Successfully Navigating Life

by Gregory A. Johnson

Life brings ups and downs, good times and bad times. Our emotions can be on the mountaintop one day and way down in the valley the next day. It can be like riding a roller coaster. How does one successfully ride this roller coaster called life?

King David faithfully declared that the Lord is the answer. In prayer, he tells the Lord, "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever (Psalm 16:11, NLT).”

Jesus will show you the way of life. Get your Bible and read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, noticing how Jesus lived his life. After you read them, read them again. Read them over and over again. Jesus came into our world to show us the way of life.

There is joy in the presence of Jesus. There is nothing like spending time with him in prayer, allowing him to renew and refresh our joy. Find you a quiet place today where you can be alone with him. He will revive you as you wait silently in his presence, meditating on him, his life, and his teachings.

The Old Testament Case for Nonviolence Book Review

by Gregory A. Johnson

Matthew Curtis Fleischer has a passion for God and God’s will. He is a lover of God and truth. It became evident to me as I read each chapter of his book, The Old Testament Case for Nonviolence.

On the back cover of the book, it is stated, “The violence in the Old Testament is one of the biggest obstacles facing Christianity today.” I sense that assisting to remove this obstacle is the motivation of the author in writing a book that so adequately and thoroughly lays out the case that the Old Testament (OT) does not advocate violence. Instead, the OT is anti-violence.

Fleischer starts the book in Chapter one with a series of questions that I’m sure most of us have thought and probably have even been asked:

Can we reconcile the violence of the Old Testament with the nonviolence of the New Testament (NT)? Can we honestly and rationally square God’s violent OT actions and commands with Jesus’ nonviolent actions and commands?

Who are we to imitate and obey? Are we to ruthlessly and mercilessly slaughter our enemies like the OT God or are we to self-sacrificially love our enemies like Jesus? What is the moral standard today—the OT, the NT, or a bit of both?

What is God really like? Is he more like the angry, jealous jihadist God revealed in the OT or the patient, merciful, nonviolent God revealed in Jesus?

Top 10 Posts of 2018

by Gregory A. Johnson

I am always humbled by the number of people who take the time to read what I write. I pray for the Spirit of God to encourage and inspire each reader as they read each word.

I simply write 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'm thankful for the readers from 87 countries in 2018 that have read what I shared.

Please allow me to share with you the top ten posts that were read in 2018:

10 Benefits of Loving God

by Gregory A. Johnson

Please allow me to share with you ten benefits of loving God:

1. God redeems us from a life of sin.
2. God forgives all our sins.
3. God removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.
4. God does not give us the punishment we deserve for our sins.
5. God heals us.
6. God renews our youth by satisfying us with good.
7. God works righteousness and justice for us.
8. God remembers that we are human.
9. God shows us compassion.
10. God loves us endlessly.

Given these ten benefits, why would anyone not want to love God? The benefits are out of this world!