MORNING MANNA               12-26-24

DROP THE DOUBT

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and, let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1).

 

When I say,”Peace is possible” I know that many will doubt what I say–after all, they doubt what God says, and therein lies the problem. The facts seem so contrary to their feelings that they find it difficult to believe otherwise. And their spirit of despondency is like a ball and chain, holding them back and dragging them down.

An unknown writer said it well: “There are weights which are not sins in themselves, but which become distractions and stumbling blocks in our Christian progress. One of the worst of these is despondency. The heavy heart is indeed a weight that will surely drag us down in our holiness and usefulness.

The failure of Israel to enter the land of promise began in murmuring—– Just a faint desire to complain and be discontented. This led on until it blossomed and ripened into rebellion and ruin. Let us give ourselves no liberty ever to doubt God or His love and faithfulness to us in everything and forever.

We can set our will against doubt just as we do against any other sin; and as we stand firm and refuse to doubt, the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and give us the faith of God and crown us with victory.

It is very easy to fall into the habit of doubting, fretting, and wondering if God has forsaken us and if after all our hopes are to end in failure. Let us refuse to be discouraged. Let us refuse to be unhappy. Let us ‘count it all joy’ when we cannot feel one emotion of happiness. Let us rejoice by faith, by resolution, by reckoning, and we shall surely find that God will make the reckoning real.–” 4-18-10

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

MORNING MANNA              12-25-24

4CHRIST THE KING

“When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:9–11

In 1739 Charles Wesley wrote a new poem to be sung at a Christmas service. He wanted to focus on the amazing news that the angels brought to the shepherds on the first Christmas night—that the baby born in Bethlehem was so much more than just another child. His original composition was later edited by George Whitefield until it took the form and the words that we know today as “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold Him come,
Off-spring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail, the incarnate deity
Pleased as Man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!”

When the wise men reached Bethlehem, they acknowledged Jesus as being worthy of great respect, not only with the gifts they had brought but by kneeling down before Him. The expression they used in seeking Jesus, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2) is not normal. The child of a king is a prince at birth, not yet a king in his own right. However from the moment of His birth, Jesus was rightly recognized as the great King. He did not claim the rights and privileges of kingship, choosing instead to be born into a poor and humble family, but that lack of outward prestige did not change His true nature.  

We cannot properly celebrate Christmas without properly worshiping the Christ of Christmas.- Daily in the Word.

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble,TX

MORNING MANNA               12-24-24

THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST’S  BIRTH

Every aspect of the birth of Christ was a miracle. 

An American author and Christian once wrote the following poem concerning the festivities of Christmas: 

This Christian’s focus wasn’t on decorations or festivities, though he may have partaken in them. He wasn’t worried about presents or meals to prepare, though I’m sure he gave gifts to others. His focus was on praising God for the miraculous birth of Jesus.

 

Do you realize that every aspect of Christ’s birth was a miracle? First, God chose a godly virgin to bear His Son, and through immaculate conception she carried the Lord. Second, through God’s working, Joseph and Mary were required to travel to Bethlehem, the prophesied place of Jesus’ birth. Last, there was no room for the couple in any inn, so they retired to a barn, the place where Christ would be born. Everything from the humble stable, the manger, and the swaddling clothes pictured the future Jesus would have as the Saviour of the world. 

Christ’s birth was a miracle! Never forget the fact that God provided a miracle unlike any other that first Christmas night. The birth of the Lord was not merely a joyous entrance of the Saviour into this world (though it was that), but it was also the fulfillment of God’s promise to the world that He would provide a spotless Lamb to take away the sins of humanity. 

How much time have you spent praising God this Christmas season? Have you praised Him yet today? Take a moment now to simply reflect on the birth of Christ and all the events surrounding it. Thank God He was in control of every aspect, and provided His Son through a miraculous birth. 

Remember the birth of Christ this holiday season. Remember to praise God for fulfilling His promise of a Saviour and the payment of your sins.

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church 

Humble,TX

Yes, from first to last,
from our cradle to our grave,
from the earliest pang of sin’s conviction to the last thrill of sin’s forgiveness,
from earth to Heaven–this will be our testimony in all the way the Lord our
God has led us in the wilderness: “He has done all things well!”

In providence and in grace,
in every truth of His Word,
in every lesson of His love,
in every stroke of His rod,
in every sunbeam that has shone,
in every cloud that has shaded,
in every element that has sweetened,
in every ingredient that has embittered,
in all that has been mysterious, inscrutable, painful, and humiliating,
in all that He gave,
in all that He took away,
this testimony is His just due, and this our grateful acknowledgment
through time and through eternity: “He has done all things well!”

Has He converted us through grace by a way we had thought the most improbable?

Has He torn up all our earthly hopes by the roots?

Has He . . .
  thwarted our schemes,
  frustrated our plans,
  disappointed our expectations?

Has He . . .
   taught us in schools most trying,
   by a discipline most severe,
   and lessons most humbling to our nature?

Has He . . .
  withered our strength by sickness,
  reduced us to poverty by loss,
  crushed our heart by bereavement?

And have we been tempted to exclaim, “All these things are against me!“

Ah! no! faith will yet obtain the ascendancy, and sweetly sing:
    “I know in all things that befell,
     My Jesus has done all things well!”

Beloved, it must be so–for Jesus can do nothing wrong!

Study the way of His providence and grace with the microscopic eye of faith–view them in every light, examine them in their minutest detail, as you would the petal of a flower, or the wing of an insect; and, oh, what wonders, what beauty, what marvelous adaptation, would you observe in all the varied dealings with you, of your glorious Lord!

(Philip Schaff, 1866)

This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms—conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon.

Without science and learning—He shed more light on things human and divine, than all philosophers and scholars combined.

Without the eloquence of schools—He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of any orator or poet.

Without writing a single line—He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and sweet songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.

Born in a manger and crucified as a malefactor—He now controls the destinies of the civilized world, and rules a spiritual empire……..

There never was in this world, a life so sincere, modest, and humble in its outward form and condition—and yet producing such extraordinary effects upon all ages, nations, and classes of men. The annals of history produce no other example of such complete and astounding success, in spite of the absence of those material, social, literary, and artistic powers and influences—which are indispensable to success for a mere man.

Christ stands, in this respect also, solitary and alone among all the heroes of history, and presents to us an insolvable problem, unless we admit Him to be more than man—even the eternal Son of God!