No matter what you may experience, the highs and the lows, Jesus knows.

Hey yall! I started back at Jesus School a couple weeks ago! This is my 3rd year and final year as a student. I know this is going to be the best year yet and it will allow me to grow even deeper in my relationship with Jesus. I wanted to share something that the Lord revealed to me. Recently I’ve noticed even more so that while I’m at school during worship I have been encountering the Holy Spirit so quickly and more intensely than ever before. I encounter the Lord daily while I’m alone in my room in the secret place and in my day to day, but there’s been an intensity growing in corporate worship. It’s like when Jesus comes, He makes His presence known so tangibly and comes so intimately in the room. Well during a Thursday morning worship set at school I was having encounter after encounter. I felt the Lord’s presence overwhelming me and He was giving me visions and showing me things from a spiritual lens. After a while I opened my eyes and saw that everyone in the room seemed to be in an encounter with the Lord or were experiencing His presence. I thought to the Lord, “Wow, I wish I could share with the person next to me what You are showing me right now. This is awesome!” Then I thought, “If I’m experiencing You like this, I wonder what this person is seeing.” I’m telling you, I felt as though I was in another dimension. Then immediately I heard the Lord say, “Isn’t it amazing that only you can see what I’m showing you? No one else can see or experience this with us. That is exactly how I intended it to be.” So many thoughts flooded my mind after that! That even if I tried to explain in a perfectly detailed description of what I was seeing in my mind, it wouldn’t come close to help anyone visualize what I actually experienced. It wouldn’t even scratch the surface. No one can experience what I experience with the Lord! Only God can have a peek into our thoughts, mind, visions, dreams, and encounters. Only He can see exactly what it is that we are thinking and only He can feel the emotions we are feeling. That’s how intimate He wants to be with us. That’s how intimately He created us. We were designed to share the one thing that’s so specific and personal to us only with the Lord. It blows my mind! The most joy filled pleasures down to the most painful experiences only God has access to. That’s how much He loves us. When He created us, He intentionally created a part of what makes us unique to be shared solely with Him.

I was reminded of Psalm 139. “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!” The scripture further goes on in verse 13 to say, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” It’s so beautiful that He knows everything about us! He knows our thoughts and actions before we even think, speak or do anything. It’s exciting yet sobering to know that even our thoughts are not hidden from Him. You know how sometimes you think things you would never say aloud? Well, God hears those thoughts. Even Sarah was called out by God when she chuckled in her heart at the thought of giving birth to a child in her old age. See in Genesis 18:12-14 “So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”’ Also, when Jesus forgives and heals a paralyzed man, many teachers of the law said to themselves that what Jesus did was blasphemy. This is from Mark 2:8, “Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?’” Jesus knew what they were thinking about Him! Ok. I’ll share one more and let you chew on it, as it speaks to how much God desires intimacy with you and me. In Matthew 11:27 Jesus says, “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus is saying that no one knows Him like the Father knows Him in the same way that no one knows the Father like Jesus knows Him. Jesus can reveal the Father to those He chooses, but we can never truly know the Father like Jesus does. They’ve been together since before the creation of the world! One thing that still has my head spinning is the fact that God made us in His image. I gotta share this one. Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Do you see where I’m going with this?? Let me explain a little further. Just like Jesus said that no one knows Him like the Father and vice versa, God created mankind in that image! The image of knowing each other truly in such a way that only they can fully know. God created us in that way! To be known fully and completely by Him. Let me say it again another way. Just like in a family where the father knows details about his son that no one else would ever know, God the Father knows the Son, Jesus in a way that only He has intimately known and experienced with Him. We were created in that same manner. For God to know us in a way that no one else could ever tap into, and for us to know God in a way that can only be experienced by our personal relationship with Him. Yes, I know. Go ahead and let that sink in. I love that about our Creator! No matter what you may experience, the highs and the lows, Jesus knows. You are truly never alone. In case you haven’t been told today, Jesus loves you <3

Love is patient. God is love.

Hey fam! Welcome to 2021. 😊 It’s been a while, I know. Over the past couple months, the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about me. Things that He spoke and showed me, I did not feel led to share publicly. Hence the hiatus. I’m continuing to learn to keep the secrets between Jesus and I, secret. That’s the beauty of an intimate relationship. There are some things that are meant to be kept behind closed doors. Even though it has been some time since my last blog post, I did not want to feel pressured to make a post to please people or draw attention to myself. So, I continued to wait. Through that time, there is one thing the Lord has been speaking to me on repeat that I feel a stirring in the depths of my spirit to share. So much so that I had dreams of me speaking these words. Those words are the message of the gospel.

I want to touch on a scripture that has been imprinted on my heart. It’s from 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” As soon as that scripture came to me, I was brought back to the story of Jonah. When I was a youth leader, this was one of the first messages I preached. I was so amped because the Holy Spirit gave me the whole message about Jonah and how he tried to flee to Tarshish, away from where God was directing him to go. We can all relate to Jonah at some point in our lives. At times we think we know what’s best. Right? This time though, instead of focusing on Jonah, my heart leapt for the people of Ninevah. God asked Jonah to preach against the city because of its wickedness. They were about to face destruction because of their evil ways. Even through Jonah’s disobedience, being swallowed by a large fish for three days, then the Lord having the fish spit him out, he was able to get through to the city of Ninevah to warn them. After hearing the warning, the city of Ninevah believed God, proclaimed a fast, and gave up their evil ways. God in His grace saw what they did and relented from their destruction. Not only was God patient with Jonah through his disobedience, but God was patient with the city of Ninevah to turn back to Him. Why? His love is so fierce towards us that God does not want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. What great love He has lavished on us! After the story of Jonah, I was reminded next of the two criminals on the cross that hung beside Jesus. While one insulted Jesus, the other stood up for Him and protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Let’s rewind to the road to Golgotha, where they were hung. Imagine Jesus carrying His cross on His way to die. Blood running down His face from the crown of thorns cutting through His head, back aching from the weight of the cross and previous lashings that tore the skin off His bones, and shouts of insults from the people He loved and those He longed to be with. All of that combined, imagine Jesus treading His way to Golgotha with another ambition. Imagine Him thinking, “There is one more man that needs to speak to Me before I take My last breath. One more that will believe.” Imagine Jesus having that criminal’s face in mind along the way. The criminal that hung beside Jesus was deserving of death on the cross for his sins. But, Jesus! The criminal believed in Jesus, and Jesus forgave him of what his sins deserved and offered the criminal eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus died on the cross. He paid the price of sin for you and for me. He longs to be with us in eternity. This criminal was basically on his death bed and that’s when he received the free gift of salvation. You are never too far gone! Love is patient. God is love.

According to the good pleasure of His will.

Hello fam! This past month has been a whirlwind for sure! It’s funny to me, because I asked the Lord to use my life and what He shows me to be a testimony to help others see Jesus. Let me just tell you…when you ask, you shall receive! I never want to post anything that is to glorify myself or post because of the pressure just to make a post. I want what I write to pierce hearts because they experience Jesus through what I share. I want Jesus to be glorified above it all. In order to do that, I wait for the Lord. So, I’m about to share part of the journey the Lord walked me through recently. Get ready! A month ago, while school was online because of a small outbreak of the virus, I experienced a sharp pain in my chest. Typically, when I feel pain that is out of the ordinary in my body, I pray in intercession for someone who may be having those symptoms. The Holy Spirit has used me in the past to stand in the gap for someone else’s healing. So, I thought this was another chance to intercede. The feeling in my chest was like a heart attack, so I started praying for whoever may be having a heart attack or similar symptoms. I go to bed and am feeling better. Throughout the week though the pain continued. I was like oh no Lord! I know I can’t be having a heart attack. I know you didn’t move me all the way to Florida just to die. I refuse to believe that! After church service that Sunday I asked for prayer. The pain left. Then I woke up the next morning and the pain came back. At this point I am frightened. I reach out to my aunt, who is a nurse and explain the symptoms I am experiencing. She says that she does not believe it is cardiac related and that it could be from stress or anxiety. I’m like anxiety???? Anxiety?! On my way to work I have a talk with the Holy Spirit about it. I begin to go into detail of what could cause my anxiety. I realize finances have been a stressor for me. I started a new job and the hours I thought I would work were not what I anticipated especially with school starting. I was about to reach the end of my savings towards the end of the year. I was like Lord, it would be nice to not have a car payment. That would almost cut my finances in half. I told the Lord that I am doing everything I can possibly think of to provide for myself. That He brought me here, so it is His reputation on the line and not mine. I can’t believe I said this next part, but I said, “Good luck with that!” Ha, the Lord of Lords does not need luck. I repent! I then realize the second stressor. It was doubt in my heart. Over the Summer the Holy Spirit revealed this doubt while reading the book of Matthew. Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 14:31 TPT, “What little faith you have! Why would you let doubt win?” I thought I had released the doubt, but I hadn’t. I was saying, Lord I trust You with my life, but deep in my heart of hearts I didn’t. There was still doubt in my heart that began to grow. I began to believe the lie that maybe what God told me He would do in my life wouldn’t come to fruition. Maybe I am not worthy of receiving all that He promised. While looking at pictures on my phone, I came across a memory from when I worked at Cardinal Health in Columbus right before I moved to Orlando. It was a post-it note that said, “Stop guessing. Remember My promises. I’m never going to let you down.” I bawled. Holy Spirit thank You for the reminder! That night though, I could not sleep. The anxiety got so bad that I was afraid to fall asleep in fear that I would die. I started declaring scripture and the promises that He spoke. I finally fell asleep. The next day I decided that I needed to tell someone what I was experiencing. I called one of my closest friends and told her everything. That I had anxiety that stemmed from finances and doubt in the Lord. She began to pray and speak life over me. Later that night she calls me back with her husband and they say that they want to pay off my car!! Yes, you read that right. They wanted to pay off my car so that I would no longer have a car payment!! Like, what?! I didn’t even tell them about the request I made to the Lord to not have a car payment! Wow!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!! The next week, on a Monday I wake up to a text of the money being sent to my bank account. I finally get to pay off my car!! I pay it off immediately and start rejoicing in my room. I get to school, and a student stops me to tell me she has something for me. She hands me a blue rose and said that the Lord told her to buy this for me and that He said “You are My daughter”. He also gave her Ephesians 1:5, “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself; according to the good pleasure of His will.” I was like girl, you have no idea what this means! I just paid off my car today because of Jesus and He used you as icing on the cake to tell me that I am His daughter! My mind is blown! Also, blue is my favorite color. What really rocked me is that it’s according to the good pleasure of His will. It’s His pleasure! I love You Lord! Thank You for loving me!

It doesn’t stop there. 😊 I go to a wedding in Ohio the following week. I’m single, so when the bride was about to toss the bouquet, of course I am there! Just to let ya’ll know a little bit about me. I am super competitive. Normally at weddings I am going after that bouquet full force!! It is mine! This time though, I was so at peace with where God had me in that moment. I said, Lord I’m happy with just You and me. I stood there not wanting to attack the other women. Lol. When the beautiful bride went to toss the bouquet, it was like slow motion. I stood there, saw it coming, lifted my hands to receive and it came right to me! Not even joking. One of the groomsmen was so shocked he said, “Wow Taja that literally came right to you.” I was like I know!! So crazy! In that moment I heard the Holy Spirit say, “That is exactly what it is like to be My daughter. You do not have to do anything but lift up your hands and receive.” Wow. Isn’t that precious? I forgot to mention that the anxiety and pain in my chest went away completely! 1 Peter 5:7 says, “casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” I am a daughter of the Most High God who wants to shower me with His love and blessings. He wants to carry the weight of my burdens. That’s why He died! All God requires from us is to trust in His love and provision and receive it. You too can receive. Not from striving. Not by defeating and competing against your brothers or sisters. By just being you! A daughter or a son. Just be you. Trust that your Heavenly Father will place everything you need in your hands in His perfect timing. It is according to the good pleasure of His will.

When we worship, He comes.

Worship is a gateway for God’s presence to enter in. This morning as I was driving to school preparing for worship I just started thanking Him for things I could easily take for granted. I said thank you Jesus for my healthy body. Thank you Jesus for the breath in my lungs. Thank you for my nose to smell, my ears to hear, my mouth to speak and shout. Thank you for my legs to jump, dance and move during worship. Thank you for my eyes to see. Then I immediately thought of Jesus healing the two blind men. He asked them, what do you want me to do for you? They said “We want to see”. Jesus had compassion on them and healed them. There were so many emotions that came over me as I read that. Jesus knew that He would heal them. That they were blind and wanted to see. He was fully capable of healing them before He even went up to them. It doesn’t take our attention or anything on our part for Jesus to do a miracle. But He approached them and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” Why did He ask? My thought is that Jesus had the cross in mind. He knew that He would soon be beaten and bruised for our healing. That His blood would pour out for our sins. That He would soon die on the cross and return to the Father in heaven. He knew that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, would come to live in us and dwell among us. He knew that if we knew to ask, we would know that it is His nature to give. Jesus wanted their faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Belief in Jesus would activate faith for the Healer to heal. Belief is the preposition of faith. Let me explain it this way. First you believe, which ignites an inward substance of faith. Jesus pre-positioned them for life after the cross. That pre-positioning all started with the blind men saying, “Open our eyes.” In order to ask for something you must believe that you will receive, right? “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”-Mark 11:24 Here’s another, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”- Matthew 7:7 There’s something about asking that Jesus wanted us to realize before He went to the cross. Jesus is such a gentleman. He will never push anything on us or force something we do not want. So He waits for us to ask.

Following the healing of the two blind men was His entry into Jerusalem. A crowd of people laid their clothes and branches on the road ahead of Jesus and shouted “Hosanna Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” They shouted, praised and worshipped Jesus as He came and entered into the city. What do we do when He comes to meet us?...They could have done nothing and treated that moment as ordinary. Little did they know, that would be the last time Jesus would enter the city before His crucifixion. How sad would that have been to realize you missed your last chance to worship the savior of the world while he was still alive? He desires our worship! Their worship preceded His arrival. When we worship, He comes. He is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our worship. From this moment forward, never forget that Jesus desires our faith and He comes when we worship. Worship builds a resting place for His presence. Faith starts with believing. Believing builds faith. Faith moves mountains. ❤️

“You can’t love your neighbor until you love yourself first, and that includes loving Me with everything inside of you.”

Hi! My name is Taja Johnson. Thank you for the time you are taking to check out my page. I want to first share my heart behind Lift & Be Lifted. This name came about during a season when the Lord placed a desire on my heart to inspire others in fitness through faith in 2017. I had fallen in love with fitness after running multiple half marathons and soon after being introduced to a new sport called Crossfit. After a while I began coaching Crossfit and realized a fire lit inside of me. A fire that ignited as I was instructing the classes to push people to excel further than their minds were allowing them to go during their workouts. I later competed in two bodybuilding competitions, placing in both and qualifying for Nationals. Fitness and building strength physically and mentally became a huge part of my life. I wanted to help others reach their goals, but I knew that was only temporary satisfaction. I want people to fall in love with Jesus even more. So I saw two visions in front of me for Lift & Be Lifted. The first, a vision of lifting others up by inspiring, speaking truth, a true camaraderie, which you in turn would also be lifted up from the support built around you. Having a community where everyone is there to push you and lift you is amazing. Seeing others reach their potential is extra motivation for me, but the dilemma...where does Jesus come in? I was stuck....for 3 years!! Drum roll. Then comes the Holy Spirit with the clutch. The second, a vision of lifting up Jesus in all that you do and HE will lift you up. That sounds so comforting. I love the idea of being supported by others around me, and it's important in community, but what can and will stick forever is being grounded and lifted by the only person that can truly pick you up when you're down. The only person that can fill any and every void. The only person that loves you every second of every day because He created you.

Let me mention that this vision didn't come to me until the night leading into my birthday in 2020. The year of perfect vision. :) That night, I was driving home to Florida from visiting my family and friends in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the voice of the Lord in my car was so clear. He said, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself." He was speaking the Great Commandment found in Matthew 22:36-39. He then said, "You can't love your neighbor until you love yourself first and that includes loving Me with everything inside of you." Usually when I read that scripture I'm like yeah yeah yeah, I know. I've heard it a million times, love God and love your neighbor as yourself. This time it shook me to my core! I had a new revelation of what loving your neighbor as yourself actually meant. Listen to what He said to me next, "You think you're loving your neighbor as yourself, but until you see yourself fully the way that I see you, you are seeing them through your lens which is broken. You're judging them the way that you are judging yourself and that's not love." Ouch. Yep. Imagine the emotion I felt on that drive home on my birthday eve. I'm so thankful He spoke that to me, because He then took me on a journey of loving Him with every part of my being, including my body. A journey that He is still refining. Lift & Be Lifted is where we live out the Great Commandment. Loving the Lord with our heart, soul and mind. Loving God first and loving ourselves by seeing ourselves the way that He sees us and taking care of this earthly vessel with love. From that place, we can truly and fully love our neighbor as ourself. This is a place where we as a community lift each other up by encouraging others to know who they are in Christ. Founded on God’s Word and truth that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Join us on our endeavor to love Jesus first and foremost and love our neighbors as ourselves!