GNews

[The Glory Unveiled]

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. [ Matthew 26:41 KJV ]

Watching [being alert] goes hand in hand with praying. Either is insufficient to deal with temptations that aim at our humanity. Whenever temptation or tests come our way, we should not depend only on either prayer alone or watching alone. Dwelling on just either of these for help in times of temptation will only end in surprising disappointment. There are very prayerful believers who fall every time into the arms of temptations, sometimes immediately after prayers. Did you realize that Jesus was tempted immediately after His 40 days of fasting and prayers. His prayers didn’t stop the temptation, but what gave Him victory was both prayers and his ability to watch (discern). Watching is a spiritual skill of looking through the eyes of Scripture to judge or interpret our world and experiences. Watching without praying means that we can recognize/identify the temptation but still fall in it as the capacity to escape it is unavailable. Yet praying without watching is just like being blindfolded but having a very sharp machete. No matter how skillfully you brandish it, you will mostly miss the target. This is why they go together and Jesus being aware of this instructed the disciples who were with Him to watch and pray. This recipe is particularly because of the weaknesses of our humanity. Jesus said that the spirits of the disciples were willing but their flesh were weak. Hence, watching and praying helps our spirit to superimpose the flesh. And with temptations all around us, sensitivity through the word of God and prayer is a necessity.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, thank you for showing me the way out of temptation. Help me to always watch and pray.

Wisdom_Quote: Praying and watching go hand in hand for the way of escape to manifest.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, [ John 5:39 NIV ]

There is a deception in our world that makes people think that because they have access to the Bible, they can get whatever they want out of it. And because of that, everyone seem to have their own opinions of what the Bible says based on what they may be looking for. The solution however, is not in the text but in whom the text speaks about. The scriptures are like a signpost that point to someone, Jesus. And so, if we want to have what the Scriptures promise but don’t want to see Jesus or meet Him, then we would be running a lost race. No matter the seriousness or diligence we involve in our search, it would yield no results. This is why people of other faith, can take the Bible and read it, analyze it, and yet, not see Jesus, who the scriptures point to. They read and argue out the scriptures but cannot see the only person in the text. Some of these people are convinced that they will find eternal life because they know a lot. But truth is, salvation is not in what you know but who you know; namely Christ Jesus. May we not be caught in the habit of always analyzing the scriptures but not following it’s directions thinking that eternal life comes from the texts themselves, when we should be pursuing a relationship with the person about whom the Scriptures testify—Jesus. If we can see the testimony of the scriptures and believe them, salvation will be guaranteed. The texts by themselves kill but the Spirit of the text, the testimony of it, gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). So, instead of trying to impress our flesh by analyzing the texts to prove anything apart from the deity of Christ, we should rather humble ourselves to come to Jesus for life.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Jesus, thank you for the scriptures that point to you. Help me by your Spirit to see you alone every time I study the scriptures.

Wisdom_Quote: Scripture is the signpost that points us to Jesus.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? [ Luke 2:49 KJV ]

Almost everyone is busy with something these days. Many of us have become so busy about every other thing but the important things. Like Martha, who was busy with the unessentials when Jesus visited them. Many of us have become used to being so preoccupied with activities and we confuse being busy with being productive. In our anchor text, the Lord Jesus was taken to Jerusalem for the Passover festival at age twelve. At this event, Mary and Joseph lost him because they assumed he was somewhere among their entourage. They were busy with the festival while their Son was busy about the real business of the day; the father’s business. At that ceremony, it would seem that those who were busy with the Passover celebration were the most hardworking or most busy. But their busyness was towards the wrong thing for that season. Jesus was busy about the need on the Father’s heart in that season. And so, He was almost surprised when they were looking for Him. The question now is, what are you busy about? The world has preoccupied us with so many nothings. Jesus asks a question here expecting an answer? It’s a question about purpose recognition. We need to discern our purpose and the seasons allotted to its execution. And if we are able to do that, our busyness will be meaningful and productive in the face of God, even if the world does not see its relevance. Because our aim is to please our commanding Officer, the Lord Jesus Christ and not the world. Let’s get busy about the Father’s business.

Prayer_Bead: Dear Lord, thank you for your precious word. Give me the urgency of purpose and help me to be busy about your business alone.

Wisdom_Quote: Real busyness is being busy about the Father’s business.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. [ Genesis 3:6 NIV ]

When our feelings and desires take the lead from God’s word, sin begins. Our feelings and desires are not authorities over us, God’s word is. But when we allow our feelings to dictate what is right, then sin becomes our culture. When Moses left the Israelites in the wilderness for a brief moment to go and seek the face of God, they could not wait patiently for the word of God. And so, they gave room to their feelings and emotions to become authority. And then sin began to reign in their camp. They made idols for themselves and did every other thing God was not in support of. If Eve had trusted God’s word as the only authority in her life, she would not have invited sin and death into the human race. Reading our anchor text, we will notice that after Eve saw (recognized) that the fruit was pleasing to the eyes, she acted impulsively—she took some and ate. Whereas she should have gone back to the word of God as the basis and reference point of her existence and livelihood. The Israelites in the wilderness did same. They didn’t return to the manual, the reference point, which was God’s word for them. Instead, they acted impulsively on what they felt and desired. Our generation and the generations before us, were trapped and are still being trapped into this old algorithm of the flesh. But we can break the algorithm with the word of God. Whenever we see what God’s word says is not there, it’s a warning and a sign that our veil is broken; our spiritual lens is destroyed and we must return quickly to the word of Life. Desires and feelings are not bad in themselves as they were put in us by God. But when they draw us away from the word of God then they are being manipulated by the devil to mislead us, and we must quickly go for the word.

Prayer_Bead: Our eternal true Love, thank you for showing us that we should not allow our feelings to have authority over us when God’s word should rather be Lord. Help us to submit to your word everyday.

Wisdom_Quote: Sin begins where feelings and emotions become authority.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.