DCLM DAILY MANNA 10 FEBRUARY 2021 – VANITY OF BOASTING
Topic: Vanity Of Boasting (DCLM Daily Manna 10 February 2021)
Text: Lamentations 2:1-10 (KJV)
1 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!
2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.
3 He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
5 The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.
8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
Key Verse: “How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!” (Lamentations 2:1).
MESSAGE:
The French philosopher, Voltaire was quoted as saying that “A hundred years from my death and the Bible will be a museum place”. It was reported that a hundred years after his death, the French Bible Society set up its headquarters in Voltaire’s old home in Paris.
God worked against Jacob (Israel) and Judah in the time of their apostasy. He also poured out judgment upon the people because they had rebelled against His will. The beauty of Israel was always unmatched because the glory of God radiated in it. The daughters of Zion were a special breed, beauty personified and cynosure of all eyes. But when sin was found in Israel, all that made her attractive died. The beauty faded off. This is what happens when God withdraws His presence and favour.
Some people are like Voltaire. They brag about their huge success in their fields of endeavour, careers, families, etc., and attribute none of such to God’s special favour. Instead, they turn such blessings into instruments of disrespect for God. In the twinkling of an eye, all they boast of is gone.
To ensure our ‘beauty’ (whether they are career progress, family, financial or academic successes) remains, we must always hold in optimum reverence the Source – the almighty God. Those who may have erred wilfully or in ignorance can seek His mercy today. Take a moment and pause; reflect on how the enemy has entered, and then turn to the Lord. Return to the true Source of beauty and regain your radiating power from the Almighty.
Thought For The Day: Beauty is vain without God’s glory.
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. https://dclm.org/
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
