Category: Pastor’s Desk

Beloved: grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I gladly welcome you to another week of the month of March 2023. My prayer is that God will always find you useful in communicating His goodness to those in your world, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God, as we see in the bible, is always looking for those that He can use to communicate His will and His goodness to humanity. And all He requires are those who will make themselves available to Him wholeheartedly. Then, even if they do not have any special ability that could make them outstanding among men, He will equip them with all that they need to serve His purpose. And if they will go on like that to faithfully serve Him, their names may end up being known all over the world.

What special abilities did people like Peter, James and John have to become men that God used in making His glory known all over the world? None that we are aware of! The bible indeed speaks of men like Joseph, Solomon and Daniel who were exceptional in wisdom, knowledge and understanding. But the men who were first called by the Lord to be His apostles in taking the good news of God’s grace all around the world are not described in the bible as exceptional in any way. On the contrary, we are told in the bible that most of them were unschooled. Yet God used them to do fantastic things, things too much for the wisdom of the world to grasp.

Why, then, did God pick such men to use? The bible says it is so that no one would be able to boast that it’s because of certain abilities that he possesses that God is using him. God is able to use anyone, regardless of their abilities or inadequacies. In fact, the bible says God is able to use foolish people to shame wise people and people that are considered to be nothing to shame very important people. (Cf. 1Cor 1:26-29)

Now what does God need to use such people? First, He needs them to be available to Him. Being available to God in this manner, of course, goes beyond being present where He is. It also involves showing that you are present where you are for Him. Someone can be present somewhere and still not be available to help or serve anyone. So, if you want God to use you, in spite of what you have or do not have, always show yourself as someone that is available for Him to use. (Cf. Isaiah 6:1-8)

Second, God needs those that He will use to willingly yield themselves to Him (Rom 12:1; James 4:7). That means they have to submit to Him to do things the way He wants them done and not according to their own desire. It follows, then, that anyone that is not ready to submit to God and do things His way cannot be used by Him to accomplish His good purpose, even if the person is available.

Third, God needs such people to be ready to purify themselves. God is not just after what we can do for Him but also after the heart with which we do it. The kind of heart with which we do His work will either make it effective in accomplishing His purpose or corrupt His work. So, we must be ready to let Him purify us of anything that could contaminate His work through us and make it unprofitable. Anyone, then, who is opposed to words of rebuke, correction or discipline is not a fit candidate for His work, however gifted he may be. (Cf. 2Timothy 2:20-21)

Well, the apostles of old met those requirements, even though they were not educated, influential or wealthy people at the time they were called by the Lord. They all made themselves available to be used by the Lord, yielded themselves to serve Him as He pleased and also surrendered themselves to be washed and made clean by Him. So, He took them, build them up and used them in ways nobody ever thought was possible. And if we too want to be used by Him in like manner, all we need is to do as they did.

Have a very pleasant week.

Copyright © 2023, 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 month of March 2023. My prayer is that God will build you up to be someone He can always rely on to restrain or judge wickedness wherever you are, so that His righteousness may reign there, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now judging wickedness or people’s misconduct is not always an easy task, even in the church of God. That is because people often frown at it or resist it. However, it is something that must regularly happen, if our society will be healthy and safe for us to dwell in. And it is only those who are always ready to judge evil and misconduct in lawful ways that can be God’s true leaders, whether in matters of this world or those of the church.

Solomon, in his book, Ecclesiastes, says this to us: “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.” (Eccl 8:11NIV) Did you see that? If people are misbehaving and no one will rightly punish them for their misbehaviour, they and others who see them getting away with their wickedness will surely be strengthened to misbehave even more. And if the situation continues like that, at some point, God will have to step in to judge the wicked Himself.

For example, there was a time that the men of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt began to indulge in sexual immorality with the women of Moab. And these women took advantage of the situation to lure them into idol worship. Therefore, God sent a plague among them to destroy them. Why? It was because no one addressed or judged the matter when it got stated. If someone had addressed and judged it when it all started, then, there would not have been many of the men that would participate in the nonsense and God would not have had to step in.

In any case, by the time Moses woke up to judge the matter, many people had already lost their lives. And even while he was still addressing the judges among the people to investigate the matter and deal with those involved, a son of one of the leaders brought a Moabite woman into his tent right before their eyes in order to commit sexual immorality with her. That, as I said before, is usually what happens when people are misbehaving and no one is calling them to order. They will become more daring to do worse things. (Cf. Num 25)

Thankfully, there was a young priest that would not allow the nonsense going on in the land to continue. That was Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. This man took a javelin, went after that stubborn Israelite and killed him and his partner right where they were committing their wickedness. And when he did that, as the account further shows, the plague immediately stopped. Then God said these words of commendation about him to Moses:

“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.” (Num 25:11-13NIV)

Did you see that? God said that Phinehas was the reason He did not destroy all the Israelites for their sin at that time. How? According to God, Phinehas made atonement for the sins of the people by judging that man and his partner in their sin. So, when we duly judge wrongdoing or any kind of wickedness, we are in a sense making atonement for our people and preventing God’s judgment from falling on us all. And just as God honoured Phinehas on that occasion, He will honour us too.

Therefore, wherever you are in a position to judge evil or condemn people’s wrongdoings, don’t hesitate to do so. Yes, those involved, even in the church, may condemn you or call you names for doing so. But you have to do what you have to do. Otherwise, like Eli who failed to judge the wickedness of his sons, you will be inviting God to judge the matter Himself. Who, then, knows how he will judge?

Have a glorious week.

Copyright © 2023, 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. Welcome to another week of the month of February 2023. I pray that God will cause His peace to reign in our lives and in every part of the country all through the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

It is not news that we, as a nation, have now come into election weeks. And people from every part of the country will begin to go to the polls to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. Now while it is not my job to tell you who to vote for or who not to vote for among the various candidates contesting, it is my job to tell you not to put your confidence in any of them but in God.

Yes, you surely will have your reasons for wanting to vote in whoever you intend to vote in. But regardless of how genuine and upright your reasons for choosing this person may be, don’t put your confidence in them but in God. And why should you not put your confidence in them? It is because even if they are God’s candidate, they may still fail.

This, unfortunately, is what many of our church leaders who have been prophesying and saying all kinds of things about certain individuals that they believe God has chosen to become leaders of our country and states don’t understand. And they don’t understand this because they have not been paying attention to Scriptures. The Scriptures show us that the fact that someone has been ordained by God for a leadership position does not mean that he will do well or be a blessing to his people. He may just turn out to be a curse to them and a disappointment to God.

For instance, we are told in the bible that it was God that chose and ordained Saul, son of Kish, as the first king of Israel. But did he turn out right? No, he did not. So, at some point, God got tired of him. Look at what is said in the bible about that: “Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.” (1Sam 15:10-11NIV) Did you see that? Even though it was God Himself that chose and ordained Saul as king, He later regretted choosing him.

Now people often say that God never regrets doing anything. But that is their own thought, and it is contrary to Scriptures. From what we see in Scriptures, there were times God regretted doing certain things. And He did not lie to Himself at such times. Instead, He faced the reality and dealt with the things that brought Him regret. So, if you too are having a feeling of regret or disappointment about certain decisions you made in the past, decisions that appeared to be good at the time you were making them but which have now turned bad, don’t be too hard on yourself. Instead, face the reality and do the needful.

God had to face the reality in Saul case and do the needful. He had to anoint someone else in his stead, even while he was still on the throne. But was He happy about the fact that He had to do that? No! What about Prophet Samuel who represented God in handling Saul’s ordination? Was he happy with the fact that the man lost his way and could not be brought to repentance? No! On the contrary, we are told in the bible that he kept on mourning for him until God stopped him from doing so and told him to go and anoint someone else in his stead. (Cf. 1Sam 15:35 & 16:1)

What is my point? It is that even if you are voting for God’s anointed leaders in these coming elections, you cannot guarantee that they will not fail you, for they may fail both God and you. And if God’s choice can fail us, can we confidently say that our own choices won’t fail us? We can’t. And if they should fail us, what are we going to do? Are we going to continue to mourn like Samuel until the next elections, that is, for the next four years?

Now my prayer is that none of those who will become leaders during these elections will end up making us mourn in this country. But we must be careful not to put our trust in any of them but in God. That way, even if they fail us, we will be able to count on God to turn their failure around for our good.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2023, 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. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of this year. And I pray that God will keep your heart right and humble before Him all the time, so that you will not experience any kind of downfall but elevation this year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As the bible tells us, pride is one of the major reasons people experience downfall or are prevented from experiencing elevation in life. If we are walking in pride, then, we may just be brought down from whatever position of advantage we are or prevented from rising beyond where we are in life. So, watch out for every form of pride and see to it that it is not allowed to take root in your life. (Cf. Prov 16:18; James 4:6-7; 1Pet 5:5-6)

Now one form of pride that God’s people don’t easily recognise but that is very much present in many of us is that which has to do with disobedience to spiritual authority. And when I am talking about spiritual authority, I am talking about those leaders that God has placed over you in your Christian assembly. These ones have been ordained by Him to feed you with His word and to watch over your soul through prayer and fellowship. So, I am not saying that every pastor, prophet, evangelist or apostle you meet is your spiritual leader and that you must obey them.

If someone is not your church leader, you are not under any obligation to follow any instruction he gives you, right or wrong, unless you have a relationship with the person and sees him as trustworthy. But if someone is your church leader, you are under an obligation to obey his instructions, as long as those instructions are consistent with the will of God. It is a shame, however, that we often find God’s people showing much regard for church leaders that are not directly over them while despising the ones that are directly over them in their Christian assemblies.

But this is wrong and contrary to the will of God for our lives. Paul, while addressing the Corinthians on this note, says that if they were supporting and respecting church leaders who were not directly over them, should they not support and respect him all the more, since he was their father in the faith and had never stopped ministering to them in the word of God and in prayer? They should. (Cf. 1Cor 9:11-12) In like manner, if you too find it convenient to support and respect church leaders that are not directly watching over you in the faith or that you have never even met, why should you find it hard to respect and support the leaders of your local assembly that are continually ministering to you even more? Well, one of the reasons we disrespect our church leaders in this manner is pride. When we feel that a church leader does not know enough or is not old enough or is not smart enough or is not educated enough to instruct or lead us, we will not obey them or take them seriously.

Also, when we are ignorant of the consequences of disobeying or disrespecting our church leaders, and many in the church today are ignorant of these things, we may freely disobey or despise them. But as we see in Scriptures, there are very terrible consequences for despising our spiritual leaders or encouraging rebellion against them, regardless of how young or unimpressive they may appear. So, warn yourself concerning these things. Otherwise, you may soon enough get into problems that God won’t save you from. (Cf. Num 12&17)

Finally, Paul says this to us about how we should relate to those who don’t take our leaders in the church seriously: “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (2Thess 3:14-15NIV) Did you see that? We are told to take special note of anyone in our Christian assembly that does not take our leaders seriously, talks anyhow about them or encourages rebellion against their instructions. Why? First, it is so that we may warn them. Second, it is so that if they do not take warning, we can separate ourselves from them. Otherwise, we may end up partaking in the consequences of their disobedience.

So, always watch how the people you move with in the church relate to spiritual authority, regardless of how much you like them. Then you will know whether they will contribute to your growth in the kingdom of God or to your downfall. And may God fill you with sufficient understanding, strength and boldness to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2023, 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. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of the month of January 2023. My prayer is that everything God has been saying to you will succeed in making you the person He wants you to be in this world and not work against you on the last day. Amen.

Once, while addressing the Jews, Jesus said the following to them: “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.” (John 12:47-48NIV) From what the Lord said to these people, it is clear that it is not a new thing for people to hear His words and not act on them. So, if you have been hearing the word of God and not acting on it, it should not surprise anybody.

In any case, the Lord says that He is not ready to judge anyone that hears His word and rejects it. And that is because His mission at this time is not to judge people but to save them. That, however, does not mean that those who reject Him will not be judged at all. They will be judged at the last day. And who will judge them? According to the Lord, it is the very word that they have rejected that will stand in judgment against them on that day.

Therefore, if the word of God is coming to you and you are refusing to take it seriously and act on it, know that this same word will testify against you someday. And this is not something that will happen only in heaven but also here on earth. For instance, Solomon, while addressing his sons about adultery, makes it abundantly clear to them that if they will not pay attention to him, a day will come when they will remember his words and condemn themselves.

Look at his actual words about this: “At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”” (Prov 5:11-14NIV) Now has something like this ever happened to you? Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you began to condemn yourself for your own failure to act on the wise counsel you had received from your parents, church leaders or other good people in your life?

Well, I have been there. And trust me, it is not a nice experience at all. I am talking about a situation in which you know that you are the cause of your own trouble. That is because you can vividly remember all the words of warning and caution that you heard and that you failed to utilise. Then you begin to wish you had acted on them; you begin to wish you had not been stubborn. Yet you also know that the damage has already been done and that unless God shows you mercy, you will have to live and die with the mess you have made. And though you beat and condemn yourself at such a time, it will not change anything.

Now that is how the word of God judges people and how it will judge them on the last day. They will remember every truth they have heard and have failed to utilise. And they will know they have no excuse for failing God. They will know that they have no excuse for messing up their own lives or for choosing hell. But it will be too late to change anything then. It will be too late at that time to change the results they have gotten. So, they will have to live eternally with them.

But while we are still here in the world, there are things we can change. As long as we still have the breath of life in us, we can turn back from the path of disobedience to God and start listening to Him and taking His word seriously. That way, He can heal us, save us from the consequences of our past mistakes and set our lives right. Then we will not have to live forever regretting the wrong choices we have made. And my prayer is that you will take these words to heart and turn away from doing those things that will make the word of God stand against you someday in this world or on the day of the Lord. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2023, 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 second week of this new year, year 2023. And I pray that God Himself will lift you up in the year in every area of your life where you are due for exaltation, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, the only one with the power to exalt people or bring them down is God. For example, Paul, in his letter to the Philippian-brethren, says this to them about our Lord Jesus: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name…” (Phil 2:9NIV) Who exalted Jesus to the highest place in the whole universe? God! Who also gave Jesus His glorious, holy and powerful name? God!

So, our Lord Jesus did not become lord over all the creation of God, including angels and demons, by Himself. It was God that exalted Him to that position of having authority and power over every being and over everything. Also, He did not make His own name glorious, powerful and popular. It was God that gave Him this name and invested it with all His authority. That is why His name is revered everywhere in all of God’s creation, here on earth, in heaven and under the earth; it is why every knee must bow at the mention of His name and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Now since our Lord Jesus Christ could not exalt Himself and had to be exalted by God Himself, who then in this world can exalt himself? No one! Also, since our Lord Jesus could not make His own name great and powerful but needed God to make it great, powerful and beautiful to hear, who in this world can make His own name great, powerful and sweet to hear? No one!

Yes, people may attempt to exalt themselves through hard work, diligence, association with already great people, manipulation, brute force or even witchcraft. But if God does not want them in a high position in life, they will never be there. In like manner, people may do all kinds of things to have a great and beautiful name, a name that people will rise to honour when it is mentioned. But if God does not gift us with a great and influential name, all our effort to make our names great can only amount to nothing.

Also, to show that God is the only one that can exalt people and bless them with great and powerful names, there are times He brings down already exalted and great people for not acknowledging Him as the source of their greatness. For instance, in the book of Daniel, chapter 4, King Nebuchadnezzar shares his experience with God along this line. He tells us how he once thought that he was the one that made himself great and powerful and how God brought him down, so that he may learn the truth about his greatness. And before this man was exalted again, he had spent some time living like an animal, like a mad man.

Therefore, if we desire to be exalted in life, and we should, if we desire to become great in this life, and we should, the only one we should look to is God. We should not look to our strength, education, smartness, wealth or relationship with some great people. None of these things will work. In fact, it is pride that will make us count on our abilities or relationships for our exaltation or greatness. And as the bible tells us, proud people can only expect one thing from God – humiliation. (Cf. James 4:6; 1Pet 5:6)

So, if we desire to experience exaltation in our lives this year, let us humble ourselves before God and before the word of His grace. And He will surely see to it that we are not passed over at the time of our promotion. That was how our Lord Jesus was exalted. The bible says that even though He is one with God the Father, He made Himself nothing and humbled Himself before God and obeyed Him, even to the point of death on the cross (Phil 2:5-8). So, God exalted Him to the highest place in all His creation. If we too will imitate Him in humility, as we have been commanded to do in Scriptures, obeying God in all that He tells us to do, even if we are faced with death, He will exalt us as well. And there is no one that can say how high He will take us. Therefore, humble yourself before God this new year, and He will take you from greatness to greatness.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2023, 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 gladly welcome you to the first day of this new year, year 2023. My prayer is that all your steps in the year will be ordered by God in the path of rest, health and excellence, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Of first importance, we ought to give thanks to God for the gift of this new year. As you will agree with me, there were many who longed to be a part of this new year but who are now dead, for one reason or the other. Those of us, then, who are alive to witness the year and be a part of it ought to understand that it is not our strong desire, power or wisdom that has made our being a part of it possible. Rather, it is the mercy of God that has made it possible.

The bible says, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (Rom 9:16NIV) Since it is God’s mercy that has given us this new year as a gift, we ought to thank Him for it. Not only that, we ought to also make up our minds to use the gift of the new year to honour Him. Yes, it is normal for us to have dreams and aspirations for the year. But nothing may become of those dreams and aspirations, if we ignore the one that has given us the opportunity to dream and aspire or choose not to give Him His rightful place in our lives.

Once, while teaching His disciples about how to have their needs, dreams and aspirations fulfilled in life, our Lord Jesus said this to them: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33NIV) Now these words are still very much true today as they were when they first fell from the lips of the master. The only way to have all of our needs and dreams realised is to always put God first in our lives.

Yes, if we will not put Him first in our lives, we may have certain or even many of our needs, dreams and aspirations fulfilled in life. But when all has been said and done, if we have not put God first in our lives, we will realise that our most important needs in life have not been met and could not have been met. For instance, there is a longing in the heart of every man to live eternally. Yes, in the heart of every man is this urge to reach out to a life that is bigger and richer than the one we are living on this plane. We know that life is there ahead of us. And we know that we need it. Yet we can’t just fathom how to go about having it or how to take hold of it. (Cf. Ecc 3:11)

But God, the author of life, knows how to meet this eternal need of ours. Also, He possesses the power to meet it. Not only that, He cares about us and wants to meet this need and any other need we may have. No wonder the bible says that He cares about us and is daily devoted to bearing all our burdens. All that we need to do, then, to have Him take care of all our needs, aspirations and dreams is to put Him first in our lives. (Cf. Ps 68:19; 1Peter 5:7)

Now are we going to put Him first in our lives this new year? Will you put Him and all that matters to Him first in your life? If you will do that, then, as our Lord Jesus has made clear to us, there is none of your needs, material, spiritual or emotional, that He will not take care of. In fact, He will take care of even those needs of yours that you know nothing about and make sure you are absolutely satisfied when the year is over. And my prayer is that your heart will be strengthened to always put Him first in all your ways all through the year, so that nothing you need in the year will be unavailable to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Happy new year.

Copyright © 2023, 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)