From Obscurity into God’S Marvelous Light: Finding the “You” That You Were Predestined to Be

By J. C. Johnson

We were created for a purpose, but in this constantly changing world, many of us become disillusioned by life and fail to discover our purposes and embrace our destinies. We meander through life, seeking to find ourselves and a meaning for our existence; yet we remain disoriented and unfilled. But there is hope. Our lives do not have to be like this; we can discover our purpose and walk in our predestined roles. The person God created us to be is within us but has become obscured with the trivial issues we allow to define us.

Author J. C. Johnsons From Obscurity into Gods Marvelous Light: Finding the You that You Were Predestined to Be, demonstrates how answering Gods call on our lives empowers us to find our purposes and live in our destinies. When we answer Gods call, we embark on a life-changing journey. We are transformed and become the persons God intends us to be. We emerge from obscurity and into His marvelous light. Johnson uses her personal experiences and life lessons to inspire and empower us to travel our journey and to find and embrace the person God predestined us to be.

Are you willing to find who you were predestined to be? From Obscurity into Gods Marvelous Light: Finding the You that You Were Predestined to Be will help you find that person and leave a legacy that will impact the lives of others for generations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: May 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781480817401

J. C. Johnson

J. C. Johnson has been a Christian for over twenty years; she is passionate about serving God and desires to see God’s purpose in her life and in the life of others fulfilled. Her previous book, “From Obscurity into God’s Marvelous Light: Finding the “You” You were Predestined to Be” empower others to find their purpose and live in their predestined roles. She resides in Barbados, West Indies. To learn more about her and connect with her, contact her at http://www.obscuritytolight.com/

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 Joy-Anne C Johnson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-1738-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-1739-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-1740-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015905713

Archway Publishing rev. date: 5/5/2015

Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.® Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica, Inc.®

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Obscurity

Getting Our Attention

The Journey

The Battle

Losing to Gain

Shelter Me, Oh Lord

Finding the You that You Were Predestined to Be

In God’s Marvelous Light

Empowerment Quotes

In memory of my mom,

Glenda E. Johnson,

who is looking down from heaven this very moment saying,

Joy-Anne, I knew you could do it.

Acknowledgments

To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who ignited the spark He placed within me and caused it to shine out of the darkness. Because of His love for me, and despite the numerous times I messed up in my walk with Him, He turned my trials into triumphs and testimonies.

To my parents, Glenda and Courcey Johnson who laid the foundation for this book, you both ensured that I learned to read and write, and I thank you for your love and support and for believing in me. Thank you, Maria, Angela and Patrick, my sisters and brother, for your encouragement and for supplying me with endless reading material while growing up. And thank you to my uncle Stephen Lowe for always being there. Lolita, thank you as well.

To my cousin Samantha; my nieces and nephews, Ayeisha and Azaria, Kemeko and Arik, (my babies), I love you all and thank you for allowing me to mother you, even though there were many times when you thought I was smothering you.

Sincere thanks go to my spiritual mentors Cynthia Baptiste (Mary Boodhoo) and Beverley Sauder whose teachings has enriched and empowered my life. A special thank-you to Pamella Archer, my work mom who was there for me throughout a very difficult period; you helped me to battle that stormy period.

My spiritual sisters, Bernice Jordan, Shellyann Quintyne, and Ramona Payne, whom I could always rely on to cheer me up and encourage me as I traveled my journey. To Deirdre Perch-Hoyte, Carolyn Cummins, Michelle Reece-Herbert, and Derrianne Griffith: what would I do without my girlfriends, my pals, my buddies for your humor, constructive criticism, and tenacious optimism, which kept me humbled and entertained throughout the years—thank you.

A special thank-you to Simone Johnson (no relation except through Jesus) who encouraged me to pursue this dream within a shorter time frame than what I had originally planned. That day we sat in your office discussing our dreams, you asked, Why five years? Why not now? Both our dreams have materialized.

To Andrea Davis (Vernette), we met under challenging circumstances, but with the grace of God, we emerged victoriously. Stay in the will of God, and you will always be victorious.

As a young Christian, you once compared me to King David. I never anticipated that those prophetic words you spoke over my life would be the beginning of my journey toward my destiny. Thank you, Pastor Randolph Hinds, for seeing what God wanted you to see in me.

Sincere thanks to my sisters and Deirdre Perch-Hoyte for carefully proofreading the manuscript and offering suggestions, and for your keen eyes when it came to typos and verb tenses.

Many thanks to Susan Sealy, for your encouraging words, friendship, for believing in me, and for writing the foreword to this book.

To those at Archway Publishing, who turned my manuscript into a published masterpiece with their editorial minds and eyes; William Curry, thank you for your patience.

To my potential readers, I pray that this book will inspire and motivate you to start or to continue your walk with Jesus Christ. He is the author of our lives, our Alpha and Omega, our shield, our sustainer, our Redeemer. Trust Him; He is the only one who can satisfy us.

Thank you all.

J. C. Johnson

Foreword

Who should read this book?

This book is primarily written to encourage persons of all walks of life to develop a daily and inspirational walk with God despite their personal insecurities, and to commit themselves to Him to attain permanent victory.

This book is…

This book is symbolic of a map and a compass that carries us through an unforgettable life changing experience. We hide ourselves behind the veils of selfishness, pride, covetousness, hatred, unfaithfulness, uncertainty, and inferiority, because we have often disconnected ourselves from our infinite source of strength and light, our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ.

This book helps us through an intriguing journey to channel our thoughts to rely on God through our personal tsunamis.

When we think of ladders, we think of being elevated to a higher place and this symbolizes differing levels of experience. This is the same in our Christian experience with God. As we grow with God, we experience different levels of spirituality leading towards a higher calling with Him.

J. C. Johnson helps us to feel and experience the Christian journey with her, as she illustrates how she, through the help of God, removes the veils of inferiority, uncertainty, and self-hatred. At the end of this book, we feel liberated from the tsunamis of life as we allow our spiritual journey to be filled with daily inspiration from God, this is our higher calling.

Let us take up the mantle and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives as we take the time to recharge our hearts and minds and fully receive the blessings of our Heavenly Father.

I recommend this book to be added to your collection.

Susan L. Sealy

Attorney-at-Law and Founder of Genesis Law Chambers

Co-Author of: The Reaction Enantiomer of Genetically Modified Organisms (forthcoming)

Bridgetown, Barbados W.I.

Chapter 1

Obscurity

The lofty sun and the moon began to fade, obscured by the brilliance from your arrows and the flashing of your glittering spear (Habakkuk 3:11 (NLT)

A re you living the life you were created to live or do you feel that there is no motivation to being you? Are you fulfilling your purpose or are you still wondering why you were placed on this earth? Is there more to you than what others can see? Is there another ‘you’ on the inside who wants to emerge who is capable of doing more than what you are currently doing?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes; then the person you were predestined to be is living in obscurity. The predestined ‘you’ is the person whom God created you to be. In order to live in your destiny; this ‘you’ within, must emerge from obscurity and break into God’s marvelous light.

For this ‘you’ to emerge, you must travel the journey which God specifically designed for you. This journey transforms you and prepares you to reveal and release what God placed within you; it prepares you to live in your predestined role.

Most of us have heard the story of the ugly duckling. The beauty of the swan could not shine forth because that beauty was obscured by the vision the swan had of itself as well as by the opinion of those around it. These persons had deemed it a duckling and had ascribed to it characteristics of a duck, which did not reflect who the swan was predestined to be.

The swan was created to be a swan, which was its destiny; it was never created to be a duck. It was only after the swan understood this that it could emerge into the light. The swan was then able to step into its predestined role and allow its beauty to shine forth.

Likewise, our gifts cannot shine if we are not living within our predestined roles. God placed a gift within each of us, but those persons who are intimidated by our gifts, ascribe characteristics to us which we allow to alter our self image. When our self-vision is negatively altered, our gifts become trapped within us, and the person we were predestined to be remains obscured.

This gift will be revealed when we walk in the will of God. For some of us, this means accepting Jesus as our personal savior and for others it means totally trusting God to direct our lives. Then we will emerge from our obscured state and walk in God’s marvelous light; in our predestined role.

Obscured

When God created the earth, He made two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night; He also made the stars and set them in the expanse of the sky to give light upon the earth (Genesis 1:16–17 NIV).

Both the moon and stars were created for the sole purpose of providing light during the night; yet there are times when their radiance is obscured by the clouds, covering the world in darkness. However, because their purpose is to provide light, they cannot remain hidden behind the clouds. They must emerge from the obscurity of the clouds; then their brilliance will light up the sky, and they will have fulfilled their purpose.

Each of us was created for a specific purpose, yet we live in a state of obscurity and not as the person whom we were predestined to be. God did not create us for this. He wants us to live in His light and in our predestined roles.

Like the moon and stars, our light cannot shine if it is obscured by clouds. The clouds of our insecurities, limitations, fears, anxieties, low self esteem, self-hatred, and the negative opinions of those around us. In order for our light to shine, we must emerge from the obscurity of these circumstances and hindrances and run into God’s marvelous light, allowing the emergence of the person we were predestined to be.

55321.png

In order for our light to

shine, we must emerge from the obscurity of these circumstances and hindrances and into God’s marvelous light.

55324.png

Throughout the bible there were men and women of God who lived in obscurity and not in their predestined roles. However, as these persons trusted God and allowed Him to direct their lives, God took them from behind the scenes, out of their obscurity and into His marvelous light; where He used them in remarkable ways.

Some of these persons quickly faded off the scene but they did not return to obscurity. They fulfilled their destiny and, achieved their purpose and their works has been spoken of throughout the years.

Eleazar and Shammah, two soldiers in David’s army emerged from obscurity, achieved their purpose and then quickly faded off the scene. God used these two men in a tremendous way when the Philistines attacked the Israelites.

As the Philistines prepared to attack, the Israelites became scared and retreated; but Eleazar stood his ground and struck the Philistines until his hand grew