Category: Gospel

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Over and Above

[The Glory Unveiled]

“Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]–“ [ Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ AMPC‬‬ ]

Love is the attribute that underscores every gesture of God towards humanity. In the verses before our focal text, the apostle Paul had prayed for his readers that they may be grounded and established in love; to understand the vastness of the love of Christ. So that like them, when we understand the depth and height of God’s love, we will never doubt God’s mighty power to work in us to accomplish all and more than our greatest requests, our most unbelievable dreams, and even exceed our wildest imaginations. He will outdo whatever records there are. He will do, over and above what is considered normal. All this is linked to the power of God’s love at work in us. The working power of God’s love compels Him to do superabundantly, far beyond whatever distance our expectations could reach. But why is all this important for us to know. It is importance for our comfort and faith in the Lord. If we understand the love of God—it’s depth and weight—we will not be moved by happenings around us nor the things that seems to question the power of our God. This was why Paul prayed for the Ephesians to come to the knowledge of the love of Christ. Love covers multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8) sometimes by ignoring all allegations and accusations. The love of God carries in its multifaceted nature, mercy and grace. A good understanding of this love dismisses doubt and anxiety. Leaning on the love of God eliminates every seed of fear and doubt and provides blessed assurance and hope, with proactive faith in God’s faithfulness. Be rest assured, by the consequences of God’s mighty power in us, He is doing more than we hoped for, to the glory of His name.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, thank you for your unconditional love. Thank you for its power at work in me, doing exceedingly more than I prayed for, to the glory of your name.

Wisdom_Quote: Love is God’s canvas for displaying His glorious attributes.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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With God

[The Glory Unveiled]

For with God nothing shall be impossible. [ Luke 1:37 KJV ]

The difference between possibility and impossibility is actually a matter of what or who is with you in the process. All the impossibilities we see around us are as a result of who or what is involved. Sometimes, we venture into things with the wrong people on our team; wrong partnerships or collaborations. Other times, impossibility is just a result of the wrong attitude or knowledge. Whatever it is, impossibility or possibility happens with something or someone. In our text for meditation, the Angel Gabriel came to deliver a message to Mary about her being chosen to be the vessel through whom the Messiah would be born. Mary felt that the circumstances surrounding her nullified the possibility of that news. But then, the Angel assured her that it will happen exactly as she was told because nothing was impossible with God. This means impossibility is just another way of saying God is not involved with it. If God is involved in something and even nature and science conspire against it, it will still happen. And so, our call to action is this; invite God into your boat. Every situation of our lives that appear impossible to happen remains impossible because perhaps God is not really involved yet. Whatever we do, let’s do it with God, every step of the way. Now, let’s consider our lives for a moment. Does it look like nothing is possible in it? If yes, then we need to extend and invitation to the only One with whom nothing is impossible. And then, even if impossibility itself says no, God will turn it around for a “yes.”

Prayer_Bead: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for changing impossible situations for your glory. Let the impossible become possible in my life.

Wisdom_Quote: Possibility or impossibility is a matter of who is with you.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Proven love

[The Glory Unveiled]

“But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!” [ Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ ]

It is very easy to love in words than in deeds. Unfortunately, our modern society has made loving people in words even easier as social media presents more possibilities of saying or portraying things we don’t mean and don’t relate with. Hence, there are so many illusions and deceitfulness all around. The prove of love, we will find, is not in the text of our words but in the texture of our deeds. The measuring rod of a person’s love is their deeds in defense of that love. So, love has to be proven to be true. Unfortunately, some youth take the prove of love to be a license for immorality. While the real prove of love is death. So, if anyone claims to love us, they must be willing to die for us. To interpret it mildly, their love for us should make them die to their selfish desires and needs, they should even sacrifice (die) their time, commitment and energy to say the least. Our perfect picture example of love, Jesus, proved His love by dying in our place. But His style adds some elegant icing to the cake—he died for us while we were still lost and ungodly. Imagine the audacity of His love. If we were good or trying to be good, it could have made a little sense that He was motivated by the hope of our goodness. But there was nothing in us worth dying for, yet He died for us anyway. You know, God had been saying He loved us. But then He could not just say it and end it there. And so, in order to prove the passion with which He loves us, He demonstrated it through His Son; His only sinless, precious Son for a bunch of sinners. This is a serious prove of love of a very rare love. We can therefore be assured and rest in God.


Prayer_Bead: Great Elohim, Perfect Lover of my soul. Thank you for demonstrating your love for me through the death of your Son. I appreciate your love for me. Thank you.

Wisdom_Quote: Love is seen through deeds.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Anchored to hope

[The Glory Unveiled]

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. [ Romans 15:4 KJV ]

Hope is our eyes into the future and the fuel that keeps us going towards that future. Hope also begets patience that activates faith. It is generated through the things we see, the things we behold in the scriptures. Hence hope paints the picture that faith should print (actualize.) This is why without hope, we are miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). The word of God creates pictures of what we should hope for. These pictures create patience in us to wait until what we see (hope) comes to pass. “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” (Romans 8:24). We hope for things we do not yet see—things we do not yet have. We continue to hope because we desire to have what we see in the distance. But when we come to the place where we do not have any picture, ahead of us to draw us, we begin to lose ourselves to just anything around us. Hope keeps us going in the direction of God. When Peter was asked by Jesus to come to Him on the lake, he walked steadily because of the hope of getting to Jesus. But immediately his hope (attention) drifted to the wind, he began to drown (Matthew 14:29-30). Our faith and walk with God begins to drown when we have no hope. Hope is very crucial in keeping our faith warm and active. Hope is the bait that draws us into the depths of God; into a present continuous walk with God. Without anything to hope for, we will not have the right attitude of mind to walk with God. As a result, what the enemy does is to change our hope to things that are not in the direction of God. This is why we need a consistent knowledge of things that were written afore time for our learning, which is the word of God. We need to study the word of God diligently to be able to capture the right picture of hope. Be consistent at looking into the word of God.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, thank you for your word that is available to create the right picture of my future. Help me to be diligent student of it.

Wisdom_Quote: The word of God paints the only true picture of our future.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The gospel of the cross

[The Glory Unveiled]

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. [ 1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV ]

The gospel—the preaching of the cross—is the ignition point for unleashing the power of God. As in an automobile, the ignition allows the engine of the vehicle to be powered. Without the gospel, we cannot see, experience or access the power of God. The preaching of the cross makes the power of God available; it is an opening into the volcano of God’s power. It’s like going around a fortress that seem to have no entrance. But somewhere is imbedded an invisible entrance, seen only by certain people. The gospel is like this invisible entrance into the fortress of God’s power, seen only by those being saved. This means without the preaching of the cross, we cannot know the real power of God. This is also why the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing; a hidden door in plain sight. The apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16, that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus because it is the power of God unto salvation. The preaching of the cross carries the power of God that brings salvation. Although, this seems like foolishness to those who have no faith, because it makes no sense, what matters is that it makes faith. In dealing with the realm of God, many things will not make sense, they only have to “make faith.” And the message of the cross will only begin to make sense, when we start the journey of faith into the finished work of Jesus. It is this faith that makes the gospel, the power of God to one group and foolishness to another. And, as the power of God that brings salvation, we must preach and teach it in love. So that those who used to see it as foolishness may begin to experience it as the power of God.

Prayer_Bead: Great Monarch of Zion, thank you for the simplicity of the gospel and the power concealed in it. Help me to preach it to my world. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: The preaching of the cross is the only escape route into the life of God.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Salt of the earth

[The Glory Unveiled]

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. [ Matthew 5:13 NIV ]

God’s image bearers are the world’s natural agents of change and influence. Right from the beginning, God gave man the dominion mandate (Genesis 1:28). But our influence and impact is as a result of the qualities we possess that the world needs. And so, as long as we posses those qualities, the world will chase after us. We are also reminded from our text that it is possible to lose our saltiness [value]. This means we must consciously guard our saltiness. Our saltiness is the value people receive from us or perceive. If we lose the value they get from us, they won’t have any need to come to us again. And so, they will begin to trample on us. People only trample underfoot anything that has no value or adds no value to them. So, this can also be a way of checking our value rating by the way other people treat us. Do they look down on us or up to us, do they wish to be like us or disrespect us. While it is possible that some of these indicators may mean different things, they are mostly signs of a lost of value in the eyes of people. The text says that when salt loses its saltiness, it cannot be made salty again. If there is ever something we cannot regain when lost, we must carefully and intentionally protect it. The Bible says, wisdom is the principal thing, so we should get it. And in all our getting, we should get understanding as well (Proverbs 4:7). Wisdom and understanding always make people come to us. But foolishness [losing your saltiness] drives people away from us. As salt of the earth, we must preserve our saltiness. Our relevance and value to the world must not be tempered with by anything. So that the name of Jesus may be glorified through us.

Prayer_Bead: Mighty Father, thank you for making me the salt of the earth. I am relevant to my world. I diffuse the fragrance of the Lord Jesus wherever I go. Hallelujah.

Wisdom_Quote: People respect and honour values not just names.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The place of rest

[The Glory Unveiled]

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [ Matthew 11:28 KJV ]

The cares, pressures and demands of this world put so much strain on our souls. In our attempt to ease the burden and lessen the pains and frustration cooked by our daily toils, we end up worsening the situation. We end up adding more straw to the camel’s back. In our text for meditation today, we will discover that the solution, the rest we seek from this burdensome life is no where and with no one but Jesus. This is the truth that must be settled in our minds and hearts to save us from fruitless searching. Unless we come to terms with the reality that what we are looking for can only be found in Jesus, all our efforts and search will be futile. The solution we seek cannot be found in the places we usually seek them. Some of us are searching for rest in beer bottles, others from sexual immorality, drugs, gambling, addictions to pornography and wild living. But the conclusion of the matter is that, only Jesus is the place of rest. Every other advertisement is a scam, aimed at adding more weight to the burden we already carry. The reality of life is that, while we are in this body, we will labour, and along our labouring, we will be burdened with more than we can carry. Moses, in his earthly days was burdened too. He was weary and unsure of certain things that weighed on him. And so, he also came to the solution and this was what the Lord said to him, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” (Exodus 33:14) This scripture emphasizes the truth that, rest cannot be found apart from God. The presence of God with us through the turmoil and the chaos is the assurance of rest we have. So, let us go to Jesus [through fellowship with His Spirit and His word] and receive rest for our weary and burdened souls. Let us approach with the assurance of faith that He gives because the solution is with Jesus.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for giving rest to my soul from the burdens and weariness of this world. I surrender all to you.

Wisdom_Quote: Rest is a place in Jesus.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The Pillar of all things

[The Glory Unveiled]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [ John 1:1 KJV ]

Building engineers and masons begin their building from the trench. This trench holds the foundation, which is also the beginning of the building. It is upon this foundation that the structure sits. The beginning (foundation) in many instances define the whole structure. The beginning gives a direction and a perspective to the rest of the building. In the beginning of everything, there was the Word. John helps us to understand that this Word is God. Genesis 1:1 affirms it by saying, “In the beginning, God…” The only personality that is attributed to the beginning is God. And just as the foundation gives insight into the future of a building, God being the beginning gives us an idea about how impossible it is for the rest of creation to be sustained without God. God is the pillar that sustains creation. When we take God out of the framework we have a collapsed world. Every generation that wanted to do it their way without God inadvertently experienced destruction. An attempt to take God out of what He alone can sustain and is the pillar of, is a declaration of destruction. The question for us though, is? What did we begin with? What is in our beginning? What is the pillar upon which we are building whatever we are building? What we build upon determines what our building will look like. We can hide the material with which we lay our foundation with, but the structure will eventually expose the elements that make up the foundation. So, it’s better we start with the right material, God. May He help us to consider Him from the beginning.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Jesus, thank you for being my beginning and the foundation of my life. Let your name be glorified.

Wisdom_Quote: Your foundation feeds your definition.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The way of escape

[The Glory Unveiled]

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. [ Matthew 26:41 KJV ]

Watching [being alert] goes hand in hand with praying. Either is insufficient to deal with temptations that aim at our humanity. Whenever temptation or tests come our way, we should not depend only on either prayer alone or watching alone. Dwelling on just either of these for help in times of temptation will only end in surprising disappointment. There are very prayerful believers who fall every time into the arms of temptations, sometimes immediately after prayers. Did you realize that Jesus was tempted immediately after His 40 days of fasting and prayers. His prayers didn’t stop the temptation, but what gave Him victory was both prayers and his ability to watch (discern). Watching is a spiritual skill of looking through the eyes of Scripture to judge or interpret our world and experiences. Watching without praying means that we can recognize/identify the temptation but still fall in it as the capacity to escape it is unavailable. Yet praying without watching is just like being blindfolded but having a very sharp machete. No matter how skillfully you brandish it, you will mostly miss the target. This is why they go together and Jesus being aware of this instructed the disciples who were with Him to watch and pray. This recipe is particularly because of the weaknesses of our humanity. Jesus said that the spirits of the disciples were willing but their flesh were weak. Hence, watching and praying helps our spirit to superimpose the flesh. And with temptations all around us, sensitivity through the word of God and prayer is a necessity.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, thank you for showing me the way out of temptation. Help me to always watch and pray.

Wisdom_Quote: Praying and watching go hand in hand for the way of escape to manifest.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The seeker’s signpost

[The Glory Unveiled]

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, [ John 5:39 NIV ]

There is a deception in our world that makes people think that because they have access to the Bible, they can get whatever they want out of it. And because of that, everyone seem to have their own opinions of what the Bible says based on what they may be looking for. The solution however, is not in the text but in whom the text speaks about. The scriptures are like a signpost that point to someone, Jesus. And so, if we want to have what the Scriptures promise but don’t want to see Jesus or meet Him, then we would be running a lost race. No matter the seriousness or diligence we involve in our search, it would yield no results. This is why people of other faith, can take the Bible and read it, analyze it, and yet, not see Jesus, who the scriptures point to. They read and argue out the scriptures but cannot see the only person in the text. Some of these people are convinced that they will find eternal life because they know a lot. But truth is, salvation is not in what you know but who you know; namely Christ Jesus. May we not be caught in the habit of always analyzing the scriptures but not following it’s directions thinking that eternal life comes from the texts themselves, when we should be pursuing a relationship with the person about whom the Scriptures testify—Jesus. If we can see the testimony of the scriptures and believe them, salvation will be guaranteed. The texts by themselves kill but the Spirit of the text, the testimony of it, gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). So, instead of trying to impress our flesh by analyzing the texts to prove anything apart from the deity of Christ, we should rather humble ourselves to come to Jesus for life.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Jesus, thank you for the scriptures that point to you. Help me by your Spirit to see you alone every time I study the scriptures.

Wisdom_Quote: Scripture is the signpost that points us to Jesus.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.