Devotional Details

THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

28th. MARCH 2022

“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.”

Ezekiel 34:9-10, NIV.

I am really grateful to have the opportunity through this week’s devotional, to clarify my personal conviction, regarding Prophets of God, and their relationships with God as it pertains to the issue of money. There are times, the LORD gives me revelations on certain situations, that He wants to be addressed in order to save His sons and daughters, who He truly loves. On such occasions, I am obliged to say, write, or demonstrate whatever it is, as close to how He wants it expressed as possible. Most of the times, He expects me to convey to people, things that are contrary to my personal character, which makes it sometimes difficult for me to do at once as I understand, through such instructions, that He is not just correcting others, but myself including. consequently, I tend to grapple internally with how such messages personally makes me feel, which in most cases, could be very uncomfortable! Nonetheless, I have learned over the course of time, that the word of God, is not only to make us feel good at all times, but rather, it must always please God, as well as challenge, and convict us, when-ever, and where-ever necessary. The word of God, when spoken to those of us, who belong to Him, is always meant to help us in different aspects of our lives where the enemy of our souls keeps hounding us without mercy. With regards to this week’s devotional, I am going to refrain from using the phrase, “thus saith the LORD” as this is my personal opinion as a child of God, concerning Prophets and money! This exhortation is mainly for Prophets of God, regardless of our color, gender, or ethnicity, since we are constantly confronted with this situation, if we like it, or not.

I do understand, that in biblical times, the standards of living was a lot different than now, which meant that the prophets of old, had less need for money, than we do in our time. Nonetheless, I still do believe, that both old and New Testament prophets, have one thing in common; they are called to a different standard, than others in the five-fold ministry! I do believe, that the LORD, is re-establishing the fact, that to be His true prophet, money should never play the center roll in releasing His words to those, who they are meant for. This is not to suggest that we should live from hand to mouth, absolutely not as He fully understands that we have need of money; to feed, pay bills, do ministry, to take care of our families, yet, we are not to do our work in pursuit of material things. We are not to go about our duties for Him, like Balaam did (2 Peter 2:15), having our hearts mostly focused on money, since that is the bait, which Satan will always use to recruit us, to do his biddings. If you speak for God, there is absolutely no price tag on you, that the god of this world will not be willingly to pay, just to have you for himself, in order to mock God Almighty – this is the truth!

True prophets should take the name and call of God very seriously, therefore, should not accept every offer that comes their way. There are times the Lord God wants us to accept offers; money, help, houses, lands, clothes, private jets, contracts, territories if you will, but it must be when He says so, and from whom He wants you to receive them. There are times as a genuine prophet, you may be in need of just 50, – Euros, to solve a pressing problem, and someone offers you 1,000 Euros, yet, the LORD says: No! Well, at least, speaking for myself, these are the kinds of experiences, that I have with GOD, every now and again! For those who are not true Prophets, or those, who God has not called to this office, the illustration that I just gave, is nothing but foolishness, and as a matter of fact, I do fully understand them as in most cases, such is not expected, and required of them! We remember the story of Prophet Elisha, and Naaman (2 Kings 5). Think about all the gifts, that this rich man brought to Elisha. Regardless of how we may now, try to revamp Elisha, during his time of service to God; as a mega-rich prophet! I do believe, that he was indeed, not a poor prophet, but also not a very rich one! It is worth noting, that despite the fact, that he was not super-duper-rich, he refused Naaman’s prosperity gifts! He refused that, which many today would have killed themselves, diving and stumbling towards Naaman to receive. Going by what Elisha eventually told Gehazi, after he found out about his betrayal, and lies (2 Kings 5:26), I bet you, Elisha had need of those gifts, yet, for him not to have accepted that “prosperity” from Naaman, makes me know, that it must have been the instruction given to him by His King, Master, and the only One, who called, chose, anointed, and used Him- God Almighty; who knew too well, how much Elisha must have needed that wealth. Nonetheless, God prohibited Elisha from accepting that “breakthrough”, for perfect reasons, only known to Him as God, the only Omniscient One! If such a man, who was flesh, and blood like we are, could exercise such caution as it pertains to material gains, then, why should we do otherwise? We pray to be blessed by God financially. We pray that God blesses us with opportunities to make, and have money, but we must also pray, that money should never have us (Mark 8:36)! Even the most honest man of God, can easily fall into the money trap, if he is not constantly taking inventory of his soul, and motives. As a result, this is a trap, that none of us should be hateful towards whomever, that has fallen into it as this particular trap, is in most cases, very difficult to detect by those, whom it is meant to ensnare, till they are already deep into it. What should happen afterwards, and what matters most from my point of view, is that, the moment this error is brought to our attention, we must examine our hearts, and be humble enough to allow the Holy Spirit to convict us. Thus, make every effort as best as we possibly can, to resolve it.

Jesus loves you!

Written by Susan Ikeokwu