DCLM Daily Manna 7 October 2022 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Unending War
TOPIC: Unending War (DCLM Daily Manna 7 October 2022)
TEXT: Joshua 24:4-16 (KJV)
4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
7 And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
11 And you went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
KEY VERSE: “But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.” – (Joshua 24:10).
MESSAGE:
During the World War II, Sub-Lieutenant Hiroo Onodda of the Imperial Japanese army was ordered to stay on Lubang Island in the Philippines and hold it for the glory of the Emperor. So he did. The following year, the Allies bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese surrendered. Shortly after, the war ended, but unfortunately, Sub-Lieutenant Onodda did not know. He kept on fighting. He was totally unaware that the war had ended long ago. Even when the police searched through the jungle using megaphones to ask him to surrender and stop shooting the locals, he refused to give up. It was not until 1974 when they brought in his wartime commanding officer, to order him to surrender, that he finally stopped fighting.
Israel’s challenges and wars after escape from Egyptian bondage also appeared never-ending until the Lord showed up to stop the enemy. There was the crossing of the Red Sea and the forty-year journey through the wilderness. Then the sudden attack by the Amorite nation and the assistance they received during the war. The story of Israel’s deliverance continued with the incident where Balaam was hired against them, but God turned his curses into blessings. When they eventually crossed Jordan into the Promised Land, the Lord again was their Shield and Defense all through the mandatory wars to dispossess the Canaanites.
Like someone rightly said, “victory in the Christian life is not the absence of conflict, but the presence and protection of God during the conflict”. Conflicts and battles will never end as long as we remain on this side of eternity. Our arch enemy, the devil, like a roaring lion, walks about looking for whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
We should not expect the enemy to surrender. We should rather trust in God to deliver us from every battle just like He did for the Israelites.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Followers of Christ must never give up.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Luke 11-12
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.