TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 22ND DECEMBER 2024)
“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:13-17 KJV
WELCOME TO THE 357TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT
The mercies of the LORD and His compassion has kept us alive again for another day. He has done again what no man can do. Yes, He has kept us alive, that is one thing man cannot do. Only GOD can keep all of us alive.
We have been looking at the Cry of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures on spiritual fathering. This is a kingdom advance concept that may be new to some segments of the Christian faith. For instance, while in the Roman Catholic Church, we called our priests Reverend Fathers, but the revelation behind fathering was unknown to us.
Personally, all I knew was the word “father” in the phrase. It did not mean anything to me. It was like a name to the man we all considered closest to God and worthy of honour and respect.
In fact, we usually change our behaviours when we stand before him. We become sober! We put up looks that were not our true character.
Maybe, someone reading this can testify that they did the same. That was all we knew and did in response to the word father; we did not know anything more. But as one began to grow in Christ, after salvation, we began to come into a deeper meaning of that word father.
YOU UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE MORE AS YOU GROW IN CHRIST, I DID NOT SAY AS YOU STAY LONGER IN CHURCH.
You can be long and experienced in Church and still be a baby in Christ. You will only feel matured because of how long you have been in church but will never be a grown up in Christ. That is why you find babies being paraded as spiritual fathers and fathers of the faith.
Those who led us to Christ actually fathered us into the kingdom, and those who matured us in ministry fathered us into ministry. Those who God might be using to keep us in the faith or in ministry are fathering in faith or ministry. So, the concept is not something for idolising people and worshiping them.
Personally, I was discipled by three different preachers of righteousness. They all fathered me in one way or the other. They are my fathers.
It is just that in the charismatic world, we do not give much honour to those who led and groomed us in Christ. We only honour those who birth us into ministry as fathers. But if the one who groomed you into Christ had not done his job, you will not have met the one who birth you into ministry.
There is an Africa proverb that says “it takes a whole village to raise a Child.”
Truly, in the salvation of some, it took many imputes of different spiritual fatherly people, for them to become sound Children of God and be born into ministry. Howbeit, there will always be one who stands out; who towers higher than others because of the significance of what God may have used the person to do. Yet, he or she should not be idolized.
We are to honour all men and women that the LORD used to birth us into His kingdom, or keep us in the kingdom.
The Bible actually teaches of the possibility of having one man who is labouring over your life more than those you might have met; one man who is doing the fatherly job as define din scriptures, labouring in word and doctrine to form Christ in you, or keep you forming Christ in people.
One of such men was Paul the apostle. He made eternal contributions to the lives of so many unlike the boy leaders they had sat under.
HE WOULD LATER WRITE TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH SAYING;
“For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 4:15 KJV
In what this canonized worthy preacher wrote, we can see God’s definition of Fathering. The scripture made it clear that fathering is spiritual seeding; it is seeding the things the LORD has given you into the lives of others, so that they can grow in the LORD and become all He created them to be.
That is why fathering around the tree of life, Christ Himself, will involve receiving the spiritual genes of Christ from Christ, through one who had been with Him longer than you. That is why genuine fathering makes you Christlike in moral behaviour not a mimic of the one you call Papa.
Just like it is in biological fathering, your spiritual father is the person whose spiritual genes or seed you carry.
Here is how it works; He is ahead of you in Christ and ministry. He carries Christ and other Heavenly grace dimensions as seed in him. Then he bends the apostolic-prophetic knee and birth same in you, making all of you like Christ, not like him. I hope you understand me!!
In other words, Christ used him to birth in you what He has birth in him.
You become a seed of Christ through the seed of Christ in him. I hope you understand me! That is why fathering should be built around the Tree of life Himself not around the need to succeed in ministry, not around the need for money or connections.
If spiritual fathering is not driven by impact by the tree of life Himself, it is not built around having the seed, power, grace, and all of Christ in you through the spiritual imputes of one who had been with him longer, you will be the seed or images some you call fathers of faith instead of the seed or image of Christ.
THAT WILL LEAD TO A LOSS OF ETERNAL RELEVANCE.
A lot have lost their eternal relevance due to what has been presented over the years as spiritual fathering. So many who began in the narrow way, are now in the broad way that leads to destruction due to dark spiritual fathering. Which is why God is bringing people out of that kind of spiritual fathering, to Christ through apostolic mantles like Paul, the apostle.
As we bring this to a close, let me bring another dimension of truth on this kingdom practice called Fathering. As earlier stated, spiritual fathering is spiritual seeding. It is a spiritual investment into another to become all that Christ calls him or her to be.
A spiritual Son’s exploits therefore, are usually the harvest or fruit of a seed investment made in him by someone far ahead of him that Christ used. You see that in the case of Paul and Timothy. That is why when someone unleash an uncommon dimension in the kingdom, the first question devils and people will ask is, “whose son is this?”
When David was coming from the victory place where he stood to defeat Goliath, that was the question that came form the mouth of Saul. When I stood to confront the heretic practices of Apostle Kimani, that was the question that came from the mouth of those who sat on Tv to malign me because of that.
The Bible says;
“When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”
Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” 1 Samuel 17:55-58 NKJV
God designed that we do exploits in His kingdom after receiving spiritual seed or investment from the LORD through men and women who are ahead of us. He expects the spiritual father-son thing not to be for ecclesiastical witchcraft, charismatic seduction and witchcraft, or any other. He expects it to be a tool of Kingdom advance.
BY HIS DESIGN, SONS OUGHT TO BE A HARVEST OF SEEDS SOWN, OR SPIRITUAL INVESTMENTS MADE.
So, if you want to be eternally relevant in life and ministry, you will need a spiritual father God designed and gave you for that. The seed of spiritual fathers is simple a spiritual investment made in the life of another from their walk and talk with GOD.
Satan will always release floods on believers who are sons with the genes and image of Christ that was planted in them through spiritual fathers in right standing with God. Such sons are always a terror to Satan and his kingdom. They are also a terror to the corrupt church and its leaders; who perpetuate the dark spiritual fathering system.
The vision of the flood is to cause the sons to be carried away. But God also has ways of bringing interventions to them. Our devotional text presents this truth in a prophetic expression. It says;
“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:13-17 KJV
The enemy is launching attacks against us as seeds of the righteous ones using the seeds of the wicked one even in the Church. The seeds of the righteous One are depicted here as the seed of the woman. They are depicted as those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
A spiritual fathering system around the Tree of Life Himself will birth such people; men and women who keep the commandments of God, and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ. If you do not have that as the vision for spiritual fathering, your vision is distorted and need to be restored back to the original order.
It is my prayer that God will cut you off from spiritual fathers, who can not turn you into one who obey the commandments of God, and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ. Amen and amen.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth. They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.
But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you.
My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.” Galatians 4:16-20 NKJV