MORNING MANNA               1-7-23

GLORY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

“Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”- 2 Thess. 2:14

We should never forget that the gospel is the good news of the glory of Christ. True, it concerns the One who was crucified and who was buried. But He is no longer on the Cross, no longer in the Tomb. He has risen, has ascended to heaven, and is the glorified Man at God’s right hand.

We do not present Him as the humble Carpenter of Nazareth, the suffering Servant or the Stranger of Galilee. Neither do we present Him as the effeminate do-gooder of modern religious art.

We preach the Lord of life and glory. He is the One whom God has highly exalted and given a Name which is above every name. At His Name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess Him Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is crowned with glory and honor, a Prince and a Savior.

Too often we dishonor Him by the message we preach. We exalt man with his talents and create the impression that God would be lucky to have such a man to serve Him. We make it sound as if man were doing a colossal favor to the Lord by trusting Him. That isn’t the Gospel which the Apostles preached. They said, in effect, “You are the guilty murderers of the Lord Jesus Christ. You took Him and with wicked hands nailed Him to the tree. But God raised Him from the dead and glorified Him at His own right hand in heaven. He is there today, in a glorified body of flesh and bones. His nail-scarred hand holds the sceptre of universal dominion. He is coming back again to judge the world in righteousness. And you’d better REPENT and turn to Him in FAITH. There is no other way of salvation. There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

O, for a fresh vision of the Man in the glory! And for a tongue to tell forth the myriad glories that crown His brow! Surely then, as at Pentecost, sinners would tremble before Him and cry out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”- William McDonald

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA              1-6-23
IS THIS PLEASING TO GOD?
“ Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. ”– 1 Thessalonians 4:1 

“Lo, I am with you always–even unto the end of the world!” Matthew 28:20

Whose presence is thus promised and pledged?

It is the presence of Christ! The Christ who is God. “Immanuel, God with us!”

The Christ who . . .
  made all worlds,
  created all beings,
  governs all empires,
  controls all events!

The Christ who replenishes . . .
  earth with beauty,
  heaven with glory,
  eternity with song!

The Christ before whom angels and archangels, principalities and powers bend, and at whose name every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord!

The Christ . . .
  whose glory is divine,
  whose beauty is peerless,
  whose wealth is boundless,
  whose love is as infinite as His being!

The Christ who . . .
  bore and put away your sins forever,
  uplifted and forever removed your curse,
  paid all your great debt to Divine justice,
  sorrowed for you in the garden,
  suffered and expired in your stead on the cross,
  rose from the grave, ascended up to heaven, lives and intercedes for you, representing your person and presenting your prayers and praises with ineffable acceptance and delight–to His Father and your Father, to His God and your God.

MORNING MANNA                1-4-23

THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES

“ For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”- 1 John 5:4

It is when the rain is falling, or the mist hangs in the air,
When the road is dark and rugged, and the wind no longer fair,
When the rosy dawn has settled in a shadowland of gray,
That we find it hard to trust Him, and are slower to obey.

It is easy to trust Him when the singing birds have come,
And their canticles are echoed in our heart and in our home;
But ’tis when we miss the music, and the days are dull and drear,
That we need a faith triumphant over every doubt and fear

.

And our blessed Lord will give it; what we lack He will supply;
Let us ask in faith believing–on His promises rely;
He will ever be our Leader, whether smooth or rough the way,
And will prove Himself sufficient for the needs of every day.

To trust in spite of the look of being forsaken; to keep crying out into the vast, whence comes no returning voice, and where seems no hearing; to see the machinery of the world pauselessly grinding on as if self-moved, caring for no life, nor shifting a hair-breadth for all entreaty, and yet believe that God is awake and utterly loving; to desire nothing but what comes meant for us from His hand; to wait patiently, ready to die of hunger, fearing only lest faith should fail–such is the victory that overcometh the world, such is faith indeed. –George MacDonald

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

THINK ABOUT IT            1-3-23

Someone sent me a list of things called, “The Perks of Getting Older.”

Since I am, and maybe some of you are too, I thought I’d read them.  

Here are the perks of getting older:

• In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
• People call at 9 pm and ask apologetically, “Did I wake you?”
• You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.”
  • We’ll see about that.
• Your investment in health insurance all these years is finally paying off.
• There’s nothing left to learn the hard way.
• You can sing along with the elevator music – you know all the words.
• Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.
• Here’s a good one; Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can’t remember them either.

It’s one thing to get older . . . it’s another thing to grow wiser.

The good thing about this is that it reminds me/us of the need to read the Book of Proverbs. A good way to do that is to use it as a calendar by reading the one that corresponds to the day of the month. Of course there are some short months so you will have to double up on those days. – Bro. Stone