Walking in Truth

The wind is an interesting thing. It can be a calm breeze that soothes and relaxes you. It can also be a forceful gust that stirs up the landscape, and can uproot trees and houses in a “perfect storm.” Well today, Pastor Johnny is speaking of something that’s kind of like the wind. You can’t see it physically, but you know it’s there. It can be a quiet whisper, a gentle nudge, or sometimes, a convicting word, that you just can’t get out of your head. This mysterious thing is the Holy Spirit inside of you.

Who do you align with politically? Check. What gender do you identify with? Check. Do you believe in a Creator or that the world just came about mysteriously? Check. What’s your take on abortion? Check. All the hot topics of the day are things that you need to care about. But it’s not your personal opinion or emotions that should be the deciding factor. Pastor Johnny lets you know today that what you should be aligning with is what God’s Word says about all of these things. Check the truth!

The best way to stay up on a skill is to continue doing it regularly. If you’re on a swim team, you’re going to get better and better, the more you’re in the water! Well, think of the Bible as being the water that you need to dive into….every day! Today, Pastor Johnny helps you see that the more you’re involved in what God has to say, the less likely you’ll be to give in to what the world wants you to believe. Allowing yourself to enter into the world’s philosophies could cause you to drown.

The wind is an interesting thing. It can be a calm breeze that soothes and relaxes you. It can also be a forceful gust that stirs up the landscape, and can uproot trees and houses in a “perfect storm.” Well today, Pastor Johnny is speaking of something that’s kind of like the wind. You can’t see it physically, but you know it’s there. It can be a quiet whisper, a gentle nudge, or sometimes, a convicting word, that you just can’t get out of your head. This mysterious thing is the Holy Spirit inside of you.

Plenty of people don’t care for solicitors who come to your door, trying to sell something that probably isn’t life-altering. Well, Jesus is no door-to-door salesman. He’s bringing and offering something that is earth-shattering for your life, and you may not even realize that you need it. Pastor Johnny teaches today, on what it means to truly follow Jesus, to follow His call, and to live out a life that’s committed to staying with God. You’re not willing to bail at a moment’s notice when things get hard.

Picture yourself in the worst possible place that you could imagine. Maybe that would be stuck in another country, or being put in prison for something you didn’t do. Do you think it could be possible for you to have joy if you were in that kind of place? Well today, Pastor Johnny helps you understand how a man who was in these very circumstances chose to have joy, and where that source of strength came from. Listen to what it means to have true joy, and do your best to live that out today!

Whether you’re a child or an adult, you know what it’s like to be asked to obey someone or something. Maybe it’s the traffic light that you’re expected to obey. Or if you’re a parent, you call your kids to obey simple tasks, like cleaning up their rooms. Obedience is something that honors the one who has asked. In today’s teaching, Pastor Johnny talks about obedience to God being most important. By doing this, you’re showing Him that you love Him and that you’re willing to do things His way.

Picture having a beautiful garden that you worked on growing all summer. But then there was that really bad hail storm that beat down on your garden and left much of the produce unusable, because of the battering. This might be how you feel when you’re trying to live for God. Are you beaten down and ineffective? Today, Pastor Johnny expresses that this is a normal feeling sometimes. But don’t forget to stay connected to the God who brings life, and even restores you when you’re down.

When you look at a tree that’s planted by a river, you notice that it’s doing the very thing it was meant to do. It’s growing and producing many leaves, and there’s a lot of fruit hanging from the tree. The tree simply stays where it’s planted and produces fruit. Well in today’s teaching, Pastor Johnny talks about what this looks like for you in a spiritual sense…staying where God meant for you to be and having a willingness to follow God, in a way that brings about “fruit” in your life. So be like a planted tree!

If you’ve ever been to a vineyard, you know that those who care for the vineyard put much effort into helping the grape harvest be the very best it can be. As you listen to Pastor Johnny’s message today, think about you being like a grapevine in a beautiful vineyard. Make note of how Jesus, the owner of the vineyard, takes care of you. Sometimes, He handles you with delicate care. But there are other times when He has to prune some branches, so that you’ll thrive, be alive, and be fruitful!