My life is like a tale being told. I was born into a family eventually of 6. I was reared by a conservative mother and father. I went to a private school. I was taught religion. I attended church all my life. Then I graduated from high school. I went to college and then served in the military. When I came to myself I didn’t know what to do. All the preparation didn’t prepare me for life. I wandered around for years. Wondering what I was supposed to do. Until one day I met the Lord and my life changed. I finally knew who I was and what I was supposed to do. I began by reading the bible and studying. I found out that I was a son. A child of the living God, who loved me and care what happened to me. As I grew in the Lord, I gained strength and courage. I began using the word of God to do the work I was called to. People’s lives were changed. People would walk up to me and tell me how I helped them in time of need. I have always been amazed at what God has done through me. And on top of that, God gives me the reward for doing His will. I have the best of both worlds in the here and now. As a Tale being told.

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There is a John Steinbeck short story called “Flight”. A young man kills a man and flees for his life. They chased him to the top of a hill. There he knew he had to face the truth. He stood up and the police shot him dead. The tragic story is about taking courage even though it may kill you. We are placed on this earth to prove the truth that we are the image and likeness of God. We walk in this world trying to figure out what is the best way to live our lives. Not everyone succeeds. The only way we can possibly live this life is by taking courage. Our parents tried to teach us how to live the right way. They wanted the best for us. When I was a teenager, I thought my parents were brain dead. As I got older, I saw the wisdom of my parents. My dad died 31 years ago. For the longest time after his death, I heard my father’s voice. Whenever I had a problem, I could hear inside me my father’s voice giving me wisdom. As I discovered my father wasn’t as stupid as I thought. That wisdom always gave me courage to face whatever I needed to. And I would take courage and face life as I am supposed to.
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Jesus lived in a country that was occupied with foreign battle harden troops. The Romans allowed people to go about their daily lives as long as they didn’t start trouble. If a roman needed assistance by law he could ask anyone to help him and they had to do it. They built their garrison next to the temple in Jerusalem. Just in case the Jews started trouble. They could be in the temple in minutes. No Jew was willing to risk the destruction of the Temple. The romans taxed everybody every year. Jesus’ younger step brother was a tax collector, Matthew. The romans were hated by all. They conquered the world by force. They kept peace in the empire by force. Jesus never preached rebellion. He never told people to rise up and throw the romans out. He told them to love their neighbor as themselves. Judas on the other hand was a zealot and did preach rebellion. Jesus’ teachings did get to Judas. He understood God’s way. But he never thought it was for him. He had killed people and there was no hope for him. You know that Peter and Judas committed the same sin. They betrayed Jesus. The difference was that Peter believe that God would forgive him and Judas didn’t. Judas died a lonely death. Peter led the church in the first century. Forgiveness is there for anyone who will trust God and believe.
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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.