Category: Gospel

[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.

[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.

[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.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? [ Luke 2:49 KJV ]

Almost everyone is busy with something these days. Many of us have become so busy about every other thing but the important things. Like Martha, who was busy with the unessentials when Jesus visited them. Many of us have become used to being so preoccupied with activities and we confuse being busy with being productive. In our anchor text, the Lord Jesus was taken to Jerusalem for the Passover festival at age twelve. At this event, Mary and Joseph lost him because they assumed he was somewhere among their entourage. They were busy with the festival while their Son was busy about the real business of the day; the father’s business. At that ceremony, it would seem that those who were busy with the Passover celebration were the most hardworking or most busy. But their busyness was towards the wrong thing for that season. Jesus was busy about the need on the Father’s heart in that season. And so, He was almost surprised when they were looking for Him. The question now is, what are you busy about? The world has preoccupied us with so many nothings. Jesus asks a question here expecting an answer? It’s a question about purpose recognition. We need to discern our purpose and the seasons allotted to its execution. And if we are able to do that, our busyness will be meaningful and productive in the face of God, even if the world does not see its relevance. Because our aim is to please our commanding Officer, the Lord Jesus Christ and not the world. Let’s get busy about the Father’s business.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for your precious word. Give me the urgency of purpose and help me to be busy about your business alone.

Wisdom_Quote: Real busyness is being busy about the Father’s business.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.