Manna in the Morning

Kelso Carter wrote an old Gospel Hymn entitled, “Standing On the Promises” which has blessed the hearts of many through the years. “Standing On the Promises” is more than a title to a song. It is the very heart of our faith. It is the only place we have to stand. Once, a song leader stopped a congregation in the middle of singing that song. He asked people in the audience to volunteer some of the promises on which they were standing. One said, “Lo, I am with you, always.” Another said, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Still another said, “Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst.” Soon, a dozen promises had been quoted. When the singing resumed, there was a marked increase in enthusiasm. As we go about our day to day... let us remember that the best place in all the world for us to stand is “on the promises of God.”

Leroy Lawson relates that a cheerless note comes down to us from the records of America’s Civil War. The Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts was encamped three miles from Charleston. On an expedition into the interior, it rescued and brought back to the camp about twelve hundred newly-freed slaves. A visiting Union officer was invited to address the freedmen, who shocked him by their haggard and forlorn appearance. He didn’t know what to say to them, so he invited them to give three cheers for their new freedom. He started the yell, but they said nothing. He tried again, and yet again, but they couldn’t respond. They had lived so long in slavery, the officer concluded, that they had forgotten how to cheer. As Christians we should never forget the price paid for our freedom. The precious blood of God’s Son paid our ransom and freed us from sin and eternal punishment. Surely this is a frequent reason to cheer! “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)

Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” It’s been said that true joy always involves three things.

1. A conscious decision to focus each day on God’s goodness.
2. Reaching out to bless others every chance you get.
3. Understanding that joy produces strength, which explains why your joy is the devil’s number one target. If you lose your joy you lose your strength, and he win!

There are basically three kinds of people:

1. Those whose joy is impaired. Those who believe that we’re not supposed to be happy.
2. The joy extinguisher...this is the one who’s been hurt by life and they don’t want others to be joyful either.
3. Then, there is the joy carrier...these are those who when you’re around them, they exhilarate you. We should remember that the word joy was on the lips of Jesus often.

Real joy...wonderful joy is a result of a right relationship with Jesus Christ...then you can say, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”