“The work of the Lord is so important, pressing, sublime and awebegetting that a curse rests upon anyone who does it negligently. The God who wants and deserves the best cannot bear with sloth, delays, halfheartedness, or slipshod methods. When we think of the tremendous issues involved, we are not surprised.

During the latter part of 1968 a young Christian in Prague, Czechoslovakia witnessed to another young Czech named Jan Palach. There seemed to be a genuine interest on Jan’s part and so the Christian promised to deliver a New Testament to him. He was filled with good intentions but he let weeks pass before he even obtained the New Testament. Then he kept delaying its actual delivery.

On January 16, 1969, Jan Palach stood in St. Wencelas Square, poured gasoline over his body and set himself afire. He never lived to see the New Testament that had been promised to him.

Good intentions are not enough. It has been said that the streets of hell are paved with good intentions. But they don’t get the work done. They must be translated into action. And here are a few ways to do it.

First, never refuse when the Lord directs you to do some act of service for Him. If He is Lord, then it is ours to obey without question.

Second, don’t procrastinate . Delays are deadly. They rob others of needed help and blessing, and fill us with guilt and remorse.

Third, do it diligently. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ( Jer. 48:10). If it’s worth doing at all, it’s worth doing well.

Finally, do it for God’s glory. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God, ( 1Cor.10:31).

We should all have the spirit of Amy Carmichael, who wrote, “the vows of God are upon me. I may not stay to play with shadows or pluck earthly flowers till I my work have done and rendered up an account.”

MORNING MANNA           6-22-24  

 YE ARE NOT YOUR OWN

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”-1 Cor 6:19

There is a blessed sense in these words, “Ye are not your own.” Remember you must be someone’s. If God is not your master, the devil will be; if grace does not rule, sin will reign; if Christ is not your all in all, the world will be. It is not as though we could roam abroad in perfect liberty. Someone will have us. We must have a master of one kind or another; and which is best, a bounteous benevolent Benefactor such as God has ever shown himself to be; a merciful, loving, and tender Parent; a kind, forgiving Father and Friend; and a tender-hearted, compassionate Redeemer, able to save us to the uttermost; or a cruel devil, a miserable world, and a wicked, vile, abominable heart?

Which is better, to live under the sweet constraints of the dying love of a dear Redeemer; under gospel influences, gospel principles, gospel promises, and gospel encouragements; or to walk in imagined liberty, with sin in our heart, exercising dominion and mastery there; and binding us in iron chains to the judgment of the great day?

Even taking the present life, there is more real pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness in half an hour with God, in sweet union and communion with the Lord of life and glory, in reading his Word with a believing heart, in finding access to his sacred presence, in knowing something of the droppings in of his favor and mercy—there is more solid happiness in half an hour thus spent in the real service of God, than in all the delights of sin, all the lusts of the flesh, all the pride of life, and all the amusements that the world has ever devised to kill time and cheat self, thinking, by a death-bed repentance, at last to cheat the devil.- J. C. Philpot

That being the case the choice ought to be easy. I chose Christ. I pray you will also! HDS

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

MORNING MANNA             6-21-24

NO PLACE FOR THE DEVIL

“Neither give place to the devil”.–Ephesians 4:27 

This is another way of saying, “Don’t give the devil a foothold, or a toe-hold”, don’t give him an opportunity. And, believe me, Satan is always on the lookout for an opportunity to do us harm.Not to merely frighten us or hurt us, but to destroy us and all that we hold dear. 

Notice where this command is located. It is between temper (vs. 26) and theft (vs. 28). It is located there for a reason, not just to fill up space. Thomas Manton wrote: ” Nothing makes room for Satan more than wrath.” You might question that assertion, but there is no room for argument about the fact that the Bible warns us repeatedly about anger. We best listen.

 Charles Spurgeon said,”Anger is temporary insanity—I have no more right as a Christian to allow a bad temper to dwell in me than I have to allow the devil himself to dwell there”. Some foolish folks seem to think that if they give God a place in their life that there isn’t anything wrong in giving the devil a little place. The fact of the matter is, if you give God first place in your life there isn’t any place for the devil. Why should there be?(see Romans 6:13-21). 

When you give any place to the devil he will take over the whole place–just like the old saying about getting the “foot in the door”. Remember this–when you give the devil an opportunity he never passes it up. He takes advantage of every opportunity to defeat and destroy us. Don’t give an inch or he’ll take a mile. You can’t gain ground if you’re giving ground, and you can’t keep from giving up ground unless you are guarding ground. To do that we must, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”(Ephesians 6:11) Your survival depends on it.- HDS, 2-25-11 

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

MORNING MANNA               6-20-24

IN THE DARK

“And they entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.”–John 6:17 

”It was now dark”–those few words sum up the situation. They had been sent out on the sea alone, a storm was developing, it was dark, and no help was in sight. Dread was sure to follow.

 We’ve all found ourselves in a similar situation. Although not in a boat or on the sea, we find ourself in a storm of some sort and, in our mind, there doesn’t seem to be any way out. We are alone and alarmed. We have followed the Lord’s directions, but we are in the dark and scared stiff. Why? We followed His command, instead of rebelling, so why are we in this sad scary situation? Something about this just doesn’t seem fair. We can’t help but wonder “Why?” Why this? Why me? Why now? 

God doesn’t answer all our questions, but we do know there is a good reason for His actions—we just don’t see it. However,I believe we can see enough so as to find comfort. Think about it. We are reading the story of an event that happened nearly 2000 years ago–a story that reminds us of God’s great power. And we aren’t left in the dark with the disciples being in the dark. We have the rest of the story. We know that Jesus saw them, came to them and delivered them. They were comforted and now, if we’ve really paid attention, so are we. We are helped by knowing that they were helped.

 Now things start to make sense. Not only did the disciples benefit from this experience so do we. That’s the way it shoud be. We need to remember that when we are in the dreadful darkness of some danger, we’re not seeing the whole story. Others are affected by what happens to us just as we are affected by reading this story. In other words, for every trial that comes your way God has a plan that goes beyond how you are affected. He intends for others to profit as well. Paul had this in mind when he spoke of “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort”(2 Cor. 1:3). He reminds us that we are comforted “that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God”(2 Cor. 1:4). Every problem has a purpose, a purpose that includes others. What you’re going through might not seem to benefit you, but it will work for some good just as God has promised. You are not the most important person in the world, nor am I. And, since we belong to God, we should not complain if He wants to use us in some way that will minister good to others. After all, is that not what He did with His own dear Son? He endured the darkness of the cross for you, and He did so with joy (Heb.12:2). Think about it! – HDS, 8-23-10 

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

MORNING MANNA            6-19-24

IN THE DARK?

”I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears”.–Psalm 6:6 

It’s early morning, still dark outside, and even darker within your heart. All seems doom and gloom. You haven’t hardly slept a wink, you’re tired, your bones ache, and your heart hurts even more. There is no hope in sight. You feel as though you are trapped in a giant vice that is slowly squeezing the life out of you. It seems that the day will never break and relief will never come.

 That is somewhat the way that David felt as he penned the words of his song. But, out of the depths of his despair he prayed for deliverance and, although still hurting, he was confident that God would help. He said,”The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.”(Psalm 6:9) 

Dear friend, the same God is now watching over you. The centuries have rolled by and the circumstances are now different, but God hasn’t changed. He knows, He cares, and He can help. Don’t give up. Hope is on the horizon. As sure as the sun will rise, you can count on God to bring light into your darkness. Trust Him–Please! 

I’m not saying that God will give you what you desire or that things will turn out exactly as you would like. I don’t know your future, nor mine, but I do know God. I know His grace is sufficent and His ear is open to your prayer. He might not change your situation, but He will change you. Believe it or not, you will laugh again. As David said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”(Psalm 30:5). Whether this will be the day or whether it is a month away I don’t know, but one glad morning the sorrow will end. The sunshine of His grace will break through and banish the darkness that engulfs your soul, and the joy will return–it’s just a matter of time! 

It’s not by accident that you are reading this. Divine providence brought you to this place and God isn’t through yet. Just wait patiently on the Lord.—HDS – 6-17-10

David Stone   

Lakeway Baptist Church   

Humble, Tx.