June 1, 2022 by Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

“Epitome of Unassuming Grace”

“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre (tomb), and seeth the stone rolled taken away from the sepulchre.

Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple (John), and came to the sepulchre.

So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.

And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the lines clothes lying, yet went him not in.

Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,

And the napkin (face cloth), that was about 9around) his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together (folded) in a place by itself.

Then went in also, that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

For as yet, they knew (understood) not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Then the disciples went away again unto their own homes.

But Mary stood without (outside) at the sepulchre weeping; and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre.

And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been.

And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

And when she had thus said, she turned herself back (around), and saw Jesus standing there, and knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seeketh thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto to him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence (carried him away), tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary, She turned herself, and saith unto him Rabboni, which is to say, Master (Teacher).

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

And when he had so said, he shewed (showed) unto them his hands, and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

Then Jesus said to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

And he when he had said this, He breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit (forgive) they are remitted (forgiven) unto them: and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

The other disciple therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except (Unless) I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

And after eight days again his disciples were within (inside), and Thomas was with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet they believe.

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciple, which are not written in this book.

But these are written, that ye might (will) believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might (will) have life through his name.” John 20:1-31

Even with the millions, billions of words in our human language that could be used to describe Jesus, there are still none that would ever completely describe His grace.

The grace that He extends to us as we try to find our way, as our human thinking tries so unsuccessfully to understand the absolute miraculous

I love so much about the accounts above, they all suffered the same doubts, as all humans would, when faced with his death, a death that most witnessed with their own eyes, and as we are told, they had not at this time, understood, exactly what had been foretold to them.

It has often been asked why He revealed himself to Mary first, and I love what I believe to be the answer, and I love it because it is just such a perfect example of who He is.

Mary needed him the most,

Jesus sees us from day one, our entire life, all the pain, sorrow, and sufferings that many go through, and often some more so than others.

And some do seem to be stronger, while others carry wounds that in order to be healed require a touch so gentle, that it can only come from the Master’s hand.

I also love the verse taht tells us Jesus wept, he wept because Mary and Marth were crying, they were crying because there brother Lazarus died, but Jesus knew that He was going to resurrect Lazarus from the dead, He was crying because it broke his heart to see his daughter weep.

He wanted to comfort Mary and dry all those tears by letting her know that He indeed lived.

Notice also when He appeared to the disciples, he knew that they would be confused and afraid, the first word he says is peace, and while they did not ask for “proof”, He invited them to feel his hands and side.

He wanted them to be reassured in his peace.

And even though we quite often hassle Thomas in our day by calling him “Doubting Thomas”, many would have felt the same, again, knowing that Jesus had been crucified.

But Jesus knew what Thomas had said, and even more so He knew what Thomas needed in order to believe.

And at no time are we told in scripture that Jesus questioned them as to How could they not believe what they had been told, or that he in any way chastised them or belittled them for being human, and having doubt.

Quite the opposite, as scripture says this: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men (humans) liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach): and it shall be given him.” James 1:5

That means wisdom and understanding of anything, any are, any question.

And that is with the promise that God will in no way make us feel silly, or chided for our need to understand or the need to have our faith strengthened.

Jesus is beautiful and Holy and there are so many stories in the Bible about just that, His grace toward us, so many examples of letting humans speak their minds, asking for something, while he all the while knows the desire of their heart that they are getting around to asking.

Because for some reason as humans we feel like we have to convince him of the reasoning why we are asking for whatever it is we are asking, but this is not what he asks of us, he just asks us to ask him and believe,

He is so gracious, just as the verses above that He will give us whatever it is that we need to believe, and to strengthen our faith or any other obstacle that need eliminated so that we are not hindered in our walk with him.

Have faith in that today and whatever you need, He has more than enough grace to give it.

Thank you for reading. Love & peace to you till next time! Mention of which, please join me over the next thirty days, as it was on my heart to do a short post, each day, on His teachings.

Starting with this one, so we’ll take a refresher on the Word, straight from The Word’s words!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2022/Rev. N. Brown Johnson

April 13, 2022 by Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

“Stories of Miracles & Provision”

Mark 9:23: “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believe.”

With so many dreadful happenings going on in the world at the moment, it was on my heart, after to do a post on a few of the storied of absolute wonder that are found in the Bible.

I hope it will be a nice companion to to my last post, while the divine deliverance of the Hebrews from the land of Egypt is still fresh in our minds.

Of course, it would be impossible to use all of them, because the Bible is truly a book of the miraculous, so I am going with stories of different human needs and the different miracles each person received from God to meet that need. The words in blue will take you to past posts dealing with specific miracles also.

MIRACLES OF PROVISONS

“And the Lord Children of Israel said to them, Oh that we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt, when we set by the pots of meat and when we baked bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Exodus 16:3,4, & 31 NKJV

“Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.” Psalm 78:25 NKJV

Elijah the prophet proclaimed the three year drought, God gave him miraculous provision during that time.

1 Kings 17:2-6 NKJV: “Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into Jordan.

And it will be that you drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.

So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.”

Matthew 6:26:“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, neither gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them, are ye not much better than they?”

1 Kings 17:7-16 (NKJV): “And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been now rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See I have commanded a widow a widow there to provide for you.

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, and indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Please bring me a little water in a cup that I may drink.

And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.

So she said, As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may it, and die.

And Elijah said to her, do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.

For thus says the Lord God of Israel: The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.

So she went away and di according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.

The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah.”

Matthew 10: 40,41:(NKJV): “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward…”

1 Kings 19:1-8 (NKJV):”And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets (her false prophets of Baal) with the sword.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servants there.

But he himself went about a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree and he prayed that he might die, and said, It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life for I am no better than my father’s!

Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”

Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.

And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

So he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeh, the mountain of God.”

Psalm 91:11(NKJV): “He will give His angels charge over you.”

Matthew 14:15-21 (NKJV): “When it was evening, His disciples came to him saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

But Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away, You give them something to eat.”

And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

Then he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.

So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.

Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Philippians 4:19(NKJV): “And My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

WATER IN THE DESERT AND PROVISIONS MADE SAFE IN TIMES OF FAMINE AND LACK.

Genesis 21:14-19 (NKJV): “So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting the on her shoulder, he gave it to the boy and Hagar, and sent her away.

Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot, for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy,” So she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept.

And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.”

“Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.”

Exodus 15:23-25 (NKJV): “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter, Therefore the name of it was called Marah.

And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet…”

Exodus 17:3-6 (NKJV): ” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it that you have brought us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

And the Lord said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go.

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”

2 Kings 2:19-22(NKJV): ” Then the men of the city said to Elisha, Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the ground barren.

And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.”

Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.”

So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.”

NESECITTYS, RESCUES,& RESURRECTIONS

2 Kings 4: 1-7 (NKJV): “A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.

So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

Then he said, “Go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors, empty vessels, do not gather just a few.”

And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.

So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her sons, “Bring me another vessel.”

And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased.

Then she came and told the man of God, And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Matthew 17:24-27 (NKJV): “When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”

He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers? Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.

Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money, take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

2 Kings 6:4-7 (NKJV): “So he went with them, And when they came to Jordan, they cut down trees.

But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”

So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So He cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float.

Therefore, he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.”

Joshua 10: 12-14 (NKJV): “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel.

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped. Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is it not written in the Book of Jasher?

So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.”

2 Kings 4:38-44 (NKJV): “And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”

So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were.

Then they served it to the men to eat. Now, it happened, as they were eating the stew, they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

So he said, “Then bring some flour.” And he put it into the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people, that they may it.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in a knapsack. And he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat.”

But his servant said, “What? Shall I set this before one hundred men? He said again, Give it to the people, that they may it; for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’

So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.”

Acts 12:5-10 (NKJ SV): “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and the angel struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.

Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals.” and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”

So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to an iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.”

Acts 16:22-26 (NKJV): “And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into the prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were loosed.”

Acts 9:36-42 (NKJV): “At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.

But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.

And since Lydia was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. then peter arose and went with them.

When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise!” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.”

1 Kings 17:17-23(NKJV): ” Now it happened after these things that the some of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.

So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God?” Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son? And he said to her, “Give me your son.”

So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him own his own bed.

Then he cried out to the Lord, and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?”

And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.”

Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.

And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”

Now Elisha was Elijah’s protégé and replacement, as he had asked the Lord to take him and the Lord did. Elijah did not die, he was taken

Hopefully we’ll get into that in another post about the miraculous, but what I wanted to point out here is that Elisha has also asked for a resurrection and was granted it.

I hope this encourages you today, to believe for those miracles. God sent these when they were needed.

I want to leave you with this.

Psalm 34:17 (KJV): “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”

Blessings and Peace to you and yours! May God bless you and show you wonders in Him that you may have never seen before!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2022/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson For more concerning the rescue of Peter by the angel: “Behold your King”

March 31, 2022 by Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

“Our Brother’s Keeper”

“And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in a field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Able thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:8,9

This verse is the true spiritual answer of the nations, especially America, in response to the question of why Ukraine isn’t being given more support.

I, like most of you have only watched with horror for the past month as the Ukrainians are bombarded in every conceivable way as Russia continues its sadistic onslaught against them.

President Zelensky constantly pleading for help and it is great and I am thankful to God for the weapons that have been given them, but they need more, they need nations to fight with them and for them.

I, also like many the world over, respect him and have watched with amazement as he truly has reflected the absolute courage and leadership, and compassion for his people as the great king David, those are the same qualities that we read of being what made King David such as great leader.

It is also no shock that the world has even declared it to be a “David versus Goliath” situation and that is so true, God places leaders exactly where he wants them and Putin, who is a literal Goliath with a side order of Pharaoh, met his match when taking on the Ukrainians because they were not just going to lay down and die and bow down to the beast.

Putin embodies qualities of Goliath, in the fact that he methodically moved troops closer and closer and yet denying with every breath that an invasion would be soon coming. The sheer size of his army and arsenal levied against such a smaller opponent.

You can literally see the comparison as you read a passage such as this, as Goliath mocked David’s youth and size and arrogantly overestimated his own.

“And when the Philistine looked about and saw David. he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and a spear, and with a shield: But I come to thee in the in the name of the of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” 1 Samuel 17:42-44

You know it’s the devil when the devil calls the other guy the devil. I want to give you a verse and go from there.

Revelation 13:11;” And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”

All the world sees what is really going on and I admire those in Russia who have stood up, even at the risk of horrifying consequence, but there are truly those that really believe Putin is a good guy, that he is really doing a great work, sending troops off to war, ridding Ukraine of Nazis, and saving little children and the elderly virtually from another Holocaust.

I even heard one report of a Ukrainian man who unsuccessfully tried to tell his relative in Russia the truth of what what they were suffering, only to be met with a comment to the defense of Putin, in which the relative even referenced Putin as “a god”.

As if accusing a Jewish man who had family die in the Holocaust of being a Nazi wasn’t proof enough of who is really doing the talking that is coming out of Putin’s mouth, it became crystal clear when he decided to quote scripture, I must admit, I almost “fell out of my chair” with that one.

I absolutely could not believe the audacity and not to mention the fact that it just echoed the age old stunt of the devil trying to twist scripture to make himself sound right and mislead those who would listen, think about how he deceived Eve and think about his trying to tempt Jesus, he knows his scriptures, he knows them better than we do!

The whole world watching as apartments, hospitals, bombed and pregnant women injured, children killed, shelters fired on, people running for their lives and others unable to run, being forced to hide, with no water, no heat, their entire lives destroyed, the images are heart breaking.

One in particular that just shattered my heart, this tiny little boy, just walking with his little pack on his back, all alone in the the exodus of people. and he was just sobbing and sobbing, absolutely alone and I wish to God I could have teleported and got that child and hugged him and rescued him, and God only knows what happened to him or all the other children that has had to leave on their own.

Another image, an elderly man fleeing his house, with only what he could carry on his back, no shirt, just pants, and a hat and a jacket revealing his bare chest in the freezing cold, Where was he even to go? How would he even start over?

A pregnant lady on a stretcher being rescued only later for her and her unborn child to die, knowing that only six weeks ago this lady would have been doing what all of us do as expectant mothers, rejoicing, making everything beautiful, decorating with all the darling newborn items, planning for the greatest moment of her life, the moment of bringing another precious person into the world, those plans were destroyed by the Russian forces and Putin and his soldiers are covered in that blood.

And finally, the image of the young mother with her child in her arms wailing uncontrollably as they were being rescued and a young soldier was helping her, and as she sobbed, he turns his head and the look of compassion mingled with sorrowful hopelessness at what to do for her spoke volumes.

And for Putin to stand there being cheered on, flags flying in his support, to say that no greater love than this to lay down his life for his friends is just sickening beyond words.

He can profess to be whatever he professes to be since he has evidently decided he is a “Christian” but whatever he professes does not change the fact of what is really inside of him.

He is as cold as Pharaoh and it mirrors him so much that I truly believe that his heart is so cold and so black that he is so delusional and arrogant that he is quite willing to take on the whole world.

And would just as soon every living thing on earth die as to retreat, every nation is so afraid of dealing with him that we do tap dances to make certain he does not misunderstand what we are saying, I really respected President Biden for not backtracking his controversial remarks, (that’s one of the only decisions that I agree with, other than him not going along ridiculous plan to defund the police)

Coddling Putin is in no way going to make him anyone’s friend, it only gives him that much more resolve to threaten and strike fear into the heart of the world.

Old Goliath antagonized Israel for forty days, it’s miracle grow for monster egos.

Even doing an amateur profile on him, just based on what the world sees of him, you see all you need to see, famous for dating models, posing bare-chested on his horse, playing with cheetahs, hanging out with Steven Segal and rich buddies, and add in the ultimate bad cop attitude and it is quite clear what he wants to project.

Take that give it an insane amount of power and relentless control and throw some major nukes and it paints quite a chilling picture.

He can’t stop, he has Pharaoh syndrome, he himself won’t allow it, because it would mean admitting defeat, it would mean admitting that this war was a bad idea, and that is exactly why he has just become more aggressive and more brutal.

Pharaoh did not care what anyone thought or how anyone felt, or take one moment to consider mercy, he was cruel and heartless, calling for the slaughter of the babies and having Egypt built on the blood of the Hebrew slaves.

He really believed that he was a deity and answered to no one.

But oh, how wrong he was! As he was already merciless, God continued to harden his heart, he had the audacity to attempt to fight God himself, knowing all these plagues were coming on Egypt straight from Jehovah God.

When he did finally let the Hebrews go, that “He-Man” machismo kicked back in and he just had to pursue them to the Red Sea and we know how that ended, he and his army destroyed, drown in the Red Sea.

With the mindset much like Pharaoh, but to the infinite extreme at the end of it all, there will those who are so deceived that they will believe that they can do battle with God himself.

Revelation 17:12-14:” And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power, and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is the Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

I wanted to use the verses from Revelation to establish where all this is headed and the fact that Putin is just the warm up.

This war is unlike any other, the whole world is united in praying for Ukraine and they ask for those prayers as they fight with all they have and you can literally feel the urgency and the importance with those prayers, as the entire world watches.

No one wants World War three, but unfortunately, Putin doesn’t care what we want, he has his agenda and it is not a question of whether or not we will have World War, it is when we have it.

The things that are happening are just leading up to the inevitable. The Bible is written and what is to happen, will happen and there is no changing that.

The only thing we control is how it ends for us, we can be saved and escape the judgments and the horror of dealing with life as it all unfolds or be left here and refuse the mark of the beast, those who do not go in the rapture can only have eternal life by refusing the mark of the beast and dying for the faith, but they will live forever with the Lord, but those who deny Christ will face unimaginable judgment and eternal damnation.

I know that sounds harsh, but we are so out of time and time waits for no one,

Even laying aside the fact that we are in the end of days, we have no promise of tomorrow and any of us could die at any second, we have to be serious about eternity

In the meantime, I pray that things will change that those who fight to reinstate Godly laws back into the land that He has given us will win and that there may be a reprieve, but at the moment we are all still all about whether or not a dude can slap on a little lipstick and compete against ladies, at this rate, all sports will have to have weight classes, and specifics to make it fair again, but it is ridiculous.

So many states still having to hash it out of whether or not slaughtering babies is a great ideal and thankfully many states stepping up and fighting this atrocity.

Add to that our never-ending battle of whether or not, again, it is a fabulous idea to subject children to horrendous hormone therapy and sex change operations, yeah, they can call it, “gender reassignment” all they want but God himself choose the gender for us all.

I suppose, a country so powerful really couldn’t take a chance on giving in to the request of a no fly zone,.

How could we possibly take a chance and stick out our own necks to be our brother’s keeper, when we can give them just enough to say we have helped without having done all that is really in our power to do.

Like I said, no one wants to see major war, but it is not whether or not we fight, it’s just a question of when.

I haven’t written anything new since “Wars & Rumours of War…” , I have been revisiting posts that I felt would be encouraging during this time. To be honest, I have been having a Jeremiah moment, I am not in any way shape or form comparing myself with Jeremiah, but sympathize with his emotional state as he said this from Jeremiah 20:8 ” For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil…”

Unfortunately, that is about all there is to say concerning the state of our present world, but we must have hope in the world that is to come and to know that good really does win in the end!

All these things are leading up to the war that ends all wars, rather when the Lord puts an end to it.

Blessing to you until next time! keep praying and Keep Watching, and Keep believing for miracles for not only those in Ukraine but all in the midst of the battle today in these last days!

Φλογιζω NBJ/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson 2022

February 7, 2021 by Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

“SNOWBLIND”

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

And his disciples asked him, saying, Master (Rabbi), who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, NEITHER hath (has) this man sinned, NOR his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest (revealed) in him. I must work the works of him who sent me , while it is day, THE NIGHT COMETH, WHEN NO MAN CAN WORK. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

When he had thus spoken (when he had spoken this), he spat upon the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which by interpretation, Sent.)

He went his way therefore, and washed, and came away SEEING.

The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him, that he was blind, said, Is this not he that sat and begged?

Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him; but he said, I am he. Therefore they said unto him, How were your eyes opened?

He answered and said, A man called Jesus made a clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash; I went and washed, and I received sight.

Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

They brought to the Pharisees him that was aforetime (formerly) was blind.

And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.

Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say unto the blind man AGAIN, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? he said , He is a prophet.

But the Jews did not believe concerning him (they didn’t believe any of it), that he had been blind, and received his sight, UNTIL they called the parents of him that had received his sight.

And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who you say was born blind? how then doth (does) he see now?

His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not; he is of age, ask him, he shall speak for himself.

These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed ALREADY that if any man confessed that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.

Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.

Then again they called the man that was blind, adn said unto him, Give God the praise: we know this man was a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?

He answered then, I have told you already, and ye did not hear (REFUSED TO BELIEVE); wherefore (why) should ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciple?” John 9:1-27

Wow, can you believe how much snow everyone is getting? It is summing up to be a record with snow storm after snow storm just as the old timers used to say, “The snows still laying on the ground for the next one”, and and my dear friends how true that is!

Especially when you compare it to spiritual snow jobs!

I love the definition of Snow Job: “A deception or concealment of one’s real motive in an attempt to flatter or persuade.” Isn’t is so true as all this snow has laid on the ground just waiting there to be the the foundation for the next great fall, so has the spiritual snow job that has been carefully crafted for quite awhile now, just laying the foundation for greater apostasy and a seriously greater fall, and many of have warned for years what that fall is and how great a fall it shall be.

A snow job sending forth flurries of deceit as so many began to fall victim to the false teachers while others of the church sat back and said nothing swallowing down the pill that if we spoke a word in love, a word of the truth of God’s word,we would be labeled bigots and “haters”.

Somehow now, in this modern era, warning people of the dangers of sin and the very real consequence of eternal damnation have suddenly after 243 years as a nation became “hate” and are now considered “hateful views”, correct me if I am wrong but wasn’t it always considered hateful when you actually told some to “Go to H***.”

How then , is it suddenly “hateful” when those who have been called of God for just that purpose to try to minister to the lost so they can be saved from hell?

Preachers preach, since God spoke to Abraham and gave him his promise, and as he used Moses to his children out of Egypt. He also used many that would not seem likely candidates to bring change to the lives of those around them in the face of persecution, and while being outright detested by society and being mocked and ridiculed by those who arrogantly pride themselves of being of a higher understanding. When there is no understanding outside of the will and knowledge of Christ, we think we know a lot until we are met with the truth and we are met with Christ and then and only then do we realize how truly blind we had been in this world.

And that snow job has grown into a massive blizzard it is slated to destroy the foundation of everything we stand for as Christians and there is no longer time for you to decide if it is okay to to have one foot in and one foot out, as the saying would go, I can answer you that, you either love God and you worship him or you love the world and worship it.

There is NO middle ground. The concept that, suddenly now, there can be both is an absolute demonic lie, society has came up with , “Well, this is what I believe…” and even those who claim that they are teachers of the Gospel but conveniently negate the majority of his word, anything that could possibly be “offensive” to their friend the world, so what little truth they do know, they candy coat and water down the truth until it no longer even resembles the context in which it had been spoken and written as instruction for us.

And the days have come that have been warned of, far, far in advance and the attitude of hate toward truth, while calling it hate, will only get worse as more and more the agenda is to silence all who hold and teach the true word of God.

I was watching a morning news show several weeks back, and on the crawl at the bottom of the screen very briefly mentioned that a church had been attacked, someone actually planting a device, tehre, and the news program actually had it listed as this, “known for its hateful views” What were these “hateful views”?

Upon further research of the subject done my sweetie, It seems a petition had been circulated because the church taught the truth, taht truth inclucding taht homoesxzxuality is indeed a sin, along with all other sins, and sin we all must be forgiven for because in God’s eyes sin is sin, whether you have lied, cheated, stolen, had an affair, whatever it may be, but to God sin is sin. So this church did not get any report of the damage, no report of those who may or may not have been injured, no report on what was being done to apprehend those responsible, only a crawl at the bottom of the screen, not even a mention of heinous or any description usually used with such an attack only a church in CA known for it’s “hateful views”.

And that is what we have come to and that is what we are dealing with, if this had happened anywhere other than a church it would be plastered all over, all screaming violation of rights and how atrocious and uncivilized but since this was an attack on those who the news media feel have “views’ contrary to the popular thought, then obviously it wasn’t that big of a deal to them.

And it just a matter of time until they try to shut us all down, no matter the platform we use, so if you are hearing the word heed the word while it may be heard.

Dig this, from the Book of Revelation, it is dealing with the destruction of Babylon The Great, Revelation 18:23: “And the light of a candle shall shine NO more at all in thee; and the VOICE of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard NO more at all in thee:….”

That in no way means that they get their wish, it only means that the have pushed too far, and have awaken the wrath of God and once he reveals his power they will no longer doubt his existence but will be on knees in repentance.

But it is truly sad that God has to bing such judgment upon all the earth in order for people to believe.

So with that we’ll get back to the reason they don’t believe, well the number one reason is simply guilt by omission, it is easier to simply deny his existence than to take responsibility for our lives and it is easier to sit on the fence than to risk ostracization by those around us, and others have just fallen prey to the snow job that satan’s political puppets have performed.

Here’s your word for that, 2 Corinthians 4:1-4: “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not (do not lose heart).

But have renounced (spoken against) the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in crafitness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

But if our gospel be hid (veiled) , it is hid to them that are lost (perishing); In whom the god of THIS world hath BLINDED THE MINDS OF THEM WHICH BELIEVE NOT, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine into them.”

They are in effect spiritually blinded by the snow job of this world!

Please stop listening to them, the more you listen the more they will seduce you against the truth of God, that is why it is referred to as “SEDUCING SPIRITS”, get in the true word of God and stay in his word and as we are also instructed to “shun profane babblings”, just stay away from it, NO ONE can understand the things of God UNTIL they know God and we accept Christ we so begin to understand because he enlightens us and nothing he ever asks is for our hurt, he only has our peace and happiness in mind, but make no mistake, if we are not for him, we are against him and He is kind and he is beautiful but the wicked will fall to his wrath, unless they repent, and that choice is theirs, just as all who serve him now had to make that choice, he gives us that freedom, we have the freedom to choose who we believe, do we believe the word of God which has stood the test of time, and choose to believe the accounts of so many have given their life for their belief or do we choose to believe a lie and perish with those lies.

Either way, once the last breath leaves our bodies, and our souls depart from this earth, we don’t get a do over, I do believe that God is faithful and i do believe that he deals with us right up to making that decision to accept him, even if it is with our last breath, because he does not want any of us lost, just as the thief on the cross, dying right there beside Jesus and he asked for forgiveness and Jesus said “Verily I say unto thee, TO DAY, SHALT ThOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.”

Now that is what mainstream is calling a hateful religion, and if you listen to them they will have you confused and siding with the devil himself, “Poor old devil, he and his angels kicked out of heaven, just like that, threw down to earth, threw from their home, just expressing their views”

That is what the world right now would headline that story as if they had been in charge of reporting it!

So again, don’t fall to their snow job, you are responsible for guarding your heart and your mind, and don’t listen to them and their redrick, don’t buy their interpretation of the truth, read the truth for yourself and don’t fear them, if God is tugging on your heart to speak with someone or speak out against something, do it, just trust God and do it , I’ll give you Jesus word for that one too:

“The disciple is not above his master (teacher) , nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple to be as his master, and the servant as his lord. IF they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them that are his household?

Fear them NOT therefore, for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid that shall not be known.

What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon housetops.

AND FEAR NOT THEM WHICH KILL THE BODY, BUT ARE NOT ABLE TO KILL THE SOUL; BUT RATHER FEAR HIM WHICH IS ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH THE BODY AND SOUL IN HELL.”

He is reassuring us here, remember they had actually accused him of being evil, he is was GOD and they are accusing him of using evil to cure people! And even at his crucifixion they charged him with blasphemy and again, he was and IS exactly who he claimed to be but because his words cut through their wicked hearts because it convicted them of sin, they wanted him out of the way and out of their lives and the same is exactly what is going on today but the word of God will not be silenced and it will not be stopped, but there will be that great and terrible day at the destruction of Babylon the Great when they have proven themselves beyond hope and no longer worthy of his word.

So knowing all these things, don’t fall for the snow and the good news about being snowblind, it’s curable, just don’t look at the storm, don’t even bother go out in it an rest your eyes by looking up because as he already told us, “…Look up, lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Blessings to you till we meet again!

Φλογιζω NBJ/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson 2021

November 11, 2020 by Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

“Sodom, Gomorrah, and the days of Noah”

“For as the lightning, that cometh forth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so SHALL the also the Son of man be in his day.

But first he must suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.

They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, UNTIL the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

LIKEWISE also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the SAME DAY that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Thus SHALL it be in the day when the Son of man is REVEALED.” Luke 17:24-30

I do want to start by saying that I have did very similar posts to this thought but I do hope this will be more detailed and allow readers to read the scriptures and decide for themselves the interpretation of the this.

And it is often so hard to do this job, not just for me, but for all of us that minister the true Gospel, for us to relay these teaching without having people offended or upset because they feel it too harsh.

But we have all been sinners, we all sin, all that are believers now are believers because they chose to heed the warnings and repent.

The only difference is those who take those warnings from Jesus, exactly as they are, WARNINGS FROM JESUS, or those who choose to feel offense rather than feel repentance.

Jesus gave us those warnings so that we would know and that we would be on guard to protect ourselves from those things to come by having our lives entrusted to him and our souls already sealed in his Spirit.

And one may argue that they have heard this all their lives and he hasn’t come back yet, well, be grateful you have heard it and be grateful that he has allowed you another day to hear again because we are told in the Bible that”God will not always strive with man” and the reason that he has NOT returned yet, is HIS MERCY, He wants people saved.

2nd Peter 3:1-18: “The second epistle (letter), beloved, I now write unto you; in both which, I STIR UP YOUR PURE MINDS BY WAY OF REMEMBRANCE: That ye be MINDFUL of the WORDS which were spoken by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.

Knowing THIS first, that there SHALL COME IN THE LAST DAYS scoffers (mockers), walking after their own lusts, (concerned with only their own desires),

And SAYING,Where is the promise of his coming? for since our fathers fell asleep (ancestors died), all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.

For this they WILLINGLY are ignorant of (forget), that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water, and in the water; Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished;

But the heavens and the earth, WHICH ARE NOW, by the same word are kept in store,, RESERVED into fire against (until) the day of judgement and perdition (destruction) of UNGODLY men.

But beloved, BE NOT IGNORANT(not being aware) OF THIS ONE THING, that one day is with the Lord AS a thousand years, and a thousand years AS one day.

THE LORD IS NOT SLACK CONCERNING HIS PROMISE, AS SOME MEN COUNT SLACKNESS; BUT IS LONGSUFFERING TO 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 therein shall be burned up.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, WHAT MANNER OF PERSONS OUGHT YE TO BE in all holy conversation (conduct) and godliness.

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being ON FIRE shall be dissolved, and the elements shall MELT with a fervent heat?

Nevertheless, we, ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE, look for a NEW heavens and a NEW earth, WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS (where right standing with God lives).

Wherefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, BE DILIGENT that ye may be found of him in PEACE, without spot, and blameless.

And account (consider) that the longsuffering (PATIENT forbearing) of the Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to wisdom given unto him has written you;

As also in his epistles , speaking in them of THESE things; in which are some things HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD, which they that are unlearned (untaught) and unstable wrest (twist), as they do the other scriptures, UNTO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION.

Ye therefore, beloved seeing ye know these things BEFORE (in advance), BEWARE, LEST YE ALSO, BEING LED AWAY WITH THE ERROR OF THE WICKED, FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS.

But grow in grace, and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, To him be the glory both now and for ever, Amen.”

Peter was reiterating that some would question and laugh at the return of Christ, while others would get so caught up in their thinking that they would twist the scriptures to suit themselves thereby destroying themselves rather that to accept the word as is, including obedience to those words, while we should do our best to live blamelessly and in peace knowing that although God is very, very patient that one day that patience will run out.

And sin has always been, since the fall of man, and there is “nothing new under the sun” as the Bible so eloquently puts it and the sins committed now are no different, the DIFFERENCE is the sheer scale, the MAGNITUDE of those sins and the acceptance, dismissal, and excusal of sin.

That is the difference how can anyone truly, truly believe that Jesus is a loving merciful God and yet he could possibly continue to allow the influence of this world to continue while others cry for his deliverance?

And we can’t have both, not on the scale that we have it, pull numbers on human trafficking, and brutality faced by millions living in various parts of the world under the rule of evil dictators, and all that are being persecuted for their religious beliefs, and there are those not even of the Christian faith being tormented alongside our brothers and sisters, because those in power want the “faith” to be in their rule over them, viewing themselves to be “gods” and that is horrifying and it is COMMON in many parts of the world.

And as we discussed last post, the babies and another big one, with the destruction of the family unit, alos the absolute disregard for life, many countries now having “euthanasia” laws, check some of these out, ye may be surprised, it is the legal right to kill the elderly, the sick, those with mental or emotional challenges, even young people suffering from depression.

No one even bothering to say, “Hey, hang on life can get better”, No, if a person feels their life is no longer worth living or a family member who has power of attorney feels that person’s life is “no longer worth living” they can CHOOSE to end these lives.

The key word in all these social arguments is CHOICE and God and God alone has the right to make life and death choices.

So you see, it’s not just the sin, it is the amount and again, the conscious ACCEPTANCE of those sins as just part of life in the age of new “enlightened, awareness”, beats me, I never would have guessed murder would be a legal everyday occurrence in a highly evolved society!

Read up on the downfalls of the greatest empires of days long ago and you will see one common theme, they had a blatant disregard for life and thought nothing of leaving the elderly out to die and destroying babies that they felt “inferior”, the Spartans made a counsel event of, and even that is disputed by some, but to attempt to erase history and the ugliness and horror of it only keeps us from learning not to trod the paths that others dared, which is why we are warned to watch in all things and to not be “led away”, as Peter warned us, often words can be smooth and actions argued long enough by a tongue dipped in silk can become quite convincing, which is which we are to BEWARE.

Life, it is the disregard for life, Jesus gave his life to save ours and so many are so quick to throw the lives of others away in their desire to make their own life more convenient, comfortable, or whatever their “logical reason” for that action may be. IT especially disturbs me that society has for quite awhile now, coined the term “Product of Conception” to replace the word and correct name-baby when referencing abortion.

Change the name, makes it so much easier to swallow, so much easier to deny the truth to themselves, but in the end, of notice importance at all, just as the quote, “A rose is a rose” and a living baby, even in the womb, even lying dying before being dismembered is still a baby.

So I want to give you Biblical insight to what Jesus was referencing in our beginning verses and then I ask that you look around your world, compare any of it to his comparisons in both areas and draw your own conclusion as to how far we have fallen.

And as always,I do apologize for my font changes, I am NOT “shouting” with this capitalization, it is the only way to draw attention to what the emphasis is being placed on, Hey, it’s hard to preach without a “voice” and a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do to get the message to you.

“As it was in the days of Noe…”

“And God SAW that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that EVERY imagination (intent) of the thoughts of his heart WAS ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY (all the day).

And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, (He was SORRY that he had created humans) and it GRIEVED HIS HEART.

And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me ( I am sorry) that I have made them.

But Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah: Noah WAS a just man and perfect (doesn’t mean BEING perfect, mean blameless) in his generations, and NOAH WALKED WITH GOD.

And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and THE EARTH WAS FILLED WITH VIOLENCE. And GOD LOOKED UPON THE EARTH, AND BEHOLD, IT WAS CORRUPT; FOR ALL FLESH HAD CORRUPTED HIS WAY UPON THE EARTH.

AND GOD SAID UNTO NOAH, THE END OF ALL FLESH IS COME BEFORE ME; FOR THE EARTH IS FILLED WITH VIOLENCE THROUGH THEM; AND BEHOLD I WILL DESTROY THEM WITH THE EARTH.” Genesis 6:5-13

Jesus was referencing this violence, violence on such a scale that even earth itself was made filthy from the bloodshed and every single thought of humans was evil, harmful, and vicious.

And as you know, he destroyed it with water, the great flood, saving only Noah and his family, Noah chose to listen, and as the violence of those that brought destruction on earth itself, the obedience of one saved his family.

“LIKEWISE also as it was in the days of Lot…”

Now I got to give you some insight to this, because I can’t give you all these scriptures but to read this story and I do truly encourage reading it in it’s eternity, please read Genesis chapters eighteen and nineteen, KJV.

But I want to bring up to about where will in our scriptures, God and two angels had paid a visit on earth to Abraham and Abraham asked them to stay and eat with him, and at this time God delivered the good news that Sarah would conceive their promised child, BUT God also had another reason for this earthly visit and had yet more news for Abraham, and I am going to give that conversation because it demonstrates the perfection of the grace and kindness of God as Abraham “bargains” with him.

” And the men rose up from thence, AND LOOKED TOWARD SODOM, and Abraham went with them to bring (send) them on their way.

And the Lord said, SHALL I HIDE FROM ABRAHAM THAT THING WHICH I DO; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

For I know him, that he will command (teach) his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, TO DO JUSTICE AND JUDGMENT (righteousness and justice); that the lord may bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him.

AND THE LORD SAID, BECAUSE THE CRY OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH IS GREAT, AND BECAUSE THEIR SIN IS VERY GRIEVOUS; I WILL NOW GO DOWN NOW, AND SEE WHETHER THEY HAVE DONE ALTOGETHER ACCORDING TO THE CRY OF IT, WHICH IS COME UNTO ME; AND IF NOT I WILL KNOW.

And the men turned their faces from thence (there), and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou (Will you) also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

Peradventure (Suppose) there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou (will you) also destroy and spare not the place for fifty righteous that are therein?

That be far from the to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked; and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee; SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF THE WHOLE EARTH DO RIGHT? And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes; Peradventure (Suppose) there shall lack five of fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?

And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will NOT destroy it.

And he spake unto him yet AGAIN and said Peradventure (suppose) there shall be forty found there, and he said I will NOT do it for forty’s sake.

And he said unto him, Oh let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak, Peradventure (Suppose) there shall be thirty found there, and he said, I will NOT do it if I find thirty there.

And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord; Peradventure (Suppose) there be twenty found there, and he said I will NOt destroy it for twenty’s sake.

And he said, Oh let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak yet but this once; Peradventure (Suppose) ten shall be found there, and he said, I WILL NOT DESTROY IT FOR TEN’S SAKE.

And the Lord went his way, and as soon as he had left communing (finished talking) with Abraham; and Abraham went into his place.” Genesis 18:16-33

Now that is just how awesome, kind, and giving the Lord is, he knew exactly what Abraham wanted to ask him, Abraham’s nephew Lot lived in Sodom, but God didn’t chide Abraham, he let Abraham led the conversation, pleading for lives from fifty to ten, if they could only find ten people there who were not wicked…. but they could not… but he still saved Lot because of the pleas of Abraham.

“And there came two ANGELS to Sodom, at even (evening time): and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

And he said, Behold ow, my Lords, turn in, I pray you into your servant’s house (come to my house), and tarry (stay) all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise early, and go on your ways, and they said, Nay, (no) but we will abide in the street all night.

And he pressed upon them greatly (urged them); and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

BUT before they lay down, the MEN OF THE CITY, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round(surrounded the house), both old and young, all the people from every quarter,

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? BRING THEM OUT UNTO US, THAT WE MAY KNOW THEM (know them carnally, rape them

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you, brethren, DO NOT SO WICKEDLY.

Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man, let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing: for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

And they said, Stand back, And they said AGAIN, This one fellow came in to sojourn and he will needs be a judge; (saying, Lot had moved to their city and thought he was boss) now we will deal worse with thee than them, And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot,, and came near to break the door. But the men (angels) out forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.

And they smote (struck) the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and greta; so they wearied themselves to find the door.

And the men (angels) said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, BRING THEM OUT OF THIS PLACE; FOR THE CRY OF THEM IS WAXEN GREAT (has grown) BEFORE THE FACE OF THE LORD; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he was as one that mocked (joked) to his sons in law.

And when the morning arose, the angels hastened (hurried) Lot saying, ARISE, Take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here, LEST THEY BE CONSUMED IN THE INIQUITY (punishment) OF THE CITY.

And while HE LINGERED, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; and they brought him forth, and set him without (outside) the city.

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad (outside), that he said, ESCAPE FOR THY LIFE; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; ESCAPE to the mountain, lest thou be consumed (or you will be destroyed).

And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so my Lord: Behold now, they servant hath found grace in thy sight, and THOU HAST MAGNIFIED THY MERCY, WHICH THOU HAST SHEWED ME IN SAVING MY LIFE; and I cannot escape into the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die.

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one; Oh. let me escape thither (there), (is it not a little one?) and my soul live.

And he (the angel) said, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee (hurry, escape thither (there) for I cannot do any thing till thou be be come hither (until you are there).

Therefore the name of that city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. THEN THE LORD RAINED UPON SODOM AND GOMORRAH BRIMSTONE AND FIRE FROM THE LORD OUT OF HEAVEN.” Genesis 119:1-24

It is often argued that the Bible doesn’t actually “say” that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of sexaul immoratality, Oh but it does, not in the account of Sodom and Gomorrah but actually it can be found in the New Testaments in the Book of Jude.

“Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about (around) them in like manner, GIVING THEMSELVES OVER TO FORNICATION (sexual immorality), and going after strange flesh, ARE SET FORTH FOR AN EXAMPLE, SUFFERING THE VENGEANCE OF ETERNAL FIRE.

The mercy of God is so great in that account and I know Lot offering his daughters is very disturbing and for more on understanding how God really feels about women read Awakening, because God would have NEVER intended for Lot to offer them his daughters.

But we can so many of the attitudes of Lot reflected TODAY.

Lot trying to get his sons in law to come and they just laughed it off stayed in Sodom and died in Sodom, and the angels trying to get Lot moving, finally had to get all them by the hand to get them out and then Lot, while being DIVINELY REMOVED FROM THE PATH OF DESTRUCTION begs NOT to go to the very place he is told to go in order to be safe!

He wanted to go to another place instead of just being thankful, go figure, sounds familiar doesn’t it?

We want it but we often want it our way. so there you have it, decide for yourself and I do want to leave you with a most wonderful word.

ROMANS 10:13: “FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.”

Pretty simple, don’tcha think? We’ve read the warnings and we don’t want to chance angels having to get out out… oh, but wait angels WILL be getting us, IF you have trusted Christ as your Savior, don’t delay make that decision today!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020 / Reverend Nina Brown Johnson

January 30, 2020 by Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

In Good Conscience…

“For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God.” 1 John 3:20,21 The heart there speaking of conscience.

I’ve been wrestling with exactly how to hit this point, I toyed with an elaborate play in my head… something out of a history book, you know an old dude in a wig with the forefathers stomping his foot and throwing his quill pen on the table and profoundly stating, “Gentlemen I can not in good conscience be a party to this senseless farce!’

But then again that may be from history, ah, you never know!

Anyway we are digging a good conscience, that little tugging inside that tells us something about the situation we are in or a direction that someone is trying to lead us in is just not quite right for us.

On the flip side of that you can have someone, even with good intentions, attempting to herd you into a direction or condemn a decision you have made or are trying to make based on their personal feelings on the matter.

People can often try to lead or condemn us when our true Shepherd the only one who truly has the right to lead and truly the only one with the power to condemn has no plan or purpose for that action in your life.

That is why the verse is so powerful and so extremely important especially when we are in a valley of decision, because God IS greater and he is greater than our heart and if our heart is not condemning us that tells us that surely God being greater than that would let us know beyond any shadow of a doubt the true path we should take or the correct decision even if we chose to make a decision that another may not think is the best one if God gives peace with that then we know we can have that confidence of being in his will.

To give an example of the importance of listening to the “voice” of God we’ll go to one of the scariest stories in the Bible, or at least to me it is one of the scariest because it teaches us how easily a person can sway us away from the will of God,

“And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense,

And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord (at the command of the Lord), and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign the Lord hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent (split apart), and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

And it came to pass, When King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying Lay hold upon him. (seize him) and his hand, which he did put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

The altar was rent, and the ashed poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.” 1 Kings 13:1-5

I want to stop right there for a moment because we can establish right there so completely that there was no doubt possible that this man, who is referred to as a man OF God had been sent and purposed of God to do this work and God displayed his power against those who would try to stop him to further prove that this was indeed divinely ordained.

Now for the rest of the story.

“And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before (healed).

And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give the a reward.

And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

For so it was charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest .

So he went another way,and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon.

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak, and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? and he said, I am.

Then he said unto him, Come home with me and eat bread.

And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way thou camest,

He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water, BUT HE LIED UNTO HIM.

So he went back with him an did eat bread in his house, and drink water.” 1 Kings 13:6-19

This story has a horrific ending, if you have a moment, please finish it on your own, but needless to say the man of God dies because he listened to the wrong voice, he listened to the voice of a man, the voice that assured him that he himself also was a “prophet” and he listened to the “voice’ of an “angel” supposedly heard by the man.

And he listened to all these “voices” when he had already heard from the “voice” the word of God and for whatever reason chose to listen to the wrong voice after having received all the instruction he needed from the right one.

Not faulting him at all, this is why this is such a scary story, because it happened so easy and it is a great warning to us, that there are those for whatever reason would try to lead us completely out of the will of God or even snare and trap us just to try to cause us to stumble and fall.

The overwhelming thread of this story is that he had had been told every single thing he needed to know about the man of God, including the command that God gave him against eating and drinking in that “place” and the direction in which he had been commanded to travel and he had all he needed to convince him into going “back” with him. So much symbolism going on there.

God is greater than your heart, if you know God and I mean truly know God, that you are a born again, spirit filled Bible believing person, you know what your heart is saying, and God is greater.

So if your heart is telling you a way that you should not go while someone else is saying that is the only way to go, take a note from your heart and know that God through his word has already told you how to go.

As said in 1 Corinthians, God is NOT the author of confusion but of PEACE. The God that saved you is the same God today and anything that takes your joy and your peace and bring confusion and strife into your mind and heart is NOT of him and anything contrary to his word and his teachings will never be his will for your life.

Thanks for reading! have a blessed week!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

June 26, 2019 by Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

CRAWLING OUT OF THE CAVE #1

“But he answered and said, It is written MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDETH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.” Matthew 4:4

Not only as Christians but just as humans we go through many seasons in life and all these seasonal changes can often leave us disillusioned, drained, despondent and the most dreaded and deadly of the “D” words, discouraged. It rains on the just and the unjust and that is THE “go to” scripture for all who are weary and when winds blow and the devil wants to convince us that if we were right we wouldn’t be going through this.

But again we all know that he IS the liar of all liars and everyone born upon this earth will suffer heartache whether they choose to follow Jesus or not. As a watchman who no longer has a tower and now sits perched upon a precariously wobbly wall only hoping that the shouts reach the ears of those for which they are intended, I can more than ever relate to all of the above.

January 2015 my Dad was hospitalized and it really did not look like he was going to make it, before going to visit him one morning I got prayer and I had never before nor have I since received a word at that particular church. Of course my nerves were a whole new level of shot and after the service a man came back and told me that when they had been praying he had received a word for me, and it was that 2015 WOULD BE a good year for me, I knew by the delivery of the message and the eyes of the messenger, that it translated to this, there would be NO time during the coming year that it would FEEL good and that NO MATTER what IT looked like or how trying it became that somehow in the spiritual realm it would be working for a greater purpose and all in all in the book that God keeps of all our lives that it would be recorded as a positive.

I think we tend to look at prophecy sometimes as we wish to see it and not so much as what GOD IS TRYING TO TELL US!

It is often something we may not want to hear but had we not known it we have lost hope and the dreaded “D” word would lead us straight back out into the world under bondage to the other “D” word.

I thank God for the word he sent me, it kept my eyes focused through an extremely painful year. My Dad had also received a word at the worst of his illness that his work was not quite finished and had he not received that, he may have not had the will to go on.

But still sometimes enough wind, enough rain, and just enough cold from feelings of disconnection can turn us to cave dwellers. We like to believe it is a place of shelter, a place of rest, and most of all a surrounding to block out all those nasty attacks and the only way they can get us is head on and we will be able to see that coming.

Right? Well, no, Not quite, caves are very dark, isolated, and filled with bones of whatever had made it a prior shelter and never made it back out, and your not going to get much rest if you have to always keep watch for fear of what is going to come through that “door”.

Elijah tried it, 1st Kings 19, God had already done mighty, mighty works through Elijah, really think about seeing this with your own eyes, FIRE FALLING FROM HEAVEN, PROVISIONS THAT WOULD NOT FAIL, A HUMAN FED BY RAVENS,THE DEAD RAISED TO LIFE. And yet even he, who had absolutely NO DOUBT anywhere in him concerning the power of God. He ran for his life, he had became so weary that he just wanted it all over and just wanted to go home.

God always patient and merciful sent an angel to feed him and strengthen him, showing us as always God knows right where we are, even when he did not send us in that direction and even though he continued on his emotionally self propelled journey God provided for him. Once he made it through the forty day journey and found the refuge of his cave the Lord asked very point blank “WHAT DOEST THOU HERE ELIJAH?” After Elijah gave his reasoning to the Lord GOD CALLED HIM OUT OF THE CAVE.

Now God gave a rather majestic display of His power and might over all the universe, and sometimes we also could use a refresher course. ALL POWER IN HEAVEN AND EARTH.

Psalm 97:1-6 “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation (FOUNDATION) of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. HIS lightnings enlightened the world: THE EARTH SAW, AND TREMBLED. THE HILLS MELTED LIKE WAX AT THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD, AT THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD OF THE WHOLE EARTH. THE HEAVENS DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THE PEOPLE SEE HIS GLORY.”

ISAIAH 45-5-7 “ I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: THAT THEY MAY KNOW FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN, AND FROM THE WEST, THAT THERE IS NONE BESIDE ME. I AM THE LORD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE. I FORM THE LIGHT, AND CREATE DARKNESS: I MAKE PEACE, AND CREATE EVIL (CALAMITY): I THE LORD DO THESE THINGS.”

ISAIAH 54:16 “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument (weapon) for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.”

This is the power that created the universe. The voice that spoke everything into existence. The one who named the stars and flung the into existence. The sun and moon will cower in His presence and the very mountains will flee from before Him. Heaven is His throne and earth is but His footstool.

And all nations and people will bow before Him and the same small voice who spoke to Elijah is still that same voice that speaks to us today. He is calling us out of the caves and His word is the way.

Please join me next time, Lord’s will, and we’ll look at David’s caving and follow up with that voice and the word of his promises that will help us see a brighter day OUTSIDE of the cave.

Φλογιζω/ NBJ 2016

Original post date: 01/14/2016 to read the remainder of this series, please check out: “CAVES” Part 2 “Cavin’ with Dave”

“RESONATE”Crawling out of the cave #3

Φλογιζω SOUL FOCUS

HE IS THE I AM THAT IS

Category Archives: 450:1

“Epitome of Unassuming Grace”

“Stories of Miracles & Provision”

“Our Brother’s Keeper”

“SNOWBLIND”

“Sodom, Gomorrah, and the days of Noah”

In Good Conscience…

CRAWLING OUT OF THE CAVE #1

“Moments with Moses” - Φλογιζω SOUL FOCUS

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