5/21/2019

While going through my collection of 'stuff' I ran across this and wanted to share. The 7/25/2012 Talk About Town paper had this article under "Food for Thought" and it is still good Food for Thought today. 

C.I. Wilson

     A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. 
     Finally, the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book. 
     Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. 
     When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words . . . PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? How about having a talk with Jesus today and see what blessings you have missed lately?

5/18/2019

     Earlier this month I heard a Sunday School Teacher make the statement that life is not a ‘Rose Garden.’ If you believe this, find a gardener and talk to them about how easy it is to have a good looking garden. Below are my thoughts on having a garden or Christian life.
     A Christian’s life is like a rose/flower garden. If you want a beautiful garden/life you have to work at it. Not just once or every few years or months or weeks or days. It is a task that takes work every day and I am not talking about two or three minutes. 
     There is feeding to be done (prayer and Bible reading) if you don’t feed a living plant or animal or person it/they will die. 
     There is watering to be done (praying till the tears flow). Water is the substance that keeps life; remember you can go without food longer than you can go without water. When you pray till the tears flow you reach the place where God is talking to you as you talk to Him. 
     There is pruning to be done (removing the dead and diseased/sinful areas of our life). You ask any gardener and they will tell you that you have to prune sometimes and sometimes you have to completely remove things be they friends, family members, favorite activities, your church, your study group, your family’s events or to put it very simply any and all things that come before God. And as the thought of pruning is painful so will this process be for each one of us. Sometimes the pruning process actually makes the plant look bad for a season then the beauty comes out. This means we have to stop doing things that God does not want us to do (talking, walking, how we dress even where we go, what we watch and what we listen to). Even to the point of removing things that are healthy (God knows what you need to be doing and where you need to be in your life at every point of your life. 
     There is training to be done (study the Word of God – don’t wait till you are in church to hear the teacher/preacher, do it at home, on break time, while waiting for your appointments). Then and only after the work is done can you look and see the results of your labor, but only for a moment or two then you see where more work needs to be done. Something that just doesn’t look or feel right could be God wanting you to make some changes in that area. 
     Do not look at other lives and see them having an easier time than you are having. They may have just come from a time of heavy labor or they may be about to start their period of heavy labor (the Bible calls them tribulations and tests and trials). And if you spend time looking at other lives you might fall behind in your own life’s work. 
     Our job as a Christian is to follow God’s plan for our lives and if we do there will not be another one like it, in the past or present or future. We are unique and our garden/life will be unique as well.

Thank you for reading and my prayers for you is that God blesses you more and more as you draw closer and closer to Him.

 C.I. Wilson

5/15/2019

I was going through some old files on my computer and ran across one from 2014. It talks about important dates from America's history then it brings up one of the most important dates of mankind. 

"September 12, 2014

After reading about one post stating that it has been 13 years since the U.S.A. had our 9/11 attack, 178 years since Texas had our 'Alamo,' 70 years since the U.S.A. had our 'D-Day,' 100 years since World War I started and 238 years since our Declaration of Independence; all of these dates/times should be remembered.

1776, because we became a nation even with all the tearing down of the standards that our forefathers put into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, America still stands.

1836, because when Texan were slaughtered we, the people, remembered the injustice and fought back and won our freedom from Mexico.

1914, because we still stood for freedom even in Europe and were willing to pay the price for freedom even then.

1944, because we still stood for freedom. even the freedom of religion and against genocide (which the media is trying to say was not attempted against the Jewish people).

2014, because we, the people, will not let bullies under the name of terrorists make us afraid to stand up and fight for our freedom so we might pass it down to our children and our grandchildren and so on and so on.

But the date that we must all remember for our freedom from sin happened over 2,000 years ago when our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ gave (was not forced) his life for each one of us so that can know peace, joy, love and our Heavenly Father, God.

I pray that each one of you gets to know that Jesus died for your sins and is willing to forgive you and become your dearest friend and saviour and if you already know him that you get closer to him then ever before. Amen."

After reading this, if you have not met Jesus on a personal basis lately, please take the time to have a talk with Him today. Jesus loves each one of us (you and me) and enjoys talking with us anytime and any place.

C.I. Wilson

5/10/2019

This came in the mail from Sterling Full Gospel Church 

Father, we thank You for who You are and all that You have done. Right now, in the name of Jesus, we speak over ourselves and declare, even as Jesus declared, "It is finished." Therefore, we are not moved by what we feel and we are not moved by what we see; we are not moved by what we hear or even the doctor's report; we are only moved by the Word of God. Your Word is truth and is our reality. In the name of Jesus, we thank You that Your Word says that we shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. We are overcomers because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We encourage our self's in the Lord today, in Jesus's name. Amen!

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and daughters: But David encouranged himself in the Lord his God.  Samuel 30:6

5/8/219

When you have power in your praying, you have faith in your prayers. So many Christians do not have faith in their prayers maybe because they do not keep a prayer diary so that they can see how many prayers God has answered. If you are like me, many prayers go up during the day then when God answers them, thanks go up. However, few of them are recorded and over time, you forget them because they were for “small” everyday needs. Things that seem like such little prayers as “Please Lord, let the dog food last until payday” and it does. We, as humans have a tendency to forget those answered prayers which means sometimes we do not realize how much we really believe in our prayers.

By keeping a Prayer Diary, we will have a record of the prayers answered and this builds our faith in the God who answers prayers. We also have to realize that our faith in our prayers and in God who answers them will grow until we can pray (ask God) for something “big” with enough faith that God answers it.

I pray that you will remember the prayers that God has answered for you and let it build your faith (power) in God answering your prayers.

C.I. Wilson