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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.