Savage Johnny B

I'm reading the book of Luke with my kids currently. When John the baptist first started his ministry after going into the "wild", Luke records that he was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke records the first thing John said to the crowds that came to see and hear him in the wilderness....

 Which do you think he spoke to his new visitors? 

A. If you're a new visitor here out in the wild, we have a gift for you before you go home, please visit our welcome station before you leave 

B. I'm so glad ya'll are here, welcome to the sermon, grab some coffee and a muffin and make yourselves comfortable . 

C. God loves you just the way you are, we have a new membership class starting soon where we'll fill you in about who we are to see if you'd like to join.. 

 D. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 

 Yea, its D... he continues... "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and don't even start saying to yourselves "we have Abraham as our father", I'm telling you, God can make children of Abraham out of these stones right here. Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that doesn't bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire". 

 John the Baptist really cuts right to the meat of the matter. What do you think the people in the crowd did?

 "Oh, this guys a radical, we need to find a different preacher" or....."I just think he came on too strong, he's going to scare people away from following God".....or "he's just so unloving with his style of preaching... his manner is so unGodly". 

 No, they didn't say any of that, they started asking John what they could do. Then, they listened to his very reasonable and Godly answers. Then he preached the good news to the people. Then he went on to terrorize Herodias about all the evil things he had done. That last bit landed him in jail and he eventually had his head chopped off. That was basically the end of John the Baptist. He was Gods man for that time. He came and fulfilled his mission. Well done John the Baptistwe need more like you. "Make his paths straight!"

The Pilgrims Progress

It’s an interesting journey to be a believer of The Way. My understanding is always unfolding before me in pictures and symbols of what exactly is taking place. We walk from darkness into light. 

Perhaps that’s why the Lord made each day begin in darkness and end in light, to give us a symbol of what life will be like for us? We ALL start in darkness. I certainly did. 

When we hear and receive The Truth, it’s absolutely incredible, and it puts us all to shame. It humbles us, saves us, heals us and enLIGHTENS us. But the journey has just begun. 

For me, it seems as though I’ve walked along various paths that God illuminates for me. But , at times, I’ve certainly taken directions, of my own free will, that have led me back into darkness, for a time, only to recognize it’s not where I want to remain and I find my way back to the light. After many years, I’ve gotten better at this. The first 5 years were tough, I was accustomed to darkness. 

 I want to point out one thing about this “path” though. It’s a well lit path, but it’s not easy to navigate. Why? Well because the entire path isn’t lit, it’s illuminated only exactly where I’m standing. I can’t always see the next several miles ahead, even though God has told me what’s there. He gave me directions, Do I believe Him?? With each choice, each small act of obedience, each step, taken into the unknown known , trusting God, the light stays with me. Perhaps that’s why it’s called “blind faith?”

 2 Corinthians 5:7 “for we walk by faith, not by sight”

 If I turn to my left or my right, and I’m participating in the deeds of darkness, the light will either show me , expose me, or fade until I’m desperate to have it return and search again for it. When I repent, voila…light.

 When we walk in faith on the lighted path , sometimes we stop and pull the curtain back to the darkness …. 

on our left…..

 on our right….. 

behind us….. 

When we see what’s happening , we want to expose it to the light. We’ve discovered something!! So we take up an issue and expose it. And man do we feel like God is using us, God appoints us for this reason, we think! We’re truth tellers, exposing darkness, called to be salt in this world , a lamp in the darkness!

 Ephesians 5:11- “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” 

John 3:20-“For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” 

But after awhile, the more you see behind the curtain…the bigger and wider and farther you realize this darkness and it’s deeds go. It fills the whole world, (although you see stars among it). All of a sudden, you feel very small…and you recognize that what seemed like such a big deal ( the uncovering of dark deeds) , was just a small glimpse of it. The darkness appears to swallow up everything. It’s overwhelming. If that’s not enough, the darkness has everyone fooled that’s it’s actually a light. You realize you’re not enough and the task is daunting. 

 Then you remember you came from it, the schemes of man, the deeds of darkness , all of it. It’s still there. It seems to have a death grip on this world. And just when you thought that God could use you to rescue the world from the darkness you remember what your Master told you… 

John 16:33- “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

 We don’t need to save the world from darkness, we overcome it, and only because He did it for us. So perhaps it’s not about saving this world, but rather, the people in it. Perhaps we never “win” the battle of the dark deeds we’ve exposed…they’re just the tip of the iceberg, one small part of a vast array of schemes and evil meant to destroy all of us , if it could . The whole world is consumed by it. Is God is doing something else? 

When we walk through a dark world with light around us, do others notice? Do some come to see what we see? Do SOME repent when darkness is exposed and start on this same path we’re on? Perhaps, we’re just small stars navigating through the darkness.

 Perhaps we’re like sparklers on the Fourth of July. I can share my burning fire and hold it up against your dull grey cold metal stick, until …. yours lights also. Whether yours lights or not is up to God. The light, the fire, was shared with me…I’m just passing along what was given to me. It’s really a fascinating journey.

"The Baby" Dream

I had a recurring dream the other night that I get when I feel overwhelmed in life.

 In my dream, Jeff and I have a baby and our other kids. I’m so overwhelmed with all the responsibilities with my older kids, who are all 16 and under in my dream, that I can barely keep up with it all. 

In the dream, our baby is about seven months old. I stop for a minute and realize I can’t remember what the babies name is. I’m just so busy, I’ve completely forgotten what we named her. I'm not sure if I’ve known it for a long time, have I just been not paying attention to her?. I’m too embarrassed to ask anyone to tell me her name for obvious reasons, so I’m sitting and trying to think of where I can find her name. Perhaps there’s paperwork somewhere? A social security card? Wait, did I ever even apply her for a social security card? How can I not remember my own babies name?! 

While I’m trying to remember what our babies name is, I look around and think…”Where is that baby anyways?” Then it dawns on me; I haven’t seen the baby all week!! I think back and realize the last time we had her was at the mall the week before. Oh my God!! Did we leave her at the mall last week?!?! 

Now I need to call the police and report that we’ve lost our baby. 

“When’s the last time you had her ma'am and when did you realize she was missing?” I imagine they’ll ask me. 

“She’s been gone a week and I just realized this today” I’ll have to tell them. Oh that doesn’t sound good does it? 

“And what’s her name?”…….. 😳 😳 😳 🤷‍♀️ ……

Maybe I’ll just go to the mall myself and check the lost and found. 😬 

This is my dream when I’m overwhelmed, it’s ridiculous. 

There are so many people I love right now who are hurting. I LOVE people and I love to hear their stories, and I pray OFTEN for everyone going through stuff. Lately between and all the messages I get from people on Facebook and from friends, y’all are going through SERIOUS STUFF!! I want to help everyone but I know I can’t. I can only pray. And then I get overwhelmed because there are SO many people to pray for and I’m worried I’ll forget someone in my prayers. Why?? Because I’m weak. I’m human. 

When I feel like this, I desperately want to go off by myself and just be with God, but I can’t do that because of my responsibilities. So I pray and spend time with God when I can. Here in the morning , laying in my bed at 3 am, driving to some appointment, standing in the shower.

 So many people randomly reach out to me. I reach out to Jesus. And I earnestly think that before anyone reaches out to me for wisdom, they should first reach out to Jesus. Because Jesus won’t forget your name , He knows the number of hairs on your head. I, on the other hand, left my baby at the mall and can’t even remember what I named it. 

Let’s all go to Jesus together. We are weak, HE alone is strong. We are all the babies He never forgets.