The Joy of Love

“Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your refuge [strength].” Nehemiah 8:10 NASB

In this week’s blog I take up where I left off last week. Once again, I am sharing the story behind a song. This song is called The Joy of Love and it came to me a little after midnight on September 5, 1996.

If you recall, last week’s blog was about a song called The Pain of Love and it was written for my daughter, Annē, after the loss of her baby horse she had named Surprise. Watching my daughter grieve after the loss of her horse did something deep in my heart. Having no power to change the situation, I did all that was left for me to do: I cried out to God for help. It was in this process of crying out to God that I began to focus my attention on the truth that no matter what life brings our way, God is in control. In a nutshell, this means there is always light at the end of any tunnel. This means that although I may feel grief and sorrow, joy is always the underlying tone of the river that carries my heart. How can this be?

My daughter’s favorite pet was irrevocably gone. Surprise could not come back. Yet this horse’s death became an opportunity for me to teach my daughter how to cry out to God for comfort. Watching her receive my instruction and cry out to God on her own not only afforded her comfort I could not give her, but it also helped comfort the helplessness I felt as a daddy who wanted to protect his little girl from pain.

How does one teach another how to find the hidden treasures in life? Sometimes treasures are only revealed over time. At the time of Surprise’s death, Annē could not see the new levels of maturity her grief would lead her to. But months later, when other trials came her way, she was able to see God's hand at work and easily call to remembrance all God had done for her. Slowly but surely, Annē found that the fire she had to go through had produced a more refined heart. Like precious gold purified by the refiners fire, grief prepares the heart for greater levels of maturity. Maturity is another way of saying one has grown closer to God.

What is joy and how does one find it in the midst of sorrow? Joy is knowing we are never alone. Joy is knowing Christ goes through the grief with us and that he is a firm, unshakable rock and a foundation in a stormy sea. Joy is knowing that even though we may not see the way out, He is still making a way for us and will reveal it to us in due time.

A little horse named Surprise had died, but I watched a little girl grow into a young woman in the process of grieving that loss. Even in death, life had been supplied even more abundantly than we thought possible. Annie found enough joy and strength not only to deal with the death of Surprise, but to continue to raise other horses and another baby horse named Penny. Melinda and I have had the privilege of watching our daughter grow through the pain and walk in deeper levels of confidence and assurance, not in herself, but in her Redeemer and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The joy of love is knowing that even in sorrow, we are known by someone bigger than death. The joy of love is being able to share our sorrow and our grief with someone big enough to handle it when we cannot. The joy of lovers knowing we are loved and never alone. The joy of love is knowing God and being known by Him.

Dennis Jernigan

Let's take the next few minutes and think about some of the things that causes grief in this life and as we think about those things, let's allow the Holy Spirit to show us his point of view. Just as there is sometimes pain in the midst of love, there is joy that transcends even our deepest sorrows. Let's just bathe for a few minutes in the joy of love. God's amazing and massive love for us. To do that, listen to the song, The Joy of Love, along with the podcast version of this blog at https://www.patreon.com/posts/joy-of-love-99720666

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2020/01/21/13/23/freedom-4782870_1280.jpg

The Pain of Love

This week’s teaching is the story behind my song, The Pain of Love. It was born out of a time of grief and loss experienced by one of my children and a horse named Surprise.

I remember the day we first brought Jasmine home. We had spotted the beautiful white horse at a local auction, and my daughter, Annē, had quickly fallen in love. The horse was not too big and not too small. In every way she seemed just right. We purposely bought a female with the intention of having her bred because Annē had dreams of raising a baby horse.

Once we got Jasmine home, Annē set out to get to know her new friend. She learned the habits and personality of her steed. Day by day, Jasmine learned a new trick or behavior, and Annē and her horse were very close. My greatest joy was simply watching Annē and Jasmine glide full speed across the pasture. I couldn't tell who was having the most fun: Annē or Jasmine or me!

Day by day, Jasmine became more and more a part of the family. She seemed so healthy in every way. And she was healthier than we ever realized! On Easter Sunday of 1996, I was awakened by the screams of my daughter. At first, I thought something was terribly wrong, but then I realized Annē's hysteria was actually joy beyond measure.

“Daddy! Daddy! Jasmine had a baby! Jasmine had a baby!”

At first, I thought Annē had lost her mind, but as I approached the pasture Jasmine called home, I saw a small white creature hiding behind Jasmine's legs. I thought that perhaps one of the neighbor’s goats had gotten into the field, yet upon closer examination, I was stunned to see a little, white, gangly-legged filly that looked like a miniature Jasmine!

A baby horse! This had been Annē’s dream all along. It was as if God wanted to surprise my daughter with the most unexpected gift…just because! For this reason, Annē dubbed her new filly, Surprise.

My daughter was in heaven on earth! By the end of the first week with Surprise, Annē had tamed her and fitted her with her first halter. After only a few weeks, she had trained the little horse to follow her with a lead rope. As the summer passed and Surprise grew, each day brought deep joy to my little girl’s heart. It felt as if we were living in a fairytale.

But not all fairytales have happy endings. By the middle of August, Annē had come to know her horses pretty well. But as dads sometimes do, I didn't listen when she told me she felt that Surprise was not acting like herself. I assumed that Annē was simply overreacting to some dispositional attitude the filly had displayed. My thought was that Annē's apprehension would be alleviated as the days went by…as the filly grew out of this stage. Surprise looked fine to me.

But a few days later, the peaceful afternoon air of the Jernigan farm was pierced by the most heart-wrenching cry I have ever heard. The same voice that had so joyfully awakened me with the news of Surprise’s birth was wailing with sobs of grief and despair as Annē ran through the pasture back to the house looking for me.

“Somethings wrong with surprise! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! I think she's dead!”

My heart began pounding. My mind went numb. My heart began to break at the sight of my little girl grieving at the loss of something so dear to her heart. As she fell apart in my arms, I didn't know what to do.

“Are you sure, Annie? Are you sure?”

“Yes, daddy! Yes, I am sure!”

I began crying with my daughter. Although I was grieved at the loss of Surprise, I was more distressed at my daughter's broken heart. I grieved because she grieved. Leaving her side for a moment, I ran across the same field I had seen Annē and Jasmine fly across so many times. The same field where she had taught Surprise to follow her. Perhaps Surprise was just asleep in the afternoon sun. Maybe Annē had been mistaken. But then I saw the filly’s little body. She was laying on her side, and it was very obvious she was dead. How could this be? This didn't compute in my mind. And if I couldn't make sense of it, how was my little girl going to handle this?

Many thoughts flooded my mind. I hadn't I listened to Annē about Surprise’s health? Why would God surprise us with such a lavish gift and then allow it to be taken away so suddenly? What could I possibly do to help my daughter through the process of grief? How can I use this as an opportunity to explain God's grace?

After the veterinarian arrived to examine the filly’s body for a cause of death, we loaded the family in the van and drove to town to get Annē away and to talk with her about the afternoon’s events. We were able to grieve together as a family. We talked about what we could have done to save the horse and realized there was no way we could have foreseen the day’s events. Even though Annē had concerns about Surprise’s health prior to her death, other circumstances had come into play which kept a more intensive diagnosis from taking place…namely, that I had not seen her symptoms as major concerns.

I sought my daughter's forgiveness for not listening to her and for not taking action. But beyond that, we came to the conclusion, especially after the veterinarians report a few days later (her liver had evidence of parasitic invasion), that there was really nothing that we could have done beyond what we did. Upon reaching that conclusion, we decided to look back on our short time with Surprise with a thankful heart and take a look at our situation from God's point of view.

We had not expected a baby horse, yet God had surprised us. We had many memories as well as pictures of Surprise to remind us of all the joy her short life had brought us. Just as I had taught my daughter to get back in the saddle after being thrown from a horse, in much the same way, we needed to get back in the saddle of life. What did this mean for Annē? Overcoming the fear of losing the things we love.

To love someone is to risk being hurt. Just think of Jesus and His great love for us when he took the weight of the sin of the entire world upon Himself and paid our debt with His own precious blood. Annē could have chosen not to spend any more time with her horse, Jasmine, because of all the hurtful memories this could've turned up. She could've chosen to cut off the risk of further wounding and loss by not allowing herself to love or to be loved.

To love means to risk. To risk means we might suffer loss. But our final understanding was this: not to risk loving for fear of loss is to cut off life. But because of our example in Christ, we know that love requires risk and that risk can mean loss. But we learned that love gives of itself regardless of the outcome. To love is to give. Not to love is to close one’s self off from life. Away from hurt. Away from reality. Away from Hope. Not to risk loving is to place oneself in the realm of hell. And hell is a place devoid of love. No love equals no relationship. No relationship equals no life.

Jesus loved. He risked his life. He suffered loss. Yet from his loving, his risking, his loss, came our hope for relationship. From his love came our life. For us, it is no different. We will always be faced with death in this life. How we respond to that death will determine the depth of life we are able to experience on this earth. Even in death, little surprises come shining through to remind us to keep on loving, to keep on living.

In the days following Surprise’s death, the Lord gave me a song for my daughter. Let's take a few minutes and listen and allow the Lord and his massive love for us to comfort us wherever the circumstances of life may find us right now.

Dennis Jernigan

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NASB

You can listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this blog and hear the song, The Pain of Love, at https://www.patreon.com/posts/pain-of-love-99242912?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2023/08/01/16/48/horse-8163366_1280.jpg

Time Will Tell

I love to share the stories behind the songs I write because they help me stay transparent and dependent upon the lord. I especially love the song I am going to be talking about today because I love the family this song was written for very much.

Let me tell you about that song that came to me in the middle of a trial experienced by a friend and his family. This song is called Time Will Tell and it came to me on May 20-23, 1998. The events I am sharing with you took place over 20 years ago now, but the message is…timeless. Here’s what I wrote about the song at that time:

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven…

...He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without [the possibility that] mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 NASB

Watching my friend Paul deal with his dad's illness was a lot like watching one of my own children suffer through a life lesson, knowing there is nothing I can do to stop the pain. What made Paul's situation so difficult was knowing that he had never lost a loved one to death. Having to face the loss of his father, Paul began a spiritual journey that I have watched from a distance; a journey that has taken him from times of anger and action to denial and depression; from deep moments of nostalgia and peace to times of loneliness and fear; and then back again.

Paul's journey with his dad had been one of God’s grace. As a boy, he witnessed God's grace as the Lord faithfully healed the marriage of his parents. As a young man, he was privileged to have been mentored by his father in the family business he would one day inherit. Paul had been a firsthand recipient of God's grace and power because Father God restored his own marriage. When he and his wife spent many years desiring children and having no success, they learned to rely upon God's grace again. Then, God gave them five children in a few short years. All these events prepared Paul for the day he would need grace to see his dad through the process of death. It is one thing to receive God’s grace through the normal trials of life’s circumstances; it's quite another to receive enough Grace to grieve the loss of a loved one such as the loss of one's father.

As I watched Paul, I noticed that he had a deep desire to bless his father during his illness. He also had a need to create memories that would not only ease the pain of the coming loss, but memories that would also sustain his mother and his own children when they did finally come to the time of parting.

I gazed with joy at the photographs of Paul and his children vacationing on the beach in Florida with his mom and dad. I could see a sparkle in his eye and hear an excitement in his voice that communicated pure joy. It was bittersweet, perhaps, but joy nonetheless. When faced with the loss of a parent, we can't help but be drawn into times of reflection and nostalgia.

I relived many of Paul's childhood memories with him by asking questions about his relationship with his dad while he was growing up. Many times he and his father ran away to Colorado for extended father/son ski trips. He told me of several times they got to the end of the trip and decided to extend it another week…and then another! During that same time, Paul and I took a short ski trip one weekend, and many such memories surfaced. Paul knew he and his dad would never ski together again. Cancer, in time, had seen to that. But he did the next best thing. Right there in the warming hut in the heights of Vail, he called his dad and reminisced about their times together there. With child-like exuberance, Paul told his dad of our exploits of the day and asked him if he remembered certain trails and if he could remember the invigorating rush of being on the mountain together. They talked about how much of it looked the same, and of how many things had changed. Above all, they shared nostalgic moments that brought joy to their hurting hearts.

Instead of allowing the pain to rule during his dad's final days, Paul took the initiative to make as many memories as possible. I marveled at a man who recognized the impending loss, yet chose to respond to death with life, rather than to allow death to rule his own life. Paul's attention to his dad also had a positive effect of demonstrating to his own children how to honor and love their parents. The loss one feels about losing a parent can often be turned into positive gain because their own children learn how to love and care for their family.

Time is never truly wasted upon someone we love. As humans, time is the framework by which life tends to be measured. But in the grand scheme of eternity, time is not even a factor. In fact, Paul didn't even worry about the time factor in those last days. Paul, by earthly standards, made a good living, but what made Paul a wealthy man was the deep treasury of joy, hope, faith, and love he had built up in and through the lives of his family members. If he allowed the fear of losing his dad to control his life, none of those precious assets would've been stored up. If he hadn't taken the time to create lasting memories with his dad, would his life for his dad's legacy have been as sweet? I learned that time is not to be wasted, nor should it control us. By trusting God to work his creativity through us, we can become vessels of life even in the face of death.

None of us knows if we even have our next breath. Wouldn't life be better served if we lived each moment as if it were our last? There is no fear of death to those who know death is not final. There is no fear of things left undone or incomplete to those who have invested in intimacy with those they value because they know they will see one another again.

Time is not a silent witness to life. Time is transcended by the memories we create through relationships. Time cannot help but speak witness to a life well lived. Does Paul miss his dad? Of course. But when times of sorrow and the pain of loss flood back in, a heart that has invested in eternity cannot be silenced; and joy floods in. Time will surely tell. After all, we serve the God who steps in and out of time as he sees fit; Almighty God who is not controlled by what we understand as earthly time.

So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord [is.] Ephesians 5:15-17 NASB

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching and to hear the song, Time Will Tell, go to https://www.patreon.com/posts/time-will-tell-98773222

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/02/16/02/03/pocket-watch-3156771_1280.jpg

Rest In Me

Let me tell you about a song that came to me in the middle of a trial experienced by a friend and his family. The song is called Rest In Me and it came to me on January 25, 1997. Here’s the story behind the song:

This song originally began as a song for one of my daughters, but it soon became apparent it was for a couple I have already shared about earlier in this series, Elden and Vicki Peterson.

Elden had just come back from a ministry trip to Central America. Before he left he had noticed a lump on his neck but hadn't given it much thought. But back in the states, the lump was still there when he returned. He didn't really think it was a cause for concern, but he made an appointment to see his doctor anyway. After running some tests, the physician called Elden and Vicky into his office and delivered the bad news…that Elden’s lymph glands had swollen due to an invasion of cancer.

I had not known the Petersons very long, but when Elden's diagnosis came, our relationship took on a decidedly more rapid pace toward honesty and intimacy. As the months went by and it became obvious that the radiation treatments were not working, Elden became less and less mobile. For most of his life, Elden have been an outdoorsman, hunting, fishing, playing with his two daughters in the pool, landscaping the church parking area, or cooking a barbecue feast for several hundred hungry men, and now he found himself unable to even walk without help from Vickie.

Because we knew the physical challenges Elden faced, my wife and I were astonished when he and Vicky came knocking at the door one day. Elden walked in and handed us a large plate of chocolate chip cookies he had made. This was his way of saying ‘thank you’ to us for walking with him through the trials of the previous weeks. In our minds, Melinda and I felt we had done very little, but Elden’s gracious, servant’s heart was one of the things the Lord used in his own life to bless his wife and daughters and many others. It also helped to sustain his own spirits when circumstances tried to flood his mind with darkness and despair.

Elden always thought more about meeting the needs of others than he did about meeting his own. For instance, just a few weeks before he went to be with Jesus, I called Elden to see how I could pray for him. At the time, I was preparing to lead a large worship gathering in Oklahoma City, so I told him that several thousand people would also be praying for him that night. His response? “That I might know God's next step for me, and that I might know how to serve the Lord and other people even in my sickness and Dennis, I will be praying for you and for all the hurting people in that place tonight, that others might be set free and saved by the power of God's love.”

In pain and obvious discomfort, Elden had chosen to bless others. I believe God's grace became even more apparent to him in that moment. I led the people that evening in great freedom because I knew I had someone praying for me who knew God's power and love in a deep, profound way. When facing imminent death, we are more prone to shed the masks and games of life and then readily and willingly plunge deeply into the safety and intimacy found in God's arms, in His presence.

It soon became apparent that Elden would not be healed physically. Knowing this, Vicky's grief began even before Elden's death. I was amazed at how she relied upon God's grace to carry her through. To know the one you had spent your life with is dying right before your eyes is one thing; the fact that Elden was only 46 made the loss even more bittersweet. Putting aside your own grief to minister to a dying loved one has to be one of the most difficult burdens of life. As was my custom, I spent time singing my prayers over Elden and Vicky.

One particular evening, I was praying over one of my daughters, grieving as a father does when he learns of a willful act of deceit by his child. Weeping over my little girl, I found myself singing and seeking God's direction and intervention. As I sang, a melody began to pour forth from somewhere deep in my heart. The words seemed to be coming from Father God's own heart toward me. “Rest in me”, I heard him sing. As the words flowed and the melody grew into a complete song, I realized God has shifted my focus from my own need to that of Elden and Vicky. With this new focus I also found new freedom and received a vision of what God was trying to do for the Peterson family in the midst of their battle.

In the days to come, the Petersons turned even more toward God. Rather than blaming Him for their trial, they thanked Him for walking through it with them, and they placed the blame squarely upon the shoulders of the enemy of God, thus freeing their own heart from the despairing bondage of bitterness. Rest came as they allowed God to fight the battle for them.

As the storm intensified, God whispered peace to their hearts. As the weight of the burden that comes with impending death further encumbered their hearts, they allowed the Lord to take the burden upon His able shoulders, and by faith, they let Him carry those things they could not carry themselves. It became more and more apparent that God's grace, His power, was not only present, but that His very presence surrounded them. He had literally become their shelter. The God who made them had not forsaken them. Even when the need for medication became an hourly issue, God met them throughout the night.

What a blessing and what a legacy were built from a life that seemed to be taken all too soon. Death had not won. Cancer had not won. Yes, Elden's body died as his family sang and listened to songs of praise at his bedside, but God ultimately gained the victory because Elden knew that to be absent from his physical earthly body was to be present with Christ. What a celebration his memorial service was. Yes, we shed many tears. But we had a very real sense that Elden's journey had not ended, that just as he knew the fullness of God's peace, we, too, could know that peace even in this life. We committed Elden's body back to the earth that day, but we all left with a keen awareness that Father God was singing a little song over us all.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30 28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 "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. 30 "For My yoke is [easy] comfortable, and My burden is light.”

Rest is a cessation of work, exertion, or activity. Elden and Vicky have been fighting a battle. Warriors need times of rest to regain their energy for future battles. Through Elden and Vicky's trial, God showed me that He desired to bring both mental and emotional rest to his people. Rest can also include peace, ease, or refreshment. God's presence is a place of peace, and knowing that God is in control brings peace even in the midst of storms. Rest also means relief or freedom from disturbance. In a quiet place, it's also easier to hear a still small voice…you know…the type of tone and manner that God uses to speak to a suffering heart. All of these sentiments and more flood my mind and my soul whenever I hear this song to this day.

Take time to rest in Jesus today. You can hear the song, Rest In Me, using the link provided below.

Dennis Jernigan

Listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching and hear the song, Rest In Me, at https://www.patreon.com/posts/rest-in-me-98334964

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2022/04/19/08/32/relax-7142183_1280.jpg

When A Friend Grieves

Grief is deep sorrow, especially that caused by someone’s death. Mourning is the outward expression of grief and sorrow. [Mat 5:4 NASB20] 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Let me tell you about a couple of songs that came to me in the middle of a trial experienced by a friend and his family. Here’s the story behind the songs. Those songs are called Run To Jesus / Over Yonder and they came to me on July 31-August 1, 1996. Here’s what I wrote about the song at that time:

I have several very good friends. One of them is Matt. I met Matt a few years ago as of the time of this writing, yet it seems as if we've known each other our entire lives. When God knits two hearts together, time is easily bridged on the wings of intimacy. Matt became a sounding board for me…a safe place to unload my burdens., confess my sins, and expose the deepest places of my heart without fear of abandonment or rejection. As in any relationship, for closeness to take place, sharing must be mutual. As Matt was a safe place for me, I was a safe place for him. The song Run to Jesus/Over Yonder was born out of our relationship and forged from Matt's journey through many years of grief.

Matt is the middle child of nine. When he was 10 years old, God gave his family their last baby…a little girl. It was soon evident that this little girl was not like other little girls. Stacey was born with Down Syndrome. Even though Stacey was born with a disability, Matt’s parents didn't complain. This child was a gift, regardless of her physical or mental capacities. They didn't become frustrated, but saw this as yet another opportunity to overcome adversity. Adding one more child to an already large family seemed to be business as usual in this special home. The patience and grace with which Matt’s parents responded to Stacey helped Matt get through the grief a big brother feels towards a little sister who seems challenged.

But Matt did grieve. The shock of having a sister who was not normal when compared to other little girls may not have been readily apparent, but in a gradual sense, Matt did have to deal with the mental and emotional trauma of the realization of Stacey's weaknesses.

Even though he didn't know what he was experiencing as a child, in looking back, he sees that there were times when he was overcome with anger. Why did she have to be born this way? Why did other people have to make disparaging and cruel remarks about her? Stacey knew she was different, so why did she have to experience the stares and pointing fingers her entire life? Why were people so insensitive? Little boys dream of being the defenders of their little sisters. What Matt soon came to realize is that, many times, he would be called upon literally to defend his sister against the sometimes endless taunting and insecurity of others. Anger was difficult to avoid. He felt as if he were bearing Stacey's burdens for much of his life.

Matt soon learned to turn these burdens into catalysts for the further laying down of his life and service to his sister and family. When others would point or tease, Matt wood shield and protect. When friends came over and Stacey threw her fork or didn't make it to the bathroom in time, Matt learned to graciously diffuse such tense times with humor and discretion. When Stacey could not play games like other children, Matt would play what they called ‘slow motion games’, which Stacey dearly loved and looked forward to. In one of these games, Matt and Stacey wood pretend-box in slow motion. Stacey would reel with glee as she knocked her big brother senseless with a right hook and watched him fall slowly backward into the wall. Stacey struggled scholastically, so, to help sharpen her mental capacities, her siblings quizzed her on baseball stats. Stacey could quote the batting averages of her favorite major league team players from specific years. This family had learned to take hardship and grief and turn it to blessing and joy.

I had only known Matt for a couple of years when Stacey died. At 31 years of age, her body had been showing signs of giving out so she had to be hospitalized. One day Matt went home to shower before returning to the hospital, and Stacey died before Matt could get back there. His immediate response was grief. His baby sister was gone and he had not been able to say goodbye. Yet mingled with the sorrow were tinges of relief. And with those feelings, guilt poured into his soul for feeling that relief. All the years of helping to bear Stacey’s load now seemed insignificant compared to this loss.

I knew Matt was hurting, but I didn't know what to do or what to say. I only knew that I had to be there for my friend. I picked him up for lunch the next day, and we drove around town. When I asked him how he was doing, he began to unload the burdens that had accumulated over the many years of growing up with and caring for his little sister. We soon found our way into the quiet country back roads and drove around as my friend wept over the loss, wept over the guilt he now felt because of the sense of relief he felt, wept because he had not been there when she had passed away, wept because people never fully appreciated or valued Stacey's life as much as Matt and his family had, wept because he missed his little sister. I will never forget that day because I realized there was nothing I could do or say to make it better for Matt. But I also realized that the best thing I could do was simply to be there and listen to him.

Matt’s sorrow and grief soon gave way to recollections of the life he had shared with his sister. At a glance, one might think there could only be heartache to share, but Matt told story after story of the great joy Stacey to brought those around her. He mused at how she would be able to walk and talk and enjoy the glorified body God had given her as she entered heaven. He wondered what it would be like to one day see his sister again and to be able to reminisce about all they had experienced together on earth. As the laughter mixed with tears, we made our way back to town, and my friend could now more easily face the reality of planning a memorial service for his precious sister in the peace this brief outpouring of emotion had brought to his heart and to mine.

The Lord gave me these songs for Matt as a memorial to Stacey's life, as a gift to his family, and as a confession of our faith in God and the hope of the eternal life He has promised to those whose faith is in Jesus Christ. The words speak for themselves. Those songs are called Run To Jesus/Over Yonder and the link to hear the song is available below.

Matt’s greatest moments of comfort came as friends and family shared stories of how Stacey had blessed their lives. These poignant stories became more priceless and precious than gold. Hearing these stories replaced Matt’s sorrow with humor and laughter, and the honest confessions of love and admiration bolstered the pride of a big brother who takes up for his little sister. Stacey's death left a tremendous void in this family, but that void was replaced with the legacy of love and strength that only those who have experienced such a blessing as Stacey can even begin to understand. I did not know Stacey well, but I knew her through the heart of her big brother. This song represents the truth we all need and hope every heart longs for. Life is precious. God is good.

When a loved one or when a friend is grieving the loss of someone close, we may feel ill-equipped to help them or ease their pain or sorrow…but we can just be there for them. We can hold them if they need us to. We can just listen. We can wait in silence with them if that’s what they need. Sometimes the greatest comfort comes when a grieving heart knows its sorrow is being heard.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of today’s blog and to hear the songs, go to https://www.patreon.com/posts/run-to-jesus-97904149

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/09/21/16/35/old-man-2772421_1280.jpg

Silver and Gold

This week I are going to be sharing the story behind my song, Silver and Gold, from the recording Jernigan Family Christmas. I received this particular song on October 3, 1995.

If you know me, you know I absolutely LOVE Christmas! Always have. I love the decorations! I love the music! I love the gathering of family and friends! But most of all, I love the fact that God gave us the gift of all gifts on that day! I love celebrating the birth of my Savior!

While I love even most of the secular songs of Christmas, they hold little value beyond sentimentality and mere entertainment. They do not hold a Christmas candle to the power of conveying the gift of Jesus Christ to this lost world! While my children were young and still all at home, I tried to create meaningful Christmas songs that would convey this gift to them. One day, while enjoying the trimmings in the house and on the tree, I was transported to a place of seeing them - the decorations - from God’s point of view. Let’s take a quick look at the lyrics and I’ll show you what I mean.

Verse one begins…

Silver and gold hang from the tree

Royal in color, they remind me

Of a King born in a manger

Who hung from a tree

Shining through darkness for me

Why should the world dictate to us the meaning of one of our most holy days? One of the ways I take back such stolen ground is to see what was stolen from God’s point of view…like the colors of silver and gold tinsel on the tree…

Chorus

Silver and gold

They’re the colors of a King

Who left His throne

Gave up everything

The treasure I hold

Is the life He died to bring

Like silver and gold

For the birthday of my King.

Verse two is one of my favorites from the song because it speaks to the saving, cleansing power of the blood of Christ.

Verse Two

Crimson and white light up the tree

A red flowing river, a life-giving stream

Like a snowfall in the winter that leaves this world clean

Making way for new life in the spring

Chorus Two

Crimson and white, they’re the colors of a King

Who pierced through the night

And washed my heart clean

Crimson and white join to color me redeemed

Crimson and white, colors of a heart made clean.

John 3:16-17 tells us why Jesus came to the world…why He is the greatest gift of all time: 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Let us take back what the enemy has stolen from the meaning of Christmas…one decoration and one declaration at a time. Let us see Christmas from His point of view this year.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this blog and the song, Silver and Gold, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/silver-and-gold/

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/08/10/04/59/christmas-2618381_1280.jpg

Tradition

What is tradition. According to the dictionary, tradition is ‘the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.’ In the Jernigan house we have several traditions that we passed on to our children. Some have continued to carry them on. Some have created their own traditions within their own families.

Traditions are like little anchor points within a family that brings us all together even though we may be spread far and wide. They are talked about with great reverence and deep joy and always carry an air of nostalgia and joy…and tend to stir up a lot of laughter.

One of our earliest traditions revolved around the children not waking Melinda and me up before 8 AM on Christmas morning. With 9 children, this was a practical, logistical tradition, lol! Because this was the house rule, I will never forget the first Christmas morning after initiating the wake-up time. As Melinda and I lay in bed waiting for a knock on our bedroom door, we were startled by the sounds of bells and cuckoos and various electronic noises right outside our door. It was as if we were under some sort of alien invasion!

Not knowing what the heck was going on, we jumped out of bed and opened the door to find the alarm clocks of all our children going off, having been placed in a semicircle forming an alarm clock choir that had been synchronized by the older children. Before we could stop laughing, the children all jumped out of hiding and said, “It’s 8 o’clock! Time to get up! It’s Christmas!” We did that until the last child left home…and now have some of our grandchildren who carry on this tradition. To their parents I say, “You’re welcome!”

Another tradition in the Jernigan home is that I cook each child their own omelet with their choice of ingredients on Christmas morning before we open gifts. I prepare all the ingredients the night before so as to streamline the process. One child takes everyone’s order and I make their omelet to order. We still carry on this tradition to this day. Our grandchildren now look forward to it, but it is my children who still insist we keep doing this…and I am beyond blessed to do so.

To help remind the children that Christmas is meant to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus, we hang a long, crude, nail somewhere in the branches of the Christmas tree. The nail is to help us remember that Jesus was born to die for the sin of mankind and that He is risen, having conquered sin, death, and the grave.

One of our favorite traditions is to sing together as a family. At least it is one of my favorite traditions. When the children ranged in age 11 years of age all the way down to 1 year of age, I wrote a Christmas song for our family called We’re Gonna Decorate the Christmas Tree. It came to me on October 4, 1995. This song was one of our favorites of our family when my children were still young and in the home. Melinda and I worked hard at creating memories for our children through every era of their lives…especially when they were young. As Christmas 1995 approached…yes, I was thinking about Christmas in October…being one of those people who is prone to listening to Christmas music all year ‘round.

My mind began to whirl with the thoughts of my children and the joy they would have by simply decorating the house and tree with us. Little did I know that we would sing this song while decorating the tree from that year on - each and every year - and now to share it with our grandchildren?! My heart can hardly contain such joy. Let’s run through the lyrics and you’ll see what I mean.

Imagine calling the children to one of the most anticipated moments in our family life, the annual decoration of the tree! All I did was write down my own point of view and how I could convey the joy I wanted to fill their hearts.

Verse One

Mama get the popcorn

Children come and string

Daddy start a carol and everybody sing

Jot to the world

Oh, let the praises ring

Singing happy birthday to the King!


Chorus

We’re gonna decorate the Christmas tree

We’re gonna make it bright

We’re gonna make another memory and taste the spice of life

We’re gonna make a little history

Have a lot of fun and be a family

Make a memory and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ

Verse Two

Sister hangs the blue bulb

Brother hangs the red

Baby has a yellow bow stuck to his head

Angels and soldiers elephants and cows

Singing to the music from the boughs

Verse Three

Oh, daddy’s kissing mama ‘neath the mistletoe

All the children watching and laughing at the show

Joy fills the heart as apple cider flows

Everyone agrees – we hope it snows!

CHORUS

Bridge

Joy to the world! The Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing…

Oh we’re gonna make a little history

Have a lot of fun and be a family

Make a memory and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ

 
 Even as I read those lyrics now, I am transported back to a time when I can still see the sheer simple joy on the faces of my children as we created those memories together. Soon after I received the song, we recorded it with the children. My eldest at the time was 11 years of age. He is now 39! I’ll add a link at the end of this blog so you can hear it. And just in case you’re wondering: Yes. We still sing this song together each year on Christmas morning.

Matthew 1:23 NASB 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US.”

God is with us through each and every phase of our lives. Let us be mindful of that when creating traditions and memories for our children and grandchildren for generations to come. We decorate the tree each year in our home to commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on a tree reminding ourselves of His great love for us. If you haven’t already done so, plan on teaching this song to your children and grandchildren as you play it for them while you decorate your Christmas tree this year. The Jernigans wish you and yours the most merry and joyous of Christmas celebrations this year. Now go and create some memories and traditions of your own!

Dennis Jernigan

To hear the song, We’re Gonna Decorate the Christmas Tree, go to https://www.patreon.com/posts/were-gonna-tree-94078162

Help Me to Remember

In the second week of December of 1997, a little six year old boy named Jordan was taken from my brother’s wife’s family in an automobile accident. His favorite song was “You Are My All In All”…and I was asked to sing several songs for his funeral. Even though I could not begin to imagine the pain Curtis and Tracy (Jordan’s Dad and Mom) or Bethany (Jordan’s 8 year old sister) must have been feeling, I asked the Lord to let me feel what they were feeling…and to let me feel what they must have felt at the loss of their only son…and to ultimately let me feel what Father God felt at the loss of his only Son, Jesus. The Lord gave me this song on December 11, 1997 - the day after Jordan died. The funeral was bittersweet. Jordan knew Jesus and was a worshiper. The family rejoiced that he was with the Lord…yet grieved tremendously that he was no longer with them on this earth.

This song - Help Me To Remember - was used to unleash a floodgate of grief yet serves as a reminder to Curtis and Tracy that Jordan’s life was not in vain. They were able to experience the joy of his presence for a while in this life…and now Jordan’s song will be used to remind us of how precious our children are…and how quickly they grow and leave us.

6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-- 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight-- 8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NASB

Now that I am personally facing the ongoing progression of Parkinson's in my own life, this song, as you might imagine, has taken on an even deeper meaning for me in my personal walk with Jesus. Doctors tell me that within the next 10 to 20 years, my memory will begin to fade and I could possibly be faced with Alzheimer's or dementia - but I don't necessarily buy into that.

Why is that? Part of the reason is that when I was born again I was given the mind of Christ, so regardless of what state my physical brain may one day find itself in, I will still have the mind of Christ. And to top it all off, my mind is so chock full of amazingly wonderful, magnificent, joyful memories of time spent with my wife, with my children, with my grand children, and with my friends that even Parkinson's cannot begin to erase them from my memory.

And besides. I will have plenty of grandchildren who can re-tell me the stories that I have told them and that I have experienced with them along with the memories made with my own children and with my wife. That's a treasure trove that, even from the vantage point of one suffering with Parkinson's, cannot begin to touch. I will just get to relive those memories again and again and again until I meet Jesus face-to-face..

On top of that, I have no reason to fear because I am absolutely never alone and because I know the one who walks through this illness with me loves me so massively and so outrageously and so lavishly that I trust Him to give me the grace I need to endure whatever comes my way. God is right here with me. Even in those middle-of-nowhere moments life so often throws my way these days. He is so good to me and so faithful to surround me with songs of deliverance. He is God and I am not. He loves me and I love Him. He’s got this…

I realize we do not live our lives in the past, but according to God's Word, it is a good thing to remember all that he has done for us and I believe that includes the joyful memories we have created along the journey of our lives…and even the sorrowful memories He gotten us through. Here are just a few examples from his Word that call us to remembrance of all he has done for us. Regardless of how long or how short our lifespan may be, each life is precious to our father. Never forget that. Here are a few passages from the word of God that indicate to us how much God values the memories we make with him.

When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches…

Psalm 63:6 NASB

I will remember my song in the night;

I will meditate with my heart,

And my spirit ponders…

Psalm 77:6 NASB

I shall remember the deeds of the LORD;

I will certainly remember Your wonders of old.

Psalm 77:11 NASB

Remember His wonders which He has done,

His marvels and the judgments spoken by His mouth…

Psalm 105:5 NASB

Remember my misery and my homelessness, the wormwood and bitterness.

My soul certainly remembers,

And is bent over within me.

I recall this to my mind,

Therefore I wait.

The LORD'S acts of mercy indeed do not end,

For His compassions do not fail.

[They] are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:19-23 NASB

I encourage you to be intentional in creating memory-making opportunities with your family this year…and I encourage you to ask the Lord to help you remember the episodes of goodness and the expressions of his love you have experienced even through the sorrowful times of life. It's OK to glance back and see life from God's point of you. Even the hard times. What is most important is that we keep our eyes always fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching and to hear the song, Help Me To Remember, go to https://www.patreon.com/posts/help-me-to-93619403

Photo courtesy of https://pixabay.com/static/frontend/3c346409d336d5f09a7f.svg

You Save Every Tear...

Just before 5:50 p.m. on July 15th, 1994, our twin sons were born 9 weeks early. Asa (Healer) Robert (Bright In Counsel) was born weighing 2 pounds and 7 ounces and his length was 14 inches - long and skinny! About eight minutes later, his brother, Ezra (Seeker of Truth) Thomas (Twin or Double Blessing) was born weighing 3 pounds and 10 ounces and was 17 inches long.

I followed Ezra up to join his brother in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where our neonatal specialist assured me they were both doing well…so I announced this news to the small entourage of friends and family who had gathered in the waiting room to pray for Melinda and the boys during the birth. I thanked them and sent them on their way since Melinda was not able to have visitors and that the boys could not have visitors since they were in the NICU.

After a few hours, Melinda did not seem to be herself. I knew something wasn’t right when a nurse asked Melinda if she wanted to see the babies and she said, “No. I don’t feel well. I just need to rest.” This was the opposite reaction I had expected and I expressed that concern to the doctor and, after a brief examination of Melinda’s abdomen, she, too, became concerned and ordered an ultrasound. After a second ultrasound, the doctor concluded that Melinda’s liver had begun to hemorrhage.

I asked the doctor about surgery to stop the internal bleeding. She spoke very matter-of-factly to Melinda and me that surgery would not be an option. She then said, “If you are praying people, I suggest you pray. Your wife will probably not live through the night. I would encourage you to call her parents and get them here ASAP if they want to say goodbye.”

At those words, she instructed the attending nurses to swaddle Melinda’s swollen body as tightly as possible to try and minimize the internal bleed and then she turned and walked out of the room.

I simply sat there in the darkened room and cried. I had been all ‘prayed out’ over the babies and now this! It was like seeing my wife headed for a water fall and there was nothing I could do about it!

As I sobbed, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “It will be alright, son. I save your tears when you cry.” I felt so weak at those words. I considered myself a warrior for God’s kingdom and all I could do was cry…and the Lord would save my tears? “I thought to myself ‘what good will that do?’ This only made me cry more. After a few minutes of sobbing, Melinda asked me to leave the room to cry!

During my absence, Melinda told the Lord she was ready to be in His presence. But you know what He said to her? “No, Melinda. I will come and be in your presence.” This statement was to carry her through her whole ordeal. She told me afterwards that she could actually smell the presence of the Lord in the room with her. The most beautiful fragrance she had ever smelled. Melinda truly knows the cost of laying down one’s life to give life to another…and then some!

So, I went to the nurse’s station and called her Mom and told her of the situation as two liver specialists right next to the phone pored over medical manuals in a frantic search for a way to stop the bleeding. After this conversation with Melinda’s mom, a nurse pulled me aside and told me she had been called in to work that evening and told me when she gets called in for extra shifts, she knows the Lord has something special for her to do. Upon seeing me, she now knew why she had been called in. She was there to minister to Melinda and me and that she had a word from the Lord for us!

At first I was a bit leery, but as she shared the word, my broken heart began to settle down. She assured me others were praying and that others were taking up the fight in my weakness...and then she shared that she had a specific word for me that only I would understand. She said, “This may not make much sense to you right now, but God wants you to know that He saves every tear when you cry and that He heard them as the prayer of your heart!” I was in shock that she used the exact wording I had heard the Holy Spirit speak to me only a few minutes earlier. “I save your tears when you cry.” That simple testament to God’s presence and love gave me grace to get through the rest of that night.

By the following morning, Melinda had lost so much blood internally that they had to give her two units of blood! Melinda said she could feel the life flowing back into her body as the new blood was put into her veins. Our doctor’s hope (and that of the specialists called in on our case) was that the blood that she had lost would put enough pressure on her liver to stop the bleeding. With the additional blood and the pressure put on her liver, the bleeding stopped. I believe the doctors were simply agents of the wisdom of Almighty God and I am so grateful for all they did to bring healing to my wife…but the way God showed up and spoke through the Holy Spirit to Melinda and me…and that nurse who just ‘happened' to be called in that night still takes my breath away.

A week later, on July 22, 1994, while reflecting on the helplessness I felt when Melinda had been near death…and how the Lord used my tears as a prayer language even when I didn’t have a clue…and that the reality of Him saving our tears when we cry is found in Psalm 56, the song, You Save Every Tear When I Cry, was born.

Psalm 56:8-11 NASB

8 You have taken account of my miseries;

Put my tears in Your bottle.

[Are they] not in Your book?

9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call;

This I know, that God is for me.

10 In God, [whose] word I praise,

In the LORD, [whose] word I praise,

11 In God I have put my trust,

I shall not be afraid.

What can mankind do to me?

What I discovered as I began to think on Psalm 56 was that even when we run out of words and have only tears left to cry, He will use those tears as weapons of spiritual warfare and turn back the enemy who assails us. If you ever have moments in your life when tears seem the only thing you can produce when trying to pray, remember to allow Father God to save those tears and use them against the lies of the enemy. He wastes nothing. Not even our tears.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching and to hear the song, You Save Every Tear When I Cry, go to https://www.patreon.com/posts/you-save-evry-i-92811322

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/06/18/19/45/man-1465525_1280.jpg

About Yesterday

        Recently, I made an appointment with a counselor, feeling I needed to get a mental tune-up regarding my approach to dealing with Parkinson’s. That session took place yesterday. It was a wonderful time of being encouraged. Over the course of that hour, I came to a place of peace when it dawned on me that I was actually thinking right thoughts. I won’t bore you with what those thoughts were except to repeat what my counselor said to me. “You’re way too hard on yourself. You have blessed so many others. Don’t keep yourself from receiving blessings in return. Enjoy your life.”

As he spoke those words to me, I remembered that just before being called back to the counselor’s office, I had received a message on my phone that read, “Forty-two. He ain’t through with you yet!” My first thoughts were, “My birthday isn’t until February…and I’m a little bit older than 42!” And then it hit me. Yesterday’s date was November 7, 2023…42 years since I was born again and given a brand new identity in Christ. Like a warm wave of love, my body and my mind were flooded with what felt like a lifetime’s worth of affirmation and blessing and a very deep sense of gratitude…and joy.

Forty-two years ago, on November 7, 1981, I attended a concert by the band 2nd Chapter of Acts and my life was forever altered. I usually set aside that day and spend a lot of time in retrospection and celebration. What I realized is that I had allowed Parkinson’s to take up so much of my attention that I had forgotten the most profound, momentous, monumental day of my life. When my counselor had admonished me to be a good receiver of blessings, I realized that this was a very timely kiss from heaven…and I received the blessing.

As soon as I got out of the counseling session, I messaged the person who had messaged me with, “Thank you for remembering…”

Her response? “Always! Jesus worked through you to change my life forever!”

I said, “That makes me happy.”

Continuing, she said, “and millions of us are leading others to freedom because of you!”

I was stunned. In that moment all I could feel was love and gratitude. To think that what God had done for me somehow affected the lives of countless others was both humbling and breath-taking. I had forgotten my own anniversary, but God sent an unexpected message by way of an unexpected messenger to gently remind me…He remembered.

I then listened to 2nd Chapter of Acts music the 50 minutes it took me to get home from my session…and I may have listened to ‘Mansion Builder’ more than once! God is so good…

Dennis Jernigan

To watch the full-length documentary film of my life, Sing Over Me, go to https://youtu.be/rAYkFQ4iHZ8?si=yJ2eQ5nLyVdRyVNP

Would you consider becoming a part of my team and help me continue to create books, podcasts, and music to assist others in finding their true identities in Christ? Go to https://youtu.be/qE6ZflV46p0?si=fAnQkhP0vqYz4pA8

There Is A Place That Calls You Home

In early 1989, my pastor in those days, Jerry Wells, received a ‘new’ vision from the Lord concerning the direction our corporate body was to focus on for the coming year and beyond. Concerned by the lack of salvations and the apathy concerning evangelism on the part of believers, the Lord began to direct him to be creative in reaching out to the lost.

It was quite normal for me and pastor Jerry to meditate on the same passage of scripture or the same vision each week. During my meditation, the Lord would often give me a song…and that song became There Is A Place That Calls You Home. This song came as I asked God to change my heart – to help me begin thinking like a lost person in order to know their needs. This song is more than a cry to the lost to receive Jesus…it is an encouragement to the believer to remember their own condition before they knew Jesus – as well as an encouragement to love the lost. Jesus does not desire for ANY to perish…neither should we!

2 Peter 3:9 NASB says 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

Jesus tells us exactly why He came to earth in the first place in Luke 19:10 NASB20. He says, 10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In case you were wondering what that means for us as Christ followers and as new creations, we have but to look to Matthew 28 verses 19 through 20 which says, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

That simply means we are to be about the business of walking relationally with people who do not know Jesus in a personal way. It's as simple as investing our time and resources and our kindness into the lives of those we are in relationship with. When we've made those kinds of investments in the banks of another person's heart and soul, there comes a point when it's absolutely natural to make a withdrawal on that account. What that withdrawal looks like is introducing those people you were walking relationally with to the one who set you free. It is as natural as inviting someone into your forever home. I love to tell people about the place and the Savior that called me to my eternal home. Let's not shy away from inviting the lost, the lonely, and the hurting into relationship with Jesus Christ on a personal level.

I love this song, There Is A Place That Calls You Home, because it stirs up so many special memories of how Jesus first consumed me with His presence and with His redeeming love. I still sing it in times of worship quite often because it really encourages my soul to keep on reaching out to others to introduce them to the One Who saved my soul and brought restoration to my heart and life. My prayer is that it would do the same for you.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/there-is-a-place-that-calls-you-home/

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2021/11/22/20/48/outdoors-6817409_1280.jpg

The Joy of Knowing Who You Are

Who are you according to God’s Word? When we come to understand we are who our Father says we are, joy begins to rule our lives…in spite of our circumstances! Read the following passage of Scripture to get a few clues concerning who He says you are:

1Peter 2:9-10 NASB

9 But you are A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [GOD'S] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

Something I believe is that, if God is my Father, then His spiritual DNA runs through my spiritual veins. That means that all that Christ has revealed Himself to be…is who I really am in my spirit…who He is making me to be!

He has crowned us with His glory! He has made us His own! He has made us a royal priesthood! He has given us a way, by His own sacrifice and blood, to know Him in the most intimate of ways! How can we not worship Him with all of our might! Thank You, Jesus, for revealing Yourself to me daily. Help me to see all that you are trying to show me about Yourself and all you are trying to show me about me! I love you!

Revelation 1:5-8 NASB

5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood-- 6 and He made us [into] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him [be] the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Let’s purpose to do this in the coming days. Regardless of our circumstances, let’s be daily intentional in acknowledging Who God is in our lives and let’s not call ourselves something our Father does not call us. He is Almighty God and we are His sons and daughters. Let’s crown Him with majesty in our thought lives and in our attitudes and actions. Let’s believe His Word and let’s receive the joy that follows!

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching, along with a song reinforcing this truth, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/you-are-crowned-in-majesty/

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/06/13/13/06/girl-2398821_1280.jpg

I Can't Live Without You

This week’s teaching is inspired by a song I wrote for a friend many years ago. The actual date I received the song was September 5, 2000. You will find the story behind the song along with the lyrics below.

I received an e-mail from a good friend telling me that he wanted me to hear about something from him rather than the rumor mill. Long story made short: my friend had been walking in moral failure (sin) for many years and had been living 2 lives. His letter was to inform me that he had sinned against God, his wife, his family, and the body of Christ.

He proceeded to accept responsibility for his short-comings as well as to understand the consequences of his sin had made it necessary for him to step down from ministry…and that he never expected to minister again. His desire to repent and to be restored to his family and to his friends …to his God…was very evident. The words of this song came as I thought about what such failure must feel like. It flowed out of me as I thought about my friend’s desire to seek God no matter what…that now maybe he could understand true intimacy with God…that now he could walk not by his own strength but by God’s grace. In so many words he was saying “Lord, I can’t live without You…”

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD

And to meditate in His temple.

Psalm 27:4 NASB

God forgives. God redeems. Good restores. God is good.

”But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God's grace.” Acts 20:24 NASB

The living out of our lives i like running a race - a marathon. When running a race what do you do if you happen to fall? Do you get up and head back to the starting line or do you get up from where you fell and keep running with all your might toward the finish line? We get up and head toward the finish line…and His name is Jesus! Let’s run toward Him today regardless of our failures, regardless of our circumstances, regardless of the lies of the enemy. Let’s live like we need Jesus more than we need the air we breathe. The truth is, I can’t live without Him…and I need to be honest with Him…and with myself about that truth.

“...I have lived so many lies…”

For far too long I pretended everything was all right in my life. Stuffing things inside without any release is a sure way to set one’s self up for an eventual explosion - and undoing! God has given us direct access by virtue of the work of the cross - direct access to HIMSELF! It is through honest confession that we come to realize that our God can handle our confession…and He will love us through it...and love us on the other side of it. Cleansing one’s soul is the best way to open the channels of communication - of life - with Father God. Just step out in honest confession today and be loved.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16 NASB

Dennis Jernigan

To hear the song, I Can’t Live Without You, go to https://open.spotify.com/track/7BsVWaSRnaKuXZqlU7kxuL?si=cb7c65e720484a01

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/04/09/10/34/loneliness-4114099_1280.jpg

I Can’t Live Without You

Verse One

I have lived so many lies...

So many things I'd love to erase...

So many storms

I would not have survived

Except for Your redeeming grace!

I have known both plenty and lack.

I've known both joy

And deepest despair.

And ev'rytime

I have ever looked back

In joy and sorrow

You have been there!

Chorus

And I can't live without You

Here in my life!

I can't live without You!

How could I survive?

I know life without You

Is just getting by!

I can't live without You in my life!

Verse Two

Life without You is not life

At best, it’s simply futility

Deciding what is right

In my own eyes,

I wind up failing so miserably!

So many times, Lord,

I’ve doubted You

You never stop believing in me

I want my life to be lived

In such a way

The whole world all around me

can see that...

Words & Music: Dennis Jernigan...September 5, 2000...for my friend, Michael T.

Who Does Father God Say You Are?

“...Mighty warrior! Overcomer!…”

Who does Father say you are? Does He call you worthless? Does He call you despised? Does He call you forsaken? Does He call you a loser? Does He call you hopeless? Of course NOT! When you became a new creation, all those old monikers the ENEMY tried to place on you were eradicated and then replaced with NEW names! You were worth His life! You were wanted! He was with you all along! He calls you victor! He calls you to see what He sees and to be full of hope that He can pour out to others in need! Be who Father says you are today - and nothing less!

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary
Psalm 107:1-2 NASB

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We Will Worship the Lamb of Glory

Why do we lift our hands in worship? Why does that seem to be such a big deal? In my own life, there was a time when I was embarrassed to be near people who were lifting their hands in worship, whether in a church setting or Christian concert setting, yet I had no qualms about lifting my hands when my favorite sports team scored. After I was born again, that all changed and I have a song that is a personal declaration of why I unashamedly lift my hands in worship and surrender to the Lord God Almighty.

This song is called “We Will Worship the Lamb of Glory” and it was born on September 29, 1988! That’s 35 years ago! And it is still being sung around the world to this day! Amazing! Back in those days - the late 1980s - I was just coming into a deeper walk with the Lord than I ever imagined possible on this earth. Songs were flowing out of me left and right and I was more than ready to receive what God had for me. In fact, do you want to know my job description in those days? Simply to sit before the Lord each day and ask Him if He had any new songs for the body of Christ! Can you believe that? I was blessed to be able to have such freedom…and I still enjoy that same freedom today…and I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me such freedom.

One day while In my “praise closet” (which was the studio and piano my church - Western Hills Church in OKC - had provided), I often became overwhelmed by the goodness of God’s presence in my life.  As I focused on worshiping Jesus one day, I was drawn to lift my hands to Him in surrender.  At that time, I felt the Lord ask me, “Would you worship Me in this way if you knew others were watching?”  I said, “Yes, Lord.”  He then said, “What if they question what you’re doing?”  I hadn’t really thought of that. After some thought, the answer came - take ANY opportunity the Holy Spirit brings you to share the truth of Jesus Christ.  As we love Jesus, many such opportunities will come. The reason is simple – you can’t come into His presence without being changed. When Jesus does the changing, we begin to look and act a little more like Him. And like Jesus, our very lives will draw hurting people to us…at least they should (my opinion).

As I thought about the reasons people lift their hands in everyday life, my mind quickly went to thoughts of what I would experience at the end of my work day when I came home. I knew that as soon as I walked through the door, little hands would be reaching out for me saying with glee, “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” each wanting me to pick them up and hold them or wanting to play or wrestle. It dawned on me in that realization that when I reach out to Abba Father in worship by extending my hands, I am virtually saying the very same thing. “Daddy! Abba! Hold me!” It is a simple act of submission to God’s love.

Of course other examples came to mind of why people lift their hands in ordinary daily life. Though this may not seem ordinary on one level, you’ll understand my point. What is the international sign of surrender? Is it not the lifting of hands? When I first came to changing faith in Jesus Christ on November 7, 1981, my natural response to giving every part of my existence to God was to lift my hands in surrender! And to think I was worried about what others thought of me to the point that I came close to shutting down. With one simple physical act, my soul was forever transformed.

The lifting of hands can signify blessing or thanksgiving or greetings. In fact, one of the words for giving thanks in the Psalms is a word meaning to throw out the hands in front of one’s self in praise and thanksgiving. When we welcome people into our homes, what do we do? We extend the hands in hugs of welcome. We can express both blessing and welcome, both gratitude and honor when we extend our hands before the Lord. 

Let me ask you a question. What is your first response when your favorite team scores the winning points in a closely contested sporting event? We naturally lift our hands, fists clenched in triumph when we win. We find it almost unheard of to not do so…yet we fear what others might think of us if we lift our hands in joy over the victory Jesus gave to us when He rose again. That sporting event is not eternal…but the work of the cross IS!

One last example I’d like to give you is what I consider to be the greatest example of all as to why I lift my hands in worship - both public worship and private worship. What did Jesus do for us when He was nailed to the cross, bearing the weight of our sin upon His shoulders? Did He not lift His hands in sacrifice for us? Let us do no less for Him. 

You do not have to lift your hands at all. No one will judge you. It does not make you better or worse than anyone else. You do not have to do a thing to earn the love of God. You don’t have to lift a hand. It’s a free gift after all…but I can guarantee this. Your sacrifice of praise will set you free from what people think like nothing else. Jesus lifted His hands in surrender for you. Would you not consider doing the same for Him?

In [1Timothy 2:8 NASB], the Apostle Paul writes, 8 “Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.”

The lifting of hands can signify a setting apart - a holiness - a declaration of our righteous standing before the Lord. He has set us apart for Himself and He has set Himself apart for us. We are His children and we need to reach out to Him with our entire being because He is our Father.

Jesus put it like this in Mark 12:30 in the NASB: 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’

We are to love Him with our entire being. With our heart. With our soul. With our mind. With our body. We love Him because He first loved us and, remember, He first lifted His hands for us…and we do not have one single nail to contend with.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching and to hear the song referred to, got to https://www.patreon.com/posts/we-will-worship-90189812

Photo courtesy of https://pixabay.com/

Our God Is Mighty!

Have you ever stopped to think about just how mighty ourGod is? By His might He created the entire universe. He created the heavens and the earth. He created mankind and all the animals. Through His might He overcame sin on our behalf and made a way for us to have eternal life. By His might we have been afforded victory over sin! The triumph of Who He is and Who I am as a result fills my heart with joy and peace. In my own life, He has moved many mountains…He has overcome the enemy…and He longs to overflow my heart with the fullness of all that He is! Thank You, Lord Jesus!

Philippians 3:7-11 NASB 7 But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them [mere] rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [comes] from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Did you know that for every way in which God revealed Himself in the Old Testament that Jesus was revealed in the same way in the New Testament? One day as I dwelt on this truth, my heart began to rejoice and I could not stop praising Him! Think of it! My God is the MOST Mighty! My God is the MOST Loving! My God is the MOST Holy! My God is the MOST Righteous! My God is the WORTHY of all my praise…and then some!

Revelation 12:11 says that they overcame the enemy by the Word of their testimony…by the blood of the Lamb…and that they didn’t love their own lives–even to the point of death! But you see, in reality, our personal testimonies are really testimonies of the MIGHT of our God…the Lamb Whose blood was shed for us…the Sacrificial Lamb Who laid down His life for us! That should keep us rejoicing all our days! Bless the Lord!

Psalm 24:7-10 NASB20

7 Lift up your heads, you gates,

And be lifted up, you ancient doors,

That the King of glory may come in!

8 Who is the King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

The LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, you gates,

And lift [them] up, you ancient doors,

That the King of glory may come in!

10 Who is this King of glory?

The LORD of armies,

He is the King of glory.

Selah

Brothers and sisters, our God is mighty in every way. He is mighty in resurrection power. Mighty in the power to redeem. Mighty in love. Mighty in mercy. Mighty in forgiveness. Mighty in peace. Mighty in provision. Mighty in presence. Mighty to save. Mighty in His ability to restore. Mighty to heal. Mighty in every way and then some.

Isaiah 40:26, 28-31 NASB

26 Raise your eyes on high

And see who has created these [stars,]

The One who brings out their multitude by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of [His] power,

Not one [of them] is missing.

28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives strength to the weary,

And to [the one who] lacks might He increases power.

30 Though youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

31 Yet those who wait for the LORD

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up [with] wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

Our God is mighty…and strong…and He offers us that same might and strength regardless of our circumstances. All He asks is that we wait for Him…that we seek to know Him. Need some new strength to keep on keeping on today? Wait for the Lord.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching, go to https://www.patreon.com/posts/you-are-mighty-89810345

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Losing One's Mind With Grace

This week’s blog is an excerpt - chapter 15 - from Dennis’s latest book, Parkinson’s & Recreation: One Man’s Journey Through Parkinson’s…So Far.

“I think I am losing my mind, but nobody can tell the difference.”

— Anonymous

According to the Alzheimer’s Association website, alz.org, Parkinson’s disease dementia is a decline in thinking and reasoning skills that develops in some people living with Parkinson’s at least a year after diagnosis. The brain changes caused by Parkinson’s disease begin in a region that plays a key role in movement, leading to early symptoms that include tremors and shakiness, muscle stiffness, a shuffling step, stooped posture, difficulty initiating movement and lack of facial expression. As brain changes caused by Parkinson’s gradually spread, the person may also experience changes in mental functions, including memory and the ability to pay attention, make sound judgments and plan the steps needed to complete a task. Because Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s disease dementia damage and destroy brain cells, both disorders worsen over time. Their speed of progression can vary widely.

I know PD will eventually affect my mind. It is a degenerative disease, meaning it is characterized by progressive, often irreversible deterioration, and loss of function, especially relating to my ability to move and in my brain’s ability to process information somewhat rationally. In the case of PD, my movement and brain function are slowly (at least it feels that way to me) deteriorating. The physical symptoms are the most apparent at this point. Others may argue the mental symptoms are leading the way and have been for a long time! Certain things that occur in my life tend to leave me riding the fence as to whether my brain function is normal or if I am experiencing diminishing brain function. Here are a few examples.

Melinda and I are so opposite in myriad ways. She’s a woman. I am a man. She is an extrovert. I am an introvert. She is bluntly honest. I avoid confrontation. She sees the world in black and white. I see it in grey and vivid technicolor (just humor me...I have Parkinson’s). She does not suffer fools. I am a fool she promised to suffer in our wedding vows (a fool in the sense that I love a wry and silly sense of humor and foolishly go out of my way to come up with a good dad joke). She loves Hallmark and Lifetime movies. I would rather face a firing squad. She speaks her mind. I am overtly diplomatic. She reads music like a pro. I play by ear. She is super girly and lives for accessorizing and tea parties with our granddaughters and I enjoy rough housing with our grandsons all over the floor until I become an exhausted, sweaty, immovable blob of a grandpa at the bottom of the boy pile. My point is, being married to one another has caused us to see marriage as an intricate dance because we see life so differently from one another.

Knowing Melinda is like trying to solve the greatest mystery of the universe while dancing to the most romantic music the human soul can muster, all while trying to avoid stepping on her feet…

In college, I would sneak away from the Baptist university I attended once a month to attend a dance at the nearby Catholic college. We could not use the word “dance” on campus, so we called this monthly dance-a-thon a “function.” I was the guy who was raised with African American friends who taught me how to dance. This served me well in college.

Yes, I was the guy at the function who, once the music started ramping up, went into a zone. I became the guy all the girls wanted to dance with because I was so uninhibited (hard to believe, but true) and fun. On more than one occasion, my friend and one of Melinda’s roommates, JR, and I would be going at it so intensely — Saturday Night Fever style — that the dancers would clear the dance floor around us as people moved out of our way to let us freestyle.

I don’t dance much anymore…except with my wife. We have very intimate moments when we are all alone and I put on two of our favorite slow dance songs, both by Ed Sheeran: “Perfect” and “Thinking Out Loud.” These are moments of purest ecstasy and are like a healing balm for my soul. If I were to continue describing our slow dance times, this would be the time where you say with disgust (and a tinge of jealousy), “You two need to get a room!”

Dancing with Melinda is such a blessing to me, but to be honest, the dance gets quite confusing for me sometimes…like when she is needing to talk about her day.

In his article, “A Willingness to Communicate,” online at drjamesdobson.org, respected founder of Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson, says a woman needs to say as many as 50,000 words in a day while a man needs to say about 25,000. By the time a man gets through with his day, he has used most of his words. A woman has not! This seems very reasonable and true to Melinda and me!

Throughout the course of our (so far) 39 years of marriage, we have danced the dance of communication fairly well. I have learned to let her talk and have refined the skill of knowing when to interject an occasional, “Is that right?” or “Oh, I’m so sorry” or “Mmm-hmm.”

We perform this part of the dance very well. She gets to share her emotions in words and I listen…until I don’t. I know the you-know-what has hit the fan when she suddenly asks, “Are you even listening to me?” My pre-planned “Of course I am listening” falls apart the moment she asks the dreaded question, “What did I just say?!” Major step-on-foot-of-my-dance-partner moment.

Through such moments, I really have gotten better at listening, but in all fairness, her ability to talk about three or four different subjects at the same time tends to confuse the heck out of me. One second, she’s talking about a conversation she had with her friend Twyla and the next she is talking with me about a jewelry design she has just come up with and then is on to how the children are doing and what cuteness came forth from one of our 13 incredible and amazing grandchildren today…and is suddenly asking me my opinion.

I responded to the last reasonable thing that came out of our conversation with, “I don’t think our 3-year-old grandson should be punished for saying the word “poop.”

She replied, “What are you talking about?! I asked you what you think of these new pink earrings! You aren’t even listening to me!”

I then calmly went through the lineup of conversation topics in the order I received them, resting the defense’s case with the concrete fact that her last comment to me was about our grandchildren.

Her response: “But I was asking you about the earrings!”

I once again went through the conversation in proper sequence and asked, “How was I supposed to know you were asking about the earrings?”

Her very sincere response? “You’re just supposed to know.”

At that moment, I realized either I’d had Parkinson’s for the last 39 years or I have a much longer dance to go in the journey of unraveling the mystery of who Melinda is than I realized!

Recently, Melinda was working on her phone, doing a bit of marketing, and asked me to be quiet so she could select music for a post about her latest jewelry piece. She then said, “Ok, I am done.”

I started watching some dad joke videos on my phone and she said, “I told you I needed you to be quiet.”

I asked, perhaps foolishly, “Why? You said you were done.”

She said, “Because I’m not done.”

How would you interpret that? I have Parkinson’s but…

Melinda has a way of making me laugh that no one else can duplicate. She just lives her life honestly and literally and rolls her eyes at my dad jokes, which only makes me laugh even more. Yet, there are many more occasions when she does something so unexpected that it catches me off guard and makes me laugh uncontrollably.

As an example, we were getting ready for bed recently. Melinda always uses a nasal spray just before bedtime. She had worked very intensely on her jewelry all day and we had received news that a close family friend had been rushed by ambulance to the hospital, so her mind was being pulled in many different directions as we prepared for sleep. Melinda grabbed her nasal spray and, rather than spraying it into her nostrils, sprayed the mist into her mouth. She began choking and laughing and I asked her why she was laughing. She said, “I just sprayed nasal spray in my mouth.” I snorted in laughter, and we got so tickled we could not stop giggling.

After we settled down a bit, she kissed me goodnight and I said, “Wow! That makes my mouth feel so clear and uncongested.” Once again, we began to giggle uncontrollably. As we were still laughing about that, I got a text with the friend's health update and I was trying to read it to Melinda while trying to suppress my giggles. As I attempted to read this very serious text, I sucked in my stomach so as to gain control…and my shorts fell down around my ankles, leaving me completely naked. Thank God none of the grandchildren were spending the night that evening! When that happened, our laughter turned to sheer convulsion and we gave up trying to stop giggling. I slept well that night!

Back to my son Ezra and his way of making me feel loved in the midst of Parkinson’s (death threats aside), in October of 2022 he asked me if I would be offended if he went as me for Halloween. He explained the costume would consist of him walking around with a tremor in his right arm. I told him that would be fine and that I would not be offended. After thinking about it a bit more, he thought it would offend other people, though, so he went as something else. For some reason, it just makes me happy that he would even think of such a costume.

Why do I share such stories with you? Because life is full of moments when we wonder if we are losing our minds. Some are funny moments. Some not so much. I know PD affects my mind…my brain…but I have to be vigilant in renewing my mind and choosing right thoughts despite moments that make me think I might be losing it, whether silly or serious.

I often questioned my sanity long before I was ever diagnosed with PD. On more occasions than I care to count, I have been told I have lost my mind concerning certain controversial matters. During such times, I have often felt overwhelmed by the world’s point of view to the point of questioning my own sanity. Call me crazy and call me demented, but I have a choice as to what I think, and I recognize there may come a day when, due to my age or PD or a combination of both, when I lose control of my thoughts. I am taking steps to counter such a day.

I continue to realize the importance of renewing my mind by speaking and choosing to believe God’s Word about me. I have shared some humorous memories that remind me life, even in its harshest times, can be seen from a joyful point of view. This helps keep my mind healthy. Until the day I die, I will continue to practice renewing my mind.

Here are a few examples of some of the thoughts PD has brought about and how I have chosen to view them:

There are times when I find myself thinking Melinda does not find me attractive anymore. The truth: she tells me daily she is on my team, that we are in this together and that she will give her physical love to me any time I need it. She calls me her man and calls me big daddy and she makes me feel like a man.

There are times when I find myself thinking she needs me to die at a certain age to be best positioned financially for her future. The truth: as a man, I see myself as her provider and will continue to fulfill that role as long as I have breath and capability. She wants us to grow old together. We are getting ready to purchase cemetery plots and are taking legal steps to make our final days a blessing and not a burden to our children. This is what a responsible man does…but I plan on being around as long as I can!

There are times when I find myself thinking people are judging me due to my tremors or facial expression or slowed or slurred speech. The truth: some are. Most don’t. Either way, I am still here and still planning on living the most joyful life possible, PD be damned!

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. — Romans 12:2 NASB

I cherish the funny moments of life and, at the same time, I have found maturity to keep on living by receiving God’s grace during the trying times. This has been accomplished by constantly renewing my mind.

One of the practical ways I am renewing my mind is by refusing to be an angry, selfish man should dementia be a part of my journey. I plan on being kind in my old age, even if I lose my mind. Something that gives me great joy in making such a statement is that I am programming my mind now for losing it later. Seriously.

If I should lose my mind, I want my children and grandchildren to find such joy in talking with me in that state of mind that they fill the treasure troves of their memories of me with funny things I say or do, be it spraying nasal spray in my mouth or be it losing my shorts and mooning the world. I am counting on the grace of God to fill even the mindless ramblings of an old man with such deep joy that I step out of this life into the next with laughter…leaving a legacy of the laughter of a family who dearly loves me and entering into the laughter of a Father God who is so glad I am home He can’t help but laugh!

Dennis Jernigan

This week’s blog is an excerpt from Dennis’s latest book, Parkinson’s & Recreation: One Man’s Journey Through Parkinson’s…So Far. That book is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats at https://tinyurl.com/2s446dnc

Photo courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/hat-fashion-style-happy-man-591973/

To Be Loved

In the early days of my public ministry, the Lord had me sharing my music and my story all over the nation. A huge blessing in my life in those early days was the body of Christ in west Texas and the panhandle area of Texas. It seems I was always receiving invitations to minister in churches in that area…and I went, regardless of how large or how small the congregation was. I just wanted to share with others what God had done for me. It really was that simple.

If my memory serves me correctly, I had ministered in Hartley, Texas and Lamesa, Texas that same weekend. While in Lamesa…after seeing many, many people with the same basic needs and hurts - just different circumstances - I knew I was on the right track concerning what God would have me share. Regardless of how many different stories or how many varying wounded hearts I came across, the answer was always the same – Jesus.

I remember receiving a song, called ‘To Be Loved’, in the sanctuary of Northridge United Methodist Church. When faced with the hurts of so many…when seeing the devastating results and consequences of sin, I could not help but feel deeply loved by the Lord. He took all our sin and suffering. He experienced all our grief and punishment on the cross. He spent time with the down and out - with the hurting ones. And He always ministered life and hope. He walked in love. And according to Him, love never fails.

It became obvious to me that every human heart has the same basic need: to know and to be known. To be loved…and Jesus was the only one Who could ever meet such a deep need in the heart of a person, regardless of their struggles, wounds, and circumstances.

Jesus said it like this in John 15:12-13, 12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

We will come in contact with people today…and we can rest assured that their number one need is to know and to be known - whether they even know it or not! That makes being an ambassador for Christ all the more important for us…because we KNOW what people need. Here is my challenge to you today: Love people right where they are…but love them enough to not leave them there. After all, isn’t that what Jesus did for you and me? Just sayin’…let’s be like Jesus to those around us today.

Dennis Jernigan

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 NASB

4 Love is patient, love is kind [and] is not jealous; love does not brag [and] is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong [suffered,] 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; but if [there are gifts of] prophecy, they will be done away; if [there are] tongues, they will cease; if [there is] knowledge, it will be done away. ... 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this week’s teaching and to hear the song, To Be Loved, go to https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-p6diq-b815b8

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God Is Loving

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 1 John 4:16 NASB

Our God is loving by nature. He is love! Love that is not expressed is not love. Love is so much more than a feeling. It really is a verb - a doing - a laying down of life. Look for ways to lay down your life for your Redeemer today...by looking for ways to lay down your life for others. It might be as simple as opening a door for a stranger...or picking up your dirty clothes so your spouse doesn’t have to...or spending time playing with your kids even though you have that project that has to be done right now...or thanking God even if you don’t feel very thankful at the moment. Let’s be like our Father today. Be love.

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4:16 NASB

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Point of View

“...I know without You I cannot survive…”

If we understand that our very existence is because of God the Creator, then our perspective is automatically inclined to see and live life from a more spiritual point of view. If our spiritual reality is the truest and most ultimate reality then we must understand that apart from God our existence is an exercise in futility at best. When we truly believe that God is the reason we exist then it makes sense to go to Him for our very sustenance. Apart from Him, I have and am nothing...but IN Him, I have the universe as my domain! The sky is NOT the limit - God is! And He is infinite! Revel in that truth and what it means to your life today.

...for in Him we live and move and exist...
Acts 17:28a NASB

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