Category: Uncategorized

Do you remember the Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son? Let me read a few verses of it for you. It is from Luke 15:14-20.

After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country…So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father.” So he got up and went to his father.

Why did I give this story the title of “The Pig that Got the Permanent Wave?”  When I was a teenage preacher, my preacher told me this title and I never forgot it. This title reminds me of one of the great lessons from this parable. When life tumbled in for the prodigal, he knew he had to give this up. He waved goodbye to the pigs and went back to his father. 

I love this thought because it is the way out of a problem that all of us should learn. When we mess up, we need to just fess up and do the right thing. He decided to go back to where life had been good and he just went!

There were no 15 sessions of counseling or endless talking to his friends. He knew the right thing to do. He knew what worked before and he just did it! He said goodbye to the pigs and went home.

You’ve heard people say, “People won’t change until they hit rock bottom.” The prodigal hit rock bottom. Then he followed the advice of “The first thing you do when you hit rock bottom is to stop digging.” He stopped digging and went home.

So what do you need to wave goodbye to? Just do it! This would be the point of Jesus’ story for you.

Lonnie Davis

Our text is from Genesis 50:15-21.

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.”’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” 

And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Question: Why did Joseph weep? There are 4 possible answers.

#1 Because he loved his brothers, inspite of all they did to him. That is the true nature of love. Anyone who holds out till they find a mate who will never, never cause them pain, will die alone.

#2 Because they were afraid of him. After they threw him into the pit, they had to go back home and tell their father that a wild animal killed him. They lied to their own father. After that they lived with the lie.

#3 Because it was the nature of his brothers to lie when it was convent to them. the Bible doesn’t say it, but I am do not believe that his father told them to tell Joseph to forgive them. It should not surprise Joseph that his brothers would lie to him. They lied to their own father and about the death of Jospeh. Anyone who will lie to you, will lie about you.

#4 Because their lie to him meant that they had not learned the lesson. Joseph could not really trust them. As Nietzsche said, “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”

Well to close our thought for today, let’s finish out text from Genesis 50. Because of Joseph’s character, it has a beautiful ending.

Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. “Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Lonnie Davis

Our reading for today is the first 50 words from the Bible.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”

I believe these words are the foundation words in all of Christianity. If these words are not true, then nothing matters. I believe these words are some of the most misunderstood words on earth. I believe these words tell us a truth so great that to understand them explains the nature of God Himself.

In fact, the first five words of the Bible are the secret to understanding God’s omnipresence and omniscience. Those are just fancy words that mean, he is everywhere and he knows everything.

Look at those five words again. “In the beginning God…”

These words say that God was here at the beginning. To be more accurate, God was here at the beginning of the heavens and the earth, the universe. God was here the day that man first began. God was here when time itself began. However there is a deep thought in these words. 

Even scientist will tell you that nothing comes from nothing, so before all of these things came to be, something had to exist. 

Genesis 1:1 tells us that something is God. Before space and matter and time existed, God existed. Since God existed before time, then he is not bound by the laws of time. He told us this in 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

He can be everywhere at once. He can hear every prayer, because time stands still for God. He can answer those prayers, because time is not a factor in God’s existence. 

I know this requires deep thinking, but if you get this truth then you will understand God’s nature a little better. You will believe and practice prayer on a higher level, because you will believe that God has time for you.

Lonnie Davis

One of Jesus’ powerful stories was that of the rich man and beggar who both died. 

Today’s reading is from that story. The rich man had been selfish and neglectful in his time, but in the next world things were different. In our text the previously privileged man is begging Abraham for mercy.

Luke 16:24-25

“Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”

But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.”

This Jesus teaching ought to comfort us for 2 reasons.

#1. It teaches that death is not the end.

 We are made in the image of God, the eternal nature of God. When life is over here, we will go there. 200 years ago you did not exist, but there will never be another time when you do not exist. Your great, great, grandchildren that you will never meet on this earth, you can meet later.

#2. It teaches that everything works out in the end. 

If it has not worked out yet, then it is not the end. The begger had lived on the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, but not anymore. Whatever injustice or wrong that happened to you  , God will make it right. Be patient and trust him. 

I love the story of the little boy who came home from school with a bruise on his face. He told his mother that Johnnie hit him. He added, “when I get back to school tomorrow, I am going to pay him back.”

 The mom tried to teach him better and said that God will take care of things. 

Little Johnnie thought about it and said, “Okay, I will give God until Friday and then I will handle it.”

We don’t need to get even, we just need to trust God. It will all work out in the end. We have God’s promise on that.

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is Deuteronomy 10:17-19a

The LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger…

Let me sum this up with a sentence. Be kind to all people.

One of the best illustrations to follow this is found in the following story.

“A Lady asked an old street vendor: “How much do you sell your eggs for?” The old man replied “50 cents an egg, madam.” The Lady responded, “I’ll take 6 eggs for $2.00 or I’m leaving.” The old salesman replied, “Buy them at the price you want, Madam. This is a good start for me because I haven’t sold a single egg today and I need this to live.”

She bought her eggs at a bargain price and left with the feeling that she had won. She got into her fancy car and went to a fancy restaurant with her friend. She and her friend ordered what they wanted. 

They ate a little and left a lot of what they had asked for. So they paid the bill, which was $150. The ladies gave $200 and told the fancy restaurant owner to keep the change as a tip.

This story might seem quite normal to the owner of the fancy restaurant, but very unfair to the egg seller. The question it raises is this;

Why do we always need to show that we have power when we buy from the needy?

And why are we generous to those who don’t even need our generosity?

We once read somewhere that a father used to buy goods from poor people at a high price, even though he didn’t need the things. Sometimes he paid more for them. His children were amazed. One day they asked him “why are you doing this dad?” 

The father replied: “It’s charity wrapped in dignity.”

We are all climbing a hill but at different stages…always be kind

I’m Lonnie Davis. I admit I did not write this old story, but it certainly is a thought worth thinking about. I know I will.

How long does it take to break a bad habit? You’ve probably heard 21 days or 28 days or 30 days or various other days. I’m going to give you the correct answer. The real answer is “It depends.” You just work at it until you accomplish your goal. Yes, I said “work at it.” Don’t give in and if you fall down, get up and get back at it. 

That is my advice, but wouldn’t you like Jesus’ teaching on it? It is found in today’s text:

Matthew 12:43-45

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.  “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

Here is a summary of this teaching: If you have a bad habit (in this story an unclean spirit) and you send it away, you absolutely must do one thing – replace it! If you don’t, Jesus said, the bad will come back and makes things even worse. If you don’t replace it, then you will fail.

Not all replacements work for all people, but find something good to replace the bad. Find what works for you. 

For example:

If you need to stop watching television, learn to read. If you hate to read, find a book that really interests you or even listen to a book. Whatever works, do it. Do something or the pull of the old way will call you back.

If you mindlessly snack on too much sugar, find healthy foods. You will learn to like them.

If you want to break the habit of sleeping too late, schedule exciting things for the early morning.

Don’t just kick out the bad habit. Replace it with something better. That is not my advice. That is Jesus’ teaching.

Lonnie Davis

Some texts hold more than one great lesson. Our recent text of Numbers 11:4-6 is one of those passages. Israel just escaped the 400 years of slavery from Egypt. Chased into the desert, they soon began to complain about their new hard days. Let’s read our text a second time:

Numbers 11:4-6
The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

Of course we see that they were blessed and cared for by God, but they still wanted more. Give us meat and then we will be okay, they basically cried.

But, there is a second great lesson that we should not overlook. Look at the people, not only did they want meat to eat, but they were missing the good old days, you know back when they were slaves. Ugh! How can they possible think those days were better. They looked back longingly and said, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost.”

No cost? They were owned as slaves to the Egyptians. They were cut off from the worship of their God – or at least controlled as to how they could worship. They were forced to make a daily quota of bricks for the Egyptians.

But, when they got hungry, they longed for the good old days when they were slaves and got meat as “no cost.”

How many times do we do the same thing? We see no cost in doing whatever we want. Our family suffers because we do not work. If we ignore our health we think it is no cost to us.

Look, I know that I am as guilty of this “no cost” thinking as any anyone but the exhortation to all of us is to cost the cost before we do anything. This is the teaching of Jesus in Luke 14:28, “First sit down and calculate the cost.” The whole idea of “No Cost” is a myth. 

Lonnie Davis

The text today sees the Hebrew children freed from slavery in Egypt. You would think they would be grateful for all God was doing for them, but, well, let’s read our text:

Numbers 11:4-6

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

God had freed them and feed them in their journey. He gave them “manna” to eat but this soon began to leave them unsatisfied. “If only we had meat to eat..we never see anything but this manna.” We have all known people who were never satisfied with anything. God gave them the food of angels, manna, but they wanted more. They needed meat! The statement, “If only we had meat to eat” implies that then they would be happy and content. 

No they would not have. I love the story of the lady who worked as a maid for a rich family. It was Christmas and the rich people opened their gifts. Watches, TV’s, and jewelry were freely given, but they were not content. They griped about what they wanted instead. The maid had enough and told them how they were acting. “I can’t believe you can’t be happy with all you have  .” She took a breath then continued, “If I only had $100 dollars, I’d be the happiest person on earth.”

The father said, “Really? Okay!” He then gave her $100. She smiled and thanked him. She skipped happily out of the room. Once out of the room she whispered, “I wish I had said $200.”

If you can’t learn to be happy with 100 then 200 won’t fix that problem. 

Happiness is an inside job. It begins with the heart and not with watches, or jewelry or even $100. It starts when we realize how blessed we are and make up our minds to be happy.

How happy are you? I know sometimes they are hard days, but then you have to turn from those days and decide to be happy again.

Let me leave you with one last scripture today. I Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.”

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

Our text for today is Psalm 23:1-3a

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.
May God bless the reading of his word.

Obviously we only read the first few words from this great text. I stopped with these few words because to read further may obscure the point I wanted to make about the whole Psalm. Here is that point: The lessons of this psalm are so many that is best to look at the individual statements.

In the these first 27 words there are 5 great lessons for our heart. When preachers find these lesson they call them preaching points. Since most preachers only use 2-4 points in a lesson, it is obvious that a deep understanding of this psalm would require a long, long sermon. The lessons I see in these 27 words are:

1. He is our God.
2. God is our shepherd.
3. He provides rest for his followers.
4. God leads us in ways that are safe for us.
5. God will refresh our spirits.

These are all great lessons but in the final 87 words of this psalm, A teacher can quickly spot 16 more great lessons.

Let me share what I think is the most important lesson from this Psalm. We learn it from a story.

The Bible school teacher for a class of 15 first graders told the class that next week they would study Palms 23. She asked the class to go home that week and memorize the psalm. Next Sunday when they came back she ask for any one of them to come to the front and recite this great psalm. No volunteer was found until finally one little girls raised her hand. “I can do it,” the little girl said.

Bravely walking to the front of the class, she stood silently for a few second and then began.

“The Lord is my shepherd.” Her little voice paused for a few second and then she said, “And that’s all I know.”

To that we can say “Wow.” She learned the most important lesson. It is the first lesson we all should learn. The Lord is my shepherd. We he is that, he is the most important thing to us.

Lonnie Davis

Our Text  for today is Psalms 31:12-15. David wrote:
 I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many, Terror is on every side;While they took counsel together against me, They schemed to take away my life. But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand.

May God bless the reading of this word.

Sometimes there are unbelievable risks. Think about the first person to fly across the Atlantic, or ride a rocket to the moon, or on purpose to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. They were no doubt nervous, but after assessing the risks, they decided to go for it. 

The spiritual life also has risks—opportunities that challenge us to consider who we are and to call on us to leave our comfort zone and stretch  the extent of our faith. 

What Christians have that other risk-takers don’t have is the promise that God will be with us in every hard time. Consider Paul, for example, on his second missionary journey. He had no plan to go into Macedonia, but the door opened for that work. 

He had no contacts, no plans, no means—he had nothing except a commission from Christ to take the Gospel to the Gentiles and do that work.  Oh yea, he also had faith that God would be with him.

Paul took a faith-based risk and was blessed. 

If you see an open door in your life for something that is worth doing, leave your comfort, and walk through that door.!

As one writer said, “It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.”

Our Bible verse for today is Jeremiah 29:12-14a.

“You will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,”declares the LORD,

Stupid is as stupid does. Well if that old Forrest Gump stament is true, then I was stupid.

My family was enjoying a day of water skiing. I was just in the boat for watching and was wearing jeans. About 20 feet away, attempting to get his skis on, one of my kids was having a little difficulty. Of course I was thinking, “Father knows best.” I could jump in, swim over to them and help them. What I later thought was “Stupid is as stupid does.”

I jumped into the deep lake water. Not dressed for swimming, my soon to be water soaked jeans dragged me deeper and deeper toward the bottom of the deep water. I hadn’t bothered to take a good breath, so soon I felt like I was drowning. “Air,” I thought, “I need to breath.” I started kicking to get to the top. It seemed hopeless. Getting air and breathing was all that was on my mind. Eventually I did make it to the top and took a big breath. The big breath I took was sweet relief. Just a few seconds earlier I wanted nothing more than to breath.

As I remember this old story, I get a new understanding of God’s statement to Jeremiah, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” God is not found by the casual seeker. He is found by those who search for him with all them their hearts. We must want God even a drowning man wants air to breath. 

How are intensively are you seeking God today? 

Lonnie Davis

Today’s text is from 1 Peter 5:8-9a

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith.”

As a child, the thing that scared me most was the devil. When I was 5, I had an aunt who used to tell me stories about the end of the world and the judgment day. I still remember some of the nightmares I had. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I was easily afraid. Besides, the devil always seemed too cunning for me to handle.

Do you have the same feeling? Is it possible to defeat the devil? Is he too tricky to be beaten? Is it possible that he has you so firmly in his grip that you will not be able to free yourself? The most crucial thing you should know about Satan is that he is the father of all lies.

 John 8:44 speaks of the devil and says, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

Let that sink in for a moment. Everything you hear from the devil is a lie. He is unable to speak truthfully. Everything he says contradicts God, the source of all truth. All of the devil’s whispers about his power and your inability to defeat him contradict God’s word.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” 

Our heavenly Father is a perfect, capable protector from Satan. He promises to establish us and guard us. He is always with us and always knows exactly what we need in order to withstand the temptations of Satan.

 1 Corinthians 10:13 teaches us, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape.” 

God is faithful. We do not fight the devil and his temptations alone.

Lonnie Davis

The background for our text finds Israel running from Egypt. Surrounded by the enemy, they did not see any escape. So we read our text for today from Exodus 14:11-15

“Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.  

Okay, so they were afraid and wanted to go back to the old ways when their slave masters took care of them. Haven’t you ever been there? Times used to be hard, but the new ways are unknown. Let’s just go back to how things used to be before I started my new life.

Moses assured them that God would not let them down. He assured them, “The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.” Then he told them, “The Lord will fight or you.” Even that is not enough!

God finally tells them to stop complaining and just move on!

Now that is a message I need. Do you like me, get stopped by fear? Just move forward! He will help. He will fight for you. Only trust him. In fact being frozen with fear is really just not trusting God to be faithful. 

Here is the great lesson from this story: Once you know what God wants you to do, just do it! Trust Him. He will fight for you.

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is James 4:13-15

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

May God bless the reading of his word.

Life is short. We are not made for here. We are made for there. On this idea, a poet wrote, “Grow old with me. The best is yet to be. The last of life for which the first is made.” Sometimes when I read those words, I think, “That’s baloney.” Then I think again and realize the truth.  One writer explained the joureey of the ages in this way:

“When the sun goes below the horizon he is not set; the heavens glow for a full hour after his departure. And when a great and good man sets, the sky of this world is luminous long after he is out of sight. Such a man cannot die out of this world. When he goes he leaves behind him much of himself. Being dead, he still speaks.”

When the sun sets, it does not die. What really matters is what you do with the few years of life that God has granted you. One man recognized this and talked about how people, as they age, might be compared to old ships. He noted that some old wooden ships rot and others end their ship days with very fine wood that is used for other things.

Some of those old ships were still beautiful because of the wood from which they were made. Others grew more beautiful over the years because they absorbed the seepage of the loads they carried over the decades.

So there is also a vast difference between the quality of old people who have lived self-indulgent, useless lives, and the fiber of those who have sailed over seas and carried cargoes as the servants of God and the helpers of their fellow men.

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is Romans 12:19-20

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore if your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

May God bless the reading of his word.

What do you do when life isn’t treating you fairly? Sometimes it is because it is someone who is treating your unfairly. Anger and then bitterness are often the emotions we experience after feeling mistreated. This is especially valid if we’re not happy with how things turn out. 

The offending party may refuse to acknowledge their error or even lay the blame on you. If you’re a Christian, you already know that God expects you to forgive the person or individuals who hurt you or mistreated you in accordance with His Word. When that happens, our soul cries out, “It isn’t fair!”

I’m not going to debate what is or isn’t fair. I can only say that a lot of things in life are unfair, but fortunately we worship and serve a God who values fairness. It means that if we follow Him, He will make things right in due course. 

It may seem unreasonable to demand us to forgive someone who has wronged us even if they won’t repent or accept responsibility for their actions, but God commands us to do just that. Why? Because when we forgive, we are actually doing ourselves a favor rather than our enemies.

We are tortured as long as we harbor grudges, rage, and bitterness. Until we let go of the problem and trust God to make things right, we are actually letting the person who wounded us to continue hurting us. If you have anything against somebody, just forgive it, let it go. This is a gift you give yourself.

Lonnie Davis

Our Text for today is Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree may not blossom,Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

The LORD God is my strength.

Have there ever been instances in your life when God’s presence seemed to be absent? Even if we try to hold onto our faith when life’s worst happens, it’s simple to doubt God. The Apostle Thomas, because he lost hope, is often referred to as “Doubting Thomas.” Even Jesus on the cross cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.”

It is not shocking that we sometimes feel that way. When a loved one passes away far too soon, where is He? Where is God in death, illness, and divorce? When battles break out, where is He? Yes, sometimes we are left looking for God in the midst of everything because it appears like the world is heading toward catastrophe.

What are you dealing with right now? Does it seem like everything is going wrong in your life? How are you going to handle it? 

Of course, you cannot always choose what you will experience, but you can always choose how you will experience it. 

Choose patience and joy and trust that God who can see farther than  you can, can see the end of this too.

You can choose to say with Habakkuk, who in the midst of tough times said, “Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord…the God of my salvation.”

Remember, this struggle is temporary.

Lonnie Davis

One of my favorite scenes in the Bible is the funeral scene of Abraham in Genesis 25:8-10. We begin by reading that verse.

^“Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.

That is the way to go – in a good old age, surrounded by your people, and buried by your children.

When you have lived for a few decades, you think about what it means to get old. One man wrote a poem (H.S. Fritsch) that has helped me through the years. I want to share that with you now. Perhaps it will bless your life.

Age is a quality of mind.
If you have left your dreams behind.

If hope is cold,
If you no longer look ahead,

If your ambitions’ fires are dead
Then you are old.

But if from life you take the best
If in life you keep the jest,
If love you hold;

No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly –

You are not old.

I didn’t wrote that poem, but they resonate with me.

Lonnie Davis

God Will Test You

In John 6, when the disciples saw the big hungry crowd following Jesus, Jesus tells his disciples to give them something to eat. Maybe this is where the idea of a church dinner first came from? Well,  anyway, our text tells what comes next. – John 6:5-7

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Why would Jesus tell them to get food for and feed 5,000 people? Actually the text tells us. the Bible says, “He asked them only to test.” “He already had in mind what he was going to do.”

You too will face tough situations. You might not know what to do, but you need to ask yourself, “Is this a test?” If God is watching, and of course he is, then we need to remember that it is a test. Handle this crises so that God is pleased with your faith.

Proverbs 17:3, tells us God works this way with us. “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” Heat doesn’t make silver or gold. It merely reveals it. The heat and pressures of life don’t make you strong. They just reveal your true strength. Perhaps, even strength you didn’t know you had.

God is not bound by our human limitations. He can turn our problems into victories, our struggles into successes, and our weaknesses into strengths.

Lonnie Davis

Thousands of people were following Jesus to hear him preach, but thousands of poeple bring there own problems. They might not get tired, sick, or weary, but eventually they always get hungry.

With this background we begin with the reading of Mark 6:35-37

 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

In the middle of nowhere, a remote place, how do you feed more than 5,000 people? The disciples have a suggestion.

Send the people away. It doesn’t have to be our problem, they think. Let them buy something for themselves. Actually, I get it. There seems to be no other solution.

But Jesus has another idea. He tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat.”

Do you see the cycle? 

They say, Let them go somewhere to eat. In other words, let’s duck this problem.

Jesus said, “No, You handle it.”

There are a two great lessons to learn from this story.

#1. Handle your problems. 

If you ignore them, they won’t go away. They will get bigger.

I once knew a man who would, when a problem arose, would retreat into his bedroom until the problem went away. You may have some form of that yourself. They #1 way of hiding is to retreat into tomorrow. Tomorrow I will handle it. Then tomorrow there will be another tomorrow. Your may think the problem goes away because it seems to settle down, but unhandled, unresolved problems are usually still lingering just beneath the surface of life.

#2. God always has a plan, even if you don’t know it. 

“You give them something to eat” must have seemed ridiculous to them. They didn’t have enough resources, or so it seemed to them. The only ridiculous thing was for the disciples not to understand that when Jesus told them to do something, he would always provide the resources for them to do it. 

God still works in that way. Once you know what God wants them just do it. He will help!

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is John 10:7-10

Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Notice how he starts this teaching, “I tell you the truth…” 

And what is the reason for the truth that he was telling them? He shares the answer with us at the end of verse 10, “I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

So why do so many of us live lives that don’t feel like an abundant life? Perhaps it is because we do to drink in the full experience of Christianity. The following story is a great illustration of how we miss so much in life and certainly in the Christian life.

The story is told of a little boy who lived on a farm in the 1800s. When he was a twelve-year-old, he heard that a travelling circus was coming to his little remote town. He had never been to a circus and was excited about the possibility. When he first heard the news he ran home and asked, “Daddy, can i go?” He was from a poor family, but the father sensed how important this was to his son, “If you do your chores ahead of time, I see that you get to go next Saturday.” 

On Saturday morning, with chores done, he went to his dad. His dad reached into the pockets of his work clothes and dug out a dollar. It was more money than the boy had ever seen. His father cautioned him and sent him on his way to town. 

On the way to town, the boy feet hardly touched the ground.  As he neared the outskirts of town, he noticed people lining the streets. He worked his way through the crowd until he could see what was happening. It was the approaching spectacle of a circus parade! The parade was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. 

Caged animals roared as they passed. Bands beat their rhythms and sounded shining horns. Acrobats did leaps and flips while flags and ribbons swirled overhead. After everything had passed where he was standing, a circus clown, with floppy shoes, baggy pants, and a brightly painted face, brought up the rear. As the clown passed by, the little boy reached into his pocket and took out that precious dollar bill. Handing the money to the clown, the boy turned around and went home. The boy thought he had seen the circus when he had only seen the parade!

God has promised us great things, but too many of us upon seeing the parade, clap and then go home and think we have seen the parade. 

Jesus did not come to make life average. He did not come to make life tolerable. He did not come to make life good. He came to give you life to the full. The NAS and KJV say, “Abundant life.” Jesus meant for you to have an abundant life now. 

Lonnie Davis