“Jesus Weeps” [John 11:35]

At the site of Jesus’ last miracle was recorded one of the shortest, yet perhaps the most poignant verses in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” [John 11:35]

Like the Jews that witnessed this event, many of us believe that Jesus wept because His dear friend Lazarus had died. But, was this the reason for Jesus’ tears?

If we go back to verse 33, we see that when Jesus saw Mary, Lazarus’ sister, and the Jews who’d come with her, sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

Moving ahead to verse 38, we read that Jesus was still sighing repeatedly and deeply disquieted. 

Now armed with this information, let’s imagine the scene that has been set for us, keeping in mind that this was the same Mary who had sat at Jesus’ feet feeding on the Bread of Life... 

The same Mary to whom Jesus had promised would see the glory of God if she would believe and rely on Him...

It was that same Mary who would anoint the Lord with the essence of nard then gently and lovingly wipe His feet with her hair...

It was this same Mary, who Jesus considered a dear friend, loved, and held in loving esteem...

The same Mary who worshiped at Jesus’ feet in an offering of love and complete devotion giving herself in an act of humble submission and dependence...

This same Mary who had chosen the one thing that was needful…

In other words, Mary knew Jesus intimately, yet lapsed into a state of unbelief, sobbing in agreement with those insincere Jews, at a time when her faith in Jesus should have been exercised and proven. And this is why Jesus wept!

Jesus weeps when, after all that He Himself has revealed to us, and even after He has arrived on the scene, we still sob in unbelief. 

Jesus desires that we believe, believe Who we know He is. 

He wants us to have faith and not doubt. 

Jesus wants us to agree with what we know and not with what we feel. 

Jesus exhorts us to look at Him and not at the scene of our circumstances.

Amen †

“Jesus Weeps” [John 11:35]©2014 Shelley Johnson 10-Apr-14

“HAGAH”

“Hagah” is the Hebrew word translated into English as “meditate” in the Bible. 

To “meditate” is a powerful act of worship which speaks of spiritual refreshing and renewal. It conjures up in our minds, a passive act of pondering in quiet solitude and silent reflection. But is this an adequate translation of the Hebrew word “hagah”? 

When Joshua tells us, “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate [hagah] on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it...” (Joshua 1:8), what is he actually saying to us?

Looking at the word “hagah”, we see that meditate is only one of its definitions, it also means to moan, growl, mutter, speak. So it’s not meditate in the way we think of meditation but it is, rather, very audible, like when Hannah was in the temple pouring out her deepest anguish to God in prayer (see 1 Samuel 1).
 

Isaiah 31:4, “…As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey…”, gives us yet another idea of what this Hebrew word means. It’s that desperate growl a lion makes when he’s about to devour his prey.

“Hagah” is about being so desperately hungry, and having such an insatiable appetite for God’s Word, that we cannot help but persistently confess it to ourselves day and night. 

God’s Word is food for our souls and we must experience pangs of hunger that will cause us to tear into the Word and feast like a lion feasts on its prey. 

So from now on, let’s not meditate on God’s Word as it is conveyed in English but let’s Hagah God’s Word.

Amen †

“HAGAH” ©2013 Shelley Johnson 10-Sep-13

Training School

Every day for three years, Jesus walked with the disciples, teaching them many Truths, so that when He returned to His throne in Heaven, they would be well equipped to continue in His footsteps. Jesus Christ was their Training School, and today, through the infallible Word of God, He is ours. Hallelujah!

Like the disciples, we too can experience that wonderful Training School by reading and studying the Bible daily. In Training School we will foster a close personal relationship with Jesus as we learn more and more about Him in the Word since He Himself is the Word (John 1:14).

We can have Jesus with us every day, even more than the disciples had, for they had Jesus Christ in the body, an individual separate from them, but we have His Own Spirit living in us; we have the Omnipresent Jesus.

Prayer:

Jesus, here I am, eager to attend Your Training School. As I read and study Your Word, let Your Spirit teach me and guide me into all Truth. And, as Your Spirit speaks to my spirit, may I become bound to You forever. Amen.

Training School © 2014 Shelley Johnson 19-Apr-2014

CHILD-LIKE FAITH

STOP! having more faith in the devil's ability than in God's ability. You believe more in what the devil says to you than in what God says to you.

LISTEN! the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44) and his lies blind your faith!

Blind faith is faith without awareness. 

This is what God says, 

"A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thoughts to his steps." Proverbs 14:15 (NIV). 

Blind faith is belief without true understanding, misplaced trust. 

What we need to have is not blind faith but child-like faith (Mark 10:15), a faith that is strong, and free of lies. We need to have a sure belief, and an un-doubting trust...like a child. 

Jesus tells us to ONLY believe - believe in the Truth; He is the Truth (John 14:6) and the Truth sets our faith free.

Focus on Jesus, the Truth, He will open your spiritual eyes, release your faith from the lies that blind, and set you free to have faith like a child.

 

Amen †

 CHILD-LIKE FAITH ©2012  Shelley Johnson 29-09-2012

A Time of fasting

We have trained ourselves to respond to our five natural senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch – but there are times when we are unable to adequately respond to what we are receiving from our natural senses. Those are the times we need to move beyond what we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel. 

There is a reality that goes beyond what our five natural senses can detect. It is the realm of Spirit. Jesus tells us in John 4:24,

“God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

When we fast, we begin to value the importance of the spiritual reality over the physical. Fasting trains us to respond to the unseen by disciplining the body and its senses. Fasting brings our bodies and our natural senses under subjection to our spirits, it influences our perception and we become responsive to God’s supernatural ministering.

However, fasting must be accompanied by prayer. Fasting and prayer create a powerful combination. Communication with God while fasting gives us the strength and grace to endure.

Denying our bodies of food and focusing on God through prayer enables us to recognize that God is our Sustainer and our Source. Our appetites are no longer for physical food but for the solid food of the Word of God: spiritual food and nourishment (Hebrews 5:14). Jesus, during His forty day fast, in response to the tempter said,

“Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” – Matthew 4:4 (AMP)

God’s Word strengthens us in our weakness.

If you make time to fast and pray and meditate on the Word of God, the dominance of your natural senses over your spirit will be broken; your body will no longer rebel against what it cannot perceive through its natural sense; you will begin to discern spiritual truth; and you will become hardened toward unbelief.

Amen †

A Time of fasting ©2013 Shelley Johnson 14-Feb-13

The Prodigal Son Experience

In Luke chapter fifteen, Jesus tells a parable of a son who demanded of his father and received his inheritance. Inheritance in hand, he left home to live life prodigally. Life seemed great for a time, but soon enough, money squandered, ‘friends’ gone, and facing imminent starvation, he ended up in pig slop.

How many of us, by choosing to do things our way, have found ourselves in pig slop. 

Like the prodigal son, we receive our inheritance from our loving Father – salvation through Jesus Christ – but then we turn away to live a vacuous lifestyle. Not willing to work out our salvation, instead thinking that our way is the better way, we choose to live selfish, self-indulgent lives without care for God or man. 

The result is always messy. Fortunately, the prodigal son, up to his neck in slop, came to his senses, and in that period of recognition he made the best decision of his life. He returned to his father in utter repentance. 

“Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (v 21)

What is it going to take for you to come to your senses? 

Are you waiting to be completely submerged in the mess you’ve managed to create? 

Are you too ashamed to be seen in your present ‘fallen’ state? 

Are you embarrassed by the stench that hangs over you wherever you go? 

With God there’s no need to be embarrassed. Just like the father of the prodigal son, God is longing for you to come back to Him in whatever state or condition that you’re in right now. 

Get up, as you are, and return home to your Father! Your Father loves you passionately. Your loving Father not only forgives but remembers your sins no more (Hebrews 8:12). 

Oh, what a wonderful Father He is! He rejoices in heaven over the one lost sinner who repents and returns to Him than over ninety nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away (v 7).

Amen †

The Prodigal Son Experience ©2014 Shelley Johnson 1-Jun-14

Jesus wants to…

Matthew 8:2-3 (GNT), as it is written,

Then a man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to Him, knelt down before Him, and said, “Sir, if You want to, You can make me clean”. Jesus reached out and touched him. “I do want to”, He answered. “Be clean!” At once the man was healed of his disease.

Beloved like this suffering man, you must never be in doubt of Jesus’ ability to heal you or whether He wants to. The man somehow knew that if Jesus wanted to, if it was His will, He could easily make him clean. The man demonstrated great humility by kneeling before the Lord and strong faith by what he said – his approach was both humble and bold. 

This passage shows us that Jesus not only cares, He cares enough to reach out to us and touch us. His touch gives us a sense of comfort and calms our spirits – it’s reassuring. Jesus has compassion for us and is willing to attend to our condition whatever it may be.

Jesus wants to come into contact with us today. He wants to form a very personal relationship with every one of us; Jesus wants to be close to us, to literally touch us wherever we’re hurting – our pain and our affliction.

Jesus wants to fulfill our hearts’ desires because the desires of our hearts are His desires. Jesus has a heart for all of us and wants to bathe us in His love. When we realize the love of Jesus, something happens within us and at once we become clean. We no longer feel shunned or rejected but accepted and embraced by a love we’ve never known. We no longer focus on the condition of our skin but we feel the cleansing that starts taking place from within.

When we kneel before Jesus, He reaches out, touches us, cleanses us and heals all our diseases because He wants to.

Amen †

Jesus wants to… ©2013 Shelley Johnson 20-Mar-13