Category: FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the first Sunday of this new year, year 2025. Clearly, it is because of the goodness of the Lord that we are alive and well to witness the new year. So, I want you to join me in singing the song that says:

Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
All I have to say is ‘Thank you, Lord.’

Now, as we begin this new year, I want to offer for you too the prayers of Apostle John for a friend of his, which read: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” (3John 2NIV) What is the first thing John is asking God to do for his friend? It is that He will cause him to enjoy good health.

Why is that important? It is important because without good health, it will be hard, if not impossible, for anybody to do anything tangible for God, for himself or for others. Also, without good health, people cannot enjoy their lives or any good thing they have. And I want you to be able to do all kinds of tangible things for God, for yourself and for others this year. I also want you to be able to enjoy your life, your relationships and whatever good thing God does for you or gives to you in the year. Therefore, just as John prays for good health for his friend, I also pray that you too will enjoy good health all through this new year, so that you will be strong enough to do whatever good thing your heart desires to do and so that you will enjoy your life and everything you have. Amen.

What is the second thing John asks God to do for his friend? It is that He will cause all things to go well with him. Don’t you too want all things to go well with you this year? Don’t you want all things to go well with your family, business, education, ministry and anything else that concerns your life this year? I want all things to go well with me this year. And my prayer is that all things will go well with you too every day of this new year. Amen.

Then the third thing John asks God to do for his friend is that He will make his soul get along well with Him. In other words, John wants God to make this man sound spiritually. He does not want him to be a prosperous healthy man that is living a godless, foolish or meaningless life. I also don’t want you to be a prosperous healthy person that is living a reckless or useless life this year. That is why my prayer for you too is that God will make you sound spiritually in every way this year, so that your health and wealth will be used to honour Him.

Well, those are my prayers for you as we begin this year. And as I look forward to doing all kinds of great things together with you in the year, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore. Amen.

Happy new year.

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)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great joy that I welcome you to the transition week between this year, 2024, and the new year ahead of us, year 2025. My prayer that is that God will see to it that you move into the new year with overflowing joy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one of the ways to experience overflowing joy over ever matter of our lives is to pray. Jesus says this to us about joy: “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:24NIV) Did you see that? How do we experience complete joy or fullness of joy in our lives? It is by praying to God.

So, what we need to do is to identify those areas of our lives in which we are not happy at all or in which our joy is not full and begin to talk to God about them. And the Lord Jesus has already assured us that if we will do so, we will receive answers to our prayers and that will result in fullness of joy for us. It is now up to us to either pray in order to experience fullness of joy in our lives or not to pray and remain sad.

For instance, as we are told in the bible, Hannah used to be a very sorrowful woman. Why? First, it was because she was barren. Second, it was because the second wife of her husband, Peninnah, used to torment her because of her barrenness. Truly, her husband, Elkanah, often did his best to comfort and make her happy. But his comfort was never sufficient to keep her from crying or being sorrowful. (Cf. 1Sam 1:1-8)

However, one day, Hannah decided that she was going to talk to God about that which was making her sorrowful every day. And after that prayer session, sorrow disappeared from her life. Look at what the bible says about that: “…Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.” (1Sam 1:18NIV) Did you see that? Through prayer the joy of the Lord rose up in Hannah’s heart and drove away her sorrow. Not only that, through her prayer that day, she received a baby boy from the Lord. And that, of course, made her joy overflow.

In like manner, if we will pray to God about any matter that is bothering us or filling us with sorrow, He will answer us. How? He will first cause His joy to well up in our hearts and drive away our sorrow. Then He will cause the answers to our prayers to manifest. That way, His joy that is in our heart will begin to overflow and result in thanksgiving to Him.

So, though we are in the last days of this year, I want you to know that it is not too late for you to have sorrow banished from your life in all ways or to experience overflowing joy over every matter that is bringing you distress. All you need to do is pray to God, as Hannah, did. Yes, pray to Him out of a sincere heart, telling Him everything that is bothering your heart and what you want Him to do about it. And He will answer you, drive away your sorrow and also perform for you miracles that will cause you to overflow with joy, even before this year ends.

Now, as I look forward to hearing your testimonies, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore. Amen.

Happy new year in advance.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to the fourth week of the month of December 2024. My prayer is that God will keep your overflowing with joy all through the remaining days of the year. Amen.

Now, as we all know, this season is regarded by many people all around the world as a season of celebration. And while it is okay for us to join in the celebration, we must not forget that everything we do as believers in Christ Jesus must be done with understanding and moderation. Otherwise, we may ruin our own celebration.

For instance, as we see in the Scriptures, David once led the people of Israel in high celebration to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from where it had been to the place he had just prepared for it in his city. Unfortunately, while the celebration was going on, God killed somebody. Yes, God killed a young man called Uzzah because he touched the Ark of the Covenant while trying to prevent it from falling off the cart it was placed in. And that ruined the celebration of the day. (Cf. 2Sam 6:1-7)

But why did God ruin the celebration of His people in that manner? If it was Satan that had ruined their celebration, we would not be surprised. But it was not Satan that ruined their celebration – it was God. Mind you, He was the one that they were praising on the occasion. Why, then, would He ruin their celebration?

Well, as David would later say, it was because they did not follow God’s prescribed way of handling the Ark of His Covenant that He ruined their celebration. In other words, it was their own ignorance that exposed them to God’s judgment that turned a day of celebration into a day of lamentation for the whole nation. And that is teaching us that ignorance can ruin celebration. So, as you celebrate God’s goodness this season, don’t allow yourself to be so carried away that you start getting involved in handling things that you are ignorant of or things that are too high for you. Otherwise, your celebration may be ruined through God’s judgment or satanic affliction.

Then, as I mentioned already, our celebration this season must be handled with moderation. Eat moderately. Drink moderately. Dress moderately. And spend wisely. Don’t turn yourself into a glutton because you are in a season of celebration. And don’t run into debt or foolishly spend your money all in the name of celebration. Otherwise, you may ruin your reputation.

The bible says to all God’s children: “Let all things be done decently and in order.” (1Cor 14:40NKJV) This, of course, is said specifically concerning our church meetings. But it is also applicable to how we handle our lives. We are to do everything in a moderate and orderly manner. So, as we celebrate God’s goodness, we must do so with wisdom. Otherwise, we may expose ourselves to avoidable accidents, danger or regrets and ruin our celebration. I pray that the year will not end in regrets and sorrow for you or your family, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Merry Christmas in advance.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of December 2024. My prayer is that Satan will not succeed at all in using you to harm yourself or others in the remaining days of the year. Amen.

One of the instructions we are given in the Scriptures is to give no place to the devil (Eph 4:27). In other words, we are not to provide him any opportunity to work in our lives or to use us to work in other people’s lives. But if we do not guard our hearts against every form of evil, Satan may succeed in using us to hurt ourselves or others in ways beyond our imagination.

For instance, because Judas Iscariot will not guard his heart against greed, Satan succeeded in capturing him and using him to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he eventually came back to his senses, realising that Satan had used him, he could not bear the shame. So, once again, Satan filed him with so much regrets and sorrow that he went on to hang himself. If we too, then, will not shut the doors of our hearts against greed, Satan may succeed in using us to destroy the people that we love and even ourselves. (Cf. Matt 27:3-5; John 13:2&27)

What about King Saul? Because he would not guard his heart against bitterness and jealousy, Satan captured him and turned him into a murderer. Then he abandoned his duties as king and began to run from place to place to capture and kill David, an innocent young man that had done him no wrong. And he did not stop wasting his life in this manner until he died.

In the same vein, if we allow jealousy or bitterness in our hearts, Satan may just possess us and begin to use us to pursue the destruction of innocent people, instead of pursuing the fulfilment of God’s plans for our lives. And where this is the case, we are bound to waste our lives.

Also, through pride, Satan can capture our hearts and begin to use us to do things that we may later regret, things that will expose us to God’s judgment. For example, because of David’s pride, because he wanted to boast about the population of Israel, Satan succeeded in using him to take a census of the people. And by doing so, he exposed himself and the people to God’s judgment. If God, then, had not shown the land mercy, maybe it was only few people that would have been left alive. (Cf. 1Chro 21)

You can see, then, that even if we love God very much like David, if we allow pride in our hearts, Satan may just borrow us to use. And who knows what kind of damage he may cause through us? So, as we come to the last days of this year, make sure you allow the word of God to rid you of all forms of evil desires, especially pride, bitterness, jealousy, greed, discontentment and lust. That way, Satan will not be able to use you to ruin your own joy and peace of mind or to destroy others. And may the Spirit of God strengthen you to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great joy that I welcome you to the second week of the month of December 2024. My prayer is that your heart will be strengthened all the time not to forsake the living God for any other god, regardless of the challenges that may come your way in life, so that you may daily witness awesome manifestations of His power for your good. Amen.

The bible says, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…” (2Chron 16:9NIV) Did you see that? God is continually looking for those that He can manifest His power on their behalf. And what will make Him manifest His power for their salvation, protection or elevation? It is the full devotion of their hearts to Him.

See, if your heart is fully devoted to God, you will take His word, prayer and the fellowship of the brethren seriously. Also, if your heart is fully devoted to God, you will never turn away from Him to any other god for help or assistance. Unfortunately, there are many in the church today who have already turned to sorcery in order to become rich, in order to be healed of their illnesses or in order to be set free from barrenness.

Now such people cannot experience the power of God for their good as they ought to. On the contrary, if are slow to repent, God’s judgment may come upon them and destroy them and all that they have received from the devil or all that they are trying to protect. As we see in the bible, the main reason King Ahaziah died of the injury he had sustained from a fall in his palace was that he went to consult another god instead of the living God. Also, one main reason King Asa died before his time was that he refused to consult God for his healing – he consulted only his physicians. (Cf. 2Kings 1; 2Chro 16)

You can see, then, that those who will not fully devote their hearts to God for whatever they need will most likely lose in two ways. First, they will miss the manifestation of His power of their behalf. Second, they will lose whatever they are trying to keep or save without His help.

So, if there is any way in which your heart is not fully devoted to God, if there is any area of your life in which you are seeking help for yourself from sources apart from God, you had better repent right away. Otherwise, while other people of God are having great testimonies of His goodness to share, you may find yourself wallowing in pains and disgrace. And my prayer is that such will not be your portion, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last month of this year, the month of December 2024. My prayer is that God will perfect all that concerns you for the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now someone may ask, “Can God really perfect all that concerns my life this year, given the fact that my life is behind in so many ways?” Yes, He can. It does not matter how backward your life is or how far behind you are in realizing your desires for this year, God is still able to perfect all that concerns you.

The bible says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, j who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28NIV) That means even if all the things happening around you are working against your progress, peace of mind and whatever good desires you have, God is working for your good in order to perfect all that concerns you. And who can stop God when He is working? No one but you can stop Him.

See, there are not enough forces in all creation to stop God from doing you good or from perfecting all that concerns your life. But you can stop Him. How? First, you can stop through unbelief. The Israelites that Moses brought out of Egypt stopped God from giving them the land of Promise through their unbelief. It was not the devil that stopped Him from giving them that land that was flowing with milk and honey. They were the ones that stopped Him from giving it to them. In the same vein, if we too will not continually demonstrate our faith in God by acting on His word, we may just stop, hinder or slow down what He is doing to perfect all that concerns our lives.

Second, you can stop God’s work of perfecting all that concerns your life through ingratitude. Jesus once healed ten lepers of their leprosy. But only one of them, a Samaritan, came back to thank Him. And it was only that one man that came back to thank Him that received a word of blessing for wholeness and perfection from Him. Others did not. (Cf. Luke 17:11-19)

Sadly, there are many in the world today whose lives have not been perfected by God because they too, like those nine lepers, are ungrateful. It is only when they need something from God that they will be crying, rolling on the ground and regularly meeting their church leaders for counselling and prayer. But when they start experiencing His goodness in their lives, they will keep the enjoyment of it to themselves alone. They will not properly thank God or appreciate those He has used for them. How, then, can they experience a perfection of His works in their lives?

Then there are those who hinder or stop God’s work in their lives through sin. Jesus once told a man that He had healed to stop sinning. Why? It was so that something worse would not happen to him. That means even though God, through the healing this man had just received from Jesus, had already begun to restore his life, if he would not stop sinning, the work God was doing would not be perfected. Instead, it would be stopped. And who knows what that may spell for him? (Cf. John 5:14)

Well, I have shown you these things to let you understand that we are the only ones that can stop God from perfecting all that concerns our lives. That being the case, as we come the last days of this year, we should rid ourselves of everything that could prevent or stop God from perfecting all that concerns us. Yes, we should rid ourselves of unbelief, ingratitude and every kind of sin. And as we do so, God’s grace will freely flow in our lives for the perfection of all that concerns us. Amen.

Happy December 2024.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy 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 November 2024. I pray that God will daily strengthen you to remain true to Him in the week and throughout the remaining years of your life. Amen.

Our Lord Jesus says, “…But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matt 24:13NIV) What does this mean? First, it means that our walk of faith with God must be from start to finish. Also, it means that our service for God must be from start to finish. Otherwise, we will not be partakers of God’s eternal glory. Also, there will be no reward for us from God for not finishing the work He has given to us.

Why did God take Enoch into His glory and did not allow him to taste death? It was because he was consistent in his walk of faith with Him from start to finish. The man did not start walking with God until he was 65 years of age. But having started walking with Him, he never stopped, neither did he ever turn to the right or to the left. He just kept on faithfully walking with Him like that for the next 300 years and until he was taken into His glory. (Cf. Gen 5:21-23)

Also, why was God able to save Noah with his family from the flood that destroyed all life during their time? It was because he faithfully built the ark God had told him to build. He did not work on the ark for a while and then stop. Instead, he devoted himself to building it until the job was completed.

Now was that easy for Noah? No! The man spent his personal money in building that ark. Also, he spent his personal money on providing the food that his family and all the animals and birds that would be with him in the ark would be eating for as long as they were in the ark. Yet he patiently did what God had him to do until he finished it. And God too patiently waited for him to finish the ark because He knew that his heart was committed to finishing the task. (Cf. Gen 6; 1Pet 3:20)

So, we can expect God to be patient with anyone that is committed to faithfully walking with Him and to faithfully doing His work from start to finish. It is the one that is not faithful in his devotion to God that He may not wait for. Instead, He may find someone else to replace him, as He did in the case of King Saul.

In any case, the point I am making is that the one that will ultimately enter God’s glory after this life is the one that is faithful in walking with Him from start to finish, not the one that deserts Him. People may have all kinds of reasons for deserting the Lord. For instance, Demas deserted him because he was in love with this world. Others may desert Him because certain preachers offend them or because they feel that He is too slow in doing some things for them. Whatever their reasons may be, they will not enter His glory. (Cf. 2Tim 4:10)

Also, it is only those who keep on proclaiming the word of God from start to finish, who keep on praying from start to finish and who keep on doing whatever work He gives to them from start to finish that will be rewarded by Him. Those who get tired and abandon His work will not be rewarded by Him. They may use discouragement, persecution, lack of money or anything else as their excuse for not completing the job given to them by Him. But as long as they do not complete their tasks and finish them well, there will be no reward for them.

So, if you do not want all that you have done with God and for Him to go to waste, make up your mind that you will not quit your walk of faith or your service in the kingdom for any reason. Instead, you will keep on walking with Him and also serving Him faithfully till the very end. And may you be daily strengthened to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great joy that I welcome you to another week of the month of November 2024. And I pray that God will rid your life of whatever may be polluting it, so that Satan will not be able to use you to pollute the church of God in any way. Amen.

Among the things that the apostles of old tell us to watch out for in the church in these last days are secret polluters. Who are secret polluters? They are certain people in the church who, like others, claim to belong to Christ but who secretly pollute the people of God in order to render them useless to God and also give Satan room to work in their midst.

Now among the things these people use in secretly polluting the church are heresies and lies. Look at what Peter says about that:

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (2Peter 2:1-3NIV)

Did you observe that the people Peter is talking about here are leaders in the church? So, when we are talking about secret polluters of the church, we are not excluding church leaders. A church leader can be secretly polluting the people of God through false doctrines, doctrines that promote greed, immorality or rebellion. For instance, a sister once told me of how her pastor told her that part of her spiritual duty was to take care of him sexually. And what did he use to support this nonsense talk? Scriptures!

A preacher can also pollute God’s people through fabricated dreams, visions, prophecies or stories, just to poison their minds against other people, including their family members. There are people today who have turned their back on their husbands, wives, parents or children because certain preachers lied to them. And unless such people are cleansed with the word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God, they may remain polluted and useless to God for the rest of their lives.

Then another thing that secret polluters use in polluting the church is sexual immorality. Jude has this to say about that: “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 4NIV) Did you see that? Even though secret polluters claim to be Christians, they are actually nothing but godless people.

Now because people have no fear of God in them, they are always using all kinds of cleverness to seduce God’s people into sexual immorality or the practice of sorcery. And where the leadership of an assembly is not sensitive or is distracted by activities, a lot of lives and homes in that assembly may have been ruined before they know what is happening.

Furthermore, secret polluters often secretly use backbiting to divide God’s people and pollute them. There are churches today that have been struggling for years to come out of spiritual infancy and increase in usefulness in God’s hand and have not been able to do so. Why? Secret polluters will not let them rest. They are always fighting one another and settling disputes among themselves. So, they cannot concentrate on building themselves up with the word of God and growing in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Now the word of God already tells us that there is only one sentence from God for secret polluters. And that is swift destruction. Remember Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On, who wanted to pollute the Israelites through rebellion. They and their families were quickly wiped out. Remember also Ananias and Sapphira, who wanted to pollute the early church through hypocritical giving. They were quickly killed by God. (Cf. Num 16; Acts 5:1-11)

So, don’t be a secret polluter of the church of God. You will not go far at all before you are judged. Also, have nothing to do with anyone that is a secret polluter in the church, in your family, in your neighbourhood or in your workplace. Otherwise, you may end up sharing in their judgment. And may the Spirit of God keep you blameless till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of November 2024. My prayer is that God will strengthen you to daily follow Him wholeheartedly, so that you too can daily experience His power for your peace of mind and elevation. Amen.

Among the sad stories of the bible is the story of a man called Gehazi. Who was Gehazi? He was the servant of Prophet Elisha, that great man of God. And what was sad about his story? It was the fact that he ended his race as a leper, when he could have taken over from Elisha as the lead prophet in Israel.

Now how did this man end up a leper? One main reason was that he did not follow the man of God wholeheartedly. How do we know this? First, there was a time that the man of God gave him his staff and instructed to run ahead and place the staff on a dead boy, so that the boy may come back to life. And part of the instructions given to him was also that he must not greet anyone on the way or answer anyone that greeted him. (Cf. 2Kings 4:29)

But then, as we further see in the account, Gehazi later came back and told the man of God that the boy did not come back to life. Why? What happened? We are not told. But that was the only recorded occasion in the bible in which a man of God would ask somebody to go and do something by the power of God and the person would come back and say, “It did not work.”

As we see in Scriptures, after Elijah had been taken up to heaven, Elisha took his garment and divided the Jordan river with it, just the way Elijah had done before his ascension. And even though Elijah did not teach him to do so, just by following him wholeheartedly, he too was able to receive the same Spirit of God that worked with him in order to do what he did. (Cf. 2Kings 2)

Then, as we also see in the bible, when Jesus told His disciples to go and out preach and heal every manner of sickness and diseases, they obeyed Him. And though He did not give them any staff or money to take along, they all came back with great testimonies. They all were also able to do what Jesus had been doing. (Cf. Luke 10:1-17)

But Gehazi’s case was totally different. He came back with bad news. So, the man of God had to go and minister to the dead boy himself in order for him to live. And as I asked before, I am asking again, “What went wrong? Why did Gehazi fail? Did he talk to someone on his way to the dead boy? Did he first go somewhere else? Or was it just that he did not believe that the boy would come back to life” We are not given answers to these questions in the bible. And the truth about the matter was also not revealed to the man of God on that occasion.

However, there was another occasion in which it was revealed to Elisha that Gehazi had not been wholeheartedly following him. That was when he went behind him to collect some money and clothes from Naaman the Syrian. Naaman had been healed of his leprosy by God. And Elisha had not collected anything from him because he wanted him to go home and let his people know that there is a God that heals people free of charge. But Gehazi cornered him and ruined his testimony by collecting things from him. (Cf. 2Kings 5)

Therefore, it became clear to the man of God that he had not been following him wholeheartedly or learning anything from him. And since he was not following this man of God wholeheartedly, it means that he was also not following God wholeheartedly. Elisha, as we know from the bible, was a true man of God. If Gehazi, then, had been faithful in following him, he too would have come to know God truly through him. And that would have resulted in his increase in usefulness in ministry. But his heart was not right. So, he lost his place in God’s purpose and also brought on himself and his descendants the leprosy of Naaman forever.

Now what is this teaching us? It is that we should follow God wholeheartedly. And one way to do so is to follow those He has appointed to lead us in the church and who are obviously walking in His will wholeheartedly. If our leaders in the church are not walking in God’s will, then we don’t have to follow them at all. On the contrary, we should stay away from them.

But if they are walking in His will, then, we should follow them wholeheartedly. That means we should not employ eye-service or deceit in following them. Instead, we should always take their teachings, instructions and prayers seriously and act on them. Otherwise, instead of always coming back to them with great testimonies, like Gehazi, it is news of our failure that we will often return to them with. Not only that, we too may lose our place in God’s purpose or even bring ourselves under His judgment.

I pray that you will not lose your place in God’s kingdom or be ruined by His judgment. But give yourself to following Him wholeheartedly. And it shall be well with your soul.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the month of November, the eleventh month of this year. My prayer is that God will load your life with all kinds of good things in the month that will make you forget whatever pain or loss you may have experienced in the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as we begin this new month, I want to encourage you to devote yourself more and more to walking in righteousness. Why? First, it is because God will satisfy those who do so with everything they need in life, regardless of how hard things may be where they are. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” He also says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Cf. Matthew 5:6 & 6:33)

Therefore, if you give yourself to walking in righteousness, God will see to it that you do not lack anything good, in spite of how bad things may be where you are. You too, of course, must learn to receive God’s provisions for you through prayers, a confession of His word and diligent labour. But you can rest, assured that He will not deny you anything you need, if you give yourself to walking in righteousness.

The second reason you should give yourself to walking in righteousness is that God will protect you as you do so. One of the reasons people don’t want to give themselves to righteousness is fear of persecution. And as we see in the bible, anyone who truly wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2Tim 3:12). However, the bible also shows us that there is protection from all forms of persecution for every child of God that gives himself to walking in righteousness. All they need to do to enjoy it is to reach out to God for it.

For example, because of Daniel’s devotion to righteousness in handling his duties as a government official, he was severely persecuted by his colleagues, who were mostly sorcerers. And when they realized that they could not bewitch him or flaw his excellence in service, they set him up. So, he was thrown into the den of lions. (Cf. Dan 6:1-18).

But did God abandon him? No! Instead, He sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions that were with him. So, they could not hurt him. Eventually, it was those who ganged up against him, along with their wives and children, that were eaten up by those hungry lions. (Cf. Dan 6:19-24)

Now all this is in agreement with the word of God that says:

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.”” (Ps 91:11-14NIV)

Therefore, don’t ever again be afraid of being persecuted for doing what is good and right in the sight of God. That is because you will have His protection. And that will result in your elevation and also in the disgrace of your enemies, as it was the case with Daniel.

Have a lovely November 2024.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)