Re: Remember

Posted on September 6, 2019 by Jill English Johnston

The last couple of years have been bittersweet as I watched my parent’s health decline and sat vigil with my sister as they passed from this world to the one to come. First my mom, in May of 2017, then my dad in January 2019.
We laid their remains to rest in July, knowing, believing in the resurrection that will occur. Trusting they have already gone ahead of us and are experiencing the hope of glory in Christ Jesus.

Since I live in Texas, and not Pennsylvania where they are buried, I decided to make a little memorial garden for my parents under some oak trees in our front yard. It’s still a work in progress as I tend new plants and continue to add items. I planted three Texas Mountain Laurel because I love their scent. And I have to figure out how to keep the deer from eating the Asiatic Jasmine. I added a stone bench and placed an angel plaque of my mom’s on a tree stump (which fit perfectly). I hung an owl wind chime and set up a couple of metal owls I repainted, both from their home. I also included a painted stone of a cardinal have a couple of bird houses with nests in them. I should also add the bird feeder. My parents loved feeding and watching the birds. Except blue jays. My mom yelled at them, shooed them away and called them pigs. The things we remember.That God is God and there is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:39)

What is it about remembering that’s important to us? Why do things have importance to us because they once belonged to or were given to us by someone we loved? Why do places echo with memories made there with those we loved?

Why do our brains have the capacity to store memories? Why are some memories so strong, with the ability to recreate emotions. And why are some memories forgotten?

What things should we try to remember?

A search on remember in Scripture (NLT) came up with 264 results.
We are instructed to remember specific things.

  • Remember God is God and there is no other (from Deuteronomy 4:39)
  • Remember the things the Lord has done in the past (from Isaiah 46:9)
  • Remember the wonders and miracles he has performed  (from Psalm 105:5)
  • Remember God has identified us as his own (from Ephesians 4:30)
  • Remember, the Lord forgave us, so we must forgive others (Colossians 3:13)
  • Remember that the Lord will give us an inheritance as our reward, and that the One we serve is Christ (Colossians 3:24)
  • Remember what Jesus told us: He is going away, but will come back to us again (from John 14:28)

These are just a few of the things we’re called to remember. And there’s many more on how the Lord remembers us. Spend some time remembering this week. Remember the things God calls us to remember, things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy, because then God’s peace will be with us (from Philippians 4:8-9).

 

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Power Through Prayer by E M Bounds

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Jill English Johnston

It amazes me to think, and I had to constantly remind myself as I read, that this book was written at the end of the 19th century, over 100 years ago.
Even then, EM Bounds, in Power Through Prayer, cried out for men to pray, chastised men for disregarding prayer, criticized men for neglecting the vital ingredient in serving God.

For all our technology, we are not any different than those who have gone before us.  There have always been things that have kept us from and distracted us from the greater work of prayer.  I think that the problem we have with prayer is a condition of our falleness rather than the state of the world around us.

How often have I struggled, faltered, rushed, forgone time alone with my Father.  Here I am… open the door, He says.  But off I rush, wondering why I am failing, wondering why there is lack of power in my life.  Anything done without prayer – a real seeking the heart of God, prayer – is done in my own strength and with my own ideas, not His strength, not His ideas.

If we want to serve, if we want to impact the world for His Kingdom, we need His anointing.  God’s anointing is His pleasure to put us to work in His plan with His power because we have diligently and persistently sought His heart.  The apostles appointed deacons to serve so they could devote themselves to prayer.  But did the deacons also find prayer important?  Do some positions require more praying?  Or are we all called to pray and our service, our ministry, our work is the overflow of that time spent with the Father?  EM Bounds aims his book at preachers.  I am not a preacher, but I can replace the words preacher and preaching throughout the book with other words: teacher, teaching; leader, leading; disciple maker, discipling…

The power of prayer must be at the heart of every role if it is to have eternal impact and not just earthly good.  To spend time with the Father is to learn His heart and to know it is good; He is good.

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Re: Restart

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Jill English Johnston

We all need a restart now and then.

We began something that we wanted to keep doing. A healthy diet. An exercise plan. Further education. A garden. A reading plan. Writing a book.

Why is it more difficult to stick to the good things? I never hear anyone say, “I think I’m going to eat donuts for breakfast every day. Sure hope it’s not too hard.” Or, “I’m going to watch mindless media every night from now on. Wonder if I can keep it up.” Or, “That’s it, no more getting up early for me. I’m sleeping in. It may be hard, but I’m going to do it.”
Crazy, right?

Because it’s the good things, things that take effort and require some sacrifice, that we sometimes have trouble sustaining.

This year I kicked off a new theme for my blogs. Re. I wrote nine devotions on the series and made it through the end of March. And I stopped. I still like the concept. I still have ideas for the different words beginning with Re, I still think the words are some great words. But somehow I just didn’t keep it up. And now I need a Restart.

In my restart I decided to revamp (another Re word) and update my blog site. In doing so, I discovered another series I left to die. On books. Books I read, books that impacted me, books I wanted to share. I started the reviews as blog posts, only to somehow make them into page updates. It needed a restart, too. Which will be easy at first, because I’ve already written eleven of them and can post them as new blogs. Is that cheating? Maybe, but it will buy me a little time to look back over the books I’ve read this year (thank goodness for GoodReads) and write some new reviews.

Back to Re. I see God in many of the Re words (which is what inspired me in the first place) and I see him in restart, also. My faith tradition tells a long story of God continually restarting relationships with his people when the relationship goes awry. Floods, freedom from slavery, broken families, immigrant love stories, new kings, returns from exile, all tell of new beginnings, new opportunities, new starts.

Need a restart on mercy? God can.
“Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” (Lamentations 3:23)
In other words, his mercies for us restart every day.

Need a restart on your heart? God can.
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
In other words, he restarts our hearts.

Feel like you need a restart on your life? God can.
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 )
In other words, he restarts your life in Christ.

I love that. We all need a restart now and then.
So what is it that you began that dwindled, declined, dropped off, that you’d like to begin again? That you want to restart?

Uncertain? Hesitant? Afraid?
Ask God. He’ll show you what is good and what he desires of you. His Spirit will encourage you, equip you and enable you to restart. So why not today?

 

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Re: Remain

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Jill English Johnston

Remain.

I’ve done my fair share of planting plants, killing plants, and actually growing plants.

One thing I noticed, that if a part of a plant (a bough, a branch, a stem) becomes separated from the main plant, the separated part will die. Obviously, without the connection to the main plant and its roots, it no longer receives life giving water or nourishment. It can’t survive. It dies.

In the gospel of John, chapter 15, Jesus uses the image of a vine to describe our vital relationship with him. He says he is the vine. And we are the branches. And in order to even survive, we must remain a part of him, because he is the (life-giving) living water and the bread (nutrients) of life. If we want to bear fruit (that is, have evidence of his love, joy and peace spilling out of us and into the lives of those around us) we must remain a part of him.

But what does that mean? Remain in him (Jesus) and he remain in us?

John tells us in 1 John 2:24-27 to remain faithful to what we have been taught from the beginning. If we do, we will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And he goes on to tell us that the Spirit teaches us everything we need to know, that what he teaches is true, not a lie. So just as the Spirit has has taught us, we must remain in fellowship with Christ.

Fellowship – associate with, spend time with, be friendly with, be a companion to another.
It brings to mind one of my mom’s favorite songs.

“I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear
Falling on my ear
The song of God discloses
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am his own
And the joy we share
As we tarry there
None other has ever known”

(C. Austin Miles (1913))

Walking, talking, listening, enjoying time with Jesus, the one who calls us to continue with him.

The writer Luke records for us Paul’s speech in Athens, where he tells the people about the one true God. He quotes one of their own philosophers when he tells them that in this God, in the One who made the world and everything in it, including us, that ‘in him we live and move and have our being.’ He is the One who gives us life and breath.

And when we are separated from God, not connected to the true vine of Jesus, we lose the very thing that gives us abundant life.

It’s easy to see when a part of a plant has become detached. It quickly shows evidence of wilting, drying up and dying.

How might we be wilting, drying up and dying in our day to day life?

We can do a heart check. Are we easily angered? Discouraged? Do we find ourselves talking negatively about situations, or about other people? Have we become selfish, only concerned about what we want and when we want it? Do we lack peace? Joy?

Let’s come to the garden, spend some time with the God who loves us, remain in Jesus, the Son who gives us life, take in a deep breath of the Holy Spirit. Let him fill us with the blessings and riches he has for us. Walk with him. Talk with him. Listen with him.

Remain with him.

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Re: Refocus

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Jill English Johnston

Refocus. I had to do that for this blog. I had jotted down verses. Scribbled some thoughts. Explored different ideas.
But this blog just wasn’t coming together.
Then I realized.

I needed to refocus. I was using a wide-angle lens to try to capture something that needed a focal point. I was sweeping across too many subjects, when I needed to zoom in and concentrate on one subject. My lens was fuzzy, out of focus, blurry.

I paused and asked myself.
What is at the heart of the image I want to capture?
Where do I need to refocus my attention?

The answer became clear.
Especially during the Lenten season; a time of preparing  (refocusing) our hearts.
The answer.
Jesus.

He needs to be at the heart of my focus.
My focus needs to be on his heart.

When asked which commandment was the greatest (translate: which ones should we focus on?), Jesus named two.

  1. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
  2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Since Jesus is the very image of God, and if we see Jesus, we see God, if we love Jesus, we love God, then putting Jesus at the center of my lens and adjusting my heart and mind to see him clearly, I am focusing on the first important thing.

I need to do the first well, in order to do the second well. When I’m using my heart, soul, mind and strength to love Jesus, I’m going to get a clearer picture of his heart and how he loved. If I know how he loved, then I know how he wants me to love.

My refocus, my attention, will be to zoom in on Jesus, to know his heart, and see how he loves. Then, as my eyes sweep across the landscape, I can take in the wide-angle view of those Jesus loves and see them clearly in order to love them, too.

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