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Our Bible question for this week is, What does the Bible say about how old the earth is?

I am reminded of the guide who worked in the Carlsbad Caverns. Someone asked him how old the caverns were. He replied that they were 20 million and 15 days old. When he was asked how he could be so specific, he explained, “When I first started working here they told me they were 20 million years old. That was 15 days ago. Now they are 20 million and 15 days old.”

That is a cute story, but no one really knows.

Some have estimated it to be around 4.54 billion years old. This age has been determined through various scientific methods. For example, if the nearest star(other than our Sun) is 4.24 light-years away from us, then since we can see its light then it must have taken more than 4 years to get here. Some stars are billions of light-years away so the universe must be at least that old.

Some also 

Some Bible students believe that the Earth is around 6,000 to 10,000 years old. They base this on a literal interpretation of the Bible’s genealogies and the belief in a six-day creation. This view is often referred to as young earth creationism.

There are 2 things to consider when looking at these two views.

1. God could have made the earth and all the stars with the appearance of being old. People will ask, “When God created Adam and he was only 3 days old, how old did he look?” the Bible presents Adam as being created as a grown man. Could God have done this? Yes. Did God do this? Nobody knows for sure.

2. Could our universe be billions of years old/ Yes. Those who believe that the Bible teaches a 6,000-year-old earth do not take account of Genesis 1. 

Verse 1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The next verse says, “Now the earth was formless and empty…” How much time passed between verse 1 and verse 2? The Bible does not say. Could it have been one hour? I don’t know. Could it have been 5 billion years? No one knows.

So finally, how old is the earth? It is not important. That God created it is the important issue.

Lonnie Davis

Good morning. Today I want to share an old story with you that I find humorous and instructive. It is called

Pulling Together

An out-of-towner drove his car into a ditch in a desolated area. Luckily, a local farmer came to help with his big strong horse, named Buddy. He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy didn’t move.

Then the farmer hollered, “Pull, Buster, pull!” Buddy didn’t respond. Once more the farmer commanded, “Pull, Coco, pull!”

Nothing.

Then the farmer nonchalantly said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And the horse easily dragged the car out of the ditch.

The motorist was most appreciative and very curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times.

The farmer said, “Oh, Buddy is blind and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try.”

I love the words of the song, “I get by with a little help from my friends.”  Don’t we all?

I think s  his illustrates the meaning of Hebrews 10:24

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,”  

Lonnie Davis

In today’s note we will consider two great reasons for prayer.

Not too long ago I read a great truth about prayer. It read, “Prayer is the language of faith.”

You wouldn’t like it if I wrote, “If you don’t pray, you don’t have faith.” If I wrote that, you may even stop reading. So, I won’t say that. I will instead write, “If you have faith, you will pray.”

I’m not saying that faith will lead you to pray three times a day while facing Jerusalem, as Daniel did. I’m not even saying you will pray on your knees for one hour every day. Everyone’s prayer routine look different. Certainly, everyone’s spontaneous prayer is different. Where and how long you pray does not matter, but if you have faith, you will pray.

It is natural.

God is your Father and you are his child. Fathers and children speak to each other.

It is natural.

Here are two reasons we pray.

#1. In prayer you build a relationship with your Father. Of course there are some sons and daughters who never speak or have not spoken to their earthly father. That is sad. I know because I never got to speak to my earthly father. We build our relationship with the Father by talking with Him in prayer.

#2. You have needs that only the Father can fill. If you can help your chlld, you want to do so. Your Father can help and he want to do so. No matter what is going on, He can help.

Let’s close this with a relevant scripture.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you “- 1 Peter 5:7

Lonnie Davis

Once upon a time, a rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was horrified to discover that it was a rat trap. 

Retreating to the farmyard the rat proclaimed the warning; “There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Rat, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The rat turned to the pig and told him, “There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!”

“I am so very sorry Mr. Rat,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers.”

The rat turned to the cow. The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Rat, a rat trap! I am in grave danger. Duh?”

So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s rat trap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a rat trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital.

She returned home with a fever. Everyone knows that you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well. She died, and so many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.

So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when there is a rat trap in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk.

– Anon

Today’s  SPIRITUAL TOOL. – Romans 10:17

No workman tackles a task without the proper tools in his or her toolbox. If you would be spiritual in your journey to eternity, then collect the proper tools for your task. Today’s scripture belongs in your spiritual toolbox.

Romans 10:17

Before we read today’s text, let’s look at a time when even the apostles cried out for this verse.

Luke 17:5-6

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

What did the apostles ask Jesus to do? They asked him to increase their faith. That is what we all want to do, but Jesus’ answer does not tell them HOW to increase faith. It assures them that faith can grow. Again we say with the apostle, Yes, but HOW.

Our text today answers that HOW.

Romans 10:17

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The meaning of this verse is so clear that it is easy to understand regardless of the translation one uses. For example, here is how the NIV translates it. “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

A person does not increase or grow in their faith because of some event in their life. It is not increased because of an automobile wreck or a health scare. These things remind you of the need for faith, but according to this verse, one grows faith as one reads and hears the word of God. 

Do you want to increase your faith? Then, increase the time you spend reading and hearing the word of God.

This verse is a great tool for you to have because you need to use it to grow your own faith and to help those around you grow their faith.

Lonnie Davis

Too many times I have heard a sad person say, “I can’t help how I feel.”

Sure you can!

I learned better during a particularly hard time in my life. I was driving 30 miles every morning, in heavy traffic, to a job I did not want to do. As I drove I thought of the bad things in my life. By the time I would get to work I would have a terrible case of discouragement or a sad heart or even depression. 

As I was driving, one morning the solution to my recurring sad heart came to me. I realized I was not discouraged because of the bad things that happened, but because of what I was doing at the moment. This point is so important that I have to say it again.  I realized I was not discouraged because of the bad things that happened, but because of what I was doing at the moment. What was I doing at the moment? I was reliving the old negative events!

Once I understood this profound thought I was able to overcome the problem. The way to stop my daily discouragement was to change what I allowed myself to think. Whenever I would catch myself ruminating on the negative things in life, I would purposefully and quickly change the subject of my thinking. Let’s hear that again. I would purposefully and quickly change the subject of my thinking. 

When I stopped thinking about negative things, I quit being discouraged. 

We are what we think about!

Paul wrote, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things…And the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil 4:8-9)

Surely there is something noble, something pure, something lovely in your life. Think about those things and they will crowd out the negative, sad thoughts. When you control what you think about, you will control how you feel. If you make yourself think about the good things, you will make your day better. 

You will make your life better.

Lonnie Davis

It’s Saturday and each Saturday I am going to be writing and answering a Bible question. Today’s question is one that many Bible students ask.

What is the difference between man’s soul and his spirit? 

It has long been said that man has three parts: (1) Soul. (2) Spirit and (3) Body. It is easy to understand the body of man. We see it, but what is the difference between the soul and the spirit? 

Answer: Hebrew 4:12 certainly teaches that there is a difference. It reads,

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Here are my thoughts: There is no Scripture that clearly teaches the difference, but I believe that the soul is the eternal part of man that is created at birth or even conception. The spirit, however, refers to a person’s mental or emotional state, such as their will, determination, or enthusiasm. 

If someone disagrees with this, I will just say that this seems likely to me, but even though I have studied this, I am open to further study.

If you have a Bible question you would like to see discussed, send it to me and we will look at it.

Lonnie Davis

Text: Luke 17:4

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

Why this verse:

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

Insight into the subject and verse

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

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

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

Lonnie Davis.

Text: Luke 17:4

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

Why this verse:

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

Insight into the subject and verse

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

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

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

Lonnie Davis.

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

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

The Effective Teacher.

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

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

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

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

Our Study verse for today is: John 4:24

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

Why this Verse

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

The Story behind the verse:

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

One Commentary explained this verse this way.

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

The other three are:

“God is light” (1Jn 1:5), 

“God is love” (1Jn 4:8,16), and 

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

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

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

1. The nature of God:

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

2. The requirement for worship:

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

3. The universality of worship: 

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

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

Lonnie Davis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So we say with the Psalmist.

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

PSALMS 57:5

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

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

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

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

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

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

Text: Job 1:1-3

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

With these words we are introduced to Job.

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

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

I have done all these things. 

If Job was rich, then what am I? 

What are you?

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

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

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

Read that again, 

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

Lonnie Davis

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

Caterpillars Don’t Die

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 Jesus grew in wisdom: 

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

2 Jesus grew in stature: 

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

3 Jesus grew in favor with God: 

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

4 Jesus grew in favor with man:

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

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

Lonnie Davis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~Lonnie Davis

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lonnie Davis

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

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

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

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

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

Lonnie Davis

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

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

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

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

Sometimes Christians will be confronted with a temptation to evil. It sounds holy and righteous to hear them say, “I will pray to God for an answer about what I should do.” It is not holy and righteous. It is weak. God has already told us what to do with sin. We only need to remember who we are.

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

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

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

                                                                                                ~Lonnie Davis