Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Top Ten Posts of 2015

by Gregory A. Johnson

Top Ten Posts of 2015, by Gregory A. JohnsonReaders from 97 countries read and hopefully was encouraged by what I have written and shared in 2015.

I am always humbled by the number of people who take time to read what I write. I simply share what God lays on my heart, finding that God often allows me to be transparent, writing from a life that has experienced not only joy and peace, but also pain, hardship, hurt, trials, and tribulations on my journey as I follow Christ. I pray for the Spirit of God to encourage and inspire each reader as they read each word.

Please allow me to share with you the top ten posts read in 2015:

Friday, December 18, 2015

How Can I Love My Enemies?

How Can I Love My Enemies, by Gregory A. Johnson
by Gregory A. Johnson

It's easy for me to love my wife. Becky is a great mother to our children, a hard worker, full of wisdom, abundant in faith, and loving toward me regardless of all of my faults. She has been with me through thick and thin, standing by my side, encouraging me along the way. I would die for Becky. I have no problem with that and wouldn't even have to think about it, but my enemies who have lied about me, ridiculed, and persecuted me — how could I die for them?

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Three Words That Melt the Heart

by Gregory A. Johnson

Three Words That Melt the Heart, by Gregory A. Johnson
My wife, Becky, and I have been married for over thirty-nine years, and my heart still melts at three words she says to me: “I love you.” She does more than tell me that she loves me; she shows me her love for me through her actions — she is a woman of faith, full of wisdom, a hard worker, a wonderful mother to our children, a marvelous cook, and a meticulous housekeeper. I’m a blessed man.

I have three words for you today — you are loved. Jesus loves you so much that He died for you on an old, rugged cross. He desires to be your strength today and always.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

The Secret to Understanding the Kingdom

by Gregory A. Johnson
The Secret to Understanding the Kingdom, by Gregory A. Johnson


When Jesus walked this earth, He revealed His Kingdom to us through His words and His actions. The secret to understanding the Kingdom and living as its citizens is found in the life of Christ. Jesus and the Kingdom are the same; He is the Kingdom embodied.

Jesus gave us the first hint into what His Kingdom is all about when He preached His first sermon in His hometown of Nazareth.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

Saturday, September 5, 2015

How to Get Everything You Need

by Gregory A. Johnson
How to Get Everything You Need, by Gregory A. Johnson

Food, shelter, and clothing are the basic necessities of life, and Jesus tells us not to be anxious about them. Jesus will give us all that we need as we follow Him and continue His point-of-need ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Throughout our ministry, God has provided my wife, my children, and me with food, shelter, and clothing. The first church we pastored paid us fifty dollars a week. The second church we pastored paid us one hundred dollars a week. We never went hungry, homeless, or naked during those years. We obeyed God, and He miraculously provided for our needs, and still does today. I thank God for the people He sent to help us, for second-hand stores, and for my wife, who is an expert at couponing.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

He Is No Longer a Babe in a Manger

He Is No Longer a Babe in a Manger, by Gregory A. Johnson
by Gregory A. Johnson

Jesus left glory and all of its riches to come into our world and reveal His Kingdom. Theologians
refer to this emptying process that Jesus willingly went through as "kenosis." After the resurrection, the opposite of kenosis took place—Jesus was re-glorified. Jesus is now back in His original state of glory.

John, secluded on the island of Patmos, received a revelation of the re-glorified Christ. He testifies: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades'" (Revelation 1:17-18 ESV).

Saturday, July 11, 2015

How to Walk in Power, Love, and Self-discipline


How to Walk in Power, Love, and Self-discipline, by Gregory A. Johnsonby Gregory A. Johnson

As we approach the coming of our Lord, we are surrounded by ever-increasing evil. Many are
overwhelmed by fear. What is the Christ-follower to do? We are to overcome evil with love. Jesus has not left his followers powerless until he returns. He has given us his Spirit, which empowers us to live as loving overcomers.

Please allow me to share with you a short devotion that I have written.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

The Kingdom Revealed

by Gregory A. Johnson

The Kingdom Revealed by Gregory A. JohnsonWhat is the Kingdom of God? What does building the Kingdom mean? How does one work in the Kingdom? If you were asked those questions today, how would you answer?

I'm sure that some people would answer that the church is the Kingdom, and building the Kingdom involves growing church attendance and membership. Many would define working in the Kingdom as volunteering expendable time to church activity, mostly taking place within the walls of a building and the confines of a service. Those answers may involve good things to do, but is all of that correct?

Saturday, May 9, 2015

God Does Not Discriminate

by Gregory A. Johnson
God Does Not Discriminate, by Gregory A. Johnson

Because of Jesus, we all have equal access to God. Everyone has access to God's grace and peace, regardless of race, gender, or economic status. Because of His amazing grace, God pours His Spirit into all who will receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. With God's Spirit comes a supernatural peace that surpasses all understanding—peace with God and peace with man.

God loves us so much. Who would not want to receive His grace? Who would not want to receive His peace? Only those who have been blinded by sin and evil would reject God's free gifts. They search the world for peace but will find none. The peace that wars and diplomacy try to bring is costly, fragile, and fleeting. The peace that God gives through His Holy Spirit is free, strong, and eternal.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

How Prayer Will Increase Your Faith, Love, and Praise

by Gregory A. Johnson
How Prayer Will Increase Your Faith, Love, and Praise, by Gregory A. Johnson

One of the benefits of being a praying person is being able to look back over your life and see the answers to prayer that God has brought. If you pray, you know what I’m talking about. Reflecting on God’s goodness in answering prayer increases not only our faith, but also our love for the LORD. Out of our increased faith and love comes praise from the heart that articulates through our lips.

If you are a person of prayer, take a moment now and reflect on the answers to prayer that the LORD has brought to you. If you are not a person of prayer, there is no better time than now to begin making prayer a part of your life. Get a spiral notebook to use as a prayer journal. Make a list in the notebook of all the prayer requests that you are going to pray about and trust the LORD to answer. In the left-hand margin, put the date of when you first write the prayer request in your journal. Take time every day to enter your place of prayer with your prayer journal in hand. Pray over each request daily until you feel the Holy Spirit directing you on to the next request. In God’s timing and in God’s ways, you will begin to receive answers to your prayers. As you do, take a highlighter and highlight each prayer request that the LORD has answered. Write the date in the right-hand margin of when the LORD answered the prayer.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Why Does God Not Answer My Prayers?

by Gregory A. Johnson
Why does God not answer my prayers? by Gregory A. Johnson

Being in the ministry for many years, my wife and I have heard the same question over and over again. So many ask, “Why does God not answer my prayers?” They say, “I call out to Him in my time of need, but it’s like He is not even there.”

Please know that we must call on the Lord in truth, which means praying while expecting His promises for you as declared in His Word. It’s not praying for what you want; it’s praying for the promises that God has given you in His Word. So many today call on the Lord in their times of trouble, but they do not know the Word; they do not obey the Word. They ask things of the Lord that are not even in line with His Word. As we learn the Word and obey it, we can call on the Lord in truth.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

True Leadership from the Greatest Leader

by Gregory A. Johnson

True Leadership from the Greatest Leader, by Gregory A. Johnson

Books abound on the subject of leadership. Volumes have been written. Seminars, lectures, and course studies are everywhere, including the church.

Everyone wants to be a great leader, whether it is in the home, workplace, schoolhouse, marketplace, or church house. People look for success in current leaders and in leaders throughout history, yet there seems to be a huge vacuum of true leadership today. Where in the world are all the true leaders?

Sunday, January 18, 2015

How to Live With Fearless Confidence


by Gregory A. Johnson
How to Live With Fearless Confidence, by Gregory A. Johnson

We can live with fearless confidence in these times of terror, turmoil, and uncertainty as we surround our lives with prayer. As we pray, we will receive a holy boldness from the Holy Spirit that enables us to speak and live the Word in these difficult days. Praying will get us through every one of the devil’s attacks against us.

Pray on, Beloved!

SCRIPTURE:
“While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s Word with fearless confidence” (Acts 4:31 MSG).

PRAYER:
Father, I thank you for the privilege of prayer and the supernatural help that we receive through praying. I pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us today with a renewed confidence that displaces all fear. The devil is always scheming against us; he steals, kills, and destroys, but Jesus gives us life. We live in times when fear holds many hostage. As we spend time in prayer, give us a Word to speak along with a fearless confidence to speak it. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Excerpted from the book, Be Encouraged: A Daily Devotional, Volume 1 by Gregory A. Johnson. Copyright © by Gregory A. Johnson. All rights reserved.