Over and over I hear people complain about not having any friends. My response is a question–“Do you assume any responsibility for it?” You should. To have a friend you “must” be a friend. But first you need to understand what friendship is.

Someone said, ” Friendship is a principle of mutual interchange and mutual sacrifice. There can be no onesidedness, no selfish engrossment, no taking without giving. Selfishness is the death of social reciprocity and sympathy.” I mention this because a lot of folks don’t understand. They don’t actually want a friendship. When they talk about wanting a friend, what they actually mean is that they want someone to fawn over them, make them feel good, and do them favors. They want a benefactor, not a friend. They want it to be all get and no give. They want to be cherished without any contribution on their part. They want to be blessed without being a blessing. In other words –“Bless me, but don’t bother me. Leave me alone unless you are helping me”. That’s not friendship! And that’s why you don’t have any friends.

Charles Spurgeon wrote:

The apostle Paul saw his entire existence through the lens of his Savior.
If he lived, it was for Christ’s glory.
If he died, it was for Christ’s  presence.
Either way, he was wholly surrendered to Christ!
Christ was the  source, the substance, and the goal of his life.

“To live is Christ.” What does this mean? It means that Christ is . . .
  the purpose of our lives,
  the joy of our hearts, and
  the strength of our souls.
Whether in trials or triumphs, in sorrows or joys, Christ is the center of all we do.
Our lives are not our own–they are His!
To a man who lives for Christ, nothing is secular–everything is sacred.
To draw nearer to Christ is his life’s ambition;
  to glorify Christ is his daily business;
    to live for Christ is his greatest joy.

But then Paul adds, “to die is gain.” How can death–the dreaded enemy of mankind–be gain? To the world, death is the worst possible loss–it is the end of all earthly hopes and dreams. But for the believer, death is simply the doorway into eternal, unbroken fellowship with Christ! It is . . .
  the shedding of all sin,
  the end of all suffering, and
  the entrance into the fullness of joy in our Savior’s presence.
To die is . . .
   to be with Christ,
   to behold Him in all His glory,
   and to rest in His love forever.
No more pain, no more tears–only Christ, in the fullness of His beauty and glory!

Dear Christian, do not fear what the world fears. Your life is Christ’s, and your death is but a passage into His presence, to a glory beyond imagining. Take heart!
Your life is Christ,
your death is gain, and
your eternity is secure in His loving hands.

Live for Christ today, and long for the day when you shall see Him face to face!

MORNING MANNA                5-12-25

“We love him because he first loved us”–1 John 4:19

 It is wonderful to know and love the Lord, but we need to understand why it is so. It’s because “he first loved us.” One writer said,”Some people imagine that Jesus loved us because He knew we would love Him and come to faith in Him. But He loved us before that, and even before the worlds were created, when our only existence was in the mind and heart of God, Jesus loved us. He loved us when we were still sinners.” 

Our love for Christ comes from His love for us. In other words, our love for Him is our response to the reality of His love for us. It is only after the revelation of His love for us that we respond in love for Him, and that is a work of the Holy Spirit. We don’t draw God to us, He draws us, by His love, to Himself. We have no grounds upon which we can ever boast of our love for Christ. All the glory goes to Him who “commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8).He does so because “God is love”, not because we are lovable. His love for us is due to who He is, not because of who we are or what we’ve done.- HDS 

“Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful?”

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, TX

MORNING MANNA            5-11-25

MOTHERS
“…a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.”– Prov. 31:30
On this Mother’s Day pastors all across America are trying to say what cannot be put into words. They are making their best effort to articulate the value of godly mothers. They know they will fail before they ever start but they feel compelled to make their best effort, and rightly so.

If there is any group of people deserving of praise it is mothers. As Solomon said, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies” (Prov.31:10). We can exhaust ourselves describing what she does and making a case for what she deserves, but when all is said and done we have only touched the hem of the garment.

There will be sermons and songs, poems and cards, gifts and meals – but how do you put into words what can only be felt in the heart? Who can describe what a mother means to the injured child sitting on her lap listening to sweet words of comfort. Or who can tell her value as she counsels a fearful child awakened in the middle of the night by a dreadful dream?

And all of this is to say nothing of her excellent example – putting her love on display for all to see. What she does often speaks louder than what she says. Watching her teaching things that could never be learned in a classroom, or from a text book, is a sight to behold. She is a living sermon!

If we only knew how much depends on her, what great things are accomplished without fanfare, we would surely honor her every day. Of all the things to be said about the family none deserve so much attention as does the mother. All we can do is the best we can do, but we haven’t done our best until we’ve done all we can do. And that’s the least she deserves. Make this Mother’s Day special by treating her special every day! – HDS

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

MORNING MANNA                    5-9-25
ACCEPTED
“—-he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”–Eph. 1:6

One of the worst feelings in life is that of being rejected, unaccepted, unwanted. Perhaps you can think of some painful experience, such as being rejected for a part in the school play, a place on the team, a raise at work, a marriage proposal, etc. That can hurt, but there is something much worse. The Bible tells us of those who will be rejected by God (Matt. 7:21-23). It doesn’t get any worse than that! The good news is that God’s Word also tells us how we can be accepted by God. It doesn’t get any better than that! There are three things that need to be considered.

I. THE BARRIER TO OUR ACCEPTANCE
Although God loves you, your sin has separated you from God (Eph. 2:1-3). He is holy and we are sinful, consequently the natural man cannot have fellowship with God. Until we are reconciled to God we cannot have a relationship with God. Until then we are rebels, outcast, strangers, etc. Our sinfulness is a barrier so big that we cannot possibly get to God through our own effort. But in Christ we have hope.

II. THE BASIS OF OUR ACCEPTANCE
There is much needless confusion and many misconceptions regarding what it takes for us to be accepted by God. Some claim it is by baptism, church membership, good deeds, etc., but none of those things can make us acceptable to God. It is only by grace through faith in Christ that God accepts us. We are “accepted in the beloved”, not in baptism, etc.

III. THE BLESSINGS OF OUR ACCEPTANCE
Although the blessing of salvation are numerous they are all due to the two things mentioned in Eph. 1:7:
1. “we have redemption”. That means we have been set free by the payment of a ransom. When Christ died He paid our sin debt. He delivered us from the condemnation we were under. The precious blood of Christ pays for the penalty of our sins. He was punished in our place.
2. “the forgiveness of sins”. This speaks of being released from sin’s guilt. Although we aren’t perfect, we escape the punishment of our sins because Christ died for them. We are forgiven because every sin, past, present or future is washed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Think about it dear friend. The God of the universe is willing to forgive you of all your sins, accept you as His child, make you part of His family, give you a home in heaven, and assist you every step of the way. All this because of Jesus! He was rejected that you might be accepted. He died that you might live. He was condemned that you might be forgiven. The Son of God became the Son of man that the sons of man might become the sons of God. Of this we are sure!

Since God cannot lie, you can have blessed assurance that you are accepted by God– because you have accepted the beloved Son of God as your Savior. Why would you reject His acceptance? It’s not like He asked you to climb the highest mountain, or swim across ocean, or count the stars, or sacrifice your children, or work your fingers to the bone. All He requires is that you accept His Son as your Lord and Savior. Through simple child-like faith you can be accepted by God.- HDS

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