Category: Youth for Jesus

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Demonic activities are real – J.O. Lawal

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 7, No. 52

“Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” (Rev 16:13-14NIV)

What we see in our opening text is a little part of the revelation of Jesus given to John the Apostle. And from what we see in the revelation, a time will come when the rulers of this world will come together to battle against the Lord. And does that not sound ridiculous? Does it not sound ridiculous that people would think of waging war against God?

Well, it does sound ridiculous that people would think of doing that. But it is going to happen, just as our Lord made it known to John. And the reason it is going to happen is that certain demons will move them to do so when the time is ripe. As we see in our opening text, these evil spirits will go out and gather the world rulers of the time to wage war against God.

Now how will these demons go about doing that? We are not told this in obvious terms in the text. But it is clear that they will do so by speaking to the minds of these rulers and urging them to do what they want. We have a similar example in the bible story of the death of King Ahab.

As the account goes, it was an unclean spirit that became a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets of this king, just to deceive and lure him to his death. And interestingly, this lying spirit succeeded in moving about four hundred prophets to tell the same lie on the same day and at the same time. (Cf. 1Kings 22; 2Chro 18)

So, demonic activities are real. And that many all around the world who do not believe in them does not change the fact that they are real and happening everyday. What we are saying is that there are times that people act the way they act because certain demons are moving or driving them.For instance, why are beer parlous, night parties and brothels (houses of prostitution) often filled with all kinds of people, high and low, rich and poor, educated and uneducated? The reason is that there are demons that gather them to fill these places.

Also, why do we sometimes witness horrible riots, mob attacks and genocides? The reason is that there are demons that gather and drive people to do these things. And just as they are able to move a crowd to do dangerous and unthinkable things, they are also able to move individuals to do stupid, silly and destructive things to themselves and to others.

So, when someone or people are acting crazy and doing destructive things to themselves or to others, you should know that some demons may be responsible for their actions. You should have compassion on them, then, and pray for their deliverance, instead of condemning them to hell. Otherwise, they may go from bad to worse and make the world more unbearable for all of us to live in.

Also, we need to be utterly given to the word of God and prayer, so that we too will not be tools of demonic activities. Remember that, as devoted as David was to God, Satan was still able to use him to take certain foolish steps that brought trouble on his nation. Remember also that even though Judas Iscariot did everything with the Lord Jesus, as a disciple and friend, Satan still succeeded in using him to hand Him over to His enemies. (Cf. 1Chro 21; John 13:2&27)

So, any of us can be moved, driven and used by the devil or any of his demons to do unthinkable and destructive things, if we will not give ourselves to living by the word of God and praying to frustrate satanic activities where we are. My prayer is that you will never again be available as a tool to be used by the devil or any of his demons, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Two years later_J.O.Lawal

Recommended Citation

Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 30). We can change God’s mind (Vol. 7, No. 51). Youth for Jesus.

Senior Pastor Alaythia Bible Church

“Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. Absalom went to the king and said, Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his officials please join me?”” (2Sam 13:23-24NIV)

Why did Absalom invite all the king’s sons to a feast on the occasion mentioned in our opening bible text? Was it because he really cared about them and wanted to share some love with them? No! Rather, it was to have an opportunity to murder Amnon, their eldest brother.

Now why did he want to murder Amnon? It was because he had raped their sister, Tamar. But the matter had already been settled in some way by David their father. Why, then, did Absalom still want to punish Amnon with death for what he did? It was because he did not have a forgiving spirit like David.

Truly, it does not seem like David and his officials handled that rape case well. That is because we are not told in the account that Amnon was given any serious punishment for what he did, if he was punished at all. In any case, everyone else in some way believed that the matter had been laid to rest and should be treated as such. So, Absalom also should have treated it accordingly.

But he did not. Instead, he pretended that he too had dropped the matter and moved on. But two years later, as we see in our opening text, Absalom struck. He killed his brother when no one was suspecting. And that was the beginning of his own end as well.

Now what lesson is there in this for us? First, it is that we should take the word of God that tells us to do only good and not evil to people seriously. Otherwise, we may end up hurting people that will never forgive us for hurting them, regardless of what we or others do to appease them. And they will never forgive us because they do not have the fear of God in them at all or because they do not believe in God’s message of forgiveness. Therefore, they may go to any extent to punish us for our sins against them. And unless God saves us from them, we will not be safe at all, even two or twenty years after we have hurt them. (Cf. Psalm 34:11-14; 1Pet 3:10-11)

Another lesson for us in this is that if we refuse to forgive those who have hurt us, as God has told us to do, we are giving room for all kinds of dangerous and murderous thoughts to fill our hearts. The reason murderous thoughts entered Absalom’s heart and filled it was that he refused to forgive his brother, Amnon. And those murderous thoughts did not leave him until the murder of his brother was executed. (Cf. Eph 5:32)

In like manner, if we too refuse to forgive others, all sorts of dangerous thoughts may fill our hearts, as I pointed out before. And what these thoughts will do to us, even years after we have been hurt and have refused to be healed by God, may surprise us. Then we may find ourselves becoming worse than those who hurt us.

So, if you have been hurt in any way, forgive those who are involved and allow God to heal you. That way, you will not end up becoming worse than the evil you are trying to punish.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Behave yourself wisely | Johnson Lawal

Recommended Citation: Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 16). Behave yourself wisely (Vol. 7, No. 48). Youth for Jesus.

“So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.” (1Sam 18:5NKJV)

What are we told here about David? It is that he behaved himself wisely in handling all the things King Saul sent him to do. In other words, he conducted himself in such a way that even though he was very young at the time, he had the respect of Saul, the army officers and also the troops. So, when he was given a high rank in the army, everybody loved it. Nobody thought that he was overrated. Instead, they saw it as something he deserved.

In like manner, we too must learn to behave ourselves wisely wherever we find ourselves. We must learn to take advantage of the wisdom of God in us to win the respect of those around us, whether we are living together, working together or studying together. And we can do this by showing seriousness in all that we do and say, by giving appropriate honour to everyone, by staying out of other people’s business and by making ourselves helpful and useful to others whenever they need us. And if this is the way we are functioning, people will be glad to see us elevated and honoured in life.

Paul says something along these lines to Timothy. He says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1Tim 4:12NIV) What does this apostle mean by this? First, let us look at what he does not mean. He does not mean that Timothy should go around talking rudely to anyone that tries to disrespect him because he is young. Doing that would be very silly and arrogant of him. In fact, doing that would make people look down on him all the more.

What, then, does Paul mean? Well, he means that Timothy should behave himself so wisely that nobody would use his being young as an excuse for disrespecting him. That, of course, is why he goes on to tell him to be an example to other believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. And as he does this, everyone would give him the respect that he deserves as a man of God.

Now we too should pay attention to how we behave where we live, study or work. People won’t give us adequate and appropriate respect simply because we bear some titles or because we are rich or because we are highly educated. Rather, they will do so because we know how to behave ourselves wisely. And if we should fail to learn to behave ourselves wisely, we may lose more than the respect and honour of others. We may also lose those things that are giving us pride in life.

Remember Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant. She was given an unspeakable privilege of sharing her mistress’ husband, even though it was something contrary to the purpose of God for those involved. And if she had behaved herself wisely in that situation, she would have enjoyed her mistress, Sarah, for the rest of her life. But she did not behave herself wisely but foolishly. When she got pregnant, she began to despise her Sarah, thinking that she had become the apple of Abraham’s eye. (Cf. Gen 16)

But soon enough, she saw that she was wrong. She saw that she could never take Sarah’s place in Abraham’s heart, even though she was carrying the man’s pregnancy. But she already lost whatever love and respect Sarah and others had for her in that home. And though she later humbled herself, all the remaining years she spent there were years of misery and pains.

You can, then, see that we may never win certain people’s respect or love back once we lose it. So, in all your dealings with people, always conduct yourself in such a way that you will continually earn their respect. And may God daily strength you to do so. Amen.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

fmb_Strengthen my hands_J.O._Lawal

Recommended Citation:

Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 9). Strengthen my hands. Youth for Jesus, 7(47).

“They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” [But I prayed,] “Now strengthen my hands.”” (Neh 6:9NIV)

Who said these words? It was Nehemiah. And who was Nehemiah? Nehemiah was the governor of the land of Judah that God used in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem after the people had returned from exile.

Now though this man was a governor at the time he said these words, a governor that was righteous and also highly connected to Emperor Artaxerxes, he still found himself in a situation where certain individuals tried to frighten and weaken him. Why? They wanted him to abandon the good work he was doing, the good work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and also seeing to the welfare of his people.

So, it is not only those who are poor, weak and lowly in life that face threats to weaken or render them useless in life. The rich, powerful and influential also face these things. Yes, they too sometimes find themselves in situations where they are being harassed, oppressed or threatened, so that they may not fulfil the desires of their hearts. And in such situations, their wealth, power and influence may not be able to help them. That, of course, is sometimes the reason some good people end up becoming useless or unprofitable leaders. The forces they have to contend with in the positions they find themselves are just too much for them to handle.

Well, as we see in our opening text, at some point, Nehemiah too found himself being harassed and threatened by the enemies of his people, so that he would be too weak to do anything good for his land as governor. But this man would not surrender to fear and stop the good work he was doing. Instead, he decided to pray to God.

Why did Nehemiah choose to pray to God, when he was being harassed and threatened? It was because he knew that only God could make him succeed under the circumstances he had found himself. Yes, he was rich, powerful and influential. But he also knew that wealth, power and influence could fail and have failed times without number. Only God never fails. So, he chose to pray to Him.

Now what was his prayer? It was very simple. It was that God would strengthen his hands. In other words, he wanted God to give him all the encouragement, strength, boldness, wisdom, determination, protection and resources he would need to finish the good work he was doing. And did God answer him or not? He did, for he finished the good work he started in record time and with excellence. So, all his enemies were put to shame. (Cf. Neh 6:15-16)

In like manner, if you too are faced with people or situations that are threatening to stop or hinder you from doing whatever good and righteous thing you have in mind or are up to, don’t be surprised. And don’t start saying, “God, why me?” You will not be the first person to experience that. Also, you surely won’t be the last person to experience it, as long as this earth remains.

So, instead of getting worried or losing your mind because certain people or circumstances are trying to frighten you and stop you from doing whatever good thing you want to do, just pray to God as Nehemiah did. Yes, pray to Him, saying, “Strengthen my hands, my God.” And He will answer you and furnish you with all the strength, wisdom, protection, courage, people, resources and encouragement you need to succeed. Then all those who are against you will be put to shame, when they see that what you have done has been done by the power of the living God.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

fmb_Love is not always in a hurry_J.O._Lawal

Recommended Citation:

Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 2). Love is not always in a hurry. Youth for Jesus, 7(46).

“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” (John 11:5-6NIV)

When you love someone, how do you treat anything that concerns them? You treat it with all the seriousness it requires. But that does not seem to be what we see in our opening text. As we see in it, Jesus loved Lazarus, Martha and their sister, Mary. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.

Now that did not look like an expression of love, or did it? No, it did not. If He had loved Lazarus indeed, then, He would have been in a hurry to get to him before he died. But He did not do that. Instead, He waited until the man had been in the tomb four days before He went to raise him up from the dead. And that made everything look like He deliberately used Lazarus’ misery to promote His own glory.

But was it really like that? No, it was not like that. As the account shows us, even though Jesus waited two more days where He was when He heard that Lazarus was sick, the man was already lying in the tomb four days by the time He got to his town. That would mean that it took the messenger that had brought Him the news at least one day to get Him, just as it took Him at least one day to get to Lazarus’ place. Judging by that, Lazarus had already died by the time the man that brought Jesus news of his illness got to Him.

More so, Jesus Himself later plainly told His disciples that Lazarus was dead, that is, before they all left for his place (John 11:14). How did He know that? It was by divine revelation. So, Jesus did not wait two more days where He was because He wanted Lazarus to die before He would go and see him. Rather, He waited that way because He knew that the man was already dead and there was no need to be in a rush to go and raise him up.

But then, He could still have left immediately to raise Lazarus from the dead. And if He had done that, Lazarus’ sisters and their people would not have had to mourn him as much as they did. But He did not do that. Instead, He waited two more days before going to see him. Why?

Well, in answering that, first, Jesus was not in a hurry to go and raise Lazarus from the dead because He knew that the power of God could not be hindered by time or decay. So, regardless of when He got to where Lazarus was, the power of God would still work in bringing the man back to life.

Second, if Jesus had immediately gone to raise Lazarus up from the dead, his family and others with them may not have appreciated the awesomeness of God’s power as they did when He raised him up when his body was already decaying and smelling. In fact, some people may even have said that the reason it was easy for Him to bring him back to life was that Lazarus merely fainted or went into a coma for a while. And that way, they would have dismissed any involvement of the mighty power of God in what happened to him.

But Jesus would not make it easy for anyone to dismiss the awesomeness of God’s power as nothing. So, even though He loved Lazarus and his sisters very much, He handled the bringing back of the man from death to life in such a way that everyone who got to know about it would appreciate it and glorify God for it. And that is showing us that true love is not always in a hurry to help or solve problems. Rather, it is always thoughtful enough to handle whatever it does to help others in such a way that it will be adequately and appropriately appreciated.

Unfortunately, many of us know nothing about this quality of love. Therefore, we are often in a hurry to express our love to people anyhow, instead of acting in thoughtfulness in expressing it. But there are times that love needs to let people appreciate the enormousness of their problems in order for them to also appreciate the solution that it offers them. Otherwise, they may just treat an invaluable gift of love as something ordinary or common. And where that is the case, love may be wounded, paralysed or killed. That explains why some people now find it hard to act in love towards anyone. Their love was wounded, paralysed or killed by some who should have appreciated it.

Well, if you don’t want that to happen to your love for anybody, don’t always make something difficult look easy, just because you can do it. And don’t always make something expensive look cheap, just because you can afford it. Then learn to let people see the need for them to be helped before stepping in to help. Otherwise, you may just make your love or acts of love look like nothing to individuals who have difficulties recognising genuine love.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

A gift or a curse_J.O._Lawal

Recommended Citation

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 26). A gift or a curse. Youth for Jesus, 7(46).

“The man said, “The woman you put here with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”” (Gen 3:12NIV)

Those were Adam’s words to God, when He asked him if he had eaten the forbidden fruit. And his words showed that he, after his fall, no longer saw Eve as a gift of blessing to him from God but as a curse.

But from what we see in the bible, when God first brought Eve to him, he brought her to be a blessing to him and not a curse. In fact, before God brought her to him, He had said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” So, God never intended that Eve would be a curse or a problem to Adam. On the contrary, all He had wanted was for her to be a blessing to him in all ways, so that life would be easier and more enjoyable for him. (Cf. Gen 2:18)

More so, when God brought Eve to him, he himself could not hide his joy. He said, “”This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, for she was taken out of man.” So he was truly happy to have her. And he was not ashamed of her or to be around her, even though they were both naked. (Cf. Gen 2:23-25)

It is surprising, then, that this same man could freely blame God for bringing Eve to him, just because she was instrumental to his fall. Yes, it was God that brought Eve to him. But as I said already, He brought her to him only to make life easier and more enjoyable for him, not for her to be a trap for Satan to catch him. If she, then, became a curse to him, if she became the reason he fell away from the grace of God, who was to blame.

Evidently, Adam himself was to blame for what became of the gift of God to him. At least, from what we see in the account, he was right there when Satan deceived Eve and made her eat the forbidden fruit. And what did he do to stop her? Nothing! He just stood there and watched, as the woman was being messed up by the devil. Not only that, he took the fruit from her hand and ate it, showing that he approved of what she did. (Cf. Gen 3:1-7)

How, then, was he able to freely accuse God of being indirectly responsible for his fall, when he could have prevented what happened from happening? Did God make the woman head over him when He brought her to him? No! Did God say that he could not teach, rebuke or correct the woman, if she ever missed it? No! Why, then, did he not check the woman when she was being deceived by the serpent? Why did he not step into the situation to protect her from Satan’s lies?

Well, we are not given answers to these questions in the account. But we do know from the account that God judged Adam for listening to the voice of his wife instead of rebuking her and also protecting her from the devil. Yes, God judged him for taking the word of His gift to him more seriously than His own commands to him. (Cf. Gen 3:17-19)

Very similarly, as we see in the bible, God judged Eli and his household because he allowed his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to become a curse to him and the nation of Israel. These sons were given to him by God Himself as gifts of comfort, as gifts to perpetuate his family line. But he allowed them to become a curse by not dealing with their excesses and wickedness, showing that he valued the gifts more than the giver. So, God told him that He would punish his household because he honoured his sons more than him. (Cf. 1Sam 2-4)

Now what is all this teaching us? It is that we are to pay attention to how we relate to any gift God has given to us in life. That God is the one that has given something to us as a gift does not mean that thing cannot become a curse or a problem to us. If we would not relate to it with the wisdom of the Spirit and also with caution, it may end up becoming the reason we will fall or fail God.

So, don’t assume that God’s gifts of things or people to you will always automatically be a blessing to you. They may just become a curse to your life, if you won’t learn to relate to them according to the wisdom of the Spirit given through the word of God. And you won’t relate to them according to the wisdom of God’s Spirit, if you value or cherish them more than God Himself who has given them to you. So, watch yourself.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Cursing the Deaf_Lawal_J.0

Recommended Citation

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 12). Cursing the deaf. Youth for Jesus, 7(44).

“Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.” (Lev 19:14NIV)

What point is God making by saying to us the things we have in our opening text? It is that we are not to use the weaknesses or handicaps of others to exploit or hurt them. Doing so, as He further points out, can only show that we do not fear Him.

Now, of course, we may say, “I can never do that. I can never curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person.” But any time we are using someone’s ignorance, weakness or position of disadvantage in life to exploit or hurt them, that is exactly what we are doing. We are cursing the deaf. We are putting a stumbling block in front of the blind.

For instance, a pastor that I once knew was transferred to replace another pastor in a chapter of their assembly. And the first thing he did when he got to that assembly was to reduce the stipends being given to all the staff he met there. Why? Well, his reason was that they were performing far below what they were being given.

But what those people were being given at the time for what they were doing was quite little, compared to what most graduates like them were earning. Yet this man did not care at all. He just did what he felt that he had to do.
Now was he not afraid that those staff members may resign and leave? No, he was not. Why was he not afraid? First, he was not afraid because he knew that those staff members had put in some years of their lives into serving that church, years that they could have used in building some careers, furthering their studies or building some businesses. So, leaving the church office like that would be like starting all over again. It would, then, take a very bold and daring person to do so.

Second, that man was not afraid that his staff would leave because he was aware that most of them, if not all of them, came to work in the church office because they believed that God wanted them to be there to serve Him. So, he judged that they would not want him to start telling the church members that the reason they left was that they were unwilling to make sacrifices for God. And did he judge right or not? He did.

In fact, none of those staff members left at the time. Instead, they all stayed to justify the fact that they were not working for God because of money but because they loved Him. But were they happy to stay? No! What, then, can we say that the man did to them? He used their situation, their sense of commitment to God, to exploit them. And that is nothing but cursing the deaf and putting a stumbling block in the way of the blind.

Now there are several other things that we too can do that will amount to cursing the deaf or putting a stumbling block in the way of the blind. For instance, people will know that the price of an article has gone terribly up. Yet they will go to someone who doesn’t know and buy everything they have from them at the old price, instead of telling them that the price had changed. And too often, it is their own customers that do this to them. So, the person ends us suffering some losses that could have been avoided. What is that? it is cursing the deaf and putting a stumbling block in the way of the blind.

What about those who take advantage of those who come to them for help in dealing with sexual abuse or sexual sins? They are cursing the deaf and putting a stumbling block in the way of the blind. How? They are well aware of the weakness of those coming to them. They already know that they cannot help themselves in their situation. Yet they mess them up while claiming to be offering them help. Are they not cursing the deaf and putting a stumbling block in the way of the blind? They are!

In any case, the word of God tells us that a lack of the fear of God is what will make us do such things. That, then, means there will surely be consequences. So, if there is any way in which you are using people’s ignorance, handicaps, weaknesses or position of disadvantage to exploit, harass or hurt them, you need to repent before it is too late. That is because God is watching you. And He will pay you back in full for whatever you do, good or bad. So, mind yourself.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Sensible People _J.0.Lawal

Recommended Citation:Here is a citation in APA 7 format:

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 5). Sensible people. Youth for Jesus, 7(43).

“I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.” (1 Cor 10:15NIV)

Who is speaking here? Paul the apostle! Who is he talking to? The Corinthian brethren! And how does he describe them? He describes them as sensible people.

Therefore, the fact that someone is a child of God and is filled with the Spirit of God does not mean that his reasoning abilities have been taken away from him. No, they have not been taken away from him at all. Instead, they are still very much with him. So, he is expected to be using them.

Are you, then, using your reasoning abilities? Am I using my reasoning abilities? One of the things that can easily make us angry and lose ourselves is for someone to tell us that we are not sensible or that we are not using our head? And if we are not using our head, we are simply not using it. So, even if we get angry because someone says that we are not using our head, it will not change the fact that we are not using it. What we need to do, then, is not to get angry but to start using our head.

As Paul points out in that text, sensible people use their head. Yes, sensible people judge what they hear, see and feel before they decide on how to respond. They won’t just take something as good or bad or as true or false, based on what they can immediately see, hear or feel. Instead, they will first take out some time to examine and judge it in the light of the knowledge that is available to them. That is why they rarely fall into traps of deceit or seduction. It is also why they are often able to make the most of life’s opportunities, even turning bad situations around for their good.

Therefore, as a sensible person, always judge the things coming to you before you act. When you hear a sermon or read a passage of the bible, for example, judge it in the light of entire body of truth given to us in the Scriptures. Paul, as we again see in our opening text, invites his readers to judge what he is teaching them. He doesn’t say that they should just accept and never question whatever he says to them, seeing that he is an apostle. If he had done that, he would have taken away from them their freedom to use their head. And that is what often results in slavery. If you, then, don’t want to be enslaved to any false doctrine or ungodly practice, you had better learn to stay away from anyone that will not allow you to judge their teachings or practice before accepting it.

Then, even in natural matters, learn to judge what you hear, see or feel. Otherwise, you may lose certain once-in-a-lifetime opportunities or unconsciously make a victim of yourself. David, for instance, had to start acting naughty, when he first came as a fugitive to Achish king of Gath. Why? He had heard this king’s servants telling him of his exploits as Israel’s war champion. And he immediately judged the situation and reasoned that Achish may soon begin to see him as a threat to his life and his kingdom and then have him killed. (Cf. 1Sam 21:10-15)

Therefore, he pretended to be having fits of insanity in order to appear too weak to be a threat to anyone. That, of course, bought him the needed time to gain Achish’s trust. So, the man eventually began to treat him like a loyal servant. (Cf. 1Sam 27)

In like manner, we too can turn bad situations around for our good, if we will learn to act like the sensible people that God has made us, judging what we hear, see and feel carefully to know the proper way to respond to them. And I pray that you will be daily strengthened by the Spirit of God to begin to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

It’s not just to make you sorrowful_By J.0. Lawal

Recommended Citation:

Lawal, J. O. (2025, February 26). It’s not just to make you sorrowful. Fire In My Bones_Youth for Jesus, 7(42).

“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it — I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2Cor 7:8-11NIV)

What should rebuke or correction aim at accomplishing? As we see through Paul’s words in our opening text, it should aim at accomplishing repentance. This man of God, at some point, had to write a letter of rebuke and correction to the Corinthian brethren. And his words of rebuke and correction were so intense that he later received news that those words made these brethren sorrowful.

Now was he happy that the Corinthians became sorrowful on account of his letter of rebuke and correction? No! Why was he not happy that his letter made these brethren sorrowful? Isn’t that the purpose of rebuke or correction, making people feel sad and sorry for themselves?

Well, Paul was not happy that the Corinthians became sorrowful because of his words of rebuke and correction because he knew that being sorrowful about one’s wrongdoing is not the same thing as repenting of it. We may feel very terrible today about something we have done. That, however, does not mean we will never do it again, given the same or similar circumstances.

There are people, for instance, that always feel sorrowful each time they are involved in sexual immorality or each time they hurt someone they love. But have they stopped hurting the people they are hurting? No! Of what use, then, is their sorrow? Of no use!

Therefore, as we see in our opening text, what Paul was looking out for in the Corinthians was not just their sorrow about their wrongdoings; rather, what he was looking out for was their repentance. It was their repentance that would make him happy. It was their repentance that would show him the kind of sorrow they had.

See, as this apostle shows us, there are two kinds of sorrow. First, we have godly sorrow. This kind of sorrow produces repentance. In other words, it drives the one that has it to take necessary steps towards putting a stop to whatever they are doing wrong, so that they can begin to do what is right. Therefore, it will not leave them with regrets. Instead, it will make them receive God’s cleansing from the poison of sin and error.

Now that, of course, is the kind of sorrow God wants to see in us, when He corrects us. It is the kind of sorrow that Peter exhibited when he denied Jesus Christ three times in a row in one night. This sorrow made him see the folly of trusting in his own ability to follow the Lord. This sorrow made him draw even nearer to the Lord.

But then, we also have worldly sorrow. And Paul says this kind of sorrow brings nothing but regret and death. Yes, you are sorrowful about what you have done. But instead of turning to God for forgiveness and strength to repent, all you think about is your mess. And the more you load yourself with thoughts of regret about your mess, the more you want to punish yourself for it. Then, if you stay longer in that realm, it will not be long before you do something to harm your faith in God or to harm your life.

Remember Judas Iscariot. Remember that he killed himself for betraying Jesus. But he was not the only that failed Jesus that night. Peter and all the other apostles also failed him, to one degree or the other. But did they kill themselves? No! Why, then, did he kill himself? He killed himself because what he had was worldly sorrow. All he was thinking about was how someone like him could stoop as low as to betray his loving lord and master. He was not thinking at all about God’s grace for his cleansing, repentance and restoration. So, he made a bad situation worse for himself.

If we too don’t want to be making bad situations worse for ourselves, when God is correcting or rebuking us, we should never again focus on the mess we have made but on the need to make the most of God’s grace for our forgiveness, cleansing and repentance. Yes, we may be sorrowful about what we have done. But unless we are cleansed of it and set right, our sorrow will make no sense to God or result in the healing of our lives.

In like manner, in correcting or rebuking others, our focus should never be on making them feel bad or sorrowful, to the end that they may want to destroy themselves. Rather, it should be on encouraging them to repent and begin to do what is right. There are people who rebuke or correct only for the purpose of making others feel really silly and horrible for their wrongdoings. They care nothing about whether your sorrow leads you to repentance or not. They just want to make you feel very bad.

Now such people are simply being borrowed by the devil to destroy others. And if, for any reason, you should be a target of their rebuke or correction, you had better not allow them to fill you with the sorrow that destroys. Otherwise, you will only have yourself to blame.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Protect them and your faith also | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: February 12, 2025 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 40

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

“Then she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.” So he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.”” (2 Kings 4:22-23NKJV)

What was the exact reason the Shunammite woman was visiting Elisha on the occasion mentioned in our opening bible text? It was that her son was dead. And how was that Elisha’s problem? Was he the one that killed the boy? No, he was not the one that killed the boy. But he was the one that prophesied that the woman and her husband would have him, having been childless for years. And his prophecy at the time did not suggest that the boy would not live long at all. So, it made sense for the woman to want to meet him to find out what went wrong or missing.

But then, as we also see in our opening text, this woman would not tell her husband her real reason for wanting to meet Elisha. She would not tell him that their boy, their only child, had died from his brief illness. Why?

First, the reason was that she wanted to protect the man. And how was she protecting him by not telling him right away that their son was gone? Well, as the account goes, this woman’s husband was already an old man when the prophecy came that they would have a child. Evidently, he had become even older when the body suddenly took ill and died. So, to bring him news of the death of his boy, his only child, at that age may be as good as handing him a death sentence. Or what do you think?

Now remember that though Jacob had twelve sons, when he learnt of the death of Joseph, he became an unhappy and depressed old man. And he would have died in depression, if he had not been blessed by God to see Joseph again. Also, remember that even though David did not touch Nabal’s family at all, the man still had a heart attack just by hearing what David and his men could have done to him and his family. So, it is not everyone that has a strong heart to handle bad news and not be destroyed by it. (Cf. Gen 37 & 1Sam 25)

At any rate, my point is that it was because the Shunammite woman cared about her husband and wanted to protect him from the shock of their boy’s death that she did not immediately inform him of what had happened. She most likely did not know how exactly the old man would respond to the news. And she was not willing to risk anything. So, she just told him that all was well. And all eventually ended well.

But what if all had not ended well? What would she have done? Well, even if all had not ended well, it would still have been clear to everyone around that she did her best to protect her old husband from being destroyed by the news of the death of their only child.

More so, this woman had no intention of giving her son up to death like that. Instead, she was going to meet the man of God that gave them the prophecy about the birth of the boy to do something about the situation. But would she have been able to do that, if she had told her husband what happened and the man had fainted or died? Would that not have been another problem on its own, a problem that may have made meeting the man of God to bring their boy back to life impossible or difficult for her? It would!

Then let us even say that her husband took the bad news in good faith. Did the woman have any guarantee that he would be on the same faith page with her in meeting the man of God to bring the boy back to life? No, she did not! And if the man should be unbelieving in the situation, would he have helped the matter at all? No!

So, that woman was not just after protecting her husband from grief, she was also after protecting her own faith from being paralysed or made ineffective by anyone’s unbelief. And we should learn from her.
What should we learn from her? First, we should learn to protect our loved ones from information or news that may ruin them.

See, because of the conditions of some people, it may not be appropriate or good to expose them to certain news or information. Otherwise, things may worsen for them. So, if we truly love them, we will do our best to keep them from seeing or hearing anything that may make a bad situation worse for them.

However, we should also know that there are times that keeping certain information away from some people is nothing but making a bad situation worse for them and perhaps for us too. So, before we decide to keep any vital information away from those who deserve to have it, we should be sure that our doing so is not going to worsen things for them or us.

The second lesson from that woman is the need for us to protect our faith from any form of unbelief. We must not assume that all those who love us and are good to us are people of faith. That is because some, many or all of them may not be people of faith at all. And where are not sure of this, it will be wisdom for us to make the exercise of our faith private. Otherwise, the unbelief of even the good or righteous people in our lives may make our faith weak or ineffective in enjoying God’s provision of favour, restoration or protection.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)