DCLM Daily Manna 9 December 2019 – Peace With Holiness

Topic: Peace With Holiness
[DCLM Daily Manna 9 December 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]

Text: Hebrews 12:14-17
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Key Verse: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” – (Hebrews 12:14).

MESSAGE:

Sister Joy lived in a hostel with a lady belonging to another religion in her final year in the university. This lady exhibited all forms of hatred and ill will against Joy in line with her religious beliefs. But Joy was loving and caring. Her attempts to preach Christ to this roommate were viciously rebuffed. But one day in the heat of their final exams, sister Joy came to the hostel to see some clothes washed by her roommate and others unwashed. She ironed those that were washed and washed those unwashed. When the other lady returned, she could not believe her eyes. She apologised to Joy for all her cruelty and asked her to lead her to Christ.

The text exhorts or rather commands the believers to follow peace “with all men and holiness” as these are requirements to see God at last. Also, the believer must avoid anything that will make him fail of the grace of God or cause bitterness that leads to defilement.

Peace is paramount in the life of man, whether in the family, community, church or in a nation. Because our Christ is the Prince of Peace, He expects His Church to live in peace with one another and with all men.

Every true child of God must be a peacemaker. To make for peace in the church especially, we must avoid every form of bias or prejudice based on tribe, education, gender, wealth, etc. Every believer must be treated equally with the love of Christ. Fault-finding, gossip, carnal comparisons, unforgiving spirit, etc., must be avoided. It must be a strange thing for any true child of God to be the source of discord in the church by discussing others including leaders in their absence, instigating wives against their husbands or church members against leadership.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The God of peace begets children of peace.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Obadiah 1