Category: FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to the second week of this month, the month of June 2024. My prayer is that God will put His sweetness back into everything in your life that the devil has polluted with bitterness, so that it will be useful for your enjoyment and also for His glory. Amen.

As we see in the bible, after the children of Israel had witnessed the destruction of the armies of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, they first travelled in the desert for three full days without finding water. Then, when they came to a place called Marah, and they were about to start rejoicing that water was there, their rejoicing was cut short because the water they found there was bitter and could not be drunk. (Cf. Ex 15:22-23)

Now why was the water in Marah bitter? We are not told. But it is clear that God was not the one that made it bitter, for everything God created in the beginning was good (1Tim 4:4). So, something must have happened to that water at some point that introduced bitterness into it. And this is showing us that the fact that God has provided us with something good does not mean that bitterness cannot enter it. Bitterness can enter it through Satan or man’s activities. That is why we must always be prayerful and watchful so that we will not permit bitterness to spoil any good thing God has given to us.

Well, because the water the Israelites found in Marah was bitter, they grew impatient and began to insult Moses for bringing them out of Egypt to perish in the desert. But just three days before that time, these same people had witnessed God’s mighty hand for their deliverance from years of slavery in the land of Egypt. They had seen how He made a road for them through the Red Sea and also destroyed their enemies that were after their lives in the waters of that sea. Why, then, did they not think that handling the bitter water of Marah was not going to be a problem for Him? They did not think that way because they were only concerned about their comfort; they were not concerned about nurturing their relationship with Him. (Cf. Ex 15:23)

Sadly, there are still many of God’s people in the world today that are like those children of Israel. They too are only concerned about what God can do to comfort and lift them up in life. They are not concerned about having a meaningful relationship with Him. So, any time they are faced with a new problem, they will totally forget about all the good things God has done for them in the past and begin to complain that He does not care at all about them or that certain people in their lives are not doing enough for them.

Now why do people act like that? It is because they think that if God is with someone and also cares about the person, He will not allow even a fly to touch the person. But there is nowhere we are told in the word of God that we will not face challenges in life because God is with us or because He loves us. God loved Jesus very much when He was in this world and was also with Him all the time. Yet that did not stop Him from facing all kinds of challenges, including death. And did He complain because of that? No! Why did He not complain? He did not complain because He knew that God, who loved Him and was always with Him, would give Him victory over all those challenges. And did He give Him victory over them or not? He did.

In like manner, regardless of the challenges we are faced with in life, we must never forget that God is with us and will give us victory over them all because of His love for us. So, instead of grumbling against Him or accusing our spiritual leaders of not praying enough for us, we should turn to Him in prayers for the way of victory. And He will answer us.

As we see in the case of those children of Israel, when they began to grumble against Moses and God, Moses did not join them. Instead, he turned to God for the solution to the problem at hand. Look at how the bible puts that: “Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet…” (Ex 15:25NIV) Did you see that? It was the man that cried to God that He revealed the solution to. He showed him how to heal the water in Marah of its bitterness. And when he did what God had told him, the water was healed and became fit for the people to drink.

So, God can show us how to heal everything we have that has been ruined for us by the bitterness in it. All we need is to cry out to Him for His revelations on what to do. And He will answer us. Then the bitterness we are experiencing in using His provisions for us will be replaced with sweetness. Will you, then, begin to talk Him about those things in your life that have been ruined with bitterness?

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: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours immeasurably from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another month of the year, the month of June 2024. My prayer is that God will make room for you to flourish wherever you go or find yourself in the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now while it is true that God is able to make room for us to prosper anywhere, it does not mean that we may not encounter challenges at all. We cannot run away from challenges in life. The word of God tells us that in this world we will have trouble. However, it also tells us to cheer up. Why? The reason is that Jesus Christ has overcome the world for us. And because He has already overcome the world for us, He is able to lead us from victory to victory in life. (Cf. John 16:33)

Then the word of God also tells us that God will never allow us to face challenges that are beyond what we can handle. Instead, each time we face a challenge, He will provide a way of victory over it for us. So, when we are faced with any challenge, we don’t need to lose heart or give up on life. Instead, we just we need to pray to Him that He will open our eyes to see the way of victory that He has provided for us and strengthen us to take it. (Cf. 1Cor 10:13)

But then this rule is only applicable while we are walking in the will of God. I mean that it is only when we are walking in the will of God that we will not face challenges that are beyond us. If we will not walk in His will, then, we are bound to face challenges we are never meant to face in life. Remember Lot. Remember that he and his family could have had their faith ruined and their lives destroyed in Sodom, if God had not shown them mercy. But were they supposed to face all the terrible challenges that they faced while in Sodom? No! Why, then, did they face them? They faced them because they were out of line with the will of God for them. (Cf. Gen 13&19)

So, if you don’t want to face challenges that God has not prepared you to handle in life, stay in His will. Yes, God is able to show us mercy and protect us, even if we step outside His will for our lives. But there are pains that His mercy may not protect us from having, if we will not stay in His will for us.

In any case, the point I am making is that God is able to make room for us to flourish wherever we are, as long as we are in His will. So, even if we are being faced with challenges that want to slow us down or keep us from progressing, we must not be discouraged. Instead, we must keep trusting God for victory and also keep on pressing forward in the path of progress. And sooner or later, we will see every limitation crushed under our feet.

For example, even though it was God that told Isaac to stay in Gerah, the people of the place were hostile to him and did all they could to hinder his prosperity. But he did not give up or stop working to prosper. Why? It was because he knew that he was in the will of God and that God was with him. Therefore, God made room for him to flourish among his enemies. (Cf. Gen 26)

In like manner, God will make room for you too to flourish even among your enemies. So, don’t give up because of the challenges you are faced with. Don’t lose heart because you have many people opposing you. Instead, keep pressing forward in using every opportunity God brings your way to increase in usefulness and fruitfulness. And before long, you yourself will see that nothing can stop you because God is with you.

Have a lovely June 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: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of this month, the month of May 2024. My prayer is that God will daily strengthen your heart to be zealous enough to receive and enjoy His provisions for you to excel and live in rest all through the remaining days of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see all through the Scriptures, anyone that will receive anything from God must be serious and zealous about it. In other words, it is not enough for us to claim to have faith to receive from God; we must also add seriousness and zeal to our faith in Him. Otherwise, we may not just receive from Him what we desire.

It is true that God does a lot of things for us all without waiting for us to be serious or zealous about receiving from Him. But there are things that we cannot receive from Him, if our hearts are not serious and zealous about receiving them. What, then, are those things? I cannot say what they are in specific words. That is because, as I said before, there are many who are daily receiving all kinds of good things from God’s hands but do not take Him seriously. However, even such people will find out that there are certain things they cannot receive from God without being serious and zealous about receiving from Him.

In any case, since we cannot say what things God will freely do for us, without expecting any seriousness or zeal on our part, it will only be wise of us to be serious and zealous whenever we need anything from His hand. And as the bible says, those who seriously and zealously seek Him will never go away from Him empty-handed. (Cf. Heb 11:6)

For instance, we are told in the bible of how a Canaanite woman received deliverance for her daughter from the Lord through her faith, seriousness and zeal. As the account goes, when this woman learnt that Jesus was in her region, she first went to find out where He was. And she found out where He was, even though He did not want anyone to know that He was around. That must have taken a great measure of zeal and seriousness on her part. (Cf. Mark 7:24-26)

Then, having found out where Jesus was, this woman came to Him and began to beg Him to heal her daughter that was possessed by an unclean spirit. But Jesus did not listen to her or answer her. He just acted as though He did not hear what she was saying. Why? It was because His earthly ministry at the time was mainly to call the descendants of Abraham back to God and not to reach out to the gentiles. The gentiles would later be called after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. (Cf. Matt 15:24)

Nevertheless, the woman did not give up. She did not hiss and turn back, thinking of Jesus as an arrogant man. Instead, she kept on following him and begging that He would heal her daughter. Then, when the Lord eventually gave her audience, He said these words to her: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” (Matt 15:26NIV) Did you see that? The Lord referred to this woman and her daughter as dogs, Israel’s dogs. He also said that they were not fit at the time to enjoy what God was giving to the nation of Israel.

Yet the woman did not get angry. Instead, she replied the Lord by saying, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (Matt 15:27NIV) In other words, even though they were Israel’s dogs, they could still partake of some of the things the Israelites were enjoying, including healing. And because she spoke like this, the Lord responded and gave the word that set her daughter free. (Cf. Matt 15:28)

Now why was that woman able to receive from the Lord, in spite of the difficulties and insults she had received? It was because she was serious and passionate about the deliverance of her daughter. And if enduring some insults was what would make that happen, she was willing to endure them. So, she did not leave empty-handed.

In like manner, if we too are serious and zealous about receiving whatever we want from God, we will not pay attention to any obstacle on our way; we will not pay attention to people’s insults or criticism. Also, we will not consider how much time or days we have to spend praying to God in order to receive what we want from Him. Instead, we will just fix our gaze on Him and will not take it away until we have received whatever we want from Him. But are we ready to do that? Are we ready to employ seriousness and zeal every time we want to receive from God? I pray that our hearts will be made ready to do so, so that our joy can be full in every area of our lives, 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: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with delight that I welcome you to another week of the month of May 2024. And I pray that God, who has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His Son, will end every experience of wandering in your life, so that you can settle down to enjoy your life as He wants you to, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now I offered that prayer for you because it is not the will of God for us to wander in life. And that is because a life of wandering is not a life of true rest. It is not a life of true enjoyment. For instance, Cain, after killing his brother, was told by God that he would be a restless wanderer. What does that mean? Well, it means that regardless of how good whatever place he found himself in was, he would not find satisfaction or happiness there. Why? It may be that the works of his hands would not prosper there. Or it may be that the people there would hate him. There would just be something wherever he was that would rob him of satisfaction. (Cf. Gen 4)

Therefore, Cain would have to keep changing places. And as long as he kept changing places, he would not be able to settle down to enjoy the fruit of his labour. Then, if his wife and children were not ready to be wandering around with him, he would also not be able to enjoy their company. You can see, then, that a life of wandering is not a good one. It is often a life of loneliness.

Unfortunately, a life of wandering is exactly the life many are living. For years, they have been wandering from place to place, from job to job, from church to church and even from marriage to marriage. Yet they have not been able to find the satisfaction, peace and rest that they want in life. Why? It is most likely because they will not take God seriously or pay attention to what He is telling them.

Remember that even though it was God that brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, so that He may take them to the land of rest that He had prepared for them, many of them ended wandering in the desert for forty years. Yet they did not make it into the place of rest prepared for them. Why? They did not take God seriously. They did not trust Him to lead them into the place of rest He had prepared for them. So, they wasted forty years of their lives wandering in the desert and never enjoying life the way they could have enjoyed it. (Cf. Num 13&14; Heb 3:15-19)

Now perhaps you too have been wandering in life and cannot say that you experienced rest and satisfaction in any place you have stayed or in any job or business that you have done. You need to first acknowledge that you have been wandering in life and that an end needs to come to it. Second, you need to pray to God to be merciful to you and end every experience of wandering in your life, regardless of what brought it upon your life. And He will answer you, lead you to a place of rest and establish you there.

Look at what is said in the bible about what God did for some people that were once wandering in life:

“Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.” (Ps 107:4-7NIV)

Did you see that? When those people cried out to the Lord in their trouble, He answered and delivered them. How? It was by leading them to a place of rest. And He will do the same for you or anyone close to you that is living a life of wandering as well, if you too will cry out to Him for help. What, then, are you waiting for? Cry out to Him now help, and you will surely have great testimonies to share, beginning from this week.

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: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am very pleased to welcome you to another week of this month, the month of May 2024, and also to another year of fellowship and ministry as a church. My prayer is that God will perfect all that concerns our assembly and work out in us all that is pleasing in His sight, so that we can be a model in all good things to all His people all around the world. Amen.

As we all know, it is now twelve years that we have been meeting as a church here in this town, Ede. And God has been nothing but good to us these twelve years. He has taken care of us in all ways and has also caused us to multiply in all good things, not allowing Satan to ruin our testimony as His holy people. So, we all ought to be grateful to Him for all that we have enjoyed from His hands and all that He is still going to do for us, in us and through us in the years to come.

But then, as we are celebrating God for all that He has done for us, in us and through us these twelve years, we also need to ask ourselves, “How has everything He has done changed us?” Yes, individually and collectively, we need to ask ourselves, “How has the word of God that we have been listening to since we became a part of this assembly changed us? To what extent has the work of His Spirit in this assembly changed us? Is it even obvious to us and to others around us that our lives are being changed at all by being members of this assembly?”

See, what God is after is not really the number of years that we have lived as professing Christians or that we have spent in our Christian assembly or that we have spent hearing His word or witnessing the move of His Spirit. What He is after is the effect these things are having on our lives. Look, for instance, at what Jeremiah said to the people of Judah about his God-given ministry among them:

“From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the LORD has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.” (Jer 25:3NKJV)

Did you see that? Jeremiah brought the word of God again and again to these people for twenty-three years. And did they listen to him? No! Did the word of God that came to them all those twenty-three years change their lives? No! Was His word that they heard able to prevent them from eventually going into slavery? No! Why? The reason was that they did not take His word that came to them with seriousness.

Also, consider the children of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt. Did the word of God that they heard again and again from Moses’ mouth benefit all of them? No! Did all the miracles that they saw and enjoyed day after day help them in quickly securing the land God had promised to give to them? No! Why did these things not help or benefit them? The reason was that they did take them seriously.

If they had taken the word of God that was daily brought to them and the miracles that God daily performed for them seriously, their faith in Him would been increasing every day. Then it would not have taken long at all before they entered the Promised Land and possessed it. But because they would not take what God saying to them and doing for them seriously, they ended up wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Yet many of them did not make it into the Promised land.

So, being exposed to God’s word and God’s grace and power for twelve years in this assembly is not really what is important. What is important is how this exposure has changed or transformed our lives. That is what I want you to begin to consider, as we come together this Sunday for our twelfth-year anniversary. And I pray that, as you do so, God will open your eyes to see whatever is lacking in your seriousness in relating to Him and also strengthen you to do the right thing about it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Happy anniversary!

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: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace and peace be yours immeasurably from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to another month of the year, the month of May 2024. My prayer is that the word of God that is coming to you week after week in this assembly will not go to waste but will take roots in your heart and daily produce in your life everything God wants to see, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Why does the word of God need to take roots in our hearts? It is so that it may grow and bring forth in our lives the fruit God wants to see. But what will make His word take roots in our hearts? It is the kind of attention that we give to it.

If we are attentive when the word of God is coming to us and our hearts are set on acting on it, God Himself will cause the word to take roots in our hearts and to produce in our lives the fruit He wants to see. But if we are distracted when His word is coming to us and are minds are not set on understanding and acting on what He is saying to us, there is no way His word will be established in our hearts or produce results in our lives. And that explains why we have so many all across the world who attend church meetings week after week but whose lives are not producing much fruit of the Spirit.

Unfortunately, many of these people are not even disturbed or concerned that their lives are not bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit of God as they should. Therefore, they are not making any effort to change their attitude towards the word of God. But why will someone call himself a child of God and not be concerned at all about the kind of fruit his life is bringing forth? It shows that the person has identity problems. In other words, the person does not yet know what it means to be a child of God. Otherwise, he will know that he must give the word of God his utmost attention, so that his life will bring forth fruit accordingly.

Well, the point I am making is that if the word will take roots in our hearts and be bringing forth the kind of fruit God wants to see, we must be attentive to listen to it and to also act on it. And we need to understand that God is watching every one of us. Yes, He is looking at the kind of attention we are giving to His word. And that is what will determine whether He will give increase to what we are listening to or not.

For instance, He once said this to Ezekiel concerning certain revelations He had wanted to give to him: “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the house of Israel everything you see.” (Ezek 40:4NIV) Did you see that? God had to tell this man the kind of attention he must give to the things He wanted to show him. Otherwise, the reason He wanted to show those things to him would simply be defeated.

In like manner, God wants us to pay a very close attention to whatever He is bringing to us in His word. Otherwise, the purpose He wants to accomplish with it in our lives will just be defeated. And perhaps that is already happening to you. Perhaps what God wants to accomplish with His word in your life is not happening yet because you are not paying attention to what He is saying. You, then, are your own enemy. And you need to change your attitude and begin to discipline yourself to be attentive to what God is saying. Otherwise, the word of God you are hearing may not add any serious value to your life till Jesus returns.

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: 07085711280)

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 transition week between the months of April and May 2024. My prayer is that, as we begin the week, God will rid you of all forms of selfishness that are hindering Him from finding you useful in communicating His goodness to those in your world. Amen.

I offer that prayer for you because one of the reasons God is unable to use many of His people, who are daily enjoying His goodness, to reach others around then with His grace is that they are selfish. When people are selfish, they will easily forget that the grace of God that they are enjoying is beyond what one person can consume. In fact, the grace of God is beyond what the whole world can consume. His grace is immeasurable.

So, talking to those around us about God’s grace and goodness will not limit our own enjoyment of it. Rather, it will open the door for us to enjoy more and more of it. But many of us often get carried away in our enjoyment of His grace and goodness that we forget that there are many around us that also need the experience of His grace and goodness, so that they can be set free from the things seeking to destroy them and begin to live lives that make sense. And if we don’t wake up on time and begin to do what is right, things may get worse for them and we too may end up losing our relevance in the world in which God wants us to function as light and salt.

Now we have a very good example in the bible of how God wants us to treat our enjoyment of His grace and goodness. This is in 2Kings 6 and 7. As the account goes, there had been a very severe famine in the city of Samaria that drove some people to start eating their own children. And it was when the king learnt about this that he remembered that Elisha, the man of God, was in the land and that his presence should have made a difference.

In any case, Elisha prophesied that there would be a sudden miracle of abundance in the land that would make all of them forget all their pains before the end of the following day. And it happened just as he had said it would. How? Well, God frightened their enemies that were responsible for the famine with the sound of a great and invisible army. So, they ran away and abandoned everything they had brought with them to lay siege to the city.

But nobody in the city knew what had happened except certain four lepers that took the risk of their lives to go the camp of the enemies to look for food that same night. They were the first to suddenly come upon abundant free food, clothes, silver, gold and other precious things, which the enemies had left behind when they were running away for their lives. So, they settled down that night to take for themselves as many good things as they could. And that same night, even though they were lepers, they became rich.

However, while they were jumping around from one tent of the enemies to the other and carrying whatever they wanted, it dawned on them that they were being selfish. Yes, it dawned on them that the good things that were available in the camp of the enemies were too much for only the four of them to consume – they were things that everyone in the land ought to share and enjoy. So, they said these words to one another: “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.” (2Kings 7:9NIV)

Now, of course, when they reported what had happened to the king, the whole city came out to carry all kinds of good things for themselves. And everyone suddenly forgot all the pains they experienced during the famine, according to the word of the man of God. But what if those lepers had not woken up on time to do what was right? Then God would have led someone else there who would report what had happened to the king. And what do you think he would have done to them for being selfish? He would most likely have ordered their execution.

Well, the point I am making is that we should not keep the good news of the grace of God that we are enjoying away from those around us. Instead, we should do our best to share it with them. Otherwise, as I said before, we may just begin to limit our experience of His goodness and He too may have to raise some other people to do what we should have done. Then the praise and reward that should have been ours will go to them. So, begin to freely share the good news of what God’s goodness to you to those around you. And may you daily be strengthened by the Spirit of God to faithfully 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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great delight that I welcome you to another week of the month of April 2024. And my prayer is that your heart will be daily strengthened to duly recognize what God is doing in your life and around you and give Him praise for it, so that you can witness more and more of His power and goodness. Amen.

One of the things we all as God’s people must learn is celebrating Him for His good works. The bible says, “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.” (Ps 107:21-22NIV) Did you see that? Our giving of thanks to God must not just be for what He is doing or has done in our personal lives; rather, it must also be for what we can see Him doing in the lives of all the people around us.

Therefore, it is important that we show interest in what God is doing the lives of others around us as well and not only in what He is doing in our lives. In fact, from what that Psalmist says, we can see that it is not only testimonies of what God is doing in our lives that He wants us to be sharing; He also wants us to be sharing testimonies of what He is doing in the lives of others around us.

Why is this important? First, it is so that many who do not believe in God can have reasons to believe in Him. Second, it is so that those whose faith in God has been weakened by their challenges may have it strengthened when they hear testimonies of what He is doing for others. And where people’s faith in God is being built up and strengthened in this manner, He will be able to move more freely among them to do greater things.

Unfortunately, many of us in the church today will not even thank God for what He is doing in our lives, not to talk of share testimonies of it with others. And when we hear testimonies of what God is doing for others in our church meetings, we are hardly excited. So, instead of celebrating God in their lives and rejoicing with shouts and songs of praise, we may just sit down and act as if we did not hear a thing. It is no wonder, then, that we don’t witness much manifestations of the Spirit and power of God in most of our church meetings.

See, even if someone’s testimony is that God has healed them of a headache, be excited about it and rejoice in the Lord with them. Don’t say, “What kind of testimony is this? The healing of a common headache! Is that what we are here to listen to?” Otherwise, you will be weakening your own faith and also filling the spiritual atmosphere of your church meeting place with unbelief and ingratitude. And if there should be plenty of people like you in that meeting, you will surely limit or totally stop the flow of the power of God there.

For example, when Jesus went to His hometown, He could not do many mighty miracles there. He only healed a few sick people. Why? The people there did not celebrate Him or the works God had been doing through Him! Yes, before He came to them, they had heard all kinds of testimonies of His good works. And instead for them to be excited and glorify God for what they had heard, as others were doing in other places where He had ministered, they were simply abusing and criticising Him. So, they filled the spiritual atmosphere of their town with unbelief and ingratitude and limited the flow of the power of God among them. (Cf. Mark 6:1-6)

Also, when Jesus went to the home of Jairus to raise his dead daughter, He had to first put out all the people there who were filling the spiritual atmosphere of the man’s home with unbelief, so that they will not hinder the miracle God was about to perform. And what He did worked. But do we also have to start driving out from our church meetings those who are not excited to praise God for His good works among us? Imagine how that would sound! (Cf. Mark 5:35-43)

Well, the point I am making is that if we want to witness greater and more glorious manifestations of God’s power, love and goodness in our lives and in our meetings, we must learn to be excited about whatever good thing He does for us, even if it is the healing of a common headache. That is because many have died in the past because of common headaches. And if God heals someone among us of it, we should celebrate Him for saving the person from death. This is how to clear the way for Him to always freely move in our midst and do great and mighty things.

Have a pleasant 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: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of April 2024 and pray that God will daily strengthen your heart to be a doer of His word and not just a hearer, so that all His good purpose can be fully accomplished in your life. Amen.

One of the reasons many of God’s people don’t experience the glory of God in their lives as they ought to is that they don’t devote themselves to acting on what He says. We may hear words from God about His provisions for us and how we are to take advantage of them to excel and live in health. We may also hear testimonies of those who took advantage of God’s grace to live healthy or outstanding lives in this world. But until we act on His word ourselves, His good purpose for us will not be fully accomplished in our lives.

When God appointed Joshua to lead the children of Israel into the land of promise, He told him these words: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Josh 1:8-9NIV) What was Joshua to do to be prosperous and successful in leading the children of Israel into the promised land? He was to give himself to the word of God.

But in what way was Joshua to give himself to the word of God? He was to meditate on it day and night. That means he was to ponder on everything said in the word of God, so that he would see how it is applicable to his life and the various situations he may find himself. Why was he to do this? It was so that he may be careful to act on it.

So, if we are going to act on what God is saying to us, we must daily give ourselves to thinking about it. When we think about something long enough, we will not know when it will begin to affect the words of our mouth, our conduct and even our dreams. For instance, if we are always having love thoughts about someone, we will not know when we will begin to unconsciously say the person’s name and plan our daily activities around doing something for the person or making the person happy.

Also, if we are always thinking about a matter that makes us afraid, it will not be long before the fear of that matter begins to control our words and actions. In other words, we will unconsciously begin to speak words of fear and make plans based on our fear. In fact, we will begin to have dreams of fear, not because we want to have them but because our thoughts are full of fear.

In the same vein, if we ponder long enough on all that God is saying to us through His word, after a while, we will find ourselves unconsciously acting on the basis of His word and having dreams and desires that are inspired by His word. And that is exactly why God tells us to meditate on His word day and night. He knows that there is no way we will not act on it, if we do so. And once we begin to act on His word in that manner, we can only prosper and succeed in life.

Now, of course, our prosperity and success may not become obvious overnight. Joshua’s prosperity and success did not become obvious overnight. He had to keep meditating on God’s word and also acting on it for some time before he began to move from success to success. And he had to meditate on His word throughout the remaining part of his life for his success and prosperity to become permanent.

So, if we too want obvious and permanent success and prosperity, if we want to witness the fullness of the glory of God in our lives, we must devote ourselves to meditating on the word of God and acting on it for the remaining days of our earthly lives. Yes, we must daily meditate on everything that He is saying to us about righteous living, giving, Christian service and resisting the devil, so that we may act on it. And as we daily give ourselves to doing so, the stagnation, barrenness, weakness and fear associated with our lives will disappear and prosperity, joy and peace will take their place.

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: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the second week of this month, the month of April 2024. I pray that God will fill your heart with great hunger and thirst for diverse manifestations of His Spirit in your life and in His church, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in Scriptures, one of the reasons God has poured out His Spirit on humanity is that He may manifest Himself among us through diverse gifts of this Spirit. Look at how the bible puts that:

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18NIV)

Who said that He would pour out His Spirit on all people? God! And has He done that? Yes, He has. He did that after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and on the Pentecost day that followed. Then what did God say would happen after pouring out His Spirit on all people? He said that men and women, boys and girls and old men and old women would begin to prophesy, see visions, have inspired dreams and witness other manifestations of the presence of His Spirit in their lives.

Therefore, all of us who believe in Christ Jesus and have received the outpouring of His Spirit into our lives can expect to have these experiences that God has spoken about. We can expect to prophesy, speak in tongues, see visions, have inspired dreams, heal the sick, work miracles and do other things that God has said in Scriptures that we would be doing once His Spirit comes into our lives. (Cf. 1Cor 12:4-12)

Unfortunately, what we see in the various churches of God all around the world is far from this. We are not witnessing much serious manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit in our midst, as God has said that we would. Why? One main reason is that we are not zealous to see what He has said come to pass in our midst and our lives.

It is true that there are false manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit. Yes, there are false prophecies, false speaking in tongues, false healing, false miracles and even false teachings. But the very fact that there is a fake of something shows that the original is somewhere around the corner. We will, then, be cheating ourselves to refuse to go for the original because of the fake.

In the same vein, the fact that there are false manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit shows us that there are genuine manifestations of His gifts. What we should do, then, is learn what the Scriptures say about how to differentiate genuine manifestations of His Spirit from fake ones, so that we can earnestly go for the genuine ones. Otherwise, we will continue to rob ourselves of the blessings that we are supposed to be experiencing in our midst and in our world through the workings of these beautiful gifts of the Spirit.

As we are shown in Scriptures, there was great joy in a Samaritan city where Philip had preached (Acts 8:5-8). Why? It was because there were diverse manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit through him, as he preached there. We too can expect our homes, communities, schools and workplaces to be filled with joy, when the Spirit of God begins to manifest Himself through us in diverse ways. And God has already said that this would happen. All we need is to earnestly thirst to experience what He has said in our lives and in our midst.

So, the bible says, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” (1Cor 14:1NIV) Did you see that? First, we are told to let love be what motivates us in all that we do in life. Then we are told to eagerly desire spiritual gifts. Have you ever eagerly looked forward to something in your life before, maybe someone’s help or an occasion that you want to attend? How did that eagerness make you feel? Most likely, it made you feel restless. It made you do all you needed to do to be ready for that thing.

In like manner, if we are eager for the manifestations of the Spirit of God in our lives and in our churches, we will be doing all that we need to do to see them happen. We will be meditating on what the word of God says about them. We will be praying for them to happen. And we will be taking steps of faith to see them happen. So, as we go this new week, let our eager desire for great manifestations of the Spirit of God in our lives and in the church of God be awakened. And great and unspeakable things of joy will begin to happen in our lives and all around us.

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: 07085711280)