The Secret to Unlocking Your Potential

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your heart.”

So many Christian songs talk about giving it “all” to the Lord. But I wonder how many people really know what that means.

When the rich young ruler came to Jesus, he said: “I’ve given everything. What am I missing?”

He hadn’t given everything, though. Jesus put his finger on the one thing he held back. “One thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Give all you have to the poor and follow Me.”

The rich young ruler had done all of that. But he couldn’t give everything. Despite all he had done, he missed out on the biggest thing of all. He missed the Kingdom of God.

Why give everything? Because then you get everything!

A family took in a group of people that they believed were sent from God. They fed them, gave them beds, and let them stay. These people were sent from God, and the family was blessed enormously because of their giving.

It was a lot like the couple that gave Elijah a room in the Old Testament or other people in the Bible who opened up their homes.

However, this family’s blessing was limited, because their giving was limited.

They specified that only ten of those people could stay. “We really don’t feel like having TOO many people in our home,” they explained.

However, I witnessed how the people they didn’t allow in their homes were the ones who God could’ve used to bless them the most. Those were the most anointed, the most powerful God could’ve used in their life.

Nobody was offended, and it was wholly within their prerogative to do so.

But I watched how the family robbed themselves of the greatest blessing. Why?

They couldn’t give their whole heart.

Awhile back, I was going through personal stuff. I felt I was facing mountains.

At the same time, my friend was facing mountains. He was working on a big project. He hadn’t asked me, but I knew he needed help.

“I don’t want to,” I said. “Haven’t I done enough?”

But God wouldn’t let up.

Finally, I bowed before God’s prompting. I went and started taping off lines so my friend could start painting his skid steer. My friend admitted he badly needed help but felt weird about asking.

As I helped my friend, my choice to give my heart gave God access to help me. When I was done working with him, my inner mountains were gone. God had set me free.

What do you hold back?

It can be small or big. God only knows. Jesus said the widow with the two mites “gave more” then all the men with their riches. Why? Because she gave it all.

Writing this, the Lord is quickening me something I heard years ago.

“What does holy mean?” someone said.

“Revelations 4:8 speaks about how, in heaven, they continuously say: ‘holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was, and is, and is to come.’ But what does holy mean?”

“Holy means ‘wholly’,” this person said. “They are ‘wholly’ there, ‘wholly’ willing to care for us, ‘wholly’ Lord God Almighty.”

As we become more Christ-like, we become more and more “wholly”--whole-hearted.

I love the movie, “Limitless”. We all long to be fully alive and present, using 100% of our potential. However, I am convinced that we cannot find that without help.

This miracle made me weep when I heard it:

In the 1950s, a woman traveled hundreds of miles, across state lines, for healing for her four-year-old boy with 26 diseases. Meeting after meeting she sat through, waiting for her boy to be prayed for, but nothing happened.

She spent her money on hotels, restaurants and offerings in the service until she barely had enough money to go home, only $20.

But that night at the last service, she gave that final $20.

It wasn’t about the money or the offering.

It was about her giving it all.

Like the widow in the Bible, this mother of the stricken boy gave her all, her two mites, not to the minister, but to God.

Because that mother gave it all, God gave her all.

The power of God fell like a thunderclap.

Thousands witnessed this boy‘s healing, which ranged from God giving this blind, deaf, dumb, mangled, footless boy eyes, hearing, speech, and even new feet which creatively formed right in front of an astonished congregation.

That was just for starters.

Then everyone in the audience was healed as well.

In other words, not only did this woman get it all.

Everyone in the vicinity was changed by God’s supernatural downpour of a blessing, Releasing her “all”, her two mites, forever impacted every life in the service. Everyone was transformed by that simple act of how one woman got out of God’s way and let Him move that night.

At the end of the service, people came up to the mother to thank her for her heart, and she was surprised to find $20 bills in their hands. She ended up with $500.

“Isn’t that just like Jesus?” She said. “God let me stay in that hotel, eat all that food, and attend all those services, and at the end, God gave me 26 miracles and sent me back with more money than I came with.”

Can you imagine if she would’ve left before it happened?

What would have happened if, like any logical person, she held back her final $20?

What you hold back today, it doesn’t limit God. It limits you.

I want to receive it all!

It’s Time to Eat!

Do you hunger for more of the Lord? 

According to the Bible, if you do, you’ll get it! 

We so often forget that God is alive, real, and the kingdom of God is truly “at hand”. “At hand”: that means it’s available right now! God is very much a “NOW” God. He’s not the great “I Was” or the great “I Will Be”. God told Moses He was the great “I AM”. 

He wants to change your life right now! Are you ready? If not, you’d better get ready, or you’ll miss Him. 

Something God keeps showing me is: if you don’t expect what God has for you today, you’ll miss it. If you get your eyes on other things–finances, food, a good TV show, anything--if those become your main focus, you’ll miss what God has for you. 

It’s so easy to get distracted by other things. 

Watchman Nee had a great quote: “even a leaf can blot out the sun”. 

In the same way, tiny little things can occupy your attention so that
you miss out on what God’s speaking in this very moment. I watched as a truck plowed into another vehicle pulling into a gas station, ruining his truck. What was the reason for the crash? A $100 pair of sunglasses had fallen down by driver’s feet and he was trying to retrieve them. The man saved the $100 pair of sunglasses.

However, he lost thousands in repairs.  

The same thing can happen in the spiritual realm. You can give your time and attention to something that might mean a lot on earth, but miss out on thousands in eternity. 

The other day, I was listening to a podcast. It was really interesting, and it was super entertaining. However, after awhile of listening to it, I noticed I was being affected. The man in the podcast was outraged, and I would say it was like listening to the auditory equivalent of double shot espresso. After about 45 minutes, I was jazzed. My blood pressure started spiking. 

“John, where are you?” I felt like God was speaking to my spirit. 

That easily, I was getting distracted. I turned off the podcast and turned to the Lord. I put on worship music and came into His presence again. 

Just like the man with the sunglasses, it’s all about timing. 

At another time, when he wasn’t driving, he would have been free to reach down and grab his expensive sunglasses. But right then, it was time for him to drive. That meant he needed to be paying attention. He mixed up his timing, and because of that, it was very destructive. 

Men give their entire lives to make a buck. My great aunt spent her life chasing the Almighty Dollar. At the end of her life, on her death bed, we went and visited her. “I wasted all that time,” she said. “All of that means nothing now”. 

Steve Jobs, on his death bed, said: “I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is the epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, my wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.” God says “lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven”. 

Would you rather have a million earthly dollars or one eternal nickle? 

I’d rather have the eternal nickle!

What I’m offering here is of priceless value, because it’s value isn’t measured in temporal, earthly currency, and you can have it now and in the life to come. 

Get ready! 

This newsletter is meant to encourage you, excite you, inspire you, instruct you, and even rebuke you. 

All of it is meant to point to the way of the Lord–a life beyond anything you can do, to a life that He has to direct to give it meaning. 

I ask that you prepare your hearts to receive that glorious life–and God is the reason for that life!