Tag: christianity

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From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: Do not harden your heart

Series: From Pastor’s Desk|Number: Vol. 14, No. 8

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of June 2025. My prayer is that your ears will never be deaf to whatever the Spirit of God is saying to you, so that you will always be safe in living the life God wants you to live. Amen.

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 3, we are given this admonition: “So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”” (Heb 3:7-8NIV) Who is speaking to us here? The Holy Spirit! And what is He saying to us? He is telling us that as long as it is called today, we should not harden our hearts when God is talking to us. In other words, we should not insist on doing our own thing, when God has already told us what He wants us to do. 

Now why should we not harden our hearts, when God is speaking to us? The reason is that doing so will surely result in disgrace, pain or destruction for us. Remember what is said in the bible about the Pharoah that would not let the children of Israel go and worship God. It is said that this king hardened his heart and would not do what God commanded. He continually turned deaf ears to what God was saying to him. And how did that end for him and his people? It ended very badly. (Cf. Ex 8:15&32)

But then, someone may say, “But it was God Himself that hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Why, then, should anybody blame him?” It is true that God hardened the man’s heart. And why did He do that? First, it was because the man himself was never ready to listen to what God had to say. That is showing us that our unwillingness to listen to what God is saying to us can only result in the hardening of our hearts. That means each time we choose to turn a deaf ear to what God is saying to us, our hearts will become more hardened to His truth. Then it will become more and more difficult for us to repent and save ourselves from His judgment. (Cf. Ex 9:12; Ex 10:20&27)

Another reason God hardened Pharaoh’s heart was to teach us that only He has the power to make people repent. And if He does not use this power to make them repent, there is nothing that is said to them or done for them that will make them repent. Remember that each time God’s judgment came on Egypt because of Pharaoh’s stubbornness, he would ask Moses to plead with Him for him and his people. But the moment he experienced some relief, he would harden his heart again. 

So, experiencing God’s goodness or mercy in great ways is not enough to make anyone listen to Him. He Himself has to work on our hearts to make us listen to what He is saying to us. Otherwise, even if He puts us in Eden, as He did with Adam and Eve, we will still harden our hearts against Him and force Him to drive us out of there.

All of this is why, as you go this week, learn to make it your prayer everyday that God will keep you from hardening your heart against whatever He is saying to you. That way, you will always be safe to enjoy His goodness and mercy in life. 

Have a lovely week.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)
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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Act your part

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 8, No. 6

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31NIV)

Who said these words? It was the father of the prodigal son that said them. And who did he say them to? He said them to his elder son?Now why did he say these words to the young man? The reason was that he was complaining that he was not being fairly treated by him.

Look at what he actually said to him:”But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ (Luke 15:29-31NIV)

What do we see from this young man’s protest to his father? We see anger. We see frustration. We also see bitterness. But should he have been angry, frustrated and bitter in this sense? No! Why, then, were these things present in his life? They were present there because he would not live in the consciousness of who he was. They were present there because he would not act his part as the elder son of his father and heir to everything the man had.He, as he pointed out to his father, had been slaving himself for him for years.

In other words, he had been doing all kinds of jobs for the man, including those meant for servants or slaves. But who asked him to act like that? Was it his father? It could not have been his father.Truly, he was meant to obey his father in everything good and right. But he was not meant to do that as a slave but as a son. In other words, he was to do whatever his father asked him to do, not with the consciousness of someone being used but with the consciousness of one that would in the long run enjoy the fruit of all that he was doing.

Mind you, as his younger brother pointed out when he came back to his senses, even their father’s servants were living in some measure of luxury (Luke 15:17). Therefore, neither of them had any legitimate reason to be living like a slave.

Unfortunately, he did not fully appreciate this. So, he would not act his part and enjoy himself as a son and heir to all that their father had. Instead, he was waiting for his father to command him to enjoy what already belonged to him before he would do so.

But he, unlike his foolish younger brother, had the training, discipline and wisdom needed to enjoy his inheritance. All he needed was to appreciate the fact that all that his father had belonged to him, especially since his younger brother had already received his own share of the inheritance, and act accordingly. But he would not learn the need to act his part until his foolish and reckless brother came back home and was treated to a great celebration by their father with part of his own inheritance.

In like manner, until certain people begin to enjoy in very unusual ways the benefits of our relationship with God or our relationships with some people, we may not wake up to the need to cherish what God has done for us or given to us. And where that is the case, the best thing for us to do is not to get angry, bitter or frustrated. That will only make a bad situation worse. Instead, it is to begin to act our part in such relationships and stop denying ourselves the enjoyment of what is ours.

So, start acting your part as a child and heir of God in every situation you find yourself. Yes, lay claim on everything that God has already said is yours without hesitation or fear, in the name of His Son Jesus. And it will be yours to enjoy. Then start acting your part in all your relationships with people.

Yes, fully act your part as a father, mother, husband, wife, child, sister, brother, church member, employer, employee, neighbour or citizen, as the case may apply. And may God readily bring about circumstances that will wake you up to begin to act your part in all your relationships, so that you may fully enjoy all that God has provided for your enjoyment through them. Amen.

Cheers!

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Responding to threats

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 6

“But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” (Nehemiah 4:7-9NIV)

Why were Sanballat and his associates angry that the Jews of their time were making progress in repairing the walls of Jerusalem? They were angry because they would no longer be able to profit from the miseries of those Jews as they used to. And there are still people like Sanballat and his associates today, people who never want others to be free from oppression or poverty because they are profiting from it. Now when such people begin to see you making progress or doing things that will hinder them from profiting from your misery or misfortune, they will not be happy.

Besides, they may even begin to take steps to keep you where you are, where they can continue to profit from your sorrow and pain. And that was the case with Sanballat and his associates. Not only were they not happy with Nehemiah and the Jews because they were making progress in building the walls of Jerusalem and ending all the forms of harassment they had been experiencing, they also began to take steps towards causing them trouble.

How, then, did Nehemiah and the other leaders of the Jews respond to the threat of these people? They responded to it in two ways. First, they prayed to God about it. In other words, they asked God to pay attention to what their enemies were saying and planning against them, so that He may frustrate them.

Why? It was because they knew that unless God kept them safe from the threats and wicked plots of these wicked people, they would not be able to keep themselves safe from them.In like manner, when we are being threatened or harassed, we must learn to pray to God and not ignore what Satan is using people to do against us. Nehemiah and his people did not ignore Sanballat and his men.

Otherwise, they would have been caught by surprise and frustrated or destroyed. And if we too don’t want those threatening us to catch us unguarded, we had better never ignore their threats, however feeble they may seem.

Instead, we should pray to God about them, so that we may always have His protection from their evil thoughts and schemes. Otherwise, we may end up feeling sorry for ourselves when these enemies are through with us.The second thing Nehemiah and his people did was to keep watch on the activities of their enemies, day and night.

Why? It was so that they would be regularly updated on what they were doing and be able to prepare themselves for it. And that was a manifestation of wisdom on their part.See, it is not everything needed for our safety that God will do for us.

There are things He will not do to keep us safe because He knows that He has given us the wisdom, strength and resources to do them. And if we fail to do these things for ourselves, we will not be able to blame Him for not keeping us safe.Keeping an eye on what Sanballat and his associates were doing was something that Nehemiah and his men could do. And they did not expect God to do it for them. Instead, they did it themselves. And it paid off, for it made their enemies see that they were not stupid people that they could easily attack and frustrate.

In like manner, keeping an eye on what anyone threatening or harassing you is up to will let them know that you are not stupid but sharp and attentive.

In fact, it will make them think twice before they take any step against you. And since keeping an eye on them is something you can do, do it, instead of waiting for God to do it for you.

Otherwise, you may ignorantly or foolishly take steps that will make you fall into their traps.Who, then, are you going to blame, if that should happen? Yourself!

So, learn and embrace the wisdom of God to keep yourself safe from all kinds of threats. And may God’s loving eye continually watch over your life. Amen.

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From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: A ready faith

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 6.

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 second week of the month of June 2025. And I pray that your heart will always be made ready to receive from God whatever good thing He wants you to have. Amen.

As we see in the bible, no one can receive anything good in this life, if God has not provided that thing. That means we can only receive what God has given or provided. If He, then, has not provided something, no one, regardless of how great his faith may be, can receive it. (Cf. John 3:27)

But then, even if God has provided something for us, we too must want to have it. Otherwise, that thing may never be ours, unless we are shown mercy. For example, as we see in the bible, the family of Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless for many years, even though they were righteous before God. That, of course, did not make them turn to some other gods for help. Instead, they kept on praying to God to show them mercy and take away their disgrace. (Cf. Luke 1:5-7)

Now how did I know that they were praying to God to take away the shame of barrenness from their home? I know because, as we also see in the bible, when God sent angel Gabriel to give the good news of His answer to their prayer to them, the first thing he told Zechariah was, “Your prayer has been heard.” So, if we will not faint in praying to God, we will surely receive an answer to our prayer, as long as it is in line with His will. Yes, the answer may take a while to get to us. But it will surely come. (Cf. Luke 1:13)

However, will God’s answers to our prayers always meet us ready? Are we going to be ready to receive from Him what He wants us to have, which we too may have been praying and longing for, when the thing is eventually brought to us? Zechariah was not ready to receive from God the child he had been praying for years for, when God eventually cleared the way for the child to come to his family. He could not believe that God was really going to give them a child in their old age. (Cf. Luke 1:11-20)

Why, then, was he praying to God all those years for a child? He was probably doing so to fulfil all righteousness. And if God had not been merciful to him, in spite of his unbelief, he would have been the reason his wife would remain childless for life.

So, it is not enough to be praying to God to give us something. Our hearts also must always be ready to receive from Him what we are praying for, regardless of how long it takes for the answer to come to us and regardless of how impossible it may seem for the answer to come to us. Otherwise, our prayer for that thing may end up being a waste.Not only that, we must continually give ourselves to the word of God, so that our faith will be strengthened to always be ready to receive from Him.

Mary the mother Jesus, for instance, never prayed to God to become the mother of the saviour of the world. She probably never considered nor took to seriously the Scripture that talks about a virgin that would conceive and give birth to the saviour. But when angel Gabriel came to tell her that she had been chosen by God to be the mother of the saviour, her faith was ready to accept what God had chosen her for. So, she said, “May your word to me be fulfilled.” And it was so. (Cf. Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:36)

In like manner, if our faith is always ready to receive from God, whatever He wants us to have will be ours, even if we have never prayed for it. So, let us learn to daily feed ourselves with His word, so that we may always have a ready faith to receive from Him. And may you and I be strengthened to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTS Message Transcripts 2025

Title: Prayer

Series: See to it

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I want to continue sharing with you on ‘See to it’. We have been looking at the instructions given to us in Hebrews, chapters 3 and 12 on seeing to it that none of us develops a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. That means it is our duty, individually and collectively, to watch over one another and see to it that we do not go astray. And that has led us to looking at various things we must pay attention to, while attempting to watch over one another.

Now the last thing I want to bring to us on this has to do with praying for one another. See, it does not matter how diligent we are in watching over one another, in counselling one another and in following up one another, so that we do not fall away from the grace of God, without supporting ourselves with prayer, we may still find some or even many among us falling away. This is why we have Scriptures in which we are given instructions about praying for one another in order to remaining in the faith.

For instance, Paul says this in Ephesians, chapter 6, from verse 18:“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:18NIV)

First, our instruction here is to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Then we are told to be vigilant and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. So, we have an instruction here, which is to always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Observe that we are not told in this bible text to always keep on praying for ourselves. Of course, we are to keep on praying for ourselves. But our instruction here is to always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Now, as a person, I take that very seriously. I pray for all the Lord’s people. I do not need to know all the Lord’s people that are here on earth. But I can pray for them based on the regions of the world in which they are living, based on their sex, based on age, based on their professions and so for. And think about this: since are told to pray for all the Lord’s people, we will not be expected to do anything less in praying for those that we are together in our local assemblies. So, we must be praying for all those that we are together in our local assemblies.

Remember that this is God’s command to us. If you, then, have not been praying for members of your assembly and for all the Lord’s people, you are sinning against Him – you are disobeying a clear command from Him. This is not a suggestion to us. This is a command from Him to us. So, we must take obeying it very seriously.

What sort of prayers, then, are we to be offering for our brethren and all the people of the Lord? We are to be offering for them all kinds of prayers. Any kind of prayer that is good for you is good for all the Lord’s people. Any kind of prayer that is good for you is good for your brethren as well. So, do not tell me that you do not know what sort of prayers you are to be offering for your brethren. That is because you can offer for them whatever prayer you offer for yourself.

However, for the purpose of these teachings, we are being specific about the sort of prayer we are to be offering for our brethren. We are considering prayers that will enable them to remain true to God and not fall away from the faith, irrespective of the trials of life that they may be confronted.

For example, in Colossians, chapter 4, from verse 12, Paul says this about a ministry companion of his and his devotion to praying for the brethren in Colossae:“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.” (Colossians 4:12-13NIV)

This is a very good example of what God expects us to be doing for our brethren, where it concerns prayer. Paul says, “Epaphras, who is one of you…” So, this man was a member of that church. In fact, in chapter 1 of this letter, Paul makes it clear to us that it was this man that God used in starting the church in Colossae. He was the one that preached to be people there and led them to the Lord Jesus Christ. That was how a church started there.

Now Paul, at the time that he wrote this letter, wanted the brethren to know that this man, Epaphras, was devoted to praying for them, even though he was not with them at the time. Paul refers to what he was doing for these brethren as hard work. So, prayer is hard work. If you have been devoted to prayer, you will know that it is hard work. I know that it is hard work.Well, Epaphras was devoted to praying for the brethren in Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis. And he was praying like these for all these brethren because he identified with them – he was one of them. If you too identify with your brethren, if you take them as your family, you will be devoted to praying for them. Yes, all of us have a duty to pray for all the Lord’s people around the world.

But more importantly, we have a duty to be praying for the brethren that we are directly fellowshipping together. Epaphras saw it as his duty to be praying for the Colossian-brethren. And he was very devoted to it. In fact, Paul refers to his approach in praying for them as a wrestle. He says he is wrestling in prayer for them. Why? The reason is that they may stand firm in the will of God, mature and fully assured. Think about that. This man wants these brethren to stand firm in all the will of God, regardless of what they are confronted with in life.People are confronted with all kind of trials and challenges in life.

All of us are confronted with all kinds of trials and challenges of life. And we may not be able to share everything that is coming our way. But if we have someone that is praying for us that we may stand firm in all the will of God, we may not be able to tell to what extent that will help us.There are Christians today that are fighting for their souls in their offices, schools, neighbourhoods and so forth. That is because they are probably living in Sodom and are being tormented everyday by the evil of those around them. And now their faith is shaking and they need our spiritual support.

Unfortunately, many of us are too self-occupied. Because we are self-occupied, we don’t even spend time praying for ourselves, not to talk of praying for others. But your brother may urgently need your prayer. That sister of yours may urgently need your prayer. And God is counting on you to pray for them. So, if a brother or a sister should fall because of your negligence in praying for them, God is going to hold you accountable.

This, of course, is one of the reasons our Lord Jesus says that many who are first will be last. See, many that we are looking up to in the church as pillars may not after all be what we think they are, when we stand before the Lord. And that may be because they have been negligent in handling their duties in various areas. We too may have been negligent in handling our duties in various ways. And one of those areas in which many of us are negligent in our spiritual duties is that of praying for our brethren. (Cf. Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31)

Now we think it is the so-called prayer warriors that should be praying for all of us. But from what we see in Ephesians 6:18, the duty of prayer is not reserved for any group or class of people in the church; it is for all of us. Yes, our leaders must be at the fore in prayer matters, as the apostles of old said. The apostles of old said that the leaders must give themselves to the ministry of the word of God and prayer. That means they must always take the lead in prayer matters, especially praying for their brethren. (Cf. Acts 6:3)

Nonetheless, every one of us must give himself to prayer. Jesus says, “People ought to always pray and not give up.” He does not say, “Pastors or preachers ought to always pray and not give up.” And in Ephesians 6:18, as I pointed out already, Paul says, “Always pray for all the Lord’s people.” This instruction is given to all members of the body of Christ, not to our leaders alone. And all of us must take it seriously.

Well, my point is that all of us need one another’s prayer support. That is because none of us is exempted from life’s challenges. Even our Lord Jesus Christ was not exempted from life’s challenges. So, towards the end of His life here on earth He had to give Himself to earnest praying.

Why did He have to do that? It was because He was confronted with a situation in which He needed all the grace of God that He could get to walk in victory.Now the Lord, at that time, did take some of His disciples along with Him to pray. But they could not give Him any prayer support. He had told them to pray for themselves. But they would not do so. How, then, could they give Him any prayer support? He Himself knew that He could not expect any prayer support from them.

If they had supported Him with their prayers in that situation, who knows how that may have made His cross easier to carry? But He could not rely on them for any prayer support. And you too may not be able to rely on anyone around you for prayer support. But it is the duty of each of us to be praying for one another, so that we all will stand firm in all the will of God for our lives, mature and fully assured.

Do we really want to stand firm in all the will of God? Do we want to come to maturing in the things of God? Do we want full assurance of faith in our hearts? Then we must be praying for one another. I must be praying for you. You too must be praying for me. A lot of times, we are quick judge brethren who fall short of the grace of God. But did we take our prayer duty to them very seriously? How much time did we spend in praying for those who fell among us before they fell? If we had been praying for them, they probably would not have fallen the way they did. So, don’t be quick to judge anybody.

Yes, you may see Christians that have turned away from God and are living useless and irresponsible lives. But have you been praying for them, praying for all the Lord’s people, that they may stand firm in all the will of God, regardless of the temptations or challenges or even opportunities they may come in contact with? Have you been praying for them, regardless of the persecutions and hostility they are faced with, regardless of the torment of their souls?There are Christians that are living on the edge, where they are continually exposed to danger or death because of their faith.

And some of these people may become tired or weary because of the intensity of what they are going through. If care is not taken, they may fall away or slip back into their former way of life. There have been those who slipped back into their former religions because the hostility they faced, having become Christians, was too much for them to handle.Therefore, we must learn to pray for one another. And we see a clear example of this in the text I shared with us from Colossians 4 about Epaphras and his devotion to praying for the people of God.

We too must be given to praying for our brethren like that, so that they may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Furthermore, the Lord gives us some other specific prayers we are to be offering for ourselves and for our brethren. Look at how Luke puts it:“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36NIV)

First, we are told by the Lord here to always be on the watch. In other words, we must not allow ourselves to get carried away by the things happening around us. Then He goes on to command us to pray. About what? He tells us to pray that we may be able to escape all that is about to happen and that we may be able to stand before the Son of Man.

See, in these last days, wickedness will increase, as we are warned by the Lord Jesus Christ. And these will cause the love of many people to grow cold. So, because of the things we are going to be exposed to in our world, because of the intensity of wickedness that we are going to be exposed to wherever we turn, our faith will put to the utmost test. And the only way for us to escape is for God Himself to save us. Our salvation from the corruption and evils of these last days is beyond our desire or effort. We need all the mercy of God we can get to be saved. So, we are told to pray to Him that we may be able to escape all that will be happening in these last days and that we will be able to stand blameless when our Lord Jesus returns. (Cf. Matthew 24:12; Romans 9:16)

I personally take the offering of this prayer very seriously. I offer it for myself. I offer it for my family. I offer it for all of you here in this assembly. And I offer it for all God’s people. You too should be offering it for yourself and for all the people of God. Well, you can see that we have sufficient instructions in Scriptures on what sort of prayers to offer for ourselves so that we do not fall away but stand firm in all the will of God. So, you cannot claim to be ignorant in this matter.

Yes, we are to be involved in one another’s life, so that we will know how to properly guide, support and counsel ourselves. But all of that may go to waste, if we will not be devoted to praying for one another. You may have been in situations in which you counselled certain people of God and your counsel fell on deaf ears. Yes, you knew that they were going in a wrong direction. You knew that they would ultimately hurt themselves, if they continued in the path they were following.

Yet you could not get them to see the light through your counsel. Now what do we do in such situations? Do we put more and more pressure on such individuals to do what is right? No! We cannot help people beyond what they permit. But we can pray for them. We can take charge of their souls in the realm of the spirit by offering prayers for them.In Luke, chapter 22, from verse 31, he tells us this about the prayer of Jesus for His disciples:“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32NIV)

Jesus, here, is telling His disciples that Satan has already asked to sift all of them as wheat, that is, to mess them up. Think about that. Just as Satan got permission to mess Job up, he also got permission from God to mess up the Lord’s disciples. And what did Jesus do when He learnt of this? He prayed for them. Yes, He had been feeding them with the word of God. But He also knew that feeding them with the word of God would not be sufficient on that occasion – they would need the mercy of God to escape.

So, He prayed for them that their faith may not fail. We too can offer this prayer for ourselves, prayer that our faith will not fail, regardless of what Satan may throw at us. In fact, we should be offering it for ourselves and for all our brethren. We may not know what sort of permission Satan has obtained against our brethren, to pull them down in their neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools, marriages or even Christian assemblies. And there are times that God may reveal such things to us, as He did in the case of the Lord’s disciples.

But whether He reveals Satan’s schemes against our brethren to us or not, we must be praying for our brethren that their faith may not fail.What I mean is that we do not need to wait for any divine revelation before we begin to pray for our brethren. We have already been told in the Scriptures to be doing so. So, we are to take it upon ourselves to pray for our brethren that their faith will not fail, regardless of where they are and what Satan may be doing to pull them down.Now praying like this for our brethren does not mean that they may not stumble or fall at all. They may still stumble or fall, even though we are praying for them. Jesus prayed for His disciples that their faith may not fail. Yet they all ran away from Him when He was arrested and taken away to be crucified. But because He had prayed for them, God was able to restore them. So, there are times that our prayers may not keep our brethren from falling.

But our prayers may assure their restoration. Let us, then, learn to pray for one another, so that none of us will develop a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God or fall short of His grace. My prayer is that the Spirit of God will daily strengthen us to take these instructions very seriously. Amen.

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From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: Slow to learn

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 5

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 sixth month of this year, the month of June 2025. I pray that God will strengthen you every day of the month to make the most of His grace in growing to be all that He wants you to be. Amen.

In the book of Hebrews, the writer tells us that it is possible for our spiritual growth to be arrested. And one of the things that can make that happen is an unwillingness on our part to make effort towards learning the truth of God, understanding it and also applying it to our lives.

Look at how he puts this:“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (Heb 5:11-12NIV)

Did you see that? This man of God had a lot of things to share with the brethren who first received this letter about the life of faith in Christ Jesus. But it was hard for him to do so. Why? The reason, according to him, was that they were slow to learn. That, of course, does not mean that they did not have the capacity to learn and understand what they were being taught. Rather, it means that they were lazy about learning. In other words, they were not making any serious effort to understand and begin to put to work the things they were learning.

Therefore, as the man of God goes on to say in the bible text, when these people ought to be teachers already, when they ought to be taking responsibility for other new believers, they themselves still needed someone to be teaching them all over again the basic truths of God’s word. When they ought to be spiritual adults that could be entrusted with spiritual babies, they still wanted themselves to be treated as babies. Now think of how frustrating that must have been for this man of God and other leaders of these brethren. Yes, think of the kind of discouragement it must have brought to their hearts.

Unfortunately, even today, we still have many of God’s people that are lazy to learn spiritual truths and apply them. These ones are making their leaders in the church to teach the same things again and again. They are making them to correct them again and again about the way they are living their lives in bitterness, in hatred, in selfishness, in lust, in pride, in greed, in jealousy and in lack of zeal for God. Therefore, they are slowing down the ministry of their leaders and of their Christian assemblies, making it difficult for them to reach and bless more people for the Lord.

What, then, are church leaders to do to such people? How do leaders deal with those who are frustrating their effort in raising them in the will of God? Well, as the writer of the book of Hebrews tells us, at some point, they will have to stop treating these spiritually lazy believers as babies. Yes, they will have to start teaching them the things they do not want to learn and also stop treating them as spiritual babies, making them to do for themselves those things that they are reluctant to do. (Cf. Heb 6:1-3)

Now will that make such believers happy? No! In fact, it may make some of them stop coming for church meetings altogether. But whether it makes them happy or not, what has to be done has to be done for them to stop hindering the growth of their assemblies. So, if you have been a child of God for two years or more and have still refused to grow in your faith and become someone that your church leader can trust with responsibilities, you are slow to learn and spiritually lazy. And if you continue to be like that, slowing down your church leaders, they may soon begin to withdraw the attention they are giving you, so that you can stop being a spiritual baby. That, of course, will not be something pleasant for you.

So, wake up before it is too late and begin to pray to God to supply you with adequate zeal and strength to start making the most of His grace to grow spiritually. Otherwise, it will not be long at all before those who become born again after you become your teachers in the Lord.

Have a lovely June 2025.

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From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: Focus on what God is doing

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 4

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last week of the month of May 2025. My prayer is that all the good works of God concerning your life will be perfected, according to every day’s need, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, tells us this about God: “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil His good purpose.” (Phil 2:13NIV) Did you see that? God is working in the lives of all of us who are His children. Why? It is so that He can fulfil His good purpose for our lives.

That means God is not idle. He is not sleeping or folding His arms, while we are working hard and struggling with Satan and his demons in order to amount to something in life. Instead, He also is working in our lives to see to it that all His good intentions for us come to pass and that all our effort in life does not go to waste.

Now we may not see what God is doing in certain areas of our lives. It may not even appear that He is working in our lives at all. That, however, does not mean that He is not working. His word tells us that He is working in our lives. And His word is true all the time. So, whether we can see what He is doing to fulfil His good purpose in our lives or not, we should just believe what His word says and begin to act accordingly.

Then, if we do not give up, we will at the right time see manifestations of His good works in our lives.Unfortunately, many of us love to pay more attention to what Satan and his demons are doing to ruin our lives than to what God is doing to make us who we ought to be in life. In fact, all that some of us often focus on is what is Satan is doing. We don’t look out at all for what God is doing. And that is one of the reasons we are not witnessing His glory and a perfection of His good works in our lives as it ought to be.

Truly, Satan’s works are real. Sicknesses, diseases, poverty, accidents and death are real. Also, pains and sorrow are real. And these things can be so real to us that we will think there is no escape from them for us. That, of course, is what Satan wants. He wants us to think that there is no escape from the things he is using to afflict us. And the moment we begin to think like that, we will turn our eyes away from what God is doing to rescue and lift us up.

For example, when Moses came to rescue the children of Israel from Egypt, their afflictions were multiplied by the Egyptians. So, even though God was already at work on their behalf to set them free, they would not pay attention to what He was doing at all; all that they paid attention to were their afflictions. And if Moses too had been like them, paying attention only to their afflictions instead of focusing on what God was doing, their deliverance from Egypt would surely have been postponed to ‘only God knows when’. (Cf. Exodus 5)

But though Moses could see the afflictions of these Israelites and was not happy about them, he did not focus his attention on them. Instead, he focused his attention on God and on what He was doing to save them. So, he was able to secure their deliverance from Egypt when the time was ripe.In like manner, even though we can see all that Satan is doing to harm us and are not happy about it, our focus must not be on it at all.

Otherwise, that is what we are going to be wasting our time talking about. And that will bring discouragement to our hearts. But if our focus is on God and on what He is doing in our lives, regardless of what Satan may be doing to hurt us, our hearts will be daily strengthened to patiently wait until He fulfils His good purpose in every area of our lives at the right time. So, focus your attention on what God is doing in your life and all around you. And you will never again miss any manifestation of His glory.

Have a glorious week.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Title: Choosing Abimelech

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 2

“When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers.” (Judg 9:3-5NIV)

Who was Abimelech, the one mentioned in our opening text? He was the son that Gideon’s concubine bore for him. And what was so important about him that God cared to put his account in the bible for us? It was the fact that he was the first man to ever attempt to rule as king over the nation of Israel. (Cf. Judges 9:6)

Now, as we also see in the bible, when the people wanted Abimelech’s father, Gideon, to become their king, he frankly and humbly rejected their proposition. Look at how the bible puts that: “But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”” (Judg 8:23-24NIV)

Did you see that? This man said that neither he nor any of his sons would be king over these people. Why? The reason was that he knew that the Lord is their king. Yes, he saved them from their enemies. But that was because the Lord called, sent and empowered him to do so. So, he knew that it would be foolish of him to try to take the place of God in their lives as their king. And even though he had seventy legitimate sons, none of them attempted to be king over the Israelites. Why? He had raised them well enough to know their place in the lives of the people. (Cf. Judges 6-8)

In like manner, we too must know our proper place in people’s lives. God may have used us or be using us to help them in various ways. That, however, does not make us God. We should, therefore, never attempt to take His place in anyone’s life. Otherwise, sooner or later, we will surely find ourselves facing challenges never meant for us in life. We may even end up undoing all the good God has used us to do.

So, let us be mindful of ourselves.In any case, as I pointed out before, Gideon had another son called Abimelech, the son of his concubine. And apparently, this son of his was not raised by him as others had been raised. That, of course, must have been the reason the thought of using his father’s legacy as a leverage to become king over Israel could enter his head. Unfortunately, the people of his mother’s side welcomed the idea and gave him a lot of money to hire ruthless men to accomplish his ambition.

Why? Well, as we see in our opening text, their reason was that he was related to them. In other words, he was their relative.So, the people of Shechem did not choose Abimelech as their leader because he was an upright, wise and godly man, one that righteous people could flourish under his leadership. Instead, they chose him because he was their relative. And because they did, a scoundrel was empowered to destroy all his father’s seventy sons (except his youngest son that escaped) and also all the good works God has used him to do for his nation.

Then, much later, he too and his sponsors went on to destroy themselves. What a pity! (Cf. Judges 9)What is the point of all this, at any rate? It is that we need to learn to choose our leaders for the right reasons. Someone may be our relative, a friend, a neighbour, a colleague at work or in school or a church leader. It does not mean that they have the right qualities to occupy certain leadership positions.

And if we should allow sentiments to lead us to choose and sponsor them to occupy a position that they have no ability or character to handle, we may someday realise that we have chosen Abimelech and empowered the devil himself to afflict and destroy much good. Then, like Abimelech and the people of Shechem, we too and the bad choice of leadership we have made may end up labouring hard to destroy ourselves.

Now would something like that not be bad and distressing? It would! But it is something that is happening in many places all around the world, even today. People and the leaders they have chosen for themselves are cursing themselves and also labouring hard to destroy themselves. And if we want to put a stop to a repetition of such mess, we had better stop allowing sentiments to drive us to choose Abimelech.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: That grace may increase

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: vol 14, NO 3.

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of May 2025. My prayer is that God will rid your life of everything that is working against the full expression of His grace in your life, so that you can be all that He wants you to be and also enjoy all that He wants you to enjoy in life. Amen.

Now one of the things that hinder the manifestation of the grace of God in the lives of His people is sin. What kind of sin? Any kind of sin! That means just as sexual immorality can hinder the manifestation of the grace of God in the lives of His people, so also can greed, theft, bitterness, drunkenness, jealousy and slander hinder it.Unfortunately, many of us do not have this understanding.

We think it is only obvious sins like adultery, drunkenness and theft can hinder the manifestation of God’s grace in our lives. But any kind of sin can hinder the manifestation of His grace in our lives. That is why Paul asks this question of us all: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” And his answer is, “No, we cannot go on living in sin and expect more of God’s grace in our lives.”Why is that so? The reason is that it takes the grace of God to walk in victory over sin. And He has already freely provided for us the grace to do so (Titus 2:11).

If we, then, are not walking in victory over every kind of sin, it means that we are not making adequate use of His grace. Therefore, we should not expect more manifestation of His grace in our lives. What we are saying is that for us to witness greater or more manifestation of God’s grace in our lives, we need to first begin to make adequate use of whatever measure of grace He has already given us. If we are not making adequate use of the grace He has already given us, He will not give us more.

Yes, people may pray for more grace for us. But that prayer will only work when we are using the grace that has already been provided by God for us, adequately and appropriately.Look at Samson, for example. When he began to indulge in sexual immorality, did God multiply His grace that was in his life? No! On the contrary, at some point, that grace stopped working.

So, he fell into the hands of his enemies and was seriously messed up. And that is showing us that we cannot be using the grace of God to live a life that is contrary to His will and expect it to always work well for us or to increase in our lives.

However, we can expect God’s grace in our lives to diminish in manifestation or to altogether stop working, if we are not using it at all or if we are abusing it. And that will put us at the mercy of the devil. If we, then, do not want that to happen to us, we must learn to make adequate use of His grace given to us in living in victory over sin and in doing the good works He wants us to do. And we can do this by giving ourselves to His word, prayer and Christian fellowship.

My prayer is that our hearts will be strengthened everyday to make the most of all the grace God has already given to us, so that He can continually multiply it for us to be all that He wants us to be in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.Have a lovely week.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

It is simply a joke

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 8, No. 1

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” (James 1:26NIV)

Who is James talking to in our opening text? He is talking to those who consider themselves to be religious. And do we have people who think of themselves as religious? We do! Yes, we have people who see themselves as men and women who know God, love God, worship God and have God’s ears.

Now is anything wrong with seeing ourselves in that light? Well, James does not say that something is wrong with seeing ourselves as those who know God, who know where He lives and who also know what He eats. But he tells us that this view of ourselves ought to have some serious impact on what comes out of our mouths. Otherwise, we are simply lying to ourselves about knowing God and worshiping Him. That means our religion is worthless.

Sadly, we have many today who think of themselves as God’s deputies but who exercise no control whatsoever over what comes out of their mouths. These ones say anything that comes to their minds, without weighing it to see whether it is good or bad or whether it honours God or dishonours Him. And if anyone tries to correct them or to show them that they are supposed to be talking like those who know God and not like little devils, they will not be slow at all to abuse or curse the person as well.

Now perhaps you are like that. You can abuse or curse anyone and anything. You can even get the dead to be stirred up in their graves through your abusive words. Yet you call yourself a Christian or a child of God. The word of God is coming to you now and telling you that you are self-deceived. Truly, you may think that you know God and are serving Him.

But you are simply a joker. Your religion is worthless. In other words, what you are doing in your worship of God makes no sense to Him at all. And that is because your so-called relationship with Him has not yet changed you.See, when a man comes into a relationship with God, the first obvious change that will be seen in his life has to do with the way he talks. He will no longer want to speak carelessly or loosely. Instead, he will want to speak love and grace.

Yes, this may initially prove difficult for him to do, especially if he has been a loose talker all his life. But he will begin to make effort by the power of the Spirit of God in him to speak differently. Yes, he will begin to make effort to show through his words that he is no longer a sinner. And if he continues like that and does not stop, it will not be long before he realises that loose taking is no longer an option for him.

So, if you are still loose in the way you talk, if nothing appears to be too corrupt or unclean for you to say with your mouth, you are either saying that you don’t know God at all or have utterly forgotten that you have been saved by Him. And it does not matter what religious title or titles you carry around on your head, your religion is worthless – it is simply a joke.If you, then, do not want your religion to remain a joke, you have to begin to put a tight rein on your tongue.

That means you have to now begin to teach your tongue not to say just anything that comes to your mind. Yes, impure, corrupt and hurtful things may still want to come out of your mouth. But you must not allow them to come out of it, for your tongue is meant to speak only those things that glorify God and also edify men, not things that dishonour them.

My prayer is that you will daily find in God all the strength you need to keep these words in mind and to also begin to put them to work in your life and affairs. Amen.