Under Open Heavens

Apostle Grace Lubega

Matthew 3:16(KJV); And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.

It is possible to walk under open heavens. However, heavens do not open over congregations; they open over individuals.

This was the divine reality demonstrated by our theme scripture.

The shores of river Jordan were full of people who had come to listen to John the Baptist and to be baptised. The Bible does not say that they experienced the open heavens. It says of Christ that the heavens were open UNTO HIM.

A congregation may partake of the results of a man of God’s experience when the heavens are open to him but it will not enjoy the full glory of this experience.

This is what makes faith and salvation personal.

Live life in the understanding that your relationship with God is your own responsibility to cultivate.

FURTHER STUDY: Mathew 6:6, Isaiah 65:24

GOLDEN NUGGET:

It is possible to walk under open heavens. However, heavens do not open over congregations; they open over individuals.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for the places in you that you take me daily. Thank you for the liberties of access that I walk in everyday. Thank you because heaven is my reality. Thank you because my spirit prays from beyond the veil. Thank you because the heavenly seals are open to me. Thank you because the throne room is open to me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Life Well Lived

Apostle Grace Lubega

2 Timothy 4:6(KJV); For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

It has often been said by some in the Christian circles, that a child of God should live his or her life so well, pouring of him or herself into others and die empty.

That is not the mind of God.

A Born Again believer cannot die empty. God has placed infinite things in a finite being. Even in death, you overflow with the life of the Spirit. This was Paul’s experience in our theme scripture when he spoke of his departure from the earth.

He was being poured out because at this point in his life, he was too full of the Spirit.

You have not been called to make the transition into eternity with nothing left in you. When you transition into eternity, you enter it as one who is full of God!

That is the mark of a life well lived.
It is what makes a man relevant even past his time in the flesh. This is why your story cannot end when you leave the earth.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Ecclesiastes 3:11AMP, Psalm 23:5

GOLDEN NUGGET:

God has placed infinite things in a finite being. Even in death, you are in the overflow.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this knowledge. I am filled with the greatest measure of the anointing. Experience upon experience is my portion. My cup runs over. Generations from now, many will drink from what you have placed in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

When We Wait On The Lord

Apostle Grace Lubega

Isaiah 40:31(KJV); But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

God supplies strength to men that wait on Him.

This strength takes many forms. It can be physical ability to achieve a task or the tenacity to endure tough situations. However, there is a special strength I wish to open your eyes to.

In Hebrews 11:11, the Bible 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.’

When we wait on God, we receive strength to conceive seed; this is strength to receive the Word because Luke 8:11 says the seed is the Word.

Why do some people miss spiritual instruction at critical times? They have not learnt how to wait on God and thus are unable to conceive seed.

Why do some people misunderstand divine conviction when God nudges them in spirit? They have not waited enough on God.

Why do some people struggle to understand the Word when it is preached? They do not wait on God and as such are not yielded to the strength that conceives seed.

Cultivate a life of waiting on God. Make it your pattern. Choose to be deliberate in seeking solitude because therein is strength.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Hebrews 11:11, Psalm 27:14

GOLDEN NUGGET:

When we wait on God, we receive strength to conceive seed; this is strength to receive the Word.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for the grace to wait upon you daily. Because I wait on you, I receive spiritual instruction easily. Because I wait on you, I flow in the spirit of revelation. Because I wait on you, I have a deeper understanding of the scriptures. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

To See Light

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalm 36:9 (KJV); For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

When a true man of God ministers, he casts light and in that light men see light.

Sadly, when true light is cast, there are those who behold darkness.

For example as the Christ preached, speaking of the glories of the kingdom of God, the majesty of His father in heaven and of things that were hid from the foundation of the world, some beheld darkness.

When they called Him Beelzebul, the Prince of demons, it was because in His light, they did not see light but darkness.

John 6 gives another narrative of men seeing darkness in His light. Christ told them to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood because He is the Bread of Life. The Bible reveals that many murmured against Him and stopped following Him. They did not see light.

He asked His disciples, ‘Will ye also go away?’ (John 6:67). To this, Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal LIFE‘ (John 6:68).

We see light every time we acknowledge that the words spoken to us minister life. This is why in John 6:33, the Lord says that His words are spirit and LIFE. In our theme scripture, David first acknowledged that God is the fountain of life and as such he was able to see light in His light.

You can never receive from a man whom you do not believe speaks life to you. If you must see light in the light that a man of God casts, open your spirit to the understanding that his words carry life.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 6:33, James 1:17

GOLDEN NUGGET:

You can never receive from a man whom you do not believe speaks life to you. If you must see light in the light that a man of God casts, open your spirit to the understanding that his words carry life.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. I am a child of the light. I receive the words of your ministers, not as words of mere men but of the Lord of glory. In their light, I see light. In their wisdom, I see wisdom. In their depth, I hear the calls of deep calling unto deep. In their knowledge of the mystery of Christ, I see greater mysteries. To the glory of your name, Amen.

Of Spiritual Youthfulness

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalms 103:5(KJV); Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The beauty with the life of the Spirit is that a believer can be continually youthful.

The paradox of Christian growth is that with the passing of the years, you become more youthful.

Your youth is renewed by the Holy Spirit.

In Christianity, we do not grow old, we mature. This maturity is different from aging as commonly understood.

Christian maturity does not diminish your strength or dim your vision. Instead, it sharpens your senses and increases your capabilities.

A youthful man in the physical realm may faint and utterly fall(Isaiah 40:30). However, a spiritually youthful person soars with each passing day. Such a one does not grow weary and is energised daily.

Live life in the confidence that each morning, God loads you with strength, clearer sight, and sharper hearing.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Isaiah 40:30-31, 2 Corinthians 4:16

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The paradox of Christian growth is that with the passing of the years, you become more youthful. Your youth is renewed by the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this truth. Thank you for the great benefits you load me with every morning. I am stronger today than I was yesterday. I will be stronger tomorrow than I am today because you renew my youth. Increase and multiplication are my portion because I am youthful in spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Keep The Wonder

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalm 42:1(KJV); As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

There are men who lose the wonder of the things of the Spirit. This is not because God ceases to be a wonder but because familiarity makes visible things invisible.

For example, if you have a room full of items that you see every day, it’s possible not to notice the disappearance of an item from that room.

So it is with the things of the Spirit. Sometimes, the things of God become familiar and this familiarity makes them invisible.

The Word of God, the demonstration of His Spirit and His presence can become so familiar that they become invisible to you. Because they are invisible, some become indifferent to what is readily available and start to seek for what they cannot see.

When you lose the wonder of the things of God, you cannot provoke His essence to continue pouring out more of Himself to you.

This is because every time you hear a certain truth in God and claim to already know it, you imply that there cannot be more to what you already know about that truth and as such you hold back the Spirit from fully ministering to you like He desires.

Even if you have heard a certain truth a million times, always be expectant, knowing that even in that, God will speak to you something new.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Psalm 27:4, Psalm 26:8

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Even if you have heard a certain truth a million times, always be expectant, knowing that even in that, God will speak to you something new.

PRAYER: My great Lord, I thank you for this word. My heart pants for your presence. My soul longs for your touch. I am awed by the greatness of your power, the awesomeness of your majesty. Like David rejoiced over your Word as one who finds great spoil, I stand continually amazed by your truths. You were a wonder yesterday, you are a wonder today and you will be a wonder forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Seeking God In His Simplicity

Apostle Grace Lubega

2 Corinthians 11:3(KJV); But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

God is not simple. His judgments are unsearchable and His ways past finding out (Romans 11:33). However, in Him is simplicity.

This is the great paradox of divine personality: that in a complex God is simplicity.

He is deep and bottomless but in these same depths is simplicity.

Men get corrupted when they seek for depths in Him outside His simplicities. These are Christians who have confused the simplicity IN HIM as the simplicity OF HIM.

They consider certain truths in Him as ordinary and hunger for what they interpret as depth.

That is seeing God the wrong way. You cannot seek and find a God you behold through such deception.

The Bible says seek and you shall find. However this seeking must be in the understanding that in Him is simplicity.

If you seek Him in complexity in the misunderstanding that complexity means depth then you shall never find Him because He is not in what you seek.

FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 7:7, 1 Corinthians 2:10

GOLDEN NUGGET:

God is not simple. However, in Him is simplicity.

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank you for this wisdom. I walk in the understanding that you have simplified my walk with you because in you is simplicity. I embrace this truth in how I pray, fast, give and serve. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

To Keep The Grinders – 2

Apostle Grace Lubega

Ecclesiastes 12:3 (AMP); In the day when the keepers of the house [the hands and the arms] tremble, and the strong men [the feet and the knees] bow themselves, and the grinders [the molar teeth] cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows [the eyes] are darkened;

God is a never ending wonder. He is eternal in beauty, glory and power.

The human spirit must be continually stirred to recognise the bottomlessness of the depths of His person.

I know of Christians who are tired of the faith because they feel betrayed by the things they once believed in. Some have simply lost the hunger for the things of the Spirit.

Some have fallen in love with this world and lost sight of eternity.

What did you see in God? How can you find no pleasure in Him anymore except that what you actually saw was a mirage?

God is a marvel and is endless.

The older you grow, the more you should love Him.

Keep the constant desire for Him. Keep the hunger.

FURTHER STUDY: Psalm 27:4, 1 Corinthians 2:10 AMP

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The human spirit must be continually stirred to recognise the bottomlessness of the depths of His person.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this day. Thank you for what you are doing in my life, the places you take me by the Spirit, the hunger you stir in me, the depths in which you launch me and the heights to which I fly. I want to see you deeper, hear more, taste more and feel more. May the fires of desire for the divine burn brighter in my heart, soul and body. May I never lose the wonder of who you are, May I never lose the thirst for the waters of life. I thirst to be more thirsty. I hunger to be more hungry, fill me like only you can fill. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

To Keep The Grinders – 1

Apostle Grace Lubega

Ecclesiastes 12:3(AMP); In the day when the keepers of the house [the hands and the arms] tremble, and the strong men [the feet and the knees] bow themselves, and the grinders [the molar teeth] cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows [the eyes] are darkened;

The Bible speaks of an experience of men whose grinders(molar teeth) cease because they are few. This happens when they grow old and can nolonger eat meat.

Think of this as a spiritual and not merely a physical experience.

In the life of the Spirit, when some people grow old, that is, after they have spent several years in the gospel, they lose their ability to eat meat. Their desire is for milk, the food for babes.

Meat in this context means deeper spiritual insights. Paul told the Corinthian Church, ‘I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able'(1 Corinthians 3:2).

You must keep the teeth that can still eat meat, that is, you ought to consistently be able to consume, conceive and understand deeper things in God.

Never allow yourself to lose your grinders. Keep a constant hunger for greater depths in God because there is always more in Him.

It doesn’t matter how long you have been in the gospel or how much you think you know, there is always more in God.

Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Corinthians 3:2, Psalms 42:1

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Never allow yourself to lose your grinders. Keep a constant hunger for greater depths in God because there is always more in Him

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. I am hungrier for you today than I was yesterday. I will be hungrier tomorrow, than I am today. I hear deep calling unto me and I respond to Him because I know the beauty of the treasures in you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Beyond Fear

Apostle Grace Lubega

2 Timothy 1:7(KJV); For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

One of the hows of prayer is to never pray in fear.

Sometimes the temptation to do so is strong, especially when you find yourself trapped in a situation with no immediate way out. Fear may provoke you to speak in tongues and to call on God.

When you pray with fear, you frustrate your liberties.

When your liberties are frustrated, the wisdoms of eternity cannot make sense to assemble enough faith on the earth for you to produce results.

For example, rest is a wisdom of eternity. It is a strategy in the art of divine warfare. When you allow fear to settle in your spirit, this wisdom cannot work in you. The inevitable result is that you cannot ‘part the sea to create dry ground’ even with the Egyptian army right behind you.

If you ever find yourself in fear, worship until the fear leaves. Deal with the fear and then pray.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Proverbs 29:25, 1 John 4:18

GOLDEN NUGGET:

When you pray with fear, you frustrate your liberties. When your liberties are frustrated, the wisdoms of eternity cannot make sense to assemble enough faith on the earth for you to produce results.

PRAYER: Father, thank you because I have not been given a Spirit of fear but of love, boldness and of a sound mind. You are with me everywhere that I am, my ever present help in time of need. In all circumstances, I choose faith over fear. I am too persuaded of your love to be afraid of anything. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Basis Of Prayer

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 John 5:14-15(KJV); And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

There are many kinds of prayer. That is what the Bible means when it speaks of praying with ALL prayer and supplications (Ephesians 6:18). However, regardless of the kind of prayer you are making, it is very critical to know the basis of prayer.

The basis of any prayer is the freedom of access and the liberties of answered prayer. Anytime, anywhere, you can approach the throne of grace and receive whatsoever you ask for. That is the complete and absolute confidence we have in prayer.

Some Christians make their petitions to God and stand back to observe if at all they will be heard. That is their attitude in prayer. There is never any certainty as to whether God is even listening to them.

Every time you pray, you must know with absolute certainty  that you have been heard and that what you desire has been given.

Take the example of Christ when He declared that Lazarus’ sickness was not unto death. He knew that God always hears Him. Even if Lazarus died, that did not move him because He had prayed. He knew the liberties of answered prayer.

These liberties are what will cause you to disregard any symptoms of continued illness after you have prayed for healing. These liberties are what will make you ignore the absence of money in your pocket or your account after praying for a financial breakthrough.

These liberties cause you to walk out of your prayer closet like a man with the answer you seek because you know that when you prayed, you did not stand before a man but before God, the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Praise God!

FURTHER STUDY: John 14:13-14, Hebrews 11:6

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The basis of any prayer is the freedom of access and the liberties of answered prayer.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for this truth. Whatsoever I ask in your name, I know that I receive. I am bold in prayer, knowing that no good thing can you withhold from me. It doesn’t matter what the physical circumstances say, I hold onto the confidence that you are a God who answers prayer. You hear me, you care, you intervene, you break through barriers, you cause axes to float, you deliver and you save! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Perfect Praise And Worship

Apostle Grace Lubega

Revelation 5:12 (KJV); Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

There is a difference between a Christian who praises and worships God from the heavens and one who does so from the earth.

When a man’s conversation is in the heavens (Philippians 3:20), his praise and worship is perfect before God.

Our theme scripture demonstrates this perfect praise. When the elders, the beasts and the angels around the throne worshipped in heaven, they sung, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive POWER and RICHES, and WISDOM, and STRENGTH, and HONOUR, and GLORY, and BLESSING.’ They sung of seven things. 

The number seven in biblical numerology represents perfection.

This is in contrast to praise on the earth. In Revelation 5:13, the Bible speaks of the praise of the creatures on the earth, under the earth and in the sea and says, ‘And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, BLESSING, and HONOUR, and GLORY, and POWER, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.’

Those on the earth could speak of those four things. For example, they could not speak of wisdom because wisdom [creative wisdom], that with which the earth was framed is from above (James 3:17). 

Perfect praise and worship can only happen when your spirit is conscious and alive to the heavens.  

FURTHER STUDY: Philippians 3:20, John 4:24

GOLDEN NUGGET:

When a man’s conversation is in the heavens, his praise and worship is perfect before God.

PRAYER: Father, you are worthy of all praise and adoration. I worship in spirit and in truth because I understand that my conversation is in heaven. In worship, I carry heavenly vision. I behold the greatness of your power, the beauty of your holiness and the heights of your magnificence. I join with the elders and the angels in awe and adoration, to declare your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.