John Silkauskas is the executive director of JSM, author of various ebooks, creator of several audio courses, and the creator of “Seconds with Silk” an inspiring video blog dealing with Life, Love, Leadership & Relationships. He serves as one of the pastors of a growing church in Clearwater, Florida. He is a sought after speaker and has a passion to reach people with the life transforming love of God! He shares practical truth in relevant and creative ways and desires to encourage, equip and empower others to create a life they love. He and his wife Emily have been married for ten years and have four sons and one daughter. He loves dating his wife, playing with his children and going on adventures with his family.
Addictions destroy both lives and relationships. They promise something that they never deliver and often take you further than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay.
Here in this short video I hope to bring light to the deception of addictions as well as provide practical ways to find freedom from them!
Enjoy the video and share it with a friend who may just need this exact word.
In the beginning God said, “Let there be light” and then there was light. God spoke and the world was formed, everything we see in creation was formed by what God said. Right after all of creation was made we were made to rule over creation. We were made in very image of our Creator.
Scripture later tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” There is great power in God’s words and there is great power in ours as well. In the same way that God’s words created the world, our words create our own little worlds. What I mean is the very course and direction of our lives is largely influenced by the very words that come out of our own mouths.
The third chapter of James tells us that our tongue is like the rudder of a ship – it determines it’s course. As we are well into 2015 I would challenge you to keep a guard over your words. Watch what comes out of your mouth. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and do not allow any negative speech to leave your lips. Rather let your words be filled with faith, hope and love.
Remember our words are seeds. We must be conscious of the kind of seeds we are sowing. If we are not happy with the current season we are in we must evaluate what our words were like in the previous season of our lives. I challenge you to begin to sow three faith filled seeds into your daily life by saying these three things everyday:
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM
I HAVE WHAT GOD SAYS I HAVE
I CAN DO WHAT GOD SAYS I CAN DO
The above three statements are absolute truth, so agree with God and begin to say what He says. And one day in the very near future you’ll be glad you did!
This past week my wife and I took our kids to Disney World! Their excitement was through the roof (so was ours)! Emily and I have three children but there were five children in our party all week. Emily and I were like kids again! The pure joy and utter excitement was evident as we ran from one ride to the next, from the parade to the next show. We had a blast! It reminded me of what being a kid was like and it made me think…
In Matthew 18:3 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” What is it that is so special about a child? What have we lost through the years of growing up and facing difficulties and disappointments? I believe we have to look at a child in order to discover what we’ve lost. So, here is a short list of what I observe when I think of children.
Children:
-DREAM BIG,
-BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE,
-HAVE LOTS OF JOY
-ARE NOT USUALLY BORED
-ARE EASILY EXCITING OVER EVERYTHING
-ARE NOT OFFENDED
-OFTEN FORGIVE IMMEDIATELY
-FORGET ABOUT PAST FAILURE
-DON’T DWELL ON THEIR MISTAKES
The list really goes on, as does the list of things we can learn from it. A child’s most important relationship is with their parents or the one who cares for them. Can we say the same about us? Is our most important relationship with God our heavenly father? On Average Children laugh four hundred times a day versus adults who laugh only fifteen times a day! That contrast is huge! Adults can be boring. I don’t want to be an adult, I want to be a kid! Not once does the Bible have the word adult in it, God never calls us adults, He calls us His children!
So, where have you lost your childlikeness? Have you stopped dreaming? Do you no longer believe in the impossible? Are you bored in life? Are you offended and dwelling on the offense or on your own shortcomings? I dare you to accept the invitation Jesus has extended! Be like a child again, be filled with awe and wonder, let joy bubble up again from the inside and enjoy life!
I refuse to be a kid only at Disney World. I choose to have a childlike joy and faith year round! Life is too short to live any other way. So, today I pray that you and I may see through the eyes of a child and be filled with faith, joy, awe and wonder yet again!
Blessings friend!
~John
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This time last year God put it on my heart to begin to increase my influence. What does that mean? ha Basically he began to stir my heart to do three things:
1. Invest more into a small group of people on a regular basis.
2. Write blogs, books and the like to get into the hands of all who would read them.
3. Record videos and audio teachings to share what He puts on my heart.
And so it began, in January I began writing, meeting with and investing myself into a small group of believers, and I began recording short encouraging videos each week to share what the Lord was putting on my heart. I didn’t know all what I was doing, I was simply obeying Him and doing all that He put on my heart to do. (Click here to watch my very 1st video – an insightful message on Honor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ZIlmOskfM)
As I continued to do this, He began to expand and develop what I was doing and He began to give me more and more thoughts and ideas. At times it seemed overwhelming but I was excited and I knew it was the Lord. I began to work with a good friend in order to develop a website. I began to write the book the Lord was putting on my heart. I became a student again and began to learn many new things in order to fulfill the dreams He was putting deep down within me.
Fast forward almost one year and I’ve made 50+ videos, wrote and released my first e-book, mentored several individuals, and created my own website. I’ve begun to write a couple blogs a week in addition to the weekly VLOG’s I release. Next week I will be releasing my first Audio Course titled, “Hearing God’s Voice – When it Matters Most” and as we enter into 2015 I plan to have my 501c3 Non-Profit Status. And all this is just the beginning as He continues to give me direction and enlarge the vision within my heart.
Think about all of that though. All of this has transpired in just one year! Which by the way was the busiest year of my life (my wife and I learned to balance taking care of three children and not just two, we moved from Ohio to Florida to answer God’s call, worked hard to sell our house and many other things along the way)!
I say ALL this to encourage you with this one thought:
“Do not despise the day of small beginnings.” Zechariah 4:10
Regardless of what it may look like, no matter how impossible your dreams may seem if they are from the Lord then give your heart to them. Work diligently to do all that God puts on your heart and as you do He will open up even greater doors for you and you will look back and be amazed at all that you and the Father have accomplished together.
Go ahead, get excited! Give God praise now and begin to pursue the dreams He has put deep within your heart. Remove all excuses, step out in faith and get to work! Don’t despise the day of small beginnings because as you are faithful God will richly bless you and the work of your hands. To God be the glory!