“ For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”– Phil. 1:29

The following is by the blind preacher George Matheson. I have read and posted these thoughts many times, but never grow weary of them. I hope they bless you as they have me over these many years. – HDS

“There was given to me a thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7).

    “There was given to me…” Can, then, the thorn be a gift from God? I am in the habit of seeing God’s gifts in the abundance of the things which my life possesses, and I call those things the dangers of life which diminish the sum of its abundance. But here there is a complete reversal of my thought; the abundance is the danger, and that which diminishes it is the gift.

    Paul has been exalted above measure; he has been standing on the heights of prosperity, and summering in the sunshine of a cloudless day. The cloudlessness of the day is his greatest danger, and there is sent a mist over the sun. His spiritual life has been fragrant with the breath of flowers. The thorn is, for the time, God’s best gift to his soul; there is something protective in it. It has no fragrance, it has no beauty, but it yields one of the sweetest uses of adversity—it reminds a human spirit that it is, after all, only human.

    My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory.

    Thou, Divine Love, whose human path has been perfected through sufferings, teach me the glory of my cross, teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow. Reveal to me that my strength was the product of that hour when I wrestled until the breaking of the day. Then shall I know that my thorn was blessed by Thee, then shall I know that my cross was a gift from Thee, and I shall raise a monument to the hour of my sorrows, and the words which I shall write upon it will be these: “It was good for me to have been afflicted” (Psalm 119:71).–George Matheson

“ For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”– Phil. 1:29

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

MORNING MANNA           7-27-21
RUNNING THE RACE
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”–Heb. 12:1

This verse likens the Christian life to a race. I can’t speak for anyone else but the thought of running doesn’t sound appealing to me. While I always enjoyed sports I never enjoyed running. It seems unnatural to me. I would rather walk. In other words, running is not something I would choose for myself. Yet, as a Christian, there is a race “set before” me and I commanded to “run“.

As Christians God has a prescribed course for each of us and it’s our duty to “run“. Because of who we are and what God has planned none of us have the right to do as we please. Duty compels us to “run” rather than walk, jog, or sit on the sidelines. The nonsense of those who teach that we shouldn’t spend our lives doing things we don’t enjoy has no place in the believer’s life. God demands that we deny ourselves and do our duty, regardless of its difficulty. God never said it would or should be fun and easy. Paul discusses the difficulties of the disciples’ life in 1 Cor. 9:24-27 and there is no reason for us to expect it to be easier for us than it was for Paul.

The Greek word for “race” (agon) is the word from which we get the word “agony”. It speaks of that which is grueling, agonizing, and exhausting. Although compared to a contest, the Christian life is no game. This analogy is used only to show us what great effort we should put into it. It is also likened to warfare– implying conflict, battle, and struggle. The fight is fierce, the enemy is strong, the flesh is weak, and the stakes are high. Though weak, wounded and weary we must not quit. We must press on with all our might until we cross the finish line. Your flesh will resent it and your foes will resist it, but we must keep on. The good news is that we don’t have to depend on our own strength to run this race. As Paul said, “ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”–Phil. 4:13. — HDS, 10/24/16

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

No one can come close to describing how good and great God is. I mention this because our text is one of those verses that reveals such greatness that we can’t even begin to comprehend it. Who can understand one God understanding everything about every one of the seven billion people on earth?  He knows the number of hairs on your head, every desire of your heart, every thought in your mind, and every detail in your life – past, present, and future! We boast of all the things that man made computers can do and all the information stored in “the cloud”, but that is child’s play compared to what God can do. He knows all and He has the power to control it all.

Page after page could be written about this one verse, but when all is said and done the half would not be told. After all, how could we possibly understand how one God can hear the prayers of billions at the same time and never miss a word? Amid all the noise in the world God can hear all the prayers regardless of their volume or the language in which they are spoken. It is as though He is sitting alone with you in your room hanging on every word you speak, and knowing the very thoughts in your heart.

But beyond that, when we are so troubled and confused that we don’t even know how to pray and all we can do is groan God understands although we don’t. And knowing exactly what we need, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us before the throne. It is as though God speaks to Himself on our behalf regarding things we don’t even know we need. You can’t explain that.

We have no greater resource than prayer. It is essential to all we do that we avail ourselves of it. Even when you are so perplexed by your problems that you don’t know what to say and you just groan – He knows. As His children we can bring all our petitions before God anytime and anywhere. We are never alone, nor helpless – the Spirit “helpeth our infirmities”.

Knowing we have such a God we should be greatly encouraged and rest in comfort of the thought that our mere groans get the attention of Almighty God who has all power and our best interest at heart. Fear not. He who created and controls all cares for you. Cast all your cares upon Him and He will sustain you in the strongest storms and most stressful situations in your life. – HDS

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

As I have often said, “Victory in Jesus” was my first favorite Christian song and for good reason. I had just experienced God’s saving grace and for the first time in my life I had hope for the future and help for the present. Christ enables us to have victory over sin, Satan, self, and situations.

I shouldn’t have to convince anyone that we need victory, but evidently some folks don’t see the need for it. Have you ever noticed the discrepancy between what the Bible says about Christians and what we see in their daily lives? We look at the Bible and see a picture of what we ought to be, but sadly that’s not what we always see. We often do not look anything like what the picture ought to be. It’s like the difference between a “glamour shot” and an actual photo. It is no wonder we often make a bad impression on others.

I want you to notice in vs. 35-36 the terrible things related to what Paul is talking about when he says “we are more than conquerors“. He speaks about tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, and slaughter. Yet, he says “we are more than conquerors”. That phrase comes from just one Greek word that is used only once in the Bible. It means exactly what it says – to gain a surpassing victory. We don’t just barely conquer, we conquer in an overwhelming manner and by a wide margin!