Month: April 2020

[The Glory Unveiled]

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he [Jesus] tells you.” ( John 2:5 )

The verse is an excerpt from an incident at the wedding in Cana. The wine at the wedding had run out and Mary, the mother of Jesus had asked Jesus to do something about the problem. For wine to run out before the wedding ended was a serious embarrassment to the bride and the groom. So Mary intercepted to save the ceremony embarrassment. Now, Mary had done her part by informing Jesus, the solution giver. But that was all she could do. The unnamed servants in the verse actually were the bridge between the crisis and the solution, if at all there would be any. The servants had to do something that would bring about the solution everyone at the wedding feast would hope for. They were the channel through which the solution could emerge. Their simple duty of doing what Jesus would ask them to do was that bridge. If they had failed to comply by the instruction given by Jesus, there feast would have ended in shame. In our lives as individuals, our compliance to the word of God is what brings into reality what we hope for. We may pray as much as we want for anything we want, but obedience to the instructions of God is the hand that brings in view and at hand, that need. Let us not just pray, let us obey.

Prayer_Bead: Father of Life, draw me into intimate fellowship with You. Guide me by the Holy Spirit into absolute obedience to your will.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ( 1 Corinthians13 : 8)

The verse of Scripture for devotion today is shrouded with certainty. There are those things in life as time and seasons and their derivatives that constantly change. They are not stable no matter what you bet on them. There are so many things around us that have the appearance of permanence but in reality they are as unstable as water. The same is true of gifts. Whatever spiritual gifts we are privileged to have is not an immovable mountain, the Bible says it will pass away or cease. As fantastic as they are and almost as glorious as they appear, they will not remain forever, they will  change in time. The gifts of the Spirit, including the examples mentioned in the verse are just like mist or smoke, they will pass away. The changing tides of life will alter them. But the fruit of the Spirit which is love cannot fail. This is because Jesus said His fruit abides forever. (see John15:16). Love, like other fruit of the Spirit does not fail and cannot fail. It abides in and through every circumstances. Cling to love, the fruit of the Spirit not the gifts of the Spirit.

Prayer_Bead: Thank you Jesus, lover of my soul, thank you for teaching me the infallible nature of the fruit of your Spirit, that is producing in me abiding results.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. ( Matthew 14:16–17 )

Sometimes the solutions we think we do not have or see is actually closer to us than we think. Our challenge comes from the fact that we think we are not strong enough, we are not good enough, we are not handsome or beautiful enough, we feel we always don’t have enough of whatever we have or need to have. We condemn ourselves as a result of our understanding of what we think we don’t have. But if we can look carefully at ourselves and our immediate environment, we will admit that we have the solution to the problems that confront us. But what is more revealing is the fact that, Jesus said they should give out the little they had. Whereas, what they had wouldn’t have probably satisfied two adult mouths. But Jesus said they should give the multitude “something”. Multiplication in the school of the Spirit seem to come by giving out even when we have nothing. Giving is the only platform that legally allows for abundance for the believer. Give, don’t anticipate lack when you give, don’t worry about what will sustain you when you give. Jesus knows your needs but the need to give others out of love for them is what guarantees abundance.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah Jireh, the Lord my provider, I pray for the sufficiency of your grace. Teach me to love in deeds and not just in words.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: ( Colossians 3 :10)

The new man recreated in Christ Jesus is actually the old you, renewed in the knowledge of Christ. So that when we accept Jesus as Lord and saviour, there is no immediate apparent change in our soul but a gradual renewal of the will, the emotional and the intellectual faculties. This happens after some time of exposure and interaction with the image of focus, Christ. As an iron becomes a magnet after long hours of exposure to a real magnet. So we become like the image we are exposed to. And just as a chameleon mimic the colours of any object before it, our souls after redemption, is given the ability to mimic the personality of Christ when we allow the Holy Spirit to act out Christ through us. People will look at us and see Christ. We become like He is when we become like he was. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Let us renew our minds in the accurate knowledge Christ and we will give off the same fragrance as He.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for making me a new man, renewed in the knowledge of God, my creator. Help me to continually give off the fragrance of Christ.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” ( Luke 8 :25)

Where is our faith? The location of our faith determines the intonation of the results we see. The verse of Scripture above speaks about Jesus and his disciples en route Gerasenes. While on the lake, a violent wind came but Jesus was asleep. Now, anytime Christ seem quiet in our lives is the moment when our faith must speak up. Jesus was asleep in order to give room to the faith of the disciples to find expression in practical situations. Where is our faith? Today, many people invest their faith like they do their idle time. They have their faith scattered everywhere in any thing seemingly convincing but yielding no true results. When faced with a real world challenge, we need more than whatever human resources we might have subscribed to. Where is our faith anchored? Is it in Christ or has fear robbed us of it? Nobody can say they have faith before they are faced with a situation that needs faith. Our faith is seen only in the face of a crisis. Faith has no seasons; every season is ripe for faith. Sometimes, we confuse ourselves that certain situations do not need faith but common sense. What a shallow way of thinking? We live by faith. Our very existence and life is hinged on our faith. So that without faith, there is no life nor living. So ask yourself again, where is my faith?

Prayer_Bead: Father in heaven, the author and finisher of my faith, thank you for the grace to place my faith in you, in all circumstances.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established. ( 1Kings2:12)

God is the master craftsman. He knows how to use the deformed artefact and the wrong paintings for the best purposes. Solomon is the son of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, the man David had murdered with the hand of another man. Now, David had many sons but it was Solomon, he chose to sit on his throne. Painfully, we can say that Solomon wouldn’t have been born if not for the mistake of David. Now, David had regretted for his mistake. He probably said a lot of things to himself in regret, maybe even saying how awful he was. But somehow, in the veins of his mistakes lies the reins for fulfilling God’s glory and purpose. God is not a man, He does what He wants, how He wants it and when He wants it. Solomon may be referred to as the result of a big mistake but somehow God chose Him instead of his elder brothers to rule. Beloved, don’t allow any circumstance around your life define who you are and what you can or cannot do. You are the best version of yourself that could ever be created. Nothing in your life is a mistake, mistakes are things that are outside the control of God. And that is nothing.

Prayer_Bead: God of Creation, who does not speak in vain, thank you for your predestination and eternal plan. Order my life in the trajectory of your purpose.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ( Luke 24:15 )

There is a famous Scripture which says wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst (see Matthew 18:20). That statement reiterates today’s Scripture verse. Two men, Cleopas and his friend were discussing the scriptures as they walked the road to Emmaus after the resurrection of Christ. As they talked about the things that had happened with regards to Christ, Jesus himself who is the word of God in flesh, came to walk along with them. If we want the Spirit of revelation into God’s truth, to walk through the scriptures, a sure way to do that is by partnering with others. When two or more people dwell together for the sole purpose of Christ, His Spirit honours that gathering. And wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and fullness of joy. That is the blessing of partnership fellowship. We are filled with joy and a sense of freedom in the Lord. What do you discuss when you get the opportunity to be with someone or some group? Do you make room in your conversations for the issues of the Lord? Because it is the issues about Christ that gives the Spirit of Christ permission to visit us and explain things to us.

Prayer_Bead: Father God, guide my relationships and let them glide in the direction of partnership fellowship. Thank you for the joy in my heart.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.