Topic: Face The Truth [Tuesday March 7, 2017]
Text: Isaiah 30:1-17
Key Verse: “Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isaiah 30:10).
Many people prefer words that bring comfort to them in their settled conditions, even when it neither makes sense nor is in line with the commands of God. In fact, anyone who insists on speaking the truth is soon considered as an enemy, and promptly avoided. It was so with the people of Israel. They had rebelled against God and formed an alliance with heathen nations. They also angered God when they sought protection from the kings of those nations.
They no longer reckoned with the Lord their God. In a mixture of sadness and anger, God warned them of the consequences of the choices they had made: they would suffer shame, trouble and confusion. They would seek help in vain from the Egyptians. Regrettably, they dug deeper into rebellion, rejecting the truth and preferring lies and deceits. They cast off anyone or anything that tended to remind them of God, in the vain hope that this would silence their guilty conscience. The result was that they were stripped of all divine protection, and became a free game for the enemy. Their only chance of escape was to return to God. But because they would not budge, what they feared most came upon them. The enemy they thought they were fleeing from swiftly overtook and defeated them.
The truth of God’s word in us must be strong to repel the preference for lies, deceits and illusions. We should only seek comfort, advice and solution from God. Where we have gone astray, we should return to Him in repentance, daily draw strength from His Word and ask for His guidance in whatever challenge we may face. He will, without fail, stabilise our situation.
Thought for the day: Much to be preferred is facing reality than living in a lie.
Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Samuel 17-18
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.