Author: londavis@hotmail.com

Text: Luke 17:4

“Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Why this verse:

I chose this verse, because we all need to remember a special verse on a topic that is needed all the time. People are flawed and they (including you) will do things that hurt. This verse remind us that we need to forgive – always! As Adam and Eve needed to forgive Cain for slaying Abel, so we all need to forgive each other often.

Insight into the subject and verse

The book “Will Daylight Come” tells the story of how sin enslaves and forgiveness frees. A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma’s backyard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse, he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead.

The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck! So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.

Lonnie Davis.

Text: Luke 17:4

“Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Why this verse:

I chose this verse, because we all need to remember a special verse on a topic that is needed all the time. People are flawed and they (including you) will do things that hurt. This verse remind us that we need to forgive – always! As Adam and Eve needed to forgive Cain for slaying Abel, so we all need to forgive each other often.

Insight into the subject and verse

The book “Will Daylight Come” tells the story of how sin enslaves and forgiveness frees. A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma’s backyard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse, he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead.

The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck! So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.

Lonnie Davis.

Are you a Perfectionist? I used to think that I was, but then I realized that I had not done perfect things, so….

Well, today’s illustration is for all of you who struggle with getting things done because you consider yourself a perfectionist.

The Effective Teacher.

A ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. 

“All those on the left side of the studio,” he said, would be graded solely on the _quantity_ of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its _quality_. 

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot — albeit a perfect one — to get an “A”. 

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work — and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

Our Study verse for today is: John 4:24

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Why this Verse

This verse lets us consider the nature of God how God thinks about worship. Two things: God is a spirit and Worship must be done in the right spirit and with Bible truth as the guide.

The Story behind the verse:

This verse is part of a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well, in which Jesus tells her about living water and reveals that he is a prophet. The woman then asks him about worship, and Jesus responds with the words of John 4:24.

One Commentary explained this verse this way.

This expression “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” carries one of the four descriptions of God found in the New Testament. 

The other three are:

“God is light” (1Jn 1:5), 

“God is love” (1Jn 4:8,16), and 

“God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29). 

Jesus was endeavoring to convey to the woman that God cannot be confined to one place nor conceived of as a material being. Whether one is on a mountain or in a city with the temple, God is everywhere and can be worshipped anyway.

Let me leave you with three Take-A-Ways from this great verse.

1. The nature of God:

This verse affirms that God is Spirit, emphasizing that God is not a physical being with a human form. Rather, God is a spiritual being that transcends the physical world.

2. The requirement for worship:

This verse states that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth. This implies that worship is not just about outward actions, but also involves an inward attitude of the heart. Worship must be with the heart and truthful.

3. The universality of worship: 

This verse does not limit worship to a particular location or form. Rather, it emphasizes that anyone, anywhere can worship God in spirit and truth.

If you want a printed version, go to www.daywords.com

Lonnie Davis

Many people today have been disappointed in God because he did not answer their prayer the way they wanted or expected. That is not fair. This disappointment in how God has dealt with them is built on the premise that we always know what is best for us. Many thus lower their opinion of God or even deny him altogether.

Perhaps one reason many may not have confidence in the character of God is that they never had a high enough opinion of God in the first place.

God has been talked down and reduced, modified, edited, changed, and amended until He is not the God that Isaiah saw “high and lifted up.” In fact, folks often say things like “my God would never…” whatever, but God is God.

Because God has been reduced in the minds of people, they do not have that great confidence in His character that used to be prominent with believers.

We need confidence in God because it is necessary in order to really respect Him. For example, you cannot respect anyone in whom you have no confidence. Extend that principle upward to God and you see that if you cannot respect God, you cannot worship Him.

Where there is no respect there can be no true worship. Worship rises and falls with me and you depending upon whether our idea of God is low or high;

We must walk our journey with God where everything begins – with our trust and confidence that God will always do what is right for his followers (See Romans 8:28). We must believe that the Father knows best and has the best in store for us. Anything else lowers our image of God in our hearts. 

So we say with the Psalmist.

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

PSALMS 57:5

I didn’t write the following note, but it is one of the most beautiful thoughts ever written about Jesus. It is called “One Solitary Life.”

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned–put together–have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.

I’m Lonnie Davis and I didn’t author these words, but they are certainly thoughts worth thinking.

Text: Job 1:1-3

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job…this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.”

With these words we are introduced to Job.

The Bible says that Job was the greatest man in the East (understand that to mean he was the richest man in the East). In Job’s day, the East was the richest part of the world. 

Yet Job never slept in an air-conditioned house or drove a car on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. He never flew in a jet plane or watched a movie on television. He never called a friend on the telephone to check up on him.

I have done all these things. 

If Job was rich, then what am I? 

What are you?

Ours is the age of being victims. It is the time of “Woe me and how come bad things happen to me. 

Folks, you live in a land of plenty and in the richest land at the richest time in the history of the world. You eat at fancy restaurants and get cold water out of a refrigerator. God has given me and you much. We are left with one thought from Luke 12:48.

“To whomever much is given, of him will much be required.”

Read that again, 

Sometimes I sit with loved ones and talk about what we can do to bless others. We all need to have that conversation, not with our loved ones, but with ourselves.

Lonnie Davis

There are days that bring one never forgets. I won’t go into all of mine, but they are there. Yesterday was one such day for the family of Viola Gierisch. She was, no is, a great lady, but more than that she is a great Christian. She was always ready to help people come to Jesus. She led more people to Jesus who went to work at their company, than many preachers do. She loved this story, so in honor of her, I want to share it.

Caterpillars Don’t Die

The story is told of a quite happy caterpillar who found that his life was  changing. He noticed that things weren’t like they used to be. Finally one 
day he began to crawl out of his skin. He was quite surprised to see that 
though he was changing, he was still okay.  Soon he found himself a beautiful butterfly.

He was no longer bound to the trails of the earth below but could fly on the winds above. He was no longer the ordinary-looking caterpillar, but was now a beautiful butterfly. He soared above, looking down on the old shell that was still down below. He thought how lucky he was to have made such a marvelous change.

As he looked below, he saw some of his old caterpillar friends, crawling 
slowly across the old trails that he had walked. They found his old shell 
and began to weep. He tried to shout to them that all was well, that he was 
even happier, but he did not seem to be able to reach them.

From his lofty position, he looked down on those he had left behind and watched as they gathered around his discarded shell and wept. He could not tell, them, but leaving the old shell behind was not the end, it was just the beginning of the real beauty that God had in store for him. 

He knew that someday, they would join him and understand that caterpillars don’t die, they just become beautiful butterflies.

I’m sure that most Christians have longed to hear more stories about Jesus, especially about his years as a youth. What was he like at 13? Did his brothers and sister always get along with him? Did they ever tell Mom on him? Well, someday in heaven we can sit down and talk to him and his brothers about Jesus as a youth.

There is one verse about Jesus that I read, but only quickly. 

Luke 2:52 states: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” 

Only 14 words, but much can be observed from this short, often overlooked verse. Here are four.

1 Jesus grew in wisdom: 

As Jesus got older, Jesus got wiser. Despite being divine, Jesus had a human nature and had to learn and develop like any other child. By the way, this suggests that wisdom is something that can be acquired and developed over time. There is hope for me and you.

2 Jesus grew in stature: 

He once was a helpless baby who needed to be fed and burped. He grew into a teenager and then a man. He was human, just as we are.

3 Jesus grew in favor with God: 

I find this thought most amazing of all. God the Father, grew to hold Jesus in higher regard as time went on. When your own children were born you loved them completely, but as time goes by your admiration for them grows. Jesus always had a close relationship with the Father, but God was pleased with his growth and development.

4 Jesus grew in favor with man:

According to this verse, his neighbors and those around him grew to really like him. He was not that rude or unruly kid next door. Even then people could say to their own kids, “Why can’t you be more like Jesus?” Other people noticed and liked him.

You still might want to sit and talk to Jesus’ brothers in heaven for the stories, but from this verse, you at least know a few more thoughts about Jesus in his growth from his boyhood years.

Lonnie Davis

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There are two words that can help us through every kind of trouble. They are found in the middle of 2 Corinthians 7:5-6.

 “We were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us.”

Our modern world can make us all understand Paul’s cry that he was “afflicted on every side.” We can have overdue mortgage payments, job insecurities, friends that will not speak to us, and that person at work who seems bent on making our life miserable. Those are the things we might face. Sometimes life seems hard. Yes, we have “conflicts without” and “fears within.”

Paul was no stranger to trouble. Next tie you think you have hard days, read Paul’s list:

 “In…imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep…….in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (II Corinthians 11:23-27)

How does one live through being “beaten times without number, often in danger of death and sleepless nights, hunger and thirst?” It makes our little list sound rather simple. 

Well, our list is not simple. It is not easy. But the secret to dealing with our hard places is the same secret that Paul used. It is found in verse six of our text. After Paul says he had all these fears and conflicts, he then says, “But God.”

Two words! Two words that can turn everything around. Two words that make all the difference in the world. Two words, that are available to us at any time. “But God!”

“But God who comforts the depressed, comforted us.”

~Lonnie Davis

I’ll never forget the first time I met her. She was already retired and still busy, busy. She was known to be the the kind of person who told you what she thought, whether or not she thought. Even the local radio station knew her because she called them a lot to tell them her opinion about everything. 

The day I met her we were at church and though a certain scripture was not being discussed, she let me know that 1 Peter 3:1 didn’t work because she had tried it. The passage reads, “Wives …submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.”

I didn’t argue with her, but I did know God and I knew that God didn’t get it wrong.

Sometimes we are like her about another scripture. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” To challenge us all on our willingness to follow this text, I share a short, but sobering word from a poet named Ben Hildner.

As children bring their broken toys, with tears, for me to mend
I brought my broken dreams to God because he was my friend.
But then, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone
I hung around and tried to help . . . with ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back and cried, “How can You be so slow?”
“My child,” He said.  “What could I do?  You never did let go.”

These words have come to my mind on many occasions. I share it because I wanted you to have it in your own mind. It would be a blessing for you to commit it to your heart.

Lonnie Davis

Exodus 2 gives us one of the most famous stories in all of the Bible. Moses’s mother, living under the rule of a pharaoh who wanted the male Hebrew babies dead, had a son. We’ve probably all heard how Moses’ mother put him in a little boat and put him in the river. By and by, the Pharaoh’s daughter found him and saved his life. This story seems like Moses’ mother had done all she could so that is why she gave him up to the river, but by the providence of God, everything worked out. I have a different view of things.

I think his mother did not abandon him to the fate of the river. Mom stayed home with him as long as possible and then as she lived under the Pharaoh’s rule, she had to go back to work. Knowing that baby Moses was in danger. She put him in the boat and left his sister to watch after him. That way, if soldiers came by, the sister could leave for a few minutes and then later go back to watching over the baby. This would mean at the end of the work day, Mom could come home, retrieve her baby and care for him another night.

God had another plan. As Moses was in the basket in the river, the daughter of the Pharaoh found him and claimed him. Moses’ sister went to her and ask whether she should get a Hebrew woman to care for the baby. The royal daughter told her to do so, and by the way, give the woman wages.

As the baby’s mom returned home. She didn’t have to leave anymore. She was getting paid to take care of her own child. God has a wonderful way of taking care of things for us. She only had to do three things: First, Do the best she could. Second, let go of the problem, and Three, trust god.

That is the same plan we all need to follow. Let go and let God. After all God works in wondrous ways.

Lonnie Davis

This is for all of you who have ever had a problem and wondered what to do about it. I think that means all of you. It involves a true story with some of the best advice I have ever heard.

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 answered, “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.” The Nazis are not marching in our streets, but those words should still convict us. When Satan sends temptations, you do not need to ask what to do. You only need to remember who you are.

Sometimes Christians will be confronted with a temptation to evil. It sounds holy and righteous to hear them say, “I will pray to God for an answer about what I should do.” It is not holy and righteous. It is weak. 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 will remember who God is and who we are, it will determine our conduct.

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

These words are for all of you who have a task you need to accomplish but fear you do not know how to do it.

It was the first Sunday after the crucifixion of Jesus. 

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome gathered spices so they could finish the job of anointing the body of Jesus. Just after sunrise they started toward the tomb of Jesus. As the women were nearing the tomb they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” (Mark 16:3)

The stone in front of the tomb was heavy and these women were not able to move it. They went to the tomb anyway. They did not know who would roll away the stone. They went to the tomb anyway. There were soldiers to guard the tomb. They went to the tomb anyway.

Even the casual observer would say that these women, though they were well intended, did not have all their “ducks in a row.” Why didn’t they get some strong men to go with them to roll away the stone? Why didn’t they ask the rulers if the soldiers would move the stone or else let someone move the stone? They did not have the answers, but they went anyway.

Israel left Egypt with clothes and shoes. They may have had enough to last them for the few weeks journey to the Promised Land, but not enough for 40 years of desert wanderings. It did not matter. God is an anyway God. “During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.” (Deuteronomy 29:5)

Israel did not worry about shoes as they left Egypt. They trusted the God whom they served. The women did not fail to go to the tomb because they did not have the answer to the stone. They all started the task and trusted that God would work things out as they went along. 

If there are stones in the way or shoes that need to be replaced, just start anyway. God will provide. Tackle the task in faith. God is the “Anyway God.”    

~Lonnie Davis

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.” – Psalm 14:1

In my 30s I spent a few days in the hospital. The doctor came to my room and said, “When you see the wonders of the kidney, it is hard to imagine that anyone doesn’t believe in God.” As life when on, I understood that more and more.

Unfortunately, ours is an age when more and more Americans are believing less and less in God.  A recent Gallup poll found that 81% of Americans said yes to the simple question, “Do you believe in God?” This was down from 87% in 2017. In 1944, that number was 96%.

As I reflected on these sad statics I pondered why people do not believe in God. I came up with several reasons.

1. Misunderstanding the bible. Those who do not know the meaning of the words that God said will attribute all kinds of things to him. They make him so absurd that they simply cannot believe in God. They think God promotes slavery, child cruelty, or even war. One atheist told me that the wars fought God’s named killed more people in the 20^th century than anything else. As the old saying goes, “Ignorant is bliss.” They do not know the history of the world, or the word of God.

 2. Some do not believe because they confuse the religion of a man with the existence of God. If a man does evil, that does not mean that God is not real.

3. Personal failure. Some experience moral or personal failures in their own lives and deny God rather than accept accountability for their behavior. Hey! If God doesn’t exist, then I don’t have to worry about answering to him.

4. Failure to study the evidence. Thousands of brilliant people have dedicated their lives to studying the evidence for the existence of God. There are many wonderful arguments for God’s existence, but many simply deny him without studying the evidence. No question in anyone’s life is more important than “is there a God.” Take time to study the question.

5. Feeling-based faith. It is dangerous to claim to believe that God is real, simply because you feel him in your heart. Feelings change, but God does not.

6 The dumbest reason of all to reject belief in God is that you cannot “see” him. Adam and Eve knew God personally, but they rejected God’s authority in their lives. Two thousand years ago, the Jews saw God’s son and they crucified him. Seeing is not always believing.

This is a very short list of why people claim to be atheists. If you ever struggle with this question, it is not a shame. It is a call for you to “Study to show yourself approved unto God.”

Lonnie Davis

Have you ever struggled with anxiety?
Then today’s Bible verse is for you.

Philippians 4:6
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God…”

Anxiety is a normal and often healthy emotion. However, when a person regularly feels disproportionate levels of anxiety, it can become a medical disorder.

One Bible verse commonly used to help with anxiety is Philippians 4:6, which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Here are 2 observations about Philippians 4:6 that relate to anxiety.

First, It encourages the reader not to be anxious:
The verse begins by instructing the reader to “not be anxious about anything.” This is a clear and direct message to trust in God’s care and not let worries consume one’s thoughts.

When my children were teenagers and they would be late getting home. If I were not home, my wife would stay up and wait for them. She would call me and when I got home, she would go to bed. She knew I would watch for the child and see that things were okay. Her reasoning was that there was no point in both of us worrying about the same thing. I think that is God’s reasoning here. If we take our trouble to God and then fume and fret about it, we are wasting energy. God has it so let go and let God handle it. Don’t be anxious about anything.

Second, It emphasizes the power of prayer:
The verse says to present one’s requests to God through prayer and petition, indicating that prayer is an important tool in overcoming anxiety. Sometimes we might have a problem and say we have done all we could. Well, have you prayed about it? Until you have prayed about it, you haven’t done all you can. This is not to suggest that if you have the problem of an illness, you can just pray. Praying is not all we do, but it certainly is one thing we should do.

I call Philippians 4:6, “The Antidote for Anxiety.”

I know it is because the very next verse tells us so.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

There it is! True peace comes at the end of true prayer.

Lonnie Davis

Long, long ago, the army of Assyria brought all of her forces to surround and capture Elisha, the prophet of God. During the night the Assyrian army surrounded the house of Elisha. When the servant of Elisha woke up, he looked around the hills and saw the enemy. He didn’t know what to do, but Elisha did. He prayed.

“And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw.  – 

2 Kings 6:17

In times of great stress, we all can suffer the problem of the young servant. We all can cry in fear instead of simply trusting God.

After Elisha’s prayer, the young servant saw, as the Scripture says, “The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

In other words, God’s help was already there, but he couldn’t see it.

The Servant wasn’t blind physically. He was blind spiritually. Elisha prayed that the servant would be able to see that God can handle anything.

Elisha wasn’t afraid of the army of men because he could see the army of God.

In this story we see the power of prayer. Elisha didn’t need time to reflect on his prayer. He didn’t need 7 days to build up to the prayer. He didn’t need two prayers. Elisha had lived his entire life talking to God, so that when he called on him, God answered immediately. 

It is interesting to note that Elisha was not praying for deliverance. This was a prayer of accommodation. Elisha prayed for God to accommodate the young servant so that he could see that God’s help was already there. God didn’t have to do it and the outcome would have been there anyway.

It was a prayer for a young man who needed to open his eyes and see God’s blessings.

There are many people who can see the Sun and the moon and the stars but who cannot see God in them. They have eyes but are spiritually blind. Our world has millions who cannot see the goodness or the blessings of God. They are spiritually blind.

Maybe they need this prayer from Elisha.

Lonnie Davis

As a kid, when I would get “kinda” sick, my mom would give me terrible-tasting medicine. I would hide it, run from it, and even say I had taken it when I hadn’t. Those are things I did “as a kid” and when I was “kinda” sick. 

As adults, when we sometimes face true sickness, we don’t run from our treatments. We take radiation and chemo treatments. We go into hospitals and take medicine every few hours. These don’t just taste bad; they are hard. We do them anyway.

Mark 2:1-12 the story about one occasion when Jesus was preaching and healing.  As  was he was preaching, four friends brought a paralyzed man to Jesus for him to heal. As they approached the house where Jesus was teaching, it became obvious there was no way for them to get in to see Jesus.

As they approached where Jesus was preaching, I wonder what the conversation was like. Maybe one of them said, ‘Well, we can’t get near Jesus, so let’s come back another day.” Of course that is not what they did. Maybe that thought never entered their mind. What they did was find a different way. The doors were blocked. The people were all around Jesus. Maybe Jesus was in the middle of telling one of his parables when he heard a pounding on the roof. Next, pieces of the roof began to fall on the people around Jesus. Finally, a man on a stretcher was lowered down by ropes right into the middle of the crowd.

The rest of the story tells about the amazing way Jesus healed the paralyzed man, but I want you to focus on the four friends who brought him to Jesus. 

They cared deeply about their paralyzed friend.

They cared enough to help.

They didn’t leave him with a “let me know If you need anything.”

When faced with a huge obstacle, they would not quit.

They simply would not let obstacles stop them. 

Sometimes life is hard, obstacles seem overwhelming. Winners don’t whine and quit. They looked for ways to overcome.

Some people find a way.

Some people find an excuse to quit trying.

I know because I have been on both sides of that fence, but only one side makes me happy. 

If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again.

It is the behavior of faith.

Lonnie Davis