Month: August 2018

Today’s brief note was written especially for folks like me. Folks who get the “I wish I hadn’t said that” disease. If that is you, then listen to the words of an article I call

First You Listen

Someone once noted that God gave us two ears and one mouth because he wants us to listen twice as much as we talk. This is an easier task for some than for others. I would say that it is easier for one gender than for the other, but I have seen people on both sides of the gender line face that same problem.

If we complain about someone who gossips, it is assumed that it is women we are talking about. That is not true. Men also gossip, but we call it talking. Preachers even gossip. When they do it is often about another preacher. Let me tell you about what this one preacher…

Well, maybe I won’t tell you.

 Years ago I was at a men’s breakfast. I told a really good joke and everyone started laughing. I always enjoy it when people laugh at my jokes. Just as they started to laugh, one of the other men spoke up, “Let me tell you a joke I heard.” I was ticked. He didn’t give people enough time to enjoy my joke. In just a few seconds everything was okay. In the middle of telling his joke, one of the other men spoke up, “Hurry up and finish your joke. I have one I want to tell.”

 Unfortunately that little story illustrates the way a lot of folks communicate in life. Instead of listening to what someone is trying to tell us, we start thinking of how we want to answer. Solomon said, “He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame.” (Proverbs 18:13).

 As you can see, Answering before we hear the whole issue is a very old problem. This text was written 3,000 years ago. Answering before we hear is a foolish thing to do and will bring shame. You may get away with it for a while, but eventually it will bite you.

 Remember

First you listen.

Think about the words and THEN give the response.

You will be glad you did.

 Lonnie Davis

Today’s Heartword: James 1:19

“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

When my Ginger was five-years-old, her mischief got her into trouble. After a little swat on the bottom, she cried. When she finished crying, I wanted to make sure she knew why I spanked her.

“Ginger,” I asked, “Do you know why I spanked you?”

“Yes,” she sniffled.

“Why?”

With her big brown eyes looking up at me, she answered, “Cause you’re mad at me.”

 I was so glad I asked her. I would have hated for her to have shed tears for nothing. If she did not know why she was disciplined, then the discipline was wasted and improperly done. I spent a few minutes sitting beside her and explaining the lesson she needed to learn.

 Many years later she called me at six in the morning with the news that her apartment had burned down. No one was hurt, but a lot of things were burned up. She kept a good attitude at first, but as the days went by, things got harder. She and her husband moved to another apartment, but it was noisy and awful. They had to close down their business for a few days. Hers and Jeff’s routines were all messed up. Life started to feel hard. I spent a few phone calls telling her that everything would be okay. She had great faith, but still there were those tough days.

 Within a few days of the fire, she and Jeff closed on their new home. It is on a cul-de-sac in a nice, quiet neighborhood. The day they closed was one of the happiest days of her lives. I called her. She had suffered and now that the pain was mostly past, I wanted to make sure that she had learned the lesson.

 “Ginger,” I said to her, “For Christians, everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out yet, then it is not the end.” We laughed about God taking my old car that had 220,000 mile. I told her God took her apartment so he could give her a beautiful new house.

 Romans 8:28 says, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” No, I do not believe that God wrecked my car or burned her apartment, but isn’t it neat how things worked out? I believe this passage teaches that Christians have the promise from God that the bad days of our lives can be turned into something good. You have to put forth the effort, but God will always do more than his share.

 Let me say it again, “For Christians, everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out yet, then it is not the end.” Don’t fret or worry. Work toward and wait patiently for the good ending. It is coming.

Lonnie Davis

Today’s HeartWord – Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Moses’ story really began as God looked down upon his hurting enslaved people. God wanted to send just the right leader to lead them out of their slavery and pain. Surely there had to be many young, strong, charismatic leaders among 600,000 Israelite men, but God did not choose any of them. There were, no doubt, many men with the gift of words. God wasn’t looking for a wordsmith. There were certainly those who would have jumped at the chance to lead for God or die trying. God did not choose one of those brave souls.

 Instead, God chose a man who ran away from his family while they were slavery and then stayed away for 40 years. God chose a man who was a poor speaker. God chose a man who was afraid to accept a big challenge. God chose a man who did not want to be a leader. God chose Moses. He all of these things and more.

 Moses just wanted to be left alone. Moses did not choose the task. God chose it for him. One of Shakespeare’s characters said, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” Moses had greatness thrust upon him.

 However, four times Moses gave excuses to God why he could not do what God called him to do. Four times God answered his objections. Finally Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” (Ex 4:13). No excuse, just make someone else do it.

 Moses was not very different than most of us. God has a task for each of us. We may not want it and may resist it, but God keeps urging us. Paul urged Timothy, “Do not neglect your gift.” (1 Tim 4:14) We all have been given a gift, a talent, and a calling.

God would not let Moses get away with rejecting His call. In the end Moses did the thing God led him to do. Maybe you too have resisted a challenge that God has placed before you. Maybe you have refused even to see the challenge. Maybe you are happy with things just as they are, but God says to you, “Do not neglect your gift.”

 Perhaps you are not 80. Maybe you are 30 or 40 or 50. If so, then your life’s title can read, “Life Begins at 50.” Go ahead and begin it. God will go with you on the journey.        

 

~Lonnie Davis

Matthew 16:26

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

The drive from my house to work was a beautiful drive. Every day I got to drive a couple of miles through a state park and year round it was beautiful. In the winter, the snow can hang onto the tree limbs that outline the road. In the spring the new growth was amazing. In the fall, the changing of the colors is a site to see. I love it.

 It was beautiful until something happened to ruin it – well, at least a part of it. Someone accidentally ran over a skunk. I know it was an accident because no one would ever do such a crazy thing on purpose.

For the next few days, when I drove down that beautiful road there was a section of the drive that stunk. I have seen policemen pull over and remove the bodies of dead animals from the highways, but no one removed the dead skunk. I am reminded of several truths from this incident.

1. A mess is a mess, even when it is an accident.

Many people excuse every terrible thing they have done with a “I didn’t mean to.” Children think that an apology is all it takes to make everything okay. I sometimes appreciate an apology, but a stink is still a stink. Do not focus on the word “sometimes” in the last sentence. A true apology is always appreciated, but there are people who apologize, but never try to fix anything. That is not a real apology.

2. Sometime things happen in life that you can’t fix.

No one wanted to clean up the mess, so we just have to wait till it goes away on its own. David asked for forgiveness from his sin. God forgave him, but the sword never departed from his house. Jacob wrestled with an angel till the angel touched him in the hip and for the rest of his life he limped. Even with forgiveness there are often consequences.

3. The smell will eventually go away.

Right now it may seem like you will never get past your problem. Don’t be impatient, this too will pass. I love the fellow who was asked what his favorite Bible verse was and he quoted “it came to pass.” What ever your hard spot is, it will pass. It always does. The phrase “it came to pass” is found 453 times in the KJV.

 In your life, this skunk too will pass.

 Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Psalm 118-24

“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Moses’ Snake and David’s Bear

Moses’ Snake

 Do you remember the time that Moses ran from a snake? Moses didn’t run from just any snake, he ran from a snake that was sent from God. Here is the scene: At the burning bush, Moses tries to avoid the responsibility that God gives to him so God sends him a sign. He commanded Moses to throw his staff  (kind of like a large stick) onto the ground. “So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent.” “And Moses ran from it.” (Exodus 4:3-4).

 As our story continues, God told Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail.” Amazingly, “he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.” Don’t miss the sequence. He ran. God told him to pick the snake up. He stopped running and picked up the snake. After he picked it up, “it became a staff in his hand.”

 I don’t mind picking up a snake if God will turn it into a stick before I pick it up. Sometimes, however, God challenges us to pick up the snake and trust that He will fix it after it is in our hand.

 David’s Bear

 As a child, David killed a bear. Later, when he was trying to convince King Saul that the could kill the giant Goliath, he explained it to King Saul this way, “a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.” (1 Sam 17:34-35).

 Look at that courage, David grabbed the bear by the beard and killed it.

 So what does all this mean to us? In our story, bears and snakes stand for all those scary times we have to face. When we face them, we need to remember that God can kill our snakes and bears. He is with us when we worship on Sunday morning, but he is also with us when we face snakes and bears.

 Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Isaiah 41:10

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Spiritual Thoughts for August 23

 

The School in the Forest

 

 Once there was a man who wanted to help the animals in the forest. He wanted to make things better for them so he decided to start a school in the forest. In his school he had a squirrel, a fish, and a bird. To make their lives better he decided to help each of them become better at what they did not do well. Since the squirrel could climb, but could not swim, he decided to teach the squirrel to swim. The fish could swim, but could not fly so he worked at teaching the fish to fly. The bird could fly, but could not swim so the fish was enrolled in a swimming course.

 Over the next year, the squirrel practiced swimming, the fish worked at flying, and the bird tried hard to swim. At the end of the year, the teacher had a squirrel that was a bad swimmer, a fish that could not fly, and a bird that nearly drowned daily.

 There is a moral to this story. If you are a squirrel, climb. If you are a fish, swim. If you are a bird, fly. Do not try to be something you are not. God gave each of us special talents. Each of us should work to discover our own special talent. When we do, then our lives and the Kingdom will be blessed.

 Paul wrote, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” (1 Cor. 12:17-19)

 You have the special abilities that God wanted you to have. If he had wanted you to be taller, he would have made you taller. If He had wanted you to be prettier, he would have made you prettier. If He wanted you to be a better singer, he would have given you a better voice. Success is not about what you have, but about what you do with what you have. 

                                                                                 ~Lonnie Davis

Heartword – Proverbs 23:6-7

“Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. ‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you.”

Note: We would do well to remember that generosity is not always generosity, but the great lesson we should see in this verse is that we need to share with a willing heart.

Don’t Bury Your Talent

 Not one is a thousand would recognize the name of Reginald Heber. On April 3, 1826 he served as a missionary in India. That day he preached outdoors under a hot Indian sun. To cool off, afterward he went for a dip in a nearby pool. While in the pool he had a stroke and drowned.

 A few days later his wife was going through his belongings and found in his trunk several old songs that he had written but never published. Among those songs was one that he wrote called, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty.” Since that discovery millions of people, if not billions, have been blessed by the work of Reginald Heber.

 This is not a note about what a great song he wrote, but about how he buried that song in a trunk. He had great talent, but he buried that talent.

 One cannot help wondering how many of us have done the same thing. How many of us have a song, a story, or a sermon that we have never shared? Fear is a powerful force that can cause us to bury our talent. It may seem like no big deal, but we would do well to remember the Lord’s answer to the man who buried his talent, “You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.” (Matt 25:27)

 God did not call us to sit on our opportunities or talents. The talents God has given to you is God’s gift to you. What you do with those talents is your gift to God.

 What is your talent? Use it!

 

HeartWord – Proverbs 22:29

“Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings;they will not serve before officials of low rank.”

It was the worse broken leg I had ever known about. What made it worse was that it was on my brother. There is an old saying, “minor surgery is done on you and major surgery is done on me.” Well, I am not him, but he needed major surgery. The doctor set his leg in a cast. It went from his foot and ran up to his hip. For two months all he could do was sit in a chair. After two months they took the cast off and put him in a special boot. For four more months he wore that big, clumpy boot. Nearly six months after the accident and many trips to the doctor, he made one more trip to the doctor.

 “Doc,” he said, “this boot is ugly and never matches anything. Can I get another boot to match it?” The doctor said, “Take the boot off and quit wearing it.” “Doc,” he replied, “all I am asking for is a matching boot.” Again the doctor said, “Take the boot off. You don’t need it anymore.”

 After six months, surgery, casts and reinforced boots, it was over. It was almost over. Well, there was one more problem. “Doc,” my brother said, “I can’t.” Then he quietly added, “I’m scared.”

 “I’m scared” are not the words of a coward. They are the words of all of us. Fear does not just make us want to wear an ugly boot, it permeates our whole life. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they were afraid. Jesus quickly called out to them, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matt 14:27) Over and over Jesus urged his followers to “Fear not.” (Matt 10:26; 12:31, 28:5; Luke 5:10; 12:5; John 12:15) and many, many other places.

 We believe in God. We trust that he will help us through the “valley of the shadow of death.” We claim that we will “fear no evil, for thou art with me,” but still we are afraid. What if I fail? What if I lose my job? What if food prices and gas prices go so high I can’t afford them? What if I? What if I?

For all those “What if” questions, Jesus has a word of encouragement – “Don’t be afraid?” When Peter tried to walk on water and then began to sink, Jesus caught him, “’You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?” When your life is tumbling in, do not doubt. Do not fear. Only trust Him.

“Nothing is going to happen to you today that you and God cannot handle.”            

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”        

Everybody Fails!

Men fail – Women fail
Young people fail – Old People fail
Poor people fail – Rich people fail

Even you fail, I know I do.
Because everybody fails.

Since everybody fails, failure  can not be how we judge our lives.

In Proverbs 24:16, Solomon said:

“Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”

Notice from this text that both the righteous and evil man falls, the difference between the righteous and evil is whether they get up from their fall. The righteous man, the good man falls down but gets up. The wicked man falls down and just wallows in his failure.

Have you messed up? Try again.

Avoiding failing is not the sign of a righteous person.

Not giving up is the sign of a righteous person. Try, try again!

It is the Godly thing to do.
It is how we are successful in our reach for eternal life with God.
It is also how we become successful here on earth.

Maybe you know the true story of Harlan. Harlan was a sixth-grade drop out. Over his life He worked as a farmhand, a railroad worker, an insurance salesman, a tire salesman, and had a failed attempt in politics. At the end of all these jobs, he retired broke. With little more than social security checks he decided to sell chicken, more specifically a chicken recipe. He went from business to business asking restaurants, cafes, and grills to use his recipe and pay him 5 cent for each piece they sold. He tried for two years. “No, no, no,” he kept hearing. In fact, he heard 1,009 rejections before someone finally said “Yes.”

We all know him now as Colonel Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. When he died in 1980 he was a rich man, a millionaire. He failed 1,009 times, but he tried and tried again. Winners keep on keeping on. Losers quit!

Let’s go back to that beautiful text in Proverbs and put the names of a couple of people into the text. Remember the text, “Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”

Here are the two names: Peter and Judas. Both of them failed.

Peter failed. He bragged that he would never deny Jesus, but before the next morning he had denied Jesus three times. He even took an oath before the enemies of Jesus that he did not know Jesus. Feeling his failure, he wept bitterly. Jesus forgave him and a few days later Peter preached the first gospel sermon.

Judas failed. He betrayed Jesus for money – thirty pieces of silver. He regretted his act of betral and tried to return the money. When he could not and so he hanged himself. Now let’s read that verse again:

“Though a righteous man (Peter) falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked (Judas) are brought down by calamity.”

Never give up.
Failing and trying again is the mark of a righteous person.
Never, never give up!

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Proverbs 26:13

“A sluggard says, ‘There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!'”

NOTE: A lazy person does not see himself or herself as lazy. They always have an excuse for not doing what they should do.

 

 

 Every event in the the story of the 10 plagues of Egypt is fascinating, but I am especially taken with the second plague.

In the second plague, God brought frogs upon the land. They were everywhere. Open the door and there they were. Turn down the blanket and there are frogs! Take down a dish and what did you find inside? Frogs! … Frogs, frogs, frogs. It seems like a harmless and even humorous plague, but it was not.

 Finally the Pharaoh had enough and asked Moses to take away the frogs. Moses asked him a rather odd question, “When do you want me to take away the frogs?” If that is an odd question, then the Pharaoh’s answer is completely bizarre. He answered “Tomorrow!” (Exodus 8:10) Tomorrow? Wow! I know what my answer would have been – “Right now!” I am done with frogs. Take them away now!

 Why did he want one more night with the frogs? Maybe he wanted one more night to see if the frogs would just go away on their own. Maybe the answer is, that is just how people are. People want to put off everything until tomorrow.

 In Luke chapter nine, Jesus confronted some other “tomorrow” people. “Follow me,” he challenged, but they began pleading for tomorrow. “First let me go and bury my father.” (Luke 9:59) He challenged a second man who responded, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.” Every time Jesus called someone they would say, “Yes, but first…”

 They all had excuses to allow the themselves to wait until tomorrow. Everyone plans to do wonderful things tomorrow, but not today. Read Luke 9:57-62 and you will see that Jesus had warning words for those who procrastinate.

 That warning still rings today. The problem with the lure of tomorrow is that there is no guarantee that any of us will have a tomorrow. We must live each day and do the good we can without counting on tomorrow.

 Whatever it is you need to do, Do not try to have one more night with the frogs. Just do it!

Lonnie Davis