Dippin’ Dots in the Door

 Some years ago, when two of my grandchildren were small, I wrote the following words.

In case you do not know what Dippin Dots are, they are little BB size ice cream balls. One buys them by the cup. As I am a fan of big spoons of ice-cream, I am not a fan of Dippin’ Dots. The other day I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things that were needed. When I got to the ice cream section I noticed little one dollar bowls of Dippin’ Dots. Even though they are not my favorite I do know a couple of kids that like them so I picked up two. I brought them home and put them in the freezer door. The two children that love them do not even know they are there. One day soon they will come to my house and I will surprise them with the little blessing I am saving for them. I know they will love it.

That was then and now my grandkids are older and past the dippin’ dots age, but this story still makes me smile. Mostly because this story reminds me of what God does for us. He prepares blessings and waits for the right time to give them to us. This is what Paul meant when he wrote 1 Corinthians 2:9,  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

 While here on earth, the blessing sometimes takes the form of a beautiful day or a night of sweet sleep. Sometimes the blessing is an encouraging word from a friend.  Sometimes the blessing is unexpected money to pay a bill. Sometimes the blessing is more spectacular. It is a job that we get just in the nick of time or an answer to a prayer for cancer.

All of these are wonderful, but our greatest blessing is waiting on the other side of the door. John wrote about it. “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:2-4)

 I can hardly wait!

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – 1 Chronicles 29:12

“Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.”

Once when I was doing a little shopping in a local store, I noticed something odd. Cokes by the case were a lot higher than usual. I mean a lot higher. I looked again and saw the problem. It wasn’t a case. It was a pack of 32 cokes. The price was about 50% higher than a normal case, but then it was bigger than a normal case of 24. But wait! It was not a case and a half of cokes it was a case and four cans short of a case and a half for the price of a case and a half. Now if this is confusing to you then the marketers have done as they intended. They did not want you to do the math. It was their way of raising the price without you noticing. Coca-Cola is not the only company to do this. Candy bars got smaller for the same price. Cereal companies took out just a few ounces of cereal and kept the size of the box the same.

A few years back I went through a drive through at a barbecue restaurant. I wanted to buy a pound of barbecue to take home. I examined the menu, but could not find a pound of barbecue anywhere. I found sandwiches, drinks, and buns, but the barbecue was listed only by the half-pound. I asked the girl at the window, “How much is a pound of barbecue?” She gave me the price of a half-pound. I didn’t care about that, so ask her again, “How much is a pound?” “Oh,“ she said, “we do not sell it by the pound.” Now I can do math and know that you can buy two half-pounds and that equals a pound. I also know why they would not advertise the pound price. They thought it seemed cheaper by the half-pound. In Puerto Rico you cannot by a gallon a gasoline. You can only buy it by the liter but 4 liters does not equal a gallon. You don’t know how much a gallon of gasoline is!

Gasoline by the liter, cokes by the case plus ten, and small portions all designed to fool us. These things cause people to be very skeptical. Sometimes the skepticism even turns to God and people doubt God.

We must never let the world erode our trust in God.

Moses wrote, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.” (Numbers 23:19)  God does not lie. He does not disappoint. He does not fail. He does not try to trick or deceive. God is faithful. As the book of Lamentations says, ““His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Lonnie Davis

Many years ago while driving down a Texas freeway, I looked down and noticed that my fuel was running low. Spotting a service station up ahead, I pulled in and filled my tank. Five miles further down the freeway, my little Volkswagen sputtered, died, and coasted to the side of the road. Unable to get it running again, I called for help and left the car. A relative towed the car to his house and fixed it. It was a simple fix, one that even I could do. The problem was that the last batch of gasoline had been contaminated with water.

 Sometimes in my life I too am doing fine when suddenly I sputter and stop. When I do, I try to remember the lessons learned from that night:

 I learned that if I put bad fuel into my tank (my heart), it will not worked it should. Before that night I would have guessed a glass of water in 10 gallons of gasoline might cause sputtering, but not a total failure of the engine. I was wrong. David said, “Your Word have I put in my heart that I might not sin”” (Psalm 119:11). The right fuel for the Christian heart is the word of God. The wrong fuel is any thing that will contaminate it.

 I learned that a thing does not have to be all bad to cause failure. I did not put all water into the tank. I put mostly gasoline with a little water. People talk about how much good someone does and somehow think that will make up for the evil behavior, but a little bad destroys a lot of good. Solomon wrote, “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor” (Ecc 10:1). It does not take much poison in a glass to make the whole drink poison.

 I learned that just because I thought I was doing right, did not mean it was the right thing to do. I thought I was putting pure gasoline in, but I was not. Good intentions do not overcome the bad actions (or dumb behavior). “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12).

 I learned that you will not have a good result until you remove the bad and put the good in its place. Once the pure gasoline replaced the contaminated fuel, everything started working as it should.

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Proverbs 4:23

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

People today are living longer than at any time in modern history. That is great, but one of the saddest thing to see is watching someone outlive their memories. We call it dementia. Our memories make us who we are. Today’s article is about memories. I titled it:

Memories

 While preparing for a move, I picked up a box of old things from years gone by. It was filled with old papers, a few photos, and old books I had not seen for years. Among those old books was a little, brown leather New Testament. Thirty years earlier that New Testament had been my favorite “preaching Bible.” I read a few notes that I had written on its pages and it brought a smile to my heart. Old memories can be refreshing to the soul.

 God also values memories. He put a rainbow in the sky so that we would remember (Gen 9:16). As the Israelites crossed the Jordan, God commanded a monument of memorial stones to be built so Israel would remember how He had delivered them from slavery (Joshua 4:6). As one of His last acts on earth, Jesus set up a memorial meal for Christians. (Matthew 26, 1 Cor 11:24)  He said we should eat this meal “In memory of Me.”

 God calls us to remember that He is God and what he has done for us. The memorial stones in Joshua do not just tell those people there was a God who delivered, but also served to remind each new generation that God still delivers. On the Lord’s Day as the Memorial meal is passed, we do not see grape juice or the unleavened bread, but the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. We see the love of God who gave His Son to the nails so that we might have eternal life.

 I love the story of Robert E. Lee who shortly after the Civil War, was visiting a Kentucky lady. She took him to the remains of a grand old tree at the front of her formerly great mansion. The North and the South had fought a bitter battle in her yard, and the limbs and the trunk of that old tree had been destroyed by Northern artillery fire.  She looked to Lee to speak some word of consolation. Lee paused for a moment and then said, “Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it.”

 There are some things we ought to forget, i.e. old hurts, old pains, and old enemies. There are other things we must not forget. We must never forget all of the good things God has done for us. We must never forget that God still has a hand in our daily lives. We must never forget that God always loves us.

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Luke 22:19

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”