Category: Pastor’s Desk

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

How to become an enemy of God | Pst. J.O. Lawal

Since God our Father is a finisher of everything He sets his hands on to do, we too, as His children, must cultivate the culture of finishing every good thing we lay our hands on to do

Date: August 08, 2021 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 10, No. 14

Beloved: welcome to the second week of the month of August 2021. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore. Amen.

As we begin this new week, I want to exhort you with the words of Apostle Paul that say, “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Gal 1:10NIV) Now does this mean that it is totally wrong to gain people’s approval or to please them? No! On the contrary, it is important that we learn to please people, especially those in our lives. That is because it will promote love, peace and unity in our relationship with them.

And what does God want among men? He wants love, peace and unity among them. So, when we work to please people and accomplish these things, He is pleased. And anyone who will not study and work towards pleasing men in this manner will unlikely give himself to the discipline that pleasing God requires.

However, we need to be careful that we do not displease God while we are trying to please men. And that is the point that Paul is setting before us in that bible text. He wants us to know that while it is true that God wants us to labour to please men, so that our dealings with them may be smooth and peaceful, He does not want us to do this at the expense of our relationship with Him.

What does this mean? Well, it means that God is the one that must define for us how we please people. Yes, people may desire that we act in certain ways in order for them to be pleased or happy with us. But they are not our creator, neither are they the ones that will judge and reward us for the things we do in this life, whether good or evil. So, while it is alright for them to desire that we please them in one way or the other, we must only do what they want if it pleases God. If what they want does not please Him or is not in agreement with His will, we must refuse to do it for them or give it to them.

Will this make them happy? Will doing things that displease people make them happy? No! But as children that are responsible to God, our most important goal in life is to please Him and make Him happy and not to please men and make them happy (2Cor 5:9). Yes, in most cases, when we please God and make Him happy, people will be pleased and made happy too. But there are times that pleasing Him will set us against men. And that will be because of their hatred for His righteousness and truth (John 3:19-21).

Nevertheless, even if in pleasing God, we find ourselves at variance with men, we should not lose heart or feel bad. That is because it is far better to be an enemy of men and suffer their temporary rejection, abuse or persecution than to be an enemy of God and be forever lost. If you have men as your enemies, God is able to save you from their hands. But if you have God as your eternal enemy, who is going to save you from His hand? Nobody!

James says, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4-5NIV) Did you see that? If, for any reason, whether it is fear, money, pleasure, position or a desire for men’s reward, you choose to be a friend of the world, you automatically become an enemy of God. And the consequences of that will never be good or enjoyable for you, whether in this life or in the one to come.

Remember Pilate. Why did he release a criminal to go and continue his life of sin but condemn an innocent man to death? It was because he wanted to please men (Mark 15:15). So, he became an enemy of God and of truth and justice just because he wanted to satisfy men. I wonder what he would say to Him on the day of judgment, if he did not receive salvation through faith in Christ Jesus before his death. And I wonder what you too will say to Him on the day He visits you, if you should allow yourself to become His enemy just to remain friends with adulterers, prostitutes, thieves, swindlers, sorcerers or any other kind of wicked person. Well, my prayer is that nothing will succeed in setting you against Him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a great week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

Run away from sexual sins | Pst. J.O. Lawal

Date: August 01, 2021
Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 10, No. 13

Beloved: Grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the eighth month of the year, the month of August. I pray that your life will be organised to experience the fullness of the blessings of God in the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we begin this new month, let me remind you of the words of Apostle Paul that say, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1Cor 6:18-20NIV) What is our charge here? It is that we are to flee from sexual immorality. And what does it mean to flee from something? It means to run away from it.

So, when Paul tells us to flee from sexual immorality, he means that we are to run away from it. For example, when Potiphar’s wife began to make sexual advances towards Joseph, he started avoiding her. The bible says, “And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” (Gen 39:10NIV) Did you see that? Though that woman made it her business to seduce Joseph everyday, he would not listen to her or even spend time with her. I am sure if he were not a slave but just an employee of Potiphar, he may have totally resigned from work. But because he could not resign and had to deal with that woman everyday, he also made it his business to avoid her.

Finally, a day came when all the other household servants were not in. And that day the woman grabbed his coat and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. Why did he run? It was because he would have fallen into the sin of sexual immorality, if he had not done so. See, sexual sins are sins of emotions. So, you cannot tell at what point you will give in, if you keep hanging around someone that is continually tempting you with them. That is why we are commanded to run away from it. Otherwise, we would have fallen into it before we know what is happening.

But why are we commanded to run away from sexual sins? Why are we commanded to stay away from something that feels good and seems good? It is because it defiles and destroys our bodies, which are God’s temple. As Paul points out in that text, our bodies do not belong to us but to God who paid the price for our redemption. And it is because they belong to Him that He now lives in them by His Holy Spirit. So, we are not the only ones occupying these bodies; the Spirit of God is also living in them with us. This is why we must not defile or abuse them in any way. Otherwise, we may end up being destroyed, for Paul further tells us that if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person (1Cor 3:16-17).

Now we must understand that it is not sex we are told to run away from but sexual immorality. So, sex is not the problem; its abuse or misuse is the problem. Sexual passions, just like hunger and thirst, were given to us by God Himself as a gift for expressing love. But we are only allowed to express these things in a marriage relationship. So, if you are not married, you are wrong to be involved in any form of sexual activity, whether between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman, man and animal or woman and animal. It is even wrong for you to be involved in sex with yourself, which is popularly referred to as masturbation.

Look, you will be polluting your body, if you are involved in any of these things. And as I already pointed out to you, your body does not belong to you but to God. So, any time you pollute it, you expose yourself to destruction. What form this destruction will take or when it will come is what I cannot tell you. It may be the destruction of your future home or the destruction of God’s plan to exalt you or the destruction of your body by some deadly disease. But it will certainly come, if you fail to repent when you have the chance to do so.

So, run away from anyone or anything that could drag you into sexual sin. And don’t allow any of the lies that ungodly people, especially our film makers, are propagating about sex to lead you to self-destruction. The will of God is for you to control yourself and stay away from sexual immorality (1Thess 4:3-6). So, nothing is wrong with you, if you abstain from sexual immorality and stay pure. And may the Lord continue to strengthen your heart to do so, irrespective of how immoral those around are, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a fabulous August 2021.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

Why you may miss the supernatural | Pst. J.O. Lawal

from pastor's desk

Date: July 25, 2021 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk
| Number: Vol. 10, No. 12

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours forevermore from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour. It is with great delight that I welcome you to the last week of the month of July 2021. And I pray that God will keep the eyes of your spirit illuminated to always distinguish what is spiritual from what is natural, so that you will never again miss His provisions for your peace and exaltation. Amen.

One of the reasons many of God’s people today often miss His provisions for their peace and prosperity is the erroneous belief that the spiritual always has to be spectacular or grand. But the spiritual isn’t always spectacular or impressive. I mean that it is not every time that God’s healing, deliverance, transformation or exaltation comes in an amazing way. And if we do not understand this, we are likely to miss or even reject what He has sent to us because it does not appear to us in a spectacular way.

For example, after Jacob had left his father’s house for Haran, he decided to pass the night in a certain place that offered him little or no comfort. All he could get in the place was a stone that he used in place of a pillow. But right in that same place, he dreamt of God, of His angels and of heaven. He even received a word of blessing from God’s mouth in that dream. And when he woke up, he was terrified and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” (Gen 28:16-17NIV)

So, God can be very much present in a place, and we may not know it, if our eyes are not opened to see Him. And you know that God is always actively present in all the meetings of His people, for Jesus has said to us, “Where two or three of you come together in my name, there am I in their midst.” But how many of us always take this very seriously, so that we may take advantage of it? How many of us always function with the consciousness that when we come together with other people of God, the Lord is there with us, watching everything we are doing and ready to reward our faith in Him or punish our misbehaviour? (Cf. Matt 18:20; Acts 5:1-11)

A lack of understanding of these things is the reason many attend church meetings week after week and do not experience the miraculous in any tangible way. It is also the reason many go from prayer mountains to prayer mountains and from prophets to prophets, seeking miracles that are not lost. To say the fact, the miracles many are running up and down to find could have easily taken place in their local Christian assembly, if they had taken the presence of God in their meetings very seriously.

See, you can be in a meeting that is so full of the power of God and not know it or experience it, simply because your mind is spiritually dull of understanding. Paul says this to us: “When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present…” (1Cor 5:4NIV) Did you see that? Anytime we are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, His power is present with us to save, heal, deliver, exalt and even judge evil. And all we need is to recognise this, even though we cannot see it or feel it, and take advantage of it to change our situations for the better.

But when our minds are dull of spiritual understanding, we will be looking for the wrong things in our meetings. We may be looking for some great music, thinking that is where the power lies. Or we may be looking for someone that will scream the word of God into our heads or someone that will spice us up with some sweet words to pray or someone that will do something that will make us shake or have goose pimples. And when we don’t see these things, we may conclude that God is not active in those meetings, if He is there at all.

Now that is a sure way to miss God’s power and provisions for us. While nothing is wrong with having great music, great preaching or loud praying in believers’ meetings, it is not these things that make God’s power or blessings available to people. Rather, it is God Himself. Yes, it is His presence in our lives or our meetings that makes His power available for our enjoyment. Therefore, if, instead of putting our faith to experience the miraculous in Him, we put it in some spectacular performance from people, we will not experience His power that we are seeking to experience. It is as simple as that.

All of this is why we must continually pray that God will keep our hearts right, so that they will not be led astray by the spectacular and miss the supernatural. And may He grant this request in your case, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

Recognize, embrace and bless them | Pst. J O. Lawal

Since God our Father is a finisher of everything He sets his hands on to do, we too, as His children, must cultivate the culture of finishing every good thing we lay our hands on to do

Date: July 18, 2021 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 10, No. 11

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours forevermore from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of July 2021. I pray that the Spirit of God will keep your heart right, so that you will never miss His visitation in your life through your rejection or poor treatment of the people He has appointed for your elevation, prosperity and peace of mind. Amen.

As we see in the bible, God has wonderful plans for all His children. In fact, Paul tells us that God’s plans for us are so great and wonderful that our minds cannot fathom or handle them. So, it will take His Spirit to make them known to us and guide us into a full enjoyment of them. (Cf. 1Cor 2:9-12) However, the Spirit of God does not always work alone in accomplishing God’s purpose in the lives of men. Many times, He uses others that He has trained, gifted and built up in certain ways to bring about what God wants in their lives. And unless they recognize, accept and treat well those He has raised up in this manner for the fulfilment of His wonderful plans in their lives, they may never experience a realization of what He has planned for them in life.

For example, our Lord Jesus was sent by God to first seek out the lost sheep of Israel before He would go to the rest of the world with His free gift of salvation (Matt 10:5-6 & 15:24). That was why they were the first to hear His messages of grace and to benefit from His anointing to heal, deliver and restore. But did they accept and relate to Him well? No! Instead, as a nation, they rejected, abused, persecuted and eventually killed him. (Cf. John 1:10-13)

Now what about His own people, those of His hometown, where had been brought up? Did they accept Him, even if it was out of tribal sentiments? No! On the contrary, what He experienced among them was even worse than what He experienced in other places. Look at what Mark says about this: “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith…” (Mark 6:5-6NIV) Did you see that? These people’s unbelief shocked the Lord to the bones. So, though He was anointed of God to bless them in many significant ways, He could not.

In any case, towards the end of His ministry among the people of His country, He wept for their capital city, Jerusalem, and said these thought-provoking words: “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”” (Luke 19:42-44NIV) Also, He said, “”O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'”” (Matt 23:37-39NIV)

Look at that. Those people had been praying and waiting, all along, for God to come and save them. But when He sent the Saviour they needed to them, they did not receive Him. Why? It was because they did not recognise Him as their Saviour. So, He told them that their house would remain desolate until they recognised, welcomed and blessed Him as the Saviour sent to them by God.

In like manner, until we too recognise, accept and bless those God has sent by His Spirit to guide, build up, heal or exalt us, our lives will remain stagnant and desolate in many ways. That is why one key prayer we must continually offer for ourselves is that the people and things God has provided or sent for our lives to be what they ought to be will not be hidden from us. So, again, my prayer for you, as you continue your journey in this life, is that your heart will be set right to recognise and embrace appropriately the people and things God has provided for your life to be what it ought to be, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a great week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

He can make you forget all your trouble | Pst. J.O. Lawal

Date: July 11, 2021 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 10, No. 10

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Welcome to another week of the month of July. My prayer for you is that God will cause you to experience in it things that will make you forget your years of trouble and all the evil things people have done to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, even though Joseph eventually became a very great man, according to the plans of God for him, the road to greatness was a very rough one for him. First, it was members of his own family, his own blood brothers, that ganged up against him and sold him into slavery. Why? It was because they were envious of him and also bitter against him. They did not like the fact that their father loved him more than all of them and did not hide it. Also, they did not like the fact that he was always reporting their bad behaviours – they weren’t just pleased with the fact that his life was upright and not twisted like theirs. In addition, they did not like the fact that he was the one always having dreams of becoming greater than everybody. So, they did all they could to get rid of him. (Cf. Gen 37)

But because God loved him and would not abandon, he found himself as a slave in the house of a man who appreciated his uprightness and industry and permitted him to thrive. Therefore, after a while, he became the most important person in his master’s house. He became the manager of this man’s wealth and servants and everything going on in his household. Unfortunately, just about when his life seemed to be taking shape again, the wicked forces that were determined to destroy his life moved his master’s wife to take immoral and foolish steps that landed him in the prison. (Cf. Gen 39)

Yet God would not abandon this young man, even in the prison. Instead, He caused him to be favoured again and to meet a very influential person that eventually opened the door to greatness and peace of mind for him (Gen 40). And here is what the bible says concerning him, when he eventually had his firstborn some years later: “Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”” (Gen 41:51NIV)

Think about that. God made Joseph forget all his trouble and all the bitter things he suffered from the hands of his own brothers. In other words, God brought about circumstances that took away all his pains, sorrows, regrets and even anger against those who offended him. So, he was able to live the rest of his life in prosperity, gladness and peace of mind. What a marvellous thing!

In like manner, the same God who made Jospeh forget all his trouble and bitterness of soul is able to make you too forget all your trouble, sorrows, pains and even anger against those whom Satan has used or is using to hurt or torment you. Yes, He is able to bring about in your life circumstances that will make you totally forget what it looks like to suffer or be in distress. All you need to do is to trust Him wholeheartedly and have the right attitude as did Joseph, and He will bring you to that place in life where your heart will be so occupied with gladness that you will have no time to cry, regret or think of taking vengeance on anyone for what they did to you.

See, people who have time to blame, hate and seek vengeance against others are like that because they have not experienced certain measure of the joy of the Lord. But if such people are thrown into the rivers of His joy and are overwhelmed by it, all their anger, complaints and hatred will vanish, and their focus will simply be on enjoying the fullness of the blessings God has bestowed on them. What, then, do you want? Is it to live the rest of your life complaining, hating and blaming others for the roles they played in your miseries and misfortunes? Or is it to live the rest of your life in the fullness of the joy of the Lord, where you have no time to remember the failure and pains of the past or the wickedness of those treated you shamefully?

As for me, I will live the rest of my life with a heart that is free of hate, sorrow, bitterness or vengeance and that is only occupied with joy and thankfulness to God. That is because I am certain that He is causing all things, including the wickedness of men towards me, to work together for my good and progress and for the praise of His glorious name (Rom 8:28). And I pray that you too will find strength in Him to have in you the same mind, in Jesus’s precious name. Amen.

Do have a fabulous week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

How you hinder His provisions | Pst. J.O. Lawal

Date: July 04, 2021 | Number: Vol. 10, No. 9

Beloved: grace and peace be yours immeasurably from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great joy that I welcome you to the first week of the month of July 2021. And I pray that you will be kept from doing anything in the month that will hinder the flow of God’s provisions into your life and home, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one of the things that can hinder the flow of God’s provisions into our lives or our access to His provisions for us is stinginess, stinginess to God and to the people He wants us to be generous to. For instance, in addressing His people through Prophet Haggai, God says the following:

“”Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”” (Hag 1:7-11NIV)

Did you see that? God, in this bible text, is taking responsibility for the failure and poverty that His people are experiencing. In other words, He is the one preventing them from experiencing His blessings in their lives and affairs. But why? As He points out, it is because they are not generous to Him. All of them are busy building their own houses and taking care of their personal businesses. But they will not do the same for the house of God in their midst. They just won’t commit their time or resources to building it. Therefore, they began to experience labour loss. And as God further tells them, until they repent and start using their time and resources to build His temple, things will not get any better for them.

In like manner, if we too ignore the work of God’s kingdom, if we will not commit our time and resources to doing it, we will block the flow of His blessings in our lives. Yes, He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3). However, we can hinder the activity of His blessings in our lives through selfishness and stinginess. So, though we are blessed beyond measure, we may also find ourselves being frustrated beyond measure in life, that is, because of our stinginess.

Also, speaking through Malachi, God accuses His people of stealing from Him by not being faithful in bringing their tithes and offerings to take care of His priests, the poor people in the land and the strangers among them. That means when we keep for ourselves what God wants us to give out to others, we are stealing from Him. How, then, are we going to steal God’s properties and still expect His blessings to freely flow in our lives? It won’t work. (Cf. Malachi 3:8-12)

Furthermore, God says that even when these people bring Him offerings, it is blind, lame and diseased offerings they bring to Him. Think about it. These people are so shameless that they bring to God things they will not offer to their bosses, governors or even in-laws. And this gets Him so angry that He tells them to just shut the doors of their temple altogether and stop bringing Him useless sacrifices and offerings. If He, then, considers what they are bringing to Him as useless, will He reward them for it? No! (Cf. Malachi 1:6-14)

In the same vein, if we too are stealing from God by not being generous to the people He has commanded us to be generous to, we will be shutting the windows of His provisions against ourselves, as the people of Malachi’s day were doing. And if we are giving for His work or to those He wants us to give to blind, lame and diseased offerings (things that are beneath us and beneath His grace on our lives), we will have no reward from Him for our giving, whether here on earth or in His eternal kingdom. How sad would it be, then, if I found out someday that all my giving had been done in vain? It would be really sad.

But then, someone may say, “But the bible says we are to give on the basis of what we have and not what we do not have. And that is what I am doing. Why, then, should God or anyone say that I am not giving enough?” True talk! But that person must also understand that God knows everything we have. So, He can tell when what we are giving out of what we have is something beneath His grace on our lives. And when that is the case, we are cheating Him and so can get nothing from Him for our giving. Therefore, pay close attention to your devotion to generosity because God is also paying close attention to it. And I pray that He will always find you faithful in these matters, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a pleasant week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

Don’t let Him find you sleeping | Pst. J.O. Lawal

Date: June 27, 2021 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 10, No. 8

Beloved: grace and peace be yours in abundance from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour. Welcome to another week of this year. I pray that you will be strengthened to remain focused now and always in your walk with the Lord and in your service in His kingdom, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we begin this new week, let me remind you that the Lord Jesus will certainly return for all His saints, as He has promised. And if you are one of them, you should keep this in mind and look forward to it. But when exactly will He return for us? We are not told. But we are told this:

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back — whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!'”” Mark 13:33-37NIV)

Did you see that? The Lord clearly tells us here that nobody, not even Him, knows the day or hour He will return to take us to be with Him forever and establish a new order of things. Only God knows these things. Our own duty, then, is to look forward to this day and make ourselves ready for it. So, the question for us is, “Are we looking forward to the day of the Lord and making ourselves ready for it or are we acting as though nothing is at stake at all?”

As the Lord points out in that bible text, His return will be like that of a man who gives his servants different tasks to handle for him before he travels. Seeing, then, that this man could return anytime, it will only be wise for those servants of his to get busy with the tasks he has given them and keep watch. Otherwise, when he comes, he may not find them where they are supposed to be. And that would spell nothing but disgrace and trouble for them.

In like manner, since our Lord Jesus could return anytime, it will only be wise of us to get busy with the life He wants us to live and the works He wants us to do. What kind of life, then, does He want us to live? It is a life of holiness and godliness. And what sort of works does He want us to do? Good works! He wants us to be busy doing things that will bless those in our world, make life better for them and also draw them close to God. (Cf. Eph 2:10; 2Pet 3:11-14)

But are we busy living holy and godly lives where we are? And are we busy using all that God has given to us to do works that will make the world a better place for us all and to make men want to have God in their lives? What exactly are we busy doing now? If we are not busy living as He wants us to live, then, we are sleeping and not waiting for Him. Yes, what we are doing may be important to us and even cherished by men. But if it is not consistent with the life He wants us to live and the things He wants us to do, it is as good as nothing to Him.

Now remember that He warns us not to allow Him to come back and find us sleeping. That is because anyone that He finds sleeping is not waiting for Him but doing his own thing. That means that person does not really believe in Him and so cannot reign with Him. Those who truly believe in Him will keep watch and wait for Him instead of sleeping. And they are the ones that will reign eternally with Him and also hear these sweet words from His mouth: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share in your master’s happiness!” If you, then, want to be among them, don’t let Him return and find you sleeping.

Do have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

Double jeopardy | Pastor J.O. Lawal

Date June 20, 2021 | Number: Vol. 10, No. 7

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to another week of the month of June 2021. I pray that your heart will be strengthened to always retain and profit with every word God is bringing to you all through the remaining days of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I offered that prayer for you because the word of God is clear about the fact that it is not everyone that hears or reads the word of God that ends up profiting with it. Why is this so? It is so because in order to profit with the word of God, one must not just read or hear it; he must also act on it. It is only the one that acts on what he hears or reads that will experience the fullness of the blessing of what God says. The one who merely listens to the word or reads it but does not act on it is only deceiving himself – he will not experience in his life the result that the word is supposed to accomplish in it (Cf. Matt 7:24-27; James 1:22-25; Rev 1:3)

So, our aim in reading or listening to the word of God must be to act on it. Otherwise, not only will His word not accomplish His will in our lives, it will also stand against us as a witness when God begins to judge (John 12:48). For example, there was a time that the leaders of the remnant of the Jews in Judah came to Jeremiah to ask him to seek God’s face for them, so that they may know where to go or stay. They even went on to say to him, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God.” (Jer 42:5-6NIV)

Did you notice that those people said that they would act on the word of God, whether it was favourable for them or not? Yet when Jeremiah came back with God’s word for them, their response was, “…You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.” (Jer 43:2-3NIV) Therefore, they rejected the word of the Lord and acted according to their own wisdom and desire.

But why did they ask Jeremiah to find out the mind of God for them, when they were not willing to accept whatever His will for them was? It was because they did not know that it would have been better for them not to know the will of God at all than to know His will and refuse to act on it. That would mean nothing but double punishment for them. They would not just suffer for not doing the will of God but also for knowing His will and deliberately rejecting it.

So, Jeremiah said this to them: “O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, ‘Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’ I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you. So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle.”” (Jer 42:19-22NIV) Did you see that? It is a fatal mistake for us to seek to know the will of God and then refuse to act on what He is saying to us. It can only mean double jeopardy for us.

Unfortunately, many of us do not realise that this is what we are doing to ourselves, when we show up in church meetings or before our leaders, hear the word of God about how we are to live and then leave to go and do the exact opposite of what we have heard. But what is the point of coming to hear the word of God, when it would only mean more troubles for us? Would it not be better for you to avoid His word altogether than to hear it and then say to yourself, “That preacher can say whatever he likes to say. But what I will do is in my mind?” That will simply bring greater punishments and sufferings on you, as it is probably your experience already. I mean that it will only make you suffer more than those who do not have the knowledge of God’s will at all.

So, stop putting yourself in more troubles by refusing to act on the truth of God’s word that you know. And may you be led to repentance and restoration wherever you are suffering as a result of this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

Wait for the Lord | J.O. Lawal

Date: June 13, 2021 | Number: Vol. 10, No. 6

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 in the month of June 2021. And my prayer is that you and your family will be preserved to witness the good that God will bring about for this country, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

David, in one of his psalms, says, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Ps 27:13-14NIV) What is this man confident of? He is confident that he will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. And why is he confident in this way? It is because he is waiting on the Lord who does not disappoint.

As we see in the scriptures, as a young man, David was faced with severe persecutions from Saul, who was king over Israel at that time. So, he, his men and their family members had to constantly be on the run and could not live as normal people lived. There was even a time that their temporary camp was burnt down and all their wives and children were taken away by the Amalekites. And all his men became so distressed that they were even talking about stoning him, for they felt that their association with him had brought them nothing but trouble. (Cf. 1Sam 30)

Yet the bible says that David did not lose heart in the face of all these things. Instead, he kept on strengthening himself in the Lord, knowing that He would ultimately give him victory all the way and also end his days of wandering someday (1Sam 30:6). That was why he said I am still confident that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And did he see it or not? He did. He saw God’s goodness not after his death but during his lifetime. He not became king over the nation of Israel but also had the rare privilege of crowning one of his sons king over the land before his death.

But why was David able to eventually witness the goodness of the Lord in his lifetime, despite all the terrible experiences he had, even as a young man? As we see in the bible text above, it was because he did not lose heart but waited for the Lord. The Lord had ordained him king in place of Saul and given him many great and wonderful promises. But for him to witness the manifestation of all these things, he needed to demonstrate faith and patience in Him. Yes, he had to do this for a number of years. But his faith in God and patience ultimately paid off. Therefore, he is able to tell others in his psalm above to do just as he did, if they too want to witness the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Do you, then, also want to witness the goodness of the Lord in your lifetime? Do you want to be alive and well, when God burns the garment of reproach of this nation and wears her with a garment of glory and praise? I want to be alive and well then. I also want my family to be alive and well then. And, like David, I am confident that the good Lord, who saved us from our sins and brought us into His glorious kingdom, will make this happen. So, regardless of what I see or hear, I will not lose heart or throw away my confidence in Him. Instead, I will be strong in heart and wait for Him. Yes, I will wait for Him because He cares about me and is also trustworthy. But will you too do the same?

Do have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2021, 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021 Pastor's Desk

Return to Him with thanksgiving | Pst. J.O. Lawal

from pastor's desk

Date: June 06, 2021 | Number: Vol. 10, No. 5

Beloved: welcome to the second week of the month of June 2021. May God’s grace and mercy overflow without measure over your life and through your life in the week and throughout the remaining part of the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, while it is good to pray in this manner and expect God to answer, we also need to understand that if we have not been showing adequate gratitude for all that He has been doing for us, we really should not be expecting Him to do more for us. Of course, I am not saying that God will definitely not do more for us, if we do not show Him that we are grateful for what He has already done for us. He is God and not man. So, He does not always wait for us to thank or appreciate Him for what He has done for us or is doing for us before He does more for us.

Nevertheless, He always expects us to show that we appreciate what He is doing in our lives or has done for us. For example, Luke, in his gospel, tells us of how certain ten lepers came to the Lord Jesus for healing. And when they came, He did not drive them away. Instead, He had compassion on them and asked them to go and show themselves to the priests. So, they went, as He had instructed them. And as they were going, they suddenly realised that they had been cleansed – their leprosy had disappeared. (Cf. Luke 17:11-14)

What, then, was the most appropriate thing for these men to do? With my own little knowledge of things, I believe it was for them to go back to Jesus and first thank Him wholeheartedly for what He had done for them. Their condition at that time, of course, may not give them access to money or other resources that they could bring to appreciate Him. But at least, they could go back to Him and appreciate Him for their healing before they would think of what next to do with the new beginning He had given their lives.

Now did they do this? Did they all go back to find Jesus and appreciate Him for what He had done for them? No! Only one of them, a Samaritan, came back to Him to worship and thank Him for his healing. And the Lord, of course, was displeased with this and said, “”Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”” (Luke 17:17-19NIV)

That means the Lord actually expected all these ten men to come back and thank Him for their healing. At least, He was not asking them to bring Him money or anything else. And He did not collect anything from them before healing them, for healing is always a free gift of God. This, of course, is not to say that it would have been wrong of them to bring money or any material thing to appreciate Him, something He would most likely not collect from them. It would not be wrong of them to do that at all.

By the way, according to the Law of Moses, there were things anyone that got cleansed of a terrible disease like leprosy was to take to a priest, who would make atonement for him. That was why the Lord asked those men to go and show themselves to the priests. And as the Law also says, certain parts of whatever such a person brought would go to the priest ministering to God on his behalf. If it was alright, then, for a priest that did nothing for them to get well to receive offerings from them, what about the one that actually healed them? Was He not more deserving to receive thanksgiving offerings from them along with their worship? He was. (Cf. Leviticus 14:1-31)

But He was not expecting anything else from them other than their words of praise and thanksgiving. Unfortunately, only one of them came to give Him this. And it was only that one that came back to appreciate Him that received additional words of blessing from His mouth — your faith has made you well. What these additional words of blessing would mean in that man’s life only God knows. But he certainly received more than the other men because he came back to give thanks.

What, then, is this story teaching us? It is that there are certain things that we may never receive from God, if we will not learn to appreciate Him for what He is doing for us. And He is doing all kinds of things that our wisdom, money, position, fame or education cannot get for us. So, let us stop being ungrateful to God and instead start thoughtfully and wholeheartedly appreciating Him for everything He is doing for us, even with our resources. I pray that our hearts will be awakened and strengthened to always do what is right in this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a very pleasant week.