Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Trust in the Lord and Be Blessed


Trust in the Lord and Be Blessed, by Gregory A. Johnson

This is what the LORD told Jeremiah the prophet:
Thus says the LORD:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places
of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit"  (Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV).

Just as in Jeremiah's day, the LORD is looking for people in our day who will trust Him. Those who place their trust elsewhere will not "see any good come." They will be like a person who wanders aimlessly in a parched and dry wilderness, never entering into God's provision and crossing over into promised-land blessings. Many of these are good people, and can even be Christian in their belief, but they are guilty of the sin of unbelief. They don’t fully trust the LORD, and they wander aimlessly, accomplishing nothing of any value for the Kingdom.

Monday, April 8, 2013

How to Focus on What You Know

by Gregory A. Johnson
How to Focus on What You Know, by Gregory A. Johnson

Life is full of the unknown. What we know tends to bring comfort; what we don’t know can bring
much anxiety if we allow it to mess with our thinking. I’m convinced that we will be better off emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually if we focus on what we know instead of concentrating on the unknowns of life.

If you make the unknowns of life your focus, it will get the best of you, bringing you down into the gloomy loneliness found in the dark prison of despair, paralyzing your life, and destroying your future. What would happen if you focused on what you know instead of the uncertainty that robs you of your sleep, joy, and peace, threatening to rattle your sanity beyond what is repairable?