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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 General Post Pastor's Desk

Wake up and do your job | Pst. J.O. Lawal | July 24, 2022 | Vol. 11, No. 12

Beloved: grace and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last week of the month of July 2022. My prayer is that your heart will receive adequate boldness and encouragement to take your place in God’s kingdom and fully discharge the duties of your ministry. Amen.

Paul, writing to Timothy in a letter, says to him, “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2Tim 4:5NIV) How best do we summarise Paul’s instruction to Timothy here? It is that he should leave no stone unturned as far as his ministry is concerned. That means he is to see to it that he does everything that God expects him to do.

But what will make Timothy succeed in doing all that God expects him to do here on earth? First, he must have adequate and accurate knowledge of what God expects him to do. He cannot possibly discharge all the duties of his ministry, if he does not know what his ministry is. Second, he must have a high sense of duty. In other words, he must see what God wants him to do as his job and be passionately devoted to carrying it out.

The third thing Timothy needs is the competence to carry out what God wants him to do. One may accept a job as his and also have a high sense of duty. But if he does not have the competence required to get the job done, his willingness and passion to work will both amount to nothing. So, it is not enough for Timothy to want to fully do all that God wants him to do; it is equally important that he is made fit to do it. And thankfully, God does not give anybody any task to do without providing the person with all that they will need to be fit to do it. It is up to the person, then, to give themselves to taking advantage of what God has provided for them to be fit to do His work. (Cf. 2Cor 3:5-6; 2Tim 3:16-17)

But then, that someone knows what God wants him to do, has a high sense of responsibility to do it and is also fit to do it does not mean that he will do it. And why will someone have all these things going for them and still not do what God requires of them? Fear, for instance, may paralyse the person. When God first appeared to Gideon, He called him a mighty man of valour. In fact, He told him to go in his strength and save his people from their enemies. But the man was too afraid to do anything at the time. God had to build his faith over a period of time before he woke up to fulfil his ministry. And there are many of God’s people today that are just like this man. They are mighty warriors for the kingdom of God on their inside. But they may end up living and dying like useless people because of fear. May that not be the case for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen. (Cf. Judges 6; Ps 82:6)

Also, discouragement may paralyse a person and prevent him from fully discharging the duties of his ministry. If, for example, one is not getting the results he desires to get by doing the will of God or if he is faced with a lot of opposition, he may just lose heart and abandon his work. Moses once felt like dying because the weight of his ministry was driving him crazy. But when he talked to God about it, He told him what to do to lighten the load. And when he did it, he never had to be discouraged again. So, if you are discouraged about your ministry or anything in life, you just need to talk to God. And He will show you His provisions for that burden that has brought discouragement to your soul. (Cf. Num 11)

Now I have brought you all this to simply remind you that you, as a child of God, have a ministry in His kingdom that you too must fulfil like Timothy. And if you are not about fulfilling it, then, you need to wake up and pray to God to enable you deal with whatever is preventing you from doing so, whether it is ignorance, slothfulness, a feeling of incompetence, fear, discouragement or distraction. Otherwise, you will end up wasting the grace of God that is on your life. And no one can waste His grace and not be held accountable for doing so. So, as I said before, wake up and get busy doing what you are made and called to do. And may God supply all that is lacking in your readiness and devotion to fulfilling your ministry, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

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@abcministry.com  or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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You may not see them again | Pst. J.O. Lawal | May 25, 2022 | Youth for Jesus | Vol. 5, No. 3

“But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied, “I will never appear before you again.”” (Ex 10:27-29NIV)

As the bible account of the deliverance of the nation of Israel from their Egyptian overlords shows, Moses, by the command of God, met with Pharaoh several times, asking him to let the Israelites go. But the man wouldn’t just listen. Yes, there were times that he begged Moses to plead with God on his behalf and on behalf of his people, so that He may remove His heavy hand of punishment from them. And Moses did, thinking that doing so would make the man repent of his stubbornness. Yet this man failed to keep his word each of those times.

Finally, as we see in our opening bible text, there came a time that he ordered Moses never to show up before him again. Otherwise, he would die. And Moses never went back to him again. Why? It was because the time for his destruction had come. And he was certainly destroyed. 

What is the point of this, then? It is that it is God’s mercy that makes Him send people to warn us, correct us or rebuke us, whenever we are missing it. But He will not forever be sending them to warn or dissuade us from walking in the path of error, disgrace, failure or destruction, if we will not heed His word. At some point, He will stop those He is using to set us right from coming to us. And when He does so, when He gives us over to have our way, we should know that our disgrace or destruction is right at the door.

We have another similar example in the story of King Saul. He was the first anointed king of Israel and was loved by the Lord. But he had this wrong attitude towards spiritual authority and divine instructions, which Samuel, the prophet, had once openly rebuked him about. And did he take this man of God’s word of rebuke seriously? Evidently, he did not. So, when he failed to totally destroy the Amalekites and all that they had, as God had instructed him to do, Samuel came to him with a severe word of judgment from God. And that was the last time Samuel came to him. He never came to him again. Even when an evil spirit began to torment and hurt him, this man of God did not show up before him to pray for him or to counsel him. He just left him to himself. (Cf. 1Sam 13&15)

Therefore, this king went from bad to worse. He went on to become miserable, irresponsible, envious, dangerous and murderous. And towards the end of his life, he found himself looking for a witch to counsel him, even though he was the one that had driven all the witches in the land out of it when he became king. Why? It was because God had nothing to say to him again, even though he longed to hear from Him. So, he perished in battle as though he were not anointed at all. (Cf. 1Sam 28&31)

In like manner, if we keep refusing godly and wise counsel that God is bringing to us through His people that He has planted in our lives, a time may come when He will have nothing more to say to us. Where that is the case, we are not likely to see again all those wonderful people He has been using to say to us thing that will lead us to salvation or elevation. And that will be because He has stopped them from coming to us. Then, like Saul, we too may end up seeking counsel or help from witches, wizards or some foolish individuals, whose counsel will ultimately send us to our destruction.

So, if you are one of those who often meet sound counsel with stubbornness, pride or resentment, you need to watch yourself and repent when you still can. Otherwise, a time may come when you will never again see good, honest, wise and righteous counsellors in your life again. And perhaps you are already there. Perhaps all those good people that God used to send to set you right have already been withdrawn by Him. It is not too late for you to humble yourself before Him and ask for His mercy, since you still have life in you. And He will show you mercy, if you do so. But if you insist on walking in your path of error, then, know that nothing but destruction is all you can expect, when all has been said and done.

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)

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Dealing with the unreasonable | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: May 11, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 52

“…and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.” (2Thess 3:2NKJV)

Why does Paul ask that this kind of prayer be offered for him and his companions? It is because he acknowledges that the world is not in shortage of wicked and unreasonable people, who have no fear of God in their hearts. And unless God Himself rescues us from their schemes, if we encounter them, we cannot be safe.

Recently, an uncle of mind shared with some of us in the family an account concerning a friend of his who had lost a large portion of his land to some wicked and unreasonable fellow. According to him, this friend of his had bought a large portion of land a number of years ago and had perfected its papers. He even got the Certificate of Ownership (C of O) for the land from the government, so that he would forever have rest over it.

But to his surprise, some years later, out of the blues, a man showed up and gave a huge sum of money to those who had sold the land to him in order to have it. He simply insisted that he must have it and that there was nothing anybody could do to stop him from having it. In response, my uncle’s friend decided to take up the matter legally and put an end to the nonsense. But some people who knew the person he was dealing with well and who also cared about him came to warn him to drop the case and accept whatever portion of the land he was given. Otherwise, he may lose his life in the process. And that was how he gave up and accepted defeat.

Now what that means is that there are times that even the law of the land or the agents enforcing it may not be able to save us, if we are dealing with wicked and unreasonable people. That is because these are individuals who care only about themselves and what they want. They don’t care about what they do to have what then want, who gets hurt in their process of getting what they want or what repercussions may follow the steps they take in getting what they want. Such people are nothing but a law to themselves.

So, you cannot threaten them or make them change their minds with the law. They know their way around the law. They know how to break or bend the law and get away with doing so. Sometimes, they do not even care about being caught or punished by the law. So, unless you are like them and are ready to fight dirty with them, regardless of it might cost you, you will have to entrust yourself and all that is yours to God to keep you safe from them.

Remember Jezebel of bible days. Remember how she killed Naboth and took his land for her husband, Ahab. Interestingly, it was the judges of Naboth’s city that she used to get rid of him. And they succeeded. Yes, God eventually judged Ahab and his household for this wickedness. But that did not bring Naboth back to life or restore his land to his family. (Cf. 1Kings 21)

So, if you have to deal with an unreasonable and wicked person at any point in this life, don’t ever rely on your wisdom, wealth, influence or the law of the land. It won’t work, for they don’t play by the rules. Instead, rely on God solely for your safety and victory. Then know when to give up or lose what can be bought or replaced in order to preserve what cannot be bought or replaced (Luke 12:13-15; 1Cor 6:7). That will be a sign that you are not greedy or foolish., And God who sees every heart and who has power over all things will vindicate and honour you at the right time.

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)