Sent by David Stone on Friday, August 8 at 5:36AM

MORNING MANNA               8-7-25
LOVING ONE ANOTHER 
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).

Someone said,”This love we have to each other is the greatest sign the world will ever see that we are the disciples and followers of Christ Jesus. We can preach doctrinal sermons, sermons that are perfectly orthodox and perfectly sound, and strongly evangelistic, but if those lost people who come into our services do not see a profound outpouring of Christian love in our church, they will not see in us anything unusual, they will not think that there is anything very important going on here. But when they come into the services and fellowship times and actually see us loving each other – then will they be impressed to say, “These are the people of God.  These are the people who know Jesus and follow Him.”

Spurgeon said, “Let me tell you a very remarkable instance of this. In the early days of Christianity, a terrible [pestilence] broke out in Alexandria. It was very dangerous to be near a person smitten with the disease, and to touch such a person meant almost certain death. When the [pestilence] broke out, the heathen in Alexandria [pushed] out of their houses every person who had the slightest sign of the disease upon him, and left him to starve, and would not even bury their bodies for fear of contagion. But the Christians visited one another when they were sick of the [pestilence], and no Christian was left to die [alone]. They were zealous to go and visit [and care for] each other, although they knew that they [would], in all probability, catch the [disease]; and amongst the carcasses outside the walls of Alexandria there was not found one single [unburied] corpse of a Christian…And the heathen said, ‘What is the meaning of this?’ And the answer went throughout Egypt, ‘This is the religion of Jesus of Nazareth, for these Christians love one another.’ No sermon can be so [well heard by] the world as a true manifestation of the love of Christ; and when God restores to His church genuine, hearty, and sincere love…then shall the world be more impressed by the gospel than it is at present” (ibid., pp. 249-250).
Let it be our goal as a church to so greatly love each other that, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples …” (John 13:35).

Peter Lange, the famous German theologian, pointed out that in the early days of Christianity, “The heathen exclaimed with astonishment: ‘Behold how these Christians love one another, and how ready to die for one another.’” 

Why is it that we don’t see such love today? Our great need is obvious, so is our lack of concern about it. – HDS

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church  

Humble,TX

MORNING MANNA              8-6-25

This is a song my dear wife used to sing. I have kept a copy of it in my Bible ever since. God help us to never forget the blood that was shed by Christ to save us from sin!  HDS

DEEPER THAN THE STAIN HAS GONE

Dark the stain that soiled man’s nature,
Long the distance that he fell.
Far re-moved from hope and heav-en,
Into deep despair and hell.
But there was a fountain opened,
And the blood of God’s own Son,
Purifies the soul and reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone!

Chorus

Praise the Lord for full salvation,
God still reigns upon His throne.
And I know the blood still reaches
Deep-er than the stain has gone.

Conscious of the deep pollution,
Sinners wander in the night,
Tho’ they hear the Shepherd calling,
They still fear to face the light.
This the blessed consolation,
That can melt the heart of stone,
That sweet Balm of Gilead reaches
Deep-er than the stain has gone!

All unworthy we who’ve wandered,
And our eyes are wet with tears;
As we think of love that sought us
Through the weary wasted years.
Yet we walk the holy highway,
Walking by God’s grace alone
Knowing Calv’ry’s fountain reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone!

When with holy choirs we’re standing
In the presence of the King,
And our souls are lost in wonder,
While the white robed choirs sing;
Then we’ll praise the name of Jesus,
With the millions round the throne;
Praise Him for the pow’r that reaches,
Deeper than the stain has gone!

O how I wish I could hear her sing it again! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.-HDS

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

5801 FM 1960 E

Humble, TX. 77346

A CUP OF COFFEE 

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬-‭29‬ ‭

Here is a story I read many years ago that makes this point well:

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal;some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:  “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.  While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.  Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.  In most cases, it’s just more expensive.  What you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups . . . and then began eyeing each other’s cups.  

Now consider this:  Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups.  They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live.  Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.  God brews the coffee, not the cups . . . enjoy your coffee.”

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church   

Humble, TX

Sent by David Stone on Monday, August 4 at 7:38AM