Devotional Details

THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

– Weekly Devotional –

17^th. October 2022

SCRIPTURE:

“As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.”

1 Sam. 17:23, ESV.

Child of God, this week’s devotional is about the fact that we are called to be spiritual warriors because we serve and belong to a God, Who is a Man of war, thus, we who belong to Him are warriors for the kingdom of Heaven, here on earth! As warriors for the kingdom of Heaven, we do what warriors do; We war! As we all know, one of the major differences between spiritual and physical warfare is, that in the physical warfare, the weapons are tangible, while in spiritual warfare, we war with our prayers; We battle by the word of God as we can never prevail over wicked spirits with earthly weapons, but rather, with spiritual weapons. Nonetheless, we are reminded that even as we pray, that the battle is not ours but the LORD’s. With that in mind, as we pray, we have to understand that God is the One Who has the final say over the matter that we are praying about, thus, we must believe that as long as our requests or petitions are in alignment with the will of God for our lives, or the lives of those we are praying for, our prayers has been heard, and answered.

Sister Susan, yes, I hear you, but why does it sometimes seem as though God does not answer my prayers? I believe and I have prayed but it seems as though God, still did not hear me. Sure, He did, Child of God, but sometimes, just not the way you anticipated He would answer you. On a particular occasion, I asked God for something specific, and waited for a long time for it, but it ended up that after a given date, I did not receive it. I got disappointed and eventually prayed again for the same thing, but instead of telling me that He would give me what I asked for, He told me that He had already blessed me with what I requested for, and when He told me how, I realized that He had, indeed, but not in the way I anticipated! The bottom-line is that He gave me what I asked for, but in the way He knew that I should get it. Which means, in another form; In a way that was not just more useful to me, but also for the good of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, to the Scripture for this week’s devotional, David heard Goliath’s taunts and insults against the children of God, and he couldn’t stand it! David realized that it was not just an insult to the armies of Israel but worse than that, it was an insult to the God of the armies of Israel, Who is actually the Man of war!!! Therefore, David did not get into the battle to save the Israelites, the main reason he got involved in the battle, that no one invited him into, was for the sake of the name of the God of Israel! There is no true spiritual warrior of the kingdom of Heaven that counts his life, or reputation as anything, the very moment, the name of the LORD God Almighty is on the line. One of the characteristics of a true spiritual warrior, is that they are never afraid to walk alone. Why this? With too many followings; Friends, people, counsellors, etc., it becomes more difficult in the chatter, to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, thus, it is easier to forsake your true calling, nature, and assignment because you will have too many people giving you counsels, and some of them may be well meaning people, who are genuinely trying to help you to the best of their abilities, while others are those who are intentionally giving you the counsels of deception, just to lure you into the trap that they have secretly set, to destroy you. Therefore, child of God, in as much as there is safety in the multitude of many counsellors, we have to be careful who those counsellors are, and for what purpose they are counselling us. It is all about testing all spirits, not because we are bitter, vengeful, not loving, unsubmissive, rebellious, or unforgiving, absolutely not! Despite the word of God telling us that love is the greatest of all the commandments, nonetheless, it never left us unprotected by adding, that we must test all spirits!

As followers of Christ, we do not indulge in physical killing, lynching and so forth as Jesus had taught us, by the way He rebuked Peter (John 18:10-11), that by such means, we do not take territories from Satan. The Bible teaches us that we are in battle with demonic principalities, powers, and the RULERS of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6). Such demonic entities can never be overpowered by verbal insults, fistfight, physical lynching, killing, money, etc.

There is something about weak people that God loves very much; They have no personal power to brag about, except the power of another. In the case of the battle king in waiting– David, it was the power of the God of Israel! It was not the power of his earthly father or mother. It was not his financial strength. It was not his connections, or position. It was also not the multitude of armies that he could have counted on for back-up, none of that was relevant as he went into the battle field all alone, in order to contend with a notoriously ruthless warrior, who was battle tested and bloodthirsty. He went into the battle against this demonic principality as Goliath certainly was, with the armies of Israel fearfully standing by, and watching. Although, they too were battle tested, nonetheless, they could not dare the giant that they knew would have munched them all, had they tried to go against him in any kind of way! Consequently, they stood like spectators, watching to see the giant eat David up like one would popcorn, and afterwards, use his hands as tooth picks. What they did not know is, that although they were all warriors by their own standards, but Goliath could only be defeated by David alone because of the kind of training that David had, which they did not have! David was not an angel, neither did he worship angels. David believed in the One and only true God Almighty, Who called, chose, anointed, trained, and sent him into the battlefield to do what He was born to do- To be a battle king, and not just that, of course! He was a child of God, whom God made to be a fellow servant with angels here on earth, and like David, so are we all, who love God, and are called according to His purpose.

These warriors were trained to wear armors, carry physical swords, and operated as an organized collective force in the battle-field, David on the other hand, was never trained to wear any form of bullet proof, or armor. He was never trained to carry such swords as he was the sword of God in human form. Oh, pardon me; We take into consideration that Jesus is the WORD, and the word of God is the sword of the spirit, nonetheless, when God anoints someone for a particular assignment, He is also able to give the person the spiritual weapons that goes along with the assignment- That person becomes the weapon, that God would use to accomplish what He wants to do- That particular assignment. David was not trained to battle in an organized company, but rather, he was trained in the Jungle, the wilderness if you will, and his opponents were gorillas, Jackals, hyenas, Lions, bears, Leopards, cheetahs, snakes, crocodiles, name it! How can you be organized in a jungle fight? It is only the one trained for a cage or jungle fight, that could have taken Goliath down and out! Had David agreed to fight with their weapons and their armors, he would have been killed on the battlefield, right in front of them all, and his own brothers, as well as the king of Israel, King Saul, would have celebrated his death, taunting his corpse, by calling him a wanna-be-warrior! King Saul almost convinced David to put on His armor, or mantle for battle, but the LORD God, Who chose David for Himself, would not allow the king’s armor and weapons to fit David. I do believe that the LORD GOD used it to speak to David, not to use what belonged to them. Child of God, think about it, had David defeated Goliath wearing the armor of king Saul, let’s bear in mind, that this was a king who was ungodly competitive, whose jealousy had no limit, and who would rather die than to give David the honor that was his due. He would have exalted his armor; Declaring that the battle against Goliath was won through his armor, and not God through David! Thus, it was God’s battle through David. It was God’s victory through David and the reward could only have been David’s alone, while the whole glory goes to God Almighty, alone.

Let us for a moment consider little kids and how they love to boast about how powerful their dads are; In the eyes of adults, the stories of children about their fathers are considered bogus and flat-out lies, yet, it is the truth from the perspective of the kid telling the bogus story, about how powerful his father is, how her father killed 500 lions and munched 700 bears all at the same time, and as a result of such great duty, and accomplishment, his dad couldn’t meet up to read him the usual bed time stories a day before, etc! Kids love heroes, even if they are liars, at least they do not know they are.

Child of God, lately, I’ve been carried away by Bruce Lee’s fighting skills, so much so, that whenever I have any little time, I would just go through his videos. Wow, that guy was way too good a fighter, even if he was just acting! I used to love watching him as a kid, but watching him again is just wondaaaful! I can’t stop grinning while watching him perform. He had it all; The charisma, the skill, the power, the empathy, the insatiable quest for justice, as well as the ability to control his power, and emotions- Just wow, I am still blown away! Well, let me come back from the land of the Dreamers! Mr. Bruce Lee, was a formidable warrior in his field, a force that was indeed to be reckoned with in his time, and is still strongly embedded in our memories- He was just too good, and way ahead of his time! Nonetheless, although he was very fast, and could accurately land those punches and kicks, yet, like most people, he did not know when his time to depart this earth had come, and he never even felt it on the horizon. This was a guy whose focus was always spot on, that notwithstanding, he was taken unawares at the time that he should have been most focused. What I am trying to make us understand here is this: The only true Warrior that can never lose focus of anything and at all times, is God Almighty- No one else! For this reason, as we abide in Christ and do what we must to survive here on earth, let us never forget that this is not our home, we are only sojourners here on earth! Consequently, we must learn to live our lives like unto the LORD, and yes, as though, today may be our last, here on earth- That is how, regardless of what is going on, might still happen to us and around us, we are still able to always remain laser focused!

Our God is much more than a Hero, more than any warrior! Our God is the Helper of the helpless. He is the One who adopts those who have no one, and becomes their good and faithful Father! Our God gives strength to those who are weak as the bible declares, that when we are weak, we are nonetheless, strong in Christ (2 Corinthians 12:10-11). For this reason, Apostle Paul boasted even more-so in his weaknesses, than he did in his human strength and achievements!

Now, what did Apostle Paul refer to as his weakness? There are many things that could have been his weakness as he worked with God and for God Almighty, just like we all have weaknesses that we grapple with as no one is good except the LORD God! Consequently, his weakness could be any, or some of the following:

• Sin, that he did not want to be identified with, yet, he hardly could over-come it in his own strength.
• Another thing that might have been the weakness of this great Apostle, could have been not having the kind of financial leverage that some others may have had, which they were using to boast against him.
• Having any form of physical disability could have been the weakness he was battling with, that was being used by those, who did not have to contend with such, but would use it as a point of reference, to make him feel as though he was not that powerful man, that God was using.
• That he was not married could be another weakness that those who were married and felt they should disqualify him by such, were using against him, thus, they could have told him that his marital status disqualified him from being used by God, regardless of what his mighty testimonies were!
• That he was once a chief-sinner, thus, even though he had fully repented from his old ways of living life, his accusers would always reference it as to make him believe, that he was the least of them, and that regardless of all that God was using him to do, and even the experiences He had with God on his way to Damascus, should mean nothing as his past life-style would never be forgotten by them.

• His physical appearance could also be among the list of the things which the super-handsome men could have used to try to disqualify him from attaining the title, or position that God had given to Him without their permission.
• There could be other reasons. We do not know exactly what it was, but all we know is what he told us; That he desperately wanted to be relieved of it, yet, the LORD promised him that His grace was sufficient for him.

The bible teaches us, that it is impossible for us to war against demonic entities in human beings, and defeat them with physical weapons as devils neither understand love, nor feel pain through physical weapons; They are ambassadors of the kingdom of hatred, thus, your love will only infuriate their spirits, which would make them to hate you, even much more than they initially did, although the human beings that they are inhabiting, may be smiling, laughing and hugging you in the physical realm. If we choose to use physical weapons against devils, then, the most we are guaranteed to achieve, if at all, is only a temporary relief from our problems! Our weapons to defeat them are not carnal, but according to the Scriptures, they are mighty through God to the defeating of satanic strongholds, be these strongholds within us, within other individuals, places, or thing (2 Cor. 10:4). Consequently, by insulting, or trading words with demons within human vessels, you will never prevail over the spirits that are at work within them, rather, what we use to expose, frustrate and overpower them in the long run, regardless of how long the battle lasts, is the Power of God Almighty, through the authority we have received from Him in the name of His Son, and our Savior Jesus Christ, and by the power of His Holy Spirit, Who dwells in us.

Let’s bring to remembrance what our Savior Jesus Christ taught us as it relates to how we are to understand battles with spirits that confront us in this physical plane; He admonished us not to be afraid of those who can kill our flesh and after that they are not able to do more, but that the only One, Whom we should truly dread, is the One, Who is not only able to kill the body, but also destroy the spirit and the soul, not in earthly fire, but eternal fire (Luke 12:4-5).

This is so true because spirits do not die; They do not have a birth date, nor a death date. Spirits are immortal as they live forever but the question, we should all have at the back of our minds is this; Immortal where? Because every spirit has an eternal abode, a final destination; Heaven or hell. For such reasons Jesus said, “In my Father’s house, there are many mansions, if it were not so, I would not have told you.” Since that is the truth base on whom this information came from; The Messiah Himself, that there are many mansions in His Father’s house, and His Father’s House as we all know is where His Father dwells, and from whence He came. Then, it implies that the mansions are to be filled by those, whose eternal abode they are; The spirits of just people made perfect, but the same does not hold for demonic spirit who rejected God as their eternal abode is somewhere befitting for them (Rev.20:10)!

Child of God, do you feel weak or are you considered weak? Then you are eligible for God’s show of strength.

Are you alone, have nothing to boast of, and have nobody to help you? Then, you are exactly the very person, whom God wants to use for His glory because He is the Helper, and He want you to know Him as such!

Have you come to your wits end, where it feels as if all hope is lost, and the enemy has you hemmed-in? Then, you are a candidate, that God Almighty is willing to use to get His glory as you will never forget, that it is not your strength or that of anyone else, but His, alone.

So, today, call out to Him, the only Powerful God, Who gives strength to the weak, and ask Him to strengthen and use you for His glory!

HOW DO I DO THAT?

• Grab your Bible and make it a routine to study the word of God, but not just searching the Scriptures in order to be able to show yourself approved to people, that you know every word in it as that does not give life, neither does it impress Satan, who is vast in the word of God, but rather, to have a relationship with The God of the Word, instead of having it with the written word of God. It is the Spirit of the Word of God that gives life, not the written word per se. Thus, if You are filled with “The Holy Spirit of the Word”, HE will make the written words to come alive for you to be able to understand what is written, and also, for that which is written to come alive within you, even if you do not fully understand the written words.
• Furthermore, you must have a prayer life, as well as trying the best you can as a human being, to have a godly lifestyle- Don’t mind those, who urge you to live any kind of way as the grace of God according to them, has taken care of it all- That is false! The Grace of God does not give you the license to be comfortable in an ungodly lifestyle, just like the Preacher of Grace, Apostle Paul, was not comfortable with whatever it was, that he experienced as his weakness or infirmities, which he so desperately wanted to be rid of, till the LORD encouraged him!

What I personally learned from the Apostle of grace; Paul, was that despite the truth that he embodied, which is that the blood of Jesus Christ, had been shed for him, he still had the need to go to God, to help him get rid of whatever it was, that he was struggling with, and he kept doing that till God encouraged him. But my frustration with many of those who teach and quote him, is that they do not do like Paul did, but they only claim the encouragement, which God gave to Paul, thereby, I am being reminded of the seven sons of Sceva!

PRAYER

1. My Father God, I come before You today as Your own child, acknowledging that I am weak. Have mercy on me and strengthen me in You.
2. Almighty God, I believe that when I am weak You are strong for me. Be my strength O LORD God Almighty.
3. Omnipotent God, I want You to give me the strength that will glorify You.
4. My Hero-God, Strengthen me against Satan, his cohorts and their evil works.
5. Most powerful God, as you strengthened David against Goliath, strengthen me against every spiritual and physical Goliath of my life and grant me resounding and permanent victory over them.
6. Holy Father, make me always remember that the glory belongs to You and not to me.
7. I thank You, good and faithful Father, for granting me my request in Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

Child of God, stay blessed, and happy!

Jesus loves you!

Written by Susan Ikeokwu