The Hearing Of Faith

Apostle Grace Lubega

James 2:17(KJV); Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Faith has works.

When our theme scripture speaks of such works, understand that these are not works of the law.

One of the primary works of faith is the HEARING OF FAITH.

What does the hearing of faith entail?

It entails being an active listener and an aggressive receiver.

If in a sermon, a man of God proclaims that you will not fail, declare it to yourself, ‘I will not fail!’

If he says you are going upward, proclaim, ‘I am going upward!’

In doing so, you confirm what is affirmed in the spirit. In this way, you seal the confirmation of the affirmations in the spirit.

Learn to meditate on the things that you listen to in sermons or what you hear as you read the word.

Where the Word of God is concerned, leave no room for indifference and passiveness.

Receive it! Mutter it! Speak it over your life because those words are spirit and life.

Praise God!

FURTHER STUDY: Philemon 1:6, James 2:26

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Where the Word of God is concerned, leave no room for indifference and passiveness. Receive it! Mutter it! Speak it over your life because those words are spirit and life.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I am grateful for this Word. I receive it in my Spirit and walk in its manifestation every day. Your Word is life to me and I live my life in this understanding. It is on my lips, it is in my thoughts and it defines every response I have to issues and circumstances. My reflexes are Word reflexes. It dwells in me richly in all wisdom, to the glory of your name, Amen.

Bond Servanthood

Apostle Grace Lubega

Romans 1:1-3(KJV); Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures

Our servanthood in Christ is not of slavery. Rather, it is servanthood of freedom.

That is what Paul in our theme scripture means by being a bondservant.

We, by choice, serve God

Being a bondservant unto God does not take away your sonship.

This servanthood means that even though the privileges of sonship are available to you, you choose to serve in your father’s house.

How does a free man serve?

Slaves aspire for freedom. Bondservants are willing to sacrifice their freedom in fulfilment of service to God.

This freedom in servanthood requires that a man have the humility in the spirit to be ‘girdled’.

This was the experience of Peter. Christ told him, ‘I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, when you were young you girded yourself [put on your own belt or girdle] and you walked about wherever you pleased to go. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will put a girdle around you and carry you where you do not wish to go.'(John 21:18AMP).

The allegory of the girdle is also used with respect to Paul in Acts 21:11. Agabus said unto him ‘And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’

As a bondservant, you look beyond the comforts of your life, feelings and personal desires to the greater cause of He that called you.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Acts 21:11, John 21:18

GOLDEN NUGGET:

As a bondservant, you look beyond the comforts of your life, feelings and personal desires to the greater cause of He that called you.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this knowledge. What a great privilege to serve you. I am humbled to know that you found me worthy to be used by you. I am available for your work, for divine purpose and for the great things you are going to do. My life is yours and not mine to cling to. In this liberty, I hold nothing back because the zeal of my father’s house has consumed me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

To Be Hidden Of God

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalms 27:4-5(KJV); One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

God hides men.

In 1 Kings 17:3, He instructs Elijah to go and hide by the brook Cherith. The result was that even though king Ahab looked for him in every nation, he failed to find him(1 Kings 18:10).

The Bible tells us in 1 Kings 19:18 that God hid seven thousand prophets that did not bow their knees to baal.

In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego were thrown into a roaring furnace. The question is, ‘where was Daniel?’ He was hidden by God.

How then does the Lord hide men?

Our theme scripture reveals that in the day of trouble, he hides us in his pavilion and in the secret of his tabernacle.

However, in the previous verse, it says ‘One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.’

This means that the presence of God hides men. The more you keep in his presence, the more certain things are far from you.

A man hidden by God is a man of the presence.

Look at the life of such a man through the lens of Psalms 91. That man is delivered from the snare of the fowler, he is not afraid of the terror by night or the arrow that flies by day, a thousand fall at his side and ten thousand at his right hand but no trouble comes near him.

When you seek God a certain way, there are things that will never touch you.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Psalms 91, 1 kings 18:10

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Men hidden by God are men of the presence.

PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for this Word. I thank you for your hedge around my life and everything concerning me. I know that I am preserved, that disease, destruction and any attacks of the enemy are far from me. I live in the confidence of one shielded by you on all sides. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Of Mastery – 2

Apostle Grace Lubega

2 Timothy 2:5 (KJV); And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

Christianity births mastery.

God has not designed a child of God to ever meander through life in the maze of mediocrity.

Our theme scripture speaks of crowns that we wear because we have attained places of mastery. The crown defines your circumference of influence as a child of God. It means that your level of mastery in any particular area determines your level of influence in that area.

Mastery is not only for men and women of God that preach at the pulpit. Whether you are a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a teacher, a banker, a student, a businessman or any other profession in life, you ought to exert and exercise yourself towards mastery because the world belongs to masters.

When you attain mastery, there are things that you will never look for but they will look for you because the overriding principle therein is that kings attract.

The Church will never influence the world from the comfort zones of mediocrity and laxity. The Church will only influence the world from the realms of mastery.

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Corinthians 9:25, Luke 19:13

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Christianity births mastery.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. I thank you because you perfect all things that concern me. I am a master at everything that I do, in my profession, business and everything I set my mind on because I understand the laws of mastery. I am an influencer of influencers and kings come to my rising. To the glory of your name. Amen.

The Heart Of A Finder

Apostle Grace Lubega

Proverbs 4:20-22(KJV); My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

The wisdom of the scriptures teaches us that the Word of God is FOUND.

For this reason, the Bible says ‘They are life unto those that FIND them.’

A man who understands that the Word is found will treat it differently from one who does not understand this truth.

King David was a man who knew that the Word is found. In Psalms 119:162, he says, ‘I rejoice at thy Word as one that FINDETH great spoil.’ The message version renders it thus, ‘I am ecstatic over what you say like one who strikes it rich.’

Because he knew it was something to be discovered, found, dug out of eternal realms, he received it with excitement and treated it with reverence.

By contrast, the children of Israel in the wilderness did not understand that the Word is found. The manna they received every day allegorically refers to the Word of God.

How did they treat it?

After a while, it became an ordinary thing. They grumbled saying, ‘…now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.’

These are people who do not understand the price of accessing daily revelations of the Word and thus treat as common that which is uncommon.

Child of truth, it does not matter how many times you may have heard the Word, always maintain the attitude of one who knows that the Word is found.

Receive it with delight and constant joy. When you do, you will find fresh revelation even in that which you have heard several times over.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Numbers 11:4-6, Psalms 119:162

GOLDEN NUGGET:

It does not matter how many times you may have heard the Word, always maintain the attitude of one who knows that the Word is found. Receive it with delight and constant joy. When you do, you will find fresh revelation even in that which you have heard several times over.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this knowledge. Thank you for the priceless gift of your Word. It is my manual for living, my roadmap to destiny and my blueprint for success. I study and receive it with joy and embrace it as a great treasure. Every day, I see it as new and fresh. I launch into greater depths daily. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Of Mastery

Apostle Grace Lubega

John 3:8-10(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. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

There is a knowledge in God that every person who seeks mastery or lays a claim to mastery ought to have.

This is why Christ asks Nicodemus, ‘Art thou a master of Israel and KNOWEST not these things?’

The world has a pattern by which it crowns its masters. For example, by the standard of the world, ten thousand hours invested in the doing of a particular thing can make you a master in it. Years of study in a particular field can make you a master in it.

However, that is not necessarily the way in which mastery in the things of God comes. There are things in the spirit that do not submit to mastery simply by reason of endless practice.

In the realm of God, mastery may come to one in mere moments when God awakens a man’s spirit to certain spiritual realities. What may take a man years to learn can come to you in moments.

In God, there is a perfection that comes with the fullness of revelation.

For example, a man can submit himself to the things that bring mastery in the spirit by how he responds to the authority of the word in the simplest convictions of spirit. Sometimes the biggest crowns come from the smallest efforts of obedience.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Corinthians 9:25, 2 Timothy 2:5.

GOLDEN NUGGET:

There is a knowledge in God that every person who seeks mastery ought to have. Sometimes the biggest crowns come from the smallest efforts of obedience.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this knowledge and wisdom. Thank you because every day, you instruct me in mastery and point me to the laws by which I must strive for it. My spirit is open and yielded to maximize the occasions of the Spirit that you present for my growth. I am quickened in my walk with you in all areas of my life. To the glory of your name. Amen.

In The Realm Of God

Apostle Grace Lubega

Hebrews 13:8 (KJV); Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever

God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the one constant through life. Civilizations rise and fall but God remains the same. Economies rise and fall but God remains the same. Relationships come and go but God remains the same.

Some people are in a downward spiral because they have not understood the realm of God. Some swim in and out of discontentment because they have not understood the realm of God. They swim in and out of peace because they have not understood this realm.

But you, child of God, exist in His realm.

Because He lives in you, there ought to be a constancy to how you live your life. The rise and fall of economies ought not to imbalance your life because the master of constancy lives in you. The mending and breaking of relationships should not devastate you because God lives in you.

This does not mean that as Christians, we never embrace change. What it means is that we have the understanding to harness it for individual growth. In fact, God has made it clear that when men are cast down, we shall declare that there is a rising up (Job 22:29).

As a child of God, you are not a victim of what C.S Lewis called the law of undulation, which explains the peaks and troughs of human experiences.

You are in the realm of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).

Purpose to live your life in the consciousness of this realm because it is your permanent dwelling place.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Romans 14:17, Acts 17:28

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Because God lives in you, there ought to be a constancy to how you live your life.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this day. Thank you for the kingdom in which I have been translated. It is a kingdom of grace, of peace, of joy and of upward progress. For the Bible says that of the increase of your government, there shall be no end. I am not a victim of emotions or the economies of this world. I respond to kingdom abundance because I am deeply acquainted with the realm of God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Because We Love God

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalms 101:5-6(AMP): Whoso privily slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off [from me]; he who has a haughty look and a proud and arrogant heart I cannot and I will not tolerate. My eyes shall [look with favour] upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks blamelessly, he shall minister to me.

A Christian under the spirit of gossip and slander does not value the relationship he or she has with God.

Our theme scripture explains the gravity of this. The Bible says that God cuts off a man who slanders his neighbour but a faithful man, one who is blameless in this regard dwells with Him and ministers to Him.

One of the ways to keep continually in the manifestation of the presence of God is to
avoid slander and gossip. Never allow yourself to sit in the counsel of the ungodly and of those that destroy others with words.

Child of God, every time someone tries to draw you into a conversation aimed at slandering another, you ought to ask yourself this question, ‘How much do I value the presence of God? How important is the anointing to me?’

Gossip and slander will always frustrate the operation of the anointing upon your life. There are things in God you will never see because He does not reveal His secrets to talebearers.

If you must grow in the things of God, make the decision to always separate yourself from ungodly talk, never be a participant because you value God and His work in your life.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Psalms 1:1, Proverbs 18:8

GOLDEN NUGGET:

If you must grow in the things of God, make the decision to always separate yourself from ungodly talk, never be a participant because you value God and His work in your life.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for your instruction for today. Thank you for this wisdom that makes me grow in the things of the Spirit. I heed it this day because it profits me and instructs me in right living. In this knowledge, I am established as both a lover of God and a lover of the brethren. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Things That Make Ministers: Self Mastery

Apostle Grace Lubega

Deuteronomy 3: 23-26(KJV); And I besought the Lord at that time, saying…I pray thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

A minister of the gospel can be disqualified from the race before he accomplishes God’s plan and purpose for his life.

It is what happened to Moses. He was disqualified early. He was still strong but the Lord refused him to enter into the Promised Land. He pleaded with God and begged for it but God said no.

It is a very sad thing when you still have the strength to minister but have been disqualified.

Paul saw this kind of end for some ministers and cautioned them thus, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”(1 Corinthians 9:27).

The things that disqualify a minister may seem very simple, as they hinge on one’s failure at self-mastery: mastery of emotions, mastery of appetites, mastery of time and mastery over many other facets of personal life. For this reason, Paul speaks of bringing the body to subjection.

For Moses, it was his temper. For Solomon, it was his indiscriminate love for women. For Demas, it was his love for the present world.

God wants you to finish well. Understand the laws of mastery by which men rule their spirits and tame their bodies.

FURTHER STUDY: 1 Corinthians 9:27, 2 Timothy 2:5

GOLDEN NUGGET:

God wants you to finish well. Understand the laws of mastery by which men rule their spirits and tame their bodies.

PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for this wisdom. I have a ruled spirit and exercise mastery in all things. My body is disciplined and subject to my spirit. You have dealt with and in me Lord, to bend, to break and to kill anything that is not of you. I know that I will finish well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Fruit Of Love

Apostle Grace Lubega

Galatians 5:22-23(KJV); But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The first fruit of the spirit is love.

That is the divine order as seen from our theme scripture. Joy is not the first fruit of the spirit; peace is not the first fruit of the spirit. Faith, meekness or temperance are not the first fruits of the spirit, LOVE is.

For any man whose spirit is regenerated in Christ, the first thing that comes out of such a man is love.

Our Born Again experience is an encounter with love because when a man meets God, the first thing He teaches him is love.

Love is the evidence that we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

In the New Testament dispensation, it is our chief commandment(John 13:34). The scriptures call it the royal law(James 2:8)

It is royalty to love.

Love is manifest in and through you because it is not merely a seed but a fruit.

FURTHER STUDY: John 13:34, James 2:8

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Our Born Again experience is an encounter with love because when a man meets God, the first thing He teaches him is love.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. Thank you because your love has been shed abroad in my heart. It is in my nature to love because I am begotten of it. The Word says that by love the world will know that I am your disciple. I choose this love walk in all things and under all circumstances. To the glory of your name. Amen.

Men Of Understanding

Apostle Grace Lubega

Daniel 10:12(KJV); Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

Heaven honours and responds to men of understanding.

In our theme scripture, the angel told Daniel that from the day he set his heart to UNDERSTAND, his words were heard.

It means that from the moment he started to seek understanding, he got heaven’s attention.

We see a similar pattern in the life of King Solomon. The immense blessing upon his life came because he sought understanding.

The Lord said unto him, “Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.”(1 Kings 3:11-12).

Men of understanding have the divine qualification to discern judgment. Heaven trusts them to execute divine purpose on the earth because they understand the judgments of God.

It is a good thing to desire knowledge. It is a great thing to seek wisdom, but like Proverbs 4:7 says, ‘with all thy getting, get understanding.’

As a child of the new covenant, the good news is that Christ has given you understanding( 1 John 5:20) You possess it and it is an inherent part of your nature.

Walk and live life in the consciousness of one who has understanding.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Proverbs 4:7, 1 John 5:20

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Heaven honours and responds to men of understanding.

PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for this Word. I thank you because I have understanding and this same understanding has established me in the things of the spirit. I walk in the authority of one who understands divine judgment, to discern the hearts of men and execute your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Church Is The Answer

Apostle Grace Lubega

Genesis 42:1-3(KJV); Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

In the times of Joseph, there was corn in Egypt and famine in Canaan.

This is in all aspects a reversal of the divine order.

The order is that there ought to be corn in Canaan and famine in Egypt.

As long as there is famine in Canaan and corn in Egypt, the church will always look to the world for answers.

However, when there is famine in Egypt and corn in Canaan, the world will always look to the church for answers.

We are meant to draw the world to the Church through the abundance of the Word of God and not for the world to draw children of God to it through the answers it avails in knowledge.

This is why we invest in the Word; it makes us answers to the world instead of the world being an answer to us.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Hosea 4:6, Matthew 5:13-26

GOLDEN NUGGET:

We are meant to draw the world to the Church through the abundance of the Word of God and not for the world to draw children of God to it through the answers it avails in knowledge.

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank you for these great times in which we live. This is a dispensation of broadness, times of knowledge and of revelation. Because I understand these times, I invest in the Word, study it, and live every moment of my life through its precepts. I have the bread of life and for this, I feed the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.