Author: kingson

[The Glory Unveiled]

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. ” ( Genesis 4:7 )

The attitude of one’s heart is what attracts or repels the desires of sin and all of its tendencies. The Bible says he who knows what is good but does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). The consequences of ignoring what our hearts understands as good is sin. And so, Cain recognized that the offering he presented to God was not good enough as a result of the attitude of his heart. What God told Cain in our verse of Scripture suggests that when one does what is wrong, sin and all its consequences is giving the opportunity to destruct them. Deliberately doing wrong positions an individual to carry out their desires and such desires can draw them farther away from God. But then there is a strand of hope in that statement. God says Cain should rule over the desire to sin. With regards to sin and anything that has to do with our desires, we have a free will to pick and choose. And so, we can also choose not to do what we desire by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We have the power of God to rule over sin and its desires. We must not compromise with the devil’s gifts and freebies when he presents them to us. We rule over sin, by the Holy Spirit as He empowers (quickens) our mortal body.

Prayer_Bead: Father in heaven, thank you for the wonderful grace of Christ to stand in the liberty of your redemption. Thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit to rule over sin and it’s attending crisis. I am born of God. Glory!

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. ( Genesis 4:4-5 )

Many people came to the baptismal service of John the Baptist at the Jordan river. But out of the massive crowd, it was only one person who had a report from heaven—“this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased”—the father’s report for that matter. One may think that Jesus had that report from the Father because he was the son of God but then it isn’t so, under that circumstance. Prior to this time, Jesus had not been known to have performed any miracles, he had not even preached any sermons. So, the report that came from heaven was not based on his ministerial deeds. The report was a commendation of his heart. “….in whom….” means that there was something in Him that delighted the Father; His heart of obedience. In our anchor verse of Scripture, we read an excerpt from the account of Cain and Abel. Cain was the first to present an offering to God but what he brought was just ordinary and ceremonious. Abel on the other hand, brought the fat portions of the firstborn of his flock. The description of Abel’s offering suggests that he thought carefully about the offering before he brought it before God. And then, like Jesus, he was commended—he was accepted (verse 7). Instead of being hasty and perfunctorily swayed by emotions, we must be sincere and obedient to the father through faith in Him; applying all the courtesies due Him as King. And then, His report will smile on us also.

Prayer_Bead: My Father in Heaven, in whom consist all things and by whom the Heavens and the earth are sustained. I yield my heart to you in utter obedience. Help me to live my days as you have ordained it.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ( 1 Peter 2:9 NKJV)

God usually draws people unto Himself, to be with Him. And it is our being with Him for long that makes us look like Him. For instance, it was Moses’ long stay with God on the mountain that left an imprint of God on him—the glory of God. God loves intimacy, and intimacy to us is separation unto God. All the adjectives used in our verse of Scripture suggest uniqueness, distinctiveness and separation. The last part of the Scripture explains why such descriptive words are used; thus we have been called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light—separated from darkness into light. The Believer cannot be any of the descriptions above unless that individual has been separated unto God. In our walk with God we must remain with God. No one can be with God and the devil and his world system at the same time; such people are usually actually with the devil. Adam and Eve, for instance lost whatever they were entitled to because they didn’t remain separated unto God. They had opened the door of intimacy to another entity, the devil. But the second Adam, Jesus at every point in His journey remained separated unto God. He did everything He did because He saw His Father do it. We cannot bring glory to God except we remain separated unto God in our walk with Him. Remain separated to God.

Prayer_Bead: Invincible God, source of all lives and sustainer of all things. Through your grace and love, I am separated unto you and I live for the praise of your name.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, ( 1 Timothy 1:18 )

In themselves, prophecies are not finite. Many a people receive prophecies and then by reason of the words of that prophecy, they abandon everything to God. They become irresponsible because they think that the words of the prophecies will make them what it promises and life will take its own course until they become what the prophecies say. Unfortunately, that is not true. Prophecies by themselves do not make prophecies come to pass. And so, in our verse of Scripture, we see the apostle Paul advising his son in the Lord, to pay heed to some commands he gave him so that in keeping with those commands, he may enter into the reality of the prophecies that had been made concerning him. If it were automatic, this verse of scripture wouldn’t be necessary but then, we need to live lives that are consistent with the words that have been prophesied about us. Prophecies will guide us and show us what we ought to do and what we ought not to do. But they do not prevent us nor forbid us from doing what we are guided to do. This explains why many people might have been prophesied to concerning a matter but then it seem nothing is happening; they have decided not to fight for the fulfillment of those things. With prophecies, we should fight well and live a regulated life.

Prayer_Bead: Gracious Father, thank you for the opportunity to see ahead what you intend to do. Help me through the guidance of your word to fight well for the actualization of that purpose.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

He said, “If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ( 2 Kings 6:27 )

Many a time, when we face challenges, we turn to people for help before we even think of the God of all things. It is as if we pride ourselves in our strength as humans. We want to be independent of God whereas we were created to utterly depend on Him. Our verse of Scripture is an excerpt from an account. It happened that there was a very severe famine in the land of Samaria. The famine was so severe that some women had to feed on their babies because there was nothing to eat. And so, one day, there was a misunderstanding between two of such women and then one came to the king to help her resolve the misunderstanding between she and the other woman. But then, the King responded with the words of our anchor Scripture. He said he is incapable of helping her if God does not help her. This means that God is the source of her help even if the king could be a channel through which that help would be given to her. The Psalmist said I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord ( Psalms 121:1-2). Our help indeed comes from the Lord, He is the source and the sustainer of our help. Let us turn to God and not men even if it seems men are carrying what we need, it is God who releases it to us through them. Look to God.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah Jireh, the Lord my provider, thank you for being the source of my help. Teach me to trust in you and to look to you for help. Give me this day my daily bread. In the name of Jesus.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.( Ephesians 3:10 )

God has hidden within Himself a mystery that our forefathers in the Lord sought diligently to see. The mystery being that even people that are not Israelites, to whom the promise was made, have become partakers of the inheritance and members of the body of Christ. And to prove this reality, there is the need to display something of God that man does not naturally have in himself. This attribute of God—when displayed, becomes a stamp that says, “these are one with God”—is the wisdom of God. In any case, it is only God who should be able to display His wisdom, but then now we have the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:16) and so we share in the wisdom of God through the connecting tube of grace and truth by the Spirit of God. This grace is the love of God that is shared abroad in our hearts. God’s love, displayed through the conduit of grace and truth in Christ has opportune us to be vessels that will make known what God hid in Himself all these years. And now, we know that this wisdom is displayed by the church; by the unity of the Believers. Our oneness as a body is the power that makes known the glory and wisdom of God. The church is a reflection of God if indeed we remain one in Him. And then we will be able to announce to authorities and rulers what that mystery contains. Let us unite as believers for the expression of the wisdom of God.

Prayer_Bead: Heavenly Father, Gracious Spirit of God, thank you for the wisdom of God that is being made known through the church. Help me to remain aligned to you now and always.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ( Luke 11:9 )

Our anchor verse of Scripture begins with “So” to mean that something was earlier discussed that led to this conclusion. The speaker, Jesus, said the things he said in this verse because of a foundation he laid earlier. As such, we can only understand this verse of scripture after we have understood the foundation laid in the one sided discourse. Jesus had narrated a short parable to the people where he used them as the major characters in a situational case study. He said, assuming anyone of them went to ask his friend for help at night. And if that friend was sleeping and didn’t want to wake up to attend to them, through persistence, that friend will give them whatever they desire. The reason for the change of that friend’s mind according to Jesus is not because you’re friends but rather because of your shameless persistence (verses 5-8). Jesus used this occasion to explain the importance of persistence in prayer. We must not relent or grow tired in our prayer closet. So when Jesus said “ask and it will be given…” in our anchor verse of Scripture, He meant ask persistently until it is given. Persistence produces desired results. We must not quit until whatever we desire is delivered.

Prayer_Bead: Gracious Lord, Loving Father, thank you for access into your presence and your bounty. I resolve not to give up on your faithfulness until I have what you promised. In Jesus’ name.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. (Ruth. 1:16 )

Life will always test our resolves and determination through circumstances and situations. Whatever we do not firmly stand for, will not stand for us. Joseph’s resolve was tested when he had the opportunity to compromise with Potiphar’s wife. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went through the same mill. Their resolve to serve God alone was tested by the Babylonian system to check for authenticity. Here, in our anchor chapter, Naomi had to test the authenticity of her daughters-in-law’s [Ruth and Orpah] resolve. Initially both Orpah and Ruth had wanted to follow Naomi but after a little explanation, Orpah decided to go back. But then Ruth clung to Naomi in spite of the convincing explanations Naomi gave them. Today, the book from which we extracted our verse of scripture is named after Ruth and not Orpah. Ruth paid the price to have her name inscribed in History’s hall of fame. The perpetual flame of her resolve continuous to burn till tomorrow. Her resolve also paved way for her to be the ancestor of Jesus even though she was not a born Israelite. We can also accomplish glorious things if we make firm resolutions to do the very things God had empowered us to. Let’s be resolute about our convictions in Christ and then the world will have no option than to opt for us.

Prayer_Bead: Our Father, who is in us, thank you for the privilege to be numbered in you, the grace to embrace your love and your life. Help us to stand for what we believe in you.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.( Genesis 39:20 )

Our God is so intentional about anything and everything about us. No wonder the Scriptures say that “His divine power has given us all things that pertains to life and godliness”. This is why the believer must always maintain a positive attitude at all times. Whatever happens to the believer and around the believer is working for their good. Joseph was sent to Potiphar’s house, of all the houses in Egypt. Potiphar’s wife told a lie that landed Joseph in prison but then of all the prison’s in Egypt, he was taken to where the King’s prisoners were kept. The point is that God wanted to connect Joseph to royalty and so he associated him with people who had been with royals. It was not a mistake in heaven that Joseph was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Actually, it was a set up that was supposed to introduce him to his true destiny. Joseph had dreamt in his teen years that he would rule some day. But then God didn’t show him how he would get there. And because he didn’t know how God was going to do it, he had to submit to God in everything. Like Joseph, God promised us a glorious future through Christ. We may not know how the details of that destiny will be played out, but from the template of Joseph’s life, we can assume that, the safest thing to do is to trust God to get us there. Nothing is a mistake if God is the one leading us. The pains of yesterday will soon paint your story beautifully. The tears will not tear you apart. It is clearing your eyes to see clearly what H God is doing. Cheer up, your “jail” may be necessary for your eminent joy.

Prayer_Bead: Deliverer from the lions, protector from the venomous serpent, thank you for the working of your grace in my life, leading me to my destiny. I am walking on preordained path. I am fulfilling the decrees of God concerning my life.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

She caught him [Joseph] by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. ( Genesis 39:12 )

The devil usually likes to sow where God sows. A parable is told by Jesus of a sower sowing good seeds but then the enemy also came to sow weeds among the good seeds (Matthew 13:24-30). The enemy came to sow weeds (bad seeds) where God, the sower also sow His seeds (good seeds). In today’s verse of scripture, Joseph was “planted” in Potiphar’s house but then the enemy also planted Potiphar’s wife against Joseph. They were in the same house, but they didn’t have the same source. The devil had wanted to use her against Joseph but then he did the needful. It is okay to flee sometimes, when we must. It is not a show of weakness nor cowardice but rather a manifestation of wisdom. Today, we see people who embrace the devil’s offers in the name of being strong in faith. If it has to do with iniquity, it is better to flee than to lose one’s graceful position in the scheme of God’s agenda. Joseph lost Potiphar’s house because he stood for righteousness but then the whole of Egypt was given to him as a result. Righteousness is an eternal rewarder, iniquity may only give temporary pleasure. Let us choose the life of God. And remember, it is okay to flee sometimes when what is coming at you is aiming at your destiny.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for procuring righteousness for me through the cross. Help me to stand for what righteousness represents on a daily basis. May I flee from iniquity even when it will portray me as weak and unwise. So help me God.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.