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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.

Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2021

Tell them your experience with Him – — Pst. J.O Lawal.

April 11, 2021 |Vol. 9, No. 49

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer. Welcome to another week of the month of April 2021. And may you fully experience God’s rest and peace of mind all through the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one of the things that will make our experience of God’s rest and peace of mind better and better is for many more people in our world to be saved and transformed through faith in Christ Jesus. People who have been truly saved and transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ don’t cause trouble in the society. They don’t steal, rob, kidnap, rape, embezzle public funds, do money rituals, use hard drugs or irritate their neighbours. So, the more of such people we have in our society, the greater the degree of peace and rest we will be enjoying. This is, in fact, why we are admonished in Scriptures not to be praying for ourselves alone but also for all men, for through our prayers God is able to lead them to salvation. (Cf. 1Tim 2:1-4)

But praying for God to lead people to salvation is not enough for them to be led to salvation. We also need to be talking to them about this salvation that God is freely offering them in Christ Jesus. And we don’t have to be an evangelist to do this; we just need to have experienced this salvation ourselves. Have we been saved from our sins? Have we truly experienced deliverance from the power of the devil? Are our lives daily experiencing the love and goodness of God in ways beyond description? If all these things are true in our case, then, we already have enough of what we need to invite those around us to come and share in this same experience we are having with God through Christ Jesus.

For example, our Lord Jesus once had a brief conversation with a Samaritan woman by a well in a city called Sychar. Now this woman was most likely a very troublesome person, one that most people would not want to have anything to do with. That is because, as the account shows, she had married five times and the man she was with at that time was not her husband at all – they were just co-habiting. So, it is unlikely that she was a good woman. Nevertheless, when the Lord Jesus was through talking to her and showing her the solution to the thirst for love and peace of mind that she had, she did not waste time at all to go and gather as many people as she could from her town to come and meet the Lord. (Cf. John 4:4-45)

Now how much Scriptures did that woman know for her to be able to do that? Not much! In fact, she did not need to know much Scriptures to be able to get people to come and meet Jesus. She just needed to be able to passionately tell them her own personal experience with Him and how that experience gave her the faith she needed to have a new and meaningful life.

In like manner, what we need to invite people to meet with Jesus is not a great knowledge of the bible. Rather, what we need is a great passion to share with them the beautiful things our lives have experienced through our fellowship with Him, so that they too may come to Him to have even more beautiful experiences. And as they come to Him and have their lives changed, our society is able to experience a greater degree of peace and rest.

So, as you go this week, determine in your heart that more people will hear from you good news of what the Lord Jesus has done for you, is doing in you and is doing through you. And I pray that God, by His Spirit, will fill you with a great passion to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a fabulous week.

Copyright © 2021, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com/alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

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Be reminded

Title: Be reminded
By: J.O. Lawal
Date: January 31, 2021
Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 9, No. 39

Beloved: grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to another week of this year. My prayer is that, as we move into a new month in the week, you will be led to experience God’s favour and goodness in ways you have never experienced them, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now among the things we must continually remind ourselves of, as believers in Christ Jesus, is that we are not of this world. Yes, we live in this world and use the things of this world. But the word of God makes it very clear that we do not belong to this world but to God and His eternal kingdom. (Cf. John 15:19 & 17:14) And it is important that we always remind ourselves of this so that we may yield ourselves to be educated in the knowledge of who we really are and be empowered to walk in the light of this knowledge.

Many really do not know that all of us who are new creations in Christ Jesus need to be educated in the light of who we now are and how we are supposed to live. But Paul says to the Colossian brethren, “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 3:9-10NIV) Did you see that? We who are now in Christ Jesus have taken off our old self and have put a new self in Him. And this new self, as the apostle makes clear, is being re-educated to know what it means to be the image of God the creator.

That, of course, would mean that man lost the true knowledge of what being the image of God means when he fell into sin. So, instead of always living like one who has been created in the likeness of the living God, most of the time we find him living less than his real worth; we find him living like little demons or like animals. But now, in Christ Jesus, man is able to gain that knowledge of who he really is again and receive strength to live in the light of it.

Unfortunately, many that claim to be in Christ Jesus are not making any serious effort to learn what God has to say about who they are and how they to live in the light of who they are. And that is largely because their spiritual leaders are not constantly calling their attention to these things. They do not regularly remind them that they are no longer of the world and must not live again like those of the world. And they do not give themselves to patiently teaching them those things that will renew their knowledge about who they are before God and how they are to live to please Him.

But look at what Paul says to the Thessalonian brethren: “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” (1Thess 4:1NIV) Did you see that? These brethren had been educated in the will of God and also shown how to live in it by Paul and his ministry associates before he wrote this letter to them. Yet, since he was no longer physically present with them, he wrote to remind them to keep putting to work the things they already knew about living to please God.

In like manner, we too need to be continually educated in the knowledge of who we have now become in Christ Jesus and also to be constantly reminded to walk in the light of this knowledge. Otherwise we are going to forget who we are and begin to live lives that are inconsistent with our new nature in the Lord. Perhaps you have already forgotten that you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus, a child of the living God, a joint-heir with Christ Jesus and a master of Satan and his demons. I want to use this space to remind you that these are what you are and that you need to rise up and begin to live responsibly in the light of them. And may you be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in your inner man to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a great week.

Copyright © 2021, 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 alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com/alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)