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The Caretaker

[The Glory Unveiled]

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: [ Genesis 12:2 KJV ]

When we consider God’s choice of words in the statement that make for our scripture text for today’s meditation, we will discover something peculiar about them. God was calling Abraham, then Abram, into a relationship with Himself. But to make that relationship meaningful, God calls him out of his old place into an adventure of faith. He calls him out on a journey that will give Abram the practical lessons that he needed to get to know God better. And like a sponsored journey, God takes all the responsibilities for Abram and his wellbeing. God did not for once leave the weight of the responsibility on Abram’s shoulders. As we see God, in the texts above saying, “I will,” “I will.” God shouldered the responsibility for Abram’s wellbeing and comfort as if to assure him of His capability. In 2 Peter 1:3, scripture says that, God’s divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” And so, God had always provided a everything we needed for life and godliness. But these provisions are activated in our experience only through an adequate knowledge of God. And so, even though God said He will do everything for Abram and bless him. It would actually take Abram’s knowledge of God to actually enjoy these things promised. And so, God decided to take Abram on a journey to get to know Him. The journey into the land that God promised He will show Abram was a journey of discovering God. Abram was taken on this journey to know God and to trust Him. And then, in his discovery and knowledge of God, Abram will automatically enjoy the promises of God. Every promise of God to us is only waiting for our knowledge of God to manifest. And so, contrary to us waiting for the blessings to come to pass, the blessings are waiting for us to get to know God to the degree that they will fall to us. And so, let’s make getting an adequate knowledge of God our priority.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord and my true Love, thank you for the promises of your blessings. Help me to ascend to the height of knowledge that is commensurate with the promise fulfillment. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: The promises of God and His blessings are waiting for our knowledge upgrade of God to come to pass.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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God’s plan; the invariable

[The Glory Unveiled]

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. [ Proverbs 19:21 ESV ]

The human mind is a beautiful wonder. It is always at post, working. Both the renewed mind and the unrenewed minds are constantly making plans and drawing strategies. And because we have dreams and aspirations, we sometimes get lost in this spiral motion of planning and planning. Sometimes we plan even without the right resources and strategies. We just feel safe having a plan even if the plan has no chance of success. There seems to be some form of assurance and peace in having a plan. It is perhaps this peace and comfort we pursue in our ceaseless plans. But then, suddenly, the word of God drops this weight on us that unsettles everything we know about plans. We plan because we want to implement a certain vision. But planning is not nearly as important as executing the plan and thus making it come to pass or “stand” as the Bible puts it. Yet, we discover that the power to make our plans stand does not lie with us but with God. It means that we can plan for all we want but our plans are not fulfilled because we planned them. Plans always succeed because of God. And another thing about our constraints is that, it is not always what we want that God may also want. And in situations like that God’s desire will always have the upper hand. God’s purpose will always stand because in the end His purpose brings us the peace that eludes us. The purpose of God will stand in every situation against the plan of man because only He sees the end from the beginning. Therefore, the smartest move to have our plans always come to pass is to copy from God’s itinerary. When we peep into the purpose of God for us concerning something and plan accordingly, we will always have our plans standing tall in fulfillment. So, it is not for us to start planning but rather to start finding out what the purpose of God is. And then align our plans with His purpose for that thing or in that area. So, pause. Stop planning, find out what God’s purpose is first, and then you can start planning.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for your invariable purpose that always stands. Help me to subject my plans to your purpose for my life and everything else. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: A peep into God’s purpose furnishes our plans to stand.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The Journey into Destiny

[The Glory Unveiled]

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: [ Genesis 12:1 KJV ]

The journey into the believer’s destiny begins from intimacy with God. Through intimacy, the believer is equipped with every bit of information needed to discover and complete their destiny. The destiny of a person is like a puzzle. And usually, God releases each piece of the puzzle at a time and only through intimacy with Him. He does not just throw the clues at us from a distance. No, He whispers them to us in the secret place of our fellowship with Him. Reading our anchor text, we will notice that God didn’t give Abraham [then Abram] the whole map of His destiny. God needed Abram to depend on Him in every step of his journeying to the place of destiny. And so, God only gave him a rough estimate of what is expected of him but not the details. He didn’t even mention the name of the land in this text. But He did say, “I will show you.” And so, Abram will have no option than to go back to God if he wanted to get to this land that promises better than where he had been. The first statement gives us a blur peek into what had been happening. We can deduce that Abram did not go at the word of God from the beginning. The statement, “the Lord had said unto Abram” means this was not the first time that Abram was told to move from his current location to the new land. But for whatever reasons, he didn’t move immediately until this chapter of the book. And so, the verse 4, begins thus, “so, Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him.” The indicators that point to our destinies are coded in God, revealed only at the place of intimate fellowship with Him. Every other method to arrive at destiny without God is a grave risk. While the easiest way to reach destiny is by the word of God. Imagine if Abram had set off immediately without hesitating or “considering other possibilities” of reaching the same goal. He would have saved some time. The land of destiny is a place only God can show us. Let’s stay close to God and it will become as clear as day where God is sending us to.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah Almighty, God who knows the end from the beginning, thank you for showing me the template of my destiny as I remain in intimate fellowship with You.

Wisdom_Quote: The land of destiny is a place only God can show the believer.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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With all of your heart

[The Glory Unveiled]

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. [ Jeremiah 29:13 NIV ]

God is always unambiguously clear whenever He communicates His thoughts and words with humans. Many times, it is in our reporting the word of God that we dilute its truth and meaning, imposing our own understanding and views on it. But if we can take God’s word as He spoke them, we will experience tremendous growth and change. It is not impossible to find God when we seek Him. Even though some people make it sound and appear very complicated, God shows us the formula for finding Him. The secret sauce is hidden in a simple phrase imbedded in the formula. The phrase is “with all your heart.” God is not brought out of hiding by enticing Him with part of our hearts, a little of our hearts or with most of our hearts. God is only brought out of hiding when we seek him with everything we’ve got—all of our hearts. You cannot reserve some heart fuel for anything else. Everything must be used up in our search of Him. We will find Him when we search with all of our hearts—ALL of our hearts. This truth cannot be overemphasized. God is drawn to the light of our full heart exposure. The God we seek does not do business with half measure. It’s either you’re all in or not. And so, God can be found but how we seek Him will either bring Him out or keep Him hiding from us. Those who seek God and do not find Him only went on the search with part of their hearts. Maybe the other part is what is holding them from their eureka moment. And if they can “let their guard down” and humble themselves to give all their hearts to the search, they will be amazed at their finding. May we not waste time in our search by holding back part of our hearts in the search.

Prayer_Bead: Lover of my soul, thank you for revealing yourself when I search for you with all of my heart. I surrender every quarter of my heart to you. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: All of our hearts is the only appeal that brings God out of hiding.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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The love gift of God

[The Glory Unveiled]

“For by grace you have been saved by faith. Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ!” [ Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ ]

Salvation cannot happen without God’s grace. No man can meet the just requirement for their salvation except God intervened. So, the grace of God created a system in which through faith, we could access salvation. “Through faith,” it means that salvation wouldn’t be the reward of good work or human efforts. But rather by something outside of man’s realm. “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people” (Titus 2:11). And because it is God’s grace, we cannot boast or say, we are saved because of something we have done to earn it (Ephesians 2:9). The law was not intended to bring us into the rest of God, no, it was intended to expose the fullness of sin in us. But then, even before the law was introduced, God made provisions for our salvation in Christ through a method called grace. “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2Timothy 1:9-10). Grace was available before the law, but it was not revealed until Christ came on the scene. But then, even at the coming of Jesus, it had to take the love gift [good news] from God to bring us to Christ to receive the gift. And so, anyone who stays away from Christ cannot have the gift of God. No matter how religious or pious they are. This is the reality about the nature of the salvation that comes from God, of which as many as received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour are partakers.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Almighty, Saviour, Redeemer, thank you for the gift of salvation brought to me through Jesus. Thank you for the call to a holy life.

Wisdom_Quote: Grace is the method of salvation, faith is the process.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Growing up in Salvation

[The Glory Unveiled]

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. [ 1 Peter 2:2-3 NIV ]

The believer’s journey of faith is in stages and levels. Each stage or level has its unique requirements and demands. Without the right spiritual skill sets, one can remain at a particular level for a long time, which means they are not growing. Whenever one grows in their salvation however, they are able to taste and see the goodness of God. The goodness of God is any experiential perception of God. But we are only able to capture these perceptions on a certain spiritual diet, the pure spiritual milk. But then when we have tasted that the Lord is good, we need to set boundaries/guards that will keep us from drifting again into darkness (Hebrews 6:4-6). We need to raise pillars and landmarks from God’s word that point us in the right direction to go. To taste that the Lord is good, we need a certain level of spiritual guidance and growth. And so, anyone who tastes the goodness of God has had that awakening to the realm of God and must continue to grow in knowledge to better appropriate their realities. But the prescribed food and method for growth to that capacity of discerning and experiencing the goodness of God is the pure spiritual milk. Note, not just any spiritual milk but the “pure” one. Purity is a key that fast tracks the believer’s growth in God. Without purity the believer’s growth will be an upward and downward chart. Purity makes the growth process smooth, directional and precisely aligned to pattern. After we have tasted that the Lord is good is not a time to relax and retire into lukewarmness. Tasting the goodness of God is a wake up call to action and duty. And so, let’s make it a habit [crave] to dwell in the word of God and to have our souls nourished from its pure milk.

Prayer_Bead: Eternal Teacher, Author and Finisher of my faith, thank you for your pure word available to make me grow in you. Give me a strong insistent craving for your word daily. In Jesus name.

Wisdom_Quote: After tasting that God is good, set boundaries for your soul as you’ll be open to the deceptions and temptations of Satan.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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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.

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With God

[The Glory Unveiled]

For with God nothing shall be impossible. [ Luke 1:37 KJV ]

The difference between possibility and impossibility is actually a matter of what or who is with you in the process. All the impossibilities we see around us are as a result of who or what is involved. Sometimes, we venture into things with the wrong people on our team; wrong partnerships or collaborations. Other times, impossibility is just a result of the wrong attitude or knowledge. Whatever it is, impossibility or possibility happens with something or someone. In our text for meditation, the Angel Gabriel came to deliver a message to Mary about her being chosen to be the vessel through whom the Messiah would be born. Mary felt that the circumstances surrounding her nullified the possibility of that news. But then, the Angel assured her that it will happen exactly as she was told because nothing was impossible with God. This means impossibility is just another way of saying God is not involved with it. If God is involved in something and even nature and science conspire against it, it will still happen. And so, our call to action is this; invite God into your boat. Every situation of our lives that appear impossible to happen remains impossible because perhaps God is not really involved yet. Whatever we do, let’s do it with God, every step of the way. Now, let’s consider our lives for a moment. Does it look like nothing is possible in it? If yes, then we need to extend and invitation to the only One with whom nothing is impossible. And then, even if impossibility itself says no, God will turn it around for a “yes.”

Prayer_Bead: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for changing impossible situations for your glory. Let the impossible become possible in my life.

Wisdom_Quote: Possibility or impossibility is a matter of who is with you.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Proven love

[The Glory Unveiled]

“But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!” [ Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ ]

It is very easy to love in words than in deeds. Unfortunately, our modern society has made loving people in words even easier as social media presents more possibilities of saying or portraying things we don’t mean and don’t relate with. Hence, there are so many illusions and deceitfulness all around. The prove of love, we will find, is not in the text of our words but in the texture of our deeds. The measuring rod of a person’s love is their deeds in defense of that love. So, love has to be proven to be true. Unfortunately, some youth take the prove of love to be a license for immorality. While the real prove of love is death. So, if anyone claims to love us, they must be willing to die for us. To interpret it mildly, their love for us should make them die to their selfish desires and needs, they should even sacrifice (die) their time, commitment and energy to say the least. Our perfect picture example of love, Jesus, proved His love by dying in our place. But His style adds some elegant icing to the cake—he died for us while we were still lost and ungodly. Imagine the audacity of His love. If we were good or trying to be good, it could have made a little sense that He was motivated by the hope of our goodness. But there was nothing in us worth dying for, yet He died for us anyway. You know, God had been saying He loved us. But then He could not just say it and end it there. And so, in order to prove the passion with which He loves us, He demonstrated it through His Son; His only sinless, precious Son for a bunch of sinners. This is a serious prove of love of a very rare love. We can therefore be assured and rest in God.


Prayer_Bead: Great Elohim, Perfect Lover of my soul. Thank you for demonstrating your love for me through the death of your Son. I appreciate your love for me. Thank you.

Wisdom_Quote: Love is seen through deeds.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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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.