Friday, 18 September 2026

Not to Bright: Rejecting God’s Boundaries Fresh Manna by Pastor Tim Burt

Fresh Manna with Pastor Tim Burt 
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Greetings and thank you for reading. I pray that Fresh Manna is a blessing to you and helps you launch your day in the Lord. If you are blessed by what you read, please share it with a friend. There is a link in this box and  at the bottom of each devotional that says:  "Forward this email to a friend." Click on it, and put in their email and it will go to them. Thanks in advance for sharing! God bless you and thanks again for reading!

Not to Bright: Rejecting God’s Boundaries

September 18, 2026
by Timothy Burt

Proverbs 4:14–15 (NIV) “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.”  

God, out of His deep love for us, tells us what to draw near and what to run from or avoid altogether!

In August of 2022, a 44-year-old man was visiting the North Rim of the Grand Canyon near Bright Angel Point. According to the National Park Service, he was off the designated trail when he accidentally fell from the edge. Rangers later recovered his body approximately 200 feet below the rim.

Following that tragedy, the National Park Service reminded visitors to stay on designated trails, remain a safe distance from the edge, and never climb over a railing or fence where one is provided. Those boundaries aren’t there to spoil someone’s view or keep visitors from having fun. They’re there because beyond that boundary is danger.

We understand that when we’re standing at the edge of a cliff. We call the fence protection. Yet it's interesting how differently we sometimes view the boundaries God gives us. When God says, “Don’t go there,” “Don’t do that,” or “Stay away from this,” it’s easy to think He is restricting our lives. We may even wonder why He won’t simply let us make our own choices. But what if we’ve misunderstood the fence?

God sees something we don’t. He sees beyond the boundary. He knows where roads lead long before we ever travel them, and He understands the consequences of choices that may initially look harmless or appealing. When God establishes boundaries in His Word, He isn’t trying to keep something good from us. He is often trying to keep something destructive from reaching us.

Any loving parent understands this. When our children were young, we didn’t let them play in the middle of a busy street. They might not have understood why. To a little child, the street might have looked like a wonderful place to ride a bike or chase a ball. But we knew something they didn’t. We could see the cars coming. That is an important thing to remember about God: He can see the cars coming.

There is one important difference between standing at the Grand Canyon and standing at one of God’s boundaries. At the Grand Canyon, you can see the cliff. You can look over the edge and immediately understand why the fence is there. But many of the dangers God warns us about aren’t nearly so easy to see.

When God warns us about sexual immorality, we may not immediately see the broken trust, damaged marriages, wounded families, or emotional scars that can follow. When He warns us about drunkenness or other things that can bring us into bondage, we may see only the pleasure of the moment and not the addiction or destruction waiting farther down the road. When He tells us to control our anger and our words, we may not see how one uncontrolled outburst can damage a relationship that took years to build. When He warns us against greed, dishonesty, bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy, or pride, everything may appear perfectly safe.

That’s where trust comes in. God's word says, “Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.” — Psalm 119:104 NLT.

God’s warnings should remind us of a fence at the edge of a cliff. When He says, “Don’t go beyond here,” faith responds, “Lord, I may not be able to see the drop-off, but You can.” We don’t need to understand every danger before we trust the One who does.

A child may not understand electricity, but when a loving parent says, “Don’t put your finger in that outlet,” the child doesn’t need to understand electrical current to benefit from the warning. He simply needs to trust the person who knows more than he does. That’s how I want to respond to God. When His Word establishes a boundary, I don’t want to wait until I see the consequences before I believe Him. I want to know His character well enough to say, “Lord, if You say there is danger there, that’s enough for me.”

Sometimes we judge God’s instructions only by what we can see at the moment. We may think, “What’s wrong with this? Everybody else is doing it. Nothing bad has happened.” But wisdom doesn’t wait until we’re falling over the cliff to decide the fence was a good idea.

The Bible gives us boundaries concerning our words, relationships, sexuality, money, anger, forgiveness, honesty, and countless other areas of life. God doesn’t give us those instructions because He is against our enjoyment. He gives them because He knows how life works—what strengthens us, what damages us, what brings peace, and what eventually brings pain.

Of course, we’ve all climbed over fences we shouldn’t have. We’ve ignored warnings, made poor choices, and learned some lessons the hard way. Thankfully, God doesn’t stand there saying, “I told you so.” When we turn back to Him, He offers forgiveness, wisdom, and grace to help us return to the right path.

So when you come across something in God’s Word that challenges what you want to do, don’t immediately view it as a restriction. See God's love within the words! Stop and ask yourself, “What does God know that I don’t? What might He be protecting me from? What good thing might He be protecting for me?”

The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve learned that God’s boundaries aren’t evidence that He wants less for us. They’re evidence that He can see farther than we can, and His reasons are always to keep us in His blessing! Maybe it’s time we started looking at His boundaries as protection rather than limitation.

Biblical wisdom is learning from God’s warnings instead of requiring life’s consequences to teach us the same lesson. At this very moment, many of you know what God has been warning you about! That's His love protecting you! Heed it!

“Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.” — Psalm 119:104 NLT.

Prayer: Father, thank You for loving me enough to give me boundaries. Help me trust Your wisdom even when I can’t see the danger myself. Give me the humility to believe that You can see what I cannot and the wisdom to follow Your Word before I have to learn something the hard way. When You tell me not to cross a boundary, help me remember that Your warnings are always for my good. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Wednesday, 16 September 2026

Truth and Love Belong Together Fresh Manna by Pastor Tim Burt

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Greetings and thank you for reading. I pray that Fresh Manna is a blessing to you and helps you launch your day in the Lord. If you are blessed by what you read, please share it with a friend. There is a link in this box and  at the bottom of each devotional that says:  "Forward this email to a friend." Click on it, and put in their email and it will go to them. Thanks in advance for sharing! God bless you and thanks again for reading! *NewLink Forward this email to a friend

Truth and Love Belong Together

September 16, 2026
by Timothy Burt

We hear a great deal about tolerance today. We’re told that we should respect people who think differently, believe differently, and live differently than we do. And you know what? There is something very biblical about treating people with dignity and respect even when we strongly disagree with them. But have you noticed something strange? Sometimes the same culture that celebrates tolerance has considerably less tolerance when someone’s beliefs come directly from the Bible. We hear, “We must tolerate people who believe differently.” Yet sometimes it seems there is an unspoken exception: “Unless their beliefs are biblical.”

Now, before we point fingers at anyone else, we, as Christians, need to examine ourselves too. God never gave us permission to be rude, arrogant, cruel, or hateful simply because we believe we’re standing for truth. Having biblical convictions doesn’t excuse ungodly behavior. Jesus was full of both grace and truth. He never compromised God’s truth to make people comfortable, but neither did He use truth as a weapon to humiliate people. That’s an important distinction.

Some people seem to believe that loving someone means agreeing with them. It doesn’t. If someone you love is walking toward danger, love doesn’t stand silently and applaud. Love cares enough to speak. At the same time, truth without love can become harsh and self-righteous. We’ve probably all encountered someone who was technically right about something but delivered it in such an unloving way that nobody wanted to listen! God calls us to something better.

Imagine a doctor discovering something serious during an examination. Would we call that doctor loving if he hid the diagnosis because he didn’t want to upset the patient? Of course not! We would expect him to tell the truth, but we’d also hope he would tell it with compassion, wisdom, and a desire to help. That’s a wonderful picture of how Christians should handle biblical truth.

There is another side to this that we shouldn’t overlook. Sometimes Christians become frustrated or even rude because we know what we believe, but we haven’t learned God’s Word well enough to explain why we believe it. When we can’t articulate the truth clearly, it’s easy to fall back on trying to “slam dunk” the other person instead. But winning an argument isn’t the same thing as reaching a heart.

Part of growing spiritually is learning God’s Word well enough that we can communicate His truth accurately, thoughtfully, and effectively. Peter tells us to be ready to explain the hope that is within us, but then he tells us how to do it: “But do this in a gentle and respectful way.” (1 Peter 3:15 NLT) That’s part of God’s plan for our growth. We should continually be getting better, not only at knowing what we believe, but at communicating it in a way that gives someone else the opportunity to understand it.

We don’t have to surrender our convictions to demonstrate love, and we don’t have to surrender love to demonstrate our convictions. This becomes especially important when biblical beliefs become unpopular. There may be times when standing upon God’s Word costs us approval, friendships, opportunities, or acceptance. Jesus never promised that following Him would always make us popular. But our goal isn’t to win arguments. Our goal is to represent Jesus well.

So when someone disagrees with your biblical beliefs, resist the temptation to become angry or defensive. Listen. Be respectful. Show kindness. Know God’s Word and learn how to communicate it effectively. And when the opportunity comes, don’t be ashamed of what God’s Word says. You can disagree without being disagreeable. You can have conviction without condemnation. You can love someone deeply without pretending that truth doesn’t matter.

God never asked us to choose between truth and love. He showed us how they belong together:

Ephesians 4:15 NLT  “Instead, we will speak the truth in love…”

Prayer: Father, help me to represent You well in a world where biblical truth is not always welcomed. Give me courage to stand upon Your Word and the humility and compassion to treat every person with dignity and respect. Help me grow in my knowledge of Your Word and in my ability to communicate Your truth effectively. May my words and actions always reflect both Your truth and Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Tuesday, 15 September 2026

What is the Meaning...of Life?

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Not to Bright: Rejecting God’s Boundaries Fresh Manna by Pastor Tim Burt

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