Monthly Archives: February 2022

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“Wars & Rumours of War…”

“And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of war:…” Matthew 24:6 (a) What can we possibly say now? Jesus warned us long long ago of all that would one day come to pass and we know wars have been raging since mankind has been confined to this realm of the earth.

So even though it may not seem like anything new, believe me, it is more than worth giving serious thought and attention to. And we will get into scriptures of why in a bit.

The attack on Ukraine has been heart wrenching and the most disturbing truth to be told is the reality of the worlds eyes being awakened, finally seeing the insurmountable ruthlessness of the heart that beats inside the chest of Vladimir Putin. The adjectives I most wanted to use, have already been used and it is hard to even describe what is hard to define.

This came as a shock only to those who have not paid attention to the world around us and those who have listened and watched saw this coming long ago and fear what else may come and will come.

All that we are witnessing is prophecy unfolding and what truly terrifies me, as I have expressed in many a post, is that while we are busy fighting each other, and protesting everything, and accusing one another, constantly bickering and displaying to the whole world the division among our own people, that we forget that we do still have those who would like nothing more than to destroy us, and not only us, but any who stand for the truth of freedom.

The biggest mistake that a nation can ever make is to forget that freedom is a gift, and that freedom must be guarded, protected, and cherished.

I want to give a passage as a comparison of what happens when the “frienmie” is welcomed into the camp and all the “treasures” are laid bare for them to see.

“At that time Berudachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah because he had heard that he had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the things of his house of the precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all his house of  his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto hm, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.

And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.

And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried away into Babylon: and nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.” 2 Kings 20:12-16

Before we get into this, I do want to note something, Hezekiah had in fact been dying and had been told to get “his house in order” and you read that by just going up a few verses on your own and in Isaiah chapter twenty-eight, he sought the Lord and the Lord had extended his life by fifteen years, but it is a true lesson in never questioning the Lord, because even though it seemed good that he lived, much heartache came as a result of that extension, including the visit by the Babylonians above.

At the feigned compassion of his unknown enemy, he forgot that there were still those who would like to rob his treasures and take over his country, and in forgetting that he showed them everything, everything right down to the armour, so they knew exactly what they would be dealing with before they attacked and they knew exactly what and where to locate every treasure they wished for their own.

Sounds so familiar, I cringe listening to news reports, when I hear what the game plan is and I hear, “No, we are not sending in military.” Do we really have to be that transparent? Shouldn’t we keep some plans secret? What army would fear a battle with a country that they knew in advance would not fight back?

We have shown all our treasures, we have shown our ‘detest” for our own people in the ways that we treat one another and we have shown the world all they need to see about our stability and it is horrifying

And as we know that scripture is in reference to original Babylon, check out this one concerning spiritual Babylon., as much of the book of Jeremiah is double prophecy, meaning it was for that day and also as a future fulfillment.

This passage refers to the “mingled people” this one is a no brainer when you think of a country that is comprised of people from all ethnic groups, becoming a new people, I myself descend from five ancestral groups.

Americans are about as mingled as it can get and there is no definitive term or country assigned Biblically to us, which is also one of the ways we determine “who” we are in scripture.

We are the “mingled” people and we are the end time Mystery the Great. I want to give you just a few verses concerning judgments, that is what the sword represents  and it will show clearly just how weakened the state of that nation will be in the end.

“A sword is upon  the liars (soothsayers, psychics): and they shall dote;

A sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled (mixed) people that are in the midst of her: 

And they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.

A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon (insane with) their idols.” Jeremiah 50:36-38

Hopefully, Lord will, we’ll go through the entire chapter there in a post soon, but for now, I’d ask that you notice how the country was weakened and at the moment that is how the rest of the world sees us because we have trusted in our strength as a nation and turned from God in the worse possible way, and even though there are many who still follow Christ, it is the leadership that we have allowed that have an will bring those judgments.

Back to Putin, the only way he is going to stop is divine intervention by a God that he does not even believe in, which God stopped Pharaoh and I still believe in the power of prayer. He has been totally underestimated, and his relationship with China and the true destruction that could come, Pharaoh is a good comparison to what the world is dealing with concerning him and his agenda. The Biblical kings of the East, the old adage “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” work together, and the secretly plot against the other until only one is left standing.

So we all pray and pray, without ceasing for Ukraine, for the people, they are a true inspiration, they are brave, they are strong in the face of absolute terror.

And we should pray as if it were us in their shoes, because it very well could be one day. How would we respond, our lives ripped apart, driven from our homes and everything we know as a hellish force rains down on us?

We all need to wake up and America needs to grow up, while we still stand. It is always someone else problem until that problem decides to make itself our problem too, and complacency is a luxury no one can afford.

The concept of having peaceable resolution will not always be an option, this is just a bit concerning the one to come at the end, what I want you to notice is that is is all about the force and conquest there is no human ability to stop this final endtime assault and the war that will be waged that will lead to the battle of Armageddon and the ultimate fulfillment of Christ defeating the antichrist and the forces of darkness and taking his reign over earth.

“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous (unusual) things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 

Neither shall he regard the God (gods) of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.  But in his estate (their place) shall he honour the god of forces (a god of fortresses); a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones,and pleasant things.

Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (against the strongest fortresses’) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and cause to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain (profit).” Daniel 11:36-39

Chilling isn’t it? He worships something unlike anything anyone has seen, of course he gets his power from Satan, but it is good to know what’s coming, mention of which, stay vigilant, just as Jesus told us to watch, be ready for his return and be ready for worse case scenarios and most importantly, again prayer, prayer,, and more prayer.

It is my sincerest prayer for the people of Ukraine and those who are also suffering persecutions the world over today that the Lord will intervene in a powerful way and that His face will shine sending back the forces of hell on earth.

For their protection:

Psalm 91:1-4: ” He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in him will I trust.  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, anf from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust (take refuge) his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”

For their escape:

Psalm 124:6-8: ” Blessed be the Lord who hath not given us as  a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

Because our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

For divine intervention and deliverance:

Isaiah 12:5,6: “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.”

In the name above every other name, Jesus. Amen.

Φλογιζω NBJ 2022/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

 

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“You are precious to Him”

“But now saith the Lord, that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name; thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the Lord thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. 

Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable (innocent), and I have loved thee…” Isaiah 43:1-5a 

The magnificence of the Lord. Jesus loves us and is good to us not because of anything we do or could ever do.

Just as he creates us in our mother’s womb, he breathes life unto us and upon salvation gives us his overflowing presence, he calls us by name, and he calls us not servants but brothers and sisters and he calls us his friends.

As he was with the Hebrews as he made a way of their escape through the Red Sea, as he lifted up Peter when he was afraid, and the Hebrew boys, not bowing down, and from the flames he protected them.

He is “I AM THAT I AM”, which means he is who is and he makes his own choices and has none above him nor any beside him and yet he gave all of Egypt in rescuing his people. 

Jeremiah 31:3: “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn thee.”

He loves us simply because he is good, he is merciful, and he is Holy and when we repent and go on to know him, love him, and serve him in love, and worship him in truth and spirit, we become partakers of those wonderful promises he gave us through Isaiah.

Maybe you’re having a rough day, maybe the world, satan, or even self-doubt is making you feel that you or even your life doesn’t matter at all.

But to God you do! He even said that we are precious in his sight!

How could it get any better than that?

So, if you if need a little encouragement today, remember these words: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…”

Φλογιζω NBJ 2019 Revisited 02/17/2022 Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

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Angels, Roses, & True Love Part 4 “Truest Love of All”

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

These things I command you, that ye love one another. 

If the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world,but I have CHOSEN you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”  John 15:9-18   

Love is the most misunderstood word in existence, and love in its truest sense is often left undiscovered.

When Jesus gave us these words, which he went on in verse twenty to remind us to, “REMEMBER the word that I have said unto you…” as He went on to warn them that we can never expect to be treated any differently than he was.

We are truly judged by the company we keep and often once you started keeping company, as our old Southern sayings go, with Jesus, you will find out pretty fast who your real friends are, which in most cases, will then mean were. 

So often all of us at one time or another have been hit with the old routine of “If you really loved me…” and you know that is the biggest trap the enemy has ever set.

People who really love you will NEVER play that game, they will NEVER use the love that they know you have for them as a tool against you, to manipulate and control you or to coerce you into to bending to their will and never caring at all about you or your feelings.

So that my friends is the state of the world, and just as Jesus said, the world, referring to those people, people who do not honor God or his teachings and sure do not want you to honor him, they will hate you. 

Being human will all need to feel love and we need acceptance and the enemy plays on those needs because he knows where our greatest weakness lies.

That it why it is imperative to cultivate a relationship with Jesus and of course if you have never accepted salvation, that is where you must start.

Think about that, just as he told us, there is NO GREATER LOVE, the love of God, the one who created you, just as He told the Prophet Jeremiah… “BEFORE, I formed thee in the belly  I knew thee”…  and he knew you, me, and every other person who was or ever will be created.

And His love, mercy, and grace will never fail.

He gives this freely, openly, honestly, no strings attached, no deals to be made.

He just gives all that He is and He gives from the moment He brings you into this world through all the ups, downs, of life until your golden years.

He gives us that hope, that choice, and that offer to open that door as He beckons for you to open your heart and as He also promises that even as time fades from us that He is there.

Isaiah 46:4: “And even to your old age I am he and even to your hoar hairs (gray hairs) will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

Now those are the words of God Himself promising us that even to the end of everything, He will carry us, deliver us, and as He also promised in scripture elsewhere, He will never leave us or forsake us.

THAT is Love.   

So, you see no matter where you are, where you have been, none of it matters.

God wants you right where you are, and maybe the enemy has lied to you, convincing you that God has already called too many times, or you have went too far or that your family, relationships, or circumstance disqualifies you from ever being able to serve God, again one of the biggest lies of all.

Jesus loves you and He died on the cross to save you, and it is  never too late until you take your last breath.

He will save you, all you have to do is ask him into your heart, because He will not just force you  accept him,  or force you to accept the greatest gift of all, His love the only true love, and a love that will never fail.

And as I leave you, I want to leave you with this question, Why spend life never knowing what you cannot know until you have accepted it?

I know that was a tongue twister, meaning this, never dismiss the thought of the existence of God or the relationship that is waiting for you, a relationship of peace and love, and truly knowing God, until you have at least sought Him.

Before I was saved I did not understand that either.

I always thought of God as just out in Heaven, we could pray to him and I believed in Him but never understood what it meant to know His presence, and no one can know that or understand that until they are saved.

This is how it works… you believe, you ask and then you know.

He is not in the business of proving Himself to us before we believe, we believe and then He reveals Himself to us. that is the part the world that he referred to is missing, and they do hate him or rather the belief in Him, because their hearts are so darkened and their minds so blinded that they do not believe in anything, they live in the moment, never believing that there is more.

Falsely thinking that this world, this life is all that there is, and as the Bible teaches us, if we only had hope in this life, and our only confidence was in the things of this world we would be miserable.

He proved how much He loves us, enough to die for us, and there is no greater nor will there ever be a greater love than that of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for reading, sorry that I was running so late with this series that was supposed to be for Valentine’s Day, but God knows everything and His timing is perfect so I hope in some way this will bless you TODAY!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson REVISTED 02/16/2022

Series posts: Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Intro

Angels, Roses, & True Love : Part 2 “Angels”

Angels,Roses,& True Love/ part 3 “A rose by only one name”

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Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Part 3 “A rose by only one name”

“The wilderness and the solitary (desert) place shall be glad for them: and the desert shall blossom as the rose.

It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and signing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm (make firm) the feeble knees. Say unto them that are of a fearful heart (are afraid), Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then the lame man shall leap as a hart (a deer), and the tongue of the dumb (mute) shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool and thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of dragons (jackals),where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

And an highway shall be there, and a way (road), And it shall be called The way of Holiness;  the unclean shall not pass over it: but is shall be for those; the wayfaring men (those who walk the road), though fools, shall not err therein (will not go astray).

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed of the Lord shall walk there. 

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.   Isaiah 35

Well to get started, Happy leap day, Happy leap year, Happy Sadie Hawkins Day! That is a lot for a day that only comes every four years!

It is cold and snowy in my part of the world, looked quite like a post card this morning, absolutely gorgeous with snow covering every branch of every tree and glittering down sparkling as the sun tried to shine through.

And it is a beautiful refreshing change from this time yesterday, as I was feeling a little ” Bob crackit-ish” having just came out of a nineteen-hour power outage caused by a fallen tree…ah the joys of electric heat. 

And things can and do change fast sometimes, like the old saying, “What a difference a day can make.”

Like our passage above, I know that seemed excessive, an entire chapter, but it is needed. God often works in our lives the same way, one day is catastrophic, your entire world crashing around you, such as in the first verse, a spiritual wilderness, a barren deserted land in which you feel that you have found yourself helplessness alone.

Then Jesus comes in and lets us know that He is already there, He is in that place with you and for you, and in those places of solitude is the very place that God often uses to bring that gladness and joy of his presence to us.

This is why the desert can be “glad” for us, and why it can be a place, starting out with feelings of lonely abandonment and quickly becoming a beautiful, fruited land in where find a renewing and strengthening of your personal relationship with God.

A place in which you learn complete trust and complete surrender while gaining faith and complete confidence in his power over your life and the blessed knowledge that he is doing something wonderful in you despite what everything around you may be saying to the contrary.

And the blooming of that rose, a rose not only blooming but blossoming into perfection out of the parched dry ground.

A rose that would seem doomed to never in bud given the hardness of the soil in which it is planted but once those sweet waters come bringing the glory and joy of the land over that land, everything will change.

Wasn’t it Shakespeare’s famous line that told even by any name a rose would smell just as sweet?

Ah, but I do beg to differ…

“I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As my lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” Song of Solomon 2:1,2

And talk about beautiful fragrances…

“Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows (more than any other), All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia…” Psalm 45: 7, 8 (a) 

No name greater, no fragrance sweeter than our God, the only true rose, the only rose whose love does bloom in us, even in the middle of a desert and who is the lily producing a beautiful, sweet fragrance covering and replacing the smell of the awful ash left by what had once consumed our life.

That sweet aroma of that lily, whose beauty shines forth even from among the painful thorns as we go through the valleys of this world, as all the “dragons”, all that would hurt and hinder are made silent and renewing, as that fresh grass growing starts to take place.

So, you see, you can’t stop, you cannot give up, because where you are today can change in twinkling of an eye. The place of the desert that you may feel will engulf you may very well be the place you look back on one day with a higher knowledge and understanding that if it had not been for that desert, you may have never be given the only truly perfect rose.  

“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour (aroma).”  Ephesians 5:1,2

Nothing, absolutely nothing that can be sweeter or any rose more beautiful than Jesus.

Trust him, just TRUST him.

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson REVISTED 02/15/2022

For series posts, please click links:

Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Intro

Angels, Roses, & True Love : Part 2 “Angels”

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Angels, Roses, & True Love : Part 2 “Angels”

“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about the that fear him, and delivereth them.” Psalm 34:7

I really had a rough time thinking about this one. There are so many stories in the Bible of the interactions between those of us on earth and the host of heaven, who are sent to us, I believe, more often than we could ever imagine.

And it is truly hard to write for six years dealing in the same subject matter and not get redundant, and redundant I do not wish to be, so this post with be heavy laden with golden links that can be clicked on for more posts concerning heaven meeting earth.

But we have all experienced those moments in life, usually near fatal accidents that somehow, miraculously we were spared and stories upon stories that can have only one explanation divine intervention carried out by servants of the most Divine.

We can get into the mindset of this by recalling the stories of old.

One my personal favorites the angel that visited Hagar not once but TWICE.

Daniel whose life was spared through his faith in God as God sent an angel to “shut the mouths of the lions” which I believe this meant that the lions were calmed and lulled they knew the angel was there as we know from the story of the beaten donkey  , the donkey that kept stopping because she saw what her evil rider could not… the angel whose compassion toward that donkey almost brought an even earlier end to Balaam. 

The angel Gabriel proclaiming blessed news to Mary, and again angels coming to proclaim to simple shepherds that that blessed promise had been fulfilled.

Other births had been foretold as those of the angelic realm paid visits also to Samson’s parents, his mother first and then at the prayer of Manoah, God sent the angel again to clarify how this child should be raised.

Not to mention Zacahrias, the father of John the Baptist was also visited by Gabriel as he performed his duties in the temple. 

There are stories of encounter after encounter with everything from bring prophecy and good news, to warning of danger ahead and assurance that the future will be brighter as in Hagar’s case.

An angel fed Elijah when he was so discouraged he could no longer continue. Jacob wrestled with the angel before becoming Israel, Joshua was given comfort meeting the captain of the host that were for them.

Stories of the Lord sending his angels to fight against those that were to strong for his children to fight and opening the eyes of the servant of Elisha to allow him to see just how many were really there for that fight if needed. Other times he sent them forth in judgment  to destroy those that sought to destroy his chosen or defiled his temple.

They announced his birth, his resurrection, and spoke to the disciples at his ascension assuring them that he would indeed return just as he went away and they will continue to watch over us and do his will until that day. 

So when I think of God and I think of love it is very difficult to not think of the angels and his beauty, grace,and kindness in sending them to watch over us and when I think of all the times in life all of us could have encountered an angel and not have ever even known is even more amazing to me! 

“Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”  Hebrews 13:1-2

Our gentle warning to always respond in love (I fail this one often!) and a bigger warning that we should always be very careful how we treat others because we can actually be talking with an angel.

I want to point out something here, if you were to ever encounter an angel posing as human to check your true usage of the golden rule  you would probably never even know that you had but just know that an angel would never test you on anything contrary to the word of God.

They would never request anything of you that is wrong or illegal or immoral. And they are NEVER to be worshiped. 

“And I John saw these things and heard them, and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it NOT: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings (words) of this book: WORSHIP GOD.” Revelation 22:8,9

I love “angels”. I have angels on almost anything you can imagine and love giving Christmas cards with scriptures of “Glad Tidings” and art work of the same.

When we think of  all the beautiful cards with truly inspirational sayings and thoughts of love and peace with gorgeous illustrations of what we perceive the angels to be, lets always bear in mind one thing.

These thoughts and sentiments that we have came to cherish are actually a reflection of the love God has sent to us, the only difference is his angels ARE real!

So I want to give you some of that good news, the words from God concerning those of the heavenly host that he does in deed give “charge over you” to watch over you, comfort you, protect you, and be there in the loneliest, most barren place of hopelessness .

Much like the place Hagar  found herself in, through no fault of her own and just when she thought EVERYTHING was hopeless and she truly believed that she and much worse her son were going to die in that wilderness, God sent his angel with not only words of comfort, words of hope, and the PROMISE of a future for her son but also he miraculously sent them water so that they could physical continue on that journey.

God know all of our needs emotional, spiritual, and physical and he addressed all these for Hagar, taking care first of the emotional, then the spiritual, by giving her reassurance delivered no less than through an angel, and then her physical need was met.

And he does the same for us, we just have to believe and be open and mindful that even when we feel alone and it looks like there is no one on our side, Jesus is and he sends his angels as proof of that.

John was told to not worship them because they are workers together with us for the kingdom of God. Which is so important to say in a world that wants to worship everything except the one true God and always be careful of media posts and sites that touting messages from angels or connect with your angels.

We don’t connect with them… God sends them to us, they are ever present.

There is always the question that if God is real and angels are real why does bad things happen? 

That is explained quite simply as being on this earth, being human, God never promised this earth would be easy, it is not our eternal home, we are not  in the realm of immortality and the pain and heartache felt by one is surely felt by another.

And the best way to be mindful of that, especially when we are going through particularly painful seasons is remembering a very crucial lesson, Jesus was Mary’s   firstborn son and he was also God in human form and will for ever be and Jesus who was the perfect, sinless, Lamb of God DIED for us so that we could live.

The Bible is also full of stories of heartache and blessings given for the generations by those near the end of their own.

The apostles Peter and Paul both writing of the deaths that were soon to come and yet both of these men spared, miraculously rescued by the angels and not just once.

Peter after having been arrested and chained between two guards had this encounter as recorded in Acts 12:7-10: “And, behold, the angel  of the Lord came upon him (stood by), and a light shined in the prison: and he smote (tapped) Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly, And his chains fell off from his hands.

And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals (get dressed and put on your shoes), so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

And he went out, and followed him; and wist (knew) not that it was true (real) which was done by the angel; but he thought that he saw a vision.

When they were past the first and second ward (guard posts), they came unto an iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them on his own accord (meaning the gate miraculously opened): and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.”

Paul as he was in the midst of the storm while a prisoner on a seemingly doomed ship, had the to speak of his encounter and what they must do to survive:

Acts 27:22-26: “And now I exhort (urge) you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship (the ship would be destroyed).

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve. Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

Wherefore sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast (run aground) upon a certain island.”

The angel reminding Paul, bringing God’s words and promises over his life back to his mind, assuring him that no matter how dark  it was not quite time.

It was not yet time for them to go to that eternal home but when the time started to come they knew and they never questioned God’s love for them.

The one common thread that weaves it all together is this, it is only temporary and the entire reason for our faith is believing that there is so much better, in the life yet to come.

Lets actually just quickly look at what they both said concerning their inevitable deaths.

Paul wrote this ending his directions to Timothy concerning what he must do to be a successful minister for the Kingdom of Heaven.

2 Timothy 4:6: For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure (death) is at hand.”

And Peter, also giving instructions as his last words before saying this:

2 Peter 1:13-15: “Yea, I think it meet (is right), as long as I am in this tabernacle (body), to stir you up by putting you in remembrance:

Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle (die), even as our Lord Jesus has shown me.

Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease (death) to have these things in remembrance always.”

How could they have such comfort and such peace? Because they knew, they had the Lord and they knew had the angelic host and we never alone. 

They are with us from birth, through childhood, just as Jesus said concerning the children when he gave this warning from Matthew 18:10: “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

When we have ran amok, wasting our inheritance like the prodigal sons and daughters that we are, hanging out with the wrong people and as messed up.as we are he still loves us.He still watches over us and still his angels watch over us and Jesus said this about the moment that they are observing as we come into the truth.

Luke 15:10: “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repeneth.”

These are they who cease not to praise the Lord and there are those who are night and day around the throne and the only time we are told they are silent is just before judgment is began against earth. They are with you in life and they will be with us in death as again Jesus relays the story of Lazarus.

Luke 16:22: ” And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: and the rich man died and was buried.”

Quite a contrast the rich man died and was buried (we know that he also lifted up his eyes in hell, never have accepted salvation)  but Lazarus carried by the angels.

Start to finish, God send us his messengers and when we have doubt and fears, loneliness and grief we should always rest in that comfort, as they have been with us silently and invisibly here, one day we will be with them there, we also we be part of that host of heaven but until then rest assured knowing that they are always around!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev Nina Brown Johnson REVISTED 02/14/2022

Posts in series: Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Intro

Angels,Roses,& True Love/ part 3 “A rose by only one name”

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Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Part 1, The Intro

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the  most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is  my refuge and my fortress: my God in whom I will trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome (deadly) pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust(take refuge); his truth shall be thy shield and buckler (shield).

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in the darkness; nor for the destruction that wastesth (lays waste) at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only wit thine eyes shalt thou behold the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come thy dwelling. 

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Psalm 91:1-11 

Most familiar passage of scripture there, most know it and if you don’t, what a more fabulous time to learn it! And what a better time of the year, i am just a wee late on this but love should be celebrated every single day!

Not just once a year, but every single day. And I am not talking about carnal love, or the romantic love of a married couple, but the true healing balm that softens even the hardest heart and seals even the deepest spiritual wounds.

The love that is best understood by carefully reading and spiritually dividing his Word an this passage is an excellent place to start.

“If ye have heard of the dispensation (stewardship) of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward;

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in in few words,

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

That Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel;

Wherefore I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifest wisdom of God.

According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you which is my glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

That he would grant you according to to riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded IN love, may be able to comprehend (understand) what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:2-19 

Part of the lesson the be learned from this scripture is this, the “mystery” of God, that had perplexed humans since the dawn of time, is not quite a mystery after all. Humans have a need to understand, to know, even to believe in something s much more than ourselves.

Love itself testifies to this because we know that love can not die and God created us with that very desire to know to understand something so much greater, but in that we have through time searched for these answers in so many wrong places.

Never understanding the simplicity of the truth, and being human we want to attribute our human thinking and logic to a divine force that can not be reduced to our human mentality.

This is why Jesus came to earth, everything that thought and everything that attributed to God was quite skewed, He wasn’t all about fire and brimstone, punishment and death, and the ability to hand down the sentence of eternal damnation, which all those have their place, but he came here for one reason and one reason only to save us and save us not with punishment and terror but to save us, and to save us with thew most misunderstood yet greatest attribute of His divinity, His LOVE.

I do hope you will join me for the remainder of this series, lord will, we will look at how that love which does truly surpass anything our mortal minds can comprehend, goes so far beyond and yet touches us every single day and just as our customs of angels, roses, and never ending love stories,but the real love story was written by the greatest author of all and that story has no end and that rose never fades and that love never dies or grows cold but lives forever, eternally in a story yet to be told.

And here is your final verse for our intro,

Romans 5:8: “But God commended(demonstrates) his love toward us, in, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Join me next time! Have a blessed week. Rev. Nina Brown Johnson / Φλογιζω NBJ 2020 REVISTED 02/13/2022

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A change of heart….

“And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.” JEREMIAH 24:7 

A few days and it will be Valentines Day, always, always has been one of my favorites, I was born a helpless romance junkie and think it should be a crime for anyone to not celebrate the one day set aside to celebrate the greatest of all gifts… LOVE.

And I do NOT mean it in the context of the world standards with their absolutely perverse notion of what love even means, although this time of the year it is hard to escape, especially this year with all the hype about the new even more twisted sequel to a certain movie.. but enough of that

Funny how we humans can dress up the devil and sell him as the best thing that ever happened to us.

Satan will try, he doesn’t care if it has been twenty years, thirty years, whatever, he never gives up and that is why we have to always be on guard and the biggest threat to your salvation is always gonna be your “old friends” and maybe that little throw in there will help someone who may be having “a blast from the past” that the enemy has sent to knock the wind out of your sails.

Remember what Jesus said “Let the dead bury the dead” go on with your life.

Back to love.. real love… the best part of any good romance movie is when the love question comes and one says to the other “If you could only look into my heart…” and we know the correct mushy Hallmark ending to that sentence is “you would KNOW just how much I love you” and all the other mushy love stuff.

So, I want you in honor of true spirit of Valentine’s Day to answer me a question. well actually you will be answering it to you, since I am obviously pretty far outta earshot… If someone were to look deep into your HEART, what would they see?

Would they see tattered, torn, broken, and left feeling forsaken by friends, and family? 

Would they see all the damage, stress, and strain of the trails you have been through in your life and all the rips and shreds left by lost loves and lost loved ones?

Would they see regret, and remorse, and guilt so severe over things you cannot change that have left you with the inability to forgive YOURSELF?

Would they see wounds and scars from a lifetime of deceptions and many bad decisions?

Would they see sorrow, grief, and pain and the worry over the tragedies of others?

The true beauty in having a “damaged” heart is that only a heart that has known true agony can fully give itself to others and most of all to God because only He can revive, renew, and repair all that we think is eternally lost and only he can take a heart too afraid to be loved or show love and make it overflow with the purest of love, to flow out so strong that it can even flow onto those you think are incapable of love and convert them. 

That is why He tells us that He will GIVE us a heart to KNOW Him, but we must come to Him with our whole heart.

And in doing this we have to admit what we see and be willing to trade in our hearts of stone, hardened through life, hardened against faith, hardened in unbelief because of the things we have suffered, and we have the argument that our wounds are too deep, too much water under the bridge and we can’t give our lives to Christ because we just “can’t live it” right now, but that is such self-deception! 

We only have to give Him those stone hearts and let Him tell us what He sees. 

Ezekiel 36:26,27: “A NEW HEART also WILL I GIVE YOU, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I WILL TAKE AWAY THE STONY HEART out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep judgments, and do them.”

He does the work! He gives US the new heart and once He gives us His spirit, HE leads us, guides us, and CAUSES us to walk in His paths!

There is NOTHING that we can do for ourselves! And I for one thank God for that, I personally could have never “fixed” myself, no one or not the greatest team of any super brains on earth could have “fixed” me and you know what?

They can’t fix anyone else either!

Only Jesus, because we have to have a heart transplant that only ONE physician in the universe knows how to perform!

So if you are looking and not liking what you see, and be honest, that is the groovy thing with this blog, NO ONE knows you while you are reading it!

I don’t know it, your friends don’t know it and NO ONE sees you, so you can be honest, right there where you are, LOOK… what do you see?

Joel 2:12,13: “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, TURN ye even TO ME with ALL YOUR HEART, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; And rend (tear open) your heart, and not your garments.

And TURN unto the Lord your God; For HE IS GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL, SLOW TO ANGER, AND OF GREAT KINDNESS….“

I promise you, you can trust Him with ALL your heart, and I also promise you, if you could only look into the Father’s heart, you would truly see just how much He ALREADY LOVES YOU!

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω NBJ 2017

Original post date 02/10/2017 REVISTED 02/12/2022 Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

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Cultivating a passion for compassion

To the word… shall we? Luke 7:11-16: “It came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people (a large crowd). Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people (large crowd) of the city was with her.

And when the Lord SAW her, HE HAD COMPASSION ON HER, and said unto her, Weep not.  And he came and TOUCHED the bier  (open coffin): and they that bare him  (carried the coffin)  STOOD STILL.

And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that WAS dead SAT UP, and began to speak. And he (Jesus) delivered him to his mother.

And there came a fear on all (fear seized them all): and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet has RISEN among us; and that GOD HATH VISITED HIS PEOPLE.” 

I know the look of this writing format is not the greatest but it is kinda tricky to say it in my head and expect everyone to read it with the points I would so stress vocally… so we instead get this big bold words to hit the preferred points.

Going be, hopefully ‘talking’ about compassion or rather the lack thereof. I will admit I get very angry, very easily with the stories of people who do things that are just so mean and sometimes hearing peoples thoughts, takes, and advice in dealing with everything from children to pets and sometimes I just want to scream, “WHAT is wrong with you people?!” 

I still think the “wrong” part is what helped usher in the falling away of the church, especially taught in the old days, teaching against women and that everyone and everything was to be brought “into submission” through hitting and brow beating, that church shaming keep the flock in check, when actually it ran them out, and the Bible teaches us that love “discreetly” covers matters.

The old school-house rules of teachers actually calling bullied kids “tattle-tales” instead of defending them. So, it is not to be a shock that people who “grow up” under these teaching and in homes with these thoughts often (NOT ALWAYS) cling to those same destructive mentality as adults.

Doubt it? Well, how babies do you think are born as white supremacists or born with any other natural inclination to hatred and violence, or to hold any other poisonous prejudiced belief.  NONE, we are created completely equal, with no hate, or distrust toward anyone.

Infants do not even have to capacity to hate. Anger itself is supposed to be three to six months of age and shame around thirty-six months, but hatred is its own monster and usually it is taught or birthed from a neglectful, abusive environment.

So, if a person has never been taught love, compassion, and mercy how can we expect them to show it? And it is so easy for us to give into our own hatred and disgust (which IS still wrong, I fully admit I wrestle with it in many instances) because we can’t understand how people cannot see that there is a better way.

Compassion which is one the most precious attributes of the Lord, among his innumerable is the most often overlooked, and avoided of them all.

So much with hell and brimstone, which I also preach, and do not feel is preached nearly enough, but it has to be in context with the conviction spirit drawing people, convicting them of their need of salvation.

Only God can bring true conviction, saving conviction, conviction that will bring change as he himself cautioned all to “TURN from their WICKED ways”.

ALL of us who are truly of the body of Christ have felt that conviction, we were made fully aware of our ways and how truly wicked and sinful our lives had been, that is what gets through to us.

We can never do that, we don’t “get people saved” we can make people feel shame, fear, guilt, (which is again, all WRONG) and try to “get them saved” and only make them feel like dirt and view us as “judgy” hypocrites, causing them to run even farther away…which is what brought us to this post!

People can only be told so many times that what they say is sinful, what they think is sinful, what they wear… AGAIN sinful before they just finally give up.

What we THE WORLD needs is compassion; we NEED a revival of compassion. I have said this before and probably will again, but the most missed point of all time has been COMPASSION, Jesus IS compassion and I love the story from Luke, because NO ONE had to ask him to do this, NO ONE told him about this lady or her son, of course being God, I am sure He knew, but for our recorded information NO ONE else brought this to his attention. We are told that he SAW her, he SAW her pain, he SAW that this was her only child, he SAW her widowhood and being God, He SEES it all.

And he had COMPASSION, which literally means a mixture of love and sorrow for the plight of another, suffering that feeling WITH them. And that is what we miss and the world misses.

When we see each other hurting, even someone we don’t know well, or even at all, as Christians, that compassion Jesus had SHOULD rise up in us also, just as the man in our verse ROSE and just as Jesus ROSE in victory.

Compassion has the power to do that. COMPASSION is the love and mercy of God coming into a dark situation and RAISING UP a completely different standard and changing the outcome for all concerned.

And just as hatred is taught, compassion can be taught also, when you offer others a “different” way of dealing with something that see as a problem and others can learn compassion from how you treat them. It is part of being that light Jesus left us to be and why he gave us these wonderful teachings:

Luke 6:31-37: “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also them likewise. For if ye love ONLY them that love you, what thank (credit) have ye? for SINNERS also love those that love those that love them.

And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank (credit) have ye? for SINNERS also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank (credit) have ye? for SINNERS also lend to SINNERS, to receive as much again.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again (in return); and your reward shall be great, and YE SHALL BE THE CHILDREN OF THE HIGHEST: FOR HE IS KIND UNTO THE UNTHANKFUL AND TO THE EVIL.

BE YE THEREFORE MERCIFUL, AS YOUR FATHER ALSO IS MERCIFUL. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive and ye shall be forgiven.”

And we know exactly WHO is speaking to here, he differentiated “the church” from “the sinners” so we would have no doubt who he was speaking to. He is speaking to us, his entire “church” and as he pointed out THE traits and actions are what proves us as his children!

And He IS merciful, and He IS kind and in being those things it CHANGES hearts. Back to the innocence babies, when a child has never been shown compassion or taught compassion, or raised with half-truths, never taught tenderness, gentleness, or mercy they cannot be expected to just spontaneously produce these traits.

At some point the Lord has to have it shown to them, thus teaching that better way. And with everything we learn, it requires time, patience, and two willing hearts, one giving and one receiving and there is nothing greater we can give than the love of Christ and nothing greater we can show aside his enduring, endless mercy, as the Bible tells us “His compassions faileth not” meaning his compassion is never-ending. 

And he EXPECTS us to be a reflective of himself, we NEED to start checking that reflection and if we find that we are lacking, we need to pray for his compassion, and mercy to RISE inside of us. 

Pray that he would give us spiritual eyes to see what he wants us to see in others.

Pray that he would give us spiritual ears to hear the very cry of wounded souls that are often hidden behind outwardly angry appearances.

Pray that our spiritual hearts are open to his leading and prompting by his Holy Spirit to minister to those needs and show us the time to give that ministration when it would be received.

Pray that the compassion of this world would be stirred, that the spirit of love, mercy, and meekness would take hold of hearts thought to be so cold they would never warm.

Pray that those cold stones learn a better way and then, my friend, that love will spread, and that love will save!

Would you be interested to know the MEANING of Nain, which was the name of the city Jesus ENTERED into and RESURRECTED the widow’s son? 

Nain means BEAUTIFUL PLEASANTNESS!!!  Now don’t you want others to also know that through mercy and compassion, we are INVITED to ENTER into that BEAUTIFUL PLEASANTNESS with him?!!!

Cover yourself in it! Wear it for the whole world to see!

Colossians 3:12-16: “PUT ON therefore, AS THE ELECT OF GOD, HOLY AND BELOVED, BOWELS (tender mercies) OF MERCIES, KINDNESS, HUMBLENESS OF MIND, MEEKNESS, AND LONGSUFFERING.

Forbearing (bearing with) one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

And ABOVE ALL THESE THINGS, PUT ON CHARITY, (love) love) WHICH IS THE BOND OF PERFECTNESS. And LET the PEACE of GOD RULE YOUR HEARTS, to which also ye are called in one body and BE YE THANKFUL.

Let the WORD of Christ DWELL in you richly in ALL wisdom; TEACHING and ADMONISHING (warn gently) ONE ANOTHER…”

Thanks for reading! Love and peace to you and yours this upcoming week!  God bless you!

Εξυπνιζω Φλογιζω Σαλπιζω NB 2018***Original post 04/21/2018 REVISTED 02/11/2022

Love this song, still moves me to tears, beautiful, beautiful lyrics!

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DOUBLE -EDGED PART 4 UNBRIDLED / LOVES ULTIMATE JUSTIFICATION

Picture it, you are walking down the street and you witness an elderly man with a cane lose his balance and fall to the ground, the man next to him, whom you fully expect to gently help him back on his feet instead starts cursing him, kicking him the ribs demanding that he get up, yelling the entire time to as the elderly man who is now crying, trying to raise himself up under the sharp kicks, the young man’s angry voice bellows through the night, “YOU are such an embarrassment! YOU can’t even walk right!”

He goes on to tell the elderly man that he is nothing but a burden and asking him why he doesn’t just die, the elderly man shaking and crying manages to get up and regain his step and obediently replies “I’m sorry, Son.”
Picture the things we as human never see, picture the horrors that go on behind closed doors and in nursing homes, and mental health institutions, all the unthinkable abuse and all the soul destructive words that are spoken.
Picture all at once, all of the dreadful news stories that have haunted your thoughts and now think about just how many you have never heard because they have never been told because as of yet no one knows.
Just how mad does it make you? 
How bad does it hurt YOUR soul? 
What would you do if you were able to stop this and so much more?
Could you turn your eyes from the mothers who are crying because they are watching their children literally starve to death?
Could you turn your eyes from those imprisoned and those sold into slavery for the sick perversion of some and the greed of many?
Could you turn your eyes from those who were crying out for justice for the atrocities they experience everyday as life?
PROVERBS 15:3: “The EYES OF THE LORD are in every place, BEHOLDING THE EVIL AND THE GOOD.”
Knowing in yourself the anger, hurt, and bewilderment you as a human feel when faced with these issues.
How do you think HE FEELS?
We determined that HE IS gentle, mild, beautiful, Holy, and merciful to the point of dying to save mankind.
Remember HE sees what you can’t, and HE sees the ENTIRE WORLD, but HE ALSO HEARS the cries of them all!

Psalm 34:15: The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and HIS EARS ARE OPEN UNTO THEIR CRY.”

Since the dawn of time people have asked the question of how can He destroy the world?
How can He bring judgment and wrath and an absolute annihilation of what is now the world as we know it?
Well, let me ask you, how can He not?
The only reason He hasn’t is out of mercy, to give the lost a little more time.

2 PETER 3:9,10:” The Lord is is not slack concerning his promise (to return and judge the earth) as some men count slackness;
BUT IS LONG SUFFERING US WARD (TOWARD US) NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE.
BUT the day of the Lord WILL come as a thief in the night: IN which the heavens shall PASS AWAY WITH A GREAT NOISE, AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT, the EARTH also and the works that are therein SHALL BE BURNED UP.”

People use every reason in the book to avoid salvation, but here is the reality, while they slow poke around, He is being patient in His return forfor their sake’s and in the meantime those who suffer are forgotten by those who are just self-willed and stout-hearted against him.

The day is soon coming that HIS MERCY will flood this earth IN DIVINE WRATH.
Because HE IS merciful, those who have accepted Him will be taken out-of-the-way.

Those who are left can accept Christ, refuse the mark of the beast and be beheaded, again one more chance out, because of mercy.

Saved or not, those in Babylon at the time of its destruction will be as the cut trees that fall where they are, as they are, no notice, no warning, what it is, is what it will be and no one knows that answer, but we do know through God’s word it will happen.

The money preachers and gurus are forever on their sowing in and finding favor kicks.
But I’ll tell you a little secret THERE IS NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING ON THIS EARTH YOU WANT TO SOW IN RIGHT NOW MORE THAN MERCY!
Show mercy in every possible area that you can because to make it we will need shown much mercy.
HOSEA 6:6:“FOR I DESIRED MERCY, and NOT SACRIFICE; and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.“

PSALM 89:14:  “JUSTICE and JUDGMENT ARE the habitation (FOUNDATION)
of THY THRONE: MERCY and TRUTH SHALL GO BEFORE THY FACE.”

PSALM 18:25-28,30: “With the MERCIFUL thou wilt shew thyself MERCIFUL; with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.
With the PURE IN HEART thou wilt shew thyself PURE; AND WITH THE FROWARD (DEVIOUS) THOU WILT SHEW THYSELF FROWARD (SHREWD).
For thou wilt SAVE THE AFFLICTED PEOPLE; BUT WILL BRING DOWN HIGH LOOKS (THE HAUGHTY).
For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will lighten my darkness.
As for God, HIS WAY IS PERFECT: the WORD of the Lord is tried (proven):

HE IS A BUCKLER (SHIELD) to ALL WHOM TRUST IN HIM.”

So, you see IT IS His love that will rescue them, save them, and above all forever deliver them from evil.
Don’t ask why he doesn’t just change the evil people; HE gives everyone that choice.
HE only offers freewill, either do good or choose to do evil, THEY have chosen evil over good.
HE WILL SAVE THOSE WHO CRY UNTO HIM.

ISAIAH 40: 10,11:“BEHOLD, the Lord God WILL COME
with strong hand (strength), and his arm shall rule for him: BEHOLD, his reward IS WITH HIM, AND HIS WORK IS BEFORE HIM.
HE SHALL FEED HIS FLOCK LIKE A SHEPHERD: HE SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS WITH HIS ARM, AND CARRY THEM IN HIS BOSOM, AND SHALL GENTLY LEAD THOSE THAT ARE WITH YOUNG.”

PSALM 72:4-9,11-14: He shall judge (BRING JUSTICE ON THEIR BEHALF) the poor of the people, HE SHALL SAVE THE CHILDREN of the needy, and BREAK INTO PIECES THE OPPRESSOR (utterly destroy the ones who have hurt them).
They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
HE SHALL COME down like rain upon the mown grass; as shower that water the earth.
In HIS days shall the righteous flourish; and the abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
HE SHALL have dominion also from sea to sea, and from river to river unto the ends of the earth.
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; AND HIS ENEMIES SHALL LICK THE DUST.
YEA, ALL KINGS SHALL FALL DOWN BEFORE HIM; ALL NATIONS SHALL SERVE HIM.
FOR HE SHALL DELIVER THE NEEDY WHEN HE CRIETH; THE POOR ALSO, AND HIM THAT HATH NO HELPER.
HE SHALL SPARE THE POOR AND NEEDY, AND SHALL SAVE THE SOULS OF THE NEEDY.
HE SHALL REDEEM THEIR SOUL (LIFE) FROM DECEIT (OPPRESSION)
AND PRECIOUS SHALL THEIR BLOOD BE IN HIS SIGHT.”
His perfect, righteous judgment and justice, SAVING those who need it and ending forever what we on earth can’t, the reason for the bodies from one end of earth to the other…they have shown NO mercy.
JAMES 2:13:“FOR HE SHALL HAVE JUDGMENT WITHOUT MERCY, THAT SHEWTH NO MERCY; and MERCY REJOICETH AGAINST (TRIUMPHS OVER) JUDGMENT.”

Sorry this font is huge, something went wrong there 🙂 The caps are NOT shouting it just emphasizes the points I want to make.

Φλογιζω / All Rights Reserved/ NBJ 2015 / original post 10/06/2015/ Revisited 2021 & 02/10/2022 Rev. Nina Brown Johnson




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DOUBLE-EDGED PART 3 / LOVESICK….

As the love saga in the Book of Solomon plays out we find that the couple are madly in love, the common thread that weaves the story is her proclamation that “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me” now that is pretty close, the left hand being the tenderness and gentleness and the right hand in reference to the protection and justice of God, she is completely covered.

As we know she get to comfy and refuses to answer his call and once she does decide to drag herself out of bed, he’s gone.

Now the embrace that was becomes the embrace that should be, she is no longer in his arms, she is no longer under his protection.

Desperate to get him back, she frantically runs through the city, and as compared to our backslidden states and the rude awakening of the lukewarm, sleeping church, in the frenzied hunt she is wounded, she is hurt, and her dignity is taken away but she doesn’t give up.

As lovers often do, she begs her friends to please relay a message if they were to run into him and she is met with the question that we as believers are often met with.

Song of Solomon 4:7-9: “The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote (struck) me, they wounded me, the keepers of the walls took my veil from me.

I charge (beg) you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, THAT YE TELL HIM, that I AM SICK OF LOVE (lovesick).
Her friends reply: “ WHAT IS THY BELOVED MORE THAN ANOTHER BELOVED?…

What was it about him again? What was it that made her proclaim “Draw me, we will run after thee”…
Our main thought from part two, so what does that mean?

Well we need a reason, something that we desire that propels us to “press toward the mark.”

So how does he draw us, what is it about him that makes us follow?

Hosea 11:5: I DREW THEM WITH CORDS of a man (gentle cords), WITH BANDS OF LOVE; I was to them as they  that take off the yoke on their jaws (heavy burdens off their neck), and I laid meat unto them (STOOPED AND FED THEM).“

His Mercy, His Grace, but as He himself stated, His gentleness, coming down to care for us.

Psalm 85:10: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
His mercy meeting us in our sin stricken state and the truth of his love and forgiveness washing us white as snow, right standing and peace of God, peace in God, and the peace of God forming a beautiful union.

Psalm 18:35:“Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden (held) me up, AND THY GENTLENESS HATH MADE ME GREAT (victorious).”

Matthew 11:29: “Take MY yoke upon you, and learn of  (from) me; for I AM meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble) ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

So when did she find him? We’ll get his answer:

Jeremiah 29:13:“And  ye shall SEEK ME, and FIND ME,WHEN YE SHALL SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART.”

I  so totally wanted to end that with an exclamation point but…. I don’t want in trouble!

But as we wrap this up please hold onto that thought, remember that love, that drew you to him and rekindle that flame, remember who HE IS.

He draws us with his gentleness and that love. 
Next time we’ll see why that love, that mercy, and above all that gentleness that forgives, that saves, and heals also turns to the other side of that double-edged sword.
It will bring justice, judgment, and unimaginable horror beyond human comprehension to this earth.
Without the understanding of that love and being embraced in that love and without the acceptance of his will and our place in the midst of it all, we will lose that love and that love and that love alone is all that can keep us through these days.
Φλογιζω/ NBJ/ 2015 Original post date: 10/05/2015 REVISTED 2021/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson & 02/09/2022





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DOUBLE-EDGED PART 2 / FANNING THE FLAME…..

“Because of the savour (fragrance) of thy good ointments THY NAME (JESUS) IS AS A OINTMENT (healing balm) POURED FORTH, therefore do the virgins love thee.
DRAW ME ( lead me away ) we WILL RUN AFTER THEE (GOD): The KING hath BROUGHT me INTO HIS chambers: We WILL be glad and REJOICE in thee (GOD), WE WILL REMEMBER THY LOVE MORE THAN WINE: the upright love thee (BEING RIGHT IN OUR LOVE FOR YOU).”Song of Solomon:1:3-4

Now to unravel that, I always like to point out to NEVER EVER read the commentaries on this book! 
It is compared to Solomon and his Shulamite lady, but they are so wrong!
 It is not about the kind of relationship they like to carnally compare it to.
It is the relationship between Jesus and His church (The Bride).
I still love this; I am actually called to specifically the book of Revelation, but I love Solomon and I am so thankful to Him for allowing me the work in it that he does because as I said before women WERE NOT ALLOWED TO READ THIS BOOK!
That is the problem, that is what we must overcome to really get this, they thought women would become too “flustered” if they were to read the descriptive passage of a soul entwining love that left one so helpless desiring to breathe the very breath of the other, a love so strong, that “it is strong as death, the jealousy (desire to keep and protect the love of that relationship) is a cruel as the grave: the fire thereof ARE coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.”

Jesus came here as a man BUT he was completely innocent, completely sinless and HE NEVER HAD, NOR WILL EVER HAVE the kind of relations that humans do!

But IT IS the grandest, most romantic love story that has ever been or ever will be written.
 IT IS the spiritual love story between Christ and the church.
Once we have been brought into His house of “feasting”, (rejoicing at the “table of God”) and tasted spiritually the things of God, we can no longer help but to run after him.
 The virgins (hearts spiritually pure to Him) seek only to be one more moment in His presence, completely overshadowed and overcame by Him and all that He is, which is indescribable, but will of a certainty melt your knees from under you and leave you blew  blew completely away that to mirror the verse “turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcame (overwhelmed) me.”

Translation if He were to physically manifest to match his spiritual manifestation, you would be unable to make eye contact because of the sheer majesty and awe of what you had just experienced.

But don’t take my word for it, especially since a certain “anonymous” group wants to make me their poster child because they think we are all sick and need help, but I know just how real He is and I know that love, and I know one word from Him and my soul will melt at His will, because I adore Him and His wish is my command, He owns me completely and I want Him too, what really gets you is His overwhelming humility and gentleness. 

How could you expect the God of the universe to meet you in your pain and cover you with pure love in such an unexpected way?
How can He come down to mere mortals and dry their tears and silence their cries and assure them that His love heals all and they are in His garden, no matter what the world or others may say.
How can He hold the world in His hand and yet know the number of hairs on our heads and how he knows our today from our tomorrow, and our first breath from our last?

How can he possibly form us in our mother’s womb, watch us as we struggle to find our way and then when we have returned to Him never question us as to why it took so long, only welcome us with arms open wide and love as strong?

1 Samuel 2:1-10:“And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiced in the Lord, mine horn (my strength) is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged (smiles at) over mine enemies.
BECAUSE I rejoice in thy (your) salvation, THERE IS NONE HOLY AS THE LORD:

FOR THERE IS NONE BESIDE THEE: NEITHER IS THERE ANY ROCK LIKE OUR GOD.
Talk no more so exceedingly proudly; let NOT arrogancy come out of your mouth;

For the Lord IS a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty men are broken; and they that stumbled ARE GIRDED WITH STRENGTH. 

They that were full have hired themselves out for bread; and they that were hungry ceased (hunger no more); so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath born seven is waxed (grown) feeble.
The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: HE BRINGETH DOWN TO THE GRAVE, AND BRINGETH UP. The lord maketh poor, and maketh rich; he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, TO SET them among princes, AND TO MAKE THEM INHERIT THE THRONE OF GLORY: for the pillars of the earth ARE THE LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.

HE WILL keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for BY STRENGTH SHALL NO MAN PREVAIL.
THE ADVERSARIES OF THE LORD SHALL BE BROKEN TO PIECES; OUT OF HEAVEN HE SHALL THUNDER UPON THEM: THE LORD SHALL JUDGE THE EARTH; and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn (strength) OF HIS ANOINTED.” 

Luke 1: 46-54:
“And Mary said, My soul hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate (lowly state) of his handmaiden (maidservant); for, behold, from henceforth (now on) all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; AND HOLY IS HIS NAME.
And HIS MERCY IS ON THEM that fear him FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.
He hath shewed (shown) strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imaginations of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats (thrones) and exalted them of a low degree (the lowly).
He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent away empty.
he hath holpen (helped) his servant Israel, IN REMEMBRANCE OF HIS MERCY;”
Remembering that love, next time….
Φλογιζω/NBJ/ 2015   Original post: 10/04/2015 REVISTED 2021 & 02/08/2022

 

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DOUBLE-EDGED PART 1 / LOVE, OR THE LACK THEREOF

MATTHEW 24:12: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax (grow) cold.”
Love has surely grown cold in our world, family values and neighborly love and just the basic natural response to protect those who are unable to protect themselves are all but forgotten by the majority of the world.

Fulfilling Romans 1:31: “Without understanding, covenant breakers, WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION, (common decency and care for others) implacable (UNFORGIVING, UNMERCIFUL).”

We really don’t need to point this out but for sake of doing it right or for those who hadn’t thought about it, I will.
Domestic abuse has always been a blight upon earth, the number killer of women is men (more women are murdered than die through accident or disease) animal abuse is just as appalling to God as any other kind of abuse.
Divorce rates are through the roof with the next generation growing in one parent homes often with Mom’s who must work to support them and the family lives of all involved falls through the cracks of the need to survive.

Father figures now lacking, no one to show the way often leads to following the wrong examples and walking the same wrong paths.
But now we also slaughter and sadistically slaughter unwanted babies to profit from their body parts.  

Human sexual trafficking brings in billions and billions of dollars annually.
And you really have to ask yourself, who are these people? The numbers of people networking this is just mind-boggling and it truly defies logic, that these acts which are so heinous, and disturbing have become livelihoods for what has to be thousands and thousands of people.
It is enough to make the gentlest, love filled merciful heart be mighty tempted to turn to that same hate and as much as I hate to admit it (God knows it, he knows my heart better than I do) I wrestle with these issues and in some cases I truly have absolutely no sympathy for some of these monsters.

I do not believe they are human.

Human’s sin, they make mistakes, but even the roughest person has some glimmer of hope, some shred of decency, or at the very least they are capable of loving their mother or Grandma.

But THESE are THOSE already slated to slaughter by the double-edged sword of the absolute King of everything.
The hardest aspect of the end time is trying to understand and get into our spirits WHO JESUS IS and to get in that love, and I do mean get into it, and understand HIS LOVE and also understand how that it is HIS LOVE that is bringing down the destruction of the entire world.

The greatest argument that fights the true Gospel is that God is love, and how could he level the people of earth and call forth the birds to take care of the dead bodies.

I hope this series will answer some of those questions.
We will review revelations from at the feet of the King.
We will really, really look at WHO HE REALLY IS, and biblically prove his character and the attributes of His Holiness.

We will look at others in scripture who got this and understood it and attempt to understand what true submission under the wings of God really is, sometimes we like to argue that we really are submitted to His will, but we often need to do a check baby on that.

Just how much of you are you willing to give him control over, how much of your body will you give as a vessel for His power and His glory to work through, just how willing are you to give yourself and all that you are, right down to the absolute baring of your soul in worship to him, regardless of who sees it or what they may think and whether or not they understand, ridicule or make you their poster child for all things they believe doesn’t exist.

The children of God are often Biblically referred to as “trees” and to get the idea on this, if you tap a tree what is inside is going to come out.

To SURVIVE these last days and to fulfill the mighty works of the Lord that are coming down, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THIS LOVE, or rather IT must have you, it is the merging.

It is the understanding and acceptance and being ONE WITH HIM.
I hope to hit a few different ways to break it down, but please continue with me, these will post over a period of three days, and I truly hope when we are finished His love, His fire will be so consuming and your desire to be consumed by Him will be so great and your understanding opened to the reasoning of the judgments, that you will never ever again question him as to why these things must come to pass.

As the “love of many grows cold” we lose sight of that love that never grows cold, never dies, and always prevails, which leads us to this condition that we MUST get a grip on and fast or we will lose the prize.

“Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee BECAUSE THOU HAST LEFT THY FIRST LOVE” Revelation 2:4

Meaning that there is something that hinders the relationship between us and Jesus, and that is that we have “left” him, left him in letting our love and zeal for him grow cold and indifferent.

The evilness and the state of the world and all the wickedness we are exposed to is the cause of leaving that love, so next time we’ll look at stoking that fire and rekindling that flame and lying back down at the feet of our king.

Φλογίζω/ NBJ/ 2015/ All rights reserved/ REVISTED 01/31/2021& 02/07/2021 as I revisit this series over the next few days

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MADMEN, MARTYRS AND MAIDS / PART 3

The fire which burned in all these was so bright, so strong that not even death could extinguish it.
About 200 A.D. when the persecution was at full force and Christians were being persecuted left and right. If they would not renounce Jesus Christ, they were often burned or thrown to lions or other animals to be slaughtered.
It is said that near the end of the Roman persecution that so many had died this was that the beasts had grown fat and would no longer consume them.
A young woman named Perpetua lived during this time in Carthage, North Africa. The account of the deaths of her and two others is grisly and extremely disturbing.
But God had prepared her in advance for all that she would face, after being stripped and thrown to a mad heifer, ultimately dying after having her throat slashed, her testimony lives on eighteen hundred years later.
The true voice of her victory can be read in her own words, much like Ann Frank she had kept a diary, the details of her death later added.
She had embarked on her death march by singing hymns, she went to the aid of a young girl name Felicitas who had been sentenced to death with her, they kissed good-bye, and she is quoted as saying to her brother, these words, which still ring as true and pure as the day they went from her lips.
“You must all stand fast in faith and love one another and do not be weakened by what we have gone through.”
Mirror this to another fascinating lady, Jael, from Judges 4,
She probably invented the old adage that you catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar, while Sisera was busy terrorizing everyone, he made the bad mistake of thinking that her home would be a safe haven, after making him comfortable and providing greater than he had asked for, verse 22 tells us this, “Then Jael, Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary, so he died. There is a wonderful song about her in Judges Chapter five.
So what’s with all the ancient history? Ecclesiastes 1:9
” The thing which that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
According to one source. one out of three girls and one out of four boys are sexually assaulted during their childhood, according to 2010 research every seven minutes a woman is raped, countless children sold into slavery, countless animals are tortured and abandoned, abortions are responsible for millions of sanctioned murders every year.
Leaving also in the wake the soul stripped child mothers who were coerced into this “easy fix” for their “problem”.
Elder abuse, rampant domestic violence, not to mention homelessness, hunger, the list to go on forever.
So many hurting, lost people in our world who feel so helpless and so hopeless.
What can we do? Do not turn a blind eye to them, pray for awareness, through the indwelling of the Holy spirit your prayers can cover people you will never meet.
The blood of the Lamb you can pray over all these. God called us to be intercessors.
 I am not suggesting nailing people’s heads to the ground or radical empowerment, I am suggesting this:
2 CORINTHIANS 3:4:” FOR THOUGH WE WALK IN THE FLESH, WE DO NOT WAR AFTER THE FLESH: FOR THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL, BUT MIGHTY THROUGH GOD TO THE PULLING DOWN OF STRONG HOLDS.
Think of the faith and courage these and others had, let God rise up in all of us and lead us into a prayer that will change the world!
Original Date:01/19/2013. All rights reserved. Rev. Nina Brown Johnson  2015 REVISITED 02/09/22 Φλογιζω  Also listen to podcast at https://anchor.fm/phlogizo

Also for complete series: OF MADMEN, MARTYRS AND MAIDS/ PART1 and OF MADMEN, MARTYRS, AND MAIDS/ PART 2

 

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OF MADMEN, MARTYRS, AND MAIDS/ PART 2

We all have a Bible, one we often take for granted. Humor me for a moment, if you will, close your eyes and picture a man tied to a stake surrounded by fodder and as a crowd looks on, now imagine him being strangled and set on fire, his last words spoken on this earth having been a prayer, that God would open the eyes of the King of England.
That is the price William Tyndale paid. He was fluent in eight languages and it was his soul desire to bring the true word of God to the smallest of the world.
Despite constant adversity and the destruction of his work, he carried on.
The last seventeen months of his life spent in prison diligently translating the Old Testament into English, a work which was completed by a friend after his death.

So much of the true roots of the church and sacrifices made by others to give us the freedom we have today have been all but forgotten.
Replaced by agendas of man-made doctrines, and denominational bickering over who is going to hell, because they hold a slightly different view. I’m still pretty, pretty sure that only God has the authority to make that judgment.

Picture again, if you will, a man driven to near madness after the murder of his wife, and  with his people enslaved to England he decided to lead a revolt against their oppressors.
Being quoted as once having said “Fight and you may die, run away and you will live at least for a while, and dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies, that they make take our lives but they will never take our freedom”
Picture this man tortured, disemboweled, and emasculated while still alive, his tormentors repeatedly offering him a quick death if he would renounce his acts.
Sir William Wallace would not. He died for his beliefs and because of his thirst for freedom and his love for his people he endured.
Just as Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:22 “Ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake: but he that endureth to the end shall  be saved.”
It is time for us to follow that burning in our souls. What is your hearts desire today? What group of people whose suffering brings tears to your eyes and breaks your heart?
What is the still small voice of the Lord prompting you to do?
The world will always smash your dreams, that is why you don’t look at the world. Some of the wisest words ever spoken were “Anything that is worth having is worth fighting for.”
What if Tyndale had just given up,  and said “Oh, well, sorry” and never translated another word or destroyed his own work.
What if Wallace had pledged allegiance to England and surrender a breath of God save the King?
We would be at the mercy of someone else concerning our salvation, we would be told only what they wanted us to believe.
Scotland would now be a distant memory, a land only visited in history books.
The sad reality is the “church” as it was created to be is also in danger of becoming a memory, a place to be visited in history books, well actually secular schools would never want to acknowledge churches existed, so maybe passed down through folklore.
It is time to stand up against false doctrines and blatant sin that has opened up shop under the guise of a “church”.
If we never breathe a word against injustice, whether it be human rights, animal rights, or the false doctrines hiding behind the misuse of the word Christian, we all become guilty by omission. Not to speak against it is as the same as condoning it.
Jeremiah could not stop that fire in him, you shouldn’t either, let it out, “If God be for you, who can be against you?”
And if they refuse to listen, take it as a compliment!
” For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves, teachers having itching ears (ones who tell them what they want to hear) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned into fables (believe lies) But WATCH thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
                                  2 Timothy 4:3-5
God had us warned throughout the New testament that these days would come, the false teachers would come and the false prophets and at the time of Paul’s writings, he said they were already here! Imagine now.
Stand for the truth, let it be known, Let the lord lead you and guide you and stay in his word.
Share the truth and if it falls on deaf ears, don’t worry, you have done your job and while they are still here praying to their God of gumdrops and lollipops we will be at the biggest Jewish wedding the universe will ever know!

Original Date: 12/29/2013.FOWC/Avenue Rev. Nina Brown Johnson 2015 REVISITED 02/05/2022 Φλογιζω  also listen as podcast at: https://anchor.fm/phlogizo

For other two posts in this series: OF MADMEN, MARTYRS AND MAIDS/ PART1 and OF MADMEN, MARTYRS AND MAIDS/ PART1

Post note: I realize the Wallace quote was used in the movie, but it is nevertheless listed with quotes accredited to him.

 

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OF MADMEN, MARTYRS AND MAIDS/ PART1

Now that we are all awake, where’s the fire? Man, that’s a good question, especially when you consider scriptures such as “For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29
“Who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers (servants) a flaming  fire.” Psalm 104:4
The fire Jesus refers to when he said “I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15,16
Lukewarm Christianity  is like lukewarm anything.
It is a spineless, gutless attempt to lay claim to a massive inheritance of untold worth while denying the very one it is handed down by.
That is why the Lord tells them without question that he knows their works, and he wants to give him their all or give him nothing but don’t try to play the middle.
Today we have become so worried about offending people and being politically correct, that we will choke back anything while the true church is ran into the ground.
The prophet Jeremiah also went through this in his time.

“For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily, Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak anymore in his name.

But his word was  in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and could not stay.”   Jeremiah 20:8,9
Jeremiah had absolutely the worst job in the Bible, he is often referred to as “the Prophet of doom”.
It was his job to proclaim the forthcoming judgment on his own people, the very people who instead of heeding his warnings would ridicule him, even to the point that he would have rather not have been born as to have to carry out this task.
But the fire of God and the holy calling on him, that had been placed on him before he had been formed in his mother’s womb, was so strong and burned so deep that it could not be contained and it prevailed.
God wants to use some people in these last days that are wiling to just let Him burn in them and do the work his has created them for.
People like Martin Luther who took on the entire church of his day, because a fellow named Tetzel had cooked up quite a money-making scheme,  enough money to help build Saint Peter’s Cathedral, by selling what he called “indulgences”.
A get out of purgatory free certificate, ( purgatory being the Catholics belief in pre-hell, a place we know does not exist, because the rich man in the story of Lazarus had lifted up his eyes in hell) Luther being disgusted and knowing for himself the truth of God nailed his understanding of that truth to the church door.
John Brown, who finally became so tired of the injustice done to the slaves that he started his own movement, which regrettably became violent, bloody and cost lives.
One of the last photos taken of him before his execution, tells all there is to tell, as a small, black child hugs him as they lead him away to his hanging.
When he had been asked how he justified what he had done, this was his reply “Upon the golden rule. I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help them, that is why I am here, not to gratify any personal animosity, revenge or vindictive spirit. It is my sympathy with the oppressed and wronged that are as good as you and are as precious in the sight of God.”
Luther suffered excommunication and the threat of death but took his cause forward.
Brown paid with his life, I am sure he never wanted to see any lives lost, but I am equally as sure that the hug he received before going to his death was worth it all because he knew he had lived for something other than himself.
Two very different men, both having a common fire, burning for truth, justice and to see others truly free. That fire could be contained.

Nor should it today, pray for that fire.
If one voice can affect the entire world, what can we accomplish with our voices collectively speaking as one?

Original Post: 12/20/2013 FOWC/AVENUE  Rev. Nina Brown Johnson  2015  REVISITED 02/02/22 Φλογιζω   Also listen as podcast at: https://anchor.fm/phlogizo