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By Estella Kabachwezi

Sermon: The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, Apostle Grace Lubega

For a while now, my sister- Resty Kansiime Agaba has been requesting that I write an article on her blog focusing on my favorite sermon – something I have put off consistently blaming the lack of time, writers blog, or simply not sure on what to share. However, today I realized that I had not written because for a while my spiritual eyes were closed and the gospel would not minister to me, despite the fact I listen to the word of God often (I prefer this to reading).

My favorite ministers of the gospel are Apostle Grace Lubega, Andrew Wommack and Apostle Joshua Selman. Listening to these great men of God always stirs something so deep in my spirit, and through their respective teachings I have come to appreciatethe Word of God in ways I never thought I would. I have various experiences with each minister, and I do hope one day I will share deeply on the other two as I am going to share on a teaching by Apostle Grace that has blessed my spirit.

My flesh struggles with inadequacies- at work and home so much that my failures and shortcomings are often on replay in mind, creating negative emotions that trigger fears- of failure, of ever being good enough, of measuring up. My mind is literally a battlefield. I have tried in my own strength to deal with the negative cycle, at times moving one step forward thinking that I have overcome but many times drawing back and falling back into the harmful cycle. Due to this my life is often led by my emotions- it starts in my mind, triggers my emotions and feelings and eventually I express all the negativity with increased fear and times palpitations.

An incident at work left me questioning all my abilities. I believe that I am good at what I do but this incident made me question my abilities. We had high level guests visiting the office and as part of the management team, I was required to be present andspeak to our work, I knew exactly what was expected of me, however my mind switched to a battlefield, digging out my shortcomings, inadequacies, and previous failures. It was quite bad that I was so fearful, with increased heart palpitations. I failed to express myself eloquently and I could sense disappointment in the room. I carried my feelings, failed to deliver on other tasks and even contemplated quitting- convincing myself that I was not good enough, based on my career journey and the struggles I have had to overcome to get to where I am. I even enrolled in relevant online courses as I tried to look for a solution. This did not provide any relief as I thought.

On my way home my spirit pushed me to listen to Apostle Grace’s teachings. Luckily, I have the application on my phone, so I zeroed in on one of his teachings on the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ, based on Romans Chapter 8

To tell you that a yoke was lifted, and my eyes opened is an understatement. It was a deep teaching with different dynamics- that took me down a new road removing my focus from my inadequacies because we live in a fallen world, we are fallen beings.

I am still amazed by the revelations in Romans 8- that I go back to it and there is always something new to learn. (With the word of God- there is always something new to learn). This chapter reveals the love of God so much that He sent His son in the likeness of sinful man to be ouroffering for sin.

Imagine this love-God sent Jesus, his only beloved son in our own likeness (to experience what it was like to be man) so that He could die for our sin. I am still learning to appreciate and comprehend that kind of love. It also reveals the gift of the Holy Spirit and the power we have when we live according to Him. The mind of the spirit is life and peace. I paused and reflected on this and realized that every time I am not a peace- it means I am not living by the Spirit but by the dictates of my flesh (mind and body). Going back to my work incident- I questioned the events -my overwhelming emotions, my focus on my failures and realized I was out of line.

As my mind was out of focus, everything had been overly magnified. Isn’t that what our minds and emotions do when we are in a crisis? We focus so much on our failure, which has a spiral effect on everything else- you will be angry, irritable, lose your joy to mention but a few. However, the spirit of God lives in us, constantly guiding and directing us- if we let Him (remember God gave us free will and He is not one to force us into doing things). The Spirit provides righteousness, raised Christ from the dead and will give life to our mortal bodies (and everything dead including our inadequacies). Back to my work incident- I realized if I had purposed to always draw onto this precious gift- my overall life experience will be different- I will be strengthened and perfected in inadequacies. What powerful truth!

Allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit makes us sons of God; we are His children, His and Christ’s heirs (think about this in the context of what being an heir means-now imagine this as an heir of the author of all creation-wow!) Further we are victorious, the Spirit comes to us and helps us in our weaknesses. He knows our needs and at the right time, intercedes on our behalf before God and in accordance with His will. This explains our victory, we will never be a miss if we live according to the Spirit of God (life).More powerful truth- right!

I encourage all believers that the word of God is alive and applies to every aspect of our lives. In it you will find a path to righteous and holy living. Jesus left us with the most precious gift- the Holy Spirit who is a comforter, teacher, counsellor- who knows everything and will teach us what we do not know. Imagine how we underutilize the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Imagine the impact on your life if you purposefully seek Him and grow in Him. Be reminded that the word of God is truth, nothing from Him is left unaccomplished and in vain.

He is a God of principle and of His Word. I encourage us to prioritize spiritual growth-to grow in knowledge and understanding that we may not perish. It is not an easy journey, there will be trials and tribulations, but we have been promised that we can face anything with Christ who strengthens us- so draw onto that strength and remember Christ overcame it all at the Cross-we have also overcome!

What my online courses failed to overcome, the word of God did. He calmed my fears, I gained more knowledge and understanding of the power and authority I have with the Spirit of God living in me. My prayer is to grow in this knowledge, to maximally tap into this ministry, to be transformed. This is, however, a life-long journey until the return of Christ. I fall, I get up and try again drawing on His strength.

Be blessed.

Here is the sermon from today