Category: Gospel

[The Glory Unveiled]

At this, the [kinsman] guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.” ( Ruth 4:6 )

The verse of scripture for today’s devotion is an excerpt from a conversation between Boaz and the kinsman redeemer of Ruth. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi, whose husband had died. And according to the custom of Israel then, a close relative had to buy any property of the late relative and if he had a wife, marry her to continue his family lineage. In that line of succession, there was a man who was supposed to redeem the property of Mahlon, Ruth’s dead husband. But because he was only concern about himself and his estate, he rejected Ruth and shunned the responsibility of taking her as wife. He thought marrying Ruth will endanger his estate but that would have rather permanently inscribed his name in the records of Israel and history at large because Ruth became the mother of Obed, grandmother of Jesse [the father of David] and the great ancestor of Jesus Christ. Today, whenever the story of Jesus or David is told, she is mentioned and Boaz who was second in line but took upon himself the responsibility of marrying her is also mentioned every time the story is told. Imagine the dozens of great and life altering opportunities that we turn down because sometimes we are unable to see the bigger picture of destiny. The little, seemingly inconsequential causes of life are the pixels that put together a beautiful picture of destiny. Instead of shunning responsibilities and pushing it around to others, we must muster courage and do what is right.

Prayer_Bead: Eternal Kinsman, Gracious Redeemer, order my steps in your ways. Teach me to take the responsibilities that will lead me to the next phase of my destiny. Thank you for what you will do in my generation through my obedience.

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[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.

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[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.

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[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.

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[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.

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[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.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. ( Psalms 139:14 )

God created us to be a reflection of Himself; a mirror that projects who He is. Among the many known attributes of God, we say that, God is wonderful and He is to be feared. But we read in this verse of Scripture how the Psalmist says that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. He meant that he is made after the attributes of God. He carried in him, the life of God that made him unique. He goes on to say that God’s works are wonderful. We carry in us a wonder that can put the world on edge because we have the wonderful nature of God. This discovery and realization should be the central point of our self esteem and self value. The value of anything is determined by what it is worth. And we are worth the blood of the Lamb, meaning we are of that value to God. On top of that, He created us wonderfully in His likeness. This is what should determine our self esteem and not what the world and its system tells us. We are of much more value than many sparrows (Matthew 6:26). Our value and self esteem cannot be found in any other created thing but in the creator. This is why we must not allow the comments of people and their negative assessment of us get to us. We are way too valuable for the world’s lies. Let this be the reason for our confidence. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Prayer_Bead: Wonderful Father, Gracious King, thank you for how you made me. To reflect and reveal you to the world. This is the reason for my confidence and self esteem.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.” ( Judges 13:14 )

”Principles do not fail” but this is only true when they are adhered to the letter. Manoah, the father of Samson and his wife had received a prophecy that they would have a son, who would deliver Israel from their enemies. In addition to the prophecy, the Angel had given a set of rules that should govern the mother as long as she carried the baby in her womb. For that baby (prophecy) to be born, the mother of Samson had to change her behavior. Often times, prophecies are not fulfilled because there is no change in character. Whatever new thing we expect from heaven, our character must change to conform to the picture of what we seek. Any deviation from the instructions of the Angel would have terminated the emergence of Samson. And it wouldn’t have been the doing of heaven if the prophecy had failed. Manoah knew better, he asked the Angel what the rules that will regulate the boy’s life will be (verse 12). Samson, who is also a symbolism of the prophecy of the Angel was born later, meaning his mother actually changed her character and that was why the Nazarene, Samson was born. Whatever prophecies have gone ahead of our lives are waiting for our attitudinal change to come to pass. Change is a necessity for the fulfillment of our prophecies.

Prayer_Bead: My Father, My Lord, thank you for the promises of your word. Help me to properly align through behavioral change and complete obedience to your word.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ( Hebrews 6:10 )

God will not forget our good deeds even if they seem forgotten by people because God is just. In today’s verse of scripture, we are shown a kind of labour that amounts to showing love to God. It is the work of helping people. Whenever we help people, we have shown love to [the image of] God. God created us in His image and likeness and so whenever we help another person, we have shown love to God through them. We are the extensions of God on earth to carry out His good purposes. Someone once said that, helping people isn’t a burden, it’s an opportunity. Indeed, we are opportune to receive the reward of God when we help other people. When we continue diligently in this pursuit, we become channels through which God releases His blessings to other people. But God’s continuous use of us as a blessing to others and His rewards are dependent on our continuous dedication to help other people. God has made us such that, it is not good for anyone [irrespective of who they are] to be alone. We were made not to be independent but to be dependent on one another for our full maximization. Right from the beginning, God said it was not good for man to be alone. That has been our lot since. Keep helping people and God will not forget to reward you.

Prayer_Bead: I am a channel of blessing to my world. I live to represent the government of Heaven on earth. I am an ambassador of righteousness and love. The world is a better place because of me and I help the downtrodden._

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[The Glory Unveiled]

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. ( 1 John 2:6 )

The Christian walk, though a walk of faith, has definite signs that testify that one is a child of God. The Christian is one who lives in God. In other words, God is the home and the abode of the Believer. But the scripture says that whoever claims to live in God must live as Jesus lived. Our life must resemble the life of Christ. And how do we know the life that Jesus lived except through the word of God. Jesus kept the commands of the Father. And the Bible says that we know the Father if we obey His commandments (1John 2:3). If we say we know Him but refuse to do what He commands, then we are liars. Living in God and knowing God has to do with obedience to the word of God. We cannot know God nor live in Him apart from His word. This is the reality of the life we have been called into. If we live in God, our lives must speak His word. This is the bedrock of our identity with Him. Instead of saying we live in Him, we must just live as He lived and we wouldn’t have to say anything.

Prayer_Bead: Gracious Lord, thank you for the wonderful opportunity to identify with you. May my life resound your word as I walk in obedience to you.

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