Tag: #GNews

[The Glory Unveiled]

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. ( Exodus 34:29)
Anyone who has been with the word of God long enough becomes identical with the nature of God which is the glory of God. When we behold him, we become like him. Anytime we speak with the LORD, in the fellowship of prayer or the study of the word, we become radiant like God. The word of God that we collide with in the place of intimate fellowship cleanses us and makes us radiant (Ephesians 5:26). Moses became glorious because he had been with the King of glory. We become identical to whatever we associate with for a long time. So the reason why we don’t look like what we want is probably because we don’t stay too long with what we want. Do you want to be a journalist, for example? Stay with scripts, events and the news. Read more, learn about the rules of language and communication. You cannot be watching how to do makeups or fishing everyday if you want to become a journalist or a preacher or some other profession. Your passion must reflect skills and activities that has bearing on what you stay with most of the time. Every great man was once in the secret place of his or her greatness and calling. Nothing just happens. Another lesson we could squeeze out from the verse above is the fact that Moses didn’t know himself that he was radiant. This describes humility and commitment. If we would become glorious in the area of our calling and purposes, we need to be committed and humble too.

Prayer_Bead: King of glory, thank you for the opportunity to be committed to my calling and purpose. Teach me the secret to the secret place of light and illumination.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

8 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
9 “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. ( Jonah 2:8-9 )

God’s grace, mercy and loving kindness is available to as many people as would depend on Him. The Bible speaks of the grace God said was sufficient [available] for apostle Paul during his trying times. Apostle Paul wouldn’t have know that grace was available and sufficient for what he was going through if he didn’t depend on God for help. If he had turned to a [worthless] idols for comfort he would have forsaken the grace that would have been given to him. Even in times when it seem our very lives are slipping out of our very souls, we need to still raise prayer to God as Jonah did. This shows that he depended on God ultimately, problems and crisis notwithstanding. In good times, it is just too easy to say “I love God”. The true test of our allegiance and love for God is seen when we are faced with a life threatening predicament. God’s grace is available to each one of us as humans but our ability to enjoy it lies in the disposition of our will. God’s grace cannot run out but it is possible to forfeit it. We forfeit the grace of God upon our lives or available to us when we cling to anything other than God and make more time for them than God. The time to run to God is when we are faced with challenges. It is unwise to run away from God when troubles come our way. Because real trouble is any place away from God. So let us run to God instead of running away from Him when challenges knock on our doors.

Prayer_Bead: Gracious Lord, Everlasting Father, thank you for the grace to trust in you at all times and to cling to you in all situations.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ( 2Kings 5:11)

Perceptions control our general outlook on life. It is like a lens through which we see the world; a filter through which all our life’s realities are viewed. So that what we see through the lens of perception is not or may not really be what really exists. So we could say its a realty distorter because perception alters reality. Naaman had been suffering from leprosy and when the time came for him to be healed, his perception of how the healing and deliverance should be carried out robbed him of the healing he would have instantly enjoyed. In that moment, if he had just taken the man of God’s instruction without filtering it through the lens of his perception, he would have been immediately healed. Like Naaman, we all have invisible filters that translate what we see as reality. Unfortunately, like Naaman’s filter, our views are distorted through the warped lens of our perception. But there is another filter; the word of God which is able to show the true nature and appearance of what we see. It portrays things the way they are supposed to be. Whenever God speaks a word to us, two things happens which determine what outcome we experience. When we hear the word and allow the desires of the flesh and the world’s systems to filter it through our perception we would not experience what God’s word promises. But on the other hand, when we filter the things of God with the word of God, then we would see clearly God’s love and plans for us.

Prayer_Bead: My Father and my God, perforate my thoughts with your word and filter through my beliefs, that I may perceive things as you would.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

Be on your guard [constantly alert], and watch and pray; for you do not know when the time will come. ( Mark 13:33 )

This year, 2020 has taught us a lot of lessons. One of the major lessons of this year is the fact that we should be on our guard; we should be constantly alert. We do not ‘know’ when the “time” will be. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:29 that the secret things belong to God, but those He revealed are for us and our children so that we may follow all the words of the law. Also Proverbs 25:2, says that the glory of God is to conceal a matter and to search it out is the glory of Kings. Because we do not naturally know all things, we need to search them out. The word of God itself in its entity is like a precious treasure concealed in a field [Matthew 13:44]. It takes unearthing the field to find it. Most of the words are concealed mysteries that take more than just casually reading through the pages of the Bible to unravel them. The physical world we see around us is only a shadow of a bigger world beyond the reach of the physical eyes. So being alert and on our guard means being perceptible to the things around us especially the ones that are not seen by the ordinary eyes. When Jesus asked his disciples to watch and pray in Mark 14:38, he Himself was alert. And so his spiritual senses were open to what was going to happen to him. Elijah was also so spiritually alert that when he was surrounded by an army, he didn’t panic because he saw beyond the human enemy army to angelic beings that were ready to fight for him. In times like these when the devil roams about seeking to devour ignorant people, we need the antennae of our spiritual pinnacles heightened. And this can only be achieved in prayer; in continuous persistent prayer because the culture of prayer, makes us alert.

Prayer_Bead: God of the night watches, protector and defender of the defenseless, thank you for the grace to constantly be on my guard through persistent prayer.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him]. ( Genesis 5:24 )

Enoch seem to be a mystery in the Genesis accounts. Not so much was written about him but the little glimpse we have of him speaks volumes about his personality. There are only a few names mentioned in Genesis who walked with God. A careful study of the scriptures reveal that during the time of Genesis chapter 5, people didn’t really regard God. So that later Noah would be referred to as a man blameless in His generation. Meaning the people were living carelessly. In Enoch’s time, people were just beginning to know the Lord and you know what they say about the beginning of anything. So for Enoch to stand out among all these amateur [naive] God chasers meant that he did something extraordinary; something the rest didn’t or couldn’t do. He mastered something that made him stand out. He mastered the secret place. He learnt to depend on God [Hebrews 11:5]. If you lived in a farming community, you would likely see a dog following a farmer/hunter or walking along side its owner. Now the dog follows its owner usually not because it doesn’t know the way that leads to the farm. No, it is because it trusts its owner and it habitual goes like that with its owner every time. So that way, it has become used to going alongside or behind its owner. The secret place is almost like that. It takes a lot of habitual [intentional] repetition of priestly duties and trusting in God wholeheartedly. It takes consistency in prayer. Committing to a pattern of life and becoming synonymous to that pattern of life. And then when we become consumed with the presence of God, we become lost in God.

Prayer_Bead: God of the secret place, lover of my soul, thank you for this template you have shown me through the life of Enoch, your son.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ( Genesis 11:6 )

The statement above was made by the Almighty. And here’s a little background to the verse of scripture above: the people of the world had come together to build a Tower that reaches to the heavens. Before long, their plan was making significant progress and it was evident that in no time they would succeed in their plan. The emphasis that gave them success was not the fact that they were hardworking, it was rather because they spoke the same language. The unity of language gave them unity of purpose as well. There is something about speaking the same language that is so powerful. So whenever the Spirit of God gives us utterance into the language of heaven, tremendous power is made available through the language. Just as God said nothing would be impossible to the people of old because of the unity of their language, speaking the language of the Spirit gives us a platform for possibilities. In the first verse of the chapter, the people are described as having the same language and speech. And then in the next verse after our focal verse [verse 7], the Lord says [the only way] to stop these people from succeeding is to confuse their language so that they would not understand each other. But why not make them sick or weak or something else? Why touch their language? What has language got to do with building a tower? Language has everything to do with every spiritual thing and every physical thing has a spiritual dimension. So language has everything to do with everything physical as a result. As believers we have a language [tongues] that confuses the kingdom of darkness. This language makes power available to us. In the comfort of this language all things are possible. Let us subscribe to this language by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and engage it for victory on every side.

Prayer_Bead: King of Kings and Lord of Lords, thank you for the gift of the language of the spirit. As I engage it, make tremendous power available for me.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ( Hebrews 11:8 )

God knows the destination of all our lives’ journeys. He sees the end from the beginning so nothing surprises Him. When our father, Abraham was called from his father’s house to go to a place unfamiliar and unknown to him, God didn’t make any promises, and he didn’t give the full details of the journey. Almost everything was classified by God. He did not disclose so many things to Abraham from the beginning. He was literally in the dark about almost everything. Usually God would call everyone in similar manner and pattern. So that when we take a leap of faith to go where He says to go, it means we have qualified to know the promises and the packages. But unless we first decide to take that first step even though nothing seem clear, we have not what it takes to go on with God. Part of the package for reaching the destination is the demand to trust absolutely in God for everything and anything. We see that Abraham didn’t know initially that where he was going was actually his inheritance. We could say that Abraham at the time had no fixed inheritance of his own because he was actually called from his father’s house; not his own house. But taking that step meant he was willing to enter the school of trusting and depending on God. And yes, trust is the heart of faith. Without trust, there is no faith and without faith it is impossible to please God.

Prayer_Bead: Righteous Father, Gracious God, thank you for teaching me that trust is the heart of my faith. Help me to trust you even when my senses disagree with your promises.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future–all are yours, ( 1 Corinthians 3:21-22 )

Imagine owning an estate and yet not having a home or place to sleep. Such a paradox is the reality of many a believer. It is a common culture among some people to boast about people they know or are related to. These people may be their church leaders, bosses, mentors or celebrities. They make boastings with these people to feel important and self assured, secure people’s admiration or inflate their ego. Whereas the reality is that, we have everything at our disposal. Everything we need and would ever need is already ours. But then, statements like these may sound ridiculous though true. This truth carries a weight of life in the spiritual realm that cannot be contested. The realm of the spirit is like a cloud account of some sort, where documents, pictures and videos are stored. Now if someone should take that phone or device, the videos and documents would not be found in the phone’s memory. That means that those documents are not accessible on the go by the phone but that does not mean that they do not exist. It only mean that it is kept behind a veil that needs certain laws engaged to access. With data and the right technical steps, the information in the cloud account would be accessible and visible on the phone or device. It is the same with us. Whatever we need, health, finance, marriage, children, food, fees, life, the future e.t.c are all behind the veil of the spirit, accessible by engaging the right keys and laws. But it is not enough to know that all things are ours, just as it is not enough to know there are information in a cloud account. The information only becomes useful when accesed. So how do we access all the promises of God in Christ Jesus? We access them by faith in Christ. We take them by faith and we make them tangible by love. So with faith and love in our hearts we have all we need in the now and the future. All things are ours!

Prayer_Bead: Father in whom all things have their existence and being, thank you for the provisions of Your grace.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ( Matthew 10:30 )

Assuming you don’t like candies but you were given about 800 pieces of little candies for free. Would you be eager to keep count of them? All things being equal, you wouldn’t see the need to. The earlier verse of scripture describes how God is concerned about little sparrows, which cost almost nothing and how that not even one falls to the ground without the consent of God. And then in comparison, in this verse, He talks about our hair. The average human head has over 100,000 hair follicles. But in the verse above, we discover that God has our hairs numbered. And the meaning of the statement is fascinating and it also emphasizes the importance and value God attaches to us. God having all our hairs  numbered means that God knows each hair strand by its number. So that if hair number 75 falls to the ground, God is aware. This is so comforting to know that God cares enough to know the very hair of our head by their position and number. So here’s a thought: if God is so careful to consider our hair, and even Sparrows of the air, why would He not be concerned about our ultimate wellbeing? God is concerned about the prosperity of our souls and bodies. God cares about us enough to care about the things we don’t care so much about ourselves. Today and everyday, let us walk in this consciousness that God loves us and is concerned about the well-being of our spirits, souls and bodies.

Prayer_Bead: Jesus, lover of my soul, spirit and body, my redeemer and friend, thank you for your love for me. Help me to trust in your love.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.

[The Glory Unveiled]

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ( 2 Corinthians 9:8 )

God is able to do all things at His will and pleasure. But then, sometimes He allows the miry clay experience; He permits us to go through trying times—through thorns and pains. And in the process we have inscriptions [scars] of the pains and hurts, but in His omniscience, he uses those experiences and the wheal of our suffering as the evidence of His Omnipotence, testifying to the world through our flesh that He has been good to us. And then even our wheal can give us pleasure in the leisure time of life. Usually, God would permit earthly blessings and favours to collide with us in the doorway of hardship and frustration. So that we would lack nothing, being self-sufficient and in need of no aid or assistance. In the moment of despair and hopelessness, God would give us reasons to smile again. So if this moment seem to give you no reasons to smile or want to live, remember this: God works all things for our ultimate good. The experiences of yesterday carved today out the way it is and those of today are crafting the glory of tomorrow. Nothing is constant in the spirit sphere except God and His sovereignty. So whatever negativity confronts us is time bound, it would soon be no more. The love of God has made all grace to abound for us. Let us plunge into our inheritance.

Prayer_Bead: Jehovah Jireh, the Lord my provider, thank you for the provisions of grace by the cross. I abound in every good work, in Jesus’ name.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God._