Disciples of Jesus.

GLORY NEWS BROADCAST.
[The Glory Unveiled]

“Jesus said to all of his followers, “If you truly desire to be my disciple, you must disown your life completely, embrace my ‘cross’ as your own, and surrender to my ways.” [ Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭23TPT ]

Many of us go about saying we are disciples of Jesus, in other words, true followers of Jesus, but here, Jesus shows us the blueprint for becoming His disciples. The statement Jesus made in the above verse was to all who were following Him at the time. In fact, the people were referred to as His followers. But they were not all disciples then. And so, Jesus puts out the description of who His disciples were. So that anyone who fell into that description can be referred to as a disciple of Jesus. So, in the large body of “believers”, among people who claim to know the Lord, there are those who are actually His disciples. The requirement for becoming Jesus’ disciple is to disown your life completely, not partially, embrace Jesus’ cross [burden/death] as theirs and then finally surrender to Jesus’ ways. What a criterion for joining the school of Jesus’ disciples. Interestingly, the criterion is still the same in our day and time. To disown our life completely means relinquishing every right we have over our lives to choose what we want and what we don’t want. When we lose that right over our lives, then we are ready to start a journey with Jesus because there is a life He offers which will not compromise or compete with our selfish, sinful life. And then, the next thing is for us to embrace His cross—His sufferings as ours. When we do not hide or excuse ourselves from His sufferings and shame, then we are ready to surrender to His ways and become His true disciples and followers. Being a disciple of Jesus is not a statement made with the mouth but a loss of one’s life and putting on Jesus’ life.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for the grace and opportunity to become your disciple. Help me to follow the blueprint in your word in Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: A disciple is a man or woman who gave their identity up for Jesus’.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

The love strategy.

GLORY NEWS BROADCAST.
[The Glory Unveiled]

“This means that, contrary to man’s perspective, the Lord is not late with his promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, his “delay” simply reveals his loving patience toward you, because he does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance.” [ 2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬TPT‬‬ ]

Many people in the world have made it a habit to ridicule believers anytime they speak about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. To them, it is a joke. Some say if Jesus was going to come He should have come all these years. Others go to the extent of saying even if Jesus was walking to earth, she should have gotten here by now; these are the very people who are not even ready for the Lord’s coming. Unknown to them, the delay of the Lord is actually the exercising of God’s patience. If we look carefully into it, we will understand that the delay of the Lord is an expression of his loving patience towards us. So, contrary to the world’s perspective, the Lord is not late or delaying but rather, He does not want anyone to be lost to sin but that we all may come to repentance while He waits. What a manner of love. God loves us so much He does not want any of us to perish. Whenever God makes any promises, He fulfills them. In the time of Noah, it took so long for the flood to come that many people began to think that Noah was going crazy. But because God does not lie nor is He late with His promises. He was giving the people that much time so that they could repent, but they didn’t listen nor receive God’s invitation. Throughout Bible history and records, God never sends judgement upon any people except He first gives them ample time to repent. So, the more Jesus waits, the more He is exerting patience for those left who have not had the opportunity yet. May we take advantage of the patience of God and come to true repentance.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for your patience and love. Help me and the world to truly repent as we await your coming for the righteous.

Wisdom_Quote: Jesus is not late with His promise to return. His delay is a love strategy.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

A time to turn to God.

GLORY NEWS BROADCAST.
[The Glory Unveiled]

““In the past God tolerated our ignorance of these things, but now the time of deception has passed away. He commands us all to repent and turn to God.” [ Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭30‬ ‭TPT‬‬ ]

The sophistication of the world and the easy accessibility of knowledge has broken the fence of ignorance among many cultures and societies. There is barely a society in modern day, where there is no access to public knowledge. In the past, this was much difficult because there was no civilization and no internet. Today, the world has taken a gigantic leap forward. But apart from these scientific and technological advancement, nature itself holds evidence of God’s existence and power. For these reasons, all creation is without excuse for not knowing about God and submitting to Him. This is what makes the whole thing so intense, the Bible records it. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”(Romans 1:20). And again in our anchor verse, it says the time of deception has passed away. The time of deception was the time before Christ brought us the good news of the kingdom of God; the gospel of our salvation. And because the light has come into the world, God employs us to repent and turn to Him. Before the good news, God tolerated our ignorance but when opportunity came to know the truth, that tolerance wouldn’t be there anymore. In fact, when John the Baptist realized that the promise of the father had come—Jesus, he began to warn the people to repent, not before then. God’s command still stands for us to repent and turn to Him like the prodigal son did.


Prayer_Bead: Our father in heaven, thank you for your mercy and your love. Help me to turn to you sincerely and faithfully. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: There is time for everything on the calendar of God.


#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

Purity is possible

GLORY NEWS BROADCAST.
[The Glory Unveiled] .

“How can a young man stay pure? Only by living in the Word of God and walking in its truth.” [ Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭9‭TPT‬‬ ]

The world seems to provide many solutions or approaches to dealing with situations and problems in life. As a result we have developed this culture of “alternatives”. But when it comes to purity—our walk of holiness, the Bible prescribes only one solution—living in the word of God and walking in its truth. This is so precise and unambiguous. So that we can have the solution it suggests when we do exactly what the Bible says. The simplicity of this solution reinforces its weight and truth. Sometimes we begin our purity journey with hope and zeal but then after a few strides, we begin to retrogress even to the point of undoing all previous efforts. The reason why this happens is still because we do not remain living in the word of God. One can only stay pure for as long as they stay in the word of God and walk in its truth for it is the word that washes us (Ephesians 5:26). Walking in the truth of God’s word means intentionally applying the word to our everyday life; being obedient to the instructions from God’s word. There is no other way around this truth. Some of us have literally tried many things to stay on the path of purity but to no avail. Our fruitless attempts have convinced some of us to think that a walk in purity is impossible. But the truth is that, it is possible! The only stumbling reality is that we cannot create our own formula for purity. If we want to stay (remain) pure and not have relapses in our walk, we need to live in the word. We need to be governed by the word of God for every decision we make. And then we wouldn’t have to think of consciously living in purity anymore. It will just become a second nature.

Prayer_Bead: Holy Father, thank you for showing me the only way to living a life of purity. Help me to live in the word and to walk in its truth at all times. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: The word of God is all you need to have all your needs met.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

Hold tightly to it.

GLORY NEWS BROADCAST.
[The Glory Unveiled]

“But I come swiftly, so cling tightly to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown of victory.” [ Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬ ‭TPT‬ ]

The words in this verse of the chapter in Revelation was spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. When we read the words carefully, we can hear another scripture from the gospel according to Matthew loudly; the parable of the ten virgins. “The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out. “No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ (Matthew 25:8-9). The wise virgins refused to give some of their oil to the foolish virgins who actually needed some oil. The “selfish” action of the wise virgins is recorded in our scripture in Revelation as “holding tightly or clinging tightly to what one has.” We will recall that at the time the wise virgins refused to give their oil to the foolish virgins was the moment when the Bridegroom was coming. That was a sensitive moment, a time that defined seasons so that if they missed it, that would have been the end. In Revelation, the Lord Jesus says He is coming swiftly and because of His coming, the church should hold tightly to what they have. So that no one will seize their crown of victory. If the wise virgins had given their oil to the foolish virgins, their lamps would have gone out and they would have lost their access to see the Bridegroom because of the foolish virgins. In these days of the Lord’s return, we need to keep diligently all the qualities we have in the Lord. No matter the persuasions of the world to borrow or take these qualities from us, we must not give in because giving in to the world means losing our crown. So, let’s cling tightly to what we have in the Lord.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for reminding me of your swift coming and what I need to do as I wait for you. Help me to hold tightly to my values in you.

Wisdom_Quote: Your crown is at stake, hold tightly to your values.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.