Living in the glory of God

When I think of this year, I perceive the glory of God that dwells in His nature of love, integrity, goodness, justice, holiness, patience, mercy, victory to mention but some of God's traits surrounding and reigning around us. As believers when we speak open up ancient gates, open up ancient doors and let the King of glory come in (Psalm 24:7), we are in alignment with God's Word that our blessing must be released here on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) At the same time, it is important to remember that the blessing of God as His children is incorruptible because it is not based on self-will, our acts of goodness and kindness but rather faith in God's goodness and mercy through Christ.

Today's lead Scripture is from 2 Peter 1:2-4 and it reads,

"2.Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord,

3.as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

4.by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

AMEN.

As a born again believer, the above Word reminds us that God, the Father has deemed us worthy to share in His glory through His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. Well, you may wonder how would you be able to share in the glory of God when you are not constantly holy and perfect all the time. May I remind you that the minute you gave your life to Christ, your life is now hidden in Christ Jesus (Colossians 3:3) which means all your sins were washed away. This translates to to the truth that when God, the Father looks at you, all He sees is His sinless and beloved Son Jesus Christ who bore all your transgressions and iniquities on the cross so that you can access the divine nature that gives us all these exceedingly great and precious promises.

Before Jesus' crucifixion, He prayed and asked God the Father for all believers to share in His glory. He said, "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in me; that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that You have sent me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (John 17:22-23).

This verse shows the divine significance of a union between a believer, Jesus Christ and God, the Father. As you read and meditate on it, I hope it becomes clear to you that the only way we can access the glory of the Father and His great and precious promises is through salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ.

The above verse in John 17 also highlights another important ingredient to witnessing the glory of God which is practicing love with each other. Colossians 3:14 tells us that "But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection". At times, it feels like we need to hear more messages about loving each other especially as believers in the body of Christ. God did not send His One and Only Son to die for us so that we could bash each other based off a difference in opinions, views or ideologies. James 1: 19-20 tells us that "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" Sometimes, we profess the love of God yet our actions do not profess love for one another especially as believers in Christ. Friend, I encourage you to put on the love of Christ with every believer and if you do disagree, leave judgment to God. When we love each other as the body of Christ, we are ONE and when we are one, we reinforce, activate the power and glory of God to operate here on earth as a church.

When I think of loving each other, the story of Joseph comes to mind. Joseph was a son of Jacob who received a dream from God that he would one day rule over his brothers. When he told his brothers about the dream, they got jealous. One day when he was sent to the field to look for his brothers, they dumped him in a pit. When they returned home, they lied to their father that Joseph had died and eventually sold him as a slave to Egyptian traders (Genesis 37) where he later on lived in captivity for many years until God eventually elevated Him to the highest position of overseeing all the affairs in Egypt (Genesis 41). During that time they happened to be a famine in the land where Joseph's brothers had to leave their home to go to Egypt for food and the only person who could help meet this need was their brother whom they had forsaken and most likely thought dead. However, Joseph had the option to be vengeful after everything he endured but his character only modelled love for his brothers despite his many hardships. When his brothers were afraid that he would do something bad to them considering what they had put him through, his love for them was stronger than the painful situations they put him through. He re assured and comforted his brothers and said to them, "And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God...". (Genesis 45:7-8). And God being rich in His mercy and goodness did not harshly judge the brothers either as He established the twelve tribes of Israel with them.

Joseph's life is a great encouragement to us of what it means to walk and live in the glory of God. Sometimes, God's glory may not align with our expectations or come in 'grandeur' according to the world's standard, and yet when we read Jospeh's story, there is no doubt that God's presence was operating on his life from when he was in a pit, imprisoned and finally governor of Egypt. I believe his heart of love, forgiveness, surrender and obedience to walk in the will of God brought to fruition God's glory and precious promises upon his life, family and his entire generation. I pray this story encourages you to continue to trust God through every season of your life and in His precious promises for you and your family which are already yours because your union with Christ already gives you access to all his blessings. Ultimately, this re assures God's children to approach His throne of grace with boldness and confidence in prayer (Hebrew 4:16).

2 Corinthians 1:20 reiterates, "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."

Yes and Amen LORD :)

Invitation to salvation or to re commit your life to Christ: If you would like to know this God who from the beginning of creation has always wanted you to be reunited and restored in relationship with who empowers you with the strength by the Holy Spirit to rejoice through all seasons, who loves you with an everlasting love before you ever loved Him and has given you eternal life through the faith of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ - whose faithful promises are yes and amen, I invite you to make this confession, "I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that; Jesus Christ, the Son of God came in a human body to die for my sins so that I could have a new life where I am dead to sin and alive to God. I repent of my past sins and enter the Kingdom of light where I choose Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour today and forever."

Congratulations, by grace you are saved and are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old life has passed away and you have received the free gift of salvation into your life (2 Corinthians 5:17). To the glory of the Almighty God. Amen.

As a new believer, I urge you to let your Pastor know that you took the confession of faith or if you don't have one, become a part of a church. I also encourage you to get water baptised as soon as possible and get yourself a physical copy of the Bible or download the Bible app on your mobile in case you don't already own one! If you have taken the confession of faith and would also like a physical copy of the Bible, please send us an email at info@bibleversionoflife.com with your address. We would love to hear your story. GOD BLESS.

I'll end with this Word in Galatians 2:20 that encourages us to lean into God's grace for us in Christ, not our strength but His strength. It reads,

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

AMEN. Thank you LORD.