MORNING MANNA              2-3-25

DEATH: THE LAST ENEMY

Peter uses the word exodus in reference to his own approaching death (2Pet.1:15). Death for the Christian is God’s deliverance from a place of bondage and suffering to a place of freedom and relief.

In 2 Tim.4:6-8 Paul refers to his death with the Greek word analousis, meaning “to loosen.” Consider some of its common usages in that culture:

• an ox being loosed from its yoke when it was finished pulling a cart.
• pulling up tent stakes, in preparation for a journey.
• untying a ship from dock, to let it sail away.
• unchaining a prisoner, freeing him from confinement and suffering.
• problem solving—when a difficult matter was finally resolved, it was said to have been “loosened.”

Each of these is a graphic picture of death for the Christian.

On the one hand, the Bible calls death “the last enemy” (1 Cor.15:26). On the other hand, for the person whose faith and actions have prepared him for it, death is a deliverer, casting off the burdens of a hostile world and ushering him into the world for which he was made.

No matter what difficulty surrounds it, God is intimately involved and interested in the Christian’s departure from this world: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” ( Psalm 116:15).

What we call “death” is a transition from a dying body in a dying world to a world of light and life. No wonder Paul says, “To die is gain” and to go to be with Christ is “better by far” (Phil. 1:21-23).

There’s evidence that at death the believer will be ushered into Heaven by angels (Luke16:22). Different angels are assigned to different people (Matt. 18:10), so perhaps our escorts into Heaven will be angels who have served us while we were on earth (He.1:14).

I’ve always appreciated this depiction of death:

I’m standing on the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She’s an object of beauty and strength and I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and the sky come down to mingle with each other. And then I hear someone at my side saying, “There, she’s gone.”

Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side. And just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There, she is gone” there are other eyes watching her coming, and there are other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!” And that, for the Christian, is dying.

What will happen as we set foot on Heaven’s shores, greeted by our loved ones? I envision it as C. S. Lewis did in the Last Battle:  “The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.”

The moment we die the meager flame of this life will appear, to those we leave behind, to be snuffed out. But at that same moment on the other side it will rage to sudden and eternal intensity—an intensity that will never dim, only grow.

On his deathbed D.L. Moody said, “Soon you will read in the newspaper that I am dead. Don’t believe it for a moment. I will be more alive than ever before.”

Excerpted from Randy Alcorn’s book In Light of Eternity.

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
Humble, TX. 77346

MORNING MANNA                 2-2-25

Does Anything Ever Turn Out Right?

An unknown writer said,”Picture with me, if you will, a man running through the wilderness being chased by a lion. He knows that if he is fast enough and dodges through enough thickets, that he could possibly elude the lion. Luckily, he does manage to elude the lion, only to be confronted by a bear. Again, he runs with all his speed and strength, realizing now that his only hope is to reach the safety of his house. Once again, he is successful and manages to elude the beast by reaching his house. He runs inside, slamming the door behind him and feeling pretty good about having overcome the obstacles of life. But, as he leans against the wall with his hand to catch his breath, he is bitten by a snake.

This was an actual illustration that God used in Amos 5:19 to show Israel the hopelessness of their situation.

We all have days and weeks like that, do we not? But are we like the woman who said that she had quit praying for patience because God might give her more? But God, being the wise and all-knowing Father that He is, will often give us what we need to grow healthy and spiritually strong, even though we do not ask for it—though He would like to hear us ask now and then. Children almost never ask for a bath, but we give it to them anyway, because we know that it will help them.”

Too many of us are like foolish old Jacob when he said,”all these things are against me.”(Gen.42:36), when in reality God was using his circumstances for his good. God is much wiser than we are–trust Him!- HDS

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

MORNING MANNA              2-1-25

Life’s Epitaph

“The memory of the just is blessed: But the name of the wicked shall rot.”Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭7‬ ‭

We are all very busy — busy writing epitaphs. We do not let a day pass without doing something in this line, and we are all busy, not in writing epitaphs for others — but in writing our own. And we are making it very sure that people will read what we have written when we are gone. Shall we not be remembered? If not by many, we certainly shall by a few, and that remembrance we are making sure of, by the tenor of our lives. Our characters are the inscriptions we are making on the hearts of those who know, and who will survive us. We do not leave this office to others. We are doing it ourselves. Others might falsify and deceive by what they might say of us — but we are telling the truth. The actions of our passing life are facts visible, plain, undeniable. We engrave them on the mind of all observers. How interesting the question: What kind of epitaphs are we writing? Will they be read with joy or sorrow? Remember the epitaphs we write are not for the marble that tells where we lie — but for the memory of every one that knew us.–Anonymous, 

They will bury your body but your influence will live on. Like an invisible hand with a long reaching out touching the lives of others. – HDS, 5-14-12

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

MORNING MANNA             1-31-25

DELIVER THE MESSAGE
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭

John Currier was found guilty of murder in 1949 and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1968, Currier’s sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier’s plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.

Christians have been entrusted with the most important message in the world. Yet many of us never deliver that message to those who have the sentence of death in themselves (2 Corinthians 1:9).Think about the sad situation lost people are in because they have never heard the gospel.Think about where you might be if no one cared enough to tell you about Christ. God forbid that we be silent.- HDS

“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble, TX

HE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want”. Psalm 23:1

 “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭11‬ ‭

The shepherd is a favorite Scriptural picture of the divine love and care. In the Old Testament, the twenty-third Psalm gathers the whole wonderful truth in exquisite lines which are dear to young and old wherever the Bible is known. Then in the New Testament, when our Lord would give His friends the sweetest revealings of His heart toward them, and tell them what they are to Him and what He would be to them, He says, “I am the Good Shepherd.”

The Hebrew shepherd lives with his sheep. If they are out in the storm-he is with them. If they are exposed to danger-so is he. Just so, Christ lives with His redeemed people. He enters into closest relations with them.

The shepherd knows his sheep. He has a name for each one and calls them all by their names. Just so, Christ knows each one of His friends-He has intimate personal knowledge of each one. He knows the best in us-and also the worst. He knows our faults, our sins, our wanderings. Yet, knowing us as we are-He loves us still and never wearies of us!

The shepherd is most gentle with his sheep. He does not drive them-but goes before them and leads them. When they need rest on the way-he makes them lie down, and chooses for their resting-place, not the dusty road-but green pastures. He is especially kind to the lambs, carrying them in His arms, holding them close to His heart. All this is an exquisite picture of the gentleness of our Good Shepherd in His care of His sheep. Whatever the need is, there is something in the heart of Christ which meets its craving and supplies its lack!

The shepherd defends his flock in all danger. Often he had to risk his own safety, even his life, in protecting his sheep. Just so, the Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep!

Christ’s sheep are absolutely safe in His keeping. “I give unto them eternal life,” He said; “and they will never perish-ever! No one can snatch them out of My hand!”

Then at last, He will bring His own all safely home, “and they shall become one flock, with one Shepherd!”- J.R. Miller, 1905