Tag: #ChooseChrist

[The Glory Unveiled]

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ( Romans 13:11 )

We have journeyed so far on this pilgrimage that many have become complacent and unconcerned about the road signs that are intended to guide our movements. But in today’s devotion, Christ by the Holy Spirit is giving us a wake up charge. What we are to do pertains to the the times of our present course. Gone are the days when slumber was tolerable and a few blemishes were ignored because somehow they did not immediately attract attacks. But we are about to take a new course and somehow God is giving us an opportunity in the abundance of His grace to make amends and to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead of us. It seem that current conspiracies and world events, has opportuned us to prepare ourselves in knowledge and prayer while we wait for the coming of the Lord like the five wise virgins in Matthew 25. Preparation had always preceeded every great awakening. We cannot walk sluggishly into a new territory. What is the sign that our salvation is nearer than before? It is the beginning of persecutions. Because somehow in the wisdom of God, He will draw us unto Himself through persecutions. But unless we are prepared now to be able to stand the persecutions of tomorrow, we cannot endure what will come, and then there will be a falling away of many who do not have enough oil in their lantern (spirit) as the five foolish virgins. We need to make time, consciously, to prepare for the next phase of our journey. We need to be fully awake to the things of God and walk circumspectly. Let us wake up and trim our lamps! (Matthew 25:7)

Prayer_Bead: Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, thank you for this wake up call. Quicken my prayer and Bible study life. Give me understanding of the times that I may number my days.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” ( John 4:10 )

O what great opportunities we miss because we do not know how to discern the gift—plan, will, intention, desire—of God. The Samaritan in the text of Scripture above failed to discern Christ and that almost led to her missing the opportunity of Salvation (see the earlier verses). Having a relationship with God through Christ and a fair understanding of the plan of God for us is the basic ingredient for receiving anything from God. It is not enough to know a few promises in the Bible and yet not have a working relationship with Christ. It is just like knowing [reading] about the assets of a wealthy man but not knowing him/her in person. The fact that you know about their assets does not guarantee that they would give you anything when you ask them. But knowing the person very intimately and not knowing what they have too will discourage or blind you from asking them. So both elements of knowing the person and what they can offer stand tall in the practicality of today’s scripture. We need a relationship with God and we need to know what He has made available for us in Christ. If we know these two, all things will be ours (1 Corinthians 3:21).

Prayer_Bead: Father in Heaven, thank you for the grace to know you and to understand your promises, let your living water well up in me.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ( 2Peter 1:4 )

The things that have been given to us that pertain to life and godliness by God’s divine power were given through his great and precious promises. So that in order for us to walk in good health or financial freedom for example, we need to harness the power of His promises pertaining such matters. It is as if God has hidden all that we need and will ever need in His promises, so that without His promises [which are yes and amen] we cannot enjoy such privileges even though we may be born again. In addition to such privileges of a prosperous life, we also get to participate in God’s nature. Now, the nature of God is like a realm, a reality that is attainable. And yes, even though attainable, we attain that reality only on God’s terms and conditions [as in the case of Adam and Eve] . And then when we appropriate His great promises and are given access to His divine nature, we can escape the corruption of this world. This is as a result of the fact that the nature of God is void of corruption. But the mystery is this, all the promises of God that guarantee these blessings and access into the divine nature are hidden in Christ. So that outside Christ, we come into that crisis of not knowing what the divine nature entails. Let us learn Christ that we may come into the rest of God, even His divine nature.

Prayer_Bead: Father of all creation and giver of life. Thank you for calling me into fellowship with you through Christ Jesus to participate in your divine nature.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. ( Colossians 3:14 )

Love is probably the most talked about subject in all genres of music, books and most art works. Even nature has its own narrative of love. And yes, love is a great virtue that should not be traded for anything else, because without love; genuine unconditional love, other virtues such as kindness, humility, patience, self control, lose their true essence and value. Love, in the verse of scripture is metaphorically used as a binding tape or substance. And just as glue or any adhesive tape keeps two or more things together, we need to bind all the virtues we have with love. Before this very verse, the apostle Peter mentions virtues that a believer should possess. But then we discover in our verse of reference that those virtues in isolation are not enough. The profile of love, recorded in 1 Corinthians 13 tells us from the various descriptions that true love is unconditional. If anyone claims to love, they should not be held back by anything or anyone. Their resolve is and should be hinged on nothing but Christ. The other virtues we crave and pray for get their value from love. Let love bind together the nature of God in us.

Prayer_Bead: Thank you Father for your Love and the grace to love as Christ does. Bind all my virtues together in the unity of love.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. ( Acts 4:24 )

The tremendous power made available to the praying man or woman cannot be ignored. But it seems that we are not exposed to the full artillery of prayer. Prayer is said to be the master key in the famous Sunday school hymn. And we cannot agree more because each time situations make us feel locked up or stucked, prayer always brought the rescue. Nothing unnatural and significant ever happened in the Bible without prayer being made to heaven first. Any and every time something happened on earth that God had something to do with, men had to pray first. Like the Lord Jesus, anyone who meant business with God should not and cannot be separated from prayer. Prayer must become part of their very human fabric. We are born with the inherent nature to connect to the supernatural. Scattered in the verses of the Bible are records of God communing or wanting to commune with man. And the medium of interaction is prayer. Jesus, while on earth prayed constantly because He had to communicate with the Father; setting an example for us to follow. In the verse above, the church was hindered by the Sadducees and so the Believers had to communicate to the headquarters in Heaven for deliverance.

Prayer_Bead: Thank you Father for lending Your ears to our prayers. We ask that you protect the Church from unreasonable men.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. ( Genesis 45:5)

This single verse of Scripture exposes so much about Joseph. One of which is his mental attitude. Joseph has a kind of mental attitude that allows for God to use him and do through him what He did. The statement was made by Joseph after his brothers came to know that the brother they had sold some years earlier was the very person they were standing before. And not just that, he had saved them from starvation. His siblings didn’t have the understanding he had. So they felt they had done a great evil against their brother but Joseph thought that it was God who had sent him [through slavery] ahead of his brothers to secure for them what they would need. Joseph’s conviction on the matter was deepened by the fact that he had seen in his boyhood, a vision of what God would do in his life. Beloved, whatever God told us in the most ridiculous places or circumstances, let us hold unto it with our very last breath because God is not a man to lie. He will honour his promises and confirm His words to us. So that after we have known the will of God for us, we need to develop the conviction that everything, including the bad, the ugly and the meaningless things will work for our good. Everything was staged to bring Joseph to where he finally was. Likewise, with a firm resolve to hold unto God’s word, we will be brought to our place of rest.

Prayer_Bead: God of infallible words, thank you for your promises to me. Strengthen my resolve to trust your plans for me.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ( Colossians 3:13)

The question to ask with respect to this verse of scripture is, how did Christ forgive me? Jesus forgave us all our past, present and future sins, by taking them upon Himself and nailing them to the cross. This He did without our persuasion or effort or input of any sort. Jesus did not even forgive us with the guarantee that we would not do wrong again. He did what He did out of love. Forgiveness cannot be extended to anyone without love. Love is the only platform that gives us the opportunity to truly forgive anyone because love keeps no record of wrong. Matthew 6:15 says if we do not forgive others, our heavenly Father would not forgive us. Often, we pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So if we fail to forgive other people for their wrongs, we are actually giving God permission not to forgive us as well. God permits in our lives what we allow in the lives of our neighbours and friends. So the golden rule says we should do to others what we want done to us. If we really want to be forgiven of God for our sins, we should first forgive those who sin against us. Now, some people say they will not be the first to extend the arm of love in a hate relationship but if we are truly co-heirs with Christ Jesus, then we must do as He did. While we were still sinners, He died for us and took away our sins. Forgive people even before they ask for forgiveness and let the forgiveness surge from the heart of your love which is established on the truth of God’s word.

Prayer_Bead: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Forgive us our trespasses as you give us the grace to forgive others genuinely.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled ]

“Honour your father and mother”–which is the first commandment with a promise– ( Ephesians 6:2 )

The attitude of honouring people must be intentionally cultivated especially in a culture where credit is not given for good deeds. We can fast track this by recognizing and acknowledging the importance and contributions of other people in our lives. Honour must be given to whom it is due. Today marks a special day set aside to honour our mothers and it is only wise that we intentionally recognise our mothers for their sacrifices and long suffering at least once in three hundred and sixty five days. Many of us may not have our biological mothers with us but we could still identify and honour one or two women who continue to carry us in the womb of their affection and love. One may ask what about the mothers who never, even ever thought of their children, mothers who abandon their children? The scripture above is clear without mincing words, “honour your father and mother…” It didn’t say honour them only if they are good to you. So, we honour them nonetheless. Once they are our mothers [as a result of ushering us into the world] we must honour them. Our spiritual mothers should not be left out on a day like today. Call a mother today, say something uplifting to them; Honour a mother today.

Prayer_Bead: Thank you Lord for our mothers. We pray for long life and good health for them. We ask for more grace and favour. Bless the children of their womb and any child under their care, including spiritual children.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. ( 1 Corinthians 8:6)

Many scriptures of the Bible open our hearts and minds to the heart of our faith. Such scriptures expose the why of our faith for which we have confidence. Many an apostle of the new Testament revelation makes statements that may be considered by other people as egotistical or prideful as a result of their confidence. But with the understanding unveiled to them from God’s infallible word, they cannot but to boast in the cross of Christ. In today’s scripture for meditation we see enshroud in the verse, the place of Christ and His necessity. We believe that all things come from the Father and we live for Him but after the fall of man, we couldn’t receive from the Father and we couldn’t live for Him either. So the reconciliation of man to God had to happen in Christ so that by faith in Him, we could receive from God the Father and live for Him. And now, by faith in Christ Jesus, we receive all things of heavenly descent through Him and we live the God kind of life which hitherto was our natural life through Him. So that though we are away from home in this body, we are one with God in Christ. The hidden mystery being that, Christ Jesus has become unto us all we could be to God and all God could be to us. Jesus is the mystery the gods of the age couldn’t decipher else they would not have crucified him [having made a way of escape for us by His sacrifice]. Jesus is our way of escape from the harshness of the world and the punishment of sin. He is also our entry into God and all His fullness and glory.

Prayer_Bead: Father of all souls, thank you for reconciling me unto yourself through Christ Jesus by His death in my place. Thank you Lord Jesus.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. ( Romans 8:5 )

The verse of scripture for our devotion today seem to re-echo the famous saying of the Lord Jesus recorded in Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34 which says “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Psychology teaches that habits [which become addictions] are developed when our minds create neurological pathways as a result of repeating an action. As the action sharpens, the pathways deepen. The apostle Paul draws our attention to this truth in our devotional text of reference. How do you know if you are in the flesh; after the things of the flesh or after the things of the Spirit? It is determined by the persistent domain of our thinking, where our hearts always lie. If where our treasure is, there our hearts will be, then where our hearts are, there our treasures had been. So whenever we are mindful and very concerned about the things of the flesh, then that is a redflag cautioning us to recalibrate our course on the narrow journey back home. And then a keen interest in the things that excites God is a clue of where our hearts and treasures are. May we consciously and by the guiding of the Holy Spirit be led after the things of God.

Prayer_Bead: Heavenly Father, thank you for the grace to be led by the Holy Spirit and to set my heart and mind on You.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.