Category: Youth for Jesus

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” (1Cor 13:9-10NIV)

What does Paul mean here? Well, he means exactly what he says, which is that we all know in part. In other words, none of us knows everything there is to know in life, regardless of how much we may think we know. That being the case, we should never act like we know it all.

See, even if we are the wisest among men, we still don’t know all there is to know about life, not even to talk about knowing all there is to know about God. That is why Solomon, in his wisdom, says, “Then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.” (Eccl 8:17NIV)

Did you see that? Life is too much for any of us to completely comprehend. Yes, through the aid of the Spirit of God in us, each of us can know all that he needs to know to make sense out of living. But to know everything about life is beyond any of us. That perfection in knowledge will not come to us in this age but in the age to come that we are looking forward to.

Therefore, as I said before, we should never act like we know it all. That is the beginning of foolishness. Instead, first, we should learn to recognize our areas of inadequacy in knowledge. In other words, I must constantly know what I do not know and accept that I do not know it.

Of course, that I do not know something does not mean that I need to know it. I mean that it is not all knowledge that is useful to me. So, I don’t need to waste my time pursuing any form of knowledge that is useless or unprofitable to me. But if I must gain sufficient useful or needed knowledge in life, the key is to know what I do not know and accept that I do not know it. Otherwise, if demands should be made on me on the basis of what I assume or pretend to know, failure and disgrace are what will naturally follow.

The second way to respond to the fact that we know in part is to make effort to perfect our inadequacy in knowledge. That means instead for us to remain ignorant of what we need to know, whatever it may be, we should look out for those who know it and make effort to learn from them.

Yes, that may cost us something. True knowledge always costs people something. That is why many don’t make effort to perfect their inadequacy in knowledge. They are looking at how much they may end up paying for it. But it is not in all cases that knowledge costs money. There are times that all that it will cost us is humility, patience or (and) self-discipline. And if we are willing to pay the price, we will know what we need to know to move from where we are to where we should be.

Mind you, ignorance is also costly. In fact, a lot of times, it is costlier than knowledge. So, don’t keep yourself ignorant about God or about life, when and where you can learn and perfect your knowledge. Otherwise, you may end up being the enemy that will keep you stagnant for life.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”” (1Sam 16:6-7NIV)

Why did God tell Samuel that He had rejected Eliab, Jesse’s first son, when he wanted to anoint him as king over Israel? We are not told in plain terms in the account. We are just told that even though his physical appearance and height were okay, they were not the qualities God was looking for in the man that He wanted to choose as king over Israel.

What qualities, then, was God looking for? Qualities of the heart! As we see in our opening text, God told Samuel that it was the heart of the person that He would choose as king that He was really concerned about and not the person’s outward appearance. Yes, it is natural for us, human beings, to fix our eyes on what we can see in people, when we are making decisions about them. And that is because unless God gives us revelations about what is going on inside them, we cannot know it.

But what is going on in people’s hearts is what really determines how they will ultimately turn out. So, if we make decisions about them only on the basis of the outward things we see about them, we may be wrong. And we are often wrong. But if we make decisions about them based on what is hidden in their hearts, we can never be wrong.

Now that is where God is different from us and, of course, greater than us. He makes His decisions about us all the time on the basis of what is hidden in our hearts and not on the basis of our outward appearance or disposition. Therefore, He is all the time right about us.

In any case, the point we are making is that God rejected Eliab as king over Israel because something was wrong with his heart. Mind you, the fact that He rejected this man shows that He had first considered him. But something within him made Him reject him. And what could that thing be?

As I said before, we are not told in plain terms in the account. But we do know from the bible that when Goliath came threatening the armies of Israel and David, Eliab’s youngest brother, began to ask questions about what the king would do for any man that killed this giant, Eliab got mad at him. He was so mad at him that he referred to him as proud and wicked. (Cf. 1Sam 17:26-28)

But was David indeed proud and wicked? The young man was simply concerned about the honour of God and of the nation of Israel. And that was why he wanted to know what would be done for the person that handled Goliath. But Eliab would not even allow him to talk. He just wanted him to shut up and get out of the camp.

What does that show us? Well, it shows us something about the inner life of Eliab. It shows us that he was an intolerant person, someone that would not be willing to listen to those under him and learn from them. It also shows us that he was someone that was lacking in ability to recognise talents and abilities.

David was his blood brother, a brother that grew up under his watch. Yet he could not see the warrior and leader in him. All he could see was an overpampered and braggadocios boy. How, then, would he, as king, be able to harness the human resources of an entire nation and make the most of them, if he could not recognise and harness the human resources in his father’s household?

Well, God may have other reasons for rejecting Eliab. But the points I shared above are the only things we can readily place our fingers on in the bible about the man’s character. And as far as I am concerned, they are enough points to disqualify anyone from being king over God’s people.

Now remember that pride, disobedience and excuses were the things that made God reject Saul as king. So, sometimes, those things that we do not consider as serious may just be what will disqualify us for certain positions of usefulness or advantage that God may want to put us in life. That is why we must not make any excuse for any wrong attitude we have in life. Instead, we must take advantage of the grace of God to destroy it. Otherwise, it may be the difference between where we are and where God wants us to be in life.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”” (Jer 1:11-12NIV)

Why has God given us eyes? Obviously, it is so that we can see with them. But being able to see with our eyes is one thing; being able to see whatever we see with our eyes correctly is another thing. If we do not or cannot see correctly what is before us, then, whatever judgment or decision we are going to make about that thing is going to be faulty. All of this is why we all need and, in fact, want eyes that are sound.

But then, it is possible for us to have eyes that are sound and still not being seeing correctly. And that is because though we are looking, we are not making effort to concentrate and see what we actually need to see. Jesus, once while addressing the Jews, said that it is possible for one to be looking and not seeing what he is meant to see (Mark 4:12). That means even though that person is looking and seeing many things, he is not really seeing what is of relevance or benefit to him. And when we cannot see what is of relevance or benefit to us, we cannot take advantage of it for our progress or safety.

In our opening bible text, God asked Jeremiah, “What do you see?” And when he replied, God told him that he had seen correctly. If he had not seen correctly, there was no way he would have been able to comprehend or utilize what God had wanted to tell him about the matter at hand. But because he saw what God was showing him correctly, God was able to further instruct him about what He wanted him to do.

Why, then, was Jeremiah able to see what God wanted him to see correctly? It was because he was looking attentively. Once, when Ezekiel was having some visions of God, he was told by the angel sent to him that he would need to pay a close attention to what he was going to be shown and told. Otherwise, he was going to waste the opportunity he was being given to see certain things about the future of his people. (Cf. Ezek 40:1-4)

So, if we are going to be able to take advantage of whatever God is showing us or the happenings around us, we must pay attention to whatever we are seeing on purpose. Many who are slow learners today are so not because something is wrong with their brains but because they hardly pay attention on purpose to what they are being shown or taught.

Also, many who usually miss out on opportunities for advancement around them or who are often getting injured or losing things by accidents experience these things not because life is against them but because they hardly pay attention on purpose to what is happening around them. Yes, these ones have eyes that are good enough to see everything happening around them. But because they are never intent on seeing what could be of benefit or salvation to them from the things they can see, they often miss out on what is meant for their peace, protection or prosperity.

For example, when Ishmael, Hagar’s son, was dying of thirst in the desert, all her mother could do was sob and wait for him to die. But there was actually a well of water right where they were that they could drink from and live. Yet, until God spoke to Hagar and opened her eyes to see it, none of the two of them saw it, even though their eyes were wide open. (Cf. Gen 21:14-19)

Why did they not see it? First, it was because they were not intently looking for water in that place. And why were they not looking for water on purpose there? It was most likely because they thought it was useless to do so, seeing that the place was a desert.

In the same vein, there are times that we don’t see certain things we are meant to see in life because of assumptions. We just assume that those things cannot just be where we are. So, we don’t look out for them on purpose. But those things may just be there. And it is when someone else lays hands on them and begins to utilize them for his own progress or safety that we will wake up and begin to wish we too had been more careful and attentive in looking. But time may have run out on us by then. So, don’t ever again assume that something cannot be somewhere until you have diligently looked or sought for it. Otherwise, your assumption may end up being a very costly one.

Another reason Hagar and her son did not see that well of water before God spoke to them was that it was not revealed to them. As I pointed out before, they were in a desert. And that was a very unusual place to find a well of water. Yet it was there. So, if it had not been divinely revealed to them, even if they had been looking out for it on purpose, they may not have seen it.

That, then, means that it takes divine revelations to see what we need to see in certain places in life. Otherwise, however hard we look for those things, we will not see or find them. Thankfully, God has promised to show us great and unsearchable things of life, if we will learn to pray to Him (Jer 33;3). So, if we want our eyes to be seeing the things we need to see in life and to be seeing them correctly, even in unusual places, we must learn to pray to God for divine revelations. And as we do so, our eyes will daily see correctly all that we need to see for our progress, elevation and safety in life.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)