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How to Handle Hard Times

Our text today is John 12:27-28

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”

May God bless the reading of his word.

This verse shows a side of Jesus that we sometimes overlook. It shows how he handled hard days. Jesus had a human side, an emotional side. Jesus hurt when faced with hard, hard days.

Look at it again. Isn’t that what Jesus says when he says, “Now my soul is troubled?” Jesus knows what lies before him and it troubles his heart. 

I would never compare my troubles to the troubles of Jesus, but I too have laid my head on my pillow and felt that troubled heart. I’m sure you have too, So what do you do when you feel that way? Read this verse and notice four great steps for troubled hearts.

1. Acknowledge your pain. 

Jesus was not some stoic who held it all in, Remember “Jesus wept.” Here he says, “My heart is troubled.” Jesus is not whispering these words to his own heart. He tells this to his disciples. Do not be afraid to show your heart.

2. Ask yourself what you should do.

Learning how to ask the right question is half of the answer. You do have choices. So did Jesus! 

3. Decide

He could have escaped the pain of tomorrow, but he knew what he needed to do. When Jesus asked the question, he had a firm answer, “No.” I have to a do the right thing. 

4.  Let God help you. 

Jesus had a heart troubling day before him. He leaned on God for help. He says, “Father, glorify your name.” Here is a powerful but short prayer of Jesus. To be powerful, a prayer does not have to be long. Just pray it. He will help you.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture today is Psalms 14:1-2a

“The fool has said in his heart,“There is no God…The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men,To see if there are any who understand…”

I use this verse to lead us into a most wonderful story that I want each of you to have for your own wisdom to share with those whom you love. It is called, 

The Parable of Birth

Once upon a time, twin boys were conceived in the same womb. Weeks passed, and the twins developed. As their awareness grew, they laughed for joy, “Isn’t it great to be alive?”

Together the twins explored their world. When they found their mother’s cord that gave them life they sang for joy, “How great is our mother’s love that she shares her own life with us.”

As the weeks stretched into months the twins noticed how much each was changing. “What does this mean?” asked one. “It means that our stay in this world is drawing to an end,” said the other one.

“But I don’t want to go,” said the one, I want to stay here always.”

 “We have no choice,” said the other, “but maybe there is life after birth!”

“But how can it be?” responded the one. “We will shed our life cord, and how is life possible without it? Besides, we have seen evidence that others were here before us and none of them have returned to tell us that there is life after birth.”

And so the one fell into deep despair saying, “If conception ends with birth, what is the purpose of life in the womb? It’s meaningless! Maybe there is no mother at all.”

“But there has to be”, protested the other. “How else did we get here? How do we remain alive?”

“Have you ever seen our mother?” said the one. “Maybe she lives in our minds. Maybe we made her up because the idea made us feel good.”

And so the last days in the womb were filled with deep questioning and fear and finally the moment of birth arrived. When the twins had passed from their world, they opened their eyes and cried, for what they saw exceeded their fondest dreams.

Folks usually say that John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” They are right, but our reading today is one of the other short in the Bible.

It is 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.” 

Why would we choose such a short verse for commentary? Because the tenor of your life is affected by how you follow this verse. Let me explain.

At the end of your life there will be many things you have loved to do, or have, or see, or experience. Things that you will remember fondly. If you could only go back in time and do those things just for an hour, they would bring you great joy. But you can’t. 

In fact, those great, everyday experiences of your life, are remembered only in the cloud of all the times you had, but you do not remember the last day you sat in the high school class. You do not remember the last time you got to make home-made ice-cream. You do not remember the last time you ate at your favorite restaurant.

Mostly, when it was happening, you didn’t feel the real joy you would now.  We only have one defense against wasted opportunities for every joy. That defense is to simply “rejoice always.”

 I remember the last time I picked up Jeremy in my arms and carried him to bed. He was probably 5 feet tall and weighted around 100 pounds. He fell asleep on the couch. I reached down to pick him up. Liz told me to wake him and he will walk to bed. I told her no that this was the last time I would get to do this. It was a struggle, but I still remember the joy of that moment.

I don’t remember that time with my girls because I was not as old or as wise. I just let that moment fly by.

So far all those ordinary experiences you will have today. “Rejoice always.” It may be the last time you get to have that experience. Time goes by fast.

Lonnie Davis

Our scripture reading for today is one that was revered by people so much in the long ago that the record of it was kept in a special place near the temple of God. Today it is not revered. When people read the Bible and come to this text, they often skim over it and go to whatever is next. Nevertheless, today I want to challenge you to hear it.

Matthew 1:1-6

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: 

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, 

Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 

Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, 

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Reading of genealogies are uninteresting to people today. We skip over them and go to the next text. That’s too bad. Often beautiful lessons and people are found in those reading of who begat who.

Let me point out one of these today. It is act of love that God included some of the names that are in this reading. There are names we expect, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David. There are also some names that might surprise us.

The names are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the woman who had been Uriah’s wife. Later in the reading we find another woman mentioned, Mary, the mother of Jesus.

It is unusual for women to be named in genealogies. The naming of these women teach us about God. These were women whose history was flawed.

Tamar was a Cannannite women who posed as a prostitute to seduce Judah (Ge 38:13-30). 

Rahab (v. 5) was a Gentile and a prostitute (Jos 2:1). 

Ruth (v. 5) was a Moabite woman (Ru 1:3) and thus her offspring were forbidden to enter the assembly of the Lord for 10 generations (Dt 23:3).

Bathsheba (“Uriah’s wife,” v. 6) committed adultery with David (2Sa 11). 

Mary   (v. 16) who bore the stigma of pregnancy outside of wedlock. 

Each of these women show us that God loves us, no matter what we have done. What we do from now on is what matters to God. It was true with theses women and it is with you and me.

This genealogies show us God’s grace.

Our text for today is:Proverbs 3:13-15

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. 

Give me the choice between wisdom and  knowledge and I will choose wisdom. The following story will illustrate the need for wisdom.

I once read the story of a man from the department of the interior who was sent out to inspect the water resources for all the ranches in his territory. He stopped at a Texas ranch and talked to an old rancher. “I need to inspect your ranch for your water allocation.” The rancher told him, “Well, that will be fine, but just don’t go into that field over there.”

The government man said, “Mister, I have the authority of the government with me.” He took out his wallet and flashed a badge at him. “See this badge,” he said. “This badge means I can go wherever I want to go! No questions asked or answered.” He paused and then said, “Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?”

The old rancher nodded politely and went about his chores. Later the old rancher heard loud screams and saw the government man running for his life. Close behind him was the rancher’s bull. The bull was gaining ground with every step.

The government man was clearly terrified so the old rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Your badge! Show him your badge.”

The moral to this story is “just because you can do something does not mean that it is the right thing to do.”

Make your own list. There are lots of things you can do, but it will not always be wise to do so. It was not wise for the government agent to go out into that field, but he could. There is a difference between the ability to do something and the wisdom not to do it. 

~Lonnie Davis

There is a old joke that says, “I can resist anything but temptation.” Today’s scripture reading tells us that is not true.

1 Corinthians 10:13

“God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond 
what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also 
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 

In other words, you can handle It

It is sad that so many believe that the temptation can be too much. The world loves the idea of temptation being beyond our control and thus has created the idea of addiction. One cannot deny the stranglehold that bad habits can have on us, but most things are not addictions, but rather compulsions. 

You may decide that you do not want to resist the temptation, but it is never greater than you can resist. Too often we just give in and then fell back on the excuse of the temptation was too great. How can we know that we can resist any temptation? If you read 1 Corinthians 10:13 you will see that God promises us that He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can handle. 

How can we know that this is always true? The text answers that question – because “God is faithful.” When I claim there was no escape from the temptation then I am accusing God of being unfaithful. He says He will not allow the temptation to be too great for us. We should believe that He is faithful.

In the book of Job, Satan wanted to lash out against Job, but first had to get God’s permission. God told him that he could, but told him how far he could go. 

As hard as things were for Job, God sat boundaries to protect him. After Job passed the first test Satan came back to God to ask for permission to hit Job even harder. Each step of the way God was deciding how much Job could be tempted.

According to our text, He does that for you and me. All of this is implied in the often used phrase, “God will not give us more than we can handle.” Whatever your trial might be, you can handle it. I know this because God is faithful!

Lonnie Davis

Our text is Proverbs 16:22.

“Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it.”

Let me paraphrase, “If you understand why you do what you do, you will have a better life.”

Did you ever do things and not understand why you did them? 

If your answer is that you do what you do just because you have always done things that way, then maybe you need to reevaluate things.

An experiment was done to cause us to consider ways. Here was the experiment. You start with a cage containing five monkeys. In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water. I know that sounds mean, but stay with me.

After a while, another monkey will make an attempt but will be met with the same response – all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. 

Keep this up for several days and then stop spraying the water. Never use the water again. If, later, another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them.

Now, remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new monkey. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer who has never experienced the water takes part in the attack.

Do this until all the original monkey have been replaced. Finally there are no monkeys in the cage who have ever been sprayed with water. However, they still attack any monkey who goes for the banana. Finally no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not? “Because that’s the way it’s always been done around here.”

Hmmm?

Those are truly words worth thinking.

Lonnie Davis

Did you ever wonder what heaven was going to be like, or at least look like? Our scripture today will give you a glimpse into that eternal city.

Revelation 21:10-12

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now do you know what heaven will look like? Probably not. I have studied those verses and still have no confidence in telling you exactly what heaven will look like. 

Many years ago I read a fascinating story that seems relevant about this question. It told the story of a farmer from the middle of Kansas who went to New York City. None of his family had ever been to the big city and so went he got back, the family all gathered around. “Dad, did you see any skyscrapers?” He told them he had and they asked, “What did they look like?

Since they had never no reference for a skyscraper, he said, “Well, they are tall and skinny.” He paused, then continued, “You know that silo on the Mr. Jones farm? Well, it is just like that, only about 10 times as tall.”

The family felt that they understood what the skyscraper looked like, but you and I know they did not.

I’ve read the text, but I really, really don’t know what heaven will look like. But, it will be a wonderful surprise.

Lonnie Davis

I had a best friend who was the “baby” of his family. He knew he was, but still he did not enjoy being called the “baby” of his family. Fortunately for him, he was a baby only in the sense that he was the youngest of his family, but spiritually he was mature. It is not an insult to be the baby of the family, but we should not long be a “baby” in spirit. That is, never allow  yourself to be an “old baby.”

Are you a old baby in Christ? How would you know if you’re a baby in Christ? To answer that question, let’s read our text for today:

1 Corinthians 3:1-4
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

From tis text we can see 3 signs of Spiritual Immaturity

1. Spiritual Babies need to be taught the same things over and over.

Not only does Paul say that here, but it is also taught in Hebrews 5:12 – 

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you a gain the basic principles of the oracles of God.”

We are meant to grow up in our faith. We are always needing to be taught, but not the same things we should have already learned. 

2. Spiritual Babies are always comparing themselves to someone else AND getting jealous. Such a person will not admit to jealousy. They call it by some other name. Maybe it is just “there is something about them I don’t like.” Or perhaps you denigrate the other person – “they think they are better than everyone else.”

3. You choose up teams in the church. 

They are just dividers of people and always have a set of people that don’t get along with. Yes, have your own Peter, James, and John, but love the rest also. Get along with them.

If we love one another, it shows up. One lady used to tell me that her husband loved her and then would all, “He just doesn’t know how to show it.” Really? The truth is that love always shows.

So does spiritual maturity.

Lonnie Davis

Our Text today is Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 

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.”

If y0u are ever driving down the road and see a car with a symbol of a dove on it, you can assume that you are seeing a car driven by someone who believes in Jesus. 

Where did the Dove symbol have its origin? According to Matthew 3:16, during the Baptism of Jesus the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and came to rest on Jesus. For this reason the dove became a symbol of the Holy Spirit and even of Christianity itself.

I respect that others see the dove in this way, but I have a different suggestion. Suppose instead of a dove, the symbol for Christianity was a butterfly. Why a butterfly, you might ask.

I had this thought the other day when I was again listening to the beautiful story of the caterpillar that changed into a butterfly. In the story, his friends find the old shell of the caterpillar and grieve. The butterfly soaring above wants to tell them he has become something even better. They cannot hear his words, but keep on grieving the loss of their friend.

The point of that story is that we don’t die, we just change to something better. Of course the butterfly dies again and that is where our change is much better. But still it has some obvious implications for a Christian.

These are words worth thinking about.

Lonnie Davis

What Would Jesus Do with Stress

Some days are harder than others. Well, some weeks or some months are especially difficult. I’ve known people fighting battles with illness whose goal was to make it through the year.

Our text today tells of Jesus’ response to a hard place in his life. He walked for days to get to the grave of his friend. When he got there, people he loved were crying. He raised his dead friend from the dead and the response of the powers that be was to seek to kill him.

Under these circumstances we come to our text which shows Jesus’ response to this stressful time.

John 11:54

Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

On this stressful day he did three things:

First: He took care of his needs. 

It is wonderful to take care of everyone else, but there is a time when you have to see to your own needs also.

Second: He retreated

to a place where the threat would not be so immediate. Of course Jesus was not afraid that someone might kill him. He knew that he was born for the cross. He retreated because it wasn’t yet time for the cross.

Third: He went to people who loved him. 

Surely you have people who love you even when the world seems to be against you. Those are the people who when you have hard days, you find comfort by just being around them.

When you find yourself in stress, it means that  you are human. We all get it. These words are a reminder of how Jesus handled stress.

Lonnie Davis

I Was a Lost Sheep

Well, I wasn’t a lost sheep as much as I felt like a lost sheep. I’ll explain after the Bible reading.

Luke 15: 3-6

So He told them this parable, saying, 

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 

“When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 

Here is my story of  my time as a lost sheep.

My favorite toy as a youth, was my marine style BB-gun. It wasn’t powerful, but to me it was an army rifle. When I was in the fourth grade, two of my friends and I went hunting in the Big Thicket forest around Porter, TX. 

We walked back and forth around the trail in the woods. After a couple of hours of hunting with our bb-guns, we decided we needed to go back home. Since the trail we were on wound around like a Christmas ribbon candy, we took the short cut, left the known trail, and just cut through the forest. Bad mistake! Within 20 minutes we were lost and darkness was falling. I remember that we had the good sense to save some of our ammunition (bb’s) just in case a mountain lion were to attack us. (I don’t know where any mountain lions can be found in east Texas woods).

Lost and afraid, we walked and prayed for another two hours. Finally we came upon a lighted house in the woods. We knocked on the door and the man drove us back home.

We soon found out that there were search parties out hunting us.

Later I reflected on this event and realized a few things.

1. When you mess up, do your best to help yourself, but as soon as possible ask somebody for help. Thanks to the unknown man who lived in the woods.

2. When you are lost and confused, prayer is a wonderful source to lean on. One might say that we didn’t need prayer because we found the man in the house. But, how do we know whether we found the man because we prayed.

3. When you are struggling, don’t do stupid things. We knew we needed to save our precious ammunition (bb’s) for a possible mountain lion. At least do the best you know to do.

4. Don’t quit! When you are struggling, just keep on trying. There is help waiting for you that you don’t even know about, i.e. The man in the house in the woods and search parties.

Lonnie Davis

Our text today is from the story of Noah and the Ark and is a reading from Genesis 7:7-9 and Genesis 8:14-16

The Bible says

Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

Later in the story, we read…

In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.

Look at the story. He was in that boat for a long time. 

Noah and his family were in the ark, living with the animals for more than a year! That is a long time to be traveling on a  boat filled with elephants, snakes, bats, dogs and every other animal you can imagine. 

 Noah and his family were on the ark for 377 days. 

A wise man once said, “No pain is wasted if you learn from it.” 

If we could ask Noah what lessons he learned from life on the Ark, what do you think he might say?

 I can think of many possible lessons, but let me share 5 of my favorites.

1. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. While the Bible does not specifically say how long it took him to build that boat, we know from Genesis 6 that it took at least 100 years. That is serious planning ahead.

2. Listen to God.

He gave specific instructions on how to build the boat. When God tells you how something should be done, follow his instructions. The Father knows best. 

3. Obey God now!

The flood was on the way. Noah didn’t work on the boat someday. Once you know what God wants, then nothing should cause you to delay.

4. If you can’t fight or flee – float!

Modern psychology tell us that we have a fight or flight response to life. When we feel threatened, then we either run or fight. Well sometimes we can’t do either. Some times we just have to float.

5. Don’t forget that we’re all in the same boat.

One bonus lesson.

6.  No matter how bad things look, there’s always a rainbow on the other side.

Lonnie Davis

Political correctness drives nearly everything today.  Did you know it was like that in the days when Jesus lived on earth. When the religious leaders were confronted with doing what is right and scary or doing what is politically correct and safe, they chose to do what was politically safe. Let’s read our text and it will be obvious. Our story begins after the resurrection of Lazarus.

Text: John 11:47-48

Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

Did you see it? When confronted with doing the right thing or doing the wrong, but politically correct thing, they ignored right. If you doubt this, notice how this story ends.

John 11:53 says, 

“So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.”

There were points to be made for being politically cautious. They feared that if Jesus were allowed to teach unchecked, he would build a great following and that might upset the Romans who would destroy them. They couldn’t have that so they decided to kill Jesus. It is hard to believe that they would make that kind of decision, but that did!

To choose righteousness when it scares us is a hard thing to do. It was then and it is now!

Truth must always be more important than fear.

Lonnie Davis

One more lesson from the great story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Today as we come to that graveside near Jerusalem, Jesus weeps for his friend and tells them to remove the stone. Here is what happens next in John 11:41-44

So they removed the stone.

 Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. “I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” 

When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. 

Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:41-44)

From this amazing text we can see an important lesson on prayer.

Prayer must be prayed with confidence and boldness.

Jesus prayed for what was about to happen, as though God had already done it. He loudly prayed “I thank you Father” for something that had not yet happened. He wanted all the people around him to hear that God would answer his prayer. 

That is the way to pray. Pray asking and then know that God will do what was asked.

Our lack of confidence can make our prayer life weak. 

The story is told of a little west Texas farming community that was going through a great drought. Their fields were drying up and their crops were dying. As a last ditch effort the little community decided to get together at 8 PM at the local church and  prayer for rain. 

At 8 o’clock the church was full.  

The last person to enter the building was a little 7-year-old girl. As she walked down the aisle she was carrying an umbrella. As she walked past some of the older folks, someone said, “Isn’t she cute? She thinks it is going to rain.”

In our story today, Jesus knew that God would raise Lazarus from the dead and so he shouted with a loud voice for all to hear.

You and I need to use a loud voice with our prayers. I admit that the answer might sometimes be “No,” or “Not yet” or maybe “Here is something even better.” But the answer is often a simple “Yes.” 

Matthew 7:7, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” 

When you pray, pray loudly and bring your umbrella. God answers prayers.

Lonnie Davis

Our text today is taken from John 11:39-44. In this story we see that Jesus loved Lazarus, the bother of Mary and Martha. We know Jesus loved him because when Lazarus got sick, they simply told Jesus, “The one you love is sick.” Jesus knew who that was. In John 11, Jesus stands at the 4-day-old tomb of his dead friend. Standing and weeping beside the grave, Jesus told them, 

“Take away the stone,”

“But, Lord,” said Martha, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

There is something special in this story. More than anything, Martha wanted her brother back, but he was dead. Not only dead, but dead so long that by now he stunk. She remind Jesus of this. Did she think Jesus didn’t know?

Sometimes there is a little of Martha in all of us. We want God to do something, but it just seems to big to ask. Even when God says he will do something, we seem reluctant to think that he is up to the task.  Instead of reminding God of how big the task is, we just don’t ask. By the way, Martha didn’t ask either. 

This calls to mind Ephesians 3:20 where God is identified as the one who “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.” Sometimes we don’t ask or think. James told us, “You have not because you ask not.”

Jesus didn’t chide her for her faith failure, he just preformed the miracle of raising a four-day-old dead man. Our text continues.

“Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The world and worldly Christians may doubt the ability and power of God, but we must never doubt. 

As Jeremiah wrote of God,  “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

He is not only faithful to you, but great is his faithfulness.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Psalm 102:25-27.

Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.

These are encouraging words. They tell us about the nature of God. God does not change.

The God who met with Moses at the burning bush, knows us. 

The One who led Israel in the wilderness with a pillar of fire by night, leads us with his light.

The One who sent the angel to lead Peter by the hand out of a midnight prison, still leads us.

He has not changed. 

In this crazy world of change, it is wonderful to have something that stays the same. It is even more wonderful to know that something is God.

The world has changed a lot in the last 100 years. 100 years ago, the life expectancy for men was 47 years. There were only 8.000 cars in America and 114 miles of paved roads. If you were lucky enough to have one of those cars, you bought your fuel at the drug store. 

Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Sounds good until you learn that the average wage was only 22 cents per hour.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. My granddad lived in Beaumont, TX and had one of those cars. He told me that people called him, “That reckless McCain kid who drives through town at 15 miles per hour.”

Only 6% of all adults were high school graduates. Most doctors had no college degree. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

So if the world has changed that much in the last 100 years, how much will it change in the next 100 years. Don’t dismiss that as unimportant because many of our children’s children will live in that world.

The only reason I do not fear for that time is because I know the God who knew Adam and Moses and Paul and me, will still be around for them. I do not know what the world will be like in 100 years, but I know what God will be like.

As Isaiah wrote, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.” (Isaiah 40:28).

Lonnie Davis

In our scripture today, Jesus is just arriving at the house of Mary and Martha. It was four days after their brother Lazarus had died. As you can understand they were in a state of heartbreak. As we begin our reading, Jesus is just getting to their house.

John 11:21-25

Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha *said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

May God bless the reading of his word.

There is an adage that reads, “You are you are in a squeeze.” Of course this means that we don’t really know ourselves until we are under pressure. When death visits a family, the squeeze always comes with it. In this time of stress, Mary learns that there are three kinds of faith.

#1. There is faith for yesterday. 

Mary told Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ She believed that Jesus could have healed if he had only been there. 

#2. There is faith for tomorrow.

When Jesus told her that her brother would rise again, she responded with the great faith she had for tomorrow. She said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

3. Faith for today.

What she was missing was the faith for the present moment, the faith for today. She can see that things would have been good last week, or someday at the great resurrection. What he needed was a faith that knows that Jesus can handle today.

Don’t be like Mary. Don’t just believe that God will help you someday. Have a faith that says God will be here for you now.

So which of those three faiths do you need to work on, faith for yesterday, faith for tomorrow, or faith for today?

I know which faith I need to work on.

Lonnie Davis

My old Grandad, Zack McCain will never be known by my own kids, at least not in the way I knew him. He was a good man and the anchor for the whole extended family. My mother told me the story of when someone told my silver-haired grandaddy that God could use him. He replied, “God can’t use me.” 

From time to time, most of us have felt that way. The light on ourself shines very brightly to us. As I remember that story, I read today Scripture:

– Revelation 22:16-17

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.
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 Genesis 3 and man’s fall to Revelation 22, when the pen of inspiration was put down, the Bible tells one story. It is the story of whosoever will may come.

Jesus put it in these words.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30

One writer beautifully pointed out that God’s call has always been to all. A call for whosoever will. 

 Jacob was a cheater, 
Peter had a temper, 
David had an affair,
Noah got drunk, 
Jonah ran from God, 
Paul persecuted and jailed Christians, 
Gideon was insecure, 
Miriam was a gossip, 
Martha was a worrier, 
Thomas was a doubter, 
Sara was impatient, 
Elijah was moody, 
Moses was an excuse maker, 
Abraham thought he was too old
Lazarus was dead. 

God used all of them.
He even uses me…and you.

Lonnie Davis

If I were to tell you that today’s scripture is about forgiveness, you mind might go to how God forgives us or how we ought to forgive one another. That is not what we will discuss in this story of forgiveness. Let’s read Matthew 27:3-5

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.

So when we read this verse, a person might ask what it has to do with forgiveness? We all understand how much we need God to forgive us or even how much we need to forgive those who hurt us, but this lesson is about a different kind of forgiveness. It is about our need to forgive ourself. 

We all have probably done something that we feel guilty about. We may have hurt someone else. Once you have confessed the sin to God and made things right with others, you must learn to forgive yourself. Unless you do, then you will always be emotionally and spiritually damaged.

Let me illustrate this with a true story from Shoeless Joe Jackson. Have you ever heard of “Shoeless Joe Jackson?” Shoeless Joe was an amazing baseball player in the first part of the 20^th century. Unfortunately he allowed himself to get mixed up in the Chicago White Sox scandal. Players took money to fix the World Series. Several players, including Joe, were banned from baseball for life.

After leaving baseball, In 1922, Shoeless Joe Jackson returned to Greenville and opened a dry cleaning business. Later he and his wife opened a place called, “Joe Jackson’s Liquor Store.” They operated that place until his death. One day the famous player, Ty Cobb and sportswriter Grantland Rice entered the store. Jackson showed no sign of recognition towards Cobb. After making his purchase, Ty Cobb finally asked Jackson, “Don’t you know me, Joe?” Jackson replied, “Sure, I know you, Ty, but I wasn’t sure you wanted to know me. A lot of them don’t.”

Baseball historians argue about how much Shoeles Joe was really involved in the scandal, but no one can question that Joe never forgave himself. When you don’t forgive yourself, you will always be emotionally stunted. 

Lonnie Davis