Colossians 3:2

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Earthly things have a way of becoming too important. Money, possessions, problems, disappointments, and worries can fill our minds until there is little room left for God. That is why our minds need direction. If we do not decide what deserves our attention, circumstances will decide for us.

Changing your life often begins with changing your thinking. Paul does not say, “Change your circumstances.” He says, “Set your minds.” You may not be able to change what happens around you today, but you can change what you allow to control your thoughts.

What occupies our mind eventually shapes our life. Thoughts become attitudes, attitudes influence choices, and choices become habits.

So today, ask yourself: Where have I set my mind?

Prayer: Father, direct my thoughts toward things above, so my thinking will shape a better life.

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

Psalm 23:1 

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

David doesn’t write “the Lord is a shepherd” or “the Lord is our shepherd.” He writes “my shepherd.” This isn’t teaching recited from a distance. It’s a claim of a personal relationship.

David had been a shepherd before he was a king. He understood what it meant to walk ahead of a flock, watching for danger, leading them to water, or carrying the weak ones when they couldn’t keep up. So when he wrote “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want,” he wasn’t reaching for a good line. He was telling us what God was to him, and to us. Not a distant God, not managing from far off, but personal, present, and near.

So when circumstances feel uncertain, when the pasture looks thin, this verse invites you to stop measuring contentment by what’s in front of you and start measuring it by who is walking beside you.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for walking ahead of me. Teach me to rest in Your care instead of my circumstances.

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

Genesis 50:20

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” 

Joseph’s life reminds us that difficulty doesn’t get the final word. Betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and imprisoned unjustly, he could have surrendered to bitterness. Instead, he chose faith over despair. 

Looking back, Joseph recognized that every painful chapter became a doorway through which God accomplished His greater purpose. His story beautifully illustrates the truth behind Einstein’s observation, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Often, the opportunity isn’t immediately visible. It’s seen only by those who keep trusting God when the path is dark. 

Hope enabled Joseph to see beyond his suffering and into God’s providence. What feels unbearably heavy today may become tomorrow’s proof of God’s goodness and grace. As one wise person said “Life can only be understood looking back but must be lived looking forward.”

Prayer: Father, help me trust Your purpose through every trial, seeing hope beyond today’s difficulty.

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

Matthew 25:40.
The King will reply, truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

Mother Teresa once said, “not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

If we were given the opportunity to stand before the throne of God and do something great for Him, who among us would refuse? Jesus shows us that God measures greatness differently. Look at today’s verse. Jesus points us toward ordinary people and ordinary opportunities. God watches how we treat and serve those around us, especially those others tend to overlook.

Our faithfulness in little things reveals much about our hearts. Perhaps serving God greatly is not always about doing something great. Sometimes it is simply doing a small thing with great love.

Prayer. Lord, help me see small opportunities today and serve others with the love you deserve.

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

Proverbs 18:24

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.”

We were in our mid-20s, riding along one night, when I told my friend everything I thought was wrong with him. Every flaw. Every failure. When I finally stopped, he just looked at me and asked, “Do you feel better now, Davis?” That was it. Nothing broke between us. I have never forgotten that moment. Real friendship is not measured by how many people know your name. It is measured by who remains when they know your faults.

Solomon says a man can surround himself with people and still be one bad season away from ruin. But one true friend, the kind who stays close no matter what gets said in the car, is worth more than a crowd. I call this person my “Safe Person.” Many friends can fill a room, but one Safe Person can fill a life.

The question is not only who stays for you. It is whether you are becoming someone who stays for someone else.

Prayer: Lord, make me a friend who stays close, speaks truth in love, and never walks away when it costs something.

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

I first read today’s verse as a teenager. I remembered its teaching, but forgot where it was. I found it again after 60 years. Obviously, I have read it many times, but never really understood it.

Lamentations 3:27

“It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.” 

Some lessons cost more the longer we wait to learn them. A skill learned at twenty-two serves a lifetime. The same skill learned at eighty-two still blesses, but it arrives late, after decades that could have used that skill. 

The yoke mentioned here is not punishment. It is training, discipline, patience, and hard work. It is that thing which is hard to do, but you can learn. In this verse, God is telling you to build now what will bless you later.

Whatever your age, the yoke is still worth bearing. Begin now. Today is the youngest you will ever be again.

Prayer: Lord, give me courage to bear the hard things now, trusting You to shape me through them.

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

John 3:17

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Sometimes we picture Jesus as the loving Son trying to convince an angry Father to forgive us. But this verse gives us a different picture. God did not reluctantly agree to save us. Salvation first began in God’s heart. 

Jesus did not come to make the Father love us. Jesus was sent because the Father already loved us and could not stay in heaven while His children stumbled in the dark.

Picture a parent who runs toward a burning house, not away from it. That is your God. He did not dispatch Jesus with a clipboard and a verdict. He sent Him with an open heart.

God is not standing far away, waiting for us to become worthy. He moved toward us first. The cross did not create God’s love. The cross revealed God’s love!.

Suggested Prayer: Father, thank You for loving me first and sending Jesus to bring me back to You.

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

Our focus today is Lamentations 3. Verses 20 and 21.

“I well remember these things, and my soul despairs within me. Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.”

We all carry memories that weigh on us. A harsh word spoken, a chance we let slip by, a mistake we cannot undo. These thoughts have a way of settling into our soul and pulling us downward, and left unchecked, they can turn into despair and depression. Maybe you just call it frequent sadness. 

But notice the turn in verse 21. The writer does not deny the pain, he simply chooses what to remember next. In the context of this verse, he calls to his memory God’s faithfulness. When he does and we do, our hope rises. Joy is not found by ignoring our failures, but by placing beside them a bigger memory, a memory of God’s mercy that has carried us before and will carry us again.

Prayer: Lord, when memories weigh me down, remind me of Your faithful love and care.

My name is Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Genesis 6:18

“But I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.”

God said these words to Noah, but they were not words for Noah alone. We know this because Noah did not walk into the ark alone. When Noah stepped into the ark, his whole household stepped in with him. All eight were saved.

God’s covenant was for him, but it saved his wife, his sons, and their wives. They were all shaped by Noah’s choice.

Our lives work the same way. What we do does not affect only us. The people we walk with are pulled along by our decisions, and we are pulled along by theirs. This is why the company we keep matters so much. The right people carry us toward good. The wrong ones carry us toward ruin.

Prayer: Lord, guide my choices so my example strengthens others and points them to You.

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

Psalm 139:23-24: 

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.”

David knows something is wrong, and his first move is to find out what it really is. Spiritual health starts with honesty. You cannot correct a problem you refuse to admit, and David is willing to hear the truth about himself.

God called David a man after His own heart. Yet David committed adultery and murder,  so how could that be true? David was never fully like God, but once he recognized his spiritual problem, he searched for the remedy, and when he found it, he applied it.

That points us to a larger truth about life: you cannot fix any problem until you first identify it. My grandmother was a jokester. She once told me, “I don’t know why others can’t see their faults. I know I could see mine, if I had any.” She was teasing, of course, but her joke cut close to the truth. Too many people never see their real problem, and if you can’t see it, you can’t possibly fix it.

Prayer: “Search my heart, Lord. Show me what I refuse to see, and heal it.”

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

1 Timothy 3:9

“They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.”

I know this verse is about the qualifications of deacons in the church, but it is more. No man or woman should read 1 Timothy 3 and say, “I am not bound to these.” Just a few principles from this list includes: Respectable, truthful, self-controlled, honest with money, and helpful to others. None of us would dare say that we don’t aspire to these.

Our reading today notes especially that he must have a “clear conscience.” “A clear conscience” means he is not merely saying that he believes, but how he lives agrees with what he believes. He can look at his conduct and know that he is not deliberately living contrary to his faith.

When Jesus first saw Nathanael, He said, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.” That is a clear conscience. In simple words, he is one who was as good as his word.

Prayer: Lord, help me believe Your word, and keep a clear conscience with nothing to hide.

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

Matthew 6:34 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus does not pretend life is easy. He never says today is trouble-free. He simply tells us where to place our weight. Tomorrow has not arrived yet, and when it does, it will bring its own grace, and its own strength. Borrowing trouble from a day you have not reached, doubles the burden.

That is what Jesus tells us. We can trust that. Never borrow tomorrow’s trouble and put it on today. 

Too many of us are like the old man who visited a county fair. They had a man giving helicopter rides for $10. The old man refused the ride, until his wife talked him into it. When it was over, he was asked how it went. He confessed, “Well, to tell you the truth, I never did put my full weight on it.” 

Put your full weight on Jesus’ words and the one who feeds the birds and clothes the fields. Let tomorrow wait its turn.

Prayer: Father, quiet my anxious heart. Help me trust You fully with today and tomorrow.

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

James 1:5 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

When I read this verse, I’m reminded of something simple but powerful: wisdom doesn’t start with expertise. It starts with humility! God isn’t asking us to act like we have everything figured out. He isn’t waiting for us to solve the puzzle before we come to Him. He just says, ask.

And here’s the truth we often forget: it is impossible to learn anything when we’re convinced we already know. That quiet confidence in our own understanding can keep us from the wisdom God is eager to give.

The real problem isn’t that we lack wisdom. It’s that we hesitate to seek it. But God is never annoyed by our questions. He welcomes them. He meets us with generosity, not judgment.

So today, pray for wisdom. God delights to give it.

Prayer: Lord, give me wisdom today to see clearly, choose rightly, and faithfully follow Your direction.

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

In Luke 15:20, the prodigal found himself far from the father’s home and unworthy of the Father’s help. However, the Bible tells us:

“He got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20).

This is a beautiful picture of of grace. The prodigal disobeyed his father and deserved nothing. As he was returning, the father didn’t wait for him to arrive. He ran toward his prodigal son, embraced and kissed him. 

Grace is also the reason we can approach our Father. Not because we have earned a seat near his throne, but because He has opened the way through his Son. Without grace, prayer would be presumption. With grace, it becomes an invitation.

To understand grace is to understand the heart of God toward us. 

Prayer: Father, thank you for the grace that lets me come near.

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

Genesis 6:9

“This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”

Once I called my wife to seek her counsel about what to share with a young woman whose husband was about to leave her. She said, “Tell her about the awesome power of one.” 

Today’s lesson on Noah also tells us about the awesome power of one: one man who changed the world. 

Noah’s righteousness was not a single heroic moment but a long obedience lived the same way whether or not anyone was watching. While the world around him grew corrupt, he kept walking with God. He had no crowd cheering him on, no peers echoing his convictions, only mockery and silence from a generation that had turned away. Yet God saw him. 

One faithful life, unnoticed by the world, became the thread that preserved not just a family but all of humanity.

Prayer: Lord, help me realize that my one life matters.

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

Jeremiah 29:13 

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”

It is a great promise! We WILL  find God, but it comes with a condition attached. God does not say we will find Him simply because we look for Him. He says we will find Him when we seek Him with all our heart. 

We don’t find him when we pray for 5 minutes, once a month. We don’t find him when we go to church occasionally. Again, we will find God when we seek Him with all our heart.

We all know what it feels like to seek something with all our heart. I once lost my driver’s license right before I was supposed to fly. I lost my car keys and had to be someone where. I sought them with all my heart. You’ve done something similar. 

Use that same passion and seek God with all your heart. You will find Him.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to seek You fully, and trust that You will be found.

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

Galatians 6:9

“Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Most people do not quit because of one great failure. They quit because they slowly grow tired. Paul warns us about that kind of weariness. His words “grow weary” suggest a gradual loss of heart. Little by little, our resolve can weaken.

Notice that Paul speaks of “doing good” as something we keep doing. Faithfulness is usually not one heroic act. It is doing the right thing again tomorrow, and then again the day after that.

I especially love the words “in due time.” The harvest comes according to God’s timetable, not ours. We might work long before we see results.

But Paul gives us a promise: “we will reap.” God sees every faithful act. Keep planting. Keep serving. Keep believing. The harvest may be closer than you think.

Prayer: Lord, give me strength to keep doing good while I patiently wait for Your harvest.

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

Proverbs 16:9

“A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

We all make plans. We think about tomorrow, choose a direction, and hope things work out as expected. Proverbs 16 reminds us that planning is not wrong, but it also reminds us that our plans are not the final word. Sometimes a door closes, and we feel disappointed. But that closed door may simply be God changing our direction. He sees what we cannot see. He knows where each road leads.

I especially love the thought that God determines our steps. He may not show us the journey at once. Often, He gives us only the next step. So make your plans, but hold them with an open hand. Tell God what you hope for, then trust Him to change the route. Our plans reveal what we want. His direction reveals what He knows is best.

Prayer: Lord, guide my steps, close wrong doors, and help me trust Your better way each day.

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

2 Kings 5:2-3

“At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a young girl from the land of Israel. As a slave she waited on Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.'”

We do not even know her name. She was young, far from home, and living as a slave-servant in the house of the man whose army had taken her captive. Yet her suffering had not destroyed her faith.

She could not heal Naaman, but she knew where to send him. Her simple sentence eventually led Naaman to say, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel” (verse 15).

I wonder if that young girl ever realized what her few words accomplished. It reminds us that we do not need an important position to have an important influence. God took one faithful person, one conversation, and one small act of faith and used it to change someone’s life.

Prayer: Lord, help me faithfully point others toward You, trusting You to use even my small influence.

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

James 1:12 

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

Nobody wakes up hoping for a trial. We pray for smooth roads, and problems that solve themselves. So when James opens this verse with the word “blessed,” it catches us off guard. Blessed? In the middle of a trial? 

Trials are not a sign something has gone wrong. James reminds us they are simply part of the Christian life, something every believer should expect rather than fear. And in the middle of them, God offers a surprising word: blessed.

Not because trials feel good, but because standing firm through them leads somewhere. James promises that when we have stood the test, we receive the crown of life.

So if you’re walking through a hard season, take heart. You are not stuck. You are being shaped, and the reward waiting on the other side is worth more than anything happening today.

Prayer: Lord, help me stand firm in trials, trusting Your promise of lasting reward.

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