“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”- Rom. 13:8
This speaks about being free from debt, yet forever in debt. Love is a debt we owe to everyone that can never be fully discharged. The sad thing is that many fail to make any payments on this debt. Why? There can be no doubt about the debt, God commands us to love others — nor is there any doubt about the fact that we want others to love us. Why then do we fail to love others as we should? Is it because of their sinfulness, or the fact that they hurt us deeply? Do we fear that showing them love will make it appear that we are condoning their sin? Those are excuses we might use, but the fact is, we don’t love them because we don’t love God as we should.

It’s easy to blame our lack of love on the faults of others. Their shortcomings give us plenty excuses for not loving them. And we feel justified in withholding love from them. After all, we reason, they don’t deserve to be loved. Oddly enough we don’t feel that way about ourselves. Regardless of all our faults and failures we expect others to  love us. It’s easy to see that something is wrong with  that picture! We accept God’s love although we do not deserve it and we expect love from others although we have not earned it-how then can we withhold love from those who need it? Love is a debt we owe to everyone and although we are paying it everyday we can never discharge it fully.The seriousness of this matter is seen in that love is the fulfilling of the law.

Christ loves us unconditionally and we have no right to withhold love from others– regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. While we should hate sin (ours as well as others) we should love the sinner. Many boast about being a faithful Christian based on their church attendance, giving, and service but they don’t take into account that their love is lacking. Doing those things are commendable, but succeeding in some areas doesn’t justify failure in others– especially when it is so important as love, without which we are but “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” ( 1 Cor. 13:1). Of all things love is the greatest.–HDS

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

“Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”–Colossians 4:3- 4

   Paul is writing this epistle to the church at Colosse, from his place in prison, “I am also in bonds.”  In our text, he encourages the Christians there to be faithful in their praying, and he specifically requests prayer for himself.  This is perhaps one of the most underrated and neglected privileges and responsibilities that we have been given: the act of prayer.  Paul knew the value of prayer.  He had seen God answer his prayers, and he was sincerely dependent on the prayers of God’s people.
 
   When we hear prayer requests, how seriously do we take them?  We all have heard missionaries speak of how much they are counting on the prayers of faithful intercessors.  These are not just meaningless cliches.  God hears and answers prayer.  This is one of the great lessons of life.  God, who can do anything He chooses, has made certain things that are His will, subject to our faith-filled prayers.  One has to wonder how much of God’s will is being postponed or hindered because we have neglected our prayer closets. (Thomas Smith)
 
Notice the nature of Paul’s request. Rather than complain about his situation, or request funds, or ask to be set free, Paul wanted them to pray that God would use him to tell others of Christ. In other words, he was thinking of others rather than self, when others would have been thinking only of themselves instead of others. May the same be said of us!– HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”— Ja. 5:16

We’ve all heard the old saying “When it rains it pours”, and sometimes that’s the way we feel about our troubles. By “our troubles” I don’t necessarily mean just personal problems. I’m talking about troubles related to us, family, and friends– troubles that affect anyone in our circle. For me that’s a wife, eight children, nearly 40 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, church members, and friends that go back many years. It doesn’t take long for a down pour to become a deluge!

Remember the old Johnny Cash song, “How high’s the water mama?”. It starts with two feet high and risen”. It ends with “five feet high and risen”. I’ve literally been there done that, but I’m talking about a different kind of flood–a flood of painful problems that hurt you and those you love. Now you might be thinking I’m complaining, but I’m not. I don’t have the right to complain. Things could be worse, and would be but for the grace of God. I mention this because of the many people in my circle that are in desperate need of help. There are far more than you know. And I suspect the same could be said of you.

Sometimes I feel like spilling my guts, telling everyone everything I know about what these folks are going through, but I’m not at liberty to do that. Besides, even if I told all I know, I don’t know the half of it. Neither do you. So what do we do? I’ve heard folks say “I’ll pray for you. That’s the least I can do.” But the truth is, that’s the best you can do! Regardless of what else you do for others, you haven’t done your best until you pray. When we pray we involve God in the matter. God help us if we don’t!
So next time you walk into the church take time to look around into the faces of folks. Each has a story to tell, although they will never tell you. Remember “You can’t judge a book by its cover”. And you can’t always see the problem a person is dealing with, so don’t assume they don’t have any. You never know what’s going on behind closed doors, or their smile. They might be laughing on the outside, but crying on the inside. Let us please do as we are commanded and “pray one for another“. It will make a difference!— HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”-Psalm 139:7–10

The evangelist D. L. Moody told of talking to an elderly Christian man. After serving the Lord for many years, his faith was shaken by a series of difficulties with his finances and his health. He described beginning to doubt God’s love for him, and eventually wondering whether he was even a Christian. Then he told Moody, “I began to think what I would do if I ended up in Hell. My first thought was that I would start a prayer meeting—and after that I didn’t worry about being lost any more!”

No one who has trusted Christ and received His free gift of salvation can ever lose it. Jesus said, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29). There may be times when our fellowship is broken by something we have done or failed to do, but our relationship never changes.

Yet many Christians do not live with the comforting presence of God as a daily reality. They do not draw strength from His Word and do not seek His face in prayer. They do not listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit or fellowship with other believers around the things of God. That is a very painful way to live, because it forfeits so much peace and comfort that God offers His children. If your confidence is based on God’s presence rather than circumstances, you will experience peace. (Daily in the Word)

I’m glad to know that when I look up to God for help in a time of need He is looking down at me with total awareness of my situation. But I am even happier to know that He is with me and able to deliver me. That provides me with peace regardless of the problem. -HDS

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

“…..Christ in you, the hope of glory:”— Col. 1:27
Having recently preached about “The Hope of Glory” it is a thought that I can’t get off my mind. That’s not a complaint. It is with great delight that I focus on Christ who is “the hope of glory“. Hope helps and thank God we are told where it can be found. The question is, what is your hope? By hope I mean confident expectation, not a wish. The Christians hope is something he is assured of, because it is based on the promises of God who cannot lie.

The ultimate hope is “the hope of glory“. Now we only see glimpses of glory, but in the age to come we shall see the “exceeding riches” of God’s grace (Eph. 2:7) and all shall be glory. Not until then will we receive the fullness of our inheritance as joint-heirs with Christ. Our Lord shall come with power and glory (Matt. 24:30) and take us to glory. Think about that! If we summed up all the blessings of heaven and put it in one word it would be “glory“– the manifestation of God’s greatness and goodness. And along with that revelation there will be a transformation wherein we shall be conformed to the very likeness of Christ. 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”. And this truth affects us now--“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” ( 1 John 3:3). We shall see Him, be with Him, and be like Him. It doesn’t get any better than that!– HDS

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