Daily portion of heavenly food

In this world lots of events demand our attention. We are pushed from one site to the other, having to do this, responding to that, needing to meet his person, or having to write to that one.

We have to face the hectic life of getting into business, having to do the shopping, taking care of the household, bringing the kids to school and to their after school societies or arts classes. They have their activities which demands their, but also our, attention. They want to get somewhere in life and we are wondering where we can get to. Who does not want to come somewhere at the top in life? But what may it be, having reached the goal or having become some one important. What does it contribute to our personal life?

Saint Padre Pio stated: “Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds him”. The Rosary: A Path Into Prayer by Liz Kelly 2004 ISBN 082942024X pages 79 and 86 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like most people Christians allow the rush and crush of selfish ambition to deprive them of their daily portion of heavenly food. Oh, so often they forget what is most important in life. By forgetting the more spiritual matters it often happens they come like most citizens, bewildered in the mass of people trying to get somewhere in life.

Forgetting to take in their daily portion of spiritual food they must not be surprised, if they grow spiritually leaner day by day, and if “the peace of God” gives place in their hearts to the discontent which is growing in the world, notwithstanding the multiplication of their comforts and privileges.

Still life with Bible, by Vincent Van Gogh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We should remember how important it is to have our daily Bible Readings. There are different ways to get around the Book of books in the whole year. Either you may go from chapter to chapter, until the end of the Bible and start all over again, taking perhaps another translation each time. Or you may follow the practical Bible roster or Bible Reading Plan provided by several Bible Students Groups, like the International Bible Students or the Christadelphians.

Next to those Bible readings we need some extra guidance and encouragement. This can be received by reading the daily notes or additional daily short meditations. Such literature can be like daily manna, the spiritual food which can take care that we grow and become more mature Bible Students.

We may not forget the Divine Creator Himself has given us His teaching. By His men He allowed the Words come unto many people all over the world in many languages. That way all over the world people can get to know and keep in their hearts those commandments God has given to the world. For length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to those who are willing to listen to those words of the All Mighty. Those people who believe there exist that Supreme Being Who is eternal Spirit, can find His handbook for life, which has every guidance we need in it. This Super Power is more mighty than any man, and it is Him we should fear and not our fellow man. To His words we should give more attention than to the words of man. By reading them the readers shall find their character and their personality changing by the years. They shall be able to find kindness and truth, but should also be aware that favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man, plus good success can leave them if they do not continue on the right path.

We should trust in the Most High Lord of heavens, the God of gods, Jehovah with all our heart. Too many people today are leaning on their own understanding, convinced they have enough own insight. How mistaken they can be. God asks us to trust the Adonai with all our heart and not to rely on our own understanding.

In all our ways we should have respect unto Him by listening to Him Who has all the answers. Him we can trust to give our hand to be guided through life. When we allow Him to order our goings, we can be sure we shall be able to find easier ways in life. We therefore may not neglect the God’s Word. It will not be sufficient just to read His Word once in our lifetime. It also will not be sufficient to go to Him only when we are in trouble or find no way out. We shall have to show to God we are with Him and do love Him, not for what we might get from Him but out of honest feelings of love for Him and His creation.

We should all be aware that we will not enjoy life — really live — as God intended, without feeding regularly on God’s Word.

As human beings we do need water daily, our drinks and our other beverages. We can not survive without having food regularly. Spiritually it is exactly the same, we can not survive without our spiritual food at regular time intervals.

In case we do not eat properly we shall not be able to stay healthy. We need the necessary nutrients to stay strong physically. But we do not only have our physical body. We do have our brains and our way of thinking. To keep that healthy we shall need to give our brains the right impulses. We do need spiritual food to stay strong spiritually.

God’s Word — the Bible — is the food that feeds our faith, and gives us spiritual strength.

” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'” (Matthew 4:4 NHEBJE)

By every thing that God prescribes we shall be able to live. Like we need to feed our body every day, we also need to feed our spirit every day.

British Library Add. MS 59874 Ethiopian Bible – Matthew’s Gospel (Ge’ez script) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our daily Bible reading should be our standard activity whereby we virtually bind the Word of God around our neck, writing them on the tablet of our heart. Doing so, we will find favour and good repute in the sight of God but also of man. Acknowledging Him, He will make your paths straight.

To get regularly some of God’s Word into our mind we can build up some good habits, such as reading the Word every time we eat food, or every morning when when we awake, or right before we go to sleep. It does not matter so much when we take some time to read in the Bible or when we take some time to pray or have our little conversation with the One Who we love. We only should not postpone it and should remember every day.

We may not be wise in our own eyes. We should fear the Most High Divine Creator, Jehovah and turn away from evil. When we fulfil such daily routine of Bible Reading it will be healing to our body and be as a refreshment to our bones.

Let the Word of God with the daily readings exhort us so that God in all our ways shall direct our paths.

” My son, do not forget my teaching; but let your heart keep my commandments:  (2)  for length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.  (3)  Do not let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.  (4)  So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of God and man.  (5)  Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  (6)  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  (7)  Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil.  (8)  It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:1-8 NHEBJE)

Taking every day the Bible into our hands to read in it we should also pounder and meditate on what we have read. We should let the Words of God go deeper in our mind. Not only letting the word coming into our minds, we should also allow the Word of God come out of our minds, speaking it to ourselves and others. Speaking the Word — especially when you personalize it, can really build your faith fast.

You can read the Word of God (the Bible) on your own or with others. Listening to others who read it aloud is also a nice way to share God’s Word.

Of course, nothing can replace your own reading of the Bible, or having it read to you. But additionally it may benefit you to include devotional reading, texts or meditations on biblical texts or Bible Fragments.

Charles Taze Russell

For this reason we would like to contribute to encourage you to think about certain Bible fragments and would like to present, or to do our part in providing, material to enrich you spiritually. Besides Bible Fragments we will on this site, in the future, places short devotions or thoughts and discussions of our confreres from the past. As such you shall be able to find some parts from Charles Taze Russell his “Daily Manna” which had far better success than the Bible Students had dared hope for at the turn of the 19th century.

At the beginning of the 21st century we too would like to present “Daily Manna” to provide our visitors and readers with  spiritual nourishment. We do hope we shall find enough people who are truly committed to seeking God and walking closely with Him, interested to meditate with us on the provided readings from the Bible as well as from previous writings by different Bible Students.

We shall regularly bring an extraction of God’s word, with or without commentary and present some thoughts to draw the sincere seeker closer to God on a regular basis.

Knowing that the hope for the world lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ’s Millennial Kingdom — but that before Jesus shall return everywhere in the world the Gospel shall have to be preached, we would like to bring our contribution to that preaching and hope that you would like to share the Good News with others.

We all should work at our self and help others to work at themselves to become more clean and ‘holy‘ so that we can set apart and be prepared for the return of Christ Jesus, when all the wilfully wicked will be destroyed.(Acts 3:19-23; Isaiah 35).

We wish we can stimulate you to look more into your Bible and to study further the Word of God.

For the extra devotional texts we shall first present writings from the original edition of the “Daily Heavenly Manna” first published in book form on February 1, 1905 (R3498). The compiler, Sr. Gertrude W. Siebert was noted for making her
selections with “particularity and carefulness.”
The popularity of the first edition of 20,000 called for a subsequent printing of 40,000 in 1907 (R3967.) This second edition added the feature of interleaved lined pages for use as an “Autograph and Birthday record.” Its use as a follow-up for the colporteurs was suggested at that time, and some of their early experiences are recorded in R4561 and R5869.
By 1911, the popularity of the “Manna” was so great that a reader of the “Towers” suggested the use of the Wednesday text for the weekly Testimony meeting (R4770). A similar suggestion a few months later was amended by Pastor Russell to a suggestion for the Thursday text. (R4833)

In the past several people found comfort in the thoughts the Bible Students offered and some call it their “Heavenly Breakfast Food” and tell that they feast upon its lessons as regularly as the sun rises. Surely the little tithe of time daily
spent in partaking of its morsels of heavenly counsel cannot fail to profit all who partake.
The day opened with such meditations is sure to be the better spent and more profitable.
The heart thus turned to holy thoughts is much less likely to go aside from right paths than otherwise. “The wisdom that cometh from above” is thus gradually and easily assimilable, and cannot fail to bear some good fruit in the hearts of the saints, and to awaken reverence in the worldly.

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Additional reading:

1. Not the circumstances in which we are placed constitutes our comfort
2. The big agenda item
3. Walking in the Light of Life
4. The giving and protecting God
5. God’s Blog recorded in a Book
6. Creator and Blogger God 2 Image and likeness
7. Bible in the first place #2/3
8. God’s Comfort
9. Man’s plans prevailed by God’s purpose
10. Words to inspire and to give wisdom
11. People Seeking for God 1 Looking for answers
12. People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations
13. People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions
14. People Seeking for God 6 Strategy
15. My God
16. The manager and Word of God
17. Understanding what we read
18. A time for everything
19. Feed Your Faith Daily
20. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone!
21. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
22. We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace
23. A Living Faith #10: Our manner of Life #2
24. If you want to go far in life
25. Grow strong in weakness
26. Running away from the past
27. Everything that is done in the world is done by hope
28. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #3 Rejoicing in the insistence
29. Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality
30. Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people
31. Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one
32. Discipleship way of life on the narrow way to everlasting life
33. Youth has difficulty Bible Reading
34. Hello America and atheists
35. Charles Taze Russell never claimed to have found a new religion, or a new church.
36. Russell himself never claimed to be a prophet.
37. Around C.T.Russell
38. Russell and his beliefs
39. Biblestudents & T.C.Russell

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