Author: londavis@hotmail.com

Don’t Bury Your Spaghetti

Our scripture for today is 1 Corinthians 1:25

“The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

We don’t usually think about the foolishness of God. This really is a phrase of comparison. Paul is saying that the wisest thing a man may ever say is not even comparable to God’s wisdom. In fact, man’s wisdom is silly compared to God’s wisdom. 

Let’s illustrate with a true story.

When I was a kid I had a dog that I named Pancho. I thought he was very smart. Well, he was… for a dog. 

In those days dogs were different. They lived outside, chased cars, and barked at night. Dog food was whatever we had left over from our meal. He ate anything, even spaghetti. Once I gave him a plate of it and he ate it. At least until he was full. When he got full, he did what dogs do: he saved it for later by burying it. I laughed at how dumb that was. You can’t bury spaghetti by covering it with dirt. He didn’t know it. Dumb dog!

Now, when I think back, I wonder if that is how we sometimes appear to God. We too bury our spaghetti. We do things that must look just as silly to God.

We spend time having fun until we don’t have time for important things. 
We chase comfort and ignore health.
We spend money on things and stuff and junk and then get our electricity turned off for nonpayment.
We honor worldly people but ignore spiritual people.
We give time for friends, but not for family.
We search the internet for information to help us make decisions but do not consult God’s Word.
We fail to plan and just live life as it comes.

Well, you get the idea. We sometimes bury our spaghetti.

Lonnie Davis

Our scripture for today is John 14:2

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” – Jesus

For fifty years, I doubt if I have ever preached a funeral when I did not read this beautiful verse. Recently, I have seen it in a new light. 

When my fourth grandchild, a baby girl named Emma, was born, I went to the house. She had so many clothes that I was amazed. Knowing her mother had not had time to go shopping, I said to her, “How did you find time to buy all these clothes?” She answered, “I already had a room full of new clothes waiting for her.”

That is similar to what Jesus is telling us in today’s verse. The little girl was not here yet and yet her mother was already preparing blessings for her.”

Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you…I will come again and take you unto myself that where I am there you may be also.”

When you and I were born into his kingdom, we were born into blessings that were already waiting for us.

To assure us of this, Paul told the Corinthians,

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Blink your eyes; time will pass, and the blessings will be yours.

Just that thought ought to make you have a good day.

Lonnie Davis.

Our Scripture for today is 1 Corinthians 15:33.

“Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought…”

I admit that the phrase “Come back to your senses” actually goes with the next verse but seems appropriate here also. The meaning of this verse for us is that we need to use good judgment about who we choose as friends because they will shape our character.

Many years ago, I discussed this with a teenage boy. I talked to him through a thick piece of glass. He was the son of a former member of the congregation where I ministered. We had glass between us because he was in jail awaiting a trial. He and three of his friends broke into a house in order to steal. They got away, and he got caught. He was penitent and vowed that his life would be different after this was over. His friends had a history of this kind of activity, and so I gave him this advice. “After you get out,” I said, “you need to choose different friends.”

Immediately, he responded, “No. I need to stay with them so that I can be a good influence on them.” Does anyone want to know how this worked out? He kept his friends, and he kept on getting into trouble.

Did his friends influence him for bad, or did he influence them for bad? Certainly, it was a little of both. 

All I really know is that “Bad company corrupts good character.”

I like the way one modern translation puts it: “Associating with bad people will ruin decent people.” If you don’t believe that, then you need to pay attention to the first four words of this verse: “Do not be misled.” Then read that final exhortation, “Come back to your senses.”

Lonnie Davis 

Here are three interesting points about the Holy Spirit, the third in the Godhead.

#1. Jesus performed miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Matthew 12, the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan. Jesus assured them this was not so and then said, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Verse 28). Jesus thus said he did miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.

#2. Jesus preached by the Holy Spirit

In Luke 4:18 Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

Jesus preached with the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, #3. The thoughts in this third section are my opinion, but I thing well reasoned. 

#3. We do not talk about the Holy Spirit as much as we do the Father and the Son. 

Of course the question is why. Recently I heard a man tell a Bible class that the church is afraid to talk about the Holy Spirit. I think this accusation is wrong.  We are not afraid to study or talk about the Spirit. 

I think it is because people love stories and the Holy Spirit is not as story active as Jehovah and Jesus. We love to talk of what someone did or someplace they went or said. Jehovah made the universe, he created man, he talked to Abraham, he blessed David. He has stories we can tell, talk about, and love. Jesus came to earth, he healed the sick, he preached sermons, died on the cross, and got up from the dead. These are wonderful action stories.

In contrast, The Holy Spirit usually worked behind the scenes. Jesus did miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jehovah sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. He guided the apostles into wisdom. Jesus and the apostles in these stories got their power from the Holy Spirit. Stories usually revolve about what the main actors did. 

When people go to a nice restaurant, they leave and talk about the great server, or wonderful restaurant. They talk about how great the food is, but not very often will they talk about the cooks who work behind the scene. Likewise, in the Bible stories, the Holy Spirit usually works behind the scenes. 

We are not afraid to talk about the Holy Spirit, we simply talk more about those whom the Holy Spirit directed.

The study of the Holy Spirit is a broad subject and is much more than can be learned in such a short message. 

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

When you read today’s scripture it seems wrong to say that there are times when you ought not to pray. Let’s consider.

In Mark 10:21, Jesus told the rich, young ruler “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor…Then come, follow me.” Should the young ruler have said to Jesus, “Well, let me pray about it?’ Of course not! He already had a word from Jesus about what he should do. 

Consider Abraham in Hebrews 11:8. the Bible says, “Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” When God called him to go, should Abraham have answered, “First let me pray about it?” No.

When Jesus told the lame man, “Arise, take up your bed and walk,” then prayer for a decision was not needed.

When God told Joshua to march around the walls of Jericho, then there was only one thing to do. March! One might pray for strength, but not for a decision.

Why should we not pray under those circumstances? Here is the rule. When God has already made it clear what we should do, then we already have our answer.

Do not pray for guidance about Getting drunk, stealing,  committing adultery, lying…Well, you get the idea. Just obey. When you know what God wants you to do, just obey.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Matthew 28:5–6.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. “

Let me tell you a story.

John and Phil were walking by a stream, and John asked Phil, “Why don’t you believe that Jesus got up from the grave?”

Phil, an atheist, responded, “Because I believe in science and not miracles.”

So you don’t believe in miracles?” John asked.

“Absolutely not.” Phil confidently answered. 

John asked, “Then how did we get here?”

Phil had the answer, “The Big Bang Theory.”

Okay, let me read you a description of the Big Bang theory.

Advocates of the Big Bang say, “13.8 billion years ago, at the beginning of the Big Bang, everything in the entire universe was squeezed inside an inconceivably small space, far tinier than a grain of sand. Then everything just started expanding. Out of it came everything in the universe. That is the Big Bang.”

Since scientists knows of no laws which make this possible, that sounds like a miracle to me. 

Here is the truth: everyone believes in miracles.  Miracles #1. Atheists believe the Sun, Moon, all the stars, and all galaxies were at one time compressed together into a space smaller than a grain of sand. All of a sudden, bang, everything just started expanding.

Miracle #2. Christians believe that Jesus got up again after he died.

It is incredible to hear someone say that Jesus couldn’t rise again because that would be a miracle. At the same time believing that all living creatures, and the sun, moon and stars, all things came from something the size of a grain of sand.

Lonnie Davis

I called my son, the proud father of a 1-year-old, and told gave him the answer for his someday teenage girl. Someday she will be asking, “Why am I even here?”

Here is the answer for him to tell her. “You are here because your mother and I wanted you. We still do.”

Every parent should put that answer in their quiver. Have it as a ready arrow to use when the question arises. 

What about the rest of us? What about those times when young adults, middle aged, and senior adults wrestle with that same question? Sometimes, we also ask, “Why am I here?” 

Is there a good answer for us too? Absolutely! It is also an answer for you child.

Here it is: You are here because God wanted you. This is what Revelation 4:11 says,

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Look at those words, “by your will.” That means by God’s will. It means it is what God wanted. It is by his will everything was created, even you and me.

You are here because your parents wanted you. If not and even so, then you are certainly here because God wanted you.

Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

You were born because God wanted you.

The purpose of your life is what you must discover.

If you don’t know, then keep working on it.

God wanted you for a reason!

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is 2 Samuel 23:20

“Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits.”

When you first read this verse, you may have thought, “Who is Benaiah?’ “Why would I care about him?” “ Why is he important?

I find it interesting that these are the same questions that people ask about other people. They are also the questions that you ask about yourself. Who am you? Why does anyone care about you? Why are you important at all?

Who is he? He is the greatest little known soldier in the Bible. Why do I care about him? Because he helps me understand why I should keep on keeping on. That makes him important.

To believe these answers, let’s read a little more of his story. It is told in only 72 words.

2 Samuel 23:20-21

“Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.”

According to this text, he defeated the two biggest problems of David’s enemies. He killed a huge Egyptian with nothing but a club while the Egyptian had a spear. He snatched the spear away from him and used it to kill the enemy.

My favorite part of his adventures was that he killed a lion (a ferocious beast) in a pit (the worse place to fight) on a snowy day (under terrible circumstances).

In other words, he did what he had to do and what nobody else wanted to do. That makes him a hero in my book. It makes him a hero in God’s Book. 

We can judge him by the battles he was willing to fight. He could have just gone fishing, but instead fought a lion and killed giant.

I tell you his story because, we all have our own lions to slay, in a pit, on a snowy day.

Children may sing, “Dare to be a Daniel,” but I say, “Dare to be a Benaiah.” Even if you have to work in obscurity.

Today, what is the lion you need to slay? 

Lonnie Davis

The Holy Spirit did not act on all people in the same way. In this brief study, we will see four different ways, or measures of the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is mentioned and described in various ways, and there are several measures or aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work and presence. Here are Four measures of the Holy Spirit as described in the New Testament:

First: Jesus had the Holy Spirit “without measure.” Not just the power to work miracles or preach the inspired word, but as one of the Godhead, Jesus had the full measure of the Spirit. This is mentioned in John 3:34. “For the one whom God has sent [Jesus] speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.”

Second: The Apostolic Measure. 

Before Jesus left earth, he told his Apostles.

“When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come…the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 16:12-15).

Included in the Apostolic measure was the ability to pass the miracle working abilities to other disciples. Philip an evangelist did wonders and miracles in Samaria, but could not pass on the miraculous measure to the Samaritans. Acts 8:14-17 tells us: “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria… because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”

Third: The “Gifts” measure. In the early church, the Holy Spirit imparted various spiritual gifts to believers for the building up of the church and the work of ministry. These gifts include prophecy, healing, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, wisdom, knowledge, and others (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

Fourth: The Baptismal measure. In Acts 2:38, Peter tells the people that when they repent and are baptized they will “Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This measure is for all Christians.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Genesis 1:1-2.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Today’s Scripture takes us back to the very beginning of Creation. When the heavens and the earth were created, the Holy Spirit was “hovering over the waters.” In other words, the Holy Spirit already existed. It existed because the Holy Spirit is eternal. It is one of the Godhead three: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

From the first chapter of the Bible, at creation, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image.’ “ Who was God the Father speaking to when he said, “Let us make man?” Certainly, he was speaking to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. These three are one!

When Jesus was 30, he was baptized. It was at his baptism we can see the three of them as separate beings. Matthew 3:16–17 tells us, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ “

The Father was speaking from heaven, and Jesus was on earth being baptized. The Holy Spirit was descending and alighting upon him.

The Holy Spirit is present in the last chapter of the Bible. Revelation 22:17 tells us, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

From the beginning the Holy Spirit was present. In the last chapter of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is present.

The Holy Spirit, like Jehovah and Jesus, is eternal. It always has and it always will be! It will be fun to meet the Holy Spirit in heaven.

Lonnie Davis

The Holy Spirit – 1

For the next week, I am going to do something a little different. I will use my two minutes with you to share a Bible teaching. Last week, one of you reached out to me and asked my thoughts on the subject of the Holy Spirit. For the next few days, I will share what I call the “Two Minute Bible Class.” Two minutes is not long, but each day I will send another part of a broader subject of what the Bible says on this subject.

Our Scripture for today is John 16:13.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

Thought 1: From this verse we can see that the Holy Spirit is real.

There is much to learn from this one verse, but each lesson will come as a different article. For today we should simply note that the Holy Spirit is a unique person and not simply a power or an influence. He is spoken of as “He,” not as “it.” When I was a child I always thought the Holy Spirit was a ghost (like Casper the friendly ghost). No doubt this was because the KJV of the Bible does not call him the “Holy Spirit,” but rather the “Holy Ghost.” The Holy Spirit is the proper translation. 

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead. As a person, he may be grieved (Eph. 4:30). He may be quenched in terms of the exercise of His will (1 Thess. 5:19), and He may be resisted (Acts 7:51).

More on the Holy Spirit tomorrow. 

Lonnie Davis

Proverbs 1:8 

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

I love the book of Proverbs. This verse explains one of the great reasons to read it. It was written by the wisest man who ever lived. As he neared the end of his own road, he wrote these words of wisdom to guide his children on their own path. They would have to walk their path without him being there, so he wrote these words that they could go to for his wisdom on their journey.

Now how does it read to you? “Listen my son to your father’s instruction.” 

Let’s dig deeper.

Luke loved Becky and gave her a book to read. She read it and then when asked about her thoughts, she replied, “What a tiresome book!”

Crestfallen, he asked her, “Did you see who wrote it?” It was only then that she saw that he had written it. He asked her, “Please read it again.”

In starting the book, this time she noticed on the dedication page it was dedicated to her. With a new spirit, Becky reread the book and then said, “It is the best book I’ve ever read.”

What made the difference? This time through She knew the author and she knew it was written for her. This time, she knew she had a relationship with the author. Thus, it was the greatest book she ever read.

God wrote a book – the Bible. He wrote it for you. 

That should make you want to read it.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is John 20:18

“Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.”

As we read this verse, it is important to remember the context. Mary had just come from the burial grave of Jesus. There she found his grave empty and then talked to Jesus. He told her to go and report the story to the disciples.

It certainly must have been hard for the disciples to believe her. They saw Jesus die! They knew he was dead. Now Mary tells them she talked with him. Impossible.

This reminds me of the story of Harry Houdini. He was known as the greatest escape artist in history. When he died in 1926, he told his followers that he would find a way to talk to them. Every year on Halloween, the anniversary of his death. His followers would hold a vigil for his return. This meeting continued for many years, even decades. 

He never came back or even send word. Thus, each year fewer and fewer people would gather to hear from him. We don’t know when, but finally the gathering just stopped.

However, in the story of Jesus. It didn’t stop. He did come back. He did speak to them. 

1 Corinthians 15:5-7 tells us, “He appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time…Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”

Nobody expects the great escape artist, Houdini, to return. But each Sunday millions and millions of disciple gather and remember that Jesus got up from the grave. He came back and that he is coming back again. I can hardly wait!

Lonnie Davis

What to Do

Our Scripture for today is Galatians 6:9:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Yes, it can be hard to always do the right thing. Sometimes it takes great faith to do something that is unpopular or scary. Here is and old story from history which illustrates this.

In 1939, the Nazis were invading the Netherlands. The first people to be affected were the Jews who lived in the Netherlands. A group of Christians came to the Dutch theologian, Henry Cramer, and told him, “Our Jewish neighbors are missing from their homes.” They then asked, “What must we do?”

 Cramer’s said, “I cannot tell you what to do. I can tell you who you are. If you know who you are then you will know what to do.”

 Read those last words again, “If you know who you are, then you will know what to do.” With all the wars raging in our world today, these words are a challenge to some.

When faced with wrong, it sounds holy and righteous to hear one say, “I will pray to God for an answer about what I should do.” It is not always holy! When God has already told us what to do with sin. We only need to remember who we are.

 In our story, the men and women who asked the question of Henry Cramer became part of the Dutch resistance movement. They helped save the lives of many. In times of stress and temptation, if you and I remember who God is and who we are, we will know what to do.

2,000 years ago, on a storm-tossed ship in the middle of the sea, Paul used that principle to make his decision. He told the freighted sailors, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” (Acts 27:23-25)

 Paul said, “I know God knows me and I know who I am and whose I am.” Since he knew these things, he knew what to do. When you know those things, you too will know what to do. 

~Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for Today is Philippians 4:8

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” 

When we can’t see very well, we can go to the eye-doctor and he can fix our sight. He can make us see better, usually. But sometimes it doesn’t work out so well. Especially if the seeing that fails us is not the eyes in our head, but the eyes in our heart. 

Two little boys unknowingly discussed this. As the boys were talking and one of them asked the other, “Wouldn’t you hate to wear glasses all the time?” 

“No-o-o,” the boy answered, “not if I had the kind grandma wears. She sees how to fix a lot of things, and she sees lots of nice things to do on rainy days, and she sees when folks are tired and sad, and what will make them feel better, and she always sees what you meant to do even if you haven’t got things just right. I asked her one day how she could see that way all the time, and she said it was the way she learned to look at things as she grew older. So it must be her glasses.”

Let me close with this one great adage: “The buzzard and the hummingbird both see what they are looking for.”

May we ever be hummingbirds that look for good things and not buzzards who only look for dead things.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Matthew 5:16

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

When one reflects on a this verse it is easy to think it is talking about trying hard to act like a Christian before others. Well, that is not wrong, but there is more.

I was remind of this when I read the story that showed the attitude of one older Christian lady. Stuck in her house, she was suffering from arthritis and watched the passing traffic outside her front window and remarked, “I don’t know what I’d do without that traffic to keep me interested.”

Sometimes later, she was relocated to a room at the back where the window no longer allowed her to see the traffic. “I think this is better,” she said. I can see the cutest little kids playing in the backyard next door.

She was finally relocated to the city’s shantytowns. “Come and see my beautiful view,” She told a friend, “My beautiful view of the sky.”

Letting your Christian light shine is not just a matter of intention, but a matter of how one naturally lives, of what you are inside.

A Christian can be in a hard place and still be grateful. A Christian can be in a good spot and be thankful. Letting your light shine means you can see the good, no matter what!

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Proverbs 14:23

“In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.”

We’ve all got that special person in our life. You know them because of what they are “going to do” someday. I call these people the “Yak-Yak” People.

In today’s verse, the wise man warned about leading the Yak-Yak life. Let me translate that verse into our language, “if all you do is talk about what you are going to do, then you will be poor.”

If others lead that kind of life, what do we do… stay away from them? Yes, because that friend with the yak yak habit will live in pain AND bring pain to those around them. We also note that life by the yak yak rule is one of underachieving.

But the scary thing is that sometimes we also live with the yak yak rule. Sometimes it is me. Sometimes it is you.

So how can I tell if I live by the yak yak rule? Here is how: make a list of all the good plans you were going to do but never got around to it. Look at all the projects you started but never finished. If that list is long, then they are pretty good indicators of a yak yak personality.

The poet wrote:

We shall do so much in the years to come,
But what have we done today?
We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
But what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart, and dry the tear,
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the words of love and cheer,
But what did we speak today?
– Nixon Waterman

What is the antidote? Start something and get it done. See it through to its completion. The antidote for the Yak-Yak life is today. Do something today. Do not wait for someday. Do something today so that the tomorrow you will be happy about it.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Exodus 10:20

“But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.”

We know the story of Moses going before the Pharaoh and demanding that he let the Hebrews leave Egypt and go worship God in the desert. Each time God would motivate the Pharaoh by sending a plague upon Egypt: water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, pestilence, etc. Time after time, the pharaoh would agree and then renege on his word. 

Six times the Bible would then add, “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” Skeptics have used this to prove that the Pharaoh wasn’t the bad guy. It was God who was making him change his mind.

This is foolish reasoning. God never leads us to do evil. 

One writer explained how the Lord hardened the Pharaoh’s heart.

Take a piece of wax, a piece of meat, some sand, some clay, and some shavings, put them on a fire. Each of them is acted upon by the same agent, yet…the wax melts, the meat fries, the sand dries up, the clay hardens, and the shavings blaze.

Another version of this is to imagine taking a pound of butter and a pound of clay and put them both on a sidewalk in 100 degree weather. What would happen? The same sun that dries and hardens the clay would melt the butter.

What happens depends on the essence of the butter and the clay. 

In life, the same circumstances makes one person better and one person bitter. One person hears the Word of God and is made better.  Another hears the same word and is made angry. 

It is not what is done to us, but what we do, that determines our destiny. 

Lonnie Davis

Facing a Hard Journey?

Our text today is  Luke 2:1,3

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to his town to register.”

Simple words, but these words turned the world upside down. The decree required Joseph to take his young, pregnant wife, Mary on an eighty-mile trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The trip was a hard week’s journey over rough and dangerous terrain. They would not return for more than two years and when they did, their world and our world would be changed. These words begin the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. 

Reading the story of this journey teaches me that even hard journeys can have great lessons. Here are three:

 First. God works behind the scenes.

Since the Son of God was to be born on earth, don’t you think He would come in some grand scene on the most famous stage on earth? Perhaps he would be born in a palace to parents who were royalty. I might have worked it that way, but God often works in small places and in little ways. He had His son born in a tiny village called Bethlehem to a carpenter and his teenage wife.

Second: Don’t judge too soon.

Can you imagine the consternation of Joseph when he heard that he had to make the difficult journey with a pregnant wife? Mary could not have been excited either. Though now we know that the trip was necessary, they certainly thought it was a bad idea. Don’t judge the trip too soon. God knew what was best. He still does.

 Third: God’s will, will be done.

Joseph and Mary didn’t complain. They obeyed and did the will of God. When faced with hard circumstances, one only needs to make sure what God’s will is and then do it. God never asks you to do a thing without giving you the means to do it. That was true for Joseph and Mary and it is true today.

Are you facing a hard journey? Remember the journey of the carpenter Joseph and teenage Mary. As He was with them, He will be with you.

Lonnie Davis

Our scripture for today is Genesis 1:1.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

This verse is only ten words long. Atheists rail against these ten words. Why? Because if you establish these words as true, then what else can you deny? If God created the universe, if he spoke it into existence, then surely he can heal the sick, make the blind see, or even raise the dead at the end of this world.  

I enjoy hearing bright people, learned people explain why we can have faith in God. One of these men is Dr. John Lennox, a scientist and mathematician. Sometime back, he was speaking to a group of professors and students at Oxford University in England.

One of the unbelieving professors said that God is like Santa Claus and that one day everyone would find out.

Dr. Lennox objected. God is not like Santa Claus. He asked the group of 2,000 adults who were in attendance, “How many of you came to believe in God after you became an adult?” Hundreds of hands went up. Then he asked, “How many of you believe in Santa Claus?” No hand went up.

He then added, “Your assertion is an insult to the intelligence of the people here. When an adult studies the question, he is often led to believe in God, never in Santa Claus.”

It is sad that people who think they are brilliant conclude that smart people can’t possibly believe in God. Really?

Let me list a few people who believe in God. 

1. Isaac Newton – Physicist and mathematician known for developing the laws of motion and gravity. He said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” In a word, God.

2. Galileo – An astronomer who played a major role in the scientific revolution. He believed science and religion could coexist. 

3. Louis Pasteur – Pioneering microbiologist who made groundbreaking discoveries in germ theory and immunization. He was a devout Believer.

4. Francis Bacon – A philosopher and scientist known as the father of the scientific method. He believed science was a way to understand God’s creation.

I could expand this list with hundreds of examples. May we never be intimidated by someone who thinks they are too smart to believe in God. Maybe they are just too blind.

Lonnie Davis