When I came to the Lord, I literally stopped talking. Before I knew God my tongue was the worst part of me. I could easily carve people to pieces with my tongue. It was sharp and poisonous. People didn’t want to be around me. As the Bible says in
James 3:6 “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” (KJV)
The fires of hell came out of my mouth and burnt anyone around me. So when I received God into my heart, I was changed and couldn’t speak with the fires of hell. I just stopped talking. I would speak to people but with great caution. When I got married, my wife had to pull anything out of me. I didn’t speak. It’s not that I didn’t have something to say. But I wanted it to be just right. My wife likes to talk. She go on about anything. She gets phone calls that last a couple of hours. I still guard my mouth and speak judiciously. The bible says that anyone who bridles their tongue controls themselves. I don’t want to run off at the mouth ever again. I will have to account for all of my words when I stand before God.
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I went to a fast food place to get a hamburger. There was a father and son waiting on their order. The boy was 1 year old. I asked. He was cute with his little shirt and shoes. He was at the front door looking out at all the people. Then he was next to his dad waiting for his food. He had no fear of anything. He was walking around looking at all the new things in his life. This is the joy of wonder. Somehow we have lost the joy when we became adults. There is no more curiosity in the world around us. It seems that there is nothing new for us to discover. Where did it go? Why did we lose it? Can we every get it back? For the past several years I have being taken pictures of clouds. The most interesting ones only occur before a storm hits. I have seen many unusual cloud formations. They were different colors and shapes. I have become interested in clouds because my life was about the same thing. And I didn’t like what I was looking at. Did you know that a sparrow is about 30 shades of brown? A blue jay has about 25 shades of blue on it. God created this world for us. He put everything in place. For God so loved the world that He gave.
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Man is constantly changing. Changing into something different, a metamorphosis. It seems that we can’t always control the change. Many times our situation and circumstances will effect a change that we don’t want. Sometimes we just can’t get out it. How do I know because I lived a life just like that. It started out by being hurt by the people around me. The more it hurt the more I became angry. The more I became angry the worst my situation became. It got so bad it became a death spiral. What I wanted was what I wanted, not what was right or good for me. Thank God He protected me from myself. I know for a fact if I hadn’t turned to God, I wouldn’t be alive today. What I was doing was destroying anything and anyone that got in my way. Even though I came to the place where I wanted to get out the situation, I couldn’t. My brother invited me to join their Amway business. We met at a local Cafeteria. The man who had the business was the manager of the cafeteria. We met there for coffee before it open to discuss business. I would always arrive early. Before my brother arrived the two business owners began talking about what God had done in their lives. They did this each time I was there. They weren’t talking to me about God but each other. I listen for 3 months. And finally one them asked if I wanted to go to church. I said yes. There during the service I found the answer to my problem. I accepted God into my heart and He began to change me into His image and likeness.
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Almost every prophet in the Old Testament was killed by God’s own people. The heathen feared and respected the prophets of God. They knew that they wielded the power of God. Jesus told his disciples that because hated Him, how much more they would hate His disciples. God has never kept that a secret. The church will be persecuted, from within and out. The point of it is what will you do when it happens. I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt. Believe me it does hurt. But that isn’t the point. This is about doing the work of the kingdom. I have seen people attack me and God use it to touch their hearts. Two of the disciples, brothers, James and John wanted God to strike someone down with lightning. The person had done something to James and John. Jesus called them the sons of thunder, but it would not bring about the work of the kingdom. My favorite bird is the sparrow. The littlest bird around. And God doesn’t fall to feed and protect this bird. The bible says His eye is on the sparrow and how much more does He care for you.
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Most people don’t believe that they can pray and God will hear them. It is true that God doesn’t listen to the prayers of the heathen, but He will get His children to pray for that person. Answered prayers are the rights of God’s children. The first time I prayed for someone, I really didn’t want to. The people with me forced me into a corner to pray for this guy. When I prayed I said God do something. And guess what, God not only answered my prayer but healed the person. I was more amazed than the person who got healed. It was exciting to see God move. I still get excited to see God move. God started a car for me. He healed headaches. He healed my son of spinal meningitis. He raised a dog from the dead when I prayed for it. God has moved storms for me. He has spared people from death. He has opened and closed doors from me. God went with me shopping. When God goes shopping with me, I always get the best parking spot. He has provided for me and my family. I see Him everywhere. And I hear His voice clearly. This all came about by my pursuit of God. You see you must first believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

I have walked with God for over 35 years. I have seen many things happen in and out of the kingdom of God. Nothing has every happened that I didn’t see it beforehand. God has revealed many things to me. Some I would have rather not seen. God is serious about everything He created. We have some of the same emotions that God has. You see we are the image and likeness of God. Just like you can tell when your father on earth is going through something that bothers him. You can see it. I know it in my heart when God is bothered with something. Usually it is something very serious. I knew before Hurricane Katrina came into the Gulf of Mexico. It was going to be devastating. I prayed until God told me to stop. His plan was going to happen. As God’s children, we have a right and privilege to enter into His presence to petition Him. We can ask God to do things for us. Many times He will, but when it is His plan for man He doesn’t. It is like He is brooding over something. I don’t quite see it. But it is there. There is a lot wrong with this world. It is like the people have unity to build a tower to shoot an arrow at God. And we all know how the tower of Babel turned out.

There is a special relationship between a husband and wife. It can’t be seen. It isn’t physical. It is the same relationship that we have with God. It is a spiritual bond between two people. The bible says that as husbands are to their wives, Jesus is to the church. I have been married to the same women for 34 years. I love her very much. I don’t always like her. But we work out our differences. My brother’s father-in-law died 6 months after his wife. They were married for over 50 years. He was relatively healthy. He missed his wife so much that he didn’t want to live anymore. And so he died. That is how strong the bond is between two people. I have talked to young people about going from one partner to the other. Each time you do, you divorce that person. You wonder why it is so easy for people to divorce each other. The bible says that the man and woman become one flesh. It means that half of you is in her and half of her is in you. You wonder why it is so hard to get a divorce. And I am not talking about the court proceding. You are literally ripping yourself in two. Jesus said divorce is because of the hardness of your hearts. God always has a way out of any trouble. Only if you are willing.

My cat loves to sit in the kitchen window facing the backyard. She watches for anything that moves, especially birds and squirrels. Calli is a beautiful orange calico cat. She has one ear that is bent over. She is healthy and has learn many things from us. She knows how to open doors. We found her as a kitten, starving and abused. It took a long time for her to trust us. We also have a small dog named Olivia. She rules the house. No animals can come into the house without her permission. We brought Calli to Olivia. She took one look at the kitten and began cleaning Calli like she was one of her puppies. Calli began to follow Olivia wherever she went. Olivia became her mother. They play hard sometimes. Olivia has taught Calli how to hunt and ponce on prey. Olivia is afraid of the lightning and thunder. She begins to shake uncontrollable. Calli sits beside Olivia and calms her down. They have become a surety for each other. What kind of surety do we have in this world? Who is looking out for us in this world? Where would we go to calm our fears? Jesus became our surety through His death and resurrection. All we have to do it to go to Him and ask for forgiveness.

When I first started with the Lord, I was happy to be alive. I was learning about God and His kingdom. Studying the word of God, praying and sharing my new found faith. God woke me up one morning with a scripture in the book of Mark, chapter 10. The scripture talks about James, John and their mother coming to Jesus to ask a favor of Him. They asked if they could sit at His right hand and His left. Jesus answered, you don’t know what you are asking. He further said that it wasn’t up to Him, that those seats would be chosen by the God Himself. Jesus went on to say, but you can be baptized into My baptism. He turned to me and said you can be baptized into My baptism. I knew what He was saying to me. Jesus’ baptism was death. At any time or place my life could be required for the kingdom. I couldn’t give an answer right then and there. I had to think about this decision. For 3 days and nights all I thought about was death. I knew I didn’t want to die. But I wouldn’t receive the blessings of God through His plan if I didn’t. But I didn’t want to die. I had to make a choice. What was I going to do? I counted the cost. And I finally make my decision. I say yes to God. That was almost 40 years ago. And my life is still required by the Kingdom of God.

The word means being thoughtful and wise with what is going on around you. Seeing your circumstances and being careful. I look at young people and wonder what they are thinking. I have seen and have done foolish things myself. My dad had a big car with a big engine. I went to pick up my girlfriend for a party. On the way I drove the car 130 mph on a stretch of road. I could have killed myself and anyone who got in my way. I suffered the consequences. I was caught by the State police. Thank God I wasn’t hurt. I didn’t think about my future or what was going on around me. To walk circumspectly is to think about who you are and what you are wanting to do. We have choices to make in this walk. We aren’t children acting foolishly and still can get away with it. Consequences sometimes can be greater than we can bear. I like to have fun. I love to travel and see new places and people since I was a little boy. I choose what I was going to do with my life and pursued it with my whole heart. The fruits of my labor are apparent to all.