Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: "Apostle Tom" <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:23:55 -0500
To: pressingon@hotmail.com
Subject: Morning Manna for Aug. 24 & 25
DEAR FELLOW PILGRIM:
I'll be out-of-pocket for the next couple of days, so will go ahead and
send your "Morning Manna" for both Aug. 24 & 25. I do hope everything's
going well for you and the Lord Jesus is richly blessing you each day. Take
care!
In Jesus' Transforming Love,
Bro. Tom
Morning Manna (Aug. 24); BP: Dt. 30:11-20; RBTTY: I Cor. 7:1-19; Ps. 116-118
August 24 “Godly Choices”
“I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life,
that both you and your seed may live—that you may love the Lord your God and
that you may obey His voice and that you may cleave unto Him. . .for He is
your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which
the Lord swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob, to give
them.”
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
When we walk with the Lord, we always find ourselves at His Cross-road.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Analysts somehow have come up with the fact that we make several
thousand of these every day. They range in scope from what we’ll eat for
breakfast to what we’ll wear to work or school to what type of computer
we’ll buy to what time we’ll hit the hay for the night.
Makes you tired just thinking about it, doesn’t it?
However, today’s Manna simplifies things quite a bit when we look at it
from God’s perspective. In reality, ever since the Garden of Eden there
really have been only two choices: Life and death—or, to put it another
way, hearing and heeding God’s Voice or thinking we know better.
No wonder the Lord Jesus further amplified this eternal truth by
talking about two types of roads to travel (Mt. 7:13-14) and two types of
foundations upon which to build our lives (Mt. 7:24-27). That’s also why
the Scriptures are filled with comparisons and contrasts between light and
darkness (Jn. 3:19-21). . .good and evil (Mt. 7:11-18). . . Heaven and hell
(Lk. 16:19-31).
When God spoke today’s Manna to Moses and the Israelites, He was
setting forth a “standard of righteousness” that is eternal and effectual
for every generation. Just as there were two trees in the Garden—one that
gave life and one that gave death (Gen. 2:9, 16-17)—so do every one of our
decisions (great and small) result in either “life or death, blessing or
cursing.”
Does this mean we should fret over every single decision we make,
wondering if it’s in God’s will? No, it probably doesn’t make much
difference to our Heavenly Father what type toothpaste we buy or what octane
of gas we use. However, in those decisions that determine whether or not
He’s glorified by what we say and/or do, we should forever remember the
truths contained in today’s Manna.
The key to choosing life over death and blessings over curses rests in
our “loving the Lord, which leads to our obeying Him.” This also involves
our “cleaving (Heb. ‘dabaq’—‘to cling to, abide fast, follow close after,
stick to, etc.’) unto Him” and remembering that “HE is our life and the
length of our days.” Only then can we truly say with the saints of old “For
IN HIM we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28a). Hallelujah!!
Morning Manna (Aug. 25); BP: Rom. 6:15-23; RBTTY: I Cor. 7:20-40; Ps.
119:1-88
August 25 “Whose Slave Am I?”
“Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants you are to whom you obey—whether of sin unto death or of obedience
unto righteousness?”
Romans 6:16
If we don’t consciously choose, it’s certain which one we’ll serve.
Life’s full of choices. Some are small—like which type of ice cream do
you want; others are large—like whom shall you marry. . .which college will
you attend. . .what size house will you buy, etc. But, none of these can
compare to the choices laid out in today’s Manna—for the Lord is basically
asking us, “Whose slave am I?”
Now, when we think of a slave, we think of someone who is owned by
another. . . emaciated and impoverished. . .often beaten and abused. .
.his/her head hanging down in shame and humiliation, etc. And, in reality,
that’s really the condition of those who are “slaves to self, sin and
satan.” However, those who’ve been redeemed by the blood of God’s Lamb are
freed from these “strongholds” and become willing “bond-slaves” to King
Jesus. Glory!!
Romans 6 is a powerful examination of liberty vs. licentiousness. Paul
clearly shows that those who are saved are free from sin’s penalty, power
and condemnation; however, this isn’t a license to sin. A thousand times
no! As the aged apostle would say, “God forbid!!” (vv.1, 15).
Instead, those who are truly born-again have their “want to” (will)
changed when they’re raised from darkness into light. . .death into life. .
.and delivered from hell into Heaven. Hallelujah!! That’s why “we should
walk in newness of life in Christ” (v.4c) when we’ve been pardoned and
adopted into God’s Heavenly Family.
Just as Christ “died unto sin ONCE” (v.10a), so should we become
militant in our attitude towards sin when we’ve been saved. We should not
coddle it or compromise in our convictions on what our Lord says is
right-and-wrong. We should “give no place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27), which
prevents “sin from reigning in our mortal body, causing us to obey it in the
lusts thereof” (v.12).
It’s very important that we notice the word “yield” in v.13—for the
devil will not force us to serve him, although we quickly become his slave
once we’ve surrendered to his traps and temptations (II Tim. 2:26; II Cor.
4:4). When we serve him, he always pays us with the wages of a guilty
conscience, broken heart and an estranged relationship with God the Father.
Oh, dear Pilgrim, those who are “slaves of unrighteousness” have the
stench of death (v.21). Only Christ can free them and give them a new heart
and mind. And, when He frees us from the evil one’s tyrannical grasp, we
“become servants to God, bearing fruit of righteousness in our pursuit of
holiness” (v.22). Isn’t this a blessed assurance? Assuredly it is. May
the Holy Spirit help us today to be “chained to Christ’s chariot,” going
wherever He goes and doing whatever He says to do.
_________________________________________________________________
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