GLAD IN THE LORD
“My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.“–Psalm 104:34
For centuries gifted men have constructed beautiful word pictures trying to capture the glorious truths of God and the loveliness of Christ. Yet, in spite of their best efforts, they all come up short. After all, how can you describe the One who is “Altogether lovely”? Even the words of the Bible cannot fully describe Him as He really is. He is beyond compare or description.

We could speak forever about the person and work of Christ, yet we could but only touch the hem of the garment. His greatness surpasses anything we can comprehend. His goodness exceeds anything with which we could compare. His grace is beyond what we can communicate. But that shouldn’t deter us from exploring His excellencies. While we can’t know Him altogether we can always know Him better and enjoy Him more.

If we make it our daily practice to “Consider Him” ( Heb. 12:3) it will make a tremendous difference in our lives. As we behold Him we become more and more like Him (2 Cor. 3:18), which is God’s desire for each of us (Rom. 8:29). You can’t make a better use of your time. Admiration of the Lord produces appreciation for the Lord, affection for the Lord, and allegiance to the Lord. Learning of Him leads to love for Him and likeness to Him. With such a glorious revelation of Him as we see in the Bible, how can we possibly refuse Him. He can turn your sadness into gladness, and your weakness into strength. When we are most tempted to complain, it is far better if we simply think upon the Lord which turns our sadness to gladness!–HDS

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

MUCH MORE
“Now unto him that is able  to do  exceeding abundantly   above all that we ask  or think , according to the power that worketh  in us,”–Eph. 3:20

Imagine that! Really– that’s exactly what I want you to do! Use your imagination and think about what God can do and especially consider that He is able to do far more than we even “ask or think“.

A. T. Pierson wrote: “–there is a sevenfold measure of the power of God in Paul’s benediction. First, God is able to do first what we ask. Second, He is able to do all we ask. Third, He is able to do what we think. Fourth, He is able to do all that we think. Fifth, He is able to do above all that we ask or think. Sixth, He is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think. And seventh, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Now what do we need? Hallelujah and Amen is all that’s left to say!”

Dear friend, this throws the door of possibility wide open. It widens the horizon of our hopes, enlarges our expectations, prompts us to pray and increases our imagination. God is willing and able to do things we have yet to even think about. That being the case, should we not ask God to show us things we’ve never seen and  pray expectantly for them to come to pass? In other words, there are things we know about that we should pray for with confidence—knowing God is able, but there are also things we have not yet imagined. We pray only so far as we know what to pray for– but there is more! I believe there are things God wants to do for us, with us, and through us that we don’t even know about yet. We can all think of certain things we would like to see God do, but I want you to see that there is yet more–much more to be seen. We haven’t even yet thought of some things.

We have yet to conceive all of that which God is able and willing to do. We have brought forth fruit, but He wants “more” fruit, and when we produce “more” He wants “much more”(John 15:1-8). Where it ends only God knows. But, we don’t want to stop before He does!—HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

OVERCOMING EVIL
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”–Rom. 12:21
If we are to “overcome evil” ( Rom. 12:21) is it not reasonable that we should employ the same means as God in changing sinners to saints? And can there be any doubt as to how God does so, when the Bible clearly says, ” the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance” ( Rom. 2:4) ? Think about it. God could have written threats of judgment in the sky, caused the ground to quake, sent lightening bolts dancing around us, and thunder down upon us. He could have sent angels with swords in their hands crying “Repent or perish!”. But He did none of those things. Instead “God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” ( Rom. 5:8).
Even so, just as God demonstrated His unconditional love for us in the giving of His own dear Son, we must love people as they are if we hope to help them become what they ought to be. No one should be forced to think they have to win our love by conforming to our expectations and gaining our approval. If we can’t love the unlovely we are no better than they are. How can we dare withhold love from those for whom Christ died? Just as the grace of God reaches the vilest of sinners, the goodness of the saints should be shown to the worst among us.
This is not something we just talk about, but rather something we do. Love is a verb–an action word. What if the Bible merely said “God loves you” and left it at that? What if there was no evidence? Thankfully it says, ” For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…”(John 3:16). Keep that in mind when you speak of your love for others. Just as “God is good all the time”, we are to do good unto all.– HDS
“To render evil for evil is brutish; 
 to render evil for good is devilish; 
 to render good for evil is Christian.” 

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

SECURING RECONCILIATION

“If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his  fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast  gained thy brother“– Matthew 18:15

Jesus here gives the prescription for offenses within the body of  Christ. Do you believe his medicine is effective? Will you apply its  healing power to your life?

If a member of the body has injured you in some way, Jesus says to  speak with him or her about it in private. Do not broadcast the injury  around the church. Do not try to gather a group of people “on your side” within the church. In fact, do not bring it up with anyone else, at  all!

Tell him his fault between you and him alone. That is the  first and necessary step toward genuine reconciliation and peace within  the body. If this labor does not work, Jesus gives further instructions  in the verses that follow.

But before moving on to the next “step” of discipline, consider this  first and foundational admonition carefully. Have you spoken to the  offending person, in complete privacy? Was you goal to gain your brother or sister, as Jesus clearly intimates it should be? Or were you simply seeking to offend someone in return?

Do you believe the Great Physician knows how to heal his own church?  Then apply his cure liberally to your own heart and friendships and see  its marvelous power to restore, refresh, and renew the body of Christ.–Baptist Bible Hour

( This is a very important point. Confronting others about offenses is for the purpose of securing reconciliation, not ranting about their faults–“getting them told” as we like to say. –HDS)

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

PURSUING PEACE
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”–Romans 12:18
We are all different and that can make life difficult. We all have different beliefs, abilities, and taste. That holds true in just about everything—food, sports, cars, music, books, etc. Being different doesn’t necessarily make us better or worse, right or wrong, etc., but that’s what a lot of folks would have you to believe. Their attitude is “It’s my way or the highway”. They are critical of anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Even the apostles had their differences, so we can expect that we will have some of the same problems. Sadly most folks don’t deal with their differences very well.

Of course this is America and you are free to believe what you want, but that doesn’t mean it is right. And judged by the Bible a lot of things accepted today are not right. Naturally the Bible doesn’t address every subject, but that doesn’t mean we are free to do as we please. While the Bible does not speak to every issue, it does give us principles that relate to every area of life. Based on that, I have to say that it’s evident that many professing Christians have poor taste in regards to many things. Just because something is legal, popular, or generally accepted doesn’t mean it is wise, healthy, or beneficial.
While much could be said about living at peace with others, I want to mention just two things that would help greatly. First, some people won’t speak up. They refuse to come clean about their faults. It’s as though they think if they never confess their faults they don’t have any. It would be better if they admitted that they are part of the problem, rather than pretending it’s someone else’s fault.

Second, some folks won’t shut up. They reveal too much about themselves by expressing their opinions, likes and dislikes when it isn’t necessary. They seem to think they must comment on everything and they come across as a critical, overbearing know-it-all. That usually doesn’t benefit anyone. Doing so just opens the door for criticism, debates and divisions–things we all could live without.–HDS

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