DCLM DAILY MANNA 5 APRIL 2021 – SPIRITUAL LOCKDOWN
TOPIC: Spiritual Lockdown (DCLM Daily Manna 5 April 2021)
TEXT: Jeremiah 8:13-22
13 I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
KEY VERSE: “Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD” (JEREMIAH 8:14).
MESSAGE:
During the year 2020 lockdown occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic, many cities stood still. The frequent carnivals and parades could not hold and the clubs and pub houses were shut. The best hospitals in the world and their doctors could not help to prevent the avalanche of deaths that visited the cities.
Also See: OPEN HEAVEN 5 APRIL 2021 – GOD DEFENDS HIS ELECT
Israel, in our reading, was on lockdown. “…the LORD our God hath put us to silence… because we have sinned against the LORD” (Jeremiah 8:14). During this period of lockdown, nothing worked. There was no peace nor healing to those who were sick. Poisonous serpents were in the cities, hurting people. The sky over them was closed and their agrarian economy was shut down. The physicians were in the cities with their medications, yet the health of the daughter of Zion was not recovered, despite the balm that was in Gilead.
Believers should not just lament when calamities and death visit their cities. They should encourage people to repent and turn away from evil. Locking down the cities and investing in scientific research for the production of a vaccine is good. Beyond that, we should seek spiritual solution to our problems.
We must learn from the pandemic and the deaths that followed. We must understand that we cannot continue to ignore God and His righteous commandments, and expect that all will be well. Hard is the way of transgressors, and God is angry with the wicked everyday (Psalm 7:11). To avert God’s judgment, we must come to Him in true repentance and ask for mercy.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
We can avoid spiritual lockdown by living upright.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
John 13-15
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)
