"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."         Matthew 4:4   Manna for Your Soul March 17, 2006 A Free Email Devotional Dr. Mike Davidson If you have enjoyed receiving Manna for Your Soul  Share the Blessing by forwarding this email to a friend or coworker. If you are new to Manna for Your Soul and would like to begin receiving it, all you have to do is click on the link "Sign Up for Manna" and   ask for it.  Sign Up for Manna   Previous Issues of Manna for Your Soul may be read and downloaded at: Previous Manna   Reading through the Bible in a Year: Bible Reading Schedule Reading through the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs in a Year:  N.T. Reading Schedule         LOOKING AT THE WORD     If you have a minute, here's a thought from Scripture. AB "Then Manasseh knew that the LORD He was God." 2 Chronicles 33:13 There was a lot of pain behind that word "then". And it was all because the Word of God had not been enough for Manasseh. A few verses before this we read that the Lord had spoken directly to the king but he would not listen. So God (in mercy!) decided to take stronger measures. He had Manasseh picked up by the Assyrians and hauled off as a slave to Babylon. Then, and only THEN, do we find him learning the lesson. But why did it take so much? Why didn't he learn before? Why the need for humiliation and defeat? The answer to that mystery can only be found in the black depths of his (and our) sinful soul. Our fundamental state of rebellion makes us very slow learners before God. We need far more powerful lessons than logic would expect. Whereas it should be natural for us to recognize Him for who He is, we don't. And God often has to resort to painful procedures to get us to do just that. Unfortunately, sometimes the only thing that will wake us up is an accident, a sickness, or an emotional trauma. But is it really necessary? Do we have to go through the rebellion stage? No! The Bible says, "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." (James 4:8) God invites us to know Him without the struggle of a humiliating defeat. However, it is critically important that we know how to draw near to God. It must be by going to His Word and listening for His voice with humble, sensitive ears. God will always speak to us first, giving us the opportunity to listen, learn, and live. He did to Adam and Eve in the garden, to the children of Israel at the edge of the desert, and to many others before and after King Manasseh. We now have those records and are totally without excuse. But will we learn? Will we have sensitive hearts that stir quickly at the sound of His voice? Will we approach the Word with the confidence that our Lord will speak to us and then do what He says? Surely this is how we should read the Scriptures. Andy Copyright 2006, Andy Bonikowski - All rights reserved (used by permission) Andy Bonikowski is a missionary serving the Lord in the nation of Spain. You may contact Andy through email at: andy@aierdi.org   A PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION OF TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL    javascript:ezPOpen('previous_manna'); Procedure for Accessing the File:  This is an Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF file located on the server of our church web page. Click on the link.Once the devotional page is displayed click "Print" and follow the instructions. Note: If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader it is free and may be downloaded by clicking the link below: Get Abobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.7       Copyright 2006, Manna for Your Soul - All rights reserved.