MORNING MANNA           12-23-21

GOD IS HERE

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”- Matthew 1:23

Christmas—the first Christmas—was a package of miracles. A virgin birth, God clothing Himself in human flesh, the Father giving His amazing love to an undeserving world, Christ making Himself poor that we might be made rich. It’s an unspeakable gift that we can’t begin to wrap our minds around.

But we can open the gift. We can receive the truth that it brings to us.

Emmanuel—God with us.

Take any word of that phrase, and it is astounding.

God with us. The very God of the universe humbled Himself to take on human flesh and enter our world through a manger. Lying there in the straw was God Himself. And He chose to come to our world.

God with us. Not only has God come to our world, but He is near. His very coming proved that He wants us to know Him, to be reconciled to Him. He is not a distant God, but a God who loves us and has chosen to show His love for us in a phenomenally unthinkable way—by giving Himself for us.

God with us. We don’t deserve God’s love. Yet He came. He chose to be born into a common family and grow up in a common home and learn a common profession. He proved that He can identify with us—with you, with me.

Who would have expected that God would even want to come to us? Who would have thought that God could come to us? But God did the miraculous. He came.

And because of Christmas, every child of God can know with certainty, God is with me—right here, right now. As you rejoice in the miracle of Christmas, thank the Lord for His immediate and continual presence in your life.- (Daily in the Word)

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

MORNING MANNA           12-22-21

WHAT PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT CHRISTMAS

“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” – John 1:10–13

There are points throughout the Christmas season when I don’t know what to do—primarily when it comes to gift giving. I don’t know what to purchase. I don’t know how the gifts will be received. Maybe you can identify with this feeling. Perhaps you don’t know which Christmas event to attend. Some people may not even know how much money they are spending! But there is one important truth—one important Person—that people often don’t recognize during this season.

Christmas is a tangible expression of God’s great love for us—a love so great that it led Him to send His Son to be our Saviour. Yet most of the world does not recognize the love of God or the meaning of Christmas. This is not true just for our day. It was true when Jesus was here as well. When the wise men came to Jerusalem looking for the place where Jesus had been born, the religious leaders knew exactly where to send them—to Bethlehem. Yet though they knew this, they showed no interest in going to see Jesus themselves.

The world did not and does not recognize the gift of God’s love. Even worse, the very people to whom Christ came rejected Him. So many people today are repeating that tragic error. Though they may celebrate Christmas, they do not know the Christ of Christmas. Take time this Christmas to introduce someone to Jesus Christ. As you share the Gospel with others, you show them the meaning of Christmas they do not know. – Paul Chappell

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

MORNING MANNA            12-21-21

A RIGHTEOUS MAN

“Joseph her husband was a righteous man.” – Matthew 1:19

The first scene of a famous movie depicting the life of Christ begins in silence. A woman looks straight ahead, then drops her eyes. A man stands frowning, shocked. The camera moves back, revealing her rounded, pregnant belly. He goes slowly out of the house; subdued, the woman watches him go. In town, everything seems normal—people go about their business, a group of children plays—but his world has been irrevocably changed. Overcome, he sinks to the ground, puts his head down, and closes his eyes. Then, more than three minutes into the scene, the first words are spoken by an angel.

The Christmas story is not just a series of exalted moments staffed by saints with haloes, but a gritty and down-to-earth drama in which real people faced difficult decisions about matters beyond their understanding. In today’s reading, Joseph faced one such decision. From his vantage point, there were at least two problems. The first was that his fiancé Mary was pregnant. No virgin had ever carried a child before, so Joseph could be excused if he doubted her sexual purity. Although a betrothal was not quite a marriage, and they had not yet had sexual relations, they were called “husband” and “wife” and a relationship with another man would have been regarded as marital unfaithfulness. No matter how much Joseph wanted to believe Mary, she was pregnant. Humanly speaking, he knew of only one way for that to happen.

The second problem was Mary’s explanation. She’d conceived by the Holy Spirit? Had she lost her mind? Why would she give such an unbelievable excuse? She must know how it sounded.

Joseph decided to “divorce her quietly” (Mt 1:19). This decision demonstrates the seriousness of the betrothal relationship and the issue of sexual purity. By Law, Mary could have been stoned to death (Deut. 22:20-24), but Joseph chose not to accuse her. Despite the perceived wrong she had done, he still cared for her feelings, honor, and well-being. Joseph was a righteous and merciful man.- Copied

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

MORNING MANNA            12-20-21

IMMANUEL

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”– Matt. 28:18-20

God has always been omnipresent—present in all places at the same time. But when Jesus came to Earth, He was not only present; He took on human flesh and experienced life as we experience it. And although Jesus returned to Heaven when His work was complete, He sent the Holy Spirit to live within those who receive Christ as their Savior. The Holy Spirit is the “earnest” or “down payment” of God’s promise to bring us to Heaven, and we have the assurance that He will never leave us.- – – This very real presence of God is a continuing, ongoing, and necessary gift as we live and work for God. Thus, the presence of God did not depart when Christ ascended. Instead He left His promise to always be with us.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Immanuel—God with us is eternity’s sonnet, Heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of the angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky. How could anyone preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor own his Master, how could men labor if that one word were taken away? Immanuel—God with us.”

The world tells us that we are alone. The devil tempts us to think, like Elijah, that there aren’t any faithful people left. Yet God is always with us. He is there to give us strength and guidance and power as we work for Him in the world. That will never change. Jesus may no longer be physically present in the world, but His Spirit is always with us. God’s presence is just as surely with us today as it was with the disciples when Jesus was here on Earth. ( Daily in the Word).

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

MORNING MANNA         12-19-21

CALL HIS NAME JESUS

“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” – Luke 1:30-33

On Christmas Day in 1864 as the Civil War was nearing its end, William Clark Martin was born in New Jersey. Once he had completed his seminary training, Martin would spend the rest of his life pastoring churches in five different states. In addition to his pulpit ministry, he wrote a number of hymns. In 1901 not long before he became pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in New Albany, Indiana, Martin wrote the following lyrics:

The name of Jesus is so sweet,
I love its music to repeat;
It makes my joys full and complete,
The precious name of Jesus.

I love the name of Him whose heart
Knows all my griefs and bears a part;
Who bids all anxious fears depart,
I love the name of Jesus.

“Jesus,” oh, how sweet the name!
“Jesus,” ev’ry day the same;
“Jesus,” let all saints proclaim
His worthy praise forever.

The angel Gabriel told Mary that her child would be named Jesus. That precious name sums up the work which the Lord came to do. It is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means “Jehovah is salvation.” Ever since the coming of a Savior was foretold in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), those who believed and loved God had looked for His arrival. They—and we—needed a Savior above all else, for there is no hope of reaching God in our own merit. 

Only through the provision of Jesus could we hope to be reconciled with God, and enjoy His presence in Heaven throughout eternity. The precious name of Jesus encompasses God’s plan for our lives both here and in eternity. – Daily in the Word

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