DCLM Daily Manna 2 January 2023 — Standing By Your Vow
DCLM Daily Manna 2 January 2023 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Standing By Your Vow
Click HERE for Previous DCLM Daily Manna by Pastor Kumuyi
TOPIC: Standing By Your Vow (DCLM Daily Manna 2 January 2023)
TEXT: Judges 11:29-40 (KJV)
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands.
33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back.
36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
KEY VERSE: “And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back” (Judges 11:35)
DCLM Daily Manna For Today MESSAGE:
Years ago, while Douglas Aircraft was competing with Boeing to sell its big jets to Eastern Airlines, Eddie Rickenbacker, the director of Eastern Airlines implored Donald Douglas to win his company by out-promising Boeing DC-8 noise-suppressing feature which the Douglas big jet aircraft lacked. Donald, after consulting with his fellow engineers, told Rickenbacker that he couldn’t make that promise on something that was not true. Rickenbacker replied, “I know you can’t, I just wanted to see if you were still honest. He kept his promise to always say the truth. This is integrity!
Also Read: Open Heaven 2 January 2023 – Setting And Achieving Goals II
The story of Jephthah is another case of a test in integrity. The son of a harlot and born to a Gileadite, Jephthah rose from an outcast to become a Spirit-filled judge and a warrior in Israel. In a show of confidence and reliance on God for victory in battle against the Ammonites, he made what appears to be a rash vow. Most accurate Hebrew scholars translated the vow to mean that he would consecrate to the Lord, or offer to Him as burnt-offering (as the case may be) whatever comes out of his house to meet him on return from the battle. Jephthah defeated the Ammonites. Alas, it was his daughter that first met him at the door of his house!
Painfully but committedly, Jephthah told his daughter the vow he made to God to which he was obligatorily committed to perform. And she willingly surrendered. Scholars have it that she was consecrated to the Lord by way of staying unmarried and kept her virginity all her life. There is neither scriptural nor cultural basis to support the argument that she was offered as burnt offering.
Jephthah’s commitment to fulfil his promise to God even when it was most inconvenient is a lesson on integrity for every believer. Even though we live at a time when faithfulness and truth are fallen in the street, Christians should not be caught in the web of breach of contract, unfulfilled promises and deceitful dealings. Walking with God demands that we fulfil our vows to Him and our promises to other people.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Better to be lean on promises and robust in performance than otherwise.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
GENESIS 4 – 6
Also Read: DCLM Daily Manna 31 December 2022 — God’s Clock Is Ticking To The End
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.
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)
