2019 - A YEAR OF REMEMBRANCE AND REWARD

Pr. James Victor Lubwama

Malachi 3:14 -17 (AMP)

“You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. What profit is it if we keep His ordinances, and walk around like mourners before the Lord of hosts? 15 So now we call the arrogant happy and blessed. Evildoers are exalted and prosper; and when they test God, they escape [unpunished].’”16 Then those who feared the Lord [with awe-filled reverence] spoke to one another; and the Lord paid attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who fear the Lord [with an attitude of reverence and respect] and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on that day when I publicly recognize them and openly declare them to be My own possession [that is, My very special treasure]. And I will have compassion on them and spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 

At the end of every year I stand before you to deliver the Rhema Word for the New Year and when I speak, I do not speak from my wisdom or understanding but from what God tells me.

Apart from rejoicing for the New Year and enjoying fireworks scenery, there is something God is going to do. God is a God of seasons and when the right time is due, he reveals his plans to his servants (Amos 3:7) who then proclaim what they have been told. Our God changes not (Malachi 3:6) and he does not slumber (Ps 121:2-4); and because God is for you, you will not die but live and tell of His works (Ps 118:17)

2019 is a year of remembrance and reward! God has heard our prayers, seen our tears and received our sacrifice. He is going to reward people because of their works and, show others that serving God is not in vain. This is the year that God is going to remember and reward all those that have been faithfully seeking and serving him. You will see God at work in your life and you will testify of his goodness and faithfulness.

From the scripture above we can see that believers served the Lord but their lives were in shambles to the effect that they complained harshly to the Lord; sometimes when we evaluate ourselves in relation to those who do not seek or serve the Lord, we see that they are far off better off than us. Such questions run through our minds, like: Do we minister in vain? Do we fast in vain? Do we sacrifice in vain? Do we spend nights seeking the Lord in vain? Is our rightful walk with the Lord a waste?

The Lord of Salvation heard their complaints and a book of remembrance was written before him. There are various books in heaven like the book of life (Rev 20:15). As believers, we have a duty to continuously remind God (Isaiah62:6), because when you remind God, you put him in remembrance of his promises.

God has timelines and when the right time comes, he sermons the book of remembrance, and that time is now. So for everyone who served God wholeheartedly; everyone who prayed faithfully; everyone who sought him diligently and relentlessly, the book of remembrance is going to be opened and you are going to be rewarded.

If you are a person with faith, be expectant, prepare and get ready for your reward – there is no seed sown that died; there is no prayer that was not heard; there is no service that was in vain. There are a couple of things we have done for a long  time like helping the poor, preaching the gospel, serving and ministering in all ways; for the time has come for you to harvest and be rewarded because God never forgets His people. The faith you kept and the trust you have was not a waste

God is also going to heal people greatly this year - there is healing anointing and its already evident in this ministry; many people have been healed and more are going to come and God is going to heal them of incurable diseases. 

God is going to distinguish between those who serve Him and those that do not. You might have thought that God forgot all about you but that’s not the case; God forgets not his people, but he works at the right time. The bible says in 1 Peter 5:6 (NLT) that; “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honour”. 
At the right time not your desired time is when God descends to deal with you; at the right time God will lift you up in honour. That's why your heart should endure and hands be strong until the time when God deals with you. 

Your time of harvest and reward has come, for the Lord has remembered his people. May you standstill to enjoy the goodness of the Lord in the year 2019. 
Happy New Year!!!

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