DCLM Daily Manna 13 December 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — When We Cry To The Lord

TOPIC: When We Cry To The Lord

TEXT: Exodus 22:18-31 (KJV)

18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;

24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

26 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

31 And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

KEY VERSE: “If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry.” – (Exodus 22:23)

MESSAGE:

It amazed a man who lived in a densely populated compound when a mother raced from the common bathroom to her room some distance away upon hearing the cry of her baby. The man wondered: “How did the nursing mother pick out the faint call of her baby in the riot of noises in the environment?” Even he who was in an apartment closer to the child did not hear the toddler. It was a mystery to him.

The text today shows us a far greater wonder than the bond between a mother and her infant. He who created the unseen link between a needy child and its absent parent, says He is always aware of the plaintive pleadings of the oppressed anywhere they may be. He makes this known to the children of Israel three months after their freedom from Egypt. He cautions them on how not to treat widows, orphans and strangers.

In His incomparable compassion towards these underprivileged persons, He says He has set up a direct channel of communication with them to enable Him attend to their cry and fight those who oppress them. While He loves the poor, He is against witchcraft, bestiality, disrespect for constituted authority, uncleanness and usury. The Lord presented the new life that would characterise the new ways of the children of Israel in a new dispensation now and in the Promised Land.

Believers are given laws in the Bible to guide them in their pilgrimage to heaven. He wants us to live by His word and explore all His promises. He is closer to us than we can imagine. We can cry to Him when we are lonely or deserted by friends and relatives and expect Him to answer us even before we call. But we must detest what He detests. That is the only way to secure an audience with God.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
He hears you when you cry!

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Micah 1-4

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.

DCLM Daily Manna 12 December 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Don’t Despise God’s Warning

TOPIC: Don’t Despise God’s Warning

TEXT: Isaiah 28:22-29

22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.

29 This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

KEY VERSE: “Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.” – (Isaiah 28:22)

MESSAGE:

When a shepherd boy strayed into the ruins of the Qumran rocks near the Dead Sea in 1947, little did he know he would give the world a most important find: an ancient scroll containing the book of Isaiah the prophet. Now known as the Qumran Scrolls, they reveal that Isaiah’s work dates back to nearly 800 years before Christ. These old documents also settle the literal truth and reliability of the prophetic writings in the Old Testament. They bear the imprimatur of heaven.

Therefore, when we read about Isaiah foreseeing judgment to come upon the whole earth, we must not dismiss it as a fable concocted by man. If under divine inspiration, he prophesied the advent of the Messiah, His persecution and final crucifixion on the cross and these all came to pass, we cannot but also expect that other pronouncements of his would not fail.

The Lord’s decision to chastise Israel for her wanton worldliness was a warning to the entire humanity. Israel’s sin had reached an overflowing level. But so had the neighbouring nations’ iniquities. Since the Lord exercised sovereignty over the entire planet, He would not confine His justice to erring Israel. As He judged Israel in the interim, the whole race of man should expect a final one. No sinner will escape God’s judgment. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished…” (Proverbs 11:21).

The sun is about to set for the pall of darkness to spread over the earth. It will be too late for negligent believers, backsliders and sinners. But it will be the long-awaited day of joy for enduring and unyielding believers.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
You cannot stop the judgment day; but you can escape its wrath!

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2&3 John

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.