MORNING MANNA              2-20-23

LIVING FOR WHAT MATTERS

“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”- Luke 9:25–26

In his prayer journal, the missionary martyr Jim Elliot wrote: “Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save. Have it. Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an oblation for the world. Blood is only of value as it flows before Thine altar.” Indeed, Elliot backed up his written devotion with his very life. He and the other missionaries killed by the Ecuadoran tribe they were trying to reach had guns, but they made the choice not to defend their lives with force so that the door to the gospel would not be closed. As a result, the wives and friends of several of them did succeed in reaching the very group that killed those missionaries.

The world does not value the things of eternity. The prevalent attitude is summed up in the popular bumper sticker: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But once we die, there is no value in the toys of this world. And even as we live, God is not interested in earthly trinkets. He paved the streets of Heaven with gold and made the walls out of precious stones. No amount of acquisition on our part is going to impress Him. Even worse, when we live only for the temporal, we miss out on the opportunity to do something lasting and important for Him. Many Christians will be ashamed when they look back at their lives and realize how few of the things that occupied their time and attention were of eternal value. 

If you spend your time, talent, and resources on what is eternal, your life will not be in vain.- Paul Chappell

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA             2-19-23

His Blood and His Bidding

“Christ died for our sins.“-I Corinthians 15:3.

“Come unto me.“-Matthew 11:28.

“Just as I am, without one plea
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

We do not come on the ground of His teaching, His character, His life, but rather on the ground of His death. The problem of our sin was not taken care of until Calvary. There is a salvation offered today on the ground of Christ the Example, Christ the Teacher, Christ the Ideal, but the sinner does not come on the plea that “Thy life was lived for me,” or “Thy example was revealed for me.” Christ’s life and example and teaching have their place and a great and glorious place it is, but I come in my sins because His blood was shed for me.

And then His Bidding. He invited me. He bids me come, just as I am. I don’t have to dress up. He will dress me up after I come. My righteousnesses—the best I am and can do—are but filthy rags, rags because they do not cover me and filthy because they only defile me.

HIS BLOOD: “But that Thy blood was shed for me.”
HIS BIDDING: “And that Thou bid’st me come to thee.”
May your answer be, “O Lamb of God, I come!”  – Vance Havner

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

MORNING MANNA              2-18-23

FUTURE FOCUSED
” For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.“- 2 Cor.4:17-18

The thing that keeps me going is knowing the best is yet to come. It is our focus on the future, as joint heirs with Christ, that enables us to endure the hardships of life. Knowing that God will use all things for some good helps us to cope with the bad! As Paul said in Rom.8:18 “ For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

JamesSmith wrote in 1840–

Glory which will exclude all pain and suffering, all sin and sorrow!
Glory beyond the reach of all foes and the cause of all trouble!
Glory which includes happiness—perfect, perpetual, never-ending happiness!
Glory which includes honor—the highest, holiest, and most satisfying honor!
Glory, or splendor—which will fill the soul, clothe the body, and dignify the entire person forever!” 

All this God, who cannot lie, has promised to His children. So stay focused on the future! – HDS

David Stone 

Lakeway Baptist Church

MORNING MANNA                   2-17-23

READY TO MOVE  

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor.5:1).

The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move.

At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move.

It is strange how quickly one’s interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description; language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another, whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test, is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid.

Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, “I am getting ready to move.”- Author unknown

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA             2-16-23

STRENGTH FOR SORROW

‘Where to go in sorrow’ is one of life’s great questions. For there are none to whom sorrow does not come at some time. The Master, whose footprints are on all life’s paths—shows us the way to the refuge in the time of trouble. He found it in prayer. “Being in agony—He prayed.”

We may listen at the gate of the Garden of Gethsemane, and learn how our Master prayed. He was facing a great sorrow and He pleaded with His Father…We have a right, therefore, to ask in prayer that the trouble which seems imminent may pass, or that we may be relieved of the bitter anguish we are enduring. God will never blame us for such pleading.

There was another element, however, in our Lord’s praying. In His most intense pleading for the passing of His sorrow—He, said,“if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

There is no true prayer—which is not modeled after this pattern. We do not know what is best. We do not know what is in the sorrow for us, for others, or for the divine glory; nor what would be lost if we failed to endure it. We must leave all with our Father, saying, Nevertheless, not as I will—“but thine be done.”

Then the Master found the comfort which He sought. His prayer was answered. The cup of suffering did not pass. The bitterness was not lessened in the smallest degree. So far as we know, not a single cruel element in the terrible experience, was eliminated or even mitigated, because of the prayer in the Garden. The answer came in another way. The Holy Sufferer was strengthened to accept the sorrow and endure it! And was not that an answer? Was it not a better answer—than if the dreadful anguish had been diminished? The pleading grew less intense as He went back again and again into the depths of the Garden, and at the end—the struggle was over, victory had been won, and He was at peace!

Prayer is always answered. It is answered either directly in the giving to us of what we ask; or in ourselves, in enabling us to accept the will of God and rejoice. We shall never seek this refuge of prayer in vain. We shall always find comfort there, and peace, and always God will meet us to strengthen us!–(revised by HDS from an article by J. R. Miller)

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