Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Wilderness: A Time of Spiritual Growth

by Gregory A. Johnson

The Wilderness: A Time of Spiritual Growth, by Gregory A. Johnson

The longer I live, the more convinced I become that there are God designed and defined periods of our life that are carved out with the specific purpose of preparing us. These periods of time can be considered wilderness experiences.

In these wilderness experiences, we encounter spiritual drought, loneliness, and temptation as we learn to deal with our faults and our doubts. We confront our weaknesses in the wilderness, and they eventually make way to strength as more of our flesh is crucified, facilitating growth in our dependence upon the Lord.

In the wilderness, our faith is stretched and as a result, it is enlarged. We come out of the wilderness better people with more faith and ready to accomplish the task at hand until we come to the next wilderness experience where we will, once again, be fine-tuned to traverse another level on our journey as we live in service to the Lord.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

The Answer to Hardships

by Gregory A. Johnson
The Answer to Hardships, by Gregory A. Johnson

There is one thing that I’m certain of today — life is full of the unexpected. Difficulty causing hardship often comes in hours when we are least prepared, taking us entirely by surprise.

Some respond to these hardships saying, “This is an attack of Satan. The devil is out to get me.” Some question saying, “Where did I go wrong? Is there sin in my life? Is God mad at me?” Some ask, “Why me? I’m doing everything God has asked me to do. I’m obedient to the Bible. Why is this happening to me?”

In the pitch dark of the night, these Christ-followers faced horrific winds and waves that caught them off guard. They had been with Jesus and had been part of mighty miracles that confirmed the kingdom that the Lord proclaimed by his words and his actions. Being handpicked and trained by Jesus, they felt that they had advanced to the pinnacle of spiritual maturity. The ferocious headwind came when they least expected their faith in Christ to be severely tested.