The Horse Story© 2008
By Ronnie Johnson
With God all things are possible.
It was a quiet evening. I was a bit tired. We were meeting new friends just recently for a delicious dinner. But I made myself tune in to the conversations that followed.
“This man who lived in Kansas had a horse. The horse was stolen from a distant neighbor who had a similar horse. But the real owner of this horse knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that it was, indeed, his horse,” one of our new friends immediately sprung into his story-telling for the evening.
To be honest I had no earthly idea where this man was going with his story. I just knew that a man he knew suddenly lost his horse—a horse robbery I guess you could say. It sounded kind of like cattle rustling you see in those westerns on TV
“So my friend and the man who I had worked for lost his favorite pet you might say,” the man continued with a determination to share his story. “This horse owner and my boss of the company I worked for at the time, was an incredible engineer and had a smart architectural mind.”
Somehow nothing seems to fit together at the beginning of this story; but I hung on like a person jumping upon a fast-rolling locomotive you often see in the movies.
“So my boss goes home and makes up his mind to find a solution to horse thievery. And he succeeds. The next thing I know I’m getting a call from him and meeting ASAP. He reveals to me how he has actually designed a very small micro chip that can be inserted underneath the skin of animals. It was so tiny that it could be implanted even through a syringe—if you can believe that. Then through this indicator process (the micro chip) each animal could be logged into a computer data base to know exactly who owns the horse, or any other animal or fish for that matter.”
“Unfortunately,” our new friend tells us with a slight grimace upon his face, “my boss went back home that evening with all this new technology he had just discovered and died that same night. Of course, when he died the company died, too—so did my stock in the company. And his new, innovative technology unfortunately ended up in the hands of a company in Florida who now sells this very product.”
The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.
—-Harry Kemp
Instantly I knew why a quote had somehow crept into my mind and heart the day before I learned about this fantastic Reader’s Digest-type story. I took my normal, usual morning walk as I do each day through Cherry Creek, Colorado. As I am walking along I have this very clear, unique quote that somehow just lifts itself out of the thin air and space of time and intrudes my mind—amazingly so, the whole day long. It just went over and over and over inside my brain. I shared the quote with different people I came in contact with throughout the entire day.
From the inconceivable bad, comes the incredible good.
By Ronnie Johnson
Just think, had this man’s boss not lost his horse to a bad thief, he would never have invented a good product.
Earlier in the day I had shared this quote with a professional who had visited my office, and she remarked, “Just knowing you Ronnie, you will find a special story for your new quote.”
And I did.
Down the road ...
Ronnie Johnson
Saving the Seeds© 2008
By Ronnie Johnson
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
—Hosea 8:7 (RKJV).
It is true, indeed, where we sow our seed, is where we can expect its fruition. Where the seed is planted, is where the life begins.
“OK, Ronnie you’re probably not going to believe this but everyone has a garden in Russia; at least everyone where I go to minister a few hundred miles southwest from Moscow. It is amazing brother, just amazing at the contrast between the biggest nation on earth and the good ole USA,” my pastor friend excitedly explained.
“When its garden-time everything else just shuts down—especially when harvest time rolls around, too,” he said.
He has been going to the Soviet Union for a number of years training and mentoring Russian pastors and lay people in local churches. He has a very neat niche in ministry in this modern, high-tech age.
“You know, Breau,” he continued, “Everyone saves the seed from what they eat, too. Now I know you may think I’m exaggerating, but I ain’t. Those Russians know how empty their food markets can get—so they don’t count on a local grocery to take care of ‘em like we do in the States. And I know why. I have been inside those local groceries and the shelves are bare at times—no fruit or vegetables are to be found.”
He continued again, “Man they can every kind of vegetable and fruit you can think of—they don’t throw anything away—not even the rind of a watermelon.”
As I listened carefully to my client and friend I understand just how much we take for granted in our great and blessed nation. Do you save the seeds? Does anyone save the seeds in this Country? Do you have garden?
What if we went to our local grocery and there were no vegetables or fruit to be found on the shelves? What would we do?
This week on my regular walk through Denver I found the most perfect, and I might say most beautiful acorn you could ever imagine. It was just lying in the street all alone. I brought it back to the office and showed Jean. She agreed, it was most unusual. Perfectly shaped. All in tact. Not a common seed in Denver to be seen. It is hard to imagine that one acorn can turn into such a mighty oak, but it can.
That is, of course, if we save the seed.
Down the road ...
Ronnie Johnson
SLITHER OF LIGHT© 2008
By Ronnie Johnson
It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!”and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
—2 Corinthians 4:6 (TMV).
The unexamined life is not worth living.
—Socrates
That slither of light changes the greatest of darkness into day. It’s like the sun peeking its face behind the moon after an extraordinary eclipse. Suddenly daytime breaks forth and refreshes the soul with its piecing rays and refractions of light that sheds wonder all over again. It’s that small, slither of light from the sun that changes everything.
It doesn’t take much light to dispel a lot of darkness.
Run to the Light. Come to the Light. See again.
He had failed his God miserably. Nothing was right now in his life or his kingdom. No darkness could be more blinding and black. Once a king walking with God and ruling his kingdom with the resounding sounds of his victories and his past achievements, now he is alone. He has found himself in a deep dark cave of self-regret and grinding guilt. His life, his mind and his heart has been eclipsed by the horrible night of his sins and foolish blunder before man and God.
He sinned. Big time! Complete failure. No one else to blame.
There are no words to describe the eclipse of the Son with this king’s selfish and snide behavior. His soul was plunged into an abysmal hole too deep for any light to shine upon him. One thing he knew, however, that his only hope for any redemption, grace or joy again, was to be found in that one slither of light—that can only come from one Source, Jehovah God. It was out of this same dark, black, hole that he raced back to his God in the most clear and conscientious contrition and confession a person could ever voice to Almighty.
He sought the loving Light out of his overwhelming darkness. He knew there was supernatural power in those rays of Sonshine. He raced to the dawn…to the Sonrise; to that one slither of light who can change everything—even you and me.
Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
Soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
My sins are staring me down.
You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
It all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
Whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
In the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
Scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
Set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
Give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
Shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
Or fail to breathe holiness in me.
—Psalm 51:1-15 (TMV).
Down the road ...
Ronnie Johnson
THE SERUM IS IN THE VENOM© 2008
By Ronnie Johnson
In their affliction they will seek me early.
—Hosea 5:15b (KJV).
No Assyria could bring a cure to Israel. No enemy country could heal God’s people. But in their heartaches and in their afflictions God could show them His eternal healing love and restoration.
Your answer may be inside your problem today, not away from it. The most dangerous and viperous of reptiles is where our scientists and doctors discover the secret to the saving serums we use in humans. They extract venom from snakes, scorpions, spiders and asps to find cures for human disease and life-saving treatments.
What we so often run from, we need to run to. There is divine healing available to all. The power and dynamics of God’s restorative energy and strength can come from our worst affliction, not from our best condition.
Never look strongly at the solution away from your affliction; it is very possible that the solution is inside your affliction, and the painful hurt you are experiencing. The spiritual serum for Israel was right where they were, in the midst of their horrible affliction—that gnawing, frustrating distance from Jehovah, their God and King.
Remember the prodigal son came to himself in the pig pen, not inside his father’s palatial palace of ease and comfort. It is in the heart of that pig pen where the prodigal realized the hope for his restoration. It is there he decided to return to his father—“I will arise and go to my father…” (St. Luke 15:18 KJV).Have you decided to run back home where you belong? To your Father?
The serum is indeed found inside the venom. There are approximately 2,300 kinds of snakes in the world consisting of 13 different families. Five of these families of snakes are venomous. Very often the antivenin serum is the key to save lives. From the poisonous black adder to the Sahara sand viper, from the cotton mouth water moccasin to the horned viper, from the rattlesnake to the brown snake these venomous creatures strike to kill. It is wonderful to know that the same blow by which a viper strikes is the same source where the serum can be found to heal.
Spiritually you may be looking too far away for your answer. It very well may be in the affliction you are experiencing where the saving serum is to be found. And it is there you will hear your kind and most gracious Father:
In their affliction they will seek me early.
Come let us return unto the Lord:
For he has torn,
And he will heal us;
He has smitten,
And he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us:
In the third day he will raise us up,
And we shall live in his sight.
—Hosea 5:15b, 6:1, 2 (RKJV).
In the affliction came the solution—WOW!
Down the road ...
Ronnie Johnson
Right before Our Eyes© 2008
“LE”
By Ronnie Johnson
This is the day which the Lord has made,
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24 (RKJV).
Life can only be understood backwards; however, it must be lived forwards.
Soren Kierkegaard
Just walking briskly with my hands going back and forth; it’s a warm, crisp fall day in colorful Colorado. I am hearing the tennis rackets pound the tennis ball at a nearby tennis court. My usual span is 20 to 30 minutes as I exercise, and just get out of the office to let my hair down.
In Colorado this time of the year the leaves are turning and the sky seems to be flawless at times with a picturesque baby blue above and light, fresh air for our lungs. This day as I walked I was thinking about the global economy, the challenges on Wall Street, the gloomy things that often sneak upon our minds as an Iraqi War and other haunting and unwelcome thoughts.
But then came that inevitable LE that I often taught our children while growing up—that Learning Experience you never want to miss. Those LE’s most often come to us incidentally, not directly and definitely not accidentally. When they come you want to be sure and scrape them up, and store them carefully in the compartment of your mind for later inspiration and education you can share with others. I believe they are God-given lessons for life. They are Learning Experiences that come so quickly and often quietly, subtly; but are like a tsunami in meaning and power for your life and mine.
If I may be personal with my two bad knees, a left foot that still wells from an old surgery and a chronic lower lumbar pain I still walked along at a comfortable pace down the street in Cheery Creek. And then I suddenly looked across the street and was captivated by the scene before me.
She must have been around 30 or 35 years of age. She had long red hair bunched up in a pony tail. She was trudging along cautiously and extra slowly up the incline that I was walking down. Just a small incline in Colorado of course, can get you winded because of the high altitude.
As she moved along at a snail’s pace I was moved by her tip toeing along in her wheel chair. I wanted to go and push her along I felt so moved and touched by her strenuous attempt to go up the street. Although it was a lovely and beautiful fall day, the sun had come out and it was around 82 degrees—enough to add to her misery trying to roll herself up this street.
However, with one foot at a time she struggled along as she tip toed up the street and moved ever so slowing going to her destination. Each foot forward seemed painful to this lady.
Then it hit me! I realized the LE I had encountered. That still, small voice reminded me how blessed I am…we are. Look at your ability just to walk! Look at this fascinating day of sunshine! What wonder! What magical, colorful hues of falling leave from another season our Creator has given us! And I have good legs to walk with.
I threw a prayer her way and asked the Father to have mercy upon this red-headed stranger who inspired me beyond words I could never describe. How quickly, subtly those LE’s come to us—they are mercy drops from heaven. What reminders of His great blessings! LE’s reveal to us those stark realities of the cherished gifts and treasures we possess and so often take for granted.
As you go about your day today—trust me, an LE awaits you, too, along the way.
Down the road ...
Ronnie Johnson
That Exhilarating Taste! (c) 2008
By Ronnie Johnson
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed,
Because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning:
Great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22. 23 (KJV)
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back;
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall softly upon your fields—
And until we meet again…
May God hold you safely in the palm of His mighty hand.
—-Old Irish Blessing
Ah! The smell of a morning breakfast aboard a big tugboat—what a thrill it was! It really just doesn’t get any better than this. And that fantastic exhilarating taste—man ‘O man!
This happened in the late fifties. My dad often went aboard the big old tugboat to fill the propane tank which the vessel used for cooking and heating. Old Mr. Tarver was already in that kitchen area if you could call it that, sweating away as he got the meal ready for the hungry crew on board.
“Mr. Johnson!” He cried out, “You and the boy come on back and dig in before it’s all gone.” As we eased back toward this cooking/kitchen area you were simply dazzled by the authenticity and smell of the three or four pounds of bacon on the grill. Wow! You just don’t forget something like this; memorable to say the least.
That scene and the very taste of the delicious bacon still lingers upon my tongue. It was incredibly delectable. That day I had all the bacon, biscuits and scrambled eggs I wanted to eat. And dad and I devoured every bite we took. I still think of it as the best breakfast I ever had in my entire life. M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-!What a meal!
I don’t know if it was just the ambience upon the tugboat or the fresh morning air drifting in upon us from the cool Gulf waters, but the whole experience was insatiable…unforgettable!
Mr. Tarver appeared like a slave behind that grill, but he was in fact, smiling and lavishing every moment as he observed how much we enjoyed his tasty meal. As he stood there in those old faded blue-colored overalls and cooked for us and the other men aboard this big old tug, I could not help but think about just how blessed we are in this wonderful land.
Sometime I feel that we all take a simple but tasty meal for granted. I recently heard a man blurt out cynically to a fast food attendant, “I’m glad you finally got real potatoes back for these fries so I can eat them!”
World Hunger reports today that according to the World Bank some 500 million people are living in “absolute poverty.” It’s hard to believe but 15 million children die of hunger each year on this planet. According to The World Health Organization only one third of the world is well-fed. One third is under-fed and the other third is living in starvation.
Today nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion, live on $1dollar a day or less. However, there are reported 358 billionaires; their combined assets are greater than many other countries. Kind of out of kilter wouldn’t you say?
How fortunate we are with the incredible blessings we experience in this magnificent country. Thank God for America. Thank God for His endless blessings from shore to shore: from every flowing river to every lonely prairie hill, and from every purple mountain peak to every flowery valley in this great land. From every city, town, village and hamlet thank God for His countless blessings upon this Land.
And thank God for the precious memory and exhilarating taste on a big old tugboat long ago.
Down the road ...
Ronnie Johnson
