DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST

Which Do You Choose to Follow: Jesus or Capitalism?

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , ,

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How much is enough? How much is too much? How much is not enough?  One of the strongest inner struggles we (those of us living in America) have to deal with is living in this rich country while our brothers and sisters of less developed nations are dealing with starvation, homelessness, and national strife. Yes, we live in America; where six percent of the world’s population indulge themselves with almost 40 percent of the world’s resources. Yes, we live in America; where the favorite past time is not service activities, cultural events, or family togetherness, but shopping. Not for necessity per say, but only to maintain the latest fashion, or that extra electronic device that has come out and everyone owns it except us. We are a nation with so much wealth that the majority of us have taken it for granted and have forgotten the less fortunate. Our world is a commercial Disney Land. We spend on ourselves to gratify ourselves. We indulge ourselves and accept it as normal behavior. We seek out different ways to entertain ourselves because what we did yesterday is no longer fulfilling. We may not say it but our actions speak louder than words. Money is the answer to all our problems. We believe that if only we had more, than all our problems would be gone. If only we had more, than we would be truly happy. If only we had more, than we would be contented. Oh how foolish we have become?

Wealth is great as long as you are its master and not its servant.  Many of us would like to believe we are masters of our wealth. But are we? If you truly want to know whether you are a master of your wealth, ask yourself, “Could I give it all away unconditionally and live accordingly?  Would you be at peace with yourself without the large house, ·without a  car; no economic friends, no restaurant meals, no theater. no movies, nor annual vacations? Whatever it is that you “enjoy doing” that takes money but now you no longer choose to do it, could you survive peacefully? We are not talking for a few days, months, or even years, but for the rest of your life? The sad fact is many of us being honest  with ourselves would find it very difficult.

The rich, young man during Christ’s time asked Him what is it he must do to have eternal life. He kept all the commandments from his youth. He probably even gave some of his wealth to those less fortunate. What did Christ reply to him but to give all his wealth away and come follow Him. Was Christ  against  people being wealthy? No. Was Christ statement a direct message to us that we should sell all we have and follow Him? No. But, the message is clear that we need to disown all our wealth from our inner self and surrender it to Jesus. We need to follow Jesus first. Our Master is to be God, not wealth. Our actions and behavior must agree with our priority.

Prosperity for prosperity sake is a waste of time, energy, and resources. To accumulate or buy without self-restraint is the behavior of a spoiled child. We as caring parents do not want our children to grow up being spoiled brats. Neither does our heavenly Dad. King Solomon lived a life that only a few could relate to until now in America. Today, the majority of us in this country live like “little king Solomon’s.” We have the means and capital to pursue our hearts desire. We pursue higher education. We pursue real estate holdings and business ventures. We pursue hobbies and entertainment. We pursue the other sex. We pursue, pursue, and pursue in search of meaning to life. We search everywhere but to the original Source. For the majority of us, God is an illusion figure that may exist. And because He may exist, we live our life with one foot walking with Him and the other foot walking in a capitalistic religion. Some of us even feel that capitalism is Christianity and have difficulty separating the two. For those who may have forgotten their basic economics, Capitalism is built on man’s inner selfish desire of greed and money; Christianity is built on service and Jesus. Both of them are a faith belief system. Both of them are in conflict with priorities. You cannot serve both of them. Again, you cannot serve God and Mammon. Only one can be your master.

As a disciple of His, He has shown us that real fulfillment is not found in material prosperity. But that real, meaningful fulfillment is found living a spirit filled life in Christ for the glory of God. Everything that prosperity promises is only temporary pleasure. After you have satisfied one lust or desire, another one is waiting. And they will continue to come until you have no more control over it. The way to remove that desire is to surrender your will to the real Jesus. He is the one who is alive and living in His Church today. When we surrendered our will to Him, He gave us eyes to see and ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is developing within His Body, the Church. He opened our heart to His presence and His fruit that abides forever. He gives Gifts that money or prosperity cannot purchase. He generously shares Himself to those who surrender their will in obedience to that original Source of everything: our Heavenly Dad.

OUR PRAYER

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Our Supremely Wealthy Dad, all Power, Wealth, and Success are yours! Glory and Honor and Magnificence are yours! Everything that our heart desires is yours!

We thank you that you own everything and manage everything in your supreme wisdom. Thank you for freeing us from the power of sin and giving us freedom in your Spirit.

Help us to live our freedom in you without the chains of capitalism around us. Help us to focus our service in giving and sharing your values, wisdom, and life with others without profit or reward. Let your riches overflow in our life abundantly. Let us be a blessing to others as you are a blessing to us. Create in us a heart of generosity, philanthropy, and altruism. Help us to share all that you have given us with others. Make us your outlet of giving. Bless those who use us with a blessing of time and service. Let your greatness abound in their lives as it does in ours. Let your glory shine in use, through us, and around us. Let your glory always abound. Amen.

Your Consultant & Coach for Christ-Centered
Business Owners & Executives

Dr. Mike

Author of Great Business Emulates a Good God

Pre-eminence Belongs To The King

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Do you recall in the early grades when you competed with other students in speed-reading?  You and they would probably take turns being the first one to read any material and then recall the contents for the teacher.  Was our motivation to read with speed and comprehension or simply to be first?  Later in life when you were playing sports, was it to be the best you could be or to be the best among your peers?  Likewise in college while wasting time in the student activity center playing cards with your peers, was it to win all the time, or just to be better than your peers?  Did you walk away with a trophy or two back then, but if you were honest with your motivation was it to be the best player or the internal drive to be better than your peers?

Throughout life, those of us with a competitive or achievement spirit tend to have a strong motivation to be number one among our peers. When we sold, who had to he # 1 at the end of the year in sales? When we did whatever, can we admit our motivation was to be the best in comparison with our peers, no matter what the price?.  If you are like many of us, we have a strong internal drive that we can’t control but had to be satisfied. It would drive us in whatever we did.  It wasn’t until we totally surrendered our life to God that this motivation dissipated and eventually disappeared.

In scripture, we read how Satan wasn’t content in being a servant of God, but wanted to be in charge of God’s Kingdom. He persuaded one-third of the angles to work with him to overthrow God from His throne. But instead of victory, he learned that God is in control and no one is going to remove Him from His Office. Likewise, we have come to learn who is Number One in our life.

There is a great sense of peace and contentment knowing that you don’t have to be better than anyone else. That God wants you to be the best you can be. That we are all created differently but distinctly in the image of God with the purpose to live for all eternity working with Him in whatever is best suited for us.  In fact, nowadays instead of seeking pre-eminence, we find ourselves serving others with more joy than ever before.  Instead of trying to become number one, we work at helping others to excel.  Instead of seeking the glory for self, we let it shine upon others.

As a disciple of His, we find it easier to put the pre-eminence where it belongs and that is on Jesus.  Instead of crawling over one another and competing against one another, we find it easier to place Jesus central and learn to serve Him and those He chooses to send our way.

OUR PRAYER

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Our Glorified Dad, thank you for being number one in our life.  There is a great sense of peace and comfort knowing that no matter what we do or accomplish you will always be the Best in our book.  Help us to see others through your eyes. Help us to serve others through your eyes.  Help us to build up others especially those you have placed into the church.

Thank you for the assurance and faith to live this life as your child and pupil. Thank you for your tutoring and thank you for the privilege of serving others.  Help us channel the energy you give us to serving others and revealing you as first in life.  Whenever the opportunity comes, help us to always place you first in the eyes of others and keep this servant in humble submission to your Kingdom.  Amen.

Your Consultant & Coach for Christ-Centered
Business Owners & Executives

Dr. Mike

Author of Great Business Emulates a Good God

The Possibilities Are Endless When Nothing is Impossible

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , ,

impossible 3Remember when you were young, overly optimistic with big dreams?  Nothing was impossible. We operated from a level of supreme self-confidence that whatever we chose to pursue in life, we truly believed we would achieve.  But then one day, we moved out of our sheltered world into the real world.  And the real world doesn’t always provide you with positive reinforcement in your struggles.  Didn’t you find yourself becoming more of a realist as you aged?  Some of your friends may even say leaning towards pessimism.  We met the world head on and the world won.  Eventually we found ourselves settling for smaller and smaller uneventful goals rather than our dream goals. Even then our frustrations slowly grew.  We became one unhappy camper as our supreme confidence in self soon disappeared.

If like me, it was probably around this time that you found yourself also in search for answers of life.  All the struggles, disappointments, and frustrations of life took their toll on our inner being that we finally admitted to God on our hands and knees in tears that we are not the man or woman we thought to be.  In repentance we confessed our sins, our vanity, and our uselessness.  We admitted defeat.  We surrendered. We cried out to God for help.

Since then though, life has changed.  No longer is our life built on self-confidence, but in faith of a loving God.  No longer do we set only small goals to pursue because of the lack of resources, but now all the resources of the Creator are at our disposal.  And no longer do we pursue self-centered goals, but goals that also make other people a winner.

The Holy Spirit has become the agent of change in our life. We quote scripture that Paul was inspired to write, “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.”  As Jesus stated, “Nothing is impossible for God.”  No longer do we cut our goals down in size. But again, we don’t make them super large either.  The size of the goal becomes irrelevant.  When you realize Who ”God  is” and that He is very Generous, and He wants you to be His Partner in life, than you do not become overly concern about your goals and achievements.  Instead you focus on serving the living Creator and your goals almost seem to take care of themselves.

As a disciple of His, we have found that He is in charge, He is in control, and He makes the difference.  Achieving the goal becomes the easy part.  The more difficult part is maintaining a balance in life while choosing your life’s goals with the Kingdom always first on your mind.  That we have found is the more difficult challenge that confronts us.

A DISCIPLE’S PRAYER

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Our Awesome Dad, thank you for revealing yourself to us. Thank you for revealing yourself and your way of life to us each and every day.  Thank you for being involved in our life.  Thank you for caring and loving us as you do.  Let everything we do, think, speak, and act be done in your glory.  Let everything from this life be lifted up in your glory and honor.  Whatever we attempt, whatever we pursue, and whatever we seek, let it bring glory and honor to you.

Help us to dream, to create, to let you live in us to the max.  Let our life exemplify you in every way.  Let not the goal enslave us, but let our heart, mind, and soul serve you.  Help make our goals worthy of your servant.  Whether we accomplish them or not, let our life always be a living sacrifice to you.  Let the goal stretch us in living a proactive faith in you.  Let the road and journey be covered in love, joy, and peace.  Help us keep these eyes focused on you in all our pursuits.  Never let the goal become larger than you.  Never let the goal become a priority over you.  Never let the goal become our master.  Let it always be said that this servant is a God-Made man, not a self-made man.  Let it always be said that this servant is a confident man in the Lord, not in himself.  Let it always be said that this servant is a child of God, and not a child of this world.  All glory and honor is yours in and through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Your Consultant & Coach for Christ-Centered
Business Owners & Executives

Dr. Mike

Author of Great Business Emulates a Good God