Never Give Up

Everybody Fails!

Men fail – Women fail
Young people fail – Old People fail
Poor people fail – Rich people fail

Even you fail, I know I do.
Because everybody fails.

Since everybody fails, failure  can not be how we judge our lives.

In Proverbs 24:16, Solomon said:

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

Notice from this text that both the righteous and evil man falls, the difference between the righteous and evil is whether they get up from their fall. The righteous man, the good man falls down but gets up. The wicked man falls down and just wallows in his failure.

Have you messed up? Try again.

Avoiding failing is not the sign of a righteous person.

Not giving up is the sign of a righteous person. Try, try again!

It is the Godly thing to do.
It is how we are successful in our reach for eternal life with God.
It is also how we become successful here on earth.

Maybe you know the true story of Harlan. Harlan was a sixth-grade drop out. Over his life He worked as a farmhand, a railroad worker, an insurance salesman, a tire salesman, and had a failed attempt in politics. At the end of all these jobs, he retired broke. With little more than social security checks he decided to sell chicken, more specifically a chicken recipe. He went from business to business asking restaurants, cafes, and grills to use his recipe and pay him 5 cent for each piece they sold. He tried for two years. “No, no, no,” he kept hearing. In fact, he heard 1,009 rejections before someone finally said “Yes.”

We all know him now as Colonel Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. When he died in 1980 he was a rich man, a millionaire. He failed 1,009 times, but he tried and tried again. Winners keep on keeping on. Losers quit!

Let’s go back to that beautiful text in Proverbs and put the names of a couple of people into the text. Remember the text, “Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”

Here are the two names: Peter and Judas. Both of them failed.

Peter failed. He bragged that he would never deny Jesus, but before the next morning he had denied Jesus three times. He even took an oath before the enemies of Jesus that he did not know Jesus. Feeling his failure, he wept bitterly. Jesus forgave him and a few days later Peter preached the first gospel sermon.

Judas failed. He betrayed Jesus for money – thirty pieces of silver. He regretted his act of betral and tried to return the money. When he could not and so he hanged himself. Now let’s read that verse again:

“Though a righteous man (Peter) falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked (Judas) are brought down by calamity.”

Never give up.
Failing and trying again is the mark of a righteous person.
Never, never give up!

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Proverbs 26:13

“A sluggard says, ‘There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!'”

NOTE: A lazy person does not see himself or herself as lazy. They always have an excuse for not doing what they should do.

 

 

One More Night with the Frogs

 Every event in the the story of the 10 plagues of Egypt is fascinating, but I am especially taken with the second plague.

In the second plague, God brought frogs upon the land. They were everywhere. Open the door and there they were. Turn down the blanket and there are frogs! Take down a dish and what did you find inside? Frogs! … Frogs, frogs, frogs. It seems like a harmless and even humorous plague, but it was not.

 Finally the Pharaoh had enough and asked Moses to take away the frogs. Moses asked him a rather odd question, “When do you want me to take away the frogs?” If that is an odd question, then the Pharaoh’s answer is completely bizarre. He answered “Tomorrow!” (Exodus 8:10) Tomorrow? Wow! I know what my answer would have been – “Right now!” I am done with frogs. Take them away now!

 Why did he want one more night with the frogs? Maybe he wanted one more night to see if the frogs would just go away on their own. Maybe the answer is, that is just how people are. People want to put off everything until tomorrow.

 In Luke chapter nine, Jesus confronted some other “tomorrow” people. “Follow me,” he challenged, but they began pleading for tomorrow. “First let me go and bury my father.” (Luke 9:59) He challenged a second man who responded, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.” Every time Jesus called someone they would say, “Yes, but first…”

 They all had excuses to allow the themselves to wait until tomorrow. Everyone plans to do wonderful things tomorrow, but not today. Read Luke 9:57-62 and you will see that Jesus had warning words for those who procrastinate.

 That warning still rings today. The problem with the lure of tomorrow is that there is no guarantee that any of us will have a tomorrow. We must live each day and do the good we can without counting on tomorrow.

 Whatever it is you need to do, Do not try to have one more night with the frogs. Just do it!

Lonnie Davis

Thou Fool!

Thou Fool!

 

I love it when someone starts off a sentence with “My Momma used to say.” Sometimes they are words of sage advice – “Don’t go outside with wet hair or you will get a cold.” Sometimes they are words of Biblical advice – “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” (I wonder where Momma got that one. I think God likes the dirt of honest work). 

 

One that I grew up with is “Don’t ever call anyone a fool.” This rule is based on a misunderstanding of Matthew 5:22, “Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” What this verse is teaching is not about the word “fool,” but not to be contemptuous of one another person.

 

The Bible uses the word fool many times. Here are just 7 examples:

 

A Fool is: 

 

1. One who believes he is always right – Ecc 5:1

“Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.”

 

2. One who ignores a father’s wisdom – Proverbs 15:5

“A fool rejects his father’s discipline…”

 

3. One who will not learn from pain – Proverbs 17:10

“A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.”

 

4. One who will not save a part of what they earn (Proverbs 21:20)

“There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up.”

 

5. One who focuses on things and stuff instead of God (Luke 12:20).

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’”

 

6. One who argues frequently (Proverbs 18:6-7).

“A fool’s lips bring strife, and his mouth calls for blows. A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”

 

7. One who will not listen to counsel (Proverbs 24:7).

“Wisdom is too exalted for a fool…”

 

None of us like to be called a fool or thought of as one, but if we want to avoid having God think of us as a fool, we must be sure that we do not do the things a fool does.

Lonnie Davis