DCLM Daily Manna 11 May 2023 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Champions In Christ
TOPIC: Champions In Christ (DCLM Daily Manna 11 May 2023)
KEY VERSE: “The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off” (Isaiah 29:19,20).
TEXT: Isaiah 29:13-24 (KJV)
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
MESSAGE:
The unconditional theory of the survival of the fittest enunciated by some evolutionists, philosophers and economists runs contrary to the teachings of the Bible. The doctrine argues that in society, the poor, weak and socially handicapped would risk extinction as the strong, fit and economically advantaged take up all the space for supremacy in productive endeavours.
In the sight of the Lord, this is erroneous. He sent His servant, Isaiah, to the children of Israel to warn them against needlessly leaning on the “wisdom of their wise men”. Their thinking disparaged the lowly in the Lord and challenged their Maker. They would not submit themselves to Him as the clay, which does not attempt to teach the potter his craft; but the Lord mocks them and speaks of His support for the poor who trust Him. “The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel”.
Some believers may be physically weak and be persecuted by the men and women of the world for their spiritual convictions to serve the Lord selflessly. They may even be denied their rights and privileges where they work for their uncompromising Christian principles. God assures us that it is not our struggle to be among the fittest that will sustain us. It is His grace and trust in His promises.
Those who filled Jerusalem with Christ’s teachings in the early Church were not the “fittest” in the society at that time. They were “unlearned and ignorant men”; but “they had been with Jesus” who backed them with power. You are the “fittest” if you are a faithful follower of Christ.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God often turns the feeblest to the fittest.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Corinthians 8-11
Deeper Life 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.
