The Mark Of A Minister: The Fruit

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Corinthians 9:1(KJV); Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

As a minister of the gospel, you must have visible fruit and this fruit are the people whose lives you have changed for the cause of Christ.

For this reason, Paul asks the Corinthian church, ‘are you not my work in the Lord?’

You must bear fruit that remains. That is, you must have people that are loyal to the vision and call of God upon your life.

People are not kept in ministry by manipulation; they are not kept in ministry by flattery; they are not kept in ministry by promotions and monetary rewards.

Christ set a pattern for us. He said of those that the Lord had given to him, no man could pluck out of his hand (John 10:28). He knew how to keep those that had been entrusted to Him.

The first thing is to know those that are yours and those that are not.

Sadly, there are ministers who never keep people for long. In their ministries people come one day and they leave the next. The faces are constantly changing.

It doesn’t mean that people should never leave your ministry. Granted, there are those who will leave. You do not need to fight to keep them. They may not be yours to pastor because you have not been called to pastor the whole world.

But, you must know how to open the front door of ministry and lock the back door. You must know how to get people in and keep them in.

FURTHER STUDY: John 10:28, John 15:16

GOLDEN NUGGET:

As a minister, you must know how to open the front door of ministry and lock the back door. You must know how to get people in and keep them in.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for the priceless principles that build ministry. I receive this in meekness to know that which you have entrusted in my care, to let go of that which is not mine and with wisdom keep that which is mine. In this knowledge and understanding, I grow every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Mark Of A Minister: The Office

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Corinthians 9:1(KJV); Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

Every minister of the gospel must know and understand the office in which he has been called by God.

The office is not a gift; it is what defines your place of authority before men. That is why in our theme scripture, Paul asks, ‘Am I not an apostle?’

He knew who he was and what God had made him to be.

Sadly, today we have prophets who have never prophesied, pastors who do not have the shepherd’s heart and evangelists without a desire for souls.

There are men claiming offices that are not theirs and there are men who are indifferent to the offices they must sit in.

The office is not a title to wear like a crown on an empty head. It is the substance that you carry in your spirit; it is the places you have been in God; it is the things that He has spoken to you in solitude concerning your purpose on this earth.

It is in the office that you perfect men for the work of ministry. It is in the office that you edify the body of Christ and bring them to a place of the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the son of God and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:10-13).

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Ephesians 4:10-13, 1 Timothy 1:1

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Every minister of the gospel must know and understand the office in which he has been called by God. The office is not a gift; it is what defines your place of authority before men.

PRAYER: Father, I am grateful for who you have made me to be. I thank you for your distinctive mark upon my life. I know what and where I am called and I live my life in the understanding of the responsibility of the office that you have placed me. I serve with diligence and I am faithful to the course and the race before me. Because I know who I am, I bless many, to the glory of your name, Amen.

The Mark Of A Minister: To See The Lord

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Corinthians 9:1(KJV); Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

Christ must be a revelation to every minister of the gospel.

In our theme scripture, Paul asks an important question, ‘have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?’

You must bear a testimony of having seen the Lord. It is not about how he may appear to you but the fact that He appeared to you.

In Acts 26:16, the Lord told Paul, ‘…I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee….’

Christ may appear to you in the body or he may appear to you in other forms of his choosing but you must see the Lord if you are to be both a minister and a witness of Him.

He becomes more than what you have read or heard and more real than anything you have ever known.

This is a place of experience that sustains you even in those places where zeal for the Father’s house alone may fail you.

Men who have seen the Lord in the way they ought to see Him will endure anything for the sake of the gospel because they know whom they have believed.

FURTHER STUDY: 2 Timothy 1:12; Acts 22:14

GOLDEN NUGGET:
You must bear a testimony of having seen the Lord. It is not about how he may appear to you but the fact that He appeared to you.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for this day. I have seen, touched and tasted of the Word of life. It is that very Word that I proclaim. Today, I hunger for an even deeper experience of you; a greater encounter to define the course of my destiny. My heart is open and my spirit is yielded to those places you are taking me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Place Of Sacrifice

Apostle Grace Lubega

2 Timothy 4:6(AMP); For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure [from this world] is at hand and I will soon go free.

Sacrifice defines the law of multiplication. For example, by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, many sons were brought to glory.

Our theme scripture also demonstrates this secondary line of sacrifice.

There was no way Paul would have been able to minister to multitudes today if he had not been poured out like a drink offering. His life in the body ceased but his spirit is still ministering to us.

What we have in the Bible are epistles but even as we read them today, our eyes are opened to deeper insights in God. He may have died with so much unsaid but when a man is poured out, his spirit is not silent.

His sacrifice launched him into the graces of abundance where he was overflowing that what was upon him could impact generations to come.

The pattern of his life brought him to this place. He was a man who was dead to the world and the world was dead to him; this was a man in dyings often; he had spent and had been spent for the sake of the gospel; he had counted all things as loss for the sake of Christ; he knew nothing of himself.

It is the crushing of the vine that produces the oil and the more it is crushed, the more oil flows out of it.

You cannot claim an impact on the generations to come until you are willing to be poured out as an offering.

FURTHER STUDY: 2Corinthians 12:15, Philippians 3:8

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Sacrifice defines the law of multiplication. You cannot claim an impact on the generations to come until you are willing to be poured out as an offering.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for the gospel. Thank you for the things that you have placed inside me. The mark of distinction upon my life is not merely for this age but for ages to come. My ministry is not just earthly but it is an eternal ministry. Years from now, I will still be a blessing. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Lessons In Virtue: An Eternal Legacy

Apostle Grace Lubega

1 Samuel 1:27-28(KJV); For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.

When Hannah lent her son to the Lord, she did not only lend him for the duration of his life on the earth.

Her words were, ‘for as long as he lives…’

Samuel is still alive today. His words and the great things that he did still minister to us.

Hannah established a principle in her child that superseded even his life in the body.

This is why King Saul could attempt to evoke the spirit of Samuel for counsel even after Samuel had died. He was that important to Israel (1 Samuel 28).

When the Bible speaks of training up a child in the way they should go, it is about more than what they should do in order to be a success in this life (Proverbs 22:6). It also goes to positioning them in the grace to establish eternal legacies.

This is the same wisdom through which generational altars are built. Your children can serve God. Your grandchildren can serve God. Your great grandchildren can serve God.

Never look at instruction to children as lasting only their lifetime. Look at it as an influence that must go on for generations to come.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: Proverbs 22:6, Psalms 78:4-7

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Never look at instruction to children as lasting only their lifetime. Look at it as an influence that must go on for generations to come.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. By this wisdom, I know that my children and great grandchildren are claimed for the gospel. In their times they shall serve the Lord. Even after they leave the earth, they shall serve the Lord. My family has a legacy in the gospel. My posterity is preserved for years to come. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Life Of The Seed

Apostle Grace Lubega

John 12:24(KJV); Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

The life of every seed is in the seed itself. It is not in the body.

The body that you have is not your life. In fact, when a person passes on, we can see the body but that body does not represent the life of that person.

When a seed is buried in the ground, the body starts to give way. In giving way, the life of the seed itself starts to manifest.

In this manifestation, our theme scripture reveals that it bears much fruit.

Unless your flesh gives way, you can never have the full manifestation of the life of the spirit that is within you.

You cannot seek manifestation of the life of God within the boundaries of the flesh because the flesh represents carnality and carnality is a boundary.
God truly lives in dead men [those dead to the flesh].

Fruit is the result of a certain death. This is not any kind of fruit. The fruit that our theme scripture is the kind that abides forever (John 15:16).

In Colossians 3:3, the Bible says you are dead and your life is hid in Christ.

There is a life hidden within you and that life can only spring forth as you exercise yourself in the consciousness of this death.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: John 15:16, Colossians 3:3

GOLDEN NUGGET:

You cannot seek manifestation of the life of God within the boundaries of the flesh because the flesh represents carnality and carnality is a boundary.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. I was buried with Christ and raised with him. I am dead to this world and this world is dead to me. I live my life in the consciousness of one dead to the flesh but alive unto Christ. As I grow in this consciousness, I walk continually in the manifestation of the life of the spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

He Must Increase

Apostle Grace Lubega

John 3:30(KJV); He must increase, but I must decrease.

The greatest lesson any child of God must learn in dealing with the things of the spirit is that it is not about you. It is about God.

Our theme scripture says, God must increase. This means that His agenda, the expansion of His kingdom, His work in men and on the earth is the greatest priority for any child of God.

His increase is not dependent upon your decrease but your decrease is dependent on His increase.

In Isaiah 9:7, the Bible says that of the increase of His government, there shall be no end. 

Nothing can slow the wheels of divine purpose. Nothing can halt the advance of the church and the desire of God upon the earth. He must increase.

You must position yourself in this equation and the way you do that is by decreasing, subjecting your desires to His desires, your plans to His plans and  your convictions to His convictions.

God is on the increase and He uses dead men so you must learn to die. 

You must yield your body, mind and soul to Him because the end of this story is Him and Him alone.

FURTHER STUDY: Isaiah 9:7, Galatians 6:14

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Nothing can slow the wheels of divine purpose. Nothing can halt the advance of the church and the desire of God upon the earth. He must increase.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this word. Deal with me God. Today, I choose to cast down every crown, to set aside anything that qualifies me before men. I feel after you in every thing that I do. My heart’s desire is to see your name and glory fill the earth. I do all things in the consciousness that it is all about you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

When The Glory Attracts

Genesis 14: 21-23(KJV); And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich…

There are people who have risen to prominence by the hand of some men. There are those who have risen to prominence by the hand of God.

There are people who have obtained wealth by the hand of other men. There are those whose wealth came by the hand of God.

Some have been honoured by men, others have been honoured by God.

Men that have been raised by God have the wisdom to know what to take and what not to take even if they may be entitled to these things.

The glory of God upon our lives has a distinctive way in which it attracts to the things we need. That is why, like Father Abraham in our theme scripture, we do not claim the spoils of every victory.

For example, when the glory of God attracts something to you, it adds no sorrow with it. What has been attracted by the hand of a man may come with sorrow (Proverbs 10:22).

When the glory of God attracts something to you, it is exceedingly abundantly above what you hope because God is in the business of exceeding our expectations (Ephesians 3:20).

Your blessing should never look like the work of a man. Your uplifting should never seem dependent on the favour of men.

You must know what to take and what to reject.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: 2 Kings 5:1-19, Proverbs 10:22

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The glory of God upon our lives has a distinctive way in which it attracts the things we need. That is why we do not claim the spoils of every victory.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this wisdom. I live in its understanding, to know what is mine to keep and what to lose. Because I know how to retain wealth as instructed by God, men look at me and see your hand working mightily through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Work Of Faith

Apostle Grace Lubega

James 2:21-22(KJV); Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

Faith has works. One such work is the killing of the seed on the altar.

Understand that these are not works of the law. No flesh can be justified by the works of the law (Galatians 2:16).

Why then do the works in our theme scripture justify? It is because they were works of faith.

Death on the altar is a work of faith.

This means that there are things in this life that you will do that will get the attention of heaven; that will affirm God’s desire to use you.

There is a kind of spirit and mind that God is seeking for. There is a specific nature of men and women he wants to pour his spirit through; that He wants to establish His purposes through.

In Romans 12:1, He says, present your bodies as living sacrifices. The end of this is that you may prove the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.

The purposes and the will of God find expression in men that have lost their lives at the altar of the gospel. He uses dead men.

Do you want to be used of God? Get on the altar. Be ready to count all things as loss, even your very life, for the sake of Christ.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Galatians 2:16, Romans 12:1

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The purposes and the will of God find expression in men that have lost their lives at the altar of the gospel. He uses dead men.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this day. Thank you for the blueprint of my life, the race I must run and the course I must follow. I present my body as a living sacrifice, I set my heart on the altar that you deal with me in ways that only you can. Use me for your eternal glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Church Altar

Apostle Grace Lubega

Psalms 92:13-14(KJV); Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing

The church is not merely the place you go for fellowship and service every week. It is an altar.

To be planted in the house of God requires that you die [to the flesh] because every seed that is planted must die at the altar.

The reason why some Christians will never flourish in the courts of the Lord is because they have not understood what it means to die at the altar of the house of God.

They attend services but are not planted because they have not died at this altar.

They sing in choirs, are part of the ushering team and other areas of service but are not planted because they have not died at this altar.

How do you see your church? What is your attitude towards the ministry you submit to?

A man who is dead at the altar of the house of God holds a great reverence and respect for that altar.

Such a one can never leave church simply because a sister or brother offended him. Such a one does not turn up for service as and when he wants or feels like it.

If you must flourish and produce fruit, learn to honour the house of God as an altar; to respond to instructions that come from that altar. 

Count your cost and understand your sacrifices.

God’s name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: John 2:17, Psalm 27:4

GOLDEN NUGGET:

The church is not merely the place you go for fellowship and service every week. It is an altar. To be planted in the house of God requires that you die [to the flesh] because every seed that is planted must die at the altar.

PRAYER:  Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. Thank you for where I am planted. I hold it in great reverence because I know that the God on it speaks to me. Every day, I choose to die on this altar that my service and devotion to you may be perfected. To the glory of your name, Amen.

Of Harvest Time

Apostle Grace Lubega

Genesis 15:3 (KJV); And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

Seed is personal. Harvest is not.

When one desires harvest, it is no longer about only them. It affects so many people.

For example, Jesus Christ died as one man but the harvest brought many sons to glory.

In the same way, from our theme scripture, Abraham sought a seed (singular) but God’s mind was for him to father nations and have descendants as many as the stars in the sky.

When God prepares men for harvest, he gives them the understanding that what they want is not about themselves alone but it is about a generation, about preserving a posterity that is in perfect sync with the plan of God upon the earth.

He is the Lord of the harvest (Matthew 9:38). It means that His agenda drives how the harvest must come about.

God’s agenda was the death of that one seed that Abraham had asked for and received. In His agenda, Isaac had to die. This looked like it could frustrate the harvest but Abraham had to recognize that the Lord of the harvest had a bigger picture in mind. The bigger story was to paint the eternal picture of Christ and God’s purpose for eternity.

For every seed you seek, you must have God’s mind for its harvest. You must have His vision of whom it must benefit outside your circle.

His name be praised!

FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 9:38, Genesis 17:1-6

GOLDEN NUGGET:

When God prepares men for harvest, he gives them the understanding that what they want is not about themselves alone but it is about a generation, about preserving a posterity that is in perfect sync with the plan of God upon the earth.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this Word. Today I live my life in the understanding of this invaluable instruction. That this path and course you have set for me is not just about me. It is about the nations you must bless; the generations you want to change and the purposes you want to establish. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Of Learned Men

Apostle Grace Lubega

Isaiah 50:4(KJV); The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

Reading the Bible from cover to cover does not necessarily make one a learned man. Attending Bible school is also not what qualifies you as learned in the things of the Spirit.

There are well read but not necessarily learned men.

A learned man has understood how God teaches us through the scriptures. The primary understanding is that God does not teach you the Word so that you learn it progressively.

Rather, God reveals Himself to you as a person, gives you an understanding and when you receive that understanding, you start to read the Word as a learned man.

The understanding of God’s Word starts from the revelation of His person.
God and His Word are one.

The Bible reveals that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1).

Unlearned men study the Word without the consciousness that it is the very person of God. Learned men in the Word know that the scriptures are a mirror of His person.

This is why when a learned man reads Genesis, he will see Christ the light at the beginning of creation; Christ the seed that crushes the head of the serpent.

When a learned man reads Exodus he sees Christ the Passover lamb, Christ the rock that was smote by Moses. In Numbers, he sees Christ, in Deuteronomy he sees Christ, in Leviticus, the prophets, Malachi, the Gospels, the epistles and in Revelation, he sees Christ.

Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY: John 1:14, John 5:39

GOLDEN NUGGET:

Unlearned men study the Word without the consciousness that it is the very person of God. Learned men in the Word know that the scriptures are a mirror of His person.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank you for this Word. The Word dwells in me richly and I am rooted and grounded in faith. I see you through all the scriptures because I am a learned spirit. The revelation of who you are has flooded my spirit and the eyes of my understanding are enlightened. With this consciousness, I study the scriptures every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.