DCLM Daily Manna 23 October 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — A Little Compromise

TOPIC: A Little Compromise

TEXT: 2 Kings 18:13-25

13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.

14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house.

16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.

18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

19 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

20 Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

25 Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

KEY VERSE: “At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.” – (2 Kings 18:16)

MESSAGE:

Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president who knew he was not perfect, but never resolved to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me”.

From the text, Hezekiah tried to placate the king of Assyria who came to invade the fenced cities of Judah. Instead of his usual approach of relying on the Lord and confronting the enemy, Hezekiah, in fear, settled for negotiation. In a desperate attempt to meet the conditions of peace, he sent to the king of Assyria all the silver found in the house of the Lord and the king’s treasury. Yet, the king of Assyria still came with a large army to invade Jerusalem. The emissaries sent to Judah by the enemy king did not acknowledge whatever was sent by Hezekiah; they instead boasted about the military might of their king and made irreverent remarks about God and His people.

After fourteen years on the throne, Hezekiah forsook his former approach of relying only on God to defend the nation in times of war. He appeared to have accepted a little compromise by negotiating his way out of the predicament. He forgot that the enemy would hunt for the precious soul and would not settle for any gifts.

As believers, we must understand that the devil does not honour agreements. He cannot be trusted to stand by his promises. We must therefore avoid any form of compromise through negotiation with the devil or his cohorts. We must not return to the world or to Egypt for help. There is no agreement between light and darkness, and two parallel lines will never meet. Our God is more than enough to save us.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Satan’s agents cannot be trusted to keep promises.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Jeremiah 5-6

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 22 October 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Limited Power Of Great Men

TOPIC: Limited Power Of Great Men

TEXT: Ezekiel 17:1-10

1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.

6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.

8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.

10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.

KEY VERSE: “Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.” – (Ezekiel 17:9)

MESSAGE:

Human history has shown how great men have lived and acted as if they were all in all. They possess, prosper and spread their empires as if no one could question or stop them.

This parable paints the picture of some of the powerful kingdoms that took Judah in captivity but forgot that God was only using them as instruments to punish the Jewish nation. They behaved as if their power and skill had given them the victory over God’s people. They were deceived by their speedy victory, prosperity and success which brought them great influence and fame! In their privileged position and power, they oppressed, afflicted and tortured their subjects. Their manner of rulership was devoid of honour and reverence for God.

God is Master and King over all. He controls and reigns over the whole universe, hence men should tread in awe, fear and reverence irrespective of whom or what they are. He gives all the privileges, prosperity and success that we have. Thus, we must always recognise this so that we can remain humble.

When man behaves and acts as if there is no God over the universe, He shows up in wrath, judgment and punishment. The only guarantee of continual privileges, prosperity and happiness is to acknowledge God and give Him the first place in our hearts. We should honour and reverence Him always and make Him the Lord of our lives.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
He who owns and gives the privileges, prosperity and power can take it away by the wind.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Jeremiah 3-4

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 20 October 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — No Syncretism In Worship

TOPIC: No Syncretism In Worship

TEXT: 2 Kings 17:24-41

24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.

26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.

30 And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

32 So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

33 They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

35 With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

36 But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.

37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.

38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.

39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.

41 So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

KEY VERSE: “So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places…and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence” (2 KINGS 17:32, 33).

MESSAGE:

One of the glaring effects of globalisation is the gradual fusion of different cultures, beliefs and lifestyles into one. These days, we are also beginning to see a mixture and fusion of different religions. For instance, “Chrislam,” a movement which is a blend of Christianity and Islam, is becoming a popular movement in Nigeria and the United States.

The leaders of the Assyrian nation which conquered Israel came face to face with the harsh realities of the consequences of syncretism in worship – that is, mixing up idol worship with the worship of the true God. After the nation of Israel had been carried away from their land as a result of their sins, the Assyrians who conquered them brought other nations to occupy their lands. These new occupants of the land of Israel brought with them their various idols. Though they appeared to be worshipping God, they did not give up their idol worship. This provoked God and moved Him to visit them with judgment. God cannot be placed side by side with idols.

There are people who claim to have been converted to Christianity from their former religions but still bring some of the elements of their former beliefs into the faith and church. There are even some churches today that have imported some practices from heathen religions into their worship styles. One is not surprised then when these so-called believers keep complaining of satanic attacks, afflictions from their ancestral pasts as well as other strange experiences.

True believers must ensure a complete and total break from their past. If you are truly born again and have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, He alone must be the One you worship. There must not be a divided loyalty between Christ and other gods. You must be willing to make a clean break from all your former belief systems.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
You cannot serve God and mammon!

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Isaiah 61-66

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.