TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 24TH JULY 2024)
“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 1 Corinthians 4:10-15 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 206TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Day unto day we get closer and closer to the consummation of all things. Sadly, events around the lives of mankind are not letting many set their eyes on the approaching day and spend their lives getting ready for it.
Many are distracted by the mundane, things without eternal value, while prophecies are being fulfilled before our very eyes.
Yes, the shakings that characterize end days are here, but the seasonal interventions that also characterize the end days are also here. Like the Ark of Noah used the floods as a transport facility, there is also a breed God will grant grace to use current happenings as faith transport facility, to live their days in a safe spiritual haven in these trouble times.
God is moving the ages back to where it all began. Yes, the word “RETURN” captures the essence of the end times. God is taking the human race back to where we were. He is allowing time to fulfill its purpose; the purpose of bringing redeemed things to an end. The essence is to return things back to eternity.
One of the major things that time is returning back to eternity, are the souls of men. That is why one of the major things we are to live our days ready for, is the life after this life. The Bible made it clear that once someone dies, they go back to the state of becoming eternal, either in hell or Heaven.
Everyone knows that death is inevitable. But not everyone knows that death returns him or her back to the eternal, to be judged or rewarded for how he or she lived their lives on earth. If mankind allows that to occupy their hearts, things will be different.
Beautifully, God has set His kingdom on earth, which is invisible, to help us get ready for the inevitable. In this kingdom, there is the Spirit of Christ Himself, there is the Bible to read and understand, and there is the Church on earth to help mankind meet the Spirit of Christ and understand the Bible.
In the Church, He position Heavenly systems for doing the job of helping mankind for the eternal day that is coming. Until each of us, mankind, come into the fullness of Christ, we are not ready for the coming day. The Bible says;
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” Ephesians 4:11-13 NKJV
SADLY, MOST OF WHAT WE CALL CHURCH TODAY, IS NOT FULFILLING THE ETERNAL PLAN OF GOD FOR IT.
Especially as revealed in this scripture. Hence having people even within the church system, who are not fit for eternal life with Christ in the next life.
Sadly speaking, most churches these days now operate more as a political party, a metaphysical cult, a social club, a place of theatrical performance, or a money-making machine. And when a church becomes any or all of these, it will lose the fitness to get people ready for the approaching day.
From Ephesians 4:11-12, it is clear that God’s true apostles, Prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are the ones saddled with the responsibility to make the Church an eternal rescue center, for the souls of men, not a money-making center for an ecclesiastical order as we see today.
In other words, God created the five functions in His church to make it an eternal rescue center for the souls of men, but we preachers have turned it into a relevance seeking and revenue acquisition center for an ecclesiastical order.
This is what has rendered the Church impotent in eternal matters, and taken away almost all of her moral authority in the nations where you find the church. But God has a rescue plan, and wants you to be part of that plan.
Prophetically, there are fresh leaders He is currently raising, most of them are in the caves of His glory, and you could be one of them. They hold the voice and scepter that will restore the Church back to her original purpose.
If you are one of them, this statement will spark a fire within your spirit. In fact, you will sense a stir in your spirit.
Yes, the Church will be restored back to her original intent; she will have men and women, who will pioneer the last mass evangelism that will usher in Jesus Christ, as King of kings and LORD of lords.
God will free the Bride of Christ from all that falsehood and deception has brought upon her. He will cause those who tremble at His word to rise with a fresh apostolic fire. The little foxes that spoil the vine will be no more.
Compromise will be very far from her, and we will see the glory of Zion again.
YES, ZION WILL AGAIN EMERGE AS THE GLORIOUS CHURCH, HAVING NO SPOT OR WRINKLE.
A lot of redemption orders will be sanitized and restored. One of them is the redemption order of genuine spiritual fathering. In other words, a spiritual fathering that evolves around the Tree of life.
Looking back on the scripture that tells us why God placed, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in His church, it is important to note that these five-fold ministry gifts, are best administered to the souls of men, through a fathering system that is built around the Tree of life.
Permit me to share some truths about spiritual fathering that you might not have heard. You see, there are so many reasons to why the prophetic purpose of the five-fold ministry gifts, especially the prophetic purpose of the office of apostles and prophets, can only be fulfill within a fathering system.
I call those reasons, “the redemptive purposes of spiritual fathering.” It is important to note that these redemptive purposes, are apostolic and prophetic in nature. Do not forget that everything about the Church is originally apostolic and prophetic in nature.
The Church of Jesus Christ was originally born on earth on the prophetic knee of the Hebrew prophets, and apostolic feet of the 12 apostles of the lamb. That is why, when you take whatever concerns the church out of these two original patterns, it will become demonic, occultic, human, or commercial.
In simple terms, it will destroy the eternal purpose of the Church.
This is applicable to every redemptive order God set in the Church, including spiritual fathering, worship and etc.
Our devotional text presents the first redemptive (apostolic and prophetic) purpose of spiritual fathering. It says;
“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!
To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.
I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 1 Corinthians 4:10-15 NKJV.
THERE IS SO MUCH IN THESE VERSES OF THE SCRIPTURES
The lines that says, “for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel,” carries the first and ultimate redemptive purpose of spiritual fathering. It is buried in the word begotten. The word means to bring forth into existence through the process of reproduction.
That means, for a true spiritual father, the ultimate redemptive purpose of spiritual fathering, will be to bring Christ into existence, especially in the spirit nature, morality or character, of sons and daughters in faith. You see this in the lives of our Bible fathers, like Paul.
Yes, you see how they strove to have Christ formed or reproduced in those they fathered or nurtured spiritually in their days. They did all that through an apostolic and prophetic process of reproduction called, “travailing in birth until Christ is formed in you.” The Bible puts it this way;
“My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,” Galatians 4:19 AMPC
Spiritual fathering can be difficult, especially if the intent is to form Christ in people. There are birth pangs you suffer in the process as a father.
That is why many will prefer being preachers or fake spiritual fathers instead of being genuine fathers. In fact, the word father will only be used when it comes to getting service, worship, honor, relevance of resources from people.
Come to think of it, the spiritual fathering system in many Churches today, is all about money, and nothing about forming Christ in people. That is why people now hate spiritual fathering. They have suffered much under this distorted version of fathering, that they do not want to hear anything called fathering.
It is those who form Christ in us that we should honor with money and serve wholeheartedly. When we honor and serve them, we cushion the effects of the birth pangs they suffer in the process of forming Christ in us.
Again, our devotional text says something; it presents the birth pangs genuine spiritual fathers go through to form Christ in us. It says they become fools for Christ’s sake, weak, or dishonored.
Some others go through hunger and thirst. Others become even poorly clothed, or beaten and made homeless for forming Christ in us. While some others will be so abandoned economically that they would have to work with their own hands to help us become what God want us to be.
There is so much genuine fathers go through to fulfill the eternal purpose of the five-fold ministry gifts in our lives. Your serving, honoring, sacrificing for, and standing with them is what helps them fulfill their divine purpose in your life.
As we bring this to a close, I want to submit to you that any spiritual fathering that is not forming Christ in you, is not fulfilling the ultimate purpose of spiritual fathering.
Finally, understand that no one can father a person if he or she is not having the person’s loyalty and trust, through pastoring or shepherding. If your spiritual father is not having a Church, you both are just playing games. It is like trying to raise children without a home to grow in.
You are spiritually what streets kids are naturally, and it will not impact your life the way GOD intended. The need for a church system cannot be overemphasized, you must find one and plant yourself there to be spiritually fathered or nurtured.
I pray that GOD will use these words, to build you up, and give you an inheritance among they that are sanctified. Amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“Brethren, I beg of you, become as I am [free from the bondage of Jewish ritualism and ordinances], for I also have become as you are [a Gentile]. You did me no wrong [in the days when I first came to you; do not do it now].
On the contrary, you know that it was on account of a bodily ailment that [I remained and] preached the Gospel to you the first time.
And [yet] although my physical condition [such] a trial to you, you did not regard it with contempt, or scorn and loathe and reject me; but you received me as an angel of God, [even] as Christ Jesus [Himself]!
What has become of that blessed enjoyment and satisfaction and self-congratulation that once was yours [in what I taught you and in your regard for me]? For I bear you witness that you would have torn out your own eyes and have given them to me [to replace mine], if that were possible.
Have I then become your enemy by telling the truth to you and dealing sincerely with you?
These men [the Judaizing teachers] are zealously trying to dazzle you [paying court to you, making much of you], but their purpose is not honorable or worthy or for any good. What they want to do is to isolate you [from us who oppose them], so that they may win you over to their side and get you to court their favor.
It is always a fine thing [of course] to be zealously sought after [as you are, provided that it is] for a good purpose and done by reason of purity of heart and life, and not just when I am present with you!
My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,” Galatians 4:12-19 AMPC