3/7/2018

Luke 18:15-17 (KJV)
¹⁵  And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
¹⁶  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
¹⁷  Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

It amazes me that people do not believe the same way. When you see someone that was saved as a small child and then one that received Christ as an adult, you can usually see a difference in how they believe what the Bible says. You can in a lot of cases tell the new Christian from the older Christian by how they believe the truth of the Bible.

The person that accepted Jesus into their heart below the age of ten and never left Jesus’ side will have a stronger and more innocent faith in what the Bible and Jesus says. While a person that is older and has seen the cruelty that is out in the world become hardened about what they see.

The person who has been a Christian for a long time also becomes, for lack of a better word, jaded and has more doubts. This is the reason, I believe, that Jesus wants us to be able to come to him as a little child. As small child accepts what their parents tell them without any doubts.

The older Christian that can have lots of wisdom and still maintain that child-like faith is the type of Christian that we should strive to become.

C.I. Wilson

3/6/2018

I was going through the paperwork in my desk and ran across some old “Bulletins” form around 2005 and found this one. Hope you get something out of it, because it spoke to my heart.

 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.   Luke 6:48 (KJV)

Recently I went through an experience that got me to thinking. We are in a changing world where you cannot depend on anything or anyone. You think you have a spouse that you will spend the rest of your life with and then it ends in divorce. You get a job that you enjoy and then lose it. You find a church that fits your spirit and the devil sends an army to destroy it. The list can go on and on. We cannot depend on anything here on this earth.

Then I was impressed with the fact that maybe God feels that way about us. How many times do you meet someone that gets their heart right with God and the next time you see them, it’s not. I was talking to the wife of such a man this last week. He was in and out so much that we were starting to wonder if he had installed a revolving door to his heart. When you know someone like this, it makes you wonder how God can be so forgiving to keep taking him or her back and also to pray that they do not sin their last chance away.

How many of us make the determination that we are going to start being faithful in the task that God has set for us to do. Then after a few days, we fall back into the old habit of not doing it. Such as being at church on time, getting up early every morning and praying before we start our day, giving more in the offering then before or anything else, that we have failed God in, it doesn’t matter what. If we have done this to God every often He is probably wondering how stable are we.

We need to be the type of person that is mentioned in the above verse. We need to be someone that has “digged deep” in our Bible and worn out the knees on our garments. We need to be the person that has laid a firm foundation of prayer, Bible reading, church attendance, giving in the offerings, giving of our time and in witnessing to the people that we meet. The rock that we need to build our foundation on is Christ Jesus, the Son of God.

When we have built a firm foundation on Jesus we can stand the storms of life that we face on a daily basis. Most people want someone that they can rely on, and sometimes the only one you can rely on is God. We know that God will always be there to help us no matter what we face. If the storm that comes against us is like unto a spring shower or as severe as a force 10 hurricane, we can turn to God and there He is. He is waiting to meet our needs we just have to reach out and ask.

We each have had someone we think we can depend on to let us down. It doesn’t matter who it was Pastor, Parent, Spouse, Brother, Sister, Child, Friend or just a casual acquaintance, what matters to us is that they hurt us. And if being let down hurts us, we know that it also hurts God when we let Him down. At this time I have never heard of anyone being let down by God.

Some people think that God has forsaken them because they have closed their mind and hearts to Him. They go through a storm and things seem like God isn’t there when it gets rough. If they stay on their knees and true to God till they get through that particular storm and look back then they can see where if it were not for the hands of the Lord around them it would have been rough enough to sink them. Where so many people get to the point, where there is a little wave starting and turn their backs on God just because of the little waves. God didn’t say that we would have smooth sailing. In fact, many verses tell us that we will have hard times. The above verse is one of them. If it were to be a storm free life then why would he have it in His word that we were to build a firm foundation?

C.I. Wilson

3/5/18

Luke 17:1-4 (KJV)
¹  Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
²  It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
³  Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
⁴  And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Jesus said that we should expect to be offended, yet how many people, Christians and Sinners alike, get their feelings hurt over just about anything. Over the years I have seen men and women get their feelings hurt because they did not get what they wanted, or someone did not say “Hi” to them, I have even known people who let their feelings get hurt because they thought someone was laughing at them.

Then when they are offended, they have a tendency to go from good to bad in their thoughts and actions. They let their minds go down trails of thought that causes them to lose their Christ-like love for that person or persons.

I really like the way these four verses end. If they trespass or offend and then turn around and ask your forgiveness, we are to forgive. Now this does not say that we are to forget, however, as a Christian we should forgive with a Christ-like forgiveness. And we all know that once our sins are forgiven they are no longer held against us.

C.I. Wilson

3/4/18

How do you pray? What an interesting question. Back in the seventy's we had a poster hanging on the wall that stated:

Do not expect a million dollar answer to a ten cent prayer.

I recently saw this sign on a church outdoor sign and it has stuck with me and I felt that it should be here. So when you pray do your best to pray a "million dollar prayer" so that you might get a "million dollar answer."

How many times do we have a hard or important decision to make and we only say a short prayer? It is hard to really know how much a prayer is worth. All I know is that if you are walking close to God, he answers your prayers in one of three ways: Yes, No or Wait.

When God answers with a "yes" we see the answer or recieve it in the present or the new future. These prayers and answers are what builds up our faith.

However, what about the prayers that recieve a "wait"? These can test your faith. If we wait before the Lord, earnestly seeking him and doing what god asks of us, we will receive an answer other than "wait." However, I feel that if we turn away from God or slack off with following him then our answers will usually turn out to be a "no" instead of a "yes."

The hardest answer to accept is "no." We want what we want and we want it now and with very little effort on our part. If we are this type of person then we are the type that expects a million dollar answer to a ten cent prayer or even on prayer at all.

C.I. Wilson

3/3/18

Luke 15:24-32 (KJV)
²⁴  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
²⁵  Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
²⁶  And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
²⁷  And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
²⁸  And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
²⁹  And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
³⁰  But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
³¹  And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
³²  It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

While doing my Bible reading today this jumped out at me. For years I have heard a few preachers quote part of verse 24, "this my son was dead, and is alive again;" and having read all of this chapter many times over the years today God brought it to my attention. Not only in verse 24 but also in verse 32 does it say almost the same thing; "this thy brother was dead, and is alive again;" and years ago I read that if the Bible states the same thing more than once it is important.

If it is important enough for Jesus to say it twice in two ways so that it includes the older generation to the younger and the younger generation to their piers wouldn't you say it is important for all to know and understand. Therefore it boils down to the six words: "was dead, and is alive again."

Many times the Bible states that we have to be born again to enter Heaven. It also states old things are passed away and all things are new again. So If Jesus told the parable of a son leaving the father and living away from him and then he returns that he "was dead, and is alive again" let us know that just beacause you accepted Jesus as your saviour and you lived for him for awhile then went back to your old sinful lifestyle that you have a need to ask forgiveness of those sins and be "born again" therefore becoming a new Child of God or Christian?

We need to have and keep a close relationship with our Heavenly Father and Brother so that we can make Heaven our home.

C.I. Wilson