Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 24 February 2020

Petty Excuses

“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” (Exodus 32:21-24)

Today’s Morsel:  One of the toughest challenges of being a pastor is dealing with petty excuses.  People miss church for headaches, pain, snow, cold weather,  hot weather, their kid’s activities, tiredness, the list goes on; and yet those same people make no excuse to miss work for those same petty excuses.  Aaron gave Moses a petty excuse for his wrong.  First, he told him a lie.  He tried to blame the people.  And then he said that he just threw the gold in the fire and it came out a calf.  All excuses and lies.  Scripture says in Exodus 32:1-6,  “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”  It was all Aaron’s doing.  He shaped it.  He fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a calf.  But to blame the people for his actions was nothing more than a petty excuse.  Be sure that your sin will find you out.  Stop making excuses.  

Sing:  All my hope is in Jesus.  Thank God my yesterday's gone.  All my sins are forgiven, I've been washed by the blood.

Thought For Today: A petty excuse to do wrong is still sin.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 22 February 2020

Undercover

“For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.” (Proverbs 7:6-10)

Today’s Morsel: The word subtil appears three times in scripture.  Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1); in 2 Samuel 13:3, we find that David's son Amnon had a friend named Jonadab who was a very subtil man. “But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.” (2 Samuel 13:3);  and in today’s passage it lists the harlot as being subtil. What does it mean to be subtil?   People who are subtil are wicked and cunning; they are sneaky, sly, and full of trickery.  They have the ability and are talented in how to form or develop a scheme to help you get what you want without exposing the evil or destruction behind it that will ultimately destroy you.  Satan uses people like Jonadab and the harlot who work undercover to deceive and destroy you.  Stand on the word so you are not deceived when they come your way.

Sing: When you’ve done all that you can, Stand on His Word; When you’ve stood all you can stand, do what you’ve learned. Remember all you’ve read is true, God said he’ll always bring you through, In spite of everything you’ve heard, Stand on his word.

Thought For Today:   Subtil … hidden deception.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 21 February 2020

Heart Difficulties

“Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:7-13)

Today’s Morsel: When I go in to renew my driver’s licenses, they always ask me if I want to be an organ donor?  I always ask myself, if someone got my heart would it cause them to be more like Jesus?  If they got my eyes would they be able to see the things that I see in scripture?  In today’s medical realm, they can do all kinds of transplants.  And one of the major ones is that of the heart.  But it is a very difficult procedure because it is the center of life.  A person must die in order to get a new heart.  But when Scripture speaks of the heart it is referring to the mind, the center of intellect and reasoning.  Why are there so many people who are having heart difficulties?  Why are so many troubled in their mind?  The answer is that we allow to much junk to go into it.  With all the cell phone usage, television watching, FaceBook and Google searching our minds are inundated with stuff.  Some good but mostly bad. And most people do not have the Spirit to filter what they allow in.  The writer of Hebrews tells us to be alert that we do not get an evil heart.  If we allow our hearts to become evil, then we can be sure that we will have heart difficulties and sooner or later we will need a transplant.  The only heart doctor you will find that can do this transplant will be Jesus.

Sing:  Create in me a clean heart, O’ God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Create in me a clean heart, O’ God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from Thy presence O’ Lord; take not Thou Holy Spirit from me.  Restore unto me, the joy of Thou salvation, and renew a right spirit within me.

Thought For Today: Keep an eye on your heart.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 20 February 2020

Straight Talk To Sinners

“And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.”
(1 Samuel 13:9-13)

Today’s Morsel:  The media has always tried to portray the church and Christianity as being uncaring and mean-spirited.  But what some fail to realize is that the church is not mean but caring.  I will agree that not everyone and every church is, but those that I know are.   Peter says that God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, yet long-suffering is someday going to run out.  As a matter of fact, Solomon states, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1)  If those we keep trying to help continue to reject help, it’s soon going to cease.  When King Saul disobeyed God’s command, the prophet Samuel told him, "Thou hast done foolishly and that he had not kept the commandment of the LORD his God, which God commanded him."  For now, he said, God would have established his kingdom upon Israel forever.   I don’t know what God has planned for you in your life.  But if you refuse to do His commandments, it will never happen.

Sing: Aren’t you getting just a bit tired of fooling around?  You try to laugh your way through life, but you’re not gaining ground.  Why not try the Lord today, just ask Him in your heart to stay.  You’ll find Jesus' love to be the greatest thing that you’ve ever found.

Jesus got ahold of my life and He won’t let me go.  Jesus got into my heart He got into my soul.  I used to be oh so sad, but now I’m happy, free and glad; cause Jesus got ahold of my life and He won’t let me go.

Thought For Today: Do the right thing and God will bless you.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 19 February 2020

Does It Pay To Pray?

“So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him. For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing him.” (2 Chronicles 18:28-32)

Today’s Morsel:  One of the first lessons I can remember my parents teaching me was to pray.  We always had to say our prayers at night before we went to bed and always before every meal.  When I became older and would be driving home late at night by myself, I always prayed that God would be with me, protect me, and keep the vehicle running and safe, not to mention not run out of gas.  Does it pay to pray? Jesus said in Luke 18:1, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”  Paul and Silas prayed in prison and were released (Acts 16).  The church prayed for Peter and he was released from prison (Acts 12).  It does pay to pray.  When King Jehoshaphat joined to fight with the king of Israel, the king of Israel disguised himself in hopes of saving his own life in the battle.  King Jehoshaphat should have known this was a trick, and that the king of Israel did not care for his life when the king of Israel told him that he would disguise himself and go into battle.  Jehoshaphat was almost killed if he had not called out to God in prayer.  We never know what circumstance or dilemma we may find ourselves in. Therefore, we should pray before they happen.  Believe me, it does pay to pray.

Sing:  Whisper a prayer in the morning.  Whisper a prayer at noon.  Whisper a prayer in the evening, so keep your heart in tone.

Thought For Today: It pays to pray.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 18 February 2020

Self- Ignorance

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart”  (Ephesians 4:17-18)

Today’s Morsel:  When I usually see a word or phrase that begins with the word ‘self’, I stop and take a closer look at the meaning and what it is trying to get me to see.  In today’s manna, the title is self-ignorance.  So I ask myself, "Am I stupid or without knowledge of myself?"  Do I really know me or am I ignorant to me?  To be ignorant is to lack knowledge, education, or awareness of something.  It is to be unaware or uninformed.  Those two words are scary in themselves. To think that I am not aware or maybe uninformed about me is frightening to me.  What are my hidden sins?  What are my idiosyncrasies?  What are my bad habits?  Am I like an old refrigerator that can’t keep anything?  Do I think I’m saved because my parents dedicated me to Jesus as a baby?  Self-ignorance of one’s self can cause them to mislead and deceive others.  It can result in deterioration in one’s life.  It can manifest itself in a false self-confidence and cause you to retain sin in your life.  However, Paul said that the biggest problem with self-ignorance is that it alienates from the life of God because it blinds your heart.

Sing: I know who I am, I know who I am, I know who I am I am Yours, I am Yours.  I know who I am, I know who I am, I know who I am I am Yours, I am Yours.  And You are mine, Jesus You are mine, You are mine Jesus You are mine.

I was running and You found me.  I was blinded and You gave me sight.  You put a song of praise in me.

I was broken and You healed me.  I was dying, and You gave me life.  Lord, You are my identity. And I know, I know, I know who I am, I know who I am, I know who I am I am Yours, I am Yours.  I know who I am, I know who I am, I know who I am I am Yours, I am Yours.  And You are mine Jesus You are mine, You are mine Jesus You are mine. (Israel and New Breed)

Thought For Today: You can only fix stupid by the word of God (Parker)

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 17 February 2020

Stay Alert

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8)

Today’s Morsel:  One of the fundamental principles of Christianity is to stay alert.  Throughout Jesus' and the apostles' teachings, you will see them constantly calling us to this principle of staying alert.  Beware of false prophets.  Beware lest a root of bitterness spring up in you and defile you.  Beware that you do not fall because you think that you stand.  Beware how you give.  Beware lest Satan gets an advantage over you.  Beware that you do not forget God.  Beware of men.  Beware of leaven.  All of these cautions are so we will stay alert and not lose our crown.  Many have already become hoodwinked and fallen prey to the enemy of their soul. Remember, temptation is not a sin.  It’s when we give in to it that it becomes sin.  Paul states that we are the children of the day, not of the night.  If we walk in the light and stay awake, we will not fulfill the lust of our flesh.  Beware, stay alert and stop sleeping in church.

Sing:  Keep your mind on Jesus, let’s have church.  Keep your mind on Jesus, and let’s have church. Somebody help me sing, somebody help me shout; somebody help me sing, somebody help me shout!.  Keep your mind on Jesus, let’s have church.

Thought For Today: No sleeping in church.