I want to personally extend an invitation to you to join me in Columbus, Ohio for the ProVision 2010 Conference.

This event is being hosted by Gary Keesee, who along with his wife Drenda hosts the Faith Life Now television broadcast, whose vision for the conference is to equip believers with both practical training and inspirational empowering to be successful in business.

Provision 2010 Conference with Gary Keesee and David G. Johnson

It is my privilege to join a powerful lineup of speakers for this event, including Mike Healy, Stan Souder, Bert Lindsay, Jerry Frisbee, CPA, as well as Drenda Keesee and Amy Freudiger.

There will be something for everyone — whether you own a business, are planning to start a business, or are simply looking to advance in your profession.

For those of you looking to grow a business, I’ll be presenting these topics:

How To Grow Your Business Now Using 21st Century Tools

When traditional marketing methods aren’t producing needed results, you need to know:

• how Google rankings and social media affect your sales
• why SEO (search engine optimization) companies and web designers may be COSTING you sales
• how to more effectively get your message in front of the right prospects and create new revenue for your business!

PLUS: the #1 ROI (Return on Investment) Marketing Medium Available Today!

You can catch this session on Friday the 25th at 2pm or Saturday the 26th at 2pm.

Social Media Secrets: 5 Ways to Beat Your Competition

Are outlets like Facebook & Twitter time wasters or revenue producers? Market research has proven that it’s possible to substantially improve your profits with social media. But having an account & using it strategically are 2 different things! This practical “how to” session will give you the understanding you need to effectively engage your marketplace and get results!

PLUS: the System You Can Use to Multiply Sales in Only 10 Minutes Per Day!

You can catch this session on Friday the 25th at 3:30pm or Saturday the 26th at 11:30am.

These are going to be powerful worskshops, but there’s one session I’m even more excited about. It’s this one:

What To Do Next Monday: Renegade Strategies In Action

We’ve all done it: attended a conference and taken page after page of notes… only to let them sit and gather dust after re-entering our busy lives. In this unique interactive training session, we’ll move beyond dispensing information and will take you through some powerful exercises that will help you take action and get you on the road to results before you even get home!

Here’s something I’ll fill you in on as a reader of Nourish The Dream that other folks don’t know about: we’re going to do some real “hands-on” stuff in this last session. In fact: we’re going to get a volunteer (or 2) and lay out a killer marketing strategy for them as a group. This will create some amazing take-aways for the people who need to get results quickly in their businesses! If that’s you… don’t miss it!

This last session will only be happening once: on Saturday the 26th at 3:30pm.

There will also be a couple of other unique opportunities for us to interact, including a lunch with Gary Keesee and all the speakers (separate registration is required for that) on Friday, as well as a late night rapid-fire Q&A Session Friday night.

The event will be held at The Now Center in New Albany, which is on the Northeast side of Columbus. Get the rest of the details and register for the conference here.

I’ll look forward to seeing you there!

Is God in the “concealing” and “hiding” business?

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a thing.” (Proverbs 25:2 AMP)

I’ll admit, I’ve read this verse as often as once a month for many years as part of my regular journey through the book of Proverbs. And it’s always been a mystery to me. Every time I think I have it figured out, there’s some new twist.

My first idea (as far as I can recall) was that this was one of those verses that demonstrates the character of God by contrasting it against something else. I have no idea why, but my first thought was that it must have something to do with scandal — that God would receive glory when the sins of a repentant person are concealed (so as not to bring hurt or injury to others), but that earthly kings or people who seek glory for themselves would hunt down every detail and bring it into the public eye.

In other words — seeking something out would show that you’re a gloryhound and not interested in bringing glory to God.

Then I heard someone — a friend of mine, actually — refer to this verse when exposing what he considered the “sins” of another person. He felt it was his right to do so, because as part of the family of God he considered himself a “king.” In his mind, this verse authorized him to make sure everyone knew what was going on in the other person’s life.

This injured my conscience — after all, why would you do the opposite of what God seemed to want to do? It didn’t make sense to me.

It wasn’t until several years later that it dawned on me that this verse could be talking about a “thing” other than something that people might want to conceal. Honestly, it seems so obvious to me now that it’s almost embarrassing. But it reminds me that we bring our own presuppositions to the Word of God more than we know… and we desperately need the Holy Spirit to help us as we read.

As with much of Scripture, I’m sure that there are multiple layers of meaning here. But within this passage is this concept:

God Enjoys Hiding Things From You… For You

What's Waiting for You?

Jesus had a practice of teaching profound truths by hiding them just below the surface of a parable. Why? The valuable gems are not available to just any and everyone for the grabbing. Instead, they are for the hungry — those who are searching. There are, of course, lessons to be learned on the surface as well. But those who take the time to peel back the wrapping are the ones who discover that the juiciest, most valuable parts are enshrouded deep within.

Likewise, when we face some tangible need in our lives, God has already made provision for us.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (Ephesians 1:3 NKJV)

Every blessing already belongs to us… and is contained within the Kingdom!

“Well that’s all fine and good, but I don’t need a spiritual blessing… I need a natural one,” you may be thinking. “I can’t pay the bills with a spiritual blessing — they expect actual money!”

It’s true that we must take the blessings contained within the Kingdom and translate them into the natural realm. But that is our part. God cannot invade this natural realm and simply place Himself in the midst of your difficult circumstance and fix everything for you! To do so would violate the very principles of the Kingdom and of the Earth!

But what He can do is show you where He has hidden the treasures you need. Much of the time when we talk to God about a financial need, for example, He responds by revealing something to us: an unmet need in the marketplace, an innovation, an idea, or even an invention.

Made In His Image

When God began to think about His prized creation — the one He hadn’t yet made — He knew that Adam would need certain things. And God produced those things by doing the work of Creation. He spoke light into existence. Next came water, land, the earth, plants, animals, etc. Where did those things come from? Within Himself. He imagined them first, and then engaged in the work of bringing them into existence.

We, as His sons and daughters, are intended to work just like He does. The ideas, innovations and insights that He gives us are not just for our amusement. He wants us to engage in the Work of bringing those things into existence. Doing so will translate into income and influence for us so that we can continue to expand His Kingdom.

But the entire process begins by seeking out the things He has hidden from us. If everything were obvious, or if Had left them out in the open, anyone could discover them and capitalize on them. It wouldn’t take any effort — anyone could just walk by and spot them… and thereby steal the blessing that God intended for you.

This is why, my friend, there’s a struggle involved in receiving from God. There’s a hunt… a chase… some digging and effort involved. It’s not the same as sweating and toiling and receiving nothing but thorns. Quite the opposite: we pursue Him and He shows us where His hidden treasures can be found.

If you’re challenged by a need in your life today, it’s time to pursue Him and His Kingdom. That’s where your answers are hidden!

In this episode of the Nourish The Dream Podcast, I’m posting audio from a message I shared recently in the pulpit of my good friend, Jesse DiMartino of the Freedom Center in Sarasota.

If you’ll forgive some local information and a brief personal story, you’ll hear the real heart behind the recent post, Cultivating a Heart that Listens to God. I’ve become convinced that despite all of the bad news in our economy, we’ve not yet heard — nor experienced — the worst. There’s more to come.

At the same time, if we will focus our energies on digging a well deep enough to retrieve the sustenance we need — out of relationship to God — we will be properly positioned to come through this season and the next.

(For the record, the story of the motorcycle accident was told to me as completely true story by someone whose word I trust. Please don’t try to use motorcycles as a weight loss program.)

Special thanks to Jesse DiMartino, Jacob Owens, J.R. Yoder and Andrew Owens… as well as to the entire Freedom Center family.

It seems like the bad economic news just keeps coming. Last week’s jobs report reflects the worst numbers in the entire lifetime of Generation X. Hopefully the recession hasn’t impacted your business or family personally, but even as I write this line, I know that the likelihood is that it has — or at least some of the people in your life.

You may know by now that I’m not a “doom and gloom” guy. I’m about as positive and optimistic as they come. That being said, I don’t think that the worst of the economic news is behind us. Things are changing very rapidly, and will continue to do so. In fact, I believe that what’s ahead of us is different than we could’ve possibly imagined.

The Importance of Hearing God

A Listening Heart

Back in March, God began to call to my mind the time in Isaac’s life when God spoke to him about starting a new business during an economic crisis. The passage is in Genesis 26, and it’s worth taking some time to study. Here are some of the highlights:

• God spoke to him not to move to Egypt, where the economy was better off (he was considering it).
• He and his “tribe” of people were nomadic. Raising crops was not part of their livelihood.
• Farms all around were going under — there was a famine. When this happens, it means that if you’re considering going into farming, now’s not a good time.
• After listening to and obeying God, Isaac plants crops. His harvest was 100x what should’ve been expected from the amount that he planted. One… hundred… times…

You may have heard preachers refer to this story in the context of an offering — as though Isaac gave money to a ministry or to a prophet or priest or man of God. Nope. His “sowing seed” was the beginning of a new (albeit temporary) business.

Countless Promises

The Scriptures are full of promises from God for provision — even during economic hard times.

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalms 34:1-10 NKJV)

The problem is this: if you’re dealing with financial pressure, worry, anxiety, concern — either because of focusing on your own situation or due to the fear of what might be coming your way given the constant barrage of economic bad news — then you’re successfully distracted from listening to God. In times like this, it may take additional effort, energy, discipline and focus to silence your soul and dig deep enough to hear from God.

But it’s critical…

and worth it.

“Moreover, by them [the words of God] is Your servant warned (reminded, illuminated, and instructed); and in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalms 19:11)

No one — not the best Wall Street analysts, the most qualified business consultants, the academicians in the ivory towers, nor the people attempting to pull the levers of the economy and our society — can predict what’s coming.

But by hearing from God, we can be

• warned
• reminded
• illuminated, and
• instructed.

If your life has, in other seasons, deceived you into thinking that hearing from God wasn’t critical or essential, then this season is one of those that will serve to teach you that it cannot be overlooked.

Had Isaac not heard from God, he wouldn’t have received the abundance that came his way during the famine of Genesis 26.

I don’t know about you, but right now, I’m working hard to cultivate a heart that hears from God. My life depends upon it.