Devotional Details

THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

30^th. MAY 2022

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked person from among you.”

1 Corinthians 5:12-13, NIV.

Child of God, this week’s message is without question, one that I know is very dear to the heart of God. The LORD wants us to open our eyes to the things that are going on within His church, and around us. As children of God, we are to be zealous for the things of God and the things going on in the house of our Heavenly Father, just as we are to be mindful of the things going on in our earthly father’s households and our individual families as far as we are permitted to, by God Himself. Jesus, did the same through His unforgettable action, when He went into the temple courts and aggressively began to disrupt the activities of the business men within it. He actively contended with the money changers in the temple courts, who were taken aback because of His “out of order” behavior as they would definitely have percieved it since they were in essence, business men, who were just about their usual routine within the temple courts; business transactions (Matthew 21:12-13). Jesus went as far as calling them robbers, for the mere fact that they were transacting in a place that was meant to be kept sacred. From my understanding, a thief or robber is someone who goes to any length to extract things from people, that they otherwise would not have willingly given up on. Don’t forget Child of God, that the Scripture teaches us that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7), thus, whatever you are made to give in a manner, that does not leave the Godly spirit within you cheerful at the end of the day, is a subtle act of robbery committed against you (I would love to expound on this sometime). Jesus made it very clear to them and to all, that neither the temple, nor the temple courts should be used as a place of merchandise! Obviously, we are not to enter the church and literally indulge in any kind of wild action, but there are many other ways that we can contend with evil workers, or hinder evil activities from becoming the norm in the church; Expose the evil works, and those behind them! Why this is extremely important is, that not only is the name of God being trampled upon by those, who either, have never revered Him, or those who have lost every form of reverential fear and love for Him, but also because the vulnerable are being chased away from the church by such wicked people within the church! Since it is well known, that a rotten apple as the saying goes, spoils the whole barrel! (Matthew 16:6). Therefore, if we, through our various ways; little, or big contributions fail to challenge the evil that has crept into the church, then the result of such inaction, would ultimately be, that even the most honest and God-fearing men and women, over the course of time, will neither be accepted, nor respected anymore by the people, both within and outside the church. Contrary to the word of Jesus Christ, Who is the Head and the owner of the Church, the sheep will no longer heed the voice of God as they would only recognize the voices of wolves and no longer the true shepherds, which will be to their detriment (John 10)! Child of God, we are not to wrongly use the bible to look away when evil has become the order of the day within the church, and around us. The church is the most powerful pillar in this world that holds every godly institution together, which means that the people within her, automatically become whatever She is; If polluted, the people within her will tilt towards corruption. If the church is a place where injustice is condoned, the people within her will turn their faces towards injustice and these ultimate outcomes still stands, regardless of, if such churches in particular are publicly manifesting the afore-mentioned evil fruits, or not!

Child of God, we are the very people called and chosen by God Almighty to be within the church, in order to become beacons of light to those who are outside. The bible teaches us that whenever the light shines, that it exposes everything that is in darkness, it exposes the evil that eyes which are not used to seeing in darkness cannot see (Psalm 139: 9-12)!  

Thus, most of the times, when darkness sees the light, depending on the length of time that particular darkness (evil activities, evil spirits, etc.) has been existing in such places or persons, it could put up an aggressive fight against the presence of light, but eventually, the light always expels the darkness (John 1:15). The Children of God Almighty, are chosen by Him through His Son Jesus Christ to become houses of light, which gives true light to other sons, and daughters of God, who do not know better, and who are not able without God’s divine intervention through us to find their ways back home, where they truly belong; kingdom of Heaven which is within them (Luke 17:21)! I believe this to be one of the reasons why Jesus Christ, refers to us as the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16), and since that is who we are, then, we are the light-carriers of the Kingdom of Heaven from whence we come! Wherever we show up, darkness must begin to agitate, and eventually dissipate (Gen.1: 1-3)! What God requires from us is that if we happen to be in a church, or place, where we witness the prevalence of evil, it is our obligation to do or say something! Therefore, you are neither a light-carrier, nor one chosen to even come near the light of God Almighty, if you claim to have the mind of Christ, yet, you are able to look away without being convicted by the Holy Spirit, when a hireling or wolf is lurking around a sheep, or when a sheep or lamb is being devoured by a wolf (1 Sam.17:34-35).

We are called within the church to be “our brother’s keepers.” Therefore, when you see evil within the church, you are under Heavenly obligation to expose it through every godly means necessary as directed by the word of God, but most importantly, pray for God to take authority over that issue before you get the particular leader(s) involved, whom the Holy Spirit is leading you to talk to, and by so doing, the LORD will make the leader(s) discern the truth you are about to reveal to them as well as give them the wisdom to address the ugly situation, according to His will.

The danger of not exposing the evil you know that is happening in the church, or wherever you are, makes you unequally yoked together with those who are perpetuating it because instead of you reproving it, you are rather having fellowship with it by condoning the evil activities, as well as the environment where such is being perpetuated, thus, you are an accomplice to evil in the sight of God; Court of Heaven!

If there is no one within the church to talk to, then go to another church with a godly and bold leader, with whom you can discuss the issue! By so doing, you have washed your hands in innocence before God Almighty as you have called the attention of godly and authorized church leaders to that situation. Thenceforth, the burden of truth, now lies with them, since we are required by the scriptures to deal with any bone of contention within the church in the proper manner, which requires us to take such issues to the proper church authorities (Matthew 18: 15-17). After you have taken it to them to handle, it is now on them before God and man to make sure, that what was brought before them is looked into and that proper measures are taken to resolve the issue. Consequently, God must hold them accountable and not you, for the evil they did not properly handle, should they not take it upon themselves to solve the ugly situation brought to their attention.

Nonetheless, if you realize, that after you have brought the ungodly situation to the attention of the church authorities, that the only thing they end up doing, is to sweep it under the rug, or go into an ungodly handshake with the perpetrators, to the detriment of God’s name, or the innocent who is not in the position to stand up for themselves, then by the leading of the Holy Spirit, treat them as you would the spiritual uncircumcised; go into the world and expose them! Sometimes, the LORD God uses the people, or the institutions of the world to hold such shameless, and unrepentant wicked workers, accountable for their evil deeds! The police, lawyer, the court, worldly influential “YOUTUBERS!”- bringing it to the attention of people like Angelina Jolie, Kim Kardashian, Cardi B., Burna Boy, the list is endless! In my humble opinion, it is all about, If they refuse to hear and submit to what the Holy Spirit is telling them in the secret; within the church. Then, Child of God, you have the full permission from God Almighty, Whose church it is, to take it outside the church if the situation is dire and calls for extraordinary measures; don’t forget that these are the same people who believe that God is able to use anyone who they consider to be a modern-day Cyrus to save them, et voila! Let God use the world to put them to shame; Judge them! (Deut. 32:21, NIV.)

We are called, and chosen by God not to take sides with evil, but rather to oppose and expose it in every way possible (Eph. 5:11) as failure to do so, would automatically mean that we are empathizing with Satan, to the detriment of God’s name, nature, house, His children, and our souls!

When I talk about evil happening in the church, it is not targeted at a particular group of people, but rather, anyone who is boldly indulging in anything that brings shame to the name of God, and His church! This could be a woman in the church, working wickedness against the children of God. This could be a man in the church, who is all out for wickedness against God and His people. This could be anyone in the church with or without a title, including the main pastors of the church themselves!

A very brave woman that goes by the name, Tarana Burke started the “Me Too movement” which became more popular when in 2017, many women from the entertainment industry began to use it “#Me 2” to expose sexual misconduct, as well as to raise awareness via social media to their secret struggles as it pertains to the evil in the nature of sexual harassment and assault; an ugly culture which seemed to be embedded within their industry. I was indeed impressed how they did not only come together to hold the perpetrators accountable, but even more so, how they urged as many victims as possible to come out with their stories, and made it easy for them to be taken seriously. Another good example of the people of the world that we can copy from is how some none-violent black activists decided to come up with “#BLACK LIVES MATTER” to combat racism against black people in different sectors, which would obviously not have been as successful in the traction that it has received, without the involvement of the global community; multitudes of white men and women, who decided to become their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, many of whom are not even Christians, or at least not active Christians! Yet, these men and women, black and white, were and are bold enough when the occasion calls for it to call a spade a spade as they are waking up to the evil, which they witness being committed against their fellow human beings (e.g. George Floyd)! But it seems to me though, unless I am very much mistaken, that the global-church for now, is one of the institutions, where any form of evil that is spreading like wild fire within her, should neither be exposed, challenged, nor stopped, without many of those within her, fighting like wild lions, whomever the LORD God is using to shed light to their ugly issues- this is not supposed to be so! The church once had a wonderful and very trustworthy reputation, but that was before the wolves and hirelings infiltrated her, and it seems as though the genuine men, and women of God are either outnumbered, or many of them have surrendered themselves to the evil that is prevalent; If you can’t beat them, then, join them! I would love to invite as many as we are, who have not yet lost the ability to do so, to ponder for a moment on how aggressively determined our brothers and sisters of the LGBTQ community are, especially when it comes to getting and maintaining what they believe should be their rights; They stick together- men and women, black and white, as well as from all corners of the globe- they don’t play with themselves, but when it comes to the church of Christ, that is when the battle begins against Christ Himself; The only One Who owns the Church! Suddenly, we all begin to speak in diverse tongues, that are regrettably not even known by the Holy Spirit- tongues that the LORD God of Hosts Himself frowns at; When He says to us, “Repent from your evil ways!” We sharply reply, “It is written, thou shall not judge!” He tells us, “You cannot stand in the pulpit half naked, it is an abomination to Me, and you are thereby polluting My holiness!” And we scream back at Him, “Stop being religious, loosen up because things have changed!” When He says, “Stop the evil you have been into, lest a worse pandemic might come upon you all!” We reply Him, “Learn to forgive because we perceive You have a very judgemental and unforgiving spirit. Your heart is too cold for comfort, learn to love. Besides, we are no longer under the Law but under Grace- God is love!” Too many people in the church are now ever ready to challenge God Almighty, the very moment any rebuke comes from Him! Many people now believe, that if any message is not inspirational, motivational, as well as attached to material gains, it cannot be from the LORD- No wonder, why many people no longer obey the voice, and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, but rather, choose to follow and obey wolves in sheep’s clothings!

If we are to move forward to the Glory of God Almighty as the church of Christ here on earth, then we have to take another approach, contrary to the one, which we are used to for many years now. I am not talking about driving a vehicle as fast as we possibly can to get to a desired destination, but rather, to get to wherever God wants us to get to, how, when, but most importantly, with the Holy Spirit in the driver’s seat as opposed to anything and anyone else! If we are to see, and experience genuine revival like the kinds, those in the past generations witnessed, and not only preach, teach, prophesy, and write bestselling books about it. If we are to restore the trust that people once had for church, the genuine men, women of God, and in God Almighty through us, then, we have to come down from our high horses, and learn from the ways the people of the world do what they do! Since the church has become very comfortable and accomplished in copying the world, then allow me to say this, “If you have to copy someone, then, at least copy well!” I once heard a story about a particular pupil, who copied from another during a test. When the parents were invited by her teacher to discuss about the incident, the teacher explained to them that what made her very angry about the malpractice of their child, was not even the fact that she copied from the other pupil, but rather, it was the way she copied; She so copied everything in verbatim, that she even copied the first and the surname of the person, from whom she copied! What I am trying to say here is that we do not join the world in their evil practices, but rather, learn from them how to stick together for that which is commendable by God, just as our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ alluded to in the Scripture in His parable concerning the shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-15). In this parable, our Savior Jesus Christ is not teaching us to be as evil, and untrustworthy as the shrewd manager was, but rather, to be very intentional about our final state; He is literally telling us to observe the evil man and learn how intentional he was as he had his eyes and mind focused on how he could continue to live the lifestyle he was use to, even after his time as a manager in the company was over! The wicked man, would have nothing make him lose out; He maintained his dishonorable charachter, which led to his dismissal from a place where integrity was a requirement for promotion, as well as for employee longevity! Thus, if an evil manager should be that shrewd as not to lose out at the end of the day, then, we who are the children of the Kingdom of Heaven, while we do what we must do to survive here on earth, according to the the ways of God, we are expected to be even more shrewd than the people of the world, when it comes to us safe-guarding our souls, and our relationship with our Holy Father, by having our whole mind and focus on our final state; Where we are going to end up after all is said and done here on earth; our place of temporal residence! As children of God, we are to stick together against the very things that the Bible, which we so love to quote, teach and prophesy with, teaches us that are evil, and by no means the nature of our Holy God and Father; God of light, Holy God, God of truth, God of justice, God of pure love, God the only good Father and Shepherd, God the Helper of the helpless, the faithful God, merciful God, God of unmerited and undeserved favor, just to mention but a few of His attributes.

I pray, thirst and hope for the real revival, but the sad truth is that revival cannot come without men and women who are willing to sacrifice for God; I am not talking about what some in the pulpit, or pews understand as sacrifice; Sacrifice acceptable unto men! No, absolutely not, child of God, I am alluding to the kind, which God says is acceptable unto Him! I pray that God Almighty will raise up men and women who are willing to become such vessels of genuine revival again because we once had them, but in our time, they seem to be extinct! I do believe, that I understand to some extent why they seem to be extinct; People’s priorities, as well as their understanding of whom God is, has been seriously altered! Most people now define God according to their needs, and according to what they have been able to accomplish for themselves, or for others. Their furthest understanding of God seems to be the kind of businesses they are into, their human connections, and according to what they seem to be selling or what they believe sells at a particular point in time. Many people have re-created God in their minds, but the folly of such invention of “God” is, that it is no longer the unchangable God Almighty that you are presenting to yourself and to people, but rather, it’s “your own god!” Selah…..

Child of God, I want you to know, that in case the content of this devotional does not reflect who you are and who your church is, it does not mean that the Holy Spirit is a liar as there are a lot of people, who are struggling behind closed does because of the things going on in their churches, or against a child of God that they know is going through such an ugly situation within the church. So, if it does not speak to you, then address it all the same, so as to be a vessel through whom God could use to reach someone, who such message might be speaking to. All we want is for those who have been hurt in the church to be healed, and not to pretend that such does not happen anywhere in the world! What we also want to achieve is that people will not have to come to the point, where they are forced by un-addressed evil activities in the church to detest genuine men and women of God because of the experiences they’ve had and can not be deceived to believe it never happened.

I thank God for the many men and women of God, who have been shedding light to this situation, and doing the best they can to heal those who have been broken within the church, May God bless you in Jesus precious name, amen!

Child of God, till next week monday…

Jesus loves you!

Written by Susan Ikeokwu