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FROM PASTOR'S DESK 2022 Pastor's Desk SUNDAY BULLETINS

Knowing His power | By: Johnson O. Lawal | Date: February 06, 2022 | Series: Strengthen yourself in Him

from pastor's desk

I want us to continue from where we left off on ‘Taking advantage of God’s power’. Why are we looking at this? We are looking at it because of the things we are told in the Scriptures about the power of God. We are told in them that the kingdom we belong in is a kingdom of power. We are equally told that the gospel we preach is a gospel of power. Then we are told that the power of God is for those of us who believe to enjoy, utilise and experience. In addition to that, we are told that this power is at work in us. His power is resident in us. So, everywhere we go we carry His power there. And since this is the case, it is only wise and responsible of us to begin to utilise His power and to also do those things that will make us experience His power in our lives.

More so, as Paul shows us in his letter to the Ephesians, God Himself wants us to take advantage of this power. He wants us to strengthen ourselves in Him and in His mighty power. In other words, He does not want us to live weak and beggarly lives in this world. God knows that there are forces that are against us in this world. He knows that we have enemies. And this are not human enemies. They are spirit enemies, powerful and wicked spirit beings. And these beings are ready to do anything to make life miserable for us. They are ready to do anything to hinder us in life and prevent us from being the persons God wants us to be and doing the these He wants us to do. If we, then, will not take advantage of the power of God, we will have no answer for the things they are doing against us. We will not be able to fix them or handle them. It’s only God’s power that is capable of dealing with these beings and preventing them from ruining our lives. (Cf. Ephesians 6:10NIV)

So, we have a duty, which is to learn how to use the power of God and to also begin to utilise it. It is on us to choose not to be victims in this life but to be victors. It is on us to choose not to allow the devil to have a free day in our lives. So, as I said, we need to learn how to take advantage of God’s power and then begin to take advantage of it.

How, then, do we do this? First, we need to know His power. We cannot take adequate and appropriate advantage of His power, if we do not know it. If we do not know the quality of this power and what it is able to accomplish for us, we may not be able to take advantage of it adequately or see the need for us to be serious in taking advantage of it. So, it begins with knowing His power.

Now how do we know His power? One of the ways to know it is by revelation from God Himself. In other words, God Himself will have to reveal His power to us or educate our mind about the quality and greatness of His power. For example, when God first appeared to Moses in the wilderness, He began to reveal His power to Him. Look at what we are told about this from verse 1 of Exodus, chapter 4:
“Moses answered, ‘What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, “The Lord did not appear to you”?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ‘This,’ said the Lord, ‘is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their forefathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has appeared to you.’ Then the Lord said, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous – it had become as white as snow. ‘Now put it back into your cloak,’ he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, ‘If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.’ (Exodus 4:1-9NIV)


You can see that God is revealing something to Moses here about His power. He is showing him that His power can recreate. His power is His creative ability. And with His power things can be recreated. With His power the course of nature can be changed. As I have already pointed out, we need to know what His power can do or accomplish. We need to know that His power can change our situations. His power can change our life’s circumstances. Until this is revealed to us, we won’t know. And if we don’t know, we will not be able to take adequate advantage of it. If we do not know what His power can accomplish for us, we cannot have faith to experience or utilise it.

The point I am making is that until we have revelations of God’s power, we will not be able to take advantage of His power adequately and appropriately. So, we need God to reveal His power to us. We need Him to reveal the greatness of His power to us. We need Him to reveal the quality of His power to us. He did this with Moses. He also did it with Gideon, as we also see in the bible. When God was going to send him to deliver His people from the Midianites, He had to reveal His power to him in order to strengthen his faith to carry out the assignment. There are also people who will not move an inch in doing the will of God, if He does not reveal His power to them or show them what His power is able to accomplish for them or make them succeed in what He is sending them to do.

Moses and Gideon were not immediately willing to do what God wanted them to do. They kept on arguing back and forth with Him and giving Him reasons they would not succeed. And He had to strengthen their faith by revealing something of His power to them. Maybe you too need to have Him reveal things about His power to you in order for you to do certain things He wants you to do. That step you are supposed to take that you have not taken – what you need to take it may just be a revelation of God’s power. Once you see that His power is able to make you succeed in it, you will take it.

Many are finding it difficult today to live the Christian life because they have no revelation of what God’s power is able to do for them in making it possible for them to live this life. They need a revelation of His power. We all need revelations of His power. And the more revelations of His power we have the better it gets for us. That is because the revelation of His power strengthens and builds our faith.

Another way to know His power is to pray to Him about it. In Moses and Gideon’s case, they did not offer any prayer to God in order for Him to reveal His power to them. Moses did not wake up that morning that God came to him expecting himself to find God. Gideon also did not wake up that day expecting to find God the day God came to him. Yet both of them saw Him, and He revealed His power to them. So, it is not every time that God shows up and reveals His power to people because they have prayed. But we can pray to Him to give us revelations of His power. And we see this in Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church, which we have from verse 18 of Ephesians 1 and which says:
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, for above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:13-21NIV)

There are three things Paul asks of God for these brethren here. First, he prays that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened in order that they may know the hope to which God has called them. Second, he prays that they will be made to know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in His holy people. Third, he prays that they will be made to know God’s incomparably great power for us who believe. So, we can pray to God for revelations of His power. We can pray to Him to reveal the greatness and quality of His power to us in order to know how to take advantage of it.

Now Paul, who is offering this prayer for the brethren, already knows something of His power, for he describes it as Christ’s power of resurrection and ascension. According to him, it was God’s power that raised Jesus from the dead. Also, according to him, it was His power that caused Him to ascend on high, far above all principalities and power. And he would later write to the Philippians that he wants to know Christ and the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:10). So, his own way of describing God’s power is to call it the power of resurrection, that is, the power that raises the dead. He also describes it as the power of ascension, the power that causes people to rise above any life’s challenge or trial.

The point I am making, in any case, is that we can pray to know God’s power; we can pray to have revelations of His power. Then we too will be able to describe His power. There are many descriptions of His power in the Scriptures from people who had revelations of it. We too can describe it to others, when we have it. I told you already how important it is for us to have revelations of His power. We cannot function beyond the revelation of His power that we have. So, we need to increase in our revelations of the power of God in order that we can take advantage of it in our situations.

We read in the bible accounts of people who took advantage of God’s power. Why were they able to do so the way they did? It was because they had revelations of it. For instance, we are told of a woman with an issue of blood. For twelve long years this woman suffered from this thing. Then, one day, she heard that Jesus was passing by and she told herself, “If I could only touch the hem of His garment, I would be well.” Then she pushed herself through the crowd to touch Jesus and, instantly, she became well. That means when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, the power of God was released for her healing. And she knew that she was well. Jesus also knew that power had gone out from Him to someone. Interestingly, He could not keep the power from coming out from Him to that woman.

But why was the woman able to do that? It was because she already had a revelation in her heart that God’s power could heal her and that by just touching the hem of Jesus’ garment that power would be released for her healing. She had a revelation that she did not have to meet Jesus personally in order for the power of God to be released for her healing. She also knew that Jesus did not have to lay hands on her in order for her to receive her healing. So, she did not need Him praying for her or saying anything to her. The revelation she had was that even the cloths of Jesus would have residues of God’s power in them and that if she could just touch the hem of any of His cloths, God’s power would be released for her healing. And when she did, she was healed instantly. (Cf. Mark 5:25-34)

Also, we are told in the bible of a centurion whose servant was unwell and who had come to Jesus so that He could come and lay hands on the man and make Him well. But while talking to Jesus, he just suddenly had a revelation that He did not even need to come to his house in order to heal his servant – all he needed to do was to speak a word, and the man would be well. And the Lord described that as great faith. But faith is based on revelations. That man had a revelation of the quality of God’s power. He had a revelation that the very words of Jesus carry God’s power. So, if He would speak, the power of God would be released and what he wanted done would be done. And when Jesus spoke, the power of God was released, what the man wanted was done and God was praised.

Well, we are talking about receiving revelations of God’s power, so that we can take advantage of it and change our experience in life. And I am saying that we can pray for that to happen. Paul prays for the Ephesians to know this power. We too can pray to know it. And we really need to know it, if we would be taking adequate advantage of it.

Another way to know God’s power is by studying the Scriptures and meditating on them. We have all kinds of accounts in the Scriptures of manifestations of God’s power. And by studying these accounts we too can strengthen our faith to take advantage of His power. In the book of Exodus, for example, we have a number of accounts of the manifestations of God’s power. And by studying these accounts, we too can have faith to take advantage of God’s power, especially if we find ourselves in situations that are similar to the ones the children of Israel found themselves in.

At least, we know from this book of Exodus, that God’s power can alter the course of nature or accelerate the changes of physical state of things. God told Moses to take water from the Nile river and pour it on the ground and that it would become blood. And he did, and the water did. In other words, Moses did what God told him to do. And when he did, the water that he poured on the ground became blood. We have something similar in John 2. There Jesus turned water into wine. That was a manifestation of the power of God. It can change an unpleasant situation into something pleasant. And it can alter the course of nature.

Of course, it was not everyday that Jesus turned water into wine. And it was not everyday that Moses turned water into blood. But if you find yourself in a situation in which the course of nature needs to be altered in order for a need to be met in your life or in order for you to be saved from a situation, you can have faith to utilise God’s power on your behalf. This may be a little difficult to explain. But the point of it all is that by studying and meditating on scripture accounts of the manifestations of God’s power, we too can develop our faith to experience His power in tremendous ways.

Also, in the book of Exodus, we see that by God’s power He parted the Red Sea. God’s power can do that. His power is so great that it can divide the waters of the sea. Later on, both Elijah and Elisha would demonstrate their faith along this line in parting the waters of River Jordan (2Kings 2). You may not need to divide any physical sea. But you may find yourself in a situation in which you need a way to be made for you. You may just be sandwiched in a place where you need a way out. And you can trust Him to release His power to make a way for you. Paul tells us that there is no situation that has come to us that uncommon to man and that God is faithful and will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear but will make a way out for us, when we are tempted, so that we can stand up under it (1Corinthians 10:13).

So, God is able to make a way out for us in any situation, however dangerous the situation may be. But we need to know that His power can do this for us. Otherwise, we may not take any step to take advantage of His power to make a way for us where there is no way.

Well, what I am saying is that by studying the Scriptures to see the various ways in which God’s power was manifested in the past, we too can strengthen our faith to utilise His power for our advantage. Look at what a psalmist says about this from verse 10 of Psalm 77: “Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.’” (Psalm 77:10-12NIV) This man says I will remember the deeds of the Lord, I will remember your miracles of long ago and I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Why did he say this? It was so that he could strengthen his faith in God. He would go through the Scriptures, consider the things said in them about the power of God and meditate on them so that he could take advantage of this power.

So, learn to study Scriptures that talk about manifestations of Gods power and to meditate on them. That way, you can take advantage of His power for your preservation, exaltation, salvation, healing and so forth. Look at what Gideon said about his knowledge of God’s power when the angel of the Lord appeared to him: “When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Pardon me, my Lord, ‘Gideon replied, ‘but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, “Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.’” (Judges 6:12-13NIV)

When the angel of the Lord appeared to this man, he asked, “Where is God? Where is His power that we have heard great things about? It seems that He has already abandoned us. Otherwise we would be experiencing His power.” So, Gideon was familiar with what God’s power could accomplish. He had heard about it. He had read in the Scriptures about it and had been thinking about what became of this power. Yes, he had been wondering if God’s power was no more or if it was just that God had left them. If He had not left them, why then were they not experiencing His power for their deliverance? And the angel of the Lord did answer all his questions for him.

Now thanks to God, for we have no doubt about His presence with us or the availability of His power for us and in us. We just need to know what His power could accomplish for us and then begin to take advantage of it. Therefore, you need to increase in your knowledge of the power of God, which is the point I have been making all along. You need to increase in your revelations of His power. Yes, you need sound and abiding revelations of His power in your heart, so that you can begin to adequately take advantage of it to frustrate the devil and walk in victory in every area of your life. And I pray that your heart will be filled with greater revelations of this power, so that you can take advantage of it to be the person God wants you to be and do the things He wants you to do, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Prepare yourself for the top | By: J.O. Lawal Date: February 09, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 39

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training…”

(1Cor 9:25NIV)

Most people start out in life desiring to be at the top. And nothing is wrong with that. That is because even God wants all His people to be at the top in life (Deut 28:13). That, of course, means there is enough room for everyone at the top. This, however, is not to say that all of us have to occupy the same office in life or be dignified in the same way. Rather, it means that each of us can distinguish himself from others in this life as unique through the things he does and by the way he does them.

But will everyone end up at the top in life? No! Why? It is because it is not everyone that develops or trains himself for the top. As Paul shows us in our opening bible text, there is a measure of discipline that we must strictly put ourselves through in life in order to accomplish certain things or attain certain heights. Of course, accomplishing anything at all in this life goes beyond the amount of effort or skills we put into it. God Himself, the creator and ruler of all things, must also permit or enable us to accomplish what we set our hearts on accomplishing. Otherwise, whatever we do to get it done will not work. (Cf. Ps 127:1-2; Ecc 9:11)

However, even if God wants us to get something done or attain some position in life, if we do not possess the discipline or character needed to be there, we won’t get there. And even if by virtue of our relationship with some people we do get there, it won’t be long before we drive ourselves out of there through our lack of fitness or character.

So, if you desire to be at the top in any field of life, identify the discipline you require and strictly give yourself to getting it. Also, identify what discipline or skills you will need to stay at the top and begin to develop or acquire them. That is because one may possess what it takes to get to the top and not possess what it takes to stay there. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, had all the natural advantages he needed to be at the top of the kingdom his father left behind for him. But he did not possess the character to remain at the top of it. Thus, he lost a very large part of it. What about King Saul? He had all the natural attributes needed to become king. But he lacked the qualities needed to retain the kingdom for himself and his descendants after him. (Cf. 1Sam 9-16; 1Kings 12)

If you, then, do not want to end up like any of these men, don’t just trust in God to lift you to the top, also begin to train yourself for the top. Remember Joseph. He not only trusted God to take him to the top in life; he also developed himself for the top. He used every opportunity he had to serve in life to train himself and to prove himself as someone that could be trusted with people and resources at any level, in in the prison. And when the time came for him to be set above a whole nation, nobody thought it was a bad idea to do so. (Cf. Gen 39-41)

Remember David too. Yes, he trusted God to take him to that high place He had anointed him for. But before that time came, he developed himself for it. First, he so mastered his skills of playing the harp and of relating to people that when the king of the land needed someone to play for him, he was the best hand that could be found around. Also, he used the opportunity he had to directly serve the king during that period to learn all he could learn about the palace life and how to be royal and majestic. In addition, he used his time in the army to learn and show all the people that he could lead them well, from victory to victory. So, when he was given a high rank in the army, all the troops and their officers as well were pleased with it. And when he eventually became king, the whole nation had no problem following him. (Cf. 1Sam 16:14-25; 1Sam 18:5)

So, again, I am saying that if you desire to be at the top someday in life and to also stay there, then, prepare yourself for it. Get the skills and the discipline you need to be there and to stay there. Also, drop whatever attitude or mentality you have that does not belong at the top. And may the good Lord Himself give you wings to rise to that place at the top that He has prepared for you in this life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

She missed her opportunity | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: January 26, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 37

“And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.”

(2Sam 6:23NIV)

Why did the Spirit of the Lord move the writer or writers of 2Samuel to inform us that Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death? It was because He wanted us to see why she had to live and die without having any child of her own?

And why did Michal live and die without having any child of her own? Was it because she could not get married? No! She got married. She got married to David, the man of God. In fact, she was his first legal wife. What, then, was the problem with her? Why could she not conceive for her husband, not to talk of have her own child? Was it because her husband had health issues? No! Her husband was fine. In fact, her husband had several children from his other wives. (Cf. 1Chro 3:1-9)

So, the problem was with Michal. She was the one that was barren and could not conceive. But we do know from Scriptures that she was not the only barren woman in bible days. There were other barren women that are mentioned in the bible. Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, Manoah’s wife and Elizabeth are all familiar bible names. These ones were barren for years too. Yet they were all cured of their barrenness. In other words, they did not die without having their own children.

Why, then, was Michal’s case different? Why was she not cured of her barrenness? Was it because there was no cure in the land? No! God was always there with them in the land. And He had already told them that as long as they were serving Him, He would cause His blessings to be on them, so that none of them would miscarry or be barren (Ex 23:25-26). So, though Michal was barren for years, the blessing of God was able to take away her barrenness, especially since the whole nation at that time was being led by David to truly worship God.

However, that did not happen. God’s blessing did not work in favour of Michal to take away her barrenness. Why? It was because she missed her opportunity to receive it. As the story goes, the very day God’s Ark was brought into the city of David and placed where he had prepared for it, he went back home to bless his household. Interestingly, who was the first to come out and meet him? It was Michal. And what should she have done when she came to him? She should have knelt down to receive his blessings. That, of course, would have been the end of her years of barrenness.

Remember that the bible shows us that Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was cured of her barrenness because her husband prayed for her (Gen 25:21). And a similar thing could have happened to Michal, if she had received her husband and king’s blessings that day. At least, the man actually came home that very day with the inspiration of the Spirit of God to bless his household. But did Michal, his wife, humble herself to receive his blessings? No, she did not! Instead, she took the moment to accuse him of embarrassing himself before the whole nation, all in the name of worshipping God. Therefore, instead for him to bless her, he just walked pass her to go and bless other members of the family. What a shame! (Cf. 2Sam 6:20-23)

Now this remark, which we have as our opening bible text, is added at the end of the story: “And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” That shows that the reason she did not have any child to the day of her death was that she missed her opportunity to be blessed to be fruitful. Why did she miss it? It was because she despised her husband and king, who was bearing God’s authority to bless her and cure her barrenness.

In like manner, there are people today who, like Michal, have missed or are missing their opportunity to experience God’s blessing to be fruitful in certain areas of their lives because they are despising those sent by Him to them or certain authorities placed by Him in their lives. And unless such people’s eyes are opened to see what they are missing or have missed, so that they may humble themselves before God and obtain His mercy, they may die without ever experiencing His blessings and provisions for them in those areas of their lives.

So, if you are one of those who take delight in despising authorities or spiritual leaders because you feel they are not dignified enough for you, this is a call for you to repent and humble yourself. Otherwise, God’s blessing to experience certain things you seriously desire to have in life may never find expression in your life.

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

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Fire in my Bones Youth for Jesus

Wait for your time | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: December 01, 2021 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 29

“Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the LORD made this prophecy about him: ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the LORD, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the LORD.”” (2Kings 9:24-26NIV)

There is an adage in Yoruba, which when translated in English, says, “Until a child is holding the sword of judgment firmly in his hands, he wouldn’t be making certain enquiries about what was responsible for his father’s death.” And that is often the case in judging wickedness. Until someone has some measure of authority and power at his disposal, it does not matter how unhappy he is with the wickedness going on under his watch, he may not be able to effectively deal with it or judge it.

Now such was the case with Jehu, an Israel’s army general that was later anointed by God to be king in place of Joram, son of Ahab. As we see in our opening bible text, on the day that this man began to judge the wickedness of the house of Ahab, he reminded his chariot officer that both of them were with their master, Ahab, when the prophecy came that he and his family would certainly pay for the innocent blood of Naboth that they had shed. That indicates they too were not happy about the wickedness and bloodshed that characterised the reign of that man.

But could they do anything about the wickedness of his household at the time they were serving him? No! Why? It was because they did not have the authority or power to do so. And why did they not have the power or authority to do so? It was because it was not yet their time to have it.

However, the moment Jehu was ordained by God and also instructed by Him to make haste to judge the house of Ahab, he lost no time at all in doing so. Why? He knew that he had God’s authority and backing on this one and was bound to succeed. And he did succeed.

But then, you know that it was possible for some people who knew Jehu while he was still serving Ahab to have castigated him for not doing anything about his master’s wickedness or to even have associated him with his master’s wickedness. And that would be because they did not understand that even if someone is a lover of justice, there are things he cannot judge unless he has the authority and power to do so. And if he should dare to judge such things without having the power and authority to do so, he will most likely pay very dearly for it.

So, if you know any godly person that seems to be acting weak or docile in his position of authority, don’t be quick to judge them. That is because they may just be dealing with situations that they have no power, authority or wisdom to handle. And will God, then, be happy with you for condemning or judging them for something He has not given them abilities and opportunities to handle? I don’t think so.

Solomon says, “Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. Even the king milks the land for his own profit!” (Eccl 5:8-9NLT) Did you see that? A lot of times, the number and ranks of those involved in making justice impossible in a place may just be too much to imagine. And without God’s backing, favour and authority, if you try to maintain justice in such a place, you may just end up perishing in a den of lions. (Cf. Dan 6)

Therefore, if you are passionate about maintain justice for God and man where you are, and you should be, if you are truly a child of God, then, be sure God has already delivered to you the authority, power and people to do so. Otherwise, wait for your time. Yes, wait until God bestows on you the authority and power to judge wickedness and maintain justice where you are, for that is only when you will succeed in doing so. And if you are wondering what you should be doing before that time, then, I will tell you this: First, be praying that God will hasten His handling of the authority and power that you need to judge wickedness and uphold justice to you. Second, continue to use your position now to promote whatever measure of righteousness it permits you to promote.

And may God strengthen you and make you alive, well and ready when the time comes for Him to use you to set right whatever is wrong in your world.

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)

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Fire in my Bones

Wisdom to handle happiness | By J.O. Lawal

fire in my bones
fire in my bones

Date: September 22, 2021 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 19

“…Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” (James 5:13NIV)

There is a Yoruba adage which, when translated, says, “Poverty does not kill; it is unrestrained merriment that kills.” This, of course, does not mean that people don’t die or can’t die as a result of poverty, for many all around the world die everyday as a result of poverty. Rather, it means that much more people die as a result of unrestrained merriment than as a result of poverty. And this, sadly, is the bitter truth.

So, it is not only our moments of trials that we must learn to handle; we must also learn to handle our moments of happiness. That is because moments of happiness can also be moments of vulnerability. They can be moments in which we let down our guards to rejoice or celebrate. And if we are not careful, those moments could end in pains, terrible losses, regrets or destruction for us.

For example, as bible accounts show us, on a particular birthday of the Herod ruling in Galilee during the time of our Lord Jesus, he became so happy with the dance presentation of Herodias’ daughter that he did not know when he swore an oath to give the girl anything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom. What was he thinking? Why would he make that kind of reckless promise? Let us even suppose that the girl did ask for half of his kingdom, would she be able to manage it? Did she have the wisdom, understanding and character that would be needed to handle such a great responsibility? I doubt it. (Cf. Mark 6:16-23)

Nevertheless, because this Herod was unusually excited, he made a reckless oath that eventually led him to killing a man of God. And that was because Herodias’ daughter did not ask for gold, silver, mansions, lands or cities. Instead, following her mother’s counsel, she asked for the head of John the Baptist, a man that Jesus referred to as one that is more than a prophet. And because of his oaths and his dinner guests, this king had to consent, even though he was greatly distressed about the matter. (Cf. Mark 6:24-28)

Now only God could tell the number of those who ended up killing or hurting themselves or others in some big ways because they failed to wisely handle their happiness or excitement. Only He also could tell the number of those that fell into the traps of their enemies because they were not wise or cautious enough in handling their moments of happiness or celebration. Perhaps you too have at some point in life gotten into trouble because you did not manage certain moments of happiness or celebration of yours wisely. And if you still would not learn wisdom from God, there is no guarantee that similar things would not happen in the future.

What, then, is God’s wisdom saying? First, as we see in our opening bible text, it says, “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” Did you see that? The wisdom of God says if anyone is happy, let him praise God. Notice that it does not say let him get drunk with his friends or let him get inside his car and drive crazily around town or let him go and waste himself on some call girls. Rather, it says let him praise God.

Why is he to praise God? It is because God is the source of all through forms of happiness (Ecc 2:24-25). And if anyone would acknowledge this and praise Him on its basis, He will surely keep him from doing anything or taking any step that would turn his joy into mourning or open the door for the devil to use his moments of happiness against him. So, next time God brings about circumstances that make you happy, remember to praise Him for your happiness. That way, you are opening the door for Him to perfect your happiness and keep it from being polluted by the devil.

Second, the wisdom of God is saying do not make life complicated for yourself, just because you want to express your happiness. Solomon says this to us: “This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (Eccl 7:29GNT) Did you see that? It is not God that is making life hard for us; rather, we are the ones that often do things that Satan uses to make life hard for us. As I pointed out before, you can endanger others’ lives, get into debt, hurt or kill yourself, or expose yourself to the attacks of your enemies while expressing your happiness. And what good will that do you? None!

So, don’t create problems for yourself all in the name of expressing your happiness. Yes, praise God for your happiness and also rejoice with those who love you and care about you. But don’t do anything that will give the enemy an opportunity to strike you and turn your joy into sorrow. And may God fill your heart with His wisdom to always remember to act according to these words when you need to, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Others wisdom for living

She despised him in her heart

“As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.” (2Sam 6:16NIV)
 
It was a great day for King David, the day the Ark of God’s Covenant was brought into the place he had prepared for it. So he danced before the Lord with all his might (2Sam 6:14). Why? It was because he was appreciative of all the good things He had done for him. He was just a common shepherd boy, when the Lord sent Prophet Samuel to anoint him king instead of the then ruling king, Saul (1Sam 16:1-13). And a few years later, he was not only sitting on the throne of Israel as king; he was also privileged to set up a place in his city where the Lord’s Ark would be placed.
 
So you see that David could be nothing but thankful to God for all He had done for him. And he was not ashamed to express this before others. That was why he danced with all his might before the Lord and before all the people he had made him king over. In short, the more he thought about how far He had brought him, the more he sang and danced before him.
 
All this, however, did not go down well with his first wife, Michal, the daughter of King Saul, who was watching from a window. She had been raised as royalty. So, when she saw the way David was jumping up and down and dancing in the full glare of everybody, she was upset. Why? She felt David was not acting royal at all – he was disgracing the crown by acting the way he was acting before everybody. She may even have said to herself, “My father or my brother, Jonathan, would never have acted like this. They both knew how to act majestic and royal in everything they did. But this David — surely royalty does not suit him at all.”
 
So then, the bible says, “She despised him in her heart.” Think about that. This woman despised a man, who was being nothing but grateful, for unashamedly giving thanks to God. And as the account further shows us, she did not stop at just despising David in her heart. When he came home to bless his household, she also went out, not to welcome him home but to tell him to his face what sort of disgrace he was to the throne of Israel. So, instead for the man to bless her, he did not. Instead, he rebuked her for failing to see that it was God, the one who chose him in place of her father, that he was celebrating. And that was how her barrenness remained stuck to her till the end of her time on earth. (Cf. 2Sam 6:20-22)
 
Now what is the lesson for us in this account? It is that we must never despise, whether secretly or openly, any act of service or worship of others before God. The fact that you feel uncomfortable with the way someone is serving or worshipping God does not mean that they are wrong. And as long as they are not wrong, God accepts them and whatever they are doing for Him. If you, then, despise them and their worship or service for any reason, you will never be a partaker of the blessings and favours of God that are being released on their lives and through their lives. And who knows whether those are just what you need to experience divine liberty from the barrenness you are experiencing in certain areas of your life?
 
Then, even if someone is wrong and contrary to the will of God in their worship or service to Him, and you are quite sure that they are, despising them is not in any way going to help them get things right; it will only shut whatever door of opportunity you might have had in helping them. Unfortunately, in most cases where people despise others because they are worshiping God or serving Him in certain ways, it is not because they are sure those people are utterly wrong; rather, it is often because they are irritated that those people are doing what they are just too proud to do. So, they begin to nurse evil thoughts about them and may even go to the extent of openly criticising them. But as I pointed out before, when you allow the devil to push you to start acting in that manner, it won’t be long before you shut certain doors of your life against fruitfulness.
 
Therefore, guard your heart with all diligence against evil thoughts and bitterness of every kind. And may God keep you from using your own mouth to ruin your life.
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wisdom for living

You can be kept from destructive decisions

“Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.” (Gen 13:10-13NIV)
 
One of the prayers we must learn to offer in life is that God will keep us from making any decision or taking any step that will ruin our future or make a waste of our lives. It is true that we are always making decisions and choices. We make decisions about what food to eat or not to eat, what dress to wear or not to wear, what place to go or not to go and so forth. And even when we refuse to make a decision about something, that is still a decision.
 
But then, there are certain decisions that we make that can impart the course of our entire lives and even other people’s lives for good or for evil. For instance, the choice of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, to visit the young ladies of the land of Shechem one day led to her defilement that same day – she was raped and her virginity forcefully taken. And this, of course, further led to the sacking of a whole city by her brothers, Simeon and Levi. Just one decision, a decision that seemed harmless at the time it was taken, ruined entire lives and generations.
 
Also, as we see in the bible, Lot’s decision to live in Sodom and Gomorrah ended up making him lose his wife and everything else he had laboured for in life as a young man (Gen 19). But when he was making that decision, it looked like the very right thing to do. He saw a legitimate opportunity to enlarge his livestock business by staying in Sodom, and he took it. But he had no idea at that time that God had already marked the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for destruction. So, it was not a matter of whether those cities would be destroyed; rather, it was a matter of when they would be destroyed. And they were eventually destroyed along with everything Lot had. In fact, he barely escaped with his life and the lives of his two daughters.
 
Now remember that Lot was a righteous man, according to the bible (2Pet 2:7). Yet he made a decision that made a mess of his old age and lives of his wife and children. So, righteous people, godly people, can also make decisions that will ruin their lives, homes, future or generations of people. In Lot’s case, it was a moment of greed that led him to make that decision. And in Dinah’s case, it was a little desire for some pleasure that led to her defilement and disgrace. So, a single decision made out of our carelessness, thoughtlessness, greed, unclean desire for pleasure or insensitivity may result in a lifetime of shame or ruin.
 
All of this is why we must learn to always pray that God, who alone knows the future, will continually keep us back from making any such decision that will ultimately ruin our lives or others’ lives, regardless of the pressure to do so or of how harmless it may seem at the time in question. And supposing you are already suffering terribly because of certain decisions you made in the past, decisions which seemed harmless and right at the time you made them. As long as there is breath in you, you can still count on God to free you from the consequences of such decisions.
 
At least, He delivered Jacob from the consequences of cheating his brother, Esau, many years later, when he called upon him in his moment of fear and desperation (Gen 32&33). And He will deliver you too, if you will call upon Him for help. How He will do this I cannot say. But I know that the Scriptures that say, “Anyone that puts his trust in Him will never be put to shame and everyone that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” are true. So, call on Him now, regardless of how messed up your life has become because of your bad decisions, and He will save you from your fears and shame. (Cf. Rom 10:11-13)
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Others wisdom for living

Freedom – a difficult thing to manage

One of the lessons to learn from the story of Hagar and her son, Ishmael, when they were wandering in the desert of Beersheba, not knowing where to go, is that freedom can be a difficult thing to manage. This woman and her son had been sent out of the house of Abraham with nothing but some food and a skin of water. Why? It was because she and her son were just slaves in that house. Yes, she bore Abraham a son. That, however, did not change the fact that she was just a slave, the property of her mistress, Sarah. And when the presence of her son began to threaten the inheritance of Isaac, the true heir to all that Abraham had, Sarah insisted that she and her son must be sent away. This, of course, troubled Abraham, for Ishmael, slave or no slave, was his true son. But God overruled in the matter and told him to listen to the voice of his wife. So Hagar and her son were both sent packing the same day. (Cf. Gen 16&21) Now, of course, though they were sent packing with nothing to live on, they were sent away as free people. In other words, what they did with their lives from that moment on was nobody’s business again, not even Sarah’s. Yet there are times that facing life as a free person may be more difficult or dangerous than facing it as a slave. As slaves in Abraham’s house, both Hagar and her son Ishmael had access to food, water, shelter, wears, security, money and so forth. They even had the attention of Abraham because of the relationship they had with him.
But when they were sent out that house, with nothing to their credit, they realised how dangerous being free can be. I mean that it just dawned them that perhaps freedom was not they needed at that time. For though they were free, their freedom could not save them from hunger, thirst and loneliness. And this is something many young people need to seriously consider and learn from. A lot of times, they agitate for freedom from parental guidance and monitoring. And that is because they think being free is synonymous to being on top of the world. Then, when they eventually succeed in taking the freedom they want, they use it to destroy their lives, their future and, sometimes, other people’s lives as well.
In like manner, there are many who want freedom from spiritual guidance and monitoring. They think they have just had enough of being pastored or led by God and the leaders He has appointed over them. So, they have forcefully given themselves freedom from the leadership of the Spirit and are now ordering their own lives as they please. I tell you, a day is coming when, having ruined their lives and perhaps those of others, such people would wish they never had the freedom they took for themselves.
See, the fact that you are free, in whatever sense you want to be free, does not mean you will be able to use your freedom to arrange a better life or future for yourself. There are many independent nations today that are still begging and borrowing all the time to survive. And there are many free men, women and children today who have not been able to do something tangible with their lives with the freedom they have. Is that to say freedom is not good? No! Freedom is great. But freedom is responsibility. Yes, it means you take responsibility for yourself.
But can you take responsibility for yourself without destroying yourself in the process? You cannot, if you do not have God with you, supplying you with the wisdom, knowledge, understanding and resources to do so. This, of course, is what we see in Hagar and Ishmael’s case. Until God showed up to open their eyes to see His provision of water for them in that desert and to also tell them His plans to make Ishmael great, their freedom would certainly have cost them their lives.
So, first, know the kind of freedom you seek to have in your life, for it is not every kind of freedom you can manage without destroying yourself. Second, don’t just seek legitimate freedom from the things that have enslaved or bound you in life; also seek God’s provisions to manage your freedom. And perhaps you have already used your freedom to ruin your life. You can still turn to God for help, as long as there is breath in you. He will not turn down your earnest prayer for help but come to your rescue with speed. But don’t wait any longer. Call to Him now.