My confession 21st Dec 2019

My confession 21st Dec 2019 Eugene

 It has been four months down the line for my 2nd year as an apprentice in ministry with iServe Africa and all I can say is that the gospel of Christ is the Key thing, nothing else matters. My heart has not been inclined to the gospel or being exposed to the gospel as such a time as this, all I can sing about is the gospel of Christ, nothing more.

Being at GracePoint church it has been one of the blessings where you hear the gospel of Christ, a place where Christ is exalted more than "the man of god", where we are all sinners and Christ is the savior of us all. One thing I can say or rather the common phrase that we can find here is look to Jesus, come to Christ, behold the lamb of God .All these have been exposing my ignorance and my stubbornness in working with my strength to achieve righteousness that has been imputed to me by Christ. Trying every moment to please me to do this and that in order that I can measure my right standing with. These have yielded to nothing, only vanity of vanities, which has brought about disappointment, lack of joy and doubt that I may not have faith enough, this has cause me to be hard on myself, viewing myself as a failure when I could not achieve that mark.  

Hearing of what Christ has done for me was relieving me from the burden of works to achieve righteousness. Friends it is a joy to know that most of the things written in scriptures are not prescriptive, but rather descriptive of how fallen we are and how we can never succeed in this journey of faith by applying them to our lives directly. Every day it is a journey that I am laying down the baggage I have been carrying either for years or even adopted as I was going on with my Christian walk.

This journey does not take a day or two, but rather takes time being exposed to ‘the bitter truth’ which first seems to be a bitter tablet to swallow, but then with time you start to see the truth as it is and you are able to praise God in heaven. There is nothing l can hold fast on now like knowing that the Bible is about God and His people, Christ being the main figure that we have been given to look at so that we can be saved. The whole canon of scripture points to nothing else but to Christ who is our only savior, as one author of the old writers that is Charles Spergon, says that all roads leads to London so all books in scripture lead to one man, Christ our savior.

Nothing has become real like the fallen state of man, how sinful we are from birth, how we cannot save ourselves from this position of sin and how dark is the darkness that lies deep in our hearts. Though this is the biggest problem I have encountered, I have also encountered a great deliverance that has dealt with that problem that I can see the light. This makes the words of the hymn ‘At the Cross’ to be so real especially the line that says “At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away” this is the truth that shines brightly than the darkness that I was in, that rugged cross that brought my deliverance is the only true things that can hold me, when Jesus was hanged on that cross then my darkness was paid for, my guilt was washed away, all my sins washed away, then joy filled my heart.

I knew of these things, but not in this depth as I can express them today, not with this seriousness that I can say them today, not with this conviction as I have in my heart today. As I can’t say that I have come to that point of saying that now I know this theology very well though I can say that I know enough to hold me even in the day of calamity, as Christ will hold me fast in him than the way I can hold him.

This doesn’t mean I don’t have bad days or days that I don’t have questions to ask when hard things happen. Some days I find myself give in to discouragement, I experience loss which hurts badly though one thing is intact, my faith in Him and even more how He holds me in Him in this moment. I am still young and experience all the things that normal people experience, hardships in our nation, I feel it and it hurts badly, the pain of being misused at times, being jealous and even doing the wrong things a lot of times, I hurt people badly sometime, as I am trying to emulate my Savior.

All these things even give me more reason to look unto Him, go to Him so that He can embrace me and be able to make me whole again, that He can teach how to be a better follower of His, sometimes I even can’t get it the first time or the second but eventually, I will be able to get it as I look unto Him. Though this is not how I want to live, hurting others and mostly my savior, I choose to work hard with the strength He has given through His Spirit in me that I may be better and do the best until I am with Him when He calls me home or when He comes in His 2nd coming.

PRAYER

Lord, help us; help us that we may be those who look up to you in all seasons. Help us that we may strive to live holy lives here in a fallen and broken world which tempts us to prostitute ourselves to it away from you. In ourselves, we are weak beings, not able to resist anything but we pray that you may strengthen our inner man daily with your Spirit that we may be able to fight this battle until the day of the Lord.

Help me that these truths I am learning may remain deep in me at all times, that I may live maximizing all opportunities you have given me so that I may worship you alone. Help your church to remain true to your word, teach Christ alone, for your glory alone, help all the believers to live with these truths in our lives and also reach out to others in every opportunity we have. Amen.

2 Corinthians 13:14 is a common verse among the believers. It's commonly recited as a benediction verse after Christians fellowships or gathering.
Paul prayed this prayer to the Corinthians church, that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit may be with them all.
 It's one of the verses in the bible that the Trinity is mention in one verse; The Father, The Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit.
As believers we believe in the Trinity, the God-head. Jesus is God, The Holy Spirit is God as God the Father is, equal in Power and Holiness.
God desire us to know how He manifest Himself to us in different ways.

THE GRACE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

God manifested His Grace through Jesus our Lord. I understand the Grace of God not only as the unmerited favor, but also as the power of God that gives us strength to live a righteous and a holy life before God. God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus for we were lost in our sinful nature, enemies of God and alienated from His presence. We had nothing pleasing in us all we knew was sin and evil. There was no place for us in the kingdom of God for we deserved judgement and death. Jesus took the form of a man though He was God, the fullness of God dwelt in Him richness. He was made sin for us and bore our punishment. The wrath of God was satisfied in Him. Therefore, we are now justified through Faith in Jesus. We are the legitimate sons of God, holy and righteous before Him.
The Grace of God, Jesus, gives us strength to live a life worthy of Him. Everyday we need His Grace for Sin clings so closely to us and the enemy seeks to devour us with his deceptions. It's evident that we are living in times which are evil, where sin is coated and its hard to distinguish between good and evil. Persecution against the church is unbearable. All we need is the Grace of God, we need Jesus every moment. Titus 2:11-12 for the Grace of God (Jesus) that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us to denying and say no to ungodliness and worldly lust. Paul understood that we can't live without the grace of God  that why he made that prayer to the church, the body of Christ.
  
THE LOVE OF GOD THE FATHER.

We are all products of God's love. God the Father he not only have love but He is love itself. He express Himself as love to us. His commands, judgement, punishment, holiness, anger, kindness, mercy, faithfulness and all the attributes of God the Father are manifestations of His love. God dwells in the realm of Love.
God giving out His son as a sacrifice for sinful people was a great demonstration of love. I don't have a baby, but i can't imagine giving out my baby to die for people who even don't love me back. Its may sound okay because we are humans and He is God, but it takes faith and love as Abraham to give out your child. It wasn't an easy thing for God either, but He did it because He loved us, love compelled Him. He loved us even when we were lost in sin. The Father loves everyone sinners or righteous, but He hate sin. We saw it in the life of Jesus, being the image of the invisible God, He loved sinners and all who were neglected.
 There is nothing satisfies than to know that the God of the universe loves you as a person, He is mindful of you. There is freedom in knowing that God loves you. The love of God gives you assurance even in the days of calamity, trouble, distress, discouragement, lack or even the times you fall into sin. He still loves you, His love never fade.
Let it sink into your conscious that He loves you and nothing can separate you from His love.

AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

Communion means the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feeling, especially on a mental or spiritual level. Intimacy with God begins when we understand the place and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit bring the presence of God in us. He is the manifest presence of God. we can't worship God effectively without the Holy Spirit. We commune and fellowship with the God-head through the Holy Spirit. God purchased back our communion with Him through Jesus. He longed for us to commune with Him in a deep way as Adam and Eve did and even as the second Adam, Jesus did. It was through the Holy Spirit that this was possible, even Jesus couldn't commune with the Father without the Holy Spirit.
For us to grow in our relationship with God we need the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Am certain that this was more than a prayer for Paul to the church, but a way of life that we should emulate as believers, being conscious of the Trinity and growing in the knowledge of the Godhead. Even as we make this prayer in our gathering let us understand the depth of it, and pray from our hearts and practice it.

PRAYER
2 Corinthian 13.14 may the grace of our lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with me now. Amen.

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