My Firm Foundation

10:21 AM Johanna 0 Comments

This time every year something happens. Something that rocks my world.
Last year it was the end of a good friendship and the death of my grandmother.
This year it will most likely result in the end of another really good friendship (thankfully no deaths)

Now I'm not naive to think that I did not play a part in these friendships ending. The one constant in both those events was me. I can't blame another for my actions or lack of actions. I made mistakes in my friendships with those people and I must live with the consequences of those mistakes. It sucks because they probably would've been life long friends and we both messed them up.

But despite all these friendships ending, I am realizing more and more that I need to rely on the one thing that won't fail me.

People come and go in our lives, but Christ is constant and He alone is my firm foundation. (Psalm 62) He is the only one that won't leave me. He won't treat me like a toy. He won't get bored and find someone better.  He calls me His beloved (Romans 9) and because of that I do not need to worry about what others think of me or how many friendships I have.

I'm not going to lie about it and say losing friendships isn't difficult and that I haven't cried about it. I got off the phone with my mum today crying for almost an hour about the most recent friendship that's ending. It's difficult, it's painful, but it's also sanctification. And though I know the end result will be more beautiful then I could ever imagine, the process is still extremely difficult.

One of the things that is getting me through this process is the songs on this EP by two of the most talented people I know at Liberty, Kyle Smith and Lauren Sweeney.  Though all these songs have helped me through this process I would encourage you to listen to the songs Psalm 62 and You Give Me Life and purchase their EP from iTunes. They are such Spirit filled songs and I hope they will be a blessing to you just as they are a blessing to me.

We Are Clean!

11:15 AM Johanna 0 Comments

On this Easter weekend I am reminded of many things. The sacrifice my Savior made so that I may be wiped clean from all my guilt and shame. The excruciating pain that my Creator placed upon His Son that was mine to endure. The fact that I may now freely approach the throne of an Almighty God and be embraced by Him and to be called His daughter.

A lot of things have been going through my mind this Easter Weekend.

It might seem odd, but I get it now. I get Easter. It took me almost 22 years of being in the church to actually understand it. Easter is not an excuse for me to eat those delicious peanut butter and chocolate Reese eggs or Cadbury Mini Eggs. Easter is about something much, much bigger.

A few days ago I was looking through an old journal from my time in the Middle East three years ago and found the words of 1 Corinthians 5:54-55 messily written across the page

(I've written an entire blog post on the song inspired by those verses last year which you can read here if you're so inclined)

Those verses have always been quite powerful to me. Christ's work on the cross has removed all the power that death had over us. Because of His death we no longer die. Yes we die to sin, and yes are to die to our old habits and sinful ways but we no longer have to fear death. Because of His death and because of His resurrection three days later and because He is alive and sitting at the right hand of the Father we are no longer dead but alive and we can face tomorrow with that assurance.

Because of Christ's work on the cross our sins are no longer remembered by the Father. They are blotted out from God's mind. Our slate is wiped clean. We are no longer seen as worthless, filthy rags but as beautiful garments worthy of the King.


Take a minute and rest on that truth. We are clean.

Think of all the horrible things you've done in your life. I know for myself I don't have to think that hard. We all have those horrible things that we regret. Those things that if we had the power we would not hesitate to undo. But we no longer need to be ashamed of what we've done and how we've failed. The Father no longer sees us like that. We are as clean as Christ when He walked this earth two thousand years ago.

We know how the story ends. Christ has won! We know that He is not in the tomb as the angel told the women who went there, "He is not here, for he has risen!"

He has risen indeed!
He is alive!
Death has no sting. Death has no victory.
We are no longer bound our sin. We are clean.