Grace Abounds Ministries

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...

I welcome everyone to today’s article. It is my prayer that the Lord will encounter you with His Word. Today is the last session on this particular piece of armour: the shoes of the gospel of peace. We have shared the three inward applications of the peace the gospel gives: •  Peace in the conscience • Tranquillity of the mind •  Peace in the midst of challenges In this article, I will conclude the teaching on the gospel of peace as I discuss  the Gospel of Peace that we preach. Having talked about peace of conscience, tranquillity of the mind, and peace over circumstances and situations, it is only right that we conclude by looking at how this peace expresses itself outwardly. When Paul calls it “the preparation of the gospel of peace,” he uses a word that signifies readiness—a state of being ever prepared. That means the believer, having been firmly grounded in the peace of God, becomes a carrier of that peace wherever they go. Before you can be effective in preaching t...

My beloved readers, you’re welcome to today’s article. I have been sharing about the application of the peace the gospel brings—how it applies to our lives and everyday walk. In the previous articles, ai have conveyed two of them: peace in the conscience and tranquillity of the mind. In today’s article, we’ll look at the third application: peace in circumstances and situations.  Peace in circumstances is the manifestation of our inner peace in outward realities. There’s no way we can manifest peace in the face of difficulties and challenges when there’s no settled peace within us. Having peace in circumstances is the expression of a settled heart in an unsettled world. Let’s look at John 16:33 to see the word of our Savior: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  The believer shouldn’t try to look for peace in the world or anything it offers. Peace and calmness...

My beloved readers, you’re welcome to today’s article. I’m sure you’ll be mightily blessed. We’ve been sharing on the victor’s mentality, with our grand text from Ephesians 6:13.  We’ve been looking at the armor God expects us to put on so we can keep winning in life and ministry. Presently, we’re in verse 15: “And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”  We’ve been considering the shoes of the gospel of peace. Last week, we started looking at the application of the peace the gospel produces. We began with the first one: peace of the conscience.  Today, we’ll move to the second: tranquility of the mind. The peace the gospel gives doesn’t only reconcile our position before God; it also governs the condition of our inner life. The peace that justifies us before God now extends to calm and stabilize our thought realm, bringing tranquility to the mind. The thought realm is crucial. The mind is the battlefield where most unrest begins.  In the ...

In today’s article, we’ll talk about the application of the gospel of peace, which includes: Peace of the conscience Tranquility of the mind Peace in circumstances and situations Today, we’ll focus on the first one: peace of the conscience. When Apostle Paul speaks of the “gospel of peace” in Ephesians 6:15, the first expression of that peace is inward—the peace that settles in your conscience because you know the issue between you and God has been resolved at the cross. Peace of conscience is the inner rest that comes from knowing nothing stands between you and God anymore. Before salvation, your conscience was so actively aware of guilt, judgment, and condemnation. It testified against you, as we see in Romans 2:15: “Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them).”  But now, the blood of Jesus didn’t just forgive your sins—it has purged your conscience if you’re a b...

My beloved readers, you’re welcome to today’s article. In the article, I started sharing about the shoes of the gospel of peace, part of the armor God expects us to put on to keep winning and reigning in life. We saw what the shoes do for us by looking at what they did for the Roman soldier, including stability, firm mobility, protection, among others.   We also saw that the gospel of peace we put on as a shoe is a heavenly peace which is Peace with God, Peace in Christ’s body, and The peace of God that rules and steadies our hearts.   To get the full message from last week, check it on our blog site. ( Link )   In this article, I’ll continue introducing this topic: the shoes of the gospel of peace. “And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” (Ephesians 6:15 NKJV)   When we look at the location of this armor—the gospel of peace, we’ll see it’s worn on the feet. And of course, the feet are primarily for mobility. What does that tell us? It...

It’s a pleasure and privilege to present the gospel to you, my beloved readers. I’m confident in the Lord that He will bless your hearts, in Jesus’ name. By God’s grace, we’ve been talking about the victor’s mentality, with our text from Ephesians 6:13-18 . In this article, we’ll focus on verse 15: “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” (Ephesians 6:15 NKJV) We’ve already discussed the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. You can access these teachings on our blog site. So in this article, we’ll talk about the shoes of the gospel of peace. I’ll introduce the topic today, and in the subsequent articles, we’ll build on it as the Holy Spirit inspires. Paul says in Ephesians 6:15, “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Paul’s inspiration for this imagery came from a Roman soldier’s armour. To understand the spiritual truth he’s communicating, we must first understand what the shoe represented in the soldier’...

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. Today, we’ll conclude our teaching on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness tells us that the Christian life is a guarded life. When you’re not wearing it, your guard is loose, and the enemy has a free day in your life to accuse, condemn, or deceive you. But that’s not you, in Jesus’ name.  I’ve shared how to continuously put on this breastplate of righteousness: Keep Christ in view as the reason for your acceptance before God and the source of your daily living, and carry this perspective into your society. Be determined and resolute in your heart to keep your gaze on Christ, refusing to see yourself apart from Him. Even when you sin or err, instead of continuing on that fleshy path or resorting to self-effort, refocus your gaze on Christ. Today, I want to share a closing charge on this aspect of the victor’s mentali...

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...