forgiveness – My Grace Untold

“So What Is Your Weakness?” – Part 2

“…So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NLT

What is weakness as it pertains to a person’s character or being?

One definition of weakness is the state or condition of lacking strength (physical). Another definition is a quality or feature regarded as a disadvantage or fault. One distinct definition speaks of an inadequate or defective quality.

“Lord, what is my weakness? my weaknesses?”

I heard the Spirit whisper, “What have you been delivered from? What did you once indulge in that opposed the way of God in you and for you?”

It dawned on me that every weakness that I carried with me before I knew the Lord for myself, I no longer carry.

I no longer carry the burden of shame, rebellion, guilt, sexual immorality, reckless speech/thought, impatience, practicality that hindered faith, timidity, vulgar spirit, self-esteem battles, depression, and everything else that encouraged me to indulge in destructive ways out of a need to protect myself so others do not see my weaknesses.

So I ask you today friend, “Is it still a weakness if you no longer indulge in it? Or is it yet a weakness because you are still harboring that which cause you to battle with your identity in Christ?”

I pondered deeply on whether not having a weakness was something to say out loud. Would it not sound arrogant of me to make such a claim? Then I recalled the heart of the Apostle Paul when he penned his letter to the Corinthians (see above scripture context)

The grace of God is sufficient indeed.

I can boast of nothing because I confess daily that my life, my being, my character is a work of amazing grace, a work that God saw fit to do through Christ and with the Spirit of God that sanctifies us daily.

How then can I live in the knowing of Christ’s finished work and still claim inadequacy or defect in my person?

Whose pressure do we succumb to when we feel the need to state our presumed weaknesses? Are we speaking of weaknesses according to what God reveals? or according to what human being say that we are? Why is that thing really a weakness?

You may enjoy “Who Told You?” Series

I believe that God’s way of showing us his work in us is by challenging us to grow and mature in the Spirit. We are called to repent, forgive, and renew our minds. That is no weakness. Rather, I believe it is the strengthening process of Becoming.

Besides, is God still not the Potter and we the clay? Do we really believe that God makes mistakes in forming our person? Once again, I urge us to consider the things we call weaknesses. Will we find that our weakness is in comparison to others and not to Christ? Would a comparison to Christ not leave us all vulnerable and weak in the hands of God’s grace to do the work of sanctification in us?

So why then do we call our cracks weaknesses? Are we still not in the hands of a merciful Potter who is reshaping, remolding, and re-polishing us daily?

I pray that our Father in heaven continues to do a perfect work in us through the Spirit and helps us to receive the grace of not boasting, but humbly confessing that there is no weakness in the strength of Christ Jesus in us. Amen.

“So What Is Your Weakness?” – Part 1

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NLT

“So what is your weakness?”

A dear sister in Christ asked me this profound question as we dined over good food and awesome conversation. At first I stopped, because I was not sure how to answer the question.

I thought in my head, “weakness as in a flaw in my character that I know of? According to others? Or a way I know I fall short according to what I believe God expects of me and has called me to in the name of Christ?”

In my silence, my sister expanded her inquiry and (at least from what I recall in the conversation) referred to a weakness, a weak point where I know the enemy can use as an opening…

I did not let her finish and proceeded to explaining what areas I naturally worry about when it comes to weak points that the enemy has used to torment me recently.

I answered, “Family. My family is certainly a weak point…” As I proceeded to break down the things I worry about when it comes to my loved ones, my sis interrupted again to redirect my response…

“…But what is YOUR weakness?”

Then it dawned on me that I had misinterpreted her question. I thought of weakness as in a place of vulnerability that the enemy has attempted to use to cause me to worry and fret and even lack faith in sometimes. But she was referring to a place in me I knew I fell short that most people would probably not guess without me telling them myself.

I went on to tell my sis of the guilt that lingered and occasionally lingers about the harm I caused others when I was young and ignorant of the impact of my actions. I also shared the guilt about the person I was when brokenness, anger, un-forgiveness, and disappointment ruled my heart.

At the end of my response, my lovely dinner companion was touched and appreciated my willingness to share deeper parts of my past with her. We embraced at the end of dinner and talked about the next time we can sit and speak again in love and in truth about many matters.

It was after I reached home that the Spirit of God whispered some truths to me that I did not readily recall during dinner…

“What is my weakness, Lord?”

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The God Of Infinite Chances

“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again…”

Proverbs 24:16

Sometimes I wish it were as easy to obey God as it is to love Him. I love the Lord and I thank My Father for loving me first.

Friend, how fortunate are we to be serving a God of infinite chances?

I am amazed by how many times I have strayed and looked away from the One who saved me and gave me eternal life, the One who broke chains and strongholds and removed me from the pits of sin. HIS love remains.

God’s Love is as mighty and powerful as HE IS.

I want clarity. I want strength. I want a willing heart to obey. I want to honor my “Yes Lord.” I want peace. I want quiet. I want stability. But more than anything else, I want and need to fulfill Destiny!

God purposed you and I for a destiny when HE breathe life into us and formed us in the womb. And as we both know now, the road to destiny is never as clear as a blue print image. No, it is not clear, but it is certain because the Way-maker made it certain.

God has paved ways to our destiny that we cannot even begin to fathom with physical sight. It gets even harder to see or understand purpose when we stumble and hit the ground on our way to what God has called us to be.

There are countless, painful battles along the way. Sometimes we wage them against ourselves and fall even harder. We lose sight of hope. We stop drinking from the cup of faith and begin chowing down regret of past mishaps and wrong turns.

We disobey and venture deeper into the lustful arms of sin. We speak lies and deceit rather than love. We forsake God and question the HAND who has saved us countless times.

And still HE LOVES US time and time again because HE IS A GOD OF INFINITE CHANCES!

You and I can rest in the blessed assurance that God will never leave nor forsake us for we are HIS beloved.

If you are like me, looking back on your life, you will surely lose count of how God kept you over and over and over and over and over and over again. HIS love is SURE.

This time is no different.

Friend, it’s not over until God says it’s over. Destiny is still waiting on you to reach it. The heavenly hosts are still cheering you on. And the fact that you are reading this ought to be a confirmation that the Lord is still working, moving, and slaying demons to clear your path to the destiny HE ALONE has called you to.

You will surely get there by the grace of God.

May you be refilled today with strength, fearlessness, hope, and the faith from heaven to get back up and on your way towards the crown in Jesus name. Amen.

Are You Suffering In Unforgiveness? Part 2

“Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.”

2 Corinthians 2:7

Before Christ went to the cross, He resounded the importance of forgiveness all through His ministry – this was His purpose so He knew best how important forgiveness was. I mean, it was important enough for Him to lay His life for it, so how can we fail to see how important it is to forgive?

So, what was it? what is it? what was done to you? what was said about you? what was that offense that has struck the cord of unforgiveness for so long?

Friend, It is time to uncover that wound that you’ve buried under anger. Please, I urge you to look your pain in the eyes and tell it that the time has come for you two to part. God wants to restore and renew you! Tell that hurt that it can no longer stay in your heart because it has built an haven for unforgiveness.

I know it is difficult to consider releasing the anger that you have carried with you for so long. Far as you know, you are convinced that it is actually a part of you because the voices of the enemy has told you over and over that you are your pain.

But consider this, how heavy has the weight of unforgiveness been on your shoulders?

How long have you dragged unforgiveness along in your life’s journey?

Have you carried your unforgiveness in and out of work? in and out of relationships? in and out of business deals? in and out of friendships? in and out of churches? in and out of alliances? in and out of your home?

Ask yourself, how far as unforgiveness taken you on your path to purpose? And how much farther has it drifted you away from the path of purpose?

Where is the unforgiveness in your life? Point it out! Lord knows that you have carried it long enough!

Christ says to come to Him in your weariness and pain. Friend, I urge you not to stay away. Stop suffering in unforgiveness.

Unforgiveness has cost you more than you will ever be willingly admit. Think of the time, joy, and peace that unforgiveness has stolen away from you. Think of the life that unforgiveness has attempted to rob you of. But we serve a God of restoration!

God will give you beauty for the ashes. HE will give you tenfold of all that you thought you lost. But you have to make room for God to clean up house first. And it begins with you changing your mind about unforgiveness. God is love. HE will bless that very place of suffering and pain that hate threatened to keep you in. God will comfort you. I am saying this because I know first hand just how God wraps you in HIS loving arms to bring you comfort and to reassure you that it is exactly where you always need to be.

Yes, it has been a long rough road. But you are not alone. The Spirit says you will no longer carry this heavy load of unforgiveness. You will lay it down and be freed from the chains of unforgiveness in Jesus name!

May our Sovereign God heal our broken hearts and grant us the will to change our hearts and minds forever about unforgiveness in Jesus name. Amen.

Are You Suffering In Unforgiveness? Part 1

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance with someone…”

Colossians 3:13

No one is born with anger. But anger is brewed from the earliest of times. Beneath anger is un-forgiveness. Underneath un-forgiveness is an unspoken pain and hurt. This is what I have come to learn in my wiser years.

There are so many angry people in this world, anger controlling so many people. Some know it and some are not the least bit aware. But as we know, there is a danger to anger. It blinds you and causes you to sin because it disobeys the Spirit.

Where there is anger, there is disobedience. But that is not what this post is about, because also where there is anger, there is much suffering. I wonder today if you or anyone you know is suffering in un-forgiveness.

I wonder if an inability to forgive someone or something has become a stronghold in your life and has caused you to further damage more than you can imagine in your path of purpose.

This week especially reminds us how heavy the burden of un-forgiveness was. Christ literally carried the cross of our unforgiveness and put it to death when He died for you and me to be forgiven and reconciled with our heavenly Father.

So how come we, the ones who Christ sacrificed His life for to be forgiven, cannot find our way to forgive those that have wronged us?

MORE ABOUT THE SACRED F-WORD

What is the excuse you’ve been holding on to that has made unforgiveness worthy in your eyes?

Do you not realize that the seed of unforgiveness is the same seed that grows anger, malice, hate, discontent, distrust and disobedience against God Almighty?

Are you not aware that the blessings that your hands touch become polluted by the unforgiveness that courses through you?

Why won’t you forgive? Why? What is so significant about this thing or what this person did, that won’t let you release hate and embrace God’s love and restoration? Friend, why do you continue to suffer in unforgiveness?! FINISH READING HERE

Unclench Your Fists

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…”

1 Samuel 15:23

Nobody wants a stubborn kid. I remember growing up in the stern Yoruba culture back home in Nigeria. Whenever a child rebelled against an older person’s instructions, it would alert enough people to intervene and bring down that stubbornness in the means they saw fit.

But then prayer would also accompany discipline.

The church elders would advise parents to pray for the stubborn child so he or she does not grown up with the spirit of stubbornness and rebellion.

Temperament is what it’s commonly referred to by the experts. But the Word of God states that rebellion and stubbornness both constitute as sin in the eyes of our Father.

See it’s one thing to be provoked to anger by something or someone, but it’s another thing to nurture and harbor that anger out of stubbornness and rebellion against the Spirit.

I’m a angry person,” says the stubborn and rebellion man.

Friend, the spirit says to un-clench your fists.

Many times, we find reason to hold on to hurt and disappointment, overtime molding those emotions into anger. This is when stubbornness and rebellion take root in our spirits, making it almost impossible to hear or see the many works of God all around us.

Some say “clenched fists can’t shake hands,” which is literally true.

But did you know that clenched fists can’t receive blessings, or even give assistance to those in need?

I mean, how can anyone pull you out of a hole of destruction or misery if your stretched hands clenched fists? How can you be held and comforted with clenched fists?

As entitled as we feel to the pain life sometimes bring, it’s not worth missing the glory of God in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

Un-clench those fists and receive healing. Un-clench those fists and receive forgiveness. Un-clench those fists and receive restoration. Un-clench those fists and shake the hands of God. Un-clench your fists and release hate. Un-clench your fists and receive love. Un-clench your fists and give praise to the Most High God who loves you past your sins and disobedience.

Friend, Un-clench your fists and let God work!

My prayer for you today is that the Prince of Peace will speak courage and wisdom into your bones so they can release whatever poison you have clung to over the years because of your stubbornness. May the power of the Spirit cast down all other works of rebellion in you in Jesus name. Amen.

The Sacred F-Word (II)

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness.”

Acts 26:18

So many hearts remain lost, cold, and unaware of God’s love and fullness simply because they will not forgive.

However, we often forget the guilty hearts overwhelmed with sorrow and shame because they are yet be forgiven by those they wronged.

Repentance is for all and none, no one is beyond redemption. Please remember that.

Could it be that the enemy took heed of God’s clear instruction even more than we did? Could it be that the enemy wages war against us in this most simple yet consequential manner because it keeps us from receiving our much-needed forgiveness from our Father?

The Word not only tells us we can forgive, it mandates us to forgive. I mean it says it right there that our sins are forgiven as we forgive those who have wronged us. No compromises.

It’s no coincidence that forgiveness is such a battle for most of us. It is no ordinary thing that forgiving hurts even more than what we are trying to forgive in the first place. Only God knows why we feel such strong forces within our hearts as we walk towards forgiveness.

Until recently when God delivered a personal miracle to me in the form of forgiveness, I could never speak on that sacred F-Word because I know we all have our own ways of coping with pain, hurt, and discomfort that we hold others responsible for.

I know now that those forces we inwardly feel, are chains of the enemy breaking loose as we move even closer to the freedom of glorifying God because of our own forgiveness.

The enemy may think he has succeeded in convincing many of God’s children that they cannot and should not forgive. But remember dear friend that the devil is a liar!

To each his own. That’s why forgiveness is usually a long road we must walk alone. You have to understand the full gravity of forgiveness and why it resonated through the life of Christ our Lord. Jesus was our forgiveness. So, forgiveness is no small feat. It is a great deal for us as followers of Christ.

Child of God, it is time to forgive and be forgiven.

Glory be to God for the spiritual discernment to see that not forgiving others is no more than another form of disobedience to our merciful God.

My prayer today, is that God almighty grants us the boldness to trample the lies of the enemy and cling on to forgiveness of our sins as we forgive those who have wronged us. May the fullness of God’s grace and mercy be evident in your life as you walk towards forgiveness today in Jesus name. Amen.

The Sacred F-Word (I)

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive your trespasses. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Matthew 6:14-15

Forgiveness.

There it is, clear and as direct as can be. Yet, forgiveness is one of the hardest and longest journeys of the mortal man.

If you take a few moments right now, much like me recently, I am sure you can come up with more than a few people or things that you are yet to forgive. Ask yourself why not and try to align it with the voice of God in you.

I know. It is impossible. Because forgiveness is indeed all that God is.

We often convince ourselves that we have forgiven or have tried our best to forgive or sometimes tell ourselves that we have ‘forgiven’ but we are not allowed to forget out of practicality. You know the sayings,

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” Or “If someone shows you who they are the first time, believe them (meaning that in the context of people messing up with us of course).” Lets not forget, “I don’t give people too many chances.” Or “You only get to play me once.”

The list could go on with these mantras that is against genuine, compassionate forgiveness.

And no, “letting people go,” (as in kicking them out of your life out of un-forgiveness) is not the same as forgiving them out of love, then separating yourself from them according to the voice of God’s spirit in you.

Malice is not forgiveness. Passive aggression is not forgiveness. Never bringing up the matter is not forgiveness. Reminding yourself or the person their past wrongs towards you is not forgiveness.

Lord help us. CONTINUE READING HERE.