SPEAK TO THE SITUATION

Pr. James Victor Lubwama

Psalms 8:4-6 (NJKV) 

”What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? [5] For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honour. [6] You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. ”

Created to Reign
After God created man in His own image or likeness, He gave him dominion (supreme authority) to reign over all other creatures (Genesis 1:26). You can therefore speak to any situation or creature as long as you speak in Jesus’ name. You can command your sterile hens to lay eggs, that barren tree to bear fruit, your bank account to appreciate or your brittle hair to grow. When you do that, it means you have discovered yourself in the Lord. You have to discover your position in God - who you are and what you can do; for God is the creator and He placed you on this planet to reign. We reign together with Christ. God didn’t just create you to govern your home but to have dominion over creatures and the surrounding. How do you do it? You use your mouth. There is authority in your mouth that can transform a situation (Prov 18:21). 

Power of Declaration
Apart from praying to God, take another leap of faith and speak to the surrounding or situation in your life, command it to be what you want it to be. Sometime back, I had a mini fridge which could no longer absorb my increasing family, so whenever I passed-by it in the house, I commanded it to vacate and be replaced by a bigger one. I had no money but I kept on declaring a better fridge (Job 22:28). One evening as I was coming from church, someone gave me a call informing me that he had dropped something for me at home. On getting home, I was greeted by a large double-door bottom freezer on my porch. I never prayed, but only spoke and commanded the fridge to vacate and be replaced by a better one; same thing I did with my previous barren avocado tree, I spoke to it and it flowered.

You can use your mouth to have dominion over the world around you. There is power in confession and declaring. The mouth can bind and bless you at the same time. God created this world by speaking (Genesis 1), its only man that was molded by God. Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

The material used to manufacture something is the same material used to revamp it. The raw material used to manufacture the world is the word of God. That is why you need to store the word of God in your heart so that it becomes part of your life. The bible says in Proverbs 119:11 (ESV) that; “I have stored up your word in my heart…….” 

When you see something not going right in your life or around you, speak to it. From the time you became born-again, creatures obey you when you speak, but you must be speak recurrently because things of God require diligence. We must be diligent in praying, fellowshipping, reading the word and also speaking to negative situations. We reign with words - by declaring what we want to see; words have power and they create. If you confess negatively, you create negativity and vice versa.

In the bible, Jesus spoke to; 

1.      Demons. Mathew 8:28-32 – “When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time …....32 And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.”

2.      His Father. Luke 6:12 – “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God”

3.      Situations. Mark 4:39 – “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said, ‘peace, be still’ and the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”

4.      Nature. Mathew 21:18-19 - ”Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.”

Terms and Conditions
There is authority in your mouth. Everything beneath you means you reign over it. All things mentioned during creation (Genesis 1:26-30), are under our feet and we have dominion over them. Everything you desire can happen if you believe and declare to see it forth. You can speak to God, satan, situations and nature just like Jesus did. Who can speak or command and it happens? You, who is in the image of God - born-again. The sign that shows one is born-again is the Holy Spirit; that’s how God can uniquely identify His children. 

How can you know that you have the Holy Spirit?

• When you have peace in your heart. The peace Jesus gives isn’t concerned with the surrounding situation. Jesus said in John 14:27 - “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  His peace is unconditional. You may be highly in debt or in lack but with a full measure of peace in your heart which yields joy. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says; “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
• You sin, and peace within your heart departs. When you sin and feel peace has departed, and you feel the conviction to repent, know that you still possess the Holy Spirit. However, when you sin and feel no conviction, just know he is no longer in you. Such people become comfortable with sin; they no longer fear God but fear people seeing them in disgraceful situations.
• When you feel a soft-still voice talking to you, especially in your daily life. That voice is always opposed by your reasoning. For example, you might be about to take breakfast and the voice tells you to fast. It always speaks once and from the heart; but at times your mind tries to contradict it by giving excuses. The more you delay to execute that command, peace and joy departs until you obey. That’s the Holy Spirit at work not your conscience.

When you have the Holy Spirit, you don’t do things (give, pray or minister) as you desire but as you are instructed. When you obey, you pay the price for what you want. The price is not fasting 40 days and nights. For God to grant you the desires of your heart, you have to be obedient. When He tells you something, He isn’t suggesting, but commanding – a king’s request is a command. When the Holy Spirit tells you to fast or give something, He isn’t requesting but commanding, and when you obey, you are paying a price.  The bible says in Isaiah 1:19 “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land” 

You want to transform the surrounding environment and situations in your life, speak to them. But who is going to speak with authority for things to change? A child of God. Who is a child of God? One who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and then filled with the Holy Spirit

QUESTIONS ??

Pr. Geoffrey Kibombo

Often times in our lives the devil brings questions into our minds, and every question that goes unanswered is an area the devil takes advantage of. One of the devil’s intentions is to bring questions into your life and once they go unanswered, he uses them as a foothold to attack and confuse you in order to divert you from God’s plan and purpose for your life.

Plotting a Foothold

This is how the devil will plan his attack; he will ask a question and see how you answer it before he confuses you with more questions marinated with fear and confusion. Genesis 3:1 (MSG) says; “The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

In her answer in the verses that follow, Eve responds in Genesis 3:2-3 (MSG) that; “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.”

Then the devil confuses her by lying to her in verses 4-5: “The serpent told the Woman, You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

And after being confused and fibbed, we read further in Verse 6 that; “When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.”

Questions for Confusion!

Many people have gone through a season when they ask themselves questions such as; “Why me?” Some have even turned it into a way of speech; they ask the question and let it linger. When the devil is attacking you, he will bring many questions into your life and; any question that goes unanswered gives the devil a pass to plant a foothold into your life. Whenever you have questions in your life or start to query God’s plan for your life, beware of the devil’s schemes.

One of the workings of the devil is to bring questions into your life so as to confuse and destroy you. He queried Jesus in Mathew 4:2-3 (HCSB): “He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Sometimes the devil will use life pressing situations which will prompt you to query the Sovereign power of God. Amidst disappointment and displeasure, Gideon asked the angel of the Lord in Judges 6:13 (GNT): “If I may ask, sir, why has all this happened to us if the Lord is with us? What happened to all the wonderful things that our fathers told us the Lord used to do—how he brought them out of Egypt?” There is a voice that will often speak into your life but only presenting confusing questions

Whenever you have no authentic godly answers to the questions in your mind, confusion and discontent kicks in. Most times it is Satan that brings these questions in our lives. God on the other hand does not bring questions but gives us revelation to help us see things clearly and from his perspective. 

If God is speaking into our lives, he does not bring questions to confuse us but revelation to know him more; and even though questions come into our lives, He will bring us an answer based on His word. We see that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (Mathew 4), He was ready with an answer to every statement and question the devil presented unto Him. Jesus needed food because he had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights and the devil saw this as an opportunity to confuse him – whenever the devil wants to confuse and destroy you, he will present to you facts about your life. You should be aware that many times the devil will wait for you to do something of purpose or activate your faith and then launch a series of confusing questions. For instance after you have sowed a financial seed or you have done something in obedience to God, then the devil will slot in questions asking you what you have benefited from your past and present acts of obedience. After Jesus had fasted for 40 days in obedience to the Holy Spirit, the tempter tried to confuse and distract him but he lost - Jesus stood on His Father’s word. When the devil plants confusing questions into your mind, what will be the source of your answer? Your logic or the word of God?

Life lies in the Word of God

Sometimes the motive behind the questions the devil brings into our lives is to make us think that God has not been faithful, that all you have attained is because of your wit and hard work; in all that satan’s aim is to make you doubt God and discourage your faith. With questions such as; you have been obedient and serving God faithfully for a long time but why are you struggling in life? He wants you to have unanswered questions so that he can get a room in your heart.

Jesus responded to the devil’s destructing statement in Mathew 4:4 (HCSB) that; “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 
From Jesus’ response, we learn that there is something more valuable in life than the physical things. He knows that he is hungry and needs to eat, but His life is dependent on something much more valuable than food – Word of God. By saying that man must not live on bread alone, Jesus showed us that life is not vested in the temporary things but in the imperishable word of God (Luke 21:33). This means that there are things we need in life, but our life should not be vested in those things but on the word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.

If God spoke a word (Rhema Word) in your life, that word has life – anointing and creating power; and is much more valuable than food or any other earthly material. If for instance one person has money and the other does not have, and God speaks a word concerning money, even the person without the physical money has the money even though they do not have it physically yet. Your life is not in the things that you need but in the word that comes from the mouth of God; for its all you need!

It does not matter if what you are today is deemed insignificant or you are despised, however, what is important is what the word of God says concerning your life. What matters are not people’s opinions but what God says about you; for our life is not in the things the world exalts but in the word that comes from God because from it springs forth life. During temptation, Jesus stood still on the rock – word from God. If you are asked in life to show something physical or material that proves that you are Born-again, point them to the Rhema Word – what the word of God says about you. Man must not live only on tangible things but on the word that comes forth from God, that is the source of life (both tangible and intangible).

Do not give audience to the questions that the devil brings into your life, for he intends to bring fear, hopelessness and discontentment. When the devil quizzed Jesus, He had appropriate and divine answers to his questions. Every question that has no answer leads to more questions and that gives the devil a foothold to set up site in your heart and mind.

In Mathew 4:4, bread represents something tangible, physical or material possessions that you can be able to show physically; but Jesus’ response shows us that we can only overcome the devil not by looking for answers from the world but from the word of God - to be able to answer the questions of life we have to look outside the world; this world never answers the questions presented unto us; the answer is found in the word of God because the world was created by the word that emanated from the mouth of God (Genesis 1).

Heart on Target

In throwing you all the various realistic heart wrecking questions, what is the devil looking for? The answer is in Proverbs 4:23 (AMPC); “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” Every question the devil brings is aimed at your heart; for he is looking for that part of life where life springs forth so that he can contaminate it. But how do you guard your heart amidst all the questions the devil brings? The bible says in 1 Peter 3:15 (GNT) that; “Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you.”

Do you have answers to the questions in your life? Jesus had answers to questions the devil presented. Whenever the devil brings questions to you, his aim is to puncture your faith. Many of the questions come so that he can lead us to do things in our own way not as per the will and grace of God; for he knows that once you are doing things as per your will and not that of God, you are bound to fail.

Hear First, Then Act In Faith

The second query that the devil projected to Jesus was in Matthew 4:5-7 (HCSB)

“Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”

The devil conveys questions so that we can make biased decisions which are fearfully and ignorantly conditioned. From the scripture above, the devil is talking to Jesus and referring to the scriptures. So the devil tells Jesus to jump because the scripture says; “God will give his angels orders concerning you”

What does temptation from the devil imply? It means that there are promises the devil knows and is aware that it is God to work upon them since it is His will towards us; however, he doesn’t want your life to sprout and be purposeful as per the will of God. He wants you to act in fear and confusion which is disastrous. Remember no word from God’s mouth will return to him void (Isaiah 55:11). Any word that does not originate from the mouth of God even though it is identical to what God spoke will not be alive.

We learn from Jesus’ response that for even what it is written in the bible, the devil wants to lure you to do it ignorantly so that you do not get results and thus perish. If Jesus had jumped then this scripture would not have been alive. Why? It wasn’t initiated by God, and the motive was ungodly (not for the glory of His name). Many times we test God with the scriptures saying; ‘for it is written’ or at times we say; ‘am doing it by faith’. But faith is not a risk undertaking, but comes by hearing from God first and then act on what you have heard from the Holy Spirit.  If you start or do something without hearing from God first - the Alpha and Omega (Rev 22:13), it will not bear fruit as the scripture had intended it to. 

Many times the devil has tricked us into doing things impulsively without hearing first from the Holy Spirit and in the aftermath we end up in anger and disappointment. But remember that if God is not your Alpha, He will never be your Omega; He will never start or sustain what He didn’t start. Never test the Lord your God!

Blessings Turned Idols

The devil paused a third question to Jesus in Matthew 4:8 (HCSB)

“Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him”

The devil deployed another set of tricks as seen in the scripture above. Some times when God blesses us just like he did to king Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26) and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20), we end up worshiping the blessings given unto us.

Many of us have material things we exalt; they have become priority in our lives and eventually turned into idols; but God shares not His glory. The devil wants us to put other things above God. He wants you to contradict God and His word. He wants you to take your eyes off God and put them on the temporary physical things that can perish instantly. So whenever the devil brings questions that are aimed at making you proud or try to replace God’s glory, the answer to that question should be; “For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him”

The Jews came with riches from Egypt such as gold and silver among others. They planned to use them to build the house of God, but when Moses went to the mountain to seek God, the people decided to make themselves a god - golden calf because they felt that Moses had delayed. They made a calf and started to worship it in place of God (Exodus 32). 
The calf symbolizes the blessings God has given you and then later turn them into an idol. Our God is jealous and we should serve and worship only Him. Exodus 20:4-5 (NLT) says; “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” 

Never worship the blessing that God has given you. For some believers unintentionally end up worshiping the things God has blessed them with such as; children, job, wealth or talent - all their time and joy is conditioned to them, for they take the number one position in their life which is wrong.

Remedy to the Questions – Holy Spirit

What can help us to the answer the questions of life and the ones the devil throws at us is the Holy Spirit. Every Christian or believer needs the Holy Spirit; to be filled with Him and have fellowship with Him always (2 Cor 13:14). According to the bible we see that it is the Holy Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted (Mathew4:1) - the Spirit of the Lord will never lead you where His grace cannot sustain you. For all the questions the devil brings into our lives, it is only the Holy Spirit that can provide us with the appropriate answers. 

One of the things that show that you are filled with the Holy Spirit is the ability to be able to pray in tongues. But there is something else that sets apart a believer filled with the Holy Spirit and that is the fruit of the spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 (TLB) teaches; “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23 gentleness and self-control”

When the Holy Spirit dwells within a Christian, He gives birth to the fruit of the Spirit and the ingredients in that fruit are very beneficial to a Christian. For example; a believer will face a number of challenges, problems and persecutions but remain filled with joy (the joy of the Lord is our strength). Even when realistically the problems would have made him or her sorrowful and teary, the fruit of joy and peace (Philippians 4:7) chips in to neutralize the sorrowful and frantic arrows of the devil.

In persecution and long suffering, we abound in love. 1 Peter 4:8 (AMPC) says; “Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]” If you are filled with the Holy Spirit and you face a situation that would necessitate you to hate someone, you won’t but will forgive and make up for all transgressions. Proverbs 10:12 (EXB) warns; “Hatred stirs up trouble [conflict; fights], but love forgives [covers] all offenses”.

The devil does not want you to have joy and peace; he also doesn’t want you to live a purposeful and fruitful life as per God’s plan, and that is why Jesus promised the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). You can tell a Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit by the way he or she reacts and responds to the problems and challenges encountered. When the devil brings questions into our lives, the Holy Spirit (Counselor) helps us by giving us the necessary answers. The fruit of the Holy Spirit helps to bring life within you; every fruit adds unique nutrients to your spiritual life just as the natural fruits we eat do, and that is why we become carnal if the Holy Spirit is not in us.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit helps us to heal spiritual diseases like hatred, misery, confusion, impatience, cruelty, pride, fear and lack of self-control. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, and during temptation, we could see faithfulness and self-control (fruit of the Spirit) at work. God’s plan was for Jesus to go to the cross and save humanity but the devil wanted to divert him from God’s purpose and plan. When you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, it’s very easy for the devil to confuse and divert you from the perfect will of God.

The fruit of the Spirit is very essential for a believer in the Salvation journey because as we trek, a myriad things attack and prickle us but it’s only those filled with the Holy Spirit that will be able to walk through the narrow road and even have answers to the lethal questions of the devil.

Yearn to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to overcome the destructive strategies of the devil.

STAND IN YOUR PLACE

Juliet K Nsubuga


Genesis 3:8-9 (AMPC)

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord called to Adam and said to him, where are you?”

Are you in the right place?

In the beginning after the creation, God always made time to go to the Garden of Eden to meet with Adam and Eve. In this present day we can relate this to the place and time we as believers have set apart to pray and commune with God. God values the time you set apart for Him because it is the time He comes to talk and commune with you. But from the scripture above we see God pause a question to Adam; 'Where are you?' 
This means that God expected to find Adam and Eve in their usual meeting place but they weren’t there, and God being omnipotent probably knew that they were not in the usual meeting place though He went ahead to ask him. You as a believer need to ask yourself if you are in the right place as a Christian, father, mother, child, minister etc.

As Christians, we are in a family setting where we are acquainted with each other, however, many times we do not seem to 'know our place' and thus we confuse position for place; for instance the place of a married woman in a home is to be the helper (Genesis 2:18) even though she is the breadwinner. We are many members in the church who make up one body, which is Christ. The bible reminds us of this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (TLB) that; “Our bodies have many parts, but the many parts make up only one body when they are all put together. So it is with the “body” of Christ. 13 Each of us is a part of the one body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one body.  We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit, and have all been given that same Holy Spirit 14 Yes, the body has many parts, not just one part.”

All members in the church have a part to play. We all have our designated place which must be well kept otherwise God will fail to find you when He comes to look for you, simply because you are somewhere else where you have chosen position over place. People often want to be seen in positions they do not belong to. You have to know who you are and thus keep your place in order to see what God has planned and purposed for you. When the time has come and God desires to bless you in your rightful place, He will ask; “where are you?” If you are wrongly placed, you will watch others give their testimonies while you sit for another good number of years to wait for your turn because you moved from your place and God could not find you.

God blesses people in the Right Place.

When God places you somewhere, He will also give you the grace and provision where He has placed you to fulfill His purpose, and even bless you. Sometimes we do not receive what we are praying for because we are wrongly placed; for the angel assigned to deliver your package will fail to locate you if you are not in your assigned place.

If your ministry in the church is to lead people in worship, make sure you do so wholeheartedly; if it is to intercede, do so with all your strength, and if it is to stand at the pulpit and share the word of God, do it like it is the end of the world. Unfortunately some Christians do not have a revelation of this and therefore go about fighting for different positions and eventually lose their place. Such people will find that the prophetic words given in the church are not working for them to the point that they start to doubt the servants of God. There are things we need to do personally and some of which we already know but find it hard to execute, probably because we devalue the places where we are planted; but understand that God has put us in various places and given us responsibilities because there is something He wants us to do in His Kingdom and that is where He will bless us from.

We have been given opportunities to serve in the church and therefore we are all ministers because we make up different parts of one body, so let us not abandon that place; however, now and then we want to be somewhere else preferring to serve in a different capacity from what we have been called and purposed to. Many of us know the truth and the ways of God but we have still failed to stand in our place.

After resurrection, the angel gave these specific instructions to the disciples in Matthew 28:7 (TLB) “And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and that he is going to Galilee to meet them there…….” God is specific; He chooses places - whoever was not in “Galilee” did not see Jesus! There is a 'Galilee' concerning your work, breakthrough or miracle; God earmarked a place where He is meant to meet you, but some of you have left the right place and out of ignorance missed out on God.

Misplaced, Displaced!!

2 Samuel 19:1-8 (MSG)

“1-4 Joab was told that David was weeping and lamenting over Absalom. The day’s victory turned into a day of mourning as word passed through the army, “David is grieving over his son.” The army straggled back to the city that day demoralized, dragging their tails. And the king held his face in his hands and lamented loudly, O my son Absalom, Absalom my dear, dear son!

5-7 But in private Joab rebuked the king: “Now you’ve done it—knocked the wind out of your loyal servants who have just saved your life, to say nothing of the lives of your sons and daughters, wives and concubines. What is this—loving those who hate you and hating those who love you? Your actions give a clear message: officers and soldiers mean nothing to you. You know that if Absalom were alive right now, we’d all be dead—would that make you happy? Get hold of yourself; get out there and put some heart into your servants! I swear to God that if you don’t go to them they’ll desert; not a soldier will be left here by nightfall. And that will be the worst thing that has happened yet.” 8 So the king came out and took his place at the city gate…….”

David was a king which meant that he had people that were constantly in his presence. Unfortunately one of those meant to be looking out for him was his son Absalom, who decided to fight against his father so that he could take his place as king. However, the king’s men fought for him and one of them Joab killed Absalom. David should have been celebrating the death, however when he heard about it, he instead started to weep for his son and put the blame on himself. One thing we learn if we read right through from the eleventh Chapter is that all this would not have happened to David if he had stood in his rightful place at a certain time - while other kings went to war, David did not go but instead stayed home which led to various destructive events in his life. 2 Samuel 11:1 (NIV) says; 
“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”

While David was on the palace rooftop, he saw someone’s wife taking a bath, sent for her, slept with her and, even went ahead and killed her husband (2 Samuel 11). When you do not stay in your place, you will end up doing all the wrong things and misplacing your blessings; you end up blaming people for your mistakes and bad decisions; you cover your sins with other sins but God is watching you. When David did all this, the man of God Nathan told him in 2 Samuel 12:9-13 (NLT) that;

“Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. 10 From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. 11 “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

This is actually how Absalom ended up doing what he did - he was just living in the word of prophesy that had been spoken forth; so instead of David celebrating his enemy’s death, he was crying for his son which made those who had fought and protected him very disappointed. Take note that when you don’t stand in your place, the devil is going to outwit you so as to keep you from realizing all that God has planned and purposed for you.

Take Your Place

Joab told David to go out and talk to the people because they had saved his life. Do you have such a friend in your life? You need such friends who know your right place and will endeavor to make sure that you do not lose it or take a detour. You need a 'Joab' in your life to edify you otherwise the devil will take advantage of you because that is his desire – "for he came to kill, steal and destroy" (John 10:10) and that is not about to change. So David went to talk to the men at the gate. The scripture says in 2 Sam 19:8 (MSG); 
“So the king came out and took his place at the city gate. Soon everyone knew: “Oh, look! The king has come out to receive us.” And his whole army came and presented itself to the king.”

There is a place where David had to sit so that people could see him and know that the king was with them. There is a place where you have to sit steadily for God to meet you, because our God is a God of right places. If David had not gone out to take his place at the city gate, what would have followed would not have been suitable for him and his kingdom

There is a place where you are supposed to be and if you do not keep it and walk away from it, the Lord will ask where you are. For us to see the blessings that God has promised, we must be in our place. There are some people who say they know where they are supposed to be but the church has not given them a landing, so they go to another place in search of their so called rightful place, but it does not work that way. One thing we should know is that the anointing flows in a sanctuary (2 Chronicles 7:16) and on a person with a covenant. The anointing for the things that are supposed to happen in your life is on the servant of God and for that anointing to work in your life, you need to be in the right place; that is where the Lord will meet you to lift you and deal with your concerns.

Stand in your place and you will see the salvation of the Lord

NEW LEVEL, new devil

Pr. Geoffrey Kibombo

1 Corinthians 16:8-9 (AMP)

“But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a wide door for effective service has opened to me [in Ephesus, a very promising opportunity], and there are many adversaries.”

Whenever you are told that God is taking you to another level, reflect on Paul’s words above. Why? Because for every new level of advancement, there is a new devil (attacks, enemies and obstructions); Paul was able to foresee the adversaries in the opportunity or blessing that had sprouted. We ought to learn from Paul to be able to discern the adversaries that encroach on our opportunities or blessings. As one musician sung that; ‘whenever you rise up, it hurts them’, but it does not just stop at hurting some of them (filled with jealousy and envy due to your success) because God is uplifting you and abundantly blessing you, but they also plot to prevent you from staying up there or be uplifted any more.

Be aware of Adversaries as you Advance

As believers filled with the Holy Spirit, we should be in position to discern what is likely to happen forth. When God uplifts or blesses us, we should also be in position to discern the spiritual atmosphere and act wisely. The bible talks of people being able to discern the seasons by studying the stars and the moon. Jesus told the multitudes in Luke 12:54-56 (NKJV) that; “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is.  55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is.  56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” 
They were witnessing signs, wonders and miracles by the son of God but they could not discern that it was Him who the prophets had prophesied about. So if God says He is taking us to another level or is going to perfect us, there are some things that come along that we should be aware of and guard against.

Paul got a revelation about spiritual warfare and shared the same in many of the letters he wrote. If you internalize Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 16:8 above, you will realise that those who are born of God are victorious (1 John 5:4) but they cannot become victorious without engaging in spiritual battle against the rulers of darkness of this age. For instance, if you’re told that you will be victorious, it means there are certain evil forces that will attack you along your path to victory, and thus the need to prepare for spiritual warfare so as to dismantle every principality and power of darkness that tries to block your victory.

What Paul meant in the above scripture is that; God is taking us to another level (from dust to destiny) and He will perfect everything that He begun in us, but we have got to be aware of the devil’s tactics as we progress; In other words what Paul meant is that: whenever God blesses you or opens doors of opportunities, the enemies also increase. The lesson we learn from this scripture is that after you have been lifted, do not relax and forget that your adversaries have also increased - to every level that God takes you, you will find antagonists or enemies equivalent of that level. When God has lifted you or blessed you, never forget that at each level you soar to there is a devil you are going to encounter, and that is why I say that; ‘at every new level, there is a new devil’. Therefore at every level God has elevated you to (be it ministry, marriage, business or career), there are adversaries you are going to encounter. You should never sleep or relax whenever you advance from one level to another thinking that life is going to be a bed of roses, but be more ready and prepared to wage spiritual warfare to combat the devil at that level.

For instance when God lifts a ministry from one level (local level) to another (national level), the type of attacks at the new level are different from the ones at the previous level. Demons also have ranks and levels, and the type of attacks depends on the level of blessings of the subject to be attacked. Publicity and prominence come with its negativities and attacks especially when it comes to ministry; people or the media will scrutinize and twist every statement the servant of God makes. They will try to label the servant of God as spiritually illegitimate and tarnish the works of Christ in order to disperse the congregation (Math 26:31).

As Christians we should take note that whenever God begins to transform and advance us, antagonistic circumstances arise. When you believe and serve God, there are things you go through and one of them is persecution. Jesus cautioned His disciples in Mark 10:29-30 (NLT) that; “I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution……...” 

I used to think that persecution means torture or massacre like what happened to the Uganda martyrs, but that’s not the case. For example; if you get rapid promotions at your workplace, there are negative promotions as well; some work colleagues, friends and perhaps relatives will persecute you. How? They might bewitch you, talk extremely negative about you in order to tarnish your credibility before your bosses. All those are forms of persecutions aimed at rupturing your heart, so when God blesses you, persecution and adversaries usually come along. 

Private Victories prepare you for Public Victories

In order to get a good understanding of the church, the way the devil plots his attacks and how the church can overcome the devil, we have got to look at David (as a representation of the church). He represents our lives and how God is taking us from dust and lifting us. 1 Samuel 16:6-7 (GNT) says;

“When they arrived, Samuel saw Jesse's son Eliab and said to himself, “This man standing here in the Lord's presence is surely the one he has chosen.” 7 But the Lord said to him, “Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”

David was always despised and many times neglected by his family. God sent Samuel to anoint David as king, but we should remember that before David was anointed, he was a mere despised shepherd. David’s father had even forgotten about him as they were inquiring about his sons (1 Sam 16:10-11). David symbolizes each one of us. You may have been despised and forgotten by those close to you to the point of them desiring to give your blessing to someone else because they think you are not worthy of that blessing or opportunity. Remember that at whatever level David was, even though he was despised, he had some things he was capable of even though he was always seen as just a mere shepherd. We have all read that whenever the lions came to prey on the sheep, David would kill them - at the level of tending to sheep, there were adversaries (lions and bears) that David encountered. People tend to think that David’s ability to kill Goliath came out of the blue but that wasn’t so. We should be aware that the adversaries we encounter at a primeval level, prepare us for the adversaries we are to encounter at another advanced level; the bear and lion attacks prepared David for Goliath.

Before one can gain public victory, there are private victories he or she should have attained that prepared him or her for the former. David had no claim to fame, however he had attained victories that no one knew of. For instance before helping your friends eradicate some bad habits, you must have been able to eradicate some in your life. David had never told anyone of his victories of overcoming the lion and bear. At the shepherd level, he had already fought and won battles before the Goliath level.

Several people desire to be instantly lifted up to the next level but that cannot happen until you have overcome the devil at the level you are currently at. David was able to first kill the lion and bear and this prepared and qualified him to encounter the Philistine - Goliath. Before David’s victory over Goliath, he had prior testimonies that fueled and lifted up his faith (1Sam 17:34-37). David’s private victories prepared and led him to his public victory – the private battles of the lion and bear prepared and equipped him for the public battle of the Philistine. In all this, God was preparing David for the kingship; because we can see that he went on to fight so many other battles even outside his kingdom. As believers, we encounter various attacks and problems when we are no bodies (and God gives us the grace and strength to overcome them) not knowing that He is nurturing our character and preparing us for life at advanced levels in the future.

Promotions and Persecutions

1 Samuel 17:25 (NKJV)

“So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”

From the scripture we see three things that David got after killing the Philistine - the king would reward him great riches; give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxes. For David to progress in life and society, he had to destroy the Philistine, and he thereafter advanced from one level to another - shepherd to warrior.  

David was now transitioning from the shepherded level to the kingly level; but he did not immediately become king because he again needed to be prepared. At that warrior level the king Saul picked interest in David (1Samuel 17:57). We read in Chapter 18 that as they were coming home from battle the women came out of all the cities and begun to sing. 1 Samuel 18:6-8 (AMP) explains;

“As they were coming [home], when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tambourines, [songs of] joy and musical instruments. 7 The women sang as they played and danced, saying, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed [only] thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” Saul looked at David with suspicion [and jealously] from that day forward. 8 Then Saul became very angry……...…"

We learn that once David defeated and killed Goliath, he advanced to the next level in the social strata – shepherd to warrior; and he met a different devil or adversary at that level. People were then celebrating him more than King Saul which angered the king. God has transformed and lifted our lives, and He is still advancing us from one level to another, but we should never forget that at every level He is going to take us, there is a devil or adversaries; you must therefore steer clear of the people that celebrate you because they can cause your downfall. When the women sang in celebration of David, King Saul was filled with rage and the words that were sung about both of them caused enmity between them.

Control Yourself As You Advance!

When you read about David, you will see that he was victorious at every level. By the time David was anointed as king, Saul (who was also anointed) was still reigning as King of Israel, and David knew the secret of not touching an anointed servant of God - he controlled himself and even though there was enmity between him and Saul, he ensured not to rise up against the an anointed person. David had numerous opportunities to kill Saul but he did not; we see this when he spared Saul’s life in 1 Samuel 24:6-7 (NLT) “……The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.”  7 So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.”

What we learn from this is that when God blesses you and elevates you from one level to another, don’t boast and start mistreating or despising people. David shows us a good example; for he never rose up against the anointed one yet he was also anointed and was capable of doing certain things, but he controlled himself until the time for Saul to be no more dawned.

Once God has divinely taken you from the dust to greatness, you should control yourself and guard against the vices at that advanced level like pride and disobedience (devil at that level). This is because the devil’s desire is to cause you to stumble and fall from the place of grace. Evil habits like pride and disobedience are some of the traps the devil uses to destroy people who have advanced. When one reaches in the place of rest, he or she may start exalting his wit, knowledge or experience and strength ignoring the Lord who made it happen, and forgetting that its blessing of the Lord that makes one successful or victorious. Thus as you advance, guard yourself against the evil habits at that level

Be mindful of those who falsely discourage you from seeking Godly counsel telling you that you are spiritually mature and not in need of it. The more you grow in knowing God, the more you should seek counsel. Whenever David planned to do something, he would go before God to seek His counsel first (1 Sam 30:8, 2 Sam 5:19, 1 Sam 23:4-5). Never become too busy for God (to stop praying and reading His word), the devil will overcome you at that level. Do not forget that at every level there is a devil you must fight – satan can use people, habits or situations to destroy that which God has given you. For what led to the downfall of Saul was disobedience (1Sam 13:7-14).

David was able to overcome the bad habits that come with fame after killing Goliath because he remained humble as he was in the beginning; even when he became king he was able to freely dance for the Lord to the disappointment of others (2 Sam 6:14). Our God is going to lift us but as He does so, you must not forget that there is a devil waiting for you at that level of advancement.

Whenever you overcome one devil, you will meet another at the next level whom you must overcome as well, and that is why you must never cease praying when God has lifted you because you will encounter an advanced devil (attacks and adversaries) at that level. The devil may at times use people close to you or those you confide in, but no matter which avenue he uses to attack you, you must be prepared to stand still. We should be informed that the devil cannot outwit us since we know his schemes as stated in 2 Corinthians 2:11 (MSG) that "After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!"

Humility at every level!

There are people God has brought out of dust to honour (1 Sam 2:8) but then eventually die after being lifted up. Why? They are negatively changed by their newly acquired status - they are not humble anymore and easily forget and forsake the Lord who lifted them up; it so happens because they were unaware of the devil at the new level and thus get consumed. God has blessed and lifted us but whenever He does, guard yourself and beware of the devil at the level you are ascending to. Sometimes the devil at the level you have ascended to can be in form of habits that God hates (Prov6:16-19) which drives away His presence.

Before Lucifer became disobedient and was cast down (Isaiah14:12-15), he encountered a devil at his level (pride) - He wanted to be glorified like his Master. His mindset got contaminated at that level and unfortunately he was cast down. If you do not overcome the devil at the level you are and he instead overcomes you, you will be cast down. We thank God who lifts us and sits us in the high places, because at every level He takes us, He gives us the grace to endure and, His grace is new every day because He knows that the devil is constantly roaming around.

Jesus was able to overcome the adversary at the pinnacle of His ministry on earth - He overcame death. At the apex level of His ministry, He defeated hell and death. We read this in 1 Corinthians 15: 55 (AMP) that; “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” We thank God that at that level Jesus was able to overcome the devil for our benefit - Salvation.

When you look at the magnitude of attacks or adversaries at a particular level you are at, you will have an idea of the new level God has taken you to, and know that you have got to fight (spiritually) because a great door of effective service has been opened. Our adversaries are many and they are at every level God takes us but we should also be aware of their existence and do the needful. God has blessed us and will continually bless and elevate us from one level to another, but we need to also play our part and combat the devil so that we do not perish after we have been elevated.

God knows you are able to defeat the devil at every level (the will of God will never take you where the Grace of God cannot keep you). You may not be able to defeat him at some other person’s level but if God has taken you from one level to another, He will grant you the grace to overcome every devil at that level. We should also be in position to differentiate between challenges and attacks or adversaries; some things may come as challenges to nurture us character-wise not as arrows released by the devil, and that requires maturity for one to discern the difference

When God elevates you to a new level, you must never forget that at that level there is a devil you need to guard against and combat.