MORNING MANNA           6-8-21

A THANKFUL HEART

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” – Colossians 3:15

Pastor Warren Wiersbe tells the story about a ministerial student named Edward Spencer. He lived in Evanston, Illinois, and was part of a lifesaving squad on the banks of Lake Michigan.

One night, a ship went aground on the lake and Spencer was called into action. He waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. And in the process, the sub-zero temperatures left his health permanently damaged.

Many years later at Spencer’s funeral, it was mentioned that he had saved 17 lives that night, and was left disabled in the process. Someone mentioned, “Those passengers must have been so grateful.” To which a family member responded, “Come to think of it, not one of them ever thanked him.”

Thankfulness seems to be a lost art today. Many people don’t see the value in stopping to acknowledge the kindness of others – or of God, who sent His only Son to die for our sins.

Take time to cultivate a heart of thankfulness to others, and to God! Pray and ask God to give you a heart of thankfulness for everything you’ve been given.(Copied)

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

MORNING MANNA            6-6-21

AWOL

“His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant...”-  Matt. 25:26

MORNING MANNA          6-5-21

CONFESSION

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” -1 John 1:9

Do you know what an epicenter is? The epicenter is the location directly above the surface of the earth where an earthquake begins. But I don’t want to talk about literal earthquakes today. Instead, I want to talk about the metaphorical earthquakes that can happen in our relationships.

The epicenter of every fault that causes every earthquake in our relationships is this: Sin is always against God first. You can sin against God and not sin against others, but every sin against others is first a sin against God. The first step that must always be taken to restore relationships, fix friendships, and mend marriages is confession. Confession in most cases always has two dimensions: vertical and horizontal. When our sin or our thought has hurt someone else, we must confess that sin first to God.

Listen to the first few words of today’s key verse, “If we confess our sins, he …” The “he” that John is referring to is obviously God. Confession does not always end with God, but it must always begin with God. The reason for that is every sin, first and foremost, is always against God. Remember this principle: Whenever you sin against anyone full and final forgiveness only comes through confession to that one you have sinned against. Since our sin always begins with God, confession begins with God.

When you are in the wrong, or you have done someone wrong, the first person you should talk to is God. You should talk openly, transparently, and honestly as you confess your sins to Him. As painful as it may be, you’ve got to fess up to your mess up. You don’t have the right to remain silent before God. You can’t plead the fifth Amendment against God. If you want to come clean, you must confess completely.-James Merritt

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

MORNING MANNA            6-4-21

COMFORT

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;” – 2 Cor. 1:3

It is one thing to exclaim “Man needs God”, it is another to explain why. I could sum it all up by saying man needs God because he has needs that God alone can supply. But sometimes it helps to be specific, and that’s exactly what this verse does. Our text tells us He is “the God of all comfort”. And in these troublesome times isn’t that exactly what we all need? Fact is that has always been what we need. Ever since sin entered the world man has been in need of comfort.

Out of the great depths of God’s wisdom He allows trials in our lives for numerous reasons, one of which is that we might see how greatly we need Him. Pity the poor soul who thinks otherwise. So God takes action to show us our need by appointing or allowing difficulties in our lives. Although He doesn’t always reveal the purpose of a particular trial, He does give us a promise that it will work “for good” ( Rom. 8:28). But He does more than that.

God also comforts us by assuring us that His grace will be sufficient to get us through even the toughest trials. Throughout history we can see examples of this being true. We can rest assured that after experiencing that for ourselves we will say with David, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” ( Psa. 119:71). That puts everything in a different light. Our troubles and trials will not be for nought. They might be painful but they will be profitable.