Devotional Details

THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

11^th. April 2022

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

1 Corinthians 13:11, NKJV.

As parents, to a child or children, we all desire the same things for them; the best because of our love for them! We also wish above all things, that they do not make mistakes in life, and that they are all sold out to God Almighty, and His Kingdom. As christian parents; single or married, it doesn’t make any difference as we all grapple with this same problems, and also desire the same things- we all want our children to love God, and have wonderful relationship with Him. Hence, many of us begin to worry, if we have the slightest reason to think that some of our wishes concerning our young ones might be unrealistic, or the moment we begin to notice any of our children acting contrary to what we believe to be proper, and godly. We all hear about the phrase, “fear not”, and many people seem to believe, that Job’s predicament was as a result of the thing that he feared the most, which I believe to be further from the truth as everyone, that has the breath of life in them, has one thing, or the other that they are afraid of. As long as we live in this world; where Satan is lurking around, looking for whom to devour, fear is a part of life! Even the strongest man in the world has something he fears, the only difference between such strong men and us, is that they may not talk about their fears, or submit to them. Though God has not given us the spirit of fear, yet, the enemy’s job is to give us that which Our Creator never gave to us, one of which is fear! From my understanding, the main problem in times of fear, is not the fear itself, but rather, it is when we forget the God, Who is above the spirit of fear, and whatever it is, that makes us afraid. It is not a sin to be afraid, but it is a sin if you do not commit whatever, or whoever it is, that makes you afraid to God Almighty, the only fearless One!

I had the need to bare my heart to my children yesterday night, during our family prayer time. The Holy Spirit suddenly stopped me from the route we were on as I strongly felt Him nudging me to begin to talk out of context, which He does with me, every now and again. As I obeyed His promptings, this is a summary of what He impressed on me to say to them,

“Now listen to me attentively! I want you to know this, and I want each and every one of you, never to forget these words of mine all the days of your lives. I want these words to always echo in your spirits, souls, and even your flesh! You belong to God Almighty through His Son, Jesus Christ, and by the leading of His Holy Spirit! I am not telling you, that you will always get it right in life, neither am I saying that you will have to sacrifice the way I have had to; I honestly don’t wish any of you that. The Holy Spirit will help your chart your course! The path, that I have taken, may not be the same, that He will want you to take, but regardless of the route He allows you to take, it will ultimately lead you to where He wants you to be, and whom, He has made you to be from the foundations of the world- the chosen generations! Regardless of the circumstances you may find yourselves in, at any point in life, never believe that God does not love you. Even if you have to go through the pit situations in life, you must always know that God is good, and that all power belongs to Him. God is not your enemy; He is your best Friend, Holy Father, the only One, who truly and faithfully loves you. Do not be found among those, who only believe that He is good, when they have cars, promotions, money, houses, fame, etc. I bless you all to possess all the good things that life has to offer, but peradventure you find yourselves without any of these things, never doubt the love, and presence of God Almighty in your lives! Never see, or measure the quality of your relationship with God, through the lens of other people! Do not love God based on what you have, or what you do not have, neither follow those of the past, present, and those in the future generations, who only follow Him, for what they are able to grab from Him. Should the whole world reject you, the LORD God will never reject you, but will fully accept you, and bless you- And if God Almighty, the Omni-potent ONE, be for you, is anyone, place, or thing able to stand against you? Absolutely not! Therefore, stay with God Almighty. Stay with Jesus Christ. Stay with the Holy Spirit. If you ever find yourselves in any relationship, where any man or woman, wants you to worship them, money, position, material things, instead of God, zaaaaaappppp!!!! If you find yourselves in any relationship, contract, or partnership, where anyone, for whatsoever reason, is directly, or subtly making you believe, that staying with God is not worth it, then let these words of God, through me as your mother, echo in your souls, spirits, and flesh, louder than any other voice, “I give you the full permission by the authority and power in the name of Jesus Christ to zap, without looking back; no remorse as that contract through the blood of Jesus Christ, has been broken, ever before it was even established!” In a situation where you make the mistake to stray away from the path of Light, you will definitely come back to yourselves, and always come back Home, to God Almighty because you are God’s possessions, and not Satan’s in Jesus’ righteous name, have you heard me?!”

To this, they all said, “Amen! Yes, we’ve heard you Mum!” Little did they know, that I was not the one, who was talking to them, but rather, the Holy Spirit of the Only Living God, was directly speaking to them all, but using me as a conduit to reach them! Now, if they took it seriously or not, is not relevant because it is a decree from God Almighty Himself, which cannot be revoked by Satan, and his cohorts, regardless of how hard they try. Going by the way most of them were glancing at me, like funny teenagers, I was well aware of what they were thinking, “We know, Who God is to us, you don’t need to teach us these kindergarten stuff all over again!” Yet, I preferred to look foolish before them, than not to speak according to the will and timing of the Holy Spirit! Well, they know me; their teenage mannerisms hardly intimidates me, at least most of the time! Why would the Holy Spirit stop me in the middle of a well-organized family prayer to begin to talk out of the routine that we already had? I do not know why, except that it must have been something that was extremely important to God Almighty at that particular time, and I had to choose, to either respect it, or follow the route that I was already on. Any one, who has a child, will ascertain to this fact, that as long as the children are still little, or underage, we, as their earthly stewards, are still able to channel their course, without any form of limitations, resistance, or guilt from our sides, while doing so. We are able to tell them what to do, how to do them, when to, and they would mostly comply, but there comes a time, when they get to certain ages, that we begin to feel a bit resistance from them; spoken or unspoken. I have come to understand through parenting, that it is the process of life to allow the young ones to also evolve to whom God has made them to be. Though we are still needed, to give them Godly advice here and there, as well as every now and again. Nonetheless, the most important part of our stewardship at such stages in their lives, is to be there for them through our prayers. They will get to make mistakes (though we pray that such mistakes will not permanently empact their lives in a negative way), and through them, learn to discern between right, and wrong, good, and evil. I am no longer responsible for the word, which God has spoken over them, but it is now His duty to watch over His words in their lives to make sure they come to pass; they are not my children, but God Almighty’s- I am just their steward for here on earth, and not their owner! I will not always be there for them, lurking around, stalking them everywhere they go, and in whatever they do. To be very honest, I wouldn’t even be able to keep up with them in this digital age, regardless of how hard I may try! They are now growing; having their own minds and will, different taste from mine in most of the things.

I have come to learn as a parent, that there are things which I can no longer influence in their lives from a particular age. But what I can do is to commit them to God Almighty, for Him to watch over them, protect, direct, help, bless, teach them, etc. and with that, my assignment in their lives as their steward is done, to the glory of God, their Father, and mine!

We have to try the best we can, from the time they are still very young, to introduce them to God Almighty and His ways. We must introduce them to Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit through the word of God, even when we believe that they are not listening, or interested in what God is saying to them through us. As we do our parts, God Almighty will definitely honor His own part to us in their lives, so much so, that even when they, at any point in their lives, get out of alignment, whether we are alive, or have gone on to be with the LORD, He will always make sure to watch over them, and make them remain within the confines of His will for their lives, and that includes, when they miss the mark! Our Holy God, will shake the heavens and the earth to ensure that they come back to their God-given senses, because they belong to Him! Like the prodigal son, they will always find their way back home, to God Almighty, their true Father, His sheep-pen, and to His Holy Kingdom, where they truly belong! Our GOD is awesome, faithful, and a Friend indeed!

Jesus loves you!

Written by Susan Ikeokwu