Month: December 2025

Todays verse is Psalm 118:24

“This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

I begin with a Happy New Year!

God wrapped this day in fresh mercy and placed it gently at your doorstep. It is His gift, never to be repeated. After the 12 AM tonight, no one will speak of 2025 in the present tense again. 

Three years ago, I went searching for a way to begin each morning with a thought from God’s Word. Not a long sermon, not a heavy lesson, but a thought. One just brief enough to read, strong enough to lift the heart toward God. That search became the seed of what we now call Daywords.

Some of you tell me you’re “behind.” You can’t fall behind  Each day is just a thought. These notes  aren’t assignments; they’re invitations. Listen one at a time or several at once. Use the note for what it is—a chance to remember God.

About 150 of us share this little journey. Your kindness has encouraged me more than you know. Beginning today I will send the brief note Monday thru Friday. On Saturday I will send either a brief devotional or a short Bible thought. On Sunday we will take a “catch up” day and send nothing.

In the coming year, we’ll begin a new series: “Why We.” Why we worship. Why we pray. Why we forgive. Tomorrow is “Why we read the Bible.”

See you in 2026.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Today’s focus is Psalm 46:1

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

When I was in grade school, my prized possession was a BB‑gun. It couldn’t do much damage, but in my hands it felt like a real gun. One afternoon, two friends and I marched into the Big Thicket woods near Porter, Texas. We were wild game hunting. Hours later, we took a shortcut home.  Within minutes after leaving the known path, we were lost. Darkness was falling fast.

We saved a few BBs in case a mountain lion attacked. Fear makes fools of us all. So we walked, prayed, and walked some more. Just when the dark settled in, a porch light appeared like a star over Bethlehem. A kind man opened his door and drove three trembling boys home.

Life has a way of leading us off the trail. A bad choice here, a shortcut there, and suddenly the fear feel bigger than our faith. But God has a way of placing porch lights in the woods, help we never thought to ask for, grace we never saw coming.

So when you mess up, don’t quit. Keep trying. Keep praying. God is your helper.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Today’s focus is James 4:10

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

In 1 Kings 20:11, a king offers a timeless warning: “Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.” 

In other words, don’t celebrate the victory before the battle has even begun. Pride throws a parade too early. Humility waits for God to speak first.

Pride is a loud drummer. It beats out a rhythm that says, “You’ve got this. You deserve this. You can’t lose.” But pride is a terrible prophet. It promises crowns and delivers collapses. It builds pedestals only to watch them wobble. Pride sets people up for public downfall because it convinces them they’re standing on their own strength.

Humility, however, is a quiet shield. It whispers, “God is the source. God is the strength. God gets the glory.” Humility doesn’t shrink your confidence; it anchors it. It keeps expectations grounded, not in your ability, but in God’s faithfulness. Humility protects us from humiliation because it keeps us low enough for God to lift us up.

The humble heart doesn’t need to boast before the battle. It simply trusts the One who never loses. And when the armor finally comes off, the victory belongs to Him.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking. 

Today’s Focus is James 1:12

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

James reminds us that crowns aren’t handed out at the starting line. They’re given to those who stay when the pressure rises and the path narrows. Easy days are fun, but they never tell the whole truth about us. It’s the squeeze that reveals what’s really inside. A sponge only leaks what it holds. So do we.

We all think we’re strong, until life swings hard, plans crumble, and confidence wobbles. 

Peter, bold and certain, declared he was ready to die with Jesus, but then came the night when faith grew cold and fear grew loud. He failed, but his failure wasn’t proof of weakness; it was proof of his need for God.

That’s the teaching of today’s Scripture: Real courage isn’t loud at the beginning. It’s faithful at the finish. Trials hurt, but they refine and define. 

Don’t lament your trials, grow through them. When you come to the end of your hard times, you will find Jesus is there.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

2 Corinthians 4:17

“For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.”

Heaven has a way of re-framing earth. Paul reminds us that our “light and momentary affliction” is doing something—producing something. Yet when sorrow sits on our chest or trouble lingers longer than we ever imagined, nothing feels light or momentary. It feels heavy. It feels endless. It feels like too much.

But friend, we were not made for here. We were made for there. And the glory waiting for us is so weighty, so radiant, so breathtaking, that one day we will look back and say, “Of course. Of course God was doing something through it all.”

Scripture is God’s scrapbook of this truth. Joseph’s betrayal became Israel’s rescue. Peter’s empty nets became an invitation to follow Jesus. Moses’ desert years became the classroom of dependence. What looked like detours were actually divine preparations.

Maybe the word “if” has misled us. Maybe it was never “if” at all. Maybe it was “because.” Because God was already working, because grace was already moving, because glory was already being formed God worked in us.

For believers, even the hard roads are holy roads. They are the quiet preludes to God’s finest work in us.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Our focus today is Matthew 5:16

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

It is not to early to remind us of the new year that is only a few days away. 2026 is a call to how we should spend that year. 

This verse invites us to more than polished behavior. Jesus isn’t asking us to perform light; He’s inviting us to BE light. Light doesn’t strain to shine. It simply reveals what it already is.

In this new year, remember the Christian woman whose world kept shrinking, yet her gratitude kept expanding. When her family placed her near the front window, she delighted in passing traffic. They moved to the back of the house, she rejoiced in the laughter of children. Relocated again, she beckoned a friend, “Come see my beautiful view of the sky.”

We all have a chance to be this way in the new year. Hard places don’t harden us. Good places don’t distract us. Because, when goodness fills you, gratitude becomes natural, joy becomes visible, and God becomes glorified.

You will never have this new year again. Use it wisely.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Today we focus on Luke 2:7

“She gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger.”

I begin our thought today by saying Merry Christmas. I grew up in a family where we were taught that December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus. Most Bible scholars will tell you that it is not.

The early church did not recognize or celebrate the birth of Jesus for the first 200 years of his existence. In fact, history often points to the year 336 AD as the beginning of the celebration of Christmas. 

This is not a “Bah humbug” type of thing. I say to all these things, “So what? I don’t really care.” As Christians, we can celebrate the birth of Jesus on any day we wish. Certainly, we can be joyful on that day. 

What matters is that we remember why he was born. As the angel told Joseph, “She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21).

So with all that, have fun and open some presents. Have a Merry Christmas!

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Luke 2:15-16

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.

The angels gave the message, but the shepherds had to take the steps. Revelation is God’s gift; response is ours. The miracle was announced in the fields, but it had to be found in the city. And notice their confidence. They didn’t say, “Let’s go see IF this is true.” They said, “Let’s go see what has happened.” Before their feet ever touched Bethlehem’s road, their hearts had already settled the matter. God had spoken, and that was enough.

And where did this long‑promised King wait for them? Not behind palace gates. Not surrounded by guards. But in a manger, a feeding trough for livestock. The King of Kings made Himself reachable to the lowest. The Holy One placed Himself within arm’s length of ordinary people.

He still does.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking. 

Luke 2:16

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.”

The night air was crisp, smelling of sheep, damp wool, and wild grass. Shepherds were the forgotten ones, men with stained tunics and calloused hands, doing the work nobody else wanted. But God has a way of choosing the overlooked to show the overflowing.

One moment, they were staring at sheep; the next, they were squinting at eternity. There was a multitude of angels that pointed them toward a village, and promised a King. So they hurried. They ran.

And what did they find? Just a tired mother, a quiet carpenter, and a tiny, squinting infant tucked into a feed trough.

In the eyes of the world, it was ordinary. Babies are born every hour. But the shepherds didn’t see “ordinary.” They saw God’s wonder! Because they took God at His word. The Lord had said it was great, and for them, that was good enough.

Is it good enough for you?

You might feel like your life is stuck in the “ordinary.” You feel alone, or perhaps you feel the weight of your own failures. But God whispers over your mundane moments: “I am with you. I hear you. I love you.”

The Good News doesn’t require a spectacle to be true; it only requires a heart willing to listen. If God said it, you can bank on it.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Luke 2:7

“And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger.”

Imagine the scene. The King of heaven arrives not in a palace with silk and trumpets, but in somebody else’s town, Bethlehem. No royal suite waited for Him—just a stable. No velvet cradle, only a feeding trough scratched and stained by hungry animals. Mary didn’t reach for embroidered linens or the fine blankets of the wealthy. She wrapped her baby in simple swaddling cloths, the everyday strips any mother might use.

Everything about that night was common. Ordinary. Unremarkable to the passing eye.

Yet that’s the wonder, isn’t it? The God who could have demanded the best chose the ordinary instead. He slipped into our world through the back door, wrapped in the fabric of everyday life.

He hasn’t changed. Jesus still draws near to common folks like us. The tired parent, the struggling worker, the one who feels overlooked, He knows your address. He’s not impressed by titles or troubled by your lack of them. He came for fishermen, tax collectors, and shepherds first. He still comes for you.

The manger wasn’t a mistake. It was a message. God is at home among the ordinary. And in your ordinary life, He is near.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.