The Grace of God is sufficient

Paul says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

And He said to me : “My grace is sufficient for you. For virtue is perfected in weakness.” And so, willingly shall I glory in my weaknesses, so that the virtue of Christ may live within me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

I have learned that there is no need for me to ask God for grace, and I do not need to work hard to receive His grace. I don’t need to start campaigning for a gift. A gift is a gift. You do not need to labor to receive it. So grace is not a wage.

The grace of God is given to all of us, and because of that, we are saved. It is not something I should boast of having. It is God’s gift to all of us. All one needs to do is to find ways in which he/she can express gratitude to God for the gift of grace. Show it by doing good. This will mean you appreciate His gift of grace. Doing evil means you are not grateful that God has gifted you. He has saved you already.

God has rescued me, forgiven me, declared me righteous, adopted me into His family, and called me His own as a gift of grace.

It is because of God’s amazing grace that I can be saved, and there is nothing I can do to earn it. I do not need to win God’s approval.

So if you wish to enjoy His grace, forget about receiving, keep giving because giving is loving.

May God Be with you.

Where is your heart?

This morning I came across scripture from Matthew 6:21, and and has put me in a position to ask my self what I treasure;

“For where your treasure is, there also is your heart.”

I just wish I had a focus on heavenly things, but I do not know if at all am anywhere near heaven. Within me, there are constant fights between good and evil. My immediate environment is always in conflict. Even people we look up to for inspiration are found in questionable situations. People who claim to be Christians and read the bible every day do not practice what they preach. And here I am, hoping for the best out of all the chaos that surrounds me today.

I pray that my heart draws closer to heaven, despite the chaos.

What I am thankful for…

God is so great, and I am so grateful for the many blessings He showers all over me. These blessings are too great to mention as they overwhelm me. For the first time in my life, I have managed to highlight the areas of my life considered central to my development.

Life

First of all, my life has been a journey. A journey is full of adventure and a lot of battles and victories. It is this life that came into the lives of the many. Many that I crossed paths with, to most a blessing, to some a curse, depending on how we related. I do believe I am a lesson in other people’s lives, both a good lesson and a negative lesson. I love the fact that I am not perfect, but God loves me still.

Family

My family is my world, starting with the family that raised me to the family that I head, they see me as an introvert, and they are right. There is a family responsible for bringing me up, raising me to become the man that I am today. The family that raised me had more love for me than money and food to spoil me with. And the love was sufficient, more than enough to bring up this man, who later met another human being raised by another family, a woman I found to start a family with. The family I head has become a part of the family that raised me and also part of the big family that raised my wife. None of these families is perfect. It is for that reason that I love them, and I am so very grateful to God.

Friends

I do not have too many friends. The few that I call friends are a huge blessing. A blessing in that they are a network of progress. I am surrounded by friends who challenge me to grow, they do this unknowingly, and they are also my stress killers. Never a dull moment with some of them. And all my friends will describe me as an extrovert, and they are very right. Our friendship has reached a brotherhood state, and we enjoy mutual respect. I have such friends that we can go a year or two without communicating due to the distance between, but the day one makes a call, we talk like we talk every day. No one accuses the other of anything because we know our friendship is not perfect, but we love it that way.

Work

For me to maintain a good relationship with myself, my family, and friends, I need to put food on the table, pay bills, rentals, and grow my assets. God gave me a job. I grew up without a single imagination, will work in a bank. And God gave me this job, to work in a bank, I remember at college when a lecturer was using me as an example of a person who cannot work as a bank clerk because of my looks, and it turned out he was opening that door for me. I actually started as a bank clerk and today am at the back office running the affairs of my co-workers in risk and compliance. I also thank my family and friends, whose prayers God answered.

Challenges

I would not have made it this far without challenges. I am so thankful to God for all the challenges I have encountered in my journey through life. It cannot be enjoyed without a few battles here and there, some small, some big, but victory is what I work towards. There have been times when I see no hope because the challenge seems too big for me, but I know that my God is too big for my problems. I just surrender to Him. And I have come to learn that with every challenge that I overcome, life becomes better for me. And the bigger the challenge, the better the change in my life.

Romanticizing ‘Love’ — Renard’s World

Dr. Sridhar helps us to understand a concept that is known as, “Romanticizing love”.

Romanticizing ‘Love’ — Renard’s World

I have never believed in Romance, but I do believe in Love. And after reading your blog about Romanticizing Love, I have come to realise that I am not the only one who finds romance a fantasy.
My own definition of Love is ” give without expecting anything in return, but love the way you would love to be loved.”

God lives among us

I see God in you. I see Him in His beautiful creation.

I look into the sky in the night, and I see Him in the star.

I look into the sky in the day, and I see Him in the sun.

He is present in the clear blue sky.

I see God in the mountains, rivers, and waterfalls.

He is present in the little babies I see, their smiles, and their beautiful innocent eyes.

I see God in the middle of a crisis. He is standing right their, waiting for you to call upon His name,

I see Him in strangers because I am a stranger to them, and they still accommodate me.

I see my God, the Father in the rain. As it pours down, washing away all the debris and watering His beautiful creation, the lightning and thunder commanding His authority.

I see God The Son in every mankind, as He once walked the earth in human form.

I see God, The Holy Spirit in me. I can feel Him. As I enjoy the moment of His creation.

He is right here with me. I will not wait for judgment day because He lives in me. He lives in you too.

There was a time God spoke to us through prophets, then he came down in human form to live and dwell among us to show us the way, then he promised to send us the Holy Spirit to be our helper.

Well, from all that I have heard and read. I have also learned that there is only one God, who is in-form of the Father, who spoke to us through the prophets, the Son, who came in human form, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, then the Holy Spirit who descended on the day of Pentecost. He has dwelled among all believers since.

The Gospel according to Matthew 28:19 -20 states;

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Yes! He is right here with us. He is with you, with me, and with every one of us, and in everything we do, God is with us. Let us not be misled by the many who have come to preach in His name and perform miracles to convince us and subject us to live in fear. Instead, let us seek Him, who lives amongst us, for He lives in every one of His creations.

And in the Gospel in John 14:16-17, Jesus is telling us;

16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive Him. Because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him because he remains with you and is in you.

I do not doubt because I believe in the Holy Spirit, my helper. He is the same God, The Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We have been told that one day God will come to judge us, and as things are, many people live lives of trying to impress the God who is in heaven. In the process, they hurt their brothers and sisters who are right next to them. For me and what I believe in, if the Holy Spirit is dwelling among us, then God lives amongst us. In every human being, I see God. And my duty to impress God is to ensure that my brothers and sisters around me are impressed with me. If my neighbor is happy, then I am too, and the same applies to God.