Category Archives: Lifestyle

Posted on

The Word of the Lord

Years ago God gave me a word that tremendously helped me then and continues to help me now (especially in the season we’re in). It’s a word that is thousands of years old and yet it’s truths are relevant for us today! People came to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah and told him that a vast army was coming upon him! He immediately called a fast and spent some time in prayer seeking God’s help and wisdom. Jehoshaphat admitted his inability to do anything without God’s assistance and in his uncertainty he said this to the Lord some of the wisest words ever spoken, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12

How many times do we not know what to do and instead of looking to the Lord we look to google or ourselves? Here Jehoshaphat looks to God and invites God’s mighty hand to move on behalf of all of Judah! In this prayer of desperation and transparency Jehoshaphat shows two great qualities:

-Humble Dependance upon God

-Bold Faith that God would be his rescue

And God responds to his faith and assures him by saying, “Do not be afraid or discouraged…for the battle is not yours, it’s the Lords.” 2 Chronicles 20:15 Just that word alone would give you the courage to face any army! Think of the most difficult things you’re facing right now and hear these words, “The battle is not yours, it’s mine says the Lord!” Hearing these words bring immediate peace, they take the pressure and stress off of you and give you reason to trust God and rejoice. And that’s exactly what happened to the people of Judah, they rejoiced! Instead of going to battle with weapons they went with songs! And do you know what happened? The Lord fought for them! God set ambushes against their enemies and caused their enemies to get confused and kill each other. Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah enjoyed all of the plunder and God gave them rest on every side!

In this chapter of scripture there really are countless words from the Lord but I want to leave you with two that have powerfully helped me:

  1. When you don’t know what to do look to God (and keep looking to Him)
  2. Trust God with your difficulty, let Him fight your battle and simply praise Him

That’s it! Look to Jesus!!! He will be your guide, He will fight for you and you can simply trust Him and rejoice in knowing that He is good and He is fighting for you! Rest in this truth and rejoice in your God!

Blessings my friends!

John

PS If you’d like to hear a beautiful song that helps bring this home click here —> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvFTgNd6Iko

PPS I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you the regular encouragement I send out each week. If you would like to be encouraged regularly then subscribe to receive my devotionals via email @ http://www.johnsilkauskasministries.com/about/

Posted on

Stay in Faith!

“The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17

We are the just, the righteous, the church, we are “the called out ones!” And we are called to live by faith! Life is all about seasons, some seasons it’s easy to live by faith others it’s rather difficult. But regardless of the season we may be in God wants us to stay in faith! More and more in recent years I’ve been able to easily sense when I’m “in faith” and when I’m not. When I find myself easily agitated, discontent, lacking peace or joy, sometimes feeling a lesser sense of purpose or simply feeling empty I know that in that moment I’m not in faith.

The best thing about this though is that I recognize it and simply get back to living in faith. How you might ask? By choosing to! Faith in the greek simply means, “firm persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing.” I come back to faith by remembering the things that God has already spoken to me. I remember His word, I think on His character, I thank Him for His faithfulness and my heart is stirred to believe! I choose to believe, I choose to live by faith!

If it’s impossible to please God without faith then I dare to believe that our greatest worship is simply to trust God. When we trust God it removes anxiety from our hearts and the areas of life in which we are ‘wanting’ begin to fade. See when the Lord is David’s shepherd David’s cup is overflowing. When our hearts are resting in God’s care for us and filled with thanksgiving rather than anxiety and complaints we are blessed and we are indeed living by faith.

You may be in a difficult season right now, you may find it hard to trust and give thanks nevertheless I speak to your faith even now and I say, “Rise up and believe!” For God is too good for us to complain, He is too faithful for us to be anxious and He is too powerful for us to live defeated lives. We are called to live by faith!

So, here are the things that help me stay in faith:

-A daily diet of God’s Word

-Times of prayer

-Worship

-Community

-Thanksgiving

-Reflecting on God’s faithfulness

-Remembering the things that God has already spoken to my heart

Let’s stay in faith!

Blessings,

John

PS I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you the regular encouragement I send out each week. If you would like to be encouraged regularly then subscribe to receive my devotionals via email @ http://www.johnsilkauskasministries.com/about/

Posted on

It’s Time To Act!

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22

All throughout Scripture God uses action verbs in order to get us to take action (Love one another, serve one another, go into all the world and make disciples and so many more). And here in the book of James it’s clearly worded that God wants us to DO what the word says. What’s interesting about this is James says that those who only hear the word and don’t put it into practice deceive themselves! The word deceive means, “To believe a lie.” This implies that many who hear the word are actually deceived and are believing a lie as James later states that they forget who they are and they never truly benefit from all that God wants to do in their lives. I wonder how many of us have been there before? Where we thought we were really living what we heard and believed only to be humbled and discover we were just going through the motions, not actually doing what we heard, deceiving ourselves the whole time. I wonder how many of us are there now?

In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus says that if we hear his words but don’t practice them the storms of life will come and bring destruction in our lives! However if we hear his words and we do put them into practice, not only will we be blessed and have a strong foundation but the storms won’t be able to take us out! There are so many blessings, rewards and benefits to hearing God’s Word and actually putting it into practice!

And so today I ask you, “Are you putting the things you hear into practice?” I’m not asking if you’re studying scripture or going to church and bible study regularly, I’m asking if you’re doing the things that God has already spoken to you?

God, help us to love, go, do and serve. Keep us in the truth as we practice what we hear. Grant us great grace to do all that you’ve put on our hearts to do and help us be faithful in Jesus name, amen!

Blessings,

John

Posted on

3 Keys to Contentment

When is enough actually enough?

We all want more and when we get “more” we often end up wanting “even more” and the cycle never ends. So in our ever pursuit of “more” we end up having too much stuff, in debt, unhappy and still wanting more! Have you been there before? You might be there right now as it’s never been easier to be discontent. First it was regular media telling us we need more, now it’s social media shouting it from the rooftops!

We live in a world where people are glued to their phones misled into thinking ‘likes’ are equivalent for a real relationship. Too often people compare their everyday lives with other peoples highlight reel and become embittered, jealous and discontent left wanting more. And if you haven’t noticed while you are busy wanting more you are actually giving away the one thing you really want and that is PEACE.

So in an effort to end this vicious cycle too many of us find ourselves in I’d like to bring it to light and share practical ways in which you can escape this life sucking behavior. Here are three keys to becoming content:

1. Trust God

I find it interesting that King David in the 23rd Psalm said, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” It’s a famous psalm known by many but what is David really saying? He’s saying that when he trusts God’s leadership in his life he becomes content. Imagine not wanting in any area of life… Imagine being content at home, at work, in your finances, with your health, in your relationships – not wanting for anything! This is what David was saying and it all starts with trusting that God is good and that He knows how to take good care of his children.

I’ve found that the best ways for me to grow in trusting God are by thinking of His character, how He’s taken care of me over the years and how faithful He has always proved Himself to be. Being a parent also helps me to trust God: when I think of how much I love my kids and how I want the absolute best for them, I know the same is true with God being my Father. He knows us better than we know ourselves, He loves us more than anyone on earth and He knows what we need and when we need it. In Acts 17 the Apostle Paul talks about God establishing the time and location of our lives. God has you where he wants you, not so you’ll be unhappy and discontent but so that you would reach out to Him! He is not a God who is far away, He is a God who is near! Want to learn to be more content? Trust God more and ask Him to fill the void in your heart!

2. Don’t Compare

The fastest way to become depressed is to look at what everyone else has and is doing and compare it to what you have and are doing. Say for example you are connected to one hundred people on social media, many of them don’t post anything because they never post anything or because nothing is going on at that time worth posting. Then you will have a few people who might be venting or complaining and then maybe ten or fifteen people posting exciting things happening in their lives. So, what do you do? Well, if you’re like most people the temptation for you is to generalize and exaggerate by focusing on what “everybody” has or is doing and then think negatively about what you don’t have and aren’t doing.

It’s really a misconception! Behind the exciting posts, sweet stories and awesome pictures are broken people with real problems just like you and me. Don’t be deceived into comparing your everyday life with someones highlight reel. Just don’t be deceived into comparing period. Because whenever you do compare you either end up with a elevated sense of false confidence OR you end up jealous, unhappy, negative and depressed. Neither are a great place to be so simply avoid both by not comparing.

3. Stop Thinking and Start Thanking

When every commercial on TV and every billboard on the road tells you you’re missing out on what really makes life meaningful and exciting you can easily fall into the trap of thinking they are right. “If I only had ______ (fill in the blank) I would be happy.” It’s easy to get down and discouraged about certain things in your life and if you’re looking everywhere but up you are destined down that miserable and lonely road. Sure the car you’re driving may not be what you really want but when you stop looking around and start looking up you will find that your attitude quickly changes! Instead of getting down because of what you don’t have you start giving thanks for what you do have. And this changes everything!

Your thoughts go from negative to positive in a flash!  Instead of being discontent with the vehicle you don’t have you start giving thanks for the transportation you do have. Instead of complaining about the friends you don’t have you start thanking God for the ones that you do have! Instead of worrying about the money you wish you had you start praising God for the money that you do have. Not only will you find yourself content, you will find yourself happy, blessed and grateful! Remember life isn’t about having what you love, it’s about loving what you have. Be grateful for the people in your life and the opportunities that you have – you really are more blessed than you think…

Let’s trust God, let’s stop comparing and let’s stop thinking and start thanking!

Blessings my friends,

John

PS Grow with me for FREE each week! Subscribe to my emails and receive regular encouragement throughout the week!

Posted on

“I Want To Help” -God

God is calling out to us and he is asking, “How long will you try to do things in your own effort and strength”? All the meanwhile we ignore Him and remain in a state of stress, worry and fear. We find ourselves exhausted and nothing to show for all of our efforts. Stop trying to do it all yourself, invite God to be God and trust his ability to bring you into your promised land. He will do it and it will be without sorrow.

It’s kind of like debt, we purchase things we have no right purchasing, we put it on credit and go into debt all because we didn’t want to trust God and wait on his timing. In doing so we cause ourselves great stress, not only ourselves but our relationships as well. Basically we strive and rely on our own sufficiency and it only causes frustration! This is not so with God, for the blessing of the Lord makes one rich and he adds no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22). In the same way (in all areas of your life) God wants to bring his blessing without sorrow. God wants to bring an ease to life so that even in the storm we can have peace. So what is God saying to us today?

I believe He is saying this:

–Rest in my love for you

–Rest in my peace

–Rest in my care for you

–Rest in my ability

–Rest in my leadership

–Rest in my grace

Did you get it? He is inviting us to enter in to His rest…Let’s enter in!

~John

“Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work…Let us therefore make every effort to enter into that rest…” Hebrews 4:10-11

“…We set our hearts at rest in His presence.” 1 John 3:19

( For more on entering into God’s rest Click here )