MORNING MANNA                  12-10-22

WAIT PATIENTLY

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”

Psalm 37:4-7

David knew all about waiting. He was still young when Samuel anointed him to be the next king of Israel. But many years went by and much difficulty followed before David was finally able to take the throne. Through many of those years, David lived on the run as King Saul tried to kill him. At one point, he was so desperate that he even went to the Philistines to hide from Saul. Even after Saul was dead, several years passed before the entire nation accepted David as his successor. The promises of God to David were fulfilled, but most of them took a long time.

The Lord does not operate on our schedule. The things that are urgent to us are minuscule compared to His grand plans for our world. Because He is eternal, the pressure of clocks and calendars that we experience do not apply to Him. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).

We live in a world that wants everything right away, but often God’s plan for us requires patience. Understanding His purposes and delighting in Him helps us wait until His time has come. There is no reason for a Christian to be upset or impatient because God has not yet acted. He will always do what is best for us. If we insist that God work on our time schedule, we will miss out on the peace and rest that comes as we wait on the Lord and trust in Him. – Daily in the Word

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

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of hearing bad news—especially when it involves me and/or my loved ones. However, I have to remind myself–that’s the price of living, and death is the only other option. Since we live in a fallen world, no bad thing should surprise us and no good thing should go unappreciated. But just because we expect bad things that doesn’t always make it easier to accept. You might expect a root-canal, but that doesn’t mean you will enjoy it.. However if we see that in the end the pain proved to be profitable, in a strange way, you can say the pain was a privilege. Make sense?

Let’s look at it another way. As a parent I consider it one of the greatest blessings in life to have children, yet it has been hard and painful at times. You can’t have one without the other. Children spell TROUBLE. They bring tremendous pleasure, but also plenty of pain. For me and most parents, the pleasure out weighs the pain. I’ll choose my children over a care-free life any day. They are worth whatever problems the cause.

I love life! I don’t enjoy everything in life, but the experience of living is worth whatever I have to endure to have the experience. When I say,”I love life” there are many things about it that I love. At the top of the list is the pleasure of life with my wife and family, and the privilege of serving the Lord. Although it is sometimes hard being a husband, a father, and a preacher, the happiness it brings far outweighs the hardness that goes along with it.

Maybe it doesn’t work for you, but it helps me greatly to think about these things. I have to focus on my privilege of living so as to not complain about the the problems that accompany it. Whether I spend my life being contented or complaining is determined by whether I view life as a privilege or a problem. How do you see life? The choice is yours–no one can make it for you. If you choose contentment no one can take it from you–you have to give it up. What will you choose?

There is so much riding on your answer I am reluctant to end this article. I feel like begging and pleading, doing everything in my power to sway your opinion. I wish I could say that I always have the perfect attitude and serve as an ideal example, but I am miles from perfect. Please don’t let my failures dissuade you from doing the right thing. I know life is tough and some of you are going through deep waters and dark valleys, and you are weary and worried. I just want to remind you that the sunshine comes after the rain, the mountain top after the valley, and pleasure after pain. Like the song says,”It will be worth it all”. It really will–you have God’s word on it. Don’t ever give up!

We find pleasure by seeing our problems as privileges because they are profitable!- HDS

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

MORNING MANNA             12-8-22

It is written:  “…ye have not, because ye ask not.  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:2-3)  Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote:  “A mere formalist can always pray so as to please himself.” 

The goal of prayer is not to formulate words pleasing to one’s self and to other men.  The real goal of prayer is to reach the ear of God.  The Pharisees are masters of well-ordered words to be heard and to be praised of men, but they pray to be heard of men not of God.  Richard Cecil wrote:  “A man may pray night and day and deceive himself.”  The vain and repetitious prayers of men never deceive God.  God judges the thoughts and the intents of the heart, and only holy thoughts and godly intents reach the ear of God.

James gives us two major hindrances to God-ward prayer – not asking, and asking amiss.  First, are you personally in a prayer relationship with the heavenly Father?  Secondly, the word “amiss” means wickedly or wrongly.  Why do you want God to hear you?  Are your prayers filled with honorable intentions and pure pleadings?  

In this fast paced society usually the first to fall victim in a believer’s day is his prayer closet.  Often he makes himself too busy to commune with God.  Oh, he has time to read every word of the daily paper and enter into lengthy discussions of its contents; but he does not have time to read the Holy Scriptures and enter into a discussion with the Author.  God’s plan is very simple – ask and receive, do not ask and do not receive.  It is seemingly simple, but real prayer takes time to search the heart and lay it bare before the Father.  It is not what is upon the lips that are weighed but what is revealed out of the heart.  Precious care must be taken to unwrap the burdens of the heart.  Asking to receive requires quality honest time with the Giver.

E. M. Bounds wrote:  “A revival of real praying would produce a spiritual revolution.”  Oh, what answers we would receive from God if we would put the daily paper down, turn off the TV, radio, CD player, computer, telephone, and earnestly whisper into the ear of God and intently listen to Him upon devoted knees.  Heaven and earth will be moved when it is met with a revival of REAL praying!  Let us sincerely pray for a spiritual revolution to begin!!!- Dr. M.J.Seymour

DAVID STONE

LAKEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

5801 FM 1960 E.

HUMBLE, TX. 77346

MORNING MANNA              12-7-22

John Newton’s tombstone

In his old age, when he could no longer see to read, John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace” heard someone recite this verse, “By the grace of God–I am what I am.” 1 Corinthians 15:10. He remained silent a short time, and then said:

I am not what I ought to be. Ah! how imperfect and deficient.
I am not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities. 
I am not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart–knows I wish to be like Him. 
I am not what I hope to be. Before long, I will drop this clay tabernacle, to be like Him and see Him as He is!
Yet, I am not what I once was–a child of sin, and slave of the devil!
Though not all these–not what I ought to be, not what I might be, not what I wish or hopeto be, and not what I once was–I think I can truly say with the apostle, “By the grace of God–I am what I am!”

At the age of 82, Newton said, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner–and that Christ is a great Savior!”

John Newton’s tombstone reads: “John Newton, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy!”

“By the grace of God I am what I am!” 1 Corinthians 15:10

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

5801 FM 1960 E

Humble, TX. 77346

THINK ABOUT IT                12-6-22

“The People Cheering for Humanity’s End”
I have often described the state of the world as insanity and I would like to think that the reason is obvious. In case you think I’m being too harsh, here is another example of how insane some folks are. Hal Lindsay wrote the following yesterday:

“Any time we approach the end of a particularly tumultuous year, we look forward to the next year as a return to “normal.” But at this point, the old normal no longer exists. 2023 looks like a continuation of the last few years, only worse.

Sin deluges our society in countless ways. Consider this one. We live in a generation that has abandoned truth. The word now depicts an emotion. It’s about “how I feel about things,” rather than what is really so. Jesus spoke of truth as a foundation — something dependable that you can safely build on. But the people of our time portray truth as malleable. They speak of “Your truth,” and “My truth,” as different things.

But real truth does not change from person to person. Our understandings may be different, but truth is truth whether we understand it or not. People who devalue truth make themselves vulnerable to things like fake news, fraud, duplicity, hypocrisy, treachery, manipulation, cunning, guile, and just plain lying. Jesus prophesied that the last days would be a time of deception, and here we are.

Romans 1:25 speaks of a people who “exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” They turn from solid, unchangeable truth to a quicksand of lies. Verse 28 says God gives such people over to “a depraved mind.” For years I have said that a “depraved mind” means in part that they are unable to think in their own best interests.

We saw an amazing example of that on December 1st when The Atlantic ran an article headlined, “The People Cheering for Humanity’s End: A disparate group of thinkers says we should welcome our demise.” Such people are not talking about the Second Coming or Judgment Day when God will complete His program of redemption. They are talking about a sad, empty ending to everything human that ever occurred. They long for an end to great thoughts, beautiful music, laughter, and smiles. They do not resonate with joy at the sound of children playing. They hope it all ends, the sooner the better.

When respected and influential members of society openly teach such abominations, we have moved into perilous times. More than that, we are raising children in perilous times.”

May God help us to understand the challenges before us and do our best to reach others for Christ before it’s too late. – HDS

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.