DCLM Daily Manna 31 March 2023 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Old Habits

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TOPIC: Old Habits (DCLM Daily Manna 31 March 2023)

KEY VERSE: “And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal” (2 Kings 17:16).

TEXT: 2 Kings 17:9-23 (KJV)

9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:

11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:

12 For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.

15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.

16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

20 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.

22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;

23 Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

DCLM Daily Manna For Today MESSAGE:

Several elderly nuns were on the second floor of their convent one night when a fire broke out. When the nuns realized the fire was blocking the exit, they took their habits (a long loose garment worn by members of a religious order) off, tied them together to make a rope, and climbed out of the window. After they were safely on the ground, a news reporter asked one of the nuns, ‘Weren’t you afraid that the habits could have ripped or broken since they are old? The nun replied, “Not at all, don’t you know that old habits are hard to break?”

From the passage, we read about the eventual destruction of Israel due to the same old sin of idolatry. Since they had made a habit of worshipping other gods and bowing down to them, the Lord finally put them away out of His sight. The northern kingdom was the first to break away from the ordained worship at the temple at Jerusalem, on Jeroboam’s instructions. Two images were then placed, one in Dan and the other at Bethel to serve as their new gods. God sent prophets, seers, and preachers to warn them of the consequences of their actions. Finding no positive response, the Lord allowed them to be carried into captivity. Judah soon followed suit and met the same fate. The land of Israel was now left desolate in fulfillment of the Scriptures.

The children of Israel had struggled with idolatry since they left Egypt. They made a golden calf in the wilderness and rebelled against God when ten of the spies, sent ahead to spy out the Promised Land returned with a negative report. Their progress was then delayed, and they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. When they eventually got to the land of promise, they continued in the practices of the heathen nations around them. Their old habits destroyed them eventually.

Old habits, they say, are hard, but not impossible to break; especially when one comes to Christ for heart transformation.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Like the chain of the demoniac, bad habits are broken when brought to Christ.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
John 1-3

Deeper Life Daily Manna For Today 2023 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.

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