Morning Manna by Rufus Parker: 3 March 2010

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

3 March 2010 - Morning Manna

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal
(1 Corinthians 13:1).

Today’s Morsel: The driving force behind every person should be that of love. Love for God first and foremost, and then love for his neighbor. If someone were to ask you to define love other than it being God, just how would you describe it? When John wrote that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16), he was calling our attention to how God operates. God always operates in love, even if it’s through chastisement. The writer of Hebrews informs of this when he said, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”(Hebrews 12:5-6). We may sometimes see God’s love as harsh, but it all works together for our good if we love God and are called according to His purpose. In writing to the church at Corinth, Paul wanted them to know that even though they had the Spirit of God and spoke in tongues, it did them no good unless they had love along with it. You see, speaking in another tongue as the Spirit gives you the utterance (speaking in another language other than your own native tongue) is a sign that you have been filled with God’s Spirit (Acts 2:1-4; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 19:1-6). And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. So Paul wanted this church to know that with the fruit and the gifts of God’s Spirit, it served them no purpose as far as being spiritual or having spirituality without the love of God being the driving force behind it. Some people have tried to denounce speaking in tongues in the church because they fail to have an understanding of what Paul is speaking to. Paul said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14:18). He also said, “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe” (1 Corinthians 14:22). No matter what fruit or gift of the Spirit you may possess, if you do not have the love of God operating in your life it profits you nothing.

Sing: I want to live the way He wants me to live, I want to give until there’s just no more to give, I want to love, love till there's just no more love, I could never, never out love the Lord.

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About Morning Manna

And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat (Exodus 16:10-15).

“Morning Manna” is a short daily devotion which began in 2002, with just a short note of encouragement to a friend who was facing difficulties at the time. Through their response, I was encouraged to begin a daily devotion via email and send it to people who asked to be put on the distribution list. It is now reaching around the globe. Its birth came about during Morning Prayer. The Lord revealed to me that I should forward my friend a word of encouragement, since it is through patience and comfort of the scripture that we find hope. Thus, I forwarded him the words the Lord had given to me for him, and he forwarded it on to someone else who was having difficulties in their life as well, and thus the original list began.

The goal of “Morning Manna” is to provide people with a quick, thought provoking Word from the Lord, as well as provide encouragement from His Word that can help them through the day and during unexpected trails and circumstances in their daily lives.

Several years ago, Jesus moved on my heart to start writing daily devotions; thus began “Morning Manna”. Today, many people are receiving these daily devotions and many of these people are forwarding it on to their family and friends. It is my hope to encourage even more through posting the devotions to this blog-page.

I pray that you, too, will enjoy reading the manna from this site.