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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Title: It must not be for a while

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 15

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 month of August 2025. And my prayer is that God will daily fill your heart with humility, so that you can continue to experience His elevation in every area of your life. Amen.

After King Saul had disobeyed God by not totally destroying the Amalekites, Samuel said this to him: “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.” (1Sam 15:17NIV)

When did the Lord anoint Saul to be king over Israel? It was when he was humble. It was when he did not see himself as someone better than others. But after his throne had been established, he allowed pride in his heart and began to do as he pleased.

Now how did God respond to that? He took away the kingdom He had given to him from him. Then He replaced him with a young boy, David. And though he fought hard to keep the kingdom for himself and his descendants, he could not keep it. That is because we can only keep what God has given to us. We cannot keep whatever He has taken away from us.

Well, the point of this bible story is that our humility must not be for a while. Rather, it must be from start to finish. If we demonstrate humility before God for a while, our elevation also will be for a while. In other words, the moment we start manifesting arrogance, the same God who has been lifting us up will begin to bring us down. (Cf. James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5)

This, of course, is the reason some people have not risen beyond the height they have attained in life. When they humbled themselves before God, He showed them mercy and began to elevate them. But when they got to certain heights of greatness, they began to misbehave. They began to act as though it was their wisdom or power that brought them to where they were. So, instead for them to be taken by God to higher grounds, He just left them where they were and began to lift up other people around them. And if they still continue to act in pride, they may end up being thrown down to lower positions in life.

So, humility is not just something we need to be lifted up by God; it is also what we need for Him to keep us from falling from the high places He has placed us. Remain humble, then, before Him. And you will never have any reason to be afraid of being thrown down by Him.

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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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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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Put them to death_J.0_Lawal

Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 13). Put them to death. From Pastor’s Desk, Vol. 12, No. 50.

Beloved: Grace, mercy and peace be yours immeasurably from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of April 2025. My prayer is that God will daily teach you to take advantage of His grace to walk in victory over every kind of sin or weakness of the spirit, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Why did I offer this prayer for you? The reason is that it is the will of God for us to put to death any kind of sin that may be associated with our lives. Look at what Paul says about this to the Colossian brethren:

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Col 3:5-10NIV)

Can you see all the things that we must put to death and also rid our lives of? Then can you observe that we are the ones to put these things to death in our lives? That means even though we are now children of God and new creatures in Christ, the bad things we used to do will still want to find expression in our lives and make a mess of our faith. That is because it has become cultural for us to do them.

But as Paul tells us, it is because of all these evil things that the wrath of God is coming on the disobedient. Therefore, we must not give ourselves to them again. Instead, we must put them to death. And can we actually put them to death? Do we have the ability to put them to death?

Well, if we could not put them to death, God would not say that we should do so. The reason He tells us to do so is that we can do so. But how do we do so? We cannot do so by simply wishing or determining to do so. Peter, for instance, was determined not to deny Jesus. Yet he denied Him three times in a row in one night. So, being determined not to do what is wrong is not enough; we must also possess the ability not to do what is wrong. Otherwise, the pressure of sin may weaken our determination and drive us to do what is against the desires of our hearts. (Cf. Matt 26)

All of this is why the bible further says to us. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Rom 8:13NIV) Did you see that? It is only by the supply of the Spirit of God that we can put any kind of sin or bad behaviour to death in our lives. Otherwise, we can only find ourselves failing again and again.

So, if you want to end any kind of sin in your life, you must turn to the Spirit of God for the enablement to do so. How? First, you do so through prayer. Second, you do so by meditating on the word of God and confessing it to yourself. Third, you do so by fellowshipping with the people of God that are walking in righteousness. And as you consistently give yourself to these things, you will soon enough see for yourself that those wrong things that you are struggling with in your life have been put to death by the Spirit of God.

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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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Just One Hour_J.0_Lawal

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 30). Just one hour! From Pastor’s Desk, Vol. 12, No. 48.

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the transition week between the months of March and April 2025. My prayer is that God will daily strengthen your heart to do all that is right for you to do to remain pure and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

In order for our Lord Jesus, when His time came, not to shrink back from dying on the cross for the redemption of humanity, He needed to do one thing. What was it? He needed to pray. And how much time did He need to pray? He did not need a whole week or a whole day to pray. He needed just one hour to pray.

Now how did we know that all Jesus needed at that time was just one hour of prayer? We knew through Scriptures. As the account goes, as He saw that His time was at hand, He took three of His disciples, Peter, James and John, with Him to pray in a place called Gethsemane. But instead of praying with Him, they were simply sleeping. And that was because they were very tired. Just look at what the bible says about these things:

“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”” (Mark 14:37-38NIV)

Did you see that? How much time did Jesus expect these disciples to spend in praying with Him? Just one hour! Of course, Jesus could pray to God for more than one hour. Before this time, He had prayed on several occasions for hours, sometimes all through the night. So, He did not choose to pray for one hour on this occasion because He could not pray for more hours. Rather, He chose to do so because He knew that a lot could be changed or done through even one hour of prayer.

Now, of course, because of that one hour of prayer that He offered to God for His soul in that hour of darkness, He received sufficient strength and courage to die on the cross and obtain eternal redemption for us. But what about His disciples who could not join Him in praying for themselves for just one hour? They all went on to deny and desert Him. And if He had not prayed for them before that their faith would not fail, that would have been the end of their relationship with Him.

What is this teaching us, then? It is simply that we cannot measure or quantify what our heartfelt prayer can accomplish for us or for all humanity, even if it is only for one hour. In fact, just one minute of prayer can be the difference between life and death, success and failure, victory and defeat. How long did it take David to pray that God would frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel? It probably took him less than a minute. Yet that prayer changed everything about the rebellion he wanted to end. That prayer led to his victory over Absalom. (Cf. 2Sam 15:31)

Am I now saying that you should only be praying for just one minute or just one hour? No! To say the fact, there are problems that will probably take us hours or days of prayer to handle. But if we will learn to recognise that our prayers can change history, then, we will begin to make the most of every moment we have to pray, even if it is just one hour. And my prayer is that our hearts will be filled with adequate strength from God to daily walk in the light of this truth, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant 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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From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025

Friendship with the world_Pst_J.O_Lawal

Recommended Citation:

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 23). Friendship with the world. From Pastor’s Desk, 12(47).

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of the month of March 2025. My prayer is that God will daily keep His love in your heart burning, so that you may remain true to Him to the end. Amen.

As we face this new week, I want to admonish you with the words of James that say, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4NIV) What point is James making here? It is that there is no way we can choose God as our friend and still be in love with the world. Once we choose the world as our friend, then, we have already chosen God as our enemy. And how that will hurt us is not something anybody can tell. But it will surely hurt us.

Now it is unfortunate that we have many so-called children of God who claim to love Him but who are still in love with the things of this world. They still want to talk and dress like those of the world. They still want to party like them. And they are still in love with their music and movies. How, then, can they truly say that they love God? Or how can they say that these things of the world that they are in love with are not hurting their relationship with God? It is only a liar that will say that.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that everything being done by those of this world is wrong. To say the fact, there are a lot of things being done by those of the world that are right and good for God’s people too and that God’s people can learn from. But there are also things that those of this world do to basically pollute themselves and others. And the child of God must identify such things and separate himself from them. Otherwise, regardless of how much he claims to love God, he will be polluted and turned into an enemy of God.

Remember Lot’s daughters. Even though they left Sodom as virgins in their bodies, they were actually not virgins in their minds. Why? The reason was that the things they saw and heard in Sodom corrupted their minds. In fact, it is possible that they had practised in their minds all the things they were seeing and hearing in Sodom before they left the place. Therefore, at some point, when they could no longer control themselves, they got their own father drunk and then slept with him. What a shame! (Cf. Gen 19)

In like manner, we may think that the things we are seeing and hearing through our friendship with the world are not hurting us. But we are only lying to ourselves. There is no way we will be in friendship with the world and its pollution will not enter our lives. And once it enters our lives, we too may one day do as Lot’s daughters did. We may do the unthinkable.

All of this is why the word of God warns us against friendship with the world. It can only make us enemies of God. And if we should become His enemies, what will become of our hope of His eternal kingdom? It may just slip out from our hands. I pray that the hope of God’s kingdom will never slip out of our hands. But we too should watch ourselves.

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

Guard your heart_J.0._Lawal

Recommended Citation

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 16). Guard your heart. From Pastor’s Desk, Vol. 12, No. 46.

Beloved: Grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of March 2025. I pray that God will daily keep your heart from being messed up by the devil in any way, so that you will never take any step that will result in regrets for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The bible says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Prov 4:23NIV) What does this mean? It means that one of the most important things you can do for yourself as a child of God is to guard your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. And why is this important? It is important because everything you do in life proceeds from your heart. If you, then, will not protect it well, Satan will fill it with all kinds of evil. And before you know what is happening, you will have found yourself doing what you never thought you could do.

For instance, did Judas Iscariot think that he could betray the Lord Jesus, when he first became one of His apostles? I don’t think so. Yet, because he would not guard his heart against greed, Satan succeeded in entering him and driving him to betray his Lord and Saviour. What a shame! (Cf. John 13:2&27)

What about David? When he was first ordained by God to be king over Israel, did he think that he could one day snatch another man’s wife and then kill the man? No! He loved God too much for that. Yet, because he did not guard his heart against lust, he ended up doing the unthinkable. He snatched Bathsheba from Uriah and also killed the man. (Cf. 2Sam 11)

Now if David, a man after God’s own heart, could act like that, simply because he would not guard his heart, don’t you think that we too can do similar or worse things? And if Judas Iscariot, a man privileged to live, eat and drink with Jesus, could betray Him because he would not guard his heart, don’t you think that we too can do similar or worse things?

Therefore, in the wisdom of God, He tells us to take the protection of our hearts against evil thoughts and desires very seriously. Otherwise, we may end up messing up our lives and faith in ways beyond what anyone can ever imagine. So, shut the door of your heart against those thoughts of bitterness, jealousy, hate or lust. And my prayer is that God will daily strengthen your heart by His Spirit to daily do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant 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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From Pastor's Desk 2025 FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Be Careful and Prayerful_J.0.Lawal

Recommended Citation: Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 9). Be careful and prayerful. From Pastor’s Desk, 12(45).

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am glad to welcome you to the second week of the month of March 2025. And I pray that God will keep you from falling into any trap set by the devil for your soul, so that you may stand blameless at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we begin this new week, I want to admonish you with these words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 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 21:34-36NIV)

What are the main things the Lord wants us to note and take seriously, as we see in this bible text? The first is the need for us to be careful. Why do we need to be careful? The reason is that our enemy, Satan, will daily use all kinds of things to fight our souls in order to enslave us and make us forget that this earth is not our permanent home. And if we are not careful, we will have been lost to the anxieties of this life and to all kinds of ungodly things that will ruin our lives and souls before we know what is happening.

So, be careful. Be careful of where you go. Be careful of who you make friends with. Be careful of what you allow your eyes to see and what you allow your ears to hear. And be careful of what thoughts you permit in your mind. Otherwise, you may just lose yourself to the world and to the devil before you know it.

The second thing the Lord wants us to pay attention to, as we see in that bible text, is our devotion to prayer. There are, of course, all kinds of prayers. But the prayers He is talking about here have to do with the preservation of our souls in these last days. So, first, He tells us to pray that we will be able to escape all the terrible things, accidents, calamities, plagues, famines and so forth, that will be happening in the last days. Second, He tells us to pray that we will be able to stand before Him when He returns.

What is the point of all this, then? It is that none of us can escape the dangers and corruption of the last days, if we are not preserved by God Himself. Our boldness, determination and strong will are not enough to preserve us. God Himself has to preserve us. Otherwise, we will just wake up one day and realise that we too have become everything we have once preached against.

Therefore, apart from being careful in our daily walk in this life, we must also give ourselves to earnestly praying that God, in His mercy, will preserve our lives and souls from all the dangers and corruption of these last days. And if we will continually do this in faith, we will not be put to shame. Instead, we will be preserved pure and blameless when our Lord Jesus returns.

Do 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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From Pastor's Desk 2025 General Post

His Eyes Are Always On Them_J.O.Lawal

Recommended Citation: Lawal, J.O. (2025, March 2). His eyes are always on them. From Pastor’s Desk, 12(44).

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the third month of this year, the month of March 2025. My prayer is that God will beautify your life and home afresh in the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as we begin this new month, I want to encourage you with these words from a Psalm of David:

“But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.” (Ps 33:18-19NIV)

What do we see here? We see that God’s eyes are always on those who fear Him and who have put their hope in His unfailing love. In other words, He never takes His eyes off them, regardless of where they go or find themselves.

Why, then, are God’s eyes always on such people? First, it is so that He may deliver them from death. Remember that it was David that said these words. And he said them as a testimony of God’s goodness to him. God continually protected him from death, even though his enemy, King Saul, took all kinds of steps to kill him and prevent him from sitting on the throne of Israel. Eventually, it was his enemy that lost his life. But he went on to become the king that God had always wanted him to be.

In the same vein, if we too are living in the fear of God and have all our trust in Him, not in human beings or their schemes, we will always enjoy His protection from death and destruction. That means it does not matter what Satan does to destroy or kill us, he will not succeed. But we will go on to become on all that God wants us to be in life.

Second, God’s eyes are always on those who fear Him and whose hope are in His unfailing love in order to keep them alive in famine. That means it does not how bad the economy of a place becomes, God will always see to it that those who are living to honour Him and who have their eyes fixed on Him do not go hungry. In fact, as He made Isaac wealthy in a time of famine, He is able to make them wealthy too. (Cf. Gen 26)

In like manner, even though the economy of this country is poor at the moment, if we will continually live in the fear of God and put our hope in Him, He will see to it that we do not hungry. How will He do that? I cannot tell you. That is because I wouldn’t know unless He tells me. But I do know that if we will not throw our confidence in Him away, He will see to it that we do not lack any good thing, even though we are living in a time of famine.

So, maintain your faith in God, regardless of what is happening around you and regardless of what you have or do not have at the moment. Also, keep on living in His fear, even though everyone around you has given themselves to unrighteousness. And He will see to it that you are never put to shame.

Have a lovely March 2025.

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 General Post

Show your love for Him – By J.0. Lawal


Lawal, J. O. (2025, February 23). Show your love for Him. From Pastor’s Desk, 12(43).

Senior Pastor Alaythia Bible Church

Beloved: grace, mercy, and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the last week of the month of February 2025. My prayer is that God will make available for you in the week every good thing your heart desires to have this month that you are yet to have. Amen.

Now, as we begin this new week, I want to encourage you with the following Scripture about Solomon and how he proved himself worthy of God’s favour:

“Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.” (1Kings 3:3-4NIV)

How did Solomon show his love for God, as we see in this bible text? First, he showed it by walking according to the godly instructions given to him by his father. In other words, he was living according to the will of God. Second, he showed his love for God by giving to Him. He gave Him a thousand burnt offerings in one day. And there is no record in the bible that anyone had proved his love for God in this manner before.

Well, because Solomon took his love for God beyond words of mouth by living according to His will and also by being generous to Him, God also appeared to him in a dream to reward him. God asked him to ask for anything that he wanted Him to do for him. That, of course, was how he became the wisest and richest man of all the people of his time. (Cf. 1Kings 3:5:15; 2Chro 1:1-12)

What is this teaching us? It is that it is not enough for us to be telling God that we love Him or telling people that we love God; we also need to daily prove our love for Him. And how do we prove our love for Him? First, it is by living according to His will. No one who will not live according to the will of God should say, “I love for God.” That will be nothing but a lie. If you truly love Him, then, you will not only be devoted to finding out what He wants but will also be doing what He wants.

The second way to prove that we love God is by being generous to Him. Can we truly say that we love someone that we are not generous to? No! If we love people, we will be generous to them. We will want to give them anything that is within our ability to make them happy. In fact, sometimes, because of our love for some people, we may even go beyond our ability in giving to them. And if we truly love God too, there are times we will go beyond our ability in giving to Him.

A woman once proved her love for Jesus by pouring a jar of some very expensive perfume on His head. Those who saw this, of course, were very angry with her. Why? They thought the perfume she poured on Jesus’ head was too expensive to be wasted like that. But Jesus said told them immediately that what she did was not a waste at all. On the contrary, what she did was done to show her love for Him. Then what she did, according to the Lord, was also done to prepare His body for His burial, even though she had not known this herself before that time. That means it was actually the Spirit of God that led her to do what she did. And the reward was that her name would be mentioned wherever the gospel of the Lord is preached. (Cf. Matt 26:6-13; Mark 14:1-9; John 12:1-8)

So, we can even say that one of the ways to know how yielded we are to the Spirit of God is through our generosity to God. How generous are you, then, to Him? How generous are you to His servants? Then how devoted are you to living your life to please Him? These are the things that will let us know whether you truly love Him or not. My prayer is that what you call love for God will always prove to be genuine and not counterfeit, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant 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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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022

Don’t lose your place | Pst. J.O. Lawal |FPD28/08/2022

Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 17

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I welcome you with joy to the last Sunday of this month, the month of August 2022. And I pray that your place in the kingdom of our God and Father will never be given to another in Jesus’ name. Amen.

After the ascension of our Lord Jesus, the disciples gathered together in Jerusalem and held a meeting to choose someone else in place of Judas Iscariot. And Luke, reporting the occasion, says, “”For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, “‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’” (Acts 1:20NIV) Did you see that? Peter, on that occasion, drew the attention of the other disciples to what the Scriptures say about Judas and how another person must take his place in the kingdom of God. But why must another person take the place meant for this man? It was because he lost it. And what made him lose it? It was greed that made him lose it.

In like manner, each child of God has a place in the kingdom of God, a place specially prepared for him by the Father. In fact, our Lord Jesus says people will come from every part of the world and take the respective places prepared by the Father for them in His kingdom (Matt 8:11). But taking one’s place in God’s kingdom while in this world is one thing; keeping their place till the very end of all things is another thing entirely.

Judas, like the rest of the disciples of the Lord Jesus, also came to take his place in God’s kingdom. But he eventually lost it. And God alone knows how many like him have lost their places in the kingdom and have had them occupied by some other people. So, it is not enough for us to know that we have a place in the kingdom with our Lord Jesus and the Father. It is also important that we don’t lose our place with them.

Peter, in his second epistle, says the following to us: “Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.” (2Peter 3:17NIV) Did you see that? If we are not on our guard, we may fall from our secure position in the kingdom of God. Greed made Judas fall. And it can make us fall too. But even if it does not make us fall, what about pride, lust, rebellion, jealousy or bitterness? Will any of those not make us fall?

If Judas Iscariot had been on his guard against greed, he would not have fallen the way he did. And remember that the Lord taught them to be on their guard against all forms of greed (Luke 12:15). Unfortunately, he did not pay attention to that. So, he fell and lost his place in the kingdom. And if we too won’t pay attention to what He is saying to us about the things we ought to be on our guard against, we may as well end up like Judas.

Yes, we may travel all around the world in the name of the Lord Jesus and do all kinds of things by His power, just it was the case with Judas Iscariot. But all of these things won’t matter after all, if we should lose our place in His kingdom. And prayer is that our hearts will be kept steadfast in the truth all the time, so that we will not give in to anything that will make us lose our place in our Father’s eternal kingdom. Amen.

Have a great week.

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