Gentleness


I can remember my mother being gentle with me. I would just want her to touch me and talk to me. She had such a sweet spirit. My mother died almost 20 years ago, and I still miss that gentleness. Most people see gentleness as weakness. You must be hard against a world in chaos. When I worked for a Christian radio station, I interviewed the leaders of most religious denominations in the US. They all had one thing in common. They were gentle and encouraging with me. It surprised me. I was expecting these no-nonsense men, who led a large group of people. But to a man, they had a tender heart for people. They were gentle, and this gentleness got them where they were. You see, gentleness isn’t weakness as most people believe. It is strength of character. It is a belief that isn’t shaken by the turmoil of this world. How many people do you know that are gentle? You see this attribute in people of all classes. It isn’t one group or another. It is just individual, who belief in their cause and work at it with strength and courage. These strength of character beliefs are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. It isn’t surprising, that these are the qualities that most people strive for. But to obtain these qualities, there is only one place you can get them. They are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are given to God’s children. But the good news is: all you must do is ask God to forgive you and come into your life. When He does, God will give you these gifts freely.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

 

Before the Rocks Cry Out


I have always been a shy person. I am not boisterous about many things. I get loud when I am shoved into a corner and get angry. But this isn’t the way that God wants me to express myself. God has given me great understanding. I asked God for wisdom. Wisdom is experience and understanding. So, God had to take me through many experiences to teach me understanding. When I asked God for boldness, He put me in the middle of a battle. And I had to fight my way through with boldness. Same was with patience, giving, faith, healing and every other attribute of God. I had to learn not only how to fight my way out, but how to make the attributes of God mine. It was the only way God could trust me with His power to work in the kingdom. But back to boldness. I was young in the Lord. I was driving and came to a railroad crossing. I stopped as the train went by. God spoke to me to get out of my car and tell everyone stopped that Jesus loved them. I froze. The hand of God lifted off of me. I prayed for hours that God would forgive me and come back. I had sinned and God can’t live where sin is. He did and I have learned how to share the gospel with people. As Jesus was entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the people were praising God and saying that Jesus was the Messiah. The religious leaders told Jesus to stop the people from saying this. Jesus said if they do, the rocks will cry out (Luke 19:37-40).

http://www.Joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com