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The best life is a God First life

Category: Christ (Page 1 of 2)

I Care Call

Phone calls of love

April 2, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Being the recipient of brotherly or sisterly love reminds us we are loved, whether the love expressed is on a grand or minuscule scale, whether it’s a card, a visit, a gift, or simply a caring wave from across the way.

Showing our love for others can make a positive difference in someone’s life while also adding Joy to ours. Don’t discount the little stuff, like a simple phone call. It says we care enough to call.

Make time to reach out; don’t think of the call as obtrusive but rather inclusive.

You’re not making a sales call; you’re making an “I Care Call.

”Why wait for sickness or turmoil to make a call? If they can’t answer, leave a short message; if they are busy, simply let them know you are thinking of them. The call says: You care!

Phone calls are such simple, easy ways to do good and express Christ-like love for others; you never know how much your phone call could mean in someone’s day, or even how it could provide comfort precisely when someone needs it most.

Time is one of the most precious gifts we have to offer; Making an “I care call” reminds others they are loved; who wouldn’t want to do that?

  • Hebrews 13:16
  • Philippians 2:4
  • Galatians 6:2
  • John 15:12
  • Proverbs 3:27
  • Acts 20:35
  • Galatians 6:9-10
  • Matthew 5:161
  • Thessalonians 5:15
  • Hebrews 10:24
  • 1 Corinthians 11:1

God First!

A Walk in the Park

March 25, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Smiles, laughter, beauty, and sounds bring an epiphany of joy to our hearts as we walk in God’s creation.

We pause from time to time to listen and breathe; we feel the cool air as it caresses our skin, as it moves the leaves of the trees; our eyes, overwhelmed by the beauty of morning light as it speeds, seemingly still, warming our faces and bringing sparkles to our eyes.

It’s all perfect!

With each step, God conducts a combination of peaceful, calming sounds for us to hear.

It’s all perfect!

As squirrels rustle through the limbs of the trees and the leaves on the ground, water flows calmly through the nearby creeks, over rocks and tiny waterfalls, accompanied by crickets and tree frogs, creating a symphonic, heavenly background of sound to feature the birds as they sing and whistle in the trees.

A beautiful symphony of God, it is perfect!

~Wayne R Johnson

God’s perfection surrounds us daily; it helps quiet our souls, take time, make time, to soak it all in. We are so blessed to be part of and amid His creations. Let’s notice what we often overlook, the peace and love our Heavenly Father provides.

God is perfect, Love never ends, it is well with my soul.

Psalm 119:24 Psalm 104:1, Psalm 19:1, Ecclesiastes 3:11,

God First!

What gift can we give God?

What does God want from us?

March 19, 2026 / / 0 Comments

God gave mankind a unique opportunity. He created us in His image and gave us the ability to give back to Him, the one thing God really wants from His Creation.

“Our Love, by our choice.”

Think about it: Other than your love, what can you offer God?

God is the Creator of everything we know and understand. Everything!

With great and painful sacrifice beyond our understanding, we have been given the opportunity for eternal life with the Godhead: with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, in a new heavenly home Jesus created for us.

God consistently provides for us, and all He really asks is that we truly love Him as He has first loved us.

Why would we not want to show our gratitude with our every breath?

In His Holy Word, Jesus told us how to show our love by keeping His commandments. Scripture shows us how. There is nothing tricky or confusing about it. Jesus created only one Church, His Church, the One He established, the One He died for, and He told us how to be a part of His Church by becoming in Christ.

Giving of ourselves, showing our love with effort

Jesus said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” ‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭37‬-‭40‬)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Jesus also gave us a New Commandment in John 13:34-35. We are to “love others as Christ loved us.”

Scripture demonstrates that what we believe, teach, and set as our example matters to God. Let us never take God’s love for granted, but rather give God the one gift God values most from His creation.

“Our Love” by Our Choice.

In (John 14:15), Jesus explains, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

1 Corinthians 14:33-40 (not confusion)
Matthew 7:21 (Not everyone)
Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 1:4 (One Church)
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (Love)
John 14:2-3 (many mansions)
1 John 4:19 (He first loved us)

God First!

Unlimited Time Awaits us in heaven if we choose to follow Christ

Spiritual Edification

March 8, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Before my wife’s illness interfered, the following was my typical schedule for planned edification each month in Bible classes and worship with the Church.

  • 1 hour – Sunday bible class
  • 1 hour – Sunday Worship
  • 1 hour – Sunday eve worship
  • 1 hour – Wednesday bible study
  • 1 hour – 1st and 3rd Thursday for a men’s bible study.

The time adds up to around 22 hrs. per month, yet this is only about 6% of my awake hours in a year.  Does this number surprise you? It surprised me. I thought it would be much more than 6%.

Is God getting our best effort or a minimum effort? In the story of the rich young ruler, the ruler asked Jesus, “What must I do to receive eternal life?”

When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”  But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.” Luke 18:22-23 Apparently, he was unwilling to give up all he had to follow Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t ask us to give our life savings, but; Would we be willing to if He did?

(Especially if we think giving Him a few hours each week is inconvenient.)

It’s a matter of our hearts!

You and I, every person on earth, are so important to God that He gave us His only son as our pathway to eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Jesus, “who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” Galatians 1:4

How much are we willing to give to Him?

Rhetorically:

  • What example are you giving to those you love by your effort?
  • Is God getting your best or your minimum?

God First!

Choices are Real, regret is lifetime.

We have two lines

February 12, 2026 / / 0 Comments

One line promotes the murder of babies, and the other line promotes the protection of life. Our decision is black and white, not gray.

One line promotes evil, the other stands with pure love.

There is no evil in God! God is Love, God is Good, All the time

It’s been pointed out that God is not a Democrat or a Republican. Amen to that! Abortion is not a political decision; it is a right-or-wrong choice.

Jesus is pure love.

If pure love were asked: Is it ok to kill babies in the womb? 
Would pure love answer: Sure, go ahead, or would that be Satan? 


Choices are real, and regrets are lifelong. Choosing the right line is important; I choose the Life-Line of love. Which line do you stand behind?

  • 1 John 4:8
  • Psalms 145:9
  • Psalms 100:4-5
  • Mark 10:18

God First!

The 20-year battle within – Part 2

February 6, 2026 / / 0 Comments

We have now been together for 41 years, not long after we married on Feb 14th 2003, I told Virginia I wanted to go back to Church. This literally scared her, and she bawled. In her mind, my desire equated to me not thinking she was good enough. I assured her this was not the case. When I attended, I would arrive late for Worship and leave immediately. I thought that if people got to know too much about my life, they would try to change it, so I stayed very private at first. However, I remained consistent in my efforts to attend and learn, and eventually began attending all the Bible classes and evening services.
I was also a friend of Jimmy Miller, the minister at the time, whom I had known when I was a faithful teenager, so at that time, I mostly only talked with Jimmy.

Though we had corrected the marital part of our lives, there were other parts of my life that, in light of God’s Word, I thought conflicted with a selfless pursuit of following Christ; however, as my faith and understanding grew through study and application, so did my desire and efforts to address or replace those issues with better choices and habits as well.

Although few knew of my past at the time, I decided to repent publicly and move forward, asking the Church for forgiveness for those wayward years. As I attended, I would invite my wife, but only occasionally, as doing so constantly would irritate her. One Sunday morning, Virginia said yes and went with me. She then began attending with me sporadically, but over time, she came with me to every service and Bible study. Jimmy had some one-on-one Bible studies with us, and Virginia concluded she needed to be baptized into Christ.

My wife had been raised Catholic; she had adopted atheism from her previous husband, who was killed in a motorcycle accident, and on March 23, 2010, about 7 years after our marriage, she was immersed in the waters of baptism for the forgiveness of her sins and became a disciple of Christ, a Christian. During her immersion, it was noticed that her elbow did not go underwater, so they baptized her twice. I then teased her that her sins were so bad she had to be double dunked. 🙂 There is nothing that could make me waver again!

I pray that anyone reading this who may be in a similar situation will begin now, set it right, and never waver again. It’s comforting to have certainty in our souls’ condition, knowing we will spend eternity with Jesus. 1 John 5:13

  • God’s Grace: Ephesians 2:8, Romans 3:24, Titus 2:11, Acts 15:11
  • Hearing the Gospel:– Romans 10:17, John 8:32
  • Belief/Faith: – Hebrews 11:1, John 8:24, Romans 10:17, Acts 3:19
  • Repentance of sin: – 2 Cor. 7:9-10, Luke 13:3-5, Acts 17:30
  • Confess Christ: – Romans 10:9-10, Matthew 10:32-33, Luke 12:8-9
  • Baptism by immersion for forgiveness of sin: – Matthew 16:15-16, 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 4:5, Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12, Acts 8:36-39, Mark 1:9-10, John 3:23

God First!

Every day I wake up is a good day. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change. If it is meant to be, it will happen. If it does not happen, then something better is meant to be. If you think that you can or you think that you can't, either way, you are correct.

Fostering a better attitude.

January 31, 2026 / / 0 Comments

The words in this picture are a combination of encouraging, secular statements that I’ve heard, read, and adopted over several years. We all experience wonderful and sometimes terrible moments, but what do we do with them? I typically see the glass as half full and cherish the good memories, finding comfort in them during difficult times. This helps me keep a positive attitude at all times.

Like most, I’ve had to deal with bad, harsh, sad, and challenging times. Nothing, however, has helped me more through difficult times than God, through my faith and trust in Jesus, which is grounded in my study and understanding of God’s word and His love for us. For this reason, I constantly go to God in Jesus name through prayer.

Stating one believes in Christ is good, but there is no substitute for knowing why one believes. We gain that knowledge through study, which is why I encourage everyone to set aside opinions and study God’s word for what it says.

Admittedly, the bad sometimes makes one question the wisdom of these secular statements, but I’m glad I adopted them, as, in my opinion, they foster a better attitude.

A few scriptures:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” James 1:17-18

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer;” (2 Samuel 22:2)

“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” James 2:19

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

God First!

700 years before Christ

January 25, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Think about this prophecy, read it slowly, and take it into your heart and mind; Isaiah 53 was written about 700 years before Christ’s death and resurrection.

“He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”

Isaiah 53:3-12 ESV

God First!

Supplementing our faith; If you do this, you will never fall.

January 8, 2026 / / 0 Comments

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “supplement” as: 1 a: something that completes or makes an addition

The ESV uses the phrase “supplement our faith” in 2 Peter 1:5. Other versions use the terms

  • Support your faith
  • Give all diligence, add to your faith…
  • Add on your part all diligence

What an admirable pursuit for 2026

To pursue making our faith more complete by adding the attributes in this scripture, and bettering ourselves.

 “For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.“

2 Peter 1:5-11 ESV

God First!

God First Cups The best life is a God First life! Some days have peaks, others have valleys, but most are just rolling hills. Plant good seeds along your way, and when you look back, you will find beauty growing in your path. ~wrj

Update on God First Cup efforts,

January 7, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I have now given several cups to strangers and invited them to visit the congregation I attend. In doing so, I have noted what they can expect during their visit, stating: we are not an “entertainment church,” but rather we are a Church that focuses on teaching and studying God’s Word.

This point is made because I have been invited by others to visit their church with the preludes, “It has a great band,” “You will love the band, “The lead singer in the band is awesome,” and so forth. So, I want people to understand that I am not inviting them to be entertained, but rather to worship and learn.

Before giving away a mug with its message, I generally ask one or two questions

Do you believe in God? These answers have been: Yes, No, sort of, I believe in a higher power, and I am a Buddhist. If they are Believers, I often ask, do you go to Church somewhere? Yes, No, I’ve been looking for one, not yet, I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t believe in God.

I ask these questions to avoid offending the disbeliever by giving them a cup they don’t want; however, for everyone else, my desire is to plant seeds by giving them this cup of inspiration that states, “the best life is a God First life.”

Recently, I talked with a young lady at the carwash who said she did not go to church anywhere and sort of believed in God. I still offered her a cup, pointing out the message of love on and inside the cup, while giving her a Buford CoC card with service times, address, website, and phone number, and invited her to visit and learn more.

Opportunities abound. I stopped and gave mugs to a family down the street with two small children. They are outside a lot and exchange waves with us when we drive by. As they received their cups, they told me they had been looking for a Church. We also have a new family across the street with three small children who currently attend a church. I gave them cups and invited them to visit. We’ve given cups to people on our daily park walks, and yesterday to the receptionist, where we had our dog Casper groomed, and invited her to visit.

It’s my hope that these gifts will inspire some of these people to attend and learn, but at the very least, this God First message is planting seed and being seen in their homes, cars, and hands, so I pray for open hearts and fertile soil.

If you’re interested in using the cups to help you plant seeds or invite others, reach out to me. Although I cannot afford to give all of them away, I am reselling them for pennies above my actual cost and including the paper message inside each cup. By having others purchase some of the cups, I can buy enough to get reasonable prices and do it over and over.

God First!

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