“Indefinitely”

Indefinitely is defined as something that is done, or that will go on, for an undetermined period of time, without a foreseeable end.

Can you imagine yourself doing something on and on and on with no end in sight? Especially if it’s some tedious chore, or a dull boring job. Just having to wait for any undetermined period of time can send one insane with impatience and frustrate the skin off your bones. But do you know that that is exactly what the disciples had to do? Jesus had told them to wait for the Father’s promise. It was after His resurrection, He appeared to the disciples and one of the things He said to them was,

“…Wait here until you receive what the Father promised to send…” Acts 1:4 (ERV)

Jesus never specified a period of time, as a matter of fact, when time was brought up, this was Jesus’ response,

“The Father is the only one who has the authority to decide dates and times. They are not for you to know.” Acts 1:7 (ERV)

Another translation says it like this, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business.” (MSG)

The disciples quickly understood that if they did not wait, they would not receive what God had promised. They went into the Upper Room to wait no matter how long it would take. 

Acts 1:13 states, “And when they had entered [the city], they mounted [the stairs] to the upper room where they were [indefinitely] staying…” (AMPC)

Clearly, they were in this for the long haul. They’d made up their minds that they were not leaving that room until that promise manifested – they were prepared to wait indefinitely. Yes, indefinitely, with no foreseeable end; not for a day or two, not a month or a year but for how ever long it took God to show up, they were determined to wait on Him.

Let me tell you, indefinitely is a long time and for us humans, having to wait indefinitely for anything is pure drudgery…it is hard for us to do. We can barely wait 10 minutes for the microwave. But we, you and I, need to know that even if we are not seeing an end or feeling something, God is working His purpose out on our behalf and He will do what He says He will do. You get it?

Hebrews 10:36 assures us that if we stick it out with faith and patience, we will receive God’s promise. Not just me, you too – “we”; so with this in mind, ask God to teach you how to wait, and wait, and wait, and then wait some more, on Him…Indefinitely. Amen?

Amen†

“Indefinitely”    Shelley Johnson 17-Nov-2016

God is good all the time, and all the time…

“God is good, a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes anyone looking for help, No matter how desperate the trouble.” – Nahum 1:7 (MSG)

Nahum reminds us that God is good. Goodness is one of God’s many character traits. Good is not just what God does, good is who God is and He cannot be anything else but good. This is why, God is good ALL the time, and ALL the time God is good.

“…No one is good, only God.” – Mark 10:18 (MSG) 

Because God is good all the time, you must expect Him to respond in ways that are consistent with this His character. So that when troubles arise, and they will from time to time, remain in faith and take refuge in God, knowing that He will bring about the very best solution. 

“You are good, and the source of good…my troubles turned out all for the best— they forced me to learn from your textbook.” – Psalm 119:68 & 72 (MSG)

Understand that God knows who is trusting in Him and He has already designed a great plan for your deliverance even before your troubles started. Be mindful that, when you place your trust in God, you’ve already won the battle long before the war began (see Romans 8:37). So, do not worry and do not be afraid, God is fighting this battle for you, all you have to do is take refuge and trust in Him.

When king Jehoshaphat found himself in desperate trouble surrounded by enemies, he went to God looking for help, God recognized and welcomed him and said, “Don’t be afraid; don’t pay any mind to this vandal horde. This is God’s war, not yours...You won’t have to lift a hand in this battle; just stand firm…and watch God’s saving work for you take shape. Don’t be afraid, don’t waver. ” (2 Chronicles 20:15, 17 MSG)

What God said to Jehoshaphat then, is the exact same thing He is saying to you right now. Beloved, just believe...

“…if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" – John 11:40 (NIV)

Amen†

God is good all the time, and all the time…    Shelley Johnson 16-Nov-2016

When you know what’s Right, do Right

Hosea 4:6 says,

“My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true. Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge…”

Okay, to be fair, if you don’t know what’s right then you can’t do right. But how can you know what’s right? God’s Word – in it you will learn God’s will and His ways and what’s right, in His eyes. In God’s Word you’ll learn about Jesus, how He lived, what He taught and what He has done so now there’s no need for any of us to ever again be destroyed or “ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true”.

The problem is, like most people, you think you already know what’s right and you don’t just turn your back on knowledge, you actively reject it. When you refuse to even thumb through a Bible and heaven forbid that you should step foot in a church because “I know all that already, I don’t need to go to church, there’s nothing anybody could tell me that I don’t already know; yes, I read my Bible once a year, I don’t understand it but I read it…” 

Believing that you know it all is pride, another topic for another day but for today, be reminded “First pride, then the crash— the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” (Proverbs 16:18 MSG) Just saying…

We often believe we know what’s right but human reasoning can be quite flawed so, in order to avoid that, we need to turn to the Bible. If you did not already know, the Bible is the handbook for every topic we could ever imagine, but if you don’t read it, you won’t know and when you don’t know you become an easy target for Satan. Yes, because, he is the deceiver and when you do not know the truth, you will believe his lies, and when you believe the lies you’ll live a sin-filled life of misery which will ultimately lead to your ruin.

Remember, where there’s no vision – divine revelation of truth – people perish (see Proverbs 29:18). God’s Word is that revelation of truth. Ask God to give you a yearning for knowledge, and a strong desire to study and understand His Word of truth so that you will know what’s right and therefore able to do right.

As Jesus said in John 13:17 (ERV), 

“If you know these things, great blessings will be yours if you do them.”

Amen†

When you know what’s Right, do Right    Shelley Johnson 15-Nov-2016

“How do I love again?”

You’ve been mistreated, cheated on, there’s no love, the faithfulness has gone, and you ask yourself, “How do I love again?”

That was Hosea’s predicament (see Hosea 1-3). His wife Gomer, the poster child of adultery, had abandoned him and their three children, but instead of divorcing her, suing for full custody, turning away, never looking back, and not even sparing a cursory sideways glance in her direction, Hosea, not only forgives his wife but spends money to buy her freedom. You see, concerning that, sometimes we – husbands and wives – deceive ourselves, thinking we’d be better off elsewhere and we end up in situations that we can’t easily get out of, and find ourselves worse off than we ever were before. That’s what happened to Gomer and rather than return home, sold herself into slavery. So, to get her back, Hosea had to buy her freedom.

But why didn’t Hosea just forget her, leave her in her self-created mire and move on? There could only be one answer, God. God is the only one who could cause you to love again. Whether it’s that same person who has been caught up in a cycle of unfaithfulness or someone totally new, you still have to learn to love again. To love again is an emotional healing process that takes time because those wounds are so deep and so infected. To love again requires that those infected wounds be opened up and the poison removed, and God alone knows how to do this type of surgical procedure properly and thoroughly (see Hosea 6:1). 

Now, turning to look into a mirror, ask yourself honestly: “How many times have I been unfaithful, to others and to God?” 

Emotional hurt is not exclusive to married couples. Every single day people hurt and are being hurt, emotionally as well as physically. Sometimes it is done deliberately, and at other times it is by accident or through ignorance – by words and by actions. But, however caused, that pain tears you apart, creates animosity, makes enemies, and destroys relationships. 

As you read the book of Hosea, recognize God’s unconditional love for you, His mercy and faithfulness towards you, and His utter forgiveness, coursing through the pages of this incredible story of true love, God’s love. And know that God will never let you down, He never turns away from you no matter how often you turn away from Him. He is always ready and waiting to give you a fresh start, a new beginning. Return to God, allow Him to heal you, remove the infection, bind up your wounds, and repair your broken heart, so that you can love again. 

Amen†

“How do I love again?”    Shelley Johnson 14-Nov-2016

When you Meditate on it, you Magnify it

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways…Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalm 119:15; 34:3 ESV)

Disappointments of any size can cause deep and lingering hurt but you can put a halt to its staying power. Yes, I agree that it’s easier said than done but it is something that has to be practiced. Putting a halt on hurt that has the potential to linger on for years and years has to be done with purposeful determination, and eventually it will come naturally.

You see, when you meditate on the disappointment, you magnify it, and that causes the hurt that you feel to remain. In that, there’s great danger because this can lead to bitterness, resentment, ire, bad blood, hatred and un-forgiveness. 

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred.” (Ephesians 4:31 ISV)

We do not realize that it’s not just the big disappointments that affect us but the real danger lies in the various small let downs and frustrations that we cling to – they tend to pile up,  like fallen leaves, one atop the other, and the more they add up, the bigger the mound, and the deeper the wound.

Having a mountain of hurt feelings can wreak havoc in your life, that’s why you have to be single-minded in your pursuit of banking the Word of God in your heart. Meditating on His Word, shifts your focus onto Him and not on those things that cause you to become disheartened, discouraged, and forlorn. When you meditate on God, you will magnify God and not the circumstances of your emotional hurt. 

The choice is always yours, meditate on the disappointment and magnify that which weighs you down, or meditate on God and magnify the One who lifts you up. It’s time to choose.

Amen†

When you Meditate on it, you Magnify it   Shelley Johnson 11-Nov-2016

What’s Wrong in the World?

“O how terrible for those who confuse good with evil, right with wrong, light with dark, sweet with bitter. O how terrible for those who think they’re so wise, who consider themselves so clever.” – Isaiah 5:20-21 (VOICE)

What’s wrong in the world…as a people, we’re confused, and in that confusion easily corruptible. Our morality is warped as we have become “swollen with self-importance, and given to loving pleasure more than God” (see 2 Timothy 3)...continually living in a fog of self-induced deception.

What’s wrong in the world…as a people, we are perverted in our thinking because we have not allowed our minds to be renewed, therefore genuine transformation has not taken place and our spiritual foundation is less than stable, so that even as Christians we come up with our own reasoning: looking at evil but declaring it good, engaging in wrong but convinced that it’s right, walking in darkness yet thinking that it is light, tasting bitterness but believing it to be sweet. 

What’s wrong in the world…as a people our hearts are being drawn away from God, our first love. Rather than delighting ourselves in Him, we continue only to delight ourselves in the pleasures of our senses and that turns into sin.

What’s wrong in the world…as a people, we do not seek true wisdom, instead we’ve become wise in our own eyes and clever in our own sight. We put our own spin on the meaning of God’s Word, employing our own wisdom and never seeking the interpretation of the Holy Spirit, from whom the Scriptures were inspired. We think we know but we are fools, biblical fools, trusting in our own minds (see Proverbs 28:26).

What’s wrong in the world…as a people, we are ever so accommodating, quick to compromise and deviate from God’s standards, opting instead to play Russian roulette with our eternal salvation. 

What’s wrong in the world…as a people called Christians, we too often, at the first sign of opposition, step outside of godliness to be in good standing with the world, following its patterns rather than standing strong in the Truth.

What’s wrong in the world…as a people, we profess our Christian faith but we do not speak out against injustice, corruption, deceit, immorality, wickedness, and the things that God hates and detests (see Proverbs 6) but prefer to remain silent not wanting to stir up the enmity and scorn of the world.

What’s wrong in the world…

What’s Wrong in the World?    Shelley Johnson 09-Nov-2016

God wants you to do nothing

I always depend on God to tell me what to write – every post you have read on this blog, Bethel at Balata, including today’s, has been written according to His instruction, direction, and guidance. You must have noticed that nothing was posted the entire past week. That’s because I received nothing…not one Word, not one idea, not as much as a thought. There are times when God wants you to do nothing. 

This is not the first time that God has had me do absolutely nothing. Not too long ago, I was faced with what would surely be considered dire circumstances, I knew that I had to do something about the situation in which I’d found myself, so like any good Christian, I came up with a plan. And as a good Christian with a brilliant solution to a problem, the first thing that one must do before executing ones well thought out agenda is to go to God in earnest prayer. And that is exactly what I did, I “humbled” myself before my God, thanking Him for the incredibly fool proof plan that I was about to put in place and after I’d poured it all out onto the table, so to speak, I heard, “Do Nothing”. “Huh? Say what?”…”Do Nothing”, same response, same gentle tone. 

“Do nothing? But what about my incredibly brilliant well thought out fool proof solution to my present danger problem? I can’t just sit and do nothing about it, something must be done, Lord!” 

“Yes, something must be done but not by you. I Am, already doing something about your situation, be still…do nothing.”

You see, God is always working. He does not sleep, it’s true. He has already devised solutions to every one of your dire circumstances, all you have to do is co-operate, comply, and if you are required to “stand still and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes” (1 Samuel 12:16 ERV), then stand still.

Jeremiah 10:23 says, “I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course.” (NLT)

And in John 8:28 Jesus said, “…I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me”

Understand that Jesus, though Divine was also human and therefore in complete subjection to the Father, He did nothing on His own initiative, and that’s how God wants us to operate. Not on our own but to totally depend on Him, in complete subjection to His way and will. I know, for some, this is a hard pill to swallow. 

During my time of trial, some of my closest relatives asked me why I was not doing something about my situation, they called me lazy, and stupid, and, reading from the book of Exodus, they said I was stiff-necked, stubborn and arrogant, also proclaimed me a fool for believing nonsense, they accused me of doing my own thing because God would never tell me to do nothing. They quoted from the Bible, “God helps those who help themselves!” – this is not in the Bible, but I didn’t have the heart to interrupt their rant to let them know that. They cited the account of Noah, saying, even Noah built the ark when God told him about the flood…yes, a feat which took more than 50 years mind you and for all those years, Noah was being obedient to God’s instructions, doing nothing on his own initiative, again I did not interrupt the rant.

People who believe they know what’s best for you will not understand and you cannot make them understand, only God can penetrate the closed hearts of those who’ve already come to their own conclusions. But you have to be obedient to Him, no matter what (see Matthew 10:16-42).

We don’t see the entire picture but God does, and believe it or not He does not need our help to carry out His plan for our lives – a Truth that Job painfully had to learn. Oftentimes God allows us to take part, but it’s never that He can do nothing without us, on the contrary, we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5). Ephesians 1:11 clearly states, “…God is the One who makes everything agree with what He decides and wants.” (ICB)

Nowadays, when God tells me to do nothing, that’s exactly what I do because I know that He has His reasons and it’s not necessary for me or any of us to know what those reasons are. If God chooses to let you know then be grateful, if not, still be grateful. The truth of the matter is, we just need to trust God’s way of doing what He does. 

Genuine followers of Jesus follow the examples Jesus Himself set for us – do nothing of your own initiative but do anything and everything that God would have you do. 

So, in the midst of flying objections from every side, do nothing if God wants you to do nothing. 

Amen†

 God wants you to do nothing    Shelley Johnson 08-Nov-2016