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Bearing His disgrace 

[The Glory Unveiled]

Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. [ Hebrews 13:13 NIV ]

The journey from the city to Golgotha represents the most painful and generous sacrifice ever made in human history. When Jesus chose to carry the cross and bear the weight of humanity’s sin outside the camp, He understood the cost. He saw the shame that awaited Him. He knew the disgrace attached to that cross. He felt the weight of it all, yet He relentlessly pressed on towards His destination. Nothing about the journey was easy. His physical circumstances opposed Him, and even the spiritual weight of what He was carrying pressed heavily upon Him. Yet He refused to turn back. He had a destination, and the salvation of humanity was worth the journey. And He did this not only to save us, but also to leave us an example. This is why Scripture says, “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” (Hebrews 13:13). Notice the language: let us go forth. There is a movement required of everyone who desires to follow Christ. We cannot remain comfortably within the camp while Jesus is outside it. We must go to Him where He is—even if going to Him means bearing His reproach. The disgrace He bore became the doorway to the freedom we now enjoy. The shame He carried became the ground upon which we received forgiveness from the Father. He endured what we could never bear so that we could receive what we could never earn. Therefore, if we desire to draw others to God, we must be willing to go to Jesus outside the camp. We must be willing to carry His reproach, endure misunderstanding, embrace inconvenience, and accept the cost that comes with identifying with Christ. Because there is a price to reaching souls. But it is a worthy price. When we remember that the person standing before us was created in the image and likeness of God, we begin to understand that no sacrifice made for a soul is truly wasted. Jesus considered humanity worth the cross. We must therefore ask ourselves: What are we willing to endure to bring someone else to Him? Go outside the camp. Bear His reproach. Carry the message. And remember: the cost may be great, but the value of a soul is greater.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for allowing your Son Jesus to bear the disgrace He bore for my salvation. 

Wisdom_Quote: Freedom comes at a price. 

Salvation_Prayer: Dear Jesus, I accept your sacrifice for my salvation. Come into my heart and reign as Lord. 

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The sacrifice of sharing

[The Glory Unveiled]

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.[ Hebrews 13:16 NIV ]

Anything that costs us something requires a sacrifice. And naturally, we do not always like to make sacrifices because sacrifice comes with a cost. Yet, there is something about sacrifice that gives value to what is offered. Even in human relationships, we tend to value and appreciate more deeply the things someone gives us when we know they cost that person something. In a sense, it seems God delights in what is costly. He is not impressed by what costs us nothing. David understood this principle when he said, “I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” There is something about an offering that costs us something that makes it a genuine expression of love. This is why doing good and sharing with others is so significant. When we give, especially when giving costs us something, we embody the nature of Christ. We reflect the One who did not merely give something to humanity—He gave Himself. Jesus willingly shared His life with us. He surrendered Himself for our sake, not because He was compelled to, but because He loved us. And the Father was pleased with the sacrifice of the Son. His sacrifice was the ultimate expression of love, because He gave what was most precious to Him. In the same way, when we make sacrifices for others out of love, we represent the Son before our Heavenly Father. We become a living expression of the self-giving nature of Christ, and our Father is pleased when He sees His Son reflected in us. So, make the sacrifice of sharing with someone the most precious gift you could ever give them—the good news of the cross. And when it costs you your time, your comfort, your convenience, your resources, or even your reputation, do not retreat from the cost. Sometimes, the very fact that it costs you something is what makes your offering an expression of love. For in giving what is precious to us for the sake of another, we reflect the Son who gave Himself for us—and the Father is pleased. 

Prayer_Bead: Heavenly Father, thank you for showing me the sacrifices that please you. Help me to honour you by making such sacrifices. 

Wisdom_Quote: God is pleased with the sacrifice of sharing 

Salvation_Prayer: Lord Jesus, come into my heart and be my Lord and Saviour. 

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The believer’s position 

[The Glory Unveiled]

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. [ Colossians 3:3 NIV ]

The believer in Christ Jesus is a mystery. They may be visible to the world, but they are actually hidden with Christ in God. And so, what you see is not all there is to who they are. What you perceive is not the complete revelation of the believer. There is always a dimension of their existence that remains an enigma to the outside world—something they cannot fully fathom or comprehend. This is why anyone who judges or relates with the believer merely from a physical perspective can easily be misled. The believer cannot be accurately understood by appearance, circumstances, status, or outward realities alone. Their true revelation is in God. Their true identity is found in the Father, revealed to them through the Son. Your identity is an extension of your hiding place in God. Where you are hidden determines what you truly are. For the believer, this revelation should produce a steadfast faith—one that is not easily shaken by circumstances or intimidated by what is seen. You may be visible to the world, but your life is rooted in a realm the world cannot see. You are hidden in God. You are supernatural. You are more than what your circumstances suggest. You are beyond the ordinary. Live as such.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for reminding me of who I am in you. Help me to live as I am. 

Wisdom_Quote: The believer’s true identity is seen in God. 

Salvation_Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe you died for me so that I might live for you. I accept your gift and surrender to your lordship.  

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The strength of Fear

[The Glory Unveiled]

Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD. [ Jeremiah 1:8 NKJV ]

Jeremiah was equipped by God to deliver His message to his generation. God had trained him and refined his prophetic gift so that he could see clearly and interpret what he saw accurately. Yet, when the time came for him to actually do what God had called and prepared him to do, fear came to visit. All along, fear had been lurking in the darkness of his ignorance. But when God revealed the kind of people Jeremiah was being sent to speak to on His behalf, fear stiffened him. God’s mention of the “faces” he would encounter suggests that Jeremiah was being sent to people of prominence—people of power, rank, influence and social standing; people who were familiar and respectable in society. Yet God sent him to them all the same. Then God showed Jeremiah the secret to overcoming his fear: the knowledge and consciousness that God was with him. In other words, Jeremiah had to believe what he could not yet see. He had to live by faith. Fear thrives where our awareness of God diminishes. But when we live in the consciousness of God’s omnipresence and power, fear loses its grip on us. The greatness of what stands before you must never become greater than your awareness of the God who stands with you. Remember this: the people you are afraid of, the situations that intimidate you, and the things that seem too powerful for you are all subject to God. If God is with you, then what is there to fear?

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for your abiding presence in my life that drives away fear and mediocrity from my life. 

Wisdom_Quote: Faith is fear’s nightmare. 

Salvation_Prayer: Lord Jesus, I accept your provision for humanity. Save me and be my Lord. 

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Meditate

[The Glory Unveiled]

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.[ Philippians 4:8 NKJV ]

Imagine walking into a market looking for a red bag. You spend hours moving from one shop to another, examining countless bags until you finally find the one you want. But if someone were to ask you afterwards, “How many black bags did you see?” you might struggle to remember. You may have passed by dozens of them without consciously noticing a single one. Why? Because your mind was practising selective attention. You were looking for red, so red is what your mind was instructed to notice. This is the power of meditation. When we meditate, we allow our minds to remain deliberately fixed on a particular reality. We give it our attention, our mental energy, and our sustained focus. And the more we focus on something, the more it begins to occupy our consciousness. Meditation is not merely thinking about something casually. It is sustained attention and deliberate mental insistence until what we continually contemplate begins to shape our perception and influence our experience. What you continually focus on, you eventually begin to see. Meditation can make the invisible visible. It gives form and shape to things that previously existed only in the realm of thought and consciousness. Things that were intangible begin to become tangible in our perception and experience. This is why Philippians 4:8 gives us a divine instruction concerning what should occupy our minds. These are realities worth giving our minds to because what occupies our minds eventually influences what we see, how we think, and how we live. Your mind will increasingly notice what you repeatedly give attention to. So, be deliberate about what you meditate on. If you continually fill your mind with fear, you will begin to see reasons to be afraid everywhere. If you continually meditate on defeat, you will begin to interpret life through the lens of defeat. But when you deliberately set your mind on the truth of God, His goodness, His promises, and His faithfulness, your perception begins to change. What you keep before your mind will eventually shape what you see before your eyes.

Prayer_Bead: Father thank you for the opportunity to bring into my experience the things I desire through meditation. 

Wisdom_Quote: Meditation is the believer’s medication. 

Salvation_Prayer: Dear Jesus, I submit to you today. Be my master and Saviour. Amen 

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Market place of Ignorance 

[The Glory Unveiled]

Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. [ Genesis 25:33 NKJV ]

Why would anyone sell their most valuable possession for a peanut? Why would anyone exchange a Ferrari for a toothpick? The only reason anyone would make such a trade is ignorance at its peak. Anyone who makes that kind of exchange has traded because of ignorance and for ignorance. This is what happened to Esau in Genesis 25. Esau did not merely trade his birthright for food; he traded it at the beck and call of ignorance. He exchanged something of immeasurable, generational value for a momentary satisfaction. He allowed a temporary appetite to determine the value of his permanent inheritance. Whenever we trade in ignorance, we have entered the marketplace of ignorance—and in that marketplace, valuable things are given ridiculously low prices. Esau, like many of us, was trading his destiny and birthright at the market price of ignorance. And this is also what happened to Adam. In disobedience, he made a trade that affected the destiny of the entire human race. He exchanged life for death, fellowship for separation, and the abundance of Eden for the consequences of sin. There are trades you make in a moment that can rob you of the fruit and harvest of years to come. A moment of desperation can make you undervalue your future. A moment of pleasure can make you despise your inheritance. So, before you act out of desperation, appetite, pressure, or temporary pleasure, stop and ask yourself: What am I trading? And am I making this trade because I understand its value—or because ignorance has dictated the price? Never allow a temporary appetite to determine the value of a permanent inheritance. Do not trade your future at the marketplace of ignorance.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for the knowledge to spot ignorance in operation. Help me to be led by your spirit and the spirit of discipline and self control. 

Wisdom_Quote: Ignorance is a cruel friend. 

Salvation_Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for my sins. I submit to your lordship in faith. Save me and write my name in the book of life. Amen 

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A very present God 

[The Glory Unveiled]

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. [ Psalms 46:1 NKJV ]

Sometimes, in our world, when crises and challenges arise, solutions and opportunities come too late. In the very season when solutions are desperately needed, they seem nowhere to be found. Yet, when the crisis has passed and those solutions are no longer needed, they suddenly seem to abound. The problem, therefore, is not always the unavailability of solutions, but their untimely availability. We see this in situations such as a fire outbreak. Fire tenders may be called to put out the flames, but sometimes they arrive only after everything has been reduced to ashes. The solution arrives, but it arrives too late. But this is not the nature of our God. Scripture calls Him “a very present help in trouble.” He is not summoned into our crisis after it begins; He is already there with us. He does not arrive after the damage has been done. He is present from the beginning, in the midst of the trouble, and throughout the process. This is why we can trust in His strength and lean on Him as our refuge in times of trouble. Our Father in heaven is a very present God. He is so near to us that He knows our every whisper and every want. He is not a distant God who must be called from afar before He responds. His presence precedes our crisis, accompanies us through it, and sustains us beyond it. This is the God we have. Therefore, we must learn to call upon Him not only when trouble comes, but even before it comes. We do not wait for the crisis to introduce us to God; we walk with Him before the crisis ever arrives. For the God who is our present help in trouble is also the God who is present before trouble begins.

Prayer_Bead: Our present help and God, thank you for always being with us. 

Wisdom_Quote: Adequate help is always available before it is requested. 

Salvation_Prayer: Dear Jesus, come into my heart and be my Lord forever.  

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Do you know Him?

[The Glory Unveiled]

But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. [ John 5:13 NKJV ]

A man was healed by Jesus on the Sabbath. When the Jews questioned him about who had told him to take up his bed and walk, the man could not tell them. He did not know who Jesus was. And this is the reality for many of us. We have enjoyed—and continue to enjoy—the grace, mercy, provision, protection, and intervention of Jesus without truly knowing the One from whom these things come. Jesus has been lifting us from our beds and telling us to walk out of situations that have kept us bedridden, yet we do not know Him. What is striking is that the man’s ignorance did not stop Jesus from extending grace to him. He did not know Jesus, but Jesus knew him. He did not recognise the One who healed him, but Jesus recognised his need. His lack of knowledge did not make Jesus withhold His mercy. We must note that, knowing Jesus is not merely about enjoying what He can do for us. It is identifying with His nature and being in fellowship with Him. In verse 14, Jesus found the man again in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” This encounter was deeper than the healing he had received. Jesus was bringing him beyond the miracle to the Miracle-Worker. And then, in the very next verse, when the Jews questioned him again, he told them that it was Jesus who had made him well. Now he knew who had healed him. The man had first encountered the grace of Jesus before he encountered the identity of Jesus. Perhaps that is where you are today. You have received His provisions. He has opened doors for you, preserved you, lifted you, rescued you, healed you, and carried you through situations you could not have survived by your own strength. You have been enjoying His grace, even though you have not yet truly known Him. But do not stop at the blessing. The greatest gift is not what Jesus can give you; it is Jesus Himself. If you have enjoyed His grace without knowing Him, you have an opportunity today to encounter Him—not merely as the One who can change your circumstances, but as the Lord who wants to change your life. Remember, grace is a waiting room for judgement. Do not waste the opportunity to know the One whose grace you have been enjoying.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for the blessings of Your Son Jesus in my life. 

Wisdom_Quote: Grace is a pause before judgement. 

Salvation_Prayer: Dear Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins, come into my heart and be my Lord. 

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Awareness

[The Glory Unveiled] 

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. [ John 13:3-4 NKJV ]

There are usually two categories of people: those who act because of what they know, and those who act because of what they do not know. The Lord Jesus acted from a place of knowledge. He operated in the energy of what He knew, because knowledge drove His every endeavour. This knowledge was the foundation of His undiluted faith. He could not doubt the promises of the Father because of what He knew about the Father. The Scripture says that Jesus rose from the table and began washing the feet of His disciples. He did not need permission from any human being to do this; He acted from a knowing. Every day, He went about His assignment with confidence because He was assured by what He knew. But there was something else that drove Jesus’ actions: His identity. He knew where He had come from and where He was going. This consciousness of His identity gave Him unshakable confidence in everything He did. He was never confused about who He was, and therefore He was never intimidated by what He had been sent to do. Likewise, our knowledge of who we are and what we carry creates room for us wherever we find ourselves. It gives us the confidence to create, to innovate, to attempt what others may not dare to attempt, and ultimately to leave lasting legacies. So, the question that sets you apart is not merely, What do you want to do? It is: Who are you, and what do you have?

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for the privilege to walk in knowledge and the identity of my personality. 

Wisdom_Quote: Knowledge lays the bed for exploits 

Salvation_Prayer: Dear Jesus, come into my life. Be my Saviour and Lord. 

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The badge 

[The Glory Unveiled]

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [ John 13:35 NKJV ]

In many institutions and organisations, people wear badges to identify and distinguish themselves. Some badges signify hierarchy and rank, while others indicate responsibility and give access. In the kingdom of God, believers also have a badge they are called to wear—and we must wear it at all times. This badge is not tangible, nor is it a garment we put on physically. Love is the believer’s badge. It is the mark that identifies us as belonging to Jesus. By our love, everyone who encounters us should be able to recognise that we are children of God. Therefore, whatever we do without love fails to reflect and reveal whose we are. When we live without love, it is as though we have taken off the badge that identifies us as Christ’s. So, keep your badge on. Wear it everywhere. Let your words, actions, relationships and responses testify to whom you belong. Let us love one another.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for your love shared abroad in my heart. I live and express your love to my world. 

Wisdom_Quote: Love is the believer’s badge. 

Salvation_Prayer: Lord Jesus, I surrender to you. Be my Lord and Saviour.  Amen. 

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