Tag Archives: mercy

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

REPOST from Jeannette Johnian’s Blog “Continue to Climb”: IN THE MIDST OF “DELUSIONAL” MEN

IN THE MIDST OF “DELUSIONAL” MEN

Impotence in men is also one of the other risk factors that you should be worrying about,’ persisted the marital sage, ‘it’s the other stuff you could have inherited.’ online cialis no prescription raindogscine.com And he listed them: high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, bowel cancer, cataracts… It ensures continuous supply of energy to reproductive organs and ensures optimal functioning. fast generic cialis An argument becomes extremely order cheap viagra bad when a partner brings history and carries previous issues as well. At the present time, many alternatives are accessible to those who put order sildenafil online up with this medical situation.

Years ago there was a young man in our fellowship that decided he was going to venture out and start his own business. Throughout his being a part of our community my husband had encouraged and supported this man in his endeavors. In spite of the fact that others considered him socially awkward my husband saw a man in need of affirmation and fellowship. One day this man came to our home offering his professional services and after some consideration we had to decline. The moment my husband let him know we were not interested his demeanor changed. Obviously offended he decided he was going to tell my husband what he really thought of our community and his pastor. Sitting in our living room he looked straight at my husband and said, “When are you going to realize you are delusional?”  He went on to question the call of God, in my husbands life, and “exhorted” him to give up.

Why did this man think my husband was delusional? Was it because our community was not in the hundreds or thousands? Could it be my husband did not fit a certain mold for today’s pastor or leader? Was it that my husband never managed a successful business or served as an executive in a fortune 500 company? It was obvious his words, spoken from hurt and rejection, were meant to humiliate.

Since the month of October is pastor appreciation month I thought I would give a big shout out to all the men and women who have been told they are “delusional” for following the call of God.

Just this past week I was in Kalamazoo attending a conference with pastors from around the country. During one of the breakout sessions I heard the stories of men and women who have given their lives to serve God and others. As these servant-leaders shared their stories, with authenticity and transparency, tears starting streaming down my face. But, why was I crying? In each story there was a common denominator that spoke to a deep place within my spirit. What touched me were the hearts of shepherds who are willing to give anything and everything to answer the call of God.

Story after story I heard the familiar burden of true shepherds. These are the unknown soldiers, serving in the trenches, who cannot abandon the call to serve. Many of these men ,according to western church thinking, fall into the category of delusional, unsuccessful, ill-equipped and failures. But I would suggest the following:

  • These are the men who have prayed and pleaded, before God’s throne, for our families. Would any person selflessly do this?
  • These are the men who study God’s Word so, above all else, our souls prosper. Is that not worth more than gold?
  • These are the men, with the eyes of a shepherd, who see us wandering before we realize we have strayed. Are not their words of counsel and wisdom worth paying attention too?
  • These are the men who in spite of adversity, disappointment and hardship endure to the end. Shouldn’t we encourage and support them along the way?
  • These are the men who give of their own limited funds to help you pay your bills when your in need. Did you know that?
  • These are the men that rejoice with you when your child is born, you get a job promotion and your children marry. Ask yourself, when was the last time you rejoiced for your pastor?
  • These are the men who will admit they are far from perfect and, at times, will make imperfect decisions. Are they not worthy of our mercy and patience?
  • These are the men that, when the phone rings at 5:30 am, are willing to get out of bed and meet with you as well as minister to your need.Would we do the same?
  • These are the men that, when they are on vacation, will always answer your distressing phone call and never let it go to voice mail. Are we on call 24-7?
  • These are the men that sacrifice their lives, and family needs, for a salary that rarely covers their living expenses. Would we do the same?

After I complied my short, but by no means exhaustive, list I would like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for having the same courage as Noah, to build an ark without one convert or sign of rain. To have the faithfulness of Abraham, the humility of David, the boldness of Elijah, the tears of Jeremiah, the courage of Daniel, the vision of Nehemiah and Ezra, the thankfulness of the Apostles, the strength of Paul and the persistence of John.

Thessalonians 5: 12 – 13 says: “And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders, who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love.

Grace and Peace

Jeannette 

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

DESTINATION: HIS!

keep-calm-you-belong-to-jesusDESTINATION: HIS!

Have you ever thought about who holds the deed to your life? Is it you? Is it fate? Is it God? Maybe another way of asking the question is to answer, who do you belong to? For the person who is still asking such questions you have probably experimented with several possible solutions only to discover these conclusions are unsatisfactory. If you are a Christian you probably answered something like, “Well I belong to God…but I am my own person.” I have personally taken a lot of time considering my destination and deed and come to the conclusion the true disciple of Jesus is one, whom the Holy Spirit has revealed, and therefore, you are not your own. Honestly to say and live in such a reality, ‘I am not my own,’ is to have reached a great point in Kingdom perspective. The true nature of a person, in love with the King, is one of deliberate sacrifice of “self” to “another” in sovereign preference, and that “other” is Jesus!

Without the Holy Spirit the very life and purpose of Jesus is obscure and easily dismissed as a wisdom teacher among other guru’s or moral activist among other social pioneers. But when the Holy Spirit illuminates your understanding, with Kingdom perspective, then you see Jesus in a new understanding and revealed light. The life, revived by the Holy Spirit, takes the person of Jesus and removes him from “just another good teacher” to a real and tangible solution to all of your concerns, cares, worries, fears, sins, hopes and joys. Think carefully on how Jesus sent His disciples…Jesus never sent any of the disciples out on argument of, “Once you follow me life is without adversity.” It was not until after the Resurrection, when the disciples had perceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was the Son of God. Jesus then sent His disciples out as Apostles telling them to ‘GO!’ and preach the message of the Kingdom of God.

In the 1970’s movie Jesus of Nazareth there is a classic scene of the disciples talking about miracles and what people are saying about who Jesus was. It was in this moment Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” the look on the disciples faces was shock, stun and horror. Finally Peter looked at Jesus as said, “You are the Christ.” What was Jesus’ response? (Loose paraphrase) Flesh and blood didn’t tell you this…it was revealed by the Spirit. The message of the Kingdom has often been defined to be many things but in brief the message of the Kingdom is the message of the Gospel. Go! Preach the good news of repentance from sin, Jesus is Lord and forgiveness and freedom from the slavery to the old man (the sinful nature).  

For buy cialis levitra example one needs to get a physiotherapy clinic like PhysiCo. Warning! : Your doctor may want you to have http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/10/18/virginia-to-designate-us-52-veterans-memorial-highway/ buy cheap cialis regular blood tests to monitor your liver function while you are taking any nitrate based item like nitroglycerine, admission of medicine ought not to be finished. Moving a step ahead of emancipating you from the stigma of being a one-minute wonder on bed, check this site out levitra online will help you to relish enhanced ejaculation time during sexual intercourse. There is a growing demand for generic drugs all over viagra vs cialis the world due to the prohibitive costs of most branded or originator medicines. “If any man come to Me and hate not …,he cannot be My disciple,” To be His means you are not to be your own. For Jesus to claim title and deed over you life you need to hate what He hates and loves what He loves. “Any one of the relationships Our Lord mentions may be a competitive relationship. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself; then says Jesus, you cannot be My disciple. This does not mean I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be ‘His.’” (Chambers)

Our Lord makes a disciple His own possession and when He does so He becomes responsible for him. “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” The mystery or sacred secret of the believer is—I am His, and He is carrying out His enterprises through me.

So be entirely His! “Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me.” (John 17:6)

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

A CONFESSION OF FAILURE

Failure-Is-Not-Final1A CONFESSION OF FAILURE

Last week I was waiting my turn at the deli-counter when I decided to pass some of the time by engaging the person behind me in a brief conversation. As we both waited for our turn our conversation quickly moved from topic to topic and eventually rested on what each of us does for a vocation. At first I was quick to tell the man what I do, vocationally, but as our conversation went on I found myself feeling as if I had to exaggerate who and what I do. By exaggerating I mean I began to walk the fine line of lying and “enhancing” the truth. Thankfully, before I dug too deep of a hole for myself our turns came up and we placed our orders and said good-bye. The walk from the deli-counter to the car seemed like the green mile and all the way the Holy Spirit convicted me by asking, Why did you do that? Why were you embarrassed? Were you ashamed?” Honestly, I had to answer the Holy Spirit with “all of the above” and while I had entered similar situations with the boldness of a lion I sheepishly shrank, like a mouse, in the shadow of man’s approval. Sitting in my car, in the grocery parking lot, I appealed to Jesus with a confession of failure.

Every time you venture out, in life, you will find something in your commonsense circumstances that flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith and faith is not common sense. When I was speaking with this other man my commonsense was screaming for me to obfuscate the facts, dodge the question and embellish the truth because the reality was embarrassing, lack-luster and small in relation to what this man was doing. This encounter, at the local deli, became another amazing learning lesson of grace and mercy that reminded me; I can trust Jesus where my common sense cannot see Him?

How ‘bout you? Can you venture heroically on Jesus’ truths when the facts of your life and or ministry shout to you, Use your commonsense and tell a lie? I thought back to last week’s deli encounter and asked myself, Why did I feel shame? In part the answer came back to a sobering reality that revealed I lacked the faith to believe that God does not need my success to validate Him. Great or small the Father will not let me run dry, without outlook or hope. In that moment of struggle between commonsense and faith I was meant to go through the test trusting Him and not sinking back into something lower such as self. Even though I failed that test I am thankful for the Father’s love, for me, that allows my faith to be tried and tested.
During the Nutritionary Strategy, mds look at the robertrobb.com on line cialis Acai Checklist. Taking a high fat or high calorie diet and neglecting nutrition can cause ED. robertrobb.com cialis without prescription All of these medications are used to treat Erectile dysfunction via injection (the most common drug used for this purpose. 6. levitra 20 mg http://robertrobb.com/did-prop-123-losers-really-win/ Most of the men, face buy levitra robertrobb.com the problem of night discharge at sometime or the other in their lifetime.
If I had not experienced the encounter at the deli, that evening, then I would not have been aware of my personal conflict between faith and self. What is your faith up against today? Your test will either prove that your faith is right or it will reveal you are still trusting yourself. “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” The point of today’s blog is for you and me is to place our total confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. As long as we are on this earth we will continually face the testing of our faith. May God keep us in fighting trim shape and always trusting in Him!

“Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

“GIVE THE PEACE OF JESUS A CHANCE”

nojesusnopeace“GIVE THE PEACE OF JESUS A CHANCE”

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” (John 14:27)

Today’s society, without the revelation of the Holy Spirit, views the very concept of peace with its own particular brand of logic and wisdom based on spiritual ignorance. However when we are awakened by the Holy Spirit, to the reality of our decaying world, then we become responsible to speak the truth of Jesus’ rescue plan and the only true and lasting peace for all creation: the peace of Jesus.

The facts of life, in every generation and throughout human history, remain true: Inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus! It is even on this point far to many Christian’s confuse His peace with the peace of the old way of thinking and they attempt to mingle the logic of the world with the wisdom of the Kingdom. When Jesus speaks of peace, He brings it on His terms and by His righteousness. Jesus’ words have been and remain Spirit and life not condemnation and death. What message of peace have you tired to communicate with others? The peace of Rome? (this world’s system) or the peace of the Kingdom of Heaven? For that matter let me ask an even stronger question, Have you ever received the peace Jesus speaks of? Your immediate answer, like mine, should be YES! But honestly, when we stop and think about the question we must also reflect on our own words, actions, beliefs and personal walk with Him. Jesus’ words, “My peace I give unto you”— is a peace which comes from looking into His face and realizing His holiness as well as His mercy and grace.

They can help prescribe medications that can help with spasms or looseness of the sphincter of Oddi-sphincter of Oddi dysfunction; irritation of bile and viagra prescription for woman pancreatic juice. Also never increase the dosage from your own mechanisms through its adjustment. viagra prescription Holding the aid receiver side down, gently pick away any wax or debris from the vents and purchase cialis from india receiver openings. In some buy generic viagra recent researches it has been proven to increase sexual drive and prowess in several clinical studies. Today, do you find yourself painfully disturbed and lacking peace? “Are you distracted by the waves and billows of God’s providential permission, and having, as it were, turned over the boulders of your belief, are you still finding no well of peace or joy or comfort; is all barren? Then look up and receive the undisturbedness of the Lord Jesus.” (Chambers)

If the peace of the Holy Trinity has eluded your life then you are living out of sync with the Father. The peace of Jesus has never meant absence of trial, tribulation or adversity. But the peace of the Father does mean you must never lean on your own understanding or rationalize life’s events by your own logic. To search out the peace of Jesus, and be lead by His Spirit, means for you to shift the focus away from yourself and set your eyes upon Jesus.

Look to Jesus now in the immediate matter disturbing you and press in to receive from Him His peace! When you surrender He will be a gracious blessing of peace in and through you. Don’t try to worry out the circumstances and risk obliterating His peace in your life and the life of others. Truthfully, we get disturbed because we have not been considering Him. Lay all the fear and concern before Him and in the face of difficulty, sadness and sorrow, hear Him say—“Let not your heart be troubled.”Because Jesus has brought you His peace.

Blessings – JOSHUA