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His Excellency
Category: God’s Ways
Part 2 God’s Ways: Maximising His Glory in what appears to be delay or denial
While I was tidying up, I saw a piece of paper dated 18th April 2013 on which I had written the following:
1. A quote I had seen written on a board (daily quotes are written on it) at Tooting Broadway underground station that day “The greater the obstacle, the more the glory in overcoming it”
(Anonymous) and underneath I wrote:
2. “I meditated on the sermon on the subject of worship at church last night: “We have a God who is faithful whatever He has promised, He will fulfill or bring to pass”‘
I have a journal and at times I write things I need to remember for my journal on pieces of paper.
I knew it was not a coincidence I found the paper last night given I am writing this series on God’s glory maximised during the process of fulfilling His promises or miracles in what may appear to be delay or denial.
DELAY IS NOT DENIAL
For Glory maximisation: The Resurrection of Lazarus.
It is not surprising that Jesus would use the same strategy as Abba Father did (see Part 1), by prolonging the time in which he performed a miracle so as to reap as much glory out of it as possible. Jesus was simply affirming who He is, the incarnate Christ, God who came as man to redeem the world:Paul the apostle said
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation…” (Col. 1:15)
Jesus himself said “I and [my] Father are one” (John 10:30 KJV).
In his ministry, Jesus did what he saw the Father (God) doing and the Father was working through him to fulfill His will (John 5:17,19,30)
Having heard that Lazarus was sick, Jesus did not go to Bethany immediately, by the time Jesus arrived Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days (John 11:17). No one who knew he was sent for could understand why he had taken so long to come, after all he loved Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. Even Mary told Jesus that her brother would have not died if he had come earlier.
Miracles reveal to the unbeliever that the God is indeed real and they testify that He sent Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ goal in his ministry was to glorify God and he chose at this time a strategy God also uses which would bring greater glory to God.
Jesus “stayed where he was two more days,..” (John 11:6) deliberately when he heard that Lazarus was sick
because the miracle of resurrecting Lazarus was a far greater glory inducing miracle than healing him would have been.
This is why Jesus said when he heard Lazarus was sick “this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby”(John 11:4 KJV)
We should be encouraged that as God is glorifying himself in all the earth, so he is also performing miracles in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones. There is also a lesson Mary and Martha as well as multitudes must have learnt following the resurrection of Lazarus as well as other miracles of God, which should also serve to assure us God is in absolute control in the worst circumstances. This lesson is that some situations get worst before they get better.
“The greater the obstacle, the more the glory in overcoming it” (anonymous -see point 1 above)
For Glory Maximisation: The 10 plagues prior to the Exodus.
To the naked eye, Pharaoh was extremely defiant and unreasonable in his reluctance to let God’s people go despite several tragic incidents (plagues) which were devastating to the Egyptians and their land.
However when God sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand that he let the Israelites go, God literally spells out what He was going to do and why:
“And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel [is] my son, [even] my firstborn. And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, [even] thy firstborn.” ( Exodus 4:21-23 KJV)
“And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.” (Exodus 9:12 KJV)
“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I [am] the LORD.”(Exodus 14: 4 KJV)
The evidence is therefore crystal clear; God allowed Pharaoh to refuse to release the Israelites from bondage each time until after the the tenth plague so that He would, during each of the ten times he sent Moses to Pharaoh, demonstrate His might and power. As a result the Egyptians suffered the consequences of Pharaoh’s hardened heart each time, the tenth and final one was by far the worst in that all the first born sons of the Egyptians died including Pharaoh’s.
The Lord plans to unleash vengeance on our enemies on our behalf and to deliver us from every demonic bondage because as His children and believers in Jesus we are his “first born sons” and so precious to Him.
It is worth noting that before Moses’ journey to Egypt when the Lord spoke to him, He mentioned that Pharaoh’s hardened heart would result in his first born son being slain (Ex. 4:23), Moses did not at the time envisage a prolonged nine plagues processes before this most devastating one of death to Egyptian first born sons.
As in this case, the Lord may ask us to do something but He may choose not to give us all the details of the time span, how he would do it or details of some of the joys or dangers and challenges we may encounter along the way but as Moses we must obey nevertheless because our lives or those of multitudes may depend on our obedience. Our obedience as that of Moses did although we may not be conscious of it often has eternal consequences and is for prophetic fulfillment.
Although the Israelites were doubtful and fearful revealed by how their suffering was intensified by Pharaoh at beginning of Moses’ demand he lets them go, the prolonged wait to perform His miracle of deliverance of His people was worth it to God. This is because through it He demonstrated that He was the one and only Almighty, Omnipotent God who Pharaoh, the magicians and gods of Egypt could not withstand or stop.
Our God is in every situation we go through. He sees, knows and cares. What appears to the naked eye or in the natural is often not what the full picture is or how it will remain permanently.
In order to have God’s perspective of things or understanding of His ways, we must determine to stay as close to Him and Jesus Christ as possible through daily bible study, prayer and praise. The Holy Spirit is activated as a result and we become ones who walk in the Spirit with the gifts and fruit of the Spirit able to know God and have His wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
In addition, whatever the enemy throws at us will never derail us because our soul knows well that in every “storm” or unsettling situation God is at work in His supernatural ways we may not understand for however long it pleases Him to reap as much glory out of it as possible.
“We have a God who is faithful, whatever He has promised He will fulfill or bring to pass” (quote from a sermon see point 2 above).
I feel compelled here to include a link from my Poetry & Prose website/blog about the greatness of God and Christ as (Click) “The Almighty one: The I Am”
“You are blessed, determine to stay blessed”
Deborah Esther
Note: Part 1, posted yesterday 23rd October
Part 1 & 2 are excerpts from my book (Deborah Esther Nyamekye) God’s Ways Are Higher.
Part 1 God’s Ways: Maximising His Glory- Delay is not Denial
God did not allow Abraham and Sarah’s old age to serve as an obstacle to prevent him in fulfilling His promise that He would give them a son. If He had then it would mean that He would be confining himself within the boundaries that the “natural” or carnal man lives by.
This type of person does not live by faith in God and so the things (ways and acts) of God which are spiritually discerned are foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Perceiving things from a carnal “natural man” point of view means that the idea that a woman of 90 years old, which is an age well past menopause, can conceive is impossible. As the angel Gabriel told Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, concerning Elizabeth who was also past child bearing age “with God nothing shall be impossible”(Luke 1:37 KJV)
Our God is the great I Am, the Almighty God also called El Elyon, the Most High God, creator and possessor of the whole universe!! He is a “mountain mover”; no obstacle whatever it’s size is insurmountable by Him in the pathway of fulfilling His plans and purposes to the glory of His Name and Kingdom.
Therefore we serve a God who is as controller of the universe does what He chooses to do and when He chooses to do it. This is why if we choose to be as the Spiritual man of 1 Corinthians 2:15-16, walking in and judging by the Spirit as ones with the minds of Christ, we are guaranteed an understanding of God’s ways. True worshippers who worship God in Spirit and truth these last days are who God is looking for (John 4:24).
DELAY IS NOT DENIAL, BUT TO REAP MAXIMUM GLORY
It is worth noting that it took 25 years before the promise by God to give Abraham a child came to fruition. Abraham was called out of Haran and from among his relatives by God at the age of 75 (Gen 12:1-3) and God promised to make him a father of many nations. He was 100 years old when Isaac was born Sarah was 90 years old.
Through this incident we are given an insight into one of God’s ways rooted in His nature or thoughts (as He thinks so He is) which is how He strategises a number of times in scripture to prolong the waiting time for the manifestation of His promises or miracles so as to reap the maximum glory out of them.
imageIn the case of Abraham waiting for 25 years before the son of promise was born, this meant that the extent of awe of having Sarah give birth at an even older age than when she first heard the promise and the extent of shame rendered to doubters and mockers was far greater than if God had performed the miracle the year the promise was given or earlier than when it was fulfilled.
We serve a multi-tasking God who while reaping the maximum glory out of a situation through a chosen strategy will simultaneously be applying another strategy within the first also for His glory.
For instance, God also strategised that Abraham and Sarah would benefit during the waiting period for their child. They benefitted in that their faith, patience and preserverance in relation to God, His ways and acts were strengthened. God will use every opportunity to transform our hearts and minds so that we become more like Him through Christ Jesus.
By the time Isaac was born, Abraham’s faith and trust in God was such that he did not hesitate to commence the sacrificial process of Isaac, his much sought after son when God told him to do so. When he was about to kill Isaac, God provided a substitute, a ram.God’s command to Abraham was a test (Genesis 22:1) and he revealed to Abraham that he had passed the test in this manner:
“And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here [am] I…Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.” (Gen 22:11-12 KJV)
God also foreknew that Ishmael would be conceived by Hagar Sarah’s Egyptian maid and Abraham due to impatience while they waited on God to fulfill His promise. Therefore while to the natural mind Ishmael’s birth was an accident, in God’s supernatural plan it was not. Ishmael’s birth and therefore destiny as a means through whom nations would be born (Abrahamic inheritance, although different to that of Isaac) was God’s will otherwise He would not, in His sovereignty have allowed it to happen.
Despite challenges, impatience with God and testing along the way, Abraham prevailed and was imputed with the righteousness of God as well as an all time recognition as a world renowned man of faith.
Abraham must have been filled with awe and thankfulness (although scripture does not state this) when he contemplated not only what God had done for him and Sarah but how He had done it; God reaped more glory before multitudes out of Abraham and Sarah’s prolonged wait for the promise than if God had done it another way and it included increasing this couple’s knowledge of the thoughts, strategies and actions of the God they worshipped.
As children of God, we ought to be encouraged by this as we live our Christian lives because at any given time, God has our destinies perfectly marked out.
Also as long as we continue to partner with Him, He will fulfill His promises to us no matter how long it takes while removing every obstacle and reaping as much glory out of the process as possible.
You are blessed, determine to stay blessed!
Deborah Esther x
©2015 Deborah E. Nyamekye
Tomorrow: Part 2 God’s Ways: “Maximising His Glory in what appears to be delay or denial”
These series are excerpts from my book (Deborah E. Nyamekye): God’s Ways Are Higher (Amazon books online)
His Excellency
Why mourn what was not but could have been, what is the point as it never was, nor will it ever be?
Yesterday God planned, today He has in hand and tomorrow God will certainly man!
Who can judge God’s might? An omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God is He.
Why reject your body and weight? You see ugly, your potter sees beautiful. You see old and hagged, your redeemer sees youth renewed.
Why regret your nation and culture? Your worth is not in your wealth or know-how comparable to another.
You see poor, your maker sees rich. You see primitive, your controller sees modern.
Who can question God’s excellence?A skilled creator no one can deny.
©Deborah E.Nyamekye 12/09/2016
Let us Return & Remain! God’s “…Hand is Stretched out Still” (Isa.9:12,21 KJV).
Introduction
We serve a merciful God who said of Himself to Moses:
“The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth…”
Through Christ, God’s abundant grace and mercy towards mankind is evidenced eternally. With this in mind as new Covenant believers we can picture a Father with His outstretched hands ready to receive us back again and again following genuine repentance. He is quick to forgive us our sins and remembers them no more. In this Word of encouragement and a call to repentance and restoration in intimacy with Father, we are reminded by Isaiah of God’s ways in relation to His disobedient people and His expectations of them, applicable now as in biblical times.
Let us Return & Remain! God’s “…Hand is Stretched out Still” (Isa.9:12,21 KJV).
Key scripture: Isaiah 9:8-21
We are living in the extremity of times when God’s people are more self reliant and have turned away from God more than ever before.
As I read Isaiah 9:8-21 theLORD in his rebuke of Ephraim or Israel was showing me that these things are happening now in the church and the land in general to a great extent.
There are people who are saying in “pride and arrogance of heart” (vs 9) that when hard times occur in their lives or things are not going well, they will prevail because they will know what to do in their own strength (vs 10). However God makes it clear that if you say you are His and you think you can prevail without him, then in effect you are building castles in the air or you are in delusion!
Such an attitude constitutes living for oneself and not God and such people will be “devoured with an open mouth” (vs 12) of the enemy as the Lord will allow the enemy to have free reign in their lives. God does not permanently forsake His people now as he never forsook biblical Israel, however he gives them over to the lusts of their flesh or whatever they uphold in preference to God and His ways. God always hopes that his people will change their ways and repent.
Some might snigger at the choice of key scriptures (Isaiah 9:8-21) and exclaim “Oh but this is the Old Testament ! There is grace in Christ”. Indeed but it is not an excuse to keep sinning. God is the same yesterday, today and forever more.
It is true Jesus Christ who brought forth the New Covenant came to perfect the law of Moses (Old Covenant) and the “types” of animal sacrifices and high priests were awaiting His coming, however we serve the same God of the Old Testament who is the one who came in the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the incarnate Christ. His personality and requirements in relation to holy living did not change. We are reminded of this many times in the New Testament. A key example is Peter’s quote of who God is and what He requires from His people:
“15But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 17Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially,live your lives in reverent fear duringyour temporary stay on earth. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers 19but with the preciousblood of Christ, a lamb without blemishor spot. 20He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake…(1 Peter 1:15-20 KJV).
The sixteenth verse of 1 Peter 1 quotes Leviticus 11:45, 19:2, 20:7.
Christ himself says “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9) and “me and my Father are one” (John 10:30). As believers in Christ, we are positioned as kings and priests unto God (Rev 5:10) with the anointing and authority of the overcomer as King Jesus (Rev 12:10, Rom 8:37, Luke 10:18/19) and with the priestly anointing through him, our Royal High Priest (Psa. 110:4/Heb.6:20) to minister before God for the sake of ourselves and others. In this position, we have the righteousness of Abraham through Christ (2Corinth. 5:21, Romans 4:21-22, Gal 3:13-14).
John in his epistle says “5And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. ” (1 John 3:5-7 KJV).
Therefore our mindset as believers in Christ, New Covenant believers that is, should be as ones who daily cultivate sinless lives through living in obedience to God’s Word. In addition, praying, singing worshipfully unto Him and seeking to hear Him speak strengthens our relationship with God and helps us to live in the spirit so as not to fulfil the lusts of our flesh.
The writer to the Hebrews writes about how during the wilderness journey from Egypt to Canaan (the promised land) some did not enter Canaan or “His rest” due to disobedience. This was what God was rebuking Ephraim for in Isaiah 9:8-12; their disobedience constituting self reliance and separation from God among other things which resulted in them suffering the chaotic consequences.
Not only did God give Ephraim or Israel over to their enemies, he also cut of “head (the leaders and honourable) and tail (prophet that teacheth lies) from Israel” (Vs 14/15), this is because
“the leaders of this people cause [them] to err; and [they that are] led of them [are] destroyed.” (vs 16)
In addition, it states that “..the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one [is] an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly” (vs 17).
The acts of God that unleashes His wrath are described by God through Isaiah as the land burning and going up in smoke as well as being in darkness (vs 18/19). Even people shall be “as the fuel for the fire” (vs 19), in other words used by God in his time of wrath to allow division, contention dissatisfaction and lack.
This is all because God’s people suffer when they choose to disobey him and this suffering sadly escalates as “the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 9:13 KJV).
God spoke clearly of His nature when Moses went up to Mount Sinai to get the 10 commandments.
“Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7who keepslovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourthgenerations.” 8Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship” (Ex.34:6-8).
Moses interceded for the people asking for God to pardon them despite their iniquity and disobedience and God said he was going to make a covenant with them and perform miracles that has never been produced in all the earth and that he will drive out their enemies and give them the land of Canaan (Ex 34:8-11).
Brethren, let us therefore be reminded that although God is a consuming fire (Heb.12:29) and does not tolerate disobedience and He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Ex 34:6KJV), let us also always remember the abundant grace we have in this New Covenant dispensation through Christ who came to perfect the law of Moses received on
Mount Sinai that was expressed as “the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire,…unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest…” (Heb 12:18 KJV).
If God’s “hand is still upraised” in relation to Israel’s disobedience as repeated by Isaiah twice (Isa.9:12, 21). How much more would He not extend His hand of mercy out to us through Christ?
In our position as “Kings and Priests” of God through Christ, we have access to God intimately. The writer of Hebrews describes this intimate place in God clearly as our coming
“unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12: 22-24 KJV).
Let us therefore use every opportunity God has provided us in obedience to His Word to attain and remain in this realm of intimacy with God to fulfill our predestined purpose on earth which includes being his effective vessels of world transformation.
Deborah is a Minister with prophetic, prayer, teaching and writing ministries under the umbrella of Bearwitness-Forerunner Ministries International. She is also a published Author & Poet.
Ministry Website: http://www.bearwitness-forerunner.org
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/author/nyamekyede
For more Inspirational teachings, devotionals, poetry, and prayers, visit “Manna from on High” Blog http://www.readywriterps451.org
#watchProphesyandPray
#IsaiahteachingsDEN
©Jan.2017 Deborah E. Nyamekye
Gotcha!! God’s unlikely helpers along your destiny path
There are certain people God will keep in your life all of the time, others He will allow to come and go, and some will stay until such a time as the purpose for which God sent them is over.
God may allow difficult and offensive people in your life because through them, He plans to transform you by exposing sins, iniquities and weaknesses in you by His Spirit of conviction. This is a blessing because then you can acknowledge your sins in humility and He will fulfil his promise of cleansing you from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9) and prune you so that you bear more and lasting fruit (John 15).
God may have noticed that you have a “backpack” of filthy attitudes, unforgiveness, compromise in your Christian walk, hatred or lovelessness etc… that are weighing you down and preventing you from standing upright before Him and it is Mr or Mrs/Miss so and so through circumstance X that He has chosen to jolt you back to an upright position of righteousness to reinstate you on the path He has for you, or to ensure you fulfil your destiny!
Therefore Brethren, in your affliction at the hands of certain people, “LORD have mercy!” is the cry that is likely to penetrate from your lips of anguish and pain, but as God will not leave you nor forsake you when you go through affliction, you will soon be shouting “Hallelujah look what the LORD has done!” when you testify that what appeared as evil has been out worked by God for His good.
God will only smile and say “gotcha!!” for His love and faithfulness knows no bounds. He is a God of strategies who can use the most unlikely people, your enemies or offenders to bless you! Indeed God always has the last word in the lives of His children!
Looking at my life I thank Him that He does, do you?
You are blessed determine to stay blessed!
Deborah X
©Deborah E. Nyamekye 27/05/2016
Biblical Exhortations, Devotionals & Poetry 
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