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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 wisdom for living

Cast them down | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: May 01, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 10, No. 52

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 the fifth month of this year, the month of May. My prayer is that God will cause your joy to overflow everyday of the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Recently, our online space was inundated with news about a ten-year old girl that was supposedly gang-raped by some of her fellow students while they were in Dubai for some international games. And since then, all kinds of comments have been made about the matter. Some have blamed it on poor parenting. Some others have blamed it on the irresponsibility of the school in handling their students. And yet some have blamed it on some social medial influencers and their culture of indiscriminately sharing contents of their immoral lifestyles on the internet.

But then, I have asked myself the following questions concerning the case: How many of us are truly better than these children in the way we now live our lives? And how many of were better than them when we were of the same ages as they now are? At least, I can very well remember that when I was the same age, I had my own evil desires and demons to fight as well. So, I could have become like one of those kids or even worse.

Why, then, did I not become like them? It was the grace of God that kept me from becoming like them. And how did His grace accomplish that? First, it provided me with parents who did not provide the circumstances to become like them for me, whether by their words or actions. Second, it placed me in a church where I was continually exposed to the word of God, prayers and godly counsel. So, these evil thoughts that could have made a mess of my life could not thrive or find expression in me.

So, if you are a parent, let God use you to preserve your children and other children around you. How? Watch the kind of atmosphere you create for these children to grow in, through what you do and say. That is because it will, to a large extent, determine whether evil will prevail over them or not. And if you are not a parent, you need to be truthful to yourself about the evil thoughts and desires trying to find expression in you. Otherwise, they will surely prevail over you and ruin your life. No, the world may not know or hear about the ruin of your life as they did about that girl and a number of others. But what does it matter? If your life is ruined, it is ruined.

This is why you must face the reality about the evil thoughts and desires you have. Don’t pretend they are not there. Instead, deal with them. All of us are daily troubled by them. Even Jesus and the apostles of old were also daily troubled by them. That was why Peter wrote to the churches, saying, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:11NIV) So, evil thoughts, impure thoughts and destructive thoughts are continually at war against our souls. And we must accept this as our reality. Otherwise, we won’t be able to effectively deal with them.

Now, of course, those thoughts are not our thoughts. They are Satan’s thoughts. For example, it was not Jesus’ idea to jump down from the temple top and die. It was Satan’s. And it was not Judas Iscariot’s thought to betray Jesus. It was Satan’s thought. But the difference between Jesus and Judas was what they did to the thoughts Satan brought to them. While Jesus cast down those evil thoughts with the word of God, Judas allowed them to take charge of his life and ruin it. (Cf. Matt 4:1-11; John 13:2; 2Cor 10:5)

In like manner, if we do not want the evil thoughts warring against our souls to find expression in our lives and ruin them, we must take advantage of the word of God, prayers and the fellowship of God’s people to recognise and demolish them. And we must be ready to do this every day, for Satan is also ready to ruin our lives every day, as the opportunity to do so comes to him. So, wake up from your slumber and get ready for action. This is our fight of faith. And it is a good fight, for we already have what it takes to be victorious in it every blessed day.

Do have a fabulous May 2022.

Copyright © 2022, 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)

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Fire in my Bones wisdom for living Youth for Jesus

Get the right team | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 12, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 35

“Three of the thirty chiefs came down to David to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. “God forbid that I should do this!” he said. “Should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives?” Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.” (1Chron 11:15-19NIV)

Often, when people talk about the greatness of David of bible days, they overlook the fact that he did not become great all by himself. Yes, the bible says that he became great because God was with him (1Chro 11:9). But that was not all that it says about how he became great. It also shows us that there were men that God put in his life that helped him to become great. And if he had not identified those men and allowed them to come into his life and help him, he may not have become as great as he did.

Now what qualities of men did this man choose to be with him? Loyal and competent men! For example, we are given an account in our opening bible text of how three of these men once risked their lives to get water for him. He was very thirsty on that occasion and wanted water not just from anywhere but from a particular well near the gate of Bethlehem. He just mentioned it as his desire; he did not expect anybody to work with it. But to his surprise, three of his men broke through the enemy lines and got water for him from exactly where wanted it. And so shocked and humbled was he by their action that he offered the water they had brought to him as an offering to the Lord.

Why, then, did those men do that for David? First, it was because they were absolutely loyal to him. And because they were loyal to him, his desires were their desires. So, he did not have to command them to do anything for him. Once he said anything or expressed his desire about something, they would take it as their command and run with it, even at the risk of their lives. No wonder he regarded them as chiefs among his mighty men.

Another reason they did what they did for David on that occasion was that they were competent. Loyalty is good and must be cherished above all things in every relationship. But it cannot take the place of competence. If you do not have the ability to do something, then, you do not have it. You may be loyal to the person you are with and passionate about helping them in any way. But if you lack the ability to help them, they will still find you useless to them in many ways.

Those men of David were not just loyal to him but were also mighty in combat. According to bible records, there was a time that one of them killed eight hundred men in one encounter. So, these were not just boys when it comes to war matters; they were lions. And that was why God was able to use them to help David in becoming king and also in establishing his kingdom. (Cf. 2Sam 23:8-12; 1Chro 11:11-14)

Now what is the point of all this? It is that you too need the right team of people to work with, if you must attain certain level of greatness in life. Yes, God may have shown you all kinds of fantastic things about where He is taking you in life. But you may never get there, if you do not have the right people in your life. And certainly, God, who has destined you for greatness, will, from time to time, bring all kinds of people your way, as He, in the beginning, brought all the animals He had made to Adam to see what names he would give them and what kind of relationship he would build with each of them. And it is on you, as it was on Adam, to identify the ones among those He is bringing your way that are suitable to help you get to where He wants you to get to and to hold fast to them. (Cf. Gen 2:18-23)

How, then, would you recognise or identify such people among all the ones in your life? It is by considering those two qualities that we see in David’s three mighty men. And these are loyalty and competence. Those who do not have these two qualities cannot help you much in life, regardless of how much you love them or how much they claim to love you. Is that to say that you are to utterly do away with them? No! As long as they are not against you, they are for you and will do you some measure of good in life too. But when it comes to matters that concern realising your God-given dreams in life, don’t waste time with them or entrust things that are very important to you to them. The results you will get by doing such won’t be pleasant.

Instead, apart from utterly relying on God for everything, commit important matters of your life and future only to those who are loyal to you and who are also competent to handle them. And if you do not have any of such people yet in your life, then, your journey to greatness is not about to start. So, make it your priority to find them. May God fill your heart with divine revelations to make the right decisions about this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Copyright © 2022, 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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Fire in my Bones Life Application wisdom for living

Tell them the truth anyway

“”You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.””

(John 6:67-69NIV)

One of the things our Lord was known for during His days here on earth was saying things the way they were. He never lied to anybody about anything. He always told them the truth. And He did that, regardless of how they felt or what they thought.

(more…) "Tell them the truth anyway"