Category: Pastor’s Desk

Use your spiritual gift

bible study

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am happy to welcome you to another week of September 2020. And I pray that God will open your eyes to recognise every good thing He has deposited in you and also strengthen you to increase in usefulness with it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Each of us, as we are clearly told in the bible, has been blessed by God with at least one spiritual gift or the other. In other words, there is no child of God that He does not intend to use in remarkable ways to bless other children of His and the world. (Cf. 1Cor 12:7) Unfortunately, because of their ignorance, many of His children are not acting responsibly with the gifts He has given them. So, we see that, in most assemblies, it is usually few people that are seriously involved in faithfully using their gifts to minister to others. The rest of the brethren just wait around all the time to be ministered to.

Perhaps you too are one of those who wait around all the time to be ministered to by others. Every time you want someone to pray for you, but you are not willing to pray for anybody. Or you want someone to visit you, but you are not ready to visit anybody. Or you want someone to give to you or help you to handle one thing or the other in your life, when you are not interested in helping anybody. I want you to know that this is contrary to the purpose of God for His church. It is never His idea or intention that only a handful of His people would be involved in ministry. Otherwise why did He give everybody at least a gift?

See, what God wants is for each of us to recognise the gift or gifts He has given us and learn from Him how to faithfully use them for the good of everyone around us. That way, we all will be mutually edifying ourselves and supplying whatever is lacking in our faith, character or resources. And as we mutually edify ourselves this way, we will be able to reach maturity in our knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ and in demonstrating His character in this world of darkness. (Cf. Eph 4:11-16)

All of this is why Paul, while writing to the Roman brethren, says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” (Rom 12:6-8NIV) Also, Peter, in his first letter, says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 4:10-11NIV)

Look at the words of those apostles. They are all pointing to the fact that each of us must recognise the gift or gifts God has given them and begin to use them for the edification of others and the praise of God. So, what is your spiritual gift or what are your spiritual gifts? And don’t say, “I don’t have any,” for to say that is to say that you are not a child of God. If you do not yet know your own gift or gifts, then, pray to God to open your eyes to see what they are. Also, talk to other believers that you trust to tell you what gifts they have seen in you. Then, once you know what your gift or gifts are, begin to use them in love. And God will honour every step of faith you take in doing so and use those gifts to bless others in ways no one can imagine.

Finally, don’t ever be found saying anything like, “There is nothing to the gift I have. So, who will recognise it or be blessed through it?” The bible tells us that there is no gift of the Spirit that is insiginificant. What makes gifts insignificant is our refusal to use them. Dorcas was not a preacher. But she was recognised by the church because she used her gift of giving faithfully and generously (Acts 9:36-42). If you too will put that gift to work, it won’t be long before other people around you will start praying to God to give them your kind of gift. And may the Spirit of God strengthen your heart to do what is right about this. Amen.

Do have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2020, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com | alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 13, 2020 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 9, No. 19

Pastor's Desk

Be fully responsible

from pastors desk

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to the last Sunday of this month and pray that God will teach and strengthen your heart to live responsibly in all your relationships and affairs this week and throughout the remaining part of your earthly life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor's Desk

Give him no opportunity to work

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date August 23, 2020
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from pastors desk

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I welcome you to the last week of the month of August 2020 and pray that you will be kept safe from every evil scheme of the devil all through the week and throughout the remaining part of the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now while it is good and appropriate for me to pray for you in the manner I did, it is also important that you too do not give the devil any opportunity to work in your life and defeat you. Paul, writing to the Ephesian brethren, says, “Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work.” (Eph 4:27GW) Why does he say this? He says this because of his awareness of the devil’s character. And what is his character? According to the bible, he is a liar, thief, killer, destroyer and devourer (John 8:44 &10:10; 1Pet 5:8).

Pastor's Desk

Be fully yielded to Him

From-the-pastors-desk

Beloved: grace and mercy be with you forever from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer. I welcome you to this new week and pray that you will be preserved in all your ways from every form of danger and satanic attacks, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one major way for us to continually enjoy God’s protection from all kinds of danger is to walk in obedience to His instructions all the time. As the bible makes very clear, there is no way we can totally avoid trouble in this world. That is because it is a world that is lying under the control of the devil, that is, to whatever degree God has permitted it (1John 5:19). So, even if we are functioning in the best of character, there will still be individuals who will yield themselves to be used by the devil to make trouble for us. And if he can’t readily get someone to use against us, he may decide to use a created thing or system to attack us.

Daniel, for instance, was living a life that was totally committed to pleasing God. Yet Satan succeeded in getting some of the officials of Babylon to set him up. So, he ended up in a den of lions. (Cf. Dan 6) What about Job? God Himself testified that he was blameless and upright. Yet a time came when Satan came against him and used all kinds of people and things to afflict him. (Cf. Job 1&2)

Therefore, as long as we are in this world, we will, from time to time, come into moments in which troubles will come for us and want to subdue and destroy us. But inasmuch as we are yielded to God, are living in absolute submission to Him and are counting solely on His provisions for us, there is no form of trouble that will come for us that we won’t be able to walk in victory over (Eph 6:10-18). And observe that there are two things I said we must do in order to walk in victory over any trouble. The first is to be fully yielded to God. The second is to be absolutely dependent on Him. It is not either one of the two that we are to do; it is both of them that we must do. Otherwise we are not going to get the desired results.

Unfortunately, there are many of us today who think all that is important is that we totally depend on God and His power and authority to walk in victory in life – how we relate to His instructions is secondary. But that is not how we are taught to live in Scriptures. What we are taught is this: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7NIV) Did you see that? Satan can be resisted and driven away by us. In other words, we can refuse to accept satanic works or activities in our lives. And that is because we are God’s children and have been given the needed authority by Jesus to overcome all his power (Luke 10:19).

But in order for our authority to resist the devil and his works to work, James says we must first of all submit ourselves to God’s authority. If we will not yield ourselves to God and walk in obedience to His instructions, then, we will constantly find ourselves in situations in which we may not be able to appropriately use or enjoy the authority and grace He has given us to walk in victory over the devil and his works. And that may someday prove disastrous for us.

Look at Samson, for example. He was anointed and authorised by God to rescue the people of Israel from the rule and oppression of the Philistines. And he actually set out in life to do so. But because he would not discipline himself to be yielded to God in every area of his life, he was constantly doing things he was not supposed to do and being in places he was not supposed to be. This also seriously affected his ability to organise himself and the people he was supposed to lead to unitedly resist and supress their enemies. He did all he did as a lone wolf. And though, in his indiscipline and disobedience to the ways of God, he escaped the traps of his enemies for many years, there eventually came a time in which he lost God’s anointing upon his life and the authority to protect himself and his people from their enemies. Therefore, he died before his time and left his work unfinished. (Cf. Judges 14-16)

Now if we too don’t want to end up being crushed by satanic schemes and attacks, then, we must not relate to God and His word as Samson did. Instead, we must fully yield ourselves to Him and be devoted to living according to His instructions. Then, regardless of where we find ourselves or what the enemy throws at us while we are walking in God’s will, we can be sure that His protection will always be with us, even as we steadfastly utilise the authority He has given us in Christ Jesus.

Do have a fabulous week.

Copyright © 2020, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com/alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
By: J.O. Lawal | Date: August 16, 2020 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 9, No. 15

Pastor's Desk

Have you received His grace in vain?

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date August 7, 2020
No Comments on Have you received His grace in vain?

from pastors desk

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 August 2020. And I pray that God will work out in you all through the week everything that is pleasing in His sight and that you will not waste His grace, in Jesus name. Amen.

Now I offered that prayer for you because my desire is that your life will be a full expression of the grace and goodness of God. Have you received the grace of God at all? If you are a child of God, then, you have received His grace. And that is because the bible says it is by His grace that we have been saved. In other words, it is as a result of what God has done and given that we were saved from our sins, the works of the devil and eternal destruction. (Cf. Eph 2:1-10)

However, what God has done and given to us ought to find expression in our lives. I mean it ought to be obvious that God has actually saved us, recreated us and taken charge of our lives. For example, in writing to the Thessalonians, Paul says, “You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure.” (1Thess 2:1NIV) Why would he say this to these brethren? It was because he could see a visible expression of the grace of God in their lives. As he points out in the first chapter of this letter, the word of God’s grace that they received did not leave their lives unaffected. It changed them. It made them turn away from the worship of idols to serve the living God and to wait for the return of His Son, Jesus Christ. Not only that, it turned them into models for believers in many other places to emulate. Therefore, the grace of God to them was not in vain. (Cf. 1Thess 1:4-10)

Also, Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says of himself, “…and his grace to me was not wasted…” (1Cor 15:10NCV) That means God’s grace accomplished the purpose He desired in his life. It made him the kind of person He wanted him to be and also enabled him to do the kind things He wanted him to do. But can we say the same thing about ourselves? Can we say that the grace of God that we have received is making us the kind of persons God wants us to be?

If the grace of God that has been poured out on us is not making us the kind of persons He wants us to be, then, it means we are wasting it. How does this become possible? It becomes possible when we refuse to respond appropriately and adequately to His grace. God’s grace for salvation, righteous living and spiritual service has been made available to us free of charge. And it has been freely put at our disposal in His word, His Spirit and the fellowship of the brethren. That means we can enjoy God’s grace by embracing the ministry of His word, of His Spirit and of His people that He has placed in our lives.

But then, even though these things have been freely made available to us, they will not automatically translate into changed lives for us, if we will not make the most of them. What I am saying is that if we will not take the ministry of the word of God to us very seriously, embracing what it is saying to us and living in the light of it, our lives will not express the grace of God. Also, if we will not allow the Spirit of God to take charge of our lives and affairs, counting on Him for everything we need in life, our lives will not be what God wants them to be in this world. Then, if we will not take adequate and appropriate advantage of the presence of the godly people that have been placed in our lives, we will not attain the maturity we are meant to attain in living in this world and in handling life.

Now, as I said before, inasmuch as we are not becoming more and more of all that God wants us to be and doing all that He expects us to do, we are wasting His grace and the labour of the Spirit on us. And can we waste His grace like this and still expect His praise? Will it not even suggest that we probably never received His grace but have been deceiving ourselves all along? Well, I want you to know that if you have received the grace of God at all, it ought to manifest in your life. And if it is not manifesting for all to see, you need to start asking yourself some very serious questions about your response towards utilising it. And may the Spirit of God open your eyes to see where you are missing it and enable you to begin to do what is right with His grace.

Do have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2020, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com/alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
By: J.O. Lawal | Date: August 09, 2020 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 9, No. 13

Pastor's Desk

The sure way to prosperity

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date August 1, 2020
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from pastors desk

Beloved: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who, in His immense kindness, has safely brought us into the eighth month of this year, the month of August. And my prayer is that our lives will know nothing but progress everyday of the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one sure way to experience progress in every area of our lives is to take the word of God seriously. This is one thing that God emphasized to Joshua, as He commissioned him to lead the children of Israel into their inheritance. He said to him:

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Pastor's Desk

The nature of God’s judgment

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date July 25, 2020
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from pastors desk

Beloved: grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to the last week of the month of July 2020. My prayer is that none of the good things that are meant for you in the month will elude you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as one considers the terrible situation of things in this country, especially in the light of the recent allegations of fraud and corruption against some of our leaders, there is every tendency that he will be moved to ask God to swiftly judge all those who are involved and several others who are making it difficult for the nation to progress. And it is clear from scriptures that God will certainly judge people for all such acts of wickedness, not just at the end of this age but also right here on earth (1Sam 3:13; 1Kings 14:7-11). But those of us who are believers and who are also probably wishing that God will be quick to set things right in the country must also not forget that God does not judge things the way people do.

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Others Pastor's Desk

A point of reference for good

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date July 19, 2020
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Beloved: grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great delight that I welcome you into another week of the month of July 2020. And I pray that God will perfect all that concerns you and make your life a point of reference for good things, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, the very first king God ordained over the Israelites was Saul. But after the record of his death, nothing serious is mentioned about him again. Why? It was because he did not live an exemplary life. Yes, he reigned for forty years. But those forty years meant nothing to God, for they were not lived to honour Him.

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Pastor's Desk wisdom for living

Don’t lose your soul for anything

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date July 11, 2020
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From-the-pastors-desk

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Welcome to another week of the year 2020. And I pray that the kindness of God will make life sweet and pleasant for you all through the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we begin this new week, I want to remind you that, regardless of how sweet and pleasant this world is for us, there is a far better place that God has prepared for those who love Him. And regadless of how horrible this world may seem to be for us, there is a far worse place that God has prepared for the devil and all haters of God. Therefore, we must see to it that we do not allow our dealings with this world and the things in it to rob us of that wonderful place in eternity that God has prepared for us.

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Latori tabili Paitor Pastor's Desk

Fi gbogbo okan re jin fun Olorun

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date July 5, 2020
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From-the-pastors-desk

Olufe: ki ore-ofe, aanu ati alaafia je tire lailodiwon lati odo Olorun Baba wa ati Jesu Kirisiti Oluwa wa. Inu mi dun lati ki o kaabo sinu osu Agemo 2020, eyi ti o je osu eyi ti o bere idakeji awon osu ti o wa ninu odun yi. Adura mi si ni pe ki Olorun fi ayo re kun okan re de bi pe o ko ni ranti gbogbo ibanuje tabi adanu kankan ti o wu ki o ti ba pade ninu idakini awon osu odun yi, ni oruko Jesu. Amin.

Nibayi, mo fe gba o niyanju, bi a se n bere idajeki awon osu odun yi, pe ki o fi gbogbo ara re jin fun Olorun ninu ohun gbogbo. Eyi tunmo si pe ki o ma se fun Olorun ni aabo ijosin tabi ki isin re si ma je eyi ti o wa lekunrere. Dipo be, fi ara re jin fun patapata ni ijosin ati ni ise isin. Idi si ni pe eyi ni ona kansoso ti o fi le gbadun re ni ekun rere, ki o si tun gba oriyin lodo re.

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