God has a beautiful purpose for this nation, but it starts when we embrace His view of Uganda.
God looks at Uganda as a country that is beyond blessed. He wants you and I to embrace that mindset. When we do, this will changes the way we look at our nation, what we say about it and how we engage with it.
In order to understand that Uganda is beyond blessed, and that you have a part to play, we’ve got to understand the ownership issue. That’s where it all starts.
Uganda belongs to Jesus. Through the book of Acts 17:24-28, the Apostle Paul says powerful words that help us understand that Uganda is not here by mistake.
Uganda is not a result of the petition and the scramble for Africa. The boundaries of this nation were drawn by the hands of Jesus.
Acts 17:24 -25 – The true God is the Creator of all things. He is the owner and Lord of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm, and he doesn’t live in man-made temples. He supplies life and breath and all things to every living being. He doesn’t lack a thing that we mortals could supply for Him, for He has all things and everything He needs. From one man, Adam, he made every man and woman and every race of humanity, and he spread us over all the earth. He sets the boundaries of people and nations, determining their appointed times in history.
God determined that in 1962, we would be independent. He determined the appointed times for this nation, and He continues to, because He has already written out the plan for the nation.
When you look at the story of Uganda, you can see the hand of God. If it hadn’t been for the Lord, we wouldn’t have survived the wars that we have fought. We wouldn’t be standing against corruption and all these other things. It is the Lord that upholds us, and scripture says it is through Him that we live and function, and have our identity.
Uganda belongs to God because He is the owner of all things, not only in the heavenly realm, but also in the earthly realm. When we begin to recognize that God owns Uganda, we come to the understanding that we are stewards. God has blessed Uganda with everything the country needs to be a success. Within each Ugandan is a particular gifting, ability, talent, wisdom, knowledge and capacity required to succeed.
Look at the people of Uganda, we are tall, dark and handsome, but we are also short, light and awesome. Look at our culture, the way we dress and the way we dance and express ourselves. We are a blessed nation.
Look at nature. We are a green country. Look at the birds that we have, people travel all around the world to come and see them. We are beyond blessed, and that is an opportunity.
Our strategic location! We are right along the equator. We have the best weather in the whole world. You ought to give God praise for that. We have water bodies, forests and wildlife, that is amazing.
Because we are blessed, which is a position of great privilege, it comes with an awesome responsibility. As stewards, we must manage the blessing. We must multiply the blessing. If we steward our country Well, God is going to bless Uganda. We have the capacity to feed Africa, and the world. We have the capacity to be a hub for education, and for creativity and innovation.
What has God placed in your hand concerning Uganda that you are not stewarding well? I want to challenge you to begin to steward what God has placed in your hands, that office where you sit, that business that you own, that university that you are attending, the health sector, politics and governance.
Remember, we are not here on our agenda. Our agenda is ‘Let Your kingdom come, let your will be done in Uganda, as it is in heaven.’ God has a purpose and plan for this nation and it shall come to pass in Jesus name. You need to be a part of it, and myself. It doesn’t matter which country you come from, as long as you’re here, you’re a steward.
God’s desire for Uganda is to live beyond blessed. As we step into the next 57 years, be encouraged. God has a beautiful purpose and plan for Uganda. God wants us to be beyond blessed.
Deuteronomy 28:1-3 KJV – And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
This is an amazing portion of Scripture. God has promised His blessing upon us if we do this one thing, walk obediently before Him.
How do we know the voice of God? The Word of God has been written for us, so we can know what God’s expectations of us are as a nation. We have to walk obediently before Him. How do we practice obedience?
1. We need to be a law abiding people as opposed to lawless people
People who are lawless never see the blessing of God. We often have a habit of creating ‘another way’ of doing things. Let us stick to the right way of doing things. We need to be law abiding citizens not lawless.
Often times, we want to register our businesses using other means. We want to bring in cars using other means. We want to register schools using other means. We want to pass exams using other means. We dodged taxes, that needs to stop. The Bible says in the book of Judges that; “They began to do what was right in their own eyes.” We cannot experience God’s blessing that way, we need to be law abiding citizens.
2. We need to become people of integrity as opposed to people of corruption
Ephesians 5:11 (AMP) – Do not participate in the worthless and unproductive deeds of darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character].
Here is another way that you expose deeds of darkness, it is by embracing Godly character. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s.”
We pray all night, but we are corrupt in the morning. If we’re truly spending time with God, we need to be changed. We need to be the salt and the light. Friends, we need to be people of integrity.
3. We need to be hardworking and not lazy
Remember, in the parable of the talents, the one who buried the talent was rebuked as lazy, and wicked. Ugandans, we need to work, we need to be people of action. We draw very good plans, and there are countries that take the policies that we write. The difference is that they put them into action and they prosper.
If you see any prosperous nation, it means they’re hard working people. The state of economy is the evidence of our work ethic. Proverbs 10:4 says, “lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
Who gives us the power to make wealth? It is the almighty God. He gives us the energy, the abilities and the talents. Let us begin to tap into these things.
4. We are to speak life as opposed to curses
Friends, let’s speak well over our nation, Uganda, The words that you speak frame the way people see our nation. You frame the character of a community of a nation through the words that you speak.
Proverbs 18: 21 tells us, “the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” In other words, there is a blessing that is tied to our language. There’s something spiritual about the words that you say, don’t take them for granted.
I want to encourage you this week, as you spend time in prayer before God, speak His blessing over the nation of Uganda. The one who sits on the throne of heaven, Jesus, not only hears, He answers. His word does not return to Him void, until it accomplishes the purpose for which it has been sent.
He’s a God of hope. The God of possibility. God will not bless you if you simply keep complaining. However, if you begin to speak good, and speak life, and challenge people to rise up and take their place, look at how He is going to unleash His blessing over the nation.
5. We have to return to the Lordship of Jesus Christ
A nation must have God at the center if it’s going to be a blessed nation. James 4: 8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
This scripture reminds us that God is always available. Acts 17 tells us He is the God that is easy to discover. We need to draw close to God. The Bible tells us if we seek Him we shall find Him.
The one who watches over Israel, who never sleeps, nor slumbers can watch over our borders. Unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, those who watch over it, watch over it in vain. It is the Lord we need at the center. When we are obedient to Him, and He’s at the center, we shall see His blessing.
The above article is a (lightly edited) transcript of Pastor Brian Abaho’s full audio sermon available at Watotochurch.com
