New Year Message: Primate Ndukuba Declares 2023 a Year of Divine Exaltation
( FULL TEXT).
HIGHLIGHTS:
…..Exaltation is the act of raising high, the state of being elevated the refinement of a body or increasing of its virtue, or principle.
……. It is God alone that ought to be exalted His glory, He will not share with any man. He will not give his own honour to any idol. And therefore, because exaltation is due to God alone, honour glory excellence belongs to him alone.
…..God will not bless sin, sin is a reproach, and God will not bless wickedness. It is abominable before God and the things that God abhors; we need to run from them
….. the third thing that we need to understand When talk of exaltation also is that righteousness is the basis of God’s exaltation
…….When God goes ahead of us, the walls of Jericho will fall before us down. They will fall down flat and God will help us when God goes ahead of us.
……Whether we like it or not, 2023 will bring about a turnaround, this will not continue to be as they have always been, Because God is promising, as he has spoken through Prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 61: 2-4; it will be a time of God’s consolation and comfort.
…The evil that has befallen us in this nation, the suffering that we have been passing through, the wickedness that has been unleashed on people was because of sin, which is bringing reproach upon the land, shedding of blood, and all sorts of anarchy upon the land, but this year, shall be the year of divine exaltation.
…..God will remember his own, and by that, we shall be delivered from destruction, we shall be guided by the right hand of God, the hand of righteousness, we shall experience the torture of God. Once we seek God, the righteousness of the Lord shall bring us the favour of God,
NEW YEAR MESSAGE FULL TEXT
BY THE MOST REVD DR. HENRY C. NDUKUBA
Opening prayers:
We give you thanks, Heavenly Father, You are the God of all ages and all generations.
Lord, you have made times and seasons that you alone shall be glorified. Thank you for taking us through the year 2022 And for bringing us into this new year, the year that you have made that we will rejoice and be glad in it. So, Lord, rain the heavens and come among us. At this very beginning of the year 2023, We ask God that you will lead us you will go ahead of us. Above all, speak to us and help us so that we may hear you. This we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Turn to Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, that sin is a reproach to any people.” Again, turn to Hebrew 1:8 “That the sun he says, Your throne of God is forever and ever. A sceptre of righteousness is the centre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated law, lawlessness. Therefore, God, You are God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.” As we step into the year 2023, We have every reason to give thanks to God for His faithfulness and mercy that has carried us we praise God for all the battles that he fought on our behalf, for healing and deliverance, for provision and protection.
In spite of all the challenges that surrounded us, God has helped us once again, glory be to God, in the name of Jesus, that as we come into the year 2023, we have rejoiced during the crossover night, some of us have made our New Year’s resolutions, and we have made up our mind on things that we need to achieve this year. But let it be clear that horses are prepared for war, victory can only come from the Lord. The year 2023 will also come with its own challenges and problems whatever it may bring, let us set our hearts to honour God. Because this is a new season, which God has made in order to visit us in order to bless us and help us for the fact that we have faced some challenges or problems in the year 2010 too does not mean it will continue in the year 2023.
A new brand-new start/year is given to us, and for us to go through this year our eyes must be on the Lord. Just as God spoke through Joshua to the people of Israel when he brought them out and about to take them into the land of promise. God said in Joshua 3:3-5 that “he is about to do a wonderful thing, great and mighty thing, but first they must set sanctified themselves set themselves apart look unto God.”’ “Because they have not passed that way before, God said that when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth.” My prayer is that this year, we shall follow the presence of God. We shall follow the Lord, His Word, His instruction, and his directives, as we hear Him and obey his commandments and instructions, he will lead us into what he has prepared for us. That promise of God for you and me will surely come to pass in the name of Jesus. It will take watchfulness and recalling some obedience, in order that we may be able to follow what God has prepared for us. He knows and he leads the way. When God leads the way, the river will see us and be divided into two. We shall walk on the dry land; he will help us. When God goes ahead of us, the walls of Jericho will fall before us down. They will fall down flat and God will help us when God goes ahead of us.
Therefore, the year 2023 shall be to us, the year of divine exaltation, when we talk of exaltation, to exalt means to honour to hold in high esteem, to raise or promote rank, to raise in status or to be elevated. Exaltation is the act of raising high, the state of being elevated the refinement of a body or increasing of its virtue, or principle, property. exaltation has to do with promotion, being magnified, and experiencing the help of God that brings prosperity and increases continually. And I know when we talk of exaltation, everybody will key into it and everybody will want to be lifted. That, as we may know, every promise of God goes with a condition. And whenever God sees anything that is in line with his promise, His Word, His purpose, and, more importantly, his nature and character, God identifies with such a personal situation.
Therefore, when we talk of the year 2023 been the year of divine exaltation. Proverbs 14::34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach. when God was sending His Son, Jesus Christ into the wall, there was a condition that says, he lost righteousness and added iniquity. whenever God says righteousness, He honours such a person and people and that is why it is a reason for exaltation.
God will not bless sin, sin is a reproach, and God will not bless wickedness. It is abominable before God and the things that God abhors; we need to run from them. For when we talk of exaltation, exaltation actually is only due to God. It is God alone that ought to be exalted His glory, He will not share with any man. He will not give his own honour to any idol. And therefore, because exaltation is due to God alone, honour glory excellence belongs to him alone.
Whenever God intervenes in any human situation, he changes our narratives. He brings deliverance. He gives us a reason to rejoice in victory, not because of our smartness, but because of His goodness and mercy, because of his heart, because of what he has done, giving us victory. Therefore 2023 shall be for us, the year, the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of God’s own visitation and Jubilee, the year of God’s unique intervention that will bring a turnaround in the lives of individuals or families and of our nation. Whether we like it or not, 2023 will bring about a turnaround, this will not continue to be as they have always been, Because God is promising, as he has spoken through Prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 61: 2-4; it will be a time of God’s consolation and comfort. For those that mourn in Zion, he will turn around our ashes, he will turn around our grief, he will turn around our mourn, even when we think that we are downtrodden and we can do nothing, he says he will raise for Himself a people who will be the people of righteousness, after his own nature, and with whom He will build back the views of many generations. I’m believing God, that God is going to intervene in our situation in Nigeria, because exaltation, belongs to him alone. exaltation also is God’s own nature. He transcends all and indeed, he is sovereign over our lives and circumstances, no matter what we have been through, or whatever may be the challenges ahead of us as we step into the year 2023, God’s word to us is that it will be the year in which he will manifest who he is on our behalf.
When we talk of exaltation, exaltation goes with power, in fact, Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesians 1:19-21 ”He says, Look, that his desire is that we may know the exceeding greatness, of God’s power towards us who believe and according to the walking of his mighty power, which he walked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated him on the right hand of the Father, in the heavenly places, far above principalities and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age, but also in that quiches to come, and all things are put under Jesus.” So He is exalted, far above principalities and powers, far above every situation and dominion, so as we move into the year 2023, our eyes are on Him who stands upon the throne, the Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings, To Him belongs all exhortation and from him, our own exaltation and deliverance shall come, not from man, not from any system, but from the Lord our God, the Sovereign LORD shall rule and reign he will, he will lead in this year 2023 For the wisdom and schemes of Man will tell them God shall be exalted.
When we talk of exaltation, the third thing that we need to understand also is that righteousness is the basis of God’s exaltation. God does not bless, no matter how smart you may be in cutting corners, as far as God is concerned, the end does not justify the means, if the means to die the end is faulty and corrupt. The end will not be blessed by God, It may be praised by men, it may be sustained by human laws., But as far as God is concerned, it counts for nothing. Therefore, there are things that we need to note because righteousness is the basis of God’s exaltation. We need to understand that righteousness has to do with the right standing with God. It means having faith in this living God, obedience to His Word, His instructions, fellowship and walk with God, and our readiness to honour him and follow what he is guiding us to do when God begins to do anything in any life, it is, first of all, to deal with that problem that brings reproach, because proverbs 14:34; says, “sin is a reproach every human being, and indeed the systems of the world and the problems that we have faced in this nation, in our families, and in our lives.”
The same people who may have promised us so much at the end of the day you look around you find out that the same people have failed. And so, we dare not put our trust in man or in ourselves, but in the Lord, who alone is the right choice, and who alone has the capacity to make us be in right standing with him. And because righteousness is the character of God, it is the only thing that pleases Him. It is the life of God. No man can satisfy God except with His help. As God says, all our righteousness and even our good walks may be as filthy rags before Him. God desires that we believe, have faith, and trust in Him, especially in what he has done for us in reconciling us back to ourselves. He has dealt with the power of sin and Satan and has the powers of darkness in this world. He has forgiven us and shown us mercy through His Son Jesus Christ. We are acceptable to Him by faith in Jesus Christ, we can only please God and be attracted to God and in fact, attract God’s attention only by trusting and depending on Jesus Christ, who is God’s wisdom for us, God’s righteousness, and indeed our sanctification.
Jesus was crucified. Let us look up to him. He is exalted into the heavens, seated on the right hand of the Father, ruling over all situations and circumstances, and he is coming back again. It will be wonderful as we step into the year 2023, to set our hearts to walk with God, in obedience, desiring above all, that we may please and seek that day by day he will sanctify our lives and make us acceptable in the son Jesus Christ. Whenever God finds faith, love, righteousness, integrity and purity, holiness, He manifests Himself and that is what we see In Proverbs11:3-8.
We have always been encouraged to trust in God, as the hymn writer proceeds, but when you want to do that, you may find out that the world and the system around us will militate against you, fight you, but never give up. Righteousness exalts, sin will bring reproach. This year, may God help us so that we will walk with Him. And if we are to walk with God, there are things that we need to note. There are things that we must allow God to be exalted above them. There must be things that must be subdued; First of all, is the human authority and spiritual influences which may lead to pride and pomposity.
The things that the world may want to showcase are the things by which the world records that we have seen, from Daniel 4:25; that God, even our God, is the only one that has the authority and power to exalt and to bring down. And, as we can see, when King Nebuchadnezzar thought that he has already acquired everything, and he has achieved his goal and built Babylon for himself, and lifted his heart and pride and dishonour God. God said, because he has done that he will, he will eat grass, for seven seasons. And indeed, that happened. God will be exalted in every situation, even in our political manoeuvres and the details that confront us this year 2023, as we move towards the election, and the new government that is coming in, we are trusting the Lord, that no human authority or spiritual influence, will abort God’s purpose for this nation.
It is a science to lift, it is a size to bring down and we are trusting God, that he will have dominion in the affairs of this nation, and of our lives.
Therefore, let every other thing be subject to the authority and power of the living God because this is the year of divine exaltation. The second is the most subdued, are the earth and the systems of the world. The systems of the world, The Psalmist makes it clear that when God is exalted, above the Earth, every other thing will be subject to him. The regions of the nations are kings, and the systems or the world cannot abort the purpose of God in our lives, both as individuals, as a church, and as a nation. And therefore, this year, we are looking up to the Lord and we are trusting Him that He will prove himself mighty on behalf of his people.
Problems and challenges cannot stop God from being what he wants to do in our lives. Just as the disciples of Jesus came back from a mission in Luke 10; “I say, Lord, at your name, even the evil spirits that are subject to us, they obeyed us, they submitted to us and Jesus, looking at them, said, I saw Satan, fall light lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, nothing shall by any means hake. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Therefore, people of God, the powers of the enemy, the challenges and problems of our time, that may come our way in this year 2023 can never abort the purpose of God. The Lord has given us authority and power, because this is the year of the exaltation of God in our midst, and through him, we shall also walk in victory, may that be our portion in the name of Jesus Christ. Whenever God is exalted, He intervenes in human conditions, and when God intervenes in human conditions, he changes our story. Our story must change, the purpose of God for us, will surely come to pass and as he intervened in the life of the semester, as we see in Psalm 40:1-3 which says; “out of the miracle in the pit, he cried out, and the Lord heard him and lifted him from the miracle and set his foot upon the rock and gave him a new song.” This year, God will lift his own, and he will give us new songs to rejoice because the Exalted Lord has intervened in our situation, and he shall surely turn things around, you will experience divine visitation and divine exaltation. When others are saying, there is a casting doubt, the Lord says that we should declare that there is a lifting up and God shall bless his own.
God has demonstrated this in the lives of many in the scriptures, e.g., Hannah Did God not remember her? So, no matter what the enemy will want to do to keep you down for this year, that is an exaltation. There is a lift that is coming from the presence of the Almighty God; “And Hannah went to God in it in Shiloh. And while others were enjoying food, and communing with God, poured out her heart-made a covenant with God.” God will honour your word, in your intercession, your petition, your request, and the answer to all your need in the name of Jesus Christ, God turned things around.
Acknowledging the authority of the living God, he has the power to give life he has the power to take it, he has the power to lift up, he can raise a poor man from the dustbin and sit him upon the throne. that is what God is going to do in the lives of many this year, in the name of Jesus Christ. It is the year of divine exaltation. When we look at the life of Joseph, Joseph also was a man whom God gave a wonderful vision, and dream of great things he will do, but his brothers conspired against him. And at the end, you know how he ended up gods to exalted yourself because Joseph’s heart was set upon the Lord. God turned it around this year because of the visitation of God upon your life, your family, and our nation, there will be a great turnaround for this is the year of divine exaltation. Even when people have intended evil, God will turn things around for His own glory. And as we look to the Lord, to work with him, with all our heart, in faith, trust in Him. Righteousness exalts a nation; our nation shall be exalted.
The evil that has befallen us in this nation, the suffering that we have been passing through, the wickedness that has been unleashed on people was because of sin, which is bringing reproach upon the land, shedding of blood, and all sorts of anarchy upon the land, but this year, shall be the year of divine exaltation, God will remember his own, and by that, we shall be delivered from destruction, we shall be guided by the right hand of God, the hand of righteousness, we shall experience the torture of God. Once we seek God, the righteousness of the Lord shall bring us the favour of God, because that is the panacea for corruption. Righteousness is the panacea for hypocrisy and wickedness. And as we turn to God, in our individual lives, in our economic lives, in our governance, in our other aspects of life, in this nation, we are trusting God, that the Lord will raise righteous seed, a people that we seek after him, and will follow after his instruction, and who have the right disposition, towards the people; God will help us and show us mercy. Righteousness will exalt individuals above their fellows. God will also do for the Church of God, and for our nation. And we shall see the hand of God, intervening. This is the acceptable year of the Lord. Let us set our hearts to walk with Him and it shall be well with yours, it shall be well with you, your family, and the people of God and this nation.
Happy New Year, again….
Closing prayers:
God, Father, you are the righteous God, you rule and reign in majesty, with power and authority. Lord, we thank you for bringing us again into this year 2023. We ask only one thing that thy will be done in our lives, and that your hand will be mighty to prosper your children, and this nation, in the way of the righteousness of peace, of justice, of fairness and integrity, that God as we set our hearts to work with you and to be you. Lord, you will do great and mighty things. Thank you, Father, because excellency and all power belong to you. You will show yourself glory on our behalf. Bless your name, oh Lord, our God bless this year 2023, And make it fruitful and a blessing to all your people and to the good citizens of this nation. May we find relief and help from you. These we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God bless you.
