DCLM Daily Manna – Closer Home Than Ever

DCLM Daily Manna 6 November 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Closer Home Than Ever

TOPIC: Closer Home Than Ever

TEXT: Romans 13:8-14 (KJV)

8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

KEY VERSE: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” – (Romans 13:11)

MESSAGE:

An industrialist, who was said to have sunk all his prized investments in a search for oil in a field he had acquired, did not know how close he was to hitting the treasures of his quest. He must have explored the entire land with the aid of the most advanced technology of the time without locating the black gold. Frustrated, he sold the field. It did not take the new owner much labour and time to discover the oil the previous landlord had missed.

This tale is often told to teach the moral of longsuffering and perseverance in expectation of the fulfilment of good promises. For Christians in this generation waiting for our Lord’s return, we are called upon to wear these attributes like a garment. Halfway in the 13th chapter of his epistle to the Romans, Apostle Paul delivers a spiritual advisory to help us understand that the coming of our Lord is nearer than we think. If we fully grasp this revelation, we shall work more for the Saviour and not allow room for despondency.

Paul challenges the truly expectant redeemed to leave his closet and come out into the open where the world would observe him display his preparation for his Lord through loving his neighbours like himself, walking honestly, rejecting strife and envying and above all, refusing to make “provision for the flesh.”

The believer so thoroughly immersed in the Lord and in His word would have the world and its discouraging distractions distant from him and make heaven closer. If you trudge on day and night, with the unyielding faith that your “salvation [is] nearer than when [you] believed,” you will not give in and sell off your birthright. As you go out today, accomplish something new for the Lord to lead others to Him.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Christ’s return is imminent, preach the Word.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Jeremiah 46-48

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.