DCLM Daily Manna 11 May 2022 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — A Greater Pull

TOPIC: A Greater Pull (DCLM Daily Manna 11 May 2022)

TEXT: Luke 11:29-36 (KJV)

29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

KEY VERSE: “For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.” – (Luke 11:30)

MESSAGE:

After considering the lives of two well-known personalities in the Old Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ began to address issues of immediate concern which had eternal consequences. He pegged His comments on Solomon and Jonah, who had remarkable testimonies to pull crowds.

As He recalled their deeds, the Lord said He, the Messiah, commanded greater signs not only in His generation but for all generations till the Judgment Day. When they called for signs, He referred them to Jonah’s three-day stay in the belly of the fish and his preaching that led Nineveh to repentance. And a royal personality left a distant kingdom at the pull of Solomon’s wisdom. Now, Christ among them was greater than these two; yet the Jews rejected Him. On the last day, those who benefited from Solomon and Jonah, two lesser men, would condemn them for rejecting the greater King and Prophet.

Like the Jews, many in the world today are also walking in darkness as a result of their refusal to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. In verse 36, the Lord calls for the fullness of His doctrine in our lives. That is the way to escape the condemnation of the generations of the queen of the south and Nineveh.

God has rested the power for salvation of man in His Son, Jesus Christ. We do not need to wait for signs and wonders outside Him. Man needs no agent from below or above to convince us of the certainty of Christ’s lordship. He is the centre point of all the prophets and emissaries that have come from God.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Embrace Christ, the greatest of all wonders.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Samuel 30-31

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.

DCLM Daily Manna 10 May 2022 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Pain Of Wrong Assumptions

TOPIC: Pain Of Wrong Assumptions (DCLM Daily Manna 10 May 2022)

TEXT: Job 22:1-20 (KJV)

1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

KEY VERSE: “Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee.” – (Job 22:7,10)

MESSAGE:

Wrong assumptions about a person the Lord Himself has judged righteous often ends up with equally misleading conclusions. This is the case of many today. What they present as facts concerning another personality often run like a fairy tale of fiction, completely dissimilar to the position of God.

Painting Job as embodying wickedness, Eliphaz robes the suffering man in an apparel of sin. Job, Eliphaz says, has stripped the naked of their clothing. Failing to offer water to the fainting, Job has also “withholden bread from the hungry… [and] sent widows away empty” while remaining indifferent when “the arms of the fatherless have been broken”. For these reasons, he wrongly concludes, “snares are about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee”.

In the world, today, believers would also contend with faulty and sometimes sacrilegious retort to what we preach and our righteous lifestyle. When there is persecution, ill health or lack, they would charge us with unfounded allegations to tar us with sin. As we receive these buffeting responses, the Lord wants us to take courage in His promises, not in the unsubstantiated accusations of men.

The believer should dwell on the word of God, even in the midst of campaigns of calumny against our resolve to follow the Lord in this crooked world. Since the coming of the Lord is imminent, instead of worrying about man’s views, we should hold on to the truth, be watchful and ready to receive Him.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Man’s perceptions do not represent God’s opinion about you.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Samuel 27-29

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.

DCLM Daily Manna 9 May 2022 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Knotty Questions

TOPIC: Knotty Questions (DCLM Daily Manna 9 May 2022)

TEXT: Job 24:14-25 (KJV)

14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

KEY VERSE: “They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.” – (Job 24:24)

MESSAGE:

Man’s finite mind captures only what is finite. What is infinite escapes him. Since he cannot grasp what is beyond his vision, it becomes more difficult for him to take on the comprehension of what he does not know. Under such situation, man must emulate Job, who, failing to understand why the wicked prospered and the righteous like him suffered, asked God for enlightenment.

In our text, Job speaks of the gross wickedness that prevailed in the world which he lived. There were murderers who operated all day. It did not matter to them if it was dark or daylight; they would go for their prey. Then there were the adulterers, robbers and destroyers of the environment. They appear unstoppable, each saying, “No eye shall see me.”

They were wrong. God’s “eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.” Even in his anguish, Job was inspired by the Spirit of God to decry the end of the transgressor.

God does not abandon His people in difficult times. He comes with enduring Kingdom truths that remaining firm in holiness is still what we should hold on to, regardless of the anguish we experience. We receive assurance that affliction is “light”, waiting to give way for heavenly joy.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Listen to the “still small voice” when under persecution.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Samuel 25-26

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.