Isaiah 60 - paraphrased

“Get out of bed, Sam! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. GOD’s bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, But GOD rises on you-Sam, His sunrise glory breaks over you-Sam. Nations will come to my (Sam) light, kings to my sunburst brightness.

Hey Sam! Look up! Look around! Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you: Your sons coming from great distances, your daughters carried by their nannies. When you see them coming you’ll smile—big smiles! Your heart will swell and, yes, burst! All those people returning by sea for the reunion, a rich harvest of exiles gathered in from the nations! And then streams of great convoys as far as the eye can see, Pouring in from all nations (Africa, Europe, Asia. America etc.) Loaded with gold and frankincense, preaching the praises of GOD…

Sam’s “Jerusalem gates” will always be open —OPEN HOUSE DAY AND NIGHT!— Receiving deliveries of wealth from all nations, and their kings, the delivery boys... The rich woods of Lebanon will be delivered —all that cypress and oak and pine— To give a splendid elegance to God’s Sanctuary, as He make His footstool glorious.

The descendants of my (Sam) oppressor will come bowing and scraping to me. All who looked down at me in contempt will lick my boots. They’ll confer a title on me: City of GOD, Zion of The Holy of Israel. Not long ago I was despised refuse— out-of-the-way, unvisited, ignored. But NOW God has put me on my feet, TOWERING and GRAND FOREVER, a joy to look at! When I SUCK THE MILK OF NATIONS and the BREASTS OF ROYALTY, I will know that GOD, He is my Savior, my Redeemer, Champion of Jacob.

He will give me ONLY THE BEST—no more hand-me-downs! Gold instead of bronze, silver instead of iron, bronze instead of wood, iron instead of stones. He will install Peace to run my country, make Righteousness my boss. There’ll be no more stories of crime in my land, no more robberies, no more vandalism. I will name my main street Salvation Way, and install Praise Park at the center of my town. I will have no more need of the sun by day nor the brightness of the moon at night. GOD will be my eternal light, my God will BATHE ME IN SPLENDOR.

My sun will NEVER go down, my moon will NEVER fade. God will be my eternal light. My days of grieving are over. All Sam’s people will live RIGHT AND WELL, in PERMANENT possession of the land. They are the green shoot that God planted, planted with His own hands to display His glory. The feeblest will become a great tribe, the weakling become a strong nation. He is GOD. AT THE RIGHT TIME HE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN.” (Isaiah 60:1-22-MSG)

Someone said, “but that passage of Scripture was written for someone else”, you are right and I also thought the same way. But time will fail me to tell you that the Internet was initially designed for a specific group of people but now everyone can use it. Hear what Jesus said one time to His disciples while walking the streets of Galilee, “What I say TO YOU I say TO ALL, 'Be on the alert!'” (Mark 13:37). So there are some things that can apply to all. Those promises can be yours if you desire them.

Don’t forget, no matter what you are going through, YOU ARE EXPECTED TO WIN.

On behalf of my Essence of Joy – Oludolapo, my graceful kids – Blessing, Faith and Isaac, I am saying you are blessed and highly graced. Love you.

In His ever increasing love,

Sam Kuye

MAKE ME A SOLUTION TO THE PREVAILING PROBLEMS IN MY GENERATION!

God is a God of generations and cultures and in every generation, His faithfulness has never failed. I woke me up early this morning and I sense in my heart that God is giving me a prayer point that I feel like sharing with you. Every generation is unique by the reason of the prevailing circumstances, challenges, problems and social issues of the time. For instance, from the time that humanity was placed on earth, people have been walking on their feet (possibly one of the available forms of transportation aside from riding donkeys) to go from one place to the other. Many years later, there were some inventions like chariots from Ancient Egypt and life was cool. Not being able to drive a car, ride a bike or fly in the air was not an issue.

When Jesus walked the earth, he never prayed once for a car, an ipad, or an aircraft because according to the timing of the Master Designer, those are not prevailing necessities in that generation. But Jesus needed strength to be able to walk around, so He prayed for strength. He saw hunger and He prayed to be able to feed the hungry. He saw injustice in the legal system of His time (as narrated in the case of the woman caught in the act of adultery and was to be stoned but the man involved was exonerated), and He prayed for wisdom to handle the situation. He saw sickness (blindness, impotency, leprosy etc) and He prayed for the power to heal them. Slavery has always been around but it was not a major or prevailing problem in those generations, racism was there but it was not a prevailing issue of the time. The prevailing issues in every generation have always been taken care of by the Master Designer.

Why am I saying all these? God is looking for people that will ask Him to reveal the solutions to the PREVAILING PROBLEMS in their generation. Even though walking on feet was not an issue for thousands of years, when it became a problem that men could not travel long distance or fly in the air, the knowledge to make engines and aircrafts were made available by the Master Designer. Even though slavery has been around for ages, when it became a prevailing problem, people like William Wilberforce, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King etc were instrumental to providing solution to that problem. Many in the field of medicine, science, religion etc all over the world were limited in their efforts to make life better because of the meager resources or access to relevant information. Few years ago, boom! The computer and Internet were made available by the Master Designer.

Now during the time of Jesus, cancer was not an issue, AIDS was not an issue, terrorism was not an issue, gun control was not an issue, redefinition of marriage was not an issue (you can add to that list). All these issues have always been around in one form or another but they were not PREVAILING ISSUES like in our generation. Guess what, the Master Designer has never failed any generation but the question is, “Would you join me in asking Him to make us SOLUTIONS to the PREVAILING ISSUES” in our generation? Instead of believing God for miracle to heal few cancer patients, the perpetual solution can be made available to us and just like you don’t need to pray for you to be able to fly from your room to work daily, cancer can be handled like we handle fever and cold.

You and I are majorly responsible for our generation not the generation of our founding fathers or the generation that Jesus lived in. Internet, Ipad, mobile phone, printing machine, aircraft, electricity, prosthetics, cars, epidural etc have always been in existence in the mind of the Master Designer but were not needed in Jesus’, Moses and all other great people that lived thousands of years back. As you live your life daily, please don’t just think about how to solve the problems in your little family but make it a desire in your heart to be used as part of solution to the problem of humanity, because the Master Designer will never be caught unfaithful to any generation. The wisdom to stop cancer, to govern our home and society effectively, to minimize divorce rates in the world, to subdue terrorism and to make the world a better place in our generation is available.

I read a statement early this morning that says, “We take hold of the grace that changes us”. The grace of God changes us and changes situations. Will you say that to yourself? “I take hold of the grace that changes situations!”

Don’t forget, no matter what you are going through, YOU ARE EXPECTED TO WIN.

On behalf of my Essence of Joy – Oludolapo, my graceful kids – Blessing, Faith and Isaac, I am saying you are blessed and highly graced. Love you.

In His ever increasing love,

Sam Kuye