Category: Gospel

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A relational God

[The Glory Unveiled]

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. [ 2 Corinthians 6:18 KJV ]

From the beginning of our human existence, God had always wanted to relate with us on a personal and intimate level. From the garden of Eden accounts, we can emphatically tell that God wanted a relationship with man, His creation. Interestingly, when man disobeyed God and sinned, God’s initial desire and plan did not change. He sought every opportunity and used every means to get us back into a relationship with Him. In Jeremiah, it was prophesied that God will give us a new heart, one that loved God and revered Him, and that He will enter a new covenant with us (Jeremiah 32:39-40). All these efforts are a testimony of God’s desire to be in a relationship with us. This is what sets Jehovah apart from other gods. While other gods demand servitude, a master-servant relationship, God wants a father-child relationship with His creation. A relationship that is founded on the nature of God; love. Other gods demand sacrifices from their subjects but Jehovah gave a sacrifice on behalf of his children as a gift—His only beloved Son. God was willing to give all that He had to have us back into a committed relationship with Him. As a result, we can only get to truly know God in a love relationship with Him. This is why religion does not reveal the true identity of God even though, religious people think they know God from their wobbling attempts to please their God from a distance. It just doesn’t work from a distance. This is why God had to come down—in close proximity to us, the objects of His love and His image bearers. And even when He was going back to heaven, He said, He will not leave us like orphans (John 14:18). Instead, He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us, so that we can remain intimate with Him as His sons and daughters. Let’s remain committed to our relationship with Him.

Prayer_Bead: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured. Thank you for your love and pursuit of me. I yield my heart to you for a heart to heart relationship. So help me, Father.

Wisdom_Quote: Intimate relationships are not forged from a distance.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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You’re worth more

[The Glory Unveiled]

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. [ Matthew 10:30-31 NIV ]

Worry is a manifestation of concealed fear. Almost everyday, we are confronted by scary situations that aim at throwing us off guard. A person can be alright one moment and the next, they are not. A business can be doing well, and then it’s not. Marriages can be so peaceful and loving and then they can become complicated almost all of a sudden. With this very unsettling wave of instability in many things, we sometimes tend to embrace fear. Fear reveals our unsettled convictions about things. And the byproduct becomes worry and anxiety. On the other hand, when people care about us, our fears are dulled or swallowed up even. For us, as God’s image bearers, God cares deeply about even the smallest details of our lives. In the text above, we are told how God numbers our hairs—something we don’t pay attention to. If you have something counted and numbered, it gives you confidence about its safety. Now, if they were only counted, you may still have a little concern, but even that, you will notice when the numbers don’t add up. On the other hand, when the items are numbered, meaning each item has a unique number or code, you will be rest assured that they are going no where without your notice. It’s like putting a tracker on a piece of electronic equipment. You are literally with that device wherever it is on the planet because of the tracker, which has a unique identifier that represents that equipment. So, if God says our very hairs are numbered, it means He is very aware of every tiny detail of even those hairs that fall everyday when we brush or comb them. This revelation is supposed to comfort us in a way that we become convinced that God cares about our every need. So that, our fears can be replaced with faith in God. “Don’t worry,” Jesus advice; “you are worth more than many sparrows.” And because of our value in the eyes of God, we need not worry.

Prayer_Bead: Great Abba, thank you for your deep concern and love for me. Thank you for being aware of my every need. I trust in your love for me and I refuse to be worried whatsoever about my needs.

Wisdom_Quote: Fear is a picture of the unsettling convictions of a person.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The Journey into Destiny

[The Glory Unveiled]

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: [ Genesis 12:1 KJV ]

The journey into the believer’s destiny begins from intimacy with God. Through intimacy, the believer is equipped with every bit of information needed to discover and complete their destiny. The destiny of a person is like a puzzle. And usually, God releases each piece of the puzzle at a time and only through intimacy with Him. He does not just throw the clues at us from a distance. No, He whispers them to us in the secret place of our fellowship with Him. Reading our anchor text, we will notice that God didn’t give Abraham [then Abram] the whole map of His destiny. God needed Abram to depend on Him in every step of his journeying to the place of destiny. And so, God only gave him a rough estimate of what is expected of him but not the details. He didn’t even mention the name of the land in this text. But He did say, “I will show you.” And so, Abram will have no option than to go back to God if he wanted to get to this land that promises better than where he had been. The first statement gives us a blur peek into what had been happening. We can deduce that Abram did not go at the word of God from the beginning. The statement, “the Lord had said unto Abram” means this was not the first time that Abram was told to move from his current location to the new land. But for whatever reasons, he didn’t move immediately until this chapter of the book. And so, the verse 4, begins thus, “so, Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him.” The indicators that point to our destinies are coded in God, revealed only at the place of intimate fellowship with Him. Every other method to arrive at destiny without God is a grave risk. While the easiest way to reach destiny is by the word of God. Imagine if Abram had set off immediately without hesitating or “considering other possibilities” of reaching the same goal. He would have saved some time. The land of destiny is a place only God can show us. Let’s stay close to God and it will become as clear as day where God is sending us to.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah Almighty, God who knows the end from the beginning, thank you for showing me the template of my destiny as I remain in intimate fellowship with You.

Wisdom_Quote: The land of destiny is a place only God can show the believer.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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With all of your heart

[The Glory Unveiled]

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. [ Jeremiah 29:13 NIV ]

God is always unambiguously clear whenever He communicates His thoughts and words with humans. Many times, it is in our reporting the word of God that we dilute its truth and meaning, imposing our own understanding and views on it. But if we can take God’s word as He spoke them, we will experience tremendous growth and change. It is not impossible to find God when we seek Him. Even though some people make it sound and appear very complicated, God shows us the formula for finding Him. The secret sauce is hidden in a simple phrase imbedded in the formula. The phrase is “with all your heart.” God is not brought out of hiding by enticing Him with part of our hearts, a little of our hearts or with most of our hearts. God is only brought out of hiding when we seek him with everything we’ve got—all of our hearts. You cannot reserve some heart fuel for anything else. Everything must be used up in our search of Him. We will find Him when we search with all of our hearts—ALL of our hearts. This truth cannot be overemphasized. God is drawn to the light of our full heart exposure. The God we seek does not do business with half measure. It’s either you’re all in or not. And so, God can be found but how we seek Him will either bring Him out or keep Him hiding from us. Those who seek God and do not find Him only went on the search with part of their hearts. Maybe the other part is what is holding them from their eureka moment. And if they can “let their guard down” and humble themselves to give all their hearts to the search, they will be amazed at their finding. May we not waste time in our search by holding back part of our hearts in the search.

Prayer_Bead: Lover of my soul, thank you for revealing yourself when I search for you with all of my heart. I surrender every quarter of my heart to you. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: All of our hearts is the only appeal that brings God out of hiding.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The love gift of God

[The Glory Unveiled]

“For by grace you have been saved by faith. Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ!” [ Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ ]

Salvation cannot happen without God’s grace. No man can meet the just requirement for their salvation except God intervened. So, the grace of God created a system in which through faith, we could access salvation. “Through faith,” it means that salvation wouldn’t be the reward of good work or human efforts. But rather by something outside of man’s realm. “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people” (Titus 2:11). And because it is God’s grace, we cannot boast or say, we are saved because of something we have done to earn it (Ephesians 2:9). The law was not intended to bring us into the rest of God, no, it was intended to expose the fullness of sin in us. But then, even before the law was introduced, God made provisions for our salvation in Christ through a method called grace. “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2Timothy 1:9-10). Grace was available before the law, but it was not revealed until Christ came on the scene. But then, even at the coming of Jesus, it had to take the love gift [good news] from God to bring us to Christ to receive the gift. And so, anyone who stays away from Christ cannot have the gift of God. No matter how religious or pious they are. This is the reality about the nature of the salvation that comes from God, of which as many as received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour are partakers.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Almighty, Saviour, Redeemer, thank you for the gift of salvation brought to me through Jesus. Thank you for the call to a holy life.

Wisdom_Quote: Grace is the method of salvation, faith is the process.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.