Welcome!

Welcome to Fresh Manna! My prayer is that this devotional post is a blessing to you in your walk with the Lord! My email is stndn4jesuschrist@gmail.com if you wish to contact me! May the Lord bless you for taking the time to read it!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Ultimate WiFi!

 
(I want to first make a disclaimer, that this post is in NO WAY a disrespect to our Lord. I was blessed by the thought He game me & wanted to share. It is not my intent to lessen this benefit from the Lord or try to bring the Lord down to our level.~Marcie)
 
Everywhere we look today, we see technology. Most of us hold it in our very hands! The age of smartphones, tablets, ipads, etc. is here! People can stay connected to each other, no matter where they are in this world! (It blows my mind that people on the other side of the world can read this blog!!!)  This mode of communication is usually enabled by the Internet, and if you use a portable devise, it is usually always by means of WiFi, or wireless Internet. I was thinking about this the other day. It is amazing to me that we can almost instantly talk to people on the other side of the world. Then, I thought, the ability to talk and communicate instantly with the Lord is even MORE AMAZING! It is our ULTIMATE WIFI! This ability is like WiFi in that,
 
  1. There first has to be a MODEM for a connection. This is usually a wireless stick or a hotspot that can run more than one device at a time.  The main place of our ability to talk with the Lord is Calvary. This is where the Lord paid our sin-debt and saved our soul, IF we have called on Him for salvation. If you have not, then TODAY IS THAT DAY! The Lord said that .."NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION..." Ii Corinthians 6:2. The Lord will hear your cry and save you TODAY!! Call upon Him while He is near! If you are saved, this is where you became a member in the Lord's family to have the connection to Him. Just as more than one computer can be connected to a power source, so can the Lord's children! There is no limit to the number of people that can call on Him at one time! His ears are EVER OPEN TO THE CRIES OF HIS CHILDREN! (Isaiah 59:1  & Psalms 34:15). " For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.." I Peter 3:12. Thank the Lord we NEVER have to stand in line!!!!
  2. There has to be POWER in the device itself to keep it running so that the connected can stay. This source of power for us is THE BLOOD!!!  The source of energy for the Christian is this NEVER ENDING source of strength to give us the strongest connection that is possible!  "But with the precious BLOOD of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times FOR YOU.."  I Peter 1:19 & 20. It is NEVER ENDING, because it is ETERNAL! There will never be a power outage to keep us from reaching our Lord, "through the BLOOD of the EVERLASTING COVENANT!!" Hebrews 13:20. "by HIS OWN BLOOD...having obtained ETERNAL redemption for us." Hebrews 9:12. The Blood is our eternal source of power!!
  3. There are only certain areas of coverage with some WiFi connections, but we can access the Throne of Grace from anywhere in this world!! "...call ye upon him while he is near." "....for I will NEVER LEAVE THEE, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5. He is ALWAYS interceding at the Throne of Grace for us, and waiting to hear our prayer! "..He ever liveth to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25 
  4. We have UNLIMITED MINUTES!! We are instructed to "Pray without ceasing." I Thessalonians 5:17.  Hebrews 7:3 tells us that Jesus abides as our High Priest CONTINUALLY! We have access to Him at anytime, anywhere, for as long as we want!!
  5. Lastly, we do not have to wait of a connection to secure itself, because our prayers connect us INSTANTLY to our Lord!! "Continuing INSTANT in prayer." Romans 12:12. We can be certain that our prayer is not delayed! "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, he heareth us:" I John 5:14.
Our spiritual WiFi connection is amazing! The Lord Jesus Christ is the only One that could provide this blessing to us. Our connection  made to Him at Calvary, Powered by His Eternal Blood,  reaches worldwide, with no limits, and no delays!! Since we have this privilege as His children, "Let us therefore come BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16
 
 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

SnowMan(na)

 

We had snow here last week in Sumter for the first time this winter. The children were very excited, as Adam had been wanting snow and praying for it to come! It was a blessing for them to see the Lord answer their prayer even in something as simple as a desire to play in snow!! They made this snowman along with friends and family in the neighborhood where my brother lives. We gathered some of the snow to make snowcream~something my Moma had told us that she and my Granny made with snow when she was little too! This was the first time I had ever made it and it was very good! ( I love ice cream anyway! )  While I was eating it and looking out my kitchen window at the white snow covering the ground, something dawned on me. The snow the Lord sends is in many ways  like the Manna the children of Israel received in the wilderness !
 Snow is PURE, as was the Manna. Job refers to the pureness of snow in chapter 9:30. Even though snow is white, Manna was not. It was light yellow to amber, as stated in Numbers 11:9, or like a coriander seed. But, it did NOT  consist of anything impure or leaven. "Every good and perfect gift of from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.." James 1:17. The Isrealites had to grind it in mills or in a mortar, and bake it in pans, which tasted as wafers in honey, or sweet (Numbers 11:8, Exodus 31). Snow is pure as well, being frozen water from water vapor in the atmosphere. It can be mixed with sweetness also. We add sugar and milk to the snow, mixing it with sweet as they did!

Snow is PROVISION as was the Manna. The Lord provided the Manna to give bread to the people. It was necessary for their nourishment." But my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19.  So is the snow for the earth. It is a part of the water cycle that God has established on the earth (Job 36:27 & 28). Plants, crops, and the ground all need water and moisture to keep them living, and provide us with water from rivers and streams, Job 38: 22-28.

Snow is PROTECTED as the Manna was. The Manna fell on the ground ONLY after the dew had already fallen for the night, into early morning, Numbers 11:9. This was part of the Lord's provision to keep it pure and clean from the soil so it could be using in cooking.  Snow falls upon the grass which kept it from the ground and soil in those areas where we could use the snow for our snowcream! The Lord is in the simplest detail of the blessings He bestows! How many do we not even realize everyday! " Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which are to us-ward; they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." Psalm 40:5.

Lastly, Snow is perishable. Snow only stays around for as long as the conditions permit it to. Usually, in the South, it starts to melt as the sun comes through the clouds, unless the temperatures are below freezing. This is how long the Manna would last on the ground as well! "And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: AND WHEN THE SUN WAXED HOT, IT MELTED!" Exodus 16:21.  The blessing of Manna was available to the Israelites for a limited amount of time, and it was up to them to obey the command of the Lord to gather the set amount per person, to have what they needed. If we hadn't have gathered the snow before it started to melt, we would not have had Snowcream!

Snow is pure, provision, protected, and perishable. We are thankful for this beautiful creation from the Lord. I was blessed by it to be reminded from the Lord of how He takes care of His people, and how He answers our prayers.
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18 So I ask you today...
 "HAST THOU ENTERED INTO THE TREASURES OF THE SNOW.....??" Job 38: 22