Thursday December 25, 2025
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
Call unto Me, and I will answer thee and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Jer. 33:3
      To us it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, which many prophets and many righteous persons of the past were not privileged to see. Thank God for the light of present truth! Now we can see a plan of God – a plan which covers every detail of history past, and of revelation future; a plan that is complete – lacking and disjointed at no part; a plan that is in strictest conformity with Divine Justice, Wisdom, Power and Love, and with every text of the Divine Word; and which thus proves itself to be not only a reasonable plan, but the plan of God, in comparison with which all other theories and plans are defective and evidently erroneous, out of harmony with the Divine attributes and with the Divine Word. Those who have come to an understanding of the Plan of the Ages recognize it as of Divine and not of human origination. R1867,c1,p5,6


Daily Heavenly Manna (December 25)
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10,11
ALTHOUGH we cannot agree that this is the proper day for celebrating the birth of our dear Redeemer, but must insist that it was about October first – (Volume 2, p.54) nevertheless, since He did not intimate His desire that we should celebrate His birthday, it is quite immaterial upon what day that event, of so great importance to all, is celebrated. Upon this day, so generally celebrated, we may properly enough join with all whose hearts are in the attitude of love and appreciation toward God and toward the Savior. The habit of giving little remembrances one to another at this time of year seems to us specially appropriate. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He is continually giving and we are continually receiving from Him; but amongst all His gifts the one of greatest importance to us is the gift of His Son to be our Redeemer. `Z. '03-457` R3290:3
Weekly Manna (December 18)
The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Hebrews 13:6
   TO have the proper course in life, to be able to meet the trials and difficulties of life as they come to us, and to meet them in the proper spirit which the Lord directs – in the spirit of rejoicing in tribulation, and counting such experiences all joy, – it is necessary that all fear of man, which brings a snare, shall be removed. And it is our Lord's direction that we shall fear Jehovah, and not fear our mortal fellows. The righteous are bold as a lion, as well as gentle as a dove, and meek as a lamb. This peculiar combination should be found in every Christian, and we doubt if it will be found elsewhere. `Z. '02-45` R2953:1