Transformed from Glory to Glory

Saturday 21 February
READ: 2 Cor. 3: 18
MORE LESSON: Col.1:27

The Word 'glory' as used in the Greek New Testament is the word 'doxa'. It denotes good opinion, praise, honour, magnificence, excellence, commanding respect and having a good reputation. In the Hebrew Old Testament, the word 'glory' is 'kabod'; it also denotes wealth, honour, majesty, splendour and having a great reputation. 'Kabod' literally means 'weighty' or 'heavy. God's glory is weighty and heavy; when it comes upon you, you can't be small, little or irrelevant. You become a force to be reckoned with. Glory gives you a good reputation in life and makes you a person of substance. This is the dimension of God's glory revealed in 1 Samuel 2:8: He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory . The man in this Scripture verse was formerly poor and beggarly but the glory of God came upon him and transformed him from poverty to abundance, and from the dunghill to the throne of glory. When the glory of God comes upon you, your status changes and you become celebrated in every place you had been considered to be irrelevant.

The glory of God is however not limited to physical change of status; it also includes change of status in your spiritual life. Glory also refers to the transformation of your character and attributes to be more Christ-like. That is why Paul said . . . But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord: 2 Cor. 3:18 (NKJV). This is easily understood when we know that the glory of God talks about His nature, attributes, abilities and character. This directly shows that the more of God you have, the more glorious you become. The more you become like Christ in character, attitude, thought, speech and deed, the more of His glory you manifest because Christ in you is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

The secret of glory in life is seeking to become more Christ-like. Healing the sick, raising the dead, performing signs and wonders, wealth and influence are simply by-products of the Christ-like life. They all are simply part of His natural ability which flows out of you as you become more like Him. Holiness, righteousness, wisdom, power, love are also normal things for God. So as you are transformed to be more and more like Him, the glory of God spontaneously oozes out of your life; and as far as heaven is concerned, nothing special has happened. The normal attributes of God are just being expressed through you as you become like Him.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that your destiny will be like a shining light that shinneth more and more.
* Pray that your life will be a reflection of who God is every time.
* Pray that you will not lose your glory to the pleasure of sin.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
My Father and my God, let the Blood of Jesus answer for me in any difficult situation today, in the name of Jesus.

How to Get What You Want

Friday 20 February
READ: Jam 1:17
MORE LESSON: Prov. 4: 4 - 9

I was on a preaching engagement with a man of God in Kaduna, Nigeria and the people almost destroyed the body of his car when we were leaving the venue. The man of God was being driven a Hummer jeep at that time, which happened to be the only one in the whole area, and the people were touching and banging the car saying, “Lord, me too”. Though I didn't like the banging, I admired their attitude of desiring a good thing that they have seen in another person's life and asking God to make it happen to them also. I like their mentality of recognizing that the good thing is available for them.
For everything that you want in life, there is a ''how” to go about it. The reason you don't have something is not because it is not possible to get it but because you probably do not yet know how to get it. So you need to ask God how to go about having all that you want. There are a thousand and one godly ways to get something; only understand how. The way Hannah got her child was different from the way Elizabeth got hers; for the former it was through prayers but for the latter it was through faithfulness in God's service.

The first “how” of any good thing you want in life is to bank on the faithfulness of God. If you can trust on the faithfulness of God, you will get what you want. Don't trust in anything or any man for what you want: all other ground is sinking sand. You will discover how to get what you want by listening to the Word that God in His faithfulness is teaching you. God is not partial, whatever He has done for one, He can also do for another. The Bible says in Rom. 10:12 that He is rich unto all that call upon Him.

Another essential component of how to get the good things in life is to discover the wisdom by which God operates. There is an insight that must come to you for you to know how to get your God-given desire; it is this insight that removes struggle from your life. Prov. 4:7 (GNB) says, Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight. You must make the issue of acquiring God's wisdom your priority in life. This you can do by prayer, studying the Word of God, reading books and seeking godly counsel. However, God's wisdom only comes to those who value, desire and seek for it: Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. Prov. 18:1.

Today, I pray that God in His faithfulness will give you the wisdom you need to enter into the inheritance that He has prepared for you, in Jesus’ Name.

Prayer/Action
* Tell God you believe in His faithfulness to do all that He has promised you.
* Pray that this year, lines will fall to you in pleasant places.
* Ask God for power to get wealth according to His Word. - Deut 8:18.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, I command the assignment of Jazebel, Pharaoh and Herod to fail woefully in my life today, in Jesus’ name.

Dry Rods shall Bud Again

Thursday 19 February
READ: Num 17: 1 - 9
MORE LESSON: Job 14: 7

When confronted with a matter, don't listen to the situation, listen to God's Word. God might have made you a promise before you undertook a venture and then the present situation seems to be going contrary to the word you received. Don't be frightened by the situation, re-tune to the promises God gave you and you will find the strength to go on. The crisis or situation you face doesn't represent God's perspective about that matter. God's word is God's perspective to the situation you are facing, and God's perspective is always right. Regardless of that situation, the word of God is effectual and effective. Even if it looks like all hope is lost, hold on to God's Word: there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Job 14:7 (NIV)

There is no situation that is beyond recovery by God's Word. Imagine the extreme situation of Aaron' rod which was a dry and lifeless stick; when it came in contact with the presence of God, the Bible says; it budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. Num 17:8 (KJV). Who would have thought that a dried up rod that was cut from its root will ever bud anymore, let alone yield flowers and bear fruit. But out of the twelve rods set before the altar, Aaron's rod blossomed under 24 hours. The budding and blossoming of the rod was already miraculous enough but then it happened overnight. That is God speeding up the process of restoration of the rod. This all happened because that was the rod that God chose. When God chooses you, no matter how dead your situation is, life will come into it speedily. Today God’s Word is coming to you and bringing life to your sitaution.

The role of prophetic utterances in making your dead situations come back to life cannot be ignored. From the Bible passage read, we can see the role Moses played in lifting Aaron above the rebellion of men and making his dry rod to bud again. There are men that God has placed over you to pronounce His words over your life and situation. Honour such men and stay close to them so that life may be injected into your situation by the pronouncements of such prophet over your life. Today I declare that any situation that is dead in your life will receive new life and all rods, no matter for how long they have been dry in your life, will bud again this morning in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Command every hopelessness to disappear in your life.
* Prophesy to your dry situation now to turn around.
Take an anointing oil and anoint yourself for a new season of possibilities.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, I pray that I, my family, church and nation will move forward this day and shall not be drawn back, in Jesus’ mighty name.

What you see is what you Get

Wednesday 18 February
READ: Matt 14: 14-25
MORE LESSON: Heb 12: 1-2
When a situation presents itself to us, it is not yet a problem until we choose to see it as a problem. When you are faced with a challenge in life it is not necessarily yet a problem; it is the way you handle it that will determine whether it has become a problem or not. A situation can be an opportunity or a problem depending on how you see it. There is the popular story of the shoe company that sent a sales person to Africa in the early times of colonialism. When the sales person got to Africa, he realised that the people did not wear shoes, so he sent back to the head office in Europe that Africa is no market for shoes because the people did not wear shoes. After a while another sales person was sent and when he got to Africa, he saw that none of them wore shoes. He immediately sent to the headquarter office and said, 'Ship all the shoes here. This is a great market of people that do not have shoes but each need one.'
Jesus our Lord never saw situations as problems but as opportunity for God to be glorified. When a multitude followed Him into the wilderness and they needed to eat and there was no food for them, Jesus had a crisis in His hands. Even Jesus was faced with a challenge, so no man is too big to be faced with challenges. But Jesus didn't see this as a problem but as an opportunity for God to be glorified. He went ahead to feed five thousand men and many women and children with five loaves and two fish.
After this Jesus went to pray, and the disciple left with the ship to the other side. When He finished praying, He needed to get to the other side but there was no ship. But the Lord Jesus always saw and thought possibilities, not problems. So without any panic, He began to walk on the water. He didn't see the water as a problem but as road. Satan always wants you to panic when faced with a challenge but the correct attitude of a believer is that when there is a challenge, you are not to see the problem but to see Jesus.
Whatever happens to you in life, if you can keep your sight on Jesus, I assure you that greater works than He did you can do. . There is no challenge you cannot deal with, there is no distress that you cannot overcome as long as your eyes are on Jesus.

Prayer/Action
* Declare that every challenge on your path way will become a ladder for going up.
* Command every crooked place to be straighten now.
* Ask God for the courage and faith of Caleb to take over your mountain.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Oh Lord, I approach the throne of grace today to find help and mercy for the hour of need, in Jesus’ mighty name.