Wednesday, April 28, 2010

CITY TRANSFORMATION BEGINS IN TWO PLACES

"While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there" (Acts 17:16-18).


In order to transform a city or nation, it must take place in two areas; the marketplace and the local church. Paul was burdened for Athens when he saw all of the idols in his city. So, he began a strategy to win back his city by preaching in both the synagogue to the religious leaders and Jews and also in the marketplace every day.

The Old Testament records reveal that even at the time of the temple construction it was clear that foundations must be built through the marketplace and the synagogue. "He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz" (Chron 3:15-17). Jakin was a priest of the Lord that represented the spiritual foundation of the Church. Boaz represented the strength of the marketplace and its role to have impact on the society through workplace ministers, or kings.

God is moving today in cities across the world through collaborative coalitions made up of priests, kings and intercessors. This is a city transformation trinity that the Holy Spirit is forming to rid our cities of idols and to restore the spiritual foundations.

When we begin to equip and release those in the workplace to fulfill their godly roles in business, government, media, arts/entertainment, and education we will begin to see the idols in our cities removed. Pray that God raises up Godly workplace leaders who will lead with a biblical worldview.


Monday, April 26, 2010

USING SATAN FOR GOD'S PURPOSES

"Hand this man over to satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." - 1 Corinthians. 5:5


Paul encountered a believer who was involved in an incestuous relationship in the Corinthian church. This man was deluded by satan and was controlled by immorality. The man was unwilling to change his behavior, so Paul recommended to the church that tough actions be taken. He spiritually handed this man over to satan for the destruction of his flesh for the benefit of his soul. The idea is that the person will wallow in the pit of sin so long until it becomes detestable to him and he cries out for God's grace. We know this man was aChristian because only a Christian can be subjected to church discipline.

Have you ever known someone who was walking in disobedience and no matter how much you prayed he seemed oblivious to his sin? God has given one weapon to counter satan's schemes against those who fall prey to satan. That is, let satan have access to them fully so that their lives become so miserable they cry out to God for mercy. Probably few of us have ever had to pray this prayer. However, you should not be fearful of this prayer for any believer who is willingly walking in disobedience. This is love--tough love. There is a time and place for tough love. I have seen this principle work. God restores His children when His Body takes a stand against sin. It is not comfortable for those who take this action.

Do you know someone who needs tough love in his or her life right now? Ask God if it is time to pray the prayer that Paul prayed. "So that his spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord."

Friday, April 23, 2010

THE WORK-A-HOLIC

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship" (Romans 8:15).


Living a balanced life is evidence of a Spirit-led life. People work long hours for many reasons which can lead to significant problems in our lives.

One reason people over work is that they often think they must work longer hours to keep up with their workload. This is often the surface reason people give to the question of working long hours. Like anycompulsive behavior, there is usually something beneath this behavior. As a former workaholic myself, I can tell you the root of overworking is often 1) a fear of loss, and 2) a need for self-acceptance created by performance.

The fear of loss issue can be a fear of what will happen if we don't work long hours. A fear that there may not be enough money if I don't work long hours can drive us to overwork. Often an inaccurate view of what is enough makes us drive ourselves to greater levels of achievement, believing a financial reward will insure us against potential financial disaster. This usually operates at a subconscious level. When one operates at this level you often find those around them will feel shamed if they do not work at the same level and can be intimidated by the unspoken or spoken directive that long hours are required. This leads to a whole new set of problems.

The second reason people work long hours is their need to gain self-acceptance and esteem from their jobs. It is rewarding to see something come from our efforts. However, when we begin to be driven to work, it becomes an unhealthy condition. We are looking to gain self-esteem needs from our performance instead of being secure in our position in Christ.

So, in order to avoid work becoming an idol and a compulsive behavior, we must maintain a balance that provides time to spend quality time with the Lord, our families and fellow believers. Sometimes the greatest exercise of faith is to work only forty hours a week. This insures that the outcome of our work is dependent upon God, nor our self-effort.


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

KNOWLEDGE THAT IS PRODUCTIVE

"For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Peter 1:8


Productivity is a term all workplace believers can relate to. It is the by-product of what we desire from our work. Without productivity, we do not make sales, we do not deliver goods, and we do not achieve our goals. There are things in our work lives that can creep in making us unproductive. The same is true in our walk with God.

The apostle Peter tells us that we can become knowledgeable of Jesus but fail to be effective and productive in our relationship with Him. We are a society that has great knowledge, but our comparable scale of productivity from that knowledge is extremely weighted to the knowledge side. The apostle Peter tells us there is a solution to this dilemma.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-8).

Is your Christian experience filled with knowledge, but little power? Is there staleness in your walk with God? Is there unrest in your soul? It may be due to a need to develop character that only the Holy Spirit can develop out of an obedient heart. Ask the Lord today to add these qualities to your faith so that you can be productive as a soldier of Jesus Christ.

Monday, April 19, 2010

THE FERTILE PASTURE

"Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands" (Mic 7:14).


"I've called you to pastor the bank," said the Lord to my friend Chuck. "Pastor the bank? How does one pastor a bank, Lord?" "The things I taught you I want you to teach others," came the reply.

There is a people who live isolated in fertile pasturelands. They long for a shepherd who will help them discover their own inheritance. They are the lost majority in the marketplace who are living lives as though they are a child lost and aimless in a deep, dark forest.

Though most do not know it, they long for a pastor who will reveal to them their destinies. Your staff, which represents your vocation, is the means by which God is going to use you to pastor those in your sphere of influence in the workplace.

A fertile pastureland means there is a great harvest that can come if only there is someone to do what is necessary to bring a harvest from it. This is where you will derive your inheritance. The people you serve will be the spiritual inheritance God has allotted to you.

This forest is more fertile than all other potential fields because the power and authority represented by this forest has the potential to impact far greater fields. This forest has CEOs, presidents of nations, entertainment moguls, media tycoons, and educators to name just a few. They are the shapers of society who have yet to meet their Maker.

Are you willing to use your staff to be a shepherd to those in the fertile pasturelands?


Friday, April 16, 2010

ASA, A MODEL KING UNTIL....

"Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand" (2 Chron 16:7).


Asa was a godly King of Judah. There were two kingdoms during his reign - Judah and Israel. Israel's king was Baasha, who was a wicked king. To the east of Judah was Damascus, whose king was Ben-Hadad. Asa was an amazingly faithful and righteous king for thirty-five years. He got rid of the idol worship, and even deposed his mother for idol worship. God blessed his rule by allowing peace in the land for thirty-five years.

When Asa came into power the nation was lost. There was no godly ruler. There were many wars and the people began to cry out to God for deliverance. God sent them Asa.

When Judah was attacked by Zerah the Cushite who marched against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, Asa called upon the LORD and God answered his prayer and delivered them from a larger and stronger army than Judah's.

However, thirty-five years later, Asa began to move away from trusting God and decided he could buy the favor of his enemy, the King of Ben-Hadad. Asa sent gold and silver to him as a bribe asking Ben-Hadad to cancel his treaty with King Baasha and go to war on behalf of Asa and Judah. Asa's strategy worked and he defeated Israel. However, there was a cost.

"In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers" (2 Chron 16:12-14).

What we learn from Asa is that whenever we place our trust and obedience in the Lord, God becomes our source for security and prosperity. However, when we move away from trusting God, that security is removed and we fail to receive those things God intended us to have.

Monday, April 12, 2010

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matt 3:2)


God is doing a unique work on the earth today. There are seasons in which the Holy Spirit speaks things to the Church. During one decade it might be a focus on evangelism. During another, it might be a greater awareness of the Holy Spirit. During yet another, it might be a focus on social problems in cities.

Today, God is speaking very clearly to the Church about societal transformation. Fifteen years ago, the idea of a community being totally transformed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ was a foreign concept. However, according to George Otis, Jr, director of the Sentinel Group, there are over 500 communities that are in some form of quantifiable transformation process today.

The defining characteristic of a community that is being transformed is that the socio-economic traits are being positively affected. The crime rate goes down, the economy is improved, and the number of Christians in the city increases, prayer increases, and the city leaders become Christians. It is the manifestation of Deuteronomy 28:13, "The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom."

In order to go beyond the Gospel of Salvation to the Gospel of the Kingdom we must exercise a different level of faith for our communities. Jesus talked about the kingdom of God more than 70 times in the New Testament - much more often than he mentioned salvation. While salvation is part of bringing the kingdom of God on earth, it includes much more.

When the Gospel of the Kingdom comes into a life and a community, everything in its wake is transformed. How might God want you to be the catalyst to bring the entire Gospel of the Kingdom into the lives and communities you are called to influence?

Friday, April 9, 2010

SPIRITUAL CONTRACTS

"In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years."- Daniel 9:2


When you enter a legal contract, it binds the two parties to fulfill the terms of that contract. In Heaven there are legal contracts that, when fulfilled, allow the spiritual to impact the physical.

Israel had been in captivity to Babylon for 70 years. Daniel, when he investigated the history of his nation, found the prophecy of Jeremiah, which revealed there would be 70 years of captivity. He recognized that in order to release his nation from this captivity, there had to be a confession of sin on the part of the nation. Daniel took that responsibility. Although he could not personally repent for his nation, he could acknowledge their sin and repent himself. When Daniel acknowledged this sin before God, something took place in Heaven. God heard this prayer and responded by sending His angel Gabriel to Daniel's side.

We know from history that this was the time when Judah's return from exile began. Daniel's prayer of confession was the spiritual key to the physical manifestation of releasing the nation from captivity to Babylon.

Whenever you want to confront spiritual forces that have dominion over a situation, you must find the source of the problem. Once you find the source of the problem, you must take the necessary steps in the spiritual realm to release God's power into that situation. For Daniel, it meant taking responsibility for the sin of the nation by confessing its sins and asking forgiveness on behalf of the entire nation. This allowed God to begin the process of releasing the nation.

Ask God to show you the source of the problems that may exist in your city, your work, or people you want to see freed to fulfill God's purposes for their lives.


Thursday, April 8, 2010

AN ETERNAL VIEW OF CIRCUMSTANCES

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." - Philippians 1:12


Are your life circumstances advancing the gospel? Can you see the Lord's hand in your life in such a way that all of your life experiences, joys, sorrows, hardships, and training have resulted in advancing the gospel?

Paul was a tentmaker by trade. But he had an overall ministry objective in his business life. That objective left him imprisoned and persecuted at times. But Paul saw these events not as roadblocks to his mission. Rather, they were catalysts to advancing the cause of Christ. Paul's revelation of this kept him from despairing about his circumstances.

One day a little-known pastor who lived in the small African nation of Benin began to pray for his Marxist president. For two years he prayed. Then the Lord told the pastor to go to meet this president and share the gospel with him. The president rejected the gospel, but after another such occasion, the president accepted the gospel and became a Christian. He was removed from power but was discipled by this pastor. Sometime later this same president was elected again. Today that president is now a Christian leader of a nation committed to spreading the gospel throughout his nation. One man - yet millions have been affected by his obedience. This modern-day story is retold in countless lives of those willing to live for a cause greater than themselves.

Are your work and life experiences serving to advance the gospel? What experiences has God allowed in your life that are part of His plan to advance the gospel? Ask Him to help you see your life the way He sees it. Seeing our life the way God sees it will help us avoid discouragement in those times when life appears to be a mystery to us.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

LIVE AS THOUGH YOU ARE DEAD

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom 6:11-12).


"How will I know when I am going to come out of my adversity pit?" said the woman sitting across from me. "When it doesn't matter anymore," I replied. It brought back memories, when I also sat across from a mentor who said to me, "The only problem you have is you are not dead yet. You need a good funeral." He was talking about my carnal flesh life.

When Joseph was elevated to be ruler over the entire kingdom of Egypt after years of slavery and imprisonment, my guess is that it didn't really matter that much to him. He thought he was going to get out of prison years earlier when he successfully interpreted the cupbearers dream only to remain there two more years. "Why should this situation prove any different?" he must have thought to himself.

I believe Joseph had come to a place with God where he resigned himself to remain wherever God had chosen to keep him. He had become dead to his circumstances. It does not mean we can't have a longing for better days, but there is a Godly contentment that allows us to remain in any condition with a peace that passes all understanding.

The Bible says we are to live as though we are dead. This does not mean we do not have emotions or dreams. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them (Mark 14:34). That sounds like anxiety to me, yet we know Jesus never sinned. So, we can conclude that we can have concerns and emotions without crossing over into sin. God has given us His Spirit to allow us to operate inside the storms of life without sinning.

Place your faith today into the hands of the One who can calm any storm in life.


Saturday, April 3, 2010

UNDERSTANDING OUR OWN CALLING

..."If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." - John 21:22

Jesus was talking to Peter after he had just had a very important encounter with Him-one of the last meetings the two would have. This was the third time Jesus had shown Himself to the disciples after His resurrection. It is the famous dialogue between Jesus and Peter in which Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Jesus followed by commanding, "Feed My sheep." Jesus went on to foretell of Peter's future death. As they were walking together, John was with Peter and Jesus. Peter asked Jesus about John and whether he would die also. Jesus reacted sharply to Peter's comment, telling him not to worry about what John's role or purpose was in life. All Peter had to do was worry about fulfilling his own purpose.
As workplace believers we tend to measure our success on whether we have achieved a certain position or stature in life. Even as Christians the temptation to believe that someone is blessed if they have achieved prominence is always confronting us. In His discussion with Peter, Jesus was getting at the very heart of the matter of a person's calling. Peter was worried about whether his friend John was going to get the same lot in life as he was. Jesus told him it should not be his concern. He was to concern himself only with one thing: his own calling before God.
Are you tempted to compare yourself with where others are in their life? Are you dissatisfied with where God has you right now? Be of good cheer-"[be] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6).

Thursday, April 1, 2010

KINGDOM ECONOMICS

"So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant" (Josh 24:13).


In the world of business we are taught to do whatever it takes to produce a desired outcome. Competitive forces can drive companies to go beyond the limits of ethics and integrity to achieve a desired outcome. Men and women can become work-a-holics as the need for competitive advantage is passed down the various management levels in order to meet sales and marketing goals. This sweat and toil mentality contradicts God's Kingdom Economy.

The Kingdom Economy is found in the above verse in Joshua. When the people of Israel were coming out of Egypt, a place of sweat and toil and slavery, God was trying to teach them a new economy of receiving. Instead of sweat and toil, He wanted them to learn obedience. Now their income would be based on their obedience, not their skill or their sweat and toil.

This new Kingdom Economy meant that there would be times when what you receive from your efforts might be less than the commensurate time invested. Yet, there would also be times when you would receive more compared to your time invested.

I used to determine whether I would meet with a person based on my perceived return on that investment. I justified that behavior as being a good steward. God says we are to determine if He wants us to meet with that person or be involved with an endeavor based on His leading alone, not based on the perceived outcome. It is His responsibility to bring fruit from the activity.

This will result in a new freedom in your work life. Stay vertical with God and let Him determine your next activity.