The Price Of The Excellence Of Knowledge

Apostle Grace Lubega

Philippians3:7-8(KJV); But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

The excellence of knowledge has a price.

In Ecclesiastes 7:12, the Bible says, ‘For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.’

Knowledge excels when life is given to those that already have it. Knowledge excels when the ordinary is infused with the extraordinary.

Paul defines this price as counting as loss all things that were gain to him.
What things were gain to him? These were the things in the flesh from which he drew his confidence, ‘Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.’(Philippians 3:5-6).

The excellence of knowledge begins when we lay down anything that defines us in the flesh. It works in us when we start to depend entirely on God for justification and not on the things that we can do through our own efforts.

God must take you to the end of yourself; the end of anything that you know; the end of anything that you can do.

At this place, you realise that the true excellence of the spirit starts where the man’s ability ends and God’s ability starts.

You cannot have the kind of life that wisdom gives to those that already have life through your own efforts. You cannot stand out amongst the great by your own ability.

Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY: Ecclesiastes 7:12, Philippians 3:5-6

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The excellence of knowledge has a price. God must take you to the end of yourself; the end of anything that you know; the end of anything that you can do.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for the places you are taking me in the spirit. Thank you for a life above the ordinary. Thank you for the supernatural that manifests through me. I know that it is not by power nor by might but by the spirit of God. I yield to your working in me that you will and do according to your good pleasure. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Teaching Of The Master

Apostle Grace Lubega

Luke 9:49-50(KJV); And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.

The ways in which God teaches are manifold. He doesn’t only teach you when you show up for a Sunday service. He does not only teach those that attend certain Bible schools. He not only teaches through specific ministers.

In our theme scripture, the critical question that the disciples should have asked themselves and also asked Christ is, ‘How did you teach this man?’

The man that the disciples were forbidding was succeeding where the disciples had sometimes failed. He was casting out devils yet the scriptures reveal an instance when the disciples tried to cast out a demon and failed.

If this man followed not with them, how did he learn?

When you understand the manifold ways in which God teaches, you will not restrict your learning to a sermon on a Sunday, to a teaching on a CD or on television, to notes from a theological school, to the words of your favourite preacher.

He can teach you anywhere regardless of who is around you. His teaching will find you in a car on your way to work, it will find you at your desk while you prepare that report, it will find you in the middle of a meeting and minister instruction, it will find you anywhere!

You do not need special occasions for God to teach you.

Your heart and spirit must be continually open to receive His instruction, convictions and inspirations.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: John 14:26, Isaiah 50:4

GOLDEN NUGGET:

You do not need special occasions for God to teach you. Your heart and spirit must be continually open to receive His instruction, convictions and inspirations.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this wisdom. Thank you for the clarity of your voice to my spirit. I hear you more than ever before. I see the things you want me to see in the way I should see them. Today, I open my heart to receive your instruction regardless of where I am and what I am doing. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
 

Of The Privilege Of Access

Apostle Grace Lubega

Romans5:2(KJV); By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Liberty in the Spirit is defined, not by how much you have but how much you can access.

For example there is a man who has a million dollars but that is all he has and can access no more. That man is limited in his liberty.

However, there is another man who has five dollars but can access any amount of money he wishes. This man is free.

The greatest essence of the liberty of the Spirit is to keep us in the constant flow of the things we can access in God.

This is the wisdom that allows Paul to be full and also to be abased because he has been instructed in access.

Such a one can never worry about loss. Even if he lost all that is in his hands, he would never lose sleep because he knows how to get it all back.

This Christian does not worry about any doors closing because what he has are keys to so many other doors.

Our focus as children of God should be on understanding the rules of access as opposed to the comforts of physical possession.

The first and fundamental rule of access is faith. Like our theme scripture reveals, we have access by faith.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Ephesians 1:3, 2 Peter 1:3

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Liberty in the Spirit is defined, not by how much you have but how much you can access.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. I thank you because I have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places and given all things that pertain to life and godliness. This is the liberty with which I live my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Unfeigned Faith

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Timothy 1:5(KJV); Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.

Our theme scripture speaks of unfeigned faith, thereby implying that faith can be feigned.

Feigned faith is the faith that lies to self. In lying to self, it misleads and stumbles others.

For example, there are two different Christians, who though both have zero money on their account, will each commit that by tomorrow morning at 10.00am, they will deposit ten thousand dollars on each of their Client’s account.

They both will have spoken in faith yet one will have told a lie and the other will have told the truth.

The difference is that at 10.00am tomorrow morning, there will be ten thousand dollars on a Client’s account as said by one Christian.

Another client will have received nothing despite the promise.

One lied to himself in faith and consequently lied to another man. One was expressing unfeigned faith.

Feigned faith is of the Christian who is convinced only in mind but not in heart.

That is why the Word of God should not only be received with the mind but with the spirit. Unfeigned faith is activated when the Word does not merely inform you about truth but makes truth one with your very nature.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Hebrews 11:6, 2 Corinthians 4:13

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The Word of God should not only be received with the mind but with the spirit. Unfeigned faith is activated when the Word does not merely inform you about truth but makes truth one with your very nature.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this knowledge. This day, I am increased and stirred up in faith. I manifest the things I speak because my faith is unfeigned. Whatever I decree is established, to the glory of your name, Amen.

The Place Of All Things

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 John 2:27(KJV); But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

God and everything pertaining to Him is bottomless. There is no end to who and what He is.

What then does the scripture mean by the anointing teaching us all things?

‘All things’ is a place in God. It is the highest place of the liberty of the Spirit.

When the Spirit says that He will teach you all things, it means that He will take you to the place of all things.

The place of all things opens the Word to you in the deepest dimensions. This is a place of abundance and overflow where God opens your eyes to the full picture of the ministry of His Word.

In this place, you understand God, not like other people understand Him or in your own understanding but how He wants you to understand Him.

In the place of all things, the scriptures come alive every time you open them.

This starts from the place of faith. It is how much you believe you know that whenever you open your mouth, He fills it with good things.

FURTHER STUDY: Psalms 119:96, 1 John 2:20

GOLDEN NUGGET:

All things’ is a place in God. It is the highest place of the liberty of the Spirit.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for your instruction that not only teaches me but it shows me the places in you. My spirit is open and yielded to this experience of all things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Greatness Of A Ministry

Apostle Grace Lubega

2 Chronicles 16:9(KJV); For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

The way men define greatness is not how God defines greatness.

By the standards of men, the greatness of a ministry is the size of the congregation, the impressiveness of the building or the gift of the minister. That is not how God weighs greatness.

The greatness of any ministry is defined by the heart of its ministers.

The church of the Laodiceans in the Book of Revelation was considered as rich in its own eyes and in the eyes of men but to God, they were wretched and poor (Revelation 3:17).

The material wealth of a ministry is deceptive but the heart can never lie.

The church at Corinth were enriched in all knowledge and came behind in no gift yet they were babes in the spirit. Gifts can be deceptive but the heart will never lie.

Before God truly uses anyone, He first looks at their heart and He seeks to deal with you from the inside before it manifests on the outside.

If you understand how God defines greatness, you will attract it His way.

There is a man who wants a great ministry and the end he envisions is a big congregation but not a heart dealt with by God.

If you must be great, allow God to deal with your heart first. If you must be an influence in this generation, lay your heart on the altar.

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 23:26

GOLDEN NUGGET:
The greatness of any ministry is defined by the heart of its ministers. . If you must be an influence in this generation, lay your heart on the altar.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. You know my heart and are intimately acquainted with my coming and going. I yield my spirit that you deal with me like you desire; that you uproot what must be uprooted and plant what must be planted; that you kill what must die and bring to life what must live; that if men ever define me as great, it will be because I carried your heart, all the days of my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

New Wine Skins

Apostle Grace Lubega

Matthew 9:17(NIV); Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved

Wine skins were not old because of their age. What made them old was because it had been a long time since they had last been washed in oil. Therefore, to make them new, old wineskins were soaked in oil to enable them hold new wine.

I have heard some young Christians disregard the elderly folk as ‘old wineskins’ in the understanding that this has anything to do with age. Not so, child of God.

A wine skin may have been made thirty years ago but was washed in oil yesterday. That makes it new.

There is a wine skin that was made last year but has never been washed in oil since then. That is an old wine skin.

There are new wineskins in sixty year old bodies and there are old wineskins in twenty two year old bodies.

The difference is this; when was the last time you were washed in oil? When did you last hear God? When did you last soak in His presence? When did you last yield to His power and His touch?

It doesn’t matter your age or how long you have been in the gospel.

The principle is clear; those that are planted in the house of the Lord flourish in His courts. Even in their old age, they bear fruit (Psalm 92:13-14).

God wants you to grow in the anointing and also grow the anointing upon your life.

He wants you to age in the anointing that by the time you leave this earth, you are not merely anointed but the anointing is the only thing that truly defines you.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Psalms 92:13-14, Psalms 27:4

GOLDEN NUGGET:

God wants you to grow in the anointing and also grow the anointing upon your life. He wants you to age in the anointing that by the time you leave this earth, you are not merely anointed but the anointing is the only thing that truly defines you.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. I thank you for the freshness of revelation, knowledge and understanding. The Bible says that every day, you load me with benefits, that there is new bread and oil for each day. What I had yesterday was great but my heart is open for that of today. What I had last week was wonderful but I am ready for today’s too. For as long as I live, my testimony will be of the new things you are pouring out. That in all things, both the ancient oil and the new oil will flow out of my spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Things That Make Ministers: Open Doors

Apostle Grace Lubega

Acts 16:6(KJV); Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia

As a minister of the gospel, you will receive countless opportunities to preach the Word of God. As you grow in the things of the spirit and the circumference of your influence increases, the invitations to minister will increase and so will the places you will have to go.

You must appreciate the responsibility that comes with preaching because all these opportunities are altars, these altars define covenants and these covenants define destinies.

When I understood this reality, I realised that I could not go EVERYWHERE I was called but I could go ANYWHERE I was called.

As a man or woman of God, you do not go to a place because of the numbers of the people you are going to preach to, the impressiveness of the building in which you will preach, the name of the ministry to which you have been invited. You minister in a place because God has sent you there.

There are places the Spirit will forbid you to go yet everything seems to suggest that you should be there instead. You might think that the more people, the more reasonable it is that you appear before them because your heart cries for souls. God loves them more than you do, never forget that.

If God has instructed you to minister to a fifty people congregation yet there is an opportunity to minister to a ten thousand people congregation, you must always ensure to go where the voice of God has led.

That is what demonstrates respect for the altar. That is the maturity that distinguishes a mere preacher of the gospel from the minister of the gospel.

This same wisdom extends to the businessman, not every deal is yours to take no matter how lucrative it sounds.

It applies to the career person, not every job opportunity is yours even if you may qualify and the pay is wonderful.

It works in your relationships too because many will seek to associate with you as you grow in influence but not everyone qualifies to be within your circles.

Let God’s voice define the doors through which you walk.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Acts 16:7-10, 1 Corinthians 16:9

GOLDEN NUGGET:

You must appreciate the responsibility that comes with preaching because all these opportunities are altars, these altars define covenants and these covenants define destinies.

PRAYER: My Lord, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for the doors that you continually open before me. I know that not every door is mine to walk through and this very wisdom preserves me in the assignment upon my life. My heart is open to heed to your instruction in the places that I must go and the choices I must make. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Heart Of A Nation Builder

Apostle Grace Lubega

Genesis25:29-33(KJV); And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day, and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

Men who sell their birthrights can never build nations.

When Rebecca was pregnant with her boys Esau and Jacob, the Lord told her that in her womb were two nations.

However, there is a reason why the nation of Israel that came out of the loins of Jacob has left its mark on the books of history and the pages of eternity while what came out of Esau has not.

There is a reason why the scriptures speak of the twelve tribes of Israel but it does not speak of the tribes of Esau.

Why did what came out of Jacob become the great nation that it is?

Jacob had the heart of a nation builder.

The most important character of a nation builder is the respect they have for the birthright and inheritance. Because such men value inheritance, what they leave behind for the generations to come is more than just a story, it is a heritage.

Men that value inheritance can never barter the future of a nation at the tables of cultural and moral compromise.

Men that value inheritance look beyond the personal and selfish needs of the now to what kind of nation their children and grandchildren will live in.

Men that value inheritance build with a vision of the future. These are the things that make a nation builder.

FURTHER STUDY: Genesis 12:2-4, Romans 9:13

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Men who sell their birthrights can never build nations.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. You have placed the responsibility of nation-building upon me. My eyes are set on the mandate to make this world a better place by the patterns of the kingdom of God. I will never sell my nation at the table of compromise because I understand the price of the future. In everything that I do, I am laying an accurate building block to the progress of my nation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Things That Make Ministers: The Servant Son

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Kings 1:17-19(KJV); And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the Lord thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not: And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.

Sonship is not the guarantee of inheritance: not every son gets to walk and live in what was apportioned for him.

In Galatians, God speaks of a place where an heir who has not matured does not differ from a servant even though he be Lord of all (Galatians 4:1).

I have known heirs that have lived as servants all their lives because they did not understand the principles that grant them access to the inheritance.

Some, have forcefully sought inheritance only to squander it like the prodigal son because they thought that mere sonship was enough for them to secure an inheritance for as long as they lived.

God teaches us an important principle in our theme scripture.

When Bathsheba went to King David to remind him of his promise to make Solomon king, she spoke of the other children of David as ‘sons of the king’.

When it came to Solomon, she called him the ‘servant of the king’.

Solomon had been raised as a son with the heart of a servant while the rest were merely sons of the king.

So, we see Adonijah seeking inheritance merely on the ground of sonship yet Solomon was entitled to it by reason of his servanthood to his father.

You cannot seek an anointing you have not served. We do not work for our inheritance but service unlocks doors of access.

As children of God, we are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ. However, there are things that will never come to you until you learn to serve God because service is one of the things that qualify the son as mature.

God’s name be praised.

FURTHER STUDY: Galatians 4:1, Luke 15:11-32

GOLDEN NUGGET:

As children of God, we are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ. However, there are things that will never come to you until you learn to serve God because service is one of the things that qualify the son as mature.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. I receive this priceless wisdom with humility. I choose to serve you, God, with all my heart, body and soul. May each day find me doing something for the sake of the gospel and the expansion of the kingdom. May my heart continually pant to add a building block to the great edifice of the church. May the zeal of my father’s house consume me totally. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

To Catch Divine Vision

Apostle Grace Lubega

Genesis 3:4-6(KJV); And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Eve was deceived by the serpent. That much is true.
However, often times, we look at this story from the perspective of the weakness of the woman and ignore that in there, God wants us to see what is actually one of her greatest strengths.

Our theme scripture says, ‘the woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and desired to make one wise…’

This was a spiritual vision. The man did not see what she saw.

This means that when certain words are spoken in the spiritual realm, the woman will receive them much quicker because her vulnerability in itself is her submission to the realm of the spirit.

Women by their very nature will receive spiritual instruction much more quickly, will be more spiritually sensitive and more open to the convictions of the spirit.

Think of the woman as the Church of Christ. Think of words that are spoken, not by the enemy but by God.

The Church has the capacity to catch spiritual vision faster. God desires this kind of sensitivity from us.

For example, Pharaoh, does not have to dream for the world like it happened in Egypt in the time of Joseph. A Christian can dream for the world.

Today, we see the men of this world attempting to access the realm of the spirit and to live by its principles. As such, some are doing exploits that belong to Christians by right.

The church, as the woman, must catch these visions because your access to the spiritual realm is an entitlement.

Innovations and great creations are in the realm of the spirit. God wants the church to catch these visions and start to manifest them on the earth because it is in our nature to be constantly attuned to the operations of the realm of God.

FURTHER STUDY: Luke 16:8, Genesis 41

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The Church has the capacity to catch spiritual vision faster. God desires this kind of sensitivity from us.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. I thank you because my eyes are open to see what I must see; my ears hear what I must hear and my heart responds to the things that I must respond to. I am quickened in the realm of the spirit to understand what you are up to in these times. By this wisdom, I pioneer great things, to the glory of your name, Amen.

Lessons In Virtue: To Wean A Child

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Samuel 1:22(KJV); But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide forever.

As a woman, you have the ability to deal with whatsoever comes out of you.

In our theme scripture, the Hebrew Word for ‘weaned’ is gamal which is translated to mean, ‘to deal fully with…’

More than accustoming the young child Samuel to solid food, in the more spiritual sense, she dealt with her son on matters pertaining to his call and his destiny.

In weaning the child, she spiritually dealt with his character, his integrity and his attitude towards the things of God.

Samuel grew up under the influence of Eli whose sons did very unpleasant things in the sight of God: they defiled the altar and abused the sacred things of God’s presence. Why didn’t Samuel fall prey to these habits when he was living under the same roof?

It was because of a mother who understood what it means to wean a child.

Woman of God, there are things that a child that has come from your womb should never do because you know how to deal with him or her.

For example, if he dares to stray into drugs, you have the divine authority to speak and declare change over his life because he came out of you.

No one with a praying mother can fail.

You have no excuse for having rebellious children. You have no excuse for raising failures. You have no excuse for having mediocre children.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Samuel 2, Proverbs 22:6

GOLDEN NUGGET:

As a woman, you have the ability to deal with whatsoever comes out of you. You have no excuse for having rebellious children. You have no excuse for raising failures. You have no excuse for having mediocre children.

PRAYER: My God, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for the ability you have given me to lead a child in the way they should go. I have the wisdom that weans a child for greatness. Mine shall never be swept by the perversions of this world, mine shall be instructed and kept in the paths of righteousness, mine shall serve you in their day, mine are for signs and wonders because they came out of me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.