Manna for Your Morning

He sang: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.” — 2 Samuel 22:2-3 (NLT) In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and I called to my God; And out of His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help came into His ears. (2 Samuel 22:7 LSB) “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.” (Psalms 57:1-2 NLT) He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. (2 Samuel 22:17 (NLT) When overwhelmed and in distress, call upon Yahweh. He is faithful to hear and come to the rescue. He will give you His shield of victory; His help will make you great. (See 2 Samuel 22:36 NLT) “The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exal...

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’”  — Hebrews 3:7-10 (NKJV) Instead of trying to keep up with the ways of this world, take great delight in learning and understanding the ways of Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts. (See Isaiah 55:9) Psalm 16:11 says, He will make known to us the path of life. May we follow His ways and never go astray in our hearts. For the ways of the LORD are right; The righteous walk in them… (See Hosea 14:9). Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12 NASB1995) …we ...

Bless and affectionately praise the LORD, O my soul, and all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name. Bless and affectionately praise the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget any of His benefits; — Psalm 103:1-2 (AMP) He forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases. He redeems us from death and crowns us with love and tender mercies. He fills our lives with good things. Our youth is renewed like the eagle’s! (See Psalm 103:3-5 NLT) The LORD is merciful and gracious,
 slow to anger and abounding in compassion and lovingkindness. (Psalm 103:8 AMP) As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father loves his children, so the LORD loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence]. (Psalm 103:12-13 AMP)  I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. — Psalm 34:1 (NASB1995)

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. — 1 John 3:1 (NIV) God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34 KJV). He accepts anyone who receives Jesus. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26 NLT) John 1:12 (AMP) says: But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—  What an awesome privilege and honor to be called children of the living God! He created us in His image. Don’t let the world tell you who you are. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19 NLT) Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God (Matthew 3:8 NLT) When you walk away from the mi...

The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. — Jeremiah 31:3 (NASB 1995) So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you. Pause in his presence (Psalm 46:2-3 TPT) Yet, in spite of all this, I still belong to you; you hold me by my right hand. (Psalm 73:23 TPT) The LORD has loved us with an everlasting love and no matter what happens, natural disasters, pandemics, etc., we are continually with Him, the safest place of all.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, — Philippians 2:14-15 (NASB) May there be no grumbling, whining or complaining, as we run the race the Lord has given us to run. Do not compare your course to your neighbor’s route. Instead, strip off every weight that slows you down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And run with endurance the race God has set before you. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. (See Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT) … press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. — Philippians 3:14 (NLT)

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God— soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God. — Psalm 42:11 (MSG) Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (Psalm 31:23-24 NKJV) Hope in the LORD continually and praise Him more and more (Psalm 71:14) Your hope will not be cut off. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. (Hebrews 6:19a NLT)  It will keep you from being tossed to and fro by the storms of life. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7 NLT)  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13  (NLT)

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the LORD.  — Proverbs 21:31  (NASB) Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. (2 Chronicles 20:15 NKJV) “But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!” (2 Chronicles 20:17 NLT) “With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” (2 Chronicles 32:8 NKJV) Do not be discouraged because of the battles you face today. Know that the LORD is with you! Take your position: stand in faith, in Christ, and watch the LORD’s victory. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. (Romans 8:37 AMP) Prepare for the day of batt...

When His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness; — Job 29:3 (NKJV) How do we walk through the dark times in our lives? By His light. God is the LORD, and He has given us light; (Psalm 118:27). Let us walk in the light of the LORD. For He lights your lamp; the LORD your God illuminates your darkness, so you can see with clarity, the way you are to go. He smooths out the rugged places. He makes your feet like the feet of deer, and sets you on your high places. (Psalm 18:33)                                                                                                       I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light ...

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. — James 1:2-4 (NLT) Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you (1 Peter 4:12 NLT). The more troubles we experience, the more opportunities we have for great joy to abound in our hearts and minds. In addition, the joy of the LORD is your strength. And joy is contagious, when you are joyful, that joy is released into the atmosphere and those around you also benefit. So, take joy in knowing that you are in a process of perfection and that God who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? — Romans 8:35 (NLT) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us (Romans 8:37 NLT). Don’t let the challenges you face disturb you. Stand strong! We are more than conquerors. With God on our side, how can we lose? And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38 NLT). Amen!

Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest. — Psalm 126:5-6 (NLT) To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV). The time of planting and cultivating the seed for any endeavor may be labor intensive and cause us to weep, but continue on, no matter what difficulties you face. Endure the struggle! The Message Bible says, those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing (Psalm 126:6). So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up (Galatians 6:9 NLT)!

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. — Roman 8:28 (NKJV) Not everything that happens in our lives is good, but we can be assured that God works all things together for good in His Master plan. Even in the midst of tragedy, God is still in control and His plans for us are for well-being and not harm, to give us bright hope and a glorious future!

I know what you have done, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. But since you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I’m going to spit you out of my mouth. — Revelation 3:15-16 (GW) Being lukewarm is being double-minded, wavering between God and the world. It starts with following Jesus, at a distance, like Peter did in Luke 22:54. Let us stay close to Jesus and keep a fire in our hearts burning for Him. Never let it go out.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36 (NIV) When Jesus was talking to His disciples about the signs of the end of the age in Matthew 24, He said, "keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come," (Matthew 24:42). When you don't know what to believe, stand on the Word of God. In Matthew 24:35, Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

"When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then attack. I, God, will have gone out before you to defeat the Philistine army." David did as God commanded, and he and his men defeated the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer. 1 Chronicles 14:15-16 (NCV) Just as God went before David, He goes ahead of us. He guides us and makes the rough places smooth. May we be like David and do as God directs and He will give us the victory.

"Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you." Nehemiah 9:5-6 (NIV) The LORD God is the giver of life. He breathes the breath of life into every living being. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3). Worship the Maker of heaven and earth. Not only does He sustain our very lives but He also provides everything we need to enjoy a glorious and victorious life. Hallelujah! Love, Jackie