“Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”- 1 Corinthians 3:8–10

We are not saved just for our own benefit. God freely brings us into His family without any work or effort on our part, but there are no faithful, obedient, yielded Christians who are not doing something for Him. We all have different gifts and abilities. We all have different opportunities and avenues of service. We all have the choice of whether we will be faithful workers in His kingdom.

Charles Spurgeon said, “We greatly err when we dream that only a preacher can minister to the Lord—for Jesus has work of all sorts for all sorts of followers. As there is no idle angel there ought to be no idle Christian. We are not saved for our own sakes, but that we may be of service to the Lord and to his people; let us not miss our calling.”

The way that we should assess our work for God is not whether we are well known or popular or have a very public and noticeable area of ministry. Rather, we should judge our work as He does—by what motivates it. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:13). There are no “bonus points” for fame or the applause of men. Instead, God honors those who are faithful to labor for Him no matter what. The ways in which we serve God may change through our lives, but the necessity of serving Him never does. (Daily in the Word)

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

“Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” Luke 12:37

Faithfulness is a quality that is very often lacking in the moral fabric of men. It is an interesting attribute in that it requires something that every individual can provide. Anyone can and should be faithful. However, the Scripture says, “a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6). It is difficult to find someone who is faithful and who remains faithful. We all know those who seemed to want to be faithful and appeared to be faithful for a while, but in time, they did not keep the charge that was committed to them.

True faithfulness is not something that is demonstrated initially, or even occasionally. A married person who is occasionally unfaithful to his or her spouse is not considered faithful. God intends for us to be faithful until death or until He comes. Our text tells us that there will be a special blessing for those “servants” who remain true to the Master and are faithful when He returns.

The Scripture says, “Blessed are those servants.” We are God’s servants. We belong to Him, and we have committed ourselves to serve Him. We are not to serve our own interests and agendas, but we are to serve our Master, Jesus Christ. How long are we to serve? Until we are no longer excited about serving? Until our bodies are old and aching? We are to serve Him until He comes. THE BLESSED MAN is the servant “whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching.” The Lord Jesus Christ will come again to this earth. We are to serve our Savior until He comes. Have you ever known someone who seemed to be a loyal worker as long as someone was watching over him, or until the supervisor was out of sight? This is not a description of faithful service.

When Jesus comes, or when we go to be with the Lord, will we be found faithful? Those who are faithful will be rewarded. To those He finds watching, the Bible says, “he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” This blessing is reserved for those who are found faithfully serving Jesus to the end. He will serve those who have been faithful servants. May He find us faithful. (Thomas Smith)

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

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”– 1 Cor. 15:19-20)

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

“And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.” – Mark 16:2-4

This stone had worried the women, as they hurried toward the grave. They knew it was there, that it was too heavy for them with their frail hands to roll away, and they wondered how they could get it removed. But now, when they came in sight of the tomb—they looked up and saw that the stone was rolled away!

This incident illustrates many experiences in our common life. We worry about difficulties and obstacles which lie in our path—and seem to block our progress. But when we move on obediently, and come to the place of the supposed hindrance or obstacle—it is gone, or it was never there, except in our imagination! We all know that very many of our anxieties prove to be really groundless in the end.

Here, we ought to learn the lesson once for all—when God sends us anywhere, that He also makes it possible for us to go. Duty’s paths always open for us, as we go on—not before we start—but as we obey and move forward. Yet we must not expect there will never be any difficulties to meet, or obstacles to surmount. God never has promised that! Too easy a path is often a bane in life—not a blessing! The difficulties and obstacles that remain, may be made stepping-stones by which we shall rise to nobler and higher Christian character! – (J R Miller)

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

“Is any among you afflicted? let him pray”– James 5:13

As we wrestle with all the problems associated with this present pandemic people are looking for a solution, a coping mechanism, an answer, etc. They get their heads together in “Think tanks”, consult the experts, explore new ideas, formulate plans, create safety nets, etc. to deal with the difficulties. They try everything except the main thing. The one thing above everything that’s needed is prayer!  The following article from the Baptist Bible Hour said it well:

As James writes, from his pastor’s heart, to the people of God, his entire letter is full of practical instruction and direct admonition. He does not have a flowery style or a theoretical bent; he is interested only in getting clear, candid counsel into the hands and hearts of believers.

And when he comes to the matter of affliction—gut-wrenching, spirit-pounding, heart-crushing affliction—this practical pastor gives his guidance in only three words: let him pray.

“Is that it?” we might ask. What about formulating an exit strategy? What about checking all our options for circumventing the pain? What about gathering a support group to cheer us up and cheer us on? The greatest therapy, the surest solution, the sweetest healing that we will find, James says, is in fervent and honest and faith-full conversation with God.

James is not suggesting a momentary, fleeting mention of our trial—perhaps in the middle of blessing our breakfast food—as the answer to affliction. The verb he uses is in the present tense: let him, in other words, continually be praying.

Perhaps you know what it is like to be so pressed by a sorrow or pain or trial that you pray, not only as you breath, but in order to be able to keep on breathing. There are times when God’s people truly find Him their only source of strength, of life, of purpose, and of joy. They pray, not because they have to, but because they can’t not pray.

Whether your affliction is earth-shattering or hardly-worth-mentioning, take your trial to God in prayer. And out of the fountain of close communion with your Father, will flow the calming, refreshing, restoring waters of spiritual renewal. 

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