MORNING MANNA               2-25-23

If You Can’t See, Look!

“Looking unto Jesus”- Hebrews 12:2

We are looking unto Jesus, not at Him. There is a world of difference. F. B. Meyer says something to the effect that if we cannot see Him we can look in the direction where we know Him to be. Alexander Whyte puts it: “He does not say, See; He says only, Look.”

The snake-bitten Israelite, far to the rear in the multitude, may not have been able to make out clearly the outline of the serpent, but he looked that way. What matters most is not how clearly we perceive Jesus but the utter dependence of our look. If a friend should assume a debt for us, we would look, not at him, but unto him, to meet the obligation. Sometimes our view grows dim and we cannot feel or think with satisfaction. Darkness veils Jesus’ lovely face, but if we rest on His unchanging grace, looking His way in the fog, that is it.

Look His way, face His direction, as you move through the mist. Look unto Him, even though you cannot look at Him. He will not fail, though you cannot feel. He abideth faithful. Vance Havner

Throughout the week I probably think of this verse more than any other. It reminds us of our great need and encourages us to press on in the face of difficulty, enables us to bear up under the heavy burdens, and to resist temptation. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and you will look at everything differently. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist

 Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA                 2-24-23

PROCRASTINATION VS. PREPARATION 

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”-James. 4:14

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” – James 4:17

Adrian Rogers said, “Procrastination. Just seeing the word makes me want to put off saying anything else. Are you under conviction in that area? One fellow said, “I started to procrastinate, then decided to put it off.”

Procrastination is a form of disobedience. When God tells us to do something and we don’t do it, we can label our actions with all kinds of fancy words, but the bottom line is, it’s sin. The days are passing and time cannot be stopped. You can’t call a ‘timeout’ in life. And time can’t be stored like money in the bank.  Really, the only thing you can do with time is use it or lose it.

Someone has said, “Lost: One golden hour, studded with sixty diamond minutes. No reward offered, for it is lost forever.” Redeem the time.

While I agree with that, I fear a lot of folks misunderstand. The woodsman is not wasting time when he stops cutting to sharpen his axe. Nor is it a waste of time to rest when you are weary. Sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing. When your body needs rest, it is not procrastination to cease activity so as to get it. Nor is it procrastination to cancel one thing so as to do something more important. I don’t mention this to give you a “loop-hole” to get out of doing what you should, but rather to bring balance to your life. Every home needs a rocking chair or porch swing! – HDS

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

MORNING MANNA              2-23-23

GOOD TIMES AND BAD GOD LOVES YOU

“But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” — Job 2:10

So often weak faith is moved from its steadfastness, by trials. People say, “God cannot love me–or he would not send this affliction upon me!” Job’s answer, however, shows nobler faith. We take good, earthly good, from God’s hands. We believe that God loves us–so long as he showers upon us favors, and gives us pleasant things, joys and prosperities. Very well. But when he changes the form of his providence, and gives us troubles instead of favors, should we conclude that he no longer loves us?

In the case of the change in his treatment of Job–we are permitted to look within the heart of God, to learn what his feelings were, and we see that he had never loved his servant more than when he was allowing him to suffer so sorely!

At the close of the first trial, Job said, “The Lord gave–and the Lord has taken away.” The same Lord who gave—took away! Yes, and the same love! God knows best, what we need any particular day, and what will most advance the kingdom of Christ; and we ought to trust him so implicitly, so unquestioningly, that whether he gives a new favor–or takes one away; whether he grants us our request–or withholds it; whether he bestows upon us earthly good–or causes us to suffer loss and adversity—we shall still believe and say, “God loves me, and he is blessing me!”

“Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return! The Lord gave–and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” Job 1:21 (Daily Comfort)

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA             2-22-23

GOD KNOWS OUR PAIN

“Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;”- Exodus 3:6–7

The poet and hymn writer Margaret Clarkson said, “Nothing comes your way that has not first passed through the filter of His love. The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God…. All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and the personal history of every member of His redeemed family.”

God is not indifferent to the pain and suffering of His children. Just as we as human parents weep when our children hurt, He is moved with compassion when we have pain. While in Egypt, the Children of Israel were suffering greatly, and they thought that God had forgotten about them. But He told Moses that He was fully aware of the situation. 

People do not always respond well when we suffer. Job’s friends falsely accused him of harboring secret sins in his life that were the root cause of his great losses. Sometimes people want us to just hurry up and get over pain. God never treats us that way. He is patient and kind and He cares about our pain. David wrote, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him” (Psalm 103:13). We can share our deepest hurts with God because He knows all about our sorrows.( Daily in the Word)

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx

MORNING MANNA             2-21-23

STRENGTHENED THROUGH CHRIST

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”– Philippians 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 sheer 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.(BBH)

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.