“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15)
"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)
Approximately fifty years old with gray hair. A white, collared shirt with black pants and boots. Dark eyes and a friendly smile. A tragic situation, needing help. What could I give a man who had just this day lost his father and had learned his mother was hit by a car? The desperation was looming on his face, and I knew I had the capability of giving him what he wanted: fifty-six dollars.
Of course, my immediate reaction was to help; I had seen my husband offer assistance to many. However, I also felt a “tug” at my heart as if God was speaking to me. After the man mentioned my husband’s name and claimed he knew what we had been going through, I quickly felt as though I was supposed to know this person standing in front of me. Standing in the church parking lot for our fundraising yard sale, I wrote a check to the church clerk for cash, and then, without hesitation, I handed the man $56 to assist with his travel expenses. I told him I would be praying for him and to please contact Brian when he learned of his mother’s condition.
It is fair to say that I will never hear from this stranger again. After his black truck left the church parking lot, my phone rang. Brian was calling from Israel, and I jumped right into questioning him about this “familiar” character. To my disgust, Brian informed me that he did not know the old man, that he had never talked to him before, and that it sounded as if I had been fooled. I cried as I hung up the phone, without even realizing why, but my heart grieved within me.
Driving away with tears in my eyes, I could not understand why a person would do such a thing to someone, especially one at church! Many of us would look at the deceitful old man as a fool (and we may be right), but personally, I cannot blame anyone without looking at myself first.
Upon questioning my actions, a small thought came to me; it was clear that I had played the part of the fool that day. You may be wondering, “How?” Let me explain, it seems at times when, at our weakest, the devil Himself can creep into our lives. This time was mine. I was:
· Hungry (from not eating lunch),
· Angry (that I was forced into an uncomfortable situation),
· Lonely (with Brian away in Israel), and
· Tired (having not slept well).
It is in moments like these, we always need to HALT. It was a perfect day for the devil to have his way. Without prayerfully considering what to do, I reacted hurriedly, thus the reasoning behind the outcome I faced. Proverbs states, “So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding… For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:2, 6).” Had I simply stopped and realized that my heart was grieved because God was speaking the truth over the situation, I would have “HALTed” and asked the Lord for wisdom.
What areas in your life are you playing the fool? How often do you find yourself looking back wondering how you could have done things differently? It is sometimes challenging for us when put in situations to ask of and use God’s wisdom because we are fools. It is through the knowledge of the Lord that we are made wise. Make certain you HALT; let God provide you with His wisdom.
Working on Spiritual Wisdom,
Jenna R. Johnson
Jennarjohnson@yahoo.com and http://jennarjohnson.blogspot.com/
Visit Words of Encouragement on the Web.
P.S. – Brian and the group will be returning from Israel on Saturday, June 7th. Please remember them in prayer as they travel home. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support!
Showing posts with label Walking with God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walking with God. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Little by Little
“The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you. (Deuteronomy 7:22 NASB)
Do you have big dreams, goals and plans that you would like to see worked out in your life? Are you yearning for a better church, marriage, family life, or education? You may have lost everything in the storms that swept through the Southeast last week and desire a rebuilt home and life after the destruction. We all have these big plans and dreams that seem so far out, but they are achievable if centered in God’s will. Romans 8:31 says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses prepares three speeches to the new generation that is about to go in and possess the Promised Land. If you will remember, the generation that came out of Egypt was not willing to walk by faith and trust God to deliver them in battle with the people of Canaan. They refused to fight the good fight of faith. The rebellious Israelites wandered in the wilderness until all of the people 20 years and older died off. They had wasted so much precious time in disobedience. Now, they are standing so close to the fulfillment of God’s promises.
How many times do we seem to get this far in our Christian lives? We are at a stand still where God begins to remind us of what He has done in our past, what He can do now, and what He is going to do in the future? This is a place where we get in over our heads. Life is not about us anymore, and we can’t control it. Facing Israel were seven nations that were greater and mightier, and as soon as they began their march into the Promised Land, they were going to be faced with obstacles. This is where we all like to hide, run or retreat. However this is where the Apostle Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). As a Christian today, we are in no place to back down, let up, retreat, lose heart, or lose focus. Lives are at stake everyday, and we can make a difference!
Will all of the world be won for Christ in one day? Can your church be built strong to glorify God in an hour? Can your marriage climb back to the top where intimacy, open communication, joy and selfless love were more important than money, achievements, and bigger homes? Can families be restored to unity and harmony where love resounds and warmth abounds? God has a method for us to reclaim the ground that we may have lost in battle. John 10:10 reminds us, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” As the children of Israel were told to go in and possess the land, God would defend, defeat, and deliver their enemies into their hands little by little. He could have done it all at once, but they learned to depend and trust in the Lord for their source of strength and life.
What are you facing today that seems to be an impenetrable wall or a mountain too high to cross? Do not let the fear of opposition stop you from the work that God has for you! Be diligent in Bible study, persistent in prayer, focused on giving our Heavenly Father glory and little by little He will bless your obedience, put to shame your enemies, and prove the skeptics wrong. Until unbelievers in Jesus Christ see the evidence of your faith, they will remain in doubt that there is a God in Heaven who judges righteously over all mankind and is worthy of all our praise and adoration. Don’t be discouraged or overwhelmed by the size of the task, but be encouraged that God will give sufficient grace to all who ask!
Do you have big dreams, goals and plans that you would like to see worked out in your life? Are you yearning for a better church, marriage, family life, or education? You may have lost everything in the storms that swept through the Southeast last week and desire a rebuilt home and life after the destruction. We all have these big plans and dreams that seem so far out, but they are achievable if centered in God’s will. Romans 8:31 says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses prepares three speeches to the new generation that is about to go in and possess the Promised Land. If you will remember, the generation that came out of Egypt was not willing to walk by faith and trust God to deliver them in battle with the people of Canaan. They refused to fight the good fight of faith. The rebellious Israelites wandered in the wilderness until all of the people 20 years and older died off. They had wasted so much precious time in disobedience. Now, they are standing so close to the fulfillment of God’s promises.
How many times do we seem to get this far in our Christian lives? We are at a stand still where God begins to remind us of what He has done in our past, what He can do now, and what He is going to do in the future? This is a place where we get in over our heads. Life is not about us anymore, and we can’t control it. Facing Israel were seven nations that were greater and mightier, and as soon as they began their march into the Promised Land, they were going to be faced with obstacles. This is where we all like to hide, run or retreat. However this is where the Apostle Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). As a Christian today, we are in no place to back down, let up, retreat, lose heart, or lose focus. Lives are at stake everyday, and we can make a difference!
Will all of the world be won for Christ in one day? Can your church be built strong to glorify God in an hour? Can your marriage climb back to the top where intimacy, open communication, joy and selfless love were more important than money, achievements, and bigger homes? Can families be restored to unity and harmony where love resounds and warmth abounds? God has a method for us to reclaim the ground that we may have lost in battle. John 10:10 reminds us, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” As the children of Israel were told to go in and possess the land, God would defend, defeat, and deliver their enemies into their hands little by little. He could have done it all at once, but they learned to depend and trust in the Lord for their source of strength and life.
What are you facing today that seems to be an impenetrable wall or a mountain too high to cross? Do not let the fear of opposition stop you from the work that God has for you! Be diligent in Bible study, persistent in prayer, focused on giving our Heavenly Father glory and little by little He will bless your obedience, put to shame your enemies, and prove the skeptics wrong. Until unbelievers in Jesus Christ see the evidence of your faith, they will remain in doubt that there is a God in Heaven who judges righteously over all mankind and is worthy of all our praise and adoration. Don’t be discouraged or overwhelmed by the size of the task, but be encouraged that God will give sufficient grace to all who ask!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Going Out not Knowing
For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. Hebrews 3:4
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Hebrews 11:27
Have you ever gone out not knowing where you were going? Have you ever taken a vacation without checking the road map and marking off distinct landmarks, cities and small towns? Often when we travel, we like to have checkpoints along the path to make sure we are still going the right way. When we find ourselves off course, we immediately panic and wonder where we went off track. However, when we reach our destination, we can look back in reflection and enjoy the place that you have been brought to.
Reflection over the past allows us to see Him who is invisible working in our lives. When we are able to reflect, we can learn to appreciate our present and anticipate our future as God continues to lead by His unseen hand. Today, I want to share with you what God has done in my life up to this very day. In May of 2002, I graduated from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. I had a job lined up and was ready to begin on June 3. The only problem was that I didn’t have a place to live and I was supposed to begin work about two weeks after graduation. I didn’t know where I would be living, but was thankful that I had a job. On Graduation Day, I ran into one of my close friends and her family. They began taking pictures and her aunt asked me about my plans after graduating. I told her about having a job in Nashville. She immediately asked if I had a place to stay. I told her I was still looking. During that very moment, she told me that her and her husband had an apartment/efficiency above her garage that I could live in for $120 a month. I got her number and my sister and me checked the place out the next week. The home was on a farm with an open field to do cross-country running, a pond behind the house through the woods, and the quietness that I needed for the Lord to speak to my lost heart. The Lord used this time to get my attention through the Gospel that was preached at a church that I was led to 60 miles from my new home.
I lived there for seven months and then moved into an apartment in Brentwood, TN. This was a taste of freedom and my only apartment outside the dorm room I lived in for 4 years. It was a one-bedroom with about 760 square feet. In this apartment, I was saved by God’s grace on April 7, 2003. Everything began changing after that night, but I continued working for a company in Cool Springs. On March 24, 2003, I experienced the loss of my first job when corporate came in and told us that things were changing. However on March 25, I began a new job working with a Healthcare consulting firm near downtown Nashville. I traveled almost every week living out of hotel rooms in various cities. It was quite an adventure! My best friend from high school moved in with me during the summer of 2004, and we shared a one-bed room apartment because I was always gone. In August, God placed a burden on my heart to preach the Gospel. He asked me to leave my job in October and follow Him not knowing where I was going and without any funds. With the jobs I had, I was able to pay off student loans in 1.5 years after graduating. Praise be to God! About 3-4 months later, money was running low and I knew I was following Jesus. One week, I didn’t have enough money to pay for rent and I could not ask anyone. God wanted me to prove Him. I prayed and He answered. During that week, I received half of a $50 credit to our account and a refund check from an insurance company for $287. God provided my needs. Often, I didn’t know where the next dollar was going to come from, but with God’s grace I knew that where He led, He would provide.
In May of 2004, I had another dilemma. I didn’t know how I could continue to volunteer my time at the mission, prison and in itinerant preaching and still be able to live somewhere. I prayed and God heard my prayers by sending a man from my church that I never remember meeting before. He told me that God had placed me on his heart, and he felt a need to help me in some way. He offered me a place to stay if I needed it. That was exactly what I was praying for. I didn’t know that it would take me 50 miles away from where I was working, but this was the only door that had been opened. He and his wife were going to look for a place closer to our church, but he said it would take 3-4 months to get everything worked out. They ended up selling their house the day before I moved in and buying a new one closer to church the next week. With contract work, we were both homeless for a month in the summer. While homeless and living from house to house with many families, I learned to love people more for their graciousness and hospitality. In July of that summer, the wind blew me to Jamaica on a mission trip where I met one of my best friends and soon to be wife in 9 days…
After moving into this house about three years ago, I was approached by a church to begin preaching and teaching there. The church that called me was only 5-6 miles from the home that God had placed me in with this new family. I have been serving this church for 2 years now and God sent my wife, who I met in Jamaica in the summer of 2004, to this church to serve the little children. She has been setting on the third row back from the front for over a year now. We were engaged after never dating, kissing, or holding hands. Jesus revealed to both of us that we were to spend the rest of our lives together serving Him and loving each other as He loved His church. Today, I will be going to the bank to close on a tent (home) that will be our dwelling place until the Lord asks us to move again. This world is not our home, and we are just passing through. We will continue to go out not knowing where we are going but knowing in whom we believe.
Going out with Jesus,
Brian Johnson
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Hebrews 11:27
Have you ever gone out not knowing where you were going? Have you ever taken a vacation without checking the road map and marking off distinct landmarks, cities and small towns? Often when we travel, we like to have checkpoints along the path to make sure we are still going the right way. When we find ourselves off course, we immediately panic and wonder where we went off track. However, when we reach our destination, we can look back in reflection and enjoy the place that you have been brought to.
Reflection over the past allows us to see Him who is invisible working in our lives. When we are able to reflect, we can learn to appreciate our present and anticipate our future as God continues to lead by His unseen hand. Today, I want to share with you what God has done in my life up to this very day. In May of 2002, I graduated from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. I had a job lined up and was ready to begin on June 3. The only problem was that I didn’t have a place to live and I was supposed to begin work about two weeks after graduation. I didn’t know where I would be living, but was thankful that I had a job. On Graduation Day, I ran into one of my close friends and her family. They began taking pictures and her aunt asked me about my plans after graduating. I told her about having a job in Nashville. She immediately asked if I had a place to stay. I told her I was still looking. During that very moment, she told me that her and her husband had an apartment/efficiency above her garage that I could live in for $120 a month. I got her number and my sister and me checked the place out the next week. The home was on a farm with an open field to do cross-country running, a pond behind the house through the woods, and the quietness that I needed for the Lord to speak to my lost heart. The Lord used this time to get my attention through the Gospel that was preached at a church that I was led to 60 miles from my new home.
I lived there for seven months and then moved into an apartment in Brentwood, TN. This was a taste of freedom and my only apartment outside the dorm room I lived in for 4 years. It was a one-bedroom with about 760 square feet. In this apartment, I was saved by God’s grace on April 7, 2003. Everything began changing after that night, but I continued working for a company in Cool Springs. On March 24, 2003, I experienced the loss of my first job when corporate came in and told us that things were changing. However on March 25, I began a new job working with a Healthcare consulting firm near downtown Nashville. I traveled almost every week living out of hotel rooms in various cities. It was quite an adventure! My best friend from high school moved in with me during the summer of 2004, and we shared a one-bed room apartment because I was always gone. In August, God placed a burden on my heart to preach the Gospel. He asked me to leave my job in October and follow Him not knowing where I was going and without any funds. With the jobs I had, I was able to pay off student loans in 1.5 years after graduating. Praise be to God! About 3-4 months later, money was running low and I knew I was following Jesus. One week, I didn’t have enough money to pay for rent and I could not ask anyone. God wanted me to prove Him. I prayed and He answered. During that week, I received half of a $50 credit to our account and a refund check from an insurance company for $287. God provided my needs. Often, I didn’t know where the next dollar was going to come from, but with God’s grace I knew that where He led, He would provide.
In May of 2004, I had another dilemma. I didn’t know how I could continue to volunteer my time at the mission, prison and in itinerant preaching and still be able to live somewhere. I prayed and God heard my prayers by sending a man from my church that I never remember meeting before. He told me that God had placed me on his heart, and he felt a need to help me in some way. He offered me a place to stay if I needed it. That was exactly what I was praying for. I didn’t know that it would take me 50 miles away from where I was working, but this was the only door that had been opened. He and his wife were going to look for a place closer to our church, but he said it would take 3-4 months to get everything worked out. They ended up selling their house the day before I moved in and buying a new one closer to church the next week. With contract work, we were both homeless for a month in the summer. While homeless and living from house to house with many families, I learned to love people more for their graciousness and hospitality. In July of that summer, the wind blew me to Jamaica on a mission trip where I met one of my best friends and soon to be wife in 9 days…
After moving into this house about three years ago, I was approached by a church to begin preaching and teaching there. The church that called me was only 5-6 miles from the home that God had placed me in with this new family. I have been serving this church for 2 years now and God sent my wife, who I met in Jamaica in the summer of 2004, to this church to serve the little children. She has been setting on the third row back from the front for over a year now. We were engaged after never dating, kissing, or holding hands. Jesus revealed to both of us that we were to spend the rest of our lives together serving Him and loving each other as He loved His church. Today, I will be going to the bank to close on a tent (home) that will be our dwelling place until the Lord asks us to move again. This world is not our home, and we are just passing through. We will continue to go out not knowing where we are going but knowing in whom we believe.
Going out with Jesus,
Brian Johnson
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Borrowed
(5-13-04 Nashville, TN 3:02PM)
Along the sands we walk
As the waves come crashing in
Watching as the sun sets
Spreading rays of light on the horizon
Longing for the newest day
For now watching the stars
We’ll make it through by the moon’s light
For Home is not that far
Only one step ahead
Leads to eternity with Yahweh
When will I reach my destination?
It could be any day
What a joy to know
The Maker of all tomorrows
Leading me breath by breath
In these grains of sand- borrowed
Along the sands we walk
As the waves come crashing in
Watching as the sun sets
Spreading rays of light on the horizon
Longing for the newest day
For now watching the stars
We’ll make it through by the moon’s light
For Home is not that far
Only one step ahead
Leads to eternity with Yahweh
When will I reach my destination?
It could be any day
What a joy to know
The Maker of all tomorrows
Leading me breath by breath
In these grains of sand- borrowed
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