...too small a thing...

The Last Day of....

Today is the last day of February. Today is the last day of snow on the ground. (At least around my house.) Today is the last day of the estate sale at my parents house. (Maybe.) 

Today is the last day of really cold weather... (Just wishful thinking) but The first day of spring is only 3 weeks away some warmer dryer days are coming. 

The last day or the last time for something is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a not so good thing. The last time I had pancreatitis was 14 years ago and I pray that it was the only time I will ever be that sick.

The last time time a ran the sawmill was 3 weeks ago and I would love to run it today, but I have to commit today to the last time I am doing an estate sale at my parents home in Smyrna. We often talk about the last day of our vacation or the last day of school. The last day of summer can also be a good memory.

Too many times I am looking back and thinking about the last time I did a funeral or memorial service. This means someone including me had the last time we saw or spoke with a friend become a permanent part of our life. The last day of someone's life is something we do not plan.

The last day of your life or my life could be today. Life is but a vapor the Bible tells us. This is a bit of a sad note.Something we would rather note think about but it might be and has been for too many people I know lately. 

The good thing about life and I should be clear life in Christ, is that the last day of something gives way to the first day of something else. Perspective is important to see that when you have eternal life in Jesus Christ there is never a reason to be down and out about the ... last day.. or the last time.

Tomorrow is the first day of March. The last day of cold gives way to the first day of warm. The last day of sickness gives way to the first day of health. The last day of life on this planet gives way to the bliss of eternal life with God. 

Today is  day the Lord has given us. We have the same number of hours to use as everyone else on the planet. We can use them wisely or we can waste them with things that do not have any significance at all.

All of our last times or last days will give way to first times and first days. Lets use today wisely. Lets resolve to honor the Lord and choose to serve Him on this last day of February 2015. There will never be another day exactly like this day. 

So remember this today when the sun is setting and it seems a bit sad, turn around and look the other direction because the sun will soon come up from that way.

 

God Is Good, All the Time

God is Good, All the Time is the saying we use at Builders for Christ and we use it backwards and forwards after every prayer. After the prayer I as the group leader will say loudly, "God is Good" and the group will respond "All the Time." And then I will say. "All the time." And the Group will respond "All the time." 

Now I ask a simple question to you this morning do you believe this simple statement? Are there times that you begin to question why God may be allowing something to happen? I know that there are things I do not understand. I know for sure there are things that I wish were different. So are there times that this statement that God is good I question? Can we be honest? Can we think about this for a minute and realize that all of us do struggle with the simple question is God Good all the time. 

I will be talking about this on Sunday as we preach from the book of Nahum. There is more to consider when we start talking and thinking about God's goodness than just us. God is God all the Time. He is also Just, Holy, Righteous and always in control of all things. We only see things from our little vantage point of existence and He sees and knows and is in control of all things. If He were not good while doing these things chaos would rule and there would soon be nothing existing any longer. 

Evil does exist and it exist only where God allows it to exist and evil exists where His goodness is not. Evil can touch our lives by the sins that others or we ourselves commit or allow to creep into our minds and hearts. But even when evil is present God's power can and will overcome the evil if we look to Him. 

The prophet Nahum pronounces doom for Nineveh. That ancient city that was located on the east bank of the Tigris River. Near the city that we today call Mosul. Seems this area of the world is still causing some problems. Nahum's prophecy is about their doom and yet his first chapter proclaims God's Goodness. 

I would like to send out an invitation to be with us Sunday Morning at 11 am to hear this message about God's Goodness because He is Good... All the time. 

Give these verses a thought or two today...

Romans 8:28 NASB

 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 

Genesis 50:20 NASB

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

Deuteronomy 6:24-25 NASB

24 “So the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today. 25 “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us. 

Only, Because I Have Too

The last few months have seen so much take place in the life of the Davis family. I wrote about this in one of the most read blogs I have ever written. Feb the 4th I wrote It Will Be a Sweet Moment about me picking up Dad at Presbyterian Village and taking him back to be with Mom at Aspen Village. So many of you read this that I was somewhat amazed. Today I write about another aspect of these steps in life that we really do not want to take but must take, so that is why I entitled this post, Only Because I Have Too.

Tomorrow and Saturday we are going to have an ESTATE / YARD SALE at Mom and Dad's home. We need to move out all of the remainder of the things that either Mom and Dad did not take to Aspen Village or have not been taken by family members. We have divided up their many possessions of 37 years in their home and we still have many things left. Many things are very nice and we hate to have to sell them but we have no other choice as we need to rent the house out soon to be able to maintain the home or sell it in the future. In other words we have to do something with all their stuff. 

So, if you are a reader you may not like yard sales any more than I do but you do have an invitation. I will spend part of today getting ready although we have worked for several weeks already to be ready for tomorrow. We will have the sale from 9:00 AM till 5:00 PM both Friday and Saturday. We have advertised on FACEBOOK Estate Sale and Yard Sales.Net

ESTATE / YARD SALE 

4504 GANN CROSSING

SMYRNA GA 30082

You are invited to come by if you like but if you share this post maybe someone else will come by if they click on the links and look at the many items. 

We have some Furniture, many glass items, clothes, lamps, bedding, pictures, books, some appliances, and some tools but way too many items to list. Here are a few photos as well as a map. Pray for us as we continue this journey to do this task. Come if you can. 

So You Want It To SNOW?

When I was a kid I can remember so many times I would go to bed hoping it was going to snow. I can remember sitting by the window watching and waiting for it to snow. I would ask the Lord, "Please let it snow." I would ask mom do you think it will snow? About a thousand times an hour. I would listen to the radio over and over again to hear the same forecast that they gave 30 minutes ago, but it seemed each time that they would give it there was a bit more hope to see the white flakes fly. 

Such was life growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta. Snow was a once or maybe two times a year event for us. It would mean we would get out of of school and it might mean mom and dad would even stay home from work. And if there was enough snow, maybe, just maybe, I would be able to build a snowman. 

Well here I am a young senior adult still watching the forecast and thinking in my heart, "Do I want it to snow/" 

I am a person who likes "variety" and one thing about a big snow storm our normal schedule will change for a day or so. As  kid hoping for snow I had no idea of the hardship snow might put on people who have to change schedules. People who have medical conditions who need treatment or surgery being put off or having to go without. I never thought about people who need to work and cannot because everything shuts down in Atlanta when is snows. I did not think much about people who crunched a fender on a car due to slippery roads. I hardly gave a thought to those who might slip and fall in on slick steps and be sore for weeks after the snow storm. Snow brings with it a whole set of problems and I think I have experienced all of these first hand in the last few years.

 It seems I will have to make a decision about our church services for tonight, and with the forecast I will need  to cancel this evening by midday. I will be thinking about our first responders who will have to be out in the mess no matter what comes. If I am called on I will need to respond also. Am I ready? 

So I am blogging away this morning with this question in my head, "Do I want it to snow?" 

I am not the one who makes that decision. And I know for sure I am glad I do not. So I will make the best of it snow or NO snow. 

I need some study time and so if It snows I should get some. That is a good thing. I have plenty of coffee, and food. I am a bit short on firewood but I may try to get some cut and split this morning as this could last a day or so. The good thing about this storm is we have a little time to raid the stores this morning. I think the weatherman called it a "Classic Southern Snow Storm."

Touching Lives

Last night Burnt Hickory Baptist held a first class event for men. There was a huge turnout of men to eat deer chili, dove breast, quail, and frog legs. I had forgotten how good frog legs taste. There was a rock crawler, fire truck, SWAT Bearcat, and Bass Boats for the men to poke around at for a few minutes. Jim and NIck's BBQ roasted a whole hog for an appetizer for 700 hungry men and it was gone in just a few minutes. They were a bit like piranha.

 I was blessed to be able for Mission Team Inc to sponsor a table. I had seven others share the table with me. My brother Jeff, my nephew Jeffery, my dear friend and Sargent Steve Gaynor. Then I was able to invite 4 other men. Last week we lost a beautiful lady at Piney Grove. I know she would be well pleased because last night Jenifer Shelton's son's Keegan Higgins, and Kyle Slater along with her father Dan Higgins and her Husband Trace Shelton were part of this fun yet challenging event. 

The food was good, and the door prizes were cool, but by far the best part was a powerful message by a former Navy SEAL named Chad Williams. His powerful testimony of seeking to be the best was inspiring and moving as shared how he aspired to be a SEAL. He made it only to be disappointed and unfulfilled even by this great accomplishment. Why because of the void that man has can only be filled by Jesus Christ. I wrote about this a couple of days ago in this blog titled The Need to Worship. 

Chad shared how another great warrior Naman seemed to have it all but he too need the healing and forgiveness of God. Pride is a great sin and gets in the way of so many men coming to Jesus. Last night in this special night we were all privileged to be a part of about 30 men coming to know Jesus Christ as savior. 

However after it was over I was led by the Lord to talk with two young men. One was already a believer and gave testimony to the fact he was a believer. The other wanted to say I am a believer but was unwilling to commit and say I want to serve God. We had a good talk and I was glad the Lord allowed me to touch his life. He is in my prayers this morning as he will doubtless be thinking of this message he heard  last night. I was blessed by the Lord to have an extra copy of the book Chad Williams had written and so I put in this young man's hand. I am praying for a commitment and powerful things from the young man I spoke to last night god was working in his life. 

I love to see when a ministry touches lives and I get to be a part big or little, I just love to see the hand of God working. Last night our Lord was touching lives. 

The Message of the Prophets

Preaching through the Minor Prophets is a task that I have taken on for the first time this winter. The weather the last few weeks reminds me of these 12 Who Spoke with God. The text I have been reading have been a bit like the weather because both have been a bit gloomy, somewhat foggy, and cold. The message of love is harder to find in the books of the prophets, but make no mistake it is there. 

One verse from yesterdays message has really stuck with me. It is like a sunny day in the middle of winter. 

Micah 7:18 NASB

 18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
            And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
            He does not retain His anger forever,
            Because He delights in unchanging love.

What a great God we have. Unchanging love is what I know I need, and I am blessed by my God who loves me this way. His love is not dependent on what I am doing or saying, but my realization of that love is totally dependent on what I am believing. My faith in this God of unchanging love makes life worth living in a world filled with problems and troubles.

The prophets wrote a lot about the trouble and the fact, yes the cold hard fact that God will bring judgement one day on the sin that consumes our world. But there is hope always hope for those who have faith. That is comforting and a great blessing.  

The Need of Worship

    Psalm 95:6-7

     6Come, let us worship and bow down,
            Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

      7For He is our God,
            And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
            Today, if you would hear His voice,

Man was made to worship God. We were created by God in His image and placed on the earth to rule over it, and to have dominion over the earth. He put man into a garden to cultivate it and keep it. Mankind created and formed and placed by the hand of God has always had choices to make. 

God brought the creatures He created before the man to see what the man would call them. He gave the man these choices. Then when God placed the man in the Garden He gave Him the choice to eat whatever he wanted. Then The Lord  gave the man one more choice. The Choice to obey His commands or to disobey the clear instruction He had given. We know that mankind made a bad choice and so began the fall of mankind. 

You were made to worship God. You have the choice. You were placed on earth for a reason. Just like the first man you can make and do make choices. But your greatest need is the place you have in your soul to worship. 

So many people will seek to fill this void with other things besides God. They will worship false gods of self, idols, other people, money, pleasure and amazingly so many other things. It seems man will find anything that for a brief moment seems to have some fulfillment of the need we have to worship. This temporary and counterfeit filling however will leave man short of what he was created to be and do in life. 

This need to worship God can fully and delightfully filled. It is filled when we realize our own sinfulness and see the true God who created us and will redeem us. When you commit yourself to place this Creator Redeemer God as the focal point of life, this beginning of faith and it is also  the beginning of worship. To realize our need, our dependence and our desire to worship will bring us to the moment of choice. We must choose what or who we will worship.  Worship, true life giving worship is then just a prayer away.  this moment of choice to believe and to give yourself to worship of God is yours to make even now. 

True worship involves these thoughts.  "You are God alone." You are the only God." "I am dependent on you." "I love You." "I need You." " I desire to be with you." 

Worship happens alone and with others. Today is a day we set aside to worship Him together. I realize these things and so I know I have a need to worship God today. Do you have a desire to Worship God Today?

Reality and Truth

Reality is hard to take sometimes. There are things that happen in life that we would rather not have to deal with, and so too often people put off decisions and do not do what they should do to prepare for things that are coming in life. Death is coming in life. 

I have too often way too many opportunities to try to help people deal with tragic realities that we wish we could change. Today I will hold a memorial service for a beautiful young woman who I met about 2 years ago. She was my server at Waffle House one day. I ask her if I could pray for her and she said, "Yes, I need your prayers." We talked and I prayed. Jenifer was hurting more that day than I realized at the moment. 

A few weeks  later she took me up on the invitation from that morning and she was sitting with her husband Trace and three wonderful teenagers, in the pew at Piney Grove Baptist Church. A family that needed the Lord in their lives had joined us. Many things took place over then next few weeks, but one by one they came to faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism followed for 4 of the 5, but the family came to know the reality of God's love. Trace who had served the Lord in the past, recommitted himself to serve and lead his family to grow and serve with us. 

This family has blessed us at Piney Grove. These three teenagers are full of life and love. Trace we found has a wonderful baritone voice that he is once again using for the Lord. How blessed we are to have this family. 

Reality came to the family and the church Wednesday morning. Jenifer has gone to be with the Lord. So young, so full of life, so changed by God's touch. Her leaving is once again changing the family. It is a stark and oh so difficult reality. A truth that is filled with much heartache and pain for them. All of our hearts are broken for this family. There is an outpouring of love for Trace and these young people.  We all want to do something to help, but reality is oh so real. I ask for prayers this morning as we hold this service for the Shelton family. They are good people who need support, encouragement, and love.

This is reality and no doubt that this moment in life is truly difficult. But now the reality that makes us able to keep on going is what we must look at today. This morning I will open the Word of God and read from these pages the truth. Reality will be spoken by the reading of the Word of God. 

Romans 10:8-10 NASB

8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 

This reality is the truth and solid bed rock of life that makes moments like the one we face to honor Jennifer Shelton today possible. She did believe, and she did confess, Jesus as her Savior.  I will proclaim this Truth this morning that she stands at this moment in the presence of God. This is reality, this is truth, and we cannot for one moment let the circumstances of this present life discourage or dishearten our perception of reality. 

There is no doubt in my mind this morning Jenifer Shelton was way too young to leave this life as we know it. She was way too important in the life of her husband and children to be leaving this world for the glory of heaven. No doubt she was ready to go and there is no doubt she has gone; and this reality of life her and  for the family is what I write about as hard to take. No doubt about how difficult these things from my point of view. But I am not God. I do not know best and I know this is reality too. God does know best and will take care of this family and all of us. This is truth too. 

Your prayers are needed. The truth is being faced. I am so thankful we have a God who will be at the service too. I am thankful for His presence and power to comfort and give this family peace. This is reality too. 

One Month Until Spring, One Month Until Africa

This part of the winter is a bit dreary. We have had some really cold nasty days this winter. The days are short and everything is gray outside. Four weeks from today is the first day of Spring. By then we have lots of trees in full bloom, some warm days and I for one am looking forward to Spring. But already in my front yard there are a few brave Jonquils poking their little green stems out of the ground. 

One month away is really a short time. The days seem to fly by and in no time at all Spring will arrive. It is in just four weeks. For me these last days of winter will be spent preparing for a trip to Ethiopia. I will be going to teach Bible Training Center for Pastors Course # 1 to a group of pastors with Jim Palmer. I am looking forward to returning to Ethiopia because it is a beautiful and rich with culture country. We will have 5 days of teaching men who are hungry to learn some very basic skills in bible interpretations. I will also have the opportunity to see first hand some well drilling by an experienced team. 

Several times in the past I have gone on a week long trip this time of year. It is an amazing thing to leave right at the beginning of Spring and return 8 days latter to home and see the progress all the trees and plants have made in the first week of Spring. When you see the growth day to day it is not so obvious, but being gone a week and returning it will be amazing. 

We sort of see children the same way. We do not seem to notice their daily growth but it is there. But if you do not get to see children you love for a few weeks or months then when you do you are amazed at how quicly they are growing. 

Now here is my point this morning. Spiritual growth should be happening in each of our lives. Do people notice? When people are away and then come back around you for a while do they sense and know that you have grown into a deeper and more wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Spring is one month away and so is this major mission trip for me. I met with about 40 people last night for the second mission trip of the year in June. I feel great about both trips. Returning to mission fields is a big part of my life. Every time I have the privilege to go and serve the Lord grows me some way. 

Time is passing for all of us. Days, weeks, and months are slipping by. Are you growing in Christ? Are you planning to grow in Christ? What is on the schedule for you for spring? Give these things some thought today and this weekend as you sit by the fire. 

The Choices We Make

Every day we make choices. A little one here and a big one there. The choices seem to pile up on one another. Sometimes we feel we have but one choice we can make and we go forward but often there are several that seem equally viable and we sort of randomly make a choice. 

Kathy told me as she left this morning, "I hope you have a good day." I replied this  is a choice. And as I go forward in life I am finding this so much to be the case. We make choices to have a good day or a bad day. We really do look at the glass and decide if it is half full or half empty. What we decide is the way we feel about the things we are living through each day. 

What we believe does affect everything we do and everyone around us. The greatest choice of everyday is to walk with the Lord. To put Jesus first and seek first His kingdom. If we make this choice first each morning then we have made the choice to have a good day. Remember that old song, Everyday with Jesus Is Sweeter Than the Day Before.  If you have chosen to believe this you are off to the start of a great day. 

When you do make the choice to follow Jesus do not for look back. Do not turn aside to the right or the left but live by the choice to serve and love the Lord... No turning back.