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1. In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”2. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD. ( 2Kings 20:1-2 )

Hezekiah’s act in the second verse does not only show his faith but confidence in his God. Anyone would have condemned themselves once a major prophet like Isaiah came to tell them they were going to die but not Hezekiah. As if he didn’t hear the part where the prophet said “…you will not recover.” That was a statement of fact. But faith overrides facts and realities. This also explains that Hezekiah had a personal relationship with God. He didn’t follow Isaiah to pray for him to change the mind of God nor did he go to a different prophet to pray and change his fate. He turned to the wall and prayed to God himself; and the verses that follow tell that he actually had additional 15 years added to his life as a result. The ticket to our freedom and deliverance lies in our relationship with Him who can guarantee it.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.( Habakkuk 3:17-18 )

To many people including Believers, their joy is dependent on the events surrounding them. Many people feel and express joy only when something happens around them that appeals to their sense of joy. But this scripture says that though all the bad things that could affect the livelihood of the speaker may happen, he will still be joyous. This exposes what true joy is: it is not dependent on what is happening around us. No external power holds an exclusive rights to our joy. Another statement worth noting is “yet I will rejoice….”. This gives a notion of choice. As to many things, our joy or happiness is a choice we have to make. Nobody can force us to be happy when we don’t want to. That choice is left solely for us to make. In a time like this, the need to make that choice on a daily basis is very important. Choose happiness, choose joy.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

The LORD Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. ( Isaiah 14:24 )

The future of every human being is actually the past of God; God had been in that future long ago. Whatever God has purposed for us is certain and sure but getting to that purpose is dependent on us. We need to make the right decisions and choices in order to align with our predestined destiny. God doesn’t prepare blessings for us, He always prepare us for the blessings. Our purpose or destinations are always prepared and equipped to bless us but it takes a prepared version of us to reach that destination. So that all the good in the land of Canaan didn’t enter the land after the Israelites got in, the good had always been there. But it took a certain mental attitude to reach the good in the land. It is the same with our personal goals and dreams. Be intentional with regards to your purpose and dreams because God has finished your end from the beginning. Our inability to reach our destination is not a defect in God’s grace or program but disobedience on our path to God’s principles and will. Your future awaits you.

#GNews: Uncovering the glory of God.

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. ( Genesis 3:24 )

This is one of the greatest expressions of love man ever had. After man sinned by disobeying God, they became corrupt but they were not having eternal life yet, thanks to God. Imagine, if God had allowed them to the tree of life after they corrupted themselves, we would eternally be condemned like the devil without the possibility of redemption. We would have had to live forever in that condemned state. But because God so loved us regardless, He prevented us from living forever in a state of hopeless helplessness. God’s love prevented us from worsening our situation. A blessing given too soon may seem like a curse. A knife given to a baby is not a blessing but the same knife given to an adult is a blessing that can help peel, cut and slice things. God’s love may seem like hatred or injustice only when we don’t see the big picture or when we want something too soon but denied. Ultimately, God’s love is unconditional and we need to be reminded of that always.

#GNews: Uncovering the glory of God.

But those who wait for the LORD, Will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings like eagles; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired. ( Isaiah 40:31 )

When we choose God, we discover that He chose us first and our decision is an opportunity to actually realize and live out who we truly are. When we invest our hopes and expectations in God, He makes tremendous power available to us to soar like the Eagle to places other birds [people] dare not tread. He causes ordinary acts to yield extraordinary results. We may for instance do what everyone else does but our result will be astonishing to onlookers. Our lifestyle becomes forward and upward at all times even in the middle of a crisis. *When we rely solely on God as if  we do not have a life without Him because that is actually true, we create a niche for ourselves, where we dominate and reveal the nature of God’s glory*. When the economy around us says there’s a casting down, we say there’s a lifting up. And whatever goes on around us doesn’t affect us. We tend to be living in a different zone; the God zone. Where we have the confidence of God—A friend of mine calls it “Godfidence”—that all things are possible.

#GNews: Uncovering the glory of God.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. ( 2 Chronicles 16:9a )

The Lord looks through the whole earth at all times because He is Omniscient and Omnipresent. He is at all places at all times. But even though that is true, the scripture says He  shows Himself strong (favours, graces, helps, attends to, support, deliver, manifest His glory) only to those who are committed to Him. It is like the relationship between God and the Israelites, and God and Moses. The Israelites were not devoted to God at heart, they were only in for the miracles and blessings without real commitments. But Moses was in a real committed relationship with God so that God could do the things Moses desired but not what the Israelites grumbled for. God was God over both Moses and the Israelites but the outcome of their relationships were different because of commitment and loyalty. God is not partial but He is principled and faithful to His words. If we want to experience real fellowship with God, our hearts must be in tune to the ways of God. We must consciously let out our hearts to God.

#GNews: Uncovering the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ( 2 Corinthians 4:18 )

Rewards and remunerations are very effective in motivating anyone to commit to a course of action. The verse before this verse (verse 17) says our afflictions in the flesh for Christ is yielding eternal rewards for us. And this verse (verse 18) begins thus, “so we fix….” emphasising a course of action–fixing our eyes on unseen realities–because of the motivation of eternal reward stipulated in verse 17. And for that, we can commit to fixing our eyes on the spiritual realities rather than the physical impermanent riches, that will be eventually destroyed. All living things move in the direction of their sight. Nobody walks backwards because humans do not have eyes in their occipita. But more revealing is the fact that, the apostles fixed their eyes on what is unseen. How could a physical eye be focused on an unseen object. “Eyes” refers to the concentration of their ambition, zeal and passion for the promises of God. Where is your passion, where are your eyes fixed?

Prayer_Bead: Father of Lights, in whom there is no shadow of turning, keep my gaze on your unseen riches and rewards. Let the things of this world grow strange to my heart.

GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. ( Galatians 5:6 )

The Bible could actually be summarised into the two words, love and faith. The pages of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation are painted with the love of God and His hand of fellowship to us experiential by faith. God extends love to us, we see and receive it by faith after which we become distributors of that love. So for our faith to be known by others, it must be expressed through love. Hence the apostle Paul says in conclusion, what matters is faith expressed through love. In effect, without faith we cannot adequately express our love to God and without God’s love, we cannot receive faith in the first place because God is Love. Love and faith are like two strands of fiber that must be carefully woven together to form a beautiful fabric. One strand is not enough. Faith comes to us when we hear the Goodnews and the love of God is shared abroad in our hearts. That is what matters, not what we do to our flesh according to the Laws of Moses. Let faith and love be our new normal!

#GNews: Uncovering the glory of God.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. ( Romans 5:19 )

If it is easy for us to accept and believe that the sin of Adam affects us even though we didn’t personally make the choice, shouldn’t it be easier to accept the finished work of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf? If a sin we did not directly commit was credited to us why can’t a righteousness we do not have be credited to us? It is true that by ourselves we are hopelessly helpless with regards to right standing with God because we do not have in ourselves–sinful flesh–the ability to be righteous. All of us who believe in the work of Christ are made righteous. It is a status that is attained only through the cross of Christ. We are saved by faith in Christ; faith which comes from hearing the Goodnews of the Kingdom. There is no way around this provision for humanity to be redeemed back to the Father. Faith in Christ and His finished works is the only entry requirement that must be met to enjoy the life we once had in God before sin.

#GNews: Uncovering the glory of God.

[ The Glory Unveiled]

And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint; ( Luke 18 :1)

Jesus told His disciples a parable to illustrate the need for persistent prayer. The central message of the parable–found in verses 2 to 5 of the same chapter–is that we ought to pray always. Without consistent prayer, there is no relationship between heaven and earth; without prayer, there is no legal obligation from Heaven to operate in the earth realm. The more you’re in communication with anyone, the shorter the distance between you. Communication links two people and two realities or environments. Likewise, in continuous prayer, there is the gradual establishment of a relationship. Jesus was consistently in communication with heaven so much that Heaven was drawn down into His vicinity; He literally carried heaven around. He drag the realities of Heaven into the earth realm as a result of his prayer life. Consistence with God in prayer is the mark of true relationship with God. We ought to pray and not be tired.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, energize my innerman for a consistent prayer life. Empower me to resist the yearnings of my flesh that hinder my prayers.