“LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!”- Psa. 144:3

By nature he is an enemy to God, in open rebellion against Him, and justly condemned by Him. He is in love with sin, a slave to lust, a servant of Satan. He is blind to his best interest, deaf to the call of God, and dead in trespasses and sins. He is an open sepulchre, a mass of wretchedness and disease, abominable and filthy beyond description. And can such a creature be the object of Jehovah’s love, the purchase of a Saviour’s blood and the habitation of the Holy Spirit? Yes:—- as such, Jesus was sent into the world to redeem them; as such, the Holy Spirit came to quicken, cleanse, justify, and save them! O amazing grace! Astonishing mercy! And will God in very deed dwell with such creatures upon earth? Yes: “To this man will I look, and with him will I dwell, even that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word.” Well may the patriarch exclaim, “What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him? and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?’ (James Smith)

 O what is feeble, dying man,
 Or any of his race,
 That God should make it His concern
 To visit him with grace!
 That God, who darts His lightnings down,
 Who shakes the worlds above,
 And mountains tremble at His frown,
 How wondrous is His love!

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

“For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours. And ye are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.”-I Cor. 3:21-23

Then take him for everything, salvation, strength, guidance, every need of the whole man. “Having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (II Cor. 6:10) – blessed paradox! I bring Him my nothingness and take His Allness. “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” From nothing to everything!

And there is power to do. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me” (Phil. 4:13). For God is able to make all grace abound toward me, that I always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work (II Cor. 9:8).
I am not just to enjoy all this for myself. All things are mine except myself. I am not my own, I am bought with a price; therefore I ought to glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God’s (I Cor. 6:19, 20).

Move out of Nothing into Everything! It is all in Christ and it is all for you. And you are then not a depository but a dispenser. “Freely ye have received, freely give.” – Vance Havner

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

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”- Phil. 4:13

It is not uncommon in human experience to run up against things that are bigger than we are, that we simply cannot overcome in our own strength. It may be a lust that threatens to consume us, an addiction that repeatedly overcomes us, a resentment that is growing inside us, or a sorrow that seems to paralyze us.

   It is also not uncommon to try to grit our teeth, hunch our backs, and seek to make it through by shear determination. We tell ourselves we can overcome if we just try hard enough. Isn’t that what being a good Christian means?

   Yet here is the mighty apostle Paul admitting that his strength does not come from himself, or from his own willpower. He is not trying to do it on his own. Rather, he is looking to Jesus Christ for the power and deliverance he needs.

   How can you make it through this trial? Through Christ. How can you overcome that temptation or addiction? Through Christ. How can you rise above your grief or depression? Through Christ. There is nothing that you cannot do through the strength that Christ has promised to you. Turn to Him, beloved, and find for yourself the confidence, the joy, the strength that Paul found through Christ. (Copied)

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

” Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”- (Psalm 119:105)

    Everyone has a worldview. Our worldview is influenced by many things. It’s influenced by our culture, by our upbringing, and by our education or lack thereof. It’s influenced by the books we read or the lack of books we read. It’s influenced by the media we expose ourselves to.

   A worldview is comprehensive. It will affect every area of our lives, from our morality to how we spend our money to our politics to how we vote. It affects everything about us. What we want to have is a Christian worldview, and more specifically, a biblical worldview.

   C. S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” That’s how we need to view life: through the lens of Scripture, through the eyes of a follower of Jesus Christ.

   The only way to have a biblical worldview is by studying and memorizing Scripture and spending time in it every day. We want to run everything through a biblical grid, asking ourselves, “What does the Bible say about this?”
Sometimes people have an emotional worldview. They base their views on how they feel. They’ll say, “Well, I just go with my heart, because the heart wants what the heart wants.”

   Here’s what the Bible says about our hearts: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

   Don’t go with your heart, because your heart can mislead you. Don’t go with your emotions, because your emotions can mislead you. And certainly don’t go with the culture, because that will mislead you. Go with the Bible. It will never take you in the wrong direction. Learn to think biblically. – Greg Laurie

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