Topic: Advantage In Affliction [DCLM Daily Manna 26 October 2020 Devotional By Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Psalm 119:65-72 (KJV)
65 TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
Key Verse: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” – (Psalm 119:71)
MESSAGE:
Charles Colson, a political saboteur under the Richard Nixon administration was described as “an evil genius” because of his cleverness in the game of politics. But when he was sentenced to seven months behind bars at the Federal Maxwell prisons, United States, for his involvement in the Watergate Scandal, he surrendered his life to Christ and was a changed person. Behind bars, he became a born-again Christian and an evangelistic Christian leader. He founded the Prison Fellowship Ministry that organises Bible studies for inmates throughout the country.
The psalmist reveals how affliction helped him shape up and get acquainted with Scriptures. Before he was afflicted, he went astray; but later found God in his troubles. In fact, he believed the affliction he passed through made way for his salvation and a change of heart. His remembrance of his past, helped keep him focused on God for a better future.
It is paradoxical that often times, the pains of trouble and the vicissitudes of life bring us to God faster than when things went well with us and life was easy. Some can testify today that they became broken and humble after passing through serious challenges that came as a result of their carelessness and rebellion against God. This does not in any way imply that God loves punishing His people and bringing trials on their ways. The fact is, the message of love draws people to Christ, and when they become proud and arrogant, the Lord breaks their will by allowing trials to come their way. The gospel of love and of judgment must go hand in hand.
Like the psalmist, we need to thank God for our trials, and avoid pride and arrogance which separates us from God and His divine purposes for our lives.
Thought For The Day: The God of justice is yet a Father of mercy.
The Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 13-14
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
