Month: October 2018

Seeking the Blind

 
There is an amazing eleven word passage in John 9:1, “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.”
 
The “He” is Jesus and the blind man’s name is unknown. All references to him are either “he,” “a man,” “this man,” or “our son,” but no name is ever used. His name is lost to history, but read the passage again and you will notice something astounding. “He saw a man blind from birth.” “This man” had never seen anything. He had never seen his parent’s faces. He had never seen a sunrise.
 
All these things are true, but there is something profound and deep in these eleven words – “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.” Here are three profound truths:
 
1. He Sees You First
Jesus saw this man before this man ever saw Jesus. That is a great truth for all of us. Before you were born, He knew you. Before you saw him, He saw you. Before He was on your mind, you were on His mind.
 
This is not a new truth. Hundreds of years earlier, God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”  (Jeremiah 1:5)
 
2. He Knew You First
This blind man did not know Jesus, but Jesus knew him. There are more than six billion people alive today and billions of them do not know the true God, but the true God knows them. He knows all of them. He knows not only the rich and privileged, but also the poor and deprived. He even knows the unknown blind man in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere.
 
3. He is Here
Jesus was in the presence of the blind man even though the blind man did not know it. Just because you do not see Him does not mean that He is not here. Moments before the blind man saw Jesus, Jesus was there. The blind man did not know it, but that did not change the fact of the presence of God.
 
The next time you read that one verse, remember: He sees you before you see Him. He Knows you before you know Him. He is there. He is here. He is always here.
~Lonnie Davis

How to Forgive and Forget

 It was more than 10 years ago, but I still remember her like it was yesterday. She came to see me with tears in her eyes. She and her husband had an argument and in the middle of the argument, she mentioned an old hurt to him. He snapped back, “You told me you had forgive me, but you lied! If you really forgave me, you would have forgotten that!” Feeling guilty she wanted to know how one could forget old hurts. How do you do that?

There are two answers to that question: (1) It takes time, and (2) You do not truly forget. It is just that one day it becomes irrelevant to you.

1. It Takes Time

There are no Bible passages that can erase memory. Old wounds heal, but healing is a slow process. Old wounds do not really disappear. They just fade from view.

2. You Don’t Really Forget

Even God does not truly forget. I know He said, “I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)  God did not lose his omniscience. He made a decision not to call the old sin to mind.

When we forgive and forget that is what we really do. We forgive and then choose not to call the old offense to our memory.

As several of us were helping a newly blended family move to a new house, I took a picture off the wall and there was a big hole behind it. At first the lady was startled and then she confessed, “That is where my husband knocked me into the wall. I just put a picture over it.”

That is the way to forgive and forget. The old wound is there, but we just have to put a new picture over it.  The new picture helps both parties.

~Lonnie Davis

Jesus Got Angry?

Jesus got angry, or so every angry person would have you believe. Folks who make this statement are usually trying to justify their own anger. After all if Jesus got angry, then no one can blame me for being angry. The problem is that this statement is grossly overstated.

 To prove their point, angry people use the story of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple (Mark 11, Matthew 21, Luke 19, John 2). Before anyone accuses Jesus of anger in that story, he or she ought to read the story again. Nowhere do the Scriptures say that Jesus was angry. Jesus was bothered. Jesus was troubled. Jesus was determined to stop unrighteousness. Jesus was not angry.

 This is easily seen when a person looks at what anger does. Anger puts a person in an impaired mental state and reduces one’s ability to grasp ambiguity or see any nuance in a situation. Anger gives us an adrenalin rush which clouds our ability to make judgments.  This is not the emotion that Jesus was experiencing when he drove the crooked merchants out of the temple. Jesus did not “lose it.” With a clear mind, Jesus removed scam artists from the temple area.

 There is one time in the Bible that says Jesus experienced anger. In Mark 3, the Bible says that Jesus “look around…in anger.” Read the text and you will find that the only way you know Jesus felt anger is that the Scriptures tells us so. He did not hit anyone. He did not call anyone a name. He did not shout at anyone. He did not get red-faced. He was angry, but he dealt with it quietly and then he helped a man.

 If you want to be angry like Jesus, that is your example.

 ~Lonnie Davis

Another Reason to Read the Bible

Why do you read the Bible?

The other day I was reading some old notes about why we ought to read the Bible. The notes were the usual things that preachers share:

(1) It is the inspired Word of God,

(2) It tells us about God,

(3) It contains the answers to life’s question.

To that list I want to add another. “Appetite comes with eating.”

The full text of this old French proverb says, “Appetite comes with eating; the more one has, the more one would have.”

That may not seem like a reason to read the Bible, but after you think about it, it will make sense.

When I first read this proverb I too raced through it and did not see the great truth in it. Later I began to reflect on it and realized the life principle in it. Its meaning is simple.

Appetite comes with eating. If you are watching your weight and want to avoid eating a donut tomorrow, do not eat one today.

If you want to avoid eating a second piece of cake, do not eat the first piece.

“Appetite comes with eating; the more one has, the more one would have.”

There is a spiritual application to this.

If you want to be more spiritual, start acting spiritual.

If you want to build a great prayer life, start a small prayer life. It will grow.

If you want to get into the habit of worshipping God faithfully, go to church next Sunday, then go the next and the next.

In time it will all seem normal to you. Appetite comes from eating.

Once I was teaching Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” One of the class members asked, “How can you develop a hunger for righteousness?” It was then that my mind ran back to this old proverb, “Appetite comes with eating.”

If you want to become more spiritual tomorrow, practice spiritual things today. One does not become a great prayer warrior in one day. One does not go from casual acquaintance with the Bible to deep knowledge in one week. Begin today to make small spiritual things. It will make the big spiritual things feel more natural tomorrow.

Appetite comes with eating.

~Lonnie Davis

Dail 9 – 1 in Prayer

When my youngest daughter was barely a teenager, she was very afraid of the dark. One night she was upstairs and in the middle of the night heard a sound downstairs. She grabbed the phone, pulled the cover over both her and the phone. She then dialed 9-1. After that she held her finger over the last “1.” She was prepared to call for help!

 In my own private time, I love long prayers. I love public prayer at church. Prayers around the beds of the sick are special to me. All of these are wonderful, but I especially love those who’s prayer life includes keeping the finger over the “1” button of prayer.

 David was such a man. Read the Psalms and you will be convinced of that fact. Often the Psalms will speak about wonderful things or even troubling things and then out of nowhere will be a one-sentence prayer. Nehemiah also had this skill. His enemies would attack him and he would suddenly and abruptly prayer. His prayer was always short and to the point. It did not have all the fancy beginnings and endings. He prayed like a man who knew that God was right beside him and would hear him.

 I think this is what the Holy Spirit had in mind when he exhorted us to be “instant in prayer.” (Rom 12:12 KJV)  Instant in prayer does not mean that with each step we take we say another prayer. It means that we live with our finger over the last button of the “phone” to God. It means that we do push that button many times.

 Go ahead and push call God with a brief prayer, a one-sentence prayer.

God is ready to hear you.

 

~Lonnie Davis

One Solitary Life

Once in a while, someone takes pen to a blank page and writes something for eternity. This writing is one of those writings. Save this for yourself and use it when you can. It is amazing.
One Solitary Life
He was born in an obscure village, a child of a peasant woman.
He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty,
Then became an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never did one thing that usually accompanies greatness.
He had no credentials but Himself.
While still a young man, public opinion turned against Him.
His friends ran away.
One denied Him.
He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
His executioners gambled for His only piece of property – His coat.
He was laid in a borrowed grave.
Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone.
Today He is the centerpiece of the human race.
All the armies that ever marched,
All the navies that ever sailed,
All the parliaments that ever sat,
And all the kings that ever reigned put together,
have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as that
One Solitary Life.
Author Unknown

Notes Left Behind

The book, “Notes Left Behind” tells the story of Elena Desserich, a beautiful five-year-old child. Her long brown hair and beautiful smile were only surpassed by her amazing spirit. Her family’s world revolved around her. I n a moment their world stopped spinning. Just before her sixth birthday, little Elena was diagnosed with brain cancer and given 135 days to live. She lived 255 days, passing away in 2007. This is no “gone but not forgotten” story, because Elena used those 255 days to do something wise beyond her years. After her death, Elena’s parents, Brooke and Keith, found hundreds of notes from Elena hidden around the house. They found the notes between CD cases, between bookshelves, in dresser drawers, in backpacks, and in a hundred other places.

Every time they found another note they said, “It just felt like a little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us.” The writing skills of a six-year-old are not great and many of the notes simply said, “I love you Mom and Dad.” Often the words weren’t spelled correctly, but that didn’t matter. To her parents, the notes left behind were the greatest words ever written.

As I read this story I thought about what I would do if I were to find such notes left behind. I soon realized this story is my story. This story is your story. Someone we love did die and leave notes behind for us.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever   believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

1 John 4:11, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

These and many other “notes” tell of His great love for us.

One more thing little Elena left behind was what she called a “Kindergarten Survival Kit.” It was left for her younger sister. When you think about it that is what Jesus did for us. Jesus left the “Comforter,” the Holy Spirit (John 14:25-26) to give the words that will help us survive here while we wait for Heaven. His words are our “survival kit.”

~Lonnie Davis

My Kids Won’t Ever

 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

Never Judge Too Quickly

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

15 Years Promised from God

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