TODAY I SAY I DO

I started this year 2016 deeply in prayers. I remember sharing with you that I learned some great truths about prayer from Pastor Chris Onayinka which really did transform my prayer life. I still pray and I still thank God that I stumbled on those audio messages (click here for that article). It was in one of my prayer times that the LORD placed it in my heart to choose September as the month in which I’d get married. Yes, September 2016! At first, making that prayer was easy, and I saw it as a good thing from the LORD (I still do). However, later, thinking about it and the impossibility of it made it a little bit more difficult to pray. But I chose to hold on to prayers. My head doubted a lot; but as Dad Hagin advised, I ensured my heart didn’t doubt. I remember my best friend, Simi, calling me on my birthday and when I told her what I’d been praying about, she asked, “Oh is there somebody yet?” I said, “No, but that’s what is going to happen.” She said, “I admire your faith.”

I didn’t admire my faith, because it seemed impossible. Little did I know that I’d already met my husband and God had already placed it in his heart so that He could accomplish what He had purposed in our lives. We’re not getting wedded in September exactly (’cos today is October 1^st), but we fulfilled our traditional marital demands yesterday, September 30^th. 

It has been a … I-don’t-know-how-to-describe-it heck of a journey for Deji and I. I read somewhere that the fact that something is the will of God doesn’t mean it is going to be easy and doesn’t mean there will never be challenges. Indeed, readjusting yourself to fit God’s plan isn’t necessarily a pleasant transition. We both learned that truth early in our relationship and it has helped us get to where we are today – each day we are more than grateful to God for His faithfulness. We would never have it any other way.

And that’s why today I say ‘I do’…

Today I say ‘I do’ confirming that what He promises, He also will perform (Romans 4:21).

Today I say ‘I do’ to the will of God concerning marriage; trusting that He who has begun a good work is able also to complete it. (Philippians 1:6).

Today I say ‘I do’ proving true that no one was made to live for him/herself. Now, I have a daily reminder that I need not look out for my own things alone, but also on the things of others (Philippians 2:4).

Today I say ‘I do’ to the things I already know and the ones I don’t even know. (Joshua 1:9).

Today I say ‘I do’ to God’s choice for me. I get to become one with him who is whole and complete in Christ. (Ephesians 5:31; Colossians 2:10)

Today I say ‘I do’ to the love of my life, my prince charming; knowing that the storms will rage sometimes and the fires will burn, but God will never fail. (Isaiah 43:2; Hebrews 13:5).

So, I say ‘I do’ till death do us part. 

BUT YOU HAVE A KING

About a month ago, I was awoken from my sleep by the LORD and He gave me a scripture to read. It wasn’t one I was very familiar with, neither was it a book of the Bible I often read; so I knew that definitely didn’t come from me. More so, at the time, I wasn’t in close connect with God. I had been so busy attending to my life and other affairs and hadn’t given quality time listening to Him through the day nor at night. That was shameful, I know; but praise God, He’s working better things out in me every day.

Anyway, the Bible portion God asked me to read was Judges 17:1-6.

^17:1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

^17:2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.

^17:3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

^17:4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

^17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

^17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

As I read, I got confused. Questions that ran through my head were:

•      Why will God ask me to read this passage?
•       What did I steal?
•       Which graven images did I make?
•       This doesn’t seem like a good story; of what importance is it to me?

As I asked these questions, thoughts were going through my mind of things I may’ve have done wrong that God was trying to correct. It wasn’t until I read the last verse of the short Bible portion (verse 6) did I come to understand what God was saying.

“^17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

When I got done reading verse six, God immediately said, “But you have a King. You have a King, so you can’t keep on doing whatever “you” think is right. You have to do what “I” know is right. You can’t fix prayer times when it’s convenient for you and push it anytime you like. You can’t study your Bible just whenever you like or just gloss over it when you feel you’re tired. You cannot do what “you” think is right. You should do what is right in My own eyes.”

I was convicted. God was right and I had been screwing up stuff in this God-given-God-owned life that I live.

Many times we get so busy with life and with what the LORD gives to us to the extent that we make graven images of them – just like Micah’s mother did in Judges 17:1-6. Like Paul mentioned in Romans 1, we sometimes adore the gift/creation and honor it more than the Giver/Creator. These gifts I’m referring to could be jobs, money, career, relationships, children, church positions and responsibilities, etc. With these gifts God gives to us, we daily make graven images and worship them often as gods. We do what is right in our own eyes and ask God to bless it. And because we do not commit sins that have been tagged “big”, we have failed to see that our individual lives are majorly controlled by gods that we have molded for ourselves. Sometimes, we even go to the extent of gauging sins and labeling them as not-so-bad, doesn’t-matter, or bad. So we sing any kind of music, watch any kind of movie, have silly conversations – stuff that do not glorify God in anyway or form, and say it doesn’t matter or it’s not as bad as we think. It truly may not be “that bad”; but by revelation from this passage, and as people under authority, God is saying to us, “You have a King. You cannot keep on doing what seems right in your own eyes. I am your King. You must do what is right in My own eyes.”

I’ve been taking steps to correct this since that night, and God has been helping as I have daily and consciously aligned myself to His own will and ways; remembering always that I have a King!

Are you convicted as well?

Who's Steering the Wheels?

My last post got a number of pushbacks, which was not surprising. One common deduction I got from comments of those who had a problem with it was that it seemed to encourage sin. This response was not unexpected and that’s why I stated in that post that I’ll write this following post on “sin”. Before I do that, though, I do think it is necessary to provide some clarity and clear out the confusion from the previous post. I can only hope I am successful this time. 

So I thought about an easy way to explain this…

Okay, so let’s assume Salvation was a beautiful car – say, an Escalade. (This is just an illustration – a very simple one – which canNOT explain the concept of salvation). That cleared, we have our salvation – a beautiful car, all fueled and completely a gift. We each have our own “Escaladed” salvation car and we are to ride in it till we see Him in glory. I have my car and I realize that I can ride in it in either of two ways. One, I can choose to ride it by myself, find my way by myself, and figure it out by myself. Or, two, I can let the One who gave it to me take the driver’s seat, navigate the path He formed, and lead me Home safely, while I enjoy the ride in the car He gave me. My previous post only stated that I chose the latter. I have come to trust Jesus to take me Home safely. It has nothing to do with my good driving skills or the lack of it. I have realized in these few years of mine that my skills have done nothing but fail me. Each time I usurp the steering wheels of my Escalade from Him and tried to do things myself, I ended up in potholes and ditches and on the wrong path in sin. But every time I let Him do the driving, I never go wrong. 

Now, does this spell complacency and carelessness in running the Christian race? How could it? If the Master takes on the steering wheels while I consistently yield to Him (Romans 6:13), knowing that I am nothing but an expert in screwing up my own life and the beautiful gift He’s given me, how can that mean I am not careful enough?

It’s like buying a complex machine – let’s say, an equipment you’d like to set up in a huge factory, and since you know you are no skilled engineer, you decide to call on the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to come over to your factory to install or set up the equipment for you. He gladly comes over, and in a couple of hours, your equipment is ready to start producing stuff. Across the street is this other guy who buys the same machine and is also no skilled engineer. But rather than beckon on the OEM, He decides to carefully, patiently, “wisely”, watchfully, etc-ly try to install/set up the equipment by himself. I bet ya, he could take one month trying to do that and still mess up the entire machine. If I am asked to choose who the careful person is out of the two, it’s a no-brainer, I’ll choose the one who called the OEM. My previous post only showed that I chose to beckon on the OEM of my life and salvation ‘cos I cannot fix stuff by myself; and He’s perfectly fine with that (John 6:39; John 10: 28-29; Jude 24; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 12:2a; 2^nd Timothy 1:12b). That in no way promotes complacency; rather it shows that  I've chosen to let the One who began the work finish it. He is the Author & Finisher of my faith. And this is exactly what Paul was addressing in Galatians 3 where He told the Galatia Christians that it was foolish of them to attempt to complete what God had started.

Now, does this permit sin in anyway or form? That’s insane. Does this permit complacency with your Christian life? God forbid.

Romans 6:2 – “... How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Romans 6:6 – “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no longer serve sin.

Romans 6:7 – “For he that is dead is freed from sin”

Romans 6:12 – “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”

Romans 6:14 – “For sin shall not have dominion over you: FOR YE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW BUT UNDER GRACE.”

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:7 – “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”

2 Timothy 2:19 – “… And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

1 John 3:8 – “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

There is nothing about grace (God’s gift in Christ) that supports or condones sin. NOTHING! In fact, if you’re a person who understands your place in Christ – based on what Christ did for you, you’ll know that sin doesn't flow right with your new nature and you'll feel like crap if you sinned. A believer in Christ who understands grace avoids sin not primarily because he wants to make it to heaven (although, he will) or because people say it is bad or because it might cost him a position in church; rather, he doesn’t dabble with sin because he loves the God who has called him out of darkness into His marvelous light, for God loved Him first; because he knows that He is freed from sin and cannot keep on living in what he is dead to; because he knows that he is not under the law but under grace. But does such a believer sin? Yes, sometimes he does – when he chooses to usurp the steering wheels from the grip of His Master. When he does, do things go wrong? Of course! Let’s see a few dangers of sin in the life of a believer. We’ll look at only three or four for this blog post. There are several more.

1.      Sin steals from the believer. Sin tampers with what we have freely in Christ. For example, peace and joy. Imagine that our Escalade wasn’t a salvation car anymore, but is a simple beautiful Honda SUV you recently purchased for a good sum of money and you parked nicely in your garage. But then you happen to have a set of very energetic twin boys who are eight years old and who like to experiment with everything. And so, they scratch the body of your car today with metals; tomorrow, they throw a stone and break windshield. Then they got a hold of the keys one evening when you weren’t watching and decided to take turns at testing their car-moving skills. Your Honda in a week has become nothing but a wreck. First thing we note in this illustration is that your Honda is still YOUR Honda. You didn’t lose the Honda; but it has been seriously tampered with that you cannot use it for the intended purpose anymore.

This is kind of the same way sin messes with us. A believer who has joy, peace, love, righteousness, etc. in the Holy Ghost realizes that because of sin, he is unable to express them the way God wants Him to.

2.      Sin gives Satan access to mess with your life. John 10:10 – “The thief cometh not but for to steal to kill and to destroy…” Many times, Satan has access to the believer’s life, not mainly because he sins; but because the believer dwells on the attachments that comes with sin and refuse to move on. Attachments such as shame, guilt, depression, self-unforgiveness, fear, etc. Satan capitalizes on these and cause more pain to the believer. Any believer who falls into sin should remember that God is faithful and has forgiven you. So pick yourself up and move on. Do not give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). 1 John 1:1b – “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

3.      Sin in the life of a believer steals from the Body of Christ. (Yes, and I mean “one” believer). This may seem too extreme, but I realized recently through my own life that it is very true. As believers, God has given us a mission to the world. We are to preach the gospel (Acts 1:8), teach the word (2 Timothy 4:2), pray for the sick (Mark 16:17-18), pray for the unsaved (1 Timothy 2:1-6), pray for saints and ministers/spiritual leaders (Ephesians 6:18-19), pray that the gospel will gain entrance in difficult terrains (Colossians 4:3), yield to the Spirit so that we can be used of Him for the edifying of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12), etc.

Now imagine if as a believer who is meant to be doing all this, you’re dealing with one sin and rather than making prayers for the entrance of the word in places like North Korea, you are crying that you’ve “done it again”.

Sometimes, God places a burden in our hearts to pray for someone somewhere we know nothing about; perhaps someone in danger, and as we pray in the Holy Ghost, such person is being delivered from trouble wherever he is. Imagine how many people your prayers could have helped that it didn’t because when you knelt or laid down or walked to pray, your mind strayed off to the sin you just committed “again”, and of course, you’re beating yourself up rather than praying.

You’re a couple and you know the Bible says when two agrees concerning a thing, it shall be established. But you two don’t agree, you argue and fight. Imagine the number of younger couples who would have learned from you that didn’t, because you couldn’t even get your own relationship together.

You see that your one or recurrent sin actually steals from Christ’s Body. And there’s no way that is God’s plan. 

4.      In addition to the above three, sin also messes with the believer’s relationship with God. Sin doesn’t destroy the believer’s position – he is still God’s child and God’s arms are ever open to receive him; but sin messes with his fellowship with the Father. He’s too afraid to come to Him because he knows he’s messed up again.

All he needs do though is, like the prodigal son in Luke 15, shake off the dirt and pigs’ food from off himself and run into Dad’s open arms for restored fellowship.

How careful or complacent you are as a believer on this Christian race is dependent upon the one you select to steer the wheels of your salvation. I choose my Master. Who do you choose?

NO CONFUSION… I’M SPENDING ETERNITY IN HEAVEN!

Hi Friends, I am writing this post because I am basically tired – sick and tired – of having to be asked to make some prayers in church that involves me begging to spend eternity in heaven. Prayer points like, “Father, please, do not let me miss heaven… LORD, please, don’t let my name be taken out of the Book of Life… Jesus, don’t forget me in your Kingdom; remember to build my own mansion, etc.” I am honestly sick and tired of those prayer points. However, I will not judge those who make those prayers. They do it out of ignorance and out of fear. Unfortunately, people respond to altar calls out of fear and not love. Isn’t that ironic? Love is what sent Jesus to the cross and perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18); but some ministers make people respond to His grace out of fear. My sister and I visited a church once, and we literally grimaced through the entire sermon. I kept blaming her for making us go there. When the altar call was made, she whispered, “At least people are coming to surrender to Christ.” I immediately countered and said, “Anybody can make people respond to an altar call; only make them afraid;” which unfortunately, is what the pastor did that day. When a person “accepts Christ” out of fear, it is expected that they maintain their “salvation” out of fear too. That’s why I cannot be so harsh in judging those who make these prayers.  Regardless though, I have and will continue to encourage everyone who cares to listen to PLEAAASSSSEEEEE study their Bible. It’s liberating. It’s revealing. It makes things clearer. Bible teachings are great. Bible teachers are gifted with the ability to further expound the truth in God’s word, draw scriptures together and make it even clearer. I love Bible teachers. I have Bible teachers. And I teach the Bible as well. But I believe in personal Bible study more. There’s nothing as good as seeing it for yourself, and getting inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself.

I once told y’all about a church I attended for two years in Texas where eternal security was preached. At that time, I wasn’t a Bible studier; I was only a religious Bible reader. So there were several things I didn’t understand and a lot more I didn’t even know; one of which was eternal security. I struggled so much with that subject that I had to go into scriptures myself. A number of years later, I realized they were right all along; but I would maintain that they didn’t do a good job at teaching it. It was a concept they believed, but I think many of them lacked understanding of (I know because I had conversations about it with several people there). Well, now, having studied my own Bible, I have come to the conclusion that as a Believer in Christ and His finished work of redemption for me, having accepted His love & grace and living therein as the righteousness of God in Him, I CANNOT go to hell; and I do NOT have to pray about it. Since I’m always pro-Bible; below are a few Bible passages that support my conclusion. The Bible says in Matthew 18:16 (and in a few OT verses) that in the mouth of two or three witnesses a word is confirmed; so I have included in parenthesis the sources of those passages, so as to confirm my conclusion.

1. The first is also the one we all know – John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jesus). Here, in this very popular verse, I read that the only reason why I will perish is if I do not believe in God’s only begotten Son. But I do. So I cannot perish. Also see John 3:36.
2. John 6:37-39, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out… And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (Jesus). Jesus who came to die for me said Himself that He shall in NO WISE CAST ME OUT. One mistake we make as believers is that we think we care about our eternal salvation more than God does. That’s insane. He became flesh. Made Himself of no reputation. Took sin upon Himself. Get it! GOD – Holy GOD – took sin upon Himself for your sakes. And you think you care about this eternity or fellowship-with-divinity business more than He does. Don’t make that mistake. Think again!
3. John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” (Jesus). I am His sheep, a part of His flock; and I am not confused about that. So except Jesus was lying here OR He somehow loses His grip on me OR the Father becomes less greater than all OR the Father loses His grip on me, I am spending eternity with Him. In fact, I’m already living eternal life right now, because verse 10 of this chapter tells me that my Shepherd gives to me abundant life (He didn’t say He will give it. He has given me already). 
4. John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (Jesus). By the way, “verily, verily” means “assuredly, assuredly; truly, truly; certainly, certainly; for sure, for sure” – just in case you didn’t know; and in case you didn’t notice, Jesus is doubly sure. I will not pass from death unto life. I HAVE passed from death unto life. Done deal. No need to pray about that. It’s done. C’est fini.
5. Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”. (Paul). Now, he wasn’t talking about material things like many of us think he was. He was talking about the work of grace in the believers in Philippi. I’m confident of same too.
6. Romans 8:33-34, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Paul). Ok, I do feel a need to explain this passage. It’s simply saying that there may be a need to charge me (God’s elect) with something; that is to accuse me of something I did wrong. But the only one who’s able to do that to me (being God’s elect) is God Himself; and rather than Him doing that (pointing out my wrong), He chooses to justify me. It also says, I may be condemnable, but the only one who can condemn me (being God’s elect) is Christ. But rather than condemn me, He died for me. He rose for me. He’s now at God’s right Hand interceding for me. Can you beat that? I’m definitely spending eternity with Him.
7. Romans 8:38-39, “For I am PERSUADED, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Paul). NOTHING can separate me from God’s love…NOTHING… ever!
8. Ephesians 1:13, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Paul). I am sealed with the Holy Spirit. There shall no power of hell, neither scheme of man, be able to break that seal.
9. 2 Timothy 1:12_b, “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (Paul). I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that He is able to keep me till that day. He does the keeping; I do not. So why should I be worried? I do not have a careless God.
10. Hebrews 7:25, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (The Writer of Hebrews). Oh, I love this verse! God saves to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, in the greatest way possible, of highest degree). He doesn’t save halfway. He doesn’t start and ask you to complete it. He saved me perfectly. Completely. Utterly.
11. 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (Peter). My inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, doesn’t wear out, cannot be destroyed, reserved for me in Heaven and will not be given to anybody else. He keeps me by His power. So unless He grows weak for any reason or His power fails at any time, I’m spending eternity with Him.
12. 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (John). I KNOW I have eternal life. Eternal life cannot go into a place of eternal death. I cannot take the Spirit of the Living Christ inside of me into hell. It is not possible. That can happen only if I do not have His Spirit in me; but I do, so…
13. Jude 1:24, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” (Jude). Except God loses His ability to keep me from falling, He will definitely present me faultless in His glory with exceeding joy.

These are just a few verses of Scripture that confirm my conclusion and I have shared them from six witnesses – Jesus, Paul, The Hebrew Writer, Peter, John and Jude. I think I sense someone saying, “What a proud girl… let him that thinketh he stands take heed lest he falls.” Well, anyone may think anything about me. But I know I am standing in Jesus and I’m not bragging on myself; I’m bragging on Him. Someone once said Christianity is for people who need a crutch. I heard this person said so with ill intentions. But I agree. I need a Crutch and my Crutch never fails. I can brag on Him all my life long. It’s not pride to know that your Father has preserved you till His coming. It’s actually humbling. I know I can’t miss out on heaven, not because I am self-capable but because Christ is more than capable. One of my best portions of the Bible is Philippians 2:13. I call it my Anchor verse, because it helps me realize that I’m not all stable by myself, Christ is for me and I can brag on that. Unfortunately, the verse that precedes that has been used to hold lots of believers in bondage. Philippians 2:12b, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” I think one should first of all notice that it did not say work FOR your salvation; and that this is a verse on spiritual growth not on being saved. Even then, verse 13 tells us, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God does the work in me. All I need do is yield. So what does one have to be proud of? After all, my salvation is completely a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Asides from pride, people have accused those who preach eternal security of supporting sin. Even Paul was accused of that (Galatians 2:16-18). And I have been too. It’s insane. Absolutely insane! Sin is strengthened by the Law (1 Corinthians 15:56); and Grace replaces the Law. I want to do a little logic here (I hope I’m allowed) – if the strength of sin is the Law, it follows that the strength of righteousness is Grace. The Bible does not put it like that, but it indeed is. Sin is completely contrary – completely contrary – to the message of Grace in Christ. There is nothing about Grace that supports sin (read Romans 6). In fact the more you realize that you are completely God’s and that you cannot be snatched by the devil, the easier it is for you actualize your salvation in godly deeds. Because at this point, you focus on righteousness, rather than on sin. You become God-conscious, rather than sin-conscious. You are what you focus on. You cannot keep on focusing on sin and not sin. You cannot keep on looking down and not fall down. So I choose to look up. I choose to keep my focus on Jesus, the Author & Finisher of my faith. Anytime I think I can do it by myself, I screw up really bad. I have indeed observed that the more I keep my focus on Him, the more I am like Him. Isn’t that what 2^nd Corinthians 3:18 says? – That we are changed into His image as we behold His glory. I choose to behold Him. I choose to live free in Him. I choose the life – eternal life – that He has given to me and I choose to ever live in the consciousness of that.

Does this mean believers do not sin? No, it doesn’t mean that. But does my wrongdoing make me less of God’s child? No. Does it mean I automatically disbelieve Christ and lose His Spirit inside of me? That’s a crazy thought! I’ve heard some people say that each time a believer sins, the Holy Spirit leaves him for a while until He repents of His sin. If that isn’t so sad, it would have been very funny. That spirit must be a highly itinerant one to have to be going in and out, in and out of every believer each time we sin. Boy, is that demanding! That’s definitely not the Spirit of God in me. I’ve also heard that each time a believer sins, his name is taken out of the Book of Life and then restored after he repents. To that I usually respond, “Heaven must be a very busy place then. The angels are fully employed in Computer Business Services – erasing & rewriting, erasing & rewriting. No wonder we don’t have angelic experiences as often anymore; angels are busy, mehn; they’ve got a full time job.” (Now, I’m being silly). All those theories are unfounded and unbiblical. Grace does not permit sin. In fact, sin is very harmful to the believer (check out my next blogpost for Dangerous Effects of Sin to a Believer).  Believers should not sin, but we do sometimes, and anytime we sin, we know that “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins…” (1 John 2:1-2).

I choose to focus on my Advocate. How about you? Will you realign your focus today?