Month: June 2023

Our text for today is Deuteronomy 10:17-19a

The LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger…

Let me sum this up with a sentence. Be kind to all people.

One of the best illustrations to follow this is found in the following story.

“A Lady asked an old street vendor: “How much do you sell your eggs for?” The old man replied “50 cents an egg, madam.” The Lady responded, “I’ll take 6 eggs for $2.00 or I’m leaving.” The old salesman replied, “Buy them at the price you want, Madam. This is a good start for me because I haven’t sold a single egg today and I need this to live.”

She bought her eggs at a bargain price and left with the feeling that she had won. She got into her fancy car and went to a fancy restaurant with her friend. She and her friend ordered what they wanted. 

They ate a little and left a lot of what they had asked for. So they paid the bill, which was $150. The ladies gave $200 and told the fancy restaurant owner to keep the change as a tip.

This story might seem quite normal to the owner of the fancy restaurant, but very unfair to the egg seller. The question it raises is this;

Why do we always need to show that we have power when we buy from the needy?

And why are we generous to those who don’t even need our generosity?

We once read somewhere that a father used to buy goods from poor people at a high price, even though he didn’t need the things. Sometimes he paid more for them. His children were amazed. One day they asked him “why are you doing this dad?” 

The father replied: “It’s charity wrapped in dignity.”

We are all climbing a hill but at different stages…always be kind

I’m Lonnie Davis. I admit I did not write this old story, but it certainly is a thought worth thinking about. I know I will.

How long does it take to break a bad habit? You’ve probably heard 21 days or 28 days or 30 days or various other days. I’m going to give you the correct answer. The real answer is “It depends.” You just work at it until you accomplish your goal. Yes, I said “work at it.” Don’t give in and if you fall down, get up and get back at it. 

That is my advice, but wouldn’t you like Jesus’ teaching on it? It is found in today’s text:

Matthew 12:43-45

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.  “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

Here is a summary of this teaching: If you have a bad habit (in this story an unclean spirit) and you send it away, you absolutely must do one thing – replace it! If you don’t, Jesus said, the bad will come back and makes things even worse. If you don’t replace it, then you will fail.

Not all replacements work for all people, but find something good to replace the bad. Find what works for you. 

For example:

If you need to stop watching television, learn to read. If you hate to read, find a book that really interests you or even listen to a book. Whatever works, do it. Do something or the pull of the old way will call you back.

If you mindlessly snack on too much sugar, find healthy foods. You will learn to like them.

If you want to break the habit of sleeping too late, schedule exciting things for the early morning.

Don’t just kick out the bad habit. Replace it with something better. That is not my advice. That is Jesus’ teaching.

Lonnie Davis

Some texts hold more than one great lesson. Our recent text of Numbers 11:4-6 is one of those passages. Israel just escaped the 400 years of slavery from Egypt. Chased into the desert, they soon began to complain about their new hard days. Let’s read our text a second time:

Numbers 11:4-6
The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

Of course we see that they were blessed and cared for by God, but they still wanted more. Give us meat and then we will be okay, they basically cried.

But, there is a second great lesson that we should not overlook. Look at the people, not only did they want meat to eat, but they were missing the good old days, you know back when they were slaves. Ugh! How can they possible think those days were better. They looked back longingly and said, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost.”

No cost? They were owned as slaves to the Egyptians. They were cut off from the worship of their God – or at least controlled as to how they could worship. They were forced to make a daily quota of bricks for the Egyptians.

But, when they got hungry, they longed for the good old days when they were slaves and got meat as “no cost.”

How many times do we do the same thing? We see no cost in doing whatever we want. Our family suffers because we do not work. If we ignore our health we think it is no cost to us.

Look, I know that I am as guilty of this “no cost” thinking as any anyone but the exhortation to all of us is to cost the cost before we do anything. This is the teaching of Jesus in Luke 14:28, “First sit down and calculate the cost.” The whole idea of “No Cost” is a myth. 

Lonnie Davis

The text today sees the Hebrew children freed from slavery in Egypt. You would think they would be grateful for all God was doing for them, but, well, let’s read our text:

Numbers 11:4-6

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

God had freed them and feed them in their journey. He gave them “manna” to eat but this soon began to leave them unsatisfied. “If only we had meat to eat..we never see anything but this manna.” We have all known people who were never satisfied with anything. God gave them the food of angels, manna, but they wanted more. They needed meat! The statement, “If only we had meat to eat” implies that then they would be happy and content. 

No they would not have. I love the story of the lady who worked as a maid for a rich family. It was Christmas and the rich people opened their gifts. Watches, TV’s, and jewelry were freely given, but they were not content. They griped about what they wanted instead. The maid had enough and told them how they were acting. “I can’t believe you can’t be happy with all you have  .” She took a breath then continued, “If I only had $100 dollars, I’d be the happiest person on earth.”

The father said, “Really? Okay!” He then gave her $100. She smiled and thanked him. She skipped happily out of the room. Once out of the room she whispered, “I wish I had said $200.”

If you can’t learn to be happy with 100 then 200 won’t fix that problem. 

Happiness is an inside job. It begins with the heart and not with watches, or jewelry or even $100. It starts when we realize how blessed we are and make up our minds to be happy.

How happy are you? I know sometimes they are hard days, but then you have to turn from those days and decide to be happy again.

Let me leave you with one last scripture today. I Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.”

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

Our text for today is Psalm 23:1-3a

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.
May God bless the reading of his word.

Obviously we only read the first few words from this great text. I stopped with these few words because to read further may obscure the point I wanted to make about the whole Psalm. Here is that point: The lessons of this psalm are so many that is best to look at the individual statements.

In the these first 27 words there are 5 great lessons for our heart. When preachers find these lesson they call them preaching points. Since most preachers only use 2-4 points in a lesson, it is obvious that a deep understanding of this psalm would require a long, long sermon. The lessons I see in these 27 words are:

1. He is our God.
2. God is our shepherd.
3. He provides rest for his followers.
4. God leads us in ways that are safe for us.
5. God will refresh our spirits.

These are all great lessons but in the final 87 words of this psalm, A teacher can quickly spot 16 more great lessons.

Let me share what I think is the most important lesson from this Psalm. We learn it from a story.

The Bible school teacher for a class of 15 first graders told the class that next week they would study Palms 23. She asked the class to go home that week and memorize the psalm. Next Sunday when they came back she ask for any one of them to come to the front and recite this great psalm. No volunteer was found until finally one little girls raised her hand. “I can do it,” the little girl said.

Bravely walking to the front of the class, she stood silently for a few second and then began.

“The Lord is my shepherd.” Her little voice paused for a few second and then she said, “And that’s all I know.”

To that we can say “Wow.” She learned the most important lesson. It is the first lesson we all should learn. The Lord is my shepherd. We he is that, he is the most important thing to us.

Lonnie Davis

Our Text  for today is Psalms 31:12-15. David wrote:
 I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many, Terror is on every side;While they took counsel together against me, They schemed to take away my life. But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand.

May God bless the reading of this word.

Sometimes there are unbelievable risks. Think about the first person to fly across the Atlantic, or ride a rocket to the moon, or on purpose to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. They were no doubt nervous, but after assessing the risks, they decided to go for it. 

The spiritual life also has risks—opportunities that challenge us to consider who we are and to call on us to leave our comfort zone and stretch  the extent of our faith. 

What Christians have that other risk-takers don’t have is the promise that God will be with us in every hard time. Consider Paul, for example, on his second missionary journey. He had no plan to go into Macedonia, but the door opened for that work. 

He had no contacts, no plans, no means—he had nothing except a commission from Christ to take the Gospel to the Gentiles and do that work.  Oh yea, he also had faith that God would be with him.

Paul took a faith-based risk and was blessed. 

If you see an open door in your life for something that is worth doing, leave your comfort, and walk through that door.!

As one writer said, “It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.”

Our Bible verse for today is Jeremiah 29:12-14a.

“You will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,”declares the LORD,

Stupid is as stupid does. Well if that old Forrest Gump stament is true, then I was stupid.

My family was enjoying a day of water skiing. I was just in the boat for watching and was wearing jeans. About 20 feet away, attempting to get his skis on, one of my kids was having a little difficulty. Of course I was thinking, “Father knows best.” I could jump in, swim over to them and help them. What I later thought was “Stupid is as stupid does.”

I jumped into the deep lake water. Not dressed for swimming, my soon to be water soaked jeans dragged me deeper and deeper toward the bottom of the deep water. I hadn’t bothered to take a good breath, so soon I felt like I was drowning. “Air,” I thought, “I need to breath.” I started kicking to get to the top. It seemed hopeless. Getting air and breathing was all that was on my mind. Eventually I did make it to the top and took a big breath. The big breath I took was sweet relief. Just a few seconds earlier I wanted nothing more than to breath.

As I remember this old story, I get a new understanding of God’s statement to Jeremiah, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” God is not found by the casual seeker. He is found by those who search for him with all them their hearts. We must want God even a drowning man wants air to breath. 

How are intensively are you seeking God today? 

Lonnie Davis

Today’s text is from 1 Peter 5:8-9a

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith.”

As a child, the thing that scared me most was the devil. When I was 5, I had an aunt who used to tell me stories about the end of the world and the judgment day. I still remember some of the nightmares I had. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I was easily afraid. Besides, the devil always seemed too cunning for me to handle.

Do you have the same feeling? Is it possible to defeat the devil? Is he too tricky to be beaten? Is it possible that he has you so firmly in his grip that you will not be able to free yourself? The most crucial thing you should know about Satan is that he is the father of all lies.

 John 8:44 speaks of the devil and says, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

Let that sink in for a moment. Everything you hear from the devil is a lie. He is unable to speak truthfully. Everything he says contradicts God, the source of all truth. All of the devil’s whispers about his power and your inability to defeat him contradict God’s word.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” 

Our heavenly Father is a perfect, capable protector from Satan. He promises to establish us and guard us. He is always with us and always knows exactly what we need in order to withstand the temptations of Satan.

 1 Corinthians 10:13 teaches us, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape.” 

God is faithful. We do not fight the devil and his temptations alone.

Lonnie Davis

The background for our text finds Israel running from Egypt. Surrounded by the enemy, they did not see any escape. So we read our text for today from Exodus 14:11-15

“Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.  

Okay, so they were afraid and wanted to go back to the old ways when their slave masters took care of them. Haven’t you ever been there? Times used to be hard, but the new ways are unknown. Let’s just go back to how things used to be before I started my new life.

Moses assured them that God would not let them down. He assured them, “The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.” Then he told them, “The Lord will fight or you.” Even that is not enough!

God finally tells them to stop complaining and just move on!

Now that is a message I need. Do you like me, get stopped by fear? Just move forward! He will help. He will fight for you. Only trust him. In fact being frozen with fear is really just not trusting God to be faithful. 

Here is the great lesson from this story: Once you know what God wants you to do, just do it! Trust Him. He will fight for you.

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is James 4:13-15

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

May God bless the reading of his word.

Life is short. We are not made for here. We are made for there. On this idea, a poet wrote, “Grow old with me. The best is yet to be. The last of life for which the first is made.” Sometimes when I read those words, I think, “That’s baloney.” Then I think again and realize the truth.  One writer explained the joureey of the ages in this way:

“When the sun goes below the horizon he is not set; the heavens glow for a full hour after his departure. And when a great and good man sets, the sky of this world is luminous long after he is out of sight. Such a man cannot die out of this world. When he goes he leaves behind him much of himself. Being dead, he still speaks.”

When the sun sets, it does not die. What really matters is what you do with the few years of life that God has granted you. One man recognized this and talked about how people, as they age, might be compared to old ships. He noted that some old wooden ships rot and others end their ship days with very fine wood that is used for other things.

Some of those old ships were still beautiful because of the wood from which they were made. Others grew more beautiful over the years because they absorbed the seepage of the loads they carried over the decades.

So there is also a vast difference between the quality of old people who have lived self-indulgent, useless lives, and the fiber of those who have sailed over seas and carried cargoes as the servants of God and the helpers of their fellow men.

Lonnie Davis