Manna In The Morning Archive 2007
December 31
The Water of Life…
And
the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely.
This is the final
gospel invitation recorded in the Bible. Christ invites whosoever will to
come and drink of His water of life. None are excluded from this invitation. It
doesn’t matter what your past was like and it doesn’t matter what your life is currently
like, Christ invites you to come to Him. This same image was used when Jesus
met the Samaritan woman at the well, He told her of the living water He could
supply (John 4:10-15). The gospel is unlimited in scope, all people everywhere
may come. Salvation cannot be earned, but God is ready to give it freely. We
live in a world thirsty for the living water of Christ, many are dying of
thirst, but none need to. Answer the invitation of Christ today.
Lord, I am
grateful I answered Your invitation to drink freely of
the water of life. It filled me, it cleansed me, and it changed me. Please use
me in showing others where to come and drink.
December 30
Blessed Are The Dead In The Lord…
And
I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and
their works do follow them.
This is a tremendously encouraging portion of Scripture, especially at the death of a loved one who was a faithful Christian. It is a message of encouragement from the great comforter of heaven Himself. First, He tells us that death is a blessing for those who die in the Lord. It is a blessing because of all the promises of heaven given in Scripture that will be enjoyed firsthand. Second, He tells us that death is a rest. 275 times, God makes the promise of rest in His Word to those who trust Him. Obviously, He wants to make sure we get this message. Third, He calls death a marker; our works follow us as a testimony marking our path of faith, teaching others there is a better world to live for.
Lord, how different
this view of death is from those who live in the world without Christ, rather
than an evil, death is actually a blessing. Because of Christ the sting of
death is removed and in its place we find encouragement.
December 29
Knocking At the Door of Our Lives…
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open
the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Although this verse is often used as an
invitation to non-Christians to open the door of their lives to Jesus, it is
actually written to professing Christians who have become apathetic in their
relationship with the Him. They believe they have everything they need
spiritually but Jesus is not even part of their life, He is locked out. The
illustration of Jesus knocking is both encouraging and discouraging. It is
discouraging because many professing Christians are missing out on the presence
and intimacy of the Savior. It is encouraging because Jesus does not give up.
He patiently keeps knocking, waiting for each of us to invite Him in. If you
seem to lack intimacy with Jesus, open the door today.
Lord, I have
never regretted opening the door of my life to You. As
promised, I have enjoyed great intimacy with You. I am
sorry that too often I have not been a very good host. Thank You for being
patient with me and never giving up on me.
December 28
God Can Keep Us From Falling…
Now unto him that is able to keep
you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy.
The people Jude
wrote to were vulnerable to heresies and temptations toward immoral living.
Jude encouraged them as believers to remain firm in their faith and trust in
God’s promises for their future. This was all the more important because they
were living in a time of trouble. We too are living in such days. We too are
vulnerable to doctrinal error, and tempted to give in to immoral living.
Although there is much immorality and false teaching around us, we need not be
afraid or give up in despair, God can keep us from falling, and He guarantees
that He will bring us into His presence and give us everlasting joy. Rather
than being distracted by our day, let us cling to the unfailing promise of God.
Lord, it does get
discouraging at times as we see friends, trusted leaders, and national Christian
leaders fall into doctrinal error and gross sins of immorality. It makes me
wonder, what is to keep me from falling? I realize that in my own power I am
just as vulnerable as the next person. Realizing that, I am so thankful for Your power and promise that is able to keep me from falling.
Help me rely on You daily.
December 27
Using Discernment in those We Follow…
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He
that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
The epistle of 3 John was written to
encourage discernment in the examples we follow. It focuses on the examples of
three men, providing a commendation for two of them and a condemnation for the
other. Verse 11 instructs us to follow good examples and reject evil examples.
Gaius and Demetrius are set before us as good examples because they knew,
loved, and walked in the truth. These are the kind of people we want to
fellowship with, they know the Lord. Diotrephes is an
evil example, the kind of Christian leader we should not fellowship with or
follow because, by his actions, he does not know the Lord. In his desire for
preeminence he has no room for sharing ministry with the Lord or His servants.
Lord, I have sought to follow the examples
of Gaius and Demetrius in my life and ministry. I want to have a good report of
men and especially You. Help me to always do
faithfully whatever I do in the way I treat Christians and strangers.
December 26
Our Response to False Teachers…
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
him not into your house,
neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth
him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
What does John tell us to do when a false teacher comes to our home? Here, a false teacher is one who does not hold to the incarnation of Christ, or that He is God in flesh. John tells us to neither receive nor send him/her away with God’s blessing. What that means is to not treat them as a brother or sister in the Lord. We told not to do this because they are not Christians, and by doing so we become fellow participants in their spreading of false teachings about Christ. Does this mean we are never to witness to them? No, we should always be ready to tell others the truth about Jesus. If we are going to speak to them what must we first be sure of? We must be sure of the truth about who Jesus is.
Lord, I am grateful that You have protected me from the false teachers and have taught me the truth through Your Word that I might know it, share it with others, and stand against false teachers.
Merry Christmas!
December 25
The Incarnation Provides Confidence…
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding,
that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his
Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
In the final verses of this epistle the Apostle John states a series of confident affirmations of faith, this is the final one: we know that the Son of God is come. This is a reference to the incarnation, or the birth of Jesus Christ. It is through the birth of Christ that we are able to have an understanding about God. For through the inca