One of the great things about being a parent or a pastor is watching your children grow spiritually. Since we have eight children I won’t mention any names, but I recently had a conversation with one of my children that thrilled my heart. What was said would have been a blessing coming from anyone, but hearing it from one of my own made it all the more wonderful.

This particular conversation was centered on what God. Said to Paul in 2 Cor. 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for thee”. We need never pray that God’s grace will be sufficient because it is. We just need to discover it to be so. And those who have made this discovery are enabled to stand and withstand.    They are enabled to fave difficulties and disappointments with courage because their confidence is in Christ.

God never said that life would be easy. Too the contrary, He warned us about trials and tribulations. But he also gave us “exceeding great and precious promises”(2 Pet.1:4) whereby we can overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Knowing that my children knows this is thrilling.

Then, a day later, I got a call from another child of mine talking at great length about serious subjects related to God which was just as thrilling. Like their father none of my children are perfect, but it is a blessing seeing them grow in that direction. It is my prayer that each of you will enjoy the same such blessings with your children. Living in this wicked world it is a great comfort knowing our loved ones have discovered what it takes to survive and thrive – the grace of God. — HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA             3-10-21
LIGHTEN THE LOAD

“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

In 1845, the ill-fated Franklin Expedition sailed from England to find a passage across the Arctic Ocean.

The crew loaded their two sailing ships with a lot of things they didn’t need: a 1,200-volume library, fine china, crystal goblets, and sterling silverware for each officer with his initials engraved on the handles. Amazingly, each ship took only a 12-day supply of coal for their auxiliary steam engines.

The ships became trapped in vast frozen plains of ice. After several months, Lord Franklin died. The men decided to trek to safety in small groups, but none of them survived.

One story is especially heartbreaking. Two officers pulled a large sled more than 65 miles across the treacherous ice. When rescuers found their bodies, they discovered that the sled was filled with table silver.

Those men contributed to their own demise by carrying what they didn’t need. But don’t we sometimes do the same? Don’t we drag baggage through life that we don’t need? Evil thoughts that hinder us. Bad habits that drag us down. Grudges that we won’t let go.-David C. Egner

Even sinless things can become sinful if they keep us from doing what we should. Innocent activities can divert our attention, dominate our time, and drain our energy so as to keep us from the more important things of life. We are often kept from the best by that which is good as well as what is evil. Let us then “lay aside every weight“.–HDS

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

I almost hesitate to say that you can read the Bible and not receive some benefit from it, because it works in ways far beyond our understanding. Yet I am compelled by our text to acknowledge that we can read the Bible without getting what God desires for us. It is one thing to read and another to understand. Sadly many folks feel they have discharged their daily duty by merely reading a certain portion of God’s Word. They then lay the Bible down without understanding, receiving, or obeying what they just read.

One of the major problems in this regard is that we never approach the Bible with what some call “an open mind”. The fact is we approach the Bible with preconceived ideas, thoughts, and beliefs that are not creditable. We never open the Bible with a mental blank slate, or empty vessel. We approach it with beliefs, ideas, questions and attitudes based on what we heard, read, imagined, or experienced. And these can affect our conclusions as to the meaning of the scriptures, which is a tragedy.

This was one of the most obvious problems with the Pharisees and others to whom Jesus ministered. Their thoughts tended to be tainted by traditions which blinded them to the truth. Although they searched the scriptures they entirely missed the message about the Messiah, and that was fatal. They were convinced that they were right, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. That’s why religious people are the most difficult to reach. Believing they are right they reject the truths that they need. They have a false sense of security and refuse to entertain the thought that they might be wrong. What about you? Could you be wrong?

Searching the Scriptures is the right thing to do, but everytime we open the Bible we should ask “What do the Scriptures say?” Our mission is to get the message God has for us. And any sincere serious study of the Scriptures will lead to discovering the truth regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Too often our mind is cluttered with less serious things, or corrupted by tradition, or confused by preconceived ideas.That’s why we need to start every study in prayer asking God to enlighten our minds and seeking the help of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to us. – HDS

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

“But let a man examine himself…” – 1 Cor. 11:28
“Examine yourselves…”- 2 Cor. 13:5

I love to study the prayers of Paul. They are like windows into his heart. I mention this because of the his frequent request for eyes of their understanding to be opened. He was greatly concerned about their need to see the truth and avoid error and it’s consequences.

In dealing with people I am often amazed by how easily people overlook the obvious – especially in regards to themselves. They fail to see their faults that are clear as day to others. In some instances they are extremely critical of certain sins of others when that particular sin is one of their glaring faults – a fault that everyone else can see, except they themselves. They are either blind to their faults or they are trying to hide them by diverting your attention away from them to others. They often say, “I hate ___” when the named sin is one of their glaring faults. They condemn in others what they condone or tolerate in themselves. They expect others to live to a higher standard than they do.

Evidently such people don’t know themselves as well as they think they do. They go through life without ever seeing themselves as they really are. They try to project an image of what they want others to think they are – and it;s always exaggerated because they want to put themselves in the best possible light. They live behind a mask – more concerned about their reputation than they are about their character. When a person professes to be a Christian you would think they would get beyond this, but old habits die hard and the flesh is persistent.

The major problem in this is the failure to examine ourselves in the light of God’s word – the only way to get a true picture. We’re kidding ourselves if we think the average church member is truly a student of God’s word. Most people spend as little time as possible studying the Bible. Consequently they feel satisfied with themselves rather than seeking to grow spiritually.

Another thing to keep in mind is this. Even our best effort to examine ourselves will end in failure without God’s help. We need the Holy Spirit’s help in seeing ourselves as we are. Our daily prayer ought to be, as the song says, “Search me O God and know my heart today”. Let that be your prayer and godliness will be your pursuit, and growth will be your prize. – HDS

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

Robert Ingersoll was an American lawyer who travelled the country campaigning for agnosticism. His efforts were so extreme that he gained the nickname “The Great Agnostic”. Walt Whitman called him “the greatest orator of his time”. Although he was born into a Christian family and his father was a preacher Robert took great pride in his position and spent his life fighting against God.

In his lectures he would insist that if God really existed he should prove it by striking him dead within a five minute time period at the end of his lecture. When the five minutes expired he exclaimed that it is proof that God did not exist.That just goes to show you what foolish lengths some people will go in an effort to justify their claims.

The fact of the matter is that God didn’t need to strike him dead to prove His existence. He has already proven His existence, His goodness, greatness, and grace. Acts 1:3 says, “…he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:” Then we read in Romans 1:4 that Jesus proved He was who He claimed to be – “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”. Then there is the glorious truth of Rom. 5:8 which says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”