Category: Journal

Several Sundays ago, Pastor Jeff asked me to sing Psalm 16:11. He told me if I didn’t want to, he understood. I won’t pretend I wasn’t nervous about singing on a Sunday morning, but I said “yes” without hesitation. Why? Because God had told me a few days before to stop saying “no” so quickly to every opportunity presented me. He showed me many times I missed His will. So, I sang.

Around the same time, I also received an invitation to go to Israel. I thought about it briefly and let it go. But it didn’t let me go. I never said the word “no,” but I argued against this trip. Arguments like – I had no one to go with me. If God wanted me in Israel, He could have had me born there. It was too much money. I have too many obligations here. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! It was all true. When asked about the invitation, I answered, “yet to be determined.” That wasn’t a “no,” after all.

The morning of January 29, I was on Amazon doing what you do there, and suddenly I encountered God Almighty. He said, “Israel?” I said, “Father, I have no one to go with me.” Then He stopped me and said, “I have heard your pros and cons. I have heard you say of Israel, ‘yet to be determined.’ But it is determined that I want you to go.” He reminded me again to stop saying “no” to everything. I knew immediately that He had arranged this for me, and the only answer was YES! I knew He had called me to GO!

I stood there in repentance, very corrected. My tears were overflowing and yet I was so relieved. At that place of repentance, knowing that I know, everything changed.

I asked my husband, Dan, “what would you say if I told you God just told me to go to Israel?” He said, “I would say GO!”

So “YES” was the only answer, and honestly, that “YES” filled my heart. A heart that ten minutes earlier was filled with fear and conviction was now overflowing with joy and expectancy, and excitement I hadn’t felt since the last trip I took six years ago. So, there it is. I am going to Israel this November. I will walk with my Jesus where He walked, and I can’t wait to see what our Father has planned for me there. Oh, how I wish I had someone going with me that I know but by faith I believe, that I actually already have that too.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. – Psalm 16:11

And as for trips, this is not a mission trip, but with every trip, God has given me scripture and a song. You know the scripture already, but the song He gave me that day was this. I started singing it on my way to church, and I haven’t stopped –

Goodness of God
Jenn Johnson

I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In the darkest night
You are close like no other
I’ve known You as a Father
I’ve known You as a Friend
And I have lived in the goodness of God

And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

‘Cause Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me
Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me
With my life laid down
I’m surrendered now
I give You everything
‘Cause Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me.

And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I’m gonna sing of the goodness of God

Home from Yorktown, VA. It felt like a whirlwind – packing up our offices to get ready for the move and closing down our practice—two days of intense work. We traveled through a tropical storm to get there and on the way home a car came in our lane and we almost had a head-on collision. Whew! Our time ended with Dan and I visiting with our friend and my business partner. It has been 33 years of friendship and 30 years working together in York Family Therapy. What a ride. Many, many great years and laughs. A few tough years and tears. Today I walked away having said goodbye to the business, although there is still much I must do. Goodbye seems necessary to get it done.

I also walked away knowing unless God intervenes, in all likelihood, I will never see this man – my friend and business partner – again. So, I said everything over again that I needed to say and had already said quite a few times. 

Can I tell you a little bit about this man? His is the most compassionate heart mixed with the most brilliant mind I have ever known. He has always been so giving and I always felt like he gave too much away. He always listened, laughed at me, and gave it anyway. 

His mind is something else. He indeed has the mind of a genius…but today he couldn’t remember how to do the simplest of tasks or recall the best of memories. The hardest part of all though was when he told me he knew that he once could remember all of what he can’t today. He tried so hard but it wasn’t there. Trying made him very confused. You could see his despair and I tried to hide mine as best as I could. 

He then leaned forward and said, “visiting hours are over.” Haha. I laughed but he was serious. So I prayed for him, hugged him, and told him I loved him and was so glad he was a part of my life. He smiled a little and thanked me for coming and all the work I did at the office. I said that is what friends do, right? And he said, yes. I said, well, then if friends do that, friends that are business partners should do double and for free. He looked at me funny. Did he understand? Hard to say…but I knew he always chuckled when I said things like that because he’s a giver and didn’t want to be outgiven (if there is such a thing). 

Some friends you have for a lifetime, and even if your lives change drastically and work goes virtual, when you do see each other, you can pick up where you left off as best you can. The circumstances might be difficult, but somehow friendship has a way of flowing. I thought today’s visit would be hard, and some parts were, but most of it flowed despite circumstances and the hardest part (for me) was walking out that door.

Please pray for him and his family.

Today my mom and I talked about the church I first remembered attending as a little girl—Calvary Baptist Church in Brunswick, GA. She took me to their FB page and flipped through pictures they had listed as Memories. And there it was. What she wanted me to see.

My Daddy! A picture of my daddy with some boys he taught in what was known as RA’s or Royal Ambassadors. They looked to be on a camping trip or a day trip with several groups of boys. Wow! 

The picture above is the only photograph I know of with my Daddy involved in ministry. I have many images in my mind and heart, but this photo reminds me of his heart and who he was. He hadn’t been saved long, but he was doing what he could for Jesus. He would grow in his walk with the Lord, surrender his life to the ministry, plant missions on the Indian Reservations on the islands in the Puget Sound of Washington State, and then later pastor two churches – one in Burlington, WA and one in Wise, NC.

This picture reminds me of a man I loved with my whole heart and grieved over for decades. If you know me, you know a lot about my daddy. Here are some things that come to mind.

-My love of the Word and studying the Bible came from sitting in his office and watching him study; from reading his handwritten notes in writing only a few of us could read.
-My love of serving came first because every time we had a visitor at the pastorium, he allowed me to make and bring them coffee. At the time, I thought coffee smelled so bad, but I loved being able to help, and often they would let me stay and visit (but I have to be quiet unless spoken to).
-My love for the elderly came because he took me into nursing homes every Sunday to visit as he preached there.
-My love for prayer came because he had us on our knees praying every morning and every night. No excuses!
-My reverence for the House of God came because we cleaned a large church while Dad attended college for his ministry degree. He had a schedule of chores for each of us every day. We did them faithfully and to his standard and with great reverence. No playing around in the church or cutting corners. Did it matter that we were young teenagers? No, it didn’t. If you have no reverence for the House of God, take some time and clean it. God will bless you mightily as He did me.
-My love for missions, missionaries, and church planters came because we went on to those Reservations with my Dad and helped him plant the missions. I taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School when honestly, I was a child myself.
-My love for hurting people came because my daddy brought people home for breakfast that he found in ditches and sleeping on benches. He went to the highways and byways.

Oh, this doesn’t even touch the surface. I could go on and on…

When my dad died, there was a part of me that the enemy tried to put to death with him—my legacy. I have looked at ministry families and seen their legacies, and wondered what about mine. Dad died, and my brother grabbed the legacy and carried on. Mike is a mighty man of God. I have asked God why the enemy was allowed to steal mine. Well…today I saw my Dad’s picture. Tangible evidence of his beginnings, and I know how far God took my dad and honestly took all of us with him because our family was a team. My dad never did much ministry that we weren’t all very much a part of.

In this picture, I see my Dad, and I see my legacy. And do you know what I learned about myself from it? I realized I am already living it and have been. What’s more I am working toward leaving one myself. Thanks, Dad, for all you gave me and all you left me with. Thank You, Jesus, and mom for blessing me so much today.

My husband lost his hearing back in October and a month ago he received hearing aids. During our family vacation his hearing aids failed. These were my thoughts this morning regarding this. Please remember this was a family vacation with three families, not all with the same beliefs and values as ours. What came of my husband’s loss once again of his ability to hear?

He didn’t hear –
the fighting
the whining
the complaining
the critiques
the sarcasm
the impatience
the backtalk
the political discussions
the bullying
the crying
the bad news
the problems
the 1:30am fireworks
the wind, and rain, and the thunder

But he also didn’t hear –
the conversations
the laughter
the songs
the prayers
the “i love you”s
the empathy
the blessings
the encouragement
the support
the silly grandkid jokes
the stories
the memories of vacations past
the fireworks
the sounds of the waves crashing, the seagulls, the delight of children catching their first fish.

Sometimes there are bad things connected with good. We have to sort it all out, and that sorting is a part of life. The way we see sort says a lot about us at times. What seems terrible here was actually good in some ways, yet was it? I can sort with my hearing, but my husband no longer has that option. My husband wasn’t sad to miss the fighting and such. I don’t think at the time he realized all of the rest of what he missed, and that made me sad for him and us all.

I do have a new appreciation of many things I once took for granted would be there. I also am very aware now just how fast life can change. It is very hard to be unable to hear, but it is also hard to be unheard. What happens in families, churches, communities affects all, if it affects one – (or it should).

Lord, I thank You for the help of hearing aids, but man’s solutions are not perfect, and now they have failed. Father, I ask you to please restore my husband’s hearing. Thank You for the ability to hear and that I know healing and hearing are Your perfect will. Help me always to have gratitude for the gifts Jesus paid the price for on the Cross. Healing, Hearing, Salvation. Thank You! So, I ask for Dan’s healing…In Jesus’ Name. If Your will is a greater work in our lives than hearing or miracles would be….Father God, please give us patience in the waiting. Heavenly Father, I would rather have Dan hear You than me, so have Your will in both our lives. Thank You for all those that You have placed in our lives that stand with us in prayer. Bless them abundantly, Lord, as they have been a blessing to me in so many ways. I ask this all in Jesus Name, and I am happy I know You can hear me today. Amen! Amen!

The Challenges
On January 1, I took a 100-day Blogging Challenge. Today is the 182nd day. I have just kept on posting daily. What a journey!!! Some days the writing has flowed, and some days it has taken all day long (literally). But, by the close of every day, I have posted what I feel God laid on my heart and so I knew every single minute was worth it. I write primarily about what I receive from the Holy Ghost while reading aloud the One-Year Daily Bible (KJV), what I have studied in response to questions from the reading, what God has laid on my heart during my time in my tiny prayer closet, my struggles along the way, my victories. Each day I have also created and posted an original scripture picture using the verse that most touched me that day. These are not someone else’s pictures but totally my own with the watermark – Melissa Lynne. 

From Glory to Glory
“From Glory to Glory,” His Word says. I took the 100-day Blogging Challenge because I was in a place at the first of the year that I felt like I needed something that was my own. My kids and grandkids were in the process of moving away, my husband suddenly couldn’t hear which made communication almost impossible, and I felt so lonely and was fighting so many mind battles that I was weary. In a moment of incredible heartache and confusion, I went to the only one that could help me. I asked God to help me find my focus again. I wanted to focus on Him, focus in prayer and focus on the Word. I wanted to be on FIRE for GOD and the things of GOD.

Well, I asked and He answered. He challenged me to get up every morning and go into the prayer closet and then immerse myself into His Word. Not only reading it but reading it aloud and seeking for understanding. He challenged me to yield to the Holy Ghost as He taught me. I took the challenge and as I stepped out to begin, the 100-Day Blogging Challenge came. I felt it was directly from my Heavenly Father. Something of my very own? Well, it was His direction to me and it was so personal at the time. Because of that, until this week, I have told absolutely no one, except Him. But this week I felt His release. Of course, anyone that reads my blog knew that I was suddenly posting every day and so they knew.

The Results of the Challenges
I thought as blogging goes, the process might help my writing. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t. I have learned not to worry too much about whether everything is perfect. I write to glorify God only. I don’t worry if anyone else reads it or gets what I write. I just go with what comes into my heart and leave it at that. Some days I write a lot and other days no more than the Scriptures He highlights, a prayer, and a picture. I have readers from 135 nations across the world. The faithfulness of a handful of followers from around the world has been my greatest surprise. The community of bloggers that I follow and interact with have also helped me to grow in Christ and in the Word…as well as blogging.

One hundred and eighty-two straight days on this path and it is has changed me, given me focus, toughened me up, and drawn me closer to Jesus than I ever thought possible. The Bible has come alive to me and God is weaving His story together for me and with me in ways I never quite got in Sunday School or through Bible Studies. There is something so special about reading the Word aloud and knowing that if I continue on this year I will be hearing every single Word of God’s Word come out of my own mouth.

Half Way Through the Year
Today is July 1 and we are officially half way through the year and halfway through the Bible. We all have lots of resolutions at the first of the year but how about looking at the second half in the same way. What will you do with the rest of this year? 

Something Not My Own, But Totally His!
For me – Tomorrow is day 183 and I will start it like I have every single morning for the last 182 days. First in prayer, then reading the Word aloud, digging into the Word further to answer any questions that arise, and writing all about it (all as I sit alongside my Jesus). Then I will create a picture as I plant one special verse into my heart. I wanted something of my own. Did I get that? Kind of…but mostly I got something that was not my own, but totally His…so I got so much more. Thank You Jesus for taking me with You on this incredible journey!

According to Google, there are 195 nations in the world. During the pandemic I took the blog “If anyone knows Melissa…,” which I have kept privately since 2008 and made it “public.” I started posting the Word consistently on a daily basis on another blog, “a lamp and a light,” which I started in 2019. In 2022, I added the Podcast “a lamp and a light” and the podcast website http://www.lampandlight.org in 2022. Today all the blogs, websites, and podcast focus on spreading the Word of God. Little by little I have seen God move and we have now reached 165 nations. It fills me with joy to know that the Word is getting out there and God has used these avenues to go where I have not been able to.

As we entered the Easter season of 2020, I began a forty-day fast. Then a couple of days in came the pandemic. What a challenge! But God gave me two prayer warriors whose prayers helped carry me through. And then at the end of the fast I heard this from the Lord. “Tarry there until you are endued with power.”  I didn’t understand it. Tarry where? Though I had prayed and pondered and even preached on the Holy Ghost, I still wasn’t exactly sure how it was applicable to me. That morning I wrote these words as I sat in my little prayer closet. I believe as He often does for me that God speaks as I write.

“Old dreams with new anointing by the power of the Holy Ghost will carry you into this next season and usher you through. You will go deep but you will also be required to navigate the currents in the deepest and sometimes loneliest places. You will think you are drowning, but take comfort in My heart and relax as best you can. Though it will be hard, try to stay above water and wait there…until you are endued with power. Then I will come pull you from the riptide. When I do and you are safely back on shore, when you come to, you will see that during the time of struggle this turned into a season of dreams come true…My dreams in you.”

So what are the old dreams? I dream of a life of missions. Is it crazy that in this hour, at this season of my life, in my heart I identify most with the missionaries. Those that only want to share the Gospel and love people they have only a partial clue about. I dream of them. I dream of teaching the Word and fulfilling the call to disciple. I dream of praying for others and seeing the miraculous. I dream of igniting others with the desire for prayer and the Word that He placed in me. I dream that God would take my writing (such as it is) and use it somehow. I dream of writing by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Missions, the Word, prayer, the miraculous, writing! It seems all over the place, but it is all very precise.

Perhaps in these next years, I will be able to touch the other 30 nations in some way. Wouldn’t it be so amazing, when it is time to go to my heavenly home, to have touched every country in the world and to be greeted in heaven by those same nations? That is my “impossible” awfully big dream!!!!

Father, would You give me the nations? As I pray for them and find out more about them would You show me how to use this tool to reach those across the world? Lord, I know it is an awfully big dream. I fully know it is something only You can do. Is it Your dream, Lord? I ask again today for the nations as my inheritance…according to Your Word….in Jesus’ holy and precious Name!!! Amen!!!

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On the list below are the nations touched by the blog and the Podcast. I always put up their flags and I hope on your device you can see them. Being in possession of a nations flag symbolizes victory. That is why I do it. Plus, I think they are beautiful.

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(Most recently updated on 3/22/23 with the addition of two more countries – Guyana and Vanuata. ALL THE GLORY AND PRAISE to GOD!!!)

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The Reached

A
Albania 🇦🇱
Algeria 🇩🇿
American Samoa 🇦🇸
Angola 🇦🇴
Antigua 🇦🇬
Argentina 🇦🇷
Armenia 🇦🇲
Austria 🇦🇹
Australia 🇦🇺
Azerbaijan 🇦🇿

B
Bahamas 🇧🇸
Bahrain 🇧🇭
Bangladesh 🇧🇩
Barbados 🇧🇧
Barbuda 🇦🇬
Belarus 🇧🇾
Belgium 🇧🇪
Belize 🇧🇿
Bermuda 🇧🇲
Bhutan 🇧🇹
Bolivia 🇧🇴
Bosnia 🇧🇦
Botswana 🇧🇼
Brazil 🇧🇷
Brunei 🇧🇳
Bulgaria 🇧🇬

C
Cambodia 🇰🇭
Cameroon 🇨🇲
Canada 🇨🇦
Caribbean Netherlands 🇧🇶
Chile 🇨🇱
China 🇨🇳
Colombia 🇨🇴
Congo Republic 🇨🇬
Costa Rica 🇨🇷
Cote d’lvoire
Croatia 🇭🇷
Cuba 🇨🇺
Curaçao 🇨🇼
Cyprus 🇨🇾
Czech Republic 🇨🇿

D
Denmark 🇩🇰
Dominica 🇩🇲
Dominican Republic 🇩🇴

E
Ecuador 🇪🇨
Egypt 🇪🇬
El Salvador 🇸🇻
Estonia 🇪🇪
Eswatini 🇸🇿
Ethiopia 🇪🇹
European Union 🇪🇺

F
Fiji 🇫🇯
Finland 🇫🇮
France 🇫🇷

G
Georgia 🇬🇪
Germany 🇩🇪
Ghana 🇬🇭
Greece 🇬🇷
Grenada 🇬🇩
Guam 🇬🇺
Guatemala 🇬🇹
Guernsey 🇬🇬
Guyana 🇬🇾

H
Haiti 🇭🇹
Herzegovina 🇧🇦
Honduras 🇭🇳
Hong Kong 🇭🇰
Hungary 🇭🇺

I
Iceland 🇮🇸
Iraq 🇮🇶
India 🇮🇳
Indonesia 🇮🇩
Ireland 🇮🇪
Isle of Man 🇮🇲
Israel 🇮🇱
Italy 🇮🇹
Ivory Coast 🇨🇮

J
Jamaica 🇯🇲
Japan 🇯🇵
Jordan 🇯🇴

K
Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
Kenya 🇰🇪
Kuwait 🇰🇼

L
Latvia 🇱🇻
Lesotho 🇱🇸
Lebanon 🇱🇧
Liberia 🇱🇷
Libya 🇱🇾
Lithuania 🇱🇹
Luxembourg 🇱🇺

M
Macau SAR China 🇨🇳
Macedonia 🇲🇰
Madagascar 🇲🇬
Malawi 🇲🇼
Malaysia 🇲🇾
Maldives 🇲🇻
Malta 🇲🇹
Mauritius 🇲🇺
Mexico 🇲🇽
Moldova 🇲🇩
Morocco 🇲🇦
Mozambique 🇲🇿
Myanmar (Burma) 🇲🇲

N
Namibia 🇳🇦
Nepal 🇳🇵
Netherlands 🇳🇱
New Zealand 🇳🇿
Nicaragua 🇳🇮
Nigeria 🇳🇬
Norway 🇳🇴

O
Oman 🇴🇲

P
Pakistan 🇵🇰
Panama 🇵🇦
Paraguay 🇵🇾
Papua New Guinea 🇬🇳
Peru 🇵🇪
Philippines 🇵🇭
Poland 🇵🇱
Portugal 🇵🇹
Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

Q
Qatar 🇶🇦

R
Romania 🇷🇴
Russia 🇷🇺
Reunion 🇫🇷
Rwanda 🇷🇼

S
Saint Lucia 🇱🇨
Samoa 🇼🇸
Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
Senegal 🇸🇳
Serbia 🇷🇸
Seychelles 🇸🇨
Sierra Leone 🇸🇱
Singapore 🇸🇬
Slovakia 🇸🇰
Slovenia 🇸🇮
Solomon Islands 🇸🇧
South Africa 🇿🇦
South Korea 🇰🇷
South Sudan 🇸🇸
Spain 🇪🇸
Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
St. Vincent and Grenadines
Suriname 🇸🇷
Swaziland 🇸🇿
Sweden 🇸🇪
Switzerland 🇨🇭

T
Taiwan 🇹🇼
Tanzania 🇹🇿
Thailand 🇹🇭
Tobago 🇹🇹
Togo 🇹🇬
Trinidad 🇹🇹
Tunisia 🇹🇳
Turkey 🇹🇷

U
Uganda 🇺🇬
Ukraine 🇺🇦
United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪
United Kingdom 🇬🇧
United States of America 🇺🇸
Uruguay 🇺🇾

V
Vanuatu 🇻🇺
Venezuela 🇻🇪
Vietnam 🇻🇳

Y
Yemen 🇾🇪

Z
Zambia 🇿🇲
Zimbabwe 🇿🇼

After many tears from my daughter and granddaughters and reassuring hugs and a prayer from this mama, the Joneses are off to Greensboro. Please pray for them as they make the transition and for safe travels today.

I feel like I have held my breath for the last three months knowing this moment was coming. I have cried so many tears, prayed so many prayers, felt hopeless, like I couldn’t bear one more different season, and so God was surely done with me.

But then, at 4:30 am Saturday morning, I had a very real divine visitation. The good Lord spoke some things. They were Words of love and LIFE but even more so Words of correction. I will talk more about it later but know that I came away, and I knew that I knew I might have some hard days and lonely days, but He still has a plan for me (and for Dan) in this strange new season. This different will require some things. It is a process – from glory to glory- and on the other side of the last two days’ changes – after Sunday School, after Pastor preached, after others sang and prayed and prophesied – it looked a whole lot like dancing and joy and with it peace, peace, that wonderful peace! Tomorrow, no matter what, if I seek God, I will find Him. That’s a promise.

Different seasons don’t mean it is all terrible. Different seasons are just different. You can define different as a bad thing altogether, or you can choose to see the unique opportunities that “different” can afford. That has been one of my greatest lessons over this last very different year.

This is a different season and I intend to use my time wisely and to come away from it different…in a very good way! Thank You, Lord!!!