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SECLUDED UNTO GOD

[The Glory Unveiled]

1 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.2 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. ( Jonah 2:1-2 )

Like Jonah, there are times God insulates us from the world and separates us unto Himself. God does this to catch our full attention in order to communicate a specific purpose to us. For instance, Moses’ burning bush experience was intended to catch his attention just as apostle Paul’s Damascus encounter gave God a firm grip on him. When Jonah was instructed to carry out an assignment, he thought he could choose to do whatever he wanted. There are times God gives us some free rides but unfortunately Jonah didn’t have any in that moment because all humans are actually like clay in the hands of the Potter (God) and He does with us what He please. Three days of staying in the belly of the great fish, Jonah was rewired in his understanding; Moses became a deliverer and a judge right on the mountain where he encountered God. Whenever men leave the presence of God if they were truly in the presence of God, they became susceptible to the call of God because the will and purpose of God is always clear in the presence of God. Let us walk yieldingly in the call of God for our lives.

Prayer_Bead: My Father in Heaven, give me a listening ear and an obedient heart. Teach me to walk in Your calling for me.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Love: Priceless and Intentional

[The Glory Unveiled]

Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. ( Song of Songs 8:7 )

Love is a living thing that is not easily killed, destroyed nor quenched. It is also priceless. So that the price you place on it is just a quota of how much it is truly worth and not necessarily the true value. Unfortunately, because love though powerful, is also mostly passive in expression, people tend to downplay its essence and substance. Largely, we take love for granted as a result of our ignorance of what love is, and what it may mean to others. Where there is true love, there is always a way. Impossibilities become very possible and barriers make way for unimaginable expressions. Many people see love as a soulish concoction running through the souls of humans. But if that were true there would be no hate in the world but unfortunately that is not the case. Like any other thing worthwhile, love must be very intentional. For instance, last night, many people might have been hurt, others helped, and some might have been heart-broken; largely unintentionally. But whatever it is, love must be very intentional to produce the desired results. Be intentional about love, don’t give up yet. Remember it is not easily killed, destroyed nor quenched.

Prayer_Bead: My Father and God, stir up the spirit of your kind of love in me. Help me to forgive those who wronged me and to be forgiven of those I wronged.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Do not awaken your Love

[The Glory Unveiled]

Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem:Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up,until the time is ripe—and you’re ready. ( Song of Songs 8:3 )

Love is always first like a sleeping dog. It’s a living thing with actual traits of living things. And like all living things, in order to sustain its life and growth, it must be nurtured and nourished. If it is abandoned, it does not only die but it rots and stinks. The stench from an awoken love, left unattended to is more destructive than physical weapons of mass destruction. And for this reason, the wise king Solomon warns us not to excite, arouse or stir it up until the right time; when we’re ready, because ones it is awaken, like a sleeping dog, you can’t put it back to sleep. Love has the tendency to grow whether it is carefully nourished or not. The reality is, you’ll always reap what you invest into love, whether the good or the bad. In our time and day, due to the influence of social media, people are almost always pressured to explore love even when they are not ready. Many are coerced, others are convinced by the tokens of affection given them by meticulously voracious ‘partners’. The result; some have had love exploded to their faces, leaving them blind to realities. My dear, if you’re not ready, you’re not ready. Don’t wait for the consequences to scream reality into you. Let us take the warnings of the man who had experimented with all the realities of life more than any other person seriously.

Prayer_Bead: Father Lord, Lover of my soul and sustainer of my life, let the unfruitful desires of my heart drown in the comfort of your word. Help me not to arouse love before the desired time.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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How is true Love identified?

[The Glory Unveiled]

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ( 1John 3:16 )

The scriptures are not unclear on the subject of love. If anything, it is us who have refused to accept what scripture reveals as truth. So how does one know what love is and whether someone truly love them as they may profess or not? It is true that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth makes expressions. But when it comes to the issues of love, it takes more than just the “sweet nothings” of the heart’s ecstatic oratory. The scripture for consideration today says, “This is how we know what love is: …” signifying a fixed acid test approach to knowing what love is. So that we could agree that anything short of the standard is just hormonal and chemical agitation unrestrained. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. This was and is love. Sacrificial giving of self is the standard and test for real love. Can you give yourself to someone you claim you love without demanding or expecting something in return? Can you give your time, energy and resources for the betterment and enjoyment of another person even if that other person won’t recognise you for it? This is love. February 14 has gradually succeeded in distorting the true meaning of love and what it stands for. The standard for love is so far from the mark, particularly in February but we  pray that this broadcast will open our eyes to the realities.

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, my Love and my Lord, help me to live as Christ lived. Make me a channel to reach the unreached. Teach me to unconditionally live for others.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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God uses anything for His glory

[The Glory Unveiled]

And they praised God because of me. ( Galatians 1:24 )

The ultimate purpose of man’s creation is for the revelation and manifestation of God’s glory. The fall of man seem to have caused a temporary ‘glitch’ in the corporate plan of God but the intentionality of God, coupled with the mysterious omniscience of His nature brought light out of the ‘glitch’ so that other aspects of His nature we wouldn’t have otherwise known could be revealed. Today’s scripture is a statement made by the apostle Paul on account of his past and life at the time. He, in the verse 23 of this chapter, stated that people heard that, the man who persecuted the church now preach to the glory of God. Apostle Paul’s past life of persecuting the church might have seem like a glitch in his personal purpose but that glitch actually brought glory to God (verse 24). God is intentional. He upholds all things and everything takes its source and true expression from Him. There’s nothing outside the confines of His totality. Let us allow God to use our errors and defects to reflect His glory.

Prayer_Bead: Father of all Glory and the heveanly lights, use everything in this Vessel of clay for your glory. Let the world see your hidden treasures through me.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Get the noise out first

[The Glory Unveiled ]

After the [noisy] crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she came back to life. ( Matthew 9:25 )

Every success story seem to have a protocol which serves as the spine of guarantee. In the administration of the miracle (resurrection of a little girl) in this scripture; the protocol was to clear the noise first, before the miracle worker could go in. “Noise” is anything that destructs, terminates, hinders access, abuses the right use and stifles process. Natural noise as well as spiritual noise blocks meaningful sound. In our relationship with Jesus, we must keep noise out of the door; before the Holy Spirit will truly commune with us, we must get noise outside our environment of fellowship. In our prayer closets, we must watch out for the “noise” that drains our words. There are times we go to the place of prayer and no sound is able to permeate the curtains of glory because of the noise around us. Unbelief is one of the noise that crepts in unawares on believers in their closets, rather often than not. Sometimes, it may not be their confession of the disbelief but the disbelief and attitude of onlookers and friends. We must consciously, like Jesus did, take away these noise in order to tune to the soundcode of Heaven through the name of Jesus.

Prayer_Bead: Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you for opening my eyes to the destruction of noise in my walk with you. Please teach me to do away with noise.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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New Wineskins

[The Glory Unveiled]

Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” ( Matthew 9:17 )

The verse of scripture for consideration today reveals a spiritual protocol that opens the door for the supernatural, though clothed in a symbolic language, the substance cannot be overemphasised. The new wine symbolises the regenerated spirit of a born again person while the wineskins represent the individuals. No human is qualified for a regenerated spirit until they fit into the description of 2Corinthians 5:17 by faith in Christ Jesus. And as a result of that quality they are qualified for the release of the “new wine”. But a regenerated spirit cannot be given to an individual who has not received the right to be a child of God (John1:12). Going contrary to that arrangement defies the order of things according to the redemptive plan of God. Believe in the Lordship of Jesus for the package of a regenerated spirit. And then you will be a candidate for sharing in the benefit of that rebirth experience.

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, I yield to the Lordship of Jesus today. I surrender my will, emotions and intellect to you. Make me a new soul according to your redemptive purpose.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Give flesh to the Word of God

[The Glory Unveiled]

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ( John 1:14 )

Change is just as real as a mist as long as the substance of that change is not crystallised as reality. Any area of our lives that receives transformation must first come to a point where the word of God for that area becomes–flesh–real. When the word of God becomes flesh in our lives, our lives receives the nature (flesh) of God. The word of God will not make any recognisable impact in our lives until the word becomes flesh. We must go beyond just listening to the word. We must go past being spectators in the theatre of God’s kingdom to being characters on the stage of life. When the word of God is given life by the understanding supplied by faith in God, change becomes a mandatory end result. The Glory of God had never been ever revealed to the degree it was revealed in Christ. And this became possible because the word became flesh. Could it be that the word of faith spoken to you is waiting to become flesh? And how long will it take?

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, the One and Only from the Father, full of grace and glory. Crystalize the realities of your word in my life even as you gave expression to the nature of God by becoming flesh.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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Spiritual Growth is not Automatic

[The Glory Unveiled]

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ( Hebrews 5:12 )

Some of us accepted Christ a number of years ago. But shamefully, all we can boast of is the number of years. We have intentionally or unintentionally decided not to be discipled by Christ. Some of us have dropped out of the school of Christ because we don’t want to submit to the Lordship of Jesus. Our appetite for the things of the world is robbing us of the solid food from the revelation of Christ. Most of us are slow to learn things that pertain to Christ but quick to learn and imitate the world. We have refused to constantly use the words we have heard. Apostle John, says that he declares the things he has seen, heard and handled (see, 1John1:1). Unless the gospel of Christ becomes real and so tangible to us that we can teach it to others, we will not grow.

Prayer_Bead: Holy Spirit of Counsel and Revelation, give me a teachable heart and an understanding mind. Increase my depth in the truth of God’s word.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

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A revelation of faith

[The Glory Unveiled]

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.

( Matthew 8:8 – 9)

Effective and fervent faith is always sponsored by an understanding that can withstand a thunderbolt. The verse eight alone may be quite vague in revealing the true potential of the Centurion’s words. The understanding that underlined his confidence is revealed in the next verse where the centurion explained that he understood authority and delegated power. What proves the effectiveness of prayer is conviction in one’s spirit and results but what guarantees effective faith is unwavering understanding. Fear is reason to believe the unknown will affect you negatively whereas faith crystallises an understanding and reflect that understanding both in deed and in words. You truly believe what you profess if your attitude says the same thing as your mouth. The centurion in the verse above did not only say what he said in the verse 8 but proved in verse 9 that he lived by that understanding. Jesus called his faith great in verse 9 because it had all the ingredients that could make demands on heaven to meet his needs. Have the Centurion’s kind of faith.

Prayer_Bead: Lord Jesus, the hope of all hearts, please open the eyes of my understanding, that I may stand firm, unwavering in my convictions.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.