Revealing His glory

[The Glory Unveiled]

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!” [ 1 Kings 18:39 NIV ]

Elijah called for a contest between his God and the gods of the prophets of Baal, settling the controversy about whose Lord was truly God. On the day of the contest, people gathered to witness the power of the gods. Remarkably, they came not to see the prophets but to witness the power of the gods represented by the prophets. Similarly, the world seeks God through us; they come to us to see our God, and we must represent Him well. Sometimes, we get distracted, thinking people come to us because of ourselves, not realizing it’s our God they seek. When the people saw Elijah’s deeds, they didn’t praise him but witnessed his God in action. They recognized the manifestation of God’s power and exalted Him. God desires to reveal Himself to the world through vessels like us. Will you be that individual? To display God’s glory, we need to be submitted and well-connected to Him. He won’t reveal His glory through someone not connected to Him. This is why we need to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus, as He is our only means of connection to God. As we walk with Him, the world begins to see Jesus in us and around us. Now, the reality is that, you might be the reason why people are not seeing God, so correct that and represent Him well.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for your willingness to reveal yourself to my world through me. Glory be to Your name.

Wisdom_Quote: Jesus is our umbilical cord to God.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

Priesthood of believers II

[The Glory Unveiled]

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. [ Revelation 5:10 KJV ]

As priests unto God, we bear responsibilities towards ourselves and God, which are tethered to specific protocols. The Levitical priesthood adhered to particular protocols in executing their duties, and believers in Christ are not exempt from God’s presence protocols. While the protocols of the Levitical order involved rituals and statutes, the New Testament priesthood protocols center on obedience, total alliance, and reliance on Jesus Christ. This complete dependence grants us boldness. We approach God’s presence in fulfilling our priestly duties of offering spiritual sacrifices based on what Jesus accomplished, and our sacrifices find acceptance as they go to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). In the Old Testament, the people’s sacrifices offended God due to the position from which they were offered. God values the state of our hearts more than our sacrifices. Another crucial aspect is beholding Jesus. Even though we attain right standing with God through Jesus when born again, a vital protocol in God’s presence is to behold Jesus, the gateway into the heart of God. Failing to keep our focus on Jesus may confine us to the outer courts, locked away from the tangible presence of God, as observed in the Levitical priesthood. For us as, New Testament priests, we must enter the inner courts by beholding Jesus. Amidst these actions, it is imperative to choose and use our words carefully.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for showing me the things I need to do in my service as king and priest and helping me to do them!

Wisdom_Quote: Boldness is the result of competence generated from consistent practice.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

Walk with God

[The Glory Unveiled]

Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. [ Genesis 5:24 NIV ]

Jonah was swallowed by a huge fish because he found himself in the fish’s environment. Over time, our surroundings can engulf us, shaping us to reflect their culture when we are part of a community. This aligns with the biblical wisdom in Psalms 1:1-6, emphasizing the importance of avoiding ungodly counsel to avoid destruction. Moses spent forty days and nights in God’s presence, leading to a transformative experience where his appearance mirrored the identity of God. He became a god to Aaron and all of Egypt. Similarly, Enoch, despite living in an environment resistant to God, faithfully walked with Him, resisting societal norms. His close fellowship with God resulted in being taken by God, illustrating the power of unwavering devotion. Emulating Enoch, we should choose to walk faithfully with God, even when our world opposes such a path. Through this commitment, we undergo an inner transformation, becoming inseparable from God, rendering our environment and its elements powerless. Throughout recorded history, those who walked with God experienced profound transformation, ultimately merging into God. Choosing to walk with Him transcends the challenges of seasons and times, granting dominion over adversities. God’s presence accompanies you through both water and fire, ensuring favour in every path taken. May our hearts be filled with a constant love and desire for God, leading to a timeless and unwavering fellowship.

Prayer_Bead: Almighty God, thank you for the privilege to walk with you faithfully. Help me in that regard until I am swallowed up in you. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: A man who walks with God gets swallowed up in God.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

The cost of knowing Jesus

[The Glory Unveiled]

“To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace him as Lord in all of his greatness.” [ Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ ]

There is always an attitude and an approach to knowledge acquisition. Acquiring knowledge involves letting go of something: ignorance. On the journey of gaining knowledge, letting go of ignorance is a non-negotiable step. In the case of the apostle Paul and his quest to know Jesus, he had to relinquish everything from his past, including boasting and arrogance. Whatever he thought he knew hindered his true understanding of Jesus. So, he had to let go of his preconceived notions. Interestingly, Paul refers to the negative aspects of his past as “manure,” suggesting that even bad experiences and erroneous information can fertilize our new knowledge experiences if we’re willing to release them. A wise inventor once remarked, “The mistakes I made in the past show me ways that something wouldn’t work out.” In our pursuit of the knowledge of God, sincerity is crucial. We must confront truth and reality, acknowledging that what we think we know might impede our true understanding. To grasp what we need to know, we must release what we already know, just as the apostle Paul did. The Holy Spirit assists us in this process if we allow Him since He is the greatest teacher. In Paul’s attempt to know Jesus, he emphasizes the strategy of letting go of the past in verse 13, choosing to forget what’s behind and focus on the future. Following his example can be beneficial in our own pursuit of knowledge.

Prayer_Bead: Omniscient God, thank you for your grace and the privilege of knowing your Son Jesus Christ.

Wisdom_Quote: Forget the past, aim for the future.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

The mind of a new creation

[The Glory Unveiled]

“For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].” [ Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭8 AMPC‬‬ ]

The mind can be like a boundless ocean, wandering and lingering in many wonderlands of thought. However, we can determine the continuous habitual preoccupation of our minds by consistently feeding it with specific content. The saying, “You cannot stop birds from passing over your head, but you can decide whether or not they make nests in your hair,” holds true in this context. We have the right to decide the course of our lives. The soul, governed by the mind—comprising our emotions, desires, intellect, and will—can be influenced by what it is familiar with. This influence is why, even though the old sinful nature may die in a born-again Christian, they sometimes live as if they are not renewed, behaving exactly as they did before encountering Jesus. The life they led before becoming born again becomes imprinted in the mind, emotions, and desires. So, even after an individual becomes born again and their spirit is renewed, the mind retains the old data of the acts of the flesh. This is where we need to renew our minds, deleting the old data and filling our mental system with new information consistent with our new nature. Our anchor scripture guides us on how to acquire new data, focusing on things that are true, worthy of reverence, honorable, just, pure, lovely, lovable, kind, winsome, gracious, virtuous, excellent, and praiseworthy. This guideline directs us to receive data for renewing our minds, and encourages daily contemplation of these things.

Prayer_Bead: Omniscient Creator, thank You for the privilege to have my mind renewed from dead works. Glory to your name.

Wisdom_Quote: An unguided mind is the canvas of a boundless ocean.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.