What Do You Gain From Your Work?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions, Business & Faith ,
“What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” Eccl: 1:3 ESV.

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Solomon was the King of Israel after David died. Blessed by God with great wisdom and knowledge, he pursued every selfish desire that money could buy. We are told in the first several chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes, that he built large buildings, vast gardens, and fruit farms. He acquired a large estate of herds and flocks, silver and gold, and male and female slaves. He was the richest man of his time.

Yet he didn’t stop there. He acquired more knowledge. He wrote books. He pursued every desire known by man seeking to discover the meaning to life. In short, he wanted to know how to best use his time on earth. But his path and experiments led him to despair, sorrow, and even hating life. The reason: everything in this physical life is temporary.

So what was his conclusion from his life’s work? What is there to gain from all one’s effort? Simply this: The appreciation of the joy God shares with you through His creation. He repeats it three times first starting in Ecc. 2:24-26. In summary, enjoy the work of your hands being appreciative for what God has given you. Ecc 3:13 states that it is God’s gift to you. In Ecc. 3:22 he writes that one should rejoice in your work. Again in Ecc. 5:18-20 Solomon writes that to enjoy food and drink and the work of your hands. In addition, he writes that if one has been given wealth and the power to enjoy one’s wealth, to rejoice because it is a gift from God. Remember, when God occupies a person’s heart with joy, the time and life goes by fast.

In Ecc. 7:14 Solomon adds that in times of prosperity be joyful, and when times are tough consider that God made both days so our lives will be less predictable. And because of the unpredictability of life, we don’t know for sure what will prosper, so work like all avenues may succeed or fail (Ecc. 11:6).

What about making money to pay the bills? Here are a few scriptures that the Bible reminds us.

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23.
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Proverbs 13:11.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17.

Bottom-line: enjoy the work of your hands, learn to live on what you make, save a little each day, and be thankful for everything God gives you.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
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

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By What Means Does the Spirit Supply?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions

 

“Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith…?” Gal. 3:5  ESV.

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It is so easy to fall back into the performance trap.

As a Christ-follower for many years, I am always dumbfounded when I see faith communities practice religion while they preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They usually expound that work and faith go hand-in-hand. And they are correct. The problem arises when the emphasis is on the external show rather than the internal heart.

This is nothing new under the sun. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day would constantly harass Him and his disciples because of the actions of His followers. These religious policemen rightly saw that His disciples spent more time eating and drinking rather than fasting (Luke 5:33). These religious informers witnessed His disciples plucking heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath day and thereby breaking the Sabbath law (Mk. 2:23-28). And when the Pharisees saw that some of the disciples ate before washing their hands, again they accused Jesus’ team of not performing according to their religious expectations.

Yet Jesus always used the events of the moment to teach truth. He explained what is important comes from inside a person and not necessarily from outside performance (Mk. 7:14-23). It is easier to judge outside behavior than to determine interior motives. Yet behavior is what we mostly hang our hats unto in a performance culture.

As a Christ-follower, did we receive the Holy Spirit because we lived perfectly and God rewarded us with His presence within us? Or were we so broken that God gracefully showed up and carried us through the trial? Every believer that I have met who has a close relationship with the living God has experienced brokenness. They acknowledged that their performance stunk to high heaven. Only after such a time as this did the Holy Spirit empower Himself in us. And we knew it right then and there.

Yes it takes belief and work to live the Christian experience. The emphasis though in most cases is that a believing heart will eventually heal and grow into an outward manifestation of itself. The work is only a byproduct of the inner man. Humanist teach that one can change one’s behavior so the end result is achieved. This is the focus of performance-oriented people. The inner heart doesn’t matter. The Holy Spirit is excluded from the equation.

Christian’s believe that grace changes the heart that leads to godly performance. This is what Jesus’ taught in Mark 7. Yes it takes both faith and works. The question is which one leads and which one follows? Do you intentionally build from faith or do you build from works? So what is the basis of your actions – to trust the Holy Spirit to transform your heart or to window dress the facade through manipulative performance? God knows. But do you?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
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

Encourage your Friends…Share Today’s Message!

What is Man…?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions ,
“…what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him”? Psalm 8:4 ESV.

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David wrote this Psalm most likely while gazing up into the heavens, viewing the moon and stars (v.3) that God set in their place. He basically asked: Why does God care for us? Why are we so important to Him?

There is much written about man achieving his human potential. Abraham Maslow gave us a list with self-actualization being the top motivational drive of a person. Yet God’s potential when unleashed is so much more. God’s potential for us is so much more than human achievement as the heavens are larger than the earth. When grasped, the vastness of God’s glory is exhibited through His work in and through us (Eph. 2:10).

The Bible indicates in Revelations (3:21, 5:10) about the New Age that awaits us will have us exercising leadership serving others. Jesus using a metaphor of a mansion with many rooms (Jn. 14:2) indicated that we have a placed reserved for us in the new heaven and new earth being prepared by Him for us. Paul likewise uses the metaphor of adoption (Eph. 1:5) that provides a more familial relationship with Jesus. We are included as his brothers and sisters in the Eternal Family. We are created and destined to lead and minister working in His Family business.

Our potential includes the merging of His spiritual DNA in us. This begins the embryonic process of transformation by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit which Bible scholars call sanctification. The morphing of our character becoming more and more like Jesus’. This relationship between God and man is the perfect union that sets the standard of marriage today. Father God has chosen you and I to be betrothed to Jesus. We now wait and long for the wedding festivities to begin.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
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

Encourage your Friends…Share Today’s Message!