Tag: Faith

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Be of true help to them|By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: February 15, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 40

“..John Mark went with them as their assistant.” (Acts 13:5NIV)

Who did John Mark go with to assist? Paul and Barnabas! They were on their first missionary journey. And they needed a trusted brother from the church to be around them as their assistant. So, John Mark volunteered to go with them.

Now that reminds of a time in which I travelled with a highly respected pastor of mine to Accra in Ghana. He had just been transferred to the branch of our assembly in that city to get the work there established. And he seriously needed someone to be with him before his family would relocate to join him. So, when he asked me if I would want to go with him, I said ‘Yes’.

Why did I say ‘Yes’ to him? Was it because I was going to be preaching with him? No! Or was it because I was being given an opportunity to travel out of the country for the first time? Yes, that was part of it. I really wanted to see what life outside this country was then. But that was not my main reason for saying ‘Yes’ to him. My main reason for following him was that I saw that he could really use my assistance.

So, I went with him, not to preach with him but to help him in whatever way he wanted me to help him. That, of course, involved handling house chores for him, running errands for him, taking his phone calls and so forth. And when I was leaving about three months later, he wished he could keep me with him a little longer. But since he couldn’t, he sent me off with this prayer that I will never forget: God will grant that you will never lack helpers in your life.

Now what greater reward could I have hoped to receive from him other than those heartfelt words of prayer? None! And that is the greatest reward you too could ever get from anybody for faithfully and willingly making yourself available to serve them, especially in their moment of need. But will you get it? Will there be people in your life praying for you every time they remember you for being such a great help and comfort to them in their lives?

Paul, while addressing Timothy in a letter, says this about a man called Onesiphorus:

“May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.” (2Tim 1:16-18NIV)

At a time when everybody abandoned Paul because of his chains, at a time when he was feeling all alone because there was no one around to minister to him with words of encouragement or resources, Onesiphorus was there for him. This man went out of his way to look for this apostle when he came to Rome. It was difficult for him to find him. But he did not relent until he found him and ministered to him. And all that Paul could do was pray heartfelt prayers for him and for his household that they would find mercy on the day of the Lord.

Unfortunately, even today, just as it was with Paul in those days, leaders often find it hard to find trusted and willing people to stand by them to assist or support them. Yes, they often find it hard to find people who will willingly want to make their load lighter, not because of what they want to get or because they are paid to do so but because they truly care. And this is equally true in the church. I mean that, even in the church, it is often hard to find people who are always genuinely looking out for their church leaders and seeking ways to make their load lighter. Most of us only want to serve if there is something for us to gain and if and only if it is convenient.

This, of course, explains why most of our leaders pray for us simply because it is their job to do so and not also because we are continually inspiring them to pray for us. It also explains why we are having fewer and fewer servant leaders in the church. Most of our leaders have not learnt how to genuinely and willingly serve others. How, then, can they teach others to do so? So, they have to resort to the use of money, force or manipulation to get people to do their bidding. And that is how many of them have ended up surrounding themselves with people who are only loyal to themselves and their bellies and not love servants.

Now my prayer is that you will not wake up one day to find out that all the people around you are loyal only to themselves and not at all to you. I also pray that God will provide you with true and willing helpers in your life, helpers who will continually seek to make your life and work easier and more productive. But you too should learn to sow the seed of true help and assistance into the lives of the leaders in your life, both in the church and outside the church. And their heartfelt prayers will water that seed, so that it will bear a great harvest of helpers for you someday.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Domestic oppression |By: J.O. Lawal | FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones
Date: February 08, 2023 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 39

“Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.” Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.” (Neh 5:1-6NIV)

As we see in the book of Nehemiah, in order for the Jewish exiles that had returned to Jerusalem to be rid of the harassment and disgrace they were facing from the hostile gentiles surrounding them, Nehemiah had to leave his comfort zone as King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer and come home to help them. Was it easy for him to get this king’s permission to do this? No! He really could have lost his life in the process of seeking it. But because he had first sought the Lord’s face and favour before approaching the man, his request was miraculously granted. (Cf. Neh 1-2)

Now when he eventually came and began to labour for the welfare of his people, he thought it was only the oppression they were faced with from outside that he had to deal with; he did not know that he would have to handle domestic oppression as well. But it was not long after he had successfully dealt with the external forces contending with the welfare of his people that he realised that the people he was working hard to save were equally oppressing one another.

Remember that Moses also had a similar experience. He had, on one occasion, killed an Egyptian in his attempt to save one of his own. But to his surprise, it was not only the Egyptians that were oppressing his people. They themselves were oppressing themselves. And when he tried to point this out to one of them, he ended up having to run for his life for the next forty years. (Cf. Ex 2:11-15)

In any case, as we see in our opening text, Nehemiah was really angry when he realised that while he was labouring hard to help his people get established in the land, there were still among them those who were using their positions of advantage to oppress others. And he had to call their nobles and officials into a meeting and bound them with oaths and curses in order to solve the problem. Otherwise, all his labour to comfort the people and give them rest would have come to nothing because of the domestic oppression going on among them. (Cf. Neh 5:6-13)

Similarly, in Nigeria today, there is much distress everywhere for the citizenry. And is this because our leaders are so cruel and unfeeling? No! Yes, we cannot run away from the fact that many of our leaders have not done well at all in caring for the people. But the truth also is that much of the distress we are now experiencing is not a direct consequence of their ineptitude but that of the domestic oppression we too are subjecting ourselves to.

For example, can we in all honesty say that our leaders are totally to blame for the outrageous increase in fuel prices that we are now seeing? No! That is an offspring of domestic oppression. Or can we in all sincerity put all the blame for the scarcity of the new naira notes that we are seeing on our leaders? No! That is also a product of domestic oppression emanating from many of our commercial banks and POS operators. Or can we say that our leaders are totally to blame for the daylight robbery of many Nigerians by those in the power sector? No! That is equally a product of domestic oppression.

Yes, our economy has been badly managed by our leaders for many years. And no one, as I pointed out before, can excuse them from taking responsibility for that. But we are the ones making this economy daily worse through our greed. Our greed is the force driving us to use the poor leadership in the country as an excuse for pursuing unjust profit in every possible way. So, our pains and miseries are mostly self-inflicted and our oppression largely domestic.

If we, then, are going to witness any relief soon, we all must choose to end every form of domestic oppression we are perpetuating or sponsoring in our offices, business centers, neighbourhoods, schools and even religious assemblies. Remember that, right now, we don’t have any Nehemiah that will compel us to do what is right. So, if we don’t begin to do what is right as a matter of urgency, it may not be long before our beloved country is totally colonised again by foreigners.

Now this sort of colonisation, of course, is not going to be territorial, as it was before we gained independence. Rather, it is going to be an economic thing. In other words, our economic independence will totally be taken away from us and we will be nothing but economic slaves of some other nations. My prayer is that things will not degenerate to that level before we all come back to our senses or before God sends a Nehemiah to us to redeem our honour. Amen.

Copyright © 2023, 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 Youth for Jesus

Would He make a garment of skin for you too?| By: J.O. Lawal|FIRE IN MY BONES

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: February 01, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus| Number: Vol. 5, No. 38

“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (1Tim 2:9-10NIV)

The day we live in is one in which indecency and inappropriate dressing are now the order of the day. Yes, it is a day in which women, including some elderly ones, no longer see anything wrong with dressing like prostitutes or walking around almost naked.

Unfortunately, even our women in the church are not left out of this societal menace. Many of them are vitally contributing to it. And this is evident in the kinds of dresses they wear to our church meetings. No, they may not come for church meetings half-naked. But they will make sure they wear something that reveals enough of certain parts of their bodies, so that they could get someone’s attention. It is no wonder, then, that rape cases are daily multiplying at a very alarming rate in our country, just as cases of consensual sex among unmarried people are just too much to talk about.

But from what we see in our opening bible text, God’s people, God’s women, old or young, ought to be different in the way they dress and comport themselves. Is it that God does not want them to look beautiful and elegant when they dress? No! He wants His daughters to look beautiful and elegant wherever they appear. Otherwise, He would not create them to be beautiful.

Look, for example, at what the bible says about the daughters of Job that were later born to him: “The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.” (Job 42:14-15NIV) Who gave Job these extremely beautiful daughters? God! So, beauty, any degree of it, is a gift from God. And no should condemn or despise it.

Unfortunately, there are preachers who have mistaken what Paul says in this text to mean that God’s women are not to dress well or beautiful themselves at all, especially with articles of gold or silver. So, they condemn any woman who appears beautiful, without making any effort to find out what quality of life the person is living. But these same people may not see anything wrong with their own women braiding their hair or using bags or shoes with gold or silver plates. And that shows that they are ignorant of what this Scripture means.

I remember, for instance, how a so-called prophet once told a brother of mine that the Spirit of God wanted him to be careful of light complexioned ladies. Why? He had earlier that day seen him with a light complexioned lady. But did he know who she was to him? No! If he had, he would not have said that the Spirit of God told him what He obviously did not tell him.

In any case, what the Scripture we have above is telling us, first, is that God’s daughters are never to take their dressing or physical outlook more seriously than their conduct. So, we should not say that you, as a lady, are beautiful simply because of your hair-do, use of jewelleries and cost of wears but because you are a woman that is also rich in good deeds and character. In other words, if you are not rich in character, your physical beauty may as well be as good as worthless.

Second, this Scripture is telling us that when you dress, demonstrate decency. Cover what is meant to be covered and protect what should be protected. Yes, God has made you beautiful. But He does not want you to get outrageous in handling it. Or else you might soon turn yourself into a tool of seduction in the hand of the devil or open the door of your life for ungodly people or criminals to begin to desire you.

Remember that when the first man and the first women fell and the glory of God that was covering them left, the first thing they did was to cover their nakedness with garments of leaves. And when God came and met them in that condition, what did He do? He made garments of skin for them. Why? He could see that they were not adequately covered, even though it was just the two of them. (Cf. Gen 3)

Now if God should physically appear to you too today, what do you think He would do or say about your dressing? Would He freely settle down to relate to you or would He want to make a garment of skin for you to cover your nakedness? I am sure you know the answer. Therefore, what is acceptable to God is what you should always wear, whether you are a woman or a man and not what many of these movie, music or sport stars are leading you to wear. Otherwise, one might begin to wonder whether you are a child of God at all.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

They won’t ask or wait for your permission | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: November 27, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 30

Pastor J.O. Lawal
Pastor J.O. Lawal

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the year. My prayer is that your heart will be strengthened and humbled to allow God to fully take charge of your life, so that it is only His works and not Satan’s works that will be finding expression in it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In Revelation, chapter 3, verse 20, John gives us this great outcry of our Lord Jesus to the church of the Laodiceans: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20NIV) Why would the Lord need to be knocking the door of any Christian’s life? Is He not our Lord? He is! And as our Lord, is He not supposed to be inside our lives and sitting over all our affairs? He is! Why, then, would He need our permission and cooperation to come in and fellowship with us in any area of our lives?

The reason is simple. The Lord does not force Himself on people. On the contrary, He allows them to think for themselves and decide whether they need Him in their lives or not and act accordingly. That explains why the whole world has not been saved. The Lord will not force His salvation on us. We will have to agree that we need salvation and that we cannot save ourselves from the things destroying us unless He saves us.

But then, it is one thing for us to come to the Lord for salvation, it is another thing for us to allow Him to utterly save us and to eternally keep us safe. And how will this be possible? It is by giving Him room to lead us in every area of our lives, not keeping any part away from Him. As God’s children, He is already living us, for we are His temple. However, that He is living in us does not mean that He is in charge of our lives and all our affairs. That He is living in us does not mean that He will not have to knock the door of certain areas of our lives to see if we will permit Him to take charge of them.

We all know ourselves. We all know whether we have given our Lord Jesus room to control us in every area of our lives or not. We all know those areas of our lives in which we have totally shut Him out because we don’t want to hear what He has to say to us about them or because we believe we can handle ourselves in them. What we may not know, however, is that our Lord Jesus did not die for us to be Lord only over a few areas of our lives. Rather, He died for us to be Lord over every area of our lives.

Also, our Lord Jesus did not rescue us from the devil and his hosts so that He could become Lord over just some areas of our lives. Rather, He rescued us so that He might become Lord over every area of our lives. Therefore, if we will not willingly permit Him to take charge of every area of our lives, if we are shutting Him out of our lives or some part of our lives, simply because He will not force Himself in, then, we can expect the enemies of our souls that He saved us from to seize the opportunity to come back into our lives and renew their works. And they will not knock or wait for our permission if they are coming in. They will just come right in, with or without our permission.

Look at what our Lord Jesus says about this: “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Matt 12:43-45NIV) Did you see that? The devil and his demons are always looking and checking out for where to rest. And the only reason they will not be able to make our lives or any area of our lives their home or resting place is for them to see that it is already occupied and governed by the Lord Jesus.

But if they should come around to examine our lives and find them or any part of them empty and unoccupied by the only one who has authority and power over them, they will not lose time at all to gather forces to take charge of that part of our lives. Then things can only get worse for us in that part of our lives. And if we still hesitate to allow the Lord to step in and take charge, it will not be long before the works of these evil beings spread to other areas of our lives.

Now perhaps this is the situation with you. Instead for things to get better in certain areas of your life where you are encountering challenges, they are not just getting worse but also beginning to affect other areas of your life that have been peaceful. Then you need to check yourself to see if you have not shut the Lord Jesus out of some of your affairs. And if that is the case, the only solution is for you to repent and open the door for Him without delay, so that He can do that which only He can do and restore your peace and joy. But if you remain adamant and insist on not allowing Him, then, be ready to welcome more of Satan’s works in your life and affairs with or without your permission.

Have a splendid week.

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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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

Despite their intercession | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: November 20, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 29

Beloved: welcome to another week of the month of November 2022. I pray that God will keep your heart form embracing any form of rebellion that may expose you to destruction without remedy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The word of God says, “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed — without remedy.” (Prov 29:1NIV) Unfortunately, there are many stiff-necked people today, even in the church. These are individuals that are never ready to take correction. So, it does not matter what you say to them about their sins or wrongdoings, they will not repent. Some of them don’t even want to hear or look at what you want to say to them about their errors. And that is simply because they are stubborn, stiff-necked.

Now from what Solomon tells us in that bible text, the only thing such people can expect for their stubbornness is sudden destruction, a kind that has no remedy. That means there is nothing anyone will be able to do for them or do to save them when their destruction comes. They just have to perish.

Yes, it is true that God does not delight in the death of any sinner but in their repentance and salvation (Ezek 18:32). It is also true that He is patient with sinners, so that they will be able to utilise the opportunities for repentance that He is bringing to them (2Peter 3:9). But where the sinner is stiff-necked and unwilling to repent, what will God do? Will He continue to endure their nonsense? No! At some point, He will allow them to face the full consequences of their sins.

But then, someone may say, “What if there is an intercessor for the stiff-necked person, one that is praying for them that God may show them mercy? Will God still allow them to be destroyed?” Truly, God Himself has said that even if it just one intercessor that is praying for a sinner or an entire nation, He will honour that intercessor and refrain from destroying that nation (Ezel 22:30). And we have an example of this in how He listened to the intercession of Prophet Amos for the nation of Israel. Twice, this man of God pleaded with Him not to destroy Israel. And He listened to Him (Amos 7:1-6). Woe, then, to that man, woman or nation that has no one to intercede for her. That is because disaster may overtake her without warning.

However, even though God always honours the intercession of His people for sinners, if these sinners refuse to repent, a time will come when they will have to face the consequences of their sins. At that time, whatever intercession being made for them will fail and the destruction they have been escaping will come upon them suddenly and without remedy. For instance, despite his continuous intercession for the nation of Israel, at some point, God told Amos that He would no longer spare them – He must destroy them. Why? They were stiff-necked. (Cf. Amos 7:7-9)

Also, we see how Abraham fervently interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah in the bible. This man stood in the gap between them and God’s wrath, asking for mercy for them, even if it was only ten righteous people that could be found in them. And God listened to him. But did He find ten righteous people there? No! On the contrary, what He found was only a family of four righteous people. So, despite the intercession of Abraham, He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah when they least expected it and spared only Lot and his family. (Cf. Gen 18&19)

Sadly, there are people today who are grossly misbehaving and yet are counting on the intercession of their parents or certain men or women of God. What they don’t realise is that if they don’t change their ways and stop being stiff-necked, a time will come when their destruction will no longer sleep but will overtake them suddenly. Then they will perish without remedy and despite the intercession of those godly people. And if you too are like that, if you are stubborn and unwilling to accept rebuke, however slight it may be, you may just be preparing yourself for sudden destruction – destruction without remedy. So, repent now before it is too late. And may God help you to do the right thing. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

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 Youth for Jesus

Don’t be selfish | By: J.O. Lawal |Fire in my Bones

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: November 16, 2022|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 27

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:4NIV)

What does it mean to be selfish? It means to be concerned about yourself alone, especially at the expense of others. It means to do things or go for things for the sole purpose of satisfying ourselves and without considering how others are affected. And the word of God says that is a wrong way to live.

Now is it wrong to be concerned about ourselves? No! Or is it wrong to want to satisfy ourselves? No! Unfortunately, there are people who think we don’t have to be concerned about ourselves at all but about others and that we don’t have to satisfy ourselves at all but others. These are the kind that would say, “Always think of others first.”

But as nice and gracious as that may sound, it is not at all a godly philosophy. Why did I say that? It is because there is nowhere in the Scripture in which God tells us to think of others first. On the contrary, what we have are Scriptures in which God says, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Why is God telling us to love our neighbours as ourselves? The reason is that until we learn to love and treat ourselves right, we cannot love and treat others right. (Cf. Matt 22:39)

By the way, even those who tell us to always think of others first are really not putting others first in their lives. I am saying this because the major reason they love to put others first is that it makes them feel good or accomplished. I mean that there is a measure of satisfaction these people derive or seek to derive from putting others first in their affairs. So, ultimately, their putting others first is not really about others but about themselves. Can we, then, say that they are putting others first? No!

Well, my point is that being selfish is not basically about not putting others first. That is because you can be putting others first and still be dubious. Yes, you can be putting others first and still be cheating them. If you have younger ones and you grew up with them, you should understand what I am saying. Here you were, sharing a lump of meat among you and your younger ones. And you decided to first give them their own share, so that they would see you as selfless. But was that to say you did not cheat them at all? You know the answer.

So, the idea of putting others first may not eliminate cheating or selfishness. However, it is possible not to put others first and still not be selfish. This is a situation in which you are not just concerned about yourself but also about others. And that is what Paul is speaking of in our opening bible text. There he tells us not to look at our own interests alone but also at the interest of others.

What is the difference between a selfish person and an unselfish person? A selfish person is only concerned about their own interests and not at all about yours. So, for example, if they make or sell to you a product, they will only be concerned about the profit they will make from the sale and not at all about your enjoyment of it. That, of course, is the foundation for all fake products and substandard services. The people behind them are only concerned about their own gain and not at all about the benefit or loss you may derive from what they offer you. They are selfish.

Something similar can be experienced in relationships, whether natural or spiritual. When people are merely concerned about how much they can squeeze out of you and not concerned at all about how that will affect you or concerned about what they also can do to show that they care about you, they are selfish. And selfishness irritates. Selfishness puts off kind people. In fact, it will only take a kind person that is walking in the love of Christ to remain forever kind to you, if you are selfish.

So, don’t be selfish. Don’t be concerned about yourself alone but about others as well. If people are helping you or working with you, be genuinely concerned about their welfare as well and show it as often as you can. Yes, be sure you are regularly considering how you can show them that you too care about them and that you are not a parasite.

See, selfish people are parasites, always seeking to drain others. Selfish people don’t move the world forward or contributing anything significant to make it better. It is unselfish people that are moving the world forward and making it better and more enjoyable for everyone to live in. They are the ones coming up with new inventions and easier and better ways and methods of doing things. They are the ones making and selling to us products or services that give us value for whatever money we pay for them.

Yes, they too may be making profit and probably getting richer through what they are doing for us, depending on the kind of relationship we have with them. But whatever they do for us is not just about them but also about us. So, God is happy with them because they are making us happy. And He will be happy with us too, if we will stop being selfish and start making others really happy by being unselfish in all that we do.

Cheers!

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General Post

It’s only a matter of time | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: November 13, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 28

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 another week of the month of November 2022. And I pray that your heart will be rid of every form of hypocrisy in your walk with God, so that you will not end up being revealed as a counterfeit believer, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

A preacher said this in a meeting I once attended: “My father in the Lord told me there is nothing you are after in ministry that you will not find. If you are after money, you will find it. If you are after women, you will find them. If you are after fame, you will find it. And if you are after God, you will also find Him. Everything you find depends on what your heart is after.” And I believe that is true to a very great degree. What people are after in the kingdom of God is what they will most probably find.

But then, will what they find be worth the trouble, time, energy and resources they have invested into getting it? Will it bring their soul the satisfaction they are seeking? Will what they find bring them the praise of God or His condemnation?

Paul, while writing to the Philippians, says this: “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.” (Phil 1:15NIV) So, as far back as the days of this apostle, we have been having in the church people who serve God in a spirit of envy and competition. You should not be surprised, then, if you find people in the church who are jealous of your usefulness in the church and who are doing all they can to prove to others that they are better than you or take your position. Their ancestors in the church also acted in a similar fashion.

Furthermore, Peter too, in his second epistle, speaks about some of the reasons people are in the church and are presenting themselves as servants of God. According to him, some are in the church because of greed, because they see service to God as a means to enriching themselves. And there are those in the church because of adultery. These ones see in the church great opportunities to seduce naïve women and men and mess them up in sexual immorality. (Cf. 2Peter 2)

At any rate, whatever your reasons may be for being in the church and for making yourself available to serve God, time will tell. I mean that it is only a matter of time before what you really want in the church is revealed for everyone to see. And I am not talking about what will happen on the day of judgment but what will happen right here on earth.

Remember Gehazi. Remember that it was only a matter of time before it was revealed that, all along, he had been following Elisha, the man of God, for earthly riches. And remember Judas Iscariot. Remember that even though he concealed the greed in him all those three and a half years of following Jesus up and down, a time came when his greed came out in the open for everyone to see. But did these men find the satisfaction they wanted through what they got? No! What Gehazi found was leprosy. And what Judas Iscariot found was death. (Cf. 2Kings 5; John 13)

In like manner, if your heart is not right in your service to God, if what you are after in the church is not God Himself, there is nothing you get that will satisfy you. Whatever you get, be it money, fame, position, women, men, job or healing won’t satisfy you. On the contrary, it may end up becoming your nemesis, the very thing that will destroy you. So, mind yourself and see to it that your purpose in being God’s kingdom and in serving Him is right. And may He Himself keep your heart right with Him both now and always, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

More than competence |By: J.O. Lawal | November 09, 2022

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 26

“The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” (Gen 39:2-5NIV)

Evidently, from what we see in Scriptures, Joseph was a highly competent young man when it comes to administration and management, whether of people or of things. But it was not his competence that took him to the top everywhere he found himself; it was God’s favour.

As we see in our opening bible text, when his master saw his competence and success in handling whatever was committed into his hands, Joseph found favour in his eyes. Therefore, he promoted him, made him his personal attendant and put him in charge of his whole household. But do you know that Joseph’s master may as well have ignored the competence he saw in him? Do you know that he could as well have considered his competence to be a threat to his own position as the master of that house?

See, it is not everyone that is comfortable with having competent people around them. There are people that feel threatened when they have a wise and competent subordinate or colleague around them. They see them as a threat to their current position or future position. So, they become jealous and start considering how they may pull them down or how they can show everyone that they are overrated.

Remember the story of King Saul and David. Remember that even though David killed Goliath and saved the nation of Israel on one occasion, King Saul never wholeheartedly accepted him as a loyal servant. Why? It was because he was not comfortable with his competence and the fact that God was with him everywhere he went. He was not comfortable at all with the fact that the young man might just become the next king, just by watching the way he was rising in the army and becoming more and more popular among the people. (Cf. 1Sam 17&18)

So, even though he promoted David and gave him a high rank in the army, he did it reluctantly. He did it because he had no choice, for the bible tells us that all his officers and the people of Israel loved the young man because of his competence and because he fought and won their battles for them. Then, even though he made him his in-law by giving him one of his daughters, it was not because he loved and cherished him as one of his loyal men. Rather, it was because he wanted the girl to be a trap that he would use in catching and killing him.

In any case, when he could no longer bear the thought of David becoming his successor, he, in his jealousy, began to deploy all the resources at his disposal to hunt him down at every given chance in order to kill him. If David, then, had not found favour in the sight of God, he would have perished at some point in the hands of this wicked and jealous king.

Therefore, the fact that you are competent does not mean that the people that matter where you are and who, to some extent, can decide how high you rise in life or how far you go in life will respect and appreciate you. They may not at all. Instead, they may be the ones that Satan will use to prey upon your very life. This is why you need to find favour in their eyes, even though they are wicked and unreasonable. And God can make that happen.

How reasonable and kind was Potiphar? We would not know, for we are not told in the bible. But we are told that Joseph found favour in his eyes. So, even though he was a total stranger to him and not an Egyptian, he kept on promoting him until he put him charge of his whole household. And how reasonable and kind was the prison warden that this young man met in the prison, having been shamefully treated by Potiphar’s wife? We are not told in the bible. But we are told that God caused Joseph to find favour in his eyes, so much so that the man recognised his abilities and put him in charge of the entire prison facility and all that was going on there. (Cf. Gen 39)

Also, we are not told how reasonable and kind the Pharaoh of Joseph’s days was. I suspect that he must have been a highly reasonable and kind man. But then, it would take more than being reasonable and kind to make a total stranger, one just coming out from the prison, your second-in-command and ruler over your entire nation. All the odds were against Joseph in that situation. But because God’s favour was working for him, Pharaoh and his officials did not see anything wrong with putting a man with such great competence over their entire nation, even though he was not a native. (Cf. Gen 41)

So, if there is anything you need more than competence to keep rising in life, it is God’s favour. It is good to be competent. And you should labour to be known and seen as a very competent person in whatever field you are working. But competence without God’s favour will never leave its prison room. So, crave His favour. Receive His favour. And whatever abilities you have will begin to shine forth and open doors of greatness for you.

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk

Be prompt about serving Him | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: November 06, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 27

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 a new week of the month of November 2022. I pray that your heart will be strengthened to always be prompt and wholehearted in your service to God, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, God does not just want His people to serve Him; He also wants them to be prompt or immediate about serving Him. He does not want it to take them forever to make up their minds to serve Him or to really get involved in serving Him. Why? It is because if we are not prompt to serve Him as He wants, certain people that He wants to bless through our service may end up missing His blessings forever. And if that should happen, apart from the fact that we may be penalized by Him for allowing others to miss His blessings for them, we are also going to lose whatever reward that could have been ours, if we had been prompt to do His will.

Therefore, don’t think you have all the time in the world to get yourself ready to serve God. That is because you don’t. And if you don’t get yourself busy with whatever He is asking you to do for Him or whatever your hands can find to do for Him, a time will come when it will be too late for you to do what you could have done for Him. Remember that Jesus says, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4NIV) Will you, then, want night to overtake you while you are still dragging your feet about the Lord’s work?

Personally, I would not want that to happen to me. Instead, I want to follow the bible examples of those who were prompt to recognise how God wanted them to serve Him and also prompt to begin to serve Him. I am sure you have, for instance, heard about the mad man of Gadarenes and of how the Lord Jesus delivered him from insanity. As the account goes, immediately this man saw that he had been cured, he began to beg Jesus to allow him to follow Him wherever He was going. But the Lord told him not to follow Him but to instead go and tell his family members how much God has done for him. (Cf. Mark 5:1-19)

Did this man, then, do as the Lord had instructed him or not? He did. In fact, he went beyond what he was told to do. Without wasting time at all, he went round a region called ‘The Decapolis’, which means ‘Ten cities’, and began sharing his testimony with everyone that cared to listen (Mark 5:20). That is what is called promptness in serving the Lord. And that is what we are being called upon to imitate.

Also, the bible tells us about a business woman in Philippi called Lydia and of how she became born again through the ministry of Paul the Apostle (Acts 16:13-15). And as we are further told about her, the very day she became born again was the day she began to serve the Lord with Paul and his companions. She offered them free accommodation in her house that same day and insisted that they should accept it, if they believed that she had indeed become born again. No wonder Paul, when writing to the church in Philippi, would say about them, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…” (Phil 1:4-5NIV)

Now that is the kind of promptness in ministry that God wants us to emulate. He wants us to be prompt to share His word, prompt to pray for others, prompt to give for His work and prompt to care for His people. And it is this kind of service that pleases Him and that He rewards, a service that is carried out with promptness. My prayer, then, is that your heart will be taught and strengthened to always be prompt to do whatever God wants you to do to serve Him, so that you will never again miss your service reward, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

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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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022

Rid your life of these things | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: October 30, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 26

Title: Rid your life of these things | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: October 30, 2022 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 26

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am glad to welcome you to another week, which is the transition week between the months of October and November 2022. And I pray that God will cause His favour to overwhelm your life every day of the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we begin this week, let me remind you of the words of Peter that say, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” (1Peter 2:1NIV) What are the things Peter is asking us to rid ourselves of here? They are the works of the flesh. And he gives us examples of the works of the flesh that we need to rid ourselves of. He mentions malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. Of course, there are several works of the flesh that this apostle could have used as examples. But he used these ones, I believe, because they are major among those works of the flesh that often mess up Christian fellowship, ruin the church of God and hinder her growth and effectiveness.

For example, as terrible as adultery and idolatry are, they hardly result in church split or disintegration. But malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander, if not addressed on time, can scatter any church in few weeks and fill the brethren involved with bitterness that may not go away for the rest of their earthly lives. And that is one of the reasons God is sometimes ruthless in judging these sins among His people.

Do you remember the case of Ananias and Sapphira? Why was God ruthless in judging them the way He did? Why did He kill these couples on the same day without even blinking an eye? It was because of deceit and hypocrisy. These people were trying to deceive the church of God about their offering, giving everyone the impression that they were giving more than they were actually giving. So, God judged them with death before they could get any chance to introduce other brethren to a life of deceit (Acts 5:1-11).

What this is showing us is that God cares about His church and will not fold His arms and watch anyone corrupt or destroy her, for the church is His temple. In fact, Paul tells us that God will destroy anyone that destroys His temple. All of this is why we need to take Peter’s admonition that we have in our opening text very seriously. We need to rid our lives of very kind of deceit, malice, envy, hypocrisy and slander, as we relate to one another in our various assemblies. Otherwise, we may bring down God’s judgment on ourselves. (Cf. 1Cor 3:16-17)

Unfortunately, many of God’s people are ignorant of these things. Therefore, they allow malice, hypocrisy, envy, deceit and slander to thrive and fester in their lives and among them. It is no big wonder, then, that we have many in our various Christian assemblies today that are battling with all kinds of sicknesses, poverty and distress that will not go away, regardless of how hard they pray or fast. What these ones need to do is to rid their lives of these terrible works of the flesh that they have permitted in them. And the healing of Jesus will begin to manifest in them.

Now perhaps the reason you too are facing certain problems that will not go away in your life is that you have given room for hatred, malice, envy, slander and hypocrisy in your life. You have allowed the devil to be using you to secretly or openly ruin the church of God. You need to repent now so that your life will be healed and made whole. Otherwise, things may go from bad to worse for you. My prayer is that your heart will be humbled to do the right thing without delay, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid week.

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)