Jackie's Journey "I've Got Your Six!"

“I’ve got your back”…we love those assuring words, don’t we?.  “I will show them ‘my back’ and not my face…”, God says in Jeremiah 12: 5.  NOT reassuring words, in fact I can’t think of any words more distressing than to have the Creator of the world turn His back on me!  The Israelites had exchanged their first love (of God) and chosen instead,  disobedience and idolatry.  They were proud, stiff-necked and against God’s ways…

Sound like anyone you know?

 In those days people from many nations passed by and asked, “Why had the Lord done such a thing?’  And the answer was: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshipped and served other Gods.’”

 In this day the “song and dance” is the same.  Seekers of pleasure, people of entitlement, and consumed with our own ways.  “How do I know?” you ask.   Look around.  What do you see?  Wars and rumors of wars, international uncertainty, disorder, absence of strong biblical leadership, broken relationships, independent and divisive spirits, spiritual deadness, lethargy toward good works and service, self-first mentality, absence of humility and hospitality, (me first…gimme mine!) to mention a few…

 What did God do when the Old Testament nation of Israel decided to walk contrary to His plan, purpose and way?  He turned his back!  My grandson, Christopher (pictured above) sent me a verse from Proverbs 19: 23 this morning.  It is a promise that comes with a condition that calls us to obedience, if we want to live a life of contentment (regardless of circumstance) and be untouched by trouble. 

 “The fear of the Lord leads to life (this is the Promise,

 IF we will fear the consequence of sin and act accordingly), 

then one rests content, untouched by trouble”!

 In a world confounded by chaos and bewilderment, it is a blessing to be able to claim the promise and provision of His word, as we choose to walk in harmony with Him…He knows “the way through this wilderness”.

 Who will follow Him?

~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 "God Has a Big Eraser!"

These were a gift from my daughters, Christina and Kim, over 40 years ago!

I have forever been intrigued by lambs.  They are docile and are crowd followers.  They are submissive and easily led.  They do not utter a sound when they lose their warm wool coats while being sheared or even when they lose their lives!  What they give is for the benefit of the lives of those who took it from them!

 Sheep are instructors of one of the most valuable character qualities known to mankind.  Without it, we find ourselves adrift and separated from both God and man.  Without it, we become angry and bitter.  The fruit of its absence is unresolved relationships and needless stress. Our children watch and adopt the same negative response to life’s situations, with the same harmful results! “Parents, so often, are the persons wondering why the streams are bitter, when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.” John Locke

 I was recently talking to a young married woman in ministry, who assured me that she knew the problem she had with this other person was her problem, but she could not do what is required of her to resolve the conflict in her heart and re-establish her relationship with God.

 Are you wondering what invaluable character quality we are talking about?

 “It is nobler to forgive. ‘Love your enemies…bless them that curse you…

do good to them that hate you…pray for them that use you ill’…

these are the commands of the blessed Savior of men.”  Noah Webster

 When asking forgiveness from God, He tells us to go to the offended brother first and make things right…and then come to the altar. Matt. 6: 24 Forgiveness is when we release our offenders from angry and resentful reactions and instead look for ways to benefit their lives. 

 We always have the choice.  We can blame and poison the fountain, where those following us drink!  Who is more important in God’s eyes?  Can God forgive us, if we refuse to forgive others?  Of course not!! Eph. 4: 32  What entitlement do we have that would keep us from forgiving, as we have been forgiven? Mark 11: 25  “He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself.” George Herbert  

Do you forgive others quickly?

or

Do you blame and allow your anger to become toxic?

Booker T. Washington said, “I will not permit any man to narrow 

and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”

~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 "Follow Your Heart...?"

“Today it is totally acceptable to trust and follow your heart.  In fact, we are taught that our heart can decide what is right for us. One man will leave a church and say, ‘I did not feel right in my heart there’. A man may leave his wife and children for a younger woman saying, ‘My heart was not in my marriage any longer’”. (Letgdbetrue) What about the young couple who is confident of a life-partner because they are “following their hearts”? The phrase “I’m going to follow my heart” is used regularly to validate violations of moral, ethical and scriptural principles when decision-making.

 I recently listened to an audio, sent by my granddaughter, Alexandra Grace, that was so on point regarding the use of the word “heart”. How often do we hear the advice, “just follow your heart” when facing difficult decisions? Or “You can trust your heart”…

 Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. It seems appropriate to address issues of the heart.  This blog is taken from Proverbs 28: 26 and “heart” is used as a metonym for affections, inclinations and thoughts.

 “He that trusts in his own heart is a fool:

but he who walks wisely…will be delivered.” 

 “Your heart is your internal set of desires and needs that affect your decision-making.  This is not your conscience.  This is your anti-conscience!  This is the set of passions that drives most men and women. God has spoken about our heart.   He said, ‘The heart is deceitfully wicked above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?’” Jer. 19:9 (letgodbetrue)

 The fact that our heart has an opinion and passion about everything and reacts instantly to what it wants, should be our first warning sign in decision-making.  “If you follow its direction, you are a fool! If you listen to your heart, you are a fool.  If you follow your heart, you are a fool.  If you make decisions even partially influenced by your heart, your are a fool.  You are submitting to the most deceitful, depraved and dangerous source of information on earth.”

 Now that we have stated the obvious…it is clear that  

we are our own worst enemy…

 What are we to do?

 At the fall of man in the garden, all affection for God, spiritual truth and wisdom died. Our desires became corrupted…no longer a desire to seek God, please God or obey God. We took on a new leader who is bent on destroying us; who came to do three things: steal, kill and destroy us.. (Jn. 8: 44)   Steal our joy, opportunity…; kill our bodies…; and destroy our relationships, vision and destiny.  He tells us our heart, which is led by feelings, lust and arrogance of our own thoughts, will lead us. We are fools to believe that plan, let alone follow it! “We do not have the right to our thoughts; we do have a responsibility to right thoughts”! (Letgodbetrue) 

  “True wisdom is learning to mistrust your heart, reject its voice, and make all decisions on the basis of absolute and objective truth. 

 Where is the source for such fabulous decision making?

 In the inspired words of the living God recorded in the Bible! It is learning God’s words and training yourself to make decisions based on them that you can be wise and saved from the deceitful impulses of your depraved “heart”. (letgodbetrue) Fearing God and asking God to direct our footsteps according to His word is the beginning of wisdom. (Psa. 119: 133) This is the key to being delivered from the pitfalls and obstacles that clobber and confuse those who have chosen to “follow their heart” … “The degree of your wisdom is the degree to which you can crush your ‘heart’ to submit to the words of God in the Bible”! (letgodbetrue)

 How wise are you?

Are you facing this New Year 

with a commitment to True Wisdom?

~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 "Monotony...is the Worst!"

Just wondering how you moms are doing with your life on hold and just a glimmer “at the end of the tunnel” that Covid might be finally coming to an end?? 

 Just an observation…to the degree a person is not developing her own ability toward a common objective… she will experience discouragement and boredom!  To offset the resulting monotony and to escape a sense of a meaningless life and a lack of purpose she finds herself pleasure seeking.  Discouragement, boredom and pleasure seeking are all signs we have set shortsighted goals or no goals at all.

 When Covid-19 set in, we, moms, prepared lofty goals and our intentions were good.  We had to make major adjustments!   I Thess. 5: 21 reminds us,  to “hold on to the good”… but good intentions are not enough to combat the lethargy of our spirit!  We are to avoid every kind of evil with the promise that “…God himself will purify us through and through.  He will keep our whole spirit, soul and body blameless… but the best part is,… “HE is faithful and HE will do it!”

 Hence…we have no excuse for being discouraged,

bored or having unfulfilled goals!

 “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong (woman) stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.  The credit belongs to the (woman) who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends (herself) in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement and who at the worst if (she) fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that (her) place will never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”  Theodore Roosevelt

 As moms, we are consumed with the desire to dare greatly in the lives of our husband, children and the success of our home.  We want to be the wife whose husband is admired and spoken well of at the gate because of our testimony and loving service.  We are living in a spiritual war zone and we can’t shelter warriors…we train them to prepare for battle and fight.  We have two goals…how do we reach a darkened, lost world and how do we heal a broken world.

 We aspire to carry His burden by being equipped to reach the lost and encourage the saved.   We teach our children to recognize the enemy and to keep their eyes on the Victor and Savior of our souls.  We pray and focus on eternal goals and teach our little prince and princesses to see God in circumstances and struggles with grateful hearts, as we set the example before them.  We read the Bible to them and teach them how to hear God’s voice.  We teach them to fear God and the consequence of sin.  

 There is no time to be world-weary or consumed with pleasure seeking.  We are pressed to dare greatly for the cause of the cross, following the One who actually knows where we are headed in this maze called life.  Inspired by His example we keep busy with the things on His heart and find our lives are filled, full and content.

 Where do you find yourself this morning?  

Are you discouraged or bored or are you enthusiastically 

looking for what God is going to do today?  

 Have your goals been shortsighted or are you on point?

~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 "Are You a Traumatized Citizen?"

I’ve been thinking about what it means to be an American citizen.  Just the title screams privilege and responsibility.  I was born an American citizen.  With it came all the parts that make this country so great.  To experience the privilege, its integrity must be preserved.  I have certain unalienable rights that come wrapped in responsibility. I have lived in a third world country and believe me, when I say, I am an American through and through, with pride of ownership!

  There is a description of another citizenship that I am a part of, that also, comes with privilege and responsibility.   I guess you could say I have dual-citizenship, like my daughter, Kim, who was born in Panama.  I was reading the responsibilities of that citizenship and those who “will live in the tent of the Lord” and “live on His holy hill”!  

 I’m no slacker, but this list in (Psalm 15 and Psalm 24:3-5) was an eye-opener, because it came with such promise!  The person who:

1.     Walks in integrity

2.     Works righteousness

3.     Speaks truth in his heart

4.     Does not slander with his tongue

5.     Does not do evil to his neighbor

6.     Does not take up a reproach against his friend

7.     Honors those who fear the Lord

8.     Swears to his own hurt and does not change

9.     Does not put out his money at interest

10.  Does not take a bribe against the innocent

 The promise for obedience is that

“he who does these things will NEVER be shaken!

 Sounds good to me!  In these days of world turmoil, we don’t need an earthquake to be shaken. There’s certainly enough going on around us, in just the unknowns, “to keep the pot stirred”!  

 This is a promise, given with love, provision and conditions…

I’m, earnestly, taking it seriously…

 How about you?

~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 "As I Think...so Am I!"

This little lady-in-the-making is Olivia…her thoughts are being formed!

 “As a woman thinks in her heart so is she” encompasses the whole of our being and touches every condition and circumstance of our life.  We are literally what we think!  In the armory of thought we forge the weapons by which we make or break ourselves.  We women are looking for a way to control…well, here is a good one…take control of your thoughts!  Become the master of your thought life.

 Good thoughts never produce bad consequences; bad thoughts never produce good results.  “…a prudent woman gives thought to her steps.” Pro. 14:15  

 The mind is like a spring garden.  When cultivated and cared for or allowed to run wild with little thought or attention; either way… it will produce fruit.  Fruit that reproduces after like kind.  Olivia has a mommy whose thoughts produce good fruit and she is watching her mommy.

 What are the thoughts of your heart?

Selfishness, envy, jealousy, competitive spirit 

or service, love, joy, peace?

What fruit are you reproducing in the lives 

of your prince and princesses?

 Until our thoughts are linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. Absence of purpose leaves the door wide open to fall prey to fear, worry, and self-pity, all of which lead to failure, unhappiness and loss.  Maintaining “thought-control” frees us “to think with purpose and hence, to enter the ranks of those who only recognize failure as one of the path-ways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.” James Allen

  “…the Lord knows the thoughts of man.  For the Word of God… judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight”. Psa. 94: 11; Heb. 4:12

He knows our thoughts!

He judges our thoughts!

Are you hiding or making an attempt to?

 I don’t know about you, but my earnest prayer this morning is…

 “Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.” Ps. 139: 23

Speaking of searching…oops! Book dropped! Csn you guess her thoughts now??

~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 "Servant or Master?"

“The purpose of life is NOT to find our freedom, but our Master.”  P. T. Forsyth

 Computers, Iphones, ipads, and social media are only technologies…glass, metal, wires, connections and gadgets…until you place them in your home.  In some homes, they become a baby-sitter, for babies of all ages.  In other homes, they are a narcotic, an escape from reality.  Or it may be a thief, stealing time, thoughts, friendships, creativity, and opportunities for much needed recreation and genuine companionship.  In too few homes, they are a servant, providing information, insight, commentary on life, news, laughter, music, and worthwhile entertainment.

 What they become, depends on you, the user.  If you accept it as a tool, using them sparingly, wisely, and purposely, they can become a servant.  If you accept it as a friend, use them continuously, it will become your master. (my edit - David Augsburger)

 Is your technology your servant or your master?

 Moms, we are reproducing like kind!  They watch and copy what is permissible to us…they copy what we do more than what we say.  Children need models, not critics.  We wonder where the younger generation is headed,,,look where it came from!  What we do in moderation, our children will do in excess. 

Just saying…

~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 "Celebrating Mama!"

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

I love you, sweet Mama…” Love is not a passion.  It is the pulse of sacrifice”.

 For seventy-seven years you have taught me about genuine love and Motherhood.  I have watched you and still watch you, as you maneuver life.  You are strong and courageous, especially in these latter years without Daddy.  You face life with grace each day with acceptance of God’s Hand and timing.  You have no fear of old age which is the assumption that we still have many years of life ahead of us. “The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, IF we have the strength; yet this span is but trouble and sorrow and passes quickly and then we fly away! (Psalm 90:10)  

 You have learned to be “satisfied in the morning with His unfailing love.  You may not sing for joy out loud but you are glad for every day.”  And you still look forward to any, or all, of us coming and visiting with you.  You are a good listener and I can remember my high school friends coming home with me… to talk and be with you!  

 You are wise, precious 101-year-old Mama.  You have taught me, by example, “to number my days, to be deliberate with my heritage, to think generations and to see how short and quickly life passes.  I am paying attention.  So, you see…your job is well done, but not finished yet…

 Thank you for leading the way, leaving a print for me to step in 

and showing me the pulse of sacrificial love…

I love you!

~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 "Thorns and Thistles"

“By His wounds we are healed”.  Isa. 53

The cross is the center of our commemorating the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  His selfless and sinless sacrifice in our place is our reason to celebrate and praise His Name.  We call the holiday Easter and for a moment in time we stop and rehearse His ultimate sacrifice…His life for ours on that thorny and thistled  “old rugged cross”.  Not only did he die for us but also on the third day He rose from the dead and gave us the promise of a resurrected life after death!  

 This deliberate and divine act of love was to give our lives promise, plan and purpose.  We are destined and programmed to serve others first, not ourselves.   In our Easter release to the Princess Parable Series, “A Royal Easter Story”, we have introduced our five young knights who present a challenge that draws our young princesses into a chariot race that reveals the truth of what the cross teaches.  

 Do you live a life selflessly and sacrificially serving others?

 We cannot be consumed with a life that seeks its own and find life abundantly.  It is impossibility.  Local churches, before “lock-down”, opened their doors on Good Friday to give us the opportunity to take a personal account of our commitment to our first love and renew our loyalty to live as Jesus challenges us to live…Holy!  We are reminded to live serving others, as He did, with eternal values and purpose in view.

My 101 year old sweet Mother and her Great-granddaughter, Olivia

reading “Princess Grace and the Lost Kitten.”

As moms, we are dedicated to living and then, teaching the character of Christ into our little princes and princesses.  We focus on drawing their attention to the importance of serving, helping and caring for others.  That is why we find ourselves saying, “Can you comfort your little brother” or “Will you help mommy?”  Teaching by example, without excuse, is the most powerful tool in our toolbox!  We are “known and read” by these little eyes and ears.  They know if the cross is real in us, or not.  We don’t fool them but we do confuse them when our life message does not speak the reality of Christ in us!

Are your little ones confused?

 “Then said Jesus to his disciples, IF any man will come after me,

 let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Matt. 16: 24

 The cross holds the hope of humanity.  Denying self-life (our pride and selfishness in all its ugly forms)…and taking up His cross (His desires and His perfect Will for us)…  authenticates His life in us.  Living life consistently with no unconfessed sin and nothing between another person and myself enables me to follow Him.  “His crucifixion is the key; His resurrection the door…it is only by His death that we have the mandate to enter into the gates of eternal life.  His door is open always.  Christ is King.”  Isrealmore Ayivor

 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; 

yet not I, but Christ lives in me: 

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, 

who loved me, and gave himself for me.” 

Gal.  2: 20

“There are no crown-bearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

Have a Blessed Easter from Ralph and I…

~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 "Still Content?"

We are adjusting to a new way of life here in the good ‘ole USA and our expectations are on overdrive as we face all the unknowns.  It is reminiscent of days of preparation, instruction, and the eventual beginning of our lives on the Colombian border, tucked into the dense rainforest of the Darien Gap in Panama.  Visiting empty market shelves and being asked to stay homebound are new American adventures.  Will I have enough of what I think I need to endure the next few weeks and possibly months?  

 We would buy for 3-6 months at a time in Panama because we only came out of the jungle that often.  I was not accustomed to planning meals months in advance, but I LEARNED!  I learned very early what it took when I did not have enough oil, flour, rice, beans or…??  Meat was scarce, if at all…it was seasonal.  We lived on a river and we had fish…good fish!  

 It was a daily exercise of mine to learn to be and remain content…realizing that God had already provided everything I needed for my present and future happiness!  Contentment required my distinguishing between my needs and my wants!  I look back and again realize there are few things in life that are really necessary.  In fact, God identified just two:  food and clothing!  I owned two Kuna dresses (I wore one and washed one) and one pair of flip-flops! Could I be content with the basics of food and clothing? 

In the jungle there were lots of little mice.  Those little varmints were content to live anywhere!  A boot, under my porch, in my cupboards…They made themselves comfortable with whatever was available!  Could I learn to do the same?  Mud-packed floors, bark walls, tin roof, no electricity or running water, creepy crawlies everywhere, an outhouse, chiggers, mosquitos, vampire bats, monkeys on the porch, a river for a washing machine and a clothes line (instead of a dryer)…

 “If I am not satisfied with what I have, I will never be satisfied with what I want.”

Ralph Guthrie

 The more I released earthly possessions, the more I could grasp eternal treasures.  Martin Luther said, “Next to faith, this is the highest art; to be content in the calling in which God has placed you.”  Contentment comes as we realize that God is all we really need and He will never leave us.  We are told “to be content with what we have; for He has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, I am to be content”. Phil. 3:10

 Do you believe God has given you all you need?

~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.