Category: Pastor’s Desk

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)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to a new week and also to the last day of this month. I pray that, as we move into a new month this week, the month of April 2024, God will cause the power that raised our Lord Jesus from the dead to raise you too up from where you are to where you are supposed to be in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we all know, many Christians all around the world are today celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and rightly so. However, the celebration of His resurrection must go beyond what we choose a day to handle; rather, it is something we are supposed to be doing every day. And we will be celebrating His resurrection every day and every moment of our lives, if we fully understand what it means to us.

Now what does His resurrection mean to us? The bible actually mentions a number of things that it means to us. And one of them is that it makes the same power that raised Him from the dead available to those who believe in Him. Look at how Paul puts that in a prayer for the church:

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Eph 1:18-21NIV)

What is the focus of Paul’s prayer here? First, it is that God will open our eyes to know the eternal hope to which He has called us. Second, it is that He will make us understand how rich and glorious God’s inheritance, the beautiful things He has deposited in us, is. Third, it is that God will make us know His incomparably great power for those of us who believe.

Now what does Paul say about God’s incomparably great power? He says it is for those of us who believe. In other words, God’s great power is available for you and me to utilise. But we will not utilise it the way we ought to, if we do not know how great and powerful it is.

So, Paul gives us an example of the working and greatness of this power. And it is that of the raising of our Lord Jesus Chrit from the dead. According to him, it is this power that God released into Jesus when He wanted to raise Him from the dead. So, without anybody praying or fasting for Him and without anybody laying hands on Him, this power released Him from the jaws of death, even though He had been dead for three days. Hallelujah!

Then Paul goes on to also tell us that it was this same power that enabled Jesus to ascend on high and seat at the right hand of God, far above every authority and power and far above every name and title that can be given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. So, we are looking at a kind of power before which death cannot stand. Yes, we are looking at a kind of power that cannot be kept from exalting people to where God wants them to be. And this power has been made available for those of us who believe. Not only that, it is now at work in us as well. (Cf. Eph 3:20)

Therefore, first, we should continually give thanks to God for making this power, the power of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, available to us. Second, we should, like Paul, always pray that God will cause us to appreciate this power and how it works, so that we can daily utilise it to destroy anything that is called death in our lives and also utilise it to rise above every challenge of life and be the people God wants us to be. And may we be strengthened by the Spirit of God to give ourselves to doing these things, so that the benefits of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ will not elude us. 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 and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will strengthen you to continually fix your gaze on Him and on His word, so that you can walk in victory over every limitation of life and become all that He wants you to be, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In the gospel of Matthew, he records an incident for us in which Jesus walked on the water. As the account goes, one night and after a meeting, He had made his disciples get into a boat to go on ahead of Him to a place called Gennesaret, while He went to pray. And none of them bothered to ask Him how He would join them. They just left because He had said that they should leave. (Cf. Matt 14:14-22)

However, when He was done praying, seeing that the wind was contrary to them, He went out to meet them, walking on the water. And when they saw Him, they were all terrified and began to cry out in fear, thinking that they were seeing a ghost. But He told them not to be afraid and that He was the one. (Cf. Matt 14:24-27)

Now, as soon as Peter heard that it was Jesus that was walking on the water, he just said, “Lord, if it is you, then, tell me to come to you on the water.” Did he think about this before saying it? No! But somehow, in his heart, he just knew that if it was indeed the Lord Jesus that was walking on the water, He was in a position to speak the word of authority and power that would enable him also to do the same thing. And that was exactly what happened. When he made that request, the Lord answered and said, “Come!” (Cf. Matt 14:28-29)

Did Peter, then, walk on the water or not? He did! He walked on the water in the full view of the other disciples with him in the boat. However, Matthew goes on to tell us that when this man saw the wind, he became afraid and began to sink. Then he cried out to the Lord to save him. And did He save him or not? He saved him and they both walked back to the boat on the water. But He told him that the reason he began to sink was that he doubted and that it was his doubt that weakened his great faith and turned it into little faith. (Cf. Matt 14:28-32)

In any case, it will always be on record that Peter did the impossible by walking on the water with our Lord Jesus. Yes, it will always be on record that he did what no other disciples of the Lord did. Why? First, it was because he desired to do so. Second, it was because the Lord gave the word that he could do so. See, desiring to do or have something is not enough. If there is no word from God to back it up, it can only result in pains or in disasters. That means faith in God must be based on His word and not on our desires or feelings or on the experiences of others. And there have been those who ignorantly injured themselves because they were trying to use faith that was not based on a sure revelation of God’s word.

The third reason Peter walked on the water with Jesus was that he acted on the word of the Lord that said, “Come!” If he had not acted on that word, he would not have walked on the water as he did. But note that when the Lord answered Peter, He did not say, “Come, Peter!” Instead, He said, “Come!” That means that word of authority and power was for every one of them in the boat. But it was only Peter that acted on it. It was only Peter that stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. Others just simply stood in the boat in amazement, watching their friend and partner walk on the water to meet Jesus.

Why was that so? It was so because Peter was the only one at that time that had in him a desire that was strong enough to do what the Lord had said that all of them could do. And the lesson for us simple, which is that we too can do the impossible through our faith in the Lord Jesus. Yes, we too can separate ourselves from other people and walk on the waters of sicknesses, poverty, stagnation, fear and death. And that is because the word of God has said that we could. All that we need, then, is to strongly desire to do so, to daily take those steps of faith that God is asking us to take and to fix our gaze on Jesus. Then, before anybody knows what is happening, we would have done the impossible and opened the door for many to praise God on our behalf.

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 without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will cause you to experience His comfort in every way so that you too can be a comforter to all the people in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says these words that are worthy of our attention: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2Cor 1:3-4NIV) Why does Paul praise God in this bible text? He praises Him for being a comforter to him.

Now have you also known God as a comforter? Paul tells us that He is a comforter. In fact, he tells us that God is more than a comforter – He is the Father of compassion and God of all true comfort. In other words, every form of true compassion and comfort emanate from God. So, if you need compassion and comfort in your life, turn to God wholeheartedly. And He will show you great compassion and also comfort you in every way, in spite of your weaknesses and failures.

As Paul points out to us in that bible text, even though he and his ministry companions had all kinds of troubles and trials in life, God comforted them in every one of them. How did God do that? He does not share the details us. But it is clear that the kind of comfort they received from God was so great that they were full of praise for it. Also, the kind of comfort they received from Him was so great that they were able to comfort others too who were in any trouble with it.

This is showing us that it is those who have truly experienced God’s compassion and comfort and are grateful for them that can truly comfort others. Those who don’t know God’s compassion and comfort cannot be true comforters to the suffering or troubled ones around them. Look at Job’s friends, for instance. Even though they were all wealthy, wise and righteous men, they could not comfort him in his time of distress. They simply added to his pains. Why? It was because they did not know that all the comfort they were enjoying in their lives did not come to them as a result of their righteous works and diligent labour but as a result of God’s compassion.

In like manner, if we too think that we have earned whatever measure of comfort we are enjoying in life, we will not see any reason to be compassionate towards others and comfort them. Instead, we will often assume that the reason they are suffering in life is that they are not righteous or hardworking enough. But we are not enjoying our lives because we are righteous and hardworking, even though God wants us to be righteous and hardworking. Rather, we are enjoying our lives because God has chosen to be compassionate to us and to comfort us. And if we fail to realise this and give Him praise for it, we may soon enough begin to lose whatever measure of comfort we have until we realise and admit that He is the true source of all comfort.

Well, the point I am making is that if you need any form of comfort in your life at the moment, turn to God, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort for it. And He will show you compassion and comfort you. Then, as you are daily experiencing His comfort in your life, open your eyes to those around you that you too can comfort with the comfort you are receiving from Him. This, of course, goes beyond giving people money. That is because there are people that will not have any relief, even if they are given all the money in the world. But a word of prayer or a word of admonition given to them by the leading of the Spirit of God can set them free from all their fears and troubles and fill their lives with comfort.

So, don’t rely on your money or position in comforting anybody. Instead, rely on God, who is the source of all true comfort, for everything you need to truly comfort those in your life. And my prayer is that God will make you a true comforter to all the people around you that are in distress, so that they can glorify His name because of you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

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