People – REALITIES MINISTRIES

It’s not about ruling over people | Pst. J.O. Lawal | April 10, 2022 | Vol. 10, No. 49

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours forevermore from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I gladly welcome you to another week of the month of April 2022. And I pray that you will continually be taught to serve God wholeheartedly, so that you may receive all the good things associated with doing so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now if any of us truly wants to serve God wholeheartedly, then, he must bear in mind these words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45NIV)

Can you see that the Lord is not against our greatness? He wants us to be great people, especially in His kingdom. However, He also wants to know that the only way to be seen by God as great people in His kingdom is for us to be devoted to serving others. This, of course, does not mean that we are to turn ourselves to everybody’s slaves and allow them to abuse or insult us. Rather, it means that we, in humility, are to make ourselves available for Him to use in carrying out His will in people’s lives.

As our Lord points out in that text, He Himself came into the world to serve men and not to be served by them. And how did He serve them? It was by doing things that would fulfil the will of God in their lives. For example, He taught them the word of God, healed their sick folks, raised their dead people and eventually died for their sins. Why? It was so that they would become the people God wanted them to be, spirit, soul and body.

In like manner, we also are to serve men as He did. And though we are not required to die for anybody’s sins, there are several other things we can do to serve men and bring about the fulfilment of the will of God in their lives. We can be praying for them, teaching them God’s word, sharing our resources with them, correcting them when they are wrong, looking out for their welfare and interests, making our meeting places comfortable for them to stay in, aiding their ministries and so forth.

In short, when we are talking about service in God’s kingdom, it is all about what we can give to people and not about what we can take from them. Unfortunately, many do not understand this. So, often, they associate service in God’s kingdom with a possession of some measure of power to control God’s people as they like and to take from them whatever they want. In fact, some are so desperate to rule over God’s people that they can go to any extent to have power over them. That is why we have church leaders today that are involved in sorcery, witchcraft, divination, manipulation and so on.

Now people like such are like Simon the Sorcerer of bible days, who wanted to buy the gift of God with money. Why? He was desperate to maintain the control he once had over the people of his city. Such people are also like Diotrephes of bible days who, because he wanted to have control over God’s people, was ready to have a face-off with the apostles of the Lord. But the truth is that individuals like such cannot go far in their attempt to possess and rule over God’s people. That is because, at some point, God, the owner of all souls, will certainly deal with them as their actions deserve. (Cf. Acts 8:14-24; 3John 9-10)

So, do not imitate them or walk in their footsteps. Instead, imitate our Lord Jesus, who gave Himself in service for us all, so that our lives may be a fulfilment of the will of God. And God, who never cheats, will surely reward you adequately and appropriately for all that you do for His people, if you do not faint.

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)

God and People | J.O. LAWAL

Date: May 09, 2021 | Number: Vol. 10, No. 1

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours forever from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to another week of the month of May 2021. I pray that God, by His divine power, will fulfil all your good and righteous desires for the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This week, it becomes exactly nine years that we have been meeting in this town as a church. So, first, we ought to thank God for calling us out of darkness into His wonderful light in order that we may fellowship with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. We also ought to thank Him for making us representatives of His eternal kingdom in this world of darkness. May His Holy name be exalted forever. Amen.

Now, as we begin another year together in this wonderful fellowship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and with one another, there are two things I want you to take very seriously. First, take your relationship with God very seriously. Don’t forget that what qualifies all of us to be members of this assembly is our relationship with God. Yes, it is because we all are God’s children that we are fellowshipping together as one family and enjoying His love and the love of one another.

Therefore, above everything else, your relationship and fellowship with God must be taken very seriously. Until you take it as seriously as you ought to, none of us can be blessed through our fellowship with you the way we ought to be blessed through it. So, put God first in all things. And prove that by making it your goal to rely on Him for everything you need and to do what pleases Him in all things. As you do this, He will see to it that everything about your life is made perfect and that you do not lack anything you need to live a fruitful and meaningful life. (Cf. Matt 6:33)

Then I also want you to take all the people God has planted in your life very seriously, starting with members of your immediate household. Why is this important? It is important because it is the will of God for you. Read through the Scriptures, and you will see that God is always concerned about people and how they are doing (Ps 8:3-8). Even though He is God and can afford to ignore us or do without us, He still cherishes us and always wants to do us good. And that is because He loves us and wants the best for us at all times.

Since we, then, are His children, we are not expected to act differently from Him. In other words, we too must be lovers of people, just as God is. And we must be genuinely concerned about them, especially the ones He has put in our lives, and always consider how we may do them good. Until this is the case with us, we cannot be good ministers of Jesus Christ.

You know ministry is not just about serving God; it is also about serving people. To say the fact, it is because God wants us to serve people that He blessed us with all the gifts of the Spirits we have and all the resources we have access to, as His church (1Cor 12:4-7). So, we cannot claim to be serving Him, when we are not serving people. And we cannot serve people adequately and appropriately, if we are not interested in them and what is going on in their lives. Do you know that we cannot even take care of our husbands, wives, children, parents and siblings well, if we are not truly interested in their lives?

So, apart from your confidence in God, another important thing that will make you a good minister of Jesus Christ is your genuine interest in people. How interested are you in the lives and progress of your family members? How interested are you in the lives and progress of members of this assembly, with whom you fellowship week after week? And how interested are you in the lives and progress of all other people that are close to you in one way or the other? Your degree of interest in these people is what will drive you to seek God’s face for them and to also put to work the abilities, skills and resources God has given you in helping them.

If you, then, can see that your level of interest in people is low, you need to start praying to God seriously about it. That is because it is showing that you are not allowing His love in you to flow freely. It is love, God’s love, that makes us take genuine interest in people’s welfare. And where this is not flowing freely, we will hardly be concerned about others. Pray, therefore, that God will cause His love to flow freely in your life, as it ought to, so that you can be used by Him to bless all those that He intends to bless through you.

Once again, I welcome you to another year of great fellowship with God and with another and pray that we all will increase in fruitfulness and usefulness like never before in it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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