Monday April 12, 2021
Manna / Weekly Manna

Devotions
My Morning Resolve
My Earliest Thought I Desire Shall Be:

"What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord [for grace to help]. I will pay my vows unto the Most High." – Psalm 116:12-14

Remembering the Divine call, "Gather My saints together unto Me; those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice" (Psalm 50:5), I resolve that by the Lord's assisting grace I will today, as a saint of God, fulfil my vows, continuing the work of sacrificing the flesh and its interests, that I may attain unto the Heavenly inheritance in joint-heirship with my Redeemer.

I will strive to be simple and sincere toward all.

I will seek not to please and honor self, but the Lord.

I will be careful to honor the Lord with my lips, that my words may be unctuous and blessed to all.

I will seek to be faithful to the Lord, the Truth, the brethren and all with whom I have to do, not only in great matters, but also in the little things of life.

Trusting myself to Divine care and the Providential overruling of all my interests for my highest welfare, I will seek not only to be pure in heart, but to repel all anxiety, all discontent, all discouragement.

I will neither murmur nor repine at what the Lord's providence may permit, because

"Faith can firmly trust Him,
      Come what may."
Exceeding Great & Precious Promise
If God be for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8:31
      Each one of these (the "saints") may say to himself, and realize to the very bottom of his heart as applicable to himself, these wonderful words – God is for us. He may endeavor to grasp the significance of these words, but he will surely fail to get all of their wonderful meaning. It is not possible for the human mind to grasp the riches of Divine grace and love and power. We cannot comprehend them, we can merely apprehend them. If God be for us, with all of His infinite wisdom and power, it implies also that Christ is for us, for He is one with the Father; it implies also that all the angels, cherubim and seraphim, and all the heavenly powers of our knowledge and beyond our knowledge are for us – all enlisted upon our side, to do us good, to help us, to succor us in time of need, to uphold us in time of temptation, to strengthen us to do the Father's will....The fact that God is "for us" and that He is making all things work together for good...is the central thought, the essence, the strength of this message to "us." R4214,c1,p9; c2,p1


Daily Heavenly Manna (April 12)
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the participation of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the participation of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:16,17
IT is one cup, though it be the juice of many grapes, even as it is one loaf, though it be from many grains. The grains cannot maintain their individuality and their own life if they would become bread for others; the grapes cannot maintain themselves as grapes if they would constitute the life-giving spirit; and thus we see the beauty of the apostle's statement that the Lord's people are participants in the one loaf and cup.... There is no other way that we can attain the new nature than by accepting the Lord's invitation to drink of His cup, and be broken with Him as members of the one loaf, and to be buried with Him in baptism into His death, and thus to attain with Him resurrection glory, honor and immortality. `Z.'01-76` R2772:6
Weekly Manna (April 8)
If any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him. Hebrews 10:38
   THE drawing back may at first be a very slight departure from the narrow way of sacrifice – only a looking back perhaps, with a sigh for the things behind; a little slowing up of speed in the race set before us; then a little disposition to compromise the Truth in favor of the cravings of the fallen nature. Thus the way is prepared for the arts of the tempter, who is quick to note our weak points, and to take advantage of them in a manner best suited to our case. Subtle errors are brought to bear against the judgment; pleasing allurements, with a show of righteousness, are presented to the fleshly mind; and, almost imperceptibly, the soul forgets its "first love" for the Lord, and its first zeal for His service, and drifts away from the Truth and the spirit of it, being no longer led of the Holy Spirit of God. `Z.'95-93` R1799:1