MORNING MANNA            10-9-21

WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”- 2 Tim. 1:12

MORNING MANNA            10-8-21

FAITH THAT FAILS“

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”- Prov. 3:5-6

Several years ago I read about a university professor who was teaching a class on rappelling. That involves securing a stout rope on top of a cliff and lowering yourself to the bottom of the cliff or building – not something I have any interest in. However, in this instance there is a good lesson to be learned.The article described how the instructor took her class to the roof of a campus building, secured the rope to a steel grid, grasped the rope, stood on the edge of the roof, and leaned out over the edge. Then it said, “To the horror of the class, the grid popped out of the roof and the professor plunged to her death. She had faith in her rope; she had faith in her ability to rappel, and she had faith in the steel grid to which she had tied the rope. The problem was not her lack of faith, but one of the objects of her faith. The anchor to which she had entrusted her life was faulty.” 

This serves to remind us that simply feeling good about our beliefs isn’t good enough to save us. Saving faith is more than positive thinking or wishful thinking. It is the object of your faith that makes the difference. It is not what you believe, but whom you believe that matters most. You can brag all day about your faith getting you to heaven, but if it isn’t in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ it will fail you. Hebrews 6:19 assures us that in Christ we have an “anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” Trust Him and He will never fail! -HDS

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

MORNING MANNA            10-7-21

THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC“

 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it .”- Luke 8:21

We all know that not everyone who claims to be Christian is a Christian. But, being imperfect, it is easy for us to misjudge others and ourselves. So what are the characteristics of a Christian? The Bible doesn’t leave us in the dark on this matter and here in our text we see Jesus summing it all up when he says genuine believers are those who “hear the word of God, and do it”.
An article from the Baptist Bible hour says, “Here Jesus describes his spiritual family members.

Many today, and through the centuries since Jesus spoke these words, have claimed affiliation with Him. But Jesus’ own words rebuke His would-be, fair-weather, so-called family members.

Not those who gather large crowds in my name, or gain political clout by my name, or salve their guilty consciences with my name are mine, says Jesus, but those who hear and obey God’s Word. Those who have a true and permanent relationship with me are those who are receptive to God’s Word.

What a high view of Scripture Jesus had! Even in the presence of His biological mother and siblings, Jesus starkly reminds us that a true connection to Christ is not made or maintained through family affiliation. For the definition of His disciples Jesus purposefully chose the rock-solid, unchanging Word of God as the meter of true religion.

Philanthropy does not a Christian make. Good intentions or family pedigree do not define the child of God. Rather God’s Word is the simple, sole barometer that Jesus gives us with which to measure our relationship with Him.

What is your relationship to Jesus? Do you merely approve of Him, or do you obey Him? Those who hear God’s Word and seek to apply it faithfully in their lives are assured that Jesus is, indeed, their close friend and true family member.”

James summed it up like this, “  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:” ( Ja. 1::22-23). – HDS

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

MORNING MANNA            10-6-21

SORROW BETTER THAN LAUGHTER

“Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better” -Ecclesiastes 7:3

I suspect that this doesn’t seem true to some folks, but it indeed can be. Sometimes it is only after a time of suffering and sorrow that we realize that this is indeed a fact. Due to my recent illness and what God has done in my life I see it more clearly than ever. The experience reminded me of an old devotion I read from Streams in the Desert many years ago:

“When sorrow comes under the power of Divine grace, it works out a manifold ministry in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths in the soul, and unknown capabilities of experience and service…. trifling people are always shallow, and never suspect the little meannesses in their nature. Sorrow is God’s plowshare that turns up and subsoils the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If we had never fallen, or were in a glorified state, then the strong torrents of Divine joy would be the normal force to open up all our souls’ capacities; but in a fallen world, sorrow, with despair taken out of it, is the chosen power to reveal ourselves to ourselves. Hence it is sorrow that makes us think deeply, long, and soberly.

Sorrow makes us go slower and more considerately, and introspect our motives and dispositions. It is sorrow that opens up within us the capacities of the heavenly life, and it is sorrow that makes us willing to launch our capacities on a boundless sea of service for God and our fellows.

We may suppose a class of indolent people living at the base of a great mountain range, who had never ventured to explore the valleys and canyons back in the mountains; and some day, when a great thunderstorm goes careening through the mountains, it turns the hidden glens into echoing trumpets, and reveals the inner recesses of the valley, like the convolutions of a monster shell, and then the dwellers at the foot of the hills are astonished at the labyrinths and unexplored recesses of a region so near by, and yet so little known. So it is with many souls who indolently live on the outer edge of their own natures until great thunderstorms of sorrow reveal hidden depths within that were never hitherto suspected.”

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

MORNING MANNA            10-5-21

HOW HOPE HELPS

“ Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. ”- Psalm 55:22

It’s been said a person can live a few days without water, a few minutes without air, but not a moment without hope. The innate belief that beyond circumstances, crises and the burdens of life, that there is something better just ahead—that hope—is something nearly everyone relies on to push through the day, the week, and beyond.

Where does hope come from? God tells us that our hope is in Him. We believe God is who He says He is, and that His Word, the Bible, is true. In that belief, we can know that God is true and just. God never changes. His decisions are always sure and His mind is always set in the same course. 

If that were not true, we could not trust in His words or deeds. If God were not constant and consistent, we could not trust the path He tells us to follow would lead us toward Him and toward heaven. Thanks be to God that He is unchanging, unwavering, constant, and true.

Because of this, we can put our hope in God. We can long for the future that He has promised us. And we can know that our hope is not misplaced or mistaken. Hope, real hope, does not result in blind wishes. Real hope, the kind that God gives, leaves us confident in our future. Hope through God gives us the ability to take risks for Him in our lives, resting on His promise of a future that is secure.

Dear Lord, as I am often tempted to put my hope in other people and other things, I pray that you would remind me that the best place I can put my hope is in you. May I remain hopeful because I have you living within me. In Jesus’ name, amen – James Merritt

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