{"id":15747,"date":"2025-05-20T18:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T23:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/?p=15747"},"modified":"2025-05-21T19:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T00:00:14","slug":"my-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/15747\/my-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"My Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi there,<\/span><\/p>\n

I was writing in my journal tonight and I started going back and reading some of the earlier entries I have written this year.\u00a0 What a year in Jesus this has been, so far!\u00a0 Most days are the ordinary, \u201cI woke up and went to work\u201d kind of days, but there are so many sweet testimonies woven into those ordinary days.\u00a0 I realized these ordinary days we are living are made extraordinary by the life of God that\u2019s inside of us.\u00a0 There is really nothing ordinary about our lives if we are walking in the Spirit!\u00a0 It brought me to tears reading these journal entries!\u00a0 Here is just one small example from January:<\/span><\/p>\n

January 4:\u00a0\u00a0I slept late!\u00a0\u00a0Woke up and read my stories for the school year that begins next week and wrote my lesson plans.\u00a0\u00a0After Ben and I narrowed down three paint color options for his new room, we went out to finish making deliveries from Ellen\u2019s closet giveaways and out to eat at La Cocina in Mebane.\u00a0\u00a0Then, we went to Lowe\u2019s to purchase the paint.\u00a0\u00a0We painted his room last night, and it turned out pretty!\u00a0\u00a0But I didn\u2019t get to bed until after 2 AM and woke up at 6 to go over for morning fire at Pastor John\u2019s house.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoyed working alongside Ben to paint his room while listening to and singing along with some beautiful music.\u00a0\u00a0So thankful for our music.\u00a0\u00a0One song by Darren that has the lines, \u201cSo many people have laughed and cried; so many people have lived and died,\u00a0but they\u2019ve\u00a0never believed in me, the way that\u00a0you<\/strong>\u00a0believe.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0I told Ben that song has more meaning to me today than ever before.\u00a0\u00a0I love that Jesus has given me a heart to believe and love the Truth.\u00a0\u00a0It’s the same Truth that Paul taught!\u00a0\u00a0What I call the \u201cJesus-is-enough gospel”.\u00a0\u00a0Not many in this world believe that gospel, (Matthew 7:14: \u201cHow strait the gate and narrow the road that leads to life!\u00a0\u00a0And few there be who find it\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0Most reject the holy Ghost baptism and add all kinds of ceremonies and dead forms to replace the life that Jesus is offering.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s so puzzling to me why they would do that, but it\u2019s been that way from the very beginning of creation.\u00a0\u00a0God offered Adam and Eve anything they wanted from that beautiful, lush garden; however, that wasn\u2019t enough for them.\u00a0They just\u00a0had<\/em>\u00a0to add the fruit from that one, forbidden tree.\u00a0\u00a0This human flesh can never be satisfied!!\u00a0\u00a0What Jesus offers us from his rich, beautiful holy Ghost garden is all we need!\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s Paul\u2019s gospel.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s the road that leads to life!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But I also had this sobering thought as I was listening and painting: \u201cEveryone in Paul\u2019s life forsook him before he died.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And then I sincerely prayed, \u201cJesus, don\u2019t let me ever forsake the Truth you\u2019ve given to me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Amen!\u00a0\u00a0Forsaking the Truth is forsaking Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

This very first paragraph of my 2025 Journal explains why I decided to start writing a journal this year:<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy New Year!\u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t like New Year\u2019s Resolutions because they never last; however, I am hoping to keep this one.\u00a0\u00a0I want to remember all of the wonderful ways Jesus blessed me this year, and I am hoping someone else will be blessed and encouraged who happens to read this one day.\u00a0\u00a0Most of my days are pretty ordinary, but that doesn\u2019t mean Jesus isn\u2019t working and watching and protecting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, I have 56 typewritten pages; 139 entries!\u00a0 I am so glad these are not just pages filled with \u201cblah, blah, blah\u201d.\u00a0 If we can see it, our ordinary, simple lives are a beautiful and extraordinary story of God. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amen!!\u00a0 We are so blessed!! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lee Ann<\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

I love Lee Ann\u2019s testimony!\u00a0 When I read it, I can the hear the Spirit saying, \u201cLive! It\u2019s a brand new day in Jesus! Live!\u201d \u00a0If we are growing in Jesus, all we have- every day- is \u201ca mouth full of thank you!\u201d to our wonderful Father, just as Sister Willie so often says. And that mouthful of thank you is also for every single person Jesus has so lovingly placed around us. Jesus is not afraid to mix things up for us! And if we make a mess, how he loves to heal us and make us whole and happy again! I love your testimony- (I\u00a0may not have the words exactly right)- our Father lovingly saying, \u2018Try to make a mess so big I can\u2019t fix it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

What a good Father!<\/span><\/p>\n

Donna N.<\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

Aw!\u00a0\u00a0I feel the same way\u00a0Lee Ann. feels.\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t have ordinary days;\u00a0we extraordinary days in Jesus!\u00a0An extraordinary LIFE in Jesus!\u00a0 From the non-happenings to the happenings, life in Jesus is a notch above the rest. And he has made us all beautiful stories of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leeann\u2019s email made me think of the feelings I was having yesterday about the lines from Darren\u2019s song: \u201cTo fear the Lord is the way that is right. To give him glory and all honor with your LIFE.\u201d \u00a0Every day is a new day with Jesus, and if we give him the glory and honor with our lives, we honor each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Life in Jesus can be pretty simple if we don\u2019t add to it.\u00a0 I love your saying: \u201cGet right with God.\u00a0 Stay right with God.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll be alright with God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s doable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amy B.<\/span><\/p>\n

===<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell us what you think:<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/WitnessofSpirit\/status\/1925340591623217617<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi there, I was writing in my journal tonight and I started going back and reading some of the earlier entries I have written this year.\u00a0 What a year in Jesus this has been, so far!\u00a0 Most days are the ordinary, \u201cI woke up and went to work\u201d kind of days, but there are so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-netmail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15747"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15749,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747\/revisions\/15749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}