A Second Chance Consults

The power of one is so great that if you missed that one then the million would not be complete. One is sometimes underestimated, undervalued, looked down upon, but one + one becomes two and three and ten and hundreds, thousands, millions. You get the drift.

The power of one is well illustrated in the Bible specifically in Luke 15, here is where we see the parable of the lost sheep, lost coin and the prodigal son. But purposes of one matter will focus on the parable of the lost sheep.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭15:1-7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The parable of the sheep is such a beautiful story of each one of us, it is personal, as at one point or another we have been the lost sheep or are the lost sheep. The beauty of the story is the love the shepherd has for this lost sheep that he leaves the 99 to go searching for the lost one.

I learned this lesson in another setting, a few years ago I was working in a coffee factory. The working entailed receiving the coffee cherry pulping it and fermenting, washing and drying the parchment. The problem is that the beans can easily get lost in the process. In my case the pulping machine being used was 98% accurate that meant some beans would end up in the trash. Now to save the bean one had to ensure that after milling/ pulping you went to where the everything collected and picked the beans before they fermented and went to waste. The other point is the washing stage. After the beans have fermented and mucilage is gone, you have to wash and we use density to grade the bean with the best quality being the heaviest. Once more if you are not careful the beans can be left in the tanks and they get rotten. So one needs to ensure everything is clean, the danger is that if you don’t clean your tank and the rotten beans get into your next bunch there is a probability of that one bean lowering the cup quality in the cupping/ tasting process. The drying process is crucial once you start the drying process the worst enemy is water. Check the weather and storage. Remember It’s all a worthwhile process as you enjoy you cup of coffee. The owner of these factory has a motto “take care of every bean, money has been spent on it” in essence if you loose the beans it’s like you throwing away money.

It is almost unbelievable how similar the care is needed whether you are taking care of sheep or coffee. The emphasis being that every sheep, every bean is valuable.

It is with these lessons that at A Second Chance Consults we came up with the core value that “one person matters”

And how appropriate in that we work with persons struggling with addiction to sex, those our midst as a body of Christ who get lost in the web of deceit from the enemy.

In living the core value, we have a provided a forum of anyone in sex addiction to come no judgement and we walk with them as they receive the love and healing of Jesus. 
Know there is help and we want to walk with you in your journey of reconciliation, redemption, love and healing.

Write to us Contact You matter

Are you looking for a place to give?

We at A Second Chance Consults, are looking for financial partners. Our need is great and we need you to give so that our work though seemingly invisible to the physically eye can proceed an individual at a time.

For anyone seeing this for the first time. We are a ministry that work with individuals especially in the church who are struggling with addiction to pornography. We have been in service since 2017 and have been able to come this far through God immeasurable Grace and the generous giving of individuals. Currently we do not have anyone giving.

Kindly pray and consider being a monthly partner or a one time partner or partner however the Lord reveals to you. Visit https://secondchanceconsults.org/donation/ to give.

Here are words of one from one of our clients when they recognized the role that Porn plays in his life. The session took place Monday the 22nd Feb 2021

Truly only the Spirit of the Lord is able to reveal this to them. The lie mainly is one believing they have power to stop the addiction, only God is truly able to heal and restore.Be blessed in all your doing.

Wise people listen to wisdom especially if wisdom comes in the form of a warning. Warnings take place when one person knows about something that the other doesn’t. The wise always listen to warning but if you are like me- well! Maybe you learn the hard way.

As I write this I truly hope I have learned from my past mistakes, I hope I have become teachable and wiser.Before I share my warning, let’s talk about Peter. Yes the disciple of whom Jesus has told on you Peter I will build my church, Peter the rock.

Jesus had been saying many things one which was I am going to die and Peter I guess filled with fear or speaking from a point lack of knowledge says “never” we see Jesus telling him “get behind me satan”Later on Jesus washed his disciples feet and Peter protested not mine and only conceded when Christ told him if he doesn’t wash his feet then he had no part with Him (Jesus Christ)Finally at the last supper Christ told the disciples that he would be arrested and they all would disperse to which Peter replied I will go to the very end. Jesus told Peter about the devil wanting to sift him like wheat but Jesus prayed when he had returned he would encourage his brother. When he was told this; he replied “Lord I am ready to go with you to prison and to death”To which Jesus replied “ I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows today, you will deny three times that you know me” Jesus was proven right and indeed Peter denied him.

Earlier on in the year I got such a warning from God He told me blessed is the one who does not take offense on my account.- I wanted something, in fact something like what I wanted came to me. But when I prayed asking if this was mine, I got the response that Christ gave to John the Baptist. Automatically I knew the answer was no but I did the very thing I was warned about. I took offense.Days after being told no, I counted the cost of what I lost by not getting the thing I wanted and I recall thinking and saying to the Lord “How can you do this to me?” I felt like God was taunting me and generally I felt wronged Unbeknownst unto me, I believed the lie that God did not want this thing for me, I believed he was being malicious because He was in position to give me what I really wanted but just chose to refuse with it.

This marked a period of praying without faith and gradually my prayer life was almost nonexistent but instead I couldn’t sleep, was medicating migraines almost daily, I was stressed and I felt fear- small things would live me in panic and to be honest I was getting physically sick- all because I took offense.God in his love arranged for me to attend a silent retreat – I was off phone, off social media, off people and still my head could not be still. It took 11 days of which I spent time praying and only then did I see myself- what a pitiful state I was in- angry, lost, entitled, afraid, desperate, I had put God in a box, thinking I knew what was best for me.

Tears, surrendering, peace, healing, learning truth and choosing to walk in trust and patience henceforth were the gifts I received. To know even in the wrong, I am loved, honored and precious in God’s sight just like Peter even when he did not heed to the warning that Christ still loved him. I caution myself to hear when a word is given. God knew and he told me – I truly wish I had listened, it would have saved me a lot of anguish. That said, I am now careful to hear, listen and heed to the warning, I still a fumble in some situations but I know all these will come to pass, and now I know I cannot do what I want to do by my own strength, I know all good and perfect gifts come from the Lord.

I pray as you read this God may open your eyes to see, ears to hear, and if you need to rest in Him then do, if you need to be patient then do, if you need to forgive then do, whatever you need God is able and He loves you.

Psalm 62:1-2 KJV Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

Hosea 2:14. “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.15. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.16. “In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master. ’19. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.20. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.23. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.'” -NIV

Knowledge gives tremendous advantage to the one who possesses it especially if they know how to put this knowledge into good use.

Personally I have been determining to know what it means to be a Christian. Paul and David are the ones that challenge me most. The way they write and talk about and of God; tells me there is more that I don’t know.

As Paul longed this too is my longing “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection”……..Philippians 3:10Christ dying on the cross not only brought about the forgiveness of our sins. He changed everything and you may ask why don’t I feel different? The truth is you are different, your identity changes. Here is a continuation of our previous conversation.

The identity that we have received by being in Christ :

Power to say No to sin. I will explain this borrowing from super hero character. For most of them once they encounter the phenomenon that transformed them; their lives gradually start to change. For example; Peter Parker’s sight is perfect after the spider bite and after a while he discovers he can climb walls. Before we became Christians we were powerless to sin and after salvation we received power to say no to sin. Unfortunately, for a majority of us, we do not know this- some of us are still caught in the web of the lies of what we believe and as a result; we become helpless to sin and continue to sin. (Imagine if Peter Parker continued being bullied even with his powers- that is some of us continue in our helplessness to say no to sin.)The power is not your own or in the analogy above from the spider; you have to be dependent on Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in you.

• Consider these verses “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, Titus 2:11-12”. 
  • Do you believe this?
  • Is there a sin in your life that you feel you are helpless to or simply can not overcome? 
  • Meditate on 1 Corinthians 10:13. 
• No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 

Righteous. The first time I heard someone say to me “you are righteous” I thought to myself ‘crazy’ you see when this was said to me I struggling with addiction to pornography and I viewed myself as being unrighteous. After all, righteous to my understanding meant not to be with sin. What wrong information I had! Righteousness as I have come to understand is a status that only Jesus can give us. He took upon himself our sin and in him we become the righteousness of God, righteousness is clothed to us. Look at these verses below. 

• Isaiah 61:10. I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 

• 2 Corinthians 5:21. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 
  • The knowledge that I was righteous helped me see and know that it is all a gift, and once my believe changed from thinking and believing I was unrighteous to knowing and believing I was righteous, I stopped trying to earn righteousness by my behavior and if for nothing else, I believe I entered rest and in so many ways welcomed the working and manifestation of Christ in me.
• Isaiah 64:6. All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.8. Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. 
  

The secret is knowing you are forgiven, going back to God in repentance and asking for help in case you sin. Keepcoming to Christ no matter how long it takes. Even if it doesn’t seem so trust God that He is mounding you into Christlikeness. And where you are struggling ask for help from other believers.

Jesus, I thank you for the work you did on the cross. Thank you for taking my punishment and giving me righteousness, thank you for making me like you. Help me believe that I am a finished work and choose to obey you as the Spirit prompts. Forgive me all my sins today and enable me walk in your righteousness. For its your Name Jesus I pray. 

Personally I have been determining to know what it means to be a Christian. Paul and David are the ones that challenge me most. The way they write and talk about and of God; tells me there is more that I don’t know.

As Paul longed this too is my longing “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection”……..Philippians 3:10

Christ dying on the cross not only brought about the forgiveness of our sins. He changed everything and you may ask why don’t I feel different? The truth is you are different, your identity changes

From dead to alive. The literal death as we know it in Bible terminology is known as sleeping (John 11:11-14), but when the Bible talks of being dead it means being in sin. This simply means if you are not in Christ then you are dead in your sin. (Ephesians 2:1-5, Colossians 2: 13)

From sinner to saint. I think this is one of the hardest to comprehend- (it took a long time to understand). The truth is that God sees you as a saint- this doesn’t mean that you will not sin. You see forgiveness of our sins includes all sins past, present, future. You now have been born again. In other words you are like a newborn child only in the spiritual realm. We understand newborn in the physical realm, this is what we all were once, or you could be nurturing one as we speak/read. As a child needs nurturing so does a spiritual child needs nurturing this process is called discipleship- spiritually being fed and learning to obey. And all the mishaps we experience bringing up a physical baby will be experienced by the spiritual child but as a physical child masters things and eventually learns to put on their shoes so does the spiritual child learn to stop lying and the process is ongoing. (John 3:1-8)

Prayerfully ponder on this. 
Is there a part of this that you don’t believe? Ask our Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit to show you what the truth is and if they is doubt what has causes them?

Jesus we thank you for dying on the cross and by so doing you changed our status from dead to alive and from sinners to saints. Open out heart and mind to fully grasp these truth and live in a manner worthy of our identity in you. In Jesus name we pray

God told Abraham; leave your family and I will take you to a land that I will show you. In obedience he took his wife Sarah and the nephew Lot and left Ur. The same call Abraham received is the same call we too receive in salvation and salvation for each one of us brings about an unknown journey as each individual trusts Jesus to make them like Him.

This call is with the missionaries as they leave their homes and go to unknown territories to serve the Lord and all they have is the call, vision and the fruit of obedience. This is the same call that comes to some of us when the Lord tells us to leave our jobs with no specific destination and all you have is the promises that he will be with you even when you don’t know what that mean.

It’s the same call when he asks you to take in a stranger or an acquaintance, or a friend into your homes with no knowledge how things will turn out. It’s the same call when he call us to marriage and sometimes it’s a cross cultural marriage where it means leaving your home, your country to a place where you know no one other than your spouse.

This call is the call of faith and obedience. It’s a call to be totally depends on him because you don’t know anything about the future.

Hebrews 11:1 & 6 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see………And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. NIV

This is the call that we need to approach each day with. Each day brings unknown with it. Today you can have everything and in a matter of seconds your known life seize to exist; a lost job, terminal illness, theft, death, accident, fire. When it suddenly feels like a rag has been pulled off your feet. It’s this call that we need to embrace because it’s not a matter of “if” but of “when”. Uncertainty is the only certain thing in this life, thus, it takes everything to trust in a God and have faith that He will carry us through whatever call he has upon our lives.

Matthew 6:34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. KJV

Sufficient means enough or adequate- in the above verse if we were to replace the word sufficient it would read “enough unto the day or, adequate unto the day is the evil thereof”.

I pray that in the wisdom of our lord and Savior Jesus Christ that you may know who you are and whose you belong to; otherwise, addiction, fear, anxiety, anger, depression will be our portion. Jesus came that we may have life and not just life, but life in abundance. 

As you read this, I don’t know what you are going through and or how you are coping with it. Actually, it’s okay to be not okay, we are created to be dependent on God and God is good, God is faithful, God is just and true, God is abounding in love, God is slow to anger, God forgives and he has redeemed you (compensate for the faults of, or regained possession in exchange for payments) through his Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross instead of you taking away all your sins and the written code Colossians 2:13-15. 

My friend the invitation is always open from a loving God to you,

Revelation 3:20. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 

Abraham’s call is your call after all you are either his descendants or grafted in. One of the promise with his call was

Genesis 12:3. …..and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 

You are blessed, walk in obedience…

I am blessed, I will walk in obedience and when I fail I will ask for forgiveness and strength to rise again. I am the arms of my loving Father- Thank you Jesus.

Jesus:        Go, call your husband and come back.

She:        I have no husband,

Jesus:        You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you  have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.

She:        Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.

John :16-19

She has no name. It could be anyone of us. She came to fetch water at midday at the hottest part of the day. He was sitting by the well and he asked her for water to drink but she was shocked that he a Jew would want something from a Samaritan  as the Jews did not associate with the Samaritan.

They struck a conversation and in a bit the dialogue above ensued, quickly noting he was not an ordinary man. For he was a stranger and he knew things about her, yet talked to her. As the dialogue continued, he confessed that he was The messiah. We see her leaving her jar of water and running back to her community and proclaiming “Come and see a man who has been talking to me of everything I ever did! Is it possible that this is the Christ?”

Shortly we see the people in her community following her to the well. They too get to meet Christ. He remained with them for 2 extra days and her community was transformed by Christ. “And they said to the woman, Now we have faith, but not because of your story: we ourselves have given ear to his words, and we are certain that he is truly the Saviour of the world.”

I believe, she was best evangelist that God would have used. Mainly because she was a mystery to the people of her community. I want to argue that she had isolated herself more than the society had isolated her. I am sure the women were afraid that she would take away their husbands and maybe by the 4th husband she had had enough of their talk and whispers as she passed by thus built a wall around herself in order to protect herself, she went out when no one was around. 

Secondly she had been hurt by men, maybe she was married off young or she had been divorced because she didn’t have children; whatever the situation was – something was off. Then she comes and meet this man at the well; I think she was shocked by him being there. But what has most astonishing to her, is that despite knowing all about her he still associated with her while others had not.

I think many of us are like this woman. At least I know I am like her in need of a savior but fighting and secluding myself so that l/we don’t get hurt anymore. But in our self imposed isolation, we keep making the same mistakes over and over again and we are afraid that our sins are visible to everyone hence picking up fights even where there is no need. 

I want to say a truth about Christ- He knows, like in this story of the Samaritan woman he chose to reveal himself and love her despite knowing everything that she was ashamed of. The subject of having many husbands brought her shame and for each one of us he knows what brings us shame and trust me we all have something that’s bring us shame.

Good news is that He knows, so you don’t have to hide or be intellectually about it. He knows, you don’t have to put on a show for him; man you can easily lie to. Here is an example of a journal entry when I was struggling with addiction to and sin of pornography.

Work is increasing by the minute, but I know full well that this is avoiding the real issue. The issue is: Who am I? Ironic as it may seem, I don’t know who or what I am anymore. One thing I do know is that God and I are drifting apart because I am living in sin, a sin I no longer feel guilty about. The war raging within is too great and I need help. I can feel myself falling and not knowing where I will drop. Love Unlimited: Set free by a greater love pg 5 (how to get this book in which I share of my struggles and freedom through Christ) https://www.amazon.com/Love-Unlimited-Ruth-Njagi-ebook/dp/B06WD7QJNM

Consider this passage

Luke 18:9-14. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'”I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 

Are you sick? Christ said he came for the sick and not the healthy. You more than anyone you know if you are sick or not and wisdom tells us to seek medical assistance if we are sick. Let’s call upon this wisdom if you are spiritual sick and in need of a savior to tell you that he loves and has forgiven all your sins and you don’t have to be reminded of your shame. Like this woman you can tell others of him because you have tasted him and know that he is.

The song “ I have decided to follow Jesus” is beautiful and very easy to sing along.

Let’s sing;

However, as you actually focus on the the lyrics I think it’s only wise to pause and ask, “Do I really mean this?” According to Wikipedia the composer of this song, sang it even as his family was executed and he continued singing even to his death because he was a converted Christian, but his martyrdom convicted his executes to Christ followers.

I want to think of the words in the song “Thou none goes with me, still I will follow”.

As I look at the journey of faith the more I am convinced this words to be true. Christ said of us; to take up our cross and follow him. This is so personal a journey that you can afford to look around. Below is a verse that shows how our actions should be.

And whatever you do, in word, or in act, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving praise to God the Father through him Colossians 3:17

You cannot afford to look around. Anyone in this journey has to look at the cross, at Christ and run the race meant for them. The saddest thing is that we look around and as the people in the race seem to dwindle sometimes, we too lose our faith.

Just because all the marriage around yours are failing, doesn’t mean you stop being faithful on yours, just because all the single people around you are sleeping around, this doesn’t mean you give up being faithful and obedient, just because the people around you are coping their exams you too should copy, remember 

“Thou none goes with me still I will follow”

1 Kings 19:10. He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” ……..1 Kings 19:18. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Elijah was a prophet among the Israelites at a time a majority of them had stopped worshiping God and turned to worship of Baal an idol. There’s words from the book of King in the Bible shows a dialogue between him and God. (Read the chapters ahead to follow)

I encourage you to keep the fight, to run the race as Elijah learned there were others that were faithful and still committed to the Lord. I believe this too is a promise to us that there are others, we may not know them or even meet them but they are there and if though there is none keep on being faithful.

I wouldn’t ask you to be faithful if God was not faithful. His love for us is boundless. God knows you, your struggles, your pain, your sin, your heart desires and loves you. He loves you so much. As you reflect remember you are loved😀

Reflect

1. Is there an area of your life, faith that you need a new retake; you have given up hope?
2. Share this with a friend, pastor or someone you trust about this need in your life.
3. Ask this person if you can be accountable to them as you trust God to enable you work this area of your life.
4. Pray….

Lord Jesus, even as we echo the words “thou none goes with me, still I will follow” help me remain faithful, enable me focus on you and take up my cross and where I have been disobedience or allowed fear and discouragement to set in; forgive me and allow me refocus on you. Knowing well that you have overcome the world, knowing that you are always with me even in death and isolation. Help me Lord be all I can be through your Son Christ and in all I do and say that you will receive glory. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

This Sunday Ruth an author and founder of ASCC will be sharing her story of freedom from addiction to pornography. Plan to tune in and tell a friend.

Get to know her journey in her book Love Unlimited available on https://www.amazon.com/Love-Unlimited-Ruth-Njagi-ebook/dp/B06WD7QJNM