QUITTING IS EASY

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

Quitting is easy. It is the path of least resistance. All it takes for one to capitulate is simply to stop trying - just walk away, throw away your confidence in the Lord which has a great reward. Quitting begins simply with giving up in your mind and losing enthusiasm emotionally. The rest of you soon follows. However, it's not over yet until you say it is, for failure, no matter how often, is never a done deal until one gives up.

You will face challenges and oppositions, that's the reality of life. As our scripture text suggests, you will be troubled, you will be perplexed, persecuted and even knocked down, perhaps several times, but as long as you don't stay down, you will never be counted out. 

Are you on a just path, living a life of faithful obedience? Then trust the Lord for the grace to persevere in times of trials. Trust God for the strength and courage to deal with the challenges each new day brings. Determine to "press" ahead, looking unto Jesus, who is the source of your strength (Philippians 4:13).

Quitting is easy, but quitters never win. Those who are counted as winners are in the company of those who didn't quit. Winners do get knocked down as often and as hard as everyone else, sometimes even more, but the difference is that they never stay knocked down. They always get back up again and continued to run the race set before them. "...cast down but not destroyed," they persevere!

So, be sure that you are running your own race not another's and be assured that, in Christ, the grace of God is sufficient for you to run you own race, whatever the hand life deals you. "Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward" (Hebrews 10:35), so that by the excellency of God's mighty power at work in you, you may run your life's race with endurance and finish your course triumphantly!

Grace & peace to you!

Pastor Victor

Sufficient Grace

"God's grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The undeserved and undue attention you give to your opposers and detractors, energizes them but slows you down and wears you down. It eventually wears you out; incapacitates you, it halts your progress altogether. 

So be determined to turn away and move on from the stumbling blocks and unfair criticisms. Move forward with the purpose of God for your life, "looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith" who endured even worse, but finished His race all the same.

Paul, unsderstanding the power of the word that God had just spoken to Him, joyfully and boldly declared: "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10). There is power in the word of God!

In the uniqueness of your personal experiences today, I pray that you will encounter the power of God's word and find that His grace is indeed sufficient. 

May the power of Christ always rest upon you as you activate His word in every situation!

#ActivateTheWord!

Pastor Victor Ubani

IT IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD

"Impossible" is a concept that has relevance only to the extent that we limit its application - our thoughts and expectations - to what man can do.

"Jesus looked at them intently and said, 'Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.'" (Mark 10:27)

When you look at a situation and conclude that there is nothing you can do, or that it is impossible to see how you can make it, let me assure you that you are quite right, as our Scripture text makes absolutely clear. Yes, in your own power there is certainly a limit to what you can do, but to say that is not the same as saying, "give up and quit."

Only when we have come to the end of ourselves are we rightly positioned and able to KNOW God whose power and authority is unlimited - and then only can we learn to "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might".

UNDER GRACE

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)

This awesome life-liberating statement about the believer’s reality is a consequence of the purpose for which Jesus Christ came into the world and His successful accomplishment of that purpose.

Jesus supernaturally entered this world with a distinct and divine purpose. He lived an extraordinary life and His teachings and miracles affirmed His deity and impacted lives.

ALL TOGETHER FOR GOOD

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Those who "love God" pursue with steadfast devotion the purpose of God to which they have been called regardless of who comes into their lives or depart from it, or what situations and circumstance they encounter, and to these will their be a manifestation of the fullness of the promise: “all things work together for good”!

Always and in all things, the believer is to be guided by God's purpose for he is “called according to God’s purpose”. The justifiable reason for what we do as people who are called by the name of God, and why we follow a particular road and not the other, must be because it is an expression of that which is according to His purpose. Apostle Paul exhorted us: “…lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” (Ephesians 4:1, NLT)

Believers face situations daily that will either encourage them and inspire confidence in them or discourage, frustrate and test their resolve to lead a worthy life. And how you deal with the unique combination of people, things and circumstances that define your particular daily situations depends on how you answer the question: “Why have I woken up this morning? Why am I alive today?

The incontrovertible truth is that we live because God ordained it. He woke you up this morning, and He called, in Christ, according to His own purpose that you should lead a life worthy of your calling. To start your day with the right attitude therefore must involve acknowledging that God who made the day and made you part of it by His grace and mercy. He is at work in it and in you.

Furthermore Christian, understand that walking in obedience to God’s purpose does not mean that we will not come up against difficult situations. There will always be battles to fight as long as we are in this life. But whatever the challenge of your day, by remaining steadfast in your pursuit of God's purpose, you will experience His great grace that strengthens and enables His people to continue to do His will even in very difficult circumstances and with difficult people.

Those life situations that appear to be unconnected events and random encounters, which for some people are sources of deep consternation, ought not hold such dread for the man or woman who loves God, whose steps are the divinely ordered steps of the righteous, because God uses everything that happens to the faithful believer!

As Christians it is very reassuring to know that as we lead a life worthy of God’s calling, He will use everything that we encounter each day, He will work them all into His grand plan for our lives and cause them to work for our good. Though evil may have been intended against you, God will turn it around for your good. Only love God and stay with His purpose!

WHEN I AM WEAK

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ” (2 Corinthians 12:10, ESV)

The life of a Christian presents an inescapable paradox that will perplex the casual observer. This paradox relates to the enigmatic juxtaposition of weakness and strength in the believer's life: “when I am weak then I am strong”.

Weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities are visited upon every believer, and as in the case of Apostle Paul, these are intent on interfering with our ability to serve God faithfully. But one of the great lesson God would have us learn from Paul’s experience is that physical weakness should not hinder our ability to serve God effectively.

Why was Paul content with being weak? Why did he consider his weakness strength? The answer is that he had received a promise from God. Paul pleaded with God three to deliver him from an affliction he described as a “thorn in the flesh”, a weakness, but God said to him:

 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8–10, ESV)

God gave Paul a promise – not an explanation of the affliction, and so on, but a promise of the supply of grace! This grace is sufficient and it strengthens. God did not answer Paul’s prayer, as we would generally expect, by substituting the affliction, say, sickness with healing. Instead, God gave Paul a promise of grace to withstand and be effective despite the affliction.

God said to him, “My grace is sufficient…”, and the significance of this promise to us is immense. By this we understand grace to imply that God will provide for all our needs when we need them. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV)

Whereas the devil, through affliction (the thorn in the flesh), came to convince Paul of weakness; God, however, had a message of grace for Paul. Spectacularly, therefore, we learn about this power that is made perfect in weakness; grace that is strong enough to overpower any weakness so that we do not surfer any loss of effectiveness in performance.

Hold on to God’s promise and be fully persuaded like Paul when he confessed, “when I am weak, then I am strong”. Paul lived on God’s promise, his faith was stirred up and his expectation fired up! He was bold to say, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)

O what joy it is that in our insubstantial and frail human bodies, and as yielded vessels, the power and the glory of God by grace can be so amplified, that despite weaknesses, and with Apostle Paul we are able to say, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13, ESV). Make this your daily confession of faith and may it become your daily reality also!

------------------------------------------------------

WHEN YOU ARE BEING WRONGED

“God will bless you, even if others treat you unfairly for being loyal to him.” (1 Peter 2:19, CEV)

Of greater concern to every Christian in all our dealings with others, whether within or outside the church, is not primarily the nature of their attitude toward us or how they chose to treat us because of who we are or what we believe. It is rather our own attitude toward them and how we respond to them because these alone are we accountable for and in direct control of. The pertinent question is: will your response and attitude be an expression of loyalty to God or not?

 The persecution and opposition we often encounter in life can make it difficult for us to stay loyal to God, because sometimes we want to take matters into our own hands and hit back in anger. But if we fail to make loyalty to God our utmost priority, then the “flesh”, that is, the sinful behaviour, character and attitude of the old nature, can easily gain the upper hand and interfere with our ability to live lives that God considers praiseworthy and blessed.

When you are being wronged for doing right, your top priority is to stay loyal to God and keep the flesh under no matter the facts of the situation. Our text says that God will bless you for staying loyal to Him – acting and behaving as He instructs you to act and behave.

In the verse that follows, the Bible remind its readers the obvious outcome for doing wrong – which is definitely not a beneficial outcome:

“You don’t gain anything by being punished for some wrong you have done. But God will bless you, if you have to suffer for doing something good. (1 Peter 2:20, CEV)

And then we are encouraged to follow Christ’s example:

“After all, God chose you to suffer as you follow in the footsteps of Christ, who set an example by suffering for you. Christ did not sin or ever tell a lie. Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly. ” (1 Peter 2:21–23, CEV)

Jesus Christ our Lord must be our example in these very difficult scenarios. He could do anything and certainly had the power to accomplish anything He decided to do, but He never sought to repay evil with evil or retaliate in anyway - instead, He had faith in God, who judges fairly”.  He was focused on staying loyal to the Father. Nothing we do is more precious than having faith in God’s fairness, and continuing undaunted in our loyalty to Him. The just shall live by faith for without faith we can never be able to please God.

In following the footsteps of Jesus, you can be sure that the Father will be pleased with your loyalty to Him, just as He was pleased with Jesus’ and honoured Him.

No amount of unfairness from people can rob you of God's blessings for no one has the power to curse you when God has pronounced blessing. Only you can interfere with that blessing and your loyalty and faithfulness to Jehovah are being tried in order to prove them.

Though you constantly face unfairness from people and your faith is severely tested and buffeted, yet God will judge fairly and will not withhold or delay His reward if you persevere in your pursuit of Him. Have faith in God!