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

Title: A ready faith

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 6.

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the second week of the month of June 2025. And I pray that your heart will always be made ready to receive from God whatever good thing He wants you to have. Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2025, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)

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

Title: Slow to learn

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 5

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great delight that I welcome you to the sixth month of this year, the month of June 2025. I pray that God will strengthen you every day of the month to make the most of His grace in growing to be all that He wants you to be. Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a lovely June 2025.

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

Title: What He thinks of us

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 14, No. 2

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It gives me great delight welcome you to another week of the month of May 2025 and to also welcome you to our 13th year church anniversary. My prayer is that God will continue to build us up to be all that He wants us to be by the power of His Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is indeed a thing of joy to know that we have been meeting as an assembly in this town for thirteen full years. And we ought to be thankful to God for all that He has done in us, for us and through us in these thirteen years. We also ought to be thankful to Him for all that He is still going to do among us, for us and through us in the year we are just starting as a church. My prayer is that His good works will never cease in our midst, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

But then, as we are celebrating God’s goodness to us today as an assembly, there is something very important that we need to pay attention to. And that what He thinks of us as an assembly. If we ask around, people will have all kinds of things to say about our assembly. And what they say may be pleasant to the ear or not pleasant at all. But we cannot judge how well we are doing as a church on the basis of what people think or say about us.

We cannot even judge how well we are doing on the basis of what we think of ourselves. The only true judgment of how we are doing lies with God. And we all will do well to pray that He will reveal what He thinks about us to us, so that we can give ourselves to functioning accordingly.

As we see in the book of Revelation, the Lord says this about the church in Laodicea:“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Rev 3:17-18NIV)

Did you see that? This church thought that it was rich spiritually and in need of nothing. But the Lord said that it was wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. So, the only one who knows the true condition of every church is the Lord Himself. And unless He tells us our condition, we may think we are doing well, when we are actually failing, or think that we are doing poorly, when we are actually doing well in God’s sight.

Therefore, as I said before, let us all give ourselves to praying wholeheartedly that God will reveal to us what He thinks about our assembly, so that we will not be acting on a reputation that we do not have before God and lose our place and our reward in His kingdom. I rejoice with all of us again, as we celebrate another year of God’s faithfulness to us as a church. My prayer is that God will cause us stand firm in all His will for us and also continually cause His favour and mercy to rest upon us. Amen.Happy celebration.

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Demonic activities are real – J.O. Lawal

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Series: Youth for Jesus

Number: Vol. 7, No. 52

“Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” (Rev 16:13-14NIV)

What we see in our opening text is a little part of the revelation of Jesus given to John the Apostle. And from what we see in the revelation, a time will come when the rulers of this world will come together to battle against the Lord. And does that not sound ridiculous? Does it not sound ridiculous that people would think of waging war against God?

Well, it does sound ridiculous that people would think of doing that. But it is going to happen, just as our Lord made it known to John. And the reason it is going to happen is that certain demons will move them to do so when the time is ripe. As we see in our opening text, these evil spirits will go out and gather the world rulers of the time to wage war against God.

Now how will these demons go about doing that? We are not told this in obvious terms in the text. But it is clear that they will do so by speaking to the minds of these rulers and urging them to do what they want. We have a similar example in the bible story of the death of King Ahab.

As the account goes, it was an unclean spirit that became a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets of this king, just to deceive and lure him to his death. And interestingly, this lying spirit succeeded in moving about four hundred prophets to tell the same lie on the same day and at the same time. (Cf. 1Kings 22; 2Chro 18)

So, demonic activities are real. And that many all around the world who do not believe in them does not change the fact that they are real and happening everyday. What we are saying is that there are times that people act the way they act because certain demons are moving or driving them.For instance, why are beer parlous, night parties and brothels (houses of prostitution) often filled with all kinds of people, high and low, rich and poor, educated and uneducated? The reason is that there are demons that gather them to fill these places.

Also, why do we sometimes witness horrible riots, mob attacks and genocides? The reason is that there are demons that gather and drive people to do these things. And just as they are able to move a crowd to do dangerous and unthinkable things, they are also able to move individuals to do stupid, silly and destructive things to themselves and to others.

So, when someone or people are acting crazy and doing destructive things to themselves or to others, you should know that some demons may be responsible for their actions. You should have compassion on them, then, and pray for their deliverance, instead of condemning them to hell. Otherwise, they may go from bad to worse and make the world more unbearable for all of us to live in.

Also, we need to be utterly given to the word of God and prayer, so that we too will not be tools of demonic activities. Remember that, as devoted as David was to God, Satan was still able to use him to take certain foolish steps that brought trouble on his nation. Remember also that even though Judas Iscariot did everything with the Lord Jesus, as a disciple and friend, Satan still succeeded in using him to hand Him over to His enemies. (Cf. 1Chro 21; John 13:2&27)

So, any of us can be moved, driven and used by the devil or any of his demons to do unthinkable and destructive things, if we will not give ourselves to living by the word of God and praying to frustrate satanic activities where we are. My prayer is that you will never again be available as a tool to be used by the devil or any of his demons, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Only few people | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 19, 2025 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 38

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to another week of the month of January 2025. My prayer is that God will wake you up to recognize all the duties of your ministry and also strengthen you to begin to carry them out without delay. Amen.

Paul, in a letter to Timothy, says this to him: “…discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2Tim 4:5NIV) Why does he say this to him? He says it to him because he is sure that he knows his ministry and the responsibilities that go with it. If Timothy does not know the duties of his ministry, then, he won’t be able to fulfil all of them on purpose. Yes, he may accidentally carry some of the duties of his ministry, even if he does not know them. But he won’t be able to deliberately and fully carry out duties that he knows nothing about.

Now if Timothy is not fully discharging the duties of his ministry, then, God will not be able to bless everyone He wants to bless through his ministry the way He wants to. And will God be happy about that? No, He won’t. So, He will have to find ways to wake him up to do all that he is supposed to do or find some other people that will do what he is supposed to do that he is neglecting.

In like manner, God is expecting every child of His in the church today to recognise the duties of his ministry and also begin to carry them out. Otherwise, He will not be able to bless people through them as He wants to. And where this is the case, He will have to seek ways to wake them up to do what they are neglecting or find some other people to do it.

Unfortunately, even though God is doing all He can to wake many of us up to begin to do all the duties of our ministry, we are often unwilling to do so because of fear, laziness, distraction, greed or ignorance. Therefore, often, He also has to call upon others to pick up and do what we are refusing to do. This is why, in many Christian assemblies, it is the same few people that are committed to the word of God that are also often committed to attending prayer meetings, visiting others, giving and even taking care of their church meeting places.

For instance, in a letter to the Corinthians, Paul says this to them: “I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you.” (1Cor 16:17NIV) Did you see that? These three men were evidently elders of the church in Corinth. That means they must have had a lot of responsibilities to shoulder at the time. Yet, as large as the Corinthian church must have been at the time, it was still these three men that supported Paul with their resources in order to make up for what the whole church should have done.

Now is that a good thing to be happening in any church of God? No! Should only few people be bearing the burdens that all the members of an assembly are supposed to be bearing? No! Is it not possible for those few people to become tired or discouraged at some point and not want to do anything again? It is possible. And we have had people who became discouraged and stopped attending their church meetings altogether because they were overwhelmed by the burdens they were bearing.

Then even if such people do not become discouraged, will they not be the only ones that will get rewarded by God for what their entire churches are supposed to be rewarded for? They will be the only ones. That is because God will never reward anyone for what the person has not done for him. Apart from that, the growth and development of an assembly in which only few people are responsible for everything being done will be slow. You can now see why we have several assemblies in our land that have been around for years but are still babies in fruitfulness and usefulness.

In any case, I am sharing these things with you to let you know that it is not a good thing for us as an assembly to leave what all of us are supposed to be doing for God for only few people. And if this has been the case, then, we have unconsciously been limiting the growth and usefulness of our assembly and perhaps also filling some people among us with discouragement. So, we need to repent and pick up our duties in praying, giving, visiting others and so forth. Then our church will begin to grow and increase in usefulness as it should and we also will not lose our reward to others.

Have a splendid 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 2024 Pastor's Desk

Who told them to leave? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 10, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 45

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

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be made abundant to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to another week of the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will fill your heart with adequate and complete knowledge of the right steps to take to walk in victory over the current economic and security problems of our country, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

It is no news that our country is really facing very serious economic and security challenges. And it is only God’s intervention that will see us through. That is why we, who know Him, must not stop praying to Him until our joy is full over the nation. Remember that our Lord Jesus tells us to ask until our joy is full. So, as long as our joy is not yet full over our nation, we must keep on praying to God for her. (Cf. John 16:24)

But then, while we eagerly expect God to intervene and save our nation, we, as individuals, also need to know the right steps to take to flourish and not be destroyed by the problems of the nation. And the only person that can show us what to do is God. So, as we are praying to Him for our country, we must also be praying to Him for ourselves. We must be praying to Him that He will fill our hearts with the exact knowledge of what to do to walk through this trying period of the nation and come out victorious. And if we will sincerely do so, He will surely answer us and guide us in the way we should go.

Again, remember that the word of God tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, to acknowledge Him in all our ways and to not lean on our own understanding. That way, He will lead us in the path of victory. It is sad, however, that even many among God’s people are no longer counting on Him to guide them in the way they should go during this period. Instead, they are relying on their wisdom and understanding. And those who are functioning like this are abound to suffer disgrace, sooner or later, if they are not shown mercy by God. (Cf. Prov 3:5-6)

Remember the story of Naomi and her family members. They all left the land of Israel for the land of Moab because there was a very severe famine in the land. But who told them to leave? Was it God? We are not told that at all. But we are told that Naomi ended up regretting what they did. That was because she was the only one of them that came back home alive. And even though she came back alive, she came back with nothing. (Cf. Ruth 1)

But consider the case of the Shunammite woman, whose son Elisha had raised from the dead. There was a time that she too left the land of Israel with her family because of famine. But did she lose her family members or her possessions where they relocated to? No! Instead, as we are shown in the bible, when the famine was over, she came back with her people, alive and well. Not only that, the king commanded that everything she had left behind be given back to her, including all the money made on her possessions. (Cf. 2Kings 8:3-6)

Why was this woman favoured like this? It was because the steps she took to leave the land during that period of famine was commanded by the Lord. Look at what the bible says about that: “Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the LORD has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.” (2Kings 8:1-2NIV)

Did you see that? That woman did not just run away from the land with her family members because she felt it was the right thing for her to do. Rather, she left the land because her spiritual leader, Prophet Elisha, told her that it was the will of God for her to do so. So, she was simply obeying the command of God. No wonder she did not regret it.

We too will not regret it, if we will allow God to lead us during this period of national crises instead of jumping here and there to do anything that comes to our minds or anything that others around us are doing. And He will lead us, if we will pray to Him to do so. How? It may be through the Scriptures, through visions or dreams, through angels or through our spiritual leaders. But God will surely lead us to prosper, in spite of everything, as long as we keep our hearts open to be led by Him.

Do have a splendid week.

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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

Protests are not enough | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 03, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 44

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another month of the year, the month of March 2024. My prayer is that God will bring us times of refreshing in every part of the country in the month and also preserve you and your family to fully enjoy the times of refreshing that He will bring to us. Amen.

As we all can see, our country has been plunged into a terrible season of famine. That is why even though many are working hard and smart, it is getting harder and harder for them to survive. What we need, then, is divine intervention, not more hard work, not more protests.

Now don’t get me wrong. Hard work is important and has its place in life. Therefore, the word of God admonishes us to be hard working and not lazy. Then protests too have their own place in life, that is, when they are not motivated by a spirit of rebellion or geared towards making an already bad situation worse. For instance, when Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On protested against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, God judged them and all the people with them with a strange kind of death. The ground opened its mouth and swallowed all of them. Why? They were out to destroy the leadership of the anointed of God among them and turn the entire nation away from the will of God. (Cf. Num 16)

However, when the five daughters of a man called Zelophehad protested to Moses that their father’s house should not be neglected in the sharing of the inheritance, simply because he did not have a male child, God did not rebuke or punish them. Instead, He granted their request. Why? It was because they were not seeking to tear apart the leadership of Moses or to stir up the people against him. Rather, they just wanted him to know that it would be unjust for their father’s house to be set aside in the sharing of the Promised land. (Cf. Num 27:1-7)

So, it is not wrong to protest against something that is not working or right where we are. Otherwise, those in authority or in a position to change things may just assume that everything is fine with everybody. For instance, during Elisha’s time, there was a famine in Israel that turned some of the people to beasts, beasts that were already eating their own children. And the king, living in the comfort of his palace, would not have known anything about what the famine was doing to his people, if one of the women that were already eating their babies had not come to protest to him. (Cf. 2Kings 6:24-30)

But then, even though the protest of that woman woke the king up, it only made him realise that he had been far removed from the plight of his people. It did not solve the problem. In fact, the king had no solution to the problem on ground, for it was beyond his intelligence. So, all that he could do was wear a mourning cloth and threaten the most recognized prophet in the land at the time, Elisha. Why? He thought it was because he was not interceding enough for the land that things got as bad as that. (Cf. 2Kings 6:30-31)

Therefore, even where protests are in order, they cannot give leaders solutions to the problems of their land or of their people. If they do not know what to do to help their people, then, then protests won’t solve whatever problem that is on ground. As I pointed out earlier, the protest of that woman did not end the famine in the land of Israel. But it woke the king up to the need for divine intervention. And did God intervene or not? He did by addressing the root of the famine the land was having and giving them overnight prosperity. (Cf. 2Kings 7)

In like manner, God can deal with all the roots of the famine we are now experiencing in our country and also give us overnight prosperity. And we don’t need to wait until people start eating their own children or until there are bloody protests everywhere before we who know Him begin to call on Him for His urgent intervention. But how many of us still believe that God can really turn things around for our good in this country? It is those who still believe that will not stop praying to Him until miracles of deliverance happen for us. They are also the ones that will taste and enjoy the deliverance that is coming. And may your heart be strengthened to be numbered among them, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid March 2024.

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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2024 Pastor's Desk

Delivered from all his fears | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: February 18, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 42

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I welcome you to another week of the month of February 2024 and pray that God will rid your heart of every thought of fear that is paralysing you and keeping you from taking the right steps to experience the prosperity that could be yours in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In the parable of the man that gave his servants money to work with, which our Lord shares with us, the reason the servant that did nothing with the money he was given did nothing with it was that he was afraid. For years, preachers have taught us that the reason he did nothing with the money given to him was that he considered it too small for him, compared to what others were given. But there is nothing in the account that says or suggests that. (Cf. Matt 25:14-30)

First, as we see in the account, what this servant’s master gave him was much, even though it was a talent. That is because, during that period, a talent was a lot of money. Second, his master gave him and his fellow servants money according to their individual ability (Matt 25:15). So, it was not because the money given to him was too small or was not as much as what others were given that he did nothing with it. According to him, he did nothing with it because he was afraid of losing it (Matt 25:24-25).

In any case, because this servant allowed the fear of losing the money he had been given to possess him, he became blind to every opportunity that he could have utilised in using the money and multiplying it. So, while his fellow servants were multiplying their own talents, he was busy with irrelevancies, things that his master would not ask him questions about. That, of course, was how he lost his talent to one of those that worked hard with their own talents and also lost his place before his master, instead of being promoted. (Cf. Matt 25:24-30)

What is this teaching us? It is that fear paralyses. Fear opens people’s eyes only to failure. And when all you can see is failure, there is every tendency that you will forget that you have God and that He can show you how to turn failure around to success. So, you will find yourself giving up and surrendering to defeat, death or poverty.

But you don’t have to surrender to defeat, death or poverty. None of us has to surrender to these things. Yes, we may be confronted with all kinds of fear because of the circumstances of our lives or of our country. We may be confronted with the fear of hunger, the fear of our children’s school fees, the fear of house rent that has not been paid, the fear of an illness that is troubling our body, the fear of some unpaid debts, the fear of a business or job that is failing in our hands, the fear of a coming examination or the fear of losing someone dear to us.

Whatever form the fear we are confronted with may take, what we need to do is to talk to God about it. And He will handle it for us. David, in one of his psalms, says, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” (Ps 34:4NIV) Did you see that? When David sought the Lord about everything bothering him and making his heart afraid, He delivered him from all his fears.

How did the Lord deliver this man from all his fears? We would not know, for he does not tell us in detail. But his testimony is that when he sought the Lord, he was delivered from all his fears. So, if you did not know before, know now that God is able to deliver you from whatever fear you have that is filling you with depression, making you sick or making you want to run away or commit suicide. All you need is to seek the Lord’s face about it. And He will deliver you from it, open your eyes to see His provisions for your experience of success and victory and also give you great testimonies to share.

Have a splendid week.

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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2023 Pastor's Desk

Where do you need to excel? | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 15, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 37

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 the third week of this new year. And I pray that God will cause you to excel in everything that is good and righteous in His sight every day of this new year, so that your life will cause all those around you to continually glorify His name, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul, in a letter to the Corinthians, says this: “But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2Cor 8:7NIV) In what things did the Corinthian brethren excel, as pointed out by this apostle? They excelled in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in zeal for God and also in love.

It is unfortunate that many people of God in our various assemblies all around the world today are far behind in these things. They are far behind in their faith in God, in their knowledge of Him, in their zeal for Him, in speaking with grace and in their love for another. Therefore, though they profess to know God, people find it hard to believe that they are related to Him.

And it is possible that we are also like that? We claim to know God but it is not obvious at all to those around us that we belong to Him. That is because there is nothing excellent about our faith, love, speech, knowledge and zeal for God. And this is not the will of God for us. His will for us is that we will excel in every good thing. If we, therefore, do not want to continue to live fruitless and unprofitable lives, we need to begin to take advantage of His grace that is ever available and sufficient to press to excel in those things that will cause men to glorify Him on account of us.

As we see in the case of the Corinthian brethren, Paul could confidently say that they were excellent in faith, in speech, in zeal, in knowledge and in love. The only area in which they were behind was that of giving. So, he said to them, “Just as you have been excellent in other fruit of the Spirit, you need to see to it that you also excel in the grace of giving.”

What that means is that there is no area of our lives in which God does not want us to be excellent. So, if there is any area of our lives in which we are coming behind, God will surely point it out to us. He may do this as we are examining our lives with His word by ourselves. Or He may do it through our church leaders or some other brethren.

Whatever the case may be, as long as God is showing us what areas of our lives in which we need to strive for excellence, we should not argue with Him or with His messengers or begin to make excuses for our being behind. Instead, we are to embrace what He is saying to us and begin to immediately strive for excellence where it needs to be obvious in our lives. That is what will show that we truly want to grow and become all that He wants us to be.

So, as you go this week, make a commitment to examine your life in the light of God’s word to see where you have been behind in excellence. And as you do this, the Spirit of God will open your eyes to see what you need to see and also strengthen you to do what you need to do to be where God wants you to be.

Have a very lovely week.

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@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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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)