Thoughts: Reflections on God, Life and Living

By Reverend O.L. Johnson

The focus of this book is the practical application of God's Word in addressing every day problems. The book accomplishes this goal by using a compilation of 89 articles previously published in a local L.A. newspaper and republished here in book form. Each article stands alone, addresses a life situation, and offers biblical passages which apply

• Language: English
• Publisher: OL Johnson
• Release date: Sep 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988863113

Book preview

Thoughts

Reflections on God, Life and Living

Reverend O.L. Johnson

Copyright © 2023 Reverend O.L. Johnson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

OL Johnson—Diamond Bar, CA

ISBN: 979-8-9888631-0-6

eBook ISBN: 979-8-9888631-1-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023916237

Title: Thoughts: Reflections on God, Life and Living

Author: Reverend O.L. Johnson

Digital distribution | 2023

Paperback | 2023

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife, Delories; to our seven adult children; our 21 grandchildren and, at last count, our 11 great grandchildren. Next to God, they all supply needed inspiration for my attempts at ministry.

Prologue

I

f you harbor a passion for the Word of God in your heart, then this book will be a page-turner for you. In keeping with the promises implied on the title page, each page is filled with thoughts of God, life and living the best life He offers all who will adhere to his Word shared on these pages.

As you transition from page to page, you will find numerous references to the Holy Scriptures that have application to the subject matter at the top of each page. That’s our goal: to apply God’s Word to everyday life. Without application, we miss out on the full impact of His Word that He intended when He gave us the scriptures.

One bit of advice as we close this Prologue; take your time as you deal with the contents of each page, speed reading is counterproductive; have a Bible at your side as you read, and when scripture citations are given, stop, look them up in the Bible, and read them verbatim, ever so slowly so nothing will be missed or overlooked.

Now, the time is near to delve into the pages before you. It is our prayer that as you expose yourself to these thoughts and the Word of God that you will be enlightened and encouraged to let God work in your lives through his Word. BE BLESSED…

Contents

I

’m sure that you noticed right away that this Contents page is different from the norm in that there are no chapter headings. That’s because there are no chapters. Instead, you will see a compilation of titled articles, each containing thoughts independent from the others in terms of content. Each article was written by the author and published in the Los Angeles Wave Newspaper on a monthly basis between May, 2015 and September, 2022. All articles have one thing in common; all are biblically based.

At this point, I’d like to take a slight departure from our focus on articles to offer all of you my personal commitment to a quality product on these pages.

When God called me into this teaching/preaching ministry, he immediately gave me two directions so I wouldn’t go off on tangents, doing my own thing instead of his. He first introduced me to the KISS concept of ministry as a guideline to follow, an acronym for Keep It Short and Simple.

Secondly, he gave me another acronym, EECC, describing goals to achieve in ministry, meaning Edify, Encourage and Challenge to Change. I have done my best to follow these directions since then, and this is what all readers can expect to find in each article contained in this work.

In keeping with the KISS concept, you will find that each article is short and to the point, presented in a writing style that is down-to-earth, easy-to-read, and simple enough so that anybody can understand and receive the intended message.

Each message is designed to show the relevancy of scripture to everyday life in today’s society. When all is said and done, it is my prayer that all who take the time to read each article will find edification and encouragement, and will be challenged to make changes in life for their benefit and for the glory of God.

The author has requested and received permission from the management of the Los Angeles Wave Newspaper to republish these articles in a book format.

And now, to the task at hand…

The Inherent Lesson in Sin

(published October, 2019)

D

epending on which app you ask, the word sin in all of its forms occurs 1016 or 1292 times in the Bible. Compare those numbers to the 943 times and the 158 times we find the words Jesus and salvation, respectively, in the scriptures. We do not make this comparison to prove that God considers sin more important than Jesus or salvation. Relative importance is not the point.

The point is this: when God repeatedly uses any given word or phrase, that’s a clue that we should pay particular attention to those words and phrases in our preaching and teaching. We’ve gotten the message regarding Jesus and salvation. We preach and teach in those areas regularly. Sin, on the other hand, is a different story. Some today have chosen to avoid the topic.

Recently our pastor made that observation and decided to buck the trend and deliver a sermon stressing sin. He prefaced the sermon with another biblical observation supporting the need to preach and teach sin in our churches, that people lost in sin matter to God. That being established, he stated his text – Luke’s version of the parable of the Prodigal Son.

For those who know the story and may be a bit skeptical that the story addresses sin, stand by as we share the highlights of our pastor’s interpretation of the text. What follows are not direct quotes from his sermon but rather my take on what he actually said. Plagiarism is not in my vocabulary. He is, however, aware of this attempt to replicate his view of the text.

In his sermon, the pastor listed four dynamics of the sin-filled life suggested by the parable. Dynamic 1: desires of the flesh motivate one to live the sin-filled life. This dynamic is suggested by verses 12 and 13 in the parable where, as soon as the son received his share of the father’s wealth, he immediately took off in search of wine, women and song in another country.

Dynamic 2, the pleasures of sin are real, is likewise suggested by the phrase riotous living in verse 13. The implication is that he found what he was seeking in that country and proceeded to have a great time, until the money ran out and dynamic 3 became a reality.

Dynamic 3, the pleasures of sin are temporary, hit him squarely in the face and he found himself broke, homeless and alone in a strange country. He found no help or no hope from the citizens of the country so he took the only job he could find, caring for the pigs of a local farmer. This change of lifestyle we see in verses 14-16.

Dynamic 4, the lesson that is inherent in sin, finally dawned on the son in verse 17 where, the text tells us, he came to himself. In other words, the lesson became clear to him that he needed his father in his life to deal with the influence of fleshly desires. And finally, in verse 18, we see that he made the decision to abandon his current situation and return to his father.

Unfortunately, most of humankind have not learned this lesson. We often tend to be so distracted and enamored by the real pleasures of sin that our need for the Father is obscured. Maybe we need to hit bottom, as did the son in the parable, before we can realize our need for the presence of God in our lives. God is waiting – what’s your response going to be?

Indifference

(published May, 2016)

O

nce in a while most of us find ourselves in situations which elicit responses like so what? or, who cares? or, what’s the difference?  These can be perfectly legitimate responses if the situation is of no consequence to the respondent. If, however one finds himself uttering these types of questions in excess, they could be symptoms of a deeper, spiritual problem.

The problem we refer to is an attitude — a spirit of indifference—which can be a killer if one doesn’t evict it from the mind. If allowed to prevail, it can kill one’s initiative and personal growth in life. Goal setting and self-improvement may be seen as unimportant where this spirit of indifference has set up housekeeping.

Indifference causes these things due to the existence of two inherent realities, deception and complacency, both of which are part of the indifferent mindset. Once invaded by this demon, one is ripe to be deceived into thinking that his or her current situation is as good as it can possibly be, and complacency sets in. So, one proclaims, why bother?

And now our victim is dealt the final blow in this demonic plot; a degree of spiritual blindness which renders him incapable of recognizing his condition. This is a brand of blindness that is impervious to light, and without help, the devil’s plan to keep him in a state of blindness from which he can never recuperate will succeed.  But, a solution to the problem is on the horizon.

First, one must recognize that there is a problem, and then set a goal to be delivered from it. Next, follow the advice given by Jesus in a letter to a church that had this exact problem among its congregation. His first advice to them, found in Revelation 3:20, was to open the door to him, and he will come in. A spiritual problem requires a spiritual solution. So, start with prayer.

Ask for deliverance, and be guided by his next advice to the church (Revelation 3:18), buy of me; in other words, accept what he has to offer to achieve the goal of deliverance. What he offers are three enablers; inward purity (gold tried in the fire), outward purity (white raiment), and the Word of God (eye salve that thou mayest see).

Spiritual sight comes through consistent exposure to the eye salve, which ultimately results in both inward and outward purity and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ through faith. Now, let’s summarize all this in plain English. None of this happens automatically, including deliverance, without some human effort.

The process begins with acceptance of Jesus by faith; continues with a consistent study of God’s Word; and a genuine effort to apply biblical spiritual principles to life situations. If we put forth the effort, the enablers work for us, and we will realize goal achievements in life. Trust me, it works and it’s well worth the effort!

Life’s True Purpose

(published July, 2016)

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ne’s purpose in life is a topic I’ve heard discussed on numerous occasions on Christian television. Various theories have been offered on this issue such as, whatever you have a passion for; or, what you do better than anyone else. Describing purpose in these terms overlooks one important necessary element in the idea of purpose.

In deciding your life purpose, the element of a desired end, result or goal must be included. So, purpose without a goal to accomplish is not a purpose. It’s no more than something one likes to do, with no consideration for the quality of the finished product. Purpose is not what you do, but rather what you accomplish by what you do.

Purpose can be placed in two categories; earthly purpose and eternal purpose. The latter has both earthly and eternal impact, while the former falls short of any impact in eternity. In the scriptures God has given us both earthly and eternal purposes.  At the very beginning of creation, in Genesis 1:27, 28, he commanded all of humankind to be fruitful and multiply.

With this commandment he revealed his design for family that he expects all of us to follow throughout all of human existence; that male and female procreate and form families. Right behind this commandment, we find our earthly purpose; to provide for and preserve this family structure that he created at the beginning. Paul implies as much in 1Timothy 5:8.

Our eternal purpose perpetuates the idea of family in that its overall goal is constant growth of the family of God through his redemptive plan. Our part in the plan, our eternal purpose, is to partner with God in efforts to redeem those among humankind who will respond positively to witnessing and evangelistic efforts. Their eternal destiny depends on the choices they make.

As with any human endeavor, there are forces that constantly try to impede or completely stop our efforts to fulfill our purpose. The culprit in most cases is a me first mindset many of us harbor on the inside which moves us to place our fleshly desires at the top of our priority list. In his gospel, Luke shares a time when Jesus was faced with this me first attitude (Luke 9:59-62).

In his travels he encountered two men who agreed to follow him in ministry. But both expressed  a desire to first go back home for personal reasons, one to bury his father and the other to bid his family farewell. These do not seem to be unreasonable requests, but Jesus saw them otherwise. His responses seem hard, but they emphasize the level of commitment expected of his disciples.

Jesus’ responses to these two make one thing perfectly clear: commitment to God’s purpose is always number one on one’s priority list. So, be sure your priorities are in order before you commit. To go back, or even to look back, as Lot’s wife found out, is a dangerous thing to do. A backward step or glance detracts from one’s ability to fulfill his purpose.

Remember Paul’s advice in Philippians 3:13; forget what’s behind, reach for what’s ahead.

Temptation

(published May, 2016)

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he late Flip Wilson’s character Geraldine was mistaken when she proclaimed that the devil made me do it! We can’t blame our indiscretions on him; we transgress against God because we choose to do so, not because we’re led by the devil. He does however have a role in our decisions to act contrary to the will of God in life.

In 1Thessalonians 3:5, Paul refers to the devil as the tempter which gives us a clue as to his role. All he does is supply the opportunity and we do the rest. He knows exactly which buttons to push to tempt each of us individually. Take a look at the moral state of the world today and you must agree that he’s doing a great job of tempting all of humankind.

So, what are we to do? Are we forever at the mercy of temptations in life? Or is there help on the horizon? There