drove him out of his place of rest. (Cf. Gen 3)

So, don’t ever used anybody’s error as your excuse to go in the wrong direction. That will never work with God. That is why the bible says, “Do not imitate evil but what is good.” It also says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” And my prayer for you is that your eyes will be opened to see every area of your life in which you are walking in disobedience to God because you are copying others before it is too late. (Cf. Rom 12:21; 3John 11)

Copyright © 2020, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com / alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
By: J.O. Lawal | Date: December 02, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 29

“You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.”

(2Tim 1:15NIV)

Have you ever been deserted or abandoned by those you probably thought would stick with you, come rain, come shine? It is not a new thing. For instance, our Lord Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed and arrested, was abandoned by His apostles and friends of about three and a half years. And why did they abandon Him like that, in spite of all that they shared together and enjoyed through their relationship with Him? It was fear, fear of being treated the way He was treated. Even though He had severally told them that He was going to be betrayed, treated shamefully and killed like a common criminal, they never believed Him or appreciated the severity of what would befall Him. But when, in few hours, they saw everything turn around against Him, they got so shaken and amazed that they all fled and left Him to face His misfortune all by Himself.

But did the Lord get angry with them or become bitter against them for abandoning Him like that? No! Instead, first, He entrusted His soul to the only one who would could save Him at that hour and who would not ignore His cry for help, and that was God. And He answered Him, saved Him from the jaws of death and brought Him back to life. (Cf. Luke 23:46; Acts 2:24; Heb 5:7)

The second thing the Lord did was to forgive His apostles and seek their restoration. So, we see that immediately after His resurrection He sought all of them out, including Peter who denied Him three times in one night, and brought them back to fellowship with Him. Why did He do this? It was because He knew that even though they failed Him in that hour when He needed them most, their hearts were right. They were not happy to abandon Him the way they did. They just did not have the strength and courage required to do the right thing. So, He brought them back to Himself in order that He may supply what was lacking in their lives and make them faithful to the end. And that was why, as bible historians would have us know, none of them ever abandoned Him again, even when it meant losing their lives.

Similarly, as we see in our opening text, there was a time that everyone in the province of Asia abandoned Paul the apostle, including certain close associates of his whom he mentions in the text. It was so bad that when he first stood before Caesar to defend himself and the gospel of Jesus Christ against the allegations of those who sought his life, there was no single brother or sister there with him from that province, just to cheer him up. And this was someone that God had used in very remarkable ways to bless all of them and several other believers all around the world at that time. Yet he was left all alone to face a possible sentence of death.

But why did those people abandon him like that? Was it because he was a fake minister of the gospel? No! He was a genuine servant of the Lord, and all of them knew this. Or was it because he did something wrong or outrageous, something unforgivable? No! He was an upright man by the grace of God. And even if he had done something terrible, to abandon him like that was contrary to Scriptures that teach us that such people should be restored in the spirit of gentleness (2Cor 2:5-11; Gal 6:1-2). But really, it was not because of any wrong thing that Paul did that he was abandoned. Rather, it was because of fear. Those brethren were just too afraid to identify with him, so that they would not be sharers in the sentence that he was going to receive, which may be as severe as death.

In any case, Paul was abandoned to deal with his trials all by himself. And did he lose his mind because of that? No! Or did he become bitter against those brethren who forsook and start calling for God’s judgment on them? No! Instead, he, like Jesus, entrusted himself to God, who would never leave nor forsake His own, and He came to his rescue. Not only that, he also prayed that God would not count this sin of unfaithfulness against those who forsook him, showing that it is against God’s will for us to neglect our brethren or anyone who has been good to us in their moments of need. (Cf. Rom 12:15; 2Tim 4:16-18; Heb 13:3)

Now then, perhaps you too have experienced or are experiencing something similar to what our Lord Jesus and Paul experienced. Don’t lose your mind because of it or become bitter towards any of those people who have abandoned you, regardless of who they are or what their reason for doing so may be. Instead, cast yourself on God, who will never leave you nor forsake you, for safe-keeping and learn your lessons too about the futility of trusting in men. Also, pray for those who have abandoned you so that they may receive mercy from God and be forgiven for their unfaithfulness. And you will receive salvation, strength and comfort in whatever form of trial you are faced with.

Then supposing there are people you left or abandoned in their moments of trials, people who were depending on you for support or comfort. You did bad. But you don’t have to let things stay that way. So, do your best to put right whatever you messed up. And may the Spirit of God guide and strengthen you to act accordingly.

Copyright © 2020, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com / alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
By: J.O. Lawal | Date: November 25, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 28