CHANGE IS COMING
“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.“–Psalm 30:5

“This too shall pass”, employed in a speech by Abraham Lincoln before he was president, has often been quoted by those going through times of difficulty. Another quote, taken from a song, that has encouraged folks is, “What a difference a day makes”. Both of these are popular for good reason. None of us know what a day holds–each one is a mystery, and change will come.

For some of you this day got off to a good start, but before the sun sets it will bring grief. For others the day started all wrong, but unseen blessings are just around the corner. Keeping these thoughts in mind is helpful because we tend to make bad choices and do foolish things when we are in a crisis. Some turn a day of difficulty into a lifetime of grief and regret. They sow a sinful seed that produces a harvest of sorrow, shame, and suffering.

Then there are times when we get into an unpleasant situation and there appears to be no way out, not a glimmer of hope. It seems that nothing will ever change for the better. You feel trapped without a way to escape. Sometimes you don’t even know how to pray. I’ve been there done that! There has been times when all I could say was “Help!”, and amazingly by the next morning the whole world seemed different–better. As much as I didn’t deserve it or even expect it, help came. It was as if God had worked a miracle. Those experiences cause me to focus all the more on those two sayings.

Regardless of how bad things appear, a day can make a big difference. Regardless of how bad things are, “This too shall pass”. I know that’s true because, for the Christian the best is always yet to come! That’s why I am so blessed when I hear someone sing, “Hold on my child, joy comes in the morning!”. Indeed it will. Some glorious day Jesus will come or we will go. Our journey here will be over and we will be changed into the likeness of the One who changes not! It’s just a matter of time.- HDS

David Stone        
Lakeway Baptist Church.        
Humble, Tx

MORNING MANNA            9-11-23
SOMETHING TO REMEMBER
“Fret not thyself against evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity”.–Psalm 37:1

This is “Patriots Day, which reminds us of 9-11-2001 – a day we will never forget. I don’t need to explain what happened because it is deeply imprinted in our minds. The only question about that terrible tragedy is “Why?”. That’s something people wrestle with to this very day. They want an explanation. They want answers to their questions. They want to know, why would a good God allow a bad thing like this to happen? But there are numerous other things that raises that same question.

Right now some of you are going through great difficulties and you wonder “Why?”. Some are so troubled that they find it difficult to take the words of our text serious–“Fret not thyself–neither be thou envious–“. They might even resent being told to “Cease from anger; and forsake wrath: fret not—“( vs. 1,8) If that describes you, you need to read this entire Psalm. Here’s what you will learn—God is still good, and still in control, and will use the bad for good, and will judge the evildoers, and will reward the righteous.

We need to remember that no evil goes unpunished and no good deed goes unrewarded. Regardless of what is happening, God will balance the books and make all the wrongs right. Because that is true you should “Trust in the LORD”(vs. 3), “Delight thyself also in the LORD”(vs. 4), “Commit thy ways unto the LORD”(vs. 5), “Rest in the LORD”(vs. 7), and “Cease from anger”(vs.8). Embrace this precious promise and you will be encouraged—-“And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him”(vs. 40). “He is their strength in the time of trouble”(vs. 39). We never know what a day might bring — what hardships we will be forced to face, but we can always rely upon God to keep His promises. —HDS

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

As much as we might wish it wasn’t so, Christians suffer- we can’t avoid it. So it shouldn’t surprise us. We should expect it, but we should make sure that our suffering isn’t due to sin on our part.

In warning us about this, Peter mentions sins that should never be the cause of our suffering. The last of these is “a busybody in other men’s matters”. That phrase comes from one compound word that has been defined as “one who takes the supervision of affairs pertaining to others and in no wise to himself, a meddler in other men’s affairs”. A busybody is a person who is a troublesome meddler who needs to mind his own business.

Sadly, you can find a busybody in every neighborhood, work place, etc. You can even find them in churches. They love to get the scoop on everyone and talk about it to others- especially when it relates to their faults. They do it to make themselves look better as they seek flattery.

Although many act as though it is no big deal, notice the other sins mentioned in the group- “murderer… thief…evildoers. That ought to serve as a serious warning. You would expect people like that to suffer – so why would you think meddlers might escape misery?

God’s Word tells us how we should relate to others (Read 1 Thess.4:11; Titus 2:15-3:11), so you can rest assured that busybodies endanger themselves when they do otherwise. We all suffer, but God forbid that it be for doing wrong rather than right, for rebellion rather than righteousness, for hurting people rather than helping them.When you meddle, criticize, gossip, and slander, you put your self in harms way. Be sure your sin will find you out!- HDS

David Stone      
Lakeway Baptist Church      
Humble, Tx