Jackie's Journey: Raising a Wise Knight

"Raising a Wise Knight"

Little boys are born with an adventurous spirit!  They are challenged by obstacles and are great problem solvers.  This belief convinces them that they can find friendship with snakes, snails, frogs and caterpillars!  Their favorite pets are ferrets, hawks, huge dogs, bearded dragons and, of course, tarantulas! 

It is important to us that our little boys grow to be strong, bold and wise.  As their personalities develop, our task takes on tremendous significance.  We see the need for wisdom in our own lives and the need for teaching wisdom to these small ones following us, stepping into the footprint we leave behind!  Our worst nightmare is that our child will be regarded as foolish and unteachable, persuaded by every wind and doctrine, unprepared for life.

Scripture says that “wisdom is better than gold, yea, than fine gold…” Pro. 8:19   God puts great value on our being wise.  He says it is more precious than jewels (verse 11) and more valuable than riches (verse 18).  “Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom…”  Pro. 4: 7  

How important is wisdom to you? 
 Do you value wisdom as God does?
 Are you a wise woman?

As our children grew we looked for the marks of a wise child:
•    A wise child will love the one who rebukes him. (Pro. 9:8)
•    A wise child loves the law of God. (Scripture) (Pro. 10:8)
•    A wise son delights the heart of his father. (Pro. 10:1)
•    A wise child listens to counsel and instruction. (Pro. 13:1)
•    A wise son controls his tongue. (Pro. 11:30)
•    A wise child seeks wise friends. (Pro. 13:20)

Can we raise a wise child in this generation?
How do we get this wisdom?

While living in Panama, our good friends, Johnnie and Ruth Jenkins, put the definition of wisdom to music:

“Wisdom is seeing life situations from God’s point of view
and acting in harmony with it. 
So be wise my son, heed my instruction, 
leave that road that leads to destruction. 
Hallow my name, don’t walk in shame…
Wisdom is…”   

As we raise our little knights to be wise, we teach them that the fruit of being wise is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” (Jas. 3:17).   Is your home marked by this harmony?  Is your little knight bringing you joy or are you ragged by the end of the day?  In the first chapter of Daniel it is recorded that “God gave them (Hebrew boys) knowledge and skill in all matters of learning and wisdom…” (vs. 17-20).  The King found the young boys ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers. 

God gives wisdom to those who ask and all the keys to understanding wisdom are found in His living Word.  (Jas. 1:5; Deut. 4:6; Pro. 9:10; Pro.1:1-3; Pro.13:20: Psa. 119:98; Psa. 19:7…)  Just reading the Proverb of the day would begin to equip you with what you need to lead your fledgling young knight into wisdom!

 Sir Jonathan illustrates the character quality of Wisdom.  One night a fierce storm arrives with howling winds, bringing the surging sea into the village.  The heaving waves sweep in and swallow everything in sight!  Young Sir Jonathan awakens to a frenzied scene and a life-lesson that will eternally alter his life forever.  A noble knight sees life from God’s point of view and eminently acts in harmony with it.  This makes him a wise young man indeed.

We hope Sir Jonathan will encourage and inspire your little knight as you teach him to walk wisely.

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey: the Longest Journey

  “Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it.” I Thessalonians 5: 24

How many years have you been married?

 Does fifty years sound outrageous?

  Marriage is the proving ground for developing our loyalty toward God.

My parents were married 74 years and my husband’s parents were married 47 years, so 50 years does not seem inordinately long to either of us…

I met my Prince at university, and if you were to ask our college friends, they would be astounded that we are celebrating our Golden Wedding Anniversary!

Most did not give us two years!  Ralph and I are polar opposites in almost every way.  However, we had the one element in marriage that will guarantee longevity…we were both individually committed to “burn out” serving God wherever He led us. My husband’s godly zeal and spiritual leadership in our home has been preeminent and a constant for the last 50 years! 

I have been blessed with a man who has loved me unconditionally, and when he said “for better or worse” he meant it.  We have weathered the storms of life with near death experiences more than once, and his loyalty to God and me is noteworthy.  Ralph and I continue to learn and grow together.  “Deference living” - rather than compromise - is a key to our taking our two wills and finding harmony in God’s will.

Ralph’s name means “bold counselor” and that he is! He is a man of motion and direction.  He was once told he is an ”afflicter of the comfortable and a comfort to the afflicted!”  I could write a book with all his wise one-liners, biblical formulas and scriptural definitions.  His capacity to see things in Scripture and interpret them from the inside out to give a total new look to a familiar verse is uncanny! 

Christian missionaries are people whose passion is to make the Lord Jesus known to the whole world.  They are completely under the command of King Jesus (Ralph often rolls out of bed, stands at attention and salutes heavenward, committing his day!), and they will go anywhere, under any circumstances, for no pay, with poor living conditions and food, even though no one ever notices.  They know their Sovereign is watching every minute, and that is the only reward and joy they seek…a true missionary is someone who will risk everything for the sake of the lost of this world…this is my husband!

We have a precious heritage that is a loving reminder of our loyalty to God and our responsibility into the third and forth generations.

God's faithfulness...!

Our lives are based on Proverbs 3:5,6: Trusting the Lord with all our hearts and allowing Him to direct our paths. Matt. 6:33:  “Seeking first the King of heaven” and allowing Him to supply everything we need for life and godliness.

We are convinced that He takes the weak and confounds the mighty.  We are proof of His faithfulness…I Corinthians 2:1-2 speaks my heart, like Paul’s, when he says, “…I did not come to you with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. My message was not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom but God’s power”.

If we had these 50 years to do over again, we would like to serve more and better, as we were bought with the price of His blood.  Romans 6: 16-18 says, “We were slaves of sin and now are slaves of righteousness”.   We work daily on being better slaves!

Have you found your marriage to be a proving ground

for your faithfulness to God? 

However impressive or challenging your marriage may be, 

it is the genuine proof of the degree of your loyalty to God.