MORNING MANNA              1-3-23

A Wonderful Guarantee

” Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” -Isaiah 41:10

I just read that this verse was the most popular and shared scripture around the world in 2022, according to YouVersion’s survey. In light of all that’s happened the last two years it’s easy to see why. 

Charles Spurgeon wrote “When called to serve or to suffer, we take stock of our strength, and we find it to be less than we thought and less than we need. But let not our heart sink within us while we have such a word as this to fall back upon, for it guarantees us all that we can possibly need. God has strength omnipotent; that strength He can communicate to us; and His promise is that He will do so. He will be the food of our souls and the health of our hearts; and thus He will give us strength. There is no telling how much power God can put into a man. When divine strength comes, human weakness is no more a hindrance.

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA               1-2-23

 NOT MY WILL

“Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done”. – Luke 22:42

Someone has said that these words of Jesus are the most difficult—and most important—words that we can learn in any language: not my will, but Thine, be done.

Although Jesus’ will was always in perfect harmony with His Father’s (John 6:38-39), ours often is not. The things that we assume would make us happy and contended He seems to withhold from us at times, and the things we seek to avoid are the very things that He frequently allows into our lives.

Pray for deliverance; pray for strength; pray for direction… and pray, “Not my will, but Thine, be done.” These words are difficult, because they hand the most precious parts of our life over to God. But they are liberating, because they recognize that we are in God’s hands anyway and, if we understood the situation perfectly, we would certainly want whatever God wants for us.Dear believer, there is no prayer (outside, of course, a prayer for something that is already revealed in God’s Word as sinful) that you cannot take to God with these precious words: not my will, but Thine, be done.- Copied

David Stone

Lakeway  Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA               1-1-23

THE BANK

“ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.“- Eph. 5:15-16

Someone wrote, “If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no balance from day to day…Allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your advantage! Well, you have such a bank, and its name is TIME! Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it rules off as lost whatever of this you failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balances, it allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account with you. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow.” 

That ought to make us think! Those who accomplish the most in life are those who value time. Here’s an example:

The great 19th-century naturalist and Harvard professor Louis Agassiz was once approached by the emissary of a learned society and invited to address its members. Agassiz declined the invitation, saying that lectures of this kind took up too much time that should be devoted to research and writing. The man persisted, saying that the society was prepared to pay handsomely for the lecture. 

“That’s no inducement to me,” Agassiz replied, “I can’t afford to waste my time making money.”

The truth is that none of us can afford to waste time seeking fortune, fame, or fun. We spend time wisely only when we invest it in the pursuit of God’s purpose for our life—things of eternal value. Naturally that leaves room for a certain amount of time for rest and recreation, but we have to keep it all in proper balance. A life well-lived is determined by time well-spent. Don’t waste it! You use it or lose it.

Life is a precious gift from God that ought to be appreciated and used in accordance to His will. Remember, God’s will is always right, best, and safest. I pray that you will do your best to give God your best and experience His blessings on your life. – HDS

Happy New Year!!! – Bro.& Mrs. Stone

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

MORNING MANNA               12-31-22

Moving Forward Into the New Year

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” Hosea 6:3

The late Adrian Rogers said, On this New Year’s Eve, you may be wondering what is going to happen. Years ago, some men were on a leaky old ship in the middle of a rough and stormy sea. One of them asked the captain, “Are we safe?”  He said, “Well, the boilers are weak and may explode at any moment. The ship is taking on water. To be very honest with you, we may go up, or we may go down, but at any rate, we are going on.”

And that’s the way we are as we face this new year. Jesus may come; we may go up. We may die, and go down and then up, but at any rate, we are going on.

Reflecting on this past year, allow the Holy Spirit to invade your heart, convicting and drawing you to Himself. Ask for wisdom, courage, and faith to continue on, whatever happens this next year!

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord”.- 1 Cor. 15:58

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

MORNING MANNA               12-30-22

NUMBERING OUR DAYS      

 “ So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.– Psa. 90:12 

At this time every year I cannot help but think of this verse. It speaks of what we ought to do and our need of help in doing it. Thus the writer says “So teach us”. We need God’s help every moment of every day.

J. R. Miller wrote,”There are several ways of numbering our days. One way is merely to count them off as we tear off the daily leaves of our calendar. Each evening a man has one day less to live. But that is not true numbering. Another, way is merely to count the days into the aggregate of life. A man is one day older, but that is all. He is no better. He has left no worthy record on the day’s page. The true numbering, is that which fills the days as they pass–with records of godly and beautiful living, and with lines of growth in character.

Just now we are looking back over the story of a closing year. What have we given the days to keep for us? What lessons of wisdom have we learned from them, as one by one they have passed? There is little good in worrying over the failures of the year–but we ought to learn from our past. He is the wise man, not who makes no mistakes–but who does not repeat his mistakes.”

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.