Category: Pastor’s Desk

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Why are you doing this to yourself? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 30, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | umber: Vol. 11, No. 52

Title: Why are you doing this to yourself?
By: J.O. Lawal
Date: April 30, 2023
Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 11, No. 52

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus our Lord and Saviour. I gladly welcome you to the last Sunday of the month of April 2023. My prayer is that God will clear the way for everything He wants you to have this month that you are yet to receive to come you before the month ends, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we come into this new week, I want to remind you of what Paul tells us about the possibility of always learning the word of God and yet not coming to know anything about Him or His truth (2Tim 3:7). And why will someone be attending church meetings and hearing the word of God and yet be ignorant of God and of the basic truths of life? One of the things that are often responsible for that is a lack of concentration.

When the word of God is coming to you and your mind is not following what you are being taught but is busy with something else or you are sleeping, there is no way you will be able to make anything out of what you are learning. Unfortunately, not paying attention to the word of God coming to them or sleeping when the word of God is coming to them has become a culture for many so-called Christians. That means it is what they do all the time. It is no wonder, then, that there has been no noticeable transformation in their lives ever since they have become Christians and have been attending church meetings.

Another reason people often learn the word of God and yet don’t get to know the truth of God through it is a lack of understanding of what they are learning. Our Lord Jesus clearly tells us that when someone hears the word of God and does not understand it, Satan will come to him and snatch what he has heard away from him. Therefore, there is no way what he has heard can translate to anything good in his life — it can only go to waste. (Cf. Matt 13:19)

Now it is understandable if one who is not a child of God hears the word of God and does not understand it. That is because he does not have the Spirit of God who gives men understanding of spiritual truths in him (1Cor 2:12). But when a child of God, one who has His Spirit in him, keeps hearing His word and yet does not understand what he is hearing, something is either wrong with him or with his teacher. And what is wrong with him may be that he is not making any effort to understand what he is learning. So, he will not bother to think or meditate on what he has heard. And he will not bother to search the Scriptures to see whether what he has heard is the truth or not. Why? He is lazy. So, like the Hebrew brethren, he is uninterested in gaining the knowledge of the truth. And that kind of person will never mature in spiritual things. (Cf. Heb 5:11-14)

Then we have those who hear the word of God and understand it but who have no intention of acting on it. And why will someone hear the word of God, understand it and yet make no decision to act on it? It is largely because he does not believe what he has heard is for him. He may see it as something for someone else to act on, but not him. And this is why, week after week, people hear the word of God and other instructions in their church meetings and still go out and act as though they did not hear a thing or do exactly the opposite of what they have heard.

The question now is, “Why are you doing this to yourself?” Why are you wasting your time learning the word of God, when you have no intention of acting on it or when you are not interested in seeing it work in your life? See, the word of God will not be of any value to you, if you will not embrace it and act on what it says. No, His word will not open your eyes to the truths you need to know to be free in life, if you will not adopt the right attitude in receiving and handling it. So, if you are among those that have been learning the word of God for years and yet are not sound in the things of God, you need to reconsider what you are doing to yourself and change your ways. Otherwise, you will never stop being a victim of the lies of the devil and the errors of lawless men.

Have a great week.

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Prayers and generosity – not prayers alone | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 23, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 51

Title: Prayers and generosity – not prayers alone
By: J.O. Lawal
Date: April 23, 2023
Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 11, No. 51

Title:

Beloved: grace and mercy to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great joy that I welcome you to the last week of the month of April 2023. My prayer is that God will rid your heart of all forms of stinginess to Him, so that all the flow of His blessings that you have blocked in your life will be opened for your prosperity, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Often, many of us wonder why certain individuals who are not Christians at all keep enjoying God’s favour of promotion, protection and prosperity in ways that even the believers around them are not enjoying it. And one main reason for this, as we see in Scriptures, is generosity. See, when the bible says that God loves a cheerful giver, it does not mean that this is applicable to Christians alone (2Corinthians 9:7). If an unbeliever also happens to be a cheerful giver, God will show His love to him in very remarkable and obvious ways as well.

For example, we are told this in the bible about a man called Cornelius:

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.”” (Acts 10:1-4NIV)

Who was Cornelius, according to this text? Was he a Christian? No! Was he a Jew? No! Instead, he was a gentile soldier. And he was not an ordinary soldier; he was an important officer in the Roman army. Yet an angel of God appeared to him to tell him that God recognised him. What did God recognise him for? He recognised him for his prayers and also for his generosity.

Evidently, Cornelius, as a soldier, must have been a very busy man. Yet he was not too busy to pray. In fact, he was so devoted to prayers that God recognised him as a man of prayer. Are you also known by God as a person of prayer? Or are you too busy to have time to talk to Him?

Then, even though Cornelius was a soldier, he would not use his position as one to extort people, as many soldiers and other security men and women often do. Instead, he was using his own money to help the poor. And he was so generous in doing this that God recognised him as a cheerful and willing giver. So, someone does not have to be a Christian before God takes them seriously. If the person takes God seriously by praying to Him and being generous to others, He also will take him seriously and manifest Himself to them.

As we see in Cornelius’ case, because of his consistency in praying to God and in giving to the poor, a day came when God remembered all that he had been doing and decided that something must be done about his eternal salvation. And remember that the bible tells us not to become tired in doing good to others because, at the right time, God will remember us and reward us (Gal 6:9). How will God reward us for our generosity? No one can say. It all depends on Him. But He will surely reward us for it, whether we are Christians or not.

When God remembered Cornelius on that occasion, it was not only his prayers that He remembered him for. He also remembered him for his generosity and then sent an angel to him to lead him to Peter, the man who would show him the way of salvation. So, praying is not enough for us to receive certain things from God; we must also accompany our prayers with generosity. And there are non-Christians who understand this and often practise it. Why? They have learnt by experience that it works.

Unfortunately, many of us who are God’s people don’t understand this spiritual principle at all. We don’t know that there are times that it is not our prayers that God will work with but our generosity. So, we have to be devoted to both. That is because we don’t when today’s prayers or (and) generosity will be the very key to our promotion or salvation tomorrow. I pray that you will never again miss your promotion or salvation from trouble because of your failure to adequately pray or give. Amen.

Have a great week.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Spread the good news | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 16, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 50

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date April 15, 2023
2 Comments on Spread the good news | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 16, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 50

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of April 2023. My prayer is that God will continually find you useful in spreading the good news of His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we see in the bible, one of the reasons many were blessed through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was that those who had blessed by Him kept on spreading the good news to those around them and everywhere they went. For instance, after Jesus had cured a mad man of his madness, He said this to him: “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19NIV) And did this man go or not? He went. The bible says, “So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.” (Mark 5:20NIV)

Now the same thing is expected of us. As the Lord is feeding us with His word, changing our lives and doing all kinds of wonderful things for us in this assembly, we are supposed to be spreading the news of His goodness to us everywhere. Why? It is so that those who hear us may also be inspired to join us in experiencing His goodness.

Do you know that even those whom the Lord ordered not to speak about Him to anyone still spread the news of His goodness everywhere they went? Luke, for example, shares this with us about what happened after Jesus had healed a man that was leprous:

“Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”” (Luke 5:14-16NIV)

Did you see that? Even though the Lord clearly ordered this leprous man not to tell anyone about Him, the man would not keep quiet about the matter. Instead, like others whom He had healed before, this man too went about and spoke freely to others about Him and what He had done for him. And the result was that many more people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

Was it right for that man to disobey the Lord Jesus the way he did? No! In Mark’s account of the same incident, he makes it clear that this man’s disobedience made it impossible for Jesus to enter any place without creating commotion. So, his disobedience caused more organisation problems for the Lord. But this man did not think he was doing anything wrong at the time. He just felt that he would be selfish to keep from others the truth about the man that had healed him and made him whole. (Cf. Mark 1:40-45)

In any case, this man, who was commanded by the Lord not to tell anyone about Him, reasoned that it would be selfish of him not to indeed tell anyone about Him. Would it, then, not be even more selfish of us not to spread the news of His goodness to us, we who have not received from Him any such command? It certainly would be selfish of us.

So, if you have been experiencing the goodness and power of God in your life since you have joined this assembly, it is selfish of you to keep everything to yourself and not to spread the news to others. Of course, if you could prove that you have not been experiencing the goodness and power of God since you joined us, then, we would understand, if you are reluctant to spread the news. That would be because there is no news to spread. But if you can’t prove that (and I am sure you cannot), you need to begin to spread the news of what God is doing for you and to you in our meetings to those around. That way, they too will be able to join us to experience the goodness of God in their lives.

Now I want you to know that God is counting on you to do this. And He will surely reward your faithfulness in leading others to Him to experience salvation, healing, deliverance and transformation. So, take this matter seriously. May your heart be strengthened to act accordingly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Where is your excitement? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 09, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 49

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 2023. My prayer is that the joy of the Lord will continually overflow your life in the week and all through the remaining part of the year. Amen.

Now, as you already know, Christians all over the world are today celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And isn’t that a good thing? It is a good thing. I mean that is not bad at all to set aside a day to sensitise the people of the world about the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and the significance of these things. So, happy Easter to you, if you are joining in the celebration.

However, what God wants from us is more than that. What He wants from us is to daily remind ourselves of the significance of what Jesus did for us and to joyfully give ourselves to serving Him because of it. That is one the reasons the bible tells us that the kingdom of God is not about righteousness and peace alone but also about the joy that the Holy Spirit gives (Rom 14:17).

Unfortunately, many of God’s people today hardly exhibit joy in giving their worship or service to Him. The only time some of them express any form of joy or happiness at all in matters relating to God is when songs of praise or thanksgiving are being rendered in their church meetings. Apart from then, there is nothing else they do for God that comes with excitement or joy. They are not excited to pray. They are not excited to give. They are not excited to receive the word of God. And they are not excited to invite anyone to taste the goodness of God with them. Instead, whatever they do for God is often associated with murmuring.

Why? The main reason is that they are not excited about their fellowship with God. When people are excited about knowing God and being in fellowship with Him, there is nothing they will do for Him that will not be with joy. They will even die for Him with joy. Look at the apostles of old. We are told in the bible of a time that they were beaten for preaching the gospel and yet they went home rejoicing that they were counted worthy of suffering shame because of the name of Jesus. Why did they act like that? They were excited about their fellowship with God and with His Son Jesus Christ. (Cf. Acts 5:40-41)

Also, we are told in the bible that when Jesus called Levi the Tax collector to follow Him, he was so excited about his call that he threw a party for Him (Luke 5:27-28). What about Zacchaeus? How did he respond to the visit of the Lord to his house? It was with great excitement (Luke 19:1-10). Then we have a psalmist speak of his excitement about God in these words: “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”” (Psalm 122:1NKJV)

Now it is those who are excited about God and anything that concerns Him in that manner that He will continually reveal Himself to and also build up to do all kinds of good works (John 14:21). So, if God is not revealing more and more of Himself to you and is not doing anything to bless others through you, you need to check yourself to see if you have been excited about Him. And if you are not excited about Him, you are definitely excited about some other things. Yes, if you are not excited to serve God and live for Him, there is definitely something else or someone else you are excited to serve and live your life for. But will it be worth it after all?

Look at what Moses said to the children of Israel on this matter: “Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.” (Deut 28:47-48NIV) Did you see that? Those who will not serve God with excitement and joy will ultimately serve Satan and his host in pains and sorrow. I pray your situation will not end like that. But if you see that you are not excited or passionate about God at all or anymore, you should get on your knees and pray that your passion and excitement for Him will be restored without delay. And your voice will be heard. Amen.

Have a great week.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Be true and honest in your worship | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 02, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 48

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 into a new month, the month of April 2023. My prayer is that God will cause you to increase tremendously in all good and profitable things in the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as we begin this new month, I want to enjoin you to make up your mind to be devoted to giving God true and honest worship. Why? First, it is because it is those who will give Him true and honest worship that He is seeking. Jesus says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24NIV)

Did you see that? It is not everyone that draws near to God to worship Him that He accepts their worship. Rather, it is only those whose hearts are fully involved in their worship and who are truthful to Him in all that they do for Him that He accepts their worship. They are, in fact, the ones He is seeking to reveal Himself and His power to.

In 2Chronicles, chapter 16, verse 9, we are told this: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…” (NKJV) Think carefully about that. God is always on the lookout for those whose hearts are loyal or faithful to Him. Why? It is so that He can demonstrate His power on their behalf. So, if you are not daily witnessing the demonstration of God’s power in your life, even in seemingly little things of life, you may want to check yourself if you are truly loyal to Him, if He is the one your heart is always resting on for everything you need or want to get done.

See, those whose hearts are not loyal to God are simply wasting their worship (Mark 7:6-7). In other words, their worship is in vain and cannot be rewarded by God. Was Cain rewarded by God for the offering he brought to him? No! Or did God consider the effort he put into what he did and so overlook the fact that his heart was not right? No! Instead, everything he did was judged by God to be a waste. And that is how it will be for everyone whose heart is not loyal in their worship of God. All that they are doing will be treated as nothing but a waste. (Cf. Gen 4:3-7)

Another reason it is important you give God true and honest worship is that there is danger in not doing so. We are given the account of the death of a man called Ananiah and his wife Sapphira in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5. Why did they die untimely the way they did? It was because their hearts were not loyal to God. They brought deceit into their worship and were instantly judged for it.

Now someone may not be judged by God instantly for not being loyal to Him in his worship. That does not mean that he will not be judged at some point. It may be that the cup of his disloyalty is not yet full. It may be that God is giving him time to repent. Or it may even be that certain people are interceding for him and asking God to show him mercy. But God will not stay still forever and not judge disloyal worshippers, if they will not repent. At some point, He will deal with them as their disloyalty deserves, so that others can learn from them.

So, if your heart is not fully with God in your worship, you need to humble yourself now and deal with the disloyalty or deceit in it, when there is still time for you to do so. That way, you will not end up wasting all that you are doing in the name of worshiping Him or expose yourself to His judgment. And my prayer is that God, in His mercy, will take care of every form of imperfection in your worship of Him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Ever since I have known you | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 26, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 47

Beloved: grace and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I give thanks to God for safely bringing us into the last week of this month, the month of March 2023. And I pray that He will also succeed in making our lives all that He intends them to be, according to His good purpose, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

Now one may wonder if God can truly fail in accomplishing what He desires in people’s lives. But the word of God shows us that God can actually fail in fulfilling His good purpose in a man’s life. Why? It is because the fulfilment of God’s good purpose in our lives does not depend on God alone; it also depends on us. Yes, the fulfilment of His purpose in our lives also depends on our response to the word of His grace.

The bible says God’s word of grace is able to build us up and deliver our inheritance in Christ Jesus to us (Acts 20:32). But His word will not automatically build us up, if we do not humble ourselves to accept it and to act accordingly. Also, His word will not make us possess and enjoy our inheritance in Christ, if we will not wholeheartedly embrace and practise it.

For example, as we are further shown in the bible, even though God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with the sole purpose of taking them into a land flowing with milk and honey, He could not bring many of them into it. Why? It was because of their attitude towards His word. Most of them did not take His word coming to them seriously. And their attitude towards His word was so bad that Moses once said to them, “You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.” (Deut 9:24NIV)

Now think carefully about that. Moses pastored these people for about forty years or so and taught them everything they needed to know about the will God. Yet his testimony about them was they had always been rebellious and unwilling to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. So, for forty years, those people heard the word of God but refused to accept it or be changed by it. No wonder they never mature spiritually. No wonder most of them never made it to the land of their inheritance.

Unfortunately, many of God’s people today are not much different from these Israelites that Moses pastored. Though they have been in the church for years, they have refused to humble themselves before God’s word. So, if their leaders would testify about them, they also would most likely say, “You have been rebellious ever since I have known you,” or “You have been an adulterer ever since I have known you,” or “You have been stingy and selfish ever since I knew you.”

Perhaps this is the case with you. Perhaps it is this kind of bad testimony that your leader has to give about you. The word of God is coming to you again and saying, “You don’t have to continue like this, when you can repent and be set right.” And if you will listen to what He is saying to you and humble yourself and repent of your errors, He will forgive you and cleanse you of all your unrighteousness. Then His good purpose will begin to fully find expression in your life.

But if you refuse to listen to what God is saying to you and continue in your path of rebellion, pride, immorality, selfishness, stinginess or laziness, then, know that you can go on like that for the remaining days of your life and never become the person God wants you to be or enjoy the things He wants you to enjoy in this life. My prayer is that your heart will be rid of any form of stubbornness that is keeping you from yielding yourself to God and His good word that is coming to you. Amen.

Have a blessed week.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Don’t relent | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 19, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 46

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 18, 2023
No Comments on Don’t relent | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 19, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 46

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace 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 March. My prayer is that God will always strengthen you in every good word and deed, so that you will not be unprofitable in any way. Amen.

One of the things that are abundantly made clear to us in Scriptures is that we must not relent in generosity. That is because God will surely reward us for it. For example, writing to the Galatians, Paul says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9NIV) Did you see that? If it is not possible for us to become weary in doing good, we will not be given this instruction. If situations that could make us become weary in doing good do not exist, we will not be told not to become weary in doing good.

But such situations exist. Look at the challenges we are facing in the country, for instance. Fuel price has terribly gone up. There is scarcity of cash to spend everywhere. We also have to daily deal with epileptic power supply. And these things are causing prices of goods and services to increase daily, even though the money many are making is not increasing.

Now because of these things, many who have been generous to God and men before are drawing back and using the situation as their excuse for not being generous again. And if those who have been generous can act like that, how do you expect those who have never been generous to act? Well, the word of God has anticipated that things that can make us relent in generosity can happen. That is why it tells us not to become weary in doing so. Why? It is because at the right time God will reward us for all our acts of generosity. He will not overlook or forget any one of them.

So, if you have been drawing back on giving to the people in your life, you need to renew your devotion to doing so. And if you have been drawing back on giving for the work of God and to the people feeding you with His word, you need to renew your devotion to doing so. Otherwise, you will be cheating yourself of all the benefits of doing so. Remember that you cannot reap what you have not sowed. So, if you refuse to plant because you think your seed is not much and you eat up everything, you will surely have nothing to reap at the time of harvest.

This, I believe, is what Paul has in mind when he says the following to the Corinthians about their giving:

“And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” (2Cor 8:10-12NIV)

From what Paul says here, it is clear that the Corinthian brethren had once been devoted to giving generously to support other churches of God in need. In fact, this apostle says that they were not only eager to give but also prompt in doing so. But at some point, for some reasons we would not know, they began to draw back in generosity and would not complete what they started.

Therefore, Paul had to address them in his letter about the matter and told them it is not enough for one to express willingness to give; you also have to match up that willingness by actually giving according to your means. And as he furthers points out, as long as the willingness is there, whatever we give will be accepted by God based on what we have and not what we do not have.

So, as long as you have something, be sure you are giving out of it instead of making excuses. That is because God will not reward your excuses but your obedience to His word. My prayer, then, is that you will never find yourself in a position in life in which you will be so empty that you will have nothing to give, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a peaceful week.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

If you want to be used by Him | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 12, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 45

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.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Judging wickedness | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 05, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 44

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date March 4, 2023
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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.

FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 General Post Pastor's Desk

Humble yourself to accept it | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: February 26, 2023 |Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 43

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you into the transition week between the months of February and March 2023. I pray that God will keep your heart ever humble to receive His word that He has given to save your soul. Amen.

In his epistle, James tells us this about the word of God and the attitude we must have towards it: “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (James 1:21NIV) What are we to do with God’s word that is being planted in our hearts?

According to this apostle, we are to humbly accept it. That means as long as what is coming to us is the word of God, we must not reject it, ignore it or argue with it. Instead, we are to receive it with humility, knowing that even if His word sounds foolish in our ears, His foolishness is still wiser than our wisdom. (Cf. 1Cor 1:25)

Then why are we to humbly accept God’s word, as we are told by James? It is because it is able to save our souls. The word of God has the power to save us from this corrupt world and from all the schemes of the devil meant to destroy us. But we will not experience the saving power of His word, if we do not humbly accept it and act on it.

It is unfortunate that many who call themselves God’s children and who are regularly hearing His word will not humble themselves to accept it and to act on it. Why? They are proud. They think they are wiser or smarter than God and can take care of themselves without Him. But is there any of us that is really as wise as God our maker? Is there really any of us that can handle his own life by himself and not ultimately ruin it? There is none of us that is fit for this.

But each time we ignore what God is saying to us and choose to do as we please, what we are actually saying is that we are smarter than Him and have no need of His guidance and provisions. And where this is the case, salvation is bound to elude us. This explains why many of God’s people have remained stagnant for years or have not experienced salvation from certain activities of the devil in their lives. They keep hearing the word of God but will not humbly accept it. So, His word is unable to save them.

Now perhaps that is the situation with you too. Perhaps the reason the word of God has not been working in your life is that you will not humbly accept and act on what He is saying to you about your life, faith, job, business, education, marriage, health, finances and so forth. Then you need to repent and change your ways. What is the point of spending hours week after week to listen to something that you will not act on? Is it not better you stop listening to it altogether?

Well, to say the fact, it is even worse not to listen to the word of God at all. That is because that will shut you away from every opportunity to be saved by it. So, you need to keep listening to His word. But that is not enough for it work in your life. For it to work in your life and separate you from stagnation and destruction, you must also humble yourself to accept and act on it. And my prayer is that your heart will be strengthened to always do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a very beautiful week.