Grace Abounds Ministries

My beloved readers, I welcome you to today’s article. It’s my sincere prayer that the Lord will speak to you as you read, in Jesus’ name. In the last article, I started sharing about guarding your heart against legalism and self-effort, two of the four things I shared that happen when the heart isn’t covered with the breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness is what should guard us from all of these: 1.  Condemnation 2.  Comparison 3.  Legalism 4.  Self-effort When you know who you are—that you are righteous, that Christ has brought you to a position where He stands before God—you won’t entertain condemnation or comparison. If Jesus Himself, through His blood, brought me to a place of undeserved privilege, then no one can condemn me because He who has the right to do so doesn’t. Instead, He has elevated me above every principality and power. Excuse me, why would I stoop so low as to compare myself with someone else when God has identified me with His Son? Oh, we do...

By God’s grace, we’ll continue from where we left off last week. I’ve been sharing about the breastplate of righteousness, focusing on what it primarily protects—the heart. I’ve also explained what the heart is. Currently, we’re considering four things that can dominate our hearts and influence us and our relationship with God. In the previous article, I discussed two of these: condemnation and comparison. To catch up, please review that article . Today, we’ll examine the other two: legalism and self-effort. Before analysing them individually, let’s look at both and understand their similarities and differences. We often use them interchangeably, and yes, they can be, but fundamentally, they are distinct. Legalism is a root issue—it impacts your theology of acceptance before God. Self-effort is a fruit issue—it influences your daily Christian practice. Legalism involves believing you are accepted, righteous, or justified before God based on obeying laws, rules, or traditions, rather th...

Beloved, you are welcome to today’s article. I am sure you will be blessed by God’s Word through this write-up. Last week, we stopped at this point: When you forget that you are righteous in Christ, you become vulnerable to: 1. Condemnation 2. Comparison 3. Legalism 4. Self-effort I said we’d examine these four areas where we become vulnerable when we don’t anchor our faith in Christ’s righteousness. By God’s grace, we’ll look at the first two tonight and the last two next week.   When a believer doesn’t wear the breastplate of righteousness—that is, when their heart isn’t grounded in the righteousness of Christ—they see themselves falling prey to these four things. 1. Condemnation : This happens when the heart forgets it is justified by grace. Let’s look at Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” The Bible states that there is no condemnation for those who ...

I want to welcome my beloved readers to today’s article. It’s my prayer that the Lord will encounter you in His Word. By God’s grace, I’ll continue from where we stopped in the last article . We spoke about the spiritual function of the heart and looked at the contrast between the heart and the soul. The reason we explored this is that the breastplate of righteousness directly protects the heart, and we saw its significance. Before delving deeper into the breastplate of righteousness, I feel the need to continue what I shared last week about the heart. I want to focus on what it means to guard your heart with all diligence. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” Proverbs 4:23 NKJV.  Here, when the Bible uses the word “keep,” it also means to guard or protect. It’s like a soldier watching over a fortress or territory. This makes sense because our anchor text in Ephesians 6 describes a soldier putting on complete armor to protect himself and fig...

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” ‭‭Ephesians 6:13-14 NKJV By God’s grace, for several weeks, we’ve been exploring one of these armors, the Belt of Truth. We’ve said a lot about this armor and how we can fasten it around our waist to keep winning. In the last article, I shared an overview of what righteousness is, defining it as: Righteousness is the divine standard of what is right before God, perfectly embodied in the character and actions of Christ, who is our Redeemer. It is not a product of human effort or morality but the very nature of Christ that qualifies Him to be our Savior and that now covers the believer as spiritual armor. in today's article, we’ll look at what a breastplate protects and the implications for the believer. The breastplate in a Roman soldier’s armor protects the ...

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” ‭‭Ephesians 6:13-14 NKJV By God’s grace, in the previous articles , we’ve been looking at one of these armours, the Belt of Truth. A lot has been said about this armour and how we can always fasten this belt around our waist so that we are always winning. You can check out the blog site to review what we’ve discussed over time regarding the belt of truth. We’ll start looking at another armor God expects us to wear so we can remain in the victory He has won for us, so that we can continue to win and reign in life. This armour is called the breastplate of righteousness. In today’s article, I’ll share an overview of what I believe will be a transformative teaching that will empower us to keep winning. When we talk about the Victor’s mentality, we’re talking about b...

By God’s grace, in today’s article, we’ll finish what we started about knowing Jesus intimately in the Scriptures. We’ve already discussed three ways to see Jesus intimately through the Scriptures: • Photographically in the Gospels • Doctrinally in the Epistles • Prophetically in the Old Testament By God’s grace, I’ll share two more in this article. You can check the previous article to get the full experience of what we’ve taught. Another way we must know Jesus, who is the truth, is: 4. Experientially in the Believer’s Life We need to understand that knowing and seeing Jesus goes beyond theological or intellectual knowledge; the aim must be to know Jesus personally and experientially. That’s what I intend to share with you in today’s write-up and this is the aim of the Scriptures. We’ve talked about knowing Jesus through the Gospels, Epistles, and Old Testament—all to these is to an end that it leads us to a living relationship with the person of Christ. To have an experiential relat...

We’ve been talking about seeing Jesus as seeing the truth, and the way we see Jesus is through the Scriptures. We’ve already explored three ways to do this: • Photographically in the Gospels • Doctrinally in the Epistles • Prophetically in the Old Testament I’d love to continue writing about the prophetic aspect in the Old Testament because I didn’t finish it in the previous article . I started sharing key examples of how Christ is revealed prophetically, focusing on direct Messianic prophecies. Let’s continue with another example: Through types and shadows: These are people, events, objects, and institutions that symbolically point to Christ. For instance: 1. Adam: A type of Christ as the head of a race, just as Christ is the head of the New Testament Church (Romans 5:14). This tells us we’ve been disconnected from the old Adam. We’re now in the lineage of the new Adam, which is Christ. If you still see yourself in the old Adam, you won’t be able to walk in the truth. You need to star...

In the previous articles , we started discussing how to see as God sees. We saw that the only way this is possible is when we start seeing Jesus through the Scriptures. I mentioned that I would share five ways we can see Jesus intimately through the Scriptures. Last article, we began with the first one: Seeing Jesus photographically in the gospel I want to share a bit more on that before moving to the second way. It’s vital to look at Jesus’ portrait in the gospel: observe Him when He was on earth in His incarnate state; see His active obedience to God’s holy law; notice His reactions to others—His kindness, His compassion, His sensitive nature; and consider His response to His enemies and all they did to Him. This is the portrait of Jesus. If we truly want to walk in the truth, we must consider His life in the gospel. The reason we see so much junk today, and why some believers sheepishly swallow it, is because they haven’t taken time to see Jesus photographically. For example, when y...

Calvary greetings, my beloved readers! Today, we’ll continue exploring the armor of God, focusing on the belt of truth, which we began discussing last time. This armor equips us to stand against the wiles of the evil one. We’ve shared quite a bit about the belt of truth already, so to catch up, please check out our blog site for the full teaching . Here’s our key text:“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” (Ephesians 6:14 NKJV) One thing I don’t want us to forget is that truth is how God sees things. That’s the truth! For our belief system to be firmly rooted in Christ, we need to see things the way God sees them. So, today, we’ll dive into how to see things as God does. This is foundational to cultivating a victor’s mentality. Let me start by declaring that Jesus is the truth:“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6 NKJV). No one—living or dead...

In our last article , we began exploring the whole armor of God, starting with the girdle of truth. We saw what truth is: Truth is simply how God sees everything. And how does God see everything? Through Jesus Christ, who is the Truth personified. It doesn’t matter how logical your view or perspective is—if it’s not how God sees it, it’s not truth.  We discussed other insights about the girdle of truth, which you can find in detail on this blog site. In this article, we’ll continue from where we left off, focusing on the implications of being girded with truth. Let’s revisit the scripture I shared in the last article:“And thus you shall eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.” (Exodus 12:11 NKJV) The Lord instructed the Israelites to keep a belt fastened around their waists to be ready for action the moment they were called to move. Right after the Passover, they were to begin th...

In today’s article, I’ll begin unpacking the different parts of the whole armor of God for spiritual warfare. Don’t forget why we’re in this warfare: it’s not to win, because the battle is already won in Christ, but to remain in this victory that Christ has secured for us and to enforce and extend His Lordship over the lives and terrains we find ourselves in. The devil doesn’t want this, so he launches fear, temptation, persecution, and various challenges to shift believers’ perspectives from this blessed reality to something ephemeral, natural, or animalistic. This is why the Holy Spirit urges us to put on the whole armor of God, so we can stand our ground in this victory whenever the devil comes with his tactics. Let’s look at this text: “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” (Ephesians 6:14 NKJV). This verse begins by repeating the phrase “stand, therefore.” This means that a person who will stand in Christ’s victory,...

In the previous article , I introduced the third part of this series, which focuses on the armor we are to put on during spiritual warfare. It was important to remind ourselves what spiritual warfare truly is. Let me summarize what spiritual warfare is all about in one sentence: spiritual warfare is the devil’s attempt to shift us from our spiritually blessed position to something ephemeral, material, natural, or animalistic. It’s crucial to understand this because 2 Corinthians 2:11 says:“Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Corinthians 2:11 NKJV). The devil isn’t attacking our spiritual blessings themselves—he cannot dare, as they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, as Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us. What he tries to attack is our position toward them, our view of them, and our mindset about them. That’s why we need the armor described in Ephesians 6. Before I start diving into the armor, I want to discuss when the devil strikes. Yes, ...

For those who have followed this series from the beginning, you’ll recall that we divided it into three parts: 1. The kind of power that resides in us 2. Unmasking who our opposition is By God’s grace, we’ve explored the first two parts, and they are all available on this blog site (The Victor’s Mentality parts 1-12). Today, we begin a new part (which I believe will be quite extensive), focusing on the armor we put on to resist this opposition. Let’s start by returning to our foundational text in Ephesians chapter 6. For today’s article, we’ll focus on verse 13 as we introduce this part:“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:12-13 NKJV) Let me begin by saying to every believer: you are ...

We’ve been exploring the second phase of our series (The Victor’s Mindset), which focuses on who the devil really is. We’ve already considered four revelations about the devil given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself:  1. He is a murderer  2. Liar  3. He does not stand in the truth  4. He has already been defeated   Now, I’ll share the fifth revelation: THE DEVIL IS ALREADY JUDGED!   I believe this is a vital revelation we must all consider. Jesus told us in John 16:11 that the ruler of this world is judged: “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:11 NKJV) When we look at Revelation 20:10, we see the outcome of that judgment: “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 NKJV)   Some people, when they hear this scripture, quiver and begin to fear Judgm...

We’ve been discussing Jesus’ revelation about the devil: his true identity, position, and stance. We’ve already seen that he is a murderer, a liar, and someone who does not stand in the truth. Today, we’ll explore another revelation, which is particularly fitting given the season we’re in—Easter. The third revelation is: The devil is a defeated foe. Glory to Jesus! If there’s ever a time to be reminded of the devil’s defeat, it’s now. Jesus Himself declared this truth, that the devil is defeated. Let’s look at Luke 10:17-18:“Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’” (Luke 10:17-18 NKJV)  Let me briefly share the background of this scripture and clarify some misconceptions. Jesus had sent the seventy out two by two, giving them His power and authority to cast out demons. They fully utilized the authority of Christ imparted to them. In verse 18, Jesus...

In today’s article, I’ll continue from where we left off last week. Last week, we began exploring who our opposition, the devil, is. I shared that we need to receive the revelation Jesus gave about the devil. This Understanding will enable us to walk in everyday victory over every opposition. As I’ve mentioned  in previous articles, we aren’t fighting to win—Jesus has already won every battle for us. Our fight is to remain in the victory Jesus secured for us because the devil is always out there, to sell lies to steal someone away from their victory. Last week, we saw the devil as a liar and murderer from John 8:44. Today, we’ll look at another revelation Jesus gave about the devil to help us carry on with the victor’s mentality: 2. He does not stand in the truth, and there is no truth found in him. This is another way of saying he is a liar, but from a different perspective:“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the...