DCLM Daily Manna 10 February 2024 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — God’s Pulsating Heartbeat
TOPIC: God’s Pulsating Heartbeat (DCLM Daily Manna 10 February 2024)
KEY VERSE: “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:11).
TEXT: Jonah 4:6-11 (KJV)
6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
MESSAGE:
People are often passionate about different things and are offended when those things are violated or suffer harm due to the excesses of other people. They would stop at nothing to seek punishment or reparations for such offences.
Jonah, the recalcitrant prophet, had become disconsolate when God showed mercy to Nineveh after his evangelistic outreach in the city. He did not understand why God spared the wicked Ninevites who had now turned from their evil ways to serve the true God. He complained to God that this was the reason he initially fled from carrying out the assignment. He waited to see whether God would change His mind and destroy the people. But God was yet to teach him a great lesson on the depth of His mercies.
Overnight, God groomed a plant that provided Jonah with shelter in the outskirts of Nineveh. He found succour under the plant. He, therefore, became angry the next day when he discovered that the plant had inexplicably dried up. Bereft of the comforting shelter of the plant, Jonah was at the mercy of the scorching desert sun. He became angry and got into a futile argument with God. God had to gently chastise him, telling him that if he could feel so much concern for a plant, which he did not cultivate, how much more should he show empathy towards the people of Nineveh who had now turned to God because of his labour in carrying out God’s assignment. We should be concerned with the plight of the men and women in the world who are lost in sins, and are headed to a doomed eternity.
We should show compassion towards them and give them the message of salvation through Christ. We must be passionate and urgent with the task of reaching as many as possibly as we can before time runs out on them. This is the reason God left us on earth after saving us from sin.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
We are called to beam, not dim, the gospel light.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
Deuteronomy 31-34
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.
