Jackie's Journey "Don't Waste Your Life!"

Two days ago, we celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ…”a Name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4: 12 “But indeed, all the earth was filled with the glory of the Lord, for the earth was full of the knowledge of our God…” Num.14: 21; Isa. 11:9   This Lord will be “king over all the earth and on that day there will be one Lord, and his Name the only Name.” Zecharaih 14: 9

The best part of Christmas is the promise that “everyone who calls on that Name will be saved…” Rom. 10: 13-15  The climax of the ages with its ultimate victory is encompassed in our taking the Christmas message, as the cross-bearing family of God, and making the Name of Jesus known by word and deed.  

In 200 A.D, Tertullian said, “Go on, rack, torture, grind us to powder; our numbers increase in proportion, as you mow us down.  The blood of Christians is their harvest seed.”  “The Calvary road is where all the riches of the glory of God in Christ are found. All the sweetest fellowship with Jesus is there.  All the treasures of assurance.  All the ecstasies of joy.  All the clearest sightings of eternity.  All the humblest affections.  All the noblest camaraderie.  All the most earnest prayers.  These are all on the Calvary road where Jesus walks with His people.  

 Take up your cross and follow Jesus.  On this road and this road alone, life is Christ and death is gain!  We don’t make the name of Christ famous by our strength, our financial success, our outward glamour.  No, His strength is made perfect in our weakness!” John Piper

How will they hear without a preacher?  The lack of denying self and an unwillingness to bear the shame of His name hinders the Christmas promise from becoming reality in someone’s life.  Most of us are not satisfied with the permanent output of our lives.  “Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world He came to redeem.  Fame, pleasure, and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans.

Those who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.” J. Campbell White

 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 

‘Whom shall I send and who will go for us?’ 

 Then I said: ‘Here I am, send me.’”

Isaiah 6: 8

~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 "Run for Your Life!"

“Lasting spiritual results are destroyed by failing to

deal with the weights and sins that so easily dog our feet”. (Heb. 12: 1)

 As women we are bent on counting the cost, whatever that entails and we make all kinds of sacrifices for the benefit and success of our family.  We have our eye on the prize and nurture our spiritual opportunities as they present themselves daily, looking ahead for the promise of lasting spiritual results. Part of the “cost” is dealing with what… so easily “besets” us! “The tragic destruction of these “weights and sins” is vividly illustrated in the life of the zebra.  He is stalked by brutal packs of cape hunting dogs.  One cape dog is not large enough or strong enough to bring down a zebra, hence the need to run in packs of twelve to twenty.

 The hunt begins with each pack member following the lead dog in single file.  They move slowly at first, but as their victim is separated from the rest of the herd, the dogs begin to pick up speed.  A pack of cape dogs can maintain a steady pace of up to thirty miles an hour!

 As the lead dog catches up to its tiring prey, it locks its jaws into any flesh it can reach and tenaciously hangs on.  The clinging predator slows down the zebra and further weakens him.  Other dogs soon catch up and find vulnerable spots on which to clamp their jaws.  Eventually the whole pack converges on the struggling zebra and pulls him to the ground.

 The cape dogs begin to feed immediately, often before the zebra is dead.  Once down, a complete zebra may be devoured by a pack of cap dogs in less than thirty minutes!” Bill Gothard

 As women, we are faced with the “Cape Dogs” in our lives.  Feelings of inferiority, guilt for past failures, bitterness and anger for past hurt or pain, rationalized addictive habits, a sense of lack of purpose and direction in life…etc.  Are there things in the past that you wish had never happened or you could change and every time you remember them, they bring guilt and shame?   How many battlefields are you fighting in your moral life: impure thoughts, questionable actions or an enslaving habit?  Have you been deeply hurt by others and you cannot forgive them?  Can you answer life’s three BIG questions (Where did I come from? Why am I here? And… Where am I going?) …

 The race is on with the cape dogs of temptation and sin weakening us, as they nip at our feet!  The challenge is to clear our conscience continually and maintain our “walk” with Him so the mouth-watering cape dogs, don’t have an opportunity to capture and destroy us and our heritage.  Children, and husbands, are eagerly counting on us to keep pace and deal with anything that would easily hinder and defeat us by our “failing to take care of the weights and sin that dog us” so routinely.

 Let’s learn from the ensnared Zebra and the tenacious Cape Dogs…

~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 "A Perfect Plan!"

 “When we look at life’s generational history of families, we see the many failures spiritually, socially, financially, globally and every other way.   We see a record of pain, discord, dissolved marriages, unprecedented addictions and unnecessary death…to mention a few.    We should conclude that something is not right…even drastically wrong!

 However, there is good news…a world-wide hope

has been placed on one of the many religions.

 What is the common failure that religions face?  Every religion works on the theory that man’s nature is basically good but needs some adjustments.  Each one has a system that promises an outcome that never works!  All of the systems are based on disciplines of varying forms.  Each one has rewards that are attractive to the listeners.  None of them deliver on their assurances.  

 Biblical Christianity gives no credence to a make-over or an improvement plan of hope in the natural self.  Why not??  Because the Bible understands the real problem.  God looked down on mankind and saw that ‘every thought and intent of man was only evil continually’!  (Gen. 6: 5)   We humans are locked into pride and selfishness. These two attributes are poison to our soul and to the souls around us.  The result is we contaminate one another.  Our very tongue is influenced by hell itself. (James 3: 6) We note this most clearly when we are angry and ‘carelessly letting it fly’, only to wonder later why the reaction was so ‘off the charts’ when the rage has passed.

 ‘The heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it’. (Jer. 17: 9)   Who can know its limits!  God gives a summation and states that ‘NO ONE is naturally good, not even one’.  (Rom. 3: 10-12) We need a major change in our souls. But how?  God’s provision is to place the Holy Spirit in the hearts of humbled souls so He can live His life through us for the benefit of others.

 There are three conditions noted: ‘If you want to come to me, you must deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me’. (spoken by Christ in Lu. 9: 23) Denying-self means turning our life over to the controlling design of God and His future He pre-planned for us to fulfill. (Eph. 2: 10) The cross was a murder weapon that is a reminder to continually die to our selfishness and pride.  The final condition is to ‘follow Him’…which is impossible without the leading and control of the Holy Spirit.  He, alone, knows the future reality. 

 Those that fear the Lord walk in darkness (not knowing the future).  Crisis on every level.  God will lead us in the right direction for the right reason and it will be with superlative results.  It will allow us to teach our children and grandchildren to live in blessing.  There is no greater gift than can be given to our families than understanding the path God has prepared for all of us to follow.

 We cannot follow Him without knowing where He is going.  He is involved in activities winning people to Himself or encouraging Christians to do the same. 

 How does the God of the universe live inside people and

not encourage them to follow the His patterns?

 How can a person read the Word of God and be so indifferent?

 No one born of God can continue in sin. If he does, he has not seen God, nor does he know Him’.  He is required to practice righteousness, as a normal way of life. (I John 3)   Herein lies the truth and with it the assignment that we all have in common.  We tell others about His birth, life, death and resurrection.  We are not ashamed of our relationship with Him and His Spirit that lives in us.  We have compassion for the lost and rebellious people who have been blinded by the god of this world, Satan himself.  

 Most Christians are willfully ignorant of how to present the gospel because they fear rejection and are indifferent to the will of God.”  (written by Ralph Johnson for our Family Night dinner and Bible study).

 The challenge in this day and age of confusion,

unruliness, rebellion and unprecedented chaos

is to stand up and be counted among 

the faithful and harmonize with “God’s Perfect Plan”…

~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 "I Am Never Wrong!"

“Our insistence in proving that we are right is mostly always

an indication that there has been some point of disobedience.”

Utmost for His Highest

  My wise Grandmother loved barn owls and when I was small and stomped my feet demanding my own way she would say, “Little Jackie, don’t you know that pretty is, as pretty does!”  The point, of course, was that I was acting “pretty ugly” and I needed to change my attitude.

 As willful as I am in insisting “my own way” and that I am “always” right, God’s simple two-fold purpose for my life has not changed since 1963.  (1) Maintain a right relationship with God and (2) Be rightly related to my fellowman with the intent and purpose of seeing them rightly related to Him!  I’m to be the stepping-stone for another’s success…whatever the cost, personally.

 Pragmatically, to do this, by necessity I need to “choose for myself this day (and every day) whom I will serve.” Joshua 24: 15 This requires that my will is dedicated to only one Master…no divided loyalties…

 The Will has been defined as the whole man active!

 I cannot give up my will.

I must exercise it.

I must will to obey and die to my selfishness.

I must die to the pride that protects it.

I must will to walk in the light.

 When God reveals more light, it is never a question of what He will do, BUT what I will do.  My focus should not be on “where is He leading me, BUT where am I in relation to Him!  I must will to be loyal to Him…

it’s a choice!

 There are only two choices:  God’s way or Satan’s way.  I always thought there was another choice…”MY WAY”!  Spoiler alert…There is no “my way”! The truth is: I choose with my will whom I will serve on any given day. My will submits to God’s will or Satan’s will.  “The right choice manifests a huge dividend in God’s grace and blessing.   The woman “who does not desire the highest state of grace, does not desire any”.  It all hinges on the Master you choose to serve…

 Which master will it be today?

~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 "More Obstacles?"

Meet my backyard squirrel and the obstacle he faces daily!

The world is facing a number of obstacles from which no one is exempt. Wildfires, hurricanes, and health crises (with baffling mandates galore here in California) have forced all of us to face the current challenges. These are big tests, but not bigger than God’s drive to see lives changed. 

 As women, we face the ultimate challenge of practicing our convictions, sharing with those in conflict and comforting those around us who are struggling with how to handle it all.  Abraham’s life demonstrated that even the heathen around him recognized the difference between their lives and his. Gen. 21:22 Abimelech spoke to Abraham saying, “God is with you in all you do”!  God told Gideon, “there is a might in you so powerful it can save Isreal, and that might is MY PRESENCE.”  

 The Isa. 43:1-5 verses confirm that when God’s presence abides on us, we can go through any fire, pass through any waters, through rivers that overflow us (Pucuro, in the jungles of Panama) and know His presence is all we need abiding in us. We are responsible to choose to “practice His presence”.  As we do this, God will guide our steps, open doors of ministry, move obstacles, lift cares, remove fears and abide in us!  “Fear not for I am with you” is the promise and comfort we all need to combat the steady barrage of disorder.  

 God’s abiding presence brings peace and victory.  The presence of the Spirit-controlled life, directed and trusting only God, is the key to laying hold of the power of God. God attaches a condition to having His presence in our lives. It is useless to attempt any endeavor apart from God, which can only be maintained in our lives, as we choose to confess sin and not allow any unresolved relationship to hinder it!

 “God works through holiness, not a dirty cup.”

Roy Heisson, Calvary Road

 When the Isrealites were in the wilderness, God manifested His presence to them in a cloud. This cloud was a pledge.  They never had to figure out their direction or future because their confidence was in that visible cloud of the Lord’s presence.  Today, the cloud of God’s presence hovers over our secret closet of communion with Him through His word and prayer. 

 Peace is the prize and it will lead us, empower us, and keep us in harmony with God in every area of our lives, regardless of the turmoil.  “The continual pursuit of God’s presence will direct us into a revelation of Christ’s glory. ‘God’s presence will go with us and He will give us rest.’” (Moses, Exodus 33:13)  

 Our guide through this perplexing maze is waiting 

to give us that peace and rest.

 Are you finding rest in Him these days?

~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 "Having a Bad Day?"

“I believe that every right implies a responsibility;

every opportunity, an obligation;

every possession, a duty.”  John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

 As women, we are forever being confronted with a sense of our worth and usefulness or a lack of it, are we not?  If someone asked you what your treasures were, how would you answer?  

Our usefulness is generally wrapped in the package of what we do with what we value.  What would your list look like?  Would you list…Parents, husband, kids, faithful friends, life-lessons, influence, experiences, relationships, personality, money, salvation…?  

 What have you done with what you have been given?  Invested it?  Buried it?  Lost focus?  Been too busy for it? Counted on others? Made excuses? Procrastinated?  Been fearful of failure?

The value of a life is measured by how much is given away with eternal purpose.

 “After a long time, a man returned from his trip and called his workers to him to give an account of how they had used the money he had left with them.  The servant who had been entrusted with five bags of silver came forward with five more and the man said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now, I will give you many more responsibilities.  Let’s celebrate together!”  Matt. 25: 19-21

 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said,” Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.  I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth.  Look, here is your money back.”  But the Master replied, You wicked and lazy servant.”  Matthew 25: 24-26

 God has given each of us exactly what we need to equip us (women) to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ (starting with our nuclear family).  We will be mature…no longer undeveloped and useless.  We won’t be tossed and blown about.  We will not be influenced when other’s around us try to trick us with the lies of this world and our current culture.  Instead, we will speak God’s truth in love (because the Word has been read and implanted in us!), growing in every way more and more like Christ.  As each part does its own unique work, it helps other parts (our husband and children) grow, so that the whole body (beginning with our own family) is healthy and growing and full of love.”  Eph. 4: 11-16

 How am I to use my treasure to build my family and the body of Christ; to cause other’s to speak well of God because of us; to invest in relationships that will multiply; to translate life-lessons into tools to benefit others; to influence my children to seek the heart of God above all else…etc.…? 

My children are grown and I have seven grandchildren.  They carry the truth of those verses in Ephesians…or they don’t! Being responsible to build a healthy, growing family is an intentional challenge and it is never over until they are throwing dirt on our coffins!

BUT GOD has given us everything we need to do the job He has called us to and HE will do it, if we get out of HIS way, stay dead to our selfishness and pride and allow HIM to live through us…. Phil. 4: 13

 We, then, become valuable tools in HIS hands

With a huge sense of worth…

 HAVE A GREAT DAY!

~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 "Beware of Batting Your Wings!"

My husband has an office in the garage and occasionally a tiny hummingbird will fly in and spend two days fluttering frantically to get out!  We have both tried to gently coax its darting frame out the door, fearful that it might break its flickering wings, but it persists in batting itself higher and higher against the ceiling, until we finally give up and it drops to the floor exhausted!  Its continual struggle to get free is heart-wrenching to watch…but they are little soldiers…they never give up!

 Our current world-wide disorder, confusion and contradiction clearly defines the obscure position we are finding ourselves in.  Like the hummingbird, our brains struggle to make sense of it all and we look for a way out. With the national chaos in Afghanistan and local talk of “defunding the police” in various cities across our nation, I am curious to know how we will govern our country, homes, schools, churches, communities and lives.  We are at war and don’t even know it!  The greatest battle we are facing is in our minds.  It is easy to think we are just victims to our circumstances, BUT WE HAVE A CHOICE!  The panic, disrespect and anxiety that has over-taken our thinking is running amuck in the rhetoric of lie after lie. 

When I mention the terms “Law, Statutes, Commands, Ordinances, Judgements and Precepts” …what comes to mind?   Do you bristle at the thought?  Ever wonder what these are for or why God counts them important?  Are they necessary?  They are referenced all through scripture.  Lawlessness is becoming common place in California, with permission to steal as much as you can carry up to 900.00 dollars with no consequence.  Marijuana is legalized! There are is no law protecting the homeowner from breaking and entering, criminals are walking out of court and released from serving time and child trafficking is off the charts…need I go on?  

 What am I to think?  It’s all so negative and toxic!  How are we to cope with all the turmoil and uncertainty?  It doesn’t help that from the very beginning in Genesis, the fall brought broken fellowship with God and man, broken thinking, broken emotions, fear of death, rebellion, lies and much more.  We are told by self-help guru’s that “we are awesome”; this or that medication will take the edge off the mayhem and “we are beautiful and the world is getting better”! 

SAY WHAT???

 “All stress and anxiety can be traced back to three basic lies: (1) I am helpless (2) I am worthless (3) I am unlovable.” 2 Thess. 2: 9   There are more suicides among young people than ever before.  They believe one or all of these lies!  Scripture answers those lies with: (1) the power of the Godhead dwells in us…we are not helpless! (2) I was worth dying for…I have great value! (3) I am accepted in the beloved…I am VERY loved!  

 We are at war.  “Transform your thinking and you will transform your life.”  We are to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” II Cor. 10:5     This is the battleground.  It’s a war.  We are warriors.  The choice is ours.  We are not victims. 

 Get to know these terms…they frame our thoughts…they are the remedy…

Line your thoughts up with God’s truth…

 “The law of the Lord is perfect…restoring the soul (the mind, will and emotions); the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.  The precepts of the Lord are right…rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure…enlightening the eyes.  The fear of the Lord (fearing the consequence of sin) is clean, enduring forever; the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous.  Your servant is warned, in keeping them there is great reward.”   Psalm 19: 7-11

~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 "War-Torn, but Inimitable!"

On May 14, 1989 my two, then, teen-age daughters gave me an NAS monogrammed black Bible for Mother’s Day, that I have loved and protected, as a dear friend for over thirty years.  It carries within its once blank pages a wealth of notes as God spoke to my heart and taught me life-long lessons.  I am a prolific note-taker and this Bible is packed with names, stars, highlighting, hearts and steps of action searing its pages. I read the Bible through each year so you can imagine what it looks like!

 Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.  They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.  Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. (Mark 2:3-4)   The note I have in the margin…” Who will you carry, Jackie?”  A simple reminder of a given responsibility.  

 J.B. Philips (my favorite Bible that carried me through college) wrote, “The danger to professing Christians lies not in more glaring and grosser temptations and sins, but in a slow deterioration of vision, a slow death to daring courage and willingness to adventure with God.”  If I have lost sight of my responsibility…. I have a definable loss of vision…and the notes go on…calling me into accountability.

 Whether you are single woman, a mom or grandmother, we each carry responsibility for the short life we live here. Life is simple…a stewardship, not an ownership; a trust and not a gift.  With a gift you can do as you please, but with a trust…you must give an account. (Eph. 2:10)

 As I slowly bend the pages of this war-torn Bible, I am reminded of the privilege we have been given to yield to HIS purpose and will in this life and how HE has given us everything we need to live a life that pleases HIM. (II Peter 1:2-3) No excuses for loss of vision or misuse of HIS gift.  His Word is the path through this maize called life.  The other choice…chaos and loss.

 What is your choice?

 “…every mouth will be silenced and the whole world 

held accountable to God.”  Romans 3: 19 NIV

~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 "The Battle of the Mind"

How many of you are struggling today with life?  Rest and relaxation have escaped your grasp and you are longing for relief. Your mind will not rest! The unknowns have overwhelmed you and you are confounded by the whole process of mentally resolving whatever is weighing on you. Preoccupation and worry have become your bedfellows and patience is a non-existent entity.  Would a vacation from your troubles do it?  Or maybe just a few hours alone, sitting on the warm sand at the beach? Whatever comes to mind with the word “escape” is where we are going this morning.

“I have been a long-distance runner for 6 years now. I run for the physical benefits, but even more for the mental benefits, a complete and total escape from my own thoughts. As I set off on my run early Tuesday morning, I found myself crippled with thoughts of uncertainty. As I began to feel like I couldn’t breathe, I walked a bit and then sat in the sand. My mind raced between focusing on the music playing loud in my ears and the beauty of the crashing waves in front of me. A woman walked past me, grinned, and then sat in the sand to my left. She introduced herself as Deception and proceeded to say, “I can see you are overwhelmed; it must be tough feeling like you can’t catch a break; everything just keeps going wrong.” 

I looked at her in disbelief. I thought to myself, “what an intrusive comment to make”. I then said, “You’re right, I am feeling overwhelmed, but I have so much good I can be focusing on.” The silence was deafening, as I began to mentally list out the ways God has blessed me greatly. 

A few minutes passed and another woman came walking up the shoreline. She, too, smiled at me and then, serenely sat down in the sand to my right. She introduced herself as Peace and then proceeded to say, “I can see that you are overwhelmed; you must find so much rest in knowing that God’s plans are currently at work and that even though you feel this way, you are exactly where He wants you to be.” I smiled at her and responded, “Thank you! That is a reminder my soul was craving to hear.” 

Then a third voice rang through my head, “Trust me” it said, with complete and total calmness. I leaned forward expecting to see a third person coming to sit by me, but I saw no one. As I shifted my gaze from the ocean to my left and right sides, I saw no one. 

Deception and Peace were not physical beings but rather the voices in my head. One fostering a mentality of self-pity and the other empowering me to lean into the Spirit. But who was the third? 

The voice of God. 

A voice so calm,

yet so powerful

that the other voices residing in my head were now silent.”

Most of us live our lives in “whirlwinds” of varying degrees of tolerance.  My granddaughter, Alexandra Grace, has again captured the battle we face within our over-taxed minds.  Deception is screaming at us from every side. God offers HIS peace to govern our lives, if we will let HIM. Col. 3: 15 The daily renewed mind, saturated in HIS Word, will lead us into peace that passes understanding in the midst of our chaotic lives.

I am submitting to that “still voice” this morning…

Will you?

Alexandra Grace graduated this past June, Summa Cum Laude in Business. She is pursuing her MBA from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.  The allegory was written by her for Professor Dracott at Biola University this past year.

Jackie's Journey "Eating Crow!"

Eating Crow is never fun!  If we never opened our mouth or spoke, we would not have to eat our words.  Words have the power of life or death. Pro. 18: 21 They can bless or curse.  They can encourage or bring despair.  

 William Boetcker was a Presbyterian minister in the early 20th century.  He once spoke on the seven “Mischievous Misses” of the tongue.  They were misinformation, misquotation, misrepresentation, misinterpretation, misconstruction, misconception and misunderstanding. I think he pretty well covered for all of us the areas responsible for our tongue troubles!  

 James, the half-brother of Jesus in the New Testament called the tongue a “fire, a world of iniquity”.  He compares it to the bit of a horse and a rudder of a ship. Both of these control and influence direction. We are to keep a tight rein on our tongue. Bridled speech manifests maturity.  Impulsive speech manifests the opposite. We all stumble in our speech at times.  We may say something unintended or maybe we meant to say it, but it created trouble and we want to take it back.

 Just like the bit and rudder control the horse and ship, our speech needs to be under control.  “How can you, being evil, speak good things. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  A good man (woman) out of the good treasure of his(her) heart brings forth good things, and an evil man(woman) out of the evil treasures brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every IDLE word we speak, we will give account of it in the day of judgement.  For by our words we will be justified and by our words we will be condemned.” Jas. 3:34-37

 The point is we cannot “just share what is on our heart, as long as, what we say is what we really believe.”  “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked”. Jer. 17: 9 Our intent should be to speak as we are led by a gracious God who has our best interest at heart and has the success of the person we are attempting to help in focus. Advice is cheap, but if not regulated and controlled by His Spirit, we can be assured of having to “eat crow”. We are admonished to ‘let no corrupt word proceed out of our mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it might impart grace to the hearer. Eph. 4: 29  

 We can control Shamu, the whale at Sea World, but fail to take control of our own tongue!

We can either nurture blessing with our tongue 

or cause damage that cannot be undone.

 Which will it be this week?

~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.