Morning Manna by Rufus Parker: Morning Manna by Rufus Parker

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 1 July 2021

Hardness of Heart

“And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.” (Mark 10:2-5)

Today’s Morsel: A hard heart can be dangerous. The scripture says that Pharaoh had a hard heart towards Moses. As a matter of fact, he even had a hard heart towards God, somewhat like many today. Many people may not think that their heart is hardened, but here are a few warning signs that it is.

1. You may not feel like talking to anyone. When someone mentions a sensitive subject, you shut down.

2. You do not accept the advice of others. You do not care what others are trying to tell you, even if it is to help you.

3. You have no compassion or love for others. You see other’s problems and dilemmas of their own doing.

4. You cannot rejoice with others' success. Especially if others get promoted and you do not.

5. You have no interest in doing a good job at work or taking care of the things that you should be responsible for.

When they inquired of Jesus about putting away their wives, Jesus asked them what did Moses command you? They said that Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, "For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept." Gills Commentary says: "It was not because it was right in its own nature, or according to the original will of God; but because the Jews were such cruel and hard-hearted men that if this had not been permitted, some of them that had wives not so agreeable to them would have used them in a very inhuman manner, if not murdered them." No born-again believer should have a hard heart. We all need to check our hearts daily and allow the Lord to keep them soft.

Sing: Change my heart O’ God, make it ever true; change my heart O’ God, may I be like You.

Thought For Today: No born-again believer should have a hard heart. (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.