Morning Manna by Rufus Parker: Morning Manna by Rufus Parker

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 March 7

“Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous”

(Deuteronomy 16:18-19)

Today’s Morsel: As a leader, one of the things you learn quickly in the military is what gifts you can and can not receive from the people you oversee. Sometimes, people’s face and countenance would change when they want to give you something and you had to tell them that you could not receive it from them. This even held true for gifts that you may receive from allied nations. As a senior military leader, I found myself having to ask my legal officer what I could and could not accept. This is still in my mind today when people in the church want to give me a gift. I find myself questioning if I should receive it or not because of my military training. Lady Justice, which stands outside of the US Justice Department, has on a blindfold, a set of scales in her hand, and a sword. The scales represent the weighing of evidence and are balanced to portray that the evidence should stand on its own. The blindfold represents never favoring the strong nor the weak, the rich nor the poor, the righteous nor the wicked, the black nor the white, never favoring one over the other. And the sword represents authority and conveys the idea that justice can be swift and final. Moses told the judges that they should not wrest judgment; that they should not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. He cautioned them that a bribe could cause them to pervert judgment and not be fair in their dealing and rendering justice fairly to all people. Even Elisha rejected Naaman’s gift after his healing. But his servant Gehezi went after it and was made a leper for life (see 2 Kings chapter 5). We must never be unfair when rendering judgment.

Sing: I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.

Thought for today: Never take a gift to pervert judgment (Parker)

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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.