Guidance Archives - My Manna

Take Time to Listen

MyManna — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 23:00:10 +0000

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6.
Did you know that you make a fool of yourself when you argue with an ass?
Don’t get all bent out of shape about what I just said.
I’m talking about a donkey!
The Bible tells of a man named Balaam in the Old Testament in Numbers 22.
He was headed in the wrong direction.
He wanted to please himself and was ignoring God, so God finally spoke to Balaam through his donkey.
Can you imagine what that must have been like?
Balaam became furiously mad at the animal!
He argued with it and almost beat the poor animal to death until he realized that God was trying to speak to him through the donkey, to help him get on the right path.
Sometimes-
God will go to extraordinary means to get our attention when we are hell-bent in going our own self-destructive way.
It could come-
– through a financial jolt or
– through a rebellious child.
When those times come, getting angry may be foolish-
– but taking time to listen may be the key to seeking God’s guidance about the right way to go.
Is God trying to get your attention to keep you from making a fool of yourself?
Take time to listen!
And He’ll change your course and get you where you need to go.

The post Take Time to Listen appeared first on My Manna.

Fraught with peril!

MyManna — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 23:00:25 +0000

“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9).
The place where we can see life as a whole is in the presence of God.
There we are reminded of things we have forgotten or ignored.
Here you see the root of Paul’ s problem:
“I myself thought.”
And is not that the underlying cause of many of our problems too?
We say, “I myself thought . . .” instead of asking:
“What does God think?”
Sometimes sailors will attempt to establish the position of their ships-
– by estimating the distance and direction they have travelled,
– rather than by astronomical observation.
This is called “dead reckoning.”
It is sometimes necessary in foul weather-
– but it is fraught with peril!
One mariner has said:
“Undue trust in the dead reckoning has produced more disastrous shipwrecks of seaworthy ships than all other causes put together.”
There are people who attempt the voyage of life by dead reckoning, but there is no need.
God has charted the map for us with loving care in the Scriptures.
And our plain duty is to study the chart so that-
– we might become better acquainted with His purposes and His ways.
For the better we know the Scriptures-
– the better we will know God.
We cannot ignore the facts of history or science – they help – but if our perspective is not drawn from the Scriptures it will lead us astray.
We must not rely on-
– dead reckoning,
– but on divine reckoning!

The post Fraught with peril! appeared first on My Manna.

Ears to hear

MyManna — Mon, 09 May 2016 22:00:58 +0000

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
A man’s 13-year-old grandson had just made the seventh-grade basketball team.
After the first week of practice, the grandfather asked him-
“So how is the team? Do you like playing?”
The boy replied, “We haven’t really started playing yet. So far we’ve just been dribbling the ball, listening to loud music, and the coach yells at us a lot.”
The grandfather was a little puzzled, but figured the boy probably left out a few details.
So, he checked back the next week-
“Well, how’s it going now? Is the coach still yelling?”
“Yup,” the young man replied. “Now we’re passing and dribbling the ball and running the length of the court. And the coach is still playing loud music, and he’s still yelling.”
The grandfather was completely baffled. “Does he yell at everyone or just some of the guys?”
The grandson replied, “He yells at each of us.”
The next day the grandfather dropped by practice to see for himself the kind of basketball team the coach was creating.
He introduced himself to the coach and asked if he would explain today’s training to him.
The coach was happy to explain, “To be able to coach the guys during a game, I need them to be able to recognize my voice and to focus regardless of everything else going on around them.”
We each need to train our ears to hear God’s voice above everything else going on around us.
In the middle of noisy trials and happy celebrations-
– can you hear His voice above the others?
Ask the Lord to help you to become so familiar with His voice-
– that you can recognize it above every circumstance of life.

The post Ears to hear appeared first on My Manna.

Argue with an ass?

MyManna — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 21:00:33 +0000

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).
Do you know that you make a fool of yourself when you argue with an ass?
The Bible tells of a man named Balaam in the Old Testament in Numbers 22.
He was headed in the wrong direction.
He wanted to please himself and was ignoring God, so God finally spoke to Balaam through his donkey.
He was furiously mad at the animal!
He argued with it and almost beat the poor animal to death until he realized that God was trying to speak to him through the donkey, to help him get on the right path.
Sometimes-
God will go to extraordinary means to get our attention when we are hell-bent in going our own self-destructive way.
It could come through a financial jolt or through a rebellious child.
When those times come, getting angry may be foolish.
But taking time to listen may be the key to seeking God’s guidance about the right way to go.
Is God trying to get your attention to keep you from making a fool of yourself?
Take time to listen!
He’ll change your course and get you where you need to go.

The post Argue with an ass? appeared first on My Manna.

The ultimate outcome

MyManna — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 16:00:56 +0000

“What is this confidence that you have? We trust in the Lord our God…”
(2 Kings 18:19,22).
During the filming of the old classic movie, Ben Hur-
Charleton Heston had a terrible time learning to drive the chariot.
When it came time to film the key sequence of the chariot race, Heston told the director:
“I think I can drive the chariot, but I don’t think I can win the race.”
The director replied;
“You just drive, and I’ll see to it that you win.”
Wouldn’t it be great if we could be assured of victory in life?
Wouldn’t you like to know that-
– even though the circumstances don’t always seem to be in our favour,
– the ultimate outcome would be positive?
I’ve got good news for you.
This principle does hold true.
Those who place their trust in Jesus Christ-
– who seek to follow His guidance and direction for living,
– can be sure of ultimate victory through eternal life.
Live life God’s way!
He assures the victory!!
(PR)

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