A SHOE SALESMAN

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with

God all things are possible."

Matthew 19:26

Dwight L. Moody was a poorly educated, unordained, shoe salesman who

felt God's call to preach the gospel. Early one morning he and some

friends gathered in a hay field for a season of prayer, confession, and

consecration. His friend Henry Varley said, "The world has yet to see

what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and

wholly consecrated to Him." Moody was deeply moved by these words. He

later went to a meeting where Charles Spurgeon was speaking. In that

meeting Moody recalled the words spoken by his friend, "The world had

yet to see!...with and for and through and in!...A man!" Varley meant

any man! Varley didn't say he had to be educated, or brilliant, or

anything else. Just a man! Well, by the Holy Spirit in him, he'd be one

of those men. Then suddenly, in that high gallery, he saw something he'd

never realized before. It was not Mr. Spurgeon, after all, who was doing

that work; it was God. And if God could use Mr. Spurgeon, why should He

not use the rest of us, and why should we not all just lay ourselves at

the Master's feet and say to Him, "Send me! Use me!"

D.L. Moody was an ordinary man who sought to be fully and wholly

committed to Christ. God did extraordinary things through this ordinary

man. Moody became one of the great evangelists of modern times. He

founded a Bible college, Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, which sends

out men and women trained in service for God.

Are you an ordinary man or woman in whom God wants to do extraordinary

things? God desires that for every child of His. Ask God to do

extraordinary things in your life. Begin today to trust Him to

accomplish great things for His Kingdom through you.

A REMNANT THAT PRAYS

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of

His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught

his disciples."

Luke 11:1

God is calling out a remnant of workplace believers throughout the

world who understand the role of prayer in their work. These people have

learned that prayer is not a five-minute exercise in the morning

devotion time, but it is a vital strategic tool to discern and know

God's will and purposes in their work lives. You see they have learned

that their business lives are their ministries to God and others.

These men and women have entered into covenant relationships with

intercessory prayer partners who help discern the activities they

should be involved in. Some even have paid staff, who intercede for the

decisions and activities in which they will be involved. They are a

small remnant of workplace believers who know that skill and technique

are not enough to fulfill God's purposes.

A servant of the Lord has well said: Prayer is the rail for God's work.

Indeed, prayer is to God's will as rails are to a train. The locomotive

is full of power: it is capable of running a thousand miles a day. But

if there are no rails, it cannot move forward a single inch. If it

dares to move without them, it will soon sink into the earth. It may be able

to travel over great distances, yet it cannot go to any place where no

rails have been laid. And such is the relation between prayer and God's

work. Without any doubt God is almighty and He works mightily, but He

will not and cannot work if you and I do not labor together with Him in

prayer, prepare the way for His will, and pray "with all prayer and

supplication" (Eph. 6:18) to grant Him the maneuverability to so work.

Many are the things, which God wills to do, and would like to do, but

His hands are bound because His children do not sympathize with Him and

have not prayed so as to prepare ways for Him. Let me say to all who

have wholly given themselves to God: Do examine yourselves and see if

in this respect you have limited Him day after day.

Is prayer a vital part of your strategic business practices? Put prayer

on the front lines, instead of making it an afterthought. You will

begin to see renewed power in your work life.

A FAITHFUL MAN

"A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will

not go unpunished." - Proverbs 28:20

There is a distinct difference between the workplace believer who

operates based on living in the Promised Land versus the one who

operates in Egypt. In Egypt, the workplace believer sweats and toils

to generate an outcome. The final objective is foremost in their mind.

Outcome is everything.

In the Promised Land, we learn that obedience is the only thing that

matters. We are called to execute, and leave outcome to God. Sometimes

that outcome is very positive, yielding a return. In other cases, we may

not yield a corresponding return. We may even get a negative outcome.

The difference is that we know that we have been faithful to what God

has called us to and we yield results to God. God often blesses

obedience beyond what we deserve. If God brings wealth to your life, it

should come as a by-product of obedience, not an end in itself.

God may call each of us to be obedient to situations that may not yield

immediate, positive results. It is in these times that our faith must be

obedience-based versus outcome-based. What if Jesus had considered the

immediate ramifications of whether he would go to the cross? Based on

the immediate outcome, the decision would have been an easy one. Who

wants to die on a cross? However, for Him there was a higher purpose in

that obedience. We are called to this same kind of obedience. This means

putting our own flesh on the line daily, dying to our own self-will.

This is what it means to be a faithful man. Pray that God will make you

a faithful man today.

A GOOD SOLDIER

On June 12, 1944, just six days after D-Day in World War II, a young

lieutenant named Richard Winters led his men to the outskirts of

Carentan. As the officer in charge of Easy Company, of the 101st

Airborne, he was tasked to clear the large French town of its German

defenders. It would be a small battle, but it played a significant role

in the massive effort to rid the world of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

As Winters led his company up the road toward town, the company started

taking machine gun fire from a German MG42. The men instinctively dived

for cover into ditches on either side of the road, and stayed

there--they froze. Not only was the success of the mission in jeopardy,

but the men were easy targets for enemy machine gun and sniper fire.

What happened next proved to be the turning point in the battle for

Carentan -

it's the stuff legends are made of. Lt. Winters went into the middle of

the road and, with bullets hissing past him, started yelling at his

troops to get up out of the ditches and engage the enemy. His words,

coupled with his heroic action, motivated the men to get up, get in the

fight, and gain a decisive victory over the Germans.

Winters' disregard for personal safety in his effort to save his men

from certain death didn't just earn him a medal; his actions earned him

the love, respect, and admiration of his men. They followed him

faithfully from Carentan, through the nightmarish Battle of the Bulge,

and on to triumph at Hitler's Eagle's Nest.

Soldiers willingly follow men like that, men who demonstrate acts of

self-sacrifice in the most harrowing of circumstances. How much more

should we, as Christians, follow the One who endured suffering and

death

to rescue us from the most terrifying fate of all, an eternity in hell?

That was the idea that entered Paul's mind when, at the end of his own

ministry, having been imprisoned by the emperor Nero, he wrote to

encourage the young pastor Timothy. Timothy was facing severe conflict

in his ministry at Ephesus, and the relentless opposition from

heretics,

apostates, and persecutors was weakening him. And just like any

Christian who experiences difficulty because of following Christ, he

needed to be reminded again of his task--to suffer hardship as a good

soldier of Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, "Suffer hardship with me, as a good

soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself

in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who

enlisted him as a soldier." A good soldier is one who does not simply

do

minimum duty for his Lord, but rather is one who serves Him with

everything he is and has. As a Christian, that's what you are called

to.

Paul's words to Timothy are your marching orders, too, as you strive to

be a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

The first mark of a good soldier is the willingness to suffer hardship

with the rest of the soldiers. "Suffer hardship" literally means to

suffer evil or pain along with someone else. By adding "with me," Paul

assures Timothy that he hasn't asked anything of him that he wasn't

willing to do. In fact, Paul was writing from a prison cell.

As a Christian in the Western world, I'd bet it is sometimes difficult

for you to understand what serious spiritual warfare and suffering for

Christ mean. Even though the secular environment in our society is

increasingly hostile to Christianity, you are not faced with loss of

job, imprisonment, or execution because of your faith. With few

exceptions, being a Christian won't keep you out of college or from

getting a good job. But the more faithful you are as a Christian, the

more Satan will put roadblocks, hardships, and rejection in the way,

the more evident the spiritual warfare will become, and the more frequent

and obvious the hardship will become.

You have been called to endure hardship, and every Christian who has

gone before you has had his share. And although you haven't yet shed

blood for your faith (Hebrews 12:4), you will experience hardship as a

Christian for your faithfulness--count on it. Jesus said, "If they

persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20). But be

encouraged for He also said, "In the world you have tribulation, but

take courage; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Jesus is the

perfect Commander who leads by example and will bring you to certain

victory in the end.

Secondly, a good soldier is marked by his separation from the "normal"

life. A "soldier in active service" does not have a 9 to 5 job, or even

a long 60- to 70-hour work week. He is a soldier 24 hours a day, every

day of the year. His body, his health, his skills, his time--all that

he is--belongs to the military. Even when on leave, he is subject to

recall at any time, without notice and for any reason. And whenever ordered

into dangerous duty, he is expected to put his very life on the line

without question or hesitation.

Consequently, he is separated from his normal environment, so that he

will not "entangle himself in the affairs of everyday life." Paul is

not speaking about things that necessarily are wrong in themselves. It is

not that you, as a Christian, should have no contact at all with your

former friends and surroundings, but that you should never be caught up

and enmeshed in them. Those things are irrelevant to your soldiering

and are always subject to being relinquished.

You should never allow earthly matters to interfere with the

fulfillment of your duty to the Lord. Temporal concerns and activities, innocent in

themselves, have neutralized the effectiveness of many pastors, special

ministries, and doctrinally sound churches. Though they once labored

faithfully in the primary purpose of serving Jesus Christ to advance

His kingdom against the forces of darkness, they have unwittingly taken

themselves out of the battle.

Just as the dutiful soldier places his life willingly on the line in

the service of his commander, so also will you, as a faithful Christian,

willingly deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ (Luke

9:23). And you will find yourself echoing Paul's words: "I do not

consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may

finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord

Jesus" (Acts 20:24).

The final mark of a good soldier is a genuine desire to "please the one

who enlisted him as a soldier." The men who followed Lt. Winters

through terrible conditions and battles in Europe did so willingly--he had

earned their respect and affections. In an even greater way, the Lord

deserves your honor, your affection, and your obedience for all He has

done for you. His own courage on the battlefield is unparalleled. He

stayed the course and went before you to win your freedom and eternal

life. And now He seeks your loyal service in His army.

The Christian's greatest desire is to please Christ, and his fondest

hope is to be rewarded for faithful service, to hear his Master say,

"Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few

things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of

your master" (Matthew 25:21).

With that hope in the forefront of your mind, let your life be animated

and driven forward by your love for Jesus Christ. And make it your

ambition, "whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him" (2

Corinthians 5:9)--He is your spiritual Commander-in-Chief.

A JOSEPH STORY

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that

whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life".

John 3:16

"I'd like you to help us develop our marketing program beginning in

January," said the CEO of a sports product company. The consultant was

delighted to have the opportunity. It was the first new business

opportunity he'd had in some time. He had just come out of some very

difficult business and personal circumstances in the last few years. A

few months into the relationship, the CEO asked the consultant to manage

the entire marketing department, placing him over the current marketing

staff. It appeared that God was blessing his efforts with several

successful initiatives. The consultant began to build a relationship

with a few of the executives. One day, the sales manager came into his

office and asked for help on a personal crisis. One thing led to

another, and two months later, the consultant found himself leading the

sales manager in the sinner's prayer in the sales manager's office.

God prepares His servants in many ways to accomplish His purpose. The

story of Joseph is repeated every workday in the lives of His people.

The circumstances may be different, but the results are the same. God

trains His servant through sometimes difficult "boot camps." When that

training is complete, He places them in strategic places to be a

provider-both physically and spiritually.

Is God preparing you to be a provider in the workplace? Do not fret at

the difficult training ground you may be required to endure. He has a

plan. If you'll allow Him to carry out His plan, you'll be privileged to

be used by the Master's hand. I know because I am that consultant.

A DAILY PURSUIT

Isn't it true? We pursue countless things without pursuing the one thing

that matters most-time with God.

I was raised to believe in the importance of a "quiet time." To the

surprise of some, that concept did not originate with the late Dawson

Trotman, founder of The Navigators. It began with the Lord Himself.

The Scriptures are replete with references to the value of waiting for

the Lord and spending time with Him. When we do, the debris we have

gathered during the hurried, sometimes frantic hours of our day gets

filtered out, like the silt that settles where a river widens. With the

debris out of the way, we are able to see things more clearly and feel

God's nudgings more sensitively.

David frequently underscored the benefits of solitude. Most likely he

became acquainted with this discipline as he kept his father's sheep.

Later, during those tumultuous years when King Saul was borderline

insane and pursuing him out of jealousy, David found his time with God

not only a needed refuge, but also his primary means of survival.

When he wrote, "Wait for the Lord; / Be strong, and let your heart take

courage; / Yes, wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14), David was intimately

acquainted with what that meant. When he admitted, "I waited patiently

for the Lord; / And He inclined to me and heard my cry" (40:1), it was

not out of a context of unrealistic theory. The man was hurting; he was

in great pain. And when he wrote: "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have

walked in my integrity, / And I have trusted in the Lord without

wavering. / Examine me, O Lord, and try me; / Test my mind and my heart"

(26:1-2), he wasn't whipping up a few pious thoughts to impress the

reader. Those words splashed from the depths of his troubled soul, like

the salty spray that explodes when waves crash against rocks.

Time with God? Who experienced its value more than Job after losing it

all? In worship he wrote:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,

And naked I shall return there.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)

His quiet trust didn't wear thin; the man continued to commune with his

God. Remember his confession? What makes it even more remarkable is that

he stated it while surrounded by those who accused him:

"But He knows the way I take;

When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

My foot has held fast to His path;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

I have not departed from the command of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my

necessary food." (Job 23:10-12)

That's it! That is exactly what occurs when we remove ourselves from the

fast track and keep our appointment with the One who seeks our worship.

His words become more satisfying than a good meal. What great thoughts

He has preserved for us-what insights, what comfort, what reassurance!

The best part of all is that such divine breakthroughs come so

unexpectedly. Though you and I may have met with God in solitude morning

after morning, suddenly there comes that one day, like none other, when

He reveals His plan . . . and we're blown away.

Who would ever have guessed that an otherwise ordinary dawn would find

an 80-year-old, over-the-hill shepherd staring straight into a bush

ablaze but not consumed? F. B. Meyer wrote with eloquence about it in

Moses: The Servant of God:

There are days in all lives which come unannounced, unheralded; no angel

faces look out of heaven; no angel voices put us on our guard: but as we

look back on them in after years, we realize that they were the turning

points of existence. Perhaps we look longingly back on the uneventful

routine of the life that lies beyond them; but the angel, with drawn

sword, forbids our return, and compels us forward. It was so with Moses.

Understand that those phenomenal moments are the exception-not the rule.

If God spoke to us like that everyday, burning bushes would be as

commonplace as traffic lights and ringing phones. The fact is that never

again in all of time has the voice of God been heard from a bush that

refused to be consumed with flames. You see, God is into original works,

not duplicated recordings.

But never doubt it: He still longs to speak to pursuing hearts . . .

hearts that are quiet before Him. Let's start there.

A HEAVENLY STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION

And the Lord said, "Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead

and going to his death there?" One suggested this, and another that.

1 Kings 22:20

There are few times we get a glimpse of what goes on in Heaven. Here is

one instance when the angels were conferring with the Lord about the

judgment of King Ahab for his sin and who was going to set up Ahab for

this judgment.

If God wanted to use you to impact your world for Jesus Christ, what

circumstances would have to be created in order for you to respond to

His call? Would prospering you materially encourage you to this end?

Would a major change in what you are presently doing be necessary? What

would your response be should God and the angels conclude that the only

way to move you into a position of fulfilling God's purposes was to

remove some things that might be very dear to you? Would you agree with

their plan if you knew this would be the only way you would achieve the

purposes for which God made you? Hard questions, aren't they?

This is the very thing God does in many who have been called for a

special mission. Moses had to be stripped of his royal position in the

family of Egypt and sit in the desert for 40 years. The apostle Paul had

to be knocked off his horse, blinded, and receive a personal visitation

from Jesus. The 12 disciples had to leave their jobs for three years to

follow Christ. Imagine what kind of disruption this had on their lives.

There are many examples of God bringing major upheaval in the lives of

those He called for His purposes. Why?

The reason is that we do not seek God with a whole heart in times of

prosperity and comfort. Prosperity and comfort tend to breed complacency

and satisfaction. It is rare to find the man or woman who seeks God with

a whole heart who does so simply from a grateful heart. We often must

have pain or crisis to motivate us. Eventually, that crisis bridges us

to a new calling, and we embrace that calling if we are open to the Holy

Spirit's work in us. We can actually thank God for the change that was

required to get us to this place, but it is not without anguish of

heart.

Would you be willing to sit in the strategic planning session for your

life and agree with the plans God has for your life? Could you give God

complete freedom to implement that plan, no matter the cost? Ask God to

give you the grace and trust in His love for you to say "yes."

A BUSINESS PROBLEM LEADS TO A CALL

Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said
to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for
the donkeys."
1 Samuel 9:3

The people of Israel wanted a king. God finally agreed. Samuel was the
prophet of Israel who was to anoint the man God had chosen. God selected
a young man to be the first king of Israel-his name was Saul.
It is interesting to look at the circumstances in which God called Saul
into his new vocation. It seems that Saul's father had a business that
used donkeys. During these times, donkeys were often used for commerce.
It was obviously important to the father to find these lost donkeys, so
he sent Saul and his servant out to find them.
They went from region to region, unable to find the donkeys. Finally,
Saul told his servant that they should go back. He thought that his
father would be worried.
But the servant replied, "Look, in this town there is a man of God; he
is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there
now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take" (1 Samuel 9:6).
Saul took his advice. Near the town they met some young girls who told
them that Samuel had just come to their town that day.
When they arrived, they met Samuel who told them that the donkeys were
safe and he would also tell Saul the next morning all that was in his
heart. He then informed Saul of his new calling to be the next king of
Israel.
Can you see what circumstances led to Saul's receiving his call? It
started with a business problem - lost donkeys. It led to connecting
Saul with Samuel through a number of divine appointments and
circumstances. God still does this today.
God will provide the necessary circumstances to accomplish His purposes
in your life. You must realize that a business problem may lead to a new
calling for your life. Saul had no idea lost donkeys would be the
instrument used to change his life. So, too, we must realize God's ways
are not our ways.

UNDERSTANDING THE ROADBLOCK

"And Joshua said, 'Ah, Sovereign Lord, why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!'" - Joshua 7:7

Have you ever felt like you were doing what God wanted you to do, but your plans were totally frustrated? This was how Joshua felt.

The Lord had been with the people of Israel as they entered the Promised Land. They defeated every enemy because of God's blessing and protection. They had just taken the city of Jericho. The next battle was the city of Ai. They scouted the enemy and determined it would require only 3,000 men to defeat them. They attacked, and soon the reports came back that they were being routed. Joshua could not understand this. He cried out to God asking why this was happening.

The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated My covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction" (Joshua 7:10-12).

Whenever we open ourselves up to sin, we become liable. God removes His protective shield from our lives in order for the sin in our lives to be purged out. He often uses the enemy of our souls to accomplish the task. If you feel you are being thwarted in some way, examine your life to see if there is any sin that is the cause of the problem. Adversity is not always due to sin, but it can be. Ask Him. He will show you. As with Joshua, God immediately answered this prayer when Joshua asked. He desires for His children to live in a right relationship with Him.

POSSESSIONS OF THE KINGDOM

"But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions." - Genesis 15:14

Whenever God brings you through a time of great adversity, you can expect to come out of that experience with great possessions, if you have been faithful through the trial. This is a universal truth. Wisdom comes from obedience, not knowledge. When we have been tested and proven, the reality of our faith results in possessions from God that we would never receive if we had not gone through those trials. These are precious in His sight and should be valued greatly. Those who know you will be amazed at the wisdom that comes from your mouth. It is one of those mysteries of the gospel that only those who experience incredible testing and hardship can explain.

God kept the people of Israel enslaved 400 years, but when the time came to free them from the bondage of slavery, they came out with great possessions. These physical possessions symbolize the spiritual possessions we receive when we come out of being enslaved to those things that have hindered us all our lives. These possessions are to be shared with others so that they also can know how they might become free.

What has God freed you from that allows you to share your possessions with others? Share what God has done in your life with someone you work with today. It may be the possession they need most in their life.

BEWARE OF UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit?" (1 Cor 12:7-9).

Whenever something unusual happens in daily life, these are often signs that God is up to something. We must have a heightened sense of awareness of what God may want to do in these situations. My mentor once shared how he was upgraded on an airline unexpectedly. A woman sat down next to him who was very troubled. He began to quietly pray for the woman and God gave him supernatural insights that her problem related to the fact that she had not forgiven her mother in a family-related issue. He decided to politely share his insight. The woman was shocked. My mentor began to minister to her on the airplane and ultimately led her to Christ.

God is raising the spiritual bar for Christians who want to impact the world for Christ today. He wants to break through into people's lives supernaturally by giving them insights into the needs of people in order to bring them to Christ.

Jesus often spoke supernaturally into the lives of others based on the circumstance of the moment. He often spoke of their current condition in life and invited them to make a change.

As you go about your day, there are situations that we can find ourselves in that are open doors for bringing Christ into the circumstance. In fact, He is the one orchestrating the circumstance!

Next time an unusual situation develops, be aware that God may be creating such a circumstance to bring His glory into the situation.