God speaks over 20,000 times in Scripture! He speaks through dreams, visions, signs, creation, prophets, the law and even a still small voice to name a few. As the Scripture says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Hebrews 1:1-2

The good news for us today is that He still speaks! He speaks through His still small voice, our pastor, spouse, a child, circumstances, strangers, countless ways really. While God can speak to us countless ways He primarily speaks through the Holy Spirit, his Son Jesus and through His Word. The Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and it reveals to us what’s on the very mind of God! Today I’d like to touch on 3 primary things that God reveals through Scripture and how these truths can benefits us.

3 Things God Reveals Through Scripture:

1. God reveals who He is through Scripture

It’s in the Scriptures that we come to understand who God really is. Much of scripture points us to Jesus and when we read about Jesus he points us back to the Father! As Jesus shared, “If you, then…know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11 God is a good good father! In fact God does not only love us, He has a patent on love and He himself IS love! It’s through His Word that we come to know promises like Romans 8:28, “And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love God and have been called according to His purpose.” With promises like these we can’t help but get a glimpse into who this great God is! He has nothing but the best of intentions towards us. And it is through His Word that we can discover more and more of who He is!

   2. God reveals who we are through Scripture

Many of us search our entire lives trying to find who we are. We look for people or things to define us. But the reality is – it’s not until we open God’s Word and call out to Him for ourselves that we discovered who we really are! Our identity is revealed in God’s Word! He calls us forgiven and redeemed! We are the light of the world, a chosen people and His masterpieces! He says we are His inheritance, His children and we’ve been called and chosen by Him. We are loved, pursued and destined with purpose!

    3. God reveals truths about the world we live in

Lastly God reveals truths about the world we live in. We come to understand principles like, “We reap what we sow.” Galatians 6:7 We come to understand that forces of darkness and light are waging war all around us. We come to see the culture of the world around us and recognize the enemy’s influence in it (1 John 5:19). But we also come to see the Father of Lights – the giver of all good gifts – at work and we learn how to walk in the light and follow after Christ’s example. We understand more of our purpose and the call of God on our lives. And as we continue in God’s Word we come to learn the importance of the times and the seasons we live in.

How these Truths can truly benefit us:

If we really want to benefit from these truths we must first commit to actually spending time in God’s Word! Many of us might have great intentions to read God’s Word regularly but simply don’t because well…we slept in, we got busy, we got a phone call, we had to _______ (fill in the black). The reality is most people don’t read the Bible because they don’t know where to start, and/or they don’t have a time set! If we’re serious about wanting to read God’s Word daily we need a time, a place and a plan!

• Set a time each day to read God’s Word (and keep it)!
• Find a place to read God’s Word (and remove distractions from that place).
• Establish a reading plan (whether it’s a Proverb a day or three to five chapters in the New Testament daily).

If you do these things you can count on knowing God for who He is, discovering your true identity and obtaining with a spirit of wisdom. These are vital truths in creating a life you love! So set a time, find a place and establish a plan!

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The post 3 Things God Reveals Through Scripture first appeared on John Silkauskas.

Over the years I’ve seen so many Christians go through very difficult things. Many have gone through very similar things whether it was betrayal, divorce, grief, sickness, depression, addiction or the lost of a loved one. And yet upon going through some of the toughest things life may ever bring I’ve seen two very different things happen. I’ve seen some do everything right so to speak, pour their heart out to the Lord, bring Him their pain, stay in community and deal with their difficulty. They do so well because they do everything right that many times months removed from their struggle you would never have guessed they greatly struggled and went through a very difficult time at all.

However I’ve also seen the opposite take place and it breaks my heart! I’ve seen believers stay in the place of discouragement, depression and defeat for years (even a lifetime)! Where some have chosen to be better on the other side of their struggle, many have chosen to be defined by it, they take on a victim mentality and they stay in their misery. They often become bitter, critical and extremely negative about almost everything in life!

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not the abundant life that Jesus has promised us! Some have preached that it is, but I am here to declare to you today that this is not the gospel! God is not only with you in your suffering but if you’re willing to follow Him He will lead you to a place of wholeness. God doesn’t call us victims, He calls us victors! Yes Jesus suffered but He did it for the joy that was set before Him! Yes Jesus said that in this life we would have trouble but in the same breath He also said take heart and be of good courage because I’ve overcome the world! And in Christ through faith we overcome the world as well! As believers we will suffer trials and tribulations, persecution and suffering but nowhere in Scripture does God tell us that we then are defined by these things! Like the saints of old that we read about in Scripture we are not defined by our experiences, rather we are defined by God’s great love for us and the victory that He has won for us through Jesus Christ our Lord!

I read in my Bible that we are the ones who overcome! We are more than conquerers through Him who loved us! We are to rejoice even in the midst of difficulty for our God has given us the victory! He ALWAYS leads us into triumph! He is the one who leads us from the place of defeat to a place victory! How you might ask? It’s through His love!!! As we bring Him our pain He surrounds us with His healing presence! He comforts us, heals us, strengthens us, gives us hope, peace and a reason to rejoice again! He makes us whole and gives us purpose where there was pain.

Maybe this message is for you or maybe it’s for someone that you know and love. Whoever it’s for hear this clearly: You don’t have to stay in the place of your suffering!God loves you! And it’s through His love that He invites you to rise up and find the healing and wholeness you’ve been longing for! Believe God for your healing! Believe God for your peace! Believe God for your joy! He makes all things new and He is wanting to make all things new with you! And when He’s done the world around you will know!

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” Corinthians 2:14-15

Father, I pray for healing and wholeness over all those who are stuck and feel defeated. I pray that you would lead them to you that they may experience the great exchange! In the place of their pain you would give them purpose, in the place of their mourning you would give them joy and in the place of their heaviness you would give them the garment of praise! Touch, strengthen and heal your children for their wholeness and for your glory in Jesus name, amen!

Blessings!

John

Scriptures referenced: John 16:33, 1 Corinthians 15:57, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:37, 1 John 5:4, Isaiah 61:3;

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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/

The post Finding Victory first appeared on John Silkauskas.

“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

The post It’s Time To Act! first appeared on John Silkauskas.

All throughout the Old Testament God sends reminders to the people of Israel to help them remember who He is, who they are and all that He has done for them! He would tell them to take stones from the Jordan or build an altar, they would even change the name of different mountains, valleys and cities to always remember what God had done there. Often this wasn’t only to help them remember but also in order to teach to their children and their children’s children to remember all that God had done. I love the richness of this and I think we can learn a lot from these practices of old.

How many times do you and I face difficult situations and those difficulties lead us to a place of anxiety and fear. Too often we may even know what to do but we just get stuck. We forget who our God is, we forget who we are and all that God has already brought us through! It’s in these times that we need to remember! Remember it was God who saw Joseph through both slavery and prison. Remember it was God who delivered the Israelites from Egypt, who parted the Red Sea for them and destroyed pharaoh and all their enemies. Remember it was God who delivered David from Saul and Daniel from the lions den. Remember it was God who provided Elijah with miracle after miracle right when he needed it! Remember it was God who rescued the Hebrew three from the fire and Peter both on the water and in the jail. Remember it was God who healed the blindness from Bartimaeus’ eyes and raised Lazarus from the dead!

In whatever season of life we may be in, whatever we may currently be facing we need to remember that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and the same power that rose him from the dead now dwells in us! We need to personally remember all that God has done for us over the years, his faithfulness, his kindness and how he’s ALWAYS been on time! We need to remember His promises in Scripture, the prophetic words spoken over our lives and the truth’s He’s whispered to our hearts. We need to remember, so when the enemy comes and lies to us we can look him in the face and rejoice because we REMEMBER that our God is with us, for us and faithful to see us through!

Be encouraged today as you remember…

~John

“And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” Joshua 4:20-24

PS Pass this message along, share it with a friend, remind those who you know are going through a difficult time and make sure to teach these things to your children! And always remember that the Lord is good and He is always faithful!

(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/ )

The post Why God tells us to Remember first appeared on John Silkauskas.

In a world that advertises it’s so connected through technology and social media I would argue that we have never been so unconnected before! Sure innovation has given us some amazing capabilities and brought some pretty sweet new tech but it has also stolen so much from us and we’ve allowed it to! How many lives have been taken because drivers are busy texting and not paying attention to the road? How many marriages have ended in divorce because of feeling unloved, not valued or not paid attention to? It starts with something small but it builds and builds until they become non responsive. Think about it, how many times does your wife have to call your name when you’re watching a football game or how many times did your wife not hear what you were saying because she was focused looking at her phone? How often have your kids not listened because they were on their devices (and have you’re kids learned this from you)? The problem is real! Sure we can easily point the blame but the problem isn’t the new technology, the problem stems from the human heart. It’s so easy for us to get distracted, forget what’s most important in life and cruise on autopilot living life but really just going through the motions…

Don’t settle with going through the motions, don’t live life half heartedly – not really present in the moment, for that is no kind of life at all! Too many have believed the lie that, “I’m multitasking” or “I’m getting more done!” Are you? Are you really? When’s the last time you REALLY connected in conversation with another soul? (It doesn’t happen when our minds are on other things).

I’ve done it before, in person and on the phone. There’s times I’ve had to ask friends and family members to repeat themselves because I wasn’t really listening the first time (I was too busy being distracted and often times those distractions were trivial and meaningless). And so I ask, “Are you trading the most meaningful things in life with those that are meaningless?” May I challenge you today to put your phone down, shut the TV off, stop daydreaming and really listen and engage with the people close to you today. People know when they’re getting your full attention and they know when they’re not! Life is too short to waste, so don’t waste it being busy and please don’t waste it by not really being present around those who desperately need you to be present!

It’s what the Apostle Paul talked about, we can do a whole lot of great things in life but if we don’t have love we have nothing! There is a more excellent way and it is the way of love! I feel most loved by people who listen to me, you know what I mean, people who know you, listen to you and love you! These people are gems! They’ve nailed one of the greatest commandments, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” They’ve discovered that life is all about relationships (especially with those right in front of you)!

A quote that often comes to mind is this, “Wherever you are, be there!” I believe this is true worship! When I read scriptures like “Whatever you do, do it ALL for the glory of God” or “Whatever you do or say, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus” it confirms it! Jesus said the greatest commandment was to “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul, mind and strength!” Do you see what God is saying to us in all these verses? There is a more excellent way, it is the way of love and love listens, love engages, love responds, in whatever love does it gives everything it has, it uses ALL of the heart! And so I challenge you today, wherever you are be there! Whatever you have to do, do it (with ALL your heart)! For when we begin to make this our daily practice we begin to experience ALL that God has intended for us. Let’s experience ALL that God has for us, let’s fully enjoy our closest relationships, let’s use ALL our heart, let’s be, “All in!”

Blessings,

John

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

(Scriptures referenced: 1 Corinthians 10:31, 13:1-8, Colossians 3:17, Mark 12:30-31)

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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/

The post Are you really connected or have you bought a lie? first appeared on John Silkauskas.