“Lord, I’ll spend a lot of time in the company of people today, but just now I come in quietness and silence to wait for You to fill me. Amen.” — A. W. Tozer

Some who never miss a church service never make time to be alone with God. While it is commendable to be so faithful in church attendance it is contemptible to fail in our alone time with God.–HDS

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

MORNING MANNA             5-6-24

“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14

What did God have in mind for us when He saved us? What did He redeem us from, and what did He redeem us for? We will forever be grateful for our salvation. How is it that God could love us as He has? He has brought to us forgiveness of sin, an opportunity to begin again by the grace of God, and the privilege of reconciliation and fellowship. But, our perspective of salvation is primarily personal. We see how we have benefited from our new life, but it is possible to overlook God’s purpose. 

The Scripture allows us to grow in our understanding of God’s goals in our redemption. Thank God, He redeemed us to rescue us from lives of sin. He specifically says “that he might redeem us from all iniquity.” We were slaves to sin and self and needed to be redeemed. Our salvation certainly provides forgiveness for all our past sins, but God wants to continue to deliver us from the sinful practices of our flesh and the lustful ways of the world. His plan is to “purify unto himself a peculiar people.” God wants the lives of His children to be surrendered and dedicated to Him. 

Salvation has to do with both what we are saved from and what we are saved to. We have been saved from a life of sin to live a life of separation unto God. We have been redeemed from unholy living that we might live holy lives. We need to maintain a consciousness of His desire to purify us for Himself. This is the fruit of the grace of God working in us. Not only were we redeemed that we might be a peculiar and purified people, but also we were redeemed that we might serve the Lord with our lives. 

Our text reminds us that God wants us to be “zealous of good works.” He saves us to purify us, that we might be vessels for His service. Thank God that we have been redeemed from a lifestyle of selfishness and sin. We are also grateful that we have been redeemed for a life of holiness and service to the Savior. There is something seriously wrong with a view of salvation that excludes us from the responsibility of serving our Lord. We are to be zealous about living for God and His work. God wants to use us to labor for Him and influence others. We have been redeemed from our lost condition that we might serve our Lord. – Thomas Smith  

David Stone   

Lakeway Baptist Church   

Humble,Tx

MORNING MANNA           5-5-24

THE WORD OF GOD

One of my most precious possessions is a framed page out of the first edition of the King James Version of the Bible. Making it all the more value to me is the fact that it includes Hebrews 4:12 “ For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 

Blogger Tim Challies said, “The Bible may be a book, but it is a book unlike any other. The Bible is inspired—breathed out by God and in that way perfectly reflects the mind and will of God. The Bible is also complete, sufficient, inerrant, and infallible. Because the Bible is all these things and so many more, it is powerful and effective. Because it is God’s Word, it comes with all the power and authority of God—power and authority sufficient to change us from the outside in.

Michael Horton says, ‘God’s word does not merely impart information; it actually creates life. It’s not only descriptive; it’s effective too. God speaking is God acting.’ Thus, as we read the Bible, the Bible reads us. As we study the Bible, the Bible studies us. As we examine its every word, it examines our every thought, our every action, our every desire, our every inclination. It identifies our shortcomings; it calls us to change. But more than that, it provokes and promotes and causes that change.’

How do we know? Because ‘the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart’ (Hebrews 4:12). As God speaks through the Bible, God acts through the Bible, for God speaking is God acting.”

Of all our needs none are greater than a daily diet of God’s Word. We can never become what we ought to be if we neglect it. – HDS   

David Stone   

Lakeway Baptist Church   

Humble, Tx

MORNING MANNA            5-4-24    
PERSISTING IN PRAYER   

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;” Luke 18:1

We live in an age of substitutes. You can go to the store and buy hamburgers that don’t have any meat in them. You can buy clothing that has no natural materials. You can even get plastic and metal replacement parts for bad knees, hips, and shoulders. In many cases the substitutes that we’ve come up with work as well as (or at least almost as well as) the original. But there are some things that cannot be replaced. For the Christian, prayer is one of those things. There are only two choices for the believer—either we pray, or we will faint. Life is not meant to be lived in our own strength, and if we make that attempt, we are doomed to failure. 

God’s plan for our lives as His children revolves around our communication with Him. We hear from Him through His Word, and He hears from us when we pray. Most religions throughout history have relied on a group of priests or religious leaders to go to their gods on behalf of the people. But Christianity offers a different approach. Because God adopts us into His family when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, He allows us to come directly to Him with our petitions. 

God places all of His resources behind His promises to provide for our needs, yet many Christians do without for the simple reason that they do not pray. 

A Christian who does not pray—faithfully, diligently, and regularly—is a Christian headed toward defeat. – ( Daily in the Word)

David Stone   

Lakeway Baptist Church   

Humble,Tx

MORNING MANNA            5-2-24

ANXIETY   

“Be careful for nothing” (Phil. 4:6). Worrying is as definitely forbidden as theft. This needs to be carefully pondered and definitely realized by us, so that we do not excuse it as an innocent infirmity.The more we are convicted of the sinfulness of anxiety, the sooner are we likely to perceive that it is most dishonoring to God, and “striving against” (Heb.12:4) it. But how are we to “strive against” it?

First, by begging the Holy Spirit to grant us a deeper conviction of its enormity.

Second, by making it a subject of special earnest prayer, that we may be delivered from this evil.

Third, by watching its beginnings, and as soon as we are conscious of harassment of mind, as soon as we detect the unbelieving thought, lift up our heart to God and ask Him for deliverance from it.

The best antidote for anxiety is frequent meditation upon God’s goodness, power and sufficiency. When the saint can confidently realize “The Lord is my Shepherd,” he must draw the conclusion, “I shall not want!” Immediately following our exhortation is, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Nothing is too big and nothing is too little—to spread before and cast upon the Lord. The “with thanksgiving” is most important, yet it is the point at which we most fail. It means that before we receive God’s answer, we thank Him for the same—it is the confidence of the child expecting his Father to be gracious.- A.W. Pink  

David Stone   

Lakeway Baptist Church   

Humble,Tx.