“As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” – John 8:30-32

We live in a society that seems to be dedicated to tearing down the very concept of truth. Yet because truth is part of God’s fundamental nature and is one of the defining characteristics of the Word of God, it cannot be destroyed. We serve a God who “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2). No matter what man does or chooses to believe, truth never changes. Beliefs may come and go, but truth abides.

Winston Churchill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” That may be a common response to truth, but it places those who respond thusly on the road to tragedy and destruction. There is no way to love and follow God without loving and following truth. The two cannot be separated.

The concept that all ideas are equal and there are no absolutes is doing as much or more to destroy our culture than anything else. Christians who are committed to the unchanging truth of Scripture are viewed as narrow minded and bigots. Yet those who reject the truth have no foundation. They may spin elaborate philosophical webs to justify their positions, but without a foundation of truth, there really is no way to determine what is acceptable and what is not.

A writer of the past said, “When men stop believing in God they don’t believe in nothing—they will believe in anything.” It is true that ideas are gaining acceptance today that fail every basic test of logic and truth. Ground your heart and mind in the Scriptures, and your life will be built on a firm foundation of truth. Stand on the truth today. It will bring freedom and blessing to your life.(Daily in the Word)

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

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

“Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come. And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” – John 8:21-24

Every person born into the world is a sinner. It is part of our nature, and has been ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. We do not start out good and turn bad. We do not begin in innocence and perfection and only later get off track. David wrote, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). That inherent sin nature means not only that we need a Saviour, but that we cannot save ourselves. All of our efforts fall far short of the perfection that God demands. The only hope that we have is to believe in Jesus.

When Jesus said, “Ye shall die in your sins,” He was talking to the most devoted and religiously observant people in Israel. He was not speaking to people that everyone identified as sinners. He was speaking to those who were confident that their own righteousness and good works secured their standing with God. Yet they were wrong, and Jesus pointed it out. Nothing they were doing and nothing they were avoiding could save them. Only through faith in Him could they be approved by God. Nothing has changed. That is still true today. Only if we put our trust in Him alone can we be saved. Nothing we can do earns us standing with God. We must believe in Jesus alone for salvation. (Daily in the Word)

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

“The Lord thinketh upon me.”  Psalms 40:17

When we think of the greatness and glory of Jehovah, man appears so worthless and insignificant, that we are ready to ask, ” Will the Lord regard us, bless us, and dwell with us?” Yes – He has promised to do so in His word, and He has informed us that His thoughts are perpetually taken up with us. He thinketh upon us, to supply our need, protect from foes, lead us in His ways, and make us meet for His kingdom and glory. His thoughts are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give us an expected end. He thinketh upon us by day and by night, when at home or abroad; and He thinks of us with love as His children; with pleasure as His friends; with a purpose to bless us, as His dependant. We think He may perhaps have mercy, He may do a little for us; but as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are His thoughts above our thoughts; and His ways above our ways. His thoughts are worthy of a God. What are the promises? Only His thoughts put into our language. And what do they prove; Truly that He thought of all our wants, wishes, and desires, and made full provision for them.- James Smith, 1840

Father, I want a thankful heart,
I want to taste how good Thou art;
To plunge me in Thy mercy seat,
And comprehend Thy love to me;
The length, and breadth, and depth, and height,
Of love divinely infinite.

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

“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:17-18

There are many things that are important, but there is one thing that is essential. The heartbeat of the mission of Christ, the driving purpose behind His life, death and resurrection was “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Oswald Smith put it this way, “Oh, my friends, we are loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing the world and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected.”

Our church is a busy place, and I like it that way. I love that we have programs for fellowship and encouragement and instruction and fun. But I never want us to lose sight of the fact that the primary focus—the most important thing we can do—must be winning the lost to Jesus Christ. There is no greater important priority for us. This is the final command that Jesus left before He returned to Heaven, and we must obey it.

Many times we lose our focus in the busyness of life. There are a thousand things—good things—that can keep us from doing the main thing. And though those things are not bad in and of themselves, they can be used to keep us from doing what matters most. The Bible said of Christ just before He met the woman at the well that He “must needs go through Samaria” (John 4:4). Jews in that day usually travelled around Samaria to avoid the people they looked down on, but Jesus needed to go there—He knew there was a hungry heart who needed a Saviour, and He went where others would not go to reach her. Take time today to tell someone the Good News. Nothing you can do will matter more.( Daily in the Word)

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