Category: Fire in my Bones

“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

“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

“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

“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