The story is told of one man who was called to bail his son out of jail. As he left for the jail, a nosey neighbor said, “If he were my kid, I’d leave him in jail.” The father answered, ““If he were your kid, I’d leave him in jail too.”

One of the curses of being the oldest child is having kids before your siblings and listening to them tell you how to raise your child. You hear famous words like, “When I have kids, they will not…”

One of the joys of being the oldest child is watching your younger siblings have children and seeing those children do exactly what their parents said they would never do. It is easier to discipline and control other people’s children better than you can your own.

To understand the principle behind this, one needs to read 1 Peter 4:8, “Love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” The reason my kid’s sins are not as bad as your kid’’s sins is because I love my kids and “love covers a multitude of sins.” It is the way of love to look past faults and imperfections.

 Mothers and fathers succeed or fail as parents because of this principle. Without this principle, the imperfections of those with whom we live nearly 24-7 becomes so glaring that the faults will drown out the good.

 Husbands and wives succeed or fail as life-mates because of this principle. Without this principle of love, the wonder of marriage changes to “I wonder what went wrong.”

 Look one more time at that great text, 1 Peter 4:8, “Love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” Now read it again and this time stop after the word “covers.” It now reads ““Love each other deeply, because love covers…”

Yes it does. Love covers…whatever. That is the secret of living together in happiness.

 

Lonnie Davis

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

 But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to me!” he cried. Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it.

 

~Author Unknown

What would you do if you were sick and God sent word to you that it was over for you? You would never get well. Today’s article is about just such a time.

2 Kings 20 tells us the amazing story of King Hezekiah’s illness. He lay on his sick bed when God sent word to him that he would die. Hezekiah wept before God and asked for more time. The prophet of God came back and gave him good news. 2 Kings 20:5-6

5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says:I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life.

When you are  teenager or even in your early adult years, this verse seems like just another Bible verse. When you get past middle age, this verse is thought provoking, especially the words, “I will add 15 years to your life “

Suppose God came to you and said you have 15 more years to live, what would you do?

Seriously, what would this provoke you to do?  Here is my response.

First, I would be grateful. None of us is guaranteed another day, but to be assured of 15 years ought to provoke us to dream dreams and set goals. I know that is wrong thinking because we ought to live each day as though it is to be our last and dream dreams like we will live forever. Nevertheless it might give us reasons to dream about the next 15 years.

Second, I would turn my mind toward legacy. I would want to know what I could leave behind. Solomon left the book of Proverbs for his children and his his children’s children. Ever person needs to plan for and think about their legacy. Wander through a cemetery and you always stumble upon the words written in granite “Gone but not forgotten.” That which really is not forgotten is your legacy.

Finally, I would resolve to enjoy the days God has given me. Every day of your life draws you closer to eternity, but while you are here, enjoy this day. It is God’s gift to you.

God has another life planned for you, but use the next 15 years wisely.

Lonnie Davis

You go to school for the opportunity of a great life. You set the alarm and go to work so that you might have a chance at a great life. These things are wonderful, but there are also four rules which are necessary for a great and happy life.

Four Rules for a Great Life

1. You Need Someone to Love.

When God created the world, after each act He said, “It is good.” The first thing he ever identified “as not good” was, “it is not good for man to be alone.” When He said this, there was only Adam. Adam needed Eve and in time the two of them needed their children and their friends. They all needed God. We were not made to be alone. We all need someone to love and need someone to love us.

2. You Need Something to Do.

Work was not a curse for man’s disobedience. Before Adam sinned he was working. He tended the Garden of Eden and did the work of naming all the animals. We were made to do work.

3. You Need Something to believe In.

James says a man who does not know what he believes is “doubled minded” and then adds, “A double-minded man, is unstable in all he does.” (James 1:8) It ought to be obvious that an unstable person, one who does not know what to believe, cannot be happy and successful.

4. You Need Something to look Forward To.

I once heard someone say, “I’m shopping on the internet so I will have something to look forward to.” Even if you are waiting for an order you are looking forward to something, but there are bigger things to dream about and anticipate. Is it a vacation, a new job, or even a dinner out? To find joy one has to look forward to something. The ultimate thing to look forward to is heaven and our eternity with God. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” That is something worth looking forward to. That is something that will bring you joy!

~Lonnie Davis

Favorite Verse #99 – Luke 4:16

“Do I have to go to church?” Many kids and sometimes adults ask this question. One answer is always – WWJD. You remember that bracelets, “What Would Jesus Do?”

Well I have a better acronym – WDJD or What Did Jesus Do?”

This brings us to today’s great, but often overlooked verse, Luke 4:16,

“He we to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as was his custom.’

From this text there are at least three important observations.

1. Jesus went to church.

Okay, so I realize it was not “church” but rather the synagogue he attended, but this would be like “church” today. Don’t fuss at me about this because I also realize we don’t go to “church” but rather the assembly of the church. Regardless, the point is clear. Jesus attended the worship and study of the word.

2. He went “on the Sabbath day.”

He could have done many things with his Sabbath. He could have communed with nature. He could have taught his disciples. He could have slept in. He could have, but he did not. What he did was use his Sabbath to go to the assembly.

3. He went “as was His CUSTOM.” 

This is my favorite part of this verse. He didn’t just to the synagogue on this particular day. Going to the synagogue on the Sabbath was his normal activity. It was his custom. It was his habit. 

Next time you think What Would Jesus Do? You might be better advised to ask “What Did Jesus Do.” This verse is one of the answers to that question. “He went into the synagogue as was his custom.”

Lonnie Davis

In World War II the allied forces (America, British, etc.) invented a weapon know as the “sticky grenade.” It was designed so that it would stick to anything. The idea was to throw the grenade. It would stick and blow up. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it never was successful because of one fatal flaw. It tended to stick to the person trying to throw it!

This laughable failure reminds me of an Old Testament story I call, “Haman’s Noose.” Haman was a high official in ancient Persia. He had power, prestige, and wealth, but he felt slighted by Mordecai, a simple Jew who would not honor him. To get even with Mordecai, he had a 75′ high gallows made so he could have him hanged on it. (Esther 5:14)

Two chapters later the Bible tells us, “They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.” (7:10)  Haman’s Noose turned into a “Sticky Grenade” that blew up on him.

Haman’s “sticky grenade” is not unusual. The Bible warns us that what we do will come back to haunt us. Hosea 8:7 warns that people “Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” In a similar vein Ecclesiastes 10:8 says, “Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.”

You are not going to build a 75′ high gallows, but any lashing out at another person will lead you to your own gallows, your own “sticky grenade.” A few years back the Tokyo police reported the arrest of a man who was upset over being denied entrance to graduate school 14 years earlier. Since the day he was denied entrance he averaged making 10 phone calls a night, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. Every call was to the professor whom he blamed for his lost opportunity. Those 14 years of annoying phone calls totaled up to over 50,000 calls! Who was hurt? Of course the professor was annoyed, but the man obsessed with a presumed wrong wasted 14 years of his life. What goes around comes around. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. “If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.” (Proverbs 26:27)

~Lonnie Davis

We all remember the first time.

The first time we rode a bike.

The first time we fell in love.

The first time we kissed a girl (or a guy).

I remember my first sermon. I was in the tenth grade and it was a Wednesday night class. I had forty-five minutes to speak. That is a lot of time for a first sermon. I had no one to help me write the sermon so you can imagine it was pretty bad. I had no one to warn me about how quickly time flies. There was no clock on the wall and I had no watch so I spoke and spoke and spoke. I remember finishing the sermon and thinking that I had not spoken long enough. I did what any good speaker would have done. I started over again from the first point. When I finished preaching the sermon a second time, I still thought I had not preached long enough so I had a good strategy. I started at the first for a third time. Part way through the third time the teacher interrupted me with ““class is over.” Had he not done so, I might have preached for days.

 I remember other sermons from those teenage days. I would go into the empty church building and preach my sermon over and over to empty pews. I faithfully followed that practice for the first six years of my ministry. For the ten years after that, I followed that practice on many occasions.

 In 1 Peter 4:10-11, Peter urges us, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

 There are many misunderstanding about what it means to use your gift.

It does not mean do what is easy.

It does not mean do what is hard.

It means do what you can do. Work at it and it will get better. Work at it and it will get easier. Work at it and it will become more useful to other people. Some public speakers think they are good because they have the “gift of gab.” Teachers and speakers who get by on the gift of gab usually just have the “gift of boredom.”

 Teachers and speakers are no different than other folks. To be helpful to others, you have to work at developing your talent.

Preach to empty pews. Lead empty seats in songs. Teach to empty chairs.

Bake pies and cakes for neighbors. Teach little children about life. Do it again and again. Even if you think you are pretty good, you will get better.

By doing this you will be using “whatever gift he [or she] has received to serve others.”

That is the goal!

 ~Lonnie Davis

Over the years, I have discovered many amazing and useful stories. Today I share two of those stories with you. I hope you find them both interesting and enlightening.

1. Make Sure you Have the Horses

A bunch of really smart people got together in 1880 to predict the future, according to Jeff Stibel in his intriguing book Breakpoint. These experts were called on to predict how the rapidly growing New York City would manage into the next century and beyond.

The prognosis was not positive!

NYC was a major source of American innovation in 1880. Skyscrapers, subways, stock exchanges — and it was doubling in size every 10 years. The experts were concerned by this growth, because they projected by 1980, you’d need six million horses to transport all the people who would live there.

2. Write it Down

In Plato’s Phaedrus, the earliest and best-known critique of writing, Socrates warns his companion Phaedrus that writing will only make human memory weaker:

This invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. (Plato 1925, 274e–275a)

Hmmm. We remember this, of course, because Plato wrote it down.

I long for great faith. I want to be strong in all circumstances. I love faith, yet sometimes I doubt. Why?

In today’s writing we will see four reasons we doubt.

I call it

Four Causes if doubt

1. Some doubt when they trust the wrong things.

The Israelites are warned not to trust in weapons and allies. Isaiah wrote, “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen.” The Lord is not telling us not to build an army, but rather that an army is not a substitute for God. He ends this verse by warning against trusting armies, but not looking ““to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.”

2. Some doubt when their dreams are crushed.

Job had everything taken from him. Even his children were taken. In spite of losing everything Job says, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15)

3. Some doubt when death comes.

The Christians in Thessalonica expected Jesus to come very, very soon. When their loved ones were dying they worried and doubted. In answer to this doubt Paul wrote the beautiful text on death and His second coming. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). After sharing those great words Paul wrote, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (18)

4. We Doubt when the winds blow.
Most of us remember the great story of Peter waking on water. He had the faith to walk on water, but “when he saw the wind” he let fear drain his faith.

Winds have a way of facilitating doubt. Anyone can be full of faith when there is no wind or storms, but faith is true faith when it does not doubt in the midst of the winds. Seeing Peter’s doubt Jesus asked, “You of little faith…why did you doubt?”

All of us will struggle with faith and doubt, Moses did, Peter did and so do I. If we will learn to lean on him we will build that faith and doubt will ebb away. Faith grows.

~Lonnie Davis