An Incredible Dawn
Steve Johnson • March 13, 2025

My eyes were dazzled by a kaleidoscope of colors to the east. There in all its glory was an incredibly beautiful dawn. Here in Colorado we have a unique opportunity for 360 degrees of color at sunrise. As the sun peeks over the horizon, it casts a glow on the mountains to the west. That is if you live on the Front Range. If you live in the mountains, you miss the splendor. Plus, the mountains give us cloud formations you wouldn’t find anywhere else.


           The clouds in the east were spread along the entire horizon, with long wispy tails in a variety of shapes and sizes. God had his color palate fully charged. There was every hue of the light spectrum, varying shades of red, deep purple, violet, dark blues with golden rays shining through. The sun was highlighting God’s artistic prowess. The beauty of His creation was beyond description.


           Grabbing a sweatshirt, I headed two blocks east to see the dawn over a vacant field. What a wonderful place to praise God for the beauty of his creation. By the time I got to my lookout point, the clouds were a grayish blue and sunlight overwhelmed the variety of colors. I missed the most glorious scenes, while I was walking… to get a better view. Sunrises are fleeting. But isn’t life just a tick in the history of the world?


           How often do I overlook God’s gracious blessings—as I strive for something better? I know I’m not the only one with this problem. We had the Garden of Eden, but Adam and Eve were deceived to want more. What are the blessings we run right by for a temporal worldly goal—a spouse, a child or a blooming flower? Would fifteen minutes really affect a year’s worth of work?


Maybe that blessing is a stranger in line to get coffee. Someone God put in your reach for a purpose, perhaps for eternal consequences. I’ve been amazed at the times I’ve found wisdom from and had the privilege to encourage strangers.


But you have to take the time or maybe it’s putting yourself in God’s hands. I pray frequently to understand God’s will for my life. Maybe what I should be praying for is to understand that it’s all God’s time, and to spend it wisely for Him.


Then I thought of a conversation the previous day with an old friend, I’ll call Tom, now more of an acquaintance. His wife had cancer a couple of years ago. Thanks to surgery and chemo she had been free of cancer and doing well.


Cancer was back. I said how sorry I was, he thanked me and elaborated they had been told that, at best, chemo could extend her life. He was pretty matter-of-fact and may not have mentioned the cancer if I hadn’t asked about his wife.


Probing further, I asked where they were regarding faith. His response was a belief in a higher power, who had better things to do than respond to human requests. Explaining that my faith was my greatest source of comfort seemed to fall on deaf ears.


While I’d characterize our current relationship as acquaintances, at one time we were quite close. I’d coached him on his leadership style and interpersonal interactions. When he was scared, Tom put up a wall. He was the opposite of authentic and presented a callous, unfeeling man spewing vindictive barbs, similar to those he heard as his father who, in a drunken rage, broke Tom’s nose.


I could tell Tom was hurting. Flashback to when we worked together twenty years earlier. We got to a point where he had to come to my office and tearfully shared how bad he felt laying off an old friend. Here he was talking about his wife of 39 years like a science experiment.


We agreed to have lunch soon. Just as we have for a couple of years. This time I will seriously try to make it happen and I pray to get a chance to talk to him about Jesus. Pray for us to connect.


Our lives here on earth are but a tick in the history of the world, but our souls will exist for eternity. While walking with Jesus now is an incredible comfort, Heaven with Him will be—well—Heaven.


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Pesky Idols!

By Steve Johnson • March 13, 2025
What is an idol? It’s anything that enslaves us and moves ahead of Jesus in our list of priorities. It could be something good, like walking or fitness. I’ve faced mobility challenges for years, first breaking my fibula, which formed a non-union requiring surgery. Then, I had an ankle joint replaced. Next was a knee joint, which became bone-on-bone, leading to a total knee replacement of the first knee. Several years later, the second knee followed the same path. Early in the recovery process, I bought a Fitbit activity tracker that was attached to my pocket. It gave me valuable information as I rehabbed the ankle. Based on my progress, I could objectively assess whether I was getting enough exercise or too much. At some point, it became more than necessary information. On a flight to Dallas, I lost my Fitbit. I panicked and replaced it within a week with a new, improved wrist version; I love my Fitbit! The following year, I had my knee replaced, and my Fitbit let me track how much exercise I was getting again as I rehabbed my knee. My daughter and a friend invited me to be a Fitbit friend. They thought I would be someone easy to beat. As my knee got stronger, I walked longer and more frequently. My first target was five thousand steps daily, then ten thousand, followed by fifteen and twenty thousand steps daily or over ten miles. I planned to crack thirty thousand steps (I did hit 27,000). Then disaster struck—I got two blisters on my right foot. My wife thought I should give it a break. How could I? My steps would fall behind my daughter and my friend. But I conceded and took a break, getting less than five thousand steps—for an entire day! I needed to get back at it today, but I would take it easy with a leisurely walk about 5:30 am around a community lake. It’s my favorite walk and where I have my best prayer time. People talk about having a prayer closet; it doesn’t work for me. When I’m walking, I can focus on communing with God. The time is precious, sacred, and intimate—just me and God. When I first started doing this, I imagined walking beside Jesus. I was walking with my Best Friend. Now, I spend time with the entire Trinity, and it’s even more precious to me. My mobility is the best in ten years, and the prayer time has been great. But my Fitbit has become my master. As I eased into my 1.26-mile walk this morning, I forgot that my Fitbit was charging. It was a great walk and time of prayer. Real intimacy and closeness stirred me on many levels—I was walking in fellowship with God. Then, at the one-mile marker, with only .26 miles to go, I realized my Fitbit was at home. First, I was shocked that I wouldn’t get credit for 3,455 steps on my Fitbit. Then it struck me that I’d had an incredible walk with the Father, but I was moaning about not having my little Fitbit. We laughed (God does have a sense of humor). It was like having the most incredible meal you’ve ever eaten and complaining about not getting a cheesy, paper-wrapped mint from your waiter. I will continue to use my Fitbit, not to compete against anyone, but to keep track of how I’m doing getting exercise. However, I will work to keep my priorities straight and focus on my most important relationship with God, my Savior.

Reflections

By Steve Johnson • March 13, 2025
What makes a glorious sunrise? In my opinion, it’s the right amount and shape of clouds, as well as the positioning of those clouds. Aren’t clouds just water vapor sometimes containing dust particles from the atmosphere? Sometimes we drive through vapor in the form of fog. Depending upon the type of clouds and where they are positioned, as the sun approaches the horizon, there are incredible colors from the light reflected by those clouds. Various shades of the red spectrum and blue spectrum for sure, but the highlights of bright yellow give the scene a vibrant explosive quality. The hand of a master artist couldn’t begin to touch the beauty of ten minutes of this ever changing light display. The beauty of the scene is the reflection of the sun on water vapor. The sun which is too bright to look at, when its light waves bounce off wispy clouds becomes a diverse and beautiful array. Our faith is similar; the sun is analogous to God. His love is reflected off us, His creation. We are all different types, sizes, shapes and colors so the hue of reflected love is different and wonderfully beautiful. It’s a challenge to remember that my reflection of God’s love is a representation of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. A love so deep it’s a struggle to grasp how wide and long and high is the love of Christ. My pastor Tom, in a recent sermon said that the number one reason people say they don’t become Christian is because of Christians. He quoted Mahatma Gandi, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Tom reminded us to be good ambassadors for Christ. Like the clouds we are a vapor in time, Lord let us be a brilliant reflection of your Glory.