Jackie's Journey "Who's Directing Your Steps?"

As moms, we not only are responsible for where we are headed, but we have little prince and princesses watching and following the path that we set!  They are stepping into the print we leave behind.  No pressure!!  Wise Jeremiah (the “Weeping Prophet”) in Jer. 10:23 makes this confession to God.   “I know, Oh Lord, that a man’s life is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”  If it is not our own…whose is it?    What is wrong with you or I directing our own steps?   Who can find his/her own talent or purpose in life without God?

 “Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from gentleness and wisdom.  But IF you harbor jealous and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast about it or deny the truth.  Such wisdom does not come down from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.  For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

 BUT the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace loving, considerate, reasonable, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere, without hypocrisy.  Peacemakers, who sow in peace, raise a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:13-18

 What is your life currently producing?

     How many wisdoms are there?   What are the two sources of wisdom according to this verse?

Selfishness and pride are the most common evidences of wisdom from below… what follows a life of selfish ambition?

   What is the difference between a peacemaker and a peace keeper (doesn’t “rock the boat”?

Godly desires are always pointed toward others… those who need help.

 Isaiah asks, “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of His servant?  Let him who walks in the dark and has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God”! Isaiah 50 10

1.     What is in the dark or darkness in this verse? (Do you know the future?)

2.     What does it mean to fear the Lord? (Do you hate and fear the consequence of sin?)

3.     Why is obedience required?  (God designed us to need a coach to guide us through life.)

 “But now all of you who light (your own) fire and provide yourselves with flaming torches…go, walk in the light of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand.  You will lie down in torment”! Isaiah 50: 11

  What are our choices? (Do you seek His direction?)

     Is it natural to move towards God or away from Him?

    Are we prone towards submission or rebellion?

 Who’s currently directing your steps?

~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 "Stumbling Block!"

Stepping Stones

 We live in a world where we are bombarded with “acceptable sins”.  Almost anything is considered a “gray area” and totally appropriate in most Christian circles.  The philosophy that we address amoral things as normal is pervasive in our current culture.  Biblical truth is in direct contrast to this false viewpoint.

 As moms, we take great pain to ensure our little ones understand right from wrong. It is not a relative thing.  It is a God thing. He set the standard and they are unchangeable and inflexible.  There is no altering what He has established.  If we fail in our attempt to teach the difference to those following us (whether our children or people we are mentoring), we are called “stumbling blocks” and are guaranteed failure. 

 Where are the “gray areas in life?  Any area that we consider “gray” will be revealed as good or evil when we stand before the judgement seat of Christ. II Cor. 5: 10   There are choices in life that are not clearly defined in Scripture as right or wrong and are left to our own discernment.   We know that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. I John 1: 5  Gray is a mixture of darkness and light and therefore does not qualify as part of God’s realm.  In fact, God condemns any darkness and exposes the reasons we are attracted to it and our need to reject it!  

 Scripture presupposes the fact that there are difficult decisions in life.  We are to “abstain from all appearance of evil”. I Thess. 5: 21-22  It is evil when my liberty becomes your stumbling block.  Our choices are to be based on what is right and what is wrong. The only way to discern good and evil is to be very familiar with God’s standard through His Word, understanding confirmation through prayer and getting counsel from wise and godly people.  If we “drop the ball” and negate our given provision, we become stumbling blocks and can be certain of wrong discernment and decisions. 

 Often, those who insist on “gray areas” are offended, defensive, argumentative, contentious, competitive and accusatory to those who would question a right or wrong activity.  It is a serious matter to realize that disregard for harmony between believers hinders the world from believing in Christ. There is, currently, division in churches and families over the last election and the controversial vaccine. Social drinking, legalized drugs, grounds for divorce, use of pornography, music, childhood behavior, life goals, family life patterns, defining moral purity in our current culture, …..are some of the battlegrounds of disagreement.

 Paul spoke of certain liberties that hindered another and would violate the law of love and therefore would not be good.  He says, “for you have been called into liberty; only don’t use liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but serve one another.”Gal. 5: 13 Our focus should be on how this activity will affect others, not what is good for us!  Light cannot have fellowship with any amount of darkness.

 “Let those who hope in You, not be disgraced because of me …

or those who are seeking You, not be put to shame because of me.

 (King David Psalm 69: 6).”

 Stumbling blocks will come, but don’t let it be us!

 Make us “stepping stones”…

~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 "Identity Crisis!"

Most of us spend a lifetime finding ourselves.  The world is filled with all kinds of self-help books, tapes, podcasts, sermons, therapies, etc.… that make an attempt to introduce us…to us!  Our little ones watch us with discerning eyes, wondering when we will ever grow up!

Years are spent coming to understand “self-acceptance” and “self-pity” before we realize it is God’s design for us to find a total dependence on Him, accepting our flaws as marks of ownership!  The imperfections allow us to understand His holy presence and purpose in our lives.  This awareness keeps us at peace with Him and initiates contentment in everything. It produces a gratefulness for our inabilities, limitations and failures and affects rejoicing in our weaknesses.

“Milton was blind, who looked on Paradise!

Beethoven, deaf, who heard vast harmonies!

Byron, the lame, who climbed toward Alpine skies!

Who pleads a handicap, remembering these?

Violet A. Storey

“Self-esteem” and a need for worth apart from God is an empty exercise that will leave us stranded in life.  “The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem.” Charles Spurgeon   Our “self-rejection” is expressed through conforming to current trends...daily self-criticism; self-evaluation; insistence on a particular peer look; over attention to diet; over-done hair and make-up are just a few of the multitude of other expressions.

These self- life pursuits originate in our “pride or self-righteousness” which is spending our time trying to be someone or something…that we are not!  Our “inferiority” is nothing more than a lack of understanding in how we are meant to fit into the scheme of life with purpose. “Those that know God will be humble, and those that know themselves cannot be proud.” John Flavel 

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people;

 and, of course, as long as you are looking down, 

you can’t see something that’s above you”

C. S. Lewis

We spend way too much time in self-consumption (our thoughts), self-consideration (our wants) and comparing those things which are “unchangeables”. Our parents, time in history, our race, our heritage, our gender, our birth order, our brothers and sisters, our physical features, our mental capacity and limitations, aging and death are all God-ordained and are unchangeable. 

It is time to accept what is God’s choice for us, 

to refocus on those in need, not ourselves, and move on…

Most of us are more than ready!

~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 "Empowered Women!"

Today is International Women’s Day.  Women’s empowerment is a coined phrase that pops up and is used to describe our potential of influence.  Have you thought about your power of influence, lately? It’s a prevailing and formidable factor when realizing the promise of its reach!

 Because we are mom’s, we have the biggest responsibility and privilege of schooling and equipping our children in how to maneuver through life and one day be equipped with the character to be able to teach their own children.  Biblical wisdom will bring the fear of the Lord and the beginning of knowledge that will guarantee you and your child protection and success in life.  Proverbs is a textbook for truth regarding a person’s relationship to God, Oneself and Other’s.  It supersedes personality type and is designed to teach us to contemplate the fear of God and what it is to live by His wisdom.

 Each year I read the Bible through.  I read a Proverb of the day…there are 31 Proverbs…so in a month I have completed reading the book of instruction in Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment, Discretion, Understanding, Righteousness, Justice, and Equity.  The purpose would be that understanding comes from increased learning which allows me to acquire Biblical wise counsel in knowing how to live as a godly mother with the power of positive influence. Proverbs 1:1-7  

 When the Author and Creator of All that is…gives me a manual or workbook, you can bet I’m in…and I’m on it!  My course was set many years ago and the simple comparisons between common, concrete images and life’s most profound truths has challenged me to look at life through another-worldly lense.  “Proverbs are simple, moral statements (or illustrations) that highlight and teach fundamental realities about life.” (John MacArthur)

As chaotic and divisive as our world is at this moment, there is still a book that is packed with help, instruction and teaching! The author, Solomon, gives insight into the tricky issues of life facing us today. I love this book because it clearly addresses the importance of imparting a pattern of undeniable absolute truth from generation to generation.  That speaks to this Mom!  

 What will I leave behind?

Did I do a good job with what was entrusted to me?

 My heritage (children and grandchildren) is “my truth”, to coin the popular phrase today…

How did I use “my empowerment” for the success of my heritage, to coin another popular phrase…?

 In the end it will ONLY be:

 Did I seek and find HIS TRUTH?

and was I EMPOWERED by HIS Spirit??

~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 Roadmap to God's Heart!"

Who wouldn’t want a roadmap to God’s heart in this day and age?  I was typing this study for my husband this week and thought you might like to peruse it.  It certainly put the “rubber on the road” for me.  It is so easy to get caught up in the “tyranny of the urgent” and lose sight of the permanent!  Since we will all give an account one day, this “roadmap” was a “wake-up” call…

 If I want to come to you, Lord, I understand that I must deny my selfishness and pride, take up the cross and follow You. Luke 9: 23 These are the biblical terms of Salvation. My husband proceeded to define this verse in these 14 statements:

1.     I surrender all my future plans to Your will.

2.     I turn my back on all the plans and hopes I have made for myself.

3.     I will do whatever, go wherever and become whatever you have in store for me.

4.     I, totally, shut the door on my old life to submit to the plan daily You have had for me from the beginning of time.

5.     I give up comfort and convenience to focus on Your will and purpose.

6.     I will, as the apostle Paul did, die to myself and my desires, to serve You and others.

7.     I will submit to the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life and to allow Him to do Christian service through me.

8.     I will take my place, as a slave of righteousness, an ambassador, a priest… in service to the You, the King, to pray for others.

9.     Sin, then, is defined as “not having our heart set on seeking the Lord”.  II Chronicles 12: 1

10.  “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight”.  Psalm 119: 35

11.  Thank you for the secret of growth and maturity. “Counting it all joy when I am passing through troubles and trials, so that my patience develops and matures me, so I do not lack anything.”  James 1: 2-4      

12.  Thank you for recreating me and having a plan for my life that really fits my deepest longings for fulfillment and joy. Eph. 2: 10

13.  Thank you for the clarity of Your will: “to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor, as we love ourselves.”

14.  I know your Word says, “You reject all who stray from your degrees (laws), for their deceitfulness is in vain.” Psalm 119: 118

 (His NOTE:  This”roadmap” is beneficial in helping me effectively make known to people where they are spiritually.  They sense the conflict between the two natures and see how much they are personally resisting God.)

 Where do you see yourself and your need?

~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 "Unexpected Changes!"

We have certainly experienced vacillating shifts this past year.

How well do you react to unexpected changes in life?

Have you ever thought about the collapse of time? From the days of the Lord Jesus Christ until about 1830, man could not travel any faster than a horse. In 1960, a man went into space and traveled at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour. Look how far we have come in so short a time! Sometimes when I read the papers, I think we are trying to run the Space age with horse-and-buggy moral and spiritual equipment. Technology, you see, has no morals; and with no moral restraints man will destroy himself ecologically, militarily, or in some other way. Only God can give a person moral restraints and spiritual strength. While our world is shaking and crumbling, we need to realize that one thing will NEVER change and that is God. He is the same today as He was ten million years ago, and He will be the same ten million years from today. We are like grasshoppers; we appear and hop around a bit on the earth and then we are gone.” Billy Graham

  After Solomon’s death…there was division among the people because of their rebellion against God and the kingdom was divided into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah… (sound like any nation you know?)

  “Then godly King Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, and he said, ‘O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens?  And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations?  Power and might are in your hand so that no one can stand against You…” II Chronicles 20: 5-9; 12b

 His prayer…Power and might are in Your hand, O God, and no one can withstand You…IF calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgement or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence and we will cry out to you in our distress and You will hear us and save us.”  He acknowledged, as we do today, that…

We have no power to face the unknown

We do not know what to do

BUT our eyes are on You, O God.

 When facing the constantly changing circumstances of life, we always have a choice.  Realizing change cannot be avoided and that it is not always comfortable or convenient is the first step.  Then understanding that God has a plan and that the fulfillment of His purpose comes when our trust is solely and confidently placed in Him alone.

 How will you deal successfully with the changes coming your way this year?

 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper

 you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11)

 The next time you find yourself in a bad situation or are perplexed by a difficult decision, remember…

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged…

there is a greater power with us.

This battle is only the arm of the flesh, 

BUT with us is the Lord our God to help us

and to fight our battles. 

 Our confidence is in God!” (II Chronicles 32: 7-8)

…The God who NEVER CHANGES!

~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 "Follow Your Heart...?"

“Today it is totally acceptable to trust and follow your heart.  In fact, we are taught that our heart can decide what is right for us. One man will leave a church and say, ‘I did not feel right in my heart there’. A man may leave his wife and children for a younger woman saying, ‘My heart was not in my marriage any longer’”. (Letgdbetrue) What about the young couple who is confident of a life-partner because they are “following their hearts”? The phrase “I’m going to follow my heart” is used regularly to validate violations of moral, ethical and scriptural principles when decision-making.

 I recently listened to an audio, sent by my granddaughter, Alexandra Grace, that was so on point regarding the use of the word “heart”. How often do we hear the advice, “just follow your heart” when facing difficult decisions? Or “You can trust your heart”…

 Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. It seems appropriate to address issues of the heart.  This blog is taken from Proverbs 28: 26 and “heart” is used as a metonym for affections, inclinations and thoughts.

 “He that trusts in his own heart is a fool:

but he who walks wisely…will be delivered.” 

 “Your heart is your internal set of desires and needs that affect your decision-making.  This is not your conscience.  This is your anti-conscience!  This is the set of passions that drives most men and women. God has spoken about our heart.   He said, ‘The heart is deceitfully wicked above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?’” Jer. 19:9 (letgodbetrue)

 The fact that our heart has an opinion and passion about everything and reacts instantly to what it wants, should be our first warning sign in decision-making.  “If you follow its direction, you are a fool! If you listen to your heart, you are a fool.  If you follow your heart, you are a fool.  If you make decisions even partially influenced by your heart, your are a fool.  You are submitting to the most deceitful, depraved and dangerous source of information on earth.”

 Now that we have stated the obvious…it is clear that  

we are our own worst enemy…

 What are we to do?

 At the fall of man in the garden, all affection for God, spiritual truth and wisdom died. Our desires became corrupted…no longer a desire to seek God, please God or obey God. We took on a new leader who is bent on destroying us; who came to do three things: steal, kill and destroy us.. (Jn. 8: 44)   Steal our joy, opportunity…; kill our bodies…; and destroy our relationships, vision and destiny.  He tells us our heart, which is led by feelings, lust and arrogance of our own thoughts, will lead us. We are fools to believe that plan, let alone follow it! “We do not have the right to our thoughts; we do have a responsibility to right thoughts”! (Letgodbetrue) 

  “True wisdom is learning to mistrust your heart, reject its voice, and make all decisions on the basis of absolute and objective truth. 

 Where is the source for such fabulous decision making?

 In the inspired words of the living God recorded in the Bible! It is learning God’s words and training yourself to make decisions based on them that you can be wise and saved from the deceitful impulses of your depraved “heart”. (letgodbetrue) Fearing God and asking God to direct our footsteps according to His word is the beginning of wisdom. (Psa. 119: 133) This is the key to being delivered from the pitfalls and obstacles that clobber and confuse those who have chosen to “follow their heart” … “The degree of your wisdom is the degree to which you can crush your ‘heart’ to submit to the words of God in the Bible”! (letgodbetrue)

 How wise are you?

Are you facing this New Year 

with a commitment to True Wisdom?

~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 "Vitriolic Age!!"

There is a command that echo’s our personal destiny…if, we belong to Him.  We never know when our time has run out and the imperative is non-negociable.  There are no exceptions…all of us will be held accountable..  

 In this vitriolic age, “we face a world that is more accessible through technology, with a nation that is more ethnically diverse, with the interreligious dialogue more at our doorstep than ever, with our faith’s historic values under siege, Christians are being closely watched.” Biola Magazine We are one click from chip technology that will bring global access. 

 “The world outside is not waiting for a new definition of Christianity,

 it is waiting for a new demonstration of Christianity.”  Ravenhill

 This biblical directive is found in Matthew 28 and confirmed throughout the entire New Testament.  The charge is to make disciples… “you therefore, my son (and daughter), be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men (and women) who will be able to teach others also.” II Timothy 2:2

 We live in a world where our beliefs are questioned and our convictions are feeble, at best. We are living in a war zone and we can’t shelter warriors!  We train them to fight!  

We have two goals:

Save the lost in a darkening world and heal a broken world.

“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants.  The question is:

What are we busy about?” Henry David Thoreau

 Today is the day to live out the Great Commission. I’ve been told after women’s bible study groups that the word “discipleship” is offensive and the concept of “walking in brokenness” is antiquated. “Humility” is too negative. 

The command has not changed.  

The need is greater and

the resolve is pending our daily commitment…

 Will you fulfill your destiny?

~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 "Do I Have To? Why??"

  I have seen and lived three-quarters of a century of life on this planet.  I have observed the ebb and flow of my culture and Christianity over the years.  While reading through the Bible again this year and rehearsing the walk of humanity, specifically the plight of the Jews in the earliest of centuries, I got to chapter 17 of II Kings.  I found myself lost in this verse:

 “Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols.”

 This 17th Chapter is what I call a “summary” or review Chapter.  The Israelites had begged for a King.  God was their KING, but the people insisted on an earthly king.  God gave them their desire and what they deserved in Saul.  A man who proved that earthly kings are fallible and have a blindness to the reflection of our true God, as KING, perfect and infallible in comparison!  The evil heart of man revealed itself over and over as the kings came and went.  With few exceptions, these people were bent on their desires, they were unrighteous, disobedient, idol worshipers, murderers of their own children on heathen sacrifices to false gods of stone, rebellious to God’s will and ways, resistant to God’s purpose, His Wisdom…

 “…they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked

me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of Egypt

until this day.” (vs.14, Chapter 21)

 The nation divided and fought each other and the surrounding towns.  The kings were competitive and combative.  They strayed from God’s will, purpose, desires, wisdom, and righteousness.  They rejected the true God, lost the blessing of the covenant God had made with Abraham and David and in its place, experienced the penalty and its replacement…the curse of disobedience.  

 In Chapter 17 the culmination of many years of rejecting God and His ways are realized by the King of Assyria!  God sent lions to consume the rebellious generation… 

 “The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthuh, Avva, Hamath and

Sepharvaim (remember this group? They burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Drammach!!)

and settled them in the town of Samaria to 

replace the Isrealites.  They took over Samaria and lived in its towns.

When they first lived there, they did not worhip the Lord…

so HE (God) sent lions among them…” (vs. 25,26)

 When the report that the people were being killed by lions came to the King of Assyria, it was noted that “the people that had been deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE GOD OF THAT COUNTRY REQUIRES.”  The lions came because the people did NOT KNOW WHAT HE REQUIRES!  Sooo, what does this heathen king do?  

 “Have one of the Jewish priests who had been exiled from

Samaria come and live in Bethel and teach them how to worship the LORD!!” (vs. 28)

 We are that heathen nation that has forgotten 

how to worship and rejected our LORD God!

 When we gather with our family on Sunday nights or when we meet with couples or small groups, we are the old guard…the exiled priests, called by our living God to teach those in coming generation how to know and worship our GOD.

 We are a royal priesthood…called to be that beacon of truth so others 

“know what God requires” in a dark and needy world.

Are you busy living and teaching  your prince and princesses  

God’s will (not their own),

 God’s purpose for their life, 

God’s desires (no entitlement…only what is on HIS heart), 

God’s Wisdom

and Godly righteousness???

~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 "Got Purpose?!"

A New Year!   Another Opportunity!

 When you get to the end of this year, what do you want to look back on and say you accomplished…Personally? Professionally?  Spiritually? Relationally? 

 Would you like to make this year your most successful ever?

 How fruitful would you say you were this past year?  

Did you attain the goals you set? 

 How did you do with keeping Godly priorities?

 So often we think to be successful we need a sense that we are getting more out of life…more me time, vacation time, more quality time with our children, more opportunities to develop a more mature relationship with our husbands, more exercise, less weight…”its all about me”!  We are blinded by kids’ schedules (practices, meets, tournaments, tutors, recitals, award ceremonies and more).  We live in a maze of taxi driving (pick-ups and drop-offs), carpools, careers, vacations, parties, sleepovers, play dates, fears and circumstances that keep us from seeing the clarity of our designed purpose.  We are forever seeking balance…

 This is the opposite of what God envisions for us.  We are to live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility… not as (women) who do not know the meaning and purpose of life, but those who do…making the best use of our time, despite all the evils of these days…not being vague but grasping firmly what we know to be the will of the Lord.  Ephesians 5:15-17

 Fulfillment in life is not deciding what we want to do or become,

but discovering and completing the purpose for which God made us! (Gothard)

 True success in life is measuring what we are by what we could be (always seeking His purpose and meaning of life) and what we have done by what we could have done (by His grace).   “Faithful is He who calls us who (HE) will also do it (if we get out of the way, relinquish our will and yield to His!). It is achieving the full potential God planned for us. (ATIA)  We are destined with His purpose on our life. (Col. 1:28, 29)…”its not about me”!

 Are we focused on what God is focused on or are we hastily and thoughtlessly doing our own thing?  If we have not realized our life purpose and set eternal goals for this coming year, our present priorities to reach that goal are superfluous!  Our focus is blurred by the demands of the immediate on the altar of the permanent. 

 The key to a full and rich life is determined by our commitment

to pleasing God first! The alternative is failure…and I hate failure!

 When I was a young Christian I was challenged by Betty Scott Stams declaration of purpose.  She was a missionary to China and was martyred by Communists in 1949.

 “Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Your will for my life.  I give myself, my life, my all utterly to You to be Yours forever.  Fill me and seal me with Your Holy Spirit.  Use me as You will, send me where You will, work out Your whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.”

 While at the University, I stapled that statement of purpose inside the flap of my Bible and it is still there today…a reminder of my commitment to my God, who gave His ALL for me, to “die daily”.  “If anyone would come after me (Christ), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  Luke 9:23

 Taken from Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die (to my will, rights, ambitions, entitlements, etc.) is gain.  It has carried me through life and has been my comfort while serving in the jungles of Panama until this day…

 Where is your heart fixed?

 What is your declaration of purpose?

~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.