MORNING MANNA            1-3-24

THE JOY OF THE LORD

“ Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. “- Neh.8:10

Joy and gladness is a very necessary element in human well-being. We cannot live our best life if sorrow and depression holds undisputed sway. There are three sources of joy mentioned in this chapter.

The people understood the Divine Word and profited by it. Their eagerness to hear, as Ezra opened the Sacred Book, was remarkable (Neh 8:3, Neh 8:5, Neh 8:12, Neh 8:18). Let us also delight in God through His Word. Let us not read the Bible as a task, but dwell upon it, until its beauties become woven into our thoughts and lives. It is thus that life becomes purified and enriched. We shall no longer desire base or corrupting things, but God will give us the desires of our heart, and we shall be satisfied, if we delight ourselves in Him.

They communicated good things to those for whom nothing was prepared (Neh 8:10, 11, 12). There is no cure for sorrow and heart-break like healing broken hearts. There is no such comfort for ourselves as that which we administer to others. Nehemiah could not have given better advice than when he bade his people share their joys and sweets with those whose lives were bare of comfort and luxuries.

Of course Christianity has within it other sources of joy. Our Saviour gives us His joy, because He reveals the Father to us, makes us to rest in Him, and gives a worthy object for our lives; He makes work light because He has appointed it, sorrow supportable because He shares it, and death desirable because He has opened the door of the Father’s Home. In His joy we may participate (Jn 15:11; Jn 16:22, 23, 24).

Their obedience. As soon as they understood the words they heard, they began to put them into practice. No wonder there was joy, for in the keeping of God’s commandments there is great reward. It was during the Feast of Tabernacles that our Lord spoke of the Holy Spirit entering the heart to remove its thirst, and to pour forth as rivers to a dying world (Jn 7:37, 38, 39). We cannot do much apart from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Only through Him can we be right with God; only through Him can we be really glad; only through Him can we pass on joy and comfort to others. – F. B. Meyer

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

MORNING MANNA             1-2-24.
THE TIME IS NOW  

Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.- John 4:33-36

One of the greatly effective tools of the devil is to encourage us to delay in our work for God. Sometimes, rather than directly trying to get us to do evil, he just gives us reasons to put off the doing of good until later. But the time to act is now. The great Scottish pastor and missionary pioneer Robert Moffatt said, “We’ll have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only one short hour before sunset to win them.”

The fields of the world are white right now. We do not need to wait until some point in the future to start sharing the gospel with others. We do not need to wonder if we should act now to help a widow with young children or an elderly couple in the church. We do not need to find a perfect moment to say a kind word or share a prayer of encouragement. All of those things are always “in season,” and we should not miss the chance to do them.

The temptation to wait for a better time will cause us to miss what is right in front of us if we give in to it. There are people you can help today, people to whom you can witness, people with whom you can pray. Do those things today. None of us knows what the future holds.The opportunities we have to serve God today will never come again. ( Daily in the Word)

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church  

Humble,Tx

MORNING MANNA           12-30-23

A GREAT INVITATION

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20

Have you ever noticed that we tend to be impressed by the wrong things? For example–we usually give more thought to how bad the world is than we do to how good God is. No wonder we get depressed!Why don’t we focus on God? Can you think of anything more impressive than God? He is amazing in every way. However,the most amazing thing is not that we have an interest in God, but that He has an interest in us. Think about it–the great God who is in need of nothing invites us to invite Him into our life. Wow! Now, that’s amazing! That’s grace!

The late Adrian Rogers said :Over and over again, people will ask me this question, “If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?” There’s never an easy answer to that question when someone is grieving or suffering, but God has taught me that the universe has a disease. And God cannot remove the pain until the last vestige of sin is gone. The worst thing that could happen to human beings would be for us to live in a world cursed by sin, and yet the world seem to be a paradise. We would never come to God. 

God has showered this world with immeasurable mercies. Focus today not on the suffering, but on the provision of God’s grace.  

Here’s the point–instead of trying to understand God we need to trust Him. And, we learn to do that by keeping our focus on His Word rather than the world or self. As our knowledge of God increases so does our faith. We should not be surprised that there is so much sin and suffering in the world. We should be shocked that it’s not worse than it is. We should be amazed that God, who is holy, wants anything to do with us–because we are sinful. We have rebelled against God and violated His righteous standard. That leaves us undeserving of His favor. Remember, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”(Lam.3:22)

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Keep your focus on the fact that we don’t deserve anything and you will be thankful for everything. Regardless of how bad it is, thank God that we don’t get what we deserve–it would be a lot worse!

Do you sense God knocking at the door of your heart, beckoning you give Him entrance, that He might fellowship with you? Do not delay–accept His invitation, open the door of your heart, let Him in. Yield to His desires and you will experience the greatest blessing in life–the pleasure of His presence. Do it now! – HDS 12/30/10

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

MORNING MANNA          12-29-23

Is this all I get–after so much trouble?

“I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

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