Manna Publications

Daily Manna from Mondays to Fridays

Editor's choice of Bible teaching

We invite you to use our free, mobile-friendly daily and weekly Bible teaching devotions written in worldwide easy English. These Manna devotionals are prepared daily (Mon to Sat) at 06:00 hours, then uploaded at approximately 07:30 hours GMT.

It was the last wish of Fred Morris, Manna Publications author, to his editorial team that, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, "Old Testament teachings should be viewed in the light of their New Testament fulfilment and that New Testament teachings should be viewed in the context of God's purposes and promises expressed in the Old Testament and then applied to today". These daily devotionals are useful for Bible teaching topics and sermon ideas from random places in the Old and New Tetaments. They will help build up a broader picture of God's word at the time it was written and for today.

8th August 2025

Jonah Chapter 3.

A message from the LORD God Almighty came to Jonah a second time. “Go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce to its people the message I give to you.” Jonah obeyed the LORD and went to Nineveh… Jonah announced, “In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed.” The people of Nineveh believed God’s warning… Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh. He took off his royal robes and dressed himself in the clothing of sadness… He sent a message to the people of Nineveh. “All of you must call out to God with all your hearts. Stop doing what is evil.” God saw that they stopped doing what was evil. So He took pity on them. He did not destroy them as He had said He would.

2 Timothy 3:12-17.

Paul wrote, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be treated badly [persecuted]. Evil people and pretenders will go from bad to worse. They will fool others, and others will fool them. But I want you to continue to follow what you have learned and are sure about… You have known the Holy Scriptures ever since you were a little child. They are able to teach you how to be saved by believing in Christ Jesus. God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true and for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. By using Scripture, the servant of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing.”

Father God, help us to learn from Scripture including the lives of Your servants Jonah and Paul. Despite the threat of persecution, help us to share the Bible teachings we have “known since a little child”. Then may the people repent and “believe in Christ Jesus”. May our leaders also this day stop what is evil and stop deceiving each other! Amen.

Weekend Manna for Saturdays and Sundays

What Fred said in his Bible teaching

These are extracts from Manna Publications Bible teaching commentaries by the late Fred Morris (fondly referred to as dead Fred's scrolls) based on the easy English NIrV Bible.

Weekend of 9th/10th August 2025

James: Introduction

Five men have the name ‘James’ in the New Testament part of the Bible. Most scholars believe that the James who wrote this letter was one of the sons in Joseph and Mary’s family. He was born after the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus the Christ, whose Hebrew name is Yeshua the Messiah. The name of James is first in the list of the four half-brothers of Jesus. All the four sons of Joseph and Mary were born after Jesus: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (Matthew 13:55).

James became the leader of the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. His letter was written soon after AD 60 to all the Jews in Jerusalem and the world who believed in Jesus. At that time they were called ‘followers of the Way’ or ‘believers and disciples of Jesus’.

The scattered congregations of believers at the time of James were linked together under the power of the Holy Spirit which God established on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. This was the day when the disciples met together in an upper room for the Spirit to arrive as Jesus instructed (Acts 1:4). He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem” (1:8). This was the same day that Peter preached about Jesus the Christ to the thousands of Jews from all over the world who were in Jerusalem at that time. ‘Godly Jews from every country in the world were staying in Jerusalem’ (2:5). This was the beginning of the New Testament congregations of believers in Jesus Christ:

• The devout Jews travelled home from Jerusalem back to their Jewish communities, sharing the amazing news preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost about Jesus the Jewish Messiah.
• In Jerusalem ‘about 3000 people joined the believers that day’ (2:41). They were mostly Jews.
• Later, Philip, then Peter and John, took the good news to Samaria (8:4-25). This began to fulfil the promise of Jesus, “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria” (1:8).

The number of Jewish believers grew rapidly. Later still, Paul and other apostles took the Good News about Jesus to the Jews and non-Jews in other nations around the world making a further fulfilment of the promise of Jesus, “You will be My witnesses from one end of the Earth to the other” (1:8).

James wrote his letter to comfort and advise the believers who were rejected or treated badly. From the beginning of his letter, James asked for patience and a strong faith to overcome the times of testing and persecution with joy and with good behaviour (James 1:2-4). This is the background to his whole letter.

In addition to encouraging faith, James encourages the need to show others our faith in Jesus Christ through humble living and in the good things or works that we do. His letter reflects well the teachings of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapter 5:1-12). James became an elder of the congregations in Jerusalem after Holy Spirit power descended on the believers in an upper room (Acts 2:4).

Extracted from “JAMES” Bible teaching commentary by Fred Morris, © 2000, 2020. [view here]

Our Prayers of praise to God

Father God and Creator in Heaven, we thank and praise You for Your love and mercy in forgiving and saving us through the sacrifice of Your Son and Saviour, Jesus the Christ and Messiah. Thank You for His promised Holy Spirit at work in the lives of those who repent and believe and among fellowships of true believers. Keep us faithful as Bible-believing witnesses of Your purpose in Christ to establish Your Kingdom on Earth as in Heaven. Forgive our disobedience, fears and doubts. Provide our daily needs while awaiting His return, and bring help and forgiveness to others through Christ's resurrection power and His compassion at work in our lives. Grant us perseverance during famines, plagues, storms and persecution as we study and teach and distribute Your Bible teachings.

Thank You for the amazing worldwide growth of the Church over the past two thousand years and for the part that Manna Publications has played in this 21st Century. Accept our praise for the funding, printing and distribution of Manna Bible teaching commentaries written by the late Fred Morris currently in Armenia, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and worldwide through this website. Amen.

Also read the daily prayers for blessing God's suffering people who are persecuted for their faith or traumatised by easrthquakes, climate change, plagues, terrorists or wars. These prayers are provided by Barnabas Aid for the worldwide, suffering church.

View The Jesus Book New Testament in worldwide easy English: PDF version published by Soon Publications, England, in 1969 and 1998 and republished in 2023 by Manna Publications (UK) in memory of George Verwer (Operation Mobilisation).