Many years ago, on the last day of a 12-hour forty-day fast, I heard the distinct audible voice of God. The Voice said, “Guard jealously what you have received.” A year later, on the last day of another 12-hour forty-day fast, I was with a group of Makerere University Main Scripture Union students on Buvuma Island for an evangelistic mission. Our prayer leader repeatedly told us in Luganda that morning, “Kuuma ekyo kyofunye” which when translated means, “guard that which you have received.” So you can see, how on two occasions, in different ways and languages, God admonished me to keep and guard what He had given me. But what was I to keep and guard? I later learnt that He was referring to the calling and anointing for ministry. He reminded me of a teaching by Roberts Liardon in which he said, “Guard jealously the call, the anointing you have received; fight for it in the realm of the spirit; never let it go.” It was the same thing that Paul told his spiritual son Timothy: “That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit” (2 Timothy 1:14).
We all have visions from God concerning our future. God is a long-term strategist. He often tells us of His plans way ahead of their time; He even lays the foundation of those distant plans today as if everything is going to fall in place tomorrow. When it later looks like tomorrow will never come, we must contend earnestly for the promises and visions that we received from the Lord.
If there is anything that the devil will persecute you for, it is the sure word of prophecy God gave you. You will be attacked left, right, and center not because you are something special, but because of that word (Matthew 13:20-21). In those difficult and trying moments of waiting, you must hold onto your vision. If you give up and let go of it, you are not so different from Esau who sold his birthright just because of a momentary episode of hunger. Therefore, “This charge I commit to you . . . according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:18). Use the same promise the Lord gave you as an offensive weapon against the attacks of the enemy. When Satan unleashes his artillery of thoughts of doubt, speak out loud your prophecy or vision if need be. When you finally enter the Promised Land, the sweetness of the milk and honey therein will be more than worth all the pain you endured. Glory to God.
I, for one, am jealously guarding my calling to build the Lord a house of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations (1 Chronicles 22:5 NIV) just as He told me on 2nd November 2000. I am also “kuuma-ring” the vision to be a light to the Gentiles, to bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6 NIV) just as He told me on 29th June 2000. All that the Lord promised to do with and through Last Adam Tabernacle, I am jealously guarding, as you should the promises He gave you. Because those promises are “yes and amen” in Christ Jesus, they will surely come to pass if you do not give up on them when tribulations and trials come your way.
Faith pleases God. Therefore, do not miss the opportunities to please Him. Guard jealously what you have received. Kuuma ekyo kyofunye. “That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit” (2 Timothy 1:14).
God bless you.
This Word for the week was originally published on 20th March 2019