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[The Glory Unveiled]

The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. ( Genesis 13:14 )

Could it be that the presence of certain people in our lives discourage the clarity of our visions and focus? Abraham, the father of faith at a moment of having his nephew with him, could not see exactly what the scope of his calling was. But what if he didn’t let Lot go? What if he kept him around him? He probably wouldn’t have come to that point where God would say, “lift up your eyes… ” There are certain levels in our walk with God that we cannot attain unless we let go of somethings or people we are holding on to. Sometimes we are unable to see where next to go or what next to do because we have not been alone enough for God to speak to us. Many of us are always around people who are not always around God. We surround ourselves with people whose presence would not allow God’s presence. Sometimes it is not because such people are bad people, they may just be ordinary people but they do not form part of the fabric of God’s design or relation with us. In order to see the full scope of God’s calling for us, we must as a necessity, part ways with some people and things that derail or deny the vision of our purposes. The truth is that God didn’t call Abraham and Lot. He only called Abraham but Lot became the consequence of that calling. We must remember that God calls individuals and then He could reach people, nations and tongues. As a result when we lose people or things on our journey to purpose, it is not actually a loss but a loosening in our hearts to accommodate the ability to depend utterly on God.

Prayer_Bead: God of Abraham, designer and designator of all purposes and callings, thank you for the people and things you took and or are about to take in the bid to open me up to the full scope of my calling.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. ( 1Kings 18:38 )

Many of us are chasing after the fire of God. We desire that our spiritual lives flourish and kindle as with fire. There are even some of us who pray with the words of the prophet of old, that the fire of God would be stuck in our hearts and bones. The scripture for today’s meditation starts with “then” which supposes that something happened before what came after “then” became possible. Before the fire of God would come upon us and saturate us, we need to have somethings in place. In the verses 33-35, we would read that Elijah, the prophet watered the sacrifice and the altar; this is the requirement for the fire. For the fire to kindle or fall, there must first be water. This is almost ironic, that water invites fire. But that is the truth. Whenever adequate “water” is allowed, the fire can come down upon a person. In the gospels, John the Baptist said he baptized with water but there was one after him who would baptize with fire (see Matthew 3:11 or Luke 3:16). In the early chapters of the book of Acts (1:13-17;20), the disciples had been gathering together watering themselves in the word and in prayer. And then in chapter two verses one to three, the fire came down. The fire is always attracted to water—the word. The word would always precede the fire. If we truly want to have fire in our lives, we need to first drown in the water; the word of God. The word of God gives permission to the fire of God to come down. Fire is never in a place where the word of God is scarce. The revival fire we seek is as close to us as the abundance of the word of God in us. The closer we are to the word of God, the closer the fire of God is to us.

Prayer_Bead: Word of God, maker of all that is made, Consuming Fire, my God and my King, set me on fire for you.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. ( Genesis 26:25 )
Most successful people have this common trait; the ability to adequately prioritize their tasks. Of all the things Isaac could have done in a new land, he built an altar first. He put the building of the altar even ahead of his place of rest [tent]. When we give God the first and the best, we have the rest of everything to ourselves. Often we try to find a place to pitch our tents (houses/homes) before we look for a place to build God’s altar (secure our prayer life). But in the order of spiritual alignment, that is an outright misplaced priorities. God is the foundation of everything and all things. All things derive their source and meaning from God. We need to give God his place before we can have our place. When our priorities are ordered right, we would have places to dig our wells. Blessings seem to be permitted to spring forth like the waters of a well or a fountain only when the right order of things are carried out. We need to give God first place in our priorities. Having an altar secures a place for our spiritual existence. It gives access to heaven to interact with earth—us. As Believers we need to have our prayer altars come first in all things. Instead of desiring the blessings of the well [water] we should rather build our prayer altars and ensure that it kindles with fire. And then all the other things shall be given. Every other thing in our lives must derive their place from the position of our altars. Without first properly securing an altar, nothing is secured.

Prayer_Bead: Omnipotent Father, Omniscient Lord, thank you for the grace to prioritize right. May the fire of my altar kindle.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. ( Joel 2:13 )

It is a very common old testament practice to see people rend their clothes when they sin and have come to acknowledge it, and to seek forgiveness. Many a person have the natural inkling to act up when they are wrong. This is often true when one has been trying to deal with a sin or a challenge by him/herself. In order to feel remorse or regret we sometimes tend to transfer our displeasure to the things around us. In the day of Joel, the prophet, the practice of rending one’s clothes as a sign of remorse for one’s wrongs had become so commonly practiced that the relevance or the true intentions for practicing it was lost. It is common to want to transfer one’s pain and regrets to something or someone other than ourselves. But the love of God for man has made enough room for His mercies to be dispensed. God would relent from sending the calamities due a people when His heart is touched from the sincerity of our hearts in repentance. For this reason, God asks us to rend our hearts instead of our garments. Our hearts are the seat of our emotions and desires. So to rend our hearts is the truest expression of remorse and repentance. Being bitter and angry with ourselves because we have not been faithful to God or because we allowed a sin that entangles us easily and tearing our garments in the process is sometimes a sign of pride. It shows that we depended on ourselves to come clean before God instead of depending on God to come clean. True repentance comes from the heart, not outside of it. Let us return to the LORD our God in rendered hearts not garments.

Prayer_Bead: Gracious and Compassionate Father, the Lord who is slow to anger and abounding in love, thank you for the grace to come to you in true repentance.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. ( 1Kings 18:21 )

The making of a choice is almost always a difficult thing, more so when our alternatives are knocked down to two seemingly convincing opinions. In the day of Elijah, the prophet, the people were losing a clear picture of their God; his nature and power. They were torn between two opinions [the Deity of Almighty God and the deity of Baal]. They had been living with the people who worship idols for so long that it seem to them that Baal, the idol many people adored in their time was God. In our personal and private walks, we are usually brought to the foot of mountains that seem impossible to cross, we come to crossroads where we have to make a choice between two very confusing or convincing things. In situations like that, our human faculties sometimes become unhelpful. We need to depend in times like that on the hand of God to point us in the way to go. Sometimes God points at the right choice with signs or wonders or a miracle. Other times it could be a quiet impression on our hearts. Either way we would know because our spirit will bear witness with the Spirit of God. And so, Elijah decided to help the people of his land to make the good choice among the Deities they were exposed to. He put the prophets (and by extension their Deities) to a test. The one who came out successful in the face of everyone was God indeed. In the verses that followed, the true God emerged. Now, the fact is, we cannot continue to waver between two options for too long. We must let God guide us into the right choice among all the alternatives life will present to us, by calling upon God as Elijah did.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Almighty, the true God of all generations, thank you for the grace and opportunity to make the right choice by your leading. Help me not to harden my heart to your will.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.