MORNING MANNA             8-16-23

MORNING MANNA              8-15-23

”NOT NOW—HEREAFTER”

“Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”- John 13:7 

Although the Lord was speaking to Peter, He just as well could be speaking to all of us. Things happen that we don’t understand, and we often complain. We ask,”Why this?”, “Why me?”, “Why now?”. We believe the cup of our circumstances should have been less bitter, the gravity of our suffering less severe, the road of our life less rough, the days of our journey less dreary. Our complaint seems reasonable–to us. 

If this describes you, take this as a censure from the Lord and stop complaining. We should trust Him rather than question Him. However, we should also think of this as a word of consolation. The promise “thou shalt know hereafter” should encourage us. Our trials are not without purpose. Everything happens for a reason. The revelation will reveal the reason and, believe it or not, will lead to our rejoicing, because we will see that He does all things well. 

Another factor is this–“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”(Ecc.3:1). Some of you have been living with mysteries since childhood and you wonder why a God of love would allow horrible and painful things to happen. Could not an all-powerful God have intervened and stopped it? Would not a loving God have prevented it? Why didn’t He? We don’t know–“not now”, and God isn’t talking. For some reason, a good reason, God is content to leave us confused, but only for the time being. You see, God has a plan, and He also gives us a promise–“thou shalt know hereafter”. 

As difficult and unpleasant as it might be we must wait. What else can you do? We must wait until the dark clouds have rolled away and the sunshine of God’s promise reveals the reason why. “Be patient” is the command (James 5:7). Why shouldn’t we?

 Would you criticize the artist when he is only half-finished with his picture, or the sculptor when he is still in the process of molding the clay, or the poet before he has finished arranging the words of his composition? Why then do we criticize God? His work in our life isn’t finished and it’s unfair to condemn Him while He is yet at work. In His own good time He will lift the veil so that we can see. In that day we will sit at His feet and, with great joy, listen as He explains the deep things of God. There will be no complaints then–there should be none now.

 However, in some instances we won’t have to wait until the dawn of eternity breaks. There are times when when the mysteries are unravelled before our very eyes, while we yet walk upon the earth. One such case was that of Jacob, who once said,”all these things are against me”(Gen. 42:36), only to later discover that those “things” were actually working for him, leading him to an abundance of provision. Dear friend those “things” that trouble you are actually working for you also. To see how, we have to wait until “hereafter”. –HDS, 11-19-10 

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

MORNING MANNA            8-14-23

GOD’S TOOLS

The psalmist does not say, “I thought the Lord kept us out of afflictions. I thought that if I read my Bible every day and prayed and tried to obey His will, I would never have any afflictions.” Instead, he says that we will face many afflictions.

Why do we have afflictions in our lives? We have some afflictions simply because we are human. They are just a part of human life. We get older, and our bodies begin to run down. Not every sickness, every accident or every problem we face comes because God is angry at us or is disciplining us. They may just be a part of life.

We also have afflictions because Satan is against us. He’d love to destroy us. Or, afflictions may come because we have disobeyed the Lord. I’m glad for those; I’m glad that God loves me enough to “spank” me when I’ve disobeyed Him.

But often, afflictions are God’s tools for helping us grow. We don’t really grow until we’ve been through the furnace, through the storm or through the battle. God is not raising hothouse plants that shrivel when the hot wind blows on them. No, He wants to raise mature sons and daughters, and that’s why we have afflictions. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (v. 19). He doesn’t keep us out of them. He delivers us from them. Sometimes He changes the circumstances. Sometimes He changes us. The real secret of deliverance is not the circumstance around you but the faith within you. Expect affliction, but trust God for deliverance.- Warren Wiesbe

David Stone      

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble, Tx 

MORNING MANNA             8-13-23

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

“—-all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”- Hebrews 4:13 

I smiled as I read the account of Pastor Stephen Davey receiving a ticket along with a photo of him running a red light. There was no denying his guilt–his personalized plate was clear as a bell. But my smile melted away as I read the application he made regading the experience. He said:

Frankly, I was embarrassed by the whole thing. I had broken the law and someone else had seen me do it. It wasn’t a very good feeling—especially for a shepherd.

But that got me thinking: what if we were to go to our mailbox tomorrow and find a surprise letter filled with snapshots of all the things we had done the day before, including facial expressions and captions of the words we had spoken. I wonder how many of the photographs would bring us embarrassment or chagrin.

The Apostle Paul encourages us not to “grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom we have been sealed for the day of redemption.” 

The truth is, wherever we go we take God’s Spirit with us. Whatever we say in private, He hears. Whatever thoughts we think that no one else can see, He sees. I imagine we must grieve Him often.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the motivation to stop sinning because we see our sin caught on camera. Frankly, there aren’t cameras powerful enough to capture the gossip, pride, and rebellion that can escape our lips and occupy our hearts every day. But God sees it all . . . and it grieves His heart.

So, let’s start today by praying that God will open our eyes to see what He sees and give our hearts a sensitivity to even the smallest transgression that might otherwise slip by unnoticed. 

Maybe it’s not such a bad idea to pretend there’s a camera following us . . . or should I say dwelling inside us!

 As you begin or end this day in God’s Word, pray for God to give you an awareness of His abiding presence with you. Then pray as the Psalmist often prayed for God to give you clean hands and a pure heart.

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

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth“- Heb.11:13

The Bible frequently pictures the Christian as a pilgrim, traveling through a strange land and over tough terrain, enroute to his heavenly home.

During the course of his journey he experiences many different things. His path will often be rough and steep. He will face rapid streams and raging storms—difficulties that require great care, courage, and strength. He will need patience to be sure, for the journey will push him to his limits.

So, where do we find the strength to—

–climb the next high hill

–ford the next raging river

–cross the next barren desert

–traverse the next slippery slope

–endure the chill of another winter night

–bear up under the scorching heat of the summer sun.

There seems to be so much against us! After a while we even forget about the pleasures we’ve enjoyed along the way—

–the lush green pastures

–the still cool water

–the gentle breeze

–the beautiful sunset

–the sounds of nature

– fellowship with family

Sometimes we get to the place where all we think about are the difficulties rather than the delights. We focus on the pain, rather than the pleasure. The foes rather than the friends.Then life becomes a burden rather than a blessing.

So how do we keep going? We do so by—

–keeping our eye upon the prize. We will be home at last and all will be well.

–focusing on our Guide, knowing that He never leads us astray.

–remembering the exceeding great and precious promises of our Heavenly Father, who cannot lie.

–believing that heaven will be worth it all!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                            —David Stone 8/2/2007

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble, Tx