The "Staged" Christian Life

The “Staged” Christian Life
Marsha Deveaux Johnson
God recently gave me a vision of the life of a Christian portrayed on a performance stage.  I was challenged by Father to review some of the “staging” that goes on in His children.  This message is timely, relevant, and should be heard and heeded by the body of Christ.  The “staged” Christian life brings no glory to God.
Staged = “designed to project a superficial image”
Staged Action:  Deception
Open Door:
Staging by design is set up to be superficial and without depth and reality.  This opens the door for deception.  The “deeper” Christian life is found in the pursuit of obedience to God’s word.
Closed Door:
Saying, seeing, proclaiming, and living by what God’s word says and demands
Staged Action:  Larger than life Appearances
We believe that our actions are “larger than life”, meaning that everything we say, do, accomplish revolves so much around ourselves that Jesus Christ is not the center of our lives.
Open Door:
The presence in our lives of self centeredness, self importance, self promotion, inordinate self-love, the “Me First” mentality, worshipping the vision of ourselves as we are seen by family, friends, enemies, and self, all of these open the door for the destruction of the God-life (Zoe).
Closed Door:
Doing what Jesus said to do, deny self, take up His cross and follow Him.
Staged Action:  Props
Staging uses props.  By design props superficially give a façade, a picture, a support that cannot sustain real usage.  There is no substance to a prop.  It is one sided, without depth, without reality, without God.
Open Door:
We prop ourselves up with people, places, and things that are created rather than with God our Creator.  How have you propped your life?  Are friends, family, money in the bank, political influence, and power sustaining you?  If you are spiritually “propped” up by anyone or anything but God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you will fail in your efforts to live the God-life (Zoe).
Closed Door:  Place all of your dependency upon Jesus Christ.  He alone will sustain you.  
Staged Action:  Revolving Sets
Staging makes use of changing sets to portray different scenes at different times. 
Open Door:
Christians sometimes show different images (faces) to different people or circumstances.
Closed Door:
Complete transparency with everyone, depending totally and only upon the Lord Jesus Christ.


The spiritually transparent life is ordained by God.  Close the curtain on “staging” your life.

Why "Hepzibah in Training?"

More than twenty five years ago I stood in a powerful praise and worship service. As I entered into worship weeping in the presence of the King, I heard the voice of Jesus in my spirit. He called me two names. The first name was Hephzibah and the second was Beulah. I was stunned and immediately sat down on the bench to ponder these two names. Neither of these names appeared flattering to me.



I left church and called my sister, a mighty warrior of God, and told her that God had called me two names. Her reply was “If God called me names; I needed to find out what they meant.” I searched scripture and found that the name Hephzibah means, “The Lord delights in her” and that Beulah meant, “Thy land is married (committed, spoken for, etc). Needless to say, I was delighted in the significance of these two names that my Savior has bestowed upon me. My goal and treasure in life is to fulfill the plan for my life on this side of Eternity and to train for the other side of Eternity.



I offer you the revelations, thoughts, and meditations that God imparts to me in this blog “Hepzibah In Training”.



I thank you for your comments.

Followers