Category: Youth for Jesus

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Be of true help to them|By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: February 15, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 40

“..John Mark went with them as their assistant.” (Acts 13:5NIV)

Who did John Mark go with to assist? Paul and Barnabas! They were on their first missionary journey. And they needed a trusted brother from the church to be around them as their assistant. So, John Mark volunteered to go with them.

Now that reminds of a time in which I travelled with a highly respected pastor of mine to Accra in Ghana. He had just been transferred to the branch of our assembly in that city to get the work there established. And he seriously needed someone to be with him before his family would relocate to join him. So, when he asked me if I would want to go with him, I said ‘Yes’.

Why did I say ‘Yes’ to him? Was it because I was going to be preaching with him? No! Or was it because I was being given an opportunity to travel out of the country for the first time? Yes, that was part of it. I really wanted to see what life outside this country was then. But that was not my main reason for saying ‘Yes’ to him. My main reason for following him was that I saw that he could really use my assistance.

So, I went with him, not to preach with him but to help him in whatever way he wanted me to help him. That, of course, involved handling house chores for him, running errands for him, taking his phone calls and so forth. And when I was leaving about three months later, he wished he could keep me with him a little longer. But since he couldn’t, he sent me off with this prayer that I will never forget: God will grant that you will never lack helpers in your life.

Now what greater reward could I have hoped to receive from him other than those heartfelt words of prayer? None! And that is the greatest reward you too could ever get from anybody for faithfully and willingly making yourself available to serve them, especially in their moment of need. But will you get it? Will there be people in your life praying for you every time they remember you for being such a great help and comfort to them in their lives?

Paul, while addressing Timothy in a letter, says this about a man called Onesiphorus:

“May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.” (2Tim 1:16-18NIV)

At a time when everybody abandoned Paul because of his chains, at a time when he was feeling all alone because there was no one around to minister to him with words of encouragement or resources, Onesiphorus was there for him. This man went out of his way to look for this apostle when he came to Rome. It was difficult for him to find him. But he did not relent until he found him and ministered to him. And all that Paul could do was pray heartfelt prayers for him and for his household that they would find mercy on the day of the Lord.

Unfortunately, even today, just as it was with Paul in those days, leaders often find it hard to find trusted and willing people to stand by them to assist or support them. Yes, they often find it hard to find people who will willingly want to make their load lighter, not because of what they want to get or because they are paid to do so but because they truly care. And this is equally true in the church. I mean that, even in the church, it is often hard to find people who are always genuinely looking out for their church leaders and seeking ways to make their load lighter. Most of us only want to serve if there is something for us to gain and if and only if it is convenient.

This, of course, explains why most of our leaders pray for us simply because it is their job to do so and not also because we are continually inspiring them to pray for us. It also explains why we are having fewer and fewer servant leaders in the church. Most of our leaders have not learnt how to genuinely and willingly serve others. How, then, can they teach others to do so? So, they have to resort to the use of money, force or manipulation to get people to do their bidding. And that is how many of them have ended up surrounding themselves with people who are only loyal to themselves and their bellies and not love servants.

Now my prayer is that you will not wake up one day to find out that all the people around you are loyal only to themselves and not at all to you. I also pray that God will provide you with true and willing helpers in your life, helpers who will continually seek to make your life and work easier and more productive. But you too should learn to sow the seed of true help and assistance into the lives of the leaders in your life, both in the church and outside the church. And their heartfelt prayers will water that seed, so that it will bear a great harvest of helpers for you someday.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Domestic oppression |By: J.O. Lawal | FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones
Date: February 08, 2023 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 39

“Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.” Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.” (Neh 5:1-6NIV)

As we see in the book of Nehemiah, in order for the Jewish exiles that had returned to Jerusalem to be rid of the harassment and disgrace they were facing from the hostile gentiles surrounding them, Nehemiah had to leave his comfort zone as King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer and come home to help them. Was it easy for him to get this king’s permission to do this? No! He really could have lost his life in the process of seeking it. But because he had first sought the Lord’s face and favour before approaching the man, his request was miraculously granted. (Cf. Neh 1-2)

Now when he eventually came and began to labour for the welfare of his people, he thought it was only the oppression they were faced with from outside that he had to deal with; he did not know that he would have to handle domestic oppression as well. But it was not long after he had successfully dealt with the external forces contending with the welfare of his people that he realised that the people he was working hard to save were equally oppressing one another.

Remember that Moses also had a similar experience. He had, on one occasion, killed an Egyptian in his attempt to save one of his own. But to his surprise, it was not only the Egyptians that were oppressing his people. They themselves were oppressing themselves. And when he tried to point this out to one of them, he ended up having to run for his life for the next forty years. (Cf. Ex 2:11-15)

In any case, as we see in our opening text, Nehemiah was really angry when he realised that while he was labouring hard to help his people get established in the land, there were still among them those who were using their positions of advantage to oppress others. And he had to call their nobles and officials into a meeting and bound them with oaths and curses in order to solve the problem. Otherwise, all his labour to comfort the people and give them rest would have come to nothing because of the domestic oppression going on among them. (Cf. Neh 5:6-13)

Similarly, in Nigeria today, there is much distress everywhere for the citizenry. And is this because our leaders are so cruel and unfeeling? No! Yes, we cannot run away from the fact that many of our leaders have not done well at all in caring for the people. But the truth also is that much of the distress we are now experiencing is not a direct consequence of their ineptitude but that of the domestic oppression we too are subjecting ourselves to.

For example, can we in all honesty say that our leaders are totally to blame for the outrageous increase in fuel prices that we are now seeing? No! That is an offspring of domestic oppression. Or can we in all sincerity put all the blame for the scarcity of the new naira notes that we are seeing on our leaders? No! That is also a product of domestic oppression emanating from many of our commercial banks and POS operators. Or can we say that our leaders are totally to blame for the daylight robbery of many Nigerians by those in the power sector? No! That is equally a product of domestic oppression.

Yes, our economy has been badly managed by our leaders for many years. And no one, as I pointed out before, can excuse them from taking responsibility for that. But we are the ones making this economy daily worse through our greed. Our greed is the force driving us to use the poor leadership in the country as an excuse for pursuing unjust profit in every possible way. So, our pains and miseries are mostly self-inflicted and our oppression largely domestic.

If we, then, are going to witness any relief soon, we all must choose to end every form of domestic oppression we are perpetuating or sponsoring in our offices, business centers, neighbourhoods, schools and even religious assemblies. Remember that, right now, we don’t have any Nehemiah that will compel us to do what is right. So, if we don’t begin to do what is right as a matter of urgency, it may not be long before our beloved country is totally colonised again by foreigners.

Now this sort of colonisation, of course, is not going to be territorial, as it was before we gained independence. Rather, it is going to be an economic thing. In other words, our economic independence will totally be taken away from us and we will be nothing but economic slaves of some other nations. My prayer is that things will not degenerate to that level before we all come back to our senses or before God sends a Nehemiah to us to redeem our honour. Amen.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Would He make a garment of skin for you too?| By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: February 01, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus| Number: Vol. 5, No. 38

“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (1Tim 2:9-10NIV)

The day we live in is one in which indecency and inappropriate dressing are now the order of the day. Yes, it is a day in which women, including some elderly ones, no longer see anything wrong with dressing like prostitutes or walking around almost naked.

Unfortunately, even our women in the church are not left out of this societal menace. Many of them are vitally contributing to it. And this is evident in the kinds of dresses they wear to our church meetings. No, they may not come for church meetings half-naked. But they will make sure they wear something that reveals enough of certain parts of their bodies, so that they could get someone’s attention. It is no wonder, then, that rape cases are daily multiplying at a very alarming rate in our country, just as cases of consensual sex among unmarried people are just too much to talk about.

But from what we see in our opening bible text, God’s people, God’s women, old or young, ought to be different in the way they dress and comport themselves. Is it that God does not want them to look beautiful and elegant when they dress? No! He wants His daughters to look beautiful and elegant wherever they appear. Otherwise, He would not create them to be beautiful.

Look, for example, at what the bible says about the daughters of Job that were later born to him: “The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.” (Job 42:14-15NIV) Who gave Job these extremely beautiful daughters? God! So, beauty, any degree of it, is a gift from God. And no should condemn or despise it.

Unfortunately, there are preachers who have mistaken what Paul says in this text to mean that God’s women are not to dress well or beautiful themselves at all, especially with articles of gold or silver. So, they condemn any woman who appears beautiful, without making any effort to find out what quality of life the person is living. But these same people may not see anything wrong with their own women braiding their hair or using bags or shoes with gold or silver plates. And that shows that they are ignorant of what this Scripture means.

I remember, for instance, how a so-called prophet once told a brother of mine that the Spirit of God wanted him to be careful of light complexioned ladies. Why? He had earlier that day seen him with a light complexioned lady. But did he know who she was to him? No! If he had, he would not have said that the Spirit of God told him what He obviously did not tell him.

In any case, what the Scripture we have above is telling us, first, is that God’s daughters are never to take their dressing or physical outlook more seriously than their conduct. So, we should not say that you, as a lady, are beautiful simply because of your hair-do, use of jewelleries and cost of wears but because you are a woman that is also rich in good deeds and character. In other words, if you are not rich in character, your physical beauty may as well be as good as worthless.

Second, this Scripture is telling us that when you dress, demonstrate decency. Cover what is meant to be covered and protect what should be protected. Yes, God has made you beautiful. But He does not want you to get outrageous in handling it. Or else you might soon turn yourself into a tool of seduction in the hand of the devil or open the door of your life for ungodly people or criminals to begin to desire you.

Remember that when the first man and the first women fell and the glory of God that was covering them left, the first thing they did was to cover their nakedness with garments of leaves. And when God came and met them in that condition, what did He do? He made garments of skin for them. Why? He could see that they were not adequately covered, even though it was just the two of them. (Cf. Gen 3)

Now if God should physically appear to you too today, what do you think He would do or say about your dressing? Would He freely settle down to relate to you or would He want to make a garment of skin for you to cover your nakedness? I am sure you know the answer. Therefore, what is acceptable to God is what you should always wear, whether you are a woman or a man and not what many of these movie, music or sport stars are leading you to wear. Otherwise, one might begin to wonder whether you are a child of God at all.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Stop multiplying failure| By: J.O. Lawal|Fire my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 25, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 37

“Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good…”” Ex 18:17NIV)
What was Moses, that great man of God, doing that was not good? It was his leadership approach that was not good. As the account shows us, before his father-in-law, Jethro, visited him, Moses used to sit down everyday to attend to all the disputes and concerns of the Israelites that he was taking to the Promised Land. And how many people are we looking at? According to the first census of these people that Moses took, we are looking at about six hundred thousand men, not counting their wives, children and servants (Num 1:46).

Why, then, was Moses all alone attending to all the disputes, requests and misunderstandings of all these people? It was because he felt that he was the only one that must do so. But where was that getting him and the people he was attending to? Nowhere! Evidently, the work was too much for him to handle. Therefore, he was utterly ineffective in handling it.

Unfortunately, Moses was ignoring the fact that he, as one man, was ineffective in leading all the people at that time. He was ignoring the fact that though he was a great spiritual leader, he was very poor in administrative matters. And why was he doing this to himself? It was because there was no one bold and wise enough to draw his attention to his folly, without disrespecting the anointing of God on his life. So, they all left him to continue to multiply failure.

We too can continue to multiply failure in certain or all the areas of our lives, if we are ignoring the fact that we are failing at what we are doing. It takes courage and sincerity to admit failure. It takes courage and sincerity to admit that what we are doing is not working and needs to be approached or addressed differently. But do we have these attributes in our lives, courage and sincerity?

When God saw that the world of Noah’s day was not working, did He not face that fact? He did! God did not lie to Himself about the fact that the world that He had created and given to humanity was not working at all and needed to be ended. And He did not wait for anybody to tell Him that this was the situation. Instead, He told Himself the truth about it and did the needful. Was He happy to do the needful, which involved destroying everything on the face of the earth, except Noah and his family? No! But He did what He had to do in order to give us another chance to recreate our world and live to fulfil His purpose for us. (Cf. Gen 6-9)

So, if what you are doing is not working, tell yourself the truth about it and begin to consider how to make things right. And don’t ignore the truth of your failure because nobody is saying anything to you about it or because certain ‘Yes people’ are encouraging you to keep multiplying failure. Remember that even though Moses was failing terribly in administering justice to the nation of Israel at that time, nobody among his people, not even his own brother Aaron, said anything to him about it. They all were probably telling him what he wanted to hear from them, which was not at all good for him or the people.

However, when God was going to save him, he moved his father-in-law to come and visit him, bringing along his wife and sons. And when he came, he immediately noticed the error of this man of God and lost no time at all in drawing his attention to it. He told him very plainly, as we see in our opening text, that what he was doing was wrong and would simply destroy him and the people. Then he went on to tell him the right thing to do, which was to delegate his administrative responsibilities among the various gifted people in the nation, if God permitted him to do so. And guess what? Moses listened to him and was rid of his ineffectiveness and failure in leadership. (Cf. Ex 18)

Now it is possible that you too, like Moses, have something you are doing that is not good and that is causing you to multiply failure. Then acknowledge it and deal with it without delay, if you know what it is. Don’t wait for a Jethro to come and point it out to you. That is because that Jethro may never come.

But if it is something you don’t know, my prayer is that God will send a Jethro to open your eyes to see it. And when He does send him, don’t let pride get in the way. Instead, humble yourself, listen, learn and get the needful done without wasting time at all. Otherwise, you will simply keep on multiplying failure.

Cheers!

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Reputation means a lot| By: J.O. Lawal|Fire My Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 18, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 36

“And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.” (Ruth 3:11NIV)

Those were Boaz’s words to Ruth, when she came to him one night to request his hand in marriage. Now, for those of us who don’t understand the Jewish culture of the time, what Ruth was reported to have done on that occasion could only be taken by us as outrageous and shameless. “What sort of woman makes love advances at a man, if not a shameless one?” we would say.

But as far Jewish customs were concerned, there was nothing shameless or outrageous about what Ruth did that night. Under the law of Moses, widows were meant to remarry from among their in-laws and not outside the family. And each of them had a right to approach the elders of their town to report any brother-in-law that was in a position to remarry her but that would not do so, so that they would talk some sense into him. (Cf. Deut 25:5-10)

So, Ruth did not do anything wrong under the law of Moses by discreetly approaching Boaz and asking him to marry her. First, she was a widow. So, she had a right to remarry. Second, Boaz was her late husband’s kinsman. So, he was one of those in a position to marry her. Then, as the account goes, it was not even Ruth’s idea to meet the man in that manner, for she was not an Israelite and most probably did not know much about their laws and culture at the time. The idea was Naomi’s, Ruth’s mother-in-law. And if there was anyone that would put Ruth up to something shameless, she would be the last person. (Cf. Ruth 3:1-5)

More so, as we equally see in the account, Boaz did not act confused when Ruth did what her mother-in-law told her to do. Instead, he indicated that he understood clearly what she did and what it meant. In fact, he went on to tell her that there was another kinsman of her late husband that was more qualified to marry her than him. So, what the young woman did was in line with the marital laws and customs of the land at the time and should not be condemned by anybody.

Now is that to say that you too, as a single lady or young widow, are free to approach any man to ask his hand in marriage? That is not for me to say. I know the word of God does not give a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer to that. And if the customs of your country or community do not frown against doing so, you should be free to do so. But if the customs of your place are contrary to it, then, doing so may ultimately result in a reputational hazard for you. So, I won’t ask you to take the risk.

At any rate, even though what Ruth did to Boaz was in line with the customs of the land at the time, Boaz could as well have been irritated by it and rejected her proposal. But he did not. Why? It was because he knew Ruth to be a woman of character.

In fact, as we see in our opening bible text, he wasn’t the only one that knew her in that manner; everyone else in the town knew her to be so. In other words, this woman’s reputation for godliness, sanctity, hard work, diligence and love for family preceded her wherever she went. Therefore, Boaz was all happy and eager to do for her what she wanted, if their relative that was more qualified than him to have her would not do so. He, in fact, went out of his way to make sure the matter was settled in one day. And that was all because of the reputation of the woman involved. (Cf. Ruth 3-4)

In like manner, our reputation can get people to go out of their way to perform miracles for us to have what need or to save us from trouble or distress. And it can also get them to turn their backs on us or to do all that is in their power to hinder us from accessing or enjoying certain things. So, we need to watch the kind of reputation we are building where we are. Is it a reputation for godliness, honesty, compassion and diligence? Or is it a reputation for ungodliness, dishonesty, cruelty and laziness?

Whatever the case may be, our reputation will always precede us to either make way for us or hinder us. So, pay attention to the kind of reputation you are building among those in your life. And may God enable you to do what is right concerning this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Destroy it before it destroys you |By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: January 11, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 35

“Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.” (2Sam 13:2NIV)

Why did Amnon, the first child of David, end up raping his half-sister, Tamar? It was because he refused to destroy the evil thought of having something with her that had possessed him. Was it his fault that this evil desire came to him? Not necessarily so! But not handling the evil desire and allowing himself to be possessed by it was entirely his fault.

According to the bible, we don’t have to do anything bad or wrong for evil thoughts to come to us. That is because the origin of every thought is the devil. Remember that, even right after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was still confronted by the devil with the thought of committing suicide. In fact, this evil thought was even supported by him with Scriptures. And if Jesus had not been sound enough in the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that He was able to demolish the evil thought, His ministry would have ended before it started. (Cf. Matt 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12)

So, whether we like it or not, we cannot escape being confronted with evil thoughts, desires and passions, as long as we are in this world. Yes, putting ourselves in certain conditions or relationships may expose us more readily or frequently to evil thoughts, desires or passions. But the word of God already makes it clear that regardless of where we are in this world, even if it is a monastery, evil thoughts will still locate us. That is because they are being sent by the devil and his demons to make war against our souls. (Cf. 1Pet 2:11)

Since this, then, is the case, it is on us to be determined to say ‘No’ to any evil thought, passion or desire that comes to us and to, in fact, destroy it. The word of God says:

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2Cor 10:4-5NIV)

Did you see that? As children of God, we have access to His divine power and provisions to demolish any satanic stronghold. And what strongholds are we talking about? As we see in the text, these strongholds are not witches, wizards or even demons; rather, they are thoughts. Yes, they are arguments and pretensions that are standing against the truth of God in our minds. In other words, we are taking about thoughts, desires, passions and philosophies that are contrary to the righteousness of God and that can be built up in our lives as fortresses of protection for evil behaviours.

Now what is our instruction about them? It is that we are to demolish them. We must not allow them to grow in us, not to talk of take us captive to do evil. But if we refuse to destroy them, if we are making excuses for them and giving them room to possess us, it won’t be long before they drive us to do the unthinkable and foolish. Then we may find ourselves, like Amnon, corrupting those that we are supposed to protect their purity or, like Judas Iscariot, betraying those we are supposed to honour and protect.

So, be determined to destroy every evil thought, desire or passion that Satan may send to war against your soul. Otherwise, it will ultimately destroy you and perhaps all that is dear to you as well, if you are not shown mercy. But will you be able to do this, if you cannot distinguish between thoughts that are contrary to God’s righteousness and the ones that are not? You won’t.

All of this is why you, like our Lord Jesus Christ, need to be sound in the word of God. You need to continually give yourself to reading, studying and meditating on His word. That way, you will be able to recognise even those wicked thoughts of the devil that appear righteous and legitimate and destroy them before they have any chance of hurting you.

Also, you need to give yourself to praying without ceasing, especially to be strengthened by God within. Otherwise, you will know what thoughts you must reject but may not have the strengthen to say ‘No’ to them. Then the Scripture will be true concerning you that says, “The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” And may that not be your experience in any area of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Cheers!

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Sheep among wolves | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 04, 2023 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 34

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matt 10:16NIV)

Our Lord Jesus, as we see from Scriptures, is a realist. He is someone that always speaks the truth and never lies to Himself or to anyone else about anything. And this is so that people can face the truth about their life’s circumstances.

For example, as we see in our opening bible text, He tells all His disciples that they must always see themselves as sheep among wolves, as long as they are in this world. That means they must never assume that those of this world will be kind or nice to them. On the contrary, they must always think of them as wolves that will devour them at any given opportunity.

And is this not true? Aren’t unbelievers and false believers always looking for ways to cheat, deceive, rob or oppress true children of God? In fact, once some people find out that you are a genuine Christian, all they will begin to plot is where and how they will take advantage of you. That is because they believe that most Christians are simple-minded, naïve individuals that can easily be outsmarted or abused.

Unfortunately, many true children of God are actually simple-minded and can easily be trampled upon. That is because they do not understand Christianity. The idea of Christianity they have is derived basically from the words of our Lord Jesus that say, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matt 5:39NIV) But what the Lord says here is figurative. In other words, He is simply teaching us the need to bear with those who shamefully treat us and not allow their wickedness to turn us into wicked people too.

And if you still don’t get what I am saying, just take a look at our Lord’s own earthly life. How many times did He give people the impression that they could slap Him as freely and easily as they might want? From what we see in Scriptures, He never gave anybody the impression that he was someone they could molest at will. But He also never used foul or abusive words in answering His opponents. And it was only when His time was up and He was faced with death on the cross that people were able to arrest and molest Him. Nevertheless, He did not give those slapping Him and those abusing Him the impression that what they were doing was nothing. If that were the case, He would not ask God to forgive them for unjustly punishing Him and taking His life in ignorance.

Therefore, except you are sure that your time is up and you are also certain that God wants you to glorify Him through death, don’t foolishly yield yourself to be devoured by the wolves of this world. And that is the point our Lord Jesus is communicating to us in our opening bible text. According to Him, as long as we are living in this world, we will always be like sheep among wolves. And since that is the case, we must be as shrewd as snakes and as harmless as doves in all our dealings with the people of the world.

Now that is a real challenge. I mean that it is not a joke to combine the cleverness of snakes with the innocence of doves in one person. Yet the Lord says that is what we must do, if we do not want to constantly be victims of the wolves around us that are seeking to devour us. So, while you make it your aim to live a good, godly and harmless life that God has called us to live in this world, you must also be very smart like a snake in handling those in your world.

Snakes, as we know, can indeed be killed or tamed by men. But they don’t ever put themselves in situations where anyone can easily hurt them or turn them into a prey. They are always quick to judge situations and to hide themselves where necessary. In like manner, while you cannot afford to be full of venoms and injurious like a snake, you must, like a snake, be quick to access people and situations and to stay out of trouble.

Look at our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was always going about doing good and healing all those who are oppressed of the devil, He was also always quick to judge circumstances and to disappear whenever danger was looming. In the same way, David, once when he found himself before an enemy king, was quick to change his disposition and to start acting like an insane person until he was sure of his safety. What about Paul the apostle? Once, while defending himself and the gospel of Jesus Christ before the religious leaders of the Jews that wanted to have his head, this man of God used their doctrinal disagreement on the subject of resurrection to confuse them. So, he was able to escape their evil judgment that day. (Cf. 1Sam 21:10-15; John 7:1; Acts 23:1-10)

You too should always be smart in dealing with those of this world and not give them any undue reason to see you as someone they can easily trample upon or oppress. Yes, be devoted to doing those good works God has called you to do. But never put yourself in any situation where people will think of you as someone they can oppress or outsmart at will. Otherwise, you may not live long enough to finish those good works God has recreated you to do.

Copyright © 2023, 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)

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Sooner or later|By: J.O. Lawal|Fire in My Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: December 21, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 32

“Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.” (Gen 13:10-13NIV)

Whose choice was it to go and live in Sodom? It was Lot’s choice. He was the one that made the decision for himself and his family. And did it look like a bad decision at the time? No! On the contrary, it looked like a very perfect one, a perfect decision that would catapult him and his family into a great enjoyment of prosperity for generations to come.

But as bible accounts show us, Lot’s choice to go and live in Sodom was a carnal one. It was a choice that was based only on what he saw. The portion of land he saw was indeed good and desirable. But his choice of it was only based on how well it would serve him and how greatly it would contribute to his wealth and prestige. He was not looking at the fact staying in that land would put him right among wicked and unreasonable people, right among scorpions and vipers.

Well, some years later, the implications of the choice he had made began to dawn on him. First, he, his family members and all their wealth were suddenly taken as captives along with all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. And it took the intervention of his uncle, Abraham, for them to be rescued and restored. (Cf. Gen 14)

Now he should have taken that as a warning from God to him. But he was too possessed and occupied with his business of making money that he could not even see things in that light. But not long afterwards, he started receiving the torture of his life while living among those wicked and unreasonable people. According to the bible, everyday this man saw and heard things that tortured his righteous soul, things that wanted to drive him crazy (2Pet 2:8).

But what led him into that situation? It was a carnal choice he made years before. And that choice eventually led him to lose his wife and all the things he had gathered through years of hard labour. In fact, by the time he was leaving Sodom, we have no record in the bible of his herdsmen and workers again. They all must have been lost by him to the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Cf. Gen 19)

What is the point of all this? It is simply that the choices we make now will sooner or later justify us or condemn us. God, through His word, has given us perfect and clear guidelines on how to make choices and decisions that will result in earthly and eternal prosperity, safety and peace of mind for us. And if we learn these guidelines and apply them to our lives, sooner or later, God’s wisdom will prove Him right in our lives and affairs. But if we ignore them and choose to follow our own schemes, sooner or later, we will see for ourselves how foolish we are to ignore God.

Now perhaps this is already true in your life. Perhaps certain carnal choices you made in the past are already haunting you and torturing you with undesirable circumstances. Don’t let things go from bad to worse before you cry out to God for restoration. See, whatever you are witnessing now as a result of your past bad choices, however terrible they may seem, may just be a warning to you from God that worse experiences are coming. So, take the warning and hurry to do the right thing. And God, who is rich and kind in mercy, will show you mercy, spare you and also restore you.

Cheers!

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Caution or suspicion|By: J.O. Lawal|Fire in my Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: December 14, 2022|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 31

“So Hanun seized David’s men, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away.” (2Sam 10:4NIV)

Why did Hanun, king of the Ammonites, treat David’s men in the manner described in our opening bible text? He did so because he thought he was being cautious. But was he really being cautious or suspicious?

As the account shows us, Hanun’s father, Nahash had been a friend of David before he died. And though we are not told how they became friends, we are told that the reason David sent his men to give his condolences to his son, Hanun, was that he was a very kind person to him (2Sam 10:1-2). That, of course, was one of the things that characterised David’s way of life. He was not someone that would forget those who had been good or kind to him. Rather, he was someone that was always seeking them out, so that he could show his gratitude to them in whatever way he could. (Cf. 1Sam 30:26-31; 2Sam 9; 2Sam 19:31-39)

Unfortunately, on this occasion, his kind gesture was totally misrepresented by Hanun, the son of his late friend. And it was misrepresented because the officials with the young man misled him. They sowed a seed of evil suspicions in his heart, even though there was no reason for him to be suspicious. (Cf. 2Sam 10:3)

David, before that time, had done nothing to Hanun’s country to make him think of him as an enemy. He had been nothing but a good and loyal friend to his father. And even if he had wanted to be cautious, probably because he was not really close to David, all he would have needed to do was to give instructions to his men to watch the activities of his ambassadors. Then their report would have cleared his doubts and prevented him from being unduly suspicious.

But because he was a foolish young man, instead of acting with caution at that time, he acted in evil suspicions and shamelessly maltreated ambassadors of an ally country that only came to sympathise with him for the loss of his father. That, of course, resulted in an unfortunate war between him and the nation of Israel, which was a stronger and more powerful nation. And because of the war he lost his men, his land, his crown and his reputation. How sad! (Cf. 2Sam 10; 1Chro 19:1-20:3)

Well, this story is teaching us one thing, which is that there is a great deal of difference between caution and evil suspicion. To be cautious means that we do not assume that we know what people will do or how they will function under any circumstance, if we do not know them to be true children of God or have not known them for a very long time. Therefore, we do not carelessly let them into our lives or affairs. Instead, we put appropriate boundaries in place in our dealings with them, so that we may, in the course of time, learn how well we can trust them.

But to be suspicious means to have a feeling that something is wrong or that something may go wrong in our dealings with someone. And is it altogether wrong to have this feeling? No! It all depends on who we have such feelings about, why we have such feelings about them and what we do as a result of such feelings that we have about them.

If someone, as Paul says about himself and his ministry companions, does not have any record of being injurious, manipulative or corrupt in dealing with us or others that we know, we have no reason to be suspicious of them (2Cor 7:2). Otherwise, whatever suspicions we have about them will only be evil suspicions, something that the word of God warns against (1Tim 6:4).

Then even if we have reasons to be suspicious of someone because we don’t know them well enough, because we have seen them act in some ungodly manner before or because someone gave us some bad news about them, our suspicions should only drive us to be cautious and on guard in dealing with them. We should not allow them to drive us to disgrace or embarrass them when they have not done us any wrong and we have no real proof that they are going to hurt us in any way. Otherwise, our suspicions about them will be nothing but evil suspicions.

Now when we allow evil suspicions to drive us to hurt, disgrace or embarrass others who have done nothing wrong to us, we, like Hanun, may end up having an unnecessary and unfortunate war to fight. And that may forever shut some doors of goodness that could have come to us through them against us. Only God, then, knows how many people have been denied certain measure of His goodness that could have been theirs in life because of these things. They, out of suspicion, treated shamefully or abusively certain individuals who merely wanted to help them or do them good. And they have to live with the sorrow and loss that came with doing so for the rest of their earthly lives.

More so, when we allow evil suspicions to drive us in relating to others, even if our suspicions are right, those watching and who have seen the kind of bad treatment we have given to them may never get to know that our suspicions are right. Therefore, instead of being seen as the victims of those who want to hurt us, we will be seen and treated as the villains. And who knows how terribly that will affect us? Only God knows.

So, yes, be cautious in all your dealings with men. But give no room in your heart for any form of evil suspicion. That is because it can only harm you; it has no good to offer you.

Categories
Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Good looks aren’t enough|By: J.O. Lawal| fire in my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: December 07, 2022|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 30

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” (Prov 31:30-31NIV)

Those are the words of King Lemuel to us. Unfortunately, because they are essentially directed to women, we often assume that it is only women that should pay attention to them. But we are wrong.

See, one of the ways to greatly benefit from Scriptures is to always look beyond who they are addressed to and also consider the points they are communicating. That is because the points they are communicating may as well be beneficial to our lives and affairs, even if their words are not directly addressed to us. For example, though the words of our opening bible text are directed to women, they are not useful to women alone but also to men, to every one of us. And we will do well to pay attention to them in our daily walk.

Now what main point are these words communicating to us? It is that there are things that are more important that being charming, beautiful or good looking. And we should know these things and prioritise them. Otherwise, it will not be long before we realise that our charm or good looks are not at all enough to take us ahead in life.

As Lemuel tells us in that text, people can easily be fooled by charm. Not only that, good looks and beauty will surely disappear at some point. So, while it is important that we do not sacrifice beauty, charm or good looks because we think something is wrong with them (and nothing is wrong with them, for they are God’s gifts), it is also important that we do not let everything about our lives be all about looking beautiful, handsome or charming.

Yes, people get easily endeared to those who are beautiful, handsome, good looking or charming. So, they give them attention and want to help or support them in whatever way they can. But if they lack godly character or are lazy or empty-headed, it won’t be long before whatever form of affection or privileges they have been enjoying as a result of their good looks are suspended or totally withdrawn.

You can now see why Lemuel, in our opening bible text, tells us that it is those women with character and who are diligent workers that will always be praised and honoured by those in their lives. And the same thing is applicable to men as well. It is those men that are of great character and integrity and who are not eating bread of idleness that will always earn the respect and honour of those in their lives and around them.

But those men and women who think all they need to excel in life is to appear good looking and charming and are not building character and giving themselves to diligent labour will soon enough discover that life has nothing to offer them but disgrace and poverty. So, my friend, build character through a sound relationship with God. Be someone people can rely on and will love to have around any time and any day.

Then don’t be empty-headed or slothful. Instead, build your mental capacity through concentrated learning and hard work. Yes, give yourself to learning and acquiring the right form of education and skills that will make you ever relevant in your world. And people will be willing to pay and honour you for what you can deliver, even if you are not one of the pretty ones.

Remember this: people don’t look for pretty women or handsome men when they need something; instead, they look for those who can deliver what they need. And if what they need is not a pretty face, then, they won’t look your way or waste time with you, even if you are a beauty pageant, as long as you don’t have what they need.

So, be good looking all the time and to the best of your ability, for it will attract people to you in most situations. But be also sure that you are not empty of character and usefulness. Otherwise, it won’t be long before you irritate and drive away those coming for you because of your good looks.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)