Morning Manna by Rufus Parker: Morning Manna by Rufus Parker

Monday, May 23, 2022

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 23 May 2022

You Don’t Get To Choose For God

“And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.” (2 Kings 5:8-12)

Today’s Morsel: One of the things that we see throughout scripture is, that we do not get to choose for God. We see this with the selection of King David to replace King Saul. As God told Samuel, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Joshua to replace Moses, and Matthias to replace Judas (see Acts 1:21-26) I often wonder if the reason some churches have trouble with their leadership is that man is doing the selecting. They are not seeking God for whom He desires to lead His people. As the Lord told Jeremiah, “ And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15) Some parents even try to choose mates for their children, and we see the end state. Should we not leave that to God too? Naaman thought that he could just dip in any water that he wanted to and be healed. But he soon realized that he didn’t get to choose for God. Elisha didn’t care if he dipped in the Jordan or not. He left that choice up to Naaman. But he wasn’t changing what God’s word instructed him to tell Naaman to do. We must get in the habit of seeking God for what He desires of us and whom He desires to lead us. As His ways and thoughts are not ours. We will only have fulfillment in our life when we learn to follow Him.

Sing: Jesus, Jesus, You know what's best for me. So lead on, Jesus, I’ll go wherever You lead.

Thought For Today: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

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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.