MORNING MANNA           4-20-24  

WEIGHT LOSS

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Heb.12:1

The army of Alexander the Great was advancing on Persia. At one critical point, it appeared that his troops might be defeated. The soldiers had taken so much plunder from their previous campaigns that they had become weighted down and were losing their effectiveness in combat. 

Alexander commanded that all the spoils be thrown into a heap and burned. The men complained bitterly but soon saw the wisdom of the order. Someone wrote, “It was as if wings had been given to them—they walked lightly again.” Victory was assured. 

As soldiers of Christ, we must rid ourselves of anything that hinders us in the conflict with our spiritual enemy. To fight the battle effectively, we must be clad only with the armor of God ( Eph. 6:11-17)

The Bible also likens Christians to runners. To win the race, we must “lay aside every weight” that would drag us down and rob us of our strength and endurance (Heb.12:1). This weight may be an excessive desire for possessions, the captivating love of money, an endless pursuit of pleasure, slavery to sinful passions, or a burdensome legalism. 

Yes, if we are to fight the good fight of faith and run the spiritual race with endurance, the watchword must be: Off with the weight! —Richard De Haan

Fight the good fight with all thy might! 

Christ is thy strength and Christ thy right; 

Lay hold on life and it shall be 

Thy joy and crown eternally. —Monsell 

If your Christian life is a drag, worldly weights may be holding you back.

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

MORNING MANNA             4-19-24  

THE SICK MAN’S PRAYER

“….Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. ” John 11:3

We are all liable to sickness–and sometimes the Christian seems to have the greatest share. Some of the Lord’s people are seldom if ever well. They are never quite free from pain and suffering. Their heavenly Father sees that such a furnace is needful for them–He therefore prepares it, puts them into it, and keeps them there as long as He sees it to be necessary.

Diseases do not fly about at random. They are not left to ‘chance’. They are all carefully selected–and divinely directed! God refines His people, displays His grace, and fulfills His precious promises–in the furnace of affliction. Sickness teaches us . . .our mortality, our dependence on God, and our need of divine consolation—in a way which nothing else will. 

Sickness . . .humbles our sinful pride, weans us from the world, brings us near to our heavenly Father’s throne of grace, leads us to seek a renewed sense of our Savior’s pardoning love.

The Psalmist was afflicted, he suffered much, he looked up and he sighed, “Look upon my affliction and my pain!” He wished to realize that the Lord was observing him, that He was sympathizing with him, that He was attentive to him. He knew that the Lord’s loving look would . . .soothe his spirit, cheer his heart, and relieve his pain. 

Let every sick believer therefore, adopt the Psalmist’s course, let him use this brief but comprehensive prayer:  “Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.” (Psa. 25:18)– James Smith, 1864

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

MORNING MANNA            4-18-24

MISSIONS

“ One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.”.- John 1:40-41

A young woman excited about her salvation developed a deep desire to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world. She felt called to missions, so she asked her pastor where she might go to serve to be most effective. He told her to come back the following day and he would have an answer for her then.

The next day, when she returned to his office, the pastor was waiting for her with an answer. He handed her a folded slip of paper and said, “I’m suggesting that you begin with someone who needs Christ right now more than anyone else in the entire world.”

The young woman quickly left the pastor’s office, eager to find out where her mission field was. She carefully opened the note and was surprised to discover two words: “Your father.”

She had been so passionate about reaching the lost in foreign lands that she had neglected to share the Gospel with someone so close to home.

Are there people in your life who don’t know Jesus? Maybe it’s a parent, a sibling, a grandchild, a close friend, an acquaintance, one of your children, or even your spouse. Many people make the mistake of thinking the only mission field is overseas.

But God has called you to share the Good News of His Word right where you are—in your city, neighborhood, and among your circle of friends. If you know someone who is living with no hope and without a relationship with Jesus, then take the time today to share truth that will change their lives forever.—from Senior Living

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church  

Humble,Tx

MORNING MANNA             4-17-24

GRACE & PEACE

”Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”- 1 Pet.1:2

When we see and feel how we need GRACE every moment of our lives, we at once perceive a beauty in the blessing thus asked for in an abundant, overflowing measure. We cannot walk the length of the street without sin. Our carnal minds, our vain imaginations, are all on the lookout for evil. Sin presents itself at every avenue, and lurks like the Arab in the wilderness, or the prowling night thief for every opportunity of open or secret plunder. In fact, in ourselves, in our fallen nature, except as restrained and influenced by grace, we sin with well-near every breath that we draw. We need, therefore, grace upon grace, or, in the words of the text, grace to be “multiplied” in proportion to our sins. Shall I say in proportion? No, if sin abounds, as to our shame and sorrow we know it does, we need grace to much more abound. When the deep tide of sin flows in with the mud and mire, we need the spring tide of grace to flow higher still, to carry out the slime and filth into the depths of the ocean, so that when sought for they may no more be found.

Thus we need grace, free grace; grace today, grace tomorrow, grace this moment, grace the next, grace all the day long; healing, reviving, restoring, saving, sanctifying; and all this multiplied by all our needs and woes, sins, slips and falls, unceasing and aggravated backslidings. We need grace to believe, grace to hope, grace to love, grace to fight, and grace to conquer; grace to stand, grace to live, and grace to die. Every moment of our lives we need keeping, supporting, holding, and withholding grace; for, as a good man has said, “If the Lord leaves us for one moment, he leaves us that one moment too long.”

But to “grace” the Apostle adds “PEACE.” Sin breaks our peace, and sets our souls at a distance from God; trials, also, and temptations, sins and sorrows, occur every day to mar our rest; so we need peace to be multiplied as well as grace. Peace like a river, of which the stream is ever flowing; peace like the sea, of which the tides, if they do ebb, yet rise higher than they fall. We need peace, also, to establish our hearts in the truth, and in the love of it, so as to prevent our being carried about with every wind of doctrine. We are often entangled in the wily snares of Satan, and we need peace to be restored to our soul. When it is thus sadly broken, and sin has filled us with guilt and terror, we need peace to come and heal all those wounds, and establish our souls firmly in the gospel of peace.

And when we shall be called upon to enter the dark valley of the shadow of death, how then we shall need “peace to be multiplied,” that we may fear no evil, but find the comforting staff and supporting rod. Thus we never can have too much grace or too much peace. The more we know of sin the more shall we need grace, and the more we know of sorrow the more we shall need peace.–J. C. Philpot

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

MORNING MANNA            4-16-24

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HEART

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life”.–Proverbs 4:23

While giving a sermon, missionary Hudson Taylor filled a glass with water and placed it on a table in front of him. As he was speaking, he pounded his fist hard enough to make the water splash onto the table. He then explained, “You will come up against much trouble. But when you do, remember, only what’s in you will spill out.”

That’s worth thinking about, isn’t it? When we are mistreated or misunderstood, how do we respond? With loving words, patience, and kindness? Or are we inclined to retaliate in anger?

In Ephesians 4:25-32, we see the contrast between what a person is before he is saved and what he is afterward. When we live under the control of the Holy Spirit, we will show it by the way we react to the jolting trials and temptations of life. How we respond to trying, embarrassing situations that are suddenly thrust upon us is a good test of how much we have grown in grace.

It is possible to suppress frustration and anger, and to appear undisturbed to people around us. But if our heart is full of the Savior’s love, we will respond to the jostling of an unexpected trial with genuine patience and kindness. Like a full glass of water, what’s inside of us will spill over on the outside.  — Richard De Haan

Lord, help me flee all sin and shame,
Lest I disgrace Your holy name;
And may I live so others see
The Savior’s love revealed in me. —D. De Haan  

When trouble grows, your character shows—(from Our Daily Bread

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