Are – REALITIES MINISTRIES

Are you helpful to them? | Pst. J.O. Lawal | October 16, 2022 | Vol. 11, No. 24

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I welcome you to another week of the month of October 2022. And I pray that God will cause you to multiply in usefulness to Him and to those in your world, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he says this to him about John Mark: “…Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” (2Tim 4:11NIV) But there was a time Paul did not want this same Mark to travel with him at all in carrying out his ministry duties. And that was because he had once deserted him and Barnabas when they seriously needed him. So, Paul considered him at the time useless to him in ministry matters. (Cf. Acts 13:13; Acts 15:36-41)

But Mark did not remain useless to God or to His servants for life. He grew up in spiritual things. At some point, he acknowledged whatever bad habits or attitudes he had that made him useless to the people of God in his life and dealt with them by the power of the Spirit of God. So, later on in Paul’s life, he insisted that Timothy look for him and bring him to him, because he was helpful to him in his ministry.

There is another young man mentioned in the bible who had a similar life story. He too was once useless to his master, even though his name meant useful. In fact, he was so useless and irresponsible that he ran away from his master. But when he met Paul, he became born again. Since then, his life took on a new direction and he began to live up to his name, ‘useful’. And he became so useful to Paul that he felt like keeping him to be with him for life. But because he wanted his master to see how God had changed his life, to freely forgive him for all the bad things he had done to him and to also enjoy his usefulness, he sent him back to him. And I am talking about none other than Onesimus, Philemon’s servant. (Philemon 1)

We can see, then, that God has the power to make useless people useful and irresponsible people responsible, if they will yield their lives to him. And He wants to make you too useful and responsible in all your relationships. But are you willing to be useful and responsible to Him and in all your relationships? Unless you are willing to be useful in an increasing manner, God cannot do much for you. It is only those who are willing that God will enable to do those things that are necessary for them to become useful to those in their lives and to continually increase in usefulness.

Well, like Paul, leaders of every church of God need useful people to support them in their ministry and to keep moving the work forward. They need those they can rely on to support them with their time, spiritual gifts, money, skills and anything they have. And are you one of those people? Are you useful to your church leaders in any way? If they are thinking of those to rely on to get certain things done, will your name come to their minds at all? If this is not the case, then, you are useless to them. And if you are useless to your leaders in church, you are most likely useless to the God who has appointed them over you.

Do you, then, want to remain useless to them or do you want to become useful? That is the question for you to answer as you face this new week. And this goes beyond asking them, “How can I be useful to you?” It is also about showing them what things you can do to become useful to them. I pray that God will lead you away from everything that is making you useless to Him and to those in your world, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a fruitful week.

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Are you living at all? | Pst. J.O. Lawal | April 17, 2022 | Vol. 10, No. 50

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 of this month of April. My prayer is that the reason for all that Jesus Christ came to do for humanity will be fully accomplished in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As you probably know, this Sunday, many believers all around the world are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. And though we are not given any direct instruction in the bible to set apart a day of the year to publicly or unitedly celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, it is not a bad idea for believers to do so. What will be wrong, however, is for us to let the celebration of His resurrection end with any such day.

Also, it will be wrong for us to be publicly rejoicing in Jesus’ resurrection when we are not bringing forth the fruit of His resurrection. And that, in fact, is where the problem often lies with many so-called believers in Christ Jesus. They are not bringing forth the fruit of Christ’s resurrection. Why? It is either because they do not know that their lives must be lived to accomplish the purpose for which Jesus died and was raised from the dead for them or because they just don’t care.

In any case, if we are not bringing forth the fruit of His resurrection, we have no business celebrating it. In fact, our so-called faith in Him is questionable, if we are not bringing forth the fruit of His resurrection. That is because the bible says this to all of us who have believed in Him and identified ourselves with His death, burial and resurrection: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Rom 6:1-4NIV)

Not only that, it also says this to us: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2Cor 5:14-15NIV) Can you see that? Jesus Christ was raised from the dead in order to make it possible for us to live a new life. He died and was raised for us so that we will no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us and was raised again.

So, if what He has done for us means something to us at all, then, we will stop living to please ourselves, or to please anybody else. Rather, we will start living to please Him. And is that what we are doing? Is that what I am doing? Am I living to please the one who made my new birth into the family of God possible? Or am I living for myself, my friends, my family, my community or some institution of my choosing?

Well, we must know that to live for ourselves or any other person or thing other than our Lord Jesus Christ is not to live at all. Really, it is to defeat the true essence of living. Doing so, of course, may make us feel happy, great or accomplished. But as I already said, it is as good as not living at all. And when a man does not live at all, he wastes his opportunity to live; he wastes his life and is not fit for any form of praise from God.

So, as you go this new week and as you probably join others in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, be sure that you are truly living to fulfil His purpose for your life. Otherwise, all you are doing can only amount to a waste. My prayer is that your life and activities in this world will not end up as nothing but a waste, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely week.