Penny J. Johnson's Blog, page 86

Love’s Reward

What shall be our reward for loving our neighbor as ourselves in this life? That, when we become angels, we shall be enabled to love him better than ourselves. E. SWEDENBORG.

The Devout Soul

The devout soul is always safe in every state, if it makes everything an occasion either of rising up, or falling down into the hands of God, and exercising faith, and trust, and resignation to Him. The pious soul, that eyes only God, that means nothing but being His alone, can have no stop put…

Blessings in Disguise

Blessings sometimes show up in unrecognizable disguises. ~ Janette Oke I have contemplated this quotation for several days. Perhaps because of its brevity, I sensed it required longer consideration. Maybe, because I know only a bit of the author’s writing and have found it rather simplistic and trite, I decided I was being unfair. Either…

Arrows to the Marrow

“There is nothing that pierces faith to its marrow … like shooting the arrow of the feeling of being deserted into it. And only genuine faith will escape unharmed from the midst of the battle having been stripped of its armor of earthly enjoyment and after having endured the circumstances coming against it that the…

Force vs. Crush

“God will have to crush our intentions on one side however much it may hurt.” from My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition Consider the difference between the “force” in the updated version and “crush” in Chamber’s original wording. Which one best expresses the power God exerts against our intentions? Which word do you prefer and…

Best Intentions

We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. ~ Oswald Chambers

The Happy Season

“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). This is the happy season of ripening cornfields, of the merry song of the reapers, of the secured and garnered grain. But let me hearken to the sermon of the field. This is its solemn word…

In Pruning Times

“My Father is the Gardener.” John 15:1b “Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit. There are blessings we can never have…

Choices

“We can’t choose happiness either for ourselves or for another; we can’t tell where that will lie. We can only choose whether we will indulge ourselves in the present moment, or whether we will renounce that, for the sake of obeying the Divine voice within us,–for the sake of being true to all the motives…

The Why

It is not by seeking more fertile regions where toil is lighter–happier circumstances free from difficult complications and troublesome people–but by bringing the high courage of a devout soul, clear in principle and aim, to bear upon what is given to us, that we brighten our inward light, lead something of a true life, and introduce…