DAILY MANNA
SATURDAY , OCTOBER 17, 2020
TOPIC: DON’T BE A DEAD SEA
TEXT: Luke 18:1-8
KEY VERSE:
“I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” - (Luke 18:8)
The Dead Sea, lying in the Middle East region with Israel, Jordan and Palestine, as its neighbours, is a landlocked salty lake with no outflow. It does not flow out as do other seas. Scientists say it is trapped to evaporate. But the Dead Sea takes in much from its local surroundings and the atmosphere. In other words, this body of water hardly gives. This defies the natural scheme which says relationships only glow where there is action and reaction from both sides. There cannot be life in a bond that witnesses activity from only one side without response from the other.
Our Lord Jesus dramatises this in the parable in our study today. A judge who would not reverence God or have respect for his fellow man was put to the test about these convictions by a widow. She required the man of justice to right a wrong done her by an adversary. She must have looked for help in several places in the community without success, turning finally to the custodian of the law. The judge “would not (help) for a while... because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”
The Lord then dropped the moral: if a self-acclaimed irreverent and unjust judge would grant the entreaties of a poor woman who did not allow him rest, “shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?” The Lord Himself answers by saying God will not just avenge us, but He will do so “speedily”.
Now, not being the Dead Sea, we are expected to give the Lord, Who always gives as we ask something in return. As He answers our prayers “speedily”, we must continue to respond with unyielding faith in Him and preach to win the lost into His kingdom.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Pray to have souls to give to the Lord at His return.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Isaiah 46-50
HIGHER EVERYDAY
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
DIVINELY ORDAINED DESTINY
BIBLE TEXT: Jeremiah 1:1-10
MEMORY VERSE: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
Blessed is that man that discovers early in life the purpose of his living and the thing he must die for. Such a man often leaves an indelible footprint on the sands of time. This knowledge emboldened Christ to reply to Pilate’s question about His kingship thus: “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world…” It was what prompted Paul to respond to a negative prophecy by positively saying, “I am ready not only to be bound but to die.” In our text, Jeremiah’s ordained destiny was revealed to him early in life by God who showed him the details of what it would cost him to fulfill it.
It is not surprising how he was able to withstand such myriads of opposition on his path to fulfilling his divinely ordained destiny. He, like Jesus and Paul, refused to vacillate despite many oppositions. This discovery is only possible when you are reconnected with your Maker through the salvation experience. The question is: Have you discovered your divinely ordained destiny?
QUOTE: Jeremiah’s ordained destiny was revealed to him.
CHALLENGE: Have you discovered your divinely ordained destiny?
PRAYER: Lord, show me what to live and die for.
Thanks for the message, God bless you.
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