Month: January 2023

The story is told of a sole survivor of a shipwreck who washed up on a small, uninhabited island. Day after day he prayed for God to rescue him. Day after day he scanned the horizon for help. Day after day, he was left alone on the island.

Realizing he needed to make the best of a bad situation, he built a little hut of driftwood to protect himself from the elements. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home and found his little hut in flames. It was not much, but it was all he had. Everything was lost. He was shocked with grief and filled with anger. “God, how could you do this to me!” he cried.

Early the next day he awakened to the sound of a ship approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” he asked. Their answer shocked him even more than the fire. “We saw your smoke signal,” they said.

Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

For Believers, even the apparent hard spot is nothing more than a prelude to God’s answer to prayer. The Bible is filled with examples:

• If Joseph had not been sold into Egypt, the Israelites would never have been saved from famine.
• If Peter had caught all the fish he could handle before midnight, he would have cleaned his nets early and gone home without seeing Jesus in the morning.
• If Moses had not spent 40 years in the desert, he would never have known how much he needed God.

What has happened in your life that you see as a hard spot? Someday you will be able to look back on it and realize it too turned out to be just a smoke signal before God’s deliverance.

Lonnie Davis

You learn from all kinds of folks in life. You learn from your parents, your teachers, your friends, and too many others to list. Solomon told us to learn from an Ant. He said, “Go to the ant…consider her ways and be wise.” (Proverbs 6:6).

In the next verse, he lists three lessons we can learn from the Ant. Of the ant he says,

“Which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.”

Did you see the three descriptions of the ant?

1. The ant is a self-starter. It does not need someone to prod it to do what it needs to do. It does its job without a captain to oversee it
2. The ant is a hard worker. It takes care of its own supplies.
3. The ant is aware of the coming season. It gathers up food for the harvest. It does not live its life like today is all there is but rather prepares for what is certain to come.

Wise folks would do well to be like the ant.

It will make us better people.

Lonnie Davis

Sometime ago Liz and I took the grandkids swimming at the health club. Our gym has a giant thirty-foot water slide for the kids. Grandparents are not allowed on it, at least that is my official position. Our little five-year-old granddaughter came over to me and said, “I want to go down the waterslide.” She took a breath and then added, “I wish I was used to it.”

Kids often make profound statements, and this was one of them. It is a profound truth that great opportunities often come with great anxiety.

But, If you will face your fears, they can bring great blessings.

Personally, there have been many things in my life that I wanted to do, that I needed to do, but that I was afraid to do. Sometimes doing the thing was forced upon me and after a while, I was no longer anxious about that previously fearful act. I just had to get used to it.

Everyone at first is afraid to speak in public, lead a prayer, or ride a bike, or drive into the water.

I have often enjoyed listening to others talk about the first time they ever taught or prayed in public. They can usually describe that event in great detail. They were all afraid.

 We must not let fear keep us from doing any number of things we want and need to do.

Winston Churchill said, “If I do that which I fear, fear will leave me.”

Remember the words of Paul to Timothy and to all of us, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:6-7).

After our then-little five-year-old got used to the waterslide, she had a great time. The next time you have a daunting task before you, just smile and say, “I will get used to it.”

In the end, you will have a great blessing.

Lonnie Davis

At 14, her life seemed out of control. She was making bad grades, bad decisions, and bad friends. She was not uncooperative but certainly did not understand what was to be gained from counseling.

I asked her, “Have you ever seen a car driving down a Texas highway on a hot day in August with its windows rolled down?”

“Yes,” she answered.
“Why are the windows down?” I asked.
“The air conditioning is broken,” she answered.
“Why don’t they fix it?” I asked.
“They don’t have the money,” She answered.
There is one more question, “Why don’t they have money?”

Let me answer that question for the reader. Some have bad luck, but for the great majority that is not the real problem. The real problem is that we spend money on things we don’t need to impress people who don’t really care, then when an emergency arises, we are out of funds. That is a rule.

Life runs on rules. It is a rule that if you do not save for a rainy day, then when the rainy day comes you will suffer the consequences. That is the rule of saving for a rainy day (or a hot summer day in Texas).

Life has many more rules. The wise person will spend time learning the rules.

If they are wise, they will remember them.
If they are wise, they will write them down.
If they are wise, they will live by them.

Remember them or write them down, but you will live by them. Each of them is a life rule that brings success or failure.  You will keep repeating the failure until you learn the lesson.

Lonnie Davis

When I was 11, I lived close to a skating rink. I remember my amazement the first time I saw someone skating backward – BACKWARD! He must have been the best skater in the world, or at least I thought so.

I got my courage up and tried it for myself. I jumped up to aim backward. Plop! Down I went. Obviously, I was not talented enough to skate backward. Maybe it was a fluke, so I tried again. Again, I went down. I turned around and skated frontward as God intended. Over the years I saw a few others who could skate backward, but obviously God touches a few people with special talents. I was not one of them.

Many years later I stood near an ice-skating rink and saw my 11-year-old granddaughter leap into the air, spin two complete revolutions, and skate away. Amazing!

There is more to the story than met my eye. Upon further investigation I learned that young Gwen (the skater) spent one and a half years falling before she was able to do the double leap. At first she fell and fell and fell and fell. One day she finally hit the trick. Over the 18 months she had fallen hundreds of times before she mastered the skill.

It made me realize that I could have skated backward if I had been willing to fall and fall and fall. Instead I resigned myself to skating the ordinary way.

There is a great lesson for all of us – “Those who would succeed must first be willing to fail.”

Let me say that again, “Those who would succeed must first be willing to fail.” That is how you all learned to walk or cook or write or skate. Everything great is at first difficult.

There is a great life lesson in the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

It marks the difference between ordinary and great.

Lonnie Davis

Not Yet

It was a special day. Jeremy hired a boat and guide to take us all fishing. At about 5:30 in the morning, he went to wake up 6-year-old Gage. He gently shook him and said, “Gage, are you ready for the best day of your life?”

With the quiet voice of a child, Gage answered, “Not yet.”

Don’t you wish all your days started with the question, “Are you ready for the best day of your life?” Those of us who have lived a few years know that is not how life works. There are fun days and hard days. There are not always great days.

However, so early in the morning, a six-year-old may not know what a great day is. On the off chance that you may not either, let me share just a couple of identifying marks of great days.

A great day is one where you may the day special. A great day is a decision. Occasionally you may stumble upon a great day, but most of the time you must decide to make it a great day. You must ask yourself what you can do to make the day great.

A great day is a day when you realize who gave you a day. Remember the words of the psalmist, “This is the day which the LORD has made; Let’s rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

So, to have a great day: 1) Remember the Lord gave you this great day. Don’t give it back to Him wasted. 2) Plan something for this day. Make it something you will be glad you did.

When presented with the opportunity to have a great day, don’t say to yourself, “Not yet.”

Lonnie Davis

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.

 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

One of the great cautionary tales from the Bible is the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). He messed up a lot of things in his life. But today I want you to think about the one thing he did right and it is something that many of us mess up.

Jesus tells us the story in Luke 15. We will start with the messed up Prodigal finally figuring out what he needs to do to make things right.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! I will get up and go to my father…He arose and came to his father.” (Luke 15:17-20).

Especially note that he decided that he needed to go back home and then he got up went home. In other words, he did what he knew to do…and he did it immediately. The Prodigal knew how to make a decision and then follow through on his decisions. He wasn’t suffering by indecision.

The philosopher, Jim Rohn said, “Indecision is the thief of opportunity.”

This is a lesson I need in my life. I’ll bet it is also something that you need. Once you know what needs to be done, in the words of Nike, “Just do it.”

Lonnie Davis

hey say that life is funny, but I’m here to tell you that sometimes it is only funny looking back.

I have many bad experiences buying things cheap at garage sales. Some folks call them yard sale or tag sales. You know that is. It is one of those events where people take junk they paid good money for and thought they could not live without but now they no longer want in their house. They put this special stuff into their yard and hope people will come and give them pennies on the dollar for it. This is all done under the premise of “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

Today having a compass in a car is common. In the 1970’s, it was a rarity. One day I stopped at garage and found that the people had just such a compass that would stick on the front window of the car.

It was only 50 cents so I grabbed it up, and hurried back to my little Volkswagen. It attached with a little rubber suction cup. I moistened the suction cup and stuck it on. It fell off immediately. I tried again. Another failure! Perhaps I wasn’t pressing hard enough.

With one more effort I licked the suction cup (ugh!) and stuck it on. This time I pressed harder. With a little more effort I cracked the window! I paid 50 cents for the privilege of breaking my window.

I guess that will teach me not to go to garage sales. (It didn’t.) Sometimes one man’s junk is another man’s junk too.

So here is the real question, what junk do you have in your life that you need to get rid of?  Then get rid of it. There really is such a thing as addition by subtraction.

Sometimes we need to follow these word from Isaiah, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” – Isaiah 43:18

Lonnie Davis

Forty years after leaving Egypt, Israel was ready to enter the Promised Land. They had crossed the Red Sea, mountains, and deserts and finally they came to the last physical barrier to that Promised Land, the Jordan River. As Israel stood on the brink and ready to cross, it was a daunting task, perhaps even scary. The river was swollen and dangerous and there were two million people that needed to cross. As they got ready to cross, God gave them the order to follow the ark as they crossed the river. He gave them specific details about the march. He said to them:

“Keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it.” (Joshua 3:4).

This commandment from the Lord may seem strange. The people needed to cross the Jordan as soon as they possible, yet they were told to lag 2/3 of a mile behind the ark.

Why?

There is no guess needed here. God told them why they should follow 1,000 yards behind the ark. “Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.” They followed because they needed to see someone else walk the path before them. It is easier to travel if you know someone who has walked that way before.

This is a great rule for everything in life. Any path you want to walk, whether that of a baker, a banker, or a business owner, find someone who has walked the path before you and then learn from them. 

Life is harder when you won’t follow those who have walked before you.

Lonnie Davis