MORNING MANNA 12/11/19

December 11, 2019 By Pastor David Stone

“I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.”- Psa. 138:1
Over the years I’ve heard just about every famous quartet and gospel singing group. I’ve listened with much enjoyment to people with great talent, but perhaps the most heart touching singing I’ve ever heard was in a little one room church building in the hills of SW Missouri. It was congregational singing, with less than 100 people singing four part harmony, accompanied by an old upright piano. Back then you didn’t need a “special” – the whole service was special.

Why do I mention this? I want to remind you of the importance of wholeheartedness. Lyrics are important and ability is a fine thing, but whether you are singing, preaching, praying, or whatever, if it doesn’t come from the heart it isn’t worth a plug nickel. Our chief end is to glorify God and to do that we must be wholeheartedly devoted to His will. We seem to have lost sight of that today. We rush to the service, through the service, and away from the service. Then we wonder why we didn’t get anything out of the service! We are in great need of “simplicity and godly sincerity” ( 2 Cor. 1:12). We need rid of the idea that we assemble to entertain or to be entertained. Our concern should be to exalt Christ, edify the saints, and evangelize the sinners. Heart felt singing touches hearts and has the power to change lives.

Sadly it is a major undertaking to get some folks to sing. Some never utter a word and others just mumble through the lyrics. Some sing lovely and loud, but not from the heart. That’s tragic. God deserves better. Most Christians don’t intend to fail at this. They just get in a rut. We just get so caught up in life that we get distracted from what’s most important. We tend to blend in to what is generally considered normal Christianity – although it is anything but normal. We allow average to become acceptable even though it isn’t acceptable to God. An old song says, “I’d like to go back to that old country church to hear the songs of praise”. We can’t go back in time, but there’s no reason why we can’t recapture the spirit of those days. There won’t be a change however unless there is a longing for it. Just about everyone would say they enjoy the singing I’ve described and if that’s true of you that’s the way you ought to be singing – with all your heart. It’s how you sing, not how well you sing, that matters most.- HDS

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

MORNING MANNA 12/10/19

December 10, 2019 By Pastor David Stone

“I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.” – Ecc. 2:1

I suspect that no one ever pursued pleasure and hunted for happiness so much as Solomon. He conducted an experiment putting everything he had into his search for satisfaction, only to come up empty. Exhausted from his efforts he finally concluded that it is all “vanity and vexation of spirit” Ecc. 2:26). His story of disappointment reminds me of another that I read about. Here it is —

In New York City, there are eight million cats and eleven million dogs. New York City is basically just concrete and steel, so when you have a pet in New York City and it dies, you can’t just go out in the back yard and bury it. The city authorities decided that for $50 they would dispose of your deceased pet for you.

One lady was enterprising. She thought, I can render a service to people in the city and save them money. She placed an ad in the newspaper that said, “When your pet dies, I will come and take care of the carcass for you for $25.” This lady would go to the local Salvation Army and buy an old suitcase for two dollars. Then when someone would call about his or her pet, she would go to the home and put the deceased pet in the suitcase.

She would then take a ride on the subway, where there are thieves. She would set the suitcase down, and she would act like she wasn’t watching. A thief would come by and steal her suitcase. She’d look up and say, “Wait. Stop. Thief.” My guess is the people who stole those suitcases got a real surprise when they got home.

A lot of us are like those New York thieves. We’re chasing after happiness, and we grab what we think will give us happiness; however, when we get, it doesn’t quite deliver.

Here’s the bottom line. True happiness comes only from a right relationship with God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. God wants you to be happy, but He wants you to find your happiness in Him! You will never be happy until you see your need of Christ and trust Him to meet it. – HDS

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

MORNING MANNA 12/9/19

December 9, 2019 By Pastor David Stone

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:” – Ja. 1:19

Someone said, “People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing”. That’s true. Think of all the trouble we could avoid if we were “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”. Just about everyone will be tempted today to break one or all of these commands. And doing so always carries consequences.

J. R. Miller said, “We ought to think twice before we speak. Sometimes we are advised if we are feeling unkindly, to count ten before we open our mouth. Yet hasty words ofttimes fly from our lips in the moment of excited feeling; and before we have time to think twice, or count half of ten, the harm is done, the sharp word has flashed like a dart into some gentle heart.

These hasty words are spoken, too, most frequently between those who love each other. We control our speech fairly well when it is with strangers, or ordinary acquaintances we are speaking; but with those we love best—we are less careful. We let our worry or our weariness make us irritable, and then we utter the hasty words which five minutes afterward, we would give all we have to recall. But such words never can be recalled. They may be forgiven, for love forgives until seventy times seven times; but the wounds, the scars, remain.” Think about it!

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

MORNING MANNA 12/8/19

December 8, 2019 By Pastor David Stone

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” – Luke 18:14

It ought not to be difficult for us to humble ourselves, for what have we to be proud of? We ought to take the lowest place without being told to do so. If we are sensible and honest, we shall be little in our own eyes. Especially before the Lord in prayer we shall shrink to nothing. There we cannot speak of merit, for we have none; our one and only appeal must be to mercy: “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

Here is a cheering word from the throne. We shall be exalted by the Lord if we humble ourselves. For us the way upward is downhill. When we are stripped of self we are clothed with humility, and this is the best of wear. The Lord will exalt us in peace and happiness of mind; He will exalt us into knowledge of His Word and fellowship with Himself; He will exalt us in the enjoyment of sure pardon and justification. The Lord puts His honors upon those who can wear them to the honor of the Giver. He gives usefulness, acceptance, and influence to those who will not be puffed up by them but will be abased by a sense of greater responsibility. Neither God nor man will care to lift up a man who lifts up himself; but both God and good men unite to honor modest worth.

O Lord, sink me in self that I may rise in Thee. – Charles Spurgeon

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

MORNING MANNA 12/7/19

December 7, 2019 By Pastor David Stone

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” – Eph. 2:8-9

To illustrate this truth I keep the following story in my drafts.The story is told of the pastor, of a small country church, who tended to major on the negative, “thou shalt not’s” of the Christian life. Once, after a Sunday morning service, where he had preached against everything that moved, he was invited to the home of a farmer for Sunday dinner. After dinner, the farmer said to the pastor, “I would like for you to come and meet my donkey.” Not wishing to offend the man the pastor agreed, but asked, “Why do you want me to meet your donkey.”

The farmer replied, “Well, preacher, my donkey is a Christian!” The pastor was taken back and said, “Don’t be ridiculous! No donkey can be a Christian.” The farmer said, “Well, according to your sermon this morning, he is a Christian. He doesn’t drink; he doesn’t smoke; he doesn’t swear; and, he doesn’t work on Sunday. So, according to your sermon he must be a Christian!”

We look to the Christian life as what we do; whereas, God looks to the Christian life as who we are! We base it on performance, whereas God bases it on position.

To us, the Christian life is defined by what we do with our hands; but, to God, the Christian life is who we are in our hearts. Simply put, according to God’s standard, true Christianity is a matter of the heart.

The ironic thing is that who we are eventually shows up in what we do. It’s not a case of where we are what we do; but, we do what we are! In other words, eventually what is unseen on the inside will become seen on the outside.

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

MORNING MANNA 12/11/19

MORNING MANNA 12/10/19

MORNING MANNA 12/9/19

MORNING MANNA 12/8/19

MORNING MANNA 12/7/19

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