Devotional Details

THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

– Weekly devotional –

16^th. January 2023

SCRIPTURE:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

Hebrews 12:1-3, NKJV.

CHILD OF GOD, our Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us how to be good soldiers for the kingdom of Heaven here on earth. His disciples and apostles learned from Him and they lived it out. In like manner, we are to emulate them to be true soldiers for Christ, not just in words, but also in deeds; How we live our lives here on earth. The grace of God will make you intentional to follow God, be with Him, and work for HIM. Those, who I truly honor and celebrate, even more than others, are those who are doing the work of the kingdom of Heaven, but never get seen, heard, or celebrated by people. Child of God, these are the real foot-soldiers of the kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Without such men and women who work for God Almighty, without expecting recognition from people, and in some cases, even without receiving recognition, or other kinds of reward from people, the church here on earth would have long been in worse trouble, than it seems to be in right now! Child of God, do you know what it means to pray for people, especially for those who need salvation? Do you know what it means to be used by God Almighty, to snatch someone out of the clutches of Satan, and his dark kingdom? We must understand, that sons and daughters of God, who genuinely stand in gap for others, put themselves right in the crossfire, receiving the enemy’s vengeance, yet, they still continue, though the people, who they are standing in gap for, may never even get to know about what they do. These sons and daughters of God, do not fix their eyes on earthly reward as they do their work for God Almighty Who is their BOSS, that notwithstanding, it doesn’t mean, that they do not love to be rewarded, nor does it mean, that they do not get rewarded here on earth too, but rather, they diligently do their work with their whole focus on God Almighty because they are part of God’s army here on earth; Their ultimate reward, which is most important to them, than anyone and anything else, is God Almighty!

I remember a brother in Christ, who used to be financially challenged, yet, with his few congregations, he kept holding on, enduring the mockery, shame, the spiritual, as well as physical attacks against him because of the work of the kingdom of Heaven. This pastor does what is called morning cry, where he gets up very early in the mornings, as early as 4 am, and heads up walking the streets with a mega-phone to different places like bus-stops, market places, etc. where he goes to preach to people, share the gospel of Christ with them, as well as, to pray for them. He had been physically attacked on numerous occasions, yet, he kept on preaching. I pleaded with him on different occasions to dis-continue his street preaching, and focus his resources and time on his in-house ministry as it was evident, through some of his horrific experiences, that it was very dangerous to continue with. He refused to heed to my plea, telling me that God had called him to street preaching, therefore, he must continue doing it, and that through it, he had seen many souls saved, who would other wise never have been. His bravery and love for God was really so infectious, that I was inspired by Him to trust, and love God even much more than I had loved HIM, since I know, that I might not survive street preaching as God never called me to it! Therefore, I truly salute such men and women who do such work for God, while being reviled, mocked, persecuted, and not appreciated by the very people whom they are trying to reach, and whose souls are in dire need of salvation.

The God, whom we serve is a loving and faithful One, Who never forgets those who truly love, revere, and labor for Him. Therefore, precious child of God, I want us to understand, that in most cases, how we see things is not always how God sees them. I know that it is good to be reminded of His love every now and again as it is easy to be caught up in the worldly affairs, and how negative people can be, so much so, that sometimes, we could easily get absorbed in our human emotions, subsequently, begin to ponder if God is even aware of our efforts or not, and my answer to you is: Yes, He is always aware!

I was busy with my Bible yesterday night, which I have not been doing lately as much as I used to, or would love to, for the lack of time. on one hand, the problem I’ve always had whenever I do not read the Bible, or have daily fellowship with the LORD, is that I become really very grumpy, unfriendly, or really petty, while the reverse is the case, after studying the Bible, and having fellowship with the LORD God as the satisfaction, peace and happiness, that I am always filled with is astronomical, and almost un-explainable. Reading the word of God and praying is what I call: my happy pill. Just like some people love to drink, smoke, etc., I am in my best mood during prayers, while reading the word of God, as well as after it. Anyways, I was reading through the book of Exodus chapter 14 yesterday night, when I eventually had to stop for a while to ponder on Exodus 14:19-20. I found it really interesting to know, that all along, while the children of Israel were wailing due to their rightly perceived fear of the very angry Egyptian army, who were very well fortified and hurriedly approaching them in fury, in order, to retaliate for how The God of Israel dealt with Egypt, the holy angel of the LORD, who had been travelling with them, was still in their midst, yet was completely silent, even in the face of such palpable danger. The Pillar of cloud was equally still present, yet, also silent und unfazed by their anxiety. These holy and extremely powerful forces of the Kingdom of Heaven, eventually, but only moved again at God’s command to Moses, and through Moses. Their actions was a prophetic demonstration and prophecy of the very thing, which the God of Israel, was about to tell HIS fearful children, through the lips of His humble friend, and Prophet, Moses: Be still and know that I am God..! This should be an encouragement to us who belong to God Almighty, that He is always with us, regardless of our situations and circumstances. Even when it feels as though God Almighty is absent in our lives, He is not, but right there with us. There are times, He does with us, whom He loves, and whom He is showcasing to Satan and the world, a bit like what He did with Job; Allow you to go through storms, either for a short, or long period of time. As long as we are His children, believe in Him, love Him and are called according to His purpose, then, be rest assured child of God, that when He allows you to go through such storms, hard times, or tribulations, it is definitely not because He hates you and doesn’t want you to be happy, but rather, He is bragging with you, saying to His arch foe: Do you also see this child of mine? I have not given him much, yet, look at him, he is still diligent in loving me, serving me, and trusting me. Tell me, are any of your children or those who serve you, like him? Therefore, child of God, true soldiers of God have been trained by His Holy Spirit, to endure hardship for their good and holy God, the One Who truly loves them, and would never turn His back on them, despite how it seems.

Let’s think about it this way; If you have two children; A tough one, and a weak one, who would you constantly do all, that is in your power to protect, and keep helping? If you are like me, it is definitely the weak one; The one you know can not survive hardship. If the tough one heads out, you are not that bothered because you know he is ghetto, and by that I mean, tough, thus, will always survive any weather, but the moment the one you fully know is a softy steps out of the house, you begin to blast their phones to ask where they are, and with whom, why, how, and when? If the LORD God trusts you as His child, He must not give you incentives, in order for you to act right, or stay put with HIM! Therefore, there are children of God, whom God Almighty, fully knows, that the only way to hold them within the sheep-fold, is to allow them to have the things that their hearts so very much crave, else, they will run away and follow the wolf and it’s pack, but not so for some of His other children, whom He also fully knows, that regardless of where they are, and with whom they are, will always remain loyal to HIM and His ways, even without receiving such worldly rewards, either sooner, or later. Consequently, as a holy, faithful and good Father, He knows exactly what to trust each of His children with; Which talent, authority, and power to give to each one of them, in such a way, that when all is said and done, His holy Kingdom-resources will never be a waste.

Soldiers are those on whose shoulders the burden of our nation’s protection during a time of war, or unrest lies. If soldiers refuse to fight for the nation, then, their enemies would easily defeat them. The service, commitment, loyalty, and discipline of soldiers are very important as what is required from them, is always much more than what is expected of ordinary civilians. Think about the Ukraine, and what would have become of them without the loyalty and commitment of their brave soldiers, including the civilians, who have had to make the difficult choices to be recruited into the military overnight. Without these particular brave men and women who are standing up for their country’s integrity, the Ukraine, would have long become pop-corn in the mouths of the Russian soldiers. Ukraine would have long become a closed case giving the fact, that regardless of how much help they may be getting in terms of aids in military equipment, and finances, and such help should of course, be met with much gratitude to the nations who are helping out. Nonetheless, the deciding factor, is the determination of the soldiers who have decided, that to protect their nation and people, their lives count as nothing to them. Let us acknowledge, that with all the equipment in the world, being shipped to them, yet, without men and women, who are determined to lose their lives to stand up for their nation, then, the weapons on ground, without anyone to use them, would become useless! The names of these brave men and women are not even known by most Ukrainians, yet, they do not stop for a moment to defend their nation and people because of that! These men and women are right there in the icy winter, getting little or no sleep and food, in order to protect people who do not even know their names or faces, not to talk of saying, thank you to them!

Why do I respect true soldiers?

• Soldiers make sacrifices which most people are neither willing to make, nor are even able to.

• True soldiers are disciplined, and have control over their strength as they are able to be around others, but still act as though they are not as strong as they truly are.

• True soldiers may get knocked down to the ground by someone, who is the house- bully; Someone, who under normal circumstance, should never be considered or perceived to be a threat, or an enemy that needs to be combatted, yet, a true soldier would decline the invitation to fight them back if He knows, that him not fighting back could save the life of the weaker one.

• True soldiers realize the implication of fighting someone who has decided to fight them as a trap; When you fight back, the wicked multitude, will yell, “The king is dead! Arrest him, he’s killed the king with his military strength, and know-how, in order to usurp the throne!” Thus, as a true soldier, you understand, that the weakling could hit you, and you still get back up as you are used to getting up by yourself, without a multitude to grant you aid, but when you hit him just once, he would most definitely slump to the ground, right on top of a soft pillow, yet, without a crowd to help him, would never get up again! Having saith that though, a true soldier also knows when it is time to speak up, ignore, be silent, forgive, focus on his next chapter, and move on.

• A true soldier understands, that sometimes, people who have horribly wronged you, may opt to pretend as though they didn’t because of pride, not wanting to lose face, and not wanting to be lynched, by the same monsters, that they created, who are now defending and controlling them, even when it is undeniably clear, that they are the perpetrators, and not the victims.

A child of God, will have to come to terms with the fact, that wounds, and broken relationships, which must be mended, definitely will, but only over the course of time, and according to the leading of the Holy Spirit as He is able to help you discern when those, who have done you wrong are willing to repent of their evil ways and embrace genuine peace, instead of a false one. Therefore, regardless of what happens from hence forth, it is indeed, okay, to be at peace with yourself – Be Angry, NO MORE.

I once heard a preacher, I guess it was about two years ago, say, that if you only have a few followings, or a few people in your church, that what God is saying is for you to shut down your church and go and join the big church with a large following and big congregations. Such counsel is very misleading, especially when it is coming from a man of God, who should actually be more knowledgeable about the things of the spirit as I have witnessed some pastors, who do not have many people in their churches, yet, who have the power and authority of God Almighty, that most pastors with big congregations and big churches do not have. Thus, such counsel should not be given to those whom the Holy Spirit has not assigned to go join those big churches. Therefore, child of God Almighty, let’s be mindful of the counsels, which we give to people as people are different, levels of spiritual maturity are different, measure of grace is different, and assignments or purposes are equally different, even as it pertains to the children, who belong to God Almighty through Christ, and through the same One Holy Spirit of God Almighty.

There are many men and women, whose names, and faces we do not even know, but who are the ones, helping to hold back the battles at the gates for the church of Christ, here in this world. Most of them are struggling financially and otherwise, yet, they are the ones witches, wizards, and devils are truly afraid of! They are the ones whom God uses to help many, even without those being helped realizing it. These groups of people are the main soldiers of the kingdom of Heaven here on earth; They are terror to the enemy and his evil plans, thus, the enemy will try all, that is in his power to frustrate, distract, delay, oppose, and battle them. We may be asking ourselves, that if God is using them so powerfully to help us, then why are they still struggling in some areas of their lives? Well, child of God, that is a good question, and my honest answer to that in addition to what I had already mentioned above is this, that I do not know how to fully and without error, reconcile such conundrum, besides this truth: Our Holy God is a very mysterious God, and regardless of how holy and anointed we are, His ways are indeed not like ours, and His thoughts are equally different from ours. It boils down to the fact, that some people are going to live humbled lives if we accept it, or not. Obviously, we all pray not to be amongst those, whom the LORD God has chosen for such difficult task, and lifestyle; To live such humbled lives for His glory. Nonetheless, there is nothing we can do to stop those, whom He has called to live like that from doing so, and we are going to be doing ourselves a great dis-service, if we keep on helping Satan and his cohorts to hurt, and discourage such people, instead of encouraging, and standing in gap for them. Jesus and His disciples, likewise lived in similar ways as Jesus in HIS days, could have afforded to live and ride around town like king Herod did, but didn’t, rather, He lived a humbled life. Consequently, it goes a long way to prove, that to walk with Jesus and be like Him is not easy at all, as we may be able to get one part of Him right, but the other parts of HIS nature, could be where we may never be able to fully conform to in our human flesh, thus, we can only be perfect IN HIM. Having said that, it is not a license for us to live our lives like Godless children, believing that since we have been made perfect in Him, that He will always give us a pass.

I am very privileged of God Almighty, to be in the position to experience what it is like for some sons and daughters of God, from both realms’ perspectives. In the physical realm, most of these soldiers for Christ, seem to be suffering and rejected by many, which when put in contrast to the spirit realm, they are the very ones, effectively contending with the devils and demons assigned to such churches, streets, families, communities, institutions, states, or nations. The enemy, whom they are contending with, fully knows who they are and the impact they are making, thus, what he does is, he takes over most of the same people, on whose behalf such sons and daughters of God are suffering, for the sole purpose of being used against these soldiers of Christ. In the eyes of the world, the person suffering, or struggling is the one, who is not progressing, or blessed, while the those who seem to have things going their ways, are the ones who are counted as blessed, thus, accepted, and supported by many.

True soldiers are never off duty, regardless of where they are, even if they happen to be alone, or retired. They are always ready to defend the integrity of their nation, as well as their code of allegiance. If such is expected of worldly soldiers, then, why should much more not be expected of the soldiers of Christ, whose allegiance should solely be to God Almighty, through Christ, thus, must defend the integrity of the church of Christ here on earth, regardless of their circumstances, situations, and whether they are within a general house of worship or without, whether they have private jets or not?

Wherever the true soldiers of Christ are, they must defend the integrity of the name of God Almighty:

• Are you in a little church; Mini-Church, with only two people? It doesn’t matter, keep defending the integrity of God’s name with what you have.
• Are you in a Mega-Church? Defend the integrity of God’s name with what He has allowed you to have.
• Are you in your place of work, then, you too as a child of God, are part of God’s army here on earth, therefore, through your character, God Almighty expects you to defend the integrity of HIS name as well.
• Are you in a marriage, then, both partners must defend the integrity of the name of God Almighty, in and through their marriage. Not one of them dishonoring God, while leaving the other partner to be the only one, to defend the integrity of the name of God Almighty, in and through their marriage and family. It is a collective effort as when all is said and done, the LORD God is not going to take the excuse from you, that you did not know how to honor HIM because you left the prayer and honoring departments for sister, or brother Praying Mantis, to take care of alone!
• Are you single (not yet married, only separated, separated but divorce still in process, or divorced), you are also to defend the integrity of the name of the LORD God by the way you live your life.

The word of the LORD God says, and I paraphrase: I am the LORD your God, thou shall have no other god before, and beside me. Consequently, soldiers of Christ, we are to worship God with or without material rewards. We are not to place anything or anyone before, or beside God Almighty, but if we do, then, we must learn to repent and do right because our God, is a jealous God, and HIS glory He will never share with another!

PRAYER

1. Omniscient God, I ask you this day to bless these men are women, whose names we do not know, but who are standing in gap for us day and night in Jesus blessed name, amen.
2. Almighty God, open Your book of remembrance, and look into the cases of these soldiers of the Kingdom Heaven, in order to show them your faithfulness in the faithful name of Our Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
3. Holy Father, since a laborer is worthy of His wage, give these men and women who are Your soldiers their wages, which silver and gold cannot buy in Jesus’ most powerful name, amen.
4. Most powerful Father, fight their battles for them, and grant them victory over the enemy in the most powerful name of Jesus Christ, amen.
5. Holy Father, heal them of their battle wounds, and beautify them through their scars in the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen.
6. Almighty God, shield them from every weapon fashioned against them, and sustain them by Your power in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, amen.
7. Abba Father, I bring them under the blood of Jesus Christ for divine protection from every form of evil in Jesus’ precious name, amen.
8. I thank you LORD GOD Almighty, for answering my prayers on behalf of these soldiers of Yours in Jesus’ most merciful name, amen.

Child of God, be happy and stay blessed

Jesus loves you!

Sister Susan!