Month: January 2011

“I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis.”

Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom, Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
— C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

Without Words
I lay here thinking,
words running through my mind,
without words, how silent,
it would be in my mind.
Without words, no knowledge,
would be found,
because wise words, would not be shared,
there would be no books around.
God’s word, found in the Bible,
giving wisdom to meet our need,
and our hope of salvation,
we could not read.
The Bible states creation,
was by God’s word;
I know now what I am trying to say,
without words, what we see around,
would not be here today.

~Winston Staples

My Observations:

As Jesus hung dying on that cross, He taught us lessons: [ Luke 23:26-49 ]

Verses 26- 31   While carrying His cross we see His concern for others.

Verse 34    We see His forgiveness toward others and we see this in His prayer that His Father would forgive them also.

verse 35-37    The lesson of yield not to temptation was taught as the crowds and soldiers  taunted  Him.

verses 41-43   we see one thief realize the truth and Jesus rewarded him with being with Him in paradise.

 Jesus taught us as He was dying:  to have concern for others, show love and compassion toward others, to forgive others, it is not to late to ask for salvation and Jesus will forgive and save you.

poem: WATCH OUT
Watch out for the devil,
the father of lies,
he will sneak up and kick you,
and make your soul cry.
Watch out for the devil,
he will fill you with doubt,
he will use all his power,
to keep God’s light out.
Watch out for the devil,
that deceiver, that fraud,
he will do all he can,
to keep you from God.
Watch out for the devil,
he is lurking, around the bend,
doing all his dirty work,
to his very end.
Cheer up my friends,
there is an answer,
for the devil’s snares;
His name is Jesus,
He loves you and cares.
He shed His blood on Calvary’s tree,
and arose the third day,
so we could be free.
So trust in Jesus, my Redeemer,
and my friend; He will keep you safe,
on Him you can depend.

—- Winston Staples —-

poem: WORDS
words are special,
powerful indeed,
they can sooth a broken heart,
when positive words we feed.
Words spoken wisely,
help heal broken souls;
words guide our foot steps,
as we walk toward our goals.
Words spoken carelessly.
wound innocent hearts;
once spoken,
cannot be reteieved;
We may say we are sorry,
but forgiveness is hard to receive.
Think before we speak,
this our motto be,
use words to lift others up,
giving them dignity.

—- Winston Staples —-

Devotional thoughts

It is Thursday, January 2011; the day is cloudy and gray, a great day full of blessings I pray. As I do my devotions and read my Daily Bread, as I listen and ponder the thoughts as they run through my head. What an awesome Creator we have, who sits high above! Even in our sin, He showed man kind great love, giving them salvation when they believe in Jesus His Son and by that faith, great victory is won. So as we ponder these great things, let us give thanks to Jesus our King!

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
— C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

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MY GOD IS REAL

Some people go from day to day, not thinking about God.

Others say there is no God, that He is not real. As I am sitting here

writing this I am looking out my window viewing the beauty

of nature around me and I wonder how any one could say,

there is no God or He is not real. I see my God, in each flower,

each tree, in each rain drop He sends my way. I see Him in each

wave in the sea and hear His whisper in each gentle breeze. I

hear His majesty in each song the song birds sing and I enjoy the

blessing their melody brings. I know my God is real, when I see

how lives are changed, when they give their life’s reins to Him.

I know my God is real when He gives me joy in my times of

stress. I know He is real when He gives me strength in times

when I am weak and in pain and how He restores my soul when I pray.

Yes dear friend, my God is real because I feel Him in my soul.

Dear friend I trust that you will believe my God is real and feel

the joy He can give your soul.

~ Winston Staples