Tag: Fire in my bones

Just one act of foolishness | By: J.O. Lawal| Date: August 07, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 13

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date August 8, 2024
No Comments on Just one act of foolishness | By: J.O. Lawal| Date: August 07, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 13

fire in my bones

“As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” (Eccl 10:1NIV)

What is Solomon talking about in our opening bible text? He is talking about the need for us to be consistent in living wise and honourable lives. And why do we need to do that? It is because just one act of foolishness or dishonour can ruin a reputation that has taken us a whole lifetime to build.

For instance, David had a reputation for being a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). But on the night that he decided to sleep with Uriah’s wife, he messed up everything for himself. He ruined his reputation as a god-fearing man and opened the door of his family for a devouring sword of judgment to devour it (2Sam 11-19). So, the bible summarises his life and reign in this way: “For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life — except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” (1Kings 15:5NIV)

What about Moses? God testified that he was faithful as a servant in all His house (Num 12:7). In other words, in everything God required of this man, he pleased Him well. But just one act of folly from him, just one act of disobedience from him, and he lost the opportunity to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. (Cf. Num 20)

Now was what Moses’ life dream? Was it not to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land? That was what he lived and fought for. That was what he endured years of suffering and loneliness for. Yet when he disobeyed God’s instruction at the waters of Meribah, the very thing he had laboured and longed for was taken away from him. How sad!

In like manner, there have been great husbands who lost their homes and respect because of just one act of foolishness, just as there have been wonderful wives who lost their homes and honour because of just one moment of immorality. Then there have been faithful employees who ruined their honour and their chances to become great leaders in life by listening to some foolish colleagues just once. And what about those young men and women who ruined their chances of getting quality education or who contracted life-threatening diseases because of just one moment of sexual immorality? The list goes on and on.

Well, the point of it all is that those of us who are living by the wisdom of the word of God must be consistent in doing so. We must not, for any reason, ignore the wisdom of God because we want to gratify the cravings of our flesh or please ourselves just for one moment. Otherwise, the consequences of that one moment of foolishness may ruin our entire lives, homes or reputations permanently and without remedy.

Now that is Solomon’s message to us in our opening bible text. My prayer is that you will not do any wrong thing, however little it may seem, that will outweigh or make a mess of all the honour and prosperity that you have gained by the wisdom of God at work in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Copyright © 2024, 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)

Tags alaythia bible church, christianity, Fire in my bones, wisdom

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

When you decide to break free | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 17, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 49

Post author By Pastor J.O. Lawal
Post date April 17, 2024
1 Comment on When you decide to break free | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 17, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 49

fire in my bones

“You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you decide to break free, you will shake his yoke from your neck.”” (Gen 27:40NLT)

Those were Isaac’s words to Esau, when he was earnestly seeking to be blessed by him. As the story goes, it was actually Esau that Isaac had wanted to give the Abrahamic blessing to. And he wanted to give it to him because of he was his firstborn and also because he loved very much, more than his brother Jacob.

But Rebekah, the mother of both of these young men, wanted the blessing for Jacob and not Esau. And that was also because she loved him very much, more than his brother Esau. So, she stepped into the situation, taught Jacob what to do to steal that blessing and also gave him all the support he needed to succeed in doing so. (Cf. Gen 27:1-29)

Now did Jacob succeed in taking his brother’s blessing or not? He did. In fact, he was so successful in doing so that when Esau came back and began to plead with their father to give him a blessing too, even if it was a left-over blessing, his response was, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?” (Gen 27:37NLT)

Did you see that? How did Isaac make Jacob Esau’s master? By words of mouth! So, words are powerful. Through words we can make slaves of men. Through words we can also make masters of men. Therefore, we, especially those of us in position of authority over others, must be careful how we use our words. Otherwise, even on the basis of deceit, we can elevate people to great positions in life or bring them down to the lowest of positions in life.

Through words, Isaac put the entire generation of Esau under Jacob. And even though he was deceived to do so, it did not change the fact regardless of how hard Esau and his descendants worked, how high they rose in life or how wealthy they became, they would always behind and under Jacob. What a sad story!

Unfortunately, there are many all around the world that are operating under circumstances similar to Esau’s today. They too have been perpetually placed under the control of some people or made inferior to some people in life, just because certain individuals that they may not even know at all spoke some words of power years or centuries ago. So, it does not matter how hard they labour or try to excel in life, they will never rise above those placed over them. Then, if those placed over them will not do well in life, for one reason or another, they too will not be able to do well in life under natural circumstances.

You can now see why the people in a certain place may never rise above certain individuals there, regardless of how hardworking, wealthy, influential or educated they may be. You can also see why the people in some households or families may never rise above certain family members under normal or natural circumstances, regardless of how hardworking, wealthy, influential or educated they may be. They have been placed under some limitations in the realm of the spirit. And unless those limitations are removed or destroyed, things will never change.

How, then, can such people be set free to be all that God wants them to be and do all that He wants them to do in life? The very first step towards their freedom is recognizing that they are operating under some powerful spiritual limitations. If they do not recognize this, they will not see any need to escape from such limitations. How, then, can anyone know if they are operating under a spiritual limitation, if nobody shares any story along that line with them? It is by divine revelation. So, if you want to know why you are being limited in life, if you sense that you are being limited, ask for divine revelations.

The second step towards breaking free from any spiritual limitation you may be operating under is deciding to break free. As we see in our opening text, even though Isaac had put Esau under Jacob by the word of his of mouth, he still told him that whenever he decided that he had had enough, he himself would break free from his brother’s control. And these words came to pass during the reign of King Jehoram of Judah. (Cf. 2Chro 21:8-10)

In like manner, whenever you decide to break free from whatever spiritual limitations you may be operating under, whenever you decide that enough is enough, you will begin to take steps towards breaking free. And will that automatically make you break free? No! That also depends on the kinds of steps you are taking.

If the steps you are taking are in the natural realm or in the realm of sorcery or divination, you will only make matters worse for yourself. It is only a matter of time. But if the steps you are taking are consistent with the will of God, then, you will indeed break yourself and perhaps others too free from all forms of family or communal limitations you may be operating under.

Now one of such steps that you should take is that of praying. You should begin to pray earnestly that God will destroy every limiting influence over your life, so that you can rise to be all He wants you to be. And He will answer you. Another step you should take is declaring the word of God concerning your life. His word says that you are no longer under the dominion of the devil but now in God’s kingdom (Col 1:13). His word always says that you were not redeemed by Him to be a slave of any man (1Cor 7:23). So, keep boldly saying that you refuse to operate under any satanic limitation, in the name of Jesus. And before you know it, your experiences of growth and advancement in life will begin to change and to conform with God’s purpose for your life.

Cheers!

Tags alaythia bible church, christianity, Faith, Fire in my bones, wisdom

Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

The Spirit of God stirred him up | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 06, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 43

fire in my bones

“The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (Judg 13:24-25NIV)

What was Samson born for? He was born to begin the deliverance of the nation of Israel from the hand of the Philistines. And did he do what he was born for or not? He did it. Of course, based on what we have in Scriptures, indiscipline, lust and weakness with women affected his focus greatly and even led to his untimely death. But he actually lived his life to do nothing else other than to fight for the deliverance of his people.

Now what made it possible for Samson to give himself, in spite of all the distractions in his life, to fighting the Philistines, as he had been ordained and born to do? The answer is in our opening bible text, which tells us that the Spirit of God stirred him up. We are not told how old he was when the Spirit of God began to stir him up to do what he was born to do. But we are told that while he was still in Mahaneh Dan, as a young and single man, the Spirit of God began to stir him up.

So, it was not because Samson’s parents motivated him to take up arms and begin to fight the Philistines that he began to fight them. And it was not because he joined the army of Israel and was highly inspired by one of the commanders that he took it as his business to fight the Philistines for the deliverance of Israel at any chance he got. Rather, it was because the Spirit of God stirred him up to do so.

As we see in the bible, the Israelites at that time were too afraid of the Philistines to fight them or to rebel against them. That was why when the Philistines once demanded that they hand Samson over to them to be killed, they did not hesitate at all to do so. So, if Samson was expecting any form of motivation or encouragement to fight the Philistines from anyone, it surely would not come from his own people, the Israelites. It had to come from somewhere else. And it did come from somewhere else – it came from the Spirit of God. (Cf. Judges 15)

In what ways, then, did the Spirit of God stir up or motivate this young man to fight for the deliverance of his people and fulfil God’s purpose for his life? First, it was by causing him to passionately hate the oppression they were suffering from the hands of the Philistines. If he had not passionately hated what the Philistines were doing to them, he would most likely not have thought of doing anything about it.

Second, the Spirit of God stirred him up to recognize and utilize the divine fighting power and skills in him to deal with the Philistines and give the Israelites rest. Hating oppression is one thing; having the ability and confidence to reject and end it is another. If all that Samson had was just hatred for the oppressive rule of the Philistines and no power to end it, he would most likely have ended up getting himself killed before his time. But he had more than hatred for the oppression of the Philistines; he also had divine abilities from God to end their oppression. Nevertheless, if the Spirit of God had not stirred him up and emboldened him to use those abilities to save his people, they would have amount to nothing.

In the same manner, even though God has a purpose for each of us in this life and has also given to us everything we need to accomplish it, that purpose may not be realized, if the Spirit of God does not wake us up and stir us up to accomplish it. That is because we, like Samson, may not have anyone around us to motivate us or encourage us to take advantage of His grace to accomplish His purpose for our lives. No, we may not have anyone around us who is seeing what God is seeing in us and who is ready to give us the needed encouragement or support to labour to be all that God wants us to be and do all that He wants us to do. But if we have the Spirit of God in us and with us, He will give us all the motivation and courage we need to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

Thankfully, all of us who are children of God have the Spirit of God in us and with us. And one of the reasons He is with us and in us is to stir up and motivate us to be all that God wants us to be and do all that He wants us to do in life. So, even if nobody is interested in what we are and can accomplish, we can expect Him to stand by us all the way, giving us all the courage, encouragement, wisdom and determination that we need to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

We too, however, must not quench His motivation. In other words, when He is stirring us up and moving us, we need to get up and move. Otherwise, everything He is doing in us and with us may just go to waste. So, Paul says this to Timothy: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2Tim 1:6-7NIV)

Did you see that? It is not the job of the Holy Spirit to fan into flame what God has given to us. That is our job. Yes, He is in us to stir us up to accomplish God’s purpose for us in life. But it is on us, as He stirs us up, to take all the gifts, abilities, skills and education God has given to us and shine with them, using them to make life better for us and for others in our world. And we can do this because the Spirit of God in us will always furnish us with sufficient power, love and self-discipline to do so.

What, then, are we waiting for? Let us roll up our sleeves and get working, as the Spirit is moving. And great and awesome things will be done by God here on earth through us.

Tags alaythia bible church, christianity, Fire in my bones, wisdom