Morning Manna by Rufus Parker: Morning Manna by Rufus Parker

Saturday, October 7, 2023

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2023 October 7

Maintenance Program for The Soul

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” (1 Peter 5:6)

Today’s Morsel: When I was in the army, every Wednesday was maintenance day. Preventive maintenance must be done on all our equipment, from weapons, tents, vehicles, protective masks, heaters, stoves, clothing, and barracks. Everything had to be checked for serviceability. I will say it repeatedly, the military taught me a lot about life and how to care for myself and others. And even today, I find myself using some of those same tools that I was taught. One of the lessons the military teaches is that of humility. You may think that you walk on water, and are better than anyone else, but the military has a way of humbling you. The military has a way of showing you that you are not all that and a bag of chips. If you don’t learn humility, and learn it quickly, the military has no problem with crushing your spirit so that you learn the lesson. God uses humility, I believe, as a maintenance program for the soul. It is designed to reveal to you your shortcomings and where pride is hiding out in your life. Look how cocky both Paul and Peter were until God humbled them. They both needed a maintenance checkup on their souls, and they both show you how humility can work. Peter would caution us to clothe ourselves with it. “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) And Paul would also admonish us to think of others more than ourselves. “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” (Colossians 3:12-13) Has God had to do maintenance of your soul lately? Or did you take care of it yourself? I prefer to do my self-maintenance check before Jesus needs to do it on me.

Sing: Near the cross, a trembling soul, love and mercy found me; there the Bright and Morning Star shed His beams around me.

In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever; till my ransomed soul shall find, rest beyond the river.

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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.