Over and Above

[The Glory Unveiled]

“Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]–“ [ Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ AMPC‬‬ ]

Love is the attribute that underscores every gesture of God towards humanity. In the verses before our focal text, the apostle Paul had prayed for his readers that they may be grounded and established in love; to understand the vastness of the love of Christ. So that like them, when we understand the depth and height of God’s love, we will never doubt God’s mighty power to work in us to accomplish all and more than our greatest requests, our most unbelievable dreams, and even exceed our wildest imaginations. He will outdo whatever records there are. He will do, over and above what is considered normal. All this is linked to the power of God’s love at work in us. The working power of God’s love compels Him to do superabundantly, far beyond whatever distance our expectations could reach. But why is all this important for us to know. It is importance for our comfort and faith in the Lord. If we understand the love of God—it’s depth and weight—we will not be moved by happenings around us nor the things that seems to question the power of our God. This was why Paul prayed for the Ephesians to come to the knowledge of the love of Christ. Love covers multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8) sometimes by ignoring all allegations and accusations. The love of God carries in its multifaceted nature, mercy and grace. A good understanding of this love dismisses doubt and anxiety. Leaning on the love of God eliminates every seed of fear and doubt and provides blessed assurance and hope, with proactive faith in God’s faithfulness. Be rest assured, by the consequences of God’s mighty power in us, He is doing more than we hoped for, to the glory of His name.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, thank you for your unconditional love. Thank you for its power at work in me, doing exceedingly more than I prayed for, to the glory of your name.

Wisdom_Quote: Love is God’s canvas for displaying His glorious attributes.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

Be a proactive believer

[The Glory Unveiled]

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” [ Esther 4:14 NIV ]

The problem with the world is not that good people do not exist but that good people are silent while evil is loud. This problem has crept into the Christiandom as well. There are many passive believers who would rather sit and watch than take actions that will bring change. Sometimes because they don’t want to appear worldly or harsh. Other times in our societies, things go wrong because the many good people in the communities are passive about the evil happening around them while the few crooks in society are very active in making decisions. And sometimes these good people are silent because they feel that the wrong in society does not affect them in anyway. They feel they are untouchable by the scorching flames of these societal problems they’re overlooking. The truth is that, these people were brought into their place of “comfort” for the sake of the people they are supposed to help. In the case of Esther, she came into royalty to help save the entire Jewish nation. She didn’t become Queen just because of her own comfort and pleasure. She was there for the sake of others. Her private victory and comfort was intended for the public deliverance of her tribe. Some of us are brought into the place of comfort so that we can help others out of discomfort. But many times, when some people come into their place of comfort, they become indifferent to the needs and plights of their society. If by the grace of God, we come into a place of power, let us serve the purpose of our positions and help our communities and reflect the goodness of God in us.

Prayer_Bead: Almighty God, thank you for bringing me into my place of rest. Help me to see the needs around me and how I can help meet them.

Wisdom_Quote: Societies go in the direction of the most actively dominant voices.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

Anchored to hope

[The Glory Unveiled]

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. [ Romans 15:4 KJV ]

Hope is our eyes into the future and the fuel that keeps us going towards that future. Hope also begets patience that activates faith. It is generated through the things we see, the things we behold in the scriptures. Hence hope paints the picture that faith should print (actualize.) This is why without hope, we are miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). The word of God creates pictures of what we should hope for. These pictures create patience in us to wait until what we see (hope) comes to pass. “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” (Romans 8:24). We hope for things we do not yet see—things we do not yet have. We continue to hope because we desire to have what we see in the distance. But when we come to the place where we do not have any picture, ahead of us to draw us, we begin to lose ourselves to just anything around us. Hope keeps us going in the direction of God. When Peter was asked by Jesus to come to Him on the lake, he walked steadily because of the hope of getting to Jesus. But immediately his hope (attention) drifted to the wind, he began to drown (Matthew 14:29-30). Our faith and walk with God begins to drown when we have no hope. Hope is very crucial in keeping our faith warm and active. Hope is the bait that draws us into the depths of God; into a present continuous walk with God. Without anything to hope for, we will not have the right attitude of mind to walk with God. As a result, what the enemy does is to change our hope to things that are not in the direction of God. This is why we need a consistent knowledge of things that were written afore time for our learning, which is the word of God. We need to study the word of God diligently to be able to capture the right picture of hope. Be consistent at looking into the word of God.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, thank you for your word that is available to create the right picture of my future. Help me to be diligent student of it.

Wisdom_Quote: The word of God paints the only true picture of our future.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

What did God say?

[The Glory Unveiled]

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ” [ Genesis 3:1 NIV ]

The most dangerous thing that could happen to a believer is being ignorant of the word of God. The word of God creates the believer’s world. So ignorance of the word means a destruction of their world. No wonder the world of Adam and Eve was destroyed when they [Eve] could not defend her knowledge of the word. She misquoted God’s very word. And so, the new word, her own gospel, could not hold her world together. And they lost paradise in the process. The believer has only one business, being in the word of God, and only one constitution, the word of God. The word of God is the blueprint for the life we ought to live. We have been adopted into the family of God. And the only way we could know the family business is through the scriptures. The Lord Jesus, the first of many brethren is our pattern for imitation. God wants to reproduce heaven on earth through Jesus Christ—His word, and our transformation through the word is His means of colonization. The word of God is essential for our survival here on earth and here after. When the devil tempted Jesus, He went for one thing, the word. The temptation was an attack on his world, and so Jesus went straight for the word, our defense system. The Word of God as the way, truth and life was His only way out. Anytime, you hear, or feel “did God really say, mean, imply so and so……” your world is under an attack. Psalms 119:9, shows us the only way to stay free from the impurities of the world and the enemy; by staying in the word of God. Is your word life under threat? Get a new dose of the word. The word is the solution for our private world and the public world. So, let us study to show ourselves approved unto God.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Father, thank you for the assurance of your word. Help me to ever dwell in your word so that my world will not crush. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: The word of God is the believer’s world.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

Where are you investing?

[The Glory Unveiled]

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. [ 1 Timothy 4:8 NIV ]

Physical training is good. But some people invest everything into physical training as if it would save them from all their troubles. There are those who have made physical fitness the sole purpose of their livelihood. They want to be in shape either for themselves or [mostly] others. Now we will be quick to admit that physical exercise is not a bad thing. It has its many benefits too. But the point is that, godliness [righteousness] has value for all things. So that we are given promises of both the present life and the life to come. Physical training can only meet the needs of our present life but not the needs of the life after this earthly one. If two different banks promise profit on your investment with them but one says they will pay you twice as much as the first bank is offering, with every other conditions the same. You will undoubtedly invest with the bank that promise twice the amount on investment. Now, spiritual exercise is promising us more than twice. Spiritual exercise has to do with commitment to and the practice of righteousness. It is the practice of imitating God, becoming His student and looking steadily into His word until we are changed into His image and our lives shining with the brilliance of God’s glory. And if spiritual exercise profits unto all things would we rather not give more of our attention and time to that? In our commitment to exercising spiritually, we become workmen who have no fear nor shame, rightly dividing the word of truth. May we passionately pursue spiritual training but not ignoring the physical.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for showing us the benefits of spiritual exercise and why we need to invest more there. Help us to be committed to this discipline.

Wisdom_Quote: The purpose of every investment is profit.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.