“—first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”–Matthew 5:24
Have you ever hurt someone? I’m talking about more than physical abuse. I’m talking about breaking their heart, crushing their spirit, leaving them in a pool of tears, grieving them beyond what they are able to bear? Or it might be just the opposite– someone has hurt you like that. 
 
So what did you do about it? Sadly, most people don’t do anything. They just go on their merry way, leaving their victim writhing in anquish and pain. They’re like a hit-and -run driver. They do the damage and take-off down the road, leaving others to deal with the harm they’ve done–no apology, no aid, no remorse (unless they get caught, and start feeling sorry for themselves). We see it all the time. But it’s where we see it that is most troubling. 
  
You expect such cruelty from the world, but you don’t expect it from professing Christians. They’re suppose to be different. We don’t expect to get “blind-sided” by someone who says they “love Jesus”. Well, you better get ready for it–sooner or later it will happen. Not everyone who sings,”O How I Love Jesus” cares about you. But, believe it or not, it’s better to be the victim than the perpetrator!   

Don’t think for a minute that your sin will go unnoticed or unpunished. When you hurt God’s children you hurt God (Matthew 25:40) and you’re going to get hurt! You can’t hurt others without hurting yourself. If you are guilty of this terrible sin you need to repent. Confess your sin to God and to all those you’ve affected, then do everything in your power to make restitution. Doing so will be painful, but not nearly so painful as not doing it. Remember–no one ever sinned successfully!- HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” —1 Thessalonians 5:18
Verna Chambers, of Willcox, AZ., got out of bed one morning and put on a t-shirt with these words on it, “Be nice to me. I had a hard day”. Shortly afterward little Eric looked at her and said, “How can you tell this early in the morning?.

That ought to get our attention. Sometimes we start the day expecting the worst. Before our feet ever hit the floor we have convinced ourselves that this is going to be “a hard day”. We rise with no cheerful expectation of what the day might hold. We just assume the worse. In other words, we make ourselves miserable before God has had a chance to bless us with some good thing. 

The sad thing is that our attitude usually shows in our face and affects those we come in contact with. So, how are you doing so far this morning? Have you already decided that this is going to be a bad day? Is there really nothing to smile about? Is it not possible that some delightful blessing is just a few hours, or maybe only minutes, away? 

 I know, some of you would like to punch me in the nose about now. And you are right, I don’t know how hard life has been for you. And I don’t know what the day will bring. But I do know this. As a child of God I have a loving Father in heaven who is anxious to bless me–and you. Why then should we not expect Him to do so? 

 By the way–blessings come in many forms. Just being able to get out of bed and dress yourself is a great blessing. Many can’t do that. Having a roof over your head, shoes on your feet, and something to eat should be a reason to rejoice. Things could be a lot worse than they are! 

 I’ll admit, I don’t know what your day will hold. It might indeed be “a hard day”, but why should we expect it to happen when we have no evidence that it will? Even if it does can God not use it for some good? The best way to start the day is to be thankful for the gift of life, the gifts in life, and the gift of eternal life. Now, you have a good day! – HDS ( 7/30/10)
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“…..pray one for another…”- James 5:16
As someone recently said, “When it rains it pours!” That seems to be true. I’m not talkin about the floods in the Midwest. I’m talking about the down pour of troubles people are going through. There seems to be no end to an ever growing list of people in need of prayer. It makes you wonder, ” Who and/or what is next?”. Within the circle of those I know the number of serious needs are staggering. And I’m not talking about a few petty little issues. The needs are not only many, they are of major importance.

All this serves to remind me of just how weak we are, and how desperately we need God. I know, most people don’t want to believe it, but it is true — having a can do attitude and bull dog tenacity isn’t enough to solve every problem. We need more than that! We are like helpless little babies wrestling with giant size problems. At this very moment I can think of people who are facing just about every kind of problem that you can think of. Many, most, of them are hurting, fearful, and worried about what the out come might be. How can we not care? It is heartbreaking to see them in such anguish.

We talk a lot about the different ways in which we serve God, and that’s fine, but sometimes we forget about the great need for urgent earnest prayer. It is easy to put someone’s name on a prayer list, it’s another thing to actually pray for them. As I write this there are people who need a miracle. Their lives literally depend on it. They are in great need of our prayers. We must not let them down. Sometimes we can actually answer the prayer ourselves by lending a helping hand– if we would. But at other time we simply do not have the resources to meet their need. We would if we could but we can’t. However, as Christians we are never helpless. If we pray, as we should, we involve God in the problem and He is never overwhelmed by our problems. He can help!

Strange how desperate we get for God to answer our prayers when we’re going through a crisis — which is what we should do. But it makes me wonder how different things might have been had we prayed like that all the time. However, we can’t change the past– what’s done is done. But we can learn from it.  So before things get worse let us pray earnestly for those in need. You might be flat broke, weak as a kitten, and dumb as a rock when it comes to providing what others need, but you can pray. And that can make a big difference. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that God used you to meet the needs of another? Through  prayer you can do that. Will you?– HDS

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

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? “–2 Cor 13:5 

Merchants understand the importance of knowing what they have and what they need. In other words, they need to know where they stand. Just assuming all is well is a big mistake. However, there is another inventory we need to take that is of far greater importance. I’m talking about the need to take an inventory concerning our relationship with God. As Paul says, “Examine yourselves”. 

 Let’s face it–the chances are good that you don’t like to face the facts regarding your spiritual condition–most of us don’t. However, we need to give this some serious thought. We are commanded to do so. As unpleasant as it is, we need a spiritual check-up, and to do it we must keep some facts in mind. Here’s the facts– 

 Believers in Christ are known as such by their affection for Him. That is an undeniable fact, clearly set forth in God’s Word. But there is more. Our new affections bring new appetities also. We long for what we love. When we truly love Christ we will have a desire to please Him. This desire is God-given. The moment we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit enters our heart and proceeds to transform us. He gives us new hungers, new hopes, and noticeable help. He doesn’t just engage us, He empowers us and enables us to do what was previously impossible. We, and others, begin to notice that we are different–we now will to do His will. It was with this in mind that Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”(2 Cor. 5:17) 

 While we aren’t perfect we are at least headed in the right direction. Salvation doesn’t just affect us in the sweet bye and bye, it affects us in the nasty here and now. As a result of our new nature we have new affections, new appetites, new attitudes, and new actions. It’s not just a matter of us changing, it’s a matter of us being changed. We are different because the Holy Spirit is conforming us to the image of Christ. 

 Now, here’s the sad thing–many presume they are saved and profess to be saved when there is absolutely no evidence that they are. They either refuse to examine themselves or they deny the unmistakable evidence–believing all will end well, when all the evidence is to the contrary. They are oblivious to the obvious. They are lost and unaware of it. What could be more sad than that? So, how is it with you? Have you honestly examined yourself in the light of God’s Word? Is there evidence that you have indeed been born again? Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will go to heaven when you die? Can you truly say that you love Christ more than anything and want to please Him in everything? Is your love of Christ evident? Have you examined yourself lately? Will you do so today?– HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“We love him, because he first loved us.”- 1 John 4:19

Do you ever wish you could love Jesus more? You know that loving Him is the most important thing in life and that it brings many benefits, but somehow your love doesn’t increase. Maybe you feel guilty about it and even pray, “Lord, help me to love you more”, but you don’t sense any change. I’ve been there, done that. So what now?
 
Here’s another question–Why does anyone love Jesus? Don’t try to guess –just go to the Bible for the answer. Here it is – “We love him, because he first loved us.”(1 John 4:19). What wonderful words, “he first loved us.” Let us never forget that. We love Him because and only because He first loved us. Our love for Him is our response to His love for us. It doesn’t say that He loves us because we first loved Him. He loved us ” while we were yet sinners–.” (Rom. 5:8) and He loves us with an everlasting love. He initiates and we respond. In this we see the key to loving Him more.

Charles Spurgeon wrote,”–we must not try to make ourselves love our Lord, but look to Christ’s love first, for his love to us will beget in us love to him. I know that some of you are greatly distressed because you cannot love Christ as much as you would like to do, and you keep on fretting because it is so. Now, just forget your own love to him, and think of his great love to you, and then, immediately, your love will come to something more like that which you would desire it to be.”
 
Do you see the wisdom in that? Sometimes we are guilty of making it all about us, and when we do we fail. The right way is to make it all about Him, ever “looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith–“(Heb.12:2), “Consider him--.( Heb.12:3), that’s the key. That will always generate love in our hearts. To renew your love for Christ review His love for you! That will work every time.- HDS

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