CONTENTS
- Long time, no see…
- Meet Grace
- Grace speaks
- Ornaments of Grace.
*Long time, no see…
“How did you get yourself in such a mess? Was it that you were not praying enough?” She asked.
“You have been throwing questions at me since I poured out my heart to you. If I may ask, which of these questions do you want me to answer first?” I asked while laughing.
“You haven’t really changed. You are always smiling. Just answer me any how you want,” She replied
I will answer your questions; I can see you are a getting worked up. But first, tell me about what has been happening to you. I haven’t seen you in ages.” I said trying to change the topic of our discussion
“Hey, don’t start! I don’t like being put off” She snapped.
I’m very sorry; I didn’t mean to get you offended. It’s just that…” I answered
I was short of words. All I wanted to do was to persuade her to talk about something else. I was becoming uncomfortable with the discussion. My problem was how to communicate the experience to her in a way that she would understand and hopefully learn the lessons there was to learn from it.
Eve, that is her name. She is my friend’s sister. The last time I saw her was when she was still in the secondary school. That was some years ago, but today she has become a full grown lady, an accountant and works in a reputable organization in Lagos , Nigeria
There is nothing that excites me like when I hear someone is born-again, especially someone that I know. If it were possible for me to open my heart for you to see, I would have done so for you to see how joyful I was when she told me that she was born-again. It reminded me of how I got born-again.
I remembered very well how it happened. It all started during my university days. At my first and second levels, I had very good grades, but when I got to the third level, I became a playboy. It affected my result so badly that I eventually passed out of the university with a third class degree. I was so ashamed of myself that I didn’t attend my convocation ceremony.
I resolved that I was going to go back to school and purposed to make a first class, at least to prove to my parents that I was intelligent. During my (Compulsory) National Youth Service year, I spent most of my spare time reading books, novels and reading materials that caught my attention. The more I read, the more I discovered that there was a deep hollow within me. I sensed something was missing in my life but I could not lay my hands on it until I read a book: “How to Have a Good Life”, by T.L. Osborne. After reading the book, I realized that I needed to discover who I was and my purpose on earth. I was made to understand that the only way I could find answers to these questions was to start reading the bible. However, I did not have a bible as at that time.
Later in the day, I went to visit a friend. When I got to his room, I saw two bibles. One was a big one and the other a small one. I requested for the small one and my friend gave it to me. You can’t imagine how happy I was! I would wake up in the middle of the night to read it. I started with the books of John, Luke, Mark, and Matthew simultaneously and before long, I had read the entire bible, both the new and the old testaments. I discovered that, it was the word of God that I needed to fill the vacuum that was in me. So I decided to get more committed to the reading of the word of God.
Since then my life has never been the same. The more of the word of God that I read, the more peace of mind I got. In the process, I became very bold, (I used to be very shy). Through reading the bible, I discovered my gifts, and one of them that I really treasure is writing.
It was the shout of “Oh! NEPA! They have taken the light again…,” That jolted me out of my deep thought.
“Eve, I promise I will answer all your questions. However, it’s getting late and I have to go home. Can I give you a ride to work tomorrow?” I asked her.
“Oh! That’s so nice of you. God bless you and goodnight!” she replied.
“See you tomorrow. Goodnight dear!’
On my way home, I wondered when this nation would ever celebrate one week of no electricity failure. I am not too bothered about the incessant power disruptions by NEPA (Maybe because I have a generator). However, I’m bothered by the noise and fumes all the generators on my street emit. Almost every house on my street has a generator. What does get on my nerves are the exorbitant monthly bills NEPA sends to users of electricity in spite of the failures. Some time ago, we had no electricity supply for three weeks in a month, yet the usual monthly bills were still sent to us.
We all appreciate that light is good, that is why most of us who could afford a generator got one. Without light, there will be darkness. It’s only workers of evil that love darkness. If you really love darkness, you don’t need any prophet to tell you who you really are! As it is in the physical, so it is in the spiritual. A life without Jesus Christ (The Light of the world) is in total darkness!
*Meet Grace
“I was thinking of how to explain in simple terms what the grace of God is to me without sounding too academic or too spiritual. With the way I’m experiencing the grace of God in my life today, there is nothing else that I would love to talk or write about other than the grace of God.” I told Eve the next morning on our way to work.
I had to leave my house early in the morning at about 5.00 a.m. to pick up Eve. Leaving house very early to work has become normal to me. Initially, it was pain, but when I considered the time wasted and the trouble I had to go through with Lagos
I woke up one morning at about 4.30 a.m. As usual, I went straight to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, had my bath and got dressed for work. I stopped by the kitchen to drink some water (I do this most mornings. Someone told me that it is good for the health.)
When I got downstairs, I hung my suit in the back of the car, entered the car, got it started and zoomed off to work. I made it early to work that day. I stayed in the car for a while. When it was time to get into my office, I reached out for my shoes where I usually keep them in the back of the car and I couldn’t find them. All of a sudden, I remembered that I dropped them while I was about drinking water in the kitchen and I forgot to pick them up when I finished.
I had to go back home. By the time I made it through the traffic jam and back to the office, it was about 10.30 a.m. It was a stressful experience! The painful thing to me was that I had to follow the crowd. When they moved, I moved, and when they stopped, I stopped. I hate following the crowd especially the type we have in this part of the world. It’s so disorganized, and rowdy, and you get to see the manifestations of selfishness and foolishness at their highest peak.
When you follow the crowd, you lose control and face delay compulsorily! Following the crowd makes a slave out of you. Thank God mine was a one-off thing. It is sad to know that there are many who experience this on a daily basis. As it is with the physical, so it is with the spiritual. Jesus once said that, if you do not understand the physical things, how can you understand the spiritual?
The display of foolishness, the manifestation of selfishness, disorderliness, rowdiness and delays are as a result of “spiritual traffic jams” in men’s hearts.
“…I feel very privileged in sharing this experience with you. I have come to know that, it is when we understand the lessons behind our experiences in life that we are well able to enjoy the benefits or capable of handling the consequences thereafter.” I added.
I could see the look on Eve’s face urging me to go on with the story. So I continued:
“I was really pained when it all started as a result of lack of understanding of the situation. Little did I know that understanding belongs to God. It was then that I found out in the scripture that: “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever; that we may do all the words of this law.” I saw that in Deuteronomy 29:29
“You are sounding like a preacher. Come preached the word, pastor!” She joked. We both laughed.
It is He who also opens the door of our understanding heart. He may decide to shut it and open it whenever He pleases. It is written that; “But they understood not the saying, and it was hid from them that they perceived it not; and they feared to ask him of that saying.” You see, God can do and undo.” I told her.
“Where is that in the bible?” She asked.
“Oh! You mean you haven’t seen that in the bible? It’s in the book of Luke chapter 9:45. What about the one written in the book of Luke 24:45?” I asked
“What does it say?” she replied.
“Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.” I quoted.
“All the while you have been referring to God but these are the words of Jesus Christ. Is He God? Eve asked.
“That’s another matter! I will explain that to you later. I don’t want you to get confused. Let me give you my story first, and after that, you can ask me any questions that border on the scriptures. Anyway, haven’t you read He (Jesus Christ) said; “I and my Father are one?” See John 10:30. “The Son does what He sees His Father doing” I answered.
“That is true! Tell me more. I need to know” Eve said.
“When He opened my understanding, I realized that the experience was worth the while. If not for the experience, there would have been no basis for this story. He wanted me to understand how grace works and to see the consequences of taking undue advantage of the grace of God.” I said.
“But Eve, you must exercise patience with me as I’m about to explain to you what grace of God is, as revealed to me. I guess this will enable you understand the story better.” I implored.
Grace simply means favour. When we talk about God’s grace, we are referring to God’s favour, His kindness and benevolence towards man. Man has two ‘faces’, i.e.; the physical and the spiritual. God’s grace covers the spirit man as well as the physical man.
Man is spiritual. He is spiritual because he is a spirit being who operates in the natural or physical world. When God created man, He made him from the dust (Physical) and He breathed into him and man became a living soul (spiritual).
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” Gen. 2:7
Jesus Christ confirmed in the New Testament that man is a physical being as well as a spirit when He said: “…It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matt. 4:4
The “bread” is for the physical man that was made from the dust while the “word” of God is for the spirit man. Bread as used above could also refer to any physical food, like pounded-yam, rice, etc. The word is not just the bible (Written word) but also the revelation knowledge of God’s word.
Apostle Paul also wrote something about this in the epistles to the Corinthians:
“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body…Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.” 1 Cor. 15:44&46
God’s grace like the two sides of the coin has two faces. The physical grace is the one I would like to refer to as the “general grace”, while the “specific grace” covers the spirit man.
GENERAL GRACE
This is the grace that is made available to all mankind. It is for both Christians and those who are still without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
God allows the sun to shine on the evil and the good. He causes the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. This is general grace.
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt. 5:45
A practical example of general grace can be seen in the book of Exodus, chapter 33:1-3
“And the Lord said unto Moses, depart and go hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, Hevite and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people; lest I consume thee in the way.”
We can see clearly from the above quotation, God’s “general grace”. God was ready to send and ANGEL to lead the Israelites out of Egypt
God threatened to withdraw His presence from following them because they were evil minded. It is like God saying to the Christians of nowadays: “I will send a Bishop or a Pastor or a Man of God to lead you by the bible to the promises therein for you. This I will do because my words are yea and amen, they will accomplish that for which I have sent them out to do. I will deliver you from demons and every strange force roundabout you; I will give you prosperity without measure. But my presence will not be with you because you are wicked. You are self-centered!”
Put simply, God’s general grace is God’s representative (An angel or a man of God) plus a land flowing with milk and honey (Prosperity) minus the presence of God. No matter how organized, favoured and blessed a people may be, without the presence of God, it’s vanity upon vanity. Where the presence of God is absent, there is no fullness of joy, the people are without hope and cut out from the peace of God. The psalmist wrote about this in Psalm 73:
“…For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: They have more than their hearts could wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how doth God know? And is there knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches…”
At first the psalmist could not understand the prosperity of the wicked when it is written that: “The earth and its fullness is the Lord’s…” He was pained at seeing the wicked prosper. He thought it was by works: “…verily I have cleansed my hands in vain and washed my hands in innocence. For all day-long have I been plagued and chastened every morning…” Ps. 73:21-22
It was not yet revealed unto him that God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, whether just or unjust. But when God opened his eyes to see the end of the wicked and on those who rely on general grace alone, he humbled himself before the all-knowing and all-wise God
“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I there end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh, thou shalt despise their image.” Ps. 73; 17-20
WHY WOULD GOD BLESS THE WICKED?
The answer can be found in the parable of “The Tares among the Wheat”, which the Lord Jesus Christ told His disciple.
“Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in His field: But while men slept; his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, nay; lest while you gather them the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matt. 13:24-30
You can see that from the above quotation, the sower deliberately allowed the good seed (wheat) to grow along side the tares. This is what I call the general grace of God. The tares refer to the unbelievers, while the wheat refers to the believers.
Are you one of those who often wonder why the world is a mixture of good and bad people? It seems nowadays that bad people multiply and grow faster than the good ones. Do you sometimes ask: “Why doesn’t God get rid of evil and wicked people from the face of the earth?”
The answer is very simple. They (wicked people) are there for the sakes of the sons of the kingdom! God won’t get rid of bad people until an appointed time. Does that make Him a wicked God? (He, knowing fully well that the wicked will torment the innocent ones) No! He has a plan. He is the only wise God.
The man who sowed the good seed (wheat) is God while the bad seed (tares) was sowed by the devil (enemy). The “wheat” refers to the sons of the kingdom of God
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Jn. 8:44
Who is your Father? Some years ago, some of us were in the kingdom of darkness but, today, we have been translated into the kingdom of God
“…Nay; lest ye gather up tares, ye root up also the wheat with them, let both grow together until the harvest…” he allows the sun to shine on both. He allows the rain to fall on them. But the end of the harvest will tell those who belong to Him. If God is your Father, you can tell on your inside (your flesh may be weak but you know your spirit is willing to know and serve Him). The bad guy around you may influence you right now. His grace is made available to you today to mend your ways. The God of mercy and love is also the God of wrath. He warned that:
“…And in the time of harvest, I will say o the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them. But gather the wheat into barn.”
It is written in the book of Hebrew 10:31
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Do not take for granted the grace (the sun, the rain, the blessings) of God.
SPECIFIC GRACE
This one comes by hearing or reading the words of God. It is written:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God” Eph. 2:8
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom.
It is very clear from the above scripture that salvation is only by grace. Which grace? General Grace? NO! It is by specific grace. This grace comes through faith. The bible says faith comes by hearing the word of God. You have to hear the word of God to have this kind of grace. You have to read the word of God to have this kind of grace. You have to meditate on the word of God to have this specific grace. You have to believe the word of God to have this kind of grace that saves.
Specific grace builds your spiritual life.
“And now brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them, which are sanctified.” Acts 20:32
Specific grace gives you strength to obey God
“By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name,” Rom. 1:5
Specific grace justifies a believer.
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” Rom. 3:24
Specific grace is only for believers. It is available to all but only those who believe in Jesus Christ can access it. YOU ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC GRACE. “For sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law, but under grace” Rom 6:14
“What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid” Rom 6:15
Paul asked this question because he wanted to distinguish between general grace and specific grace. The fact that God allows the rain to fall on the unjust and allow the sun to shine on them (General Grace) does not mean that He has given sinners a freedom to continue in sin. God expects us to move from general grace to specific grace. When we have specific grace, we are not under the law. We know the truth because we know the law and we are set free from the law. Sin has no dominion over those who understand specific grace.
Grace speaks
The question that Eve asked would have bothered me so much if I had not met grace. “Why did you make such a big mistake? Was it that you were not praying enough?” So many people had asked me the same questions before Eve and I was really bothered, until I met Grace. If the experience had turned out to be positive, it would have been a testimony, and the same people would have shared the testimony with others. The most painful part to me was that no one cared enough to see the motives behind my actions and listen to my side of the story except grace. The law looks at the acts while grace sees beyond the acts. Grace sees the motive behind the act.
My encounter with Grace
It was one cool morning, after I’d woken up from sleep. As usual, I was searching the scriptures to find the way of escape out of the predicament that had been a thorn in my flesh for too long. I knew that someday, somehow, I would find the way of escape in the scriptures. I had read the bible from cover to cover. I had encountered faith. I thought my faith could get me out of the situation. It was my faith that got me into the predicament in the first place! Was it not faith that said we could move mountains: If we could move mountains, is it a big thing for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle?
This best described my experience; I was trying to make a camel pass through the eye of a needle. I acted in “blind-faith!” I didn’t understand there was something more than faith; that is specific grace of God that comes through faith. Faith gives access to this specific grace. In other words, faith is the door way to specific grace.
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Rom.
So, like the four evangelist in a fable that got drowned while walking on water. I failed! It was a grievous mistake and I would have lived all my life in grief asking myself, “why me?” If not for grace
“So many people do not really understand me. They think they can use me to attain their own selfish desires and I allow them to wallow in their own ignorance,” said Grace to me.
“Does that explain my situation? Without waiting for her answer, I said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to use you for my selfish gratification I was only trying…
Grace interrupted me and said, “You don’t have to apologise. Your case is different. I allowed it because I wanted you to feel what I’m feeling so that I could use you to send a message across to these people”
This was not strange to me because I had read about Hosea and the Harlot in the scriptures. God told Hosea to go and marry a harlot. He wanted Hosea to feel what He was feeling so that he could use him to send a message across to the Israelite. This happened at a time when the Israelites forsook God and went after other gods. In God’s sight, this was whoredom, and to illustrate this to the Israelites, God asked Hosea to marry a harlot. Hosea was a prophet of God. May I ask you a question? If you hear a voice telling you today to go and marry a prostitute, knowing fully well the danger of contracting AIDS ( Acquired Immune deficiency Syndrome.) Will you go ahead to do so? It takes the specific grace of God!
Hosea took Gomer for a wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, and the Lord said unto Him;
“Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel Israel , in the valley of Jezreel
“And she conceived again and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, call her name Loruhamah: For I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel Judah
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them; ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land for great shall be the day of Jezreel” Hosea 1:2-11
There is a similar experience in the scriptures when God asked prophet Isaiah to go naked for a sign and a wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia
“…At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
And the LORD said, like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia
So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethopians captives, young and old, naked and bare-footed, even with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt Egypt
I had thought the devil had grounded me because of my mistake. Little did I know that it was an opportunity for Grace to manifest her manifold wisdom. Grace reminded me of the story in the bible of someone who was blind, deaf and dumb from birth.
And his disciples asked him, saying Master, who did sin, this man or his parents that he was born-again.? Jesus answered;
“neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And said unto him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, (Which is by interpretation; Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed and came seeing.” John 9:2-7
Sometimes God allows certain things to happen to us, not necessarily for our sins, and at other times, He can cash in on our mistakes and work them out for good to display His manifold wisdom.
“Just like it was not God’s will for the man to be born blind from birth, so it was never God’s will for you to make a mistake.” Said Grace.
“The devil is busy setting traps for My people and holding them captive because of their mistake,” Grace continued
“I allowed it to happen (The wheat and the tares to grow together) to let the devil know that all things work for good to them that are called by Me and those who love Me. My specific grace is made strong in weakness. But for those who allowed themselves to be used by the enemy (taking undue advantage of the grace of God) they will learn in a hard way if they do not repent. The time of harvest is now!” Grace added.
“But why me? Was it that I was not really praying enough, as they said/ I asked.
“There is only one thing that you need to know,” replied Grace
“Which is?” I asked. I was curious to know what it was. I have a problem-solving mind, if I have a problem, I need a quick solution. I have been to places and I have met with people, yet no answers to my questions. The only encouraging thing I discovered in my search for a solution was that I was not alone.
People have problems. Many of them are silent about theirs. Some have accepted their problems and are doing nothing about them while others are living a lie. I was convinced within me that this was a trap of the devil. So, I refused to be trapped and I jumped out of it. Maybe I shouldn’t have but I did. It is very important to note here God deals with us individually. The way he would resolve A’s mistakes may be different from the way He would resolve B’s mistakes. That’s why we all need specific grace from Him to deal with our situations. If Mr. B applies Mr. A’s specific grace to deal with his own situation, without hearing from God, it becomes general grace or blind faith.
“The one thing that you need to know is that it happened and God allowed it for the simple reason that His works might be made manifest in you.” Grace answered.
“What’s the work of God in my case?” I asked her.
“His work in your case was to perfect His ornaments which He has designed for you. That’s what I call the ornaments of grace. Can you see how beautiful the ornaments look on you? It is obvious even to the physical eyes. Wear them all the time. The best way to keep them is to share with others.” Grace advised.
I believed her. I stopped worrying and took solace in the fact that if grace could make one prophet marry a harlot, and command another prophet to go naked for signs and wonders to Egypt and Ethiopia
The conclusion of the matter is that the experience has made me to read the word of God the more. It has taught me to fast and pray the more- for the devil is a schemer who is always walking about looking for ways to destroy the testimony of those who are called of God.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” 1 John 2:1
“And ye shall seek me and find me. When you shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD; and I will be found of you, saith the LORD and I will turn away your captivity.” Jeremiah 29:13-24
Ornaments of grace
An ornament is something that beautifies; it adds to beauty. It is not an end in itself but a means to an end. An ornament of grace is what beautifies grace. It is not grace itself but it causes one to grow from grace to grace that is; from one level of grace to another one.
Yes you can grow in grace. We all have the initial grace that is the general grace, but for it to grow, you have to get the first ornament. How does grace come in the first place?
First Ornament
It is written; “You are saved by grace through faith…” And another Scripture says; “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Simply put, grace comes through believing the word of God. But for you to believe the word of God, you have to hear it or read it and meditate on it and then you will receive specific grace that:
Justifies
Edifies
Sanctifies
Understand and
Saves
So, the first ornament of grace is the word of God. Read it, believe it and confess it. No matter what the situation or circumstances you find yourself, endeavour to read the word of God. Read it, believe it and confess it. No matter what situation or circumstance you find yourself, endeavour to read the word of God. If you abide in the word of God, you shall know the truth and the truth you know shall set us free.
The word of God testifies of Jesus Christ. It directs you to Him and when you meet with Him, He will set you free. The devil could through the situations and circumstances of life, make you not to read or hear the word of God. He might even try to ensnare you with knowledge. If he could try to do it to Jesus Christ, he could do it to you, but be assured that Jesus Christ has defeated him and has given us the victory. The devil tempted Jesus Christ when He asked Him to turn stone to bread. He knew Jesus had the power to do so. He wanted to ensnare Him with that knowledge but Jesus full of specific grace and truth, said to Him:
“Man shall not live by bread alone but by the word of God”
An ornament is something you display for others to see. So, let the word of God dwell in you richly. Meditate on it day and night, and then you will not only have success, but good success.
I love the word of God. I cannot do without it. I study it daily and I meditate on it day and night. I believe that no matter the situation or circumstances I find myself in, there is a way of escape. Only Jesus Christ can show you the way through the word. No one else can!
Second Ornament
.
The second ornament is fasting. This is abstinence from food and water for a period of time to enable you meditates on the word of God. A lot of people think that fasting is necessary only when you have a petition before God. Fasting is more than that. It makes you more alert to the things of the spirit. It keeps your body under. It teaches you sacrifice. It releases the inner potentials that God has deposited in you. It attracts open heaven upon you.
You need to have a fasted lifestyle. It draws more of God’s favour upon you. Fasting is not easy. The fact that it is not easy shows that it is good. Don’t they say that, nothing good comes easy?” I remember when I started to learn how to fast; I would stay away from food and water for only six hours that is from 8.00 a.m to 12.00 noon. When I perfected that, I grew to staying away from food and water from 6.00 a.m to 6.00p.m. By God’s special grace, it became interesting when I started seeing results in my life. It was not only the answered prayers that got me excited but also the other good things that came with the fasting.
I have new springs in my steps, my skin glows and I have more confidence. I feel this coolness and calmness around me when I fast. Today, I am very creative with it. Sometimes, I can decide to fast twice a week, that is, Monday and Friday. At other times, it might be for three days or seven days at a stretch. I still haven’t perfected it, but one thing I have discovered over the years is that, when you are committed to fasting and willingly obey the leading of the Spirit, you will achieve the best results. Don’t fast because you need things from God, but fast to enable you seek the kingdom of God
Third Ornament
The third ornament is praying, or communicating with God. It is easier to communicate with God when you are committed to reading the word and obedient to fasting. God speaks more to you when you communicate with Him on regular basis.
Talk to Him always but, before you do, study His word so that you will know the right things to say to him. Fast also, so that your prayers will not be selfish, but will put God first. Do not be compelled by situations and circumstances of life to pray but be willing to communicate with Him at all times no matter what.
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