“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” – 1 Peter 2:21-24

When the wife of the great pioneer missionary Adoniram Judson told him that a newspaper article likened him to some of the apostles, Judson replied, “I do not want to be like a Paul…or any mere man. I want to be like Christ…I want to follow Him only, copy His teachings, drink in His Spirit, and place my feet in His footprints…Oh, to be more like Christ!”

Even before the world was created, God’s plan was for us to be, “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). God did not save us solely to allow us to go to Heaven, though of course that is a wonderful and undeserved blessing. God also saved us so that we could go into the world just as Jesus did and point men and women to Him. God intends for us to be walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ as we go through this world.

Though Jesus left us many important examples, perhaps the greatest is His sacrificial death for the sins of others. While we are not called on to do what only He could do, we are called to give up our rights and privileges for the sake of following Him and for the benefit of others. The more we are willing to give and invest in those in need, the more we are being like Jesus. God’s purpose and plan for your life today is for you to be a reflection of His Son. (Daily in the Word)

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

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” – Rom. 8:28

Looking for comfort in this troubled world we cannot do better than to remind ourselves of this fact. Either God is totally sovereign, ordaining, ruling, and disposing of all things as he will, or he has no control over anything and faith in him is an utter absurdity.

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

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” – 1 Cor. 6:19-20

We’ve heard it so much that we’ve started to believe it. I’m talking about terms such as “self-esteem”, “love yourself”, “you deserve it”, etc. We eagerly contend for our perceived “rights” – although we don’t have the right to do so. Truth is, we don’t deserve anything from God. It is all due to His grace that we breathe our next breath, eat our next bite and see the next sun rise. The following comments by Vance Havner helps us regain the proper perspective:

We are not our own, we have been redeemed. But while we sing “Jesus Paid It All” let us remember the next line, “All To Him I Owe.” Certain Divine requirements grow out of our being bought with a price. Such love demands my soul, my life, my all. We are to glorify God in body and spirit-ourselves-because we belong to Him (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). We are to glorify Him in our service: “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men” (1 Cor. 7:23). And Peter tells us that since we have redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, we are to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear (1 Pt. 1:17-21).

Self, service, sojourning-all to Him I owe, because He paid it all. While we sing about the price that He paid, we had better check on what God expects for us, not to repay Him, but as the expression of our heart’s love to Him who redeemed us.

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

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:” – Exodus 14:15

Beloved, there is no standing still in religion; we are either going forward or going back. Our Captain’s command is, “Go forward.” This is our direction. “Go forward” in the Lord’s way, in the Lord’s work; to the Lord’s kingdom. The command contains great encouragement.

Go forward, remembering the Lord’s wisdom, trusting in the Lord’s power; and believing in the Lord’s love. Go forward in union with the Lord’s people, with zeal for His glory, until summoned into your Master’s presence. Go forward, notwithstanding difficulties, fears, and discouragements. Go forward, because God has bidden you; He has promised to go with you; He will crown your journey’s end.

Let us imitate ardent and holy Paul, who said, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am also apprehended of Christ Jesus.”

Let us look for, and hasten to the coming of the day of God. There is nothing behind us worth a thought, if compared with what is set before us by the gospel.- James Smith, 1840

Much is sorrow, oft in woe,
Onward, Christian, onward go;
Shrink not, fear not, dare not yield,
Never quit the battle field:
Forward press and win the prize,
Then to endless glory rise.

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

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” – John 17:15

Job 14:1 reminds us that life is “full of trouble”. Even the most godly person suffers great difficulties. Buffeted by the storms of life we sometimes get so homesick for heaven that we would rather depart and be with Christ. Yearning for relief from our burdens we long for the blessings that heaven affords. But God has other plans. That’s why it is crucial that we understand why we’re here. Rather than thinking about what we want we need to think about what the world needs. J. R. Miller left us a good reminder of this. He said—

“It would be a great deal safer, in one sense, for believers to be taken at once to heaven as soon as they begin to follow Christ. They would then have no temptations, no enemies to fight, no conflicts and struggles to pass through. But who would then do Christ’s work in the world? There would be none to tell sinners about the Saviour, none to show to men the beauty of Christ in a holy life, none to witness for God and to fight His battles.

There is another reason why Christians are left here. They are not the most majestic trees that grow in the sheltered valleys, where no storms break, but those rather which are found upon the hill-tops and on the mountains, where they must encounter the fierce gales. It is so with men: the noblest are grown amid difficulties and hardships, not in pampered ease. Even Jesus Himself was trained in the school of conflict and struggle. It may be the easiest thing to have no battles in life, to grow in some sheltered plain where the storms never blow, to meet no hardships, to have no burdens to carry; but what sort of life comes in the end from such a career? If we would reach the heights of blessedness we must be content to pass through the fields of struggle.

When armies return from victorious war, the loudest cheers are not for those who have fought the fewest battles, nor for the flags which are cleanest, but for the regiments which are cut down to a few men, and for the colours that are shot to pieces. So it will be in heaven when the redeemed are welcomed home: those who have fought the most battles, and bear the most “marks of the Lord Jesus,” will receive the highest honours. It is better, then, even for Christians themselves to stay in this world, and to grow to strength through duty and conflict.”

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