Month: March 2025

The first question Jesus ever asked is found in Luke 2:49.

“Why were you looking for Me?” The answer to that question seems obvious. They were looking because their 12-year-old son was missing for three days. Jesus’s question was really, “Why did you have to look for me? Surely, you knew where to find me.” We know that is what he meant because of his second question. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” There’s a sense of surprise in His words—almost as if He expected them to know exactly where He would be.

This story makes us ask, if someone were looking for you, where would they start? Would their first thought be to check a place of worship, a quiet corner of prayer, or a space of service? Or would they search everywhere else—workplaces, social spots, or entertainment venues—before it even crossed their mind to look for you in the presence of God?

Jesus’ identity and mission were so intertwined with His Father’s house that He assumed it was the obvious place to look. Is our connection with God just as clear to those around us? Do we live in such a way that people naturally associate us with the things of God?

Too often, life’s distractions pull us away from where we should be. Church becomes occasional, prayer gets hurried, and time with God feels optional. But Jesus reminds us that being in the Father’s presence isn’t just an event—it’s where we belong.

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

Our devotional thought comes from Mark 8:18-19.

“Do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?”

It’s easy to shake our heads at the disciples. They stood right there, witnessing bread multiply in Jesus’ hands, yet fear still crept in when the next need arose. We wonder how they could forget so quickly. But if we’re honest, we do the same thing.

God comes through for us in ways we couldn’t predict. Bills get paid when the numbers didn’t add up. Peace finds us when anxiety threatens to swallow us whole. A word of encouragement lands at just the right moment, as if God Himself whispered into someone’s ear on our behalf. But when the next crisis comes knocking, all those successes fade from memory.

Jesus asked the disciples a pointed question—“Do you not remember?” That question still echoes today. Our fear doesn’t stem from God’s inability, but from our forgetfulness. When we lose sight of how He’s provided before, we start to believe this time might be different.

The remedy for fear isn’t more wonders. It’s a better memory. Remembering what God has already done rewrites the story we tell ourselves about what’s possible today.

Take a moment. Recall His faithfulness. Trust grows when we remember what God has already done.

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

Jesus had a way of making the profound feel personal. He didn’t lecture on theology—He told stories that hit home. One of those lessons is found in the question Jesus asked in Matthew 7:9.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?”

You might answer that none would. A loving parent wouldn’t play a cruel joke on a hungry child.

God is our loving parent. Too often we question God’s goodness? When life disappoints us, when prayers seem unanswered, we wonder if God is holding back on us. With this question Jesus reminds us that if flawed, earthly parents know how to give good gifts, then surely our perfect heavenly father gives much more.

God isn’t stingy. He isn’t playing tricks. He doesn’t give stones when we need bread. The problem is, we sometimes mistake His answers. What we see as a “stone” might actually be the foundation for something greater. What feels like a “no” might be a “not yet” or a “something better is coming.”

God’s goodness isn’t measured by how often He gives us what we want, but by how perfectly He gives us what we need. He sees the bigger picture. He knows the whole story. And in His kindness, He provides exactly what will nourish our souls—even when we don’t recognize it at first.

So trust Him. When you pray, know that your Father is good. And He never gives stones.

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

In our text today, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. The crowd is noisy, the road is busy, and the weight of what awaits Him at the cross is already resting on His heart. He is headed to the crucifixion, but even with all of that, He stops as he sees two blind men sitting beside the road. 

Matthew 20:32, the Bible tells us:

Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked.

There is something tender about that moment. He stopped not for a powerful ruler or a religious leader. Not for someone of wealth or influence. Jesus stops for two blind men sitting along the roadside, men that most would have walked past without a second glance.

Jesus notices the overlooked. He always has. It’s in His nature. He saw Zacchaeus clinging to a sycamore tree. He saw the woman who touched the hem of His robe in a crowded street. And here, He hears the cries of two men others tried to silence. Their voices mattered to Him. Their pain mattered to Him.

This is the heart of our Savior. While the world values noise and fame, Jesus never loses sight of the ones others ignore. The quiet prayers, the hidden struggles, the silent tears — they all catch His attention.

Maybe you’ve felt invisible. Maybe you’ve wondered if God even notices the prayers you whisper at night. Take heart. The same Jesus who stopped for two blind men on a dusty road stops for you. He notices you. He hears you. And He calls you to come near.

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

Our devotional thought today comes from Matthew 18:33.

Jesus asks the question:
“Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?”

Those words come straight from the mouth of a king in one of Jesus’ parables. The king had shown mercy to a servant drowning in debt, erasing what could never be repaid. But that same servant turned around and refused to show even a sliver of kindness to someone who owed him far less. It’s a sobering story, a clear reminder that God’s mercy to us is meant to flow through us.

God’s forgiveness isn’t a suggestion we can take or leave. It’s a calling, a way of life. Every time we pray the familiar words, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” we’re signing up for that very thing. We’re asking God to measure His mercy toward us with the same yardstick we use for others.

That’s humbling, isn’t it? Who among us hasn’t held on to an old wound just a little longer than we should have? Who hasn’t rationed out forgiveness like it was scarce, even though God pours it out on us with heaven’s abundance? Jesus knew our tendency to cling tight to offenses, which is why He told this parable. Forgiveness doesn’t always come easy. It’s rarely deserved. But it’s exactly what God expects from His people.

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

Have you ever heard of “Doctors Without Borders?” Doctors give of their time and risk their lives to go into war zones and disaster sites. They don’t do it for money and their only reward is to do something for others. In today’s question, Jesus challenges us to show “Love without Borders.” He challenges us to show kindness and love to people who don’t expect it.

He asked,
“If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:47).

It’s easy to be kind to those who think like we do, look like we do, and live like we do. Jesus knew that. That’s why He asked a simple but piercing question — if we only greet and show kindness to our own, what makes us any different from the rest of the world? Even people who don’t know God show basic kindness to their own crowd.

Jesus wasn’t calling His followers to ordinary kindness. He was inviting us into something extraordinary — a life that reflects the heart of God Himself. God’s kindness stretches to the ones who disagree with Him, the ones who misunderstand Him, and even the ones who reject Him. As His children, we are called to do the same.

Think about that for a moment. If our love and kindness are no different than the kindness of someone who’s never met Jesus, what story are we telling? Jesus didn’t love us when we were already part of His family — He loved us while we were still sinners, still strangers, still far off.

Every time we extend that kind of kindness, we are painting a picture of the kingdom Jesus came to build.

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

In Matthew 15, Jesus asks a question.

“And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Verse 3).

Even today, we wrestle with tradition becoming commandments in our minds.

As a young preacher, I took a group of teenagers to a nursing home where they monthly sang church songs to the audience of elderly patients. We always concluded our 25 minutes of singing with a prayer before leaving. That is a wonderful tradition, but I thought I would “shake things up.” I had the prayer in the middle of the singing and closed with a song. I turned to the young people to leave and they stood waiting for a “closing prayer.” I motioned for them to go, but they stood frozen in their spot. Finally I lead a prayer and they willingly left.

Here’s another example: I once observed a church leader walk into a teenage Bible class. He saw donuts the teacher had brought so he took them out. Was he enforcing a tradition or a commandment of God?

Tradition is doing things in a certain way so long that it become a law in our hearts.

Traditions cover whether women go to church in pants or dresses, the length of a man’s hair, or the style of worship we love. Young people, old people, white people, black people, and people in other lands all worship with a different style. These are just traditions.
In keeping with Jesus’ question, we must not let our traditions become a “thus saith the Lord.” Traditions are fine! I follow a lot of them, but I must see them for what they are and not judge another by my traditions. When God tells us what to do, that is not a tradition. When God has not spoken, it is a tradition.

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

There’s something captivating about the shine of success. Whether it’s a larger bank account, a new title on the office door, or applause from a crowd, we chase after these things with energy and passion. But Jesus asked a question that cuts right through all of that. It is found in Matthew 16:26

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

In other words, what good is it to gain the whole world if you lose your soul in the process?

It’s easy to forget how fragile this world’s treasures are.
Wealth can vanish overnight.
Popularity fades faster than morning mist.
Even the best accomplishments grow old with time.

Yet, we spend so much of our lives stacking up these things, hoping they’ll give us the meaning and worth we crave. Jesus reminds us that true worth isn’t found in any of these. It’s found in something eternal — the state of our soul.

Your soul is the part of you that will live forever. It’s the place where God speaks, where His Spirit comforts, and where His love takes root. No amount of money, power, or fame can touch that sacred place. And when all is said and done, it’s your soul — not your resume or your retirement account — that will stand before God.

So, Jesus isn’t trying to take something from us with this question. He’s inviting us to trade the temporary things and stuff and junk, for the eternal.

It’s the best trade you’ll ever make.

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