Category: Gospel

[The Glory Unveiled]

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [ James 4:7 NIV ]

In an attempt to avoid chaos, order must be employed. When things are done orderly, chaos is erased. We see a certain order of things in our anchor text. Two things are asked of us, but they are put in an order of preference: submit and resist. We will find that “submit” comes before “resist”. This paints a picture of order. When we read the creation account in Genesis chapter 1, we see a certain order that God followed in His creation. We are first introduced to chaos and darkness. And the first thing God did was to introduce light. Without light, the rest of creation could not come forth. Imagine God creating animals and man into such chaos and darkness. They couldn’t have expressed their potential. And so, God called for light first, and the rest followed in the right order. When we distort the right order of things, the expected outcome becomes chaos. Such chaos results when we try to resist the devil before we are submissive to God. The right order is to submit to God first, and then, while under the covering and authority of God, we can resist the devil. But trying to resist the devil while we are not submissive to God is dangerous. The sons of Sceva portrayed this truth well with their mistake. They had not first submitted to God, and they wanted to resist the operation of the devil in the life of another person. It will be easy to resist the devil only after we have submitted to God. So, submit to God first.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, thank you for the privilege to submit to God because of your sacrifice for me. Let God be exalted in my life. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: Orderliness erase chaos.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” [ Luke 22:42 NIV ]

Submission is often mistaken for slavery by many people. However, to submit to another person actually speaks volumes about the one submitting him/herself. To submit to another person shows meekness and total control over oneself. It is a sign of great discipline and self-control. The Lord Jesus, while on earth, was fully God and fully man. He had access to the resources of the Deity, to command and change, to make and unmake, to build or destroy. Yet, He chose not to exercise any of those powers. He hid everything under the will of the Father. We will notice that Jesus almost always called God “Father.” He called Him by His positional name, meaning that Jesus was always conscious of His own position and the responsibility of that office. So, even though He was God, He did not abuse His Godship. He wrapped up His desires in God’s will. He demonstrated meekness in that He could defend His desires but didn’t, instead submitting them to God’s will. He took His power and submitted it under God. He trusted God with His designated earthly life, not loving His life so much as to avoid losing it. Jesus, as our example, is calling us to trust God with our everything: our will and life itself. Jesus sacrificed His desires for the will of God to find expression on earth. The choices we make and the sacrifices we make have eternal consequences. If Jesus had not submitted His will to God, we would not have had salvation. Perhaps someone around us is deprived of something because we have chosen to follow our will and desires rather than the will of God. It is a sacrifice we must make for the greater good. If there is something you must endure for the good of others but have an easier alternative for your selfish enjoyment or to preserve your personal interests, we can make the choice Jesus made: “not my will but yours be done.”

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for the grace to submit my will to you. Help me not to preserve my life but to spend it on your purposes. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: Submission is a sign of great control over oneself.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. [ Romans 5:19 KJV ]

The pathway to our relationship with God is our obedience to Jesus. The disobedience of Adam severed our ties with God, and this disobedience became a nature that strengthened our disconnection from our heavenly family. On the other hand, believers are grafted into the family tree of God through the obedience of the Lord Jesus. He made a way for us when He obeyed God through His sufferings. “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). Through His sufferings in obedience, the Lord Jesus became the source of eternal salvation. He created a new path through which we have access back to God. We are made the sons of God because the only begotten Son of God humbled Himself to take up the form of fallen man and obeyed the Father, even to the death of the cross. As the pioneer of this new path to God, we cannot access God any other way. Even though we come to God through our faith in Jesus Christ, this faith is substantiated by obedience—the only thing that proves we have faith. Abraham had faith in God, and he demonstrated it through his obedience to God even when it seemed like a wicked thing for God to ask of him. Unfortunately, we have become so cleaved to sentiments and feelings that we dilute the gospel and the will of God with them. As a result, there are many disobedient children of God who reason against God’s instructions and call them ungodly. We can only retain what we have received from Jesus through faith when we continue with Him in obedience. Have no reasons to disobey the will of God.

Prayer_Bead: Heavenly father, thank you for your son Jesus. Thank you for making a way for me into your family again through His obedience. Help me to be forever obedient to your will. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: Whatever you obtained through faith, you maintain through obedience.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. [ 1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV ]

The believer must guard many things in their life, one of which is their faith. In our present day, we must stand alert and protect our convictions about God. There are people committed to distorting the convictions of others through deceptive teachings. Deception is packaged today as an alternative truth, sold very cheaply to people whose hearts are slaves to their desires. If we are not firm in our convictions about Christ, we will begin with Him but not end with Him. And so, let us be on our guard against such teachings and individuals who mislead others. There is also a need for courage in order to stand our ground. Sometimes these misleadings continue because we are not courageous enough to face certain things or people. If we can boldly say no when we should, some of the things that destroy the convictions and faith of others will not destroy ours. Remember, God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. We have that tranquility in Christ to make the right choice in accordance with God’s will for us. Now, our strength will be tested; whether we have roots in our convictions and beliefs will be tested by life situations in these last days and, more often, by the people we could easily compromise for. But then it will be revealed whether we esteem God above all else or honor men more than God. On the day we are tested, may we not lack the strength or the courage to stand firm. There is also a category of people who think they are standing firm on their principles and convictions, only to discover that they have been swept away by the tide of today’s worldview and hypocrisy. May we stand firm in our faith as we remain steadfastly on guard.

Prayer_Bead: Heavenly father, thank you for the grace to stand firm in my faith. Take away every fear and doubt and help me to be on guard always. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: The believer’s shield against slipping away in faith is being on guard and standing firm in faith.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” [ Matthew 16:15 NIV ]

The Lord Jesus asked the disciples what others said about him. They had many answers to give, they seem to know everything others said about Jesus. When the question was asked, they had several responses because they saw Jesus through the lens of others. They knew very well what people thought about Jesus. Many of us are like that. Whatever we know about Jesus is often a mirror image of what others say about Him. However, when it comes to our personal knowledge of God, the numbers reduce drastically, as in the case of the disciples. Only one out of the twelve disciples gave an answer. It was Peter’s response to the question that Jesus used to teach the disciples about how God will build His church. God will build us, His church, according to our revelation of Him and not by the revelation of others. We need a personal relationship with Jesus, one that is based on our encounters and convictions about Him. Often, other people’s testimonies about Jesus are merely bait to draw us into a deeper relationship with God. What transforms our world is a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus, knowing Him for ourselves. You may know what the pastor says about God and what others say about God, but who do you know Him to be? Your spiritual experience is based on who you know Jesus to be for yourself. In other words, the power of your victorious life lies in your direct connection to the life source—Jesus. So, who is Jesus to you?

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for the privilege to know your son Jesus for myself. Help me to grow in my knowledge of Him. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: Your Christian life is a reflection of who Jesus is to you.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. [ Luke 2:44 NIV ]

Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem with Jesus, and when it was time for them to return, they assumed he was in the company of their relatives. In other words, they “trusted” Jesus with their relatives instead of with themselves. If your walk with Jesus is based on assumptions and the experiences of others, your spiritual life cannot carry you far. Mary and Joseph traveled for one day but then had to come back. When we trust our knowledge of Jesus with our pastors, friends, family members, and television preachers, our walk with God, no matter how far we seem to go, will be brought back to square one. They had gone one day but had to return to Jerusalem because they assumed Jesus was in the company of their relatives. There are those who think that their families, parents, or siblings know Jesus for them, and so, in the event of any challenge, they will call on their relatives. To their disappointment, when adversity comes, they have no anchor to keep them. A day comes in the life of every believer when their knowledge of God is tested. On that day, your relationship with God will be proven, whether you know God for yourself or whether your knowledge of God is drawn from another person’s encounters. What some of us are doing as believers is a ‘company’ experience, following the crowd and being guided by the experiences of others. We need a personal experience with Jesus. Each and every one of us is called into a personal relationship with Jesus, a relationship that is not based on assumptions and other people’s beliefs, but on our personal encounters with God.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Almighty, thank you for calling me into a personal relationship with you through your Son. Help me to know you for myself. In Jesus’ name

Wisdom_Quote: A walk with God that is based solely on other people’s experiences leads no where.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. [ John 8:36 NIV ]

The Lord Jesus came to set men free from the bondage of the kingdom of darkness. In Luke 4:18, Jesus said He had been anointed to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. In John 8:31 downwards, the Lord Jesus explains to some Jews who had believed Him, what they needed to do to be His disciples and free. This means believing in Jesus does not automatically result in becoming His disciple or freedom from sin. His audience had believed in Him but He still told them to do something to be free. Hence, it is possible to appear to be free but still remain in the bondage of what you thought you were free from. This is also the reason why many believers are still held under the evil thumb of sin, evil addictions and demonic manipulations. They are believers but not yet free. Jesus says that when they hold on to His teachings, then they will know the truth and the truth will set them free (John 8:31-32). Their freedom was embedded in their acquaintance with the truth; when they hold on to the truth. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were set free from slavery because they held on to the promise of God to Abraham—that he will set them free. Our freedom is tied to our obedience to God’s word. In verse 34, Jesus mentions that anyone who sins is a slave to sin. The dominion of sin over a person makes them do its bidding. This is why even the believer can be held in the bondage of sin. But continuing to obey the truth we are exposed to, brings a strong influence of the Spirit of God over every bondage and sets us free. Our safest way out of the struggles and challenges of oppressive behaviours and habits is to continue in the word of God. Continue therefore in the word of God.

Prayer_Bead: Heavenly Father, help me to continue to obey your word in all things. Deliver me from the things that compete for your place in my life. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: Holding on to the word of God is the sure way out of slavery.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [ Mark 16:15 KJV ]

The Lord Jesus, before He left His disciples, gave them one task: to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He did not say they should go only to the Jews or Gentiles. Instead, He asked them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. There are certain important truths we must glean from this verse. First, the Lord Jesus sent them to all the world and to every creature. This means the evangelist or believer is not to preach only to those who are idle or not actively involved in anything. They are to preach to people of every race, religion, tribe, and tongue, including those in politics, media, education, and other fields. Additionally, they are to preach just one message: the gospel. No matter how convinced we are about any other opinions or beliefs, the believer has been entrusted with just one message. It is the message of God’s kingdom and eternal salvation. This is the gospel: the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and its benefits to those who believe. Pause and ask yourself if you have been honouring the Lord Jesus’ request or if you have been preaching your own message. The only message that is guaranteed to bring results is the gospel. And even though the world is at a place where many are craving a different message, the only message that brings us into the fellowship of life is the gospel. Therefore, let us stop sharing anything other than the gospel and go and preach Jesus.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for the message that brings salvation. I receive boldness and proclaim it to my world. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: The gospel is the vehicle that brings salvation to all souls.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.