In 1999, on the last day of a twelve-hour forty-day fast, I heard the distinct audible voice of God say to me, “Guard jealously what you have received.” A year later, the last day of another twelve-hour forty-day fast found me on Buvuma Island where a group of us had gone for evangelism. On the morning of that last day of fasting, as we prayed, our prayer leader repeatedly told us in Luganda, “Kuuma ekyo kyofunye” which when translated means “guard what you have received.”
As you can see, on two separate occasions and in two different languages, God told me the same thing – to guard what He had given me. He was specifically referring to a promise He had given me concerning the great work I was to do for Him in the future. He reminded me of Roberts Liardon’s 1988 God’s Generals teaching wherein he said, “Guard jealously the calling you have received. Fight for it in the realm of the spirit. Never let it go.” Interestingly, this command was similar to that which Paul gave Timothy: “That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit” (2 Timothy 1:14).
Now, we all have promises from God which we strongly hold onto when they are first given. However, as time passes without God fulfilling those promises, we often begin doubting whether what was promised will indeed come to pass. But that should not be the case; it is in such moments that we must contend earnestly for those promises.
If there is one thing for which the Devil will harass you in your thought life, it is the word of promise that God gave you. You will be attacked left right and center, not because of anything but the word of promise that God sowed in your heart (Matthew 13:20-21). The Enemy will do all he can to make sure you drop that promise and stop believing God for its fulfilment. During those trying moments, you must encourage yourself by meditating on the faithfulness of God. You must remind yourself that, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).
If you ever give up because “things are hard,” what befell Esau who sold his birthright just because of hunger might befall you. "For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears" (Hebrews 12:17).
Therefore my brother and sister, “This charge I commit to you . . . according to the prophecies previously made concerning you (or promises God gave you), that by them you may wage the good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:18). Use the promises the Lord gave you as a weapon against the tormenting doubt-filled attacks of the Devil. When Satan unleashes his artillery of thoughts of doubt, keep the faith. Speak out loud to the Devil your promises if need be. Do all you can to win the good fight of faith. Believe you me, God will not let you down. And when your promises come to pass, the joy thereof will be worth more than all the torment that you endured. Hallelujah.
By the way, I practice this that I am telling you. For example, until last year when God made an oath to me, for eighteen years I jealously guarded His word which He gave me on 2nd November 2000 that I would build Him a house of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations (1 Chronicles 22:5). And all that the Lord promised to do with Last Adam Tabernacle, I am jealously guarding. I refuse to be outwitted by the Devil. I choose to believe God because He is faithful.
Faith pleases God. Therefore, please God by believing that He will do what He promised even when everything looks contrary. Be like Abraham “who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken” (Romans 4:18). Do all you should to guard jealously the promises which you received. Kuuma ekyo kyofunye. “That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit” (2 Timothy 1:14).
Amen.