Humility comes before honor. And I think that when the Bible says that pride leads to destruction one of the contributing factors to this is becoming frustrated at not being honored (as one would expect). I recognize that destruction can mean different things, but probably a central feature to it would be not achieving one’s full potential.
To seamlessly assert authority and receive submission in return, build trust by doing care, love and watching over. If you are lacking in these, you’re likely to be struggling with people submitting to you. A husband who keeps ranting, ‘I am the head of this home’, you must submit to my authority’ is very likely not performing his functions as the head. Just as submission in a marriage relationship is a lot easier when the husband plays his own part of loving the wife unconditionally, so it is much easier to submit to an authority when trust has been built. Lead according to the Word of God. Leading is more about relationship and influence than position.
“For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
I Peter 2:25 NKJV
“Like a good shepherd, he takes care of his people. He gathers them like lambs in his arms. He holds them close, while their mothers walk beside him.“
Isaiah 40:11 ERV
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”
John 10:11, 14 NKJV
“Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
Psalms 121:4 NKJV
“The Lord is my shepherd. I will always have everything I need. He gives me green pastures to lie in. He leads me by calm pools of water. He restores my strength. He leads me on right paths to show that he is good.”
Psalms 23:1-3 ERV
“Even if I walk through a valley as dark as the grave, I will not be afraid of any danger, because you are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me.“
Psalms 23:4 ERV
“The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.”
Psalms 121:6 NKJV
“You prepared a meal for me in front of my enemies. You welcomed me as an honored guest. My cup is full and spilling over.“
Psalms 23:5 ERV
“Your goodness and mercy will be with me all my life, and I will live in the Lord’s house a long, long time.“
Psalms 23:6 ERV
I have a Good Shepherd. He is the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul. He never sleeps nor slumbers. He ensures that I have everything that I need. I am kept safe in Him. I am protected from the scorching sun, the moon provides me light in darkness.
Thank You Lord.
‘I BELIEVE’ is All Jesus ever looked for in order to heal (John 9:35, Mark 11:24, James 2:19, John 11:26, etc).
A Vessel of Honor and Grace is a person embodying a particular quality, attribute, trait, gift or talent for the service of God and the benefit of mankind, who receives and communicates only the wisdom and counsel of God derived from the Word and the Spirit. Any disciple of Jesus Christ can become this vessel
If only we can like Martha identify the areas of our Christian faith that need strengthening. Can we like Martha be sincere and honest about the pressure points in our faith walk? If only we can be humble and cry out to the Lord; ‘Lord help my unbelief!’, the Master will not condemn us, but He will most eagerly stoop down and help us up.
My prayer, my heart cry. My honest desire and hope. All of YOU in me, Jesus.
Every self erased. No hurt harboured, no bitterness, resentment, anger, pain, envy, jealousy. No place in me for the expression of self and carnality. All of YOU Jesus.
All of Your love. All of Your faith. All of your passion and commitment to the Father’s Business. All of Your grace.
All of Your peace. All of the healing You bought for me. All of Your manifest provision and abundance, to accomplish the job You have entrusted to my care. That Your people may know You Jesus. And that they may know the Father. That they may appreciate the dept of Your great love with which You loved them. That they may find hope, love and peace in You. All of You Jesus. Until my job is done.
Done, dusted and delivered fully. Nothing left undone. Done in good health and strength, because the number of my days have been set by You; nothing and no one can change it. I am kept safe in the Father through You Jesus. You renew my youth like the eagle’s. My Lord and Saviour.
Gold, gold, pure gold, that’s how I am coming out. Pure gold, refined by the Master Himself. Fit for purpose. Built to last. Unrestrained, unstoppable, undeterred, undaunted and yet meek and lowly.
All of YOU in me Jesus. All of YOU❤
Hello there,
Welcome to the 3rd and final part of this series. In Part 1 and Part 2, we teased out 4 forms of weights that can potentially stop us from making it to the finish line in our race of faith….
Ofcourse a lot more other things can be added to this list. We’ve mainly focused on Hebrews 12.
In this concluding part, we consider how to lay these weights aside.
Our reference scripture again is Hebrews 12, with emphasis on verses 1 and 2…
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
You know, Hebrews 12:1-2 doesn’t just tell us to watch out for weights (lifestyles, choices, actions, etc) which can slow us down in our race of faith. Fully embedded in those 2 verses of scripture are also what we must do to finish our race of faith.
Let’s discuss these below;
Four easy steps to stripping off anything will include;
Many times we just read and quote “looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith”. Well, Jesus is definitely the Author and Finisher of our faith, but I doubt that anyone can sustain the kind of gaze spoken of in Hebrews 12:2 with weights fully strapped on. And if we convince ourselves that we’ve dropped these weights but don’t direct our focus on the right thing, we might also end up moving in circles.
So, drop the weights and look forward (unto Jesus). It is impossible to be looking forward and backward at the same time.
Somebody says, ‘Grace, you say that like it’s easy’. Well, I believe that things/people/situations are only as important as we make them. Selah!
Now there are 2 main players around the weights we’ve listed…. God and other people. Godlessness and unbelief point to our relationship with God, while bitterness and strife point to our relationship with other people. So the obvious solutions would be; embrace God, embrace other people.
The primary reason God created man was for fellowship. Fellowship with Him first and then fellowship (friendly association) with other people of similar interests. And of course, everyone is created to fulfill a specific purpose in this life. We find that purpose in the creator, ….in God. Embrace God, your purpose and calling. That is a key way to ‘look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of Our Faith‘.
Common antonyms for unbelief are belief and faith. Faith comes through the Word of God…..
“‘So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” Romans 10:17 NKJV.
Meaning that the more we expose ourselves to the Word of God, the more successful we are at pushing away unbelief and Godlessness. Prayer, worship and service in the house of the Lord are also ways we build our relationship with God. Thanksgiving is a big deal. It is a faith booster and builder. Let our mouths never be void of thanksgiving and testimonies.
“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe” Hebrews 12:28
If you’re still trying to answer the question; What Is My Purpose In Life? Stay with God, Your Maker, it will become clearer. But while you’re at it, stay busy with the Father’s Business. The “Father’s Business” is simply to help others Know the Father, Believe the Father and Follow the Father through faith in Jesus Christ.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV
Agape love is the antidote to strife, hatred, envy, jealousy, and all forms of expressions of carnality towards another Believer or person. My latest article on agape love, coined from 1 Corinthians 13 is titled ‘How Do You Love?’
I am still being blessed by that blog post. So I encourage you to read it.
“But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts]” Galatians 5:16 AMP
A major hindrance to expressing agape is the spirit of unforgiveness. One of my recent YouTube videos, discusses in very simple terms; 5 Secrets to Taming The Spirit of Unforgiveness
“Continually pursue peace with everyone, and the sanctification without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14. AMP
“Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven” Matthew 18:21-22 AMP.
Going by Matthew 18:21-22, forgiving people should be a lifestyle for every Christian. But I am also quickly reminded of Mark 9:43 and 1 Timothy 6:5..
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— “ Mark 9:43 NKJV
“..useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” I Timothy 6:5. NKJV
So while we forgive and walk in agape, there are associations, people, places and things we must cut off and withdraw from. If there is anyone, anything or any place that continually remains a source of the weights we’ve discussed in this study, cut them off and/or withdraw from them.
“Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.“
Proverbs 26:20 NKJV
And if you are reading this and you think you’ve been operating as a source of weights to another Believer, you can stop today. Stop being a tool in the hand of the enemy. When the devil tries to sow the seed of discord and defilement among brethren through you, recognize immediately that his purpose still remains to steal, kill and destroy.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
Mark 9:42 NKJV
Resist the devil and he’ll flee….
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 NKJV
People talk about faith extenders/enablers, well, here are my 3 critical support for our faith walk; hope, patience/endurance and active persistence.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
“Think about Jesus. He patiently endured the angry insults that sinful people were shouting at him. Think about him so that you won’t get discouraged and stop trying” Hebrews 12:3 ERV
You know, the picture in my head of active persistence is like pushing through a resistance. Pushing steadily, purposefully and with determination to win. To win, we need to be geared to do ‘active persistence’ everyday!
Brethren, we are in a race. Our faith walk is a race. We are walking towards maturity and perfection, and towards our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, towards a crown. No beating the air, no distractions, no unnecessary weights, baggage or bandages. We are set in our tracks, we run purposefully and with determination and We Win! We Have To Win. Halleluyah!!!
Take a look below (Hebrews 12:22-24) at the crowd awaiting our arrival at the finish line….they are waiting to celebrate us…..
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].”
Hebrews 12:22-24 AMP
Thank You Father for this Word. Thank You.
And thank you dear for staying with me through this study. I believe that it blessed you, just the way it blessed me.
Stay Blessed, In The Word and In The Covenant.
Love Always.
Can we briefly reflect on the things that meant all things to us before the onset of COVID-19? Looking back now, can we say like Paul that we indeed abounded and still abound
A lot of Christians haven’t really understood love. A few others talk about love in the light of something they expect to receive from others. But can you imagine if every Christian thought about themselves every time 1 Corinthians 13 flashes through their mind? Christianity will be truly defined. How do you love?
