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[The Glory Unveiled]

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ( John 6:63 )

Words carry with them realities that transcend the discerning of the flesh. The Holy Spirit gives life. And so we are alive not because our bodies are able to perform the seven or so basic life functions–movement, respiration, growth, excretion, nutrition among the rest. We are alive or begin to live when we become one with the Spirit that gives life. Life is given through intimate fellowship. Just as life is given to a new born baby through intercourse–the fusion of two people as one until there is a release of life force. In our participation of this life, we receive His life by becoming one with Him through His words. Anytime a word proceeds from God, it is as an arrow shot with potent force. God’s words to us is spirit. So that we benefit from it by discerning the spirit of it and not the letter. Often the letter may be bitter, impossible, ridiculous or just what we think it could be. The Spirit of God in us gives life to the word of God to us but anyone without the Spirit profits nothing from the word of God. The word will seem to count for nothing because the flesh becomes the reception. But we have opportunity to speak the word of God to any and every situation until we see the results promised. With the right protocols and rules of engagement, the spoken word of God gives life to any situation. Let us engage the spirit of God’s word.

Prayer_Bead: Spirit Divine, gracious and Everlasting Father, thank you for the life giving Spirit I have received. Let your Spirit profit me in all things. Give life to the dead situations of my life.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ( Romans 12:9 )

Love in these days and time, is a very rare commodity. Yet without love–or any other kind of love except the love of God–the very foundation of the earth fails to stand. Naturally, we are created to love and to be loved so that if we are prevented [whether by ourselves or circumstances] we begin to malfunction. Another problem with the kind of love that is nurtured in many of us today is one of insincerity. To this, many say they have been fooled, hurt or disappointed many times and would not wish to be entangled in any “sincere” love loop again. But dear reader, the truth remains undiluted and unchanged. The fact that you or anyone you know has had a bad experience of love is not a yardstick for your insincerity in love. We must remember that God judges motives. Love, the Bible says must be sincere, not leaving room for determining conditions. That explains that we are to love everyone, sincerely in truth of heart and motive. Where there is insincerity, evil can be done to the other persons in the love relationship. But where love is sincere, goodness is expressed even to the most unlovable person. Let us cleave to this kind of love.

Prayer_Bead: Lover of my soul, thank you for the grace to love anyone unconditionally even as Christ loves me. Help my love to be more sincere.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ( Romans 13:11 )

We have journeyed so far on this pilgrimage that many have become complacent and unconcerned about the road signs that are intended to guide our movements. But in today’s devotion, Christ by the Holy Spirit is giving us a wake up charge. What we are to do pertains to the the times of our present course. Gone are the days when slumber was tolerable and a few blemishes were ignored because somehow they did not immediately attract attacks. But we are about to take a new course and somehow God is giving us an opportunity in the abundance of His grace to make amends and to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead of us. It seem that current conspiracies and world events, has opportuned us to prepare ourselves in knowledge and prayer while we wait for the coming of the Lord like the five wise virgins in Matthew 25. Preparation had always preceeded every great awakening. We cannot walk sluggishly into a new territory. What is the sign that our salvation is nearer than before? It is the beginning of persecutions. Because somehow in the wisdom of God, He will draw us unto Himself through persecutions. But unless we are prepared now to be able to stand the persecutions of tomorrow, we cannot endure what will come, and then there will be a falling away of many who do not have enough oil in their lantern (spirit) as the five foolish virgins. We need to make time, consciously, to prepare for the next phase of our journey. We need to be fully awake to the things of God and walk circumspectly. Let us wake up and trim our lamps! (Matthew 25:7)

Prayer_Bead: Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, thank you for this wake up call. Quicken my prayer and Bible study life. Give me understanding of the times that I may number my days.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” ( John 4:10 )

O what great opportunities we miss because we do not know how to discern the gift—plan, will, intention, desire—of God. The Samaritan in the text of Scripture above failed to discern Christ and that almost led to her missing the opportunity of Salvation (see the earlier verses). Having a relationship with God through Christ and a fair understanding of the plan of God for us is the basic ingredient for receiving anything from God. It is not enough to know a few promises in the Bible and yet not have a working relationship with Christ. It is just like knowing [reading] about the assets of a wealthy man but not knowing him/her in person. The fact that you know about their assets does not guarantee that they would give you anything when you ask them. But knowing the person very intimately and not knowing what they have too will discourage or blind you from asking them. So both elements of knowing the person and what they can offer stand tall in the practicality of today’s scripture. We need a relationship with God and we need to know what He has made available for us in Christ. If we know these two, all things will be ours (1 Corinthians 3:21).

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, thank you for the grace to know you and to understand your promises, let your living water well up in me.

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[The Glory Unveiled]

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ( 2Peter 1:4 )

The things that have been given to us that pertain to life and godliness by God’s divine power were given through his great and precious promises. So that in order for us to walk in good health or financial freedom for example, we need to harness the power of His promises pertaining such matters. It is as if God has hidden all that we need and will ever need in His promises, so that without His promises [which are yes and amen] we cannot enjoy such privileges even though we may be born again. In addition to such privileges of a prosperous life, we also get to participate in God’s nature. Now, the nature of God is like a realm, a reality that is attainable. And yes, even though attainable, we attain that reality only on God’s terms and conditions [as in the case of Adam and Eve] . And then when we appropriate His great promises and are given access to His divine nature, we can escape the corruption of this world. This is as a result of the fact that the nature of God is void of corruption. But the mystery is this, all the promises of God that guarantee these blessings and access into the divine nature are hidden in Christ. So that outside Christ, we come into that crisis of not knowing what the divine nature entails. Let us learn Christ that we may come into the rest of God, even His divine nature.

Prayer_Bead: Father of all creation and giver of life. Thank you for calling me into fellowship with you through Christ Jesus to participate in your divine nature.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.