values

Integrity

Dr. Mike Life Tools , ,

Proverbs 28:6

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

There are generally at least three types of authority in this world. Positional authority, expertise authority, and moral authority.

Positional authority is temporary. Your role as a supervisor, CEO, parent, or community leader is given for you to serve others. The authority you have is yours only because of the position you hold.

Expertise authority will last longer. Your knowledge of computers, your skill set to solve problems, repair automobiles, and build houses places you in the position of being an expert at your craft. People who take their natural abilities and develop skills upon their natural abilities, gain expertise in their field of study and become experts. They gain authority by their expertise.

Moral authority is yours for your entire life. People will follow you because of the fruit in your life. You may have position, be poor, lack knowledge in anything useful or practical, but your life enriches others simply by the way you live. Moral authority is built upon integrity. Doing what is right all the time even if it costs you. Whether or not someone is watching, people with integrity surround themselves with shields of conscience godliness. Integrity gives you moral authority.

You can build a successful career by exercising positional or expertise authority. However, without moral authority, your path will be short lived. Moral authority allows you to sustain yourself for the long term. People with integrity in the marketplace maintain relationships that helps each other grow for the long term. People without integrity slowly find themselves without associates who are willing to risk working with them because of the distrust of prior experiences.

Integrity is the backbone and foundation for a fulfilling life. Integrity demands the exercise of character. If you want a mate or friend with character, that you can trust and build a life around, analyze the fruit of their character. How do they manage in a crisis? What are they like when no one is watching? How do they relate with others, especially those who are different than them? Do they respect authority? What are the values they live by?  When you meet a person with integrity, count it a blessing and add them to your list of associates you want to spend time traveling through life. They will make you stronger and support you in the moral authority you flame.  

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Belief Trap

Dr. Mike 2020, Traps , , , , ,

James 2:20

Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

You begin to experience salvation when you start to believe Jesus Christ is who He claims to be is how theologian Karl Barth expounded in his writings.

Belief is more than a wish or superstition. Real belief is built on facts, logic, and experience. Yet some people, after battling and working through the reasoning process, think that is all there is. Why? Didn’t Jesus himself say that if you believe on him you will receive eternal life?

From what I remember my psychology classmates telling me, belief is the centerpiece of action. Belief leads to action. We act upon what we believe. From our central belief system lies our values and worldview. But if we believe and do not act upon those beliefs, then do we truly believe?

James writes in his letter that belief without action is dead. He likens it to the body without a spirit: dead.

Belief is demonstrated through its fruit. An orange tree may have hundreds of green balls (the real color of oranges before the factories paint them for resale to the public) hanging on its branches, but when you take one from the tree and begin to peel it only to find dryness in the inside, don’t you throw it away? It may look like an orange hanging on the tree with other oranges, but is it a healthy orange?

Belief in Jesus Christ is like taking an escalator in a high-rise shopping mall. We start on the first floor and the moving steps take us higher unto other floors with more stores to discover. After we experience the 2nd floor, we take the escalator up to the next floor, and the next floor, and the next floor, where we discover more. Belief in Jesus Christ is, in a poor analogy, the escalator that takes you to places where you can experience real life.

Real life begins with believing Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised to the Jewish and Gentile nation back when Adam and Eve were discharged from the garden. When that fact hits us in the head and heart, our values and worldview begin to change and leads us to action which demonstrate our belief in Jesus Christ as King and Savior. Yet inaction may not tell the whole story on some who believe but are frozen from doing good work. Some may believe but be lazy; a character flaw. Others may believe, but are ensnared by the world’s glitter. And others may believe, but be angry with God and like a 2-year-old still pouting in the corner until lesson learned.  So, we need to be extra careful and not condemn the heart of others. Instead, let’s first pray for our brothers and sisters and let God lead us how best to relate with them. Maybe God will open a door for you to discuss the situation and help restore your sister/brother into a closer relationship with Him. Or bring another solution for their struggle. Either way, if God makes you aware of a problem, He will lead you.

Is that not what turning belief into action all about? Therefore, doesn’t our actions demonstrate our beliefs?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Which is the More Prudent Choice?

Dr. Mike Life Tools , , ,

James 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ESV.

values decision 1

What is the basis of your decision? When you have a choice to make, how much weight do you focus on the outcome? Is the basis of your decision dollars or righteousness? Do you involved God in the beginning of the process or simply ask Him to bless your final choice?

When confronted with multiple choices which is the best one?

Decisions are typically based on the values you consider most important. For most of us, our values are formed early in our childhood. We didn’t put a request of which values we wanted. They simple all arrived one day in a bundled package within you (after years of being formed in you without your consent). Then begins a lifelong process of evaluating and modifying your values. However, how do you know the values you choose are the best ones for you?

Now you may have discovered a different reason for studying the Bible. Within the pages of this Book, are gems of long standing proven values which generate positive and negative results. The Book is a historic compilation of defining what is good for humanity and what produces pain for the long term.

Sin may be a Biblical term. But sin simply outlines which values destroy relationships and prevents people from flourishing. God’s character on the other hand, demonstrates what values produce Shalom. Human flourishing, blessedness, and Shalom are key outcomes from making choices built on the eternal values of the Creator God.

When you begin to acquire this knowledge, gain understanding of its implications, and then apply these treasures in your life, you find God’s grace and generosity wherever you go. You begin to act from a position of confidence. You discover the real values which life fruitfully grows from in abundance.

These values are the seeds of choice. When decisions are built upon the eternal values of God, you are walking in alignment with the universal laws of the Creator. You are living life within HIS intrinsic character strength. You begin to view life and outcomes for the long term for the benefit of the entire community and not just one individual. Your choices and decisions become godlike.

It all begins by acknowledging and accepting and yielding to HIS involvement in your life. Ask HIM.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

*  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
*  Great Business Emulates a Good God
*  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
*  Simply The Messenger
*  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-2018 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved