But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace [which was bestowed] upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. – I Corinthian 15:10
Whatever I am now, whatever you see in me, whatever fruit I have produced, whatever results I can show, it is because of the grace that God has poured on me. And thank God that grace was not wasted, it produced results. But I must be quick to tell you that the results that were produced were also a function of God’s grace before you begin to think that it was by my own might.
He says on my own part, I have worked hard as a matter of fact, harder than the entire Apostles. I am not boasting it is a statement of fact. But I am also conscious that it took the grace of God for me to be able to work harder than the other Apostles. They started before me, they knew Jesus physically, personally, they ate with Him, they slept with Him, they talked with Him, they walked about with Him, He laid hands on them, He prayed for them, He anointed them, commissioned them, empowered them, sent them forth, personally trained them. While He did all that, I was an unbeliever. I didn’t know Him. I was against Him. I was one of those who supported His crucifixion. I was one of those who thought that He was an impostor. I was a late comer. I came after He had die and risen.
Human begins could easily relate with what they see. So those that saw Him, those that heard Him, those that were with Him when performed all the miracles He performed, those that felt His power, His anointing, those that felt the presence of God around Him, those that He revealed Himself to, they could cast their minds back, those that He laid hands on, they could remember His hands on them and that could ignite their faith. With all that happened, they were handpicked among all the people in Israel, Jesus handpicked them. They were chosen specially. The mere fact that they were so favoured was also something that could ignite their faith. Physically speaking, ordinarily they should be ahead of me. However, by His grace, all by His grace I was able to start late, pursued, overtook and produced more results than all of them. It wouldn’t have been possible but for His grace. Inspirational Quotes About Fulfilling Destiny And Reaching Your Destination In Life
All by His grace. We are alive here today by His grace. We are sitting down here today by His grace. You are free today by His grace. Do you know that they are some people who are innocent that are languishing in prisons? Do you some people innocently they had wanted to travel and criminals planted drugs into their luggage’s with the intention that by the time they get to where they are going, they will take back the drugs. Criminals do that, drug couriers do that. They will break into your luggage, plant drug and if for any reason you succeed in carrying it out of the airport, they will trail the person, accosted the person and rubbed the person and take the drug again. But if the person becomes unfortunate and the person was caught, they will be looking from far, the person will end up languishing in prison. The person will be scandalized, many people that had been working hard to earn their living suddenly, you will see headlines, “He was caught with drugs”. Everybody will say so that is how he has been making his money.
There is nothing you can say. Even when the person is denying that I am innocent, they will say, all of them that is what they will say. They are many people that their names had been ruined who are innocent. They are some that had died who are innocent. Don’t take it for granted that you are sitting here now and you are a free man. You are sitting here by the grace of God, only His grace that has ensured that you are sitting down here. All by His grace. Many times we think that this grace we are talking about is an abstract thing. We are all beneficiary of the grace of God. You travelled from one place to another. As we are here, many of us are planning journeys and by His grace, He will take us and bring us back. May we never take it for granted. People within the same city, they involved in a motor accident and they died. Some they are in their houses a vehicle will come, hit into their house and crushed them. Some are driving a very short distance; their heart may fail them on the stirring.
Not too long ago, the nation woke up to watch the horror that happened in a forest somewhere in Ibadan. People were kidnapped and taken into the forest for ritual purposes. Their vital organs were harvested all because some people are seeking for power. Some people are seeking for wealth and if it meant taking human lives, they are ready to do so. Innocent people travelling were kidnapped, taken into the forest, butchered like animals and their organs harvested. So when you travelled and come back, please don’t take it for granted. As children of grace, we strategically by the counsel and directive of the Holy Spirit to choose the month of grace for our anniversary. A month to celebrate the grace of God upon our lives. A month to appreciate God for His grace upon our lives. A month to tell God we are grateful for your grace upon our lives.
Whatever you are, you are that by the grace of God. I want you to rejoice over what God has done already for you. Many a times, we are bound by the deceit of the enemy. We are always thinking what you have not got, what you are yet to get. The devil will never wake you up and remind you of what God has already done. Whatever you are, you are that by the grace of God. That was what Paul was trying to say. Everything I have done, everything that I have accomplished, there were only possible by the grace of God. And we recognized as a people, as a Church that we are where we are today by the grace of God.
Source: Message Preached by Pastor Sunny Wogu on 04-05-2014
Post a Comment