Month: May 2021

[The Glory Unveiled]

Remove the dross from the silver,
and a silversmith can produce a vessel; ( Proverbs 25:4 )

Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” ( 2 Corinthians 6:17). The call to being useful to God starts with separation from the world and the desires of the flesh. It is separation from the world unto God. Minerals such as gold or silver will have a fine and brilliant appearance when they are new and free from the contamination of dirt. You’d notice that your necklace and jewelries will begin to lose their brilliance and luster after some time. In order to get your original jewelry back in its shiny form, the dross must be removed. The dross is the dirt and all the things that prevents the jewelry from shining. And before silver or gold can be put to a good use, the impurities (dross) must first be removed. And so, for God, who is the silversmith in today’s verse of scripture to make a vessel or jewelry out of us, the dross of this world must be purged out of us. If the wrong association is the dross in us that prevents the silversmith from doing anything good with us, we must remove it first. But to remove dross, we need fire; the refiner’s fire. We need the baptism of fire [which is sponsored by the Holy Spirit] to purify us for the Lord’s use (Luke 3:16). The Spirit of God is ready and willing to baptize us with fire if we are ready. And then we will be made new and ready for God’s glorious purposes._

Prayer_Bead: Father and God Almighty, creator of all things and life giver, I avail myself to your holy refinery. Purge out the dross that makes me unusable and use me for your glorious purpose and call.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

They laid it [the manna] aside till morning, as Moses told them; and it did not become foul, neither was it wormy. ( Exodus 16:24 )

The Israelites were caught up in the wilderness without food, without water. Even though they had just celebrated the victory of leaving the land of slavery, they are now grumbling and murmuring about Moses’ deliverance because of hunger. And then the glory of God brought them food [Manna] to eat. But there were instructions to the gracious meal; no one was to take more than they could eat for the day. As you would know, some decided to take more than they could eat for the day because they wanted to save for the next day or another day of need. They wanted to have enough so that they wouldn’t need to depend on Moses or the God of Moses for a meal. But the next morning, the manna went so bad that it bred worms. On the day before the sabbath, they had to gather two days portion but the next day, the Manna did not go bad as before. It was because the instructions had come from God [through Moses]. It is God’s word that makes alive or takes away. Something may not be working out well in our lives because we have not keyed into the right instructions yet. When the right instructions are obeyed, the right results are delivered. So, instead of fighting our way into what we desire, we must locate the right instructions under the right circumstances and then we are guaranteed the results.

Prayer_Bead: King of Glory, Lord of lords, you are glorious in majesty and merciful in the earth. Thank you for the wonderful grace to adhere to the instructions of your mouth that yield the right results.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ( 2 Corinthians 4:10 )

The death of Jesus brought us life. Without His historic and sacrificial death, we would have been held by the clutches of death. But now, because He died for our wrong, we can live His righteous life. And then, we are able to see our light in His light. The death of Jesus is the license that gives us access to the life of Jesus. This is why Jesus said, except a wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone (John 12:24). The multiplication of the life of Jesus to the world was made possible through His death. Before this verse of scripture, the writer of this book mentioned a number of challenges that may confront him, yet he was sure that nothing will happen to him in the midst of all of those things because He carried in His body, the death of Jesus. We must consciously carry about in our body the death of Jesus (Romans 12:1-2) if we will be capable of dispensing the life of Jesus to the world. Carrying His death in our body will come at a cost we may not be naturally willing to pay. But if we want to influence the life of those around us for Jesus, then we must pay the full price of carrying in our bodies like the apostles, His death.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for paying the ultimate price for my redemption and salvation. Help me to carry in my body your death, so that I can share in your life and help others share in that life also.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. ( 1 Corinthians 7:19 )

Factions may distinguish one denomination from another and give them a peculiar identity. But in the new creation reality, factions and denominational traditions do not matter. This is because, in the new creation reality, faith is our reality. Faith is the background and the bedrock upon which all our transactions are carried out. Without faith, whatever we believe to be true and real only becomes a figment of our imagination; an illusion from our soul. It is upon this kingdom principle that the apostle made the statement of our anchor verse of Scripture. Circumcision was a tag that differentiated the true Israelites from the Gentiles. In the flesh, this distinction will bring a lot of problems to these groups. Circumcision was a law for the Israelites, a mark in their flesh that they belonged to God. But in the kingdom, there is a higher law, that encompasses all the other laws. It is the law of love which is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit—the real seal that we belong to God. The Holy Spirit is the agency by which we live by love and faith in the Son of God. Keeping God’s commands is what counts in the kingdom, and the command is Love. So, instead of discriminating between denominations and churches, we should Love the church—oneness of denominations—and the Lord.

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, thank you for the new way of life in you. Thank you for the grace to love you and the church just as I am. Help me to extend your love to the lost world. In Jesus name.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

But now, do not be distressed and disheartened or vexed and angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. ( Genesis 45:5 )

God has a destination for everyone. It is our destiny which is within the framework of our purpose. Joseph’s destination was a prime minister [ruler]. At a young age he had dreams of this destiny which became a motivation for him. One fateful day, [the beginning of the journey to his destiny], his brothers sold him to some Ishmaelites who later sold him to an Egyptian. This was a method God used to get Joseph into Egypt. But apart from fulfilling a personal purpose of his destiny, God also used Joseph to fulfill a cooperate purpose of getting Israel into Egypt, a promise God made to Abraham and Isaac. After many years, our verse of Scripture was the statement Joseph made to his brothers. Somehow, he understood the method and the process. The method was his brothers having to sell him and the process was the lies of Potiphar’s wife that landed him in prison in order to connect him to his destiny helper. You see, it is possible that what you are going through is just a process to put you on the path of destiny. Maybe the pain is a tool that will bring out God’s desired shape of you. Sometimes, we may not necessarily know that what is happening is leading us to where we must be until we are finally there. This is why we must not truncate the processes of God’s dealings. Hold tight, God’s grace will keep us through the journey to our destination.

Prayer_Bead: God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thank you for the the process that is refining and redefining me, so that I can fit into the purpose assigned to me. Thank you for the privilege to be motivated by the life of Joseph. May your grace, keep me on this path.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.