Fainting Heroes

Apostle Grace Lubega

Judges 15:16-19 (KJV); And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi. And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

There is a difference between an ‘AND’ the lord answer and a ‘BUT’ the lord answer.

Notice the nature of Samson’s prayer in our theme scripture. He said, “Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”

One would think that the subsequent response would be, “AND God clave an hollow place…”

However, the language of the scriptures is, “BUT God clave an hollow place…”

Every time you see “but” in the scriptures, it implies a contrary position or mind-set to what preceded it.

Even if Samson received an answer from the Lord, the mind of God was not in agreement with how he prayed.

Sometimes God can answer us despite our ignorance because in the days of ignorance, he winks (Acts 17:30).

However, results in prayer can never be sustained in ignorance.

Samson’s prayer ought to have been, “thank you for victory and thank you for the water.”

Let thanksgiving shape your prayers because you understand that the God who started the good work in you will also bring it to accomplishment. Praise Him!

FURTHER STUDY: Philippians 4:6, Ephesians 5:20

GOLDEN NUGGET:
Let thanksgiving shape your prayers because you understand that the God who started the good work in you will also bring it to accomplishment.

PRAYER: Father, I am grateful for this instruction on how to pray. By thanks giving, I make my requests known unto you. Victory is my companion, Prosperity is my kinsman. I am perfect in speech and pray in knowledge and understanding and as such, my results in prayer are constant. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

To Separate The Precious From The Vile

Apostle Grace Lubega

Jeremiah 15:19 (KJV); Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

There are things that are vile to God but some men consider precious.

Similarly, there is that which is precious to God yet seen as vile by some men.

When a man truly understands the distinction and how to separate the precious from the vile, God makes him His mouthpiece.

There is a message God can never place on the lips and in the heart of a man until he has learnt what is considered by God as precious and what He sees as vile.

If something does not edify, it is vile (worthless before God).

Edification is the drawing line between preciousness and vileness of anything spiritual, because it determines the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the son, the perfection of the New Creature in Christ and the maturity of men into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-13).

When God by His grace defines true preciousness to you, you cease to waste time in the things of the gospel.

You will seek after the things that satisfy the spirit and not the flesh; those that make you genuinely hunger for more of Him.

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Corinthians 10:23, Ephesians 4:12-13

GOLDEN NUGGET:

If something does not edify, it is vile (worthless before God). Edification is the drawing line between preciousness and vileness of anything spiritual, because it determines the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the son, the perfection of the New Creature in Christ and the maturity of men into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this wisdom. I understand the things that are expedient in the gospel and it is on those that my heart is set. By wisdom, I separate the precious from the vile; by this my lips are pure and my message is a blessing because it does not provoke men to aspire for physical or spiritual vanities. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Apôtre Grace Lubega

POUR SÉPARER DU PRÉCIEUX DE L’INFAME

Jérémie 15:19 (KJV) C’est pourquoi ainsi parle l’Eternel: Si tu te rattaches à moi, je te répondrai, et tu te tiendras devant moi; Si tu sépares ce qui est précieux de ce qui est vil, tu seras comme ma bouche. C’est à eux de revenir à toi, Mais ce n’est pas à toi de retourner vers eux.

Il y a des choses qui sont infâmes à Dieu mais certains hommes considèrent comme précieux.

De même, il y a ce qui est précieux à Dieu pourtant considéré comme infâme par certains hommes.

Quand un homme comprend vraiment la distinction et comment séparer le précieux de l’infâme, Dieu le fait Son porte-parole.

Il y a un message que Dieu ne peut jamais placer sur les lèvres et dans le cœur d’un homme jusqu’à ce qu’il ait appris ce qui est considéré par Dieu comme précieux et ce qu’Il voit comme infâme.

Si quelque chose n’édifie pas, c’est infâme (sans valeur devant Dieu).

L’édification est la ligne de démarcation entre la préciosité et la bassesse de tout ce qui est spirituel, car elle détermine l’unité de la foi, la connaissance du fils, la perfection de la Nouvelle Créature en Christ et la maturité des hommes dans la mesure de la plénitude du Christ (Éphésiens 4:12-13).

Quand Dieu par Sa grâce vous définit la vraie valeur, vous cessez de perdre du temps dans les choses de l’évangile.

Tu rechercheras les choses qui satisfont l’esprit et non la chair ; ceux qui vous font vraiment faim pour plus de Lui.

ÉTUDE COMPLÉMENTAIRE : 1 Corinthiens 10:23, Ephésiens 4:12-13

PÉPITE D’OR : Si quelque chose n’édifie pas, c’est infâme (sans valeur devant Dieu). L’édification est la ligne de démarcation entre la préciosité et la bassesse de tout ce qui est spirituel, car elle détermine l’unité de la foi, la connaissance du fils, la perfection de la Nouvelle Créature en Christ et la maturité des hommes dans la mesure de la plénitude du Christ.

PRIÈRE : Père, je te remercie pour cette sagesse. Je comprends les choses qui sont utiles dans l’évangile et c’est sur ceux que mon cœur est fixé. Par la sagesse, je sépare le précieux de l’infâme ; par cela mes lèvres sont pures et mon message est une bénédiction parce qu’il ne provoque pas les hommes à aspirer à des vanités physiques ou spirituelles. Au nom de Jésus. Amen.

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Shedding Spiritual Weights

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Corinthians 10:23 (AMP); All things are legitimate [permissible — and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].

In the spiritual realm, there are things that are permissible but they are not necessarily beneficial.

That is why Paul differentiates between the permissible and the beneficial.

Christians who have not understood this carry a lot of unnecessary weight in the spiritual realm.

The Bible says that this kind of weight easily besets (Hebrews 12:1).

The Greek word used for beset is “euperistatos” which is also translated to mean “thwarting a racer in every direction.”

These weights can frustrate a man in his course. They are sometimes carried under the deception that they are a part of one’s divine mandate, yet in truth, these things only make the Christian laggard.

Take as an example the vanities of ministry which shape the aspirations of some ministers of the gospel.

They include ambitions like having the biggest cathedral in the nation, running institutions like schools and universities or having a television ministry.

These in themselves are very good because they reflect the blessing of God upon one’s life.

However, when the pursuit of them is weighed against an individual’s understanding of divine purpose, they are sometimes exposed as vanities.

When pursued as a minister’s ultimate goal, they become unnecessary weight and as such, may easily divert a man from his course.

FURTHER STUDY: Hebrews 12:1, Philippians 3:8

GOLDEN NUGGET: 

In the spiritual realm, there are things that are permissible but they are not necessarily beneficial. Christians who have not understood this carry a lot of unnecessary weight in the spiritual realm.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for defining my aspirations beyond the things that are temporal to the testimony of things that echo through eternity. My eyes are set on the high calling which is in Christ, on the demands of eternal purpose, on the direction of your mind for the Church and on the things that define the axis of eternal life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What Is Your Course?

Apostle Grace Lubega

2 Peter 1:10(KJV); Therefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Every child of God must ask themselves this pertinent question: “what is my course?”

There are prophets, apostles, pastors, evangelists and teachers who even though they claim these callings, are not sure what they mean.

Some do not know their part and lot in the gospel.

When you understand your course, you will learn to number your days on the earth (Psalms 90:12) and never waste time in the things that do not profit the kingdom.

This life of the gospel is not a “que sera sera, (whatever will be, will be)” affair. You must understand the race set before you and the path you must take to that finish line.

The one distinctive thing about a man who has understood his course is that he has a burden for the gospel.

When you have a burden for the gospel, you cannot be indifferent to the labours in the kingdom because every labour comes with a burden and every burden comes with a message.

If a man is not communicating from that sense of responsibility, that man cannot transform a generation; he can touch lives but not change them.

FURTHER STUDY: Psalms 90:12, 1 Corinthians 9:16

GOLDEN NUGGET:
The one distinctive thing about a man who has understood his course is that he has a burden for the gospel. When you have a burden for the gospel, you cannot be indifferent to the labours in the kingdom because every labour comes with a burden and every burden comes with a message.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for your Word. I understand my course, I know my race and I run it with faith, grace and wisdom. Thank you for the milestones that you have drawn along the course of my destiny. I cannot miss them because you have taught me how to identify them. In this understanding, I will never veer off my eternal path. Surely, I will finish well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understanding The Five Fold Ministry: 3. The Teacher

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalms 94:12(KJV); Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law

Before anyone can claim to be a teacher of the Word, they ought to have been taught by God.

God seeks to chastise (discipline) your spirit before you can teach.

This is because there are weightier judgments that pursue the office of these offices (James 3:1-2).

A teacher who is not chastened or trained by God may function in the gift of teaching yet be wanting in the ability to function under the unction of the Spirit.

Teaching under unction means that you do not teach only out of books you have read or what you studied in Bible school (which things are good in themselves) but from the constant instruction of God.

When a teacher teaches from the instruction of God, his message will always be tuned to divine purpose and the mind of God in that particular time.

There’s a consecration that comes with that; it breaks every obstacle that denies the Christian access to certain realms in God and takes you to the true experience of the liberties of access; these liberties come with revelation and that revelation always comes with the power to redeem. Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY: Ephesians 4:11-13, James 3:1

GOLDEN NUGGET: 

A teacher who is not chastened or trained by God may function in the gift of teaching yet be wanting in the ability to function under the unction of the Spirit.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this knowledge. I yield my spirit to you, deal with me, in me and through me. My spirit breaks before you and even as I give myself to your chastening, I live, walk and minister under your constant instruction. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understanding The Five Fold Ministry: 2.The Prophetic Office

Apostle Grace Lubega

Ephesians 4:11-13 (KJV); And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:rt

The essence of the prophetic ministry is to give direction both to individuals and to the body of Christ.

However, in the New Testament dispensation, it is the direction of confirmation and not affirmation, because the affirmations are of the Spirit.

What this means is that in this age, a prophet only confirms what is already affirmed or established as truth in the spirit.

It is a good thing to prophecy about the things that you see in the lives of individuals; be it marriage, promotions or any other issues concerning them.

However, a prophet ought to understand that divine mandate is deeper than any issue in a man’s life because our lives are subject to divine purpose.

That is why even after you have seen by the Spirit that so and so will get married or a certain event will soon come to pass in their lives, the question is, “have you aligned them to divine purpose?
Have you defined the call of God upon their lives?”

Look at the example of the prophets that commissioned Paul and Barnabas.

The Bible calls them “prophet teachers.”(Acts 13:1 MSG). This grace qualified them to separate these two apostles for the work God had called them (Acts 13:2-3).

They are different from prophets like Agabus who when he meets Paul speaks of him being bound and imprisoned if he went to Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-12).

The prophets at Antioch saw divine purpose while Agabus saw “chains and imprisonment” because he did not carry the burden of divine purpose: he did not understand what it means for a man to lose his life for the redemption of a generation.

He did not realise that the man to whom he spoke was ready to be cursed for the sake of his brethren the Jews(Romans 9:3); counted all things but loss for the sake of the gospel (Philippians 3:8); calls persecution light afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:17) and when in jail rejoices that the gospel is not in chains (2 Timothy 2:9).

Divine purpose is what gives you life after this life. You are alive to serve the call of God upon your life and prophecy primarily ought to align you to this. Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY: 2 Peter 2:15-16, Revelation 19:10

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The essence of the prophetic ministry is to give direction both to individuals and to the body of Christ. However, in the New Testament dispensation, it is the direction of confirmation and not affirmation, because the affirmations are of the Spirit. In this age, the prophet only confirms what is already affirmed or established as truth in the spirit.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this knowledge. I relate with the prophetic ministry in the understanding of the affirmations of the Spirit and the convictions of divine purpose. In this, I seek only after the higher calling in Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Apôtre Grace Lubega

COMPRENDRE LES CINQ CHAAPITRES DU MINISTERE : 2. LE BUREAU PROPHETIQUE

Ephésiens 4:11-13 (KJV) Et il a donné les uns comme apôtres, les autres comme prophètes, les autres comme évangélistes, les autres comme pasteurs et docteurs, 12pour le perfectionnement des saints en vue de l’oeuvre du ministère et de l’édification du corps de Christ, 13jusqu’à ce que nous soyons tous parvenus à l’unité de la foi et de la connaissance du Fils de Dieu, à l’état d’homme fait, à la mesure de la stature parfaite de Christ.

Cependant, dans la dispensation du Nouveau Testament, c’est la direction de la confirmation et non de l’affirmation, parce que les affirmations sont de l’Esprit.

Ce que cela signifie, c’est qu’à cet âge, un prophète ne fait que confirmer ce qui est déjà affirmé ou établi comme vérité dans l’esprit.

C’est une bonne chose de prophétiser sur les choses que vous voyez dans la vie des individus ; que ce soit le mariage, les promotions ou toute autre question les concernant.

Cependant, un prophète doit comprendre que le mandat divin est plus profond que n’importe quel problème dans la vie d’un homme parce que nos vies sont sujettes à un dessein divin.

C’est pourquoi même après avoir vu par l’Esprit que tel ou tel se mariera ou qu’un certain événement se produira bientôt dans leur vie, la question est : « les avez-vous alignés sur le dessein divin ?
Avez-vous défini l’appel de Dieu sur leur vie ? “

Regardez l’exemple des prophètes qui ont commandé Paul et Barnabas.

La Bible les appelle « les enseignants prophètes » (Actes 13:1 MSG). Cette grâce les a qualifiés pour séparer ces deux apôtres de l’œuvre que Dieu les avait appelés (Actes 13:2-3).

Ils sont différents des prophètes comme Agabus qui quand il rencontre Paul, parle de lui lié et emprisonné s’il allait à Jérusalem (Actes 21:10-12).

Les prophètes d’Antioche voyaient le dessein divin pendant qu’Agabus voyait « des chaînes et des emprisonnements » parce qu’il ne portait pas le fardeau du dessein divin : il ne comprenait pas ce que cela signifiait pour un homme de perdre sa vie pour la rédemption d’une génération.

Il n’a pas réalisé que l’homme à qui il a parlé était prêt à être maudit pour ses frères les Juifs (Romains 9:3) ; a compté toutes choses sauf la perte pour l’amour de l’Évangile (Philippiens 3:8) ; appelle la persécution les afflictions légères (2 Corinthiens 4:17) et en prison se réjouit que l’Évangile ne soit pas enchaîné (2 Timothée 2:9).

Le but divin est ce qui vous donne la vie après cette vie. Vous êtes vivant pour servir l’appel de Dieu sur votre vie et la prophétie devrait principalement vous aligner à cela. Alléluia !

ETUDE COMPLEMENTAIRE : 2 Pierre 2:15-16, Apocalypse 19:10

PEPITE D’OR : L’essence du ministère prophétique est de donner une direction à la fois aux individus et au corps de Christ. Cependant, dans la dispensation du Nouveau Testament, c’est la direction de la confirmation et non de l’affirmation, parce que les affirmations sont de l’Esprit. C’est qu’à cet âge, un prophète ne fait que confirmer ce qui est déjà affirmé ou établi comme vérité dans l’esprit.

PRIERE : Père, je te remercie pour cette connaissance. Je me rapporte au ministère prophétique dans la compréhension des affirmations de l’Esprit et des convictions du dessein divin. En cela, je ne cherche qu’après l’appel supérieur au Christ. Au nom de Jésus. Amen.

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