Morning Manna by Rufus Parker: Morning Manna by Rufus Parker

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2024 September 3

Make Up Your Mind

“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

Today’s Morsel: Throughout scripture we can easily see what happens when folks will not make-up their minds to serve and follow God. The children of Israel found themselves doubting and missed being able to enter the promised land. And the writer of Hebrews cautions us to not allow that same spirit of unbelief to get into our hearts or else we too will miss the mark (Hebrews 3). You see, to serve God requires you to make-up your mind if you are going to follow Him or not. God isn’t going to keep pulling the rope of your heart telling you to get up and come on. Most people who struggle in their walk with God and seem to never reach perfection are those who have not made up their minds to serve Him. You can go to church, but that doesn’t mean that your mind is made up. We saw this during the COVID 19 Pandemic. Many who had been attending church fell away from their religions during those years. Joshua says we must stop playing around and choose. He said, if you don’t want to serve God, don’t blame someone else, go ahead and do your own thing. But if you think that what God is offering you is better than what the world is offering you, then make up your mind and serve Him (Emphasis mine). Have you made up your mind? It’s so much easier to live for God and then to be able to navigate through life’s issues when you do. As Isaiah said: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3). Make up your mind, choose you this day!

Sing: I’m going through, yes, I’m going through; I’ll pay the price no matter what others do. I’ll take the way with the Lord’s despised few; I started out with Jesus, and I’m going through.

Thought For Today: “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” (Psalms 57:7)

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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.