TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 13TH APRIL 2024)
“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. John 21:15-17 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 104TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
We give God the glory for all He has been doing in our lives; for His kindness, His great mercies, His beauty that is upon us, His grace, and glory. Indeed, He will give grace and glory, and no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
In His goodness, no good thing will He even withhold from those who He wants to help to walk uprightly. That is seen clearly in the scriptures, and not just in scriptures, but also in our lives.
He has been very patient and kind to us. We remain grateful.
Today we want to refresh our spirits on matters of spiritual feeding. It’s very clear in the holy scripture that the primary need of everyone who has given his or her life to Christ is spiritual food.
Giving your life to Christ is like child birth. As soon as the child is born, the first thing it desires is the mother’s milk. As soon as you are truly saved, the first thing your spirit craves for is spiritual food; quality spiritual food. It is when salvation is not real that you do not feel that way.
When salvation is real, you want to get into the presence of God daily to pray and read your Bible, you want to lay aside the sinful life you lived as soon as you get saved. The Bible says,
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” 1 Peter 2:1-3 NKJV
I have learned over the years that until people are properly fed spiritually, they cannot fast and pray effectively, neither can they give, sing, or worship accurately; that is in synchronicity with the Holy Spirit and the church in Heaven.
Yes, in God’s plan, the church on earth must do things in synchronicity with the Church in Heaven. You see that in the book of Hebrews. When that is not happening in your walk with the LORD, there is a lot in God that you will not find in your life.
God’s Power, resulting in healing, deliverance, and dominion over sin, will always break out on us each time we live our days as believers in synchronicity with the Church in Heaven.
HOWEVER, NONE OF THIS WILL BE POSSIBLE IF THERE IS NO PROPER SPIRITUAL FEEDING AND ASSIMILATION.
Jesus demonstrated the importance of feeding us, His sheep, with quality spiritual food, when He asked Peter some questions in John 21. They sounded like Peter was deaf or Jesus was not hearing what Peter was saying. But they were repeated for emphasis and to prove how important they are.
Our devotional text says,
“So, when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You. ” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” John 21:15-18 NKJV
In this scripture, we literally found the LORD handing over to Peter an instruction that many of us in ministry today do not keep, yet that is the core intent of having church. We rather fool the sheep by teaching them things that will keep bringing money, worship, and all that we crave to have as preachers.
We do not feed them as the LORD demanded that we do.
There are those who even go as far as entertaining the sheep in the name of worship concerts. Others entertain them by bringing in comedians to make them have some laughs in Church.
WE ENTERTAIN THE SHEEP INSTEAD OF FEEDING THEM.
In some other cases, we feed on the sheep instead, bringing them to the place of hating Church justly. Yes, there are people who hate Church unjustly and there are those who do justly.
Unjustly because they come to church and when they do not find their satanic or sinful desires met, they leave speaking ill of the place. But there are those who hate the Church justly because their preachers fed on them, instead of feeding them with spiritual food.
Some were fed on sexually, others financially, some others materially, and in some other ways.
There is a lot of either fooling the sheep, feeding on the sheep, and entertaining the sheep, that is going on in so many Churches. There is no feeding of the sheep in most churches.
The primary purpose of any Pastor-member relationship in God’s kingdom, is spiritual feeding, nothing else.
Anything else you see happening between a pastor and his or her member that is outside the parameters of spiritual feeding, is a defeat of the purpose of that relationship. And it has terrible consequences; some eternal.
One of the consequences of not feeding the sheep is spiritual malnutrition.
Spiritual malnutrition is worse than any other spiritual problem because it is the grand father of all spiritual problems. Naturally, most diseases spring up in life because people are not properly fed. In the same way, all spiritual problems can be traced to lack of quality spiritual food in the lives of men.
For instance, many of us in the church system, are morally depraved because we are spiritually malnourished. Others are constantly under spiritual attacks because they are spiritually malnourished.
Some others are poor, and every effort they make to break from it, is not working simply because they are spiritually malnourished.
When you read God saying to us through these devotionals, “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” you have heard God blaming all our woes, in and outside the church system, on lack of good spiritual food.
YES, WHEN YOU READ VERSES LIKE THAT, YOU HAVE SEEN THE POSITION OF HEAVEN ON OUR MYRIAD OF PROBLEMS.
What you should then go for, to solve any problems in your life, is rich spiritual food, not prayers centers, anointing oils on your head, holy water in your hand, or raising of altar of sacrifices.
Going for what God has not said you should go for, will never give you, on a permanent bases, what you are looking for.
God designed that our spiritual and natural well-being, be outsourced from rich spiritual food, nothing else. He fed Israel with manna for forty years to teach the human race just that.
Sadly, even in Church many of us are not learning.
We go for other things instead of rich spiritual food when things are not okay with us. We look for this prayer meeting and that prayer meeting, this preacher or that preacher, instead of looking for the very spiritual food we are missing that is responsible for the problem.
Instead of finding a Church that does not fool, entertain, or feed on God’s sheep, we ignorantly find churches that promises us so much, but either do all of that or some of that, and plant ourselves there hoping our problems will be solved.
Well, our earthly problems could be solved, but our eternal problems would not.
Many are not even aware that they could miss Heaven if they are not planted in a good Church. Sadly, most are not even thinking of making Heaven. Some believe they have made it already because of some twisted believe on what God’s grace is.
BUT YOU WILL NEVER MAKE HEAVEN UNTIL YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THE NARROW WAY THAT LEADS TO LIFE.
Sadly, many are in the Broadway that leads to eternal death; many, including tongue talking Christians and so-called powerful or successful preachers, leading dark Churches that are fooling, entertaining, or feeding on the sheep.
A good church will not fool, entertain or feed on the sheep. Only a dark Church will do that.
Yes, a Good church might not be perfect, because the treasure is in earthen vessel, but a good church is always Christ centered, and will not fool, entertain, or feed on you. It will rather make you wise, by feeding you with rich spiritual food.
Its ultimate agenda, is to help you live your days for Christ, fulfill all you were born to fulfill, and spend eternity in Heaven, the dwelling place of the eternal God, full of glory and eternal comfort.
Hallelujah!!
So, if your life is troubled on every side, if things are not okay with you, find a good church, and then plant yourself there, taking the faith position of Psalm 37:7-11.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
“And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
“And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.” Jeremiah 3:15-16 KJV