Year: 2014

Work

Dr. Mike Business & Faith , , , ,

“But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” John 5:17 (ESV)

God works

Why work? Is it because we have too or because we want too?  Don’t people work for various reasons? For example:

Most people work for an income to cover their living expenses;

Yet some people work to express their God-given gifts;

Others work to enjoy the social interrelationships;

Some work to escape from internal problems;

Than some work because they have been asked to serve others in a specific capacity;

Others work to fulfill their obligations;

Many work to satisfy some driven-need;

Some work to earn a little extra income to help others;

Others work for a cause they believe in;

A few even work for the glory of God.

This is only a few of the reasons studies have shown why we work. Yet, the result of good work is the reason we have food, clothes, shelter, and transportation for the masses. It is the reason we have schools, hospitals, churches, and factories. It is the fruit of labor for the common good of all.

How about you? Is work a spiritual discipline that allows you to move with God in the arena of life? Or is work some kind of drudgery that is required while you serve your prison time on earth?

Jesus’ stated that His Father God is working even as he spoke. That God didn’t complete the creation of the world and then retired into His heavenly home. Likewise, Jesus was purposely working instead of enjoying life on easy street. Jesus came to serve; and service requires work.

Work became difficult when Adam left the garden of Eden rebelling against Almighty God. God allowed mankind to taste what life is like apart from Him.  Since the arrival of the incarnated Jesus Christ and the reconciliation of man with God, work is the means of grace that allows us to experience the fruit of God Himself. Even today, God is at work; and with Jesus Christ via the Holy Spirit we can partner with Him in His work that includes the redemption of all creation. Believe it or not, that includes the work you do today. Ask yourself, how many ways can you glorify God today through your work? What if you took one way today and worship Him through your work. How radical would that be?

 

Remember, we are rooting for you in Christ!

 

Yours in Christ,

Dr. Mike

Executive Chair, Consultant, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Learn. Integrate. Grow.

 

 

Follow The Money

Dr. Mike Business & Faith , , , , , ,

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  Luke 12:34

follow the money

Want to know where your heart truly stands? Just follow the money. Whether we are speaking about a business or a personal life, the principle is still the same. You can determine your values by how you spend your money.

Take the example of a business that boasts that their people are their most important asset. If you want confirmation, just find out how much of their operating expenses are spent for and toward their team. I can’t tell you the number of financial statements that I have analyzed which contradicted senior management beliefs on the subject. For a family, the income after the basic necessity of food, clothing, and shelter will give you a good snapshot of a person’s heart; what they value and consider important.

Jesus’ statement is still revealing today. What you value is where you will spend your time and money. However, when the Triune God is the center of your soul, He is also redeeming your time and money. It is a process, but over one’s life-time one learns that God owns it all and is simply sharing it with us all. That as stewards, we are accountable to Him. We thank Him for everything including the opportunity to express our hearts through the physical activities of life. Like Him, we open our resources to others. Our values begin to change as the Holy Spirit changes our hearts to reflect Him more and more. We become more Christ-like.

We all truly express ourselves from our inner being. It takes a spiritual rebirth to have one’s heart reshaped and molded into the image of the living God. When that happens, one then can say what the Bible states about King David. “He is a man after my (God’s) own heart.”

So if you are seeking a new adventure for life, ask God to reveal the condition of your heart. But more so, ask Him to change your heart to reflect His in everything you say, think, and do. Remember, He is rooting for you!

Yours in Christ,

Dr. Mike

Executive Chair, Consultant, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Learn. Integrate. Grow.

Growth Involves Discomfort

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , , , , , ,

“…strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort”  2 Corinthians 1:3

growing pains

 

Ever notice how much effort we spend as a society seeking comfort in all that we do?  We purchase comfortable clothes, drive comfortable cars, eat comfort food, sleep on comfortable beds, associate with friends who are comfortable, parade through the day following our comfortable routine, sit on our comfortable lazy chair, and eat comfortable ice cream.

If anything happens to disrupt our comfortable lifestyle, we become upset and possibly even traumatized. Yet when we strive to maintain comfort, doesn’t life have a way to interrupt our status quo? You think maybe life is designed to force us into situations that require us to expand our comfort zone?  Whether we intentionally choose our discomfort, or “meteors from outer space” force us to change our routine, isn’t it when we find ourselves outside our comfort zone and exert energy toward a favorable outcome that we actual grow from it?

When we (the physically challenged) start and complete an exercise routine that builds muscles, shapes our body, and improves our food intake which may be difficult at first, but eventually it becomes a routine, isn’t it very satisfying?  When we start a new job outside our natural gifting, it becomes challenging to do the simple routine at first; however over time, we eventually master it and grow from it. It may have been uncomfortable at first, but afterward we have grown by integrating the new into the old. Have you noticed that anything worth pursuing starts off at the uncomfortable level?

Paul wrote that entrance into the Kingdom of God is going to introduce tribulation into one’s life. To move from comfort to discomfort is the necessary prerequisite for entrance into God’s Kingdom. To grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ is naturally discomforting. Get use to it! Quit your complaining. Get on your knees and cry out to God. It is the way faith in God is built; it is the way we grow in the faith; it is the way of God to help us grow.

So when you find yourself discomforted, thank God. Roll up your sleeves, strengthen your praying arms, and cry out to God. It is the most successful way; it has been done since the dawn of life; and you are privileged too participate with the Holy Spirit in one of the God’s greatest projects at this time: the redemption of creation.  Besides, how else are we going to learn that He is our Comfort?

We are rooting for you!

 

Yours in Christ,

Dr. Mike

Executive Chair, Consultant, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Learn. Integrate. Grow.