MORNING MANNA            7-19-23

BEAR THEIR BURDENS

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”Galatians 6:2

A famous British poet once wrote on the subject of pain and burdens in the people he saw each day. Living in England during a time of economic struggle, many people begged, wore rags, or struggled to get by each day. Disease was rampant, and many people lost loved ones during this time. Living in poverty as well, this poet often walked the streets of London, searching for people he could help. He did not have money to give, but he often gave them a few minutes of his time. He cared for children while mothers searched for employment or went shopping. He used what little money he had to buy food for starving children, and he directed impoverished families to local shelters and soup kitchens. Often his experiences were reflected in his writings, as can be seen in the following stanza of a poem he penned:

Though thou with clouds of anger do disguise
Thy face; yet through that mask I know those eyes,
Which, though they turn away sometimes,
They never will despise.

He could see the pain in the eyes of people, even when they tried to disguise their feelings. He realized that by taking time to talk with people he could easily recognize the burdens they carried.

Whether people in seventeenth century Britain or people in twenty-first century America, everyone carries burdens. Often stated is the phrase “Life is unfair.” Many people face unfair situations and heavy burdens they never thought they’d face. Situations arise despite people’s best efforts to avoid them.

I’m sure even you have some burdens in your own life. Think of the burdens you carry. Financial pressure? Uncertainty about a job situation? A rebellious child? A struggling marriage? A troubled friend? A health trial? Carrying burdens is nothing new, yet God desires that rather than focusing on your own burdens, you would seek to bear the burdens of others.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Very simply put, God wants you to help others. What does bearing another person’s burdens entail? While you may not be able to physically carry the burden of someone, you can lighten their load by loving them and showing you care. 

Taking time to show someone you care about them will help lighten their burden. Often, simply stopping to talk with them and allowing them to air their problems help. If they ask for advice or counsel, seek to guide them through biblical solutions. Sometimes all bearing a burden means is sitting down over coffee and listening. 

Who around you is struggling today? While you could focus on your own problems and burdens, God desires for you to help others bear their burdens. He desires that you would fulfill His command to love others by showing kindness during their time of need. Whose burden can you help bear today?(copied)

David Stone   

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble, Tx 

MORNING MANNA            7-18-23

WHEN FACING ADVERSITY

“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”- 1 Peter 4:16

Missionary statesman Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Suffering is the heritage of the bad, of the penitent, and of the Son of God. Each one ends at the Cross. The bad thief is crucified, the penitent thief is crucified, and the Son of God is crucified. By these signs we know the widespread heritage of suffering.”

If there is a common thread running through the human race it is the thread of suffering. Every person has trials and challenges that are unexpected. This was especially true for the Christians in the first century.

These Christians put their faith in the resurrected Christ in the midst of a Roman culture that didn’t allow anyone to give obeisance to a god other than Caesar. The Roman government ruled with an iron fist, and the emperor Nero persecuted anyone who gave allegiance to Jesus Christ. 

History records that during this time the games of the Coliseum were popular. Many times, Christians were imprisoned and sent to battle lions or gladiators in the Coliseum as sport for the Roman citizens to watch. Truly, if any Christians have known suffering, the first century Christians went through incredible persecution and suffering for the faith.

Adversity comes and goes in all our lives. It’s like taking a rock in your hand, walking to a perfectly still pond, throwing the rock into the middle of the pond and seeing the sudden disturbance of the water. The ripples made by that rock in the water stretch out and affect the entire pond. When adversity comes into our lives, the ripple effect of that trial may last a week, a month, or an entire lifetime. No matter the amount of time, adversity does affect our lives.

In our verses today, Peter was writing to the Christians who were scattered throughout what is modern-day Turkey. He was assuring them that God had a reason and a purpose for the trials that had entered their lives. 

While it may not be physical persecution or the possibility of death, suffering for the cause of Christ still happens to many Christians. Whether it’s ridicule at work or rejection by others, many Christians still face adversity today.

So how can we experience victory during times of adversity? What caused the first century Christians who were persecuted for their faith to have joy and peace during times of suffering? When adversity or suffering enters your life, seek refuge in the promises of God’s Word. The peace that many early Christians felt came from quoting Scripture, singing spiritual songs, and meditating on God’s promises.

Are you facing adversity? Spend time with God now. Meditate on His Word and let Him fill you with His peace. Claim Philippians 4:7 as you go about your day today,“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”(Daily in the Word)

David Stone   

Lakeway Baptist Church.   

Humble, Tx 

MORNING MANNA             7-17-23

God’s Timing

“And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush…saying…I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt”(Acts 7:30, 32, 34).

Speaking of this verse, John Henry Jowett wrote: That was a long wait in preparation for a great mission. When God delays, He is not inactive. He is getting ready His instruments, He is ripening our powers; and at the Appointed moment we shall arise equal to our task. Even Jesus of Nazareth was thirty years in privacy, growing in wisdom before He began His work. 

Another, unknown writer, said,God is never in a hurry but spends years with those He expects to greatly use. He never thinks the days of preparation too long or too dull.

The hardest ingredient in suffering is often time. A short, sharp pang is easily borne, but when a sorrow drags its weary way through long, monotonous years, and day after day returns with the same dull routine of hopeless agony, the heart loses its strength, and without the grace of God, is sure to sink into the very sullenness of despair. Joseph’s was a long trial, and God often has to burn His lessons into the depths of our being by the fires of protracted pain. “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,” but He knows how long, and like a true goldsmith He stops the fires the moment He sees His image in the glowing metal. We may not see now the outcome of the beautiful plan which God is hiding in the shadow of His hand; it yet may be long concealed; but faith may be sure that He is sitting on the throne, calmly waiting the hour when, with adoring rapture, we shall say, “All things have worked together for good.” Like Joseph, let us be more careful to learn all the lessons in the school of sorrow than we are anxious for the hour of deliverance. There is a “need-be” for every lesson, and when we are ready, our deliverance will surely come, and we shall find that we could not have stood in our place of higher service without the very things that were taught us in the ordeal. God is educating us for the future, for higher service and nobler blessings; and if we have the qualities that fit us for a throne, nothing can keep us from it when God’s time has come. Don’t steal tomorrow out of God’s hands. Give God time to speak to you and reveal His will. He is never too late; learn to wait. (Streams in the Desert)

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

MORNING MANNA           7-15-23

Didn’t You Hear Me?

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24

Have you ever told someone to do something, maybe one of your children, and they never did it? Maybe you went to them out of frustration and, like many parents, exclaimed, “Didn’t you hear me?” 

Hearing and listening are two different things. While hearing simply requires ability to hear sound, listening requires effort and close attention. The same is true about listening to the Word of God. Many times Christians can hear a sermon or read the words of the Bible, yet not be listening to God. 

Think about this fact: when you got saved, you didn’t merely hear God’s Word but you listened to it and accepted the truths of it. You weren’t thinking about what was for lunch; you were focusing on God’s gift of salvation. As our verse today shows us, God’s Word is first heard, or in this case, listened to intently, by a person before he is saved, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

We can all say that we have listened intently to God’s Word at one time! But are we still approaching God’s Word with that same spirit—the spirit that nothing else on earth matters, nothing around us is as important as time with God? God desires to speak to you and give you truth to help you, yet you can miss out on His promises if you are not attentively listening to Him. 

You may be reading this and thinking, “I listen in church. I focus on God while I am reading my Bible.” But have you ever been reading your Bible or praying when you realized your mind was on something else? I’m sure we could all attest to that fact! As you spend time with God, your mind can stray, and you can think about what projects need to be accomplished, what work needs to be done, or what meal is next! The devil likes to distract your mind so you are too busy thinking about other things to focus on God. Rather than getting upset or giving up, determine to set aside the cares of this world and focus your heart and mind on God.

God is trying to speak to you today. He has given you His Word, His church, and His creation that proclaim His greatness. But maybe you’re too busy to focus on God. Maybe your schedule, work, or activities have crowded God out of your mind. Don’t let the things going on around you overtake your time with the Lord. As you spend time with God today, determine to keep your mind on Him and ask Him to speak to you.- Daily in the Word

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA            7-14-23
DO GOOD ANYWAY
“Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”1 Peter 3:8-9

Even if we are doing all that we should, there will still be problems. We live in a fallen and broken world, and evil is widespread in our day. That is not new. Though it takes different forms and guises, the underlying opposition to God has been a constant throughout human history. Our responsibility is not to insist on fairness or getting what we deserve, but to do what is right even—especially—if we are being wronged. Paul condemned the members of the church at Corinth for resorting to suing each other rather than resolving their differences properly. “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” (1 Corinthians 6:7). We can always do the right thing no matter what anyone else does. Kent Keith wrote:

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

We control our reactions in every situation and can respond rightly no matter what is happening around us.- Daily in the Word

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
Humble, Tx.