E-mail newsletter #3
This is my newsletter. I know, I know.. it has been a long time since I last sent one out. I promise that this will become what the Lord originally told me to make it... a weekly devotional (or just weekly thoughts the Lord gave to me). I apologize for taking so long with getting this out. I've dealt with some major spiritual issues in my life and have come back ahead in a stronger relationship with God because of them... and now I plan to do what He told me to do from the very beginning.
Some of you asked to be included on the list and some of you did not, I merely thought you would like to get it. If you are recieving this and do not want to get it weekly then please let me know so I can take you off the list. If you know someone who would like to be added to the list, please let me know so I can add them... may God do His work through my weak words...
When I originally heard (basically this is mostly a rehashing of a sermon and a personal revelation that occured through the sermon) this I thought it was too different non-related things. But one day during a bible study the Lord revealed to me (although it really was not associated with the subject of the study) that they were basically the same. One just merely pointed to the importance of the other.
The subject of this week's study is of daily commitment, Bible study, and time with God. This is a very important aspect of our lives which we must keep active. (starting to get into my devotional while introducing it) :-) Following it is a personal revelation that shot me through the heart and hit me where I was. It was through a saying of Jesus that I, prior to being explained it in a sermon, did not understand. It displays the importance of a daily time with God.
scriptures for DAILY time with God:
Psalms 86:3 - Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee DAILY.
Matthew 6:11 - (part of the Lord's prayer) "give us this day our DAILY bread."
Luke 9: 23 - And he said to them all, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross DAILY, and follow me."
the devotional:
Daily is daily. It is not when we feel like it or when we are able to make the time. It is a daily taking up of our cross. It is a daily coming into the presence of God for a refreshing of His spirit in our lives. It is a daily meal of the spiritual food (the Word of God); both the hard to digest (meat) and the milk. It is a daily sacrificing of ourselves and a daily renewing of our identification with the death of our Savior (symbolic for our realization that the hold of the law of sin and death in our lives has been broken through the blood of Christ). It is also a necessity in a successful Christian life.
Daily we must set apart time for communication with the Lord. This is the foundation upon which our spiritual strength and the depth of our relationship with God stands. If you do not eat, how do you expect to be strong? (If you do not feed the spiritual man, how will you be able to stand? {"Study and show thyself approved - 2 Timothy 2:15}) How can you expect to have a deep and loving relationship with someone if you do not take the time daily to get to know then and spend time with them?? This is also true of our relationship with Christ. How can we get to know Him and His love if we do not spend time with Him??
my personal revelation & the importance of daily bible study & prayer time:
Matthew 12:43 - 45
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it EMPTY, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
Growing up this did not mean much to me. Nor did I ever truly realize what it meant. Up until this was used in a sermon did I ever truly realize how much it impacts me and my way of living and dealing with pain.
This says that when you overcome an evil, or are saved, if you do not fill yourself up with Christ then you will easily fall and be worse than you were before. If the evil spirit leaves a man and comes back to find a man EMPTY, without Christ, then he will easily find a way to slip back in and overtake the man with a few of his buddies.
So what did this mean to me? Well, it had a very deep meaning. I've always stressed the fact that when we feel down that we need to express these emotions and to let them go. Even in my article I wrote about suicide one of the main points to overcoming suicidal feelings was to write down how you felt. I've been very successful all my life at doing this. Take one look at my poetry and you will know. What does that mean? It means that I focused totally on emptying myself of my feelings and on expressing them on paper. I never thought, nor did I ever realize, that I must, after releasing how I feel, take it to the Lord in prayer time and Bible reading. I must fill up on His word and on His truth so that when the demon comes to attack again I will not be EMPTY, but FULL OF JESUS.
This means that every day I must stay in a relationship with God. Not only so He can cast out the demons from within me, but also that He can fill me and complete me SO THAT when the demon tries to come back He will find no place that Jesus doesn't inhabit. He will find me too full of God's love to find a place to lie down a root.
poetry:
well, it always seems the Lord tells me to write a poem(s) dealing with the subject of the devotional.. so I'm going to obey. I am never guarenteeing you of the results..
daily, Lord
Lord daily draw me to thee.
that in thy love I may rest assured.
that in thy path I may walk.
that in thy truth I may understand.
Lord daily renew me in thee.
that with thy strength I may withstand.
that with thy Spirit I may indowed.
that with thy truth I may be lead.
Lord daily touch my heart.
that through Your words I may learn.
that through Your lessons I may teach.
that through Your wisdom I may comprehend.
Lord daily become my life.
that I may live for you.
that I may be a light for you.
that I may die for you.
© Copyright 1998 Jonathan E. Johnston
Here are some other poems I've written...
I gave him victory
victory was handed over to his hands again.
I left my convictions,
I left what I knew,
and I jumped into the pit of his lies again.
I knew what to do to take his victory away.
I knew it, I had it in my hand
I had it in my heart.
but instead of using it... I gave my victory away.
and now I sit in this hole of conviction
drawing, drooling... remembering
how I gave it away...
like a river my heart floods with conviction.
God give me the strength, God help me
take to heart your words.
give my life up to you.
but I can't do it on my own, please help me.
© Copyright 1998 Jonathan E. Johnston
guide my eyes Lord
guide my eyes Lord.
make them see only the things
that you will me to see...
make them not see those things
that would bring me down,
back into the filth of myself.
guide my eyes Lord.
open them up to You
so I may see you...
open them up to Your word
so I may grow in You
and be the light for You.
guide my eyes Lord.
© Copyright 1998 Jonathan E. Johnston
hope in His arms
heartache bangs, acid rains
drenching the heart with pain.
fear frustrates, hope disintigrates -
the shattering of a window pane.
emotions race, tear drenched face
staring to the other side of the universe
.
bitter pill, bitter chill.
as time slips by it gets worse.
hearts melt, insults delt
even if only from within.
open - close, so many foes.
hopelessness becomes a kin.
tears cried, joys died
from the acid of dissapointment.
lifes torched, minds scorched
some kind of dreaded apointment.
peace here, without fear
in the arms of Jesus Christ.
hope restored, fear floored
His gift to us more than sufficed
.
tears He'll wipe, peace will ripe
creating hope and joy inside of you.
hate melt, winds of peace felt
He is here no matter what you go through.
© Copyright 1998 Jonathan E. Johnston
sometimes I feel down
sometimes I feel down.
burned into the dust of my faults,
buried in the grime of my heartache,
drenched in the pain of other's insults...
it's then that I turn my attention to God.
for He is the one who wipes away my sin,
for He is the one who clears away my misery,
for He is the one who dries my tears...
and He's my greatest friend...
sometimes I'm abonded.
left in the dust by my friends.
sometimes I'm ignored.
treated like I didn't exist or feel.
it's then I turn my attention to God.
for I know He loves me
and will never leave me...
nor will He ever turn His head
and forsake me...
© Copyright 1998 Jonathan E. Johnston
but still I feel
I see you standing there
in the empty hallways of my mind.
I feel your presence near
guiding me where I should go
.
but still I feel doubt,
but still I feel afraid....
still my heart lingers on
the defeat so fresh in my mind.
oh, God please help me,
please cure the disease within
and give me the strength,
give me the endurance...
for in my frail human strength
I cannot make it.
© Copyright 1998 Jonathan E. Johnston
I don't know if I've already sent these poems yet or not. I plan to set up a list for myself of ones I've already sent so that I do not send poems more than once, unless it is on purpose...
I don't know why the Lord led me to the poems He did. A few of them seem on the rather down side.. but we must all realize that in our lives there are down times.. if we fail to realize that then we are bound to fall...
I'd like to end this devotional with the words of a song by an awesome songwriter & man of God, Keith Green:
"Asleep in the Light"
do you see? do you see? all the people sinking down? don't you care? don't you care? are you gonna let them drown? how can you be so numb not care if they come? you close your eyes and pretend the jobs done.
oh bless me Lord. bless me Lord. you know it's all I ever hear. no one aches, no one hurts. no one even sheds one tear. but he cries, he weeps, he bleeds, and he cares for your needs. and you just lay back and keep soaking it in.
can't you see it's such sin. cause he brings people to your door and you turn them away as you smile and say, "God bless you, be at peace" and all heaven just weeps. cause Jesus came to your door. you've left him out on the streets.
open up. open up. and give yourself away. you see the need. you hear the cries. so how can you delay? God's calling and you're the one. But like Jonah you run. He's told you to speak but you keep holding it in. can't you see it's such sin.
the world is sleeping in the dark that the church just can't fight cause it's a asleep in the light. how can you be so dead when you've been so well fed? Jesus rose from the grave and you.. you can't even get out of bed. oh Jesus rose from the dead. come out, get out of your bed.
how can you be so numb not to care if they come? you close your eyes and pretend the jobs done. you close your eyes and pretend the jobs done. don't close your eyes, don't pretend the jobs done.
come away. come away. come away with me my love. come away from this mess. come away with me my love. come away from this mess. come away with me my love.
This newsletter is a ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ through His servant Jonathan Johnston.
Lee University #287
P.O. Box 3450
Cleveland, TN 37320-3450
E-mail Address:
jon97@innocent.com
Homepage:
http://www.oocities.org/SoHo/Lofts/4997/
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