JAN – REALITIES MINISTRIES

Title: Don’t be a mere talker JAN 19, 2020

By: J.O. Lawal

Date: January 19, 2020

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 8, No. 37

Beloved: grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another week of January 2020. And I pray that the Lord will fulfill every good purpose of your heart and all your steps of faith in it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

My admonition to you, as we continue our journey through this new year, is that you go beyond talking in your walk with God; be a performer. God Himself is a performer; He does not just talk. Balaam, that greedy seer, once said about Him, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Num 23:19NIV) Think about that. Even Balaam, of all people, knew God as a performer and not a mere talker.

In like manner, you too should not just be one who just talks about all sorts of wonderful things you intend to do for God and His kingdom this year. Rather, be one who is committed to acting too. That is because it is not the one who talks and makes all kinds of promises that has God’s approval but the one who acts in accordance with His will.

There is actually a parable of the Lord that speaks to warn us along this line. It reads: “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.” (Matt 21:28-30NIV) Now the Lord asks, “What do you think about that? Who out of the two sons did the will of his father?” Obviously, it was the first son. Truly, he had said that he was not going to do what his father wanted. But he later thought about it, changed his mind and went and did what the father wanted.

Unfortunately, the one that raised his father’s hope and said that he would go and do his will never went. Perhaps he just said what he said to impress his father and make him feel good. And maybe he really did want to carry out his father’s will. But the fact remains that he never did. He was a mere talker. Many too are like that today. They are smooth and impressive talkers. Always, they are talking about what they are doing for the Lord or what they intend to do for Him, causing people to think of them in ways they are not warranted to. But when you examine their walk very carefully, you will see that all they do is talk – they don’t act.

Now people like that don’t move the work of God forward. On the contrary, they unconsciously discourage others and terribly slow down the work. That is because when you expect them to act, they won’t act. So, God may end up getting others to do what they should have done. And that is not good for them at all. I mean that it is not good for any of us to be one who just says before God things he does not mean or things he is unwilling to fully commit himself to. That is because, as Solomon shows us in his book, Ecclesiastes, acting like that may expose us and the works of our hands to God’s judgment. (Cf. Ecc 5:1-6)

So, this new year, even though it is the will of God for each of us to abound in His work, don’t try to impress or compete with anybody by saying that you are going to do for God things you have no intention of doing for Him. We have no business impressing or competing with anybody in kingdom matters. The only one that we need to impress is God. And don’t be in a hurry to commit yourself to any kingdom service, without first thinking about the cost well (Luke 14:25-33). That is because once you make a commitment to do something, God and people start watching out. What, then, will they think of you, if, at some point, you should drop your commitment to that thing all because you realise that you did not initially do your homework well? I don’t think I need to tell you.

My point, at any rate, is that let your words and actions agree, as far as matters relating to the kingdom of God are concerned this year. And may God’s favour continually overflow your life all through the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do have a splendid week.

Copyright © 2020, 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)

Title: What exactly is in your heart? JAN 10, 2021

By: J.O. Lawal

Date: January 10, 2021

Series: From Pastor’s Desk

Number: Vol. 9, No. 36

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to another week of the month of January 2021. I pray that your heart will be kept right to continually experience the goodness of God in the week and all through the remaining days of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now there is a very troubling account of a man in the bible, which I want to use to admonish you, as we begin this new week. It is that of Simon the sorcerer. This man, because of his sorcery and magic, had been a very powerful force to reckon with in Samaria until Philip the Evangelist came there and proclaimed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the people. And when he, like others, saw the great miracles, signs and wonders that God performed through Philip, in the name of Jesus, he too joined the company of those who believed and began to fellowship with them and to follow them up and down. (Cf. Acts 8:4-13)

However, when Peter and John came to Samaria to pray for the people, so that they may receive the Holy Spirit, Simon was astonished to see that it was through the laying of their hands on them that they received Him. And instead for him to present himself to these apostles to have hands laid on him, so that he too may receive the Holy Spirit, he offered them money to give him the ability to also be able to make people receive the Holy Spirit by laying hands on them. This, of course, got Peter so upset that he said to him: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”” (Acts 8:20-23NIV)

What was the problem with Simon, as Peter pointed out? It was that his heart was never right with God. Yes, like every other person, he too confessed Jesus as Lord with his mouth. But the truth was that he never really believed in Him for the salvation of his soul. In other words, he did not confess Jesus and join the company of believers because he truly realized that he was a sinner and in need of salvation. Instead, he joined them because he saw in that fellowship an opportunity to gain additional power to his sorcery powers and be able to do whatever he wanted. Unfortunately for him, his real intentions were exposed by the Spirit of God, and he was told that he was in danger of perishing in sin, if he would not repent.

In like manner, Paul speaks about certain people in the church, who are always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2Tim 3:6-7). These ones just don’t ever understand or practise the things they are being taught. And it does not matter how much time you devote to teaching them, counselling them, praying for them or following them up, they will still remain unchanged in their way of life. Why? It is because their hearts have never been right. They have not joined the people of God because of the salvation of their souls; they have other reasons. It may be because they see in the fellowship of God’s people an opportunity for financial gain, to meet some influential people, to get a good brother or sister to marry or to be involved in all kinds of immoral affairs.

In any case, whatever our reason for confessing Jesus and joining the church may be, if it is not to experience the eternal salvation that God has purchased for us, we have missed it and are in a wrong place. And like Simon the sorcerer, we will not go far in our hypocrisy. At some point, God will expose us for what we really are and show His children that we never really belonged to Him. Then, if we refuse to repent and accept His salvation, we will eventually perish in our sins.

So, ask yourself, “What is really in my heart? Why have I confessed Jesus as Lord? Is it really because of the salvation of my soul or am I after something else?” And I pray that the Spirit of God will cause us to be truthful to ourselves in this matter, so that we will not end up wasting our lives and our so-called devotion to the Lord and His kingdom.

Do have a very pleasant 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)