Recently God has been teaching me lessons in humility, some tougher than others. Each one is bringing me to an overwhelming sense of my need for Him and His grace and at the same time a humble gratitude.

As I become more and more aware of my own lack I become more and more aware of His abundance. And this leaves me both speechless and utterly grateful for His great love for me as He is patient and filled with kindness.

At first it’s painful but in the midst of God humbling me I become aware of a greater strength that lies within me – this is God Himself! “Christ in me the hope of glory” as the apostle Paul put it in Colossians. Humility is a good thing, it’s attractive, it’s Christlike, it precedes honor and it invites promotion!

And so my message for you today is be teachable, be willing, be humble and embrace your lessons in humility because there is great reward in this! When we humble ourselves we become aware of God’s empowering presence ready to assist us in that very moment! And the more we sense His presence the more joy we will have on a daily basis!

Praying for you friends,

John

“Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10

Do you ever get frustrated and wish you had someone to help you in everyday life?

I know I do! Sometimes I wish there was a manual on marriage, a mechanic on call, a last minute babysitter, someone who could help me when I feel in over my head or when I just don’t have a clue what I’m doing.

Although I may not have all of these things, I do know one who can help in all of these areas.

Do you know that God is our helper? He is! Over and over it’s all throughout scripture, even the very name of the Holy Spirit means helper!

I’ve come to take Him up on His offer more and more lately. I’ve lived long enough to know when someone is offering to help – you should let them! Over the years God has given me great joy and sweet peace, He has helped me through very difficult times and He loves to help me in the small things too!

Take my advice and ask Him for help today! Allow His Spirit to comfort you, direct you and HELP you! You will be glad you did, you will find life become a little easier and you will have more joy along the way!

Blessings,

John

“The Lord is my helper” Hebrews 13:6

He is faithful to help us ANYTIME WE NEED IT!

“Be Open” This is what I feel the Spirit of the Lord is saying to us today. “Be open to what I am about to do for it may look different than you would expect.”

All throughout scripture we find people having a hard time with what God was doing, why is that? I’ll tell you, it’s because people we’re expecting God to do things a certain way. They had their own preconceived notions of how it would all play out. Think about it:

-People’s reaction to Jesus a carpenter’s boy from Nazareth being the Messiah,

-Peter’s reaction to Jesus as he shared how he would suffer, die and rise again,

-The pharisee’s reactions time and time again to what Jesus did and how he did it

-God’s choice of disciples

The list goes on! So what is God saying to us today? Don’t miss it! Be open to what I have for you because it may come in a way that you least expect.

“God give us eyes to see and hearts wide open to all that you have for us, amen!”

Praying for you friends,

~John

“As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.”

2 Chronicles 26:5

This is one of my life verses! I put it where I can see it all the time both at home and in my office. It’s been with me for years and I believe it with all my heart that if I seek the Lord, He will give me success!

I think it’s a very basic and easy to understand verse but I’d like to unpack it for a minute. It’s referring to King David (and what He did for David He will do for us) and although the verse is very short it uses two different names for God. I’d like to expound on the first one. Lord literally means master.

This means that as long as you or I seek to have God be Lord or master in our lives we will have success. I believe this is a holistic success, that as we seek to please God in every area of our lives we will see His blessing in every area of our lives! We will have success!

So I challenge you today to seek the Lord! Desire to please Him, acknowledge Him in ALL your ways and He will direct your path, He will give you success and you will be blessed!

Be encouraged,

~John