Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”

The old testament people “entertained angels” without even knowing it. In Genesis 18:1, Abraham was eager to show hospitality to 2 strangers (angels).  In Judges 6:11, Gideon entertained an angel while threshing wheat in seclusion.  Again in Judges 13:2, an angel appeared to Manoah to tell him his barren wife would give birth.  There are countless instances in the Bible that angels appeared in one for or another throughout the bible.

In those days, a persons reputation was largely connected to his hospitality towards others.  The sharing of their home and food with strangers put them in higher regards.  They (strangers) were to be treated as honored guests.   Meeting one another’s needs was and still is one of the most immediate and practical ways to obey God.

Some people say they can not be hospitable because their homes are not big enough.  Even if you have no more than a table and two chairs, in a rented room, there are people who would be grateful to spend time in your home.  Are their visitors in your church with whom you could share a meal?  Do you know an elderly woman who would love nothing more than an evening of conversation?  Could your home meet the needs of a traveling evangelist?  Hospitality simply means making other people feel comfortable and at home.

I lived in Kansas City for a short time of my life.  For 2 years I got the pleasure of driving 47 miles one way to work down the scenic smog infested I435.

Everyday I passed under a bridge and on the right side was a couple and two children, an infant and a child approximately around the age of three, that had made it their home.  Everyday for 2 years I passed by, without stopping, always thinking about getting home, cooking supper, doing laundry, and getting to bed at a decent hour, with the only thought of getting up to run the rat race all over again the next day.  I never stopped to ask if they needed anything, but instead glanced their direction and thought someone should do something about their living conditions.  I ignored God’s speaking to my heart for 6 months telling me to stop.  Telling me I was that SOMEONE.

It was two weeks before thanksgiving and God kept saying stop!  I resisted over and over.  The day before thanksgiving, I said OK God I will stop , just quit screaming in my ear.  I pulled over in the middle of rush hour traffic.  Got out of my car and climbed the concrete and promptly introduced myself.  I told them God had spoke to my heart and I wanted to invite them to thanksgiving dinner at my house.  As I as speaking, I knew in my mind my family would be mortified for what I was doing, but God said extend another invitation to them.  So I told them they were welcomed to stay in our home and shower and wash their clothes.  In fact I probably had some clothing that would fit the children if there was a need.  They were overjoyed, or seemed to be, at the invitation and with tears in their eyes accepted my invitation.  I told them I would be there at 10:00 am in the morning to pick them up, they didn’t want to come with me then, and they could stay as long as they needed to.

I got back in my car and cried all the way home.  Partly because it felt good to do something for a stranger, but most of all I knew that could be me living under that bridge.  God had blessed my family so it was time for me to pass those blessings on to someone else.  When I got home I didn’t tell any of the 20 or so people that were to be at my house the next day.  I knew they wouldn’t approve and I didn’t want to give them time to talk me out of it.

The next morning I got up and exclaimed “We don’t have ANY ice for the day!”  I will just run out and get some.  I drove the 12 miles to the bridge and parked.  Upon getting out of my car, I looked up, and the family I had reached out to help were gone.  Oh no had I scared them away?  Were they too embarrassed to join us?  What happened to them?  Where had they gone?

Just then, as I was standing there I am sure looking lost a little myself, a highway patrolman pulled up behind my car. He approached me and asked if I needed any help.  I asked him about the family “under the bridge” and he acted as if I didn’t know what I was talking about.  I explained my story to him and with a bewildered look he said “Ma’am I have been driving this stretch of highway for over 10 years.  I can drive it blindfolded, and I have never EVER seen anyone living under this bridge.  I argued with him that I had just talked to them yesterday and that I had seen them everyday for 6 months sitting right up there, as I pointed to the top of the concrete.  He once again assured me that he had not seen anyone under there and he patrols this highway for 12 hours everyday.

I got back in my care knowing that he was mistaken and just didn’t WANT to see them as I had done for many months.  It wasn’t until years later when I read that particular scripture (Hebrews 13:2) that I came to the conclusion that they really weren’t there to anyone else but me.  I HAD been the only one who had seen them.  Were they angels?  Had they been there for only me to see?  Was God testing me to see if I would “entertain” them?  What if they had been angels?  AS a song by Brad Paisley says:

What if she’s an angel sent here from heaven
And she’s making certain that you’re doing your best
To take the time to help one another
Brother are you going to pass that test
You can go on with your day to day
Trying to forget what you saw in her face
Knowing deep down it could have been her saving grace
What if she’s an angel

What if?  Remember to entertain angels.  You may not ever know if they were angels or not but treating others with hospitality that goes over and above is what God commands us to do.  You never know when an angel will be sent your way to give you the opportunity to administer to, physically, mentally, financially, or even spiritually.  Don’t pass up that chance.

In a recent sermon series, my husband preached a sermon about Radical Hospitality.  He spoke on this very subject.  If you would like to listen to that sermon…go here.  It was a Spirit filled service.  I have never felt the spirit move in our church like that before.  Praise God!

Just wanted everyone to know I am starting a new on line bible study on my other blog Seeking His Will.  The title of the study is Spiritual Exercise written by Helen Krudop.

Have you started …and stopped…numerous fitness programs in an effort to be healthy and fit?  Look no more!  Here’s a unique program to get you in shape where you need it most — in your spirit!  This biblically sound study will lead you through 10 steps designed to tone up your spiritual life, stretch your faith and strengthen your heart toward God.

Helen is a Missouri Untied Methodist Pastor’s wife, a Bible teacher, and talented musician.  Helen has ministered extensively in churches throughout Missouri with her husband for over 40 years.  The Krudops are blessed with two married children and four grandchildren, all of whom reside in the St. Louis Missouri Area, close to their parents.

I had the privilege of meeting Helen at Annual Conference this year.  She spoke at the pastor’s spouses luncheon.  She is a dynamic speaker and I was intrigued by her book.  I searched her out in the expo and got permission from her to use her book to do a Bible study on line at Seek His Will.  I was worried, as I am with all authors that I do my on line Bible studies from that it would cut into her profit sales from the book as I told her in my area not all people would have access to the book.  She was gracious enough to let me know that this book was NOT hers but it was the inspired work of and from God.  The book belonged to Him.

Helen is a wonderful lady and I admire her for taking the time and courage to write a book to help others in their spiritual journey.  I thank her for this opportunity to use her materials to help others in their spiritual walk in finding their way closer to our Savior.

The Bible study will be starting on July 13th.  I encourage you to buy the book.  You can purchase it direct from her website spiritualexercise.    It will change the way you look at exercise, and at the spiritual aspect of your life.  I have read it twice already!

Looking forward to studying with all of you.  Please feel free to leave comments as the study goes along.

Title: The Hole In Our Gospel
Author: Richard Stearns
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc
Publish date: 2009
ISBN:  978-0-7852-2918-6
Format: Hardback 290 pages
Price: 22.99

Richard Stearns says we have a hole in our gospel. In his powerful book, The Hole In Our Gospel he asks, “What does God expect of us?” and then he gives the answer that changed his life and might just change the world.

Having traveled more than a million miles to dozens of countries around the globe as president of world Vision, Stearns shares compelling stories of the revolutionary power of the gospel–the gospel without a hole–that is truly good news for a world broken by poverty, disease, and injustice. And he urges readers to join him in making this vision a reality. As CEO for a large company he lived in a two-hundred-year-old stone farmhouse with ten bedrooms on five acres, drove a royal blue Jaguar XK-8 and had children who loved their school and their friends. He had worked more than twenty years to get to the top of the corporate ladder. He gave it all up. He committed career suicide. He did it for God.

This fresh look at the gospel will take you to a deeper understanding of your own faith and inspire you to do your part to demonstrate God’s love for a hurting world.  In its simplest form, here is the answer to the question, what does God expect: *We are to love God. *We are to love our neighbors. *We are to go and make disciples of others who will do the same. Read this book and let the impact of Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25 change your life.

Hey there! Long time no write.

I apologize to my readers, if I have any left, for not writing for so long.  My life has been so incredibly busy that I haven’t had time to breath let alone write anything.

Here is a little bit of an update:

Kelsey has finished school for the year.  We had some prayer time and had thoughts about enrolling her in public school for Jr. High.  I spent a lot of time in God’s word trying to figure out if this was for us or not.  I realized after reading God’s word that I already had my answer.  We are going to continue to home school.  She was thrilled.  She is almost a grade level ahead of everyone in her “PS” grade and hopes to finish her education earlier than her peers.

Richard continues to pastor three churches in the United Methodist Conference.  The only change there is that God has give us the blessing for him to quit his full time secular job that he has worked at for 6 years and is now able to minister full time.  This is a blessing handed to us from God and we only hope and pray that we are able to spend more time leading others to Jesus.

I have been busy catching up on my reading.  I have also started a new business called “Heavenly Creations”.  It consists of Recipes in a jar like brownies, cookies, and muffin mixes, and bagged spice mixes such as meat rubs and seasonings.  So far I have been selling at craft shows and the farmers market and done quite well.

Our lives have been busier than ever the last couple of months.  We are starting to slow down now, and I hope to get back to blogging on a regular basis.

We arrived back home from the Missouri Annual Conference last night and what a blessing it was.  It was a very spirit filled time in worship and decision making.  Emmanuel Clever ll gave the closing address the last morning of the session.  That is truly a man that is on fire for God.  I only wish we could put more men like him into Congress.  Imagine how this country would be if we turned our faces back towards God and allowed Him to work in our lives.

As I said I will get back to writing soon.  Even tomorrow maybe..:)  I have plans to start a new Bible study on line via my “other” blog which is titled Seeking His Will.  The study will start July first and it is titled “Spiritual Exercise” by Helen Krudop.  I met her at AC and she was a very delightful woman.  She is a dynamic writer and hopefully will continue to spring up writings.

So that is about it for us.  All is well in the Davis household.  God continues to be gracious and good to us offering many blessings in our lives.  Praise be to God!

Title: Rachel’s Tears  10 years after columbine…Rachel Scott’s Faith Lives On
Author: Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott with Steve Rabey
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc
Publish date: 2008
ISBN-13-978-1-4003-1347-1
Format: Paperback 191 Pages
Price: 9.95

What an incredible story of faith and trust in God.  This girl who is but a young 17 years of age accepted Christ as her savior at the age of 12 and made the decision to live her life for the Lord.  The outpouring of faith that this book gives of her personal journals and through relationships with friends and family is phenomenal.

Rachel Scott was one of the victims that died in the horrendous school shooting 10 years ago at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.  This book, just short of 200 pages is made up of first hand accounts and pages from her journals that she had compiled for about 5 years.  It also has new interviews from her parents and several tributes of others caught in the tragedy.  I found it incredible that she always seemed to have a sense that she would not live a long life.  Her parents wrote the book and displayed may thoughts on her faith.  One being that when she was a young girl she traced her hands on the back of her dresser and wrote these words above them:  “These hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott.  One day they will touch millions of peoples hearts.”  What an incredible statement.

Her love for people & for God gave her great strength & confidence.  She, just like most Christians, struggled with her faith from time to time but always seem to return to His graceful and loving arms.  She always looked out for the underdog at school and everywhere else she went, refusing to conform to the standards that most kids place on their peers in today’s day and age.

I think this is the MUST READ book for teens today.  It challenged my faith in Christ after reading about a 17 year old named Rachel’s genuine love for Him and pursuit of him.

Well I thought I would give my readers (however few I have left) an update on my life. 

I haven’t had time to write here much because we have had a very busy household of late. 

Kelsey turned 12 yesterday!  My baby is not a baby anymore.  She is such a sweet girl that is turning into a young woman right before my very eyes.  We had a quaint little lunch with her daddy and I .  We went to her favorite Mexican place.  I would post a picture but I am out of town on a laptop and I don’t have any pics on here.    We are celebrating her birthday on Sunday with lots of friends and relatives at Tequila Jalisco, you guessed it, her favorite Mexican place.  She will get the full treatment from the wonderful employees there, complete with Happy Birthday in Spanish, which dad of course sings along.

We are still gearing up for Ima’s graduation and the start of her first semester at Warrensburg.  Her daughter Catlynn continues to improve her vocabulary, very rarely does she not speak in full sentences now.  She is so cute!  We are really going to miss them come fall.

The churches that God has placed us in continues to grow leaps and bounds.  We have officially started our youth group and kicked it off with a lock in last weekend.  There were 11 youths there and they all made it until about 2:30 we put a movie in and within 30 minutes they were all asleep.  Richard and I stayed up and woke them up at about 6:15 to start cleanup and have breakfast.  They all seemed to have a really good time and wanted to do more things like that.  We are planning a bowling excursion and several other activities that will hopefully increase interest and attendance.  We are hoping to do some VIM’s to help out area churches.  The kids seemed excited about that.

As far as Richard and I.  We continue to be foster parents to 5 kids.  We are busy every night of the week and wouldn’t have it any other way.

In leu of Valentines day, I want to say I love my husband so very much.  With God’s help, he rode into my life into on a white horse and saved me from further destruction.  I don’t tell him often enough how much he means to me and how I can’t live without him.  Richard you are my hero, my knight in shining armor.

I would also like to ask for prayers for the family of Donald Palmer.  He is a parishioner in our church and he is dieing.  Pray for peace for the family and that he not suffer.  He is a great man of God and is always more worried about others being taken care of than his own pain and suffering.  A true saint in every aspect of the word.

I will try to write more as soon as I can.  Oh I almost forgot… visit my other blog and see what has been taking up my time.  It is an on line Bible Study called “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.”

Title: What’s AGE got to do with it?

Author: Robin McGraw

Classification: Self-help

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Price: $24.99

Hardcover: 240 pages

ISBN: 1400202140

I must admit I ordered this book for review because I was intrigued about how a woman of 55 can look so good.  Hair, skin, nails, clothes, even shoes everyday, and all day.  For those of us who don’t have an unlimited budget to work with, taking care of your health as well as we would like doesn’t happen for the most part.  Looking our best may be being swamped in the middle of 6 children at one time, homeschooling, 2-3 loads of dishes in the dishwasher and 2-3 loads of clothes.  Fixing 3 nutritious meals everyday, cleaning and all while trying to maintain some balance in the world of being a pastors wife.

After reading the first part of this book I realized that this book is really about Robin, not about the rest of us.  I got out of it that she was more excited about telling us about herself than she was about how to stay healthy and look good so we would BE healthy and feel good.  I think that by the time a woman has reached her 50’s, none of the things that Robin has talked about doing will make much of a difference.  Most of the things had to have been focused on during their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s to make a difference.  If they are looking for a quick fix to look like Robin McGraw, they aren’t going to find it in this book.  This book was a huge disappointment for me.

I would like to reach out to all who read this blog and ask for two specific prayer requests.

First, Donald Palmer, one of the greatest giving Christians I have ever known, needs prayers as do his family.  Donald is in the hospital, where he has been for 2 weeks or so, and is not doing well at all.  Please pray that God watch over him and his family, in particular his wife Marion.  The have been married for 64 years and have been inseparable.  She is currently in a nursing home and unable to be at his bedside.  They were together up until Donald had to go into the hospital to manage pain.  The family takes Marion to see him as often as they can but she doesn’t move around to well and with it being so cold out they are not getting to spend much time together.  Please pray that God’s will is done in the healing of Donald.  He is a precious child of God and has done insurmountable things to help others, always giving of himself, just as Jesus commands us to do.  He is a true follower of Jesus Christ in every way.

Second, I belong to a Pastors Wives group on yahoo and there is a fellow PW that is dealing with a family crisis right now.  Last night about 10:00 they found him in the shower, he had hung himself.  The managed to get his heart beating and breathing again, however he is unable to breathe on his own and his heart is only beating at a very low voltage rate.  He left no note and no one knows of any reason why this tragedy happened but they need our prayers.  Prayers for a miracle of healing in his body, and prayers of comfort for the family.

Please remember these two families in your prayers.  I will update you as I receive information.  Thank you and God bless.

I met a friend for lunch today.  It was a truly wonderful time of fellowship and sharing in Christ with each other.  Things God has done in my life, things he has done in her life.  It was a time of sharing pain, answered prayers, and how God has and is working in our lives.  I found a privilege to sit with her and talk to her and hopefully she felt the same.

The only thing that I regretted about the afternoon we spent together is that I think we were so excited to see each other and to finally have a chance to talk face to face that we just dug in and started eating and I totally forgot to ask the Lord’s blessing on our meal.  I was so ashamed after I got in the van I immediately asked forgiveness from God.  Here I am trying to be a friend, a Christian friend and the first thing out of the gate I forget to pray.  Please forgive me, dear friend, and I won’t let it happen again.

With that in mind, I came home to do my devotion and I opened up a book sponsored by Family Life called Two Hearts Praying As One, by Barbara and Dennis Rainey.  They are truly a remarkable couple that are co-founders of FamilyLife, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ.  Dennis co-hosts the daily radio program FamilyLife Today, heard by 3 million or so people each week.  They have 6 children and live in Little Rock Arkansas.  I read everything of theirs I can get my hands on.  I feel they have a passion for saving souls, in particular families, like no other.

So this got to me to thinking…When is the last time I prayed with my family.  Now not that I don’t pray FOR my family but when is the last time I sat down with ALL of my children and prayed for them WITH them.  They need to know I pray for them.  They need to SEE that I pray for them.  Not just at supper, or before traveling, but all the time.  Without ceasing.

Richard and I pray together as often as we can.  I love praying with my spouse.  I feel so uplifted when we pray together.  God blesses our marriage when we do so.  Here is an excerpt from the before mentioned book:

Praying together as a couple will enrich, enhance, and fortify your life, marriage, and family.  Praying together may be the single most important spiritual discipline you and your spouse will ever share.  Here’s why:

Are you lacking intimacy in your marriage? Praying together will take you to new levels of intimacy far beyond what you thought possible.

Is there conflict in your marriage? Praying together will defuse, disarm, resolve, and prevent disagreements.

Do you want more transparency in your marriage? Praying together is certain to open your hearts to one another.

Do you feel distant from God? Here’s a scriptural promise to grab onto and apply:  “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know”  (Jeremiah 33:3).

Are you fearful?  Disappointed?  Discouraged?  Worried?  Angry?  Hopeless? Praying together will calm the storms in your heart marriage, and family.

Are you struggling against sin? Praying as a couple exposes sin so God can work.

Are you near divorce? Praying as a couple restores unity of heart, mind, and purpose.

If you want your family to be all that God intended for it to be you HAVE to pray together as a family or even as a couple everyday for those intentions to be revealed.  Is it the only thing we have to do to have a successful family?  No. but it is the first step toward experiencing the blessings of having God at the center of your marriage.

Prayer will test your resolve, your perseverance, your humility, and even your courage.  And as you pray, keep in mind that you will meet spiritual opposition.  Old fuzzy nose, as Richard likes to call him, knows the spiritual power available to family united in prayer.  After all he was one of the highest angels in Heaven.  he will oppose your efforts to come together as a family in prayer.

On a higher note, prayer can bless your life beyond belief.  The Bible tells us in James 5:16 that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  Prayer is the Christian’s most powerful resource in communing with God.  The results are often greater than we thought were possible.  Some people see prayer as a last resort to be tried when all else fails.  This approach is backward.  Prayer should come first.  Because God’s power is infinitely greater than ours, it only makes sense to rely on it, especially because God encourages us to do so.

Pray with you spouse.  Pray with your children.  Do it often and with a passion of really meaning it.  You WILL be rewarded for it.

It was time to pray.  A woman of strong opinions and convictions, Susannah Wesley knelt, her Bible in hand, and pulled the large apron over her head.  Her children knew not to interrupt her for the next hour.  This was their mother’s daily time alone with God– time to seek His face and intercede for her children — and her routine never wavered.

Unlike the old woman in the shoe from the Mother Goose Rhyme, Susannah knew exactly how she wanted to raise her children.  The mother of nineteen (only nine survived to adulthood) spent at least one hour a day praying for each and everyone of them.  But that wasn’t the end of it.  Susannah also made time to set aside an hour during the week with each of her children to focus only on that one child and to discuss spiritual matters.  It was a disciplined household that ran like a finely tuned clock.

Susannah once wrote, “I sinsist upon conquering the child’s will early on.  Self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children ensures their after-wretchedness.  Whatever checks and mortifies it, promotes their future happiness and piety.  When we consider that relihion is doing the will fo God and not our own, the one grand impediment to our temporal and eternal happiness is this self-will.  thus no indulgence of it can be trivial, no denial unprofitable.

“Heaven or hell depends on this alone; so that the parent who studies to subdue self-will in his child, works together with God in the renewing and saving of a soul.  The parent who indulges the child’s self-will does the devil’s work, makes religion impracticable, salvation unattainable, and does all that in him lies, to damn his child, soul and body, forever.”

It was not an easy life.  Susannah’s husband, Samuel, was poorly paid as the rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, and was often away from home.  It was left up to her to steer their children down a path of righteousness, while a the same time making sure the food stretched to feed all their hungry little mouths.  But she never wavered.  The London-born mother also found time to home-school her children for six hours each day, teaching them literature, music, mathematics, science, Latin, Greek, and theology.

Having grown up with her minister father (a Puritan) and known religious persecution, Susannah wanted her life to count for God.  As a child, she prayed that He would use her to light a spiritual fire in England that would spread around the world.  He did, but not in the way she imagined.  Instead God called Susannah to serve as a mother, and it would be her son John, an ordained Anglican priest, who would experience a spiritual awakening and launch the Methodist movement.   And her son Charles, also an Anglican priest, would give the church more than 9,000 cherished hymns.

Samuel Wesley once told hi wife that “some of the truly great people are the ones who were faithful in doing little things.”  there is no doubt it was Susannah’s “little” prayers that changed the world.

Taken from the book Mothers of Influence published in 2005 by Bordon Books.