Devotional Details

THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

23^rd. MAY 2022

“Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

Matthew 27:40, NLT.

Child of God, have you ever taken enough time in quietness, just to ponder, or meditate on how Jesus Christ must have felt, when He was on His Cross, and heard and saw the multitude taunting Him? I have, many times! How many of us would have still kept staying on that cross after we have seen, heard, felt and experienced the wickedness of people; mocking us, when we are fully aware, that it would take us absolutely nothing to come down from that position, to prove a point to them? I do believe, that all of us would have jumped down immediately! Jesus on the other hand, could have come down even at the last second if He wanted, but He chose rather not to as He could not afford to have made that choice because He knew exactly what the ultimate fate of the same people mocking Him would have been! He knew that them staying alive, to work, get married, receive breakthroughs, have their careers, have fun, and go on about their businesses, and eventually make it to Heaven, etc., would solely depend on Him staying on that cross, and refusing to come down from it, regardless of how bad it hurts, and how much shame He had to endure! He must have kept hearing His Holy Spirit still small voice saying to Satan; “I KNOW WHO I AM; I AM THE SAVIOR, YET, I WILL NOT COME DOWN!”

This is the irony of life, that sometimes, the very people who are fighting you, are the ones, who you love the most! It is indeed a deep mystery that the very people, who are on hot pursuit to kill you, are those who need you the most to stick around for their good. It is a puzzle, which is by all standards very difficult to solve, that the very people crucifying you are the people, who you have been sent to deliver, or stand in gap for! From a human perspective, it really doesn’t make any sense how the person, who owns the golden hen, would be so intent on trying to kill it as to stop it from being seen as the golden hen! It is indeed startling, that the enemy and those working for him, do not have any problem if you are the wooden or bronze hen, but God help you, if you have been created by Him to be a silvery, or golden hen! That is when all hell breaks loose against you, as you would suddenly begin to see different ugly spirits, manifesting in and through people, even the finest of them! In some cases, you may begin to see your ancestors from 10,000 generations-past, re-surfacing to offer you, all the riches of the world, should you heed their advice to come down from the position which God Almighty has assigned you to; riches, which they themselves in their life-times here on earth never even had. That notwithstanding, peradventure you still maintain your stand for God, precious child of God Almighty, then, don’t be shocked on the next phase, which is where they begin to aggressively warn you against, either becoming, or remaining on the part of the Godly CHOSEN! Child of God, even in such a case where they eventually decide to up the ante against you in such a demonically unprecedented level, you must take the same stand, that Jesus Christ, Who is our first, out of many brethren, as well as the same stand, which was taken by those whom God Almighty chose before you, which is, “DO YOUR WORST, I WILL NOT COME DOWN!”

ARE YOU STILL WONDERING WHY WE LOVE CHRIST LIKE WE DO? THEN, LEMME REMIND YOU…..

I can’t thank God, our Holy Father enough for Jesus Christ, with regards to His obedience to His assignment; for remaining on that Cross, enduring the pain of the Cross, and even called the bluff of shame, which was an integral part of His Cross!

Truly, truly, I can’t just love Jesus enough! I give Him all of me, and even more if there is more of me to give, as I still cannot fathom what He did for me on the cross! Let’s think about it; in many cases, we can hardly tolerate people who are familiar to us for too long, the very moment they begin to act out of order, yet, He decided to die for us, who were estranged from Him. He died for people who hated, mocked, rejected, and reviled Him! He gave Himself up for people who felt He was insane, and foolish! He died for sinners like you and I, and for no reward whatsoever here on earth; not for silver, or for gold, not for tithes, seeds, or for offering, but rather, He offered Himself up for us as a Holy tithe unto God, the holy Father! He offered Himself up for us as a Holy offering, sacrifice acceptable unto God, the Holy Father!

I am not talking about someone, who died because a wicked person beat them to death, or someone who died because an occultist as they love to do, performed some rituals to terminate their lives. I am not talking about someone who died due to the wickedness of a racist police officer. I am also not talking about someone who died as a result of drug over-dose, or someone who died due to illness, neither am I talking about someone who committed suicide, or who died because of old age, etc. On the contrary, I am talking about a Man, who knew from the very beginning, that the reason why He was born, was because He was sinless, and had to die for the sins of the world, in order to REDEEM us, who are sinners! Someone, who knew that the burden of the world rested on His shoulders, and as a result of such assignment, He had to endure what others could not, and still cannot endure – That is who I am talking about – Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Our Savior, and Redeemer! I can imagine His determination as He kept on replying Satan with the everlasting, and most powerful Holy still small voice, “I WILL NOT COME DOWN!”

If there is a part of the Bible that I do not enjoy reading, and with intentionality, try as often as I can, just to skip over, then, it is the Bible portions on the suffering of Jesus Christ; Suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal, and all the way, till His burial. If I am honest, I can’t say, that I have read those parts of the Scriptures more than a few times as I am always emotionally wretched each time I tried, although, they are in fact, the most important parts of the Bible, as well as His assignment here on earth, but it’s just hard for me to deal with – So, I try to walk around them, or skip over them when I can – What a very smart or intelligent Christian I am for doing that, right?! (not really.)

MOSES had the choice to have rejected the calling of God upon his life as a deliverer, but he didn’t. Consequently, it certainly cost him the very things, which he had always put his trust in; the riches of Pharaoh’s house, as well as his once perfect reputation! Moses had his assignment, and regardless of what others said about him, he too, refused to come down. I now understand what Moses kept telling Satan with the help of the Voice of God Almighty in Whose service He was, “I WILL NOT COME DOWN!”

ELIJAH had the choice to have turned down the calling of God upon his life as a deliverer, thus, to confront the abomination against GOD Almighty, which was prevalent in his day, in order to deliver Israel from idolatry, and just like Moses, he did not reject it either, though he could have done so if he wanted, as Our Holy God is not a tyrant. Thus, it cost him certain things, which he could also have loved to partake in; social life, wife, children, riches, etc. Elijah carried out his assignment with an A-class medal as he never came down from there, regardless of the fact, that he went into a cave, or sat under the juniper tree! To criticize Prophet Elijah, regardless of which dispensation we are now under, you would first, have to wear his shoes, and walk half a mile in them, and if you survive it, then we can argue about if he messed up or not! I now understand what Elijah must have told Satan all the way, till he got carried up into Heaven by chariots and horses of fire – First class ticket to Heaven a.k.a. Heavenly convoy, “I WILL NOT COME DOWN!

NEHEMIAH went through a similar ordeal when he was restoring the walls of Jerusalem, and the enemies of progress, who worked hand-in-hand with the anti-progress spirits, demanded that he came down from the wall, but Nehemiah being fully aware of their evil plots and plan to stop the work of the LORD; an assignment for the good of the kingdom of Heaven and for the good of God’s own city, thus, he refused to come down and attend to their deceptive agendas. Sanballat, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the arab, were all in the service of the evil one, as a result, their assignments were completely opposite of that of Nehemiah, as they were assigned by Satan, in order to conspire, hinder, and delay the good work, as well as to make sure, that the wall is kept in a dilapidated condition. Furthermore, with regards to how evil they were, if all else failed with regards to their evil plans, or heart’s desire to stop Hezekiah’s work, then, their last option would have been, which thanks to the holy and faithful GOD of Hezekiah, it still backfired on them, was to completely destroy the wall and the city. On the contrary, Hezekiah’s assignment was from God Almighty, the God of Israel, in order to rebuild, to restore to it’s original good shape, cleanse, and to fully fortify the security of the city! Both Nehemiah, and all the children of God, who were working together to rebuild the walls were under intense threat, as well as constant stress, so much so, that they had to take extra-ordinary measures to combat the enemy’s multifaceted schemes, and this they did, till the walls were completely mended! Nehemiah’s ordeal should make us understand that such assignments for the kingdom of Heaven takes time, and demands genuine spiritual fruits; patience, endurance, and steadfastness of faith in God Almighty Who gave the assignment, even in the face of evil! These kinds of assignments are not for the faint hearted; for the lack of a better word, everyone is not assigned to such duties, but only those chosen, and trained by God for such – This is not arrogance or pride, but just the transparent truth! (Nehemiah 4:1-21).

I can imagine what Nehemiah must have continually heard from the still small voice, which strengthen him to continue the work of the Kingdom of Heaven despite his work being frustrated by the enemies of the will of God Almighty, which is, “I WILL NOT COME DOWN!”

THE APOSTLES could have decided not to follow Jesus Christ and kept living the kind of lives they were used to, where everyone loved, feared, or respected them. They could have continued with their lives, where they did not have to chop off the ears of people to defend a controversial Heavenly course, or hide away for fear of being killed for being associated with the controversial Jesus Christ. They could have kept living the kind of lives, where they had better places to lay their heads as opposed to walking around with Jesus Christ from place to place, mostly on foot, for hours none-stop, and eating corn heads when they were hungry, instead of filling their stomachs with luxury fish; assorted kinds of delicacies – The truth be told, I doubt that I would have survived a day under such conditions! Nonetheless, they rather chose to follow Jesus Christ, consequently, they lost their freedom in the world; In the process, some of them could have lost their spouses, aspirations, lands, cattle, friends, wealth, wonderful reputation, etc. They all ended up losing their lives for that very Godly purpose as they would not denounce Jesus Christ, for whatsoever reason and price! None of them came down from their positions and assignments for the kingdom of Heaven; Apostle John, who was imprisoned in the island of Patmos, had ample time to have had a second thought, yet, he didn’t! None of them found it worthwhile to come down from their posts, positions, and assignments, even as physical death became their ultimate fate! Thus, I now fully understand what they must have endured, and what helped them to carry on successfully till the very end, despite the enemy’s relentless onslaught. Therefore, it must have been the same Helper that helped others before them, helping them to stand firm in Whose service they knew they were; JESUS CHRIST! I know that Helper without a shadow of a doubt, it is still the same good old Holy Ghost still small voice, saying through them to Satan, “I WILL NOT COME DOWN!”

If you have the Spirit of Jesus Christ in you, regardless of what the enemy throws your way, you too, by His Grace which helps and sees us through, will never come down! How can you come down, when for our sake, He never for one second thought of coming down? (2 Cor. 8:9) The moment He realized in the garden of Gethsemane, that it was the will of His Holy, loving, and most faithful Father, for Him to drink of that cup, it was sealed in His heart that He must go through it till the very end (Luke 22:41-44). Thus, we must stay on our ramparts, not for ourselves as He had already done that for us, but for our One and only KING of kings, LORD of lords, and His Holy Kingdom of Heaven, from whence we come because His name is on the line! Child of God, by the help of His unmerited and undeserved Grace for me, this is my solemn pledge to Him for His Glory, and against Satan, “I AIN’T COMING DOWN in Jesus’ name!”

I will never forget a discussion I had many years ago with a wonderful Prophet friend and brother, long after I became born again and began to live according to how God required me to live. In the course of our discussion, I said to Him, “Prophet, how come nobody ever told me, that the journey with the LORD is not as easy as very many pastors on the television tend to portray it?” This is his most honest and transparent reply, which made me wish he had told me a lie, or at least, that I had been prepared for that truth before I accepted the kind of calling I have upon my life! This is what this powerful Prophet of God told me, “Sister Susan, the journey with the LORD, for those who are genuinely called is like the ark of NOAH; it has only one door! The LORD Himself will lead you through the door, and into the ark. Then He will shut the door behind you from outside, and run away with the key, leaving you inside it to figure out everything that is within it- as well as to mature you spiritually, till the ark get’s you to the final destination; where God wants you to go, be, or rest! Regardless of how much you would wish to run out as a result of the things which you would begin to encounter inside the ark, you will never be able to come out of it till you get to His desired destination for you. If God had first shown you all the things that you would encounter inside the ark; serpents, scorpions, wolves, phony humans, and afterwards, gives you the liberty of choice- You would NEVER have followed Him, would you?! 🙂 Therefore, sister Susan, welcome to the club of the multitudes of the kingdom of Heaven workers!” When he realized that I got angry with him for what I felt was a horror story and by no means encouraging, with a soothing voice and a soft laugh, meant to reassure me, he said, “It is for our good as our reward for following Him, the way He desires is by far greater, than anything we may have to face, or even lose in the process!” I will never forget him for this truth, and it has always helped me in difficult times, and most importantly, it certainly makes me laugh when there seems to be nothing to laugh about! May God bless him in Jesus mighty name, amen!

Child of God, this is my question to you today, “What about you, are you going to come down? What will the enemy give to you, in order to get you to come down? What will he dangle before your face, to get you to come down; the Gucci bag, the Versace dress, brazilian human hair, an evil leader (tribalist, racist, unjust) or another person’s portion? Will you allow the enemy of your priceless soul, divine destiny, and assignment to re-write the report, which God Almighty Himself wrote about you in the Scroll of ETERNAL LIFE, which He sealed with the blood of His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, even before the foundation of the world?” I hope and believe for you child of God, that you make the right decision, and also strive to maintain it, by the help of the same STILL SMALL VOICE of the HOLY SPIRIT in Jesus Christ’s merciful name, amen!

DISCLAIMER: It is very possible to have the above mentioned material possessions and still remain in your post and assignment, should that be your heart’s desire as it not a sin or a crime before God, as long as God Almighty allowed you to have them. On the other hand, if you get such things from the enemy, make sure that they are things that he stole from you, and never what he offers you in exchange for your soul, assignment, and position; Things given to you, in order to make you to come down!

Jesus loves you!

Written by Susan Ikeokwu