Category: Gospel

[The Glory Unveiled]

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. ( Matthew 5:16 )

Our anchor verse of Scripture is just reiterating the Scripture that says we are the light of the world; a city built upon a hill which cannot be hidden (verse 14). We do not by ourselves have anything worth displaying to the world, but then we have the ability to let the world see what God had placed in us. “We are the light of the world” means we are the express revelation of the glory of God because of what we have within us. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ( Ephesians 2:10). We have in us “treasures” of God’s glory and the world is longing to see it. The glory is not ours that is why after men have seen our good works, it is God who receives the glory. Unfortunately the world cannot see the glory of God unless we let our light shine. God said in the beginning, “Let there be light” because He was about to display His glory. Light is a necessary agency for the display of God’s glory. This light, to us is spiritual truth which brings spiritual understanding. We must not hide our light under a basket as Moses hid his under a veil. The glory is in there but it’s revelation (exposure) to the world depends on what we do and what we do not do. Let the world see God’s glory through your light.

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven and in our hearts, working in us and through us both to will and to do according to your good pleasures, thank you for making me a vessel to display your glory. I uncover my light so that the world can see your great light.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ( James 4:8 )

Institutions and social gatherings or groupings have distinctive protocols that is common to their operations. Likewise, in the mingling of a man’s spirit and God, it is man who must make the first move towards God—the protocol. Even though God took the first step to secure redemption for us, in relating with God intimately after that, man has to make the first move. Before we were saved, God took it upon Himself to get to us through His son’s death, burial and resurrection. But then after that demand was met, it now behoves us to draw to Him if we want a real relationship with Him. The Israelites had been in captivity for many years. God was in heaven, watching but waiting for man to draw near to Him. It was after the cry of the Israelites became loud that God sent a deliverer to them. In other words, God drew near to them through Moses when they first drew near to Him through their cry. God will draw near to us when we make the first move of drawing near to Him in our fellowship with Him. We must make up our mind if we want to be chasers or God. God does not condone with double-minded people. We must choose whether we want to really draw near to God or drift from Him. There are no middle grounds.

Prayer_Bead: King of Glory, I draw near to you through fellowship with you. I denounce anything that used to take your place in my life. Have an unrestricted access to my heart and life. You are Lord of my life. Thank you. In Jesus name.

#GNews: Unveiling the Glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” ( Genesis 25:30-31 )

Did it occur to you that Jacob was as hungry as Esau or probably more hungry? Jacob wouldn’t have prepared that red stew (stuff) if he wasn’t hungry. Obviously he prepared it to quench his hunger, but then, he was having another hunger that was deeper than his hunger for food. Esau was ready to make a trade for what he was hungry for and Jacob was also ready to trade for what he was hungry for. Jacob was hungry for something spiritual [birthright], it is not tangible to the eyes nor the sense of taste. And that hunger for the birthright made him give up his physical hunger. For our spiritual hunger to be met, we need to let go of some other hunger and desires. Like Jacob who gave away his food just so that he could have what food cannot buy, we need to also let go of little desires and needs that stall us in the hallway of spiritual realities. We must be willing and ready to let go of temporal things in order to have something eternal. Jacob lost his food so that he could have a birthright that would change the course of his destiny. But Esau lost something spiritual for a mundane thing. May we not for the temporary pleasure and leisure that life will offer us be swayed to the side of the flesh and mundane desires. May we through the eternal spirit of Christ be drawn to what will stand the test of time to the praise of God’s name.

Prayer_Bead: Immortal God, thank you for the things you are doing in my life and what you are about to do. I hunger for the deep things that will leave an indelible mark on my life.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ( Deuteronomy 30:19 )

Everyday of our lives, we are confronted with the privilege or challenge of making choices. Depending on how we see and understand choices, we respond accordingly. Under normal circumstances, whenever options are given, choices are intended to be made without any external influence or guide. But here in this verse of Scripture, we see something rather unusual. God presents options to His people through the lips of His prophet, Moses but then in addition to the options presented, God tells His people what to choose. This is a big sign of love. It is just like setting an exams for a group of pupils and then showing them the best option to pick. God loves us so much that He would show us what to choose but because of His sovereignty, He will not take away the consequences of what He has set in place. And because the consequence of making the wrong choice is dire, He entreats us to choose the best option so that our descendants together with us may live. After we have known the desire of God for us and still make the wrong choice, we wouldn’t have God to blame but ourselves. The choice is ours to make. Life and death, blessings and curses are on display in the shelf of time, choose life and blessings because that is what God wants for us.

Prayer_Bead: Faithful God, Loving King, thank you for your unconditional love for me. I choose life today. I refuse to allow death and all its consequences into my life. My descendants and I are preserved by the word of God’s mouth.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[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.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[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.