Simple steps to a better day

Have you ever noticed how some days are just better than other days? Some days are easy, others are hard. Some days you hope will last forever while other days you and I hope will end as quickly as possible. There are a few simple things that you and I can do to make each day we live better:

  1. Be thankful no matter the circumstance: remember daily to be grateful for the good gifts that God has given to you
  2. Go out of your way to try and put a smile on someone’s face: we know that laughter is the best medicine, but a smile goes a long way too.
  3. Practice unnecessary, unearned generosity: some people call these random acts of kindness, and they are a great way to warm your heart and multiply love in the world
  4. Do all things to the glory of God: don’t work on anything except that you make up your mind to do it in such a way that God will be pleased and that other people will praise God for what you have done
  5. Remember that you get what you pay for: we know this principle regarding money and material possessions, but there is truth also in what we spend our time on. If you want to have a great outcome for your efforts make sure to spend enough time to do it well.

I know you could add 100 other things to this list, but I would encourage you to remember that there are always things that you and I can do to make each day better. It will take intentionality and perseverance, but with God’s grace and wisdom and some good old-fashioned stick-to-it-iveness, I know today can be a good day for you!

You are not alone

Dear Pastor,

I want you to know that you are not alone. Indeed you and I preach and teach often that God is near. He is near to the brokenhearted, He does not leave us as orphans but comes to us, He does not leave us or forsake us*. You and I share these beautiful, powerful truths with people all the time, but perhaps it is time to stop and be reminded of them for our own sake.

Maybe we would do well to stop….breath in and out….and then gratefully reflect on these statements:

  • God is for me
  • God is with me
  • As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, God is in me
  • God rejoices over me with singing
  • God is pleased with me
  • God has found me of such great value that He gave His own Son to save me
  • God is faithful to every promise He has made to me

Ministry is the hardest thing I have ever done in life (tied perhaps with being a father) but I am so glad to know that God who freely gave Himself for my sins also freely gives us all that we need (Romans 8:32). Remember that He who began the good work in you is faithful and will bring it on to completion! (Philippians 1:6)

I would also like to let you know that you are not alone because you are part of the family of faith. As such I would like to invite you to send me a personal text (205-910-7050) or email (mike.annajohnson@gmail.com). In your correspondence let me know your family members’ names and I will commit to praying for them. Also, just know that once you contact me I will send you occasional emails or texts to encourage you and lift you up. In a world where isolation and loneliness are the norm, I want to avail myself to you so that we can walk together and sharpen each other.

God is with us, God is in us!

Mike J

*Deuteronomy 31:6, John 14:18, Psalm 34:18

What or who do you rely on?

Let’s face it: you and I can’t do it alone. As a matter of fact, we rely on people and certain tools all the time to help us to live and to do our jobs. I imagine your phone and computer are tools right at the top of the list. Hopefully your spouse, family, and friends make the list too. But can I ask you a question? What singular thing or person do you rely on more than anything else?

Continue reading “What or who do you rely on?”

Hope laid up for us in heaven

Dear Pastor,

I want to take a moment and share some encouraging words with you. As people living in 21st century America we know that the world is filled with all manner of difficulty. As disciples of Jesus Christ we know that helping people to fall in love with Jesus and become fully devoted followers of Him is really hard. As leaders in God’s church we know that helping a voluntary group of diverse people find unity, work together on a common purpose and discover how to be the body of Christ is seemingly impossible. And yet I want to share a couple of things with you.

1. God has said that He is the One who started the church, owns the church, is head of the church and will build the church. He is doing it! We can bank on it and we can look around for His handiwork and give Him praise.

2. We know that with God nothing is impossible. Laying down our lives for others can be done with and by His Spirit within. Remembering the forgotten, giving grace to all and sharing love with people different than us is possible because Christ is within us. Remember that not only is your Christian life possible by the Spirit but so is the role He has called you to as a shepherd of His people.

3. God has hope for you and for me. It says so in the Bible. In Colossians 1:5 the apostle Paul lets us know that God has prepared, set aside and stored up hope for us in heavenly places. All we have to do is come to God, believe that He is willing and ready to give us of His hope and then ask Him for it. He will show us what we must do and He will dispense hope into our hearts.

Please remember these three things this week. God truly is building His church, nothing is impossible with God and God has hope set aside just for you and me. Please remember this week as God-called and God-ordained shepherds of His people, what you and I do is not in vain and is not impossible. Let us press on in Jesus’ name and in the hope (certainty!) that He has given us. Let us love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. This truly is kingdom truth and kingdom living!

Christ is with us, Christ is in us!

Mike J

God is on the move

Dear Pastor,

Thank you for availing yourself to God that His life might be known in you and through you. Thank you for availing yourself to God that He might use you to make known His gospel and build up His church. Let us remember that as we keep our eyes on Jesus, He is able to save us completely, set our feet on a solid rock and use us in mighty ways. Let us not allow our eyes or thoughts or feelings to wander to the base things of this world or to the worries and fears of this world. You and I are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and as such, He is working on us and in us!

Continue reading “God is on the move”

In the valley

“When I climb down the mountain, And get back to my life, I won’t settle for ordinary things” -Third Day

These lyrics are great words about a resolve or commitment that Moses or others might make who have met God on the mountain. It is a beautiful thing to see God in all His glory. Moses on the mountain, the shepherds at the stable, the disciples on the mount of transfiguration: all of these were powerful and amazing times.

But there came a time where all of those mountain-top experiences came to an end and the people who were there had to go back to the valley and keep living life.

Continue reading “In the valley”

Does your Christianity matter?

You and I will do 100 different things this week. Some of those things may have a significant impact on us personally as well as on our sphere of influence and our legacy. Other things that we do may not matter quite so much. What color toothbrush we pick out or what condiment we put on our hamburger matters little in the eternal picture. What we believe about God and how we treat fellow human beings: that has a massive influence on eternity.

A question to seriously consider is “does my Christianity matter?” Does what I believe about God actually impact the people around me? Does what I do on Sundays really have any bearing on how my coworkers perceive me?

The answer to this question may not be as automatic as you might think.

Obviously, what we believe is enormously important because it often shapes our behavior; however not everything that we claim to believe do we live our lives according to. We may claim that God is love and therefore we should also be loving and yet perhaps we act in an unloving way towards someone. Then we justify that behavior because of the “stress we are under” or “how rude they were” or some other equally insufficient excuse. Sometimes we allow what we claim we believe to be overruled by something more pressing (usually our comfort or pleasure or what is easiest).

So I want to ask again: “Does your Christianity matter”? In other words, do you live your life such that what you claim to believe about Christ and eternal truths is daily evident in your life? Are you following through on your commitment to the Lord to live by faith and not by sight?

If you want your Christianity to matter, it must inform everything you do, whether on Sunday or any other day of the week and regardless of circumstances, or pressure, or other people, or any feelings you may have. Dear Christian, if we claim Christ as Lord let us walk as Jesus walked. Then our Christianity will not only matter but it will be blessed and used of the Lord for His glory and for the redemption of the world.

The temptation to quit

So here is the harsh reality and the raw truth: pastors are tempted to quit, Christians are tempted to quit.

The temptation is to quit trying, to quit persevering, to quit putting in so much effort when the outcome seems so pitiful.

As ministers of the gospel, we are called to share God’s message with people everywhere. His message is good news and full of hope and promise and yet it also contains a very real, very powerful and very uncomfortable warning regarding sin and self-sufficiency. When you and I are preaching and teaching the gospel we are speaking out against evil, worldliness, sin, and selfishness. And these four will not sit idly by while we preach against them but instead will rear their ugly heads so as to continue holding people captive. As a result, it can seem like our ministry of sharing the gospel is like watching grass grow or even worse as we work against the enemies of God. And so the temptation is to quit and yet the call of God is to persevere. God’s call to persevere is not just to keep trudging but rather to walk boldly in and by faith into the future that God is revealing. We are called to stand firm in His promises and persevere in His faithfulness, love, and holiness. So, please, today, reject the temptation to quit. Go to God in prayer, seek His Word for encouraging truths and keep pressing on in Jesus’ name. Let us press on so that the lost will be found, the saved will be sanctified, the church of Jesus Christ equipped and that God would be glorified!

If you need to talk to another pastor and pray together for God to grant you His perseverance, please contact me via email or phone. 

 

God does no wrong by causing or allowing things to happen to our temporal bodies and realities

Why anything God causes or allows to happen to our temporal reality is not wrong or evil but rather part of His master plan to make His people holy.

    1. There is nothing in this life (with the exception of our souls) that will live eternally
    2. Any suffering that comes to our bodies will come to a complete cessation someday when our bodies cease to be alive/exist in this realm
    3. God will cause or allow things to happen to our temporal reality in order to change our soul and prepare us for our eternal reality
    4. If God causes/allows cancer or illness or heart attack or any other physical ailment in order to get our attention and cause us to look to Him and let Him save and sanctify, He has done no wrong but rather the greatest good we could ever imagine (the same can be said for stillborn babies, or people born with infirmities or diseases)
    5. If God causes/allows situations that result in us losing a loved one, being bankrupt, diseased/injured or homeless, these are all temporary/temporal realities and we know that He does everything for His glory and for our redemption/holiness; as such He has done no wrong but the greatest thing ever
    6. Even when we suffer for doing evil we must understand that our suffering comes from
      1. The natural consequences of going against God’s spiritual standards
      2. The natural consequences of going against God’s created rule
      3. God’s holy judgment, plan of redemption & deliverance and  the recompense He brings for both good and evil
      4. In any case, God is justified and still good to cause us to have suffering for our own sinful things in order that He will rescue us from the wrath to come and from the darkness of sin, evil and despair
    7. The only way that God would be doing “evil” in His causing or allowing things is if He
      1. Damned a soul to hell when they had done no evil and actually had served Him all their days
      2. Did some harm to their eternal soul (how would this be possible since His perfect, loving, good and holy?)
      3. Intentionally did things to torment people (with malicious forethought) for His own pleasure of reveling in their misery and pain (and this is what the devil does, not God and any accusing God of this are blaspheming God)
    8. As such God does no evil by causing or allowing things to happen to our temporal bodies/realities
      1. Because we know His motive is holy love
      2. Because we know His character is righteous and good
      3. Because we know His end goal is His glory and our holiness
    9. It is important to state that God never causes a person to do evil or sinfully cause harm or take advantage of another person. The heart-breaking reality is that God has given us free-will and as such allows us to choose whether we will obey Him and do no harm to another, or selfishly and sinfully choose to do things that harm others. When this happens, we should never said “God caused this” or presume that God is in some way complicit regarding sinful behaviors. Instead we must be reminded that God only temporarily allows people to cause others harm and one day He will step in and finally put a stop to all oppression, abuse, manipulation, slavery, sexual aggression/abuse etc.

      So when we say that God does no wrong by causing or allowing suffering in our lives, it applies in matters of abuse too. God did not cause the abuse and He only “allowed it” insomuch as He gives us free will and temporarily allows us to sin against others, but when such travesties and tragedies do occur, we know that God is right there with the victim. We must even acknowledge that God was present not only to comfort and help the victim in the aftermath, but was even present before the sinful deed occurred and was begging and pleading with the aggressor/perpetrator to cease and desist from their wicked ways. God has allowed us all to choose righteousness or wickedness, but may we never dare to accuse God of wrong-doing or complicity in our sinful deeds simply because He gave us the gift of free will. May we always and ever remember that everything God does is always holy love and that even in moment when we presume Him to be absent or silent, He is in fact working and will always right every wrong before it is all said and done.