Christian Living
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
II Corinthians 12:8-9 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/2co.12.8.NKJV
The first part of this post;” It’s Not About The Thorns” was published in February 2017 and it was centred on Apostle Paul’s experience of ‘a thorn in the flesh‘ as recorded in 2 Corinthians Chapter 12. Although it wasn’t exactly clear what Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ represented, whether a disease or some recurring unpleasant experience, we said that whatever it was, left him uncomfortable to the point that he’d rather have it gone.
Reading 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 over and again, there is a noticeable conflict between Apostle Paul’s assertion that the Lord did not take away his ‘thorn in the flesh’ and Acts 10:38.
“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.“
Acts 10:38 NKJV
If Jesus went about doing good and healing all, but gave Apostle Paul a ‘my grace is sufficient for you‘ response then something is not adding up. My expectation is that Jesus would happily remove Paul’s thorns. Or could it be that Paul didn’t quite understand what The Lord said to him….
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
II Corinthians 12:9 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/2co.12.9.NKJV
To make something perfect, in my understanding, is to make it function at an optimum, …at it’s best possible form or state. Well, just to be sure, I checked Vocabulary.com Dictionary and it says ‘perfect‘ means to make something complete and without defect or blemish. And some synonyms for perfect include; unmarred, unmutilated, error-less, ideal, flawless, faultless, immaculate.
We see therefore that the Lord’s grace available to Paul couldn’t have been to ‘support‘ his weakness but to bring him back to his best form…..without the thorns….perfect, unblemished, unmarred, flawless…
Probably the questions that need to be answered are; What is grace? Where exactly was the grace the Lord spoke to Paul about located?
For sometime now, we’ve been enjoying an extensive teaching on grace at my local Church. One of the takeaways for me is that grace is God’s power in us to do seemingly impossible things.
Just before that stretch of study, 1 John 4:4 came alive to me sometime in December 2019 while praying.
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
I John 4:4 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/1jn.4.4.NKJV
First I did 2 Instagram posts around it and later published “The Greater One In Us“. We are UNDAUNTED and we do great things by His Spirit, Wisdom and Power. Amen.
From the foregoing it would seem that Paul had inside him the grace/power/strength to become perfect, but just didn’t recognize it.
Since I published “Remembering The PassOver“, I’ve been meditating more on Revelations 12:11….
“And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.” Revelations 12:11. AMP.
And ofcourse we cannot forget 1 John 5:4….
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.“
I John 5:4 NKJV.
According to these portions of scripture, 2 keys to overcoming the enemy include; through faith in the Sacrifice of Jesus (the blood of the lamb) and faith in the Word (our testimony, confessions and declarations are based on the Word). Awesome!
One way we appropriate the blood is through the holy communion as we see in Matthew 26:28…
“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Matthew 26:28 NKJV
Ofcourse we know that the remission of sin also meant the taking away of sickness/disease, oppressions/depressions and poverty. These all came as a result of sin. ….Selah
Now back to Revelations 12:11…
“And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life andrenounce their faith even when faced with death.” Revelations 12:11. AMP.
I think the part in bold seems like a compound sentence. Let’s break it up….
And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.” Revelations 12:11. AMP.
So if we do not renounce our faith, guess what we’re going to be doing about it? Proclaiming it. Speaking it, Saying it. Making declarations based on it.
This morning, I remembered my grandma, beautiful soul! This woman may not have had a perfect understanding of Christ but Lord, she had a Big mouth. She could curse with it and she could make declarations with it. Today, I remember some of her declarations which always ended with; ‘otua k’am kuru….n’aha Jesus Christ’, translated ‘this is my declaration, in the name of Jesus Christ‘. My grandma took ill easily, now that I think of it she may have had some seasonal respiratory condition. But I don’t remember her being on hospital. This woman lived a long life against all odds. She was almost 100 years old when she died. She was a force;… a death chaser!
What are you doing with your Big mouth? You may wish to start making declarations using this ……
Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I believe that You suffered, died, was buried and rose from the dead for my salvation. and that, that sacrifice took away sin, sickness, satanic oppression/depression, and poverty from me. I declare that You are the Christ! My Lord and Saviour. As I receive forgiveness of sins, I also receive healing, deliverance and riches. I live and operate by the power of the Holy Spirit within me. I overcome by faith in Your blood and by the confessions of Your Word which is the Truth. Your Word is the Truth over my life. I am born of God and so I overcome in Jesus Christ name. Thank You Lord.
And if you are reading this but do not yet know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, today is a good day to make that decision…
Wherever you are right now, you can simply bow your head and say; ‘Lord Jesus, I confess that You are the Christ, I believe that You died for my sins and that God raised You from the dead. I receive You into my life today. I make You my Lord and Saviour. Thank You for saving me. Father, I ask that You baptize me with the Holy Spirit now, in Jesus Christ name.’ Amen
If you’d like to speak with someone, please send an email to ….graceobomanu@gmail.com
Love Always.
