I was listening to a man speak about association, and he said that if I would show him my friends, he could show me my future. I have found that to be very accurate as I have looked back over my life. I by no means want to insinuate that I have arrived, because that is definitely not the case for me or anyone else. Looking back, I can identify several of my friends at the time of my teen age years that would have taken me down a dark road if I would not have  gotten involved in sports. Sports consumed just about all of my time and energy, and as a result, those relationship starved and eventually died. As I came and went to my games and practices, I could see my friends behaviors for what they really were. It then dawned on me that I was behaving in the same manner but could not see it because I was so deep in it. I was put back by their behavior and the fact that I was doing the  same kind of things. Fortunately for me, something came along and jerked me out of  that which would have taken me down a very destructive path. Even as adults, we have to watch who we align ourselves with. I tell my kids often that those that encourage us to go down those dark roads are afriad and do not want to do the work required to go in the other direction, and would rather sidetrack others so that they can be comfortable. Those of us giving good effort to do right, makes those that are not giving the effort extremely uncomfortable.

Rhon Johnson

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 Scripture Reference:

Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

One day in prayer, I was about to go through my deal of giving thanks and asking God to help me with the issues in my life. Suddenly I was prompted to put myself aside, and before I knew it, out of my mouth came, “How About You?” I had just asked the Lord what I could do for Him, and to my surprise I felt Him quickly respond by saying, “Help My People.” Yes we can bring the Lord comfort by helping those around us. I knew he loved us, but I felt how true His love is for us because in that moment I could feel that His thoughts are completely consumed with us . Will you dare ask God what he needs? You may be surprised to the respond you may get.

Rhon Johnson

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Power Statement:

Gods heart is heavy for us just as our hearts are heavy for our children when we know they are hurting.

Rhon Johnson (1966 –     ) 

I love to go to the gym and workout. One of my favorite exercises is the bench press. You really have to push hard to lift that weight, and resist it as well to keep it from falling onto your chest. Life is no different, we have to really press against it to keep it from caving in on us. There are many situations that are unique to us that have tried to squeeze the life right out of us. We have had to resist allowing it to do so by first refusing to quit in our minds. We have had to force our minds to think about the outcome we want instead of what is looking us in the face at that very moment. Often we have to press for long periods of time just to keep hope alive. Really my friends, the one thing our enemy is trying to get us to do by coming against us like those weights were trying to come against my chest, is for us to just get tired and quit. Don’t quit my friends, I encourage you to press on!!

Rhon Johnson

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Power Statement:

Anything that is worth anything has endured seasons of great pressure.

Rhon Johnson (1966 –       )

In order to build anything, it must first have a solid foundation. What construction company would dare build any structure without laying a proper foundation. Without a solid foundation, whatever it is, will not survive the ever changing environments we live in. What about our lives, have we had a proper foundation laid? Most of us have not. Many of us have poorly laid foundations with severe cracks in them and we are barely holding up to the things this life is throwing at us. It is sad that we have to live this way, but yet, there is still hope. When I look out at the people that cross my path everyday, I often find myself thinking about them and myself. We are all trying to keep our heads above water with whatever tools we have received. Some of us had great parents, some good, and others poor or no parenting at all. Base on where we fall in that category, it will let us know what kind of foundation was laid for our lives. It doesn’t matter which one, because neither of those situations could have provided us with the kind of foundation needed to have victory in this life. We all need more. Its just that some of us need more work than others. My Grandmother used to take me to a small church when I was spending time with her. This church did not know how to properly teach Gods word to its people. It was a church full of people with poorly built foundations under their own lives, including the pastor. All I learned from attending that church was to read the book of Psalms. It was helpful, but I did not understand how to apply what I was reading to my life in order to grow and make changes. It did give me enough of a foundation to realize that I needed more of this book and I also need to be able to understand how it relates to me and how to apply it to the situations in my life. As I began to understand and apply later in my adulthood, I could feel that things were changing in my mind as to how to approach things that I would otherwise shy away from. In a nut shell, God was laying a new foundation for life as I began to understand and apply His word to my life. Any life that has a foundation built upon anything other than the word of God is just one storm a way from having it all blown away. Because we live in a broken world, we will often times experience wind damage, but if the word of God is our foundation, we will still be found standing when the winds cease and the clouds part.

Rhon Johnson

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Scripture Reference:

Luke 6:47-48

Whosoever comes to me, and hears my sayings, and does them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

Not one of us are alike. What a creative God we have. I know there are many that struggle with His existence, but when I look up and see the birds in the air, there are so many different kind, but they can all fly. I think to myself, “someone thought of them and turned his thoughts into a reality.  We are no different, we see from within ourselves something we want and then we set out to bring it into this world. When I walk down the halls of the high school where I work, I am amazed at all the different shades of color, hair texture, and facial features. None of them look alike, with the exception of a couple of sets of twins that attend there, and even they are different. God is so creative, and he put that part of Himself on the inside of us, and He wants us to use it to create the life that He desires for us.

Rhon Johnson

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Scripture Reference

Genesis 1:3

And God blessede the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work Which God had created and made.

I have decided that I want to be the kind of friend that would be considered uncommon in today’s world. There are a few people that I consider worthy of that kind of friendship, and I intend to pursue them. I am in the process of setting up meetings with them so that we can begin this journey of authentic friendship. I met with one of my friends the other day face to face, not by text or by phone, but face to face. He had been going through a tough time, but I didn’t know it because I had not been actively pursuing him. We need to be there for one another, and face to face friendships are really important to all of us as we do so. God wants to have that kind of friendship with us as well. I know that many of us will find this to be extremely difficult to believe, but God wants to have a face – to – face friendship with us.  I close intimate relationship where he shares His heart to us because that it what real friends do.

Rhon Johnson

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Scripture Reference:

Exodus 33:11a

So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

Can you feel it in your inner most being when something just ain’t right? My grandmother was loaded with those feelings. I could never get a way with anything with her. Today, I still can’t get a way with anything. I know God is there and He sees it all. Not to say that He is out to punish me, because He’s not. But because of His presence in my life, I can feel it when I am about to make a wrong turn in my life. Even still I have been known to go a head and make the turn I want instead of yielding to that feeling. So my words to you my friends is to learn to turn when you get that feeling. Whenever I have ignored that feeling, it has always come back to bite me.

Rhon Johnson

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Power Statement:

Take heed to the feelings today, or else really feel it later.

Rhon Johnson (1966 –        )

That is a tough question to ask yourself. People usually ask themselves this question when they are facing something that doesen’t make sense or seem right. I have asked myself this question many times growing up. I came to find that it was a total waste of time and energy. A constant asking of why brings upon  us a form of chaos, disorganized thoughts, and a deeper lack of understanding. The best thing we can do when we find ourselves in a situation that tempts us to utter those words is to re-direct that energy to overcoming the situation. When we ask that question, who are talking to anyway? Is it God we’re asking, or are we  just feeling sorry for ourselves? Probably a little bit of both. Have you ever paid attention to a persons facial expression when they are using the word why? It is always in the form of confusion; and that confusion will intensify if we ask that question and we don’t get the answer we are looking for. More times than not, when we ask ourselves or someone else why, the answer is always unsatisfactory. Most of the time, I can’t tell you why. It is what it is, and it chose you or me because situations and circumstances do not discriminate.

Rhon Johnson

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Power Statement:

The answer to that question will not change what has already been done.

Rhon Johnson (1966 –       )

Some times when we look at where we want to go in life, we find ourselves doing nothing  because it seems like there is just so much to be done. I want to encourage all of us to just do a little if that is all that can be done at the time; because every little bit helps. A little bit every day over the next ten years could very well add up to a completed task. So, no matter how small, get it down because it gets us that much closer to our goal.

Rhon Johnson

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Scripture Reference:

Isaiah 28:10

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little:

No matter the circumstances, or the situation you are facing at any given time, you do not have to let it get you down. It really is your choice.

Rhon Johnson

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Your Daily Scripture Reference

Duet. 30:19

 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before life and
death, the blessing and the curse: THERFORE CHOOSE LIFE, that you may live, you and your seed;

I love this scripture because He gave us the answer, and this a speacial post because it is the first one I ever posted just over a year ago.