The Ravens, The Prophet, The Messengers

The whole of creation responds to faith.

Faith can control even the elements and nature.

We see this from the good Book.

There are unusual and uncommon happenings, events, and moments in history we can read about from the scriptures.

We read about the sun and moon obeying the voice of a man, we read about animals going in pairs (male and female) into an ark without being trained or forced to do so, we see winds, seas, plants obeying faith and we are told even mountains will move from land to sea at the voice of faith!

The scriptures is a treasure full of unusual and uncommon happenings!

In them we see uncommon vessels being used, unlikely people being qualified, and unusual messengers being used to carry out the Lord's purposes.

One of such unusual messengers were ravens, raven birds.

Ravens do not provide food for people, they don't feed human beings.

They are not responsible for that neither are they wired that way.

The natural inclination of birds is to feed themselves and their young.

Ravens are intelligent birds, they are social with one another and can be known for selfishness.

They are not messenger birds like pigeons.

Ravens are not the kind of birds you'd deliver your letter through.

The homing pigeon has remarkable navigational skills and a can travel over 8,000 miles away from its home, it navigates its way back to its nest successfully.

This is why the homing pigeon has been used  as messengers for thousands of years.

Falcons and eagles have also been trained and used by man to deliver messages from one person to another or one kingdom to the other.

These birds of prey do not have the homing instinct of the homing pigeon so they were not used as frequently as the pigeons, they were used for deliveries within shorter distances.

Ravens are not in these class of birds as messengers, they've never served humanity in that kind of way- taking written, sealed or bottled messages to its destination on their owners behalf.

The Lord is a specialist at doing things in unconventional ways.

A prophet of the Lord needed sustenance and the Creator fed his messenger twice a day- in the morning and in the evening.

This human messenger was the prophet Elijah.

Twice a day he ate bread and meat given to him, not given to him by any man, but brought to him by ravens!

He drank from the brook Cherith during this period.

We need the Lord's direction, we need the word of the Lord for our lives.

He was directed, the word of the Lord came to him. He was told where to say/hide.

The food was not brought to him by trained falcons or homing pigeons but by ravens!

Its remarkable that the ravens brought the food regularly and consistently twice a day without being guided, forced or trained.

Bread and meat are delicacies for birds. That's their food, they love it.

Why would they give them to a man?

It's not unusual to see people feeding birds, be it their domestic birds or free birds.

In public, at parks, at ponds or lakes people throw bird feed, or bread to birds, ducks, swans.

It is unheard of to hear of birds bringing food to man.

This was what happened with the ravens feeding Elijah!

It is a miracle many Bible students often overlook, though it is as remarkable as an other miracle in the scriptures.

The bread most have been fresh, warm and edible for Elijah to be able to eat it.

The meat must have been warm, cooked and hygienic enough to be edible.

It was a scenario of one category of messengers sustaining another category of messenger.

Those ravens played the role of God's messengers, in taking food to his prophet.

It displayed a beautiful relationship between birds (ravens) and a human being.

A lovely relationship between animal messengers and a human messenger, they were all messengers of the most High.

There are some mysteries around the story.

We have to wonder where the bread and meat came from.

Where did the bread come from, who cooked the meat, did the Creator inspire someone to send ravens with meat and bread out there to someone who needs it without the cook knowing who Elijah is?

If that's the matter, why is it Elijah the ravens took the bread and meat to, why didn't they miss their way?

Why did the sender use ravens when there are more reliable bird breeds to use considering the temperament and nature of ravens?

Could the ravens be angels, perhaps angels who took the form of raven birds?

If the ravens were angels, was it angel food Elijah ate in the form of bread and meat?

Why did the ravens obey and why didn't they eat the bread and meat themselves?

There are so many questions around the story.

That being said, I believe it.

Do you?

The supernatural and miraculous ways of God that is past finding out or understanding is written all over that story.

I believe in miracles, I believe in the supernatural, I believe in the wonder working power of God.

Do you?

"And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.  And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.  And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,"

The Fish and The Gold Coin

Paying our bills, carrying out our financial responsibilities is part of our duty as responsible adults.

The ability to stay on top of financial responsibilities has a lot to do with our personal economy.

We don't live in a perfect world, situations are not always perfect, people are not perfect, evil exists in our world and the world and its systems and platforms are not level playing fields.

For these reasons people can sometimes find themselves in situations and circumstances that are less than perfect.

There are times when people's personal economy cannot meet up with their financial responsibilities.

During such times we need a plan, a strategy, direction, or instruction to get out of the murky waters of financial stress or debt.

The Lord Jesus Christ found Himself in a situation where He didn't have money with Him and He and Peter his disciple had to pay temple tax.

Jesus knew what to do not to pay temple tax, 

He could have exempted Himself from it, but He didn't.

We learn from Him in this Biblical story that there is always a way out of every difficult or tricky situation.

We see from the actions of Jesus, that we don't have to run away from our financial responsibilities.

We see from the story how Jesus overcame the situation, we learn from the situation that as long as God's power exists, it can be brought into our daily lives and responsibilities; even our financial needs.

Rather than exempting Himself from paying council tax, He gave Peter an instruction that brought about the provision for them to pay their council tax.

God's power always follows God's instructions!

The power of God had gone ahead of Peter to creatively make the money (gold coin) available from the moment Jesus gave Peter the instruction.

We need to locate God's instructions for our lives!

Instant miracles still happen.

Creative miracles are real.

Supernatural provision still shows up from unexpected sources!

Peter went to the river as he had been instructed by Jesus, he cast his fishing equipment into the water and the first fish he caught was pulled up, he looked in its mouth and found a golden coin in there!

It happened exactly as he had been told by Jesus!

The coin was used to pay temple tax for him and Jesus!

That was a miraculous provision indeed!

There are times people find themselves in need of a miracle.

There may be days people need  miraculous provisions from the Lord to pay bills, fulfill pledges, manifest dreams, carry out promises, and to make good on vows.

Supernatural supplies and miraculous provisions can occur by God's power.

When God's power is involved in a matter miracles happen!

When God's power is brought into a situation or circumstance that's not favorable and difficult, the negative situations and circumstances change for the better, solutions come forth and provision manifests!

There is no direct connection between a fish which is an aquatic animal and a gold coin which is a precious metal and used as a legal tender on land.

Treasures of darkness are treasures that are out of human sight, hidden in things and places men could not imagine they would be in.

The gold in the mouth of the fish was a treasure of darkness, hidden away from plain sight but located by God's direction.

In obeying Jesus, Peter went for gold.

In obeying Jesus Peter made a profit.

In obeying Jesus Peter received gold!

In following Jesus's instruction Peter uncovered a treasure of darkness.

Sometimes our blessings are in the most unusual places and we need to be led by the Lord to where they are.

Peter finding gold in the fish's mouth would not have happened without direction.

There are different views about the kind of legal tender found in that fish's mouth.

Some scripture translations read that its a silver coin that was in the fish's mouth.

Some translations read that its money that was found in the fish's mouth.

Other translations say it was the four-drachma coin which is just enough to pay the temple tax for two people that Peter found in the mouth of the fish.

The bottom line is that Peter found legal tender to pay a bill he and Jesus needed to pay.

I've chosen to stick with the Smith's Literal translation which informs its gold that was in the fish's mouth.

There are times miracles are needed to avert embarrassment or shame.

When Jesus performed what was recorded as His first miracle, it was at a marriage in Cana of Galilee and He worked that miracle to avert shame for the bridegroom.

He turned water to wine.

When He saw to it that Peter received gold to pay their bills, He did it to avert a financial embarrassment for Peter and Himself.

Nothing can mock the power of God, shame and lack does not occur around God's power.

When we find ourselves in shameful, hard and embarrassing situations, it is an opportunity to receive the miracle of God and see His power at work!

I once heard a wise preacher say "God performs miracles on the platform of difficulties"

He is right.

I believe in miracles, I believe in miracle provision. I believe God still performs miracles even today.

What about you?

Water Out Of The Rock

Rocks do not always produce water, after all they are not cactus plants.

Cactus plants are large, spiky, green colored plants often found in arid regions.

They survive without regular watering because they have wide spreading  roots that help them quickly absorb moisture from light and rare desert rainfalls before they evaporate.

Cactuses also act as storage units for water.

In a good number of Hollywood movies, the cactus is portrayed as a plant that can gush out water when pierced with a sharp object like a knife, which the protagonist in western moves drink from as they journey through arid regions or deserts.

While this is not accurate about the cactus plant, it is understandable if people assume or think about it as a plant that gushes out water if cut open.

Visualizing a rock gushing out water is a different matter altogether.

It is a tall order to find a rock or mountain that gushes out water or produces water from within it.

It's miraculous, come to think about it.

Water flowing off rocks is understandable and more realistic, like what we see with waterfalls.

Streams of water flowing, by, over or around rocks is not unusual.

Finding a rock that produces water out of it like a fountain, that gushes out water like a running tap is rather miraculous.

It happened in scriptures.

It is testament to God's miraculous power and ability to create provision out of unlikely sources.

The story is that Moses and the children of Israel during their journey to the promised land needed water, journeying through arid regions naturally got them thirsty.

In a most miraculous way, water gushed out of the rock to satisfy the thirst of the Israelites as Moses followed God's instruction.

They were about three million people according to some Bible scholars.

Their thirst was quenched through water from the rock!

Rocks are hard, stone like, granite like objects.

You can't squeeze a rock and get water out of it!

Only the Creator can do that.

The lesson in drinking water gushing out of the rock to satisfy an entire nation is a miraculous one, a supernatural occurrence that bears witness to the fact that with God all things are possible.

The Lord is able to bring resources, provision and satisfaction out of unlikely places and things.

That rock becoming a source of water shows to us that the Lord can bring fulfilment and satisfaction out of our dry, hard and rocky experiences.

It testifies to God's ability to turn our 'hard places' into areas of fulfilment and provision.

No matter how rocky the situation you're in may be, out of that situation the Lord can bring out 'waters' of satisfaction and fulfillment.

Out of that which doesn't produce came that which refreshes.

Out of what was lifeless and static came out that which is dynamic, in motion and lifegiving!

Water is lifegiving. Living things require water, both plants and animals.

Our earth is refreshed by water, that's why it rains.

Water existed before land.

God brought forth land from the waters.

Our grounds are on water.

Water revives us, keeps us going, refreshes us and stops dehydration.

A rock or mountain gushing out streams of water from within it, is as rare as honey coming out of the carcass of the dead lion Samson killed, a gold coin being found in the mouth of a fish like Peter found, and food supernaturally multiplying like it did at the words of Elijah, Elisha and our Lord Jesus Christ!

The logical thing for Moses and the Israelites to do was to look for streams, the nearest river, pond or fountain.

The sensible thing to do, which most people would think of doing is to endure a little longer and get to the nearest town, village or city to ask for water there.

That was not God's plan.

The ways of the Lord are different to our ways.

It is worth asking the Lord for His ways and His plan.

The instruction He will give us may be unusual, the direction we receive of Him may be uncommon, the His plan may be beyond our understanding but the outcome will be enriching, fulfilling and satisfying.

I lean not unto my own understanding, in all my ways I will commit all things to the Lord and He will direct my path.

What about you?

Out Of The Lion

Lions are mentioned over 150 times in the Bible.

They are one of the most frequently mentioned animals in the scriptures.

Lions are huge majestic cats known for their fierceness and toughness.

Carnivorous and wild, they are beasts capable of feasting on human beings, they are not domestic animals though there are situations where lions are tamed and kept like domestic pets, as exotic pets.

There is no creature human beings have not made an effort to tame.

Defeating and killing a lion was part of David's testimony and qualification to go up against the warrior giant called Goliath.

David didn't see Goliath as any different from the predators he had killed when they came for the sheep he was protecting.

Lions are powerful beasts who hunt, in most scenarios they prevail over men when man and lion come face to face.

David's courageous victories over the bear and the lion, which are strong predators given to killing and destroying is no mean feat, considering David was a teenager of about14 to 16 years old at the time.

What a guy, what a boy! A real wonder boy!

Samson is another figure from the scriptures who killed a lion.

A Nazarene from birth, a man of the covenant and a child of promise he operated in supernatural strength as a gift and covenant from God for a purpose.

Samson didn't just operate in the spirit of might, he was also blessed with the gift of putting forth riddles.

He prevailed over the lion that had roared at him when journeying with his parents to meet the family of the Philistine lady he had fallen in love with and her family.

His parents were not with him at the exact moment it happened.

The spirit of might was at work in Samson, the lion chose the wrong man for a fight, the lion roared at the wrong person. It was a miscalculated move. That lion met its demise.

He killed the lion rather easily without his parents knowing what had happened, he didn't tell them what he had done, it must have been a quick kill!

On their way back home, Samson saw the carcass of the lion he had killed and found honey in it.

The carcass of lions is not where bees would naturally build their hive and produce honey.

Despite that, Samson found honey in the most unlikely place.

He found honey in the enemy that wanted to make a meal out of him.

Samson got a meal out of his enemy instead.

The honey in the carcass of the lion represents Samsons reward for winning the fight.

The honey was Samson's compensation for being roared at.

The honey was Samson's blessing for defeating an enemy.

The honey represents Samson's spoil of war.

The honey symbolizes what is rightfully yours but cannot be reached until you defeat the enemy denying you of what's yours.

The honey is symbolic of satisfaction and fulfilment after winning over a lion of life.

He shared the honey with his parents, but they did not know where he got it from.

The three of them ate and enjoyed the honey.

His parents benefitted from his reward.

Lions are symbolic of enemies, powerful enemies. 

They can be fallen angels, demons, humans, witchcraft, shrines and altars.

Lions can symbolize that which can eat us up.

They can be used to represent problems that are beyond us, challenges that can take us out if not for the Lord's help.

Lions represent that which has an advantage over us, a war or a battle that can potentially unalive us.

There are insights we can glean from the Samson and the lion encounter:-

We need the Lord's Spirit to overcome the lions of life.

We need the Lord's strength to overcome the things, issues and enemies that want to swallow us up.

There are those the lions of life cannot prevail over or defeat because they are chosen, they are individuals of the covenant, and they have been endowed with something extra.

For the battles of life that come against us or roar at us, we can win and our loved ones and family can benefit from our victory too.

Out of our tough battles and warfare sweet rewards can come out of it.

Out of the enemy or enemies that have come against us we can get the spoils of war.

For every battle of life we fight, there must be sweet compensation.

"Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet"

 

Your Sterling Moment!

When we study the heroes of faith they all accomplished a lot through faith and obtained good reports which we call testimonies.

Testimonies are good news and its part of what the gospel is all about.

These were accomplished through faith.

Each of them had great moments of faith in their life journeys.

However, there are moments that stand out in each individuals life.

I call those moments sterling moments.

Your sterling moment is your golden moment, it is your moment of golden opportunity, achievement, and greatest manifestation.

Your sterling season is your golden season.
Your sterling phase is your golden phase.
Your sterling achievement is your golden achievement, your best or greatest achievement.

Its possible to have a number of moments or an entire season in our lives that stand out as our sterling moment or season, but in most cases there is an occurrence or event that stands out from the others.

Elijah's sterling moment was when he called fire down from heaven.

Nobody has ever done that before, not any mortal man!

Joshua's sterling moment was when he told the sun and the moon to stand still and they obeyed him!

An achievement that's never repeated itself.

Daniel's sterling moment was coming out of the lions den alive.

Few people would survive entering a den of hungry lions especially if they're not their owner or handler.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's sterling moment was coming out of the fiery furnace alive.

David's sterling moment was confronting and killing Goliath.

Moses's sterling moment was the parting of the red sea.

Hezekiah's sterling moment was his prayer negotiation with God while facing the wall which led to the extension of his life by fifteen years and victory over his rival enemy king.

Peter's sterling moment was his presence and shadow healing people!

Solomon's sterling moment was discerning who the real mother was between two harlots who fought for the same baby.

Jesus Christ's sterling moment among many was rising from the dead!

In sports, your sterling performances and achievements tend to happen in your prime.
In the world of sports that's how it is but not in the realm of faith and the spiritual.
Faith- we understand it, grow in it, and learn to use it in time.
Being in your prime is an age dependent thing.
But in the things of faith and the Spirit age is not often a factor..
"As your years are, so shall your strength be" is not applicable to sports or the cycle of nature.
That happens only in the realm of faith.

The realm of faith is the realm of exploits.
Your sterling moments, seasons, achievements, phase or days can happen through faith.
Faith connects us to our golden season.
Faith links us to our gold in Christ.

There is gold in your faith, go for gold!
There is gold in your faith and your faith is golden.
Through faith we unlock a golden season of glory.
Through faith we strike it rich in Christ!
Through faith we step into our golden age of kingship, priesthood and leadership!

Faith brings us into our sterling season before God.
By faith we connect to glory, glory is golden!
In glory our needs are met.
In glory there are riches!
Our needs are met according to God's riches in glory.
Faith connects us to those riches in glory in Christ Jesus!
Faith gives us access to the graces, the riches, the gold of God!

Stay in faith, stand in faith, grow in faith.
Act in faith, speak in faith and meditate faith thoughts!
Have faith like gold, for faith is more precious than gold.
Faith is true riches!
Faith attracts grace!
When grace abounds a new season begins.
Grace makes us rich and it is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith is it!

Faith brings about a sterling season of achievement and opportunities in a human life.
In faith step into a season of great grace and faith like gold!
Heaven wants to manifest your sterling season before the angels of heaven and men of the earth.
Be the one who operates in rich faith, golden faith, shiny faith.
The world is waiting for you.
God would have us become spectacles before men & angels!

What is your sterling moment?

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

THE TRUTH, THE LIFE, THE REALITY, THE MOTIVATION AND INSPIRED WISDOM TO MAKE IT TO THE FINISHED LINE

Light is a phenomenon that makes visibility possible, it makes life easier and makes productivity possible through sight.
In a philosophical context, light signifies hope, solutions, clarity, answers, breakthrough, the divine and a way out.
There's no disputing the fact that light is important to life and creation.

Tunnels are also very important in life.
They aid transportation, they enhance commerce and industry.
Philosophically, tunnels represent our journey and our path in life.

Humanity is on a journey, a journey each individual is making.
Life's journey can come with its ups and downs, almost like a rollercoaster.
Life's journey is laced with its great moments, joyful moments, pleasant moments and sometimes tough moments.

The tough moments are dark moments, the down experience of the journey, the tiring phase of the journey of life.
Rightly so, tunnels can be dark, in the evenings in particular, more so when the tunnel doesn't have lights installed in it.
During such times we long for light, during such seasons in our life's journey we need the Light!

The dark, the night seasons of the tunnel of life's journey can be long, lonely, confusing and uncertain.
It's a period when we often don't know who to confide in, its a time we are confused about who to trust with our personal information, our secrets, even when we long to have someone to share our burdens with.
Such periods can be long, they can seem like an unending cycle of misfortune, ill luck, tragedies and a nightmare we wish to see the end of.
How we long for such phases of our lives to end.
We long for hope, good signs, evidence that our tomorrow will be better than our present experience.
We long for light which is the answer to that dark phase of our lives.
We long for light at the end of the tunnel.

During those dark times we must not forget as we journey through the tunnel of life that the darkness will come to an end.
We must not forget that the challenges, the obstacles, the difficulties are just a season and even that will come to an end.
Seasons change, and seasons come to an end.
Everything has its time and it's season.

 The hour of darkness will not last forever.

This is the wisdom of life many forget when they are going through the darkness of the tunnel on their life's journey.

Some have made a shipwreck of their lives along the way by giving up, seeking help from questionable sources, turning to vices, comfort eating, alcohol and unfortunately suicide.

Life has a way of testing our strength, our mental fortitude, and endurance.
Walking through the dark season of our lives is not a call to give up.
Quitters never win, and winners never quit.

Resolve within yourself that the darkness will not see your end, you will see the end of the darkness!
Have the understanding that you have not come as far as you have come, and enduring everything you have endured to give up.
Have the confidence to know you are not created for defeat, to give up, or to fail.
Have the knowledge to sense your creator didn't bring you this far to forsake you.
Be strengthened, be encouraged, be excited in knowing the Lord is on your side and you will make it to the finish line.
The finish line is where the light is, it is the light at the end of the tunnel.

It is where you must and you will get to.

The darkness will soon give way to light.
The season of darkness you experienced will soon make sense.
You will soon understand why you had to go through all you went through.

Don't give up now.
You may be one more effort, one more prayer, one more step, more strike away from your breakthrough.

The tables will turn, the tide will change, the darkness will give way, and you will make it to your finish line.
Your endurance will pay off.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Spiritual Mechanisms

 Mechanisms are internal set ups that make the internal systems of a machine, device or body function.

Mechanisms are needed to make things function properly and efficiently.

A faulty mechanism can disrupt the functioning process of the body it operates within.

The efficiency of mechanisms can determine the productivity and result of a system and body.

Mechanisms matter.

We have spiritual mechanisms too.

Spiritual mechanisms are those spiritual things that we do and those things that work in our favor for the greater good, plan, and purposes of God for our lives.

God is a God of systems.

Systems exist in everything God has created, nature shows this in an abundance.

The universe has many systems within it.

Our solar system is a system that has many other systems within it.

There are systems in every sector of the earth, science proves this.

From the animal kingdom, to the world of insects, from the aquatic world to the laws that govern life in the physical and spiritual world, systems exist everywhere.

Within systems we find mechanisms.

Mechanisms are "the organized interacting parts or processes within a system that are responsible for producing specific functions, behaviors, or phenomena."

Mechanisms are the link between cause and effect

Angels act as spiritual mechanisms.

They are part of the system of heaven, they are part of the system of God's kingdom.

A young man who had left home due to a  desperate situation was tired, didn't know where to turn and he arrived at a place now known as Bethel. His name is Jacob, he would go on to be one of the patriarchs of the faith. 

It was late and all he wanted was a good nights sleep, using a rock as a pillow he slept that night and he had a dream where he saw a long ladder which reached heaven from where he was and angels were ascending to heaven and descending to the earth on the ladder.

Jacob woke up fearful, realizing he had a dream that was no ordinary dream but a revelational encounter!

That dream shows a spiritual system.

It reveals the Lord's spiritual system.

And angels are mechanisms in that system.

The ladder is Christ, Jesus the Christ.

He is God's link between heaven and earth, He is God's connection between divinity and humanity, He is God's connection between the physical and spiritual realms.

The angels of God ascend and descend because of the ladder, they ascend and descend on the ladder as part of a divine heavenly system.

Angels ascend and descend between heaven and earth because of the prayer of the saints.

The rock Jacob laid his head on is symbolic of an altar, it also represents the rock of revelation.

Our lives should be built according to pattern.

Revelations show us the pattern.

The wise man builds his house upon the rock.

Seek revelations from God, covet revelational encounters.

The mechanisms within a device or product are not often seen.

When we switch on our electric appliances, we note that they work and carry out the desired expectation but we do not see the internal mechanisms working effectively to make the products function.

That's because the mechanisms are concealed, they are in an enclosure, they are covered in casings

Our prayer life, just like those mechanisms are not for the public to see.

Prayer is not for showing off or public attention. It is not for self glorification or self righteousness before men.

The prayer life Jesus encourages us to have is one of secrecy.

Jesus Himself would go away to a quiet place to pray or to a mountain, away from the eyes of men.

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

Your prayer closet or your room should be the cover, enclosure, or casing that conceals your prayer life from distractions and the interference of people.

Angels are spiritual mechanisms.

Prayer is a spiritual mechanism.

Altars are spiritual mechanisms.

Praise is a spiritual mechanism.

Giving is a spiritual mechanism.

Sacrifices are spiritual mechanisms.

The name of Jesus Christ is a spiritual mechanism.

The blood of Jesus is a spiritual mechanism.

Revelations are spiritual mechanisms.

Dreams can be spiritual mechanisms.

Fasting can be a spiritual mechanism.

They all work together effectively to bring about victorious and wonderful outcomes for our benefit and God's glory!