Belief & Character

Dr. Mike Life in Christ ,
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”. 2 Peter 1:5-8 ESV

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Over the years I marvel at how God works within people’s lives, including yours truly. Most of the time, He comes through not on our schedule, but His. The process rarely repeats itself unless there is something uniquely being creating within us. Though there are people who believe that God will instantly move mountains from their life, reality seems otherwise.

Fiat. Immediately. No sweat. Just convenient quick results is not standard operating procedures for a Jesus apprentice in training. Now God does produce miracles. He also does answer prayers immediately. However, there are situations when He extends the outcome for our sake or for the sake of others. There is not one method or formula that fits all when it comes to God.

What I find in my life and in many others is God has more in mind than just immediate resolution of a problem. Most of the time, He opens the door that will create growth opportunities for you and me. Most of the time, those challenges are not what we want, but what we need. Like 2 Peter states, he wants our faith supplemented with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Real godly character. Character built on the foundation of Jesus Christ and not self, vain glory. A life secured by an eternal foundation rather than a humanistic platform.

So how does little faith move mountains? Yes, God can move it without any assistance. But like many of his solutions, it just may require us to grow in godly character. He will lead us through the solution, but it may take time. He may bring an earthquake, an explosion, or a super strong wind. But most likely he will bring people into your world that will help you. The final solution is not as important as our obedience to walk in our small faith trusting Him.

So hang in there. With God, mountains do move.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Apprentice of Jesus Christ, His Domain, His Spirit

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

Getting in the Way of God’s Spirit

Dr. Mike Life in Christ, Spirit Follower , ,
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Acts7:51 ESV

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Stubbornness, which is a byproduct of pride and a heart that amplifies the self, has been the ruin of many people. As this scripture reveals through Stephen, the first known Christian to die a martyr’s death for Christ, aimed the above quote at the religious leaders of his day.

The problem which he identifies is the same one when dealing with religious and non-religious people today. I group them together because the issue is the same. They both have a hard heart and are convinced that their way is the only way of living a prudent life.

The religious person likes to emphasize the rules, the principles, and the methods. Whatever makes them feel good about themselves must be good for others. If it works for them, it must be good for everyone else. On the other hand, the non-religious person sees through their game playing, but likewise imitates them by throwing out the baby with the bath water. They see the hypocrisy and don’t want anything to do with it. However, instead of focusing on Jesus’ message, they only look at the misdirected fruit of religious people and close their eyes to everything else. Both sides miss the mark of realizing the problem is within them. As one person stated somewhere, ” when we point a finger at someone, three fingers are pointed back at oneself”.

Jesus once stated during a teaching moment, that a person pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8). Most of us don’t look for God’s involvement in a situation until after the fact. By then, a difficult situation has become a worldwide crisis. Instead of asking, seeking, and knocking at the beginning of the process, we wait until after we have emptied ourselves with all our effort and resources. Only then do we begin to seek help from God.

However a person who looks past the human condition, who walks in the presence of the Triune God, is generally able to distinguish God’s work from man’s facade of righteousness. The reason is because that is where they came from. It takes one to know one.

The Holy Spirit is always at work. It is the Spirit that gives life (John 6:63). Like the wind, we may not see him, but we see the impact. However, we need to be attuned to him. We need to realize that God has given us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) that allows us to communicate and share in his fellowship. As we walk with Father-Son-Spirit, our harden hearts are displaced with the new heart that opens the pages of God’s universe and allows us entrance into his presence.

So the next time you think you are doing right, stop and ask God for confirmation. You may be pleasantly surprised with an answer that is more favorable for all involved parties. And yes, it is possible that you may not be initially correct. Yet with an open, attentive heart plugged into the Holy Spirit network, revelation in the workings of God has a way to change one’s opinion and worldview quicker than any other method. Or do you want to be known as the person who resists the work of the Holy Spirit?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Consultant, Coach, 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

Earn, Give, Save, Invest, Spend

Dr. Mike Business & Faith ,
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 ESV

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If you are starting out in your career, now is the time to implement a financial formula that works. For most of us who never learned the art and science of financial management, balanced with life’s other more important values, can learn from the success and mistakes of others.

Warren Buffet, the third wealthiest man in the world, began his career by living on 50% of his earnings for over twenty years while investing the difference. John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest men in his time, used a similar approach to life. My mom and dad, hard workers with only an eighth grade education, exercised a similar formula which allowed them to send two children to a private school, pay off their house in five years, and enjoy retirement debt free.
That formula is simply to live on less than you make while investing the difference. A simple strategy that few in today’s culture are able to discipline themselves to practice. Yet those who practice it, appreciate the results.

The ideal is too find something you either enjoy doing or are good at to earn a livelihood. As the income comes in, the lust is to start spending on everything you desire. Don’t. Instead start by allocating the money from that first paycheck for the important and not desirous needs of your life.

First start by asking God where he wants you to share his income with. Whatever he instructs you, follow through. It most likely will be your local church; yet he may also suggest a para-church ministry or a nonprofit that is doing good work in serving humanity from God’s perspective. Wherever it is, God enjoys a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Start off by giving a percentage that you can do so cheerfully. Some in the church preach the discipline of giving a tithe or ten percent as a starting point. If you can do so cheerfully, do it. If you can give more, do it. If you can only give less, do it. Whatever the amount, I assure you as God transforms your heart, you will become more generous in your giving over time. It is all his anyway. We are only learning to behave as his stewards.

Next, start saving. Whatever % amount you give away for a cause greater than yourself, save the same % amount until you reach 6 months of your annual income. It may take a few years, but when you arrive, you will have reached a point of economic freedom. If anything happens to your job, you have a reserve to fall back on. If an emergency arises, you have assets to fall back on. You don’t have to live by paycheck-to-paycheck in fear any longer because you have an emergency reserve.

After reaching your six month savings plan, start investing. Study and become a student of investment. If you are not adept at investment, than hire a personal planner without an agenda. Let him/her direct you into the instrument that will take your money and let it grow. There is no better way to earn a living than making money from money. That is how the rich live.
But you say by following the above, I will have to deny myself immediate pleasure and desires. Yes. But the fruit will taste better in the long run. Ask Warren Buffet. Ask my parents. Ask those people now in the late season of life who first spent their money without saving if they would do anything different.

The Bible states that the borrower is a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7); that there is profit in all labor (Proverbs 14:23); and God knows how money is best invested (Ecclesiastes 2:24-6) These principles are true today as they were 3,000 years ago when first written. Yes, it takes faith to deny the self now for the potential of a better future. So are you ready to make the faith journey with your economic life? It all starts when you earn, give, save, invest, and then spend.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Consultant, Coach, 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