“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

As we head toward Christmas let us do so with a reminder of what it is really all about. Perhaps this story will help do that. 

A missionary visiting a poor hut in a refugee district was challenged by a suffering woman.

“You tell us that you are interested in us and want to help us, but it’s very easy for you to simply come see us in our poverty-stricken home. The question is, are you ready to bring your family from the clean and comfortable home in which they live in order to live in our district with all its poverty, suffering and sin? Would you do that in order to lift us up?”

That is exactly what Christ did, from his lowly birth in Bethlehem to his cursed death on the cross. Even though He was God, He never used that as an excuse to avoid suffering or achieve privilege. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

Not only did He come to us and dwell among us, He died for us! Knowing the greatness of our need, and moved by the greatness of His love, God gave heaven’s very best – He gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, making eternal life His gift to us. It’s my prayer that you will receive His gift of grace by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  – HDS

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

“Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”- Romans 8:23

This groaning is universal among the saints: to a greater or less extent we all feel it. It is not the groan of murmuring or complaint: it is rather the note of desire than of distress. Having received an earnest, we desire the whole of our portion; we are sighing that our entire manhood, in its trinity of spirit, soul, and body, may be set free from the last vestige of the fall; we long to put off corruption, weakness, and dishonour, and to wrap ourselves in incorruption, in immortality, in glory, in the spiritual body which the Lord Jesus will bestow upon his people. We long for the manifestation of our adoption as the children of God. “We groan,” but it is “within ourselves.” It is not the hypocrite’s groan, by which he would make men believe that he is a saint because he is wretched. Our sighs are sacred things, too hallowed for us to tell abroad. We keep our longings to our Lord alone. Then the apostle says we are “waiting,” by which we learn that we are not to be petulant, like Jonah or Elijah, when they said, “Let me die”; nor are we to whimper and sigh for the end of life because we are tired of work, nor wish to escape from our present sufferings till the will of the Lord is done. We are to groan for glorification, but we are to wait patiently for it, knowing that what the Lord appoints is best. Waiting implies being ready. We are to stand at the door expecting the Beloved to open it and take us away to himself. This “groaning” is a test. You may judge of a man by what he groans after. Some men groan after wealth—they worship Mammon; some groan continually under the troubles of life—they are merely impatient; but the man who sighs after God, who is uneasy till he is made like Christ, that is the blessed man. May God help us to groan for the coming of the Lord, and the resurrection which he will bring to us.- Morning and Evening

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

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.” – Psalms 51:10

Such a prayer implies a conviction of sin, a sense of pollution, a desire for holiness, a knowledge of weakness, grief for inconstancy, and the possession of true wisdom.

It is the prayer of every Christian; let it be our prayer this day; let us lift up our hearts and voices to our God, and cry, “Remove guilt and pollution, produce purity and peace in our hearts. Cleanse us by Thy word, the blood of Jesus, and the influence of the Holy Spirit.” Purity of heart can only be produced by God; it enters into the very essence of religion; we cannot be godly except we are holy.

If we love sin, if we can indulge in sin, or if a sense of having sinned does not pain us, and cause us to adopt this prayer, our religion is spurious, we are destitute of the power of godliness. No real Christian can live in sin. He is called to holiness. He is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Holiness is his element and health. His God says, “Be holy, for I am holy:” and he cries, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

Let us be holy in all manner of conversation, looking for and hasting to the coming of Jesus. ( James Smith, 1840)

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

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” – 1 Cor. 15:58

Dr. James Merritt said, “I want to tell you about a man named Robert Eaglen .. a deacon in his church in Colchester, England. He woke up one Sunday morning in January. The ground was blanketed with a foot of snow. He started to turn over and go back to sleep, but he thought to himself, ‘I’m one of the deacons in my church. If the deacon’s don’t go, who will go?’ He put on his boots, hat, and coat and walked six miles to church. He was right. Most of the members did stay home. As a matter of fact, even the pastor didn’t show up. Only thirteen people were at church—twelve members and a thirteen year old boy he had never seen before.

Somebody said ‘Why don’t we just sing a little bit and go home. We don’t have a preacher.’ But Robert Eaglen said ‘It’s foolish for us to come all this way and not have a worship service.’ ‘Who’s going to preach?’ they asked. Impulsively, Robert said, ‘I’ll preach.’ He’d never preached in his life. He got up and did not know what he was going to preach. I’m sure that’s happened to some of us on Sunday nights, as well, but he didn’t have a clue what he was going to be preaching. In his quiet time the day before he had been reading in Isaiah, so he turned to Isaiah 45:22, ‘Look to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.’ Later he recalled, ‘I preached maybe twelve minutes, and I must have said fifty times ‘Look to Jesus.’ ‘It was all he knew to say. ‘Look to Jesus.’ He got through with saying ‘Look to Jesus’ about fifty times. He looked at that little thirteen year old boy and said ‘Young man, if you’ll look to Jesus you’ll be saved.’ And they had prayer and left.

That boy, years later, wrote these words: ‘I did look, and then and there the cloud on my heart lifted, the darkness rolled away. At that moment I saw the sun, I accepted Christ into my heart, and I was born again.’ That thirteen year old boy was Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

I thank God that Robert Eaglen didn’t get up that day and preach a message on ‘How to be Up When the Weather is Down.’ Thank God he didn’t get up and say ‘Let me talk to you today about how to glow in the snow.’ Thank God he didn’t get up and preach a sermon called ‘Snow White and the Eleven Disciples.’ Thank God, he preached the Word. He shared the gospel with a thirteen year old boy and gave that boy an opportunity to be saved. We don’t need to follow fads, fashions, or flakes.”

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

“He that walketh uprightly walketh surely.” (Proverbs 10:9)

His walk may be slow, but it is sure. He that hasteth to be rich shall not be innocent nor sure; but steady perseverance in integrity, if it does not bring riches, will certainly bring peace. In doing that which is just and right, we are like one walking upon a rock, for we have confidence that every step we take is upon solid and safe ground. On the other hand, the utmost success through questionable transactions must always be hollow and treacherous, and the man who has gained it must always be afraid that a day of reckoning will come, and then his gains will condemn him.

Let us stick to truth and righteousness. By God’s grace let us imitate our Lord and Master, in whose mouth no deceit was ever found. Let us not be afraid of being poor, nor of being treated with contempt. Never, on any account whatever, let us do that which our conscience cannot justify. If we lose inward peace, we lose more than a fortune can buy. If we keep in the Lord’s own way and never sin against our conscience, our way is sure against all comers. Who is he that can harm us if we be followers of that which is good? We may be thought fools by fools if we are firm in our integrity; but in the place where judgment is infallible we shall be approved. – Faith’s Checkbook

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