DCLM Daily Manna Friday 7 October 2022
TOPIC: Unending War
TEXT: Joshua 24:4-16
KEY VERSE:
“But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.” – (Joshua 24:10).
DCLM Daily Manna Friday 7 October 2022 OUTLINE
During the World War II, Sub-Lieutenant Hiroo Onodda of the Imperial Japanese army was ordered to stay on Lubang Island in the Philippines and hold it for the glory of the Emperor. So he did. The following year, the Allies bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese surrendered. Shortly after, the war ended, but unfortunately, Sub-Lieutenant Onodda did not know. He kept on fighting.
He was totally unaware that the war had ended long ago. Even when the police searched through the jungle using megaphones to ask him to surrender and stop shooting the locals, he refused to give up. It was not until 1974 when they brought in his wartime commanding officer, to order him to surrender, that he finally stopped fighting.
Israel’s challenges and wars after escape from Egyptian bondage also appeared never-ending until the Lord showed up to stop the enemy. There was the crossing of the Red Sea and the forty-year journey through the wilderness. Then the sudden attack by the Amorite nation and the assistance they received during the war. The story of Israel’s deliverance continued with the incident where Balaam was hired against them, but God turned his curses into blessings. When they eventually crossed Jordan into the Promised Land, the Lord again was their Shield and Defense all through the mandatory wars to dispossess the Canaanites.
DCLM Daily Manna Friday 7 October 2022
Like someone rightly said, “victory in the Christian life is not the absence of conflict, but the presence and protection of God during the conflict”. Conflicts and battles will never end as long as we remain on this side of eternity. Our arch enemy, the devil, like a roaring lion, walks about looking for whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
MFM Daily Devotional 7 October 2022 – The Mercy of God (II)
We should not expect the enemy to surrender. We should rather trust in God to deliver us from every battle just like He did for the Israelites.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Followers of Christ must never give up.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Luke 11-12
