THINK ABOUT IT              1-28-25

After preparing Morning Manna today, I happened upon a story about the “Larch” tree (member of the Pine family) in “Illustrated Text”, 1876. The story by Dr. Whately, the Archbishop of Dublin,was about the introduction of the larch tree into England. 

He said, “ When the plants were first brought, the gardener, hearing that they came from the south of Europe, and taking it for granted that they would require warmth, forgetting that might grow near the snow line, put them into a hothouse. Day by day they withered, until the gardener in disgust threw them on a dung heap outside; there they began to revive and bud, and at last grew into trees. They needed the cold.”

Even so, sometimes we are mistaken about what we need. When a season of suffering and sorrow comes we want it to pass quickly and then be forgotten. We tend to think of it as a hindrance rather than a help. We prefer comfort- something fun and easy.

At the time we don’t see the value of what we’ve gone through until later. Only then do we finally realize that God used our difficulties and desperation to produce something good. Many never turn to God until they become desperate. As long as life is all sunshine and roses they fail to see that we need what God alone can provide. 

Difficulties aren’t desirable but we serve a God who can use them to transform us, and even use our misery to make a ministry to help others. Think about it! – HDS

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble, TX

I have written and spoken about the fact that I do not fear death. However I never thought about qualifying that statement until the dearest person on earth to me, my wife Beverly, left earth for heaven. Had I been forthcoming about my fears I would have confessed that there was a sense in which I feared death. I feared the thought of her leaving me. My fear had nothing to do with fearing for her sake, because I knew she would be with the Lord. My fear was, “What will I do without her?”.

Naturally I could preach a sermon on that subject, but I knew expounding on it and experiencing it is two different things. I had suffered the loss of my parents, a sister, a child, and many dear friends, but I knew this would be different. And indeed it is. The one I love more than any other was ripped out of my  arms on January 6th.

My life is different now and will be until the day that I join her in that heavenly home. I won’t attempt to describe the affect here, but I do want to affirm one fact. As I explained to a dear brother in Christ, “I have experienced that God’s grace is truly sufficient”.

I have always felt that Bev’s death would be the hardest thing I could possibly experience and I still believe that, but now I know from experience what I’ve always preached to others – “ God’s grace is sufficient!”.

I don’t know what you are going through or what great mountain of difficulty you will face in the future, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God’s grace is sufficient, just like He promised.- HDS

THINK ABOUT IT              1-25-25

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED 
Whew! Glad that’s over! Snow in Texas? That can’t be good-or can it? If we took a vote, I suspect there would be some on both sides. Yes, some would vote “yes”!So rather than start a debate let me say emphatically that there is at least one good thing about it. The lesson we learn is this – ” Expect the unexpected”. As we make our journey through life, we often come face to face with things we didn’t expect – good & bad. 

While we are thankful for the good, we don’t always fare so well when it’s bad news. I don’t mean something petty like a little snowstorm. I’m talking about something earth-shattering to you, something that is more than you can handle. What then?
Mark it down eventually something like that is going to happen and we need to be prepared. You need what God alone can provide. We can only be prepared for such unexpected events if our relationship with God is such as it should be. 

Don’t wait until that unexpected something rocks your world. Take God as your Father by receiving Jesus, His Son, as your Savior. Then you will have the Spirit of God as your helper regardless of what may come your way. 

Some might be thinking, “If that time comes, I’ll remember that.” No, you need Him now. If you wait it just might be too late. -H.D.S.

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble, TX

THINK ABOUT IT                  1-24-25      
WEAK AND WEARY AND WORRIED

The old song says,”I’m tired and so weary”. That describes a lot of folks. And since we can’t escape trials we must endure them or be endangered by them. However, doing so successfully is a serious struggle. It, in fact, sometimes seems impossible. I’ll admit that this often troubles me because I can think of numerous people I would like to help and people I would love to spend more time with. However, by the time I do what I can I can’t do what I would were it not for physical ailments. And that often leaves me with a feeling of guilt- because there is so much to do.

Even when I convince myself that if God expected me to do it He would give me the strength to do it, sometimes I worry about what others might think – worried that they might think that I don’t care. There I said it – I said “worry” – the very thing I keep telling other people not to do. Now I’m confessing that I’m sometimes guilty of it. I’m not proud of it or justifying it. To the contrary, I’m confessing it. I have faults just like everyone else and right now this is one of them. Perhaps it is pride, or it might be an overreaction to the way I was as a young preacher when I didn’t care what others thought. Whatever the cause it’s something I struggle with.

I don’t mention this to get your pity. Believe it or not, this is something I would rather not talk about. I would rather have people believe that I’m always strong and content. After all, I’m a pastor and in the mind of many we’re not supposed to fail. I am mentioning this because I need your prayers! I also mention it because I’m convinced that there are others who are plagued by the same problem. It might be you! 

You would like to be there for others in their time of need, it would delight you to help them, but you are barely keeping your head above water. You can hardly keep yourself going. In your heart you know God doesn’t expect you to do what you can’t, but you worry about what others think. You know there will be some who mis-judge you and that bothers you. You want to live up to their expectations and please them, but you can’t. The question is, How can we escape the expectations of others? How can we conquer the problem of trying to please people?

Here’s some thoughts that have helped me. Hopefully they will help you. First of all you need to consider the cost of trying to please people. Here’s why:

 (1) It can cause you to displease the Lord by missing His plan for you. Paul showed that he understood that when he said, “— we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.” ( 1 Thess. 2:4).

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