Top Ten Posts of 2017

by Gregory A. Johnson


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.

I'm thankful for the readers from 68 countries that read what I have written and shared in 2017. Please allow me to share with you the top ten posts read in 2017:

How God Prepares Us for Service

by Gregory A. Johnson

We are ALL called to serve God by following Jesus and making a difference in our day for Him. Many confuse attending church with answering that call. Please know that attending church is not fully following Christ, although many who follow Christ attend church. Church will not make us a Christ-follower. To be willing and ready to follow Christ, we have to recognize who He is and what we are not. He is holy; we are not. As we recognize who Jesus is and what we are not, we realize that He must do a work in our lives in order for us to follow and serve Him.

Isaiah had a fresh revelation of God and His holiness that revealed to him his unholy state (Isaiah 6:1-8). Recognizing that God needed to do a work in him before he could serve God, Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). God answered Isaiah’s cry for help and sent seraphim from His very presence to cleanse Isaiah. After God cleansed Isaiah, he was willing and ready to go and do whatever God required, in total obedience and service to the Almighty.

Forgiven Sin and What Jesus Expects

by Gregory A. Johnson


When the religionists of Jesus’ day brought a woman to him caught in adultery, they expected he would uphold the Jewish law and condemn her to death by stoning. Instead of meeting their expectations, he used the opportunity to shift their focus from judging others to self-examination when he said, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her [the woman caught in adultery]." — John 8:7

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her,

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” — John 8:9-11

Jesus did not judge this woman like the religionists did. He did not condemn her to death. His actions demonstrate his forgiveness. He communicates to her his expectation moving forward. He tells her, “go now and leave your life of sin.”

Living Free from Condemnation and Judgement

By Gregory A. Johnson

One of the ten commandments that God gave Moses was not to commit adultery. Doing so would be a sin against God. The Jewish law was to stone to death those caught in adultery.

One day religionists brought a woman that was caught in adultery to Jesus. They wanted to see if Jesus would uphold the Jewish law and condemn this woman to death.

This was Jesus' response, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her [the woman caught in adultery]." — John 8:7

It is easy for us to identify the sins of others and focus on those sins instead of the fact that we all are sinners and each of us falls short. Please know that God wants to deliver us from the sin of being critical and judgmental.

How to Inherit the Kingdom of God

by Gregory A. Johnson

Check out this paragraph taken from God’s word, the Bible:

Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT). 

The last two sentences thrill me the most:

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11 NLT). 

The key word is “were.” The list of sins that the paragraph begins with is what some of us were. God does not want our focus to be on what we were as much as He wants us to always remember what He has done for us through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We all were sinners that fell way short of what God designed us to be, but He did not leave us in that state. No, he did something about it. Because He loves us so much, he sent His Son to pay the penalty and take the punishment for our sins.

How to Seek Good

by Gregory A. Johnson

Many people will be seeking many things today. Some will be seeking that which is good, and some will be seeking evil. Whatever is sought today will be found—whether good or evil.

When we turn on the news at the end of the day, or we pick up tomorrow’s paper, we will read many accounts of those who sought evil and found it. We will see that the fruit of seeking evil is death and destruction.

Have you noticed that there is not enough news about those who seek to do good? The fruit of seeking good is life-giving; it brings hope and joy. Oh, how I wish our news would be dominated by reports of those seeking good, and not evil.

Life is the fruit of seeking good. May we daily decide to seek good instead of evil; life is there for us and others if we do.

How do we seek good?

One Thing That God Is Most Willing to Give Us

by Gregory A. Johnson

We all have seen them. They stand at busy intersections holding up signs asking for help. We are sometimes quick to judge, but we don’t know their story. How did they get to this point in their life? What caused their need to beg, standing in the smothering heat of summer or the bone chilling and teeth-rattling cold of winter. How did it come to this?

Check out this paragraph of Scripture:

Then they came to the town of Jericho. Jesus was leaving that town with his followers and many other people. A blind man named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting by the road. This man was always begging for money. The blind man heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking by. The blind man shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, please help me!" ( Mark 10:46-47 ERV). 

Why Do We Need God?

by Gregory A. Johnson

We need God. A list of reasons why we need Him would be endless—taking more than a lifetime to compile. Please allow me to share a few reasons with you that are close to my heart:

• God covers us with amazing grace.
• God surrounds us with supernatural peace.
• God lets us know unconditional love. His love for us is not based on what we do or don’t do. His love for us was completed at the cross of Christ. It seems so simple, yet beyond our comprehension.
• God gives us a supreme gift of love that enables us to love those that we could never love before.
• God brings correction when we are wrong.
• God gives us more than one chance.
• God sees value in us.
• God never gives up on us.
• God allows us to dump all of our cares and anxieties on Him, granting us the privilege of communicating with Him in prayer.
• God gives us hope.

How to Live All out for God

by Gregory A. Johnson


Throughout history, God’s Spirit has been at work. You can read the Bible and see God’s Spirit leading and guiding, empowering, and prophesying, bringing God’s will on earth to fruition.

The events documented in the Bible did not come about by accident or chance. God sent His own son into our world to take care of our sin problem.

The word of God says, "Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God (Hebrews 9:14-15 MSG)."

Don't Forget the Needy and the Poor

by Gregory A. Johnson

In my book, The Kingdom According to Jesus, I write about how some church folk wrongly use John 12:7-8 as an excuse to do nothing to help the poor in their community, but they take that scripture out of the context in which it was spoken. (Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”). I’m so thankful for the many who minister to the needy and the poor, utilizing their time, talent, and treasure. They get what it’s all about and are truly following Christ in a point-of-need ministry.

I look forward to the day when a justice revival sweeps the land and every church is actively involved in helping the needy and the poor in their community. I pray that it happens in our day. I pray that it happens in this generation.

How to Successfully Reach Your Destination

by Gregory A. Johnson


When you place a stamp on an envelope and mail it, it will be delivered to its destination. If you don’t put a stamp on it before you mail it, it gets returned to you.

Check out this paragraph of Scripture: "Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge — a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete ( 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 MSG)."

Beloved, God stamps every promise he makes in the Bible with the “Yes of Jesus.” Jesus is God’s way of saying, “Yes!”

Three Choices That Will Start Your Day off Right Every Day

by Gregory A. Johnson

Each one of us has to make lots of choices today and every day. Those choices impact our lives and the lives of those around us.

If you struggle with knowing how to keep your life on the right path, here are three choices you can make every morning that will start your day off right:

1. Choose to trust God, knowing that He loves you and that there is nothing you can do to make Him love you any more or any less than He already does. His love for you is complete.
2. Choose to rejoice in the Lord because Jesus rescues you on a daily basis.
3. Choose to praise the Lord for His goodness toward you.

Beloved, make those three choices daily to start your day off right, and you will see your life will unfold as it is meant to, according to His perfect will for you.

Scripture:
“But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me” (Psalm 13:5-6, NLT).

Prayer:
Father, today I choose to trust in your love for me. I choose to praise you throughout the day for your goodness toward me, knowing that you will reveal it to me many times over. I choose to rejoice in my salvation because Jesus rescues me moment by moment. Thank you for drawing me to Him. Please drive me by your Holy Spirit today to make the right choices based on your Word. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

(The above is excerpted from the book, Be Encouraged: A Daily Devotional, Volume 1 by Pastor Gregory A. Johnson. Copyright © Gregory A. Johnson. All rights reserved.)

Know that you are loved,
gaj