Month: September 2020

[The Glory Unveiled]

But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy and loving-kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. [ Genesis 39:21 ]

The Lord Almighty loves all his children and His handiworks. But his [tangible manifest] presence is not with all his children. This truth is perfectly mirrored in Moses’ life, against the background of the rest of the people of Israel. The presence of God was always with Moses while the remaining citizens of Israel had no idea who God was and what He could and couldn’t do.  Their knowledge of God was only a creation of their imagination and not experientially from their dealings with God. This defect in their relationship with God is largely due to idolatry; replacing God with another. The sin of idolatry hinders the presence and acts of God probably more than any single evil. Anytime we make obeisance to another god, we are saying in effect that, that god is God and Lord. It means we have given our love and passion to that thing or deity. Love releases and allows the presence of God into our lives. Our love for God forbids us from giving his place to another and so God will also not give our place to another in intimate fellowship with Him. The presence of God with any man nullifies anything that could go wrong with that person. God’s presence creates a wall of defense around the person so that nothing evil will damage the image of God in them. With the presence of God, all the seemingly impossible and negative confrontations of life are only a ladder to reach higher heights.

Prayer_Bead: Holy Father, lover of my soul, thank you for your presence with me that opens doors for your loving-kindness, mercy and favour. 

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[ The Glory Unveiled]

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ( John 15:2 )

Almost every business is pursued with the motive of making profit, or at least that is the secondary motive. God, in the verse of scripture above is also portrayed as a businessman. He is looking for returns on his investments in us by giving us nourishment and support. God in love and mercy, gave His only begotten son to die for our sins, so that we may be redeemed from the punishment of sin. Jesus then becomes the vine and we are the branch. Without Jesus, we cannot receive life and nourishment. And ultimately we cannot, bear fruit. Our fruitfulness is tied to our oneness with Christ. In isolation, no branch can bear fruits on its own. We need to be connected to the life line of the vine to live the life of the vine. While on earth, we have every opportunity to live a fruitful life in the confines of God’s grace. And because God is making grace available to us, He demands accountability from us. God would want dividends from His investments. It also means that God is watching out for our fruits and not just our lives. If God had just wanted us to live an empty life, we all probably wouldn’t be born. But each one of us is a unique package from God intended to be exhibited on the earth scene to showcase the glory of God. Let that seed of God’s love and grace bear fruit to the praise of His name.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah, the Vinedresser, thank you for your grace that keeps me in the garden of this world. Prune away every debris of the world from me so that I may bear more fruits.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Jesus said to him, Get up! Pick up your bed and walk! [ John 5:8 ]

The story is about an invalid who had been bedridden for 38years. He had been in that condition for so long that his predicament became his new normal. Ever been in a situation that felt like a new normal and nothing was possibly going to change about it? In such situations, we lose the ability to identify solutions and opportunities when they are presented. The invalid man in the story of today’s scriptural verse saw Jesus—his solution—as any ordinary man because his situation made him see every man in a skewed lens of perception. No matter the length of time, we must endeavor to see possibility in every crooked place. Whenever Jesus shows up at a place, He does not leave it the same. It wouldn’t matter how dark or deep a situation is when Jesus shows up. He holds the key to all problems and he encompasses all solutions. Jesus is all in all and all together able to sufficiently make enough grace available for every predicament. And as the redeemed of Jesus we have in us that life giving spirit too. We have the potential to affect situations and territories. We can and should affect our environment positively with the power of God.

Prayer_Bead: Compassionate Father and King, thank you for your mercy and grace. Let the light of your redemptive power shine in every darkness around my life.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

For however many promises God has made, they all find their “Yes” in connection with him; that is why it is through him that we say the “Amen” when we give glory to God. ( 2 Corinthians 1:20 )

The number of promises God made to us does not count when we think in terms of their fulfillment. The scripture says that their fulfillment and manifestation is always in connection with the God who made the promise Himself. The promises of God without God are not the promises of God; they are invalid, for they cannot be fulfilled in isolation and independence of God. And because the promises can only find fulfillment in connection with God, we need to give Him the glory due His name. As a matter of fact, there are certain promises of God that seem unrealistic. They seem to bend so outward from the curve of possibility and unreconcilable with reality, whether ever in the past or ever in the future. But then, the scripture shows us that unless we connect God’s promises—regardless of their number and “impossibility”—to “Yes”, we cannot see the reality of the “Amen”. We need to believe that once it is God, He will make good his promises. So that when we connect the promise to “Yes”, we wouldn’t have to bother how many the promises of God may be. The “Amen” only becomes a reality when we give glory to God. So to some extent, the speed of our expectations are tied to our giving glory to God, which is actually a proof of our faith in His promises. Honour fast tracks the promises of God no matter what.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah Jireh, thank you for your provisions. Teach me through the Spirit of endurance to wait upon your promises for my life.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled] 

“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”

( Colossians 3:5 )

The energy of the flesh cannot sponsor the demands of the spirit. Everything the eyes see and the senses perceive is deeper than what they actually seem like. For instance, fornication seem to be only “two people sleeping together who are not married” And that meaning had been the understanding of many of us until Christ Jesus showed us the depth of that word to include the fact that, an unmarried person lusting after someone is also fornication. The scripture above says we should mortify—deaden, kill, cause to disappear—the physical extensions of our souls; the desires of our flesh that can engage the body in acts of the flesh. But in order to mortify the desires of the flesh, we need the energy of the spirit which comes from intimacy with the Holy Spirit. In the energy of the flesh, we would only keep struggling and failing and repeating our errors and shortcomings until we grow weary. We need to be spiritually minded and focused in order to mortify the desires of the flesh. In our strength, we can do nothing about the sins that easily entangle us. This calls for something higher or stronger than what we can afford by the flesh and depend on the Spirit. And once we encounter the word of God that brings deliverance, we need to hold unto it as if our lives depend on it because it does.

Prayer_Bead: Father in heaven, thank you for the energy of the Spirit that quickens my mortal body so that I may mortify the members of my flesh upon the earth.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.