Jackie's Journey "What's Worth Dying For?"

During the reign of Maximian in the third century(A.D. 286), repeated persecutions were brought against Christians.  Yet the greater the persecutions, the more  the early church grew.

 One day Maximian ordered  all his armies to assemble near the city of Gaul.  Tens of thousands of soldiers were there.  They stood at attention to give a loyalty oath which included the killing of Christians.

 The captain of 6,ooo men, known as the Thebian Legion replied to this oath by saying, ”We  will fight and die for Maximian in battle, but we will not kill Christians.  We, ourselves, are all Christians.”  

 Maximian became infuriated.  He ordered their ranks to be decimated.  Every 10th man was killed by the sword.  The remaining legion still refused!  More men were killed until the entire legion was martyred for their faith!

 The tens of thousands who watched saw men who had something worth dying for.  Soon, thousands became converted, and in A.D. 313 the entire Roman empire adopted the Christian faith.

 These men were strong in God’s Spirit.

Their faith was grounded in conviction, not preference.

 We live in a time when our fear of God is at an all-time low and our love of the world and all it offers, is at an all-time high!  God wants us mighty in spirit, “’To be strengthened with might by HIS SPIRIT in the inner man.’”

 This means God’s Word is dwelling richly in us, we are sensing His presence and recognizing His promptings. We are alert to spiritual dangers that would draw us away from Him and His purpose in our life and we are discerning of wrong attitudes and ideas that would neutralize our ability to make decisions with godly convictions and His blessing.

If HE is worth dying for…

HE is worth living for…

~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 mentoring 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 " Alexandra's Allegory"

Miss Dana Point and my real Princess…

“Now, it was roughly 3 o’clock in the afternoon and I was experiencing a deep midday slump. I had hustled to the gym earlier that same morning and then proceeded to aggressively attack homework assignments into the afternoon. I was feeling overwhelmed with the craziness of life and found myself trapped once again in a mindset I fight so hard to overcome. 

I sat on my bed thinking to myself, “When will I know what my career will be?, When will I feel like I am living life to its fullest?, When will the love of my life propose?, Does everyone have days where they feel a lacking of purpose?”. As I wallowed in discontentment with where God currently has me in life.  I heard a bold knock on my bedroom door. Before I could gather the words to say “come in” the door had already flung open, and “Patience” stood there glaring at me with a peaceful smirk. 

“Quiet down!” she said as I stared back at her. “I’m not making any noise!”, I shouted. She chuckled, “Your thoughts are so loud I could hear them echoing through the hallway!”. Patience then took a seat on the end of my bed and proceeded to ask me why I’m feeling overwhelmed when I know that I am living amid God’s plans. She took me by the hands, and I began to explain to her the mindset that overtakes me; this constant race to ‘what’s next’. 

Patience smiled great big and said, “Although you are praying for God’s plans for the future, you forget that you are currently living out what you prayed for in the past”. She added, “Only a heart of gratitude will yield contentment with current circumstances”. 

Suddenly, the gloomy cloud of anxiousness passed over me. Patience reminded me that when I focus only on the future I miss out on the present and ‘time’ is something that I can never regain. 

So, from that point on I went about the rest of my day praising God and seeking out ways to better express gratitude for the present and all its unknowns”. 

This Blog was recently written as an allegory by my granddaughter, Alexandra Grace.

The prayer of the “comfort and convenient” seeking American woman is, “Dear God, I pray for patience. And I want it right now!”  In Bible School, the standing joke was, “never pray for patience because that’s when the trials come!”  Of course, as moms, we see that the struggle is the opportunity to accept it with joy and grow.  The trial is our friend.  Our anger is best controlled when our choices include exercising patience!  John Dewey said, “Patience is the most useful of the virtues.”  

Go out this week and choose, as my granddaughter did in her allegory…

to rest in God’s perfect timing …

and start giving thanks for yesterdays answered prayer 

and enjoying the contentment of todays present…

~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 mentoring 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.