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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Don’t become useless to Him|By: J.O. Lawal|Fire in my bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

“But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” (1Sam 13:14NIV)

Those were Samuel’s words to King Saul after he took it on himself to offer to God sacrifices that Samuel ought to have offered to Him. And why did he do that? He did it because he got tired of waiting for Samuel. As the account goes, Samuel had told him to give him seven days to be with him and make sacrifices to God before he would engage in the battle that was before him.

But for reasons not disclosed in the bible, Samuel was late in coming. So, Saul decided to usurp his authority and make the sacrifices the man was supposed to offer. Unfortunately for him, just as he finished making the offering, Samuel came. And all he had left to do was pronounce God’s judgment on him. (Cf. 1Sam 13)

Now what was God’s judgment concerning Saul? It was that He had already replaced him with someone else. But did God really have to do that? Why did He not give him another chance to redeem himself? Well, God did not give him another chance because it was useless to do so. As we also find out in the bible, after this incident, God sent Samuel to him again to give him another assignment. And how did he handle it? Unfaithfully, as usual! He went and did his own thing, not want God had commanded him to do. (Cf. 1Sam 15)

So, Saul at that time had already developed an independent mind. That means he was only after doing what pleased him and not what pleased God, who anointed him and made him king over His people, Israel. Therefore, he could not be trusted by God. No, God did not remove him from his throne immediately.

In fact, He allowed him to reign for forty-two years. But He never gave him any task or assignment again till he died. So, those years of his reign were nothing but useless years, as far as God was concerned, just as he too had become nothing but a useless king.What is the point of all this? It is that God is taking note of our attitude towards whatever task He gives to us. If we are handling the tasks He gives to us diligently and faithfully, whether they are tasks He gives to us directly or those that He gives to us through others, He will continue to give us more tasks. And as He gives us more tasks, He will also multiply His grace in our lives to do them. So, we will find ourselves increasing in usefulness, fruitfulness and relevance before Him.

But if we cultivate the habit of handling the tasks God gives to us as we please, a time is coming when He will have nothing else to say to us again. He will simply find someone else who will do what He wants.

Don’t we also function in like manner? We do! If, for instance, we have a tailor or carpenter that is always doing what he pleases with our work and not what we want, are we going to keep giving him jobs to do for us? No, we will not, especially when he is not the only carpenter in town. Why? We don’t want use all our time arguing with someone that has no mind or intention of satisfying us.

In the same vein, God also does not want to use all His time arguing with us, when it is clear we have no intention of doing what will please or satisfy Him. This is why, as we see in our opening text, He is always searching for people who are after His heart. Why? They are those who will willingly and faithfully do what He wants and not be arguing with Him or doing their own thing. So, if you are not one of those who are after satisfying God always in living for Him and also in handling His work, you are simply making yourself ready for redundancy in His kingdom.

That, of course, does not mean that God will reject you as His child. He won’t reject you as His child, if you do not reject Him as your Father. But the fact that you are His child does not mean that He considers you as someone He can entrust His work to. And if He is not entrusting His work to you, then, you are nothing but a useless child. I pray that you will not end up living the rest of your life as a useless child of God, in Jesus’ name.

But you also need to examine your ways and your attitude towards whatever tasks you are currently handling for the Lord and make amends where necessary. It is well with your soul.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

You Will Not Find a Better or Greater God | By: J.O. Lawal | FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: May 10, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 52

“Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the LORD’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem.” (2Chron 28:24-25NIV)

Why did King Ahaz shut the door of the Lord’s temple? It was because he did not want anyone to use it as a place of worship again. Why did he not want anyone to use the Lord’s temple for worship anymore? It was because he was angry with Him. And why was he angry with Him? It was because he felt that He was his problem – he felt that He was the reason he lost almost everything he had inherited from his ancestors.

Truly, as the account of his reign goes, things were put in reverse gear when this man became king. Everything went backward and not forward. And raiders came against the nation from every side to ruin it and to take the people captive. The situation was so bad that God, at some point, had to show mercy and intervene through one of His prophets, so that certain two hundred thousand wives and children of the land that had been taken captive would be released and sent back home. (Cf. 2Chro 28)

Yet Ahaz saw God as the problem. But was God really the problem? Was God really the reason the nation collapsed under his reign? No, God wasn’t the problem. He was the problem. He was the one that chose not to honour and worship God, as his father Jotham and his grandfather Uzziah had done. He was the one that chose idolatry and the practice of sorcery as his own way to be safe and secure. This man, as the bible tells us, was so detestable and ruthless that he offered his own sons to his gods in the fire. (Cf. 2Chro 28:1-4)

Therefore, God took away his protection. And the land became vulnerable and unsafe. What, then, should he have done? He should have returned to the God of his ancestors; he should have returned to the God that kept the nation safe and prosperous under the reigns of his father and grandfather. But did he? No, he did not!

Instead, he went deeper into idolatry. Look at how the bible puts that: 

“In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.” (2Chron 28:22-23NIV)

Think about that. Ahaz was ready to worship any god that he considered to be the winning god. But he would not worship the living God. Why? He was hoping that he would find a better and more powerful god than Him. 

See, Ahaz knew that the reason he was crushed and defeated by the nations around him was that he forsook the God of his ancestors. And that made him mad. It made him mad because he felt he should be free to choose any god he wanted and not having anyone force any god on him. So, he wanted to shame God by finding a more powerful or greater god than Him to worship. That was one of the reasons he shut the doors of the temple of God and multiplied idol worship in the land.

But did Ahaz find a greater or more powerful god than the living God? No! Why did he not find? It was because there is none. There is no god greater or more powerful than the living God. To say the fact, He is the only God that exists. All the so gods that people worship are no gods at all. They are either idols, the works of men, or demons, beings created by God. So, if anyone thinks he is going to find a greater, better or more powerful god than the living God, the person has already failed before his journey starts. 

What is the point I am making? It is that there is no greater or better god than the living God. In fact, there is no other god but Him. Therefore, if, like Ahaz, you want to forsake Him for some other gods because you think He is your problem or because you think serving Him is burdensome or because you think He is too weak or slow for you, you also, like Ahaz, will someday realise that you are your own problem and that you cannot find any god like Him or any god greater or better than Him. But will your life still be intact then? Will it not have become utterly or eternally ruined by the time you find out?

Ahaz’s life and country were ruined because felt he was free to choose his own god or gods and still be fine. And there are still many like him today who equally think they are free to choose their own gods or not to choose any god at all but become their own gods. But they are wrong. Man is not free to choose his own god or gods, for he did not create or make himself. Man was created by the living God. So, he already has the God he is to worship, serve and live for. And the best thing he can do for himself is to accept this reality and live accordingly. That will be his wisdom. That will be his eternal peace.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Be ready for Sanballat|By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: March 15, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 44

“But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?” I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”” (Neh 2:19-20NIV)

Why were Sanballat and the people with him not happy that someone with authority and brains had come to help the Israelites? Though we are not given any direct reasons in Scriptures, it must have been because they were happy seeing them wallow in poverty, misery and insecurity. Apart from that, they must also have been benefiting from their miseries.

See, when people are profiting from your poverty, shame or illness, they will not want you out of it. Instead, they will want your condition to remain the same or permanent. So, if such people should begin to see you rise above that situation or should see someone coming to help you out of it, they may get seriously offended.

Also, if people have been happy seeing you wallow in misery, stagnation or shame, probably because you have offended them in the past or because they are just jealous of you, they will not be happy, if you should begin to take steps to move out of that situation. Then if people have been together with you at a particular level of life, not necessarily that of extreme poverty, and have become used to it, they may not be happy for you, if you begin to take steps that will make you rise above them or if things begin to happen in your life that are taking you above them.

But then, it is not everyone that is unhappy about your progress that will take steps to speak against it or to stop it. Some will only be angry with you for a while and then get over it. Whereas some will go beyond being angry with you to actually doing things that will discourage you or stop you in your path of breakthrough and advancement.

Now people like that are just like the Sanballat and Tobiah of Nehemiah’s days. And you have to be ready for them, if you are praying to God to elevate you and also working hard towards being elevated. You have to be ready for their taunts, mockeries and even physical or spiritual attacks. Otherwise, they will frustrate all your attempts and steps towards rising above your current level or situation.

As we see Nehemiah’s account, even though Sanballat, Tobiah and the thugs with them knew quite well that Nehamiah had the authority of King Artaxerxes to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and establish the people there, they still made up their minds to do all they could to discourage and stop him. They abused him and the people of God with him. They said the work they were doing was nothing, something that a fox could easily pull down by climbing it. They equally made attempts to attack Nehemiah and all the people working with him.

But did they succeed? No! Why did they not succeed? First, it was because Nehemiah did not show himself to be a weakling, someone that could easily be frightened or threatened through some small talks from some thugs (Neh 2:20). Second, it was because Nehemiah led the people to put their trust in God for their success and protection (Neh 4:4 & Neh 6:9&14). Third, it was because the man and his men were vigilant all the time. The moment they knew that Sanballat and his men would do anything to harm and stop them, they put everybody on red (danger) alert. So, while each of them was working with one hand, he was also holding his weapon in another hand (Neh 4:16-23).

In like manner, if you don’t want people like Sanballat and Tobiah who want to see you make no progress in life but to die in misery to succeed, you must first of all show them that you are not a weakling, one that they could easily frighten or discourage with some words of threats or mockery. Second, entrust your success and safety into God’s hands always. In other words, be devoted to praying and to proclaiming the good word of God concerning your life.

Then be always watchful and ready to do whatever lawful thing that is within your power to do to frustrate anyone that is trying to pull you down or hinder your progress. And just as God gave Nehemiah success and also protected him, so that he completed the wall of Jerusalem in just 52 days, He will give you too success and protect you, so that you will accomplish what you set your heart on accomplishing in record time.

Cheers!