Category: Pastor’s Desk

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of July 2024. My prayer is that God will remember every good thing He has purposed to do in your life this year and begin to do it without delay, so that His glory may manifest in your life afresh before the year runs out, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

One of the things we are shown in Scriptures is that God does not forget or overlook people’s good works. In like manner, He does not forget or overlook people’s evil works. Yes, if a wicked person seeks God’s mercy and forgiveness and also turns away from his wicked works, God will forget his past wicked works and not punish him for them. And that is because He is a God of mercy. (Cf. Ezek 18:21-23)

But as long as the wicked continue to live in wickedness, their wicked works will not be forgotten by God at all. And when the time is ripe, even if it is a thousand years later, He will surely punish them according to their wickedness. For instance, when Saul was king over Israel, God sent this word to him concerning the Amalekites: “I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'”” (1Sam 15:2-3NIV)

Did you see that? Even though several years had gone by, God did not forget the wickedness of the Amalekites towards the children of Israel when they just came out of Egypt (Exodus 17). Instead, He remembered everything vividly and decided to punish them for it during the reign of King Saul. And that is because He is a God of justice. So, if you are doing evil at the moment and God does not seem to notice it, the reason is that the time for your punishment is not yet ripe. When the time for your punishment is ripe, God will not forget to deal with you appropriately and adequately.

In like manner, if you are doing good and it seems that God is not paying attention at all, don’t relent. That is because God is never going to forget or overlook your good works. The bible says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (Heb 6:10NIV) Did you see that? God is not an unjust God. He is not a God that will remember to repay the wicked for their wicked works but not remember to repay the righteous for their good works.

Some of us have had bosses at work that always remembered to abuse and punish us for our failures but never remembered to praise or reward us for the successes we brought to them. And that would have discouraged us in many ways. But God is not like that. He is not a God that remembers people’s bad works alone, so as to punish them accordingly. Rather, He is a God that also remembers people’s good works, so as to reward them accordingly.

However, God’s time of rewarding people is not what any of us can choose for Him. None of us is even wise enough to be able to choose for Him the time to reward us for the good things we are doing. He is the only one wise enough to reward us at the right time, when we will be able to full enjoy whatever reward He gives to us. And that is why we are told not to get tired of doing good, for God will remember to reward us for it at the proper time if we do not give up (Gal 6:9).

So, even if it does not look like anything good will come out of all that you are doing for the Lord, for His people and for others around you, don’t be discouraged. That is because God is taking note of everything. And when the time is ripe, He will surely remember to reward you. But if you have allowed discouragement to set in because you cannot see any immediate reward from God for what you are doing, know that He will not remember to reward you for good works that you have not done for Him. So, don’t give up on doing good. Instead, continually do more and more. And I pray that nothing will corrupt your good works and make you lose the rewards meant for them, 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 abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am happy to welcome you to the second week of the month of July 2024. I pray that your heart will be daily strengthened to remain true to the Lord, even if everyone around you is failing Him. Amen.

As our Lord Jesus points out to us, one the things that will show that we are truly His disciples is our readiness to hate the people that are close to us. Look at the way Luke puts this in his gospel:

“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”” (Luke 14:25-27NIV)

Did you see that? Anyone that will be a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ must hate his own father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters and even his own life. But is that not contrary to the message of love that Jesus Christ is preaching? No!

See, when the Lord says these things, He does not mean that we are not to love our people at all. Remember that He Himself tells us to love and pray for our enemies. And if He wants us to love and pray for our enemies and even those who persecute us, will He not want us to love our families and friends more? He will. (Cf. Matt 5:43-48)

So, when He said that we must hate our own people in order to be His disciples, He does not mean that we are not to relate to them in love. Rather, He means that we must love and take Him more seriously than them. In other words, He must always come first in our lives. And if He comes first in our lives, then, if our family members or friends are doing something contrary to His will, we will not join them. Instead, we will take our stand against them.

For example, when Moses wanted to judge the children of Israel for making an idol of gold for themselves to worship in place of God and losing control of themselves in their crazy partying, He asked the people, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” And all the Levites came to his side. Then he gave them the Lord’s command, which was that they were to take their swords and go through the camp of Israel, killing everyone that had not become sober, even if the person was their family member, friend or neighbour. And they did. (Cf. Ex 32:25-28)

Now could it have been easy for those Levites to kill their own parents, children, brothers, sisters, friends or neighbours that day? No! That was a heavy cross for them to carry, for they would have to live with the memory of killing their own people for the rest of their earthly lives. But because they loved God more, they killed them. And because they did that, the bible goes on to say this: “Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”” (Ex 32:29NIV)

Can you now see why God chose the tribe of Levi out of all the tribes of Israel to reveal Himself to them so that they may serve Him in His temple? It was all because they hated their own family members, friends and neighbours in order to honour God. And the Lord Jesus is telling us that we too must be prepared to function in the same spirit, if we want to be His disciples indeed.

This, of course, does not mean that we too have be willing to kill our own family members or friends, just because we want to show our love for God or our Lord Jesus. Unfortunately, there are still religions in the world today who think killing others for God is a great way to show their love for Him. But God is not asking anyone to kill anybody for Him today. That is because He has already offered Jesus as a sacrifice for us all.

However, what He is asking us is to be willing to stand against anything that He is against, even if it is our own flesh and blood that is involved. And are we willing to do that? Are we willing to go against our parents, brothers, sisters, friends, wives, husbands and children, if they are walking contrary to the will of God? It is only those who are ever ready to do this that are true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not those who are saying they are His disciples with words of mouth only. And I pray that we all will be strengthened by the Spirit of God to be ready every day to bear whatever cross we have to carry to be true disciples of the Lord Jesus. 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 pleasure that I welcome you to the last day of this month and also to the first week of the month of July that we are about to enter. My prayer is that you will experience the glory of God in your life in ways beyond your imagination in the week and all through the new month ahead of us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now I want to admonish you about the importance of taking your own personal relationship with God very seriously instead of relying on the relationship of others with Him in order to enjoy Him. I am drawing your attention to this because there are many so-called believers in Christ Jesus today who rely solely on the faith of their church leaders in God or on the faith of certain members of their families in God for their progress or protection in life. And that can be very dangerous for them.

For instance, we are told this in the bible about a king of Judah called Joash: “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.” (2Chron 24:2NIV) Why did this man do what was right in the eyes of the Lord during the years of Jehoiada the priest? It was because this priest was guiding him in the path of righteousness. We are even told in the account of his life that it was this priest that chose the two wives he married for him (2Chro 24:3).

However, after the death of this priest, things changed for Joash. He forsook the Lord and began to do things as he pleased. Look at what is said in the bible about that:

“After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.” (2Chron 24:17-19NIV)

Did you see that? After the death of Jehoiada, Joash was enticed by the leaders of the land into idolatry. And he followed them. Why did he follow them? He followed them because he himself did not have any serious personal relationship with God. So, he did whatever he did for God before that time because of Jehoiada and not because he truly believed in God or loved Him. That means he was simply doing eye-service. He was trying to please Jehoiada because he was the one that did not allow him to be killed when he was but an infant and also because he was the one that raised him and made it possible for him to be king. (Cf. 2Chro 22- 23)

But when the man died, and he no longer had any reason to please him, he abandoned God and followed others into idolatry. So, his reign was cut short and he died an untimely death. And this, as I said before, is showing us that it is important that we have our own personal relationship with God. In other words, don’t serve God, go for church meetings or act like a holy person simply because you are trying to please your parents, friends, husband, wife or employer. Instead, serve God and live a holy life because you have come to know Him as one that is truly worthy of your worship. Otherwise, a time will surely come when it will become clear to everyone that you have been a fraud all along.

More so, if you do not have your own personal relationship with God and are just living off the goodness of God in the lives of others, a time may come when their faith in God will only work for them and will not be able to work for you. Look at what God Himself has to say about this:

“The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men — Noah, Daniel and Job — were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.”” (Ezek 14:12-14NIV)

I am sure you can now see the explanation for the untimely death of all the children of Job in one day (Job 1). All along, they had been sustained by the faith of their father in God. But his faith could not protect them from the devil on the day that he came to strike the family; his faith could only protect him. What if they had taken God as seriously as he had taken God? Then the story would most likely have ended differently. So, have your faith in God instead of relying on the faith of others in Him. Then even if the faith of others in Him fail or become weak, your own faith in Him will take you over.

Have a love 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 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 June 2024. My prayer is that God will see to it that every good thing that is meant to be yours in the month is yours before the month ends, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we go this week, I want to admonish you with some of the words of Paul to the Corinthian brethren about the Macedonian brethren, which say:

“And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.” (2Cor 8:1-5NIV)

What does the apostle want the Corinthians to know about the Macedonian churches? He wants them to know about a special kind of grace God has given to them. And what kind of grace is that? It is the grace of giving. But could be that it was only the Macedonian churches that were giving to aid the Lord’s work at the time Paul wrote this letter? No! Why, then, was he drawing the attention of other believers to their giving? It was because their kind of giving was unusual and challenging.

As Paul points out, the Macedonian brethren were not devoted to giving to the apostles and other people of God because they were very rich or because they were richer than the other churches of God. On the contrary, at the time he wrote this letter, most of those brethren were dealing with extreme poverty. We would not know what occasioned their poverty at the time. Nevertheless, they gave joyfully and generously to aid Paul and his companions in supporting other people of God.

In fact, as Paul goes on to show us in the text above, these brethren gave beyond their financial conditions at the time. Not only that, they begged this apostle to permit them to give. That means, based on their financial conditions at the time, Paul would not have wanted them to give him or others anything at all. But they begged him not to deny them the opportunity of giving to God in this manner. You can, then, see why Paul was drawing the attention of other churches of God to what these people did. It was unusually inspiring and challenging.

But why did these brethren give in that manner? Why would anybody give generously and joyfully in their moment of lack? The only explanation for that is that the love of God has taken over that person. See, one of the things that will let us know that God has completely possessed someone with His love is that the person will want to give Him anything and everything. That person will not be looking at what he has or does not have in giving; rather, he will be looking at the needs that God wants him to meet.

Look at the widow of Zarephath, for example. As we see in the bible, before Elijah came to stay with her, God had already spoken to her about him and the need for her to take care of him for Him. But what did the woman have at the time? It was just a handful of flour and some oil. What she had was not even enough to prepare a single meal for her and her only son. Yet God told her to take care of His servant that He was sending to her. And did she obey God or not? She did! Why? First, she loved God enough to give Him anything He wanted from her. Second, she trusted God enough to take care of her and her son, even if they gave Him all that they had left with them. And did God fail or disappoint her? No! (Cf. 1Kings 17)

In like manner, the Macedonian brethren gave for God’s work the way they did because they loved and trusted Him. And why were they able to love and trust Him like that? It was because they allowed His grace to work in their lives, fill them with His love and destroy selfishness in them.

Now if we too will allow God’s grace, His divine provisions to work in our lives, to change us, to melt our fears and to destroy all forms of selfishness in us, we will have no problem again loving and trusting Him wholeheartedly. And as we love and trust Him wholeheartedly, like the Macedonian churches, we too will find ourselves giving to Him in ways that will challenge the hearts of others and also open all kinds of doors of miraculous supply to us. Will you, then, let His grace work in you and destroy your selfishness and all the excuses you have been making for not being generous?

Do 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 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)