Tag: #ChooseChrist

[The Glory Unveiled]

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ( John 11:4 )

Lazarus [the one Jesus loves] was sick and word was sent to Jesus to come and heal him. The love of God for us is what necessitates that He reveals His  glory through us. And that love sometimes causes things to seem like God has abandoned us. God’s love patiently waits for us to come to the place where the greatest glory can be extracted. In the scope of divine affairs no situation is incapable of bringing glory to God. In fact, the more broken and damaged or irreparable the problem, the more glory can be extracted for God. So even though Jesus could have gone to heal Lazarus when he was sick, he waited until he died first, before going on to resurrect him. That way, the glory of God was revealed to a greater degree. At the heart of whatever we may be facing right now is the glory of God. God is able to extract His glory from all our life’s experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly. Lazarus was sick and eventually died but God did not write him off. Our situations do not define us or suggest that God doesn’t love us as much as other people. No, like Lazarus, God loves us all and wishes to reveal to the world what glory He has hidden in us. Your circumstances will reveal what God hid in you. Keep hope alive, God is not done with you.

Prayer_Bead: King of Glory, thank you for your loving kindness and graciousness. Extract your glory from all of my life circumstances.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. ( Psalms 55:22 )

God is the sustainer of all things both in heaven and under the heavens. He sustains all things by His powerful word (Hebrews 1:3). The truth is that, there is no situation outside the control of God. Whether we believe it or not, God is above and beyond every challenge life could bring our way. Everything proceeds from Him, they take their root and essence in God. One may ask but why are there so much turmoil and chaos all around them? The reason is probably hidden in the verse above. God only sustains us or rather we feel sustained when we cast our burdens on God. Hence we feel abandoned by God or burdened with life’s crisis because we have not left our burdens to God. We cannot carry our burdens and still expect the sustenance of God. It’s either we carry our burdens and all of its consequences or leave them to God in assurance of faith. You have not left your problems in the hands of God if you are not at peace. The prove that we have left our cares and burdens to God is the peace of mind we experience. If it is in the hands of God, then it is out of our hands. And if so, we have no no need for fear. For the righteous will not fall when God carries their burdens and cares.

Prayer_Bead: Father of all lives, thank you for your love. I leave my burdens and fears in your hands. Take charge of all things, in Jesus’ name.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” ( John 8:29 )

The life of Jesus, the written accounts are templates for our faith walk into the fullness of His nature. As our template and pattern, we are to imitate the Lord Jesus’ way of life and His words. And in our attempt to walk in the pattern of His life, we will discover that we are not alone. Quite often, the reason why we experience “isolation crisis” or we feel all alone and abandoned in life and in our walk with God is because we are living outside the provisions of God’s grace. It is a problem of not living by faith, not trusting God for what He says He would do or when He would do it. And without faith no man can please God as Hebrews 11:6 records. Jesus says the Father never leaves Him. Jesus was always conscious of the Father’s presence. Anytime we feel the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit, there is a possibility of apparent departure from a life pleasing to God. A permanent and consistent relationship with the Lord is guaranteed by a life pleasing to God. God will never leave nor forsake anyone who lives for His glory. The price then for a life with God is consistently doing what God approves. Living a life of faith even when the world around us says and does otherwise.

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, thank you for the template and pattern of my walk with you, even the Lord Jesus. Help me to live a life pleasing to you.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. ( John 9:3 )

The man spoken about in the verse of Scripture was born blind. In the preceeding verse, the disciples had made a diagnosis which suggested that the man was blind from birth probably because he or his parents sinned. It is quite interesting to hear people, even Believers pass unwholesome judgement and make conclusions of issues they know nothing about. To the disciples, the cause of the man’s predicament couldn’t be far from either of the causative items aforementioned. But see how wrong they were when the matter was brought to the creator and sustainer of all things, Jesus, the word of God. And not only that, they could not trace the ailment to any glory or happy ending but Jesus in the verses that proceed did not only mention that God intended to showcase His glory through him but actually did it by giving the blind his sight. The truth is, the purposes of God overrides every predicament or challenge which should otherwise be a problem. God uses any and everything around and about our lives. Our assignment will be to discover the reasons for our circumstances. Why are we in the situations we are in? Why do we find ourselves stranded in a particular place? Everything around our lives is ultimately for the glory of God. Let us acknowledge God in all things. He knows why, He knows when and He knows how. Our lives are for His glory and praise.

Prayer_Bead: Father of all creation and giver of life, thank you for my life. I pray that you would use me and my situations for your glory.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ( John 8:34 )

Stability and productivity are key instruments for measuring and checking growth. It’s a pointer to the height and position one has attained. As Believers, who are heirs of God, our stability in the things of God is paramount to our participation in the realities of the Kingdom. Many things may contribute to our soundness in the faith, our stability and productivity but instability is tied to a few things. One of which is trying to lay our own foundation; trying to do for ourselves what only Christ Jesus could do for us. In the verse of Scripture above, the root of instability and unfruitfulness is exposed. Implied in that scripture is the fact that, anytime someone assumes the position of irresponsibility and instability, they have been enslaved by a particular sin. Anyone caught in the loop of a sin that easily entangles them is slave to that way of life and such a person, without the freedom that Jesus gives cannot be productive in anything. They cannot be stable in the Lord. A slave in the natural sense has no personal sense of direction. They cannot decide to go in a particular direction and stick to it to the end. The reason is, when their master demands for their service, they give up every and any other thing just to please their master. It is also like that with any person enslaved by entangling sins (Hebrews 12:1). We only have freedom to be productive and stable when we are truly freed by the word of God.

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, I give up my ways and my will. Free me from the sins that easily entangle me. Make me productive and stable in you.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. ( Galatians 4:7 )

Slaves and sons are worlds apart in description and responsibilities as well as privileges. In Galatians 4:1, the heir who is not skillful is compared to a slave. So the unbeliever is a slave to the basic elements of the world but the born again child of God who is also ignorant of their rights and privileges is equally a slave because they cannot enjoy what is rightly theirs. We were not slaves by default but we became slaves by defect and then we are given the opportunity to be sons by effect (the effect of Jesus’ finished works). But then, there is an icing to the cake of this good news of the redemption of Jesus. We have been made heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. This position of heirship has given us the privilege to exercise the right of sonship. We share in the life of God and the creative ability of His word. We have the opportunity to receive from heaven by faith and to be given from heaven because of God’s love for us here on earth. Our position is one of advantage but without the appropriate knowledge, we could be disadvantaged even in the comfort of the promises of God. We are no longer slaves but hiers. Let us take our place and exercise our rights.

Prayer_Bead: Gracious Lord, Loving King, Shepherd of all souls, thank you for delivering me from the kingdom of darkness into your marvellous Light and making me Your heir.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. ( Leviticus 18:3 )

The statement of today’s scripture verse was made by God to the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Egypt. One would wonder why God would still make such a statement after delivering the people from their worst nightmare—slavery. The past has the tendency to catch up with the present if the mind allows it. For this reason God was cautioning His people not to allow their minds to carry with them the Egyptian mentality [and ways of doing things]. And then He cautioned them against the future they were going into. Because they had just been delivered from slavery, it was easy for them to subscribe to any way of life that seem different from what they had experienced. But the future as promising as it may be, has its own giants to kill and challenges to fight. And so in order to minimise casualties, they were to obey only the LORD. The statutes of the Lord is the only anchor that can keep us afloat in an unstable world. In times like this when past experiences often pay impromptu visits to our present because our present realities feel threatened by present happenings, we need the sure word of God. We need a stabilizer, something to keep us awake and alert to ways ascribed by God. And this can only be God Himself. Let us live for God and we wouldn’t be bothered what the world around us is saying or doing.

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, thank you for your love and your grace and for lighting my path with your words. Keep me from being distracted by my past experiences and from being destroyed by the promises of my future.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” ( John 5:6 )

Sometimes, after we have been in a particular situation for long, we tend to make that situation our new normal, whether it be a bad or good situation. The mind has the tendency to compromise; to be content with challenges that seem to have no expiry. The man Jesus spoke to in today’s verse of Scripture was a lame man who had been bedridden for thirty eight years. This man was definitely in need of healing but Jesus still asked him whether he wanted healing or he was comfortable with his circumstances. No matter what happens to us, we need to have a dream, a purpose, a desire that will forbid us from being content with problems and unfavourable circumstances. The persistence of some problems could actually prevent us from seeing the possibility of change. But the truth is this, with Christ, there is always victory at the end of every battle. The question to us who have been befuddled with a persistent predicament is this, do we want to be well? This question is necessary because our desire and mental perceptions contribute to the strength or otherwise of our faith which is necessary for the fulfillment of our heart desires and dreams. Let us continually confess what we believe and what we want.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah Rapha, the Lord my healer, thank you for your healing and restoration. I declare the blessings of God that adds no sorrow upon my life.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 )

Usually, we are influenced by our environment; the people and things around us. We learn what we are surrounded by and continuously imbibe. The statement in the verse above was made by apostle Paul, after his conversion. He was who he was before his encounter with Christ on the way to Damascus because of the influence he had before that time. He was schooled to think against the Cross. He was always in the company of people who hated the people of Christ (Acts 7:57-59; Acts 8:1 & Acts 9:7). The apostle had a rich experience from his past about the power of association and influence. And so in his new found world, he has resolved to know nothing outside the boarders of Christ because in his old world, that resolve made him very powerful for the wrong course. In that regard, he has purposed to know nothing but Jesus Christ. As Believers still living in this secular world, we need to make the kind of resolution the apostle made and stick to it. There are certain things we must resolve never to permit into the confines of our heart and mind. We need a rigid system against all forms of ungodliness. The things we permit to influence us are the things that make us. As such we must be intentional about our environment and the people we surround ourselves with. Let us resolve to open ourselves up to the influence of the Holy Spirit above all else.

Prayer_Bead: My Father and my God, the Influence of the Cosmos and the Order of nature, thank you for the grace to know you alone in a crooked and perverse world.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ( 1 John 4:20 )

Love in our day and time seem to have lost it’s true meaning and purpose. We profess and confess the love of God often than we can actually keep count. From the scripture, we see that saying we love God is not as important as loving our neighbours. This is because our love for God is measured against our love for our neighbours, the people we see all around us. We are created in the image and likeness of God, so to say that we love God but not the people who look like God is a contradiction. “I love God” has now become a religious cliché. One that has taken over our everyday religious discourses. But if we profess the love of God so frivolously but then meet the image of God [our neighbours] and we can’t extend love to them, then the things we say about our love for God are just like sounding cymbals–empty noise. Love is to be practiced. It is a practical venture. We do not love because we say we love. Instead we love because we do love. Love is what we do for others that we would want them to do for us mostly because we cannot do it ourselves or sometimes just to give them that assurance of care and affection. Let us not love in words but in deed (1John 3:18).

Prayer_Bead: Father of all creation, the expression and revelation of love, thank you for the understanding from your word, help me to love my neighbours.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.