Author: Dr. Michael Johnson

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

The television won’t go off. That is because I refuse to push the power switch. I am paralyzed by the almost 2,000 choices in front of me. None of the choices are particularly appealing, but they all are amusing. That is a good word. To be a-mused is to be without musing, or thinking. So I never really can dream, because I never really sleep. I can’t see visions, because I never slumber.

My mind is fed a steady stream of things that others think of, so I can never hear what God is speaking to me concerning life, joy, holiness and healing. I can’t dream without sleep. I can have no vision without slumber. I am in the world, and unfortunately, of the world. I cannot be what God wants me to be. I am too busy trying to fit in to the mold of this world.

1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God lives forever.

We have lost the distinction of serving and chores. It is especially true in the congregation of believers who claim Christ as Lord. We have accepted serving on a particular board, or church auxiliary as service. We consider serving Communion as the equivalent of serving Christ, when in actuality that is just a chore. To serve Christ is to get out after we have done our chores and then go to work.

The work is tremendously understaffed. The laborers are so few because we have lost the distinction between chores and service. We pride ourselves in chores, while ignoring service.

Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Visit the prisoners. Take care of widows and orphans. Heal those who are wounded spiritually, emotionally, psychologically and physically. Help reconcile enemies. This is the work. Serving communion is a chore even easier than singing on the choir or taking up the offering. We serve best when serving God. We serve God when we serve those who cannot help themselves. That is our calling.

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

The Kikuyu tribe in Kenya have this proverb; ‘never interview a hungry man.’ It is a common delay tactic for those of us who call ourselves Christians. No matter how dire the situation might be, we find a way to delay, defer, distract, debrief and deter any solution, until we have the answers we want.

This is how it works for me. Once I have the answers, I hold my head down checking my list, and closing my eyes (at least one of them) praying and observing that they have really moved on. That buys even more time and serves to let God know I am really serious about the matter before me.

When the Christ said;

• I was hungry. I ask; have you lost any weight?
• I was naked. What is your shoe size?
• I was thirsty. Do you have a glass or bottle for water?
• I was in prison. Just how big was your cell?
• I was sick. What did you do to acquire this illness?
• I was homeless. How is life on the streets?
• I was a stranger. Would you like me to introduce you to people like you?
• I have good precedence for this behavior.

The disciples did the same thing. Mark 6:36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. Mark 6:37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

We debate because it keeps us from actually doing what we are called to do. Jesus has the only real answer for our self-absorbed negotiations. These rhetorical questions are not only endless, but they serve to deny the power of God to be able to work and thus deny His glory.

Don’t pray about it. Don’t think about it. Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you give it shall be given to you again.

Riddle the hungry with rhetoric. God is listening and watching as you weigh out your options and measure your response. He will bless you in that same measure.

I have really perverted the scripture this time. I have made works I claim to be in God’s name, to be evidence that I am working in His name. I have become more than a mere deviant. I have become a self-idolizer. I believe I know the answers to the challenges and struggles that mankind faces and I have not begun to deal with those very same issues in my own life.

The Bible declares; Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

I want to be exalted. I want the non-believers, and even better, the believers, and better yet, my wife and offspring to know that I am right and I should be exalted.

The problem with that of course is that God will share His glory with no-one. So I get busy, hoping that people will see me and give me just a bit of the glory that belongs to God. The busier I get, the further I move away from God. Jehovah alone deserves glory and honor. I will perish. I will ‘disappear’ and return to the dust from which I came.

To catch up with God means to slow down, and be still, not speed up and do more. Be still and know that He alone is God. He alone is exalted and He shares that glory with no-one. Not even a nice good person like me.

Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

I got a new car. God is good. I got a house big enough for two families. Yes indeed, God is good. My cancer is in remission. God is really, really good. My children are all doing well in school, my wife embraces me when I come home and gives me a big kiss, and my job is a perfect fit. God is tremendously good, until He ain’t.

It is clear that my evaluation of God’s goodness is based upon the good stuff that I get, or that happens to me. If bad stuff happens, God ain’t good no more.

The God I like caters to my needs. He does what I want, when I want it, like I want it. He is my genie, my butler, my servant and (don’t tell Him this part) my slave. He is good, until he stops doing things that please me. God is good, until he ain’t.

I would like you to know this God. He can be found in any of the churches, or clubs or secret societies and religions that give meaning to life. This God does not speak about unpleasant things like; Hell, Damnation, Repentance, Sin, Evil, or all those other bad words.

God is good until He starts to remind me that I can’t do right or be right or even think right without His presence. God is good until He ain’t meeting me on my terms.

It is all a lie of course. I know this without a doubt. God defines all that is good, because He is all that is good. He ain’t never anything but good. It is grammatically wrong, but theologically sound.

Psalms 73:1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.

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I confessed to my sister recently that I felt things were out of control. She reminded me that indeed things are out of control, to which she added; they are out of your control. They are only in God’s control. God has control issues.

I took a step back and reflected on that truth. As one of my favorite preachers asked; has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurs to God? Nothing takes Him by surprise, or catches Him unprepared. Jehovah does not need a contingency plan, a parachute clause, or an escape hatch. Yahweh needs no one to defend His name, reputation or credentials. He requires no letters of reference or recommendation. He explains Himself; Exodus 3:14 I AM THAT I AM. That is His calling card.

It is in when nothing seems right that I am reminded that God alone is in control. The plane is on auto-pilot, the driver is not asleep at the wheel. The world is careening, orbiting, rotating and revolving through space at millions of miles per second without an air bag.

God is self-absorbed because He is self-contained and self-sustained. It is His creation and His creatures that need Him and not the other way around. My next breath is best used to praise Him who grants it. That praise can be in the form of admiring Him for who He is, and thanking Him for what He has allowed me to be and finding ways to serve every person He has put in my life.

There are people with none of the advantages I have, who in my opinion have little or nothing to thank God for, because they have so little. And so I try to wrestle control and set things right on my own terms. When I ask God about His ‘unfairness’, He answers; He reminds me, I am clay.

Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?

God reminds me that the every disaster, every event, every occurrence is because He allows it. That does not mean He approves the terrors that cause us fright, but He does indeed allow it. Job was wise enough to not get angry with God about the disasters that came his way. Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

When it seems God is out of control remember what He says about the disasters, the devastation and disease that we face now or fear later.

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

I AM is in control. Get His card.