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When I was about 11, I lived close to a skating rink. I remember my amazement the first time I saw someone skating backward – BACKWARD! He must have been the best skater in the world, or at least I thought so.

I got my courage up and tried it for myself. I jumped up to aim backwards. Plop! Down I went. Obviously I was not talented enough to skate backward. Maybe it was a fluke so I tried again. Again I went down. I turned around and skated frontward like God intended. Over the years I saw a few others who could skate backward, but obviously God touches a few people with special talent. I was not one of them.

Many years later I stood near an ice skating rink and saw my 11-year-old granddaughter leap into the air, spin two complete revelations, and skate away. Amazing!

There is more to the story than met my eye. Upon further investigation I learned that young Gwen (the skater) spent one and a half years falling down before she was able to do the double leap. At first she fell and fell and fell and fell. One day she finally hit the trick. Over the 18 months she had fallen hundreds of time before she mastered the skill.

It made me realize that I could have skated backwards if I had been willing to fall and fall and fall. Instead I resigned myself to skating the ordinary way.

There is a great lesson for all of us – “Those who would succeed must first be willing to fail.”

Let me say that again, “Those who would succeed must first be willing to fail.” That is how you all learned to walk or cook or write or  skate. Everything great is at first difficult.

There is a great life lesson in the old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

It is not just a theory. It marks the difference between ordinary and great.

Lonnie Davis

The hardest trip I ever took was when my oldest was about three. We went from Wichita, Kansas to Houston, TX. Well, that oversimplifies the journey. We went via NM and then El Paso, TX. We were young and thought we want too see things along the way. Because of our indirect route, it took three days of hard driving to accomplish what should have taken one day. I guess you could tell me about your hardest journey also. Some of you have much harder stories than mine.

In today’s article, I will share the story of a really hard journey. The backdrop for the journey is found in 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 own town to register.”

These sound like insignificant words, but in fact are words that turned the world upside down for a young couple expecting a child. The young couple is Joseph and Mary. The decree required Joseph to take his expecting wife 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. It was with these simple words that God began the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Reading the story of this journey teaches me that even hard journeys can have great lessons.

Three Lessons

 1. God works behind the scenes.

If the Son of God were going to come to 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. Men would might have done those things, but sometimes God works in small places and in little ways. He had His son born in a tiny town called Bethlehem to a carpenter and his teenage wife.

2. Man does not know ahead of time whether things are good or bad.

Can’t 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 may have thought it was a bad idea. God knew what was best. He still knows.

3. God’s will, will be done.

Joseph and Mary didn’t argue or 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.

The next time you find yourself needing to do something difficult, remember the journey of Joseph and Mary. As He was with them, He will be with you.

Lonnie Davis

Life was crashing on Jacob.

He thought his favorite son Joseph was dead.

He thought his son, Simeon, was lost because he was being held prisoner in Egypt.

His family had wealth, but there was no food to buy. What good is money if there is no food to buy? To make matters worse, the only place he might buy food required that his favorite son, Benjamin, be brought to Egypt before his family would be allowed to buy food. Egypt had swallowed up Simeon and now it wanted Benjamin.

Facing true starvation, Jacob finally gave permission to take Benjamin to Egypt. In a spirit of deep despair he wails, “As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” (Genesis 43:13)

Jacob’s story is a story of understandable but needless worry. We would have all felt just as he did. We all have had times when it felt as though all the world were crashing around our heads. We do not know where to turn and believe that whatever way we go will bring tragedy. For the times when you feel that way, God has given you the story of Jacob, Benjamin, Simeon, and Joseph.

Jacob loved God and all things worked together for good. It is too bad Jacob did not have enough faith to believe that truth. If he had, he would not have come to such a low point and said, “If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

Looking back, God was working in Jacob’s life.

Looking back, God was planning to feed him and his family.

Looking back, everything was working things out wonderfully well. All of this can be understood looking back.

Looking back, life is more easily understood.

Looking back is easy. Looking forward is hard. Looking back is sight. Looking forward is faith. In our own struggles we must look forward in faith and trust that God is working things out for us. Remember, “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7)

~Lonnie Davis

There are some pieces of poetry that affect a person’s life. The philosophy of this poem is worth remembering.

Pray don’t find fault with the man who limps

or stumbles along the road,

unless you have worn the shoes he wears

or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,

though hidden away from view,

or the burden he bears, placed on your back

might cause you to stumble too.

Don’t sneer at the man who’s down today

unless you have felt the blow

that caused his fall or felt the shame

that only the fallen know.

You may be strong, but still the blows

that were his if dealt to you,

in the selfsame way, at the selfsame time,

might cause you to stagger too.

Don’t be too harsh with the man who sins

or pelt him with word or stone,

unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure,

that you have no sins of your own

for you know perhaps if the tempter’s voice

should whisper as softly to you

as it did to him when he went astray,

it might cause you to stumble too.

Rama Muthukrishnan

The Christmas season is upon us. When I was a child I started seeing calls for “Let’s put Christ back in Xmas.” Since some people shorten the name of Christmas to Xmas,  thought this was a call to quit spelling the name without the use of Christ in front of “mas,” i.e. CHRISTmas. Some folks might have meant this, but the deeper meaning was to quit focussing on presents, lights, and parties and think more about Christ during the Christmas season. It is like the saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

Growing up, there were many more misconceptions I had about Christmas. I used to see cards and pictures of the birth of Jesus with the star overhead shining down on the baby in the manger. I heard the story of the wisemen who came searching for him. When the wisemen got to Jerusalem they inquired from King Herod about the location of baby Jesus. It always puzzled me. Why didn’t they just follow the light shining down from the star? Of course I now know there was no beam of light shining down on the manger. The magi (wisemen) were astronomers who could read the skies like a sailor at sea and therefore with the aid of prophesy deduced where the Christ child was born. Such a feat would take education and training and a knowledge of both the skies and prophesy. King Herod was not able to follow the star leading to Jesus.

Years later I found out there many more fallacies about the birth of Jesus. Here are listed just three of them.

1. Jesus was born on December 25.

It is not impossible for Jesus to have been born in the middle of the winter, but it is extremely unlikely. The Bible does not specify a day or month. The Bible does say that shepherds were “abiding in the field” at the time of Jesus’ birth. Winter is a cold time of the year and thus the fields were unproductive for grazing. The normal practice was to keep the sheep in the field at night only from Spring to Autumn. This makes it likely that Jesus was born during a warmer time of the year. December does not fit for the birth of Jesus.

2. There were three wise men. “We Three Kings of Orient”

Maybe there were three or maybe there were ten. No one knows. The number three probably comes from the three gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Somehow we have just assumed there were three “kings” because there were three gifts. They were not kings at all, but rather wise men or “magi.” They were men who spent their days studying prophesies and their nights studying the stars. They did not necessarily bring three gifts, but rather gifts of three kinds. They may have brought any number of gifts.

3. Mary rode to Bethlehem on a donkey.

Maybe she did and may she did not. The Bible does not say. Read for yourself the accounts given in Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-12 and Luke 1:26-80; 2:1-20. The Bible only says she came with Joseph. In connection with this I had the image of Mary and Joseph getting into Bethlehem just as Mary went into labor with Jesus. I always pictured Joseph running from place to place hunting for somewhere Mary could give birth. the Bible does not say they got into Bethlehem just in the nick of time. Now I feel confident that Joseph as a wise and thoughtful husband made sure that Mary made the trip weeks before her due date.

I really don’t care if people think there were three wisemen or that Mary rode on a donkey. I don’t even car if people think of December 25 as the day Jesus was born. I just found these interesting and though you might benefit from knowing these things.

Lonnie Davis

At 14, her life seemed out of control. She was making bad grades, bad decisions, and bad friends. She was not uncooperative but certainly did not understand what was to be gained from counseling.

I asked her, “Have you ever seen a car driving down a  Texas highway on a hot day in August and with their windows rolled down?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“Why are the windows down?” I asked.

“The air conditioning  is broken,” she answered.

“Why don’t they fix it?” I asked.

“They don’t have the money,” She answered.

There is one more question, “Why don’t they have money?”

Let me answer that question for the reader. There are some who have bad luck, but for the great majority that is not the real problem. The real problem is that we spend money on things and stuff and junk, then when an emergency arises, we are out of funds. That is a rule.

Life runs on rules. It is a rule that if you do not save for a rainy day, then when the rainy day comes you will suffer the consequences. That is the rule of saving for a raining day (or a hot summer day in Texas).

Life has many more rules just like that. The wise person will spend the time and take note of what these rules are. If they are wise they will remember them. If they are wise they will live by them. If they are really wise they will write them down.

Remember them or write them down, but you will live by them. Each of them is a life rule that brings success or failure.  You will keep repeating the failure until you learn the lesson.

Lonnie Davis

Some years ago, my wife, my daughter, my two little grandkids and I took a short road trip. A short little 275 mile road trip. When I take one of those by myself it is short. When you take them with a wife, a daughter and two young grandkids, it is not so short. I had forgotten what it is like to travel with kids. On our trip there we stopped six times. The first time was for me to get money. The other five times were for kids.

 The next morning I took the kids down for the free continental breakfast. I got food for each kid and then went to cook a waffle. I took it to the table. I went back to cook a second waffle. I got my food and sat down. I had to get up to get syrup. Finally I sat down to eat. I didn’t know about bathroom breaks during breakfast – another interruption. Finally their mom arrived and I could eat.

 What does that have to do with the title “Passages?”

 Gail Sheehy wrote a book called “Passages.” In her work she says that life has many passages. As we grow we change. Life in our twenties is different than life in our thirties. Life in our fifties finds that we have gone through many passages. Life is different.

The wise man wrote, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Eccl 3:1)

 Life changes. It is okay. It is great. Joy does not come because we are in a great place. Joy comes by enjoying the place wherever we are.

 Coming back it was just Liz and me. Going down we had six stops and lots of laughter. Coming back there were no stops and no laughter. I missed the stops.

 Enjoy wherever you are in life. It is all you have. It is the passage you are in. Savor it.

~Lonnie Davis

From Victory to Victory

 Young David arrived at the battle where his older brothers were fighting. He saw the giant Goliath who had been threatening Israel. All the soldiers and even the great warrior King Saul were afraid. Though just a boy, David declared that he would fight the giant. King Saul sent for David and must have been shocked to see how young he was. David was a boy and too young to be drafted for the army of Israel.

 Saul dismissed the idea of a youth fighting Goliath. “Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” (1 Samuel 17:33)

 It is hard to dismiss a believer and so this boy David answered him, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.” (34-35)

 David believed that he could kill the giant because with God’s help he had already killed a bear and a lion. There is a great principle here – one victory leads to another. 

Before you can kill a giant, it helps to kill a bear. Before you kill a bear, kill a wolf. Before you kill a wolf, kill a mouse. If you cannot kill a mouse, you are not ready to fight a giant. Victories grow little by little.

 Learn to win the little victories and then when you are confronted by a big battle, you will be ready. When you get ready, God will be waiting for you.

 ~Lonnie Davis

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

 – Ephesians 3:20

The last time I flew the airline expected me to pay two dollars for a can of Coke. This was after I paid $350 for a ticket. Surely they can afford to give me a can of Coke. Others must have felt the same way because I watched and almost nobody bought one. They do not serve us peanuts anymore and the seats are too close to each other.

It is easy to focus on the negatives of the day. Another way to look at it is that I live half a country away from one of my kids, but I can get into a temperature controlled car and drive to an airport. Once there, people will take my bags and put me on a 500 mile-per-hour airplane and in less than 4 hours deliver me to my children half a continent away. I am tempted to think that we live in an amazing time, but it is not the times that are amazing, but the blessings and opportunities that God has put before us.

We need to stop and think about how great we have things. Some years ago I watched an old western that had a scene which touched me. The story was set on a Colorado farm in the middle of the 1800’s. The farmer and his wife had a teenage girl. A cowboy drifter came through and stayed with them for a while. By and by, the drifter cowboy and the teenage girl fell in love. At the end of the story she married the cowboy and moved 1500 miles away. As they were leaving, the family wept and wished them well. That still happens today, but in those days that meant they probably would never see their daughter again.

I live very few miles from one of my daughters and my son. I live 1300 miles from my other kids. In less than half a day I can see all of them. I can have breakfast with my nearest children and lunch with my other child. Just a few years ago, such a feat was unimaginable. All of us can tell stories like this.

Today, take a few minutes in your prayers and thank him for all the blessings that he has given you that are “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”

~Lonnie Davis