Tag: #ChooseChrist

[The Glory Unveiled]

He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” ( Genesis 26:22 )

Technically, Isaac lived in a foreign land all his life because the nation Israel (Jacob) had not yet been born nor given their land. In all the places Isaac dwelt, he succeeded beyond his environment. The reason was simply because of two things. First He had a relationship with God, which came with promises and secondly he was obedient to God. In the opening of this chapter (Genesis 26) the nation where Isaac lived was hit by a famine and everyone was leaving for other nations–seeking for greener pasture. But God called out to Isaac and told him not to leave the land of famine. Instead he should stay there and he would make him prosper. Isaac’s obedience to that instruction led to this verse. While staying behind, he prospered in everything he did. Even to the point that the people of the town drove him away for fear of the rate of his prosperity. In his new place, he had been digging wells. But any time he dug a well, other people quarreled over it claiming it was theirs. But that didn’t deter him, he continued to dig until he dug the one without litigation issues, which he named Rehoboth. Persistence creates room for success. Let us remain relentlessly committed to whatever God has called us to. For in our persistence is the badge of approval from heaven. Remember the widow who always disturbed the unwilling and unjust judge to help her eventually got what she wanted (see Luke 18:1-5). Perseverance will always deliver what is promised.

Prayer_bead: Father of the heavens and the earth, thank you for the grace for me to persist in the pursuit of your promises for me

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[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.

[The Glory Unveiled]

She [the slave girl] kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. ( Acts 16:18 )

The slave girl in the text of scripture above was demon possessed. She made predictions of the future with evil spirits. She had been following the apostle Paul and his team around. Making proclamations that she was not asked to make even if they seem true. Eve in the garden of Eden also tolerated the Serpent for far too long and before she could say “Jack”, she lost her position in the garden of God. Many other people lost their spiritual positions because they had tolerated the devil for too long. In Matthew 16:23, Jesus would have to rebuke the devil. Even though he (the devil) borrowed the mind of Jesus’ lead disciple, Peter, Jesus didn’t tolerate him nonetheless. The devil would go any length to steal what is yours if you allow him. The apostle Paul got to that point where he couldn’t tolerate the devil any longer. One thing is sure, if anyone gives the devil a footstool by tolerating his works and ideas, such a fellow will discover sooner rather than later that the devil had stolen and destroyed everything that is rightfully theirs and may even kill their desire for spiritual acquaintance with God. We need to grow tired of tolerating everything contrary to our inherent divine nature. Whatever the devil has been going around with us doing to undermine the word of God in our lives will cease when we grow tired of it. Stop the voice of the devil around you before it drowns the voice of God in you.

Prayer_Bead: Lord of glory and all power, let your voice swallow up every contrary utterance. Let it drown the speakings of the devil around me. In Jesus’ name.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. ( 1Kings 18:46 )

Today’s devotional scripture verse is an excerpt from a very popular account in the old testament. Elijah had just prayed that it may rain, but before the rains came, he asked King Ahab to start heading home. So Ahab got on his chariots and begun his journey back to Jezreel. Afterwards, Elijah came down from the mountain to begin his journey. Apparently, everyone would agree that at this point, Ahab would have left a good distance for Elijah to cover. This event can be likened to life’s journey. Every one starts at the foot of the mountain. But then some people seem advantaged due to the fact of their circumstances while others seem disadvantaged due to the same reasons. But the good news is that the true advantage is in God. Like Elijah, we can overtake in life, in the corporate world, and in any other environment. As Believers, our advantage is in the power of God. We need the power of God like Elijah, to activate the ability to excel and overtake. The anointing to begin and finish anything is in the power of God. How could a man on foot outrun another carried by chariots? Interestingly, Ahab and Elijah were trying to avoid a heavy rain. In our attempt to avoid a crisis, we cannot trust our own resources. Ahab had a chariot, which is unarguably the fastest means of transportation in their day but that could not carry him fast enough. The surest resource is in the power of God. Let the power of God over all your circumstances.

Prayer_Bead: O Lord, let your power distinguish me from my competitors. Brace me to overtake in the race out of every crisis, in Jesus’ name.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

There is no fear in love: true love has no room for fear, because where fear is, there is pain; and he who is not free from fear is not complete in love. ( 1 John 4 :18)

The pain, [suspicions of what could go wrong] in a relationship, afflicts the heart with fear. And where fear is, love cannot find full expression. Many relationships that would have otherwise blossomed under the nourishment of love have been choked to die by fear. Fear of imaginary pain and fear of punishments for wrong sustained by the thought of “what ifs”. But 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that love keeps no record of wrongs. With this understanding in the background of our thoughts, we can agree that whenever fear is tolerated in the mind of one or both parties in any relationship, pain is being incubated. And fear of pain or fear of punishment is the entry point for the kind of fear that kills love. Fear has never permitted the fullness of anything to emerge. It truncates the glory of potential before it is opportuned to manifest. For any relationship to thrive, the fear of punishments or pain must not be given room. Usually, what people fear comes upon them (Job 3:25). And then what the other person wouldn’t and couldn’t have done, they seem to be doing as a confirmation to that fear. Eventually, love begins to die as a result. If you truly love something or someone, have no fear of losing it or them. Have no fear of being punished by them for any wrong. Have no fear of being inflicted with pain (being hurt) by them. Love will always take a leap of faith that fear is unwilling to take. Remember, our love is complete only when we are free from fear.

Prayer_Bead: Father in heaven, lover of my soul, sustainer of my spirit, thank you for the spirit of love and the grace to be complete in love. I pray that fear be far from me as far as the east is from the west.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; ( Isaiah 1:19)

We know that anytime a statement begins with “if”, it is suggestive of a condition. The best in the land where God had sent His people had always been there but it is only released or enjoyed when pre-determined conditions are met. God has presets that guide the dispensing of the best things hidden in every land. Be it the land of business, relationship, marriage, leadership, ministry etc. The conditions are willingness and obedience. Willingness speaks to desires and passion, whereas obedience creates the grounds for achievements. Without a willingness to want to have something, the desire to make a decision or obey instructions that would lead to the acquisition of the thing wouldn’t be feasible. Sometimes we “claim” blessings and favours we do not desire and are unwilling to obey God for yet we say “Amen” to them, isn’t it a fallacy. The conditions that permit the enjoyment of the good in any land cannot be bent or compromised. We can only observe the conditions to the letter, there is no way around conditions such as these. Do you want to eat the best of your land? Then your desire should be aroused and your willingness to obey should be unquestionably sound. If the conditions are met, the promise would be fulfilled. Whether or not we enjoy the best of the land where we are or where we are going is dependent on ourselves.

Prayer_Bead: Father of the fatherless, Saviour of the world, thank you for your promises. Give me the power to desire and obey the conditions that bring out the best of my land.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.