Guidance Archives - My Manna

Improve Your Vision

My Manna — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 17:00:00 +0000

What does it mean to have the Word of God as light?

Psalm 119:105 gives us four statements that answer that question.

The Word is a light that shines from above! It is revelation. We know that God is Light (1 John 1:5). He gave us the Word, just as He gave us the sun. The sun is at the center of our solar system; if it ever burned out, we would die.

Likewise, God is the center of our universe through His Word.

Like a ray of light going into a prism, the Word of God gives us a multicolored exhibition of His grace. It provides whatever kind of light we need. But if you turn your back on the Word, you’ll walk in darkness.

The Word is a light that shines among! Paul uses the Old Testament story of creation to illustrate the new creation (2 Cor 4:3-6; Gen 1:1-3). God formed that which was formless and filled that which was empty. That’s a picture of salvation. The light shines in our hearts, and then God begins to form and fill our lives. He works on us through His Word and the power of His Spirit (Ps 119:130).

He has given the Holy Spirit and the gift of teaching to help us understand His Word. The devil tries to confuse us. How tragic it is that some people radiate darkness! Everything they touch is made dark. It’s so important to study and read the Word, because the unfolding of the Word brings light and understanding to the simple.

The Word is a light that shines around! The life of the believer is dangerous. Satan is a roaring lion and a deceiving serpent. He, the world, the flesh and other pitfalls surround us. We need God’s Word (Ps 43:3), for it guides us (Prov 6:23; Eph. 5:8).

Don’t walk in this world without a lamp. And remember that human teachers are fallible. Depend ultimately on the Spirit of God (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20).

The Author of the Bible lives inside you!

The Word is a light shines ahead! We can see what is coming: Jesus will return for His Church. Only in the Bible do we have assurance about the future, so walk in the light of His Word.

The Word of God is indispensable to the believer (2 Pet 1:19). It shines from above, among, around and ahead of you.

Avoid the hidden snares and pitfalls of the world. Improve your vision! Use the Word as a lamp to your feet and a light to your path!

(PR)

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Stop Signs

MyManna — Sun, 20 Nov 2016 22:00:51 +0000

“Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route.” Acts 16:6-8.
God has the power to open any closed door.
And yet-
He may decide to let things that seem important to us remain blocked.
Why does the Lord allow doors to stay shut?

Protection.
He might be trying to keep us from making a mistake.
On our own, we may not have adequate knowledge to make right choices.

Participation.
God could be sending us on a new path.
His plan might include bigger opportunities, deeper satisfaction, more productivity, a season of suffering, or an opportunity to glorify His name.
The Lord closed doors in Asia so that the apostle Paul would minister on the continent of Europe.
His obedience led to increased fruitfulness—the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth—and to more knowledge for us through his letters to them. Acts 16:6-10.
Though Paul experienced much suffering, he also knew the joy of participating in God’s work.
Proof.
When God says “No,” our faith is tested-
– we discover what we really believe about Him and His plans,
– and we prove our faithfulness to Him.
Perseverance.
When our path is blocked-
– we have opportunity to develop steadfastness.
Romans 5:3-5 tells us that we should actually “exult in our tribulations,” because of the positive results the Lord will cause through them.
Proper timing.
Sometimes our Father places stop signs in our way to work out the right timing for His will.
Punishment.
Past waywardness can affect future experiences and blessings,
– and even ministry, business and visiting opportunities.
But-
“…we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Guard your heart

MyManna — Sun, 08 May 2016 21:00:32 +0000

“For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect-if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time” (Mark 13:22-23).
In the November 1987 issue of Reader’s Digest, Betty Wein retold an old tale.
“A just man comes to Sodom hoping to save the city. He pickets. What else can he do? He goes from street to street, from marketplace to marketplace, shouting, ‘Men and women, repent. What you are doing is wrong. It will kill you; it will destroy you!’
“They laugh, but he goes on shouting, until one day, a child stops him. ‘Poor stranger, don’t you see it’s useless?’
“‘Yes,’ the just man replies.
“‘Then why do you go on?’ the child asks.
“‘I was convinced that I would change them. Now I go on shouting because I don’t want them to change me.’ ”
To the church at Corinth-
Paul said, “You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:2-3).
Even as Christians-
– we can easily be led astray to idols and gods of our culture by the influence of others if we’re not careful.
Jesus even warned-
“For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect-if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time” (Mark 13:22-23).
It’s just as easy to compromise our faith, even a little, as it is to be influenced.
Always guard your heart and mind with the truth of God’s Word.
Ask God to guard your heart and mind against evil influences.

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Still small voice

MyManna — Fri, 06 May 2016 21:00:31 +0000

“Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).
How can we be sure when and if God is speaking to us?
When I was a young Christian-
I wanted to serve God and sometimes felt he was telling me to do something.
However, this “still small voice” within sometimes had me very confused and in bondage.
In time I came to see that this “voice in my head” was not from God at all because-
– “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
And I had no freedom.
One’s inner “voice” may come from God’s Spirit-
– or it can come from ourselves (our own compulsions),
– or from the devil.
If the tempter knows he can’t pull us down into acting out in destructive sinful behaviours-
– he may try to “push us over the top” where we become “so heavenly minded we are no earthly use.”
To know where one’s “inner voice” is from –
– we need to learn how to discern between a conviction and a compulsion,
– or recognize if the “voice” is from the devil.
Some people try to justify what they want to do by claiming God told or led them to do it.
Or they don’t do what they don’t want to do because God didn’t tell them to do it, even though it is a clear directive of God’s Word.
No wonder that the Apostle John advised in the Bible:
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
First and foremost, God speaks to us through his Word, the Bible, and never in any way contrary to it.
He also speaks or leads through various circumstances, as well as through inner convictions.
If it is from God-
– it will be in harmony with his Word and there will be a sense of freedom.
If it is contrary to God’s Word or any type of compulsion-
– we can know it isn’t God speaking to us and we need to reject it.
“Dear God, please give me a spirit of discernment so that I will always recognize when you are leading me, or if I am being driven by a compulsion from within myself or from without by the tempter. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

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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.

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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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Deep things of darkness

MyManna — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 16:00:43 +0000

“O LORD, when you favoured me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed” (Psalms 30:7).
It is often difficult to recognize the hand of God when we are in the midst of adversity.
We often feel God has hidden His face from us.
When the Lord takes us through deep valleys, there will be fruit from the deep valley that we cannot see.
God uses the deep valley to frame our lives to create a change in our nature, not just a change in habits.
The depth and width of our valley is often an indicator of the level of calling and influence we will have on others in the future.
Our adversity is not just for us, but others who will be in our future path of influence.
This is not very comforting when you are in the middle of the valley, but know this is a truth in the Kingdom.
It is often years later when we discover the wisdom of God and why He intentionally led us through the dark valley.
Life is often lived forward-
– but understood backward.
It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back at through valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale and the spiritual deposits He has made in our life while we were there.
“He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light” (Job 12:22).
When you begin to realize this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you know that God was in control all along.
Do you find yourself in the valley?
Now is the time to fully trust Him to guide you to a higher ground!
(PR)

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