Jackie's Journey "A Divided Heart?"

Sometimes, don’t you just wish you knew the future?  Just a little heads-up?  Life is so full of obstacles, decisions, and the unexpected, it would be nice to know a little ahead!  Shortly before God called my husband home, he texted me Psalm 86:11 with the note…”Prayer for our family this week”.  This was the verse…“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart that I will fear your name (the beginning of wisdom).  I will praise you, Lord, my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.  For great is your love toward me; You have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.”

 In a way, this was prophetic.

He left this earth for his heavenly home the following week!

Ralph had given me the verses I needed to begin to journey on… before he left!

 An undivided heart is one that uses difficult and impossible times to demonstrate our commitment to God and those HE has called us to serve.  This is called LOYALTY. Loyalty is the bonding of individuals in a long-term commitment of sacrificial support and defense. Infidelity or unfaithfulness is total betrayal to God and our designed purpose.

 Each of us has loyalties to certain people or things.  We are all loyal to something!  We are loyal to things on earth(family, friends, money, job…) or we are loyal to things in heaven (rewards, abstaining from sin, godly relationships, walking in holiness, faithful in our witness and service). Loyalty is one thing a leader cannot do without.

 All day long we are making decisions that tell us where our loyalty lies and to whom!  It reveals what our mind is focused on.  We are to make our decisions based on two things:

1 – Am I loyal to the authority responsible for me?

2 – Am I standing with those I am serving in their time of need and making them first, more successful than myself?

 I guess the question is: 

Do we doubt God’s sovereignty during adversity

or do we draw nearer to HIM?

 Hence, my prayer for us this week…

“Relying on HIS faithfulness, give us an undivided heart”…

~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 "Golden Calves!"

How many times do you call your child’s name before he/she looks up from their iPhone or iPad? How often do they call for your attention and you are locked into Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or….?  We give our concentration to what we love.  God is a jealous God. Jealousy is the fear of being displaced.  God is very clear about how we are to set our affection and how HE defines “an idol” in scripture.  Our “obsession or devotion to” is demonstrated by the way we use and prioritize our time which defines what we value most. 

I think most people would say I am a relatively dedicated woman and mother…I do right things by all observation and by the current standard worldview of what a woman or mother should be, BUT, in the light of this discussion…am I an idolater?  “You don’t have to go to heathen lands today to find false gods.  America is full of them.  Whatever you love more than God is your idol.” D. L. Moody   Who or what is my “first” priority?  That will give me my first clue!

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Ex. 20: 3 It’s a command!  Just finding your identity in your role as a mom or your position at work can be idolatry!  Focus on your social media following, continually refreshing your newsfeed, concentrating on your gifts, skills, abilities or achievements can become your first love.  Where and how do I spend my money?  Are my hopes hung on finances?

 What am I busy with? Where do I find my joy? (planning vacations, marathons, hobbies, the newest experience?) What do I value? (is comfort and convenience drawing my heart away from Him?)  What do my thoughts focus on…they reveal my desires?  Does my conversation flow when talking for hours on “harmless” earthly matters, but when asked about God’s word…am I completely empty!  Am I seeking Him first and what only HE can give. 

I know you are already rationalizing and making excuses for the amount of time you spend in areas that are related to God’s definition of an “Idol”.  “I can’t Lord, I have to put my family first,” was the response of the man in the Bible who, clearly, had a pecking order of loyalties.  Christ simply said, “Follow Me!  Let the spiritually dead, bury the dead…you follow me.”  Luke 9: 59

 Prioritizing our loyalties and aligning them with God’s, will result in the devotion God demands. Will it cost you and your family to put God first?  YES! Priorities cause someone to be disappointed or pay a price (Christ, our example: His love for us-rejection-cross).  “Idolatry” in any form, is revealed by NOT loving Him… first and foremost above all else!  

“He did evil (sinned)because he did not set his heart on seeking the Lord!” II Chron. 12: 14

 “Revival is a renewed conviction of sin and repentance,

followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God.

It is giving up one’s will to God in deep humility.” Charles Finney

Are you seeking what only God can give?

Are you worshipping the Giver…not the gift?

 It’s your move…

~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.