The Glory In Service

Apostle Grace Lubega

Matthew 23:11(KJV); But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Service is one of the principles by which your star shines.

David was anointed by God to be king over Israel.

However, the fact that he was anointed was not enough to propel him into the office God had ordained for him. The Bible says that he served Saul (1 Samuel 18:5).

Solomon was promised the throne but simply because this was so, did not guarantee that he would become the next king of Israel.

What made him different from other sons of David? The Bible speaks of him in terms of servanthood. In 1 Kings 1:26, he is referred to as the servant of David.

Joseph had a dream but what positioned him in the place of greatness? Genesis 39:2 speaks of how he served Potiphar.

Yes, a prophetic word has been spoken over your life about the great destiny of your life but simply because God spoke does not guarantee that you will end up where He ordained for you to be.

There are patterns and principles and service is one of them.

In whichever place you are in, choose to serve.

At your workplace, be more than the employee who shows up to earn a salary, have the heart of service.

In ministry, be more than the one who turns up every Sunday to hear the sermon and return home, have a part to play, serve.

If you are a man or woman of God, you too ought to serve someone else and not merely expect service from people.

Service will always polish your star.

Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY: Proverbs 11:25, Hebrews 6:10

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Service will always polish your star.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this great wisdom. I embrace it and walk in its understanding. Your grace labours in me and causes me to serve with diligence and excellence. In every place that you have positioned me, I choose to serve because that is the example you set for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In The Paths Of Revelation

Apostle Grace Lubega

Isaiah 30:21(KJV); And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

The Word of God is an adventure in truth and revelation. It is a wondrous journey of discovery and insight into the nature of God and of places in Him.
In this, our guide is the Holy Spirit.

In our theme scripture, the Bible says, ‘You shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it…”

This is not merely about direction on the next step you must take in life concerning a business deal, a relationship or a career choice; this is instruction in the paths of revelation.

It is a beautiful experience child of God.

In this experience, while God is teaching you, He will take you from Matthew to Genesis, to Malachi to Job to Luke to Revelation and back!

He will show you Christ at creation, show you the Christ in the Garden of Eden, show you the Christ at Mount Sinai, in the prophecies of old and all through scripture.

He will paint for you similar patterns in the life of Abraham to the life of Jacob, the life of Joseph, the life of Moses and the lives of many other characters.

This is what makes Bible study so amazing! Every time you get into the Bible, you are stepping into a world where you are guided by the very hand and voice of God!

The Lord is calling you to a deeper experience with the Word.

Study it and give yourself to it in this consciousness. He is ready and willing to guide you.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Colossians 3:16, 2 Timothy 2:15

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The Word of God is an adventure in truth and revelation. It is a wondrous journey of the discovery and insight into the nature of God and of places in Him.

PRAYER: My Loving Father, your Word is my fountain of truth; it is the foundation on which I stand and the beginning and end of everything I do. I study it as if my life depends on it because it does. I study it with the consciousness that you are ready to show me its reality, to carry me to that world and paint its truths to my spirit until I am consumed by them, to the glory of your name. Amen.

Cast The Stone Away

Apostle Grace Lubega

John 8:4-9(KJV); They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last.

No man has the right to cast stones at another man regardless of how fallen that other man is; no man has the right to use the law as the weapon to disqualify another man.

The very law that these men in our theme scripture used to condemn the woman taken in adultery was the very law that judged, weighed and found them wanting in moral authority.

Think about this for a moment.

These were Pharisees, the very epitomes of legalism.

They were the stock of Israel, circumcised on the eighth day, Hebrews of Hebrews, as regarding the righteousness of the law, blameless.

Doubtless, they had stoned adulterous women before because the law demanded it. They had seen men killed for blasphemy because the law demanded it. They had done things before against fellow men that seemed right because the law said so.

But one Word from the Christ gave them pause; years of legalistic righteousness questioned in this one statement; “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

We live in a generation of legalistic men and women who have not appreciated the momentary wisdom of the Pharisees in our theme scripture.

They are quick to cast stones and forget about the qualification the Christ demanded for anyone to cast the first stone.

In the face of the law, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Cast the stone away.

We preach the grace of God because in the face of grace, we have all been justified by faith in Christ.

FURTHER STUDY: Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:8

GOLDEN NUGGET:

We preach the grace of God because in the face of grace, we have all been justified by faith in Christ.

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank you for your great mercy. These mercies are new every morning and each day I awaken in the assurance that I am not condemned. I am forgiven, loved and treasured by the Almighty God. It is this same grace that I extend to those around me because you show it to me every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In The Place Where We Stand

Apostle Grace Lubega

Romans 14:4(KJV); Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

The grace of God is the guarantee that we never fail.

I have heard men labelled as ‘fallen’ by others simply because some scandal or other has hit their lives and ministries or if they fell into some temptation or other.

Every man who has understood the imputed righteousness of God is held up by God.

If that man ever succumbs to the weakness of the flesh, don’t mistake weakness in the flesh for depravity in spirit.

He might seem ‘fallen’ to you because you only behold what is in the flesh yet in actual truth, God has fortified him that he is standing strong in spirit.

In fact, everything around him might point to the state of a fallen man yet, in fact, he is upright in spirit.

That is why Paul asks the ultimate question, ‘who are you that judges another man’s servant?’

What many define as ‘fallen’ vastly differs from what God regards as fallen. God defines falling as seeking to be justified by the law (Galatians 5:4).

As long as a man has embraced grace, to God, such a man can never be ‘fallen’.

FURTHER STUDY: Galatians 5:4, Proverbs 24:16

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The grace of God is the guarantee that we never fail to stand.  Everyman who has understood the imputed righteousness of God is held up by God.

PRAYER: Loving God, I thank you for the gift of your grace. By it, I stay strong and withstand all storms. Today, I am reminded more than ever that it is before you that I stand and not before men. You hold me up, lift my head and cause me to walk in the consciousness of who I am in you. To the glory of your name. Amen.

Lessons In Virtue: The Instruction Of A Parent

Apostle Grace Lubega

Proverbs 4:3-5(KJV); For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

What a parent plants in a child defines that child’s prayer in those critical moments when the child comes into contact with God and with divine purpose.

Our theme scripture points us to this vital truth.

When David was instructing his son Solomon, he taught him to pursue wisdom. He said, “Get wisdom, get understanding…”

This was a seed in Solomon’s spirit and it bore fruit at the right time by the working of the prevenient grace of God.

In 1 Kings 3:5, the Lord appeared to Solomon and told him to ask for whatsoever he wanted. It was a blank cheque.

Solomon could have asked for long life, wealth or for the death of his enemies.
However, because of the seed that was in him, he asked for wisdom.

This is how we instruct children in the way they should go.

Continuously speak into their lives; tell them who they are in God; remind them that their future is great; declare the Word of God over their lives.

You might not see its effect now but at a critical point in their lives, that seed will speak.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Proverbs 22:6, 1 Kings 3:5-10

GOLDEN NUGGET:

What a parent plants in a child defines that child’s prayer in those critical moments when the child comes into contact with God and with divine purpose.

PRAYER: Loving God, I thank you for this Word. I know the power of words and what they do in my life and in the lives of my children. I receive this instruction today and choose to run with it. My children are great; they guard the gates against enemies; they are for signs and wonders; they know you and are known by you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Restoring Foundations

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalms 11:3(KJV); If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Men of grace restore foundations.

God was deliberate in addressing the issue of foundations in our theme scripture to the righteous.

It means that anyone who has understood the imputed righteousness of God has the divine ability and authority to restore any broken foundations.

Such a person understands that the foundations were laid by grace (1 Corinthians 3:10-11) and if any restoration is to be done, it can only be by the Spirit of grace.

Thus, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

In Psalms 82:5-6, God supplies the answer to the question in Psalms 11:3.

He says, “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.”

The foundations are out of course because the righteous do not KNOW or UNDERSTAND.

So, if the foundations are destroyed, the righteous must apply their hearts to knowledge and understanding.

People are destroyed because the priests have rejected knowledge (Hosea 4:6 (AMP)).

The indifference of the church of Christ to the knowledge of the person of God and who we are in Him has a part to play in the state of the world.

Power and authority have been given to us. Heaven is counting on the church to reach out to the hopeless, to point men to the truth, to change hearts bent on wickedness and to reform lives, to the glory of God.

Make the choice to give yourself to the knowledge and understanding of God because it positions you as an agent of change in the world.

FURTHER STUDY: Hosea 4:6 (AMP), Psalms 82:5-6

GOLDEN NUGGET:

If the foundations are destroyed, the righteous must apply their hearts to knowledge and understanding.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this truth. The word of God dwells richly in me. The more I know you, the more I want to know you. Every day, I dig deep to know my Father’s heart. When the world sees me they see you because I have been consumed by the knowledge of who you are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understanding The Foundation

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Corinthians 3:10-11(KJV); According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Christ is the foundation of the Church.

As the edifice of the Church rises, it ought to reflect Christ in character, form and substance.

This begs the question, does the body of Christ today do so?

Sadly, not as much as it ought.

The problem is foundational. If we have not understood the foundation, the building cannot be ‘true.’

One of the outstanding foundational problems is the fact that some have made NEED the building material: the need for wealth, need for healing, need for divine intervention in marriages and families, need for career growth, need for deliverance from addictions and so forth.

Some people even feel like a man of God has not preached a proper sermon until he mentions their problem and how God is getting them out of it.

Need is the skill for crafting the perfect sermon; need is even in the call to give for the cause of Christ, ‘For your gift of thirty dollars, you will receive a thirty fold miracle!’

Child of God, the thing about need is that by its nature, it is perpetual.

However, all these needs grow dim when we turn our eyes upon Jesus.

It is time for the church to rise above the limitations of need to the limitlessness of the person of Christ. It is time for need to leave our pulpits; it is time for the voice of need to cease from how we manipulate people to give.

Christ is deeper than any need.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: John 4:14, Psalms 16:11

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Christ is deeper than any need.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this day. I am grateful for this great and wonderful Word. I choose to set my eyes on things above where Christ is seated, to drink from the wells of your bottomless depths, to drown in the revelation of who you are. That is life, for it is eternal life to know you. This day, I take the decision to look past need but to the person of who you are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lessons In Virtue: Saul To David Vs Jesse To David

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Samuel 17:34-36(KJV); And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

The first time we hear of David’s gallantry and prowess was when he narrates to Saul his admirable experiences with bears and lions while tending his father’s sheep.

Nowhere in the scriptures was it mentioned that David had shared these same stories with his father Jesse.

He killed lions and bears to protect his father’s sheep and yet he did not say a single word about it.

Of course, there was a problem. I would like to imagine that a son would be exhilarated to tell his father how he caught a lion or bear by the beard and slew it.

Glimpses of the problem can be picked from how Jesse did not find David worthy to be anointed king by Samuel.

He paraded all his sons and forgot about David until Samuel asked him if he had any other sons (1 Samuel 16:10-11).

Jesse’s fundamental error was in his inability to identify the greatness in his child; to recognize the mantle in his household.

This is a recurrent problem even in our society today with far-reaching effects, child of God.

Children whose greatness is not called out by their fathers will be preyed upon by other men who seek to unscrupulously fill the void that their fathers failed to fill.

Every father has the divine responsibility of shaping the identity of his children so that they never have their greatness defined under the shadow of another man but Christ.

May you rise to this great mandate!

FURTHER STUDY: Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:4(MSG)

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Every father has the divine responsibility of shaping the identity of his children so that they never have their greatness defined under the shadow of another man but Christ.

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank you for this Word. I know that children are every parent’s opportunity to change the world. What a privilege! I choose to be exemplary, not just to my own but to those whom you have given me authority over. That they will rise to greatness because the Christ I show them every day is He on whose shoulders they stand. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Things That Make Ministers: True Sonship

Apostle Grace Lubega

Matthew 3:9 (KJV); And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

In the equation of growth in the Abrahamic line, faith is the chief ingredient of multiplication.

This growth is not merely increase in numbers in a ministry but that kind of growth by which a man or woman of vision multiplies his spirit in those whom God has given to him; it is how sons and daughters in Christ are made.

For this very reason, even imitations of spiritual authority in the body of Christ are imitations of faith.

To this effect, Paul, a father who begat sons in the faith says, “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: WHOSE FAITH FOLLOW, considering the end of their conversation.” (Hebrews 13:7).

Part of spiritual maturity is in imitating your spiritual authority’s faith.

How does he or she respond to adversity? What is his or her relationship with the God he or she believed? How does he or she treat the enemy and his wiles? When he or she faces a lame man, what does he or she do? When he or she receives a phone call about someone on a hospital bed, what does he or she do?

You might imitate his dress code, his hairstyle or his walking style but until you master the imitation of faith, you cannot claim to have grown by his multiplication of his spirit in you.

In the same way, the Pharisees could not claim a sonship to father Abraham when they could never imitate his faith.

That is why God readily disabused them of the notion by assuring them that if they dared to claim Abraham as their father, they ought to know that God could raise children for Abraham out of stones.

Let the patterns of faith set by those who have spiritual authority over you form the basis of your instruction and learning.

FURTHER STUDY: Hebrews 13:7, Galatians 3:7

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Part of spiritual maturity is in imitating your spiritual authority’s faith. Let the patterns of faith set by those who have spiritual authority over you form the basis of your instruction and learning.

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank You for this great Word. This is priceless wisdom in the patterns of spiritual growth. I receive it with all humility my Lord and yield my spirit to you to be led in it. By the eyes of the spirit, I choose to walk in the imitations of faith and as I do this, I grow in you. To the glory of your name, Amen.

Building By Grace

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Corinthians 3:10-11(KJV); ACCORDING TO THE GRACE OF GOD which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The foundation of the Church is the person of Christ as revealed through His grace.

There is no other way Paul could have built except by grace. If the foundation was laid by the operations of grace, the edifice can only rise by grace.

Paul peered through the pages of history and knew that the strong winds of heresy would attempt to shake and undermine the strength of the rising structure of the body of Christ.

As such, he cautioned them in Hebrews 13:9, “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the HEART BE ESTABLISHED WITH GRACE; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”

He puts the emphasis on the fact that the ground (being the hearts of men) must be strengthened in GRACE for the building to stand.

To emphasize this critical point, when he came to the end of his race, he said, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to THE WORD OF HIS GRACE, WHICH IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified”(Acts 20:32).

Again, we see the relationship between GRACE and BUILDING.

We cannot build any other way, child of God. God has shown us the way.

We build by grace.

If you must grow a ministry, business, career or any area of your life, embrace His grace for in embracing it, you embrace Him.

FURTHER STUDY: Acts 20:32, Hebrews 13:9

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The foundation of the Church is the person of Christ as revealed through His grace.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for the precious gift of grace. I know that it is more than just a doctrine but your very person. I yield to this truth and embrace it in all that I do. I grow in the consciousness that I know nothing of myself, that I decrease each day while you increase; that you will and do in me according to your purposes. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In His Presence

Apostle Grace Lubega

Matthew 19:2(KJV); And great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there.

Jesus never gathered men and did nothing.

The scriptures record that every time people were in His presence, He healed, He delivered or transformed lives with His wisdom.

This is the understanding we ought to have every time we gather in His name.

We do not gather by our own will, power, or choice. The Bible says that no one comes to Him, lest He draws them (John 6:44).

Every time we come into His presence, it is because He has drawn us there.

He gathers us because He seeks to change us.

He gathers us because He wants to impact our lives.

He gathers us because He seeks to elevate us.

Purpose to always come in the presence of God with expectation and in this understanding.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 18:20, John 6:44

GOLEN NUGGET:

Jesus never gathered men and did nothing.

PRAYER: Loving father, I thank you for this great Word. I stand on the blessed assurance that every time in your presence is an opportunity to grow, to experience you deeper and to understand you more. My heart is expectant that you are doing something new in my life. I can never be the same because I came before you this day. My ministry is changing, my finances are changing, my fellowship and communion with you is changing; everything about my life is changing, to the glory of your name. Amen.

The Sound Of The Spirit Man

Apostle Grace Lubega

John 3:8(KJV); The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The characteristic of the Spirit moving is that you hear its sound.

In the book of Acts, as the disciples were gathered in the upper room, the Bible says that “Suddenly, there came a SOUND from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind…” (Acts 2:2).

When speaking of the function of the spirit with regard to revealing the things of God, the Bible says that He SOUNDS the bottomless things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10 AMP).

This means that wherever the Spirit of God is, there is a distinction in sound.

This is the same trait shared by they that are born of the Spirit.

This sound is a mark of identity.

In 1 Corinthians 14:7, He says that even things without life give sound and that except they give a distinction in sound, it cannot be known what is piped or harped.

So, if lifeless things have a distinction in sound, how much more a child of God?

As a man or woman of the Spirit, your sound must be distinctive.

It is not enough that you blow where you will.

The sound in itself is proof that you are making an impact.

You are unpredictable because you blow where you will but you must blow with a distinction in sound!
Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Corinthians 14:7, 1 Corinthians 2:10 AMP

GOLDEN NUGGET:

As a man or woman of the Spirit, you must have a distinction in sound.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for this knowledge. My sound is that of one who has understood the free life in God. Nations feel me, economies feel me, principalities feel me but they don’t know where I am going or where I am coming from. They cannot predict me but they see my impact. In Jesus’ name. Amen.