THE CHILDREN’S BREAD
– Weekly devotional –
26th. December 2022
SCRIPTURE:
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
Isaiah 9: 6-7, NKJV.
JESUS CHRIST is the Savior of the world and for Him to be our Savior, He must be whom we are not. This is so because if there was no need for our salvation, then we would never have needed a Savior; Someone Who didn’t need to be saved Himself! CHRIST is Favor made flesh, and of the supply of His favor towards us who believe in Him, there is indeed, no end. Today, if we like to accept it or not, the name of a woman called Mary, rings bell in our ears when we talk about Jesus Christ. The names of the twelve Apostles, are always on our lips when we talk about Jesus, and why is it so? Because, they were directly connected with Christ when He was here on earth in flesh as He was Favor in human form.
To have Jesus Christ in your life as your personal LORD and Savior is better than having money, and fame because Jesus is the culmination of everything wonderful, that you could ever wish for. You can have money, fame and power, but no genuine peace. He is the PRINCE OF PEACE, and since this is the truth, then, I would safely assume that He has a Father, who is the KING OF ALL PEACE! Genuine peace is not the one the world gives as stated in the Bible: My Peace I give to you, and My Peace I leave with you, not as the world giveth do I give to you. It is not the one that your father, mother, siblings, spouse, friend, money, and job gives, but rather, it is the one that comes from CHRIST. It was the presence of the PRINCE OF PEACE even in Mary’s womb, that eventually gave Joseph the confidence, to still accept her despite what the glaring facts about her were. It is the kind of Peace, that makes you stay calm even when everything around you seem to be falling apart, and that is one of the reasons for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ; To bring true peace into our spirits and souls. He was born to bring peace into a world of wickedness, where it is quite challenging to find true peace, that is able to comfort the righteous souls of those who are the children of God, and for this very reason, regardless of how bad things are around us, we are not phased because of the Prince of peace, Who is for-ever enthroned within us. Do we get shaken and unhappy at times of despair, Sister Susan? Absolutely, child of God, just like Jesus showed us in “the garden of suffering” as I would love to term the garden of Gethsemane, yet, because He knew that His happiness, joy, and peace was not in the hands of Satan, the world, or His disciples, consequently, He drew strength and peace from the Kingdom of Heaven within Him.
I have a pastor friend who told me about this very wealthy Politician, whose name I would not mention of course, but whom he went to pray for some years ago. From his account, this powerful and wealthy politician was unable to stay in his luxury villa; He was running away from His own home because of very dark, and un-explainable mysteries, which he was experiencing in it and had absolutely no power to prevail over, hence, politician-Bro had to zap from his own home! Now child of God, do you see what I mean? That although, he has much money, power, fame, and bodyguards, yet, he had no genuine peace, which is the only thing that casts out fear? Jesus is perfect peace and love, Who casts out fear and prevails for us over the very things, that we are not able to overcome as human beings.
In the Book of Isaiah as stated above, the Scripture tells us about Jesus, that of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end! This implies that He is a Ruler, Whose rulership has no end, unlike the rulership of men, which must come to an end someday and somehow, regardless of how much and how long they strive to hold on to power!
He is THE WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR: Before Jesus left this earth, He promised us through His Apostles, that He wasn’t going to leave us orphans, but rather, He would send us another Helper, who would be our Teacher, our Comforter, our Witness of Truth as He would bring to our remembrance everything Jesus had taught us and keeps teaching us, and that is the HOLY SPIRIT, Whom God, the Holy Father, promised His Son, Jesus to release to us after His finished work here on earth. Regardless of how much of the Bible you have studied, if your heart is far from Jesus, then, you know nothing at all. It does not even matter if you are a professor of theology, and a quadruple doctor in divinity, you cannot have the Holy Spirit without fully receiving and submitting to Jesus Christ as it is possible to have, and be all these things, yet, your heart is far from Him! You can be the most prominent pastor, politician, business mogul, prayer-warrior, prophet or prophetess, yet, as long as you have not received Jesus, not just, by confessing Him with your lips, but also with your heart, then, you have nothing at all.
I have been to doctors at times, when I needed their counsel, but I must confess that regardless of how wonderful their counsels were and will always be appreciated, they could, and would never top the counsel of God Almighty through His Son Jesus Christ, Who is our Wonderful Counsellor. I have had to come out of a doctor’s office, where I was given medication to take for a particular ailment that was really nagging me, when the Counsellor Who is seated within me, whispered to me in a still, small, but clear voice, “chunk that thing in the bin!” and as I did that, the pain or ailment disappeared with me having to remember only some weeks later, that I once had that issue, yet, there has also been other times, when the counsels of doctors have been used by God Almighty to help me overcome whatever it was, that I was grappling with. Therefore, the bottom-line is that there are situations that even human aids, regardless of how proficient they truly are in their fields of specialities cannot help us, but God alone.
I have received money from certain individuals, only to be told by my Wonderful Counsellor: Don’t hold on to that money, give it to the church, give it to the poor, etc.
I have received beautiful gifts from certain individuals, just to have my Wonderful Counsellor, tell me: That is a gift meant to afflict you, throw it away at once!
I have had Him tell me: To confirm to you that what I told you about that person, or thing is true, try this out and check what would happen, and as I did that, they would react in the exact manner He had foretold. Child of God, you mus know, that regardless of how HIS counsels make us feel, they are life-giving, as well as life-saving. Therefore, let us embrace HIM as our WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR.
There are so many benefits not just in the death of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, but also in His birth as there would never be any death without a birth, thus, the unquestionable need for us to celebrate both; THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST and THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST! Even if the name is not appropriate, or we feel that pagans introduced it, my question is, what is your personal relationship with what you are celebrating? Even if pagans are celebrating on that day, what are you celebrating, child of God? Are you celebrating along with them or are you celebrating your Savior? Do you also refuse to celebrate your birthday or those of your loved ones, because one wicked person, a Juju-man, or woman was born on that same day, and publicly celebrates his birth on that day? We are not going to allow Satan, and his greedy Grinch to steal every form of Joy from us: We are only to know WHO, WHAT, HOW, and WHY we are celebrating!
Child of God, that brings me to the topic of money; we are not foolish to believe that as children of God living in this material world, that we have no need of money. Of course, we need money to solve problems here on earth, and without it, life can be quite difficult to navigate, but the truth of the matter still remains, that with or without money, true peace and favor only comes from Jesus Christ, hence, if you have Jesus, then you have the kind of favor, which money cannot buy. You cannot buy the favor of Jesus Christ with your money, but with Jesus Christ, you are able to get the kind of favor, which your money would never ever buy for you! This is so because Jesus Christ is The Favor-gift to us from our Holy Father, for the redemption of our spirits, and souls.
“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”
Luke 1:31,
Now child of God, this was the conversation the woman, named Mary, was having with the holy angel of God, by the name Gabriel, who brought such mind-boggling, and never heard before news to her, in whose womb the Messiah was conceived, and through whose womb, He came into this world.
I love the reply Mary gave to Him, which proved that she was a human being, just like you and I, who from a human point of view, was fully aware of the impossibility of such an occurrence:
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am still a virgin?”
Luke, 1:34,
In order words, Mary was trying to lecture the angel of God’s presence who brought news from God Almighty to her, about how impossible such a thing is. She was trying to tell him, her truth, “I understand that where you come from, things happen ASAP, but where I come from and dwell, things don’t just happen like that as there are procedures to follow, and….!”
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 1:18,
Child of God, the reality is that even if Mary had not believed the report of the LORD, just like the High priest Zechariah, found it hard to believe the news about the conception of his own son, Prophet John the Baptist, nonetheless, because of the faithfulness of God, and because He had already chosen her out of all the other virgins in the whole world, even before the foundation of the world, He would still have favored her anyway! It is so because our Holy God, is the only faithful One, and by no means a polygamist, and that is, regardless of how the world, even from time immemorial has been trying to alter the true nature of God Almighty; The truth about our Holy God, is that He is not a polygamist. If God Almighty is a Polygamist, then He would never have made them, A male and A female, therefore, we who are the true followers of Jesus Christ, and who are under the new covenant, are to reject polygamous relationships, either made legal or behind the scene as it is adultery, and idolatry! I have never been, and have also never gone into any polygamous marital agreement, at least none, that was made know to me, neither do I desire to be in one, but I can only imagine the unfaithfulness, and bondage attached to it as it is all about a polygamist, getting what he wants and when he wants it, else, he would sneak into the bed-room of the other woman. A polygamist will, either subtly or directly constantly remind you: If you don’t act like I would want you to, then, another is waiting to do what I want, how I want it, and when I want it, but our Holy God is not like that, never was and never will be. A polygamist will always make you know he has other options to you, thus, you are always to be on your toes, walking around on eggshells as not to offend them, lest, with their ever-ready itchy feet, they run off to whichever option they decide to choose to spend their time with, hence, such a lifestyle, relationship, and marital agreement is a very unfaithful, and unholy one, while our Holy God, and Bride-groom is a very faithful, and Holy One.
Having said that, will they be destroyed for being polygamous? I do not believe so, but is it the original and perfect will of God Almighty for His children? Absolutely not as it is a breeding ground for most of the worst kinds of evil, and pollution.
Child of God, did it escape your notice, that before God began to use Mary, He intentionally put her in a very controversial position, thereby, making her a very controversial vessel, who He was going use to bring into this world, the wonderful controversy of the kingdom of Heaven made flesh; JESUS CHRIST? Heaven is controversial to everything earth stands for, and vice versa! When I am talking about the controversy which has to do with Jesus Christ, I am talking about the presence of God Almighty, that shakes the foundations of that which is, in order to expose, challenge, oppose, and shake off those things that be, which are ungodly, for the things which are Godly to be made manifest and to remain! Consequently, child of God, Why should people be so shocked as to how controversial Jesus Christ was when, even his grand entry into this world was the most controversial occurrence that has ever been and that will ever be? Think about this made-up scenario with me, if you will, and what you would’ve done if you were Joseph, the step-father of Jesus Christ; You have been eyeing this girl for a long time. Pursuing her like wild fire, and you eventually succeed in engaging her as a virgin, but while you are still waiting for the wedding day, in order, to do the deed, you see her stomach protruding and upon wanting to know what she could have swallowed, or the role she was favored to play in the village drama club, she has the audacity to tell you that she had been impregnated by the “Holy Spirit”, and the child she had conceived was going to save the world, including you, Monsieur! Upon closer examination, you find out, that girl was not playing any drama; She was serious! What would you think of her, and what would you do with her? I do believe the whole world would have heard you loudly lamenting, and screaming: Foul play! You would have called all her kindred, as well as the foes of her kindred together, and before them, called her all kinds of names, which are both in and not yet in the book, before you eventually take the final walk and never to look back again. I do believe, that had it happened to anyone of us, Mary’s explanation would not fly, even if God would have come to us in a dream like He did with Joseph, to brief us on the matter. As a matter of truth, a part of our aforementioned actions would be understandable as this is only once in a life’s time promise, which was made to only one person, whom God Almighty created and prepared for it: Mary! Does this mean that we are to worship her? Absolutely not, else, we would also be expected to worship the siblings of Jesus Christ, His apostles, and the formidable prophets of God, like Moses, Abraham, Deborah, Elijah, etc. If we are cautioned not to worship the Holy angels of God, who are before the presence of God, day and night, then we would be committing idolatry should we worship Mary, or any created being. You are to give them the honor that is due them for having found favor in the sight of God Almighty, but never to worship them by giving them the praise, and adoration, which should only be reserved for God Almighty, alone.
NOTE: This is not for us to do things and live in a way that is ungodly-controversial and then blame it on God as His controversy instead of our human weaknesses, which we have to repent of and openly confess as such. There was a genuine reason why God Almighty did not decide to use you or me to bring Jesus into the world, which means that we were not created and prepared by Him for such an assignment, thus, what I am doing here is not giving myself the privilege to condemn anyone, but rather, for the salvation of our souls, I have to let us hear all these things (I decided to cut out most of the writing for some other time), whenever the LORD God puts it in my heart as there is definitely someone, somewhere who needs this message, if not today, then in the future. My issue, may not be having children out of wed-lock, or whatever it is, that your issues may be, but rather something else, thus, we all have something that we are carrying along with us, which without a Savior and genuine repentance, none of us can truly stand before God, or successfully walk that less travelled narrow road till the very end, which leads to eternal life.
For specific reasons, which I would not consider as negative, and for some days now, I have decided to do the bare minimum. I gradually began Christmas shopping a week before Christmas as time allowed me, just to have enough time to accomplish all I had planned for Christmas, but you see child of God, although, I have planned so many things that I would do this Christmas, yet, most of it had to be cancelled, and still, I have the peace of Jesus within me, which assures me, that: At least you now have quantum time to ponder on what the birth of Christ really means to you, instead of being busy cooking, wrapping gifts, entertaining visitors, or visiting, and truth be told, I have been doing just that.
WHAT DOES JESUS CHRIST MEAN TO ME? He means everything to me. He has done more for me than any human being would ever do. There has been times I had intentionally fallen into trouble, with the mindset: Let me see how Jesus can fish me out of this one, too! Nonetheless, He always did, mostly not in ways my human understanding would expect Him to, and for this reason, I cannot but remain loyal to Him too. I love to receive and also give presents like everyone else, and although, I received wonderful presents from my children this Christmas, I would still not have been upset had I not received anything at all, I wouldn’t be unhappy about it- For real child of God, although in the past, I would have literally killed for not receiving any😊.
I am going to stop this week’s devotional right here, and with this, from the bottom of my heart, I wish you sons and daughters of God Almighty, a very happy, joyous, blessed, Godly-fun celebration, and ein guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr as Germans would sweetly say, which means: Slide into the new year with ease.. and I decree, that it shall be so for us all, in the most powerful name of the only Prince of true Peace; Jesus Christ, amen.
Child of God, be happy and stay blessed
Jesus loves you!
Sister Susan!