Month: July 2023

Do you keep on doing that thing you wish you could change. Don’t feel alone in this. Even the Apostle Paul lamented over this. In Romans 7:18-19 he said,

“I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

There have been times when I feel like I could have written that. Well, the Bible tells us how to overcome this. Let’s follow the steps to discover the secret of overcoming bad behavior.

Step 1: What you think is what you say.

Luke 6:45: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

In plain words, “What you think is what you say.” 

Step 2: What you say is what you do.

James 3:2 – “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”

This verse teaches that if we say a thing, we are more likely to do that thing. 

Step 3: What you do is what you are.

James 2:18 – But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 

As loudly as someone may protest “That’s not me,” people can see who someone is by watching what they do.

The final step, is you are what you think.

Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Our more common way of saying this is “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

If you want to change what you do, if you want to change what you say, if you want to change what you are, change what you think about.

That is why Paul called on us to think about whatever is lovely, honest, true. (Philippians 4:8)

Lonnie Davis

Our Text for today is James 4:13-15

13 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”; 14 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. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

This passage reminds me of a story I heard decades ago. There was this young man who graduated from high school. After his ceremony, all his family was celebrating and congratulating him. His grandfather had a different approach. 

His grandfather said, “You graduated high school, so what’s next?” 

The young man said, “I’m going to college.”

 Grandfather asked, “What’s next?” 

“Well, he said, “I will get a degree in law.” 

Again the grandfather said, “What’s next? 

The boy replied, “Then I will be a lawyer.” 

Grandad said, “What’s next?” 

“Then I will set up a law practice.” 

“What’s next?” 

“Then I will become a judge?” 

“What’s next?” 

“Someday I hope to be appointed to the Supreme Court.” 

“What’s next?”

Exasperated, the young man said, “Why do you ask ‘What’s next?” He said, “Grandad that is a life time appointment?”

The grandfather paused then asked, “What’s next?”

I love this old story because it remind us that we need to think about the day when all of this will end and then we have to ask “What’s next?”

It has been my solemn experience to be at the bedside of those I love and say good by to them. It has been my honor to say that all of them prepared their life for “What’s next?”

In all of our life plans we must keep that short question in our plans.

Lonnie Davis

Our Text today is – 2 Chronicles 7:14

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

In talking about this verse, I want to tell you about a man named George Wilson.

George Wilson is a real person who in the early part of the 1800’s and was sentenced to death for robbing the mail and killing a government employee. While on death row President Andrew Jackson sent him a pardon. 

He did not commute his sentence to life, he pardoned him. He was free to go. In response to this George Wilson did a strange thing. He refused the pardon. His case was taken to the Supreme Court. 

This was the only time in American history when the Supreme Court was asked to decide if a man could force the government to execute him. Chief Justice Marshal wrote the court’s opinion. He wrote, “A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is not a pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.” Following this verdict, George Wilson was hanged.

In our nation’s law books this case is strange and rare, if not unique. In religious matters, this case is rather common. Every soul is under the condemnation of death. Paul told the Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23). Later he said, “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23). After telling us of our sentence of death, Paul said, “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (6:23). 

We have all been issued a pardon. Sadly, many do not accept the pardon. We rejoice in the 3,000 souls who were saved on Pentecost (Acts 2), but thousands more left that day without accepting the pardon extended to them.

God has issued a pardon to you. Whatever sins you may have committed, whatever wrong you have done, whatever burden you are carrying, He pardons them all. All you have to do is accept the pardon.

Lonnie Davis

Old Words for Success

Ours is the day of many, many business consultants, CEO’s, and business leaders. Well, today’s words from 3,000 years ago could easily have come from a Warren Buffet or Elon Musk type of business man. They are words of how to build a successful business, bu more than that, they tell you how to build a successful life.

Let’s read Proverbs 21:5

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”

These 14 words cover the question of how to build a successful business. Of course it means whether that business is running a commercial enterprise or a private home. These words tell you three vital truths.

First, Make a Plan. 

Don’t just jump into a project and figure it out later. You can do that, but you will make things a lot harder, slower, and more apt to fail. “The plans of the diligent lead to profit.”

Second, Be Diligent.

Every major translation use that same word, “Diligent.” To understand what is mean by this word, we need to look at the dictionary definition. To be diligent means to be “Marked by persevering, painstaking effort.” In other words, A diligent person sticks to the job, even when things are hard. So make your plans and be diligent to stick to the task. This leads to profit and success.

Third, Haste makes waste.

Don’t lose this old lesson – haste leads to poverty. It is advice against the get rich quick scheme. Just today I saw advertisements for how to become a millionaire in 5 short years. That assurance seems quick. There are too many of get rich quick schemes to warn us about all of them, so just take Solomon’s advice (the wisest man ever) and remember slow down, because haste makes waste.

This proverbs is 3,000 years old, yet completely modern.

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”

Lonnie Davis

Our Text for today is:

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

I use to think that lightning was beautiful. I remember walking the golf course with my son and seeing the lightning but having no fear. We only left the course when it got really bad. That was before I was knocked down by lightening. With a bolt from the blue my attitude changed.

Later a lightning storm came out of nowhere. I was in a building, but needed to make a run for my car. It was exactly the same run I had made a few months earlier when I had my own close encounter with lightning. As I stood looking through those glass doors I realized I was afraid. I wanted to wait out the lightning, but I girded up my loins and made the run. It only took a few seconds, but it seemed to me like the run was 10 minutes long.  

The earlier faith I had that lightning would not hurt me was gone. Fear was in its place. In this story is a great spiritual lesson: Faith drives out fear or fear drives out faith. 

When you are afraid you will not attempt things. When you are afraid you do not fail in your task, you fail to attempt your task. A fearful man or woman does not have the faith that he can be successful at anything. Faith for success is gone and fear has killed it.

All Godly people should remember Hebrews 11:6:

“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.”.

Lonnie Davis 

I love the Biblical story of Philip the Evangelist. On one occasion an angel of the Lord came and called him to do a great work.

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road–the desert road–that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Acts 8:26)

God told him to go and he went! That was Philip, always obeying God. Of course he had an angel to tell him what to do. It is easy for any of us to say that we would happily do what God tells us to do if an angel came and told us to do it. Maybe so, but Philip’s true greatness is not found in this verse but nineteen verses earlier in the same chapter.

“Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.” (Acts 8:6)

Philip was driven from Jerusalem because of persecution. Finding himself in Samaria he told people about Jesus. The Bible does not tell us that he had some vision in the night, angelic visit, or burning bush to tell him to serve God. Philip served because he was a servant.

Here is a great God principle: God uses people who show they are servants. God does not hunt for some person with plenty of time on their hands and nothing to do. He sent his angel to give a task to a busy man (8:26) who had already shown himself to be a servant.

God still works that way. If you want to do great things for God, start by doing the little things. Ministry does not start with a burning bush, but with a man or woman who is doing what can be done wherever he or she can do it.

Do what you can with what you have wherever you are. God will then use you for bigger things.

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is one that I have spent decades appreciating.

 Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” Proverbs 24:16

 This verse is about what we do with failure. Will Rogers is an example of this.

Americans know who Will Rogers is. Presidents opened their doors to him. Even today speakers everywhere quote him. He did not begin with a goal of being known by politicians and quoted by speakers. Will Rogers’ stage was a vaudeville performer who had a specialty of rope tricks. One day, on stage, in the middle of his act he failed. He got tangled in is lariat. 

How does one get up from obvious failure? Here is what Will Rogers did. Instead of getting upset, he drawled, “A rope ain’t so bad to get tangled up in if it ain’t around your neck.” The audience roared. Encouraged by the warm reception, Rogers began adding humorous comments to all his performances. It was the comments, not the rope tricks, that eventually made him famous.

Even though no one strives for failure, we all fail. We have failed and will fail again. A successful life does not depend on never failing. The secret to success in life is found in God’s Word. Let’s read that verse again.

 “Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” Proverbs 24:16

Everybody falls, but righteous people try again. Wicked people fall, but then they just wallow in their failure. Trying again and again is a trait of righteousness.

It is not the falling that defines us. It is what we do next.

Lonnie Davis

Appetite Comes with Eating

Our text is one of the “beatitudes” from Jesus.

Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” 

Once I was teaching this verse when 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.”

Let me explain, I recently 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 sensible reason to read the Bible or anything other than eat, 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.”

Here is a life application. If you want to be more of anything. If you want to build any habit in your life, then start acting that way. 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 seem normal to you. Appetite comes from 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 changes. It will make the big change feel more natural tomorrow.

Appetite comes with eating. 

~Lonnie Davis

Don’t Just Start

Our text is Nehemiah 4:10:

“Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.’”

“Meanwhile?” Our text starts in such a way that it demand that we know what the meanwhile is about.

70 years earlier Israel had been taken captive into Babylon. Their Temple had been destroyed. The walls of the city were broken down. Now a leader named Nehemiah returned to help them start over. They planned, they worked, and got the work going. They started well, but then they struggled. The reason for the struggle is explained in this verse.

1. They were tired. – The people said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out.” 

They started well, but now they are exhausted. Exhaustion kills many good works. We start a good work and then stop because we are tired. The solution to such a barrier is to stop and rest. No one can go and go and go. Sometimes one has to take a step away, refresh, and restart.

2. The rubble discouraged them. – “The people said, “There is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

Israel was surrounded with broken down walls, destroyed gates, and rubble everywhere. Because of the great piles of rocks they had delayed starting the work and now that they were working that same rubble made them want to stop. 

We have all been there. We have walked into the garage, a room, or a yard with great intentions of cleaning it up, but then stopped because there was just so much to do. Maybe the rubble is a checkbook that is hopelessly unbalanced. When rubble discourages us we need to do like Nehemiah did. He broke down the work into small pieces and gave the work to people in small groups. One group worked on this part and another on that part.

Israel did not just start the work, they finished it. They were tired and discouraged, but they finished anyway. Successful people do not just start, they finish.

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is John 12:37:

“But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him.”

Jesus gave sight to the blind, feed 5,000 with a few loaves and fish, cured the lepers, and walked on water, yet many people did not believe in Him. In fact the miracle right before this verse was the undeniable miracle when Jesus raised a dead man. Even his enemies did not deny the miracle and yet, “they did not believe in him.”

Why O, Why?

The truth is that there will alway be those who will hunt a way not to believe in what is obvious. It was true then and it is true today.

It reminds me of the story of the man who build a locomotive. As he began to build it, his neighbor came by and said, “It is too big, you will never get it built.” 

The man worked for months and months and got it built. When it was build, his neighbor came by and said, “That thing is too heavy. You will never get it on the track. Again he worked hard and finally got it on the track.

Again the neighbor came by spewing his negativity. “You’ll never get it moving. It is jus too big.” 

By and by, he got his train moving. The neighbor finally told him. “Well, you will never get it stopped.”

Jesus was surrounded by people who simply were not going to believe. Even as he was on the cross, the unbelievers cried out, “Come down from the cross and we will believe.” No! They would not. They were the unbelievers. That is who they were. 

Those people still exist today. We also must not let them stop us from doing what needs to be done.

Lonnie Davis