Jackie's Journey "Do You FaceTime with God?

As women, we love promises. The circumstances of life, with its hurdles and opportunities, gives us great comfort in promises.  We are all familiar with the promise that  comes with the portion of Scripture that tells us not to worry because of God’s detailed  provision for us.  “Seek (His Presence), first,  His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things (mentioned above vs. 27-32) will be given to us as well”!  Matthew 6:33  We love and embrace the promise and hang onto its content. He wants to supply for His family, like any good father.

But this promise comes with a huge condition! 

Do you know what  it is?

There is a concise definition, found in the Bible,  of what  it means to  neglect or  to not “seek” the Lord first.   “He didEVIL because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord”. (2 Chron. 12: 14)   It is called Evil!  We are robbing God and ourselves by not living in a state of seeking Him. To seek the Lord is a present progressive verb, meaning… ongoing, never-ending action.  We are to be seeking Him and connecting with Him daily…to His thoughts, His ways, His Will and then, consistently yielding to Him. (Romans 6:18)

 “Setting the heart” is fixing it on the Creator.  We are created to fulfill what we, with Him, are commissioned to do. Our designed purpose is to do the will of God on earth, even as it is being done in Heaven. Matthew 6:10  We are created for a life of good works that He has prepared before-hand for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

Evil is doing our own thing.  We have two choices:  Seek Him and the wisdom from above or seek the wisdom from below…which is Satanic…that which is selfish, proud, envious and  everything EVIL.  (James 3:13-15)  We cannot separate selfishness from Satan or pride.

Romans 12: 1, 2  teaches us that sacrificing our will and desires

means surrendering to God’s will, bringing us into His will and our purpose.

In  Matthew 7:21,22, we find a group of people doing their version of God’s will, but doing it their own way.  He said, “depart from me, I never knew you.” They were doing, what appeared to be the same as the apostles, but it was in self-centered, self-oriented satanic power. 

Who discerned that?  The Lord Jesus.

What is His will in general for all believers?  (Matt 4:19) Fish for men. (Gal 5:16) Walk in the Spirit.  Seek Him in the Scriptures daily to get your specific daily calling.  It always involves service.  He came to serve, not to be served.  He lives in the believers to continue to do just that.  He is the same today, yesterday and forever.

Is your Heart set on seeking Him?

Let’s grab hold of God and ask Him for a passion to  pursue Him…

“IF you seek me with all your heart,

You  will find me.”

~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 "Who is God to You?"

This was too good not to re-print…many of you saw it on Instagram, I’m sure.  It bottom lines the miscalculation of what people think about God and how important it is to boldly step out identifying the One True God…

·      The Atheist says: “There is no God”

·      The Agnostic says: “There might be a God”

·      The Humanist says: “Let’s remove God”

·      Pornography says: “Sex is God”

·      Greed says: “Money is God”

·      The Proud say: “Power is God”

·       Satan says: “Be your own god!”

 The witchdoctor in our village in the Darien jungle had a basketful of wooden false gods.  He was very powerful and yet, he laid down those idols to be burned the day he came to know the only true God, as his Savior.  We didn’t have to go to a foreign heathen land to find false gods. America is full of them. One day opinions will flee, knees will bow and tongues will confess who the REAL GOD is!

 “The worship of the false gods (listed above) in any form is Idolatry. “ That means anyone or anything that you love more than the one true God is officially your idol!  “Man  is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm and yet, he will make gods in his life by the dozens.” Michel de Montaigne  When we define an idol in our life, we have moved from submission to Almighty God to succumbing to the lie of another…Satan, the false god.

 “The intentional purpose of life is not to find your freedom, but your master”… P.T.Forsyth

 Which one of these is your master?

~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 "Regrets?"

Many years ago, I read “Tortured for Christ” by Rev. Richard Wurmbrand.  It profoundly challenged me to purpose to follow Christ and cheerfully ‘count the cost’.  Over the years of service as a missionary, I was sometimes characterized, as ‘out of sync’ with the world, foolish (by the worlds standards), wasting my time in the jungles, robber of a “normal” upbringing for my two daughters, suffering needlessly with no running water or electricity (the world clamors for comfort and convenience), etc.…

 Yet, to this very day, I hold the awesome privilege of being a part of a very few who have lived without regret, counting the cost, determined to burn out serving and pleasing my God, first and foremost.  The life that comes from a vibrant, functioning God-consciousness in turbulent times is a tribute to the reality of the value of counting the cost, which could and usually does, include…suffering.

 “Suffering may help one to arrive at truth. ‘Tears, tears, bitter hulls but with such a sweet kernel,’ wrote the much-persecuted Romanian Christian poet, Traian Dorz.  Most people have an unjustified phobia against suffering. Unnecessary tragedy should be avoided, but we should also realize that there is much good in suffering. 

 Milton wrote his finest poetry after he became blind.  Beethoven composed his most beautiful music only after he became deaf.  The German philosopher Kant, who suffered from an incurable sickness wrote, ‘I have become master of its influence on my thoughts and actions by turning my attention away from this feeling altogether, just as if it did not at all concern me…’

 Solzhenitsyn wrote, ‘Blessed be thou, prison.’ The seven years in a Soviet prison made him the most powerful opponent of communism.  Richard Wurmbrand said about himself, ‘My 14 years in communist prisons were the most fruitful of my life.’ He knew of no great character formed apart from suffering. 

 A world without suffering would consist of weaklings.  What kind of love endures without painful sacrifice?  He who counts the sufferings involved will never be a daring hero.  Jesus made himself perfect through suffering. (Heb. 2:10) When Pope Alexander VI criticized by Savonarola for his unworthy life, offered him the position of cardinal in order to keep him silent, Savonarola answered, ‘May God keep me from being unfaithful to Him.  I do not desire any other red cape than the crown of a martyr colored with my own blood.’

 The highest state of a Christian is to be Christ-like.  Christ was called a ‘Man of Sorrows’ (Isa. 53: 3) and ‘the lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Rev. 13: 8) To be a Christian means to become a co-sufferer with Christ.  The more of His pain we are ready to share, the more truth we will receive.

 Someday we will sit with Jesus Christ and the Father on the heavenly throne from which universes are administered. (Rev. 3: 21) Our merciful God ‘will wipe away every tear’ from the eyes of His saints, and all will be able to rejoice whole-heartedly (Rev. 7:17; 21:4)” written by Rev. Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001)

Do you have any regrets?

~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 "Life Unraveling!"

           “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him…Job 13:15”                              

Our village was tucked away near the Colombian border and we lived in the silence of the Darien jungle and its peculiar sounds.   One late morning there was an unfamiliar roar in the distance.  A large helicopter appeared and began circling our village, dropping low, looking for a place to land.  Before we knew what was happening, dust flew and the door slid open.  Men dressed in full military uniforms with machine guns jumped out and stormed into our house. Guns drawn, pointed directly at us, they began shouting commands with accusations!

 My life started unraveling before my eyes!  I quickly grabbed little Kim and Christina came running, clutching my legs. I reached down to reassure her, as Ralph stepped in front of us, whispering to me, “Remember, Jackie, this touched God’s hand first”. 

 We were being accused of being spies for the United States and they demanded we turn over our only means of communication to the outside world…our two-way radio!

I was trembling, imagining every plausible scenario of how we could be easily disposed of in the river and no one would know for months!  The truth that came surging into my consciousness was Job 13:15, “…though he slay me, yet will I hope in HIM”. 

 Still standing between the enemy and us, Ralph appeared calm and was responding in Spanish with an absolute, “We are not spies from America.  We have permission from your government to bring medicine to help this isolated group of people.” 

  How had this happened?  What could we do?

 The next few moments stood still…their shouting gestures and my seeing no way of escape brought the verse in Job home to my heart.  I resolutely accepted His will, whatever that was going to be and instantly, peace prevailed.  What happened next was beyond belief!  To our utter astonishment, as abruptly as those militant soldiers arrived…they hastily, mid-sentence, without another word, turned and left!!  They did not ask for our passports or visas, nor did they take our rifles that were in plain view, hanging on the wall!  God had blinded their eyes and in an instant, redirected their path.

 In the aftermath of my processing through this current event, Ralph gave me a definition for “tribulation” that comes to mind every time I am faced with a trial and I just want it gone…no processing…just gone!  “Tribulation is God’s fastest road to maturity”.  Well… missionary life had definitely put me in the fast lane to grow up!  The more life I live, the more I realize how much growth I need!

 This is that definition in a “mathematical” formula that changed my life and the way I look at trials, inconveniences, suffering and contentment.  It goes like this:

 Trials + Acceptance of the trial with joy and thanksgiving = Growth/Maturity

 I can respond to trials by:

(1 ) Benefitting from them - the pressure of trials produces James 1: 2-4: .

          Faith

         Patience

          Perseverance

         Maturity

          Wisdom

        Lacking Nothing!

                                                  OR

(2) Reacting to them and locking down emotionally with:  Impatience, Fretfulness, Why me?, Depression, Complaining, Rebelliousness or bitterness…

 I choose to yield with gratefulness this morning

and to recognize any form of tribulation, as a means to create

a greater purpose for the benefit of others. 

  What is your response? 

~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 "What A Life!"

Engagement picture of Catherine Landaas and Nikita Golovachev

 I am at a “Princess Wedding” this week-end, rehearsing in my mind the early years of our married lives and the opportunities God gave us and to realize that…we never made a sacrifice…it was all privilege…

“James and Amelia Hudson loved their children and, like all doting parents, they enjoyed giving them little treats on occasion. But once in a while, when Amelia brought a dessert to the table for her family, James would say, "Who will see if they can do without today?" He explained it to the children this way:

By and by, you will have to say "No" to yourself when we are not there to help you, and very difficult you will find it when you want a thing tremendously. So let us try to practice now, for the sooner you begin, the stronger will be the habit.

 The children were not punished if they chose not to give up the sweet, but if they were able to go the entire day without it they were rewarded with some other treat and most importantly, with the loving approval of their parents. Hudson Taylor took this lesson to heart and learned early how to say "no" to himself. He went on to live a life characterized by self-denial for the sake of the gospel, and yet, when he looked back over his long life he said, "I never made a sacrifice."

 How could he honestly say such a thing?

 From his conversion in his teens, Hudson Taylor had a deep passion for God and desire to serve him as a missionary in China. All through his young adulthood his focus on this goal never failed. Most of China's inland cities had never seen a foreign missionary and a million Chinese each month were dying without having heard the gospel. Taylor could not understand how any believer could be unmoved in the face of such staggering need. He left his home in Barnsley in 1850 to study medicine in London, planning to go to China at the first opportunity as a medical missionary.

Taylor was touched by the plight of the poor in the slums of London. He chose to live among them in order to devote as much of his small income as possible to medicines and tracts to alleviate both the physical and spiritual suffering of the community. The damp, smelly neighborhood (aptly named Drainside) in which he rented a room was a full four miles from the hospital, which meant Taylor had at least an hour's brisk walk each way in every kind of weather. He willingly made that sacrifice to serve the poor.

During his studies at the hospital, Taylor was required to dissect a cadaver. While working on a particularly dangerous specimen, a small open wound on Taylor's finger allowed contaminants from the cadaver to enter his own blood stream. He became ill almost immediately. As soon as the teacher on duty learned what had happened and diagnosed "malignant fever," he urged Taylor to hurry home to get his affairs in order. "You are a dead man," he said grimly, expecting Taylor to die within hours. And though Taylor did get very sick, he recovered fully. The physician who cared for him credited Taylor's careful lifestyle and his long walks to and from the hospital as giving him the stamina to survive. Suddenly, his choice to live in Drainside didn't seem like a sacrifice.

During this same period of Taylor's life, the woman he loved refused to marry him unless he gave up his dream of serving in China. Taylor ended this relationship with tears. He trusted that God (like his parents at the dinner table) would have something better for him later if he denied himself for the sake of the gospel. And his faith proved true. God provided a wife in China—one who shared his passion for missionary work. Maria grew up in China, the daughter of English missionaries in Shanghai. She was as fluent in Mandarin as she was in English and became great help and comfort in Taylor's work. "It never cooled, my love for her," he said forty years later—"It has not cooled now." The relationship he gave up in London no longer seemed like a sacrifice.

In China, Taylor found that to gain an audience with the people, he first needed to give up his European dress and customs. He adopted a pigtail and chopsticks and traveled from town to town, living in boats, in small shacks or in attic garrets, usually battling insects and vermin. Once, on a journey to an inland city, he was robbed of his traveling bed, spare clothes, surgical instruments, and a Bible given to him by his mother. Taylor decided not to prosecute the thief because of the harsh Chinese penal system, but wrote the culprit a letter instead, urging him to repent. He described his plea to the errant servant in a letter sent home to England. That letter somehow fell into the hands of George Mueller of Bristol. He was so impressed by the spirit of the writer that he became a supporter of the mission. Taylor's sacrifice of the right to prosecute the man who stole his bed resulted in a supporter who would provide over $10,000 per year for the mission and would be a friend and advisor in times of trial. Looking back, giving up the right to justice did not seem like a sacrifice.

Taylor endured many hardships including arrests, insults, slander and poverty, but lived his life believing what Christ said in Mark 10:29,30—that if we give up anything for the sake of the gospel we will receive blessings one hundred times better in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. With that perspective, he could truly say, I never made a sacrifice."

“Truly, I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age…and in the age to come eternal life.”

Mark 10: 29 and 30

~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 "Living An Illusion?"

‘Take My yoke upon you and learn of me…!” Matt. 11:29

How would you describe your Christian walk?  Up and down, peaks and valleys?  Good days and bad days?   Would you characterize your spiritual life as vibrant and free or continually battling your self-life (your personal rights, depression, unresolved relationships, entitlement…)?   Are you living a “Christian illusion”?

 If you want to learn of me, put your head in the yoke!

What?!  No way!  Who does that?

       WHY, I’D HAVE TO GIVE UP MY FREEDOM AND SUBMIT

TO THE OTHER PERSON IN THE YOKE!    ARE YOU CRAZY???

  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and

                   I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn

                   from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you

                   will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and

                   my burden light”!    (Matt. 11:28-30)               

 The Church will instruct us

The Bible will inform us

Prayer will empower and direct us.

But only…The Yoke will teach us how to live

and respond “in the Spirit” to life situations on a continual basis.

 Ezekiel 37:1-6 is a lesson on a “valley of dry bones”.  What does that have to do with my spiritual walk, you ask?  Lots!  Spiritual deadness is a permeating and engulfing phenomenon in our culture, churches, homes and hearts.  It sort of swallows us up like a tsunami!  Biblical Christianity is defined by our consistent attitudes in life practice.

 We carry seeds of decay through disobedience and rebellion toward God (i.e. anger, jealousy, self-love…).  We have adopted patterns through wrong influences and teachings (friends, music, ungodly worldviews, Hollywood, social media...).  Maybe we have been a believer since we cannot remember BUT there are places where we really do NOT know our own need.  Our life has become an illusion of biblical Christianity.  There is a measure of self-confidence and pride built on our bones…

 God says, “I will make breath enter you and you will come to life”.  God works out of Death!   Death to self!  His desire is to breathe life into our dead bones, moment by moment.     No illusion here…

 An illusion is a lie; it is not real.  Disillusionment with our daily walk is a gift of God… a challenge to enter into the yoke with Him and His rest... learning from His gentle and humble heart.

 There are two yokes: 

    1) The yoke with Christ and righteous purposes

    2) The yoke with Satan and his kill, steal and destroy (life) purposes  (Jn.10:10)                  

We choose who is in the yoke with us with every choice we make!

My husband asked me if every choice I make is a spiritual one?  For the life of me, I could not think of a single one that is not!  Can you think of one that is not a deliberate choosing of one kingdom or the other? 

 By taking Christ’s yoke upon us, we yield our right to do as we please, and we learn the wishes and commands of Christ our leader.

 God is not nearly concerned with what we are going through as He is with our response to what we go through.  His chief concern is that our attitude becomes consistent with His Son.  The question is:  Who do you choose to be in the yoke with you today?   There are only two choices! 

 Choose wisely, young mothers, little ones are watching and stepping into the same yoke with you.

“ It was for freedom that Christ set us free:

therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again

to a yoke of slavery (law/sin).”   Galatians 5: 1

~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 "Terror to Trust!"

“The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

Psa. 142:11

My introduction to our new life in the village Pucuro was a “Shocker”.   My youngest daughter’s   disappearance from my arms in those first moments after arriving on the riverbank caused my entire being to experience sheer terror… my first anxiety attack!

 However…skipping that one-day would have been the loss of a life-lesson that changed my life!

 Missionary Boot Camp training had been deliberate in preparing me for this crisis.  My mind was reminded of the reason why we had come and the promise I had claimed two years prior to the moment I was living now!  “…Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm.”  The verse worked so well when we lived in the states!  Proverbs 1:33 is written by the “wisest” man that ever lived and it had always given me courage to keep on.

 Have you ever claimed a promise from God and then panicked when put to the test?

 Two men from our mission had contacted these unreached tribal people two years before.  The Kunas had asked for someone to come and bring them the medicine and help they needed to keep their babies from dying at birth.  Some of the mothers were weakened by tuberculosis.  There were multiple infections and parasites of every kind…would someone answer that call?

 Well…we answered…and they had taken my baby!

 My heart sank as I scanned the agitated crowd in the dimness of the dark night.  Certainly, no electricity here!  Pitch black, drenched bodies, dark faces, barking dogs, slushy mud path and no baby.  My heart pounding and unaware of my personal discomfort or how I must sound, I stood dripping wet in a downpour, screeching in a foreign tongue…calling into the wind for my lost child.

 Completely overwhelmed by my loss I saw someone slip out of the darkness and run in my direction.  Stretching over people she placed my tiny girl back into my waiting arms.  I now had both babies against my breast and I breathed a sigh of incomprehensible relief, whispering a prayer of gratefulness to my God who keeps His promises! 

 “He holds victory in store for the upright, He is a shield to those who walk blameless for He guards the course of the just and He protects the way of His faithful ones.” Proverbs 2:7,8

 Paul Little in “How to Give Away Your Faith”, wrote, “The statement that God is in control is either true or it’s not true.  But if it is true and we accept God’s revelation of Himself, our faith enables us to enjoy and rest in the certainty of His providence (will),” regardless of the circumstance!  I stood up and turned to face my new reality and walked through the door of my brand-new jungle life!

 It was good it was too dark to know who had inadvertently brought such distress to my spirit that night…but bless her, that same person had been used to quickly bring me to the throne of Grace for a thorough evaluation of my personal commitment to His “calling”! 

 Gratefully, as a young mother, I was given the opportunity very early to place my heritage in the hands of an all-knowing God.  He had again asked me to “count the cost”.  I stopped wanting to “skip” life-lessons and began embracing them. I claimed those powerful promises in the Word that had always been applied to others and now…were all mine!

~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 "Point of Decision!"

Taken just before leaving for our village…Christina (three years) and Kim (4 months)

 I was reminded recently of a lesson God gave me many years ago that “whoever listens to me(God speaking) will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:33  What a promise!  And I was listening and banking on it, as we loaded into in a long dug-out canoe bound for a small Indian village 8 hours upriver, buried in the deep Darien jungle.  It would take a day’s journey winding up the Tuira river and the heavens just opened up with a driving rain storm with the river rising by the hour! It was to be our introduction into our new life among the indigenous Kuna’s who lived at the headwaters of the Pucuro River near the Colombian border of Panama. 

The Tuira River

 Hang on to your hats…this was one day in my life I could have skipped! 

Ever had those days???

 Dusk was cascading over the torrential waters, enveloping our dugout into the dark silence of the unknown jungle.  Along the mangrove-lined shoreline we could hear twigs breaking and see shadows of what appeared to be dark, naked bodies racing us to the remote landing in the deep stillness.

 For eight hours we had traveled upriver unceasingly, pressing on against the rapidly rising flow of the Tuira River through lightning bolts, thunder and rain.  The river had risen 8 feet as we fought the current in our long journey up the contiguously inaccessible jungle waters.  Our goal to reach this isolated Indian village on the Colombian border in Panama was now within our reach!

 Underneath the makeshift tarp that protected us from the worst of the violent storm were two little girls.  One, almost three, was exceedingly excited and could not wait to get out of the wet boat and the other, just a few months old, was securely wrapped in my arms.  Our piragua was piled high with everything we would need for the next six months!

 The boat brusquely hit the bank and as I stood, dripping wet, hungry and tired, I came face to face with all the unknowns that had brought us to this sandy beach. Without warning, the warm little bundle in my arms was tersely yanked from me and quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night!!  I, immediately, grabbed my once excited and happy three-year-old by the hand.  She was now very confused.  Her contentment was exchanged for eyes full of fear!  I pulled her close to me and began calling for my baby…

 In that instant, the crowd pushed and shoved us up a short trail that led to our mud-floored, bark-walled house.  My insistent calls for my lost child were ignored and unanswered. 

 As I stepped over the threshold of our unfinished new home, the rats…at least I prayed they were rats!... scurried among the barrels that had been sent a month ahead of us and now stored our rice and dried beans in the very open tin-roofed room.  The sound of rain on that roof was deafening!

 My worst fear had come upon me…Job 3:25,26.  I screamed again into the crowd for my tiny daughter and again received no response.  I lifted my three-year-old into my arms and determinedly turned to walk back through the crowd down to the river’s edge!

Where had my baby gone?   Who had taken her?!

   Immediately, my panic turned to terror…

 The familiar promise in Proverbs 1:33 eluded me.  “…whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

 What was happening?  Why had God allowed this?

  I was instantly reminded that there are three Biblical Principles regarding trials:

 1.   Trials are common to all of us.  No one escapes unscathed. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to men.  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  No excuses and no victims here! The real question is not why, but “Why not, Jackie, don’t you trust me?!  I will never leave you or forsake you…listen to ME, not your circumstances!”

 2. Trials are given with divine purpose and will pass.1 Peter 1:6 “In this you may greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

 3. Trials are life-lessons NOT to be wasted!  James 1:4 “...perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

 C.S. Lewis wrote in “The Great Divorce”, “There are two kinds of people:  Those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your own way.’”

 I was standing at the point of decision! My options were limited…

What is your attitude toward the trials in life?  Which kind of person are you?

Join me next Monday for my decision…think about yours…

~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 Field!"

LET’S CELEBRATE!

Memorial Day is an annual celebration of our Patriotism.  This  is the day we set aside to unmistakably demonstrate love, appreciation, devotion and pride for one’s country and the “counting of the cost” that was paid to secure our freedom to live here.

“Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for us…

Jesus Christ and The American Soldier

One died for our eternal soul and the other for our freedom.”

Franklin Graham

Operation Heal Our Patriots

Let’s take time, today, and stop to honor the military men who have served, been wounded or have given their very life for our freedom… Let’s show them our love, devotion and pride…

“IF my people, which are called by my Name,

will humble themselves, and pray, THEN will I hear from heaven,

and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

II Chronicles 7: 14

~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 "Crisis of Conscience!"

As a “Christian” nation, we face the unbelievable turmoil and chaos that stems from hearts that are cold and indifferent toward the things of God.  The sacrifice of the permanent on the altar of the immediate is rampant. Wrong choices are everywhere. In our homes, churches, universities, communities…

 “A seared conscience is one whose warning voice has been suppressed and perverted habitually, so that eventually instead of serving as a guide, it only confirms the person in his premeditatedly evil course.”  I Timothy 4: 2 Robert Little 

 The conscience is the ten commandments written on the hearts of man and is our moral law within. Romans 2:14-15 It is the capacity that is filled by the Holy Spirit and desires control at salvation.  “Though every believer has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every believer,” A. W. Tozer “God put within each of us something that cries aloud against us, whenever we do what we know to be wrong.  It is the detective that watches the direction of our steps and decries every conscious transgression. 

Conscience is a vigilant eye before which each imagination, thought and act is held up for either censure or approval. There is no greater proof of the existence of a moral law and lawgiver in the universe than this little light of the soul.  It is God’s voice to the inner man.  Conscience is our wisest counselor and teacher, our most faithful and most patient friend.” Billy Graham

 “God commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit; and if we are not filled, it is because we are living beneath our privileges.  If you have been born of the Holy Spirit, you will not have to serve God…it will become the natural thing to do.” D.L. Moody “It is impossible for one to despair who remembers that his helper is omnipotent!” Jeremy Taylor

“A person’s conscience, like a warning sign on the highway,

tells us what we shouldn’t do…but it does not keep us from doing it.” Frank Clark

The choice is always ours!!

~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.