Daily Devotions

April 19

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.'" - Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)

When Paul wrote his letter to the anxious Christians in Philippi, he was attempting to help them overcome their fears. The Roman world, like ours, was a difficult place to live in, filled with wars, rumors of war, terrorist threats, and much division in towns and families. Paul knew what we put into our mind determines what comes out in our words and actions just as what we eat eventually influences how we look. Paul tells us to program our mind with thoughts that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

Do you ever experience anxiety, hopelessness, fear, or anger? If you want to feel better, take Paul's advice and try examining what you are putting into your mind through television, Facebook, internet, books, conversations, movies, and magazines. Replace harmful input with clean uplifting downloads. Our minds are much like our computers and need effective spyware to keep out malicious viruses, cookies, worms, and malware. God's Word is the best spyware we can ever have if we take time to read it daily. It takes practice and commitment but can be done.

We all need to ask God to help us focus our minds on what is good and pure around us and in our lives. It is easy to debate others when we disagree with someone's interpretation of an event or scripture passage. Yet it is much more difficult to see God's face in a Bible verse and live out that meaning. Try reading God's Facebook today in His written Word and "Then the God of peace will be with you."

Prayer:

God,

Cleanup my mind today and download your best programs for me so I can enjoy your Peace.

Amen.

Meditation For The Day:

Anger intimidates. Praise liberates.

Brief Devotions For Busy Lives: Daily Spring Renewal (Seasonal Devotionals) Paperback – February 21, 2017

Used with permission of the family of the late Rev. Dr. Mary B. Johnson.

Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson, D.Min., (1942-2018)

Mary was Ordained in 1975.
She served both as a Parish Pastor and in multiple Specialized Ministry Settings.

She worked on the Clinical Staff of New England Memorial Hospital and Middleton Pastoral
Counseling Center in Massachusetts and was a Director of Green Pastures Counseling Centers in N.H.

She was a state Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor,
Nationally Board-Certified Counselor (N.C.C.), and Nationally Certified Pastoral Counselor (AAPC)
and held certification as a Clinical Member of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (A.C.P.E.).

She received a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Psychology and Clinical Studies
from Andover Newton in Newton, MA.

Dr. Johnson also founded Good News Specialized Ministries, Inc.
This unique ministry provided education and Clinical Christian Counseling to thousands of people over the decades and trained numerous Clinical Counselors and Counseling Ministers while offering weekly non-denominational worship services to the community for more than 20 years.

I had the honor and privilege of working with Pastor Arnie Johnson
when I served as the pastor for the Richmond Community United Methodist Church

in Richmond, NH from 2019 - 2022.
I personally have been deeply touched by Mary's writings.

Her family has graciously allowed me to share them with you.

- Pastor Sharon Sargent

"I always considered my ministry at Richmond as a shared ministry. Mary had the expertise that helped me function as well as I did. I received critiques on the way home after the services. I finally realized that I may have “arrived” when one day she was pleased with my performance with no critique! That took several years! So, I would love it if you would use the picture of the two of us and mention Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson as my spouse and partner in ministry, and she continued to be until the day she died, four days before the end of my appointment at Richmond." - Pastor Arnie Johnson

Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson is the author of eight other published books including:

"Activating The Power Of Pastoral Care: A Team Approach";

"Brief Devotions For Busy Lives: Daily Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter Renewal"(Vol.1-4);

"Flying Free: Transforming Grief and Loss into Renewal";

Following The Angel Trail: In The Steps Of Jesus";

"Love In Action: The Healing Heritage Of The Counseling Ministry Of The Church";

"Visions Of Hope: Voices Of Americana";

"Healing Streams: Journeys Of Healing".

She has also been published in the AAPC professional Journal "Journeys" and in the Keene Sentinel.