Category: Fire in my Bones

Title: Why do people commit crimes so readily? – January 27, 2021

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 18, 2021
No Comments on Title: Why do people commit crimes so readily? – January 27, 2021

fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus, Number: Vol. 3, No. 37

“Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough.” (Eccl 8:11-12GNT)

According to the Scriptures, the natural man is naturally delinquent and so will readily do wrong things, especially if the opportunity is there to do so (Rom 3:9-18). But then, it is not only because human beings are naturally prone to do evil that they readily do wrong things; it is also because wrong things are often not quickly punished by those in a position to do so.

For example, we have in the bible an account of how Amnon, the eldest son of King David, raped his half-sister, Tamar, and also threw her out of his house (2Sam 13:1-19). And what did the law of the land say against that kind of atrocity? First, the law says that is wrong for a man to marry his sister, even if she is his half-sister, not to talk of having sexual relations with her (Leviticus 20:17). People who do such things must be cut off from the assembly of God’s people. Second, the law says if a man rapes a virgin that is pledged in marriage to someone else, and the virgin is absolutely in a helpless situation when this happens, one in which no one could rescue her, that man must be put to death (Deut 22:23-27). Third, the law says if a man rapes a virgin that is not pledged in marriage to anyone, he must be made to marry the girl, and he cannot divorce her as long as he lives (Deut 22:28-29).

Therefore, if Amnon’s case were to be judged, the most merciful judgment he could get was a lifetime married life with his sister, Tamar, a married life away from the royal house and away from the land of Israel. Unfortunately, even though King David heard about this matter, as bible records show, he only got furious with Amnon; he did not judge his crime or sentence him in any way. Yes, he may have called him and reprimanded him. But if that young man were not a prince, would he only reprimand him and not make him face the full wrath of the law of the land? I don’t think so. (Cf. 2Sam 13:21)

Now that, of course, was not the first or only time David, a God-fearing man, would be reluctant to judge an obvious crime because of his relationship with the one involved. For instance, when Joab, his nephew and army commander, murdered Abner, Israel general, who had come in peace to him in order to end the war between his house and Saul’s house, he only wept and fasted for Abner. He did not punish Joab in any way. And that only strengthened the man to commit more acts of wickedness, for, years later, he would murder in cold blood another Israel’s general, who was even a cousin of his and whose only crime was that he was made his senior in the army. Yet what did David do about this? Nothing! He simply passed the matter on to Solomon, who became king after him. (Cf. 2Sam 3:17-39; 2Sam 19&20; 1Kings 2:5-6)

In like manner, because Amnon was his son, his eldest son and perhaps the one he was grooming for kingship at that time, he overlooked his crime. And because he overlooked his crime of rape, he unconsciously encouraged Absalom, another son of his and brother to the raped girl, Tamar, to take matters into his hand and murder Amnon, who was his own brother as well. So, Solomon, who was aware of all this, says to us in our opening text, “When we fail to judge and punish people’s crimes on time, we are strengthening wickedness in the land.” And when we strengthen wickedness where we are because we will not use our position or authority to judge it, lawlessness will at some point take over. Then there may come a time in which we too will become victims of it.

Therefore, regardless how little your authority to judge or punish evil may be where you are, make sure you are using it appropriately and adequately, without partiality. That way, you will be discouraging those around you from giving themselves to wickedness.

Copyright © 2021, 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)

Tags 2021, alaythia bible church, Fire in my bones

Title: What can set your life on fire? – January 20, 2021

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 18, 2021
No Comments on Title: What can set your life on fire? – January 20, 2021

fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus, Number: Vol. 3, No. 36

“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6NIV)

Self-control is a major virtue that everyone who does not want his life ruined before it even gets started needs to possess. And one area of our lives in which we need to cultivate self-control is that of the way we use our tongues. In other words, we need to learn to control what we say with our tongues. Otherwise trouble will never be far from us.

To say the fact, one major reason some people will never have any moment of peace in this life is that they do not know how to control their tongues. They just say anything that comes into their mind and in exactly the way it comes into it. It is true that we may not always be able to control what thoughts come into our mind. But we surely can control what we do with those thoughts. I mean that we can determine which among the thoughts of our hearts we give expression to with our mouths and which ones we are going to remain silent about. And that is because it is not everything we think in our hearts that will do us or others good, if we should express it with our mouths.

Unfortunately, some people don’t even think at all before they open their mouths to speak. Once they are angry, depressed, happy or excited, they will just say anything that enters their mind, without considering how it may affect them or others. So, they end up putting themselves, others or even generations of people in some difficult situations or in some path of destruction.

Look, for example, at the case of one Herod of bible days (Mark 6:17-29). This man on a particular birthday of his gave a banquet for his high chiefs, army commanders and the leading men of Galilee. And was anything wrong with that? No! But when the daughter of his wife, Herodias, got him excited with her dance, he did not know when he, on oath, promised to give her anything she wanted, even up to half of his kingdom. And who does that? Even if that young lady was the most tender person in the world, was she capable of managing a household, not to talk of a kingdom? Had she been proved worthy of managing her own life, not to talk of managing an entire half of a kingdom that probably took several years of hard labour, diligence and wisdom to build?

Yet because this Herod got carried away in his moment of excitement, he made a promise to that girl that her mother took advantage of to get rid of John the Baptist, a righteous man that she considered to be her enemy. And because of his oath, there was nothing he could do about it. So, even though he did not deliberately kill John the Baptist, he would someday have to take responsibility for his death before God. But how did he find himself in this mess? It was through the careless use of his tongue.

Now there are several other examples both in the bible and in life of how people got themselves into trouble and set whole lives on fire because they could not tame their tongues. You yourself may even be able to speak of cases in which you got into trouble or lost some good things because you did not use your tongue wisely and carefully. Did you learn anything from such cases? If you didn’t, then, take advantage of these words that are coming to you now to learn the relevance of taming your tongue.

See, as apostle James makes very clear to us in our opening bible text, it is true that the tongue is a very small part of our body. However, it is also a fire that is capable of setting someone’s entire life of fire and devouring it. And the truth is that it has devoured many lives. I am saying there have been lives, homes and even nations that have been set on fire and ruined because of some people’s careless or foolish words. You may even know some of them. And if you don’t want to set your own life or other people’s lives on fire with your tongue, if you don’t want to shut the door of God’s favour against yourself or continually get trapped in problems that are never meant to be yours, you need to begin to consciously and consistently control the way you use your tongue.

Look at what the bible says to us about this: “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.” (1Peter 3:10NIV) Did you see that? If you want to enjoy your life and see many good days, what do you need to watch? The way you use your tongue! And may God enable you to tame your tongue to be blessing to you and others and not a curse of fire that will burn down your life and every good thing you have.

Tags 2021, Fire in my bones

Fire in my Bones

Title: Don’t add it to your own – January 06, 2021

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 18, 2021
No Comments on Title: Don’t add it to your own – January 06, 2021

fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus , Number: Vol. 3, No. 34

“The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.”” (Josh 7:10-12NIV)

The bible is very clear about the fact that God hates stealing. In other words, He does not want us to take anything that does not belong to us or that is not given to us by its owner and add to our own things. And it does not matter how we do this, whether it is force we are using or tricks, stealing is stealing before God.

Now stealing, apart from the fact that it exposes us to the danger of eternal judgment, is also able to expose us and even those in our lives to all kinds of afflictions here on earth. For instance, look at what God says to Joshua in our opening text. He says he and the people he is leading are vulnerable to destruction. But why? It is because one of them stole certain items that God had given them instructions to destroy. (Cf. Joshua 7:1)

Just think about that. The things the man, Achan, stole were not anybody’s properties. Rather, they were just items that God said that they should destroy. So, he must have said to himself, “Since these are mere items and not people, they cannot report to anybody that I took them or rise up to fight us back. More so, they are not anybody’s properties. Why, then, can’t I take some of them and keep for myself?” And that was exactly what he did. He took some of those things devoted to destruction and made them his own.

Unfortunately, what Achan did not know was that it was God he was stealing from. And the presence of those items he had stolen in the camp of his people, not just in his own house, turned God against them and made them vulnerable to destruction. So, when they went out to fight their enemies, enemies that were not as powerful as the ones they had initially conquered, they could not stand before them. Instead, they were soundly defeated. And as Joshua prayed about the matter, God told him that they had stolen items devoted to destruction and added them to their own possessions and that unless they got rid of those items and destroyed them, He would not be with them and they would remain vulnerable to defeat and destruction. So, the man had to do what he had to do – he found Achan, made him confess his sins and made sure that he, family and the things he had stolen were utterly destroyed. And that was the salvation of that nation. (Cf. Joshua 7)

Now perhaps the reason you too do not have peace in your life and are constantly defeated is that you have taken what belongs to God or to other people and added them to your own. Whatever your reasons may be for taking them, the fact remains that those things are not yours and so should not be in your possession. And because they are not yours, they can open the door for God’s judgment or demonic afflictions to come into your life, if you are not shown mercy. So, if the Lord is leading you to return such things, you should by all means do so. And if He is not, you should ask that He should, in His mercy, destroy whatever wrong influence those things have brought into your life or relationships.

Then it may be that what you need to experience progress or soundness of body is to pay what you have refused to pay certain people for the work they did for you. See, from what we are shown in Scriptures, other people’s properties that we have wrongly taken or added to our own can cry against us. And when they begin to do this, God’s judgment will certainly manifest against us. What forms this will take is not what I or anybody can say. But it is never going to be something you want or wish for. So, inasmuch as it is still within your ability to pay up what you owe, do so and free your life from unnecessary limitations or troubles. (Cf. James 5:4)

As we are shown in the bible, God, at two different times, punished two very powerful kings for taking the wife of Abraham to be theirs. But these two kings acted in complete ignorance. I mean that they acted on Abraham’s lies. Yet God was ready to destroy them and their households, if they would not return the man’s wife. But in what way were they wrong? They were wrong because they did not make enough findings about the woman before taking her in. Their lust for her beauty would not allow them to do so. And they got punished for that. (Cf. Gen 12 & 20)

Therefore, we can also get into trouble for ignorantly, foolishly or carelessly adding to our own what does not belong to us. That is because we may not be able to tell what sort of grief we are bringing to the owner of what we have ignorantly taken for ourselves. So, we need to be very careful in all our dealings with people in order for us not to unconsciously add to our own things that do not belong us and open the door for wrong influences to work in our lives. Then we need to learn to pray to God to continually open our eyes to see those things that don’t belong with us and that we need to send out of our lives and to recognize every satanic trap that may lead us into adding to our possessions things that don’t belong to us. And may His hand of mercy continue to keep us safe from every trap to steal and get into trouble, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tags 2021, Fire in my bones

Fire in my Bones

Make yourself useful

“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)

Fire in my Bones

Don’t use it as an excuse

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date December 2, 2020
No Comments on Don’t use it as an excuse

“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

Fire in my Bones

When you are abandoned

“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

Fire in my Bones

Rid yourself of discontentment

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date November 18, 2020
No Comments on Rid yourself of discontentment

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.””
(Heb 13:5NIV)

How did one who was once a beloved angel of God become Satan? One of the reasons was that he allowed discontentment in his heart. He was not satisfied with the place God put him in life as a guardian cherub. He wanted the very throne of His maker. And that was the beginning of his end (Cf. Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19)

Now, if we too do not want to fall from that place where we can continually enjoy the grace of God for us, we must not allow discontentment in our hearts. God, as we see in our opening text, has already promised never to leave or forsake us. That means regardless of where we are in life at the moment, He will be with us to make sure we have all that we need to be where we are supposed to be and live a life of meaning and enjoyment.

See, one of the reasons many are discontented in life is they cannot see God in their affairs. They think they are all alone in life and so whatever they do not do for themselves or get for themselves will never be gotten. So, they are driving themselves hard to advance themselves and make themselves happy. But what they do not know is that a man can only receive what God has given (John 3:27). Anyone who takes what God has not given will someday find that what they have taken is never what they wanted.

Another reason many people are discontented is that they think positions, things and people satisfy. For example, look at the rate at which people all around the world are now working on their body parts. I mean that people are now undergoing all kinds of surgeries and using all kinds of medicines to reshape or totally alter their faces, breasts, buttocks and other private parts. But why are they doing these things? Discontentment! And why do some even want to change their sex or spouse? Discontentment!

All these people think that by making their body parts look different or by changing their sex or by having another love partner life is going to be better or more enjoyable for them. But they are wrong, for the bible tells us that there is nothing a man can do for himself or by himself to find satisfaction in life. That is because satisfaction in life is a gift from God, and without Him nobody can eat, drink or find enjoyment. (Cf. Ecc 2:24-25)

Now this is being illustrated to be true every day, as we look at the lives of those who have moved from one marriage to another marriage or from one job to another job or from one sex to another sex. It is equally being illustrated to be true in the lives of those who are amassing wealth and worldly goods for themselves day by day. How many of them have found the contentment they are seeking through the change they orchestrated for themselves? And how many of those who are adding cars to cars, houses to houses and companies to companies are really enjoying their lives with all these additions?

You too can check your life for the reality of this by considering the results of certain changes or additions, small or great, you made for yourself. How many of such changes or additions actually resulted in a better enjoyment of life for you? Not long ago, I told myself that I wanted a different body cream, something not greasy. And I did get one, a more expensive one than the one I was using. But looking back now, I cannot see how it has made life better for me or made my body more useful. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that the changes we make in our lives, even though little, cannot change our experiences in life in very remarkable ways. They can. But even when the changes we are making in our lives are necessary and righteous, without God making them count for something in our lives, they will be nothing but a waste of time, energy, resources, skills or devotion.

All of this is why we must learn to be content in life. And being content in life does not mean being satisfied with just anything and not making any effort to have more or live better. Rather, it means being thankful to God for what we are and have, knowing that He can make us have more and live better and knowing also that He is able to show us how to take what He has given us (our time, our body, our skills, our relationships, our resources and so forth) and enjoy our lives with them. So, be content with you have and don’t seek to take for yourself what God has not given you. Otherwise someday, when you have fallen from grace, you would wish you never did.

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 18, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 27

Fire in my Bones

If you only let Him

“If you will only let me help you, if you will only obey, then I will make you rich!”
(Isa 1:19-20TLB)

One of the reasons some people’s lives are utterly messed up and some have, in fact, lost their lives is that they would not receive help from God or from the people He sent to them. For instance, we are told in the bible of how a king of Judah, whose name was Asa, got sick and refused to seek God’s help for his healing. He only consulted the royal physicians in his illness. And was that wrong? No! Nothing is wrong with consulting physicians or doctors for us to get well, if we are sick. But even real physicians know that they cannot heal anybody – only God heals. So, it does not matter how hard they try or how much they invest in making someone well, if God does not make the person well, they will not be well. (Cf. 2Chro 16:12)

Well, because Asa would not seek God’s help in his moment of need, he died in his illness (2Chro 16:13). But why would this man, who was raised to know God as the healer, not seek healing from Him? As the account goes, it was because of pride. He did something wrong, and God rebuked him for it. And instead for him to admit that he was wrong and seek forgiveness from God, he got angry with Him and would, henceforth, not have anything to do with Him. This, of course, was what opened the door of his life for affliction to come in and take him away. (Cf. 2Chro 16)

In like manner, there are people today whose pride will not allow them to seek or accept God’s help or the help of those He is sending to them. They think they have enough wisdom to solve their problems their own way. But what they don’t know is that man’s wisdom is nothing but foolishness in the sight of God. So, someday, they will come to the end of that wisdom and see that their problems have not yet been solved or that those problems have actually ended their earthly lives.

Now I would not know where you need help in your life. Regardless of where it may be, you need to turn to God. Perhaps you did not know before that God had the power to help you. I am sharing this with you now in order that you may know that only He has the power to help you and that if He does not help you, nobody can (2Kings 6:26-27; Ps 62:11). And He wants to help you because He cares about you (1Pet 5:7). Your duty, however, is to cast your cares or anxieties on Him and allow Him to bear them.

In our opening text, He announces that if only we will allow Him to help us, He will make us rich in joy, peace of mind, love and every other beautiful thing of this life. But will pride let us allow Him? Will that desire to want to take credit for our advancement permit us to allow Him? I know there are times we reject people’s help because we do not want them to use it as a reason for unduly interfering with our lives. And indeed, there are people whose sole reason for helping others is to forever enslave them.

But God has no intention of enslaving anybody by helping them. In the first place, He owns us all, for He created us all for His own pleasure (Ezek 18:4; Rev 4:11). So, it is His duty to help us and produce in our lives what will bring Him pleasure. If our lives, then, are miserable or horrible, it gives Him no joy. You can now see why He always wants to set our lives right and fulfil His duty to us as a responsible Creator and Father. The right and logical thing for us to do, then, is to deliberately place our lives under His authority. That is because it is only by doing so that He can freely produce in us what is pleasing in His sight and make our lives truly meaningful.

Therefore, allow God to take charge of your life and affairs. Allow Him to help you solve that problem. Allow Him to give meaning and sense to your life. In short, allow Him to fulfil His responsibility to you as the owner of your life. And don’t allow pride or anything else to keep you back from doing so. Just let Him do in you, for you and through you what only He can do, and you will not be disappointed that you have done so.

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 11, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 26

Fire in my Bones

Earn the bread you eat

“We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.”
(2Thess 3:11-12NIV)

There are many today, even in the church, that complain all the time of how hard life is for them and how difficult it is for them to take care of their basic needs. And that is their excuse for being unduly dependent on others for almost everything they need in life or want to do. But people who act like this are not living in the will of God. It is true that God wants His people to learn to support one another with their resources. In fact, it was by acting like this that the church of the first century, in their early years, accomplished a situation in which there were no needy persons among them (Acts 4:32-35).

However, these brethren were not supporting one another to encourage idleness or slothfulness. On the contrary, they were supporting one another to promote equality, to bring everyone to that place where they are financially independent and would not have to be unduly dependent on anyone (2Cor 8:13). And why did they function like that? It was because they were well taught. Their apostles and teachers taught them to get busy with one form of legitimate labour or the other, so that they would be able to take of themselves and also support others.

For instance, Paul, speaking to the Thessalonian brethren in his second letter to them, instructs them not to condone any form of idleness or laziness among them. In other words, they are not to support able-bodied brethren who will not act responsibly and put themselves to work. And as he further points out to them, even as an apostle, he worked while he was with them. He and his co-ministers worked night and day to have resources to take care of their basic needs. So, they would not buy anything on credit or use cleverness to take goods or services from any of the brethren and not pay for it. They even gave them a rule, which was that anyone who would not work must not eat. (Cf. 2Thess 3:5-10)

Therefore, when news came to them that some among these brethren had become idle and slothful, Paul lost no time to address the matter. And as we see in our opening text, it was a strong warning he gave them. He said, “Settle down and work to earn the bread you eat.” In other words, Paul wants these brethren to stop relying on others for everything they need in life, when they themselves are in a position to work to care for themselves and to also support others. He wants them to stop living like parasites.

Now notice that this apostle does not say to those poor and idle brethren, “Tell your pastors to organise a prayer meeting for you that will be titled ‘Bring back my glory’.” No, he does not say anything like that at all. Why? It is because as important as it is for us to pray, prayer alone cannot cure financial handicaps – we need to add legitimate labour that is handled with wisdom to it as well. Of course, through prayer, we are able to appropriate God’s favour and provisions for us. But if we will not get busy and apply ourselves to some honest labour, we will ultimately waste whatever measure of favour God pours out on our behalf.

So, if you have been living a parasitic life, you are wrong. It does not matter whether it is your family members, friends, neighbours or brethren in church that you have been feeding on, you are wrong. And in fact, they too are wrong to continue to encourage you to feed on them, while your abilities to be fruitful and useful are wasting away. Or don’t you know that is what is happening? You are wasting away, if you are not using those abilities and skills God has given you to work and add value to your life and to others’ life. Yes, if you are using entire days to sleep, watch movies, play games or to do any other thing that does not increase you in fruitfulness or relevance, you are wasting away. And by the time you wake up, you will have become nothing but an old useless person.

Therefore, you need to find something legitimate to do, according to your abilities or circumstances, in order to attain financial independence. In fact, you need to tell yourself that you are not going to be a parasite but one whose life is adding value to others’ lives. If you are working, and what you are earning from it is not yet enough to support you, it is understandable. Then it will make all the sense in the world for God’s people to support you until you attain financial independence. But if you are not doing anything but are only complaining of how there are no jobs anywhere or how nobody is willing to pay you what you are worth, then, you are simply wasting away. Then I have to say to you, friend, “Settle down and earn the bread you eat and stop being parasite.”

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 04, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 25

Fire in my Bones

It has expiration date

“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)

Those were the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to a woman He referred to as ‘Jezebel’ in the church of Thyatira. And what is the point the Lord is making through what He says about this woman? It is that she is unwilling to repent of her sins. But why is she unwilling to repent of her sins? One major reason is that she has not been judged of them.

In like manner, there are many today that have persisted in doing all kinds of wrong things because they have not been judged. These may even be rejoicing in their wickedness and calling those who will not join them foolish. But the fact that someone has not been judged by God for their wickedness does not mean they are never going to be judged for it. They would certainly be judged at some point, if they would not repent.

There are indeed times in which God judges people for their sins almost immediately they commit them. For instance, we are told of how He judged Nadab and Abihu, two of the sons of Aaron, with fire, the very moment they offered unauthorised fire before Him (Lev 10:1-2). Think about that. Even though we do not have it on record that these men had been living evil lives, God did not give them any time to repent of their wrongdoing at all. He judged them instantly.

Now compare their situation with that of the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. They were utterly corrupt in all their ways and were even referred to in the bible as sons of Belial (1Sam 2:12). Yet God did not judge them for their wickedness, irreverence, immorality and other similar nonsense they were involved in immediately. And why did He not judge them readily for their sins? It was because He wanted to give them time to repent.

We see a similar treatment being given to the woman the Lord is talking about in our opening text. She too was given some time to repent of her sins. And why does the Lord give people time to repent like this? First and most importantly, it is because He does not delight in the death of any sinner – what He wants is their repentance (Ezekiel 18:23&32; 2Pet 3:9). Second, it may be because the cup of their sin is not yet full (Gen 15:16). Third, it may be because certain individuals are interceding for them, asking God to show them mercy (Amos 7:1-6). Then there are times that to deal with some sins people actually need time. I mean that the steps required in repenting of some sins and correcting the problems they have created may not be what can be taken in one day. And in such situations, people will indeed need some time to set things right. (Cf. Ezra 10:10-14)

Nevertheless, one thing we need to keep in mind is that there is expiration date before God for people to repent. So, if they fail to repent within the period of time He has given to them, He will have no option other than to bring His judgment on them. That is what the Lord says to the woman in our opening text. He says that He has already given her time to repent, but she is unwilling to do so. Therefore, He will judge her and all those involved in sinning with her with sicknesses and even death.

Why am I bringing you all this? It is so that you will not stay in any kind of sin, simply because you have not yet been judged for it. Evidently, the reason you have not yet been judged for that wrong act or those wrong acts of yours is that God is giving you time to repent. But you do not have forever to repent. There is expiration date on that repentance package you are holding. So, use it when it will count. Otherwise there may just come a day when your repentance will prove useless and unprofitable for you.

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: October 28, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 24