Grace Abounds Ministries

Glory to God. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be here to share God’s Word with you. My prayer is that God's word will bless every heart. As we draw toward the close of this series, we have been considering for over a year the victor’s mentality of a believer. Right now, we are looking at the sword of the Spirit as the divine weapon God has empowered us with to keep winning in life. From Ephesians 6:17: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” For the past two articles, I have been sharing the characteristics of the Word of God from Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”   The final characteristic I want to share regarding the Word of God is this: the Word of God is a discerner of the heart. Last week, we saw how the Word of God affects ...

My beloved readers, I welcome you once again to this week’s article. I believe by the grace of God that we shall all be blessed as we read in Jesus’ name. In the last article , we began looking at the characteristics of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, from Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 
 Today, we will continue from that third point: The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. Im the last article, I said the Word of God is designed to touch the deepest part of our being, not just the surface. It is not meant to massage our ego or conform to what we want. Instead, the Bible describes it as a two-edged sword. You don’t handle such a sword however you like, rather, it handles you according to the truth of the gospel. The Word is designed to put our flesh under...

Welcome to today’s article. My sincere prayer is that we will all be blessed by God’s Word. Last week, we began a new segment in our series, The Victor’s Mentality, and our focus is on the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We’ve been studying the different pieces of armour God has empowered us with so as to keep winning in life, and right now, our focus is on the sword of the Spirit. “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV) Today, we will take a step further and look at the characteristics of the sword of the Spirit, using Hebrews 4:12 as our reference. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) One thing that helps in understanding the book of Hebrews is knowing the context in which it was written. The epis...

It is again a pleasure and a privilege to share God's word with you. I sincerely pray that your life will be blessed in Jesus’ name. In today's article, we are starting a new focus within the victor's mentality series, specifically the sword that the Spirit wields. Let us look at our reference text for this series: “And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.”   — Ephesians 6:17 (AMPC) When we examine the complete armor of a Christian believer as described in Ephesians 6, it becomes both fascinating and beautiful to recognise our identity as Christians.  Each piece of this armor: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of readiness of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit are intentionally provided to us by God so that we can remain victorious and continue winning in life. Every piece of God's armor shows us that our Christian life is not ...

You’re welcome to today’s article reading. By God’s grace, I shall be continuing from where we stopped in the last article. Last week, I shared an eschatological view of salvation, and we saw what it means. So in today's article, we will look at why we must hold this view. What is the impact it has on us as Christian believers? 1. It stabilises our mind. In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, the bible says: “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8 NKJV) The Bible presents this future hope as a helmet. A helmet guards the head. That talks about our mind, our faculty, the seat of our thinking. The place the devil often targets is the mind. Because if he can influence your thoughts, he can influence your perspective; and if he influences your perspective, he can affect your choices and actions. So this hope of our future salvation in Christ brings the mind to rest when we know that our future ...

You’re welcome to today’s article reading. By God’s grace, I shall be continuing from where we stopped in the last article. I have been sharing on the Helmet of Salvation as an armour we need to put on to keep winning in life and ministry. And in the last article, I shared how the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the saving grace we have received, teaches and trains us to live soberly, godly, and righteously in this world. In today's article, we will be looking at the helmet of Salvation viewed eschatologically. “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8 NKJV) When we view salvation eschatologically, which means salvation is not only about the present protection as I have shared previously, but it is also about our future assurance.  There are three dimensions we view salvation from: we have been saved (from the penalty of sin), we are being saved (from the power of s...

I welcome everyone to today’s article, and it is my sincere prayer that the Lord will encounter you in His word. For quite a while now, I have been sharing on the victor’s mentality, while we consider various equipping the Lord has provided as we see them in Ephesians chapter 6. Presently, we are at the Helmet of Salvation . “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;” (Ephesians 6:17 NKJV) I started sharing from Titus 2:11-12 in the last article , and we saw that the saving grace of Christ didn’t only save us from this present evil world, but also trains and teaches us in order to keep winning in this present evil world. You know, as a believer, you need to keep winning; you need to keep winning in your spiritual life, health, finances, career, marriage, relationships, and the like. And this is what salvation does, it teaches you how to keep winning. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, den...

I want to welcome everyone to today’s article. I am trusting God that He will speak to you expressly and that every heart will be blessed as you read in Jesus’ name. Amen. Last week, I started sharing on the Helmet of Salvation as a continuation of our series on the victor’s mentality. We saw in Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV): “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;” We saw how beautiful and great our salvation is, as Apostle Paul has described it. That it is not only positional, but that it is experiential; it is active in defending us against the different attacks of the devil on our minds. I shared on the use of the word from the Greek translation that Paul used here, which is soterion, not the popular use of the word with which many are familiar, which is soteria. Even though both are describing this same great salvation we have received from Christ, they come from different contexts. Soteria functions as an abstract noun, viewing salvation ...

I welcome everyone to today’s article reading, and I am so sure in my heart that the Holy Spirit will meet everyone reading it in Jesus’ name. In today’s article, I shall continue to share on the theme subject: The Victor’s Mentality. And God has given us a text in Ephesians chapter 6 which has guided our discussion and also made us aware of the weapon and armor God has equipped us with to keep winning as believers. One thing we must know is that Jesus has won the victory over sin, this present evil world, the devil, and everything associated with it on our behalf and gave us the victory and all the benefits that come with it. So then we must carry that victory won for us and wear it like an armor to the world so that we can keep winning, thereby manifesting the victory. Beloved, don’t go to the world like a loser. No matter what happens, we always win. The worst that can happen to a man here on this earth is death, but for a believer, we die by winning. Don’t allow whatever is happeni...

In today’s article, I will be closing on the Shield of Faith. Just a reminder that we have been sharing on the victor’s mentality. For a believer to triumph, they need to go with the mentality of Christ’s victory. When we check Romans 8:37, the Bible refers to us as more than conquerors, that is, we are more than victors. You know why? Because the starting point was not on the battlefield with the enemy. Rather, our starting position is from the victory Christ has won for us on the cross. For you to be called a victor, you need to start from a position where you battle with your enemy on the battleground, then after you have defeated him, they declare you a victor. But that is not the case for us believers; our starting point was not on the battlefield because Jesus has already won the battle for us over the devil, sin, and all its consequences. Now our position is from a victor’s position. That’s why Paul said we are more than conquerors. We are more than victors. We didn’t fight but ...

We have been looking at different phases of faith while we have been considering the victor’s mentality as our broad theme. As we can see from our grand text in Ephesians 6:16: “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” The shield of faith is one of the armour God has given us as a victor so that we can keep winning. And I remember I shared that the shield covers and protects the other armour. That’s why you would see in the text that the Scripture says, “above all.” That informs you that the shield of faith is a covering over all the other armour. That is, if every other armour will not be exposed to attack, then we need to always take up our shield of faith. That has led us to begin to see what faith is and the different phases of faith. We have touched on five phases, which are saving faith, justifying faith, living faith, overcoming faith, and defensive faith. In this article, I will share the last phase, whi...

For the past two articles, we have been discussing the different phases of faith. We have seen three so far: we have seen that the faith we received at salvation, which is the saving faith, must continuously be applied so it also generates into justifying faith and then living (daily) faith. Today, we shall see another progression, which is the protective (defensive) faith. As you go into this new year, you will always need to flow in this phase of faith. “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Ephesians 6:16 NKJV) The Bible tells us that with the shield of faith, you are able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. So what are the fiery darts that the wicked one throws at you? Basically, it’s a thought—a demonic conception or perception and temptation to shift your gaze from Christ and His word. When we look at Adam and Eve, the devil didn’t come with a physical weapon to harm them. He came with an ...

By God’s grace, we shall continue from where we stopped in the last article. In the previous two articles, I have shared the different phases of faith. We have seen three so far: we have seen that the faith we received at salvation, which is the saving faith, must continuously be applied so it also generates into justifying faith and then living (daily) faith. Today, we shall see another progression, which is the overcoming (victorious) faith. First thing I want you to know is that faith is victorious in itself. It is this faith that brought us into the victory that Christ has won for us. So I would say faith is not just a tool, but it is a means and proof of victory for everyone born of God. What do I mean? What I am saying is that when the gospel breaks through a person’s heart, the Holy Spirit works inwardly and enables such a person to believe. At salvation, when the gospel prevails in a person’s heart, the Holy Spirit impacts faith. That faith is the means by which the person rece...

 Glory to Jesus! I welcome you all to another wonderful time of gleaning from the Word through this series. It is my prayer that the Lord will encounter you in a tremendous way as you read, in Jesus’ name. By God’s grace, we’ll continue from where we stopped in the last article. We’ve been considering the victor’s mentality, taking our insight from Ephesians 6. “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Ephesians 6:16) Currently, we’re looking at the shield of faith. We’ve seen what it means for faith to be a shield, and recently, we started looking at the encounters of faith. I said that Christian faith starts at salvation—what we call saving faith—and this same saving faith becomes justifying faith if we continue on the path of faith we began our Christian journey with. I also said in the last article that justifying faith is that faith that receives Christ and His finished work on the cross as the only ba...

My beloved readers, you’re welcome to today’s article. Since the beginning of this year, we’ve been looking at the victor’s mentality. This subject is very important to understand because the main problem of believers is their mentality and perspectives. The real battle is the battle to see things in the correct light. Because the devil will always try to paint a picture that’s not consistent with Christ. If we go with the picture the devil paints, then we become victims. But it’s important for you to know that you are a victor… and there is a mentality you’re expected to do life with so as to keep winning in life and ministry. That’s why we’ve been considering Ephesians chapter 6. The Bible has been opening our eyes to the perspective we ought to have and the mentality we ought to carry so we keep winning. Currently, we’re looking at the shield of faith. Last week, we started examining the different manifestations of faith, beginning with saving faith. We experience the dimension of f...

It’s a pleasure and a privilege to share God’s Word with you here, and I believe the Lord will meet with you deeply through this article. In the previous article , I started laying the foundation of what faith is, and one of the things I said is that faith is confidence in the character and nature of God as revealed in Christ. When we know who Jesus is, then faith will lean on the person of Christ and His finished work—that He is our Savior, Redeemer, Sanctifier, Provider, Healer, Lord, King, and more. So that tells you that the shield of faith will never be activated in us without revelation knowledge of who Christ is. Because it is Christ that we know we can lean on. That’s why the Bible says in Romans 10:17: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” In today's article, we’ll be looking at phases of biblical faith. I’m a bit skeptical about using the word “type,” because I’m not presenting faith as though it’s fragmented. But there are phases in which the ...

In the previous article , I began sharing about the shield of faith and provided an introduction to it. One of the things we saw from the verse in Ephesians 6 is that the Bible says “above all,” meaning our faith covers all other armour. We saw that without faith, all other armour will be under attack. Faith is required to enable this armour to work effectively. In today's article, I’ll continue with the introduction. As I’ve always said, every one of these armours is not a performance we do. They are the life we inherit in Christ. And this shield of faith is one of them. So, faith is not a struggle, not striving, not forcing things to happen. Faith is confidence in the character and nature of God revealed in Christ. We have seen in Christ that He is our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Sanctifier, our Healer, our Wisdom, our Righteousness, and more. Therefore, when we now talk about faith as a shield, which every soldier is expected to hide behind, we are saying that faith is resting be...

My beloved readers, you’re welcome to this article. By God’s grace, we will begin to explore another phase in our series on the victor’s mentality. We’ve been using Ephesians 6 from verse 13 to see what it truly means to have a victor’s mentality. We’ve also been looking at the different pieces of armour God expects us to put on so we can keep winning. So far, we have seen: Belt of truth Breastplate of righteousness Shoes of the gospel of peace And in this article, we will start sharing about an armour that is so vital. We speak a lot about it—and trust me, we cannot overemphasise how important this armour is if we are to keep winning. It is: The shield of faith We’ll only consider the introductory part in this article, and go deeper in the subsequent ones. “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”(Ephesians 6:16 NKJV) As a way of introducing the verse, notice that the Bible says “above all.” Let me present what...