sonia johnson

Don't Compare

2 Corinthians 10:12 (AMP)
Not that we [have the audacity to] venture to class or [even to] compare ourselves with some who exalt and furnish testimonials for themselves! However, when they measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding and behave unwisely.

God is for me

Psalm 118:4-6 (NLT)
Let all who fear the LORD repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”

God is for me

Psalm 118:10 (NLT)
Though hostile nations surrounded me, I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.

LOVING OTHERS

Psalm 41:1-2 (NLT)
Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.

LOVING OTHERS

Proverbs 22:9 (NLT)
Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.

Talk to God

James 1:5 (NLT)
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Sonia - devotion

Proverbs 8:34 (NLT)
Joyful are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home!

Growth through the trial

James 1:3 (NLT)
For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

Battlefield for the mind

Isaiah 26:3 (NIVUK)
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

Peace of God

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIVUK)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

God mercy

Philippians 4:23 (MSG)
Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.

God brings our life into harmony

Philippians 4:8 (MSG)
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

God is God

John 16:31 (MSG)
Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact, you're about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."

Expansive living, don't live small

2 Corinthians 6:12-13 (MSG)
We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way.

Servanthood

Hebrews 13:16 (MSG)
Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.

PRAYER

Matthew 5:33-34 (MSG)
"And don't say anything you don't mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, 'I'll pray for you,' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.

Matthew 5:37 (MSG)
Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.

Servanthood

Matthew 5:13-16 (MSG)
"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

Freedom

Matthew 5:8 (MSG)
"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

Freedom in Christ

Matthew 5:5 (MSG)
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

Servanthood

1 Peter 4:7-11 (MSG)
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

LIVE RIGHT

Galatians 5:16-21 (MSG)
My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

Pressing on Towards The Goal

Philippians 3:10 (NIV)
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Pressing on Towards the Goal

Philippians 3:10 (MSG)
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Standing Still

Psalm 23:2 (MSG)
You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.

Wisdom for Life

Proverbs 3:5-6 (MSG)
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline; don't sulk under his loving correction. It's the child he loves that god corrects; a father's delight is behind all this.