That God may be honoured and glorified

Malachi 1:6-7, “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests that despise my name. And ye say, wherein have we despised thy name? 7: Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar, and ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, the table of the Lord is contemptible.”

The purpose of creating man is for him to worship and render faithful services to God. God is always interested in human beings whom He created for His own pleasure. He protects and provides for human beings, aside making sure that nothing directly or indirectly puts them to shame for His name’s sake.

God arises to defend and protect His children whenever they are afflicted with sickness or attacked by their enemies. The Israelites were enslaved and used for forced labour, while in Egypt and when they cried to God He arose and fought for their freedom. He delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt.

Exodus 14:1-5 tells how God fought for them. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2: speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. 3: For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. 4: 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. And they did so. 5: And it was told the King of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

God used the Egyptians to showcase His powers. By totally destroying the Egyptians, God glorified himself. The Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea. In Exodus 14:13-14: the Bible says: “And Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more forever. 14: The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”

God instructed Moses to stretch his rod towards the Red Sea and it parted into two and the Israelites walked across to the other side. Pharaoh and his soldiers followed the Israelites and they perished when the sea came together again. God glorified Himself in the victory over Pharaoh and his soldiers.

Again, in Isaiah 44:24-27 the Bible says: “Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself. 25: That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backwards and maketh their knowledge foolish. 26: That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27:That saith to the deep, be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers.”

Power belongs to God and to demonstrate this, He executes with ease anything He plans. God showcased His powers for man to honour and glorify Him. When God arises in our lives, our afflictions, sicknesses or diseases will flee from us. When His powers brush us, attacks from the devil’s kingdom will not hurt us.

In Exodus 19:4-5, the Bible says: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5: Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.”

As the Israelites were successfully delivered from bondage in Egypt, so, has the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary reconciled man with God. This reconciliation is to enable the plan and purpose of God to be fulfilled in the life of every man. We, therefore, need to be obedient to the words of God to enable Him to have His way in our lives and for His purpose to be fulfilled too.

Our Lord Jesus Christ came to recover the lost kingdom. He worked to ensure that His mission was a success. John 4:34-35 says: “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

Jesus Christ said: “His food is to work for God and finish the work.” He has laid a legacy for us to follow. We should at all times work to save any perishing soul. It is unfortunate that many people are not interested in the work of God. Many do not even serve God. Pharaoh of Egypt said he did not know God and will not obey His words to release the Israelites. Today, many are like Pharaoh. They do not obey God’s word rather they resort to opposing the gospel and men of God. This is why God is lamenting in the lead scripture, asking where does His honour lies if He is our Father. God is our Creator and without Him we can do nothing. In John 19:30 the Bible says: “When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” The salient idea in this scripture is, it is finished, which is the shout of victory.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has successfully completed the purpose of His coming. He came for the reconciliation of man with God. After Adam and Eve lost the kingdom, God distanced Himself from man. But Jesus Christ came to reconcile man to God and to lay a solid foundation for the salvation of the world. He established the Church, an outpost for the recovery of the lost kingdom through the preaching of the gospel and to bring back lost soul to the kingdom of God.

After the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary and subsequent resurrection, God glorified Him by giving Him all the powers in heaven and on earth and that at the mention of Jesus Christ’s name, every knee must bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Having given a perfect example to His disciples, we should follow Jesus Christ’s footsteps to honour God, so that, God in turn will be elevated and be glorified in our lives.

As children of God, we should continually declare the word of reconciliation in season and out of season to the perishing souls. The second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is at hand, but no one knows the day and hour He will come. We should be prepared and preach the word at all times.

Brother Daniel Ogbaji (right) and wife with their triplets, two boys and a girl, after nine years of barrenness as they share their testimony, during the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries’ crusade in Ughelli, Delta State<br />

However, I reminded her that I am a member of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement and that she cannot fight me. When the envy and hatred were much for me to bear, I prayed to God to strip her of whatsoever thing that is making her boast to me. God did it and the company that used to supply her goods miraculously transferred her goods to me and that weakened her.

Also, during the time the crisis between us was stiff, I was told that she laid a curse on me, but to God’s glory, the curse had no effect on me. Seeing the goodness of God in my life, the woman that used to be my archenemy gave her life to Christ. She and the owner of the company that supplies me goods are today members of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement. Praise the Lord!

Secondly, I do travel to Italy to bring in goods, but I travelled last in 2019. However, in February 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, I told the company that I would not be able to come because of the pandemic and lockdown. The company understood the situation and sent some goods to me. But by October 2020, I called the company and placed more orders with the intention to travel to Italy within December and January 2021 to bring in the goods to Nigeria. As I was planning the devil was planning too. Having paid the company the expected amount without hearing from it, I demanded to know why I have not heard from them, but instead of getting positive responses, I began to hear some cock-and-bull stories. With this, I came to church during the February fasting and prayers and tabled the case before God.

After the prayers, I called the agent that stood between the company and me. I did this to the point that the agent blocked my line; he felt I was getting on his nerves. The waiting lasted from January to June when the company loaded my container. Thinking the challenges were over, the shipping company had some problems and my container was delayed in getting to me.

It was at this point that I met Pastor and he prayed and the Lord intervened a month after the prayers, the container landed in Nigeria; it is now in my warehouse. I return all the glory to God; may His name be glorified forever in Jesus’ name.