Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 January 13

"Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak” (Psalms 12:1-2).

Today’s Morsel:  I preached a message many years ago from this passage entitled, “Where Have All The Good Men Gone?”  My wife and daughter still joke about it today because at the time they say the title was a downer; perhaps it was the setting!   I usually try to preach with edification as I know that folks need encouragement, but I may have to preach it again because this scripture seems to be on center stage in the church as well as in the world today.  God told Ezekiel, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).  You see, to be a godly man is to reflect Jesus Christ in one’s life.  It is to be a man that will stand upon every vow that he takes.  It is to be a man with integrity and uprightness.  It is to be a man with strong character and commitment to follow Christ. It is to be a man that will lead his family in all the ways of God.  If you fit the above categories, you are a godly man and the one that God and the world need and are looking for.  We need good and godly men in our world today.  I ask again today, Where have all the good men gone?   

Sing:  To be like Jesus. To be like Jesus. On earth I long to be like Him.  All through life’s journey, from earth to glory, I only ask to be like Him.

Thought For Today: His character is reflected in your actions (Parker).

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 January 12

“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad” (Proverbs 12:25)

Today’s Morsel:  One of the most important gifts that came with the Holy Ghost, and is probably not used the way that it should be, is the of the gift of exaltation.  Ask yourself, how many of you when you wake up in the morning begin your day by saying to yourself, “I’m going to see how many people I can make happy today?”  Probably none of us do this.  But think about how many people we could impact if we used this gift. Sometimes, by just listening or offering to purchase someone a meal we could change a life.  Sharing a clean humorous joke or helping someone with a task or chore.  The right words spoken at the right time can reach down inside and pull hurt from folks if used right and lifting them up.  Solomon said that heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.  We have been given power to know how to speak.   We must realize that death and life are in the power of our tongue.  If we listen to hear and not answer, we can help a whole lot of folk.  Purpose to use this gift from God for the remaining 354 days of 2018!  What a powerful gift we have been given to impact our world.  

Sing:  Say the name of Jesus.  Say the name so precious.  No other name I know, that can calm your fears, dry your tears and wipe away the pain.  When you don’t know what else to say, and you just can’t find words to say, just say the name.

Thought For Today:  Death and life are in the power of the tongue. 

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 January 11

“In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright” (Psalms 11:1-7).

Today’s Morsel:  They say that if you see a crack begin to form in the corner of your house, the foundation or the cornerstone was not laid properly and that there isn’t much you can do from that point but pray that it doesn’t get worst. David asked the question that if the foundation be destroyed what can the righteous do?  There has been a move lately in many nations to remove the foundation by which it was established.  Solomon admonished, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28).  If the gospel of Jesus Christ that was set forth by the apostles of Jesus Christ on the Day of Pentecost in 30 AD, the foundation of the church, is removed what can the righteous do?  I believe as Isaiah said, that when the foundation is destroyed, the foundations of government are despised and disregarded; judgment is perverted, and justice stands afar off; the doctrines and principles of religion are derided and subverted; so that there is no standing, either in a political or religious sense (See Isaiah 59).  Therefore, we must ensure that we are preaching and teaching truth so that people’s lives are built on something solid and that there will be no shifting or cracks.  On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!  

Sing: Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let His praises ring; Glory in the highest I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior.  Standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God.

Thought For Today: Keep standing for truth.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 January 10

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:22-27).

Today’s Morsel:  The older I get; the more my flesh seems to locate more pain.  Sometimes I want to complain about it, but then I think about Job, the Disciples of Christ, Paul, and Jesus Christ Himself, and I say to myself, it’s just weakness leaving the body.  Paul said, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." In other words, we are in a world of misery and death.  David said, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all” (Psalms 34:19). Paul told the church at Thessalonica, “But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention” (1 Thessalonians 2:2).  The apostles preached the word with much contention, and the Gentiles received it in much affliction and the Holy Ghost (1 Thessalonians 1:6).   Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.  Gird up your loins and be ready, we are going to have painful situations and circumstances while we wait for Jesus to come, so we might as well get used to it and see it as weakness leaving the body.  

Sing: He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, surely He bore all our sorrows and by His stripes we are healed.

Thought For Today:  Pain is just weakness leaving the body. 

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 January 9

“And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it…And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:11-14;20-24).

Today’s Morsel:  Many have tried to determine why Jesus cursed the fig tree when it was not the time for figs to be on the tree?  The tree had leaves but no figs.  In some places, figs grow on the fig tree before the leaves.  This isn’t a story to make you think that Jesus doesn’t know what He was doing, nor is it an error in His word; He’s God, and He created the fig tree, so He knows when the tree should bear. The story isn’t about no figs on the fig tree and Jesus being hungry.  The story is to draw our attention to the importance of believing when we pray.  As we see Jesus’ answer to Peter when Peter told him the tree was withered away that he cursed.  To which Jesus replied, “Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."   Faith requires you to simply take God at His word.

Sing: Faith can move mountains, Mountains of fear and of doubt.  Faith can move mountains, so why don’t you try your faith out.

Thought For Today:  Faith requires you to take God at His word.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 January 8

“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow” 

(2 Kings 5:15-27).

Today’s Morsel:  The story of Naaman the leper is not only a story of hope, healing, and deliverance; but also a story that shows us what happens when God’s servants desire riches and material things than Him.  When Elisha refused to take gifts from Naaman the Syrian, his servant Gehazi ran after him to take it for himself.  And he lied to Naaman to obtain them.  But when he returned to his master, Elisha, Elisha asked him where he had been.  He again lied and told him nowhere.  Elisha replied and told him, "My heart didn’t go with you. I saw when Naaman turn to meet you.  Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?  The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed forever."  And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.   Leprosy is often associated with sin.  I wonder just how many people are running after Satan, going after riches and material possessions not realizing they are bringing sin upon themselves and their children forever.  Not realizing that God's heart is not with them, and that judgment will come upon them.  Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and He will add everything else you have need of.   

Sing: There are millions in this world who are craving the pleasure earthly things afford, but none can match the wondrous treasure that I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.

Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord! Come and quench this thirsting of my soul; bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more, Here's my cup, fill it up and make me whole.

Thought For Today: Nothing compares to God’s riches.

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 January 6

“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” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Today’s Morsel:  Why is it that we put our trust in things and others over God?  We get into an airplane, fly at 35,000 feet in the air, trusting the aircraft and pilot and give it no thought.  We get into our automobiles, drive 70-80 Miles Per Hour, trusting in the tires, brakes, and other gadgets and don’t give it a second thought.  We go to the doctor, listen to what they say, allow them to tell us what to do, then take and we trust their opinion.  Yet when it comes to God, who has our best at heart, died so that we could live,  we question His existence and His ability to heal, deliver, provide, and save. We fret and worry over situations that come our way, rather than trust that He has a purpose and a plan and has our expected end in mind.  We must get to the point that we trust God always and not lean unto our own understanding. 

Sing:  I trust in God, wherever I may be, upon the land, or on the raging sea.  For come what may, from day to day, my Heavenly Father, watches over, over me.  And I trust in God, I know He cares for me, upon the land, or on the stormy sea.  For come what may, from day to day, my Heavenly Father watches over, over me.

Thought For Today:  Trust God. He knows what He’s doing.