Ken Davis - Lighten Up and Live: 90 Light-Hearted Devotions to Brighten Your Day

Devotionals come in a variety of forms. This devotional is designed to use humor to drive home wonderful truths from Gods Word. I find my day goes better if it starts with a smile, and better yet, if I focus on some aspect of Gods Word to apply during the day.

These 90 devotionals should not replace your regular Bible study. They were written with the hope they might inspire you to a deeper appreciation of Gods Word and the desire to study it.

Share a devotional each morning or evening with y our family.

Make it fun. Share similar jokes and stories.

Pray together about the topic of the devotional.

Take advantage of the opportunity to Go Deeper when it is offered.

Report back to each other on how God used a particular devotional in your life.

I pray that God will hear the sound of laughter as you read these, and that He will touch your heart with the point of the devotional and inspire families to get into His Word. May these stories and the scriptures that accompany them bring joy to your life. Lighten up and live!

A couple was having a party at their house. An hour before the party, the woman found out that she still needed escargotan entre made from snails. So, she sent her husband to get it.

On the way, he passed the golf course and decided to rent some clubs and hit some balls on the driving range. An hour and a half later, he looked at his watch and realized that the party had already started. He quickly ran to the market, bought a bucket of snails and drove home.

He tried to sneak into the kitchen without his wife seeing him, but he stumbled and spilled the snails all over the floor. Hearing the noise, his wife stormed into the room. Without hesitation he looked down and shouted, Come on guys, were almost there!

The problem of being distracted from the main task is common to all of us. It is especially acute with people my age. Its not a big deal if you are cleaning your desk and end up reading a book, but its crucial if you are distracted from your purpose for living. Living with no regrets means staying focused on your goal.

Set your goal high and stay on track.

Paul says, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). Dont let anything distract you from that calling. At the end of your life there will be no time to blame the snails. GO DEEPER: PHILIPPIANS 3:7-14

O n the way to church my children would sit in the back seat picking fights over senseless things.

This is my side of the car! one would yell. You are breathing on my side of the car.

Shes looking at me!the other would counter.

I would grab the rearview mirror and give them the Sunday morning look of love, an unmistakable glare warning of the catastrophic consequences if the battle continued. That would be followed by a lecture peppered with questions that had no rational answer.

Do you want me to come back there?

Do you know what will happen if I stop this car?

Swatting at them was not an option because all children are born with the innate knowledge of the one spot in the car your arm can never reach.

Most of my life I struggled to figure out how to discipline a child while driving, until an old gentleman pulled me aside and whispered, A touch on the brakes brings them right into play.

Unfortunately, the same kind of quibbling can follow us into adult life with disastrous results: church splits, destroyed relationships, bitterness and revenge.

In Romans 12, the apostle Paul gave this instruction to believers: Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (vv. 17-18).

If that doesnt work, there is always the brakes.

GO DEEPER: ROMANS 12:9-21

A guy was hitchhiking on a very dark night in the middle of a downpour so powerful he could hardly see a few feet ahead.

Suddenly, a car slowly came toward him and stopped.

Blinded by the rain and darkness, he jumped into the back seat, closed the door and then realized there was nobody behind the wheel! The car started moving slowly and then headed straight toward a curve. Scared to death, he started to pray, begging for his life.

Just before the curve, a hand suddenly appeared through the window and moved the wheel. The guy, paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appeared every time the car approached a curve.

Summoning all his courage, the man jumped out of the car and ran to the nearest town. He stumbled into a restaurant and told everybody what had happened.

It got very quiet when they realized the guy was serious.

About half an hour later, two guys walked into the same restaurant. They were looking for a table when one said, Look, John, thats the guy who got in the car when we were pushing it.

Can you look back and see where the hand of God has helped steer you in the right direction? Why not let him direct your life every day, starting with today?

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

While bicycling with my wife, Diane, I began to cough uncontrollably. I pulled to the side of the road and lay in the grass trying to catch my breath. Finally, with one violent cough a huge beetle tumbled out of my mouth.

When Diane saw what had caused the problem, she began laughing hystericallyafter she had killed the prehistoric beast, of course. Between her own gasps for breath she said, How many times have I told you to keep your mouth shut?

Of course she was just teasing me, but its a lesson I am still learning. My first instinct is to correct, to disagree, to judge or to fix it with a single sentence. So many relationships are damaged by people who speak before they think or listen.

My dad, a veteran of WWII, used to say, Loose lips sink ships.

The Scriptures leave no doubt. We need to be careful about what we say.

Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips (Psalms 141:3). A fool speaks without thinking. A closed mouth gathers no footor bugs!

I n a long-distance race, it is important to pace yourself. I joined the track team in high school and trained to run 800 metersabout half a mile. On the day of an important track meet, I was ready to go.

This was a special day because my girlfriend was in the stands. I confess, I had never spoken to her, but I wished she was my girlfriend. And winning this race might have attracted her attention and her affection.

When the gun went off, I took off like a shot. After the first turn, I was ahead of everybody. Then, suddenly, I ran out of gas. I tried to keep going, but it was impossible. I had started out too fast.

My stomach sent a message to my brain informing me that the sandwich I had eaten earlier in the day didnt want to run with me anymore.

Before I knew it, I was kneeling on the infield grass. The sandwich came up first, followed by pizza I had eaten a few days earlier.