My Refuge

What happens when you decide to surrender your life to God and give up everything you own in the process? Join me in today's episode of Guidance Light as I share my deeply personal journey of faith, sacrifice, and finding true fulfillment beyond worldly possessions. Through my story, we explore how God's mysterious ways can lead us to deeper understanding and peace, even amidst the pain and loss. Together, we'll uncover the importance of relying on God as our refuge and strength, culminating in a heartfelt prayer of dedication and trust.

Life is full of overwhelming storms and challenges, but what if we shifted our focus from material gains to spiritual devotion? As we navigate through this episode, I offer a heartfelt prayer asking for divine guidance, strength, and deliverance, acknowledging our human tendency to prioritize worldly needs. Reflecting on the struggle to balance these demands with our spiritual responsibilities, we emphasize the need to trust in God fully as our ultimate provider. By examining the story of Peter walking on water, we find parallels to our own moments of doubt and the solace we can find in prayer and worship.

Finally, we embrace the profound journey of accepting God's love and salvation, celebrating the divine gift of our children and the opportunity to love them unconditionally. We invite listeners to commit their lives to Jesus and join our community through various platforms, sharing daily devotionals and verses that uplift and inspire. With gratitude for your support, we remind you that seeking God's glory should be our primary aim and look forward to future conversations centered on faith and trust in His guidance. This is John from Guidance Light, thanking you for being a part of our family.

Transcript

Jon: 0:00

Welcome to Guidance Light, where God is always number one. We talk about faith, spirituality, the battles of the flesh and the spirit, but mainly we are here for you to walk in Christ. We know how hard life can be, we know the ups and the downs, but we are a family in Jesus and we are here for you. My name is John and this is Guidance Light.

Jon: 0:44

Father, today I come to you in the middle of the storm, god, there's not words that I can say. That can come from me, that'll mean anything, but it is when you use me and when you call me that your words can move. In others I want to say welcome, guidance, life, family. Forgive me if my plans of uploading things onto YouTube hasn't worked out just yet. I promise that I'm working towards it. But where I am today, what I'm feeling today, it's important that I get on this microphone and I just begin to talk and I begin to give God what is his, because it all belongs to him. At the end of the day. See, when you've come from everything and you've come to a place where you've had everything the world has to offer, you feel like you're on top of the world. You feel like everything is worth nothing because you have it all. But what you don't have at that moment in time, what you may not have, is God God by your side, and when you have God, it's worth so much more than everything that the world has to offer. But it's when you've lost it all, when you give it all up and when you feel the peace that the Holy Spirit brings, you come to realize that you never had anything to begin with. See, god moves in mysterious ways, and it's a very cliche way of saying things, but it's true. There are so many things that God does that we just don't understand. We're going to sit here today and we're going to talk about it. God has brought me over to you today with a pain in my heart so great because when I gave everything up to follow God, I said God, you can take everything I have, it's all yours anyways. Please, please, let me provide for my family, and in that that was my most solemn prayer. I say this because I want you guys to understand that things don't always pan out according to plan. God has been removing things from my life one bit at a time, sometimes in bigger bits and sometimes in smaller ones, but I've come to a point, a precipice, today, that I don't have anything left to give but my voice, but my service, and I'm here with you guys trying to tell you that holy is his name. I am distraught, I feel my soul is crushed, but I feel that he's still with me, and if he is with me, I know I can make it. So I want to say welcome and I'm going to start us off with a prayer. And I'm going to start us off with a prayer. This episode is a little bit different than what we've had in the previous seasons. It's a little different from everything that I've done so far. So let's dive right in.

Jon: 4:39

Father, I come to you today, lord, without any means for anything. Lord, all I have to give is myself, lord, and I am yours. I give myself to you in all that I am Lord, in everything that I can. Lord, all my skills, all my strengths, all my weaknesses, I give them to you, lord. I'm nothing without you. You are my refuge, my rock and my fortress.

Jon: 5:18

Lord, the storm has been battering at me day in and day out, lord. Today I feel the gales, lord, I feel the wind, I feel the water hitting my skin. Lord, I'm drowning and I need you. Lord. I'm no one to ask of you to move in my life, lord, but I ask, in faith, to deliver me, to help me walk on the water, help me not lose my sight on you, father, because I know the enemy is lying. Everything I'm doing is for you, father, everything I'm doing is for you, god, and I give it all to you willingly.

Jon: 6:02

I don't need watches. I don't need fancy clothing, lord. I don't need watches. I don't need fancy clothing, lord, I don't need any of that. But what I need is you in my life. So thank you In Jesus' holy name. Grant us the words of inspiration, grant us the words of courage, grant us the words of healing, redemption, deliverance. Father, take us from one rock to the other, if it's what needs to happen. Lord, we know that we're going to have to walk on the water, god, but we know you're with us.

Jon: 6:36

My eyes are on you, father, and like the prophet Elijah, lord, I'm laying underneath that tree. I'm saying I'm done. Deliver me and guide me to the mountain where I can see your power manifest itself in me. In Jesus, holy name, I pray amen.

Jon: 7:05

How many of us, on a daily struggle and on daily grind, find ourselves chasing what the world says we need. We need cars to be able to get to work, we need money to be able to pay the bills, we need to finish school to be able to get a degree, to be able to afford those latter things. So many times we encompass ourselves in what the world says we need because, let's face it, we find ourselves agreeing. We look, no matter how much of a hypocrite we become. I myself included, say that, oh, all I need is God. But yet we know that in our minds, we need food on the table, we need to be able to pay the bill, the electricity, the gas. We need cars to get to and from work, and we give God what's left over. We give the world every ounce of our energies to be able to provide what we feel is necessary from the world, but yet, when it all comes down to it, what do we give God? What do we give him? 10%, 10% of our tithing? Okay, good, it's his anyways. What do we give him Two hours of our time at church on Sunday? Okay, good, it's his anyways. What do we give him? Two hours of our time at church on Sunday? How much more time did you give to everything else?

Jon: 8:38

This episode is about challenging everything that you think of, because when you're back, it's against the ropes, when you can fall no further, when you feel you have nothing left to lose. Remember that God hasn't left you. You can give all your time to the world. You can give everything you've got. You can grind away. You can say God, I have gone to work, I'm working 120 hours a week. I'm basically living at work, all to be able to provide for my family.

Jon: 9:09

But we keep forgetting that God is the one that provides for us. If he doesn't give provisions to the animals of the land, sea and sky, what makes us think he won't give it to us? But we don't return the favor. We don't give everything we've got back to God, and this is why we find ourselves in the troubles that we have, because when God gives us what we need, we don't need anything else. You can take it away. You can throw it away, you can burn it, you can sell it, you can do whatever you want, but as long as God is by your side, there's not a kingdom on earth that can give you more than God gives you.

Jon: 9:54

Guys, this is the first episode that I've ever, ever been on that. There is not one word that I've written down to remind me of what I need to talk about. This is for you. This is coming straight from my heart, and I want you guys to be in a place where, if you're feeling like this, I want to remind you that God is with you, just like he's with me. I'm at the lowest point in my life financially, emotionally but yet there's this nagging feeling in my heart. It's just scratching at it. After all the prayers that I've said in all the other episodes, I know that God lives within me and I know that this scratching comes from the Holy Spirit saying don't be afraid within me. And I know that this scratching comes from the Holy Spirit saying don't be afraid, because my righteous hand will hold you up.

Jon: 10:52

I will lift, you Don't chase the world, but let me give you what you need. But let me give you what you need. I'm at a point that I don't know what else to do. I don't know what else to sell, I don't know what else or who else to talk to. It's funny because it brings to mind all these Facebook posts and Instagram posts that I've put up and I've paid for the promotions to be able to spread the word of God. And I get all these people that come to me and say, oh, I guess you need money. Oh, I guess you need this, because there's not a church on earth that doesn't ask for money. What you don't realize is that you're not giving it to me, you're giving it to God. You're not giving it to buy Rolls Royces or Bentleys or Rolexes or Tag Heuers. You're not giving it to buy Christian Dior or Louis Vuittons. And if you are listening and you are God's follower, you are taking God's money to do that. Shame on you. Shame on you, because that money belongs to the Lord and it is designed to be able to spread the gospel, the good news, to save souls from eternal damnation.

Jon: 12:22

I have gone without for months. My kids have gone without. My wife has gone without for months. My kids have gone without, my wife has gone without, and I give glory to God for it, because in those seasons and in those times I realized that I never needed any of it. All I need is a roof over my head and my house to follow the Lord, as it says in the book of Joshua.

Jon: 12:47

See, the other day, after coming home, my daughter was like why can't we do this? And I said, honey, it's because we don't have the ability to do it right now. We felt a moment. I felt a moment of sadness and failure as a father, because I wasn't able to give her that smile, that smile that I feel that the world would be able to give her, that spending that money would be able to give her. I wasn't able to do it and I felt like a failure, and too many of us feel that way. But I'm here to tell you that I made it home with my family and one of the most wonderful things happened. We all kneeled down in the middle of the living room, held hands, and we prayed together. We gave thanks to God for having each other, for having a moment to thank him, and we turned on worship music and we started dancing and leaping, running, laughing and having joy.

Jon: 14:01

That is indescribable, because what I am going through, what my family is going through, is nothing but chaos, but yet there was joy in the midst of the chaos. He is there in the midst of it all and he is there for you. Blessed is his name, see, we find refuge in God, and the enemy tries to tell us that he's not there, that what's happening is his fault, that if he existed, why does? Why are you going through this? What have you deserved? What have you done to deserve what you're going through? And the answer is it. The enemy isn't doing it for you, he's the one doing that to you and blaming God. He's taking away the blessings that God has given you and turning them into something that is making you doubt.

Jon: 14:52

O ye of little faith. Why did you doubt, as he said to Peter when he fell into the water? See, peter was walking on water and he was looking at God, and then there's a moment that he doubted because he said there's no way this is happening. He looked down at his feet and he fell into the abyss, but God wasn't far away. He stuck his hand in and pulled him back up and he held him and, as Peter, told him, don't let me go, please don't let me go, please don't let me go. He said oh ye of little faith. Why did you doubt? So I'm sitting here today and saying that to myself right now. Oh ye of little faith. Why are you doubting? Do you not see the blessings that surround you? That is my work in your life. Trust in me and you will not sink. I will not let you fall.

Jon: 16:03

I opened the Bible. I slammed it open so I could start this episode, because it's important that you understand that I'm coming to you from a real place. I am a real person sitting behind a microphone, talking into a microphone, not for my glory, but for the glory of God, for His honor, to help you make it through whatever storm you may be going through, because the storm that I'm going through, it is beating at me and I'm seeking God right now as a refuge. I myself am walking through this storm and I'm not preaching to you from the high ground. I'm down here with you and I opened it up and the first verse that's in front of me I haven't even gotten a chance to read it. We're going to read this together.

Jon: 16:55

It says in the book of Psalms, chapter five the refuge of the righteous. Oh, blessed are you, god. Let your words guide us in this moment of need. Let this moment be a light unto our feet, lord, so we could see the path that has been darkened by the enemy. Let's read Listen to my words, lord. Consider my sighing. Pay attention to the sound of my cry. My King and my God, for I pray to you In the morning, lord, you hear my voice In the morning.

Jon: 17:42

I plead my case to you and watch expectantly, for you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil cannot dwell with you. The boastful cannot stand in your sight. You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who tell lies. The Lord abhors violent and treacherous people. But I enter your house by the abundance of your faithful love. I bow down towards your holy temple in reverential awe of you.

Jon: 18:18

Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my adversaries. Make your way straight before me, for there is nothing reliable in what they say. Destruction is within them. Their throat is an open grave. They flatter with their tongues. Punish them, god. Let them fall by their own schemes. Drive them out because of their many crimes, for they rebel against you. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them shout for joy forever. May you shelter them and may those who love your name boast about you.

Jon: 19:06

For you, lord, bless the righteous one. You surround him with favor like a shield. Blessed are you, god, because the schemes of those around us seek to bring us down. The enemy surrounds us like a lion seeking to devour us, lord, but you are our shelter. Lord, your word is holy and it is alive.

Jon: 19:33

Lord, I didn't look for this page, I didn't google it, I didn't search it up. Lord, I opened this bible, I opened up your word and you gave us this. So blessed are you, god, who gives and takes away, for you are the god of gold and silver. In jesus name, I give you all that I am. I give you all that I have. Lord, I give you, give you my service. I give you my body, my mind and my soul. You are my God and my King, my refuge and my shelter In this storm. I stand firm in you. Blessed are you, god, for you are the one who provides you. God, for you are the one who provides.

Jon: 20:24

In ancient times, when Moses wandered the desert for 40 years with his people, I want you to think that nothing grows in the desert. It's barren, but yet they survived for 40 years. Such is God's provision that his provision was able to sustain multiple, multiple generations and thousands upon thousands of people aimlessly walking through the desert. He can support you too. He can lift you up with his righteous hand. There's nothing beyond God's power, and if you doubt, you too shall fall in the water, but that doesn't mean he's not there to save you. Trust in him, reach out your hands, lift them up to the sky and thank him, because through him, trials by fire are purified in spirit. Blessings of the water are to quench our thirst in our walk. We live for Jesus, for God, and our service is to him.

Jon: 22:00

Today, if you've done nothing to thank God, or if you've done nothing to honor God, know that he's already done everything to honor you. It's your turn. It's your turn to turn around and say God, thank you. I don't care what I'm going through, I don't care how little I have. It belongs to you anyways. So thank you for letting me borrow it. Our kids are a gift, but they belong to you, lord. Thank you for letting us love them unconditionally. Thank you for letting us love them unconditionally. Thank you for letting us borrow them to show us the meaning of love, to show us the meaning of how to be better parents, better fathers, better mothers. Forgive us, lord, for not seeing it every morning and not praising and shouting your name every night. You're who we seek, lord, and your forgiveness is all we need.

Jon: 23:11

In Jesus' name, lord, I say blessed are your followers, not the ones that just speak, but the ones that act upon your word if you don't know who God is, if you don't know what?

Jon: 23:34

where you stand with God. He is there for you, waiting and reaching out for you. He's waiting to pull you out of the water, just like he did to Peter. He wants to be your shelter in the storm, just like it says in the book of Psalms, in chapter 5. The storm, just like it says in the book of Psalms in chapter 5.

Jon: 24:01

Those that seek your downfall will be punished by God. Let him be the judge. Follow in his path and he will guide you, no matter the struggle, no matter the lack of resources Doesn't matter your past. What matters is your walk with Him in the future. Give Him all you've got, and if you want to know who he is and you want Him to accept you as Lord and Savior, it's as simple as asking him to come into your heart. So bow your heads and pray with me, father. I come to you today, filthy Lord, because even what I believe is righteous is like filthy rags to you. I know that I'm a sinner Lord. I know that I don't give you everything I've got every single day, lord, and I ask that you forgive me. Lord, I know you set your son down to earth to die on the cross for my sins. Lord, he rose three days later to show us that in him, three days later, to show us that in him, death is defeated. Lord, I accept your love and you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for your promise of salvation in you, lord, for in you and in your name, jesus, we defeat the grave. In Jesus' holy name, I give you all that I am For. Yours is the honor and glory forever. In Jesus' name, that beautiful and holy name, I pray Amen. If you said that prayer, I want to say welcome to God's family, welcome to Guidance Light, where this is a ministry led by faith. Your prayer to accept God as your Lord and Savior into your heart has caused choirs of angels to rejoice over you. So welcome again, guys.

Jon: 26:26

This road has been difficult. I've promised to be able to jump on YouTube as quickly as I can, and I'm trying my best to figure it out. It is difficult. I am without resources anymore, so I'm doing everything I can to get this out to you as quickly as I can. So blessed are you if you have it in your heart to help us out, because all I want to do is be able to give back to you guys, to be able to give you guys the milk of the word of God. We all have a seed inside of us and our goal is to water that seed with the word of God and let him grow in us. Let him help us through these hard times. Let him help us through what we need. So, thank you, guys.

Jon: 27:08

I welcome each and every single one of you, no matter where you are in the world, whether you are in Canada, whether you're in Mexico. Every single one of you, no matter where you are in the world, whether you are in Canada, whether you're in Mexico, whether you're in Sweden, ireland, africa, china, philippines, united States, it doesn't matter where you are. God's love is there for you. He is there for all of us and his righteousness is going to hold us all up. His power knows no end, and when you feel like you've made it to the very end and you have nothing left to give, that is where he rises, that is where he begins. So give him the reins, give him all you've got and let jesus be the one to take the wheel. In jesus, holy name, he's gonna give us everything we need. I have faith. I know he can do it, he has the power and he will deliver us and he will deliver you.

Jon: 27:50

I look to see you guys again on the next episode of guidance light and, if god willing, it'll hopefully be on youtube. I laugh because I have no idea what I'm doing on this video editing, but I will figure it out in jesus name. Look for us on facebook, look for us on instagram, look for us on tiktok. We're posting devotionals, daily verses, to be able to remind you that the word of God is alive and that his verses that day could maybe change the outtake and the perspective you have of life on that very, very moment. So follow us, add us, share the good news, share the words of this channel to all who are listening or who are willing to listen, because God can work through you in ways that you couldn't imagine. I thank you guys for staying tuned on this episode. I thank you for everything you guys are doing, but mainly, I thank God for giving me the chance to be able to put this in front of you In Jesus's name.

Jon: 28:48

I look forward to speaking again, because his glory is all that we should be seeking, and it's all that I'm looking for this is John from Guidance Light. Take a look for us on our website, which just got revamped Again. This is John from.

Jon: 29:05

Guidance Light signing out.

Jon: 29:07

May God bless you and keep you till next episode.