Gwen's Pen

Our Response

mom2momflorida — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:11:11 +0000

In going through my mom’s writings I came upon a complete surprise … something my father wrote. I never knew he wrote out any of his thoughts. Dad would have been 91 on August 5th. He wrote this in May, a couple of months shy of his 52nd birthday.

Scribbled on the back of an offering envelope was written:

“I’ve washed my robe and made it white in the precious blood of our Lord. I’ve carried my load and made it light with the strength of my precious Lord. The way is clear our Lord is near, repent and be saved today. You’re only to hear our Lord has led the way. So wash your robe and make it white in the Precious blood of the Lord.”
Sunday night, 5/22/71 … by Harry Belle Isle

He’s no longer here on earth so I cannot ask him exactly what he meant. I can only surmise my interpretation. But, knowing my dad, I think he was saying that it is all there for us, we just need to respond. It is our action of acceptance that the Lord needs. He’s waiting.

Today’s Thoughts

mom2momflorida — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:51:16 +0000

Attitude can make or break you.

We either get bitter or better.

God teaches us in every situation.

We can always afford LOVE.

Money can buy a mighty fine dog, but it takes LOVE to make it wag it’s tail.

Who Am I?

mom2momflorida — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:08:37 +0000

Who am I at this point in time? I’m ____________________ (insert name)

God’s word says I’m fearfully and wonderfully made
Royal blood flows through my veins
I’m a child of the King
I will be eternally with Him
As long as I’m ‘green’ I will grow
When I quit growing I will start rotting

What I have learned:

God is in Control
There are no surprises to Him
He makes no mistakes
He has the answer
He cares

People ask me if I am alone in my big house? I’d be alone in a little house. Actually I’m not alone, I have my Heavenly Father with me. You see, I have a FULL house – God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are here

Today’s Thoughts:

Jesus loves me with an everlasting love. To Him I will never be old. Psalm 39:5 says my age is nothing to Him.
Some people have something money can’t buy – POVERTY in that they have NO SALVATION.
God teaches me in every situation. CALM and PEACE in the midst of the storm.
I’m not looking forward to the sunset, but to the SONrise. It’s great to be alive and as a Christian I am always alive.

We’re Just Practicing for Heaven

mom2momflorida — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:32:17 +0000

Valentine’s Day, 1996

We all love hospitality. It is so pleasant to enter a home and feel welcomed. You know these people have an open and giving heart. Hospitality is an important Christian trait. 1 Timothy 3:2 tells us that even the Elders in the church are to be hospitable. The secret of hospitality is love. Perhaps we do not celebrate enough or grandly enough.

God gave us emotions and they make life more enjoyable and richer. We can always celebrate our personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, both individually and as the Trinity, three in one with praise because of our love for Them. By showing our love to others we are praising Them. We are just practicing for Heaven by loving them and praising them.

God loves us and He tests our Faith to strengthen us and increase our faith for the future. He refines us and purifies us and allows things or people to come along and be our “Heavenly sandpaper”. This is how we mature in Christ. It is for our good and we learn to trust Him more.

Psalm 138:7 “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.”

As Christians we are to be good stewards and seek the mind and will of Christ in matters of stewardship of all that He gives us. We are always on assignment. We all encounter family problems. Jacob in the Bible deceived his father Isaac and received the blessing of Esau. Yet God made a saint out of Jacob. God can turn anyone around. In each of our families there is someone who we want desperately for God to turn them around. Jacob lied and he failed to trust God. When he turned to God he was cleansed and found the path that glorified God. Do we know someone like Jacob? For a child of God, there is always a future.

Psalm 100:3³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

One of life’s greatest needs is to feel loved. Mark Twain once wrote, “Always do right. It will gratify some and astonish the rest.” There are greater reasons for doing right, not just because we want to be loved, but because we love God. Joseph is a good example. When he resisted the advances of Potiphar’s wife, he set himself on the road to the throne of Egypt. Had he given in he would have set himself to the road to ruin. Oh how we need to do right. Love God and love what is right. There is always more at stake then we know.

Favorite Sayings and Thoughts

mom2momflorida — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:38:30 +0000

A man with a heart for God is a wonder; a man with 2 hearts is a monster.
I believe in saving money no matter how much it costs.
Sometimes it rains on my parade and spoils the plans I have made. But soon the storm goes rolling by and I see God’s rainbow in His sky.
The place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
A church is not a museum for saints, it is a hospital for sinners.

As children of the 20th century we move as graceful as we are able through the complicated steps of the dance of circumstance. We march with the multitude to booming music that keeps us in step and adds a bit of pleasure to the effort. As I draw closer to the Lord and find there are no longer smart or ignorant, modern or old, fashionable, crude or cultured, white or black; in His presence I am just a woman.

Who was the best financier in the whole wide world? NOAH – He floated his stock when the whole world was in liquidation.

Oh Lord I want to be:

Mentally Alert
Physically Sound
Emotionally Stable
Rejoicing in You
Rubbing Off On Other That I May Be A Walking Example For Your Glory

Prayer

mom2momflorida — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:04:50 +0000

Prayer moves the Hand that rules the world
Most prayers deal in the natural – However, the Holy Spirit’s highest desire is to give you what belongs to you – 1 Corinthians 3:21b -23, “…all things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³andyou are Christ’s, andChrist is God’s.” We have to seek with all our heart. Ask Jesus to give you through the Holy Spirit what He has for you. You can call on your Lord through His Lordship of your life. You can only say Jesus is Lord when the Holy Spirit is in control of your Life.
Ask for liberty like you have never known before – “Lord I long to know your Lordship, your liberty.” Free from the law = liberty. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Romans 8:2, “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
Quit seeking deliverance and start seeking the deliverer.
Quit seeking salvation and seek the Savior.
The Holy Spirit wants to use you – ask the Lord to make you a light in a dark place.
Ask the Holy Spirit to open your understanding for you are not saved by works – Titus 3:5 “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”.
As you yield to the Spirit of God daily, He guides you. Romans 8:14 “…because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Pray big prayers because you have a big God!
There is mighty power in prayer. Jude 20, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” There is a big difference between praying in the Holy Spirit and praying with the Holy Spirit. Pray in the power of God through the Holy Spirit who guides us as we pray. Philippians 3:3, “³For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.” God wants to give us the power to pray in the Spirit and worship Him in Spirit.
Worship is highest form of love. Worship your Lord through prayer.
Acts 13: 2, 4 They fasted and prayed and knew the power of God’s calling. “²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ ³So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.⁴The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.”

Fast and pray and know the power of God’s calling in your life!

Be Satisfied

mom2momflorida — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:00:05 +0000

March 31, 1987

Oh God when I start to criticize and other folks faults, I itemize; may I look at what is really me, and try to be what You want me to be. Walk uprightly, as best I can hopefully filling out Your plan; that all along You had for my life, being satisfied to be a mother and a wife. Enjoying the blessings that make up a day; when I long for months that are six weeks long. Help me to sort out the right from the wrong. And do the things that are necessary to be done, that will be profitable in the long run. Laying aside unnecessary chores and things when “too much to do” only confusion brings. Get my Bible read, before I start the day. Getting direction from You, to go my way. What a settling time it’s bound to be, when You order my day and are guiding me. Oh, to be yielded to Your sovereign will. It’s so hard for me to just sit still. And listen to what You would have to say, cause You know, I think I can go my way. Without any help from Your loving hand, some how I hope You understand. I know You do and I love You so; what more can I pray, as I onward go?

A Fantastic Coat

mom2momflorida — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:58:29 +0000

I’d like very much, to have a coat with sleeves stretched open wide.
That I could wrap around all the world and draw everyone to Jesus’ side
A coat woven, with special love and care, the finest anyone can find.
A coat with warmth, and real comfort given to every sort of mankind.

I’d like the pockets, filled with goodies galore for everyone to have a taste.
Pockets that always have plenty of food to feed the whole human race.
Now if the collar could be so designed to draw people real close,
And bestow on each within it’s folds a good dose of the Holy Ghost
Bringing brotherly love – as God meant it to be, enjoying each other as we are.
T’would be so good … and be as it should, life would be better by far.
And while I’m wishing, I’ll wish for more, ’cause I’d like everyone to sing.
Soul stirring…breath taking…perfect harmony for Jesus Christ our King.
A melody so sweet, the Angels would listen as God’s creation sang a tune.
That around the world, would ring and ring of Christ’s return … maybe soon.
Then I’d like the coat to keep out the cold that the devil’s got in his heart.
Defeat the foes that are out to get us, keeping us and God apart.
I’d wrap us all up, in this great big coat and wouldn’t let go of a soul.
If I could do this… I really would and I’d have blessings untold. Gwen Belle Isle December 7, 1982

(Gwen wrote the above after hearing the following that was read over the Alliance Radio in Hong Kong)
English Translation: “A New Coat” by Pai-Chu-Yi (772-846 A.D.)
White as snow, the newly woven cloth, stuffed with cotton soft as cloud, is thick and warm.
Now a man may work straight through to sunset and sleep well straight through to dawn.
With such a coat, even the coldest night, loses it’s terrors – and the whole body feels as warm as springtime.
In the middle of one night, I had a thought and so got up to walk around.
It was, that a man should love others, and not just take benefits for himself; how I wish I had a great coat, long enough to cover all people are are cold, making them as warm as I.

Peace of God gives us Peace with God

mom2momflorida — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:56:40 +0000

April 25, 1993 Hebrews 11
Faith is Substance — Evidence — Good Report — Understanding — Sacrifice

Will cause us to please God and will cause us to be translated.

There are no tomorrows for God. EVERYTHING IS NOW. Faith is a NOW Faith.

HOPE: FAITH:

Say’s I’m going to get it Say’s I’ve GOT it!

Hope is when I believe Faith is when I act on it

Hope is in the mind Faith is in the HEART

Hope is the going to Faith always leads to …

Hope is vital Faith must grow to have

Hope is before Faith A NOW Faith

When I am in Jesus Christ – nothing can touch ME.

FEED YOUR FAITH AND YOUR DOUBTS WILL STARVE TO DEATH.

Peace of God gives us peace with God.

Romans 4: 19-20 Strong, not wavering FAITH

Matthew 8:10 Great Faith

Matthew 15:38 Lack of Faith can hinder the Gospel

Matthew 17:20 A little Faith can move mountains

Romans 14:1 Weak in Faith

II Corinthians 8:7 Abounding Faith

II Thessalonians 1:3 Growing Faith

Acts 6:5 Full of Faith

James 2:5 Rich Faith

Mark 2:5 Corporate Faith

Sin …

mom2momflorida — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:55:45 +0000

SIN …

earns wages

pays wages

insists on paying

pays in kind

pays in installments

pays in full

pays its own bill