Topic: Don’t Turn Back [DCLM Daily Manna 28 October 2020 Devotional By Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Psalm 119:81-88 (KJV)
81 CAPH. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
82 Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?
83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
84 How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
85 The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.
86 All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
87 They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.
88 Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.
Key Verse: “They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.” – (Psalm 119:87)
MESSAGE:
In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. So one Sunday, he decided to attend services at a nearby church and talked to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu.” That usher’s prejudice not only betrayed Jesus but also turned a person away from trusting Him as Saviour.
While facing persecution, our lives come under intense scrutiny which may purify or destroy us, depending on how we react to it. From our text, the psalmist was waiting on God to execute judgment on those, who without reason, were persecuting and rejecting him. He likened his condition to a bottle in smoke. And since there can be no smoke without fire, he was really under fire. They dug a pit for him and attacked him wrongfully. His situation appeared to grow worse, but God comforted him through His word.
Like the psalmist, many times we face rejection which we cannot explain. People are busy digging pits for our soul instead of building bridges for us to cross over. But turning back is not an option. If Mahatma Gandhi had ignored that usher, who turned him away from church, there is a chance he could have been converted to Christianity, and things could have been a lot different in India today.
You may be perplexed and overwhelmed by current persecution and rejection you may be facing. Instead of turning back, ask the Lord to use your current trials to build you up.
Thought For The Day: Whatever happens, do not turn back.
The Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 19-21
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.
