KINGS AND PRIESTS

"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." - Revelation 5:10 KJV

The Bible describes two distinct roles in the Old Testament-kings and priests. Kings were the rulers; priests were the religious leaders. The New Testament reveals we all are kings and priests because of the redemptive work of Christ.
Today, kings are most often represented by business and political leaders, while pastors represent the priestly roles. God calls each of us to fulfill both roles in our lives today. However, our vocational roles often create a division that is misunderstood by both workplace believers and pastors. These misunderstandings have led to a weakened and less effective Church.
Pastors have been guilty of viewing their workplace believers as dollar signs. They sometimes see them for what they can contribute to their ministries instead of equipping them to use their gifts and talents to impact the workplace believer's mission field-their workplace.
Workplace believers have tried to get pastors to operate their churches like businesses, and have used their worldly ways for spiritual purposes. They often view the pastor as the primary ministry worker instead of taking on the responsibility themselves to do the work of the ministry.
This is a grievous sin that exists in the Body of Christ, and it requires repentance from both groups. Unless we recognize this, we will never see the reality of revival that God wants to bring to the business community, and pastors will fail to gain an ally to fully complete the work of the Church in their community.
Are you a pastor who has failed to see the calling that workplace believers have received to the workplace? If so, ask God to forgive you for viewing your workplace believers as those to be used for your own purposes.
Are you a workplace believer who sees your church as another business to be run based on worldly measurements? Do you see the pastor's role as one who is primarily responsible for the work of the ministry? If so, you must repent and ask God to forgive you of this unbiblical view. God has called both of you to fulfill His purposes together through your gifts and talents.

SEEKING HIS FACE

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. - Deuteronomy 34:10

One of the great differences between Moses and any other character in the Bible is how God describes Moses. Moses was a friend of God, and he met God face to face. "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend" (Ex. 33:11a). So often, we view others for what they can do for us, instead of who they are. There is a difference between being a servant and being a friend. There is a difference between being an employee and being a son.
Do you seek God's face, or do you find that you spend more time seeking His hand? God wants us to seek Him for our every need. However, there is a higher calling for every believer. That is to seek God's face, and to see Him for His love and tenderness toward us as His children. He can provide for our physical needs, but when we see Him face to face, we are changed. We no longer see Him as one to be feared as much as one to know intimately. We no longer view Him for what He can give to us, but for what He already has given for us.
When we see Jesus face to face, we are no longer slaves, but friends. We do not fear Him as a slave fears his master. We have entered a new kind of relationship-a relationship that has mutual respect and care.
Today, Jesus is calling you to seek His face, not just His hand. When you seek His face, you will know His provision and His mercy in all aspects of life. Seek His face today and become a friend of God.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." - Luke 2:7

Imagine if the God of the universe decided to visit planet earth as a new baby and you were given the opportunity to host His first night-in your hotel! Think of the future promotional possibilities..."God stayed here His first night!" You could sell tickets to see the room where He was born. What an opportunity to make history as a small-business owner!
God had need of a business owner's establishment one night 2,000 years ago. But there was no room for God in this business that night. There was no room for the unexpected miracle; no awareness of what was taking place in the heavenlies, no sign that God might be reaching out to this workplace believer to be used like no other in all of history.
Every day God has need of some man or woman's job. He wants to demonstrate miracles in their work. But there is no room in their work for Jesus. He is not asked to participate.
That night God slept in a stable. That night a business opportunity from Heaven was missed. It was business as usual.
May we all have spiritual eyes and ears to know when our Master needs what He has entrusted to us for His purposes.

THE FINGER OF GOD

When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. - Exodus 31:18

Throughout the Bible, the word testimony is used in many ways. Testimony comes from the Hebrew word eduwth, which means "witness." The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments, written and inscribed personally by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai. These became known as the testimony. The ark was a divinely inspired structure that was to be used as a witness to the people of Israel and the whole world of God's power and majesty. These divinely created tablets were a witness of God's activity on earth with man.
Throughout the Bible, God looked to create testimonies with His people. At the Red Sea, He created a testimony through Moses. God created a testimony through Joshua when He parted the Jordan River and allowed the people with the Ark to cross on dry land. When Lazarus lay dead for days, Jesus came and created a testimony of His ability to raise the dead.
Jesus is still looking for those who are willing to have a testimony created through their lives. One of the major characteristics of a God-ordained testimony is for something to happen that cannot be explained in the natural. In other words, if you can make it happen through your abilities, it is not a testimony about God, but about you.
One time, I was invited to go to a major conference, but I did not have the funds to go. I waited and waited. Finally, on the day of the registration closing, a brother called and said I was to go to this conference but he could not make it and he has paid, he said I can take his reservation. That has become a testimony of God's activity in my life.
God wants to create a testimony in every aspect of your life - your family, your work, your church, and in your community. He is waiting to put His finger on your next endeavor to reveal His power through your life. Look carefully at the events where God might want to create a testimony out of an impossible situation. He delights in using His children for this purpose because it brings Him glory.

BEING AN OVERCOMER

"How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?" (Ps 13:1-2). 

Have you ever heard someone jokingly say, "It's not easy being me?" This expression is poking fun at their unique personality or challenges they face in life. Well, it wasn't easy being King David.

His life was a life of extreme highs and extreme lows. He was a shepherd, a political leader, a builder, a prophet, a businessman, a warrior, a lover, a giver, a murderer and a worshiper. He must have been criticized by others as being hypocritical in his early career. In each of these roles he achieved things for God but he also failed God on many occasions. He had a creative-type personality, which is often very passionate with many mood swings. We see this side of him when he unabashedly danced before the Lord in front of his subjects almost naked (2 Sam 6:14).

When David wrote his psalms he was honest about what he was feeling. When he feared his enemies he expressed it. When he could not understand why God was silent, he expressed it as in the psalm above.

However, David never stayed in the place of despair. He often ended his psalms like this one. "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me" (Ps 13:5-6).

David chooses to focus on what God has done for him, not what He has not done. If you are waiting for a breakthrough with God, be honest with Him about your hopes and dreams. However, also affirm your faith and trust in Him to accomplish His purposes through your life. Be an overcomer.

HEARING GOD'S VOICE

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. - 1 Samuel 3:7

Samuel was born to Hannah, a woman who had a deep commitment to God. She was barren, but she cried out to God for a son. The Lord gave her Samuel, whom she completely gave to the Lord for His service. After weaning him, she took him to the house of the Lord to be reared by the priests. Eli was the priest of Israel, but he was not a godly leader. He had allowed much corruption, including the sins of his sons, in God's house. God was not pleased with Eli and later judged him and his household.
Samuel grew up in the temple serving God. He also grew up seeing the hypocrisy of Eli's household, yet this did not change the young man. God was with him. We learn that even though young Samuel had a belief in God, he had not yet experienced a personal relationship with Him. God called to Samuel three times, but Samuel thought it was Eli, the priest, calling him. Finally, Eli told him to say, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam. 3:9b). This is what Samuel did, and God began telling Samuel important things to come.
Many of us grow up in religious environments. We go to church every week. We have a head knowledge of God, but we do not recognize God's voice in our lives. There comes a time when we must recognize God's voice for ourselves. God does not want us to have a religion; He wants us to have a two-way relationship with Him. Samuel was never the same after this encounter. He would know God's voice and would respond to Him in obedience.
Do you know God's voice? Can you recognize it when He speaks? In order to hear God's voice, you must be clean before Him and listen. Listen to God's voice today and follow His plans for you.

TRUSTING IN CHARIOTS

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD" (Isa 31:1). 

It is human nature to want to use whatever means available to us to succeed. However, a conflict arises when we place our total trust in ourselves instead of God. The idea of maintaining a proper balance between trust and obedience to God versus placing an over dependence upon our natural skill and resources has created problems since Genesis. We are prone to build strong defenses through our natural gifts to avoid failure and use all of our might to be successful in our endeavors. However, this can often be done at the expense of the supernatural in our lives. When it comes to receiving from God, it is important we don't make the same mistake Moses made when God told him to speak to the rock in order to receive water for the people. Instead, He struck the rock and failed to enter the Promised Land. The people of Israel often fell back to trusting in their own abilities and God had to send a reproof into their lives.

How do we avoid the trap and maintain a proper balance between the natural and the spiritual? The rule of thumb is to submit every activity to God and use your skill as God directs you. Be sensitive to God's leading in all your activities. Avoid trying to build resources for the sake of insulating yourself against calamity which is rooted in fear.

Finally, follow Solomon's advice: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Prov 3:5-6).

HUNGERING FOR GOD

God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Psalms 53:2 - Acts 21:11-12

"I really don't understand why I should come to this. How can I really benefit?" was his response. At that moment, I realized that I was wasting my time with this man on whom I had invested much throughout his Christian walk. He was often like a roller coaster-up one minute, down the next.
"You simply aren't hungry enough," I commented to my friend.
Whenever someone must always rationalize and examine whether the things of God are beneficial to them, you know that they are not hungry enough for God. I recall one time when I was in a difficult place. I received an audiotape from a man who gave me some insights into my problem. I was hungry enough to book a flight to a city 500 miles away just to meet him and find out more. My finances were at a very low point, so it took some real faith to do this. That meeting turned out to be a divine appointment and became a turning point in my life.
God is looking for men and women who hunger to know Him. When we believe that we know all we need to know, we are in a dangerous place. God has placed men and women in the Body of Christ who have had different experiences and gifts that can be helpful in our own spiritual pilgrimages. It requires humility of heart to realize that we can learn from others. We can easily rationalize our business pressures and time commitments to discount such opportunities.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12

Life is filled with disappointments. Many of God's greatest servants experienced deep disappointment in their journeys of faithfulness to God. Joseph, after spending years as a slave and in jail for crimes that he did not commit, revealed deep disappointment when he was forgotten another two years in prison. John the Baptist, when awaiting execution, doubted whether Jesus was, in fact, the Christ because he was sitting there awaiting his death. Elijah, losing all hope and despondent to the point of death, asked God to take his life in the desert; and Peter, who left his fishing business and invested three years of his life only to watch his Savior crucified, wondered whether the purpose of those three years could be justified.
When life doesn't add up, it leaves the heart sick. When we have done all we know to do and the formula has not worked, it leaves us questioning. These are times that try the very souls of men. There is no human sense to be made of it. We are left with a choice: to cling or not to cling. There are times when holding on to our Master's robe is all that we can do. It is all that He wants us to do.

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not obtained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore,
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern-unseen before-
A path to higher destinies!
~Longfellow

There is only one answer to life's disappointments. Like the psalmist, we must "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken" (Ps. 62:5-6).

THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION

"I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." - John 17:23 

A story is told about F.B. Meyer, the great Bible teacher and pastor who lived a century ago. He was pastoring a church and began to notice that attendance was suffering. This continued until he finally asked some members of his congregation one Sunday morning why they thought attendance was down.

A member volunteered, "It is because of this new church down the road. The young preacher has everyone talking and many are going to hear him speak."

His name was Charles Spurgeon. Meyer, rather than seeking to discourage this, exhorted the entire congregation to join him and go participate in seeing this "move of God" as he described it to his congregation.

"If this be happening, then God must be at work."

Meyer, even though he was an accomplished preacher and teacher, recognized where God was at work and joined Him in it. [The author heard this on a radio show from Key Life Ministries with Steve Brown, based in Orlando, Florida.]

Can you imagine this story taking place in our competitive world today? Competition has penetrated the Church so much that many churches and Christian organizations approach ministry like a sports event. They view their mission as a business that seeks to gain market share among Christians - donors, members, influence - all under the name of God. I am sure God looks down at us and asks, "Whatever happened to John 17:23?" Sometimes we must remind our fellow servants that we are all on the same team! We should be seeking to impact the Kingdom of God, not increase our own market share.

When Jesus made this statement about unity in John 17:23, it represented the key to bringing salvation to many. He was saying that when His Body is unified, the non-Christian would be able to see who Jesus really is - the Son of God. Are you contributing to unity in the Body of Christ? Or are you contributing to a spirit of competition? Ask God where you can be an instrument of unity in His Body.

INSECURE LEADERSHIP

"When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi" (Matt 2:16-17). 

Any leader who is not secure in God will be insecure in their leadership actions. King Herod was such a leader. He feared the loss of power and had to control every aspect of the people he was ruling. When Herod heard about Jesus' coming birth, his insecurity became out of control and led to making life-threatening decisions for those in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Such a leader has deep-seated control issues rooted in the fear of loss of power, money and prestige. This also led to lying to protect his kingdom. When the wise men told Herod about the coming Messiah, Herod told them he wanted to know when He was born in order to worship him. He had no such plans. He wanted to kill him.

Herod told the wise men to report back to him when the child was born. The wise men were divinely warned not to return to Jerusalem and report back to Herod. When Herod discovered this, he became furious and issued the edict to kill every child under two years old in Bethlehem and the surrounding districts.

Whenever a leader has deep-seated control issues rooted in fear, their actions surface repeatedly when placed under stress. Arguments, manipulation of others, and confrontation with subordinates usually follows.

However, a leader who has yielded his life and his work to God can relinquish outcomes to the Lord and let God change things that may go astray. A secure leader realizes God is the source of His power and leadership and he does not need to fear others who may demonstrate leadership qualities. Instead, they are able to affirm them for the sake of the organization.

Pray that God makes you a leader who is secure in your position given by God.

STAYING CONNECTED

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul." - Psalm 143:8

Two of the greatest inventions of my time have been the laptop computer and e-mail. The laptop means I no longer have to stay in one place to be productive in my business life. E-mail has allowed me to stay connected to people all around the world with the touch of a button.
My greatest frustration is when either of these does not work. Sometimes e-mail cannot be used because I can't get a connection. Sometimes I cannot use my laptop because I have not properly charged it, and then the charge runs out while I am on an airplane. Both of these situations mean I am unable to tap into the resource that allows me to fulfill my calling in my work to the fullest.
The morning time with God is much like these situations. God pours His Word into my spirit, and I am recharged. This recharging has an important effect on my day. It allows me the greatest opportunity to hear the small voice that directs my steps. If I refuse to "get connected," I risk following my own ways of fulfilling the duties of my day. It sets forth the opportunity for God to speak into my spirit what He desires for me each day. It allows me to focus on God's purposes, not mine.
The only way to know someone is to spend time with him or her. The only way to discern the voice of another is to hear that person's voice. David, the author of this psalm, was a warrior, king, and businessman. He understood this principle of connecting with God in the morning. His morning allowed him to connect with God's love, renew his trust in Him, and hear His directions for his life. Shouldn't you and I do the same?