Dear Manna Family,

Names are important, especially your own name. If someone mispronounces or misspells your name, it bothers you, because your name represents who you are. Your parents probably spent hours figuring out what name to give you. When you hear the name Abraham Lincoln, you think of wise, courageous, honest leadership. When you hear the name Adolph Hitler, you think of an evil tyrant who started wars, and caused millions of innocent deaths and untold suffering. There is a lot of power in a name, especially in God’s name. In the Ten Commandments, the third one reads,

Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave Him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

In the Bible, your name represented the essence of your character, identity and reputation. Solomon said that “a good name is more desirable than great riches.” Proverbs 22:1. If you had a good name, it meant there was already a foundation of good character and conduct in your life. God’s name represents everything He is. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said to pray to God the Father by saying “Hallowed be Thy Name.” Hallowed means holy, pure, revered, honored, and set apart as sacred. “Hallowed be Thy name” is the opposite of taking the name of the LORD in vain.

In vain means lightly or casually. Instead of treating God with honor, it’s treating God with ‘informal unconcern.' It’s like writing a letter to the Governor asking for a pardon from a life sentence in prison, and then signing it, “casually yours.” Life in prison is not a casual matter. We treat God casually when we give him the leftovers of our schedules. ‘If there’s nothing else going on this Sunday……I might go to church.’ ‘I read my Bible last thing before bedtime……..if I can stay awake.’ When you take God seriously, your relationship with Him is the most important thing in your life.

When an issue is really important, we say that it’s a heavy or weighty matter. When you treat God lightly; you’re not giving Him the honor He deserves. You wouldn’t address the Queen of England as “Lizzy,” or even “Elizabeth.” That’s taking her name in vain. You would say, “Your Majesty.”

People take God’s name in vain when they use His name as a curse. Profanity is treating what is sacred with disrespect. When you say, “God damn you” you are praying that God will send that person to hell, and yet it often said with no thought that God Himself is listening. People take God’s name in vain when they use His name thoughtlessly. I once knew someone who said, “thank you Jesus” all the time. The problem was that it had become so routine, that it became meaningless. God’s name didn’t matter that much. People take God’s name in vain when they say, “God told me x or y,” and yet what they say contradicts what God has already said in scripture. That is putting your words in God’s mouth and lying about what God really said.

God promises to punish those who treat Him casually. When King David brought the ark into Jerusalem, he brought it on an oxcart. God had commanded that the ark was only to be carried by the Levites. When the oxen stumbled, a man named Uzzah touched the ark to steady it, and God struck him dead. When you disobey God, you are treating Him lightly, and God always judges disobedience.

God doesn’t treat people casually, and we shouldn’t treat Him casually either. Jesus took people so seriously, that He laid down His life on the cross for their sins. We should take God so seriously that we honor His Name by what we say and how we live.

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen to this comprehensive, expository study of God’s word, taught by Brad Hannink. Manna meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California. For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

We are studying the Ten Commandments and today we are looking at the second commandment.

Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

Vs 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me,

Vs 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those how love Me and keep My commandments.

The first commandment tells us who we worship, (God alone); the second commandment tells us how we worship, (No idols, no substitutes.)

When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, she wanted to know the location where people were supposed to worship God. Jesus told her that the real issue was not the geographical location of worship. The key issue is that God is a spirit, and He is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Any representation of God misrepresents God.

You have heard the story about the little boy in Sunday school who was busy drawing a picture of God. When the teacher told him that no one knew what God looked like, he said, “They will when I finish my picture.” Many people create an image of God that suits their own sin nature. The god they create is ok with their white lies, potty mouth, and ‘X rated entertainment.’ This is idol worship; it’s not an idol on the shelf, it’s the idol in the self. We don’t get to define God as we see fit. God has told us Who He is and what He is like. Worshipping anything less than the God of the Bible is idolatry.

This command to reject idol worship is repeated over and over again in the Bible. This command forbids the worship of any man-made religious images; made with your hands or created in your mind. The problem is that religious images direct our attention to the creation, not the Creator. People often say that statues, pictures, images and artwork remind them of God. The problem is that no matter how beautiful the image, it always degrades and distorts the glory of God. If someone told you they put a picture of a spider on their wall because the spider reminded them of you, you would be insulted. That’s exactly how God feels when we use images of him. For someone to say that looking at a statue helps them keep Jesus in mind, is like a man saying he goes out with other women to keep his wife in mind.

God’s love is jealous and He hates it when we worship substitutes and not Him. We belong to God, and He is jealous to protect our love in the same way that a husband and wife are righteously jealous for each other’s love. Righteous jealousy is a passion to protect what is rightfully yours. Spouses should be zealous for each other’s affections and so should parents. I don’t want my children calling some other man ‘Dad.’ Love that does not care, is not love.

God promises to punish idolators through the fourth generation, the great grandchildren. God never punishes innocent people. Each individual chooses to either worship God or reject Him, and then lives with the consequences. However, if grandpa hates God, it’s going to have a profoundly negative impact on his children and grandchildren. No one sins in isolation; our sin always harms other people. However, to those who faithfully love and obey God, God promises His loyal love to thousands of their descendants. God’s mercy is greater than His judgment.

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen to this comprehensive, expository study of God’s word, taught by Brad Hannink. Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

There is a famous phrase in Alcohol Anonymous which says; “First things first.” Priorities are about what’s first, what’s most important. By definition, the most important thing in your life, the thing that trumps everything else, is your god. We’re in a series on the Ten Commandments and today we begin with the first one.

Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words, saying,

Vs 2 “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Vs 3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

So, who is this God who commands people to worship Him alone? This is the God who told Moses that His name was “I AM WHO I AM.” I AM is the eternally constant God who is self-existent and always present. This is almighty God who created everything. In Hebrew His name of God is Yahweh. In our English Bible, His name is LORD, with all the letters capitalized. This infinite God is also Israel’s personal God. He had just saved them out of slavery in Egypt through a series of divine miracles during the Exodus. His relationship with them came first; His rules for them came second. God’s laws are always an expression of His love.

Now, God tells Israel, and us;

Vs 3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

This is the first and great commandment. When an expert in Jewish law asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the law was, Jesus answered, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Matthew 22:35

This is a personal God who wants an exclusive love relationship with people. This command means that we are to value God more than anything or anyone else. Think of a pyramid of values. People value things in various orders of priority; money, sex, power and so forth. The first commandment says that on the pyramid of what we value, God must be at the apex, the very top. He must be the most important thing in our life.

No other gods: everyone has a god. Whatever provides you with ultimate meaning and purpose in life is your god. The reality is that there is only one true God. However, people worship many false gods. A false god is anything that we elevate above the God of the Bible. The pagan peoples of that era were polytheistic. They worshipped many gods. They believed that each god had limited authority and power. They had a god for the home, another for the fields, the weather, warfare and so forth. A polytheist does not worship their gods because they love them. It’s not a love relationship, it’s a contract relationship. Their god is just a means to an end. If they wanted rain, they made sacrifices to the rain god in order to persuade them to give rain in order to grow their crops and feed their families.

For many people, their god is themselves. The most important thing in their life is their own pleasure and comfort. If they think God can help them get what they want, they play “Let’s make a Deal.” They reduce God to their own human level. This is making yourself a god and refusing to worship the one true God.

Before Me: ‘in opposition to Me,’ ‘in My presence,’ or ‘over against Me.' When you put anything before God, you declare war on God. The God of the Bible is unique. He is the Creator and Ruler over everything. He alone deserves our worship and love.

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

Every 2 years, Congress typically enacts between 4-6 million words of new legislation. And that’s just the Federal Government! Who determines which laws are correct or incorrect? Generally speaking, in democratic societies, majority rules. In less democratic societies, whoever has the gold and the guns makes the rules. In many societies, final decrees on right and wrong come from the highest legal court in that country.

Ultimately, the power and value of a law depends on the Lawgiver. Human lawmakers are fallible, and some laws have to be repealed because they are flawed. God gave the Ten Commandments to reveal His absolute standard of right and wrong, and they will never be repealed! God gave His law to show people their sin, and to reveal their need for a Savior. (Romans 3:19-26). The Ten Commandments are like the mirror in your bathroom. The mirror shows you that your face needs washing, your hair needs combing, and your teeth need brushing. However, the mirror won’t wash your face, comb your hair, or brush your teeth. The mirror only reveals your problem, it can’t fix it.

The central human problem is that people are sinners who are separated from holy God. Most people mistakenly believe that God will let them into heaven because they are ‘a good person.’ They believe that God grades on a curve and that they are above average. However, the Bible says that God’s standard is 100% moral perfection. If you have broken even one law in your entire life, you fail God’s entrance exam into heaven. God did not give the Ten Commandments so that we could get into heaven by keeping them, because no one except Jesus has ever kept them perfectly. Phil Williams once said, “The Law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is, not the broom that sweeps it clean.” God’s law shows us our sin problem. God provided the solution by sending His Son Jesus who kept God’s law perfectly and paid the penalty for our sin by dying in our place.

The Ten Commandments were given by God to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai about 1440 B.C., three months after their exodus from Egypt. They have been the foundation of Jewish and Christian moral and legal codes ever since. The Ten Commandments are usually divided into two tables. The first four commands have to do with our vertical relationship with God. This is loving the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The last six commands have to do with our horizontal relationship with other people. This is loving our neighbor as ourself. If our vertical relationship with God is right, our horizontal relationship with people will also be right.

Contrary to popular belief, the Ten Commandments give humans a great deal of freedom. There are only ten, not thousands. Two commands tell us to do something, and eight tell us not to do something. God loves us enough to say ‘no’ to things that would harm us. As parents we have all told our children ‘no’ in order to keep them safe. A negative law provides much more freedom than a positive law. When you tell your child not to play in the street, they are free to play anywhere else.

Someone has said, “We are not saved by the Ten Commandments, but we are kept safe by them.” The Ten Commandments are like the guard rails on a bridge or freeway overpass. They keep us safe from dangers on the road as we journey through life. God gave them to us because He loves us and wants what is best for us.

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen to this comprehensive, expository study of God’s word, taught by Brad Hannink. Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

The God of the Bible is a God who loves. He is also a God who hates. God loves what is good and hates what is evil. Solomon writes in

Proverbs 6:16 There are six things which the LORD hates,

Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

Vs 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

And hands that shed innocent blood,

Vs 18 A heart that devises wicked plans,

Feet that run rapidly to evil,

Vs 19 A false witness who utters lies,

And one who spreads strife among brothers.

This is really strong language. Abomination: something that God loathes. God detests people who spread strife among brothers. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The inverse of that is, “Cursed are the troublemakers.” If the peace makers are blessed, then the peace-breakers are cursed.

Proverbs 16:28 “A slanderer separates intimate friends.”

Slander is saying things about another person that are not true with an intent to hurt them. Slander separates people and creates conflict.

This is Satan’s goal. He wants to separate people from God, and from each other. ‘Divide and conquer by means of deception’ is Satan’s primary strategy for conquest. Jesus said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Luke 11:17. Someone who starts quarrels in their family is tearing down their house with their own hands. A family feud can destroy a family; a civil war can destroy a nation. And most wars begin with words. Words can calm a quarrel like oil on water, or they can detonate a disagreement into a wildfire that destroys everything in its path.

God hates slander and gossip, because they create conflict between His children. Remember, God is a Father. Every parent hates it when their children fight with each other. When God’s family is fragmented, love loses, hate rules, and the world ridicules. Jesus said in

John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Mutual love for one another is the strongest evidence that Christ lives inside us. We can choose to love others, because Jesus first loved us.

In 1965, Hal David and Burt Bacharach wrote a song called,

“What the world needs now, is love sweet love;

It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”

That’s true; there seems to be permanent shortage of love in our world. Many people are literally starved for love.

The love they really need is not human love. What people really need is God’s unconditional love. God created us to give and receive love. Sadly, sin has corrupted our hearts, and damaged our ability to love. Sin makes us selfish, but when we surrender our lives to Jesus, His love fills us so we can love others.

When we love others, conflict is resolved and harmony results. Jesus was so big on harmonious relationships between people that He said,

“If you come to worship God, and remember that your brother has something against you, first go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come back and worship God.” Matthew 5:23-24.

Jesus said, don’t come to worship God, with broken relationships in your life that you are unwilling to reconcile. Reconcile first, and then come and worship God. The key to mending broken relationships is forgiveness and reconciliation.

Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

I know that reconciliation takes two people, not just one. However, we should do whatever we can to promote reconciliation and peace. Be a peacemaker, not a peace-breaker, and God will smile.

Remember, God designed us “to do life together!”

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen to this comprehensive, expository study of God’s word, taught by Brad Hannink. Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

We are living in a time of extraordinary change and uncertainty. Unfortunately, some people are trying to manage their stress and anxiety by misusing drugs or alcohol. King Solomon warned against this behavior when he wrote in

Proverbs 20: 1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

Intoxication comes from the Latin word intoxicare which originally meant ‘to poison.’ Another definition of intoxication is an overpowering exhilaration in the mind or emotions; for example, “he was intoxicated with the thought of his upcoming promotion.” Today, intoxicated almost always means ‘under the influence' of alcohol or drugs. Intoxication is another word for drunkenness. It means that your mind is being affected by an external substance. People lose self control when they are intoxicated. Excessive alcohol first creates mental confusion and reduces inhibitions. People say and do things that they generally wouldn’t do if they were sober. A large percentage of arguments and fights on Friday and Saturday nights involve alcohol. Solomon warns that intoxication is foolish because it destroys your ability to think clearly and act wisely.

The Bible does not condemn alcohol, but it does condemn drunkenness.

Ephesians 5: 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

Whatever fills you is what controls you, and you are responsible for what you let into your life. If you choose to become intoxicated, you have chosen to put yourself under the control of a mind altering substance and the result is dissipation. Dissipation means depletion or excess. Being drunk does not focus your mind, it distracts, confuses and depletes your life and your resources. It does not add to your life, it takes away from your life. Something that dissipates, ultimately disappears. Habitual intoxication damages and ultimately destroys brain cells.

The Bible does command us to be filled; not with wine, but with the Holy Spirit. Dwight Moody was planning to have an evangelistic campaign in England. An elderly pastor protested, “Why do we need this ‘Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated and inexperienced. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" A younger, wiser pastor rose and responded, “No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody.”

When the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on you, it means that He owns you exclusively. You are filled 100% with the Holy Spirit. At one point in his career Dwight Moody was speaking to a large audience. He held up an empty glass and asked, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” One man shouted, “Suck it out with a pump!” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.” After numerous other suggestions, Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. “There”, he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by ‘sucking out a sin here and there,’ but by being filled with the Holy Spirit. When you are directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit, there is no room left in your life for sin. As a matter of fact, all victory over sin requires the Holy Spirit’s supernatural intervention. The good news, The Holy Spirit lives in God’s people and empowers them to overcome sin. Solomon tells us not to be under the influence of alcohol.

Paul tells us to be under the influence of God the Holy Spirit. Everyday, each of us chooses who or what will influence and fill us. Choose to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

••• Subscribe to listen regularly. Manna is a comprehensive, expository class taught by Brad Hannink atV alley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California. For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

There is an old saying, ‘truth is clear as a bell, but it isn’t always tolled.’ (spoken, lol!). The book titled, The Day America Told The Truth, reveals that 91% of Americans lie on a daily basis. Telling the truth is often uncomfortable and inconvenient. However, telling the truth is not an option from God’s point of view. King Solomon writes in

Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,

But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

The God of the Bible is the God of truth. God is both the source of truth, and the standard by which truth is measured. God has revealed truth to people through HIs creation, through the Bible; and most clearly, through His Son, Jesus Christ. So, people have access to the truth, and God commands everyone to live according to the truth. A falsehood or a lie is anything that disagrees with who God is, and what He does. God hates lying, because lying is contrary to His character and conduct.

Since God never changes, truth never changes. Truth is not relative and subjective like picking your favorite song. Truth is absolute and objective like 2 plus 2 equals four. Truth is like a lighthouse on a rocky shoreline. The waves and weather change, but the lighthouse never moves.

Practically speaking, everything in human society depends on knowing and living according to the truth. You cannot have an effective legal system without people giving truthful evidence. Today lying while under oath is so common that it’s called ‘testilying.’ Just think about doping scandals in sports, political ‘campaign promises,’ corporations who massage their financial statements to make things appear better than they really are. People cheat on their taxes, on their spouses, on school exams, and even lie to their employers’ about how much time they work. We are so inundated with lying, that we call it fake news. The end result is that people increasingly distrust everything and everyone. A functioning society depends on trust, and trust depends on truth.

Lying wears different disguises, and comes in many shapes and sizes. Both gossip and flattery are forms of lying. Pastor Greg Laurie says that “gossip is saying something behind someones back that we would never say to their face, while flattery is saying something to someones’ face, that we would never say behind their back.” Both gossip and flattery often mix truth with lies, and then try to pass it off as truth in order to gain personal advantage. Exaggeration is another form of lying. People sometimes exaggerate to make themselves look better. It actually actually destroys their credibility when they are discovered.

Here’s a practical truth: people tend to lie more readily if telling the truth will hurt their plans to get what they want. It’s also easier to lie if we think we won’t be caught. People want to benefit from their deception, and at the same time, they want to see themselves as honest people. This leads to a great deal of ‘white lies.’ When people routinely engage in ‘white lies,’ everyone winds up being deceived, and trust is destroyed. It’s like everyone is driving a car with a faulty GPS; everyone gets lost and harmed.

Truth is priceless because it reveals reality. The ultimate reality of the universe is God Himself. When we live and speak the truth, we are living in alignment with God the Creator. When we lie, we declare war on reality, and live in ‘la la land’; the land of non reality. God wrote down the truth in His word, the Bible, so we can know it and do it. In John 8: 31-32, Jesus promised that if His people live according to Biblical truth, then that truth will set them free. When we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, He will come into our life and set us free from sin and death. And that’s God’s truth.

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers, Brad

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

Have you ever noticed that change can create chaos? We recently had a new security system retrofitted in our home. Retrofitting means you take the old stuff out, drill holes, run new wires and so forth. It makes a mess. If you want to de-clutter your panty, you’ll first create more clutter by pulling everything out of the pantry so you can see what’s in there. It’s amazing what you can find in the back of a pantry! King Solomon says that some chaos is necessary for growth to occur.

Proverbs 14: 4 Without oxen a stable stays clean,

But you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

An empty stable is tidy, but that’s only because nothing is living in it. The purpose of a stable is not to be spotlessly clean. A stable is designed to house animals that eat, sleep, work, and make manure. Sometimes our lives seem as messy as a stable full of animals. The principle is simple: if you want milk, you’re going to have manure. I have a number of friends who own dairies. Cows process a lot of hay in order to make milk. Everyone wants the milk, no wants the hay once it’s been processed by the cow. If you want a garden, you have to spade the soil and plant the seeds, water, fertilize, and pull the weeds, prune, fight the bugs, and finally harvest a crop.

Work always creates waste; oxen produce manure; internal combustion engines radiate heat and carbon dioxide; and when we work hard we sweat. Change always creates some chaos. The more changes you make, the more chaos you create, at least initially. When you learn a new set of skills or a task, you will do that task badly in the beginning. Think about learning to play a musical instrument or learning a new sport or hobby. Someone once said, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.” It takes deliberate practice over time to become proficient.

In Solomon’s era, oxen were extremely valuable. Oxen were the tractors, the strongest source of pulling power. You couldn’t plow a field without them. Oxen supplied more energy, and enabled humans to multiply their work output. The more powerful your tools, the more work you can do. Years ago, Mike Rowe did a television series called Dirty Jobs. The jobs were dirty, smelly, and dangerous, but also necessary. If you want a civilized life, someone’s got to inspect the sewers and clean out the septic tank. Solomon says that cleaning out the stable was worth it because an ox could help produce a large harvest.

Raising kids can be chaotic. New babies are precious, but they are messy. You need lots of diapers, diapy wipes, and a garden hose to keep them clean. When toddlers are learning to eat by themselves, they spill more than they eat, but that’s how they learn. When kids play, they get smelly and dirty. They drop things that break and it seems like the picking up and cleaning up will never end. And this is all before they get a drivers license!

Spiritual growth is like physical growth. We are born again as spiritual babies, but God is committed to our maturity and productivity. As we spiritually grow, we mess up, we fail, we say and do things that do not honor God. But God’s love for us is relentless and He never gives up. God’s goal is for us to grow more like Jesus and He knows that growth is messy. No matter how messy your life is, remember that it’s God who is working in and through your mess to accomplish His good plans for you. If you want milk, you have to live with some manure.

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and prayers

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California. For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family

Marital sex is a gift from God and He intended it for pleasure and joy. The sharing of body, mind and spirit is so intimate that God designed it to be enjoyed only inside the marriage covenant; one man, one woman, for a lifetime. God designed the sexual relationship to be exclusive; for spouses only!

Sex, like fire, is powerful, and like fire it needs to be enclosed. A fire inside your fireplace can warm your home, and provide comfort and pleasure. A fire outside your fireplace may burn your house down and produces fear and terror. The principle is simple: keep fire inside the fireplace, and keep sexual actively inside the marriage.

In the opening verses of Proverbs 5, King Solomon exhorts his sons to forsake lust and keep far away from sexual temptation and immorality. He warned them about the consequences of marital infidelity, and now he encourages them by describing the joys of faithful marital sex.

Proverbs 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern,

And fresh water from your own well.

Vs 16 Should your springs be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

Vs 17 Let them be yours alone,

And not for strangers with you.

Vs 18 Let your fountain be blessed,

And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

Vs 19 As a loving hind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be exhilarated at all times with her love.

Solomon is talking to his sons, but the same advice applies to daughters as well. He likens the exclusivity of marital sex with drinking water from your own well, not someone else’s well. In Israel’s dry climate, it would be unthinkable to waste life giving water by pouring it out on a public street. In the same way, sex is precious and reserved for you and your spouse alone. Inside the marriage bond, God designed sex to be exhilarating. God is a good God and marital sex is His good gift. God did not design monogamy to be monotonous. Exclusivity is exciting. We all understand that one of a kind exclusivity commands a premium price. In marriage, the price you pay is sexual discipline; your body is reserved for your spouse alone and vice versa. The value you receive in exchange is intimacy, satisfaction, joy and the blessing of God Himself.

The primary purpose of sex is not procreation, nor recreation; it’s unification. When God instituted marriage He said, “And the two shall become one.” Not just one physically, but one emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Marriage and marital sex is an all-encompassing intimacy and oneness that is a picture of our oneness with Jesus Christ. God intended you to be superglued to your spouse, molded to your mate; spouses are welded together at their wedding. Solomon says, don’t believe the lie that adultery will satisfy.

Vs 20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress,

And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

Vs 21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,

And He watches all his paths.

Vs 22 His own iniquities will capture the wicked,

And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

No one can keep a secret from God since God sees our actions and our thoughts. The word paths means wagon tracks, or ruts. It refers to our habits. There is an old children’s chorus that reads,

“You cannot hide from God, His eye is fixed on you.

Wherever you go, whatever you do.”

When you are obedient, God’s eye is comforting. When you are disobedient, God’s eye is terrifying. Adultery always causes spiritual catastrophe because it tears apart the marriage bond and separates what God has joined together. It also captures the adulterer with the consequences of their own sin. However, when you live according to God’s design, you will experience the exhilaration and satisfaction that God intended.

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

••• For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

There are many things that money can buy; but for the most important things in life, money is the wrong currency.

Money will buy a bed, but not sleep;

Books, but not brains;

Food but not appetite;

Finery, but not beauty;

A house, but not a home;

Medicine, but not health;

Luxuries, but not culture;

Amusements, but not happiness;

Religion, but not salvation;

A passport to everywhere but heaven.

We need to put money in perspective. When we buy a bed, we don’t really want the bed; what we really want is a good night’s sleep. We believe that if we only had enough money, we could buy just the right bed that would put us in dreamland for 8 hours. Money is not a good or a bad thing; it’s a tool, but it’s a tool that has limitations. We deceive ourselves when we believe that money is the universal solution to all life’s problems. That’s when greed kills contentment, and the love of money begins to consume our lives. King Solomon, one of the richest kings of his era, wrote in

Proverbs 23:4 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,

Cease from your consideration of it.

Vs 5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.

For wealth certainly makes itself wings

Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

When you ask people how much money would be enough; the answer is almost always the same; ‘just a little bit more.’ Chasing money is like chasing your shadow; the more you grasp, the less you get. It’s like drinking salty ocean water, the more you drink, the thirstier you become. What we think we want is more; what we really need is enough. King Agur captures that thought beautifully when he writes in

Proverbs 30:8 …Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is my portion,

Vs 9 That I not be full and deny You and say,

“Who is the LORD?”

Or that I not be in want and steal,

And profane the name of my God.

This is a prayer for contentment. It’s a prayer for neither more nor less than I need. “Feed me with the food that is my portion” is the same request as “give us this day our daily bread.” Both prayers acknowledge that God is the source and He determines our portion for each day. At Thanksgiving, we generally stuff ourselves with more than our portion for that day. Some people eat themselves right into a nap! Human nature often believes that more is better. The big question is, more of what?

The real issue here is not the quantity of our earthly wealth; it’s the quality of our relationship with God. King Agur’s real concern is that too much or too little here on earth will harm his relationship with the LORD. And he acknowledges that only God knows how much or how little that is. “Too much” riches and success often deceives people into trusting earthly treasures and not the LORD. When wealth becomes our idol, we kick God to the curb, and then drive off into the sunset, ……..right over a cliff.

However, poverty has its problems as well. King Agur doesn’t want poverty to tempt him to covet and steal. Too much money and he falls into pride; too little money and he falls into theft. Both harm his relationship with God. So he asks God to give him what he needs; and what he needs most of all is not earthly treasure, it’s the treasure of God Himself. The only way we will be content with whatever God chooses to provide, is when we value God Himself more than whatever He chooses to provide.

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved