The Instruction Of Agape – 2

Apostle Grace Lubega

John 13:23 (KJV); Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Throughout the gospel of John, the apostle calls himself, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

Neither Matthew, Luke nor Mark say it.

The word used therein for love is agapé. This agapé is the highest form of love and is the very love with which God loves man.

Therefore, John had a revelation of the master’s love for him.

What was the result?

At the cross, Jesus hands the responsibility for his mother to John and not to any of the other disciples or even his brothers. This was because he understood agapé (John 19:26-27).

When Christ was raised from the dead and the disciples were told this news, the Bible says that Peter and John ran to the tomb but John outrun him (John 20:3-5).

This is because agapé quickens any man who has understood God in that revelation.

It is no wonder that in his subsequent books, John writes deeply on love; it is he that reveals that God is love (1 John 4:8).

It is also of little wonder that it is he who writes the book of revelation because God is most revealed to us in agapé.

When you understand agapé, hidden manna, deeper revelations and insights into the person of God become your portion.

Grow in the consciousness of God’s unconditional love for you; respond to this very love because in responding to love, you respond to Him.

FURTHER STUDY: John 20:3-5, John 19:26-27

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Grow in the consciousness of God’s unconditional love for you; respond to this very love because in responding to love, you respond to Him.

PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for your boundless love toward me. I know that nothing can separate me from that love, not things present and not things to come. I stand in the boldness of one who is accepted in the beloved of the Lord and confident that this love is the reason I stand. I receive and respond to it every day and choose to bask in it every moment of my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Instruction Of Agape – 1

Apostle Grace Lubega

John 21:15-17(KJV); So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

The Greek language has four different ways in which the word love is used: agapé, éros, phileo and storgé.

Agape is the unconditional love of God for man; Eros is used for sexual passion, Phileo is friendship or brotherly love and Storge is love and affection especially between parents and children.

In our theme scripture, Jesus and Peter have an interesting conversation that is very significant in the understanding of love.

Read from the original Greek text, the Lord asked Peter, “Simon Peter, son of Jonas, AGAPÉ thou me more than these? Peter answered, “Yea Lord; thou knowest that I PHILEO you.”
He said to him again the second time, “Simon Son of Jonas, AGAPÉ thou me?” He answered, “Yea Lord, thou knowest that I PHILEO thee.” He asked again the third time, “Simon son of Jonas, PHILEO thou me?” Peter answered, “Thou knowest that I PHILEO thee.”

The first two times, Christ was deliberate in His use of agapé yet Simon Peter was persistent in his use of Phileo.

When the Lord saw that Simon had not understood His intention, He came down to Peter’s level of “Phileo.”
Peter thus missed an instruction based on agape and instead got one based on Phileo.

If he had told the Lord that he ‘agapés’ him, the instruction would have been different.

Phileo can cause a man to fight for you, as Peter did for the Christ. It can cause a man to wait on you and serve you as Peter did.

However, it is limited in revelation and deters a man from the full instruction of the father.

God has called the Church, not to Phileo Him but to agapé Him. Agapé begins with Him because He is agapé; it is not an act, it is His person.

If you have not understood agapé, you cannot fully know Him.

FURTHER STUDY: Romans 5:5, 1 John 4:8,

GOLDEN NUGGET:

God has called the Church, not to Phileo Him but to agapé Him. Agapé begins with Him because He is agapé; it is not an act, it is His person. If you have not understood agapé, you cannot fully know Him.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for the revelation of your love. This love has been shed abroad in my heart by the Spirit. I yield and respond to it every day and as I do, it flows to the world around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understanding The Foundation: Revelation

Apostle Grace Lubega

Matt 16:13-18(KJV); When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The world has several ideas about who Jesus Christ is. Some call Him a good man, a saint, a distant father they cannot embrace or a mystery.

As was in His day, some called him Elias, others Jeremiah while others called him one of the prophets.

However, the Christ was interested in who His disciples thought He was. So He asked, “But who say ye that I am?”

The world may call Him what it thinks but it is important that the Church knows Him for who He is.

When Peter got it right, the Lord made a profound statement, “Thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The foundation of the Church is the revelation by the Father of the person of Jesus Christ.

As the Church grows in the revelation of the Christ, the gates of hell give way.

As the Church of Christ advances in the knowledge of God, the powers of darkness bow to it.

Desire revelation, child of truth. It is not for you to define the Christ in the same manner that the world does.

Jesus to us is more than a mere story in the books of history; He is a Revelation.

FURTHER STUDY: Galatians 1:11-12, Ephesians 1:17

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The foundation of the Church is the revelation by the Father of the person of Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this word. I am grateful for the truth of who you are. You have given unto me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. It is in this knowledge that I grow and increase every day. I see and understand you deeper. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Step Out In Faith

Apostle Grace Lubega

Matthew 14:25-29(KJV); And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

Often time, the focus is placed on the fact that Peter started to sink when he attempted to walk on water.

However, the fact is that there are steps that he took towards our Lord and master; Peter WALKED on water!

He did better than those that remained in the boat!
He demonstrated the sort of attitude that our Lord and Master expects from the church; that is the constant willingness to step out in faith.

God has called us to a crazy life of faith. It is not for us to seek the safety of the boat!

Peter’s failure teaches us not to look at the waves while we are at it but his boldness tells us that it is possible as long as we step out in faith!

And God is encouraging us and compelling us to this life.

He says, “Come.” That is enough. His Word is the solid ground on which we must tread.

He has stamped His approval on any man who will step out of the comfort zone into the realm of faith.

Child of God, learn to practice this life of faith.
If it is healing, look for those that need it and lay your hands on them. If it is prophecy, step out and do it in faith. If it is the ability to decree things that they are established, do so until you see the manifestation.

Live the faith life!

FURTHER STUDY: Mark 9:23, Hebrews 10:38

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Learn to practice this life of faith. If it is healing, look for those that need it and lay your hands on them. If it is prophecy, step out and do it in faith. If it is the ability to decree things that they are established, do so until you see the manifestation. Live the faith life!

PRAYER: Lord I thank you because you have called me to a life of faith. You have not called me to be ordinary but exceptional, peculiar and different. Those that are born of the spirit are like wind and blow where they will. I am unpredictable; I am a fountain of possibilities. I do things that shock the world and every known law on the earth because you are in me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In The Place Of Travail

Apostle Grace Lubega

Isaiah 37:3(KJV); And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

There are people in this life who come to the place of birth but do not have the strength to bring forth.

They are experiencing the pangs, they know something must come out of them but they are unable to have the manifestation of what is inside them.

It is a crisis for some Christians and leads to frustration.

God has shown you that it is your time to fly, to minister to multitudes, to be an influence in your generation, to build that business, to launch that idea, all the signs point to manifestation but you don’t have the strength.

What should you do?

In Hebrews 11:11, the Bible speaks of our mother Sarah and says, “Through faith also, Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”

Divine strength for manifestation is received through faith.

That dream seems too big but choose to believe.

That vision seems unreachable but choose to believe.

Those goals you have set seem unattainable but choose to believe.

Strength is available. Power is available.

Don’t ask for strength, simply receive it by faith.

FURTHER STUDY: Hebrews 11:11, Mark 9:23

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Divine strength for manifestation is received through faith.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this knowledge. Today, I receive strength to launch into what you have destined for my life. You are the great one in me and so I believe I can accomplish anything. Thank you for the strength to grow my vision, to stand for it, to endure all things for it. To the glory of your name. Amen.

The Voice Of The Word

Apostle Grace Lubega

Gen 21:16-17(KJV); And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

The Word of God has a voice. Need also has a voice.

It is possible to worship God but what is heard in the realm of the spirit is the voice of need and not the voice of the Word.

It is possible to pray to God but what He hears in the spirit is the voice of need and not the voice of the Word of God.

Some people pray and do not receive because they ask amiss (James 4:3). Their asking amiss is in the fact that their voices carry need and not the Word.

The nature of need is that it seeks to set you apart from the God of all abundance, He that is in you and in whom you are, making the need your sole focus and not the God who supplies all things and has given you everything that pertains to life and godliness.

In our theme scripture, the voice of Hagar was the voice of need.

Ishmael as the seed of Abraham represents the voice of the Word because Luke 8:11 says the seed is the Word.

That is why even though it was Hagar that cried unto God, the language of the scriptures is very clear.

God did not hear her cries. The Bible says Hagar wept but the angel said, “God has heard THE VOICE OF THE LAD.” He heard the voice of the seed.

In Psalms 126:6, He says, “He that goes forth and weepeth, bearing precious SEED, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

The Psalmist speaks of one who is weeping but he weeps with seed [the word] and not with need.

No matter the circumstance, never let your prayer to God be colored by the voice of need; raise your voice but do so with the Word of God.

His name be praised.

FURTHER STUDY: Luke 8:11, Psalms 126:6

GOLDEN NUGGET:

No matter the circumstance, never let your prayer to God be colored by the voice of need; raise your voice but do so with the Word of God.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this day. I am grateful Lord for your Word. In it, I have the answer for all circumstances. It is the Word that I look to and in the Word that I pray. It is in the Word that I worship and in the Word that I fast. It is in the Word that I serve and in the Word that I give. Your Word is my pattern in all things. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Jesus We Believed

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 John 5:6(KJV); This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is truth.

The Jesus we believed came by water and blood. He did not come by water only but by WATER AND BLOOD.

The similar characteristic of water and blood is that they are both cleansers.

In Revelation 1:5, the Bible speaks of how He washed us from our sins in His own blood.

In Ephesians 5:26, when speaking of the water, He says that the Church has been sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the Word.

How did Christ cleanse the Church?

He did so by loving it; where there is no love, there is no sanctification.

This is why we preach the grace and not the law; the law does not speak love but wrath.

When Grace is preached, there is sanctification because we are imputing the righteousness of God upon men.

Embrace the revelation of His grace because it is what cleanses.

FURTHER STUDY: Revelation 1:5, Ephesians 5:26(MSG)

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Christ cleansed the Church by loving it; where there is no love, there is no sanctification.

PRAYER: My loving Father, I thank you for your love. Thank you for the gift of grace, mercy and kindness that draws me closer to you and deeper into communion with you. I am grateful because my fellowship with you is free of condemnation and wrath. In this very light, I see you in greater depths and dimension. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In This Freedom We Live

Apostle Grace Lubega

Acts 2:23-24[AMP]; This Jesus, when delivered up according to the definite and fixed purpose and settled plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and put out of the way [killing Him] by the hands of lawless and wicked men. [But] God raised Him up, liberating Him from the pangs of death, seeing that it was not possible for Him to continue to be controlled or retained by it.

Our theme scripture reveals that it was NOT POSSIBLE for death to continue to hold or retain Christ.

This means that in both the equation of heaven and earth, there was no window of opportunity whatsoever that could allow death to hold Him.

This was regardless of the power of death and the strength of its hold; it was not imaginable or even conceivable that death could have the upper hand.

This in itself is a statement of your victory as a child of the Most High God.

Regardless of how terrible a situation is, it is not possible for it to control you or to win.

Even the worst disease that dares to attack your body will have to leave, seeing that it is not possible for it to retain you.

God has put an expiry date to every plan of the enemy over your life.

By His power and grace, He has eliminated every single possibility of victory that the devil may ever have over your life.

Look at life in this understanding.

Let nothing shake you because it is NOT POSSIBLE that it can continue to hold you.

Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY: Isaiah 54:17(MSG), Colossians 2:15

GOLDEN NUGGET:

God has put an expiry date to every plan of the enemy over your life. By His power and grace, He has eliminated every single possibility of victory that the devil may ever have over your life.

PRAYER: My loving Father, I thank you for this Word. What a blessed assurance to know that I have constant victory in you. I am bigger than any circumstance and refuse to bow to any schemes of the enemy. I am more than a conqueror through Christ who strengthens me. In all things, I win because I have embraced this truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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The Double Cure

Apostle Grace Lubega

Isaiah 53:5(KJV); But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes, we are healed.

The wounding of Christ for OUR TRANSGRESSIONS and His bruising for OUR INIQUITIES also had the inevitable result of bringing HEALING to our bodies.

Death to sin was death to disease and sickness.

It is the double cure.

You cannot believe in the forgiveness of sins and yet doubt that God can heal your body.

That is why when the Christ was faced with a man who had paralysis, He simply said, “Thy sins are forgiven” (Luke 5:20-25).

I know of Christians who believe that the diseases in their bodies are because God is punishing them for their sins; they embrace affliction as penance for their misdeeds.

Some have struggled with such diseases for years because they have not understood our theme scripture and its implications.

There is absolutely nothing God cannot take out of your body, whether it is cancer, tuberculosis, or any terminal illness.

However, you must also believe that you are forgiven.

To embrace His abundant mercy is to embrace healing.

Receive the forgiveness of God, divine health will follow.

FURTHER STUDY: Luke 5:20-25, 1 Peter 2:24

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The wounding of Christ for our transgressions and His bruising for our iniquities also had the inevitable result of bringing healing to our bodies. Death to sin was death to disease and sickness.

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank you for the great work at Calvary that purchased my forgiveness and healing. I embrace this truth in the understanding that I have the imputed righteousness of God and because I do, divine health is my portion. When I died to sin, I died to disease and now live in the daily experience of the life of God flowing through my body. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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In The Knowledge Realm

Apostle Grace Lubega

Mark 6:4-6(KJV); But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

There are things that only exist in the knowledge realm; you can only access them by virtue of what you know in and by God.

In our theme scripture, when Jesus went to Nazareth, He could not do many mighty works because of their unbelief. When He realized the problem was unbelief, He went around the villages teaching.

If the son of God understood that the answer to unbelief is more teaching, you, child of God, cannot afford to do it any other way. If Jesus faced the unbelief of men and the teaching of the Word was the solution, there cannot be another way, He is the standard!

If you ever find yourself struggling with faith, listen deeper to the Word of God.

If you think things are not working out for you, go deeper into the scriptures.

The Lord said, “Give yourself wholly to these things that your profit may appear to all.”(1 Timothy 4:15).

A time comes where the Word of God sinks so much into your spirit that it is inevitable for you to have results.

Return to the Word, that is where the life of God is.

If you are faced with any daunting situation, search for what the Word has said on that particular issue, listen and study it until you have received an understanding of it.

The breakthrough will come.
Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: John 6:63, 1 Timothy 4:15

GOLDEN NUGGET:
There are things that only exist in the knowledge realm; you can only access them by virtue of what you know in and by God.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for the gift of your precious Word, my wellspring of life and the anchor for my soul. Your word is true and is forever settled in the heavens. I believe it from the depths of my heart; I look to it in all things and trust that what you promised and have spoken over my life will surely come to pass. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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The Privilege Of Righteousness

Apostle Grace Lubega

Romans 4:6-8(KJV); Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

THE PRIVILEGE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

The gift of imputed righteousness is a great and wondrous privilege we have been accorded as children of the Most High God.

David saw it for what it was and could not help but exclaim, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

The entire Old Testament is full of the privileges of righteousness as described by David. He says, “The Lord knows the way of the righteous”( Psalms 1:6); “Thou Lord will bless the righteous, with favor will you compass him as with a shield”( Psalms 5:12); “God is in the generation of the righteous”( Psalms 14:5); “The lips of the righteous feed many;”(Proverbs 10:21); “A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again”(Proverbs 24:16).

Think about it.

David saw the true status of such a man; that he is favored by God; that he is a source of blessing for many; that he never stays down when he falls; that his steps are ordered by God.

David claimed the promises of the righteous man yet he only lived in the shadow of your experience.

In describing everything about a righteous man, he was only pointing us to what we now have in and by Christ.

Righteousness is not just a doctrine or a moral character but it is the life of men who have understood God.

Embrace righteousness. Live in the confidence of one who is holy before God, upon whom God does not impute sin. This is your portion and story.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 3:21-22

GOLDEN NUGGET:
Righteousness is the life of men who have understood God. Embrace righteousness. Live in the confidence of one who is holy before God, upon whom God does not impute sin. This is your portion and story.

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank you for this Word. I am grateful for the gift of righteousness that you have imputed upon me. I receive it Lord and embrace it as my very nature. I am holy and blameless before you. You have stamped my every action with approval; I am right when I heal the sick; right when I choose to change the state of my nation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Things That Make Ministers: To Raise A Child

1 Kings 11:1-4(KJV); But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love…For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Every man’s relationship and experience with God is entirely personal.

Simply because a parent has a relationship with God does not mean that the child will automatically have a relationship with God.

That is the deception that some men and women of God have; they assume that their children will automatically carry the mantles they have or that they will serve God simply because their parents serve God.

No one simply inherits the gene that loves God. The church of Christ is not a monarchy.

This is why, even though David was the man after God’s own heart, because he did not teach his son Solomon true worship, Solomon ended up bringing idols into the house of God.

It is the very same reason why despite the fact that Samuel was a great man of God who feared and loved Him, his sons did not walk in the ways of the Lord (1 Samuel 8:1-3).

Parents in ministry, especially men and women of God have to teach their children to serve God; you have to let them know that they have to experience God for themselves and go through the patterns of growth too.

It is only in the place of personal experience that they will see God like you do and serve Him like you do.

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Samuel 8:3, Proverbs 22:6

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Parents in ministry, especially men and women of God have to teach their children to serve God; you have to let them know that they have to experience God for themselves and go through the patterns of growth too.

PRAYER: My loving Father, I thank you for this instruction. I understand that every experience with you is personal and I yield myself to a deeper and personal knowledge of you. In this wisdom, I teach my children and instruct them on the way they should go. I point them to the God I love and serve every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.