Devotional Details

THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

4^th. JULY 2022

SCRIPTURE:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Matthew 7:13-14, NKJV.

Child of God, one of the privileges that we have as sons and daughters of God Almighty, is the Holy Spirit Who is our Teacher, Advocate, Helper, and our Witness of truth. God’s nature never changes, and His statutes remains the same, forever! We are to change our ways if we are truly His children and should by no means expect Him to change His to align with our desires. It is not trivial to be a child of the Most-High God, but rather a great privilege! Here on earth, if you are the child of the president, governor, senator, business mogul, etc. then you are considered as privileged. One of the reasons why this is so is because such children get to enjoy certain benefits, which in some cases, they neither worked for, nor are even qualified for. They are accepted by people just because of the name of their fathers or mothers. They don’t need to be gifted, talented, mentally sane, or even of good conduct to be accepted by people. Anything they say or do is automatically accepted by the people, and in most cases, it is not because they are impressive, no, but rather, it is because of the person on whose shoulders they stand. That is the same kind of privilege we have with our Heavenly Father, even much better as we are enjoying the benefits of what we never suffered for, but rather, Jesus Christ did! Nonetheless, that we are enjoying these benefits does not mean that we are to abuse His goodness, grace, mercy, and love. Child of God, I want us to know, that the Grace of God is free, but you must be willing to receive and hold onto what you have received! If I should give you a gift, and you turn around and throw it back at me, telling me that it is rubbish, and that you hate it, then, I will take back my gift- I will by no means force you! The Holy Spirit is not violent, and receiving Him is free, but you must want Him too! If He comes and offers Himself to us for free, and we reject Him, but then turn around, and go to Walmart, to lay down some money and expect to get Him over the counter, then, it is not the fault of God, but ours, when we receive that which can only be bought over the counter! Someone, once tried it with Apostle Peter, who was never known to mince words as He addressed Simon, the sorcerer, appropriately! Child of God, I am not a Parrot, go and read it for yourself as it will make more sense to you, and also get you busy with the Bible, even it is just for few minutes (Acts 8:17-22).

Let’s think for a moment, about what could have made the sons of Priest Eli to have carried out the heinous crimes that they did; Successfully polluting the temple for a long time with impunity, till some brave men rose up against them, so much so, that God Himself had to intervene and put an end to their evil activities, the way He felt was appropriate. As a matter of fact, it was the doing of the LORD God Almighty; He stirred up the people, for them to begin to oppose, and challenge the sons of Eli, for the evil that they were doing in the temple of the LORD God! The people knew better all the while, but they did not want to offend their Priest, Eli, by speaking against his sons, or even openly rejecting them because of the respect they had for him. In the prime of his time as Priest unto God, and to the best of his human ability, strength, and with God’s help, Eli must have been a trustworthy, and Godly priest. I would love to re-iterate this gospel truth, which is not very welcome by many in our time, that God Almighty, has red lines, which we, who claim to be His children should never cross, else, you will be judged for it! Judgement for the children of God, who have received Jesus Christ in spirit and truth is a way to save our souls, nevertheless, it is Judgement; Penalty for wrong done! New covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ, does not exempt us from being penalized by God when we commit a crime which is unbecoming for a child of God! The difference is that God’s judgement for those who are His, is for a completely different reason as oppose to His judgement for those, who have eternally turned their backs to Him instead of their faces in submission! When God decides to judge His children (punish, correct) for the wrong that they did, it is to save them, and not to destroy them, even in a worst case scenario, where they die. Death for the sons and daughters of God is only physical death and not eternal death, unlike the death of those who do not belong to Him (Matthew 10:28).

When we think about the prodigal son, he had already received more that enough punishment for his foolishness, by how much he suffered in the land where he went to live, in a manner that was not befitting for him. Consequently, it made no sense as to why his elder brother would indirectly, still demand for their father to punish him any further. That would not have been the heart of a good, and Godly father had he accepted his first son’s subtle request!

THE VISION OF THE BROAD ROAD OF LAWLESSNESS!

In one of yesterday’s visions, as well as the ones I had in the early hours of this morning, the LORD God was laying strong emphasis on the same thing. In the spirit realm, He showed me some men of God, who have eventually come back to their senses and are coming out of the broad way of eternal destruction, which they have been on for a long time, and are now hurrying back into the narrow way of eternal life (Luke 15:10)– To God be all glory!

Child of God, If God is convicting you, and is impressing it on your mind, that there is a serious need for you to change your ways, then do it because you have no reputation to protect besides the one that He allowed you to have, which means, that if He at any given time, decides to take it away from you, then you will be left completely naked! Thus, instead of fighting with Him, or trying to prove any point to Him, hurry up, and make the necessary changes He tells you to make, before it is too late for you, and not for Him! Don’t even for one second, be fooled as to believe, that you can keep worshipping God, while permanently living like the devil! If your role models in living like that are some of our patriachs like king David, king Solomon, etc. then, let’s call to our minds, how Jesus, reminded the pharisees in His day here on earth, of Nineveh, Sodom, and Gomorrah, as well as the queen of the South, etc.. Thus, it is very accurate to say, that those men you may be looking up to as example to live how you want, never had the kind of grace, which we now have, and enjoy. Unlike us, they never had a role model like Jesus Christ, Who got it right all the way:

• He suffered like we do.
• He felt what we feel.
• He was tempted like we are, yet, as fully man when He walked here on earth, He lived and walked right. Jesus told us to carry our cross DAILY and follow Him- This is the word of the Messiah Himself- Who else, could make this clearer to us than Him? No one!

THE CHURCH AND HER SPEED

He continued telling me, that too many people in the church are on the very fast lane, too fast; The speed that they are operating with as shown to me by God, Who is the sole Owner of the only true Church, and the One in Whose service we are supposed to be, is nothing but the speed of lawlessness and destruction! This is not about a fake and lawless individual using the slogan of law and order, which he neither understands, respects, or even genuinely desires to represent, but rather, it is the GOD of righteousness, the God of the true law and order; The God of Justice, and not injustice, Who is talking about the condition of His own Church here on earth, and what is going on in many of the churches! He is talking from His perspective about their speed, which most of them have subscribed to as one of the means to measure success as it relates to the church!

It is the type of speed that does not permit any new thing that the Holy Spirit is doing to even come in. What I was shown was the kind of Speed that hardly allows them to look around and make real assessments that God wants them to make. It is the kind of speed that makes them guilty of self-aggrandizement; The kind of Speed that only has room for self, and hardly for the move of the Holy Spirit. What the LORD God was revealing to me as clearly, and as best as I could understand it, is that many of these people, are on the road He never permitted them to be; NO traffic lights! No road signs, etc. yet, they were all driving in high speed, and in different directions, while at the same time, it seemed to me, that they were also driving in opposite directions to themselves, and in ways that were so confusing, and life threatening to those who were even trying to get into the road, which they were on! What this means is, that in the church as it is today, most people seem to be doing what they believe is right in their own eyes, regardless of what God thinks or how He feels- They could care less! When the Lord God tells them, that it is either, His way or the highway (Broadway of eternal destruction), these particular group of people in the church, willingly decide for the highway instead of the LORD’s way/ narrow way a.k.a eternal life. (Isaiah 45:9).

Child of God, this is by no means meant to encourage you to stay stagnant in your work for God, or walk with Him, but it is far better to be stagnant for a while if need be, and welcome the Spirit of God Almighty to be stirred up in you, as well as, to stir up your hunger for Him, than to be on a lane, that God Himself deems as a demonically fast one- The lane that is heading to eternal destruction!

When He showed me these, and clearly told me, that what I was witnessing is literally many church leaders, and their churches. He also showed me the route most of them are on, and said to me, that as long as they are on that broad road, and are operating in such insane speed, that they are not making great impact for the kingdom of Heaven in the spirit realm, but rather, helping the kingdom of darkness to expand itself! He was clear, that there are many of such ministers, who are currently shuttling between the broad way of destruction, and the physical church (these ministers go into the paths of darkness to get what they need, with which they use to impress the earthly church). These groups of individuals are selling what they have received from such demonic territories to their churches, and their members. While some of them who have been on that ungodly broad road, but who are genuinely the children of God, yet gone bad, just like the prodigal son, have realized that regardless of what the broad road has to offer them, it is not a good place to be on, thus, they are now coming out of the paths of darkness and into the narrow way of the light of life, or at least they are really trying their very best to do that- This also, is the LORD’S doing because He is the One, Who went in search for them as they are His children. When they heard His voice calling them (John 10: 27-30), they followed the sound of it as their navigation system, leading them out of darkness into His presence (Psalm 119:105)– They did not reject Him!

The sad part of what the LORD was telling me, is that because of how convincing such people are in luring the sons and daughters of God into the same ungodly paths that they are on, that even the elects of God are being tempted, and many of them have, even succumbed to the pressure of the world to follow them in their ways as it seems to be extremely, and visibly effective; There are “physical fruits” to back them up!

Nonetheless, the LORD says, “Don’t follow them because that is not your path! My children are not made to take the paths that I have not assigned them to. Anyone who genuinely wants ME; Abba Father, must be willing to denounce Satan, and His kingdom, not just with words of the mouth, which both the good, the bad and the ugly love to do, but rather, in spirit and truth, and come out of it completely, and permanently. That one, must receive Jesus Christ not just calling His name, but wholeheartedly. My child, they must come out to you, and not you leave the kingdom of light to go to them- I, the LORD God of Hosts, Your Holy Father, and Your only Holy God, refuse to permit you to cross that red line!”

“For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

Matthew 24:24, NKJV.

Whenever God tells you not to trespass a particular line, or cross over to a particular place, then make sure you obey Him! I am fully aware that the flesh is weak, but as long as the Holy Spirit of God is in us, He will help us to overcome, no matter how difficult the challenge may be- Even if we have to nag, then nag, but make sure, that you are not nagging against God. After you are done nagging, obey Him! If it demands that we cry, then let’s cry and let our tears become our prayers; Don’t waste it- After all, are we better, or stronger than Jesus Christ, Who wept, and even agonized till His sweat turned into drops of blood? (Luke 22:24) Are we better than Apostle Paul- The Apostle of Grace, who suffered many things just for Christ, and to be Known by Him?

WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

To you child of God, who is being tempted to follow such a path, I want you to be encouraged and know that temptation is what we all go through; Old, young, rich, poor, black, white, people in the pews, and those in the pulpit, thus, you are not alone as no one is exempt from it. Challenges in life is what we are all going to have to go through at one point, or the other in our lives. Nonetheless, we must not fail to emphasize this truth, that challenges and temptations are different with different people. Some people go through greater temptations and challenges in life than others, and in some cases, it is not because of what they have done wrong, but rather, it is because of what they haven’t done wrong!

It is always good when we can get to our destinations faster, rather than slow, but what the LORD was revealing to me this morning and yesterday, is that we all have different destinations, and assignments. We all have different purposes for which He created us, and He has also set specific times for us to get there, or accomplish what He wants us to, not what people want us to, or how they percieve it should be. I keep hearing people talking about bouncing back, which makes me laugh, and ask myself, “Bounce back from where and to where?” When you know who you are, you will be at peace with whereever you are because wherever you are, is where God is! Even the Psalmist in his time of despair found out this truth, that God is wherever His child is (Psalm 139; let us study, meditate on and pray with this bible chapter for this month of July 2022, I will be doing that 🙂) Now, you child of God, can indeed delay it if you intentionally take a different route, than the one God originally planned to take you through. That notwithstanding, as long as you are His child, and you love Him, then, be rest assured that He will re-route you and make sure, that you still accomplish His purpose for you, and through you, by His help, and not later than He has destined for you. This is so because while He re-routes you, He makes sure that on your way to His predestined destination for you, that you are busy doing exactly what He created you to do, even without your knowledge. Sometimes, we are only aware of God’s unfathomable wisdom in retrospect- This also, is His doing!

This would mean, that as long as there is a purpose YOU must fulfill for God, then, if you for whatever reason find yourself where He does not want you to be, He will shake the heavens and the earth to make sure that He runs you out of there, to where He wants you to be. He will allow you to be in a situation(s) that is orchestrated by Him to do what He has called you for, even when it doesn’t sit well with you! In this particular situation, you have no choice- But if you doubt me, then, go ask father Abraham, Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah, Paul, Joseph, etc. and you would have them confirm to you, that as long as God Almighty has spoken over your life, you can NEVER out-run it!

I do know for certain, that every child, who belongs to God, that is born into this world, has a purpose to fulfill for the kingdom of Heaven! That being the case, you can never be idle, even when you are watching Netflix! Now, talking about Netflix, let me land before you come for me as I can already picture in my mind’s eyes, the faces of at least five people, who would jump off their sofas, just for the mere fact that I mentioned NETFLIX, screaming, “We’ve caught her in the act again!” I don’t do Netflix and chill– If you get what I mean ; – )! When I say that I watch Netflix, some precious people conclude, that I might be on a trip to the abyss, while others believe, that I watch Nollywood all day long, but nothing can be further from the truth as the last time I watched Nollywood was years ago, although, I am proud of what the Nigerian film industry is doing. Nevertheless, when I watch Netflix or films in general, which I don’t get to do as often as I used to, only when the occasion calls for it as I am still a mother, with teenage children, and a younger one, who are living in this world and would just love to watch normal movies, to have a good family time. Therefore, I do not watch the kind of films I used to watch many year ago, but another kind, and for Godly reasons. So, sweet child of God, don’t fret- We are going to make it to Heaven by His grace in Jesus Christ’s merciful name, amen!

Written by Susan Ikeokwu