Category: Pastor’s Desk

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I gladly welcome you to the fourth week of the month of September 2024 and pray that God will equip you every day of the week with all that you need to receive and enjoy all His good provisions for you. Amen.

Now from what we see in Scriptures, those who receive God’s provisions for their lives in spectacular ways are often people who are ready to separate themselves from the crowd. Yes, they are often people who are ready to do what others will not do or what others are afraid of doing. Therefore, God will pass over others to perform astonishing miracles for them.

For instance, our Lord Jesus says this to us about Naaman and the widow of Zarephath:

“I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.”” (Luke 4:25-27NIV)

Did you see that? Even though there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha (in fact, four of them are mentioned in the bible in connection to a famine that occurred during Elisha’s time), we have no record that he healed any of them. Why? Did he not want to heal them? No! He would love to heal them. But none of them recognised him as possessing enough power of God to heal them. (Cf. 2Kings 7)

However, when Naaman the Syrian heard about him from a slave girl, he travelled all the way from his country to meet him. He did not look at the cost of doing so or the stress that would accompany it. He did not look at his position as a general or at the fact that the nation of Israel was subject to his own country at the time. Instead, he humbled himself and came to him. And when he did, he received an astonishing miracle of healing. His leprosy was cured. Why? He did what other lepers like himself would not do. He distinguished himself for the miraculous! (Cf. 2Kings 5)

What about the widow of Zarephath? Why did God pass over all the widows in Israel to find her during the three and a half years of famine that happened in Elijah’s time? It was because she distinguished herself as a cheerful giver. This woman was willing to share her last meal with the man of God, just because God had told her to do so. And because of that, not only were she and her son sustained with food during the famine, she also received a resurrection of her son when death came to steal him from her. (Cf. 1Kings 17)

What, then, is the point of all this? It is that if we are not willing to distinguish ourselves from others in zeal, in prayer, in meditating on God’s word and confessing it and also in giving, there are miracles that we will never witness in life. Are you, then, willing to distinguish yourself to receive unusual miracles from God?

Well, God is not going to force us to do anything to distinguish ourselves from others in order to receive from Him. But if we do so, He will surely pass over many to amaze us. And my prayer is that your heart will be strengthened to begin to do those things that will set you apart for usual miracles, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved; grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the third week of the month of September 2024. My prayer is that God will daily strengthen your heart to continually walk with Him with patience, so that you can receive in full every good thing He wants you to have, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, faith in God is not the only thing required to receive from Him; patience is also required in order to receive from Him. In fact, there are things we will never receive and enjoy from God unless we walk with Him with patience. Why? One main reason is that God is not just interested in doing things for His people or in giving them things; He is also concerned about their full enjoyment of whatever He gives to them or does for them.

Therefore, before God does or gives anything to His people, He will first ensure that He has taken care of anything that may hinder that thing from bringing Him glory through their lives or that may hinder their full enjoyment of it. And that may take some time. If His people, then, do not understand the need to be patient in dealing with him, they will often miss out on many of the good things they are supposed to enjoy from His hands.

All of this is why the bible says to us, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Heb 6:12NIV) Did you see that? It takes both faith and patience to receive from God. So, even when we are certain that God wants us to have something, we must not just believe that He will give it to us; we must also patiently wait to receive it from Him.

Sadly, many of us believers do not want to be patient at all in receiving from God. We think once we have faith in God and are doing His will, all the good things He wants us to have should naturally begin to come to us. But this is not always so. Walking in faith with God and doing His will is like farming. A farmer does not plant his seed today and expect the harvest right away. Instead, he patiently takes care of what he has planted until the time of harvest.

Now that is exactly how it is with walking in faith with God and doing His will. We have to keep doing so until the time of harvest. But when is harvest time? We wouldn’t know. It is whenever it is. Truly, farmers, through experience, can tell when they will harvest their crops. But we cannot tell when we will harvest the promises of God for our lives or the rewards for doing His will. So, the word of God says this to us:

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (Heb 10:35-36NIV)

Did you see that? Don’t throw away your confidence in God because you are yet to see the harvest of His promises to you. Instead, persevere in doing His will until everything that is meant to be yours is yours. Yes, persevere in praying, in meditating on the word of God and confessing it and also in walking in righteousness. And as you do so, all that is meant to be yours will surely be yours by the grace of God, if you do not faint.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great delight that I welcome you to the second week of the month of September 2024. My prayer is that your heart will be strengthened now and always to desire for yourself what God desires for you and to also discipline yourself to go for it. Amen.

One of the things we are consistently shown in Scriptures is that it is not enough for God to want us to have something; we too must also want to have whatever He wants us to have. Not only that, we must as well be ready to do whatever He wants us to do in order to have whatever He wants us to have. Otherwise, unless we are shown mercy, we will not have what He wants to have.

All this, of course, is why God say this to us through Isaiah: ““If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land…” (Isa 1:19NIV) From what God says here, what does He want us to have? It is the best of the place we are dwelling. And we must understand that He is not talking here about the best the place we are living in is currently dishing out to us. That is because the best the place we are living in is dishing out to us at the moment may not be good enough for us or for our families. But the best God has deposited in the place for us, which may not be visible to anybody yet, will always be more than good enough for us.

How, then, are we to access the best God has planted in our land for our good? First, as He shows us through Isaiah, we must be willing to have it. In other words, we must not be ready to settle down or be satisfied with anything that is less than His best for us. This, of course, is not to say that we are not to be thankful for what God has already given to us or done for us. We must always be thankful to God for everything He has done for us and is also doing in our lives. But as we are giving thanks to Him for what we are enjoying from His hands, we must also be moving forward to take hold of every other good thing He wants us to have. Otherwise, we will end up living lives that are inferior in quality to the kind He wants us to live.

Look at what is said in Scriptures about Joshua towards the end of his life: “When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, the LORD said to him, “You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.”” (Josh 13:1NIV) Did you see that? Even when Joshua had become very old, God still had very large areas of land for him to take over. That means he had not yet fully experienced the best God wanted to him have at the time. Sadly, his body had become too weak at the time to still take hold all of the things God wanted him to have. What a shame!

So, till our old age, God will always open our eyes to see His good provisions for us. And how beautiful will it be, if we are able to take and enjoy all of them? Well, one way for that to happen is for us to be willing and eager to have all of them. Otherwise, like Joshua, it is when we have become old and our bodies have become too weak to run around that we will be seeing all that we could have received and enjoyed from God’s hands. But it may have become too late by then. I pray that it will never become too late for you to realise God’s best for you and go for it. Amen.

The second thing God says we must do in order to enjoy the best He has for us in our land is to be obedient. In other words, we must give ourselves to following His instructions on how to take over and enjoy His best for us. Otherwise, even if we are willing to have His best, we will still not be able to access and enjoy it. And even if we access His best for us by following our own ways, whatever we receive in this manner can only introduce corruption into our lives. Therefore, we will end up not enjoying it the way we are supposed to enjoy it.

Now my prayer is that you will not only receive God’s best for you in this country, in spite of the situation of the country, but also enjoy it to the full. But you must be willing to receive and enjoy it and also obedient to all of God’s instructions to you.

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to this new month, the month of September 2024. I pray that none of the things meant for your peace of mind and elevation will be hidden from you in the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we begin this new month, I want to remind you of a parable of our Lord Jesus Christ that goes like this:

“”What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”” (Matt 21:28-32NIV)

What is the main point of this parable? It is that it is not enough to mentally agree to do the will of God; we must also go ahead and do it. And unless we are actually doing what we know and agree to be the will of God for us in every area of our lives, we will not be different from those who do not believe in God at all.

As we see in the parable, when that father spoke to his first son about going to work in his vineyard, the young man told him plainly that he would not go. Why? We are not told. He must have had his reasons. But later that same day, he thought about his refusal to obey his father and concluded that it was wrong of him to do so. Therefore, he repented and went to do what his father had commanded him to do.

But when this father spoke to his second son, he did not argue with him at all. Instead, he said, “Yes, sir. I will go and work in your vineyard, as you have commanded.” However, he never went to do the father’s will. Why? We are not told. He must have all kinds of excuses for not going. But the point of it was that he did not go to do the will of his father, even though he had originally agreed that he would do it.

Now, having told this parable, Jesus went on to make its point clear to the religious leaders of the Jews that He told it to. And what was its point? It was that that those that they considered to be sinners would get into the kingdom of God ahead of them. Why? It was because even though they knew the will of God and were preaching His will, they would not do it. But those that they referred to as sinners and useless people were turning away from their sins to do the will of God at the preaching of Jesus. So, they would surely get ahead of them into the kingdom of God.

In like manner, we may think of ourselves as godly and spiritual people, simply because we attend church meetings, carry bibles around and say ‘Jesus is Lord’ all the time. But if we are not doing the things God wants us to do in our lives and in our society, we are just deceiving ourselves and are not better than those who do not believe at all. If, however, those that we think are worthless sinners begin to turn around to do the will of God in their lives, we will someday be surprised to see that they are ahead of us in the kingdom of God.

How, then, will you feel, if you find out on the Day of the Lord that certain individuals that you do not think know anything about God or the way of righteousness are in the kingdom of God while you are in hell or are occupying better positions in the kingdom of God than you? Well, I am sure you know that such feelings are hard to imagine. But that will be the case, if you are not devoted to doing the will of God wholeheartedly. So, stop using religion to cover up your disobedience to God and begin to do all that you know to be His will for your life. And I pray that you will be strengthened to do so, even as you journey through this month and the remaining part of the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant September 2024.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last week of this month, the month of August 2024. My prayer is that God will perfect all that concerns you in the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we face this new week, I want to remind you that the will of God is for you to continually operate in life from the fullness of His Spirit that is living in you. In other words, He expects you to always speak and act from the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That way, whatever goes out of your life will be something that will please God and also edify those around you.

Now look at what Paul says to us about this:

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph 5:17-20NIV)

What is the first thing Paul says to us in this text? It is that we must not be foolish but understand the will of God for our lives. So, it is foolishness not to know the will of God for our lives. Yes, it is foolishness to be making excuses for not knowing what God wants for our lives. That is because we can know His will for our lives, if we want to know and also make effort to know. And if we don’t know His will for our lives and live accordingly, we are going to waste our lives.

Then, having told us how important it is for us to know the will of God for our lives, Paul goes on to tell us something about the will of God for us. And what is that? He says it is the will of God for us not to get drunk on wine but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Why does he compare getting drunk on wine with being filled with the Spirit of God? It is because when people get drunk, they lose control of themselves to wine and start speaking and acting from its fullness in them. In like manner, when people are filled with the Spirit of God, they lose control of themselves to Him and start speaking and acting from His fullness in them. Which, then, do you want, to be controlled by wine or to be controlled by the Spirit of God?

Well, the will of God is that you allow His Spirit to take charge of you and control what you say and do. And how do you do that? It is by filling yourself with the word of God. That is because the word of God and the Spirit of God are one. And when you fill yourself with His word, you will naturally begin to act, speak and sing from the fullness of His word in you. It follows, then, that if you are not acting, speaking and singing from the fullness of the word of God, you are not full of His word – it is something else you are full of.

As I pointed out before, when people are full of wine, they speak and act from its fullness. But it is not only wine that people can be full of. People can also be full of bitterness, greed, anger, jealousy, pride or lust. In any case, whatever it is they are full of is what they will speak, sing and act from its fullness.

Now, of course, people may say that they are full of the Spirit of God. But what they say that they are full of is not what is important but what their lives are giving out. Do you know that by checking the status of some people on WhatsApp, Facebook or some other social media platforms, you can tell what they are full of? Yes, you can tell whether it is the word and love of God that they are full of or whether it is anger, depression, frustration, bitterness, lust, envy, murmuring or pride that they are full of. But as for you, what you must be full of is the word of God. And as you fill yourself with His word, you will find yourself naturally living a life that is worthy of God and blessing your world.

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of this month. I pray that the Spirit of God will cause your heart to be daily yielded to God’s leading, so that you may be guided into His best for your life. Amen.

As we see in the bible, God loves us so much that He does not want us to miss it in life. No, He doesn’t want us to waste our lives pursing shadows and unprofitable things. But we will pursue shadows and unprofitable things, if we do not have His guidance, for the bible says, “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” (Jer 10:23NIV)

Did you see that? Our lives are not our own and it is not in our place to direct our own steps. Who, then, is in the right place to direct our steps in life? God our creator! And is He interested in doing this? Yes, He is. In fact, the bible tells us that not only is God interested in directing us in the right path, He is also committed to doing so.

However, we must yield ourselves to be led by Him into what is best for us and not be stubborn or wise in our own eyes. Otherwise, we will lead ourselves into the valley of the shadow of death. And where that is the case, death and barrenness are the only things we can hope for, if we waste time before reaching out to God for His mercy. (Cf. Ps 32:8-9)

Look at Lot, for instance. When he was with Abraham, both of them never went anywhere God was not leading them. But from the very day he left Abraham, he began to lead himself. He began to make his choices based on what he saw and according to his wisdom. And the choices he made ultimately led to the loss of his wealth and wife and also the corruption of his family. (Cf. Gen 13&19)

So, don’t ever again attempt to lead yourself. Instead, let God lead you. And you will let him lead you, if you believe that He knows what He is doing and can never lead you to destruction but to the place of prosperity He has in mind for you. Yes, there may be times that God may lead you to the Red Sea. I mean that there may be situations in which God’s leading may put you right between the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh. But as long as you continue to follow Him, knowing that He knows what He is doing, neither the Red Sea nor the army of Pharaoh will be able to stop you from getting to where you are meant to be in life.

But how will God lead me, seeing that I cannot see Him? Well, basically, God leads His children by His written word. Yes, He also sometimes leads them through visions, dreams, prophecies or angels. But He will never lead them to do anything contrary to His written word. That, of course, is why you must daily give yourself to His word and also to prayer. Once you are doing this, you can be sure that you will never be clueless about what direction to go in life. That is because God will make sure you are daily guided in the way to go.

So, give yourself every day to the word of God and also prayer. And you will surely be led by God into all that is best for your life.

Have a very splendid week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another month of this year, the month of August 2024. My prayer is that God will grant you peace in every way, at all times and over everything that is yours in the month. Amen.

Why is it important for us to have peace within us and all around us? One main reason is that peace promotes prosperity and enjoyment of life. When people are at peace in their hearts, they can settle down to think and dream of great things. And when people have peace all around them, they can focus their energy on realizing their dreams.

But when we are troubled and are not at peace within, even if there are opportunities to do great things around us, fear will not let us utilize those opportunities. For example, Paul says this about his brief stay in Troas: “Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.” (2Cor 2:12-13NIV)

Did you see that? Even though there was a great opportunity for this apostle to preach the gospel in that place, he could not take advantage of it. Why? He had no peace of mind. Something was troubling him. What was it? It was the fact that he did not find Titus, his companion, there. And we too would most likely act the same way under similar circumstances. We would allow a wonderful opportunity to do something big or enjoyable for ourselves to pass, if a loved one was sick or was in trouble.

Also, if there is chaos all around us, even if we have great dreams and abilities, we may not be able to convert those dreams and abilities into anything meaningful. And many have died with their great dreams because the places they lived in were not peaceful enough to accommodate progress. Then even if we are able to realise our dreams in an atmosphere of chaos and trouble, we may not be able to enjoy the labour of our hands the way we should enjoy it in the place.

So, having great abilities and great dreams where there is no peace is as good as having nothing at all. In fact, it may not be wise at all to think or dream of doing great things where there is no peace. For instance, here is what God once said to a man named Baruch, who happened to be Jeremiah’s secretary: “Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.” (Jer 45:5NIV)

Did you see that? God told Baruch not to think of doing anything great for himself in the land of Judah at that time. He was not to think of building a house, starting a business or getting a wife for himself. Why? Disaster was coming on the land. And the disaster coming would destroy the whole country and drive everyone away. However, God promised to keep him safe wherever he went.

You can see, then, peace is very important for progress and enjoyment of life. And that is why we must continually pray, as we are instructed in Scriptures, for the peace of God to reign in our lives and all around us. So, I pray for you again, as we begin this new month, that God will cause His peace that surpasses all human understanding to reign in your life, all around you and over everything that is yours, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great August 2024.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ. Welcome to the transition week between the months of July and August 2024. My prayer for you is that God will wake up in the week everyone He has appointed to support you to begin to do for you all that He sent them to do. Amen.

As we see in the bible, the only one that is incapable of forgetting us or forgetting to fulfil His good purpose for our lives is God. Man, for various reasons, may forget us or forget their promises to us. But God will never forget us or forget to carry out His duty of perfecting all that concerns our lives. And look at what He says to us through Isaiah about this:

“”Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isa 49:15NIV)

Did you see that? Even though a mother may sometimes get carried away by all the things she has to do and forget to do certain things for her baby on time, God will never forget to do what is right for us at the right time. And because He will never forget us, we must never give up on life because things are not yet as smooth for us as we will want them to be. Instead, we must continually pray to Him that He will perfect all that concerns and also strengthen our hearts to walk with Him with patience, so that we will not mess up His work in our lives.

Also, we must learn to pray that God will clear the way for all the people that He has appointed to do for us things that will result in the fulfilment of His good purpose for our lives to do His will in our lives. This is because it is not everything that God wants to do for us that He will do personally. There are things that He will do for us through people. And if such people should get distracted or carried away by the things of this life, they may not remember to do what God has sent them to do for us on time or at all.

For instance, it was God that appointed that official of Pharaoh that Joseph met in the prison to help him come out of the prison and to also work for his elevation in Egypt. The man at the time, of course, did not know that it was God that had brought the two of them together or how God intended to use him to help Joseph. But he was surely determined to help him, if things turned out favourably for him. This is showing us that for some people to help us as God will want them to, things must be going on smoothly for them. Otherwise, they may be too distracted or discouraged to think about us at all. (Cf. Gen 40)

Well, things did turn out favourably for that man, as Joseph had already predicted. He got out of prison and was restored to his former high position in Egypt. Nevertheless, for reasons unspoken of in the account, he totally forgot Joseph. In fact, he forgot him for two full years.

Now did Joseph lose his mind because of that? No! Did he give up on God and on life because of that, thinking all hope of his freedom was lost? No! Instead, he continued to do what was right in the prison and to be patient with God. So, at the right time, God, who never forgets His own people, brought about circumstances that cleared the way for that man to remember him and to do the needful in bringing him out of prison. That, of course, was how all the dreams of greatness God had given to him as a boy began to be fulfilled. (Cf. Gen 41)

In like manner, God will not forget you. So, you can trust Him to fulfill all the dreams of greatness He has shown you and all His beautiful plans for your life. You, like Joseph, just need to be patient with Him and to continue to do what is right in His sight. And among those right things you must be doing is praying to Him that He will clear the way for all the people He wants to use for you to do you all the good they are meant to do you without delay. May the Spirit of God, then, strengthen you to keep these things in mind and daily act accordingly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Beloved: grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Redeemer. I am delighted to welcome you to the fourth week of the month of July 2024. I pray that God will daily teach your heart how to serve Him faithfully, so that all that you are doing in His kingdom and for His kingdom will not go to waste. Amen.

Now I want to draw your attention to a number of things that Solomon tells us in one of his books on how to make the most of our presence in church meetings. Look at it:

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” (Eccl 5:1-2NIV)

What is the first thing Solomon tells us here about how to make the most of any church meeting? It is that we are to guard our steps when going for it. In other words, we must go for every church meeting with a sense of thoughtfulness and carefulness. Yes, we must know why we are attending this meeting and what we intend to gain from doing so. Why is that important? It is so that we do not waste our time, energy and whatever other resources we may expend in attending the meeting.

Unfortunately, many who attend church meetings today just attend to fulfil all righteousness. They have been told that it is a good practice to attend church meetings. And it is indeed a good practice to do so. But what do you intend to gain by attending any church meeting? Is there even anything to gain by doing so? If there are things to gain by doing so, how do you position yourself to gain them? Many don’t keep any of these things in mind when they are going for church meetings. So, they end up gaining nothing and also wasting their time, energy and even money. What a shame!

The second thing Solomon tells us in that bible text about how to make the most of church meetings is the need for us to be more interested in what God has to say to us than in what we have to say to Him or give to Him. Are we not supposed to say anything at all to God in our church meetings? Yes, we are to say things to Him, all kinds of things. And are we not to give to God in our church meetings? Yes, we are to give to Him, anything our hearts desire to give to Him.

However, we must always remember that God is more interested in what He wants to do to our lives than in whatever we want to offer to Him. Therefore, we must put listening to Him and learning from Him above everything else. That way, He will be able to show us how to talk to Him and give to Him in ways that are acceptable in His sight.

For instance, Jesus once visited the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. And while Mary sat down at His feet to learn from Him how to live to please God, Martha was busy running up and down, trying to get a meal ready for Him. Then when Martha saw that Mary would not join her in what she was doing, she came to protest to the Lord to rebuke her sister and ask her to join her in the work. But to her surprise, the Lord did not do that at all. Instead, this is how He responded to her: “”Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”” (Luke 10:41-42NIV)

Did you see that? We may be busy about many things for God and still not really be making sense to Him. And that will be the case, if we will not first yield ourselves to learn from Him what He really wants from us. Martha, evidently, on that occasion wanted to make Jesus happy by cooking some delicious meal for Him and His disciples. But she should have first sat down to learn from Him what He really wanted. Then she may even realise that He did not need her food at all at that moment and that it was something else that He needed.

In like manner, we too must take learning from the Lord more seriously than any other thing, especially in our church meetings. We must make sure nothing robs of our opportunity to learn from Him. Otherwise, as Solomon tells us in that bible text, we may end up offering Him prayers, songs, money and services that are nothing but sacrifices of fools. And will He reward us for any foolish sacrifice we bring to Him? No! So, when next you are coming for any church meeting, keep these things in mind. And may the Spirit of God always strengthen you to do so. Amen.

Have a great week.

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