Daily Manna from Heaven

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” -John 1:12

When the Swiss Air flight went down off the coast of Newfoundland, the black box on the plane indicated that sixteen minutes elapsed from the time the pilot first recognized the plane was in trouble until the fatal crash. Sixteen minutes—one minute more than a quarter of an hour. Sixteen minutes to make peace with God.

Every one, of course, realizes that someday he will die, in spite of the fact that we usually live as though that day will never come. Thomas a Kempis, the churchman of the Middle Ages, urged, “Labor now to live, so that at the hour of death thou mayest rather rejoice than fear.” No one, of course, knows when the hands of the clock will stop, and in all probability those on board that ill-fated Swiss Air flight didn’t themselves know whether they had sixteen minutes or some forty-plus years left. That’s the reason why you need to make peace with God now.

If you knew that you had sixteen minutes to live, what would you do? When the Titanic went down, some walked around straightening picture frames that were hanging at an angle. But nobody in his right mind waters flowers in a burning building.

Question: Is sixteen minutes long enough to make peace with God? I mean, can you go through the inventory of what you need to confess in sixteen minutes? Let me put the answer like this. When Christ was on the cross, two thieves were crucified with him. One of them cried out, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom!” And immediately Jesus responded, “Today, you will be with me in paradise!” That didn’t take sixteen minutes, but barely sixteen seconds.

Making peace with God doesn’t take a long time but it takes a deep contrition. How do you do it? Following an earthquake that threatened the future security of a Roman jailer, Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). To believers in Rome Paul said, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NKJV). Yes, sixteen seconds is long enough to do that. But here’s the problem.

Matthew Henry brought it into focus some 250 years ago. He said, “Deathbed conversions are seldom true, and true conversions are seldom made on their deathbed.” In other words, he is saying that now, when you are rational and cogent, is the time to make peace with God. Then you live each day as though it were your last, so if by some strange series of events you are down to your last sixteen minutes, you know that heaven is on the other side, and you know how to get there.

The person who is always going to get right with God often never has the time to do it. I’m thinking of the time I stood at the bedside of a man who was dying, and I inquired, “Tell me about his faith.” Instead, his family told me about what he had done—his success in the business world, his relationship to the family and the community, but they didn’t tell me about his relationship with God.

“Did he go to church?” I asked. “No,” a daughter finally said, sadly adding, “He never had time for that.” I didn’t say it but I thought he had fifty two Sundays a year for more than sixty years, and he was down to his last sixteen minutes, and it was too late.

Don’t wait until you are watching the clock and you have sixteen minutes. That may well be plenty of time, but again, who knows? John told us how to make peace with God. He wrote, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). And that transaction takes much less than sixteen minutes but lasts for all eternity.

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by Dr. Harold Sala

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.” -Psalm 23:1.2

Is trust in God really enough to take you through the dark hours of the soul? When your life is ripped apart in one bolt of lightening and suddenly your light turns to darkness and your mind is reeling from a blow so severe that you can’t comprehend how different things will be, is God really enough?

This, of course, is the shocking question that penetrates the darkness whether it is the loss of a loved one, a tragedy involving the loss of your business, or something happens which you didn’t expect.

For one couple, it took the loss of their little four-year-old, killed in a tragic automobile accident that left the parents bruised but otherwise OK, but with empty arms as their little boy’s life was not spared. But in this hour of sadness, they found the comfort of Him who also lost His Son at Calvary.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he talked about some of the losses he had personally sustained—bitter losses, too; yet, said Paul, “We do not lose heart.” He used a word that also described the anguish of a woman who was in childbirth and despaired of ever giving birth to the baby.

We do not lose heart, says Paul. But how do we break through the depression and gloom of trouble? Before I answer that, may I point out that more than a few of God’s choicest servants have faced dark hours? Do you remember the discouragement—I suppose we could describe it as depression—which John the Baptist faced in the darkness of prison as he asked his disciples to go to Jesus and ask, “Are you the one who should come or should we look for another?” John had baptized Jesus in the Jordan, but in Macherus Prison he was troubled and depressed.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, described as the Prince of Preachers, fought depression for most of His life, sometimes so troubled that it was difficult for him to function. Are we to suggest that this man was not really so spiritual after all? Not for a moment.

The issue is not so much as to whether you or circumstances win but how you fight the battle and whose side you are on. Far better to be on the side of right and God, which will ultimately triumph, than to be on the side which wins but will ultimately fail.

Take time to turn to Hebrews 11 and read the stories of men and women who were even certified by God to be men and women of faith, yet even these faced the lions and fought battles which they lost, at least momentarily. The writer of Hebrews describes some of these choice servants of God, saying, “Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated–the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:36-40).

When you are tempted to give up, to feel sorry for yourself, remind yourself that you will eventually triumph through God’s grace and help, so stay focused and keep trusting Him. Hold on to His promises and realize God will eventually see you through the dark valley, the one where God’s choicest servants have walked.

As David said, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

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Today’s Scripture

“The vision is for an appointed time. Though it tarry, wait earnestly for it, for it will surely come.” (Habakkuk 2:3)

Today’s Word from Joel and Victoria

We know God has put dreams and desires in your heart-things you are hoping, praying, and believing for. The Bible says “if we’ll pray in faith, according to God’s Word, then God will hear us and He will answer those prayers.”

When you have a dream from God in your heart, you don’t have to struggle and try to force it to happen. You don’t have to be worried or frustrated, wondering if it’s ever going to come to pass. When you have the promises of God deep in your heart, the Bible says you will “enter into the rest of God.” That’s a place of total trust. A place where you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God is going to see you through. It’s a place of faith, knowing that God is in complete control, and at the exact right time, He will bring your dream to pass!

A Prayer for Today

God, You know the dreams of my heart. I rely on You to bring them to fruition and trust in Your perfect plan and perfect timing. In Jesus’ Name – Amen.

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By: Bo Sanchez

“Lord, help me to bless people today.”

That’s my daily morning prayer… uh, when I’m happy.

And usually, I am.

But once in awhile, I don’t wake up happy.

And usually, it’s because of a difficult person in my life.

That’s when I pray, “Lord, how can I bless this… this… this… creature?”

I’m a very patient person, so this doesn’t happen too often.

But it happens.

Friend, do you have a difficult person in your life?

And do you sometimes want to pray, “Lord, if you will allow it, let a 50,000 megawatt bolt of lightning strike (Name of Difficult Person) right now. Not to kill him, Lord. Just enough to wake him up and give him second degree burns. Just kidding Lord, but with all due respect, what were you thinking when you created this pathological human being? I don’t want to sound offensive, but were you sleeping on the job when you created this creature? He’s a mess. He’s a composite of all the villains of Spiderman put together….”

Do you sometimes wonder if this difficult person heard God in the middle of the night say, “My child, your ultimate mission in life is to be difficult. That’s the entire purpose of your existence. You shall be the thorn in someone’s flesh. Do everything in your power to annoy him. Be irresponsible. Or be demanding. Or be totally negative. Or be selfish. Or be constantly angry. Or be possessive. Or be always depressed. It doesn’t matter. Your objective is to make his life hell on earth.”

Yes, I must admit that I don’t like a few unlovable characters here and there, but generally, I think the Almighty has done a fantastic job inventing human beings.

I also believe that God allows difficult people to come into our lives to give us very special gifts. What could these gifts be?

I’m going to try something new today. Instead of writing down what these gifts are, I’m going to ask YOU to write them on the comments below. Write your thoughts and experiences and share them to the world. Thousands will be reading them. And in my next email next week, I’ll tell you what I think they are…

Cool?

Thank you!

May your dreams come true
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