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Scroll down to read Dr. Steve Davis' short little teachings on life.

DOING AND KNOWING

People in the Body of Christ get as excited about new truths and experiences as people in the world do. Even in the Christian bookstores, we see an endless stream of new books, CD's, DVD's and other products. Just like the Bible says, “of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh (Ecclesiastes 12:12 ).”

When people want new truths, new revelations and spiritual experiences, they'll spend hours, hundreds of dollars and travel thousands of miles to hear the teacher who will bring them new truths.

There are no new truths. For most people, it’s not so much a matter of knowing what to do, but an issue of doing what you know.

The Father has put the Truth of Truths in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit is always willing to open our eyes to them - if we will put them in our hearts.

He has already taught us so many things that we don’t practice. All truths in the Bible have to be practiced, not just memorized and quoted.

A CD player or Bible software program can accurately reproduce every truth in the Bible, but this kind of spiritual regurgitating is useless without practice.

Knowing is mental, cerebral, nothing more than information. Knowing doesn’t produce faith, hearing the Holy Spirit speaking the words of God to your heart does.

Then, practicing, or acting on that word, brings that faith to life. Faith without works is dead.

PROSPERITY IN THIS WORLD

Dr. Steve was talking with a new believer about being blessed and prospered.

He said, “Nothing is more important than walking with Jesus, in the Spirit. That’s the main thing. Even in Jesus’ day, it was the common people who walked with Him and paid the price to be near Him.

"Many of the rich, the powerful and even the religious leaders only would come to Jesus for their own ends.

“Some of the earliest followers of Jesus died as martyrs, penniless and powerless in this world, and they are our heroes - never to be forgotten.

"Even the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears is known for what she gave, not for what she gained in this life.

“Other early Believers went after the things of this world and got them - and even today we are disgusted by them, and take them as a warning.

"Think of Judas, who sold out his Lord for mere money! Many ministers are still doing this! Judas, I believe, has the largest ministerial following among the apostles!

"Demas, was one of the first of Judas’s ministerial followers. He forsook the ministry because he loved (agape) with his highest love, this present world.

“So, don't let it bother you if you don't have an abundance of the things of this world. Be bothered instead if you don't have an abundance in the Spirit. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

WHY GOD SEEMS FAR AWAY SOMETIMES

After a prayer meeting, one of the members told Dr. Steve that even though she had been praying, it seemed like the Lord was far away.

Dr. Steve nodded and asked, “Has it always seemed like this?” “No,” said the woman. When I was a new believer, when I was a teenager, He always seemed close to me, almost like He was holding me in His arms. That’s what bothers me. It doesn’t feel like He’s carrying me anymore.”

Dr. Steve responded: “When your children were babies, you held them in your arms and carried them everywhere. They were always being held in your arms.

"When you began to teach them how to walk, you would stand in front of them, holding them up at first, and then slowly release your hold, so they could take a few steps without falling.

"As they learned to walk this way, didn’t you begin to do the same thing God is doing with you? You would help them get started, and as they got closer to you, you would step back a little. Isn’t that how you taught them to walk? God tells us to walk in the Spirit.

"He teaches us by setting us down, encouraging us to walk, and then backing away."

THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL AND PERSECUTION

Dr Steve was sitting with a group of us as we listened to a Christian TV broadcast. The host and his wife were asking the viewers to send in massive amounts of money so the Gospel could go forth.

Some of us were feeling a bit disgusted by their demands. But Dr. Steve began to rejoice!

He said, "I never realized that this is how it would work! I remember where Jesus said Matthew 10:23, ‘But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another’ and in Acts 14, where, when the Believers were persecuted, they spread out into other areas and would preach the Gospel there!

I’m so happy that it’s by being popular and rich that the Gospel gets spread! I had thought that when the Gospel was driven from place to place, it would finally cover the world!”

I AM SO ASHAMED! ALL I HAVE TO OFFER IS MONEY.

Dr. Steve told this story to a group of businessmen at a conference:

"The rich man stood before God with a big bag filled with hundred dollar blls. 'Here, Lord! I worked hard all my life, and now I present you with this money!' The Lord said, 'What? You haven’t brought me any souls, any lives you have touched?”

“No, Lord, but I brought you this big bag full of money that You blessed me with!”

The Lord took the bag of money and sat on it. “It doesn’t make a very comfortable cushion. Heaven is a comfortable temperature - so I don’t need it to burn for heat. What do you want me to do with it?”

The businessman looked shocked. "But, Lord, it’s MONEY! All my life, the preachers were saying they need more and more of it for the Kingdom of Heaven. And they gladly took all of it I would give them, so I thought YOU would want it, too!”

The Lord handed it back to the man and asked him to buy some souls with it. The man said, “But souls can’t be bought with money - they can only be lost for money!!!”

Then the Lord, said, “If it doesn’t bring in souls, then it isn’t money up here. Only when it brings in souls does it become money to Me.”

PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK WITH GOD

Here is a story that someone told Dr. Steve when he was on the mission field. It always visibly touches him when he retells it:

There was an unpopular child who was mercilessly teased and tormented by the other children. One day they played this trick on him.

They told him they would play hide and seek. He went and hid, but not very far away. Hours later, he realized that they had all gone off to play - that no one was seeking him.

When the little boy went to tell his father, his dad said, “Now you're a little closer to God. He, too hides, and no one wants to seek Him.”

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS TAKEN BY FORCE

Once, I asked Dr. Steve: what does Jesus mean where He says in Matthew 11:12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force?’ How could that be?”

Dr. Steve shrugged and said, “Maybe this? Some people only will enter God’s presence if it is easy, and causes no violence to themselves or their egos.

"But, those who actually take possession of the Kingdom of Heaven, they are the ones who are willing to be violent on themselves, breaking their hearts if necessary to be able to take hold of the Kingdom.

"They hunger after the Kingdom of Heaven more than they hunger for their own comfort. Could it mean that?”

HOW CAN I ESTEEM OTHERS AS BETTER THAN MYSELF?

Here was a good question: When discussing Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves,” one of the Bible study members asked:

“How can I do this? How can I esteem a hypocrite or a person I know isn’t doing right as better than myself? It makes no sense.”

Dr. Steve said, “I think it was Emerson who said ‘every man is my superior in some way. My job is to find that way and to learn from him all I can.’ Something like that.

"Every person, even the hypocrite and the foolish person has some aspect of God in them that I lack. They have something in them that Jesus died for. I have to clarify my vision to see that aspect of God in him or her, and learn from them.”

Whatever we have learned, we are indebted to other people for it. Other people taught us to talk. Others taught us to read. Still others taught us to pray, to think, to worship and even to love.

HUMILITY AND WALKING

Here is a simple lesson learned in India to teach humility.

Look up at the sky only, and begin walking. What will happen? Before long, you will stray from the path and will stumble and fall.

Now, bow your head, and you’ll be able to see the footprints of others on the same path and have an easier time walking, as well as avoiding pitfalls.

THE DEVIL IS AFTER ME!

One of the preachers on the radio was telling how the devil was after him day and night.

Dr. Steve frowned and said, “I didn’t think he was so far ahead of the devil that the devil would have to be chasing him - and from what I’ve heard, he is running hard trying to catch up with the devil.”

Later it came out that the radio preacher had repeatedly been caught in one deep sin after another.

NOW I AM LONELY

Before he was in the full time ministry, Dr. Steve ran a graphics design business next to a truck stop. One night after closing, he was sitting alone in his office for more than an hour.

It was after eleven o’clock when someone knocked on his office window. It was a group of truck drivers that he knew.

One of them said, “We saw you sitting in here alone with nothing to do. We’ve got a video we want to watch so, we figured we’d come over and hang out with you.

"We’ve got coffee and doughnuts, too! That way you won’t be bored and lonely!”

Dr. Steve smiled weakly. “Actually I feel lonely and bored now that you’re here. Before that, I was enjoying the company of Jesus on the inside of me.

"Since He came into my life, I never feel bored or lonely - except when I’m with people who don’t know Him or enjoy Him.”

THE WELL FED, WELL DRESSED BEGGAR

Here is on I heard Dr. Steve tell to a group of miniters.

"I saw a beggar on TV once. He was healthy and expensively dressed, wearing a designer silk suit. He had a nice haircut and very tasteful jewelry.

He cried, and through the sobs and tears, he implored me to give him my money. He said, “If you don’t give money this week, we won’t be on the air next week.”

I thought: “I didn’t send you money LAST week when you asked for it. When are you going to get the message?”

If he had been preaching the Gospel, I would’ve sent him something."

WHAT IF I LOSE MY GIRLFRIEND?

A college student met Dr. Steve at the mall and asked to talk a few minutes. “I am so mad!” he said. “I feel like I’m going to lose my girlfriend! God gave her to me and now some bonehead where she works is trying to take her away from me!

"He’s buying her little gifts, complimenting her and he even bought her a birthday card - which really makes me mad - because I forgot her birthday!

I ought to go over there and put a little “fear of God” into him!”

Dr. Steve was silent for a few seconds and asked: “Do you love her, or do you just want her?”

“When you just want someone, you try to possess them, you become selfish, and interested in your own pleasure. That’s why you’re so possessive and threatened."

"If you just WANT her, you’ll never be able to “keep” her. She is a person, not a possession!”

"But, when you love her, you want her to be happy and to have the best life possible. If this other guy is right for her, why wouldn't you want her to be with him?

"If so, then you can know that you truly love her. And, if that’s the case, you will be able to have that 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love - which “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things (1 Co.13:7 ).” And, that kind of love never fails.”

DREAMS AND VISIONS

A lot of the saints of old had dreams, visions and revelations from God. A lot of people today claim the same things - in fact, many of them have more visions and utterances than all the prophets in the Bible put together! Why is this?

One reason is that people living in a hi speed, fast food, microwave, drive thru world want immediate results. So, they go into a few minutes of praise and worship and expect, or rather demand to have divine revelations and ecstatic experiences.

It’s this immature demand that causes them to fantasize, hallucinate and feel many sensations that they imagine must be spiritual experiences.

Actually, many of these are the products of childish demands made upon the subconscious. Marijuana can do the same thing!, or even LSD can do the same thing.

There must be commitment, a degree of spiritual maturity, discipline and patience before Heaven will open up God’s treasure to a worshiper.

PATIENCE AND FRUIT

To a man who had been walking with the Lord only a couple of years, who was upset about his apparent lack of fruit, Dr. Steve said:

“Plant an apple seed. How many apples will you have in a week? A month? A year? You are expecting fruit without having a mature plant. It doesn’t happen.”

JESUS OR RICHES

One of the young men in the church came to Dr. Steve and said:

“I’m going into business and make as much money as possible! I’ll have the biggest house in the neighborhood, and the nicest car - maybe even my own airplane! That would really bring glory to God!”

Dr. Steve paused a moment and said: “Suppose Jesus came to you and offered you the income you want, that huge house, the luxury car and that airplane - but then told you to not be in any kind of ministry at all - no, not even witness to anyone. How would you feel?”

The young man got quiet a few seconds before speaking, and said, “Dr. Steve, I would rather have whatever it is Jesus wants me to have - and to be able to reach others and touch them for the Kingdom.”

It’s a matter of deciding how much do we want to impress people and say its for the Lord’s glory; how much desire we have for the world and the things of the world, and how much desire do we have for being servants of the Lord.