“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money,
nor he who loves abundance with its income” (Ecclesiastes
5:10).

A successful businessman once confided in another businessman
known for his wisdom. “I’ve made a lot of money. I will soon
be able to retire comfortably and do just about anything I want.”

“John,” the wise businessman replied to the man,
“I’ve noticed that every time someone thinks they’ve built a
tree that is so tall it almost reaches heaven, God often decides
to shake the tree.”

The minute we start trusting in riches, God will, in fact,
“shake the tree” to demonstrate who is the source of
wealth to turn us back to trusting Him completely. He did it in my
life, and He’ll do it in your life too because He loves us too
much to allow us to continue down this destructive path.

Money is mentioned more than 2,000 times in the scripture.
Jesus used it many times in illustrating an important lesson to
his disciples. He spoke often of being a good steward of the
resources He entrusted to us. He wanted a return on His investment
and He wanted us to stay away from making money an idol in our
lives.

Jesus understood that He was here on earth only to do the will
of the Father. “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing
by himself; He can do only what he sees his Father doing, because
whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves
the Son and shows him all he does.”

As we look at our relationship to our heavenly Father and our
use of money, it is clear that we, like Jesus, are here to do the
will of the Father in all areas of life. This means seeking to
live a life that is totally yielded to His purposes -even in the
financial area.

Money, independence, and security are often the reasons many
start their own businesses or change jobs. Check your motives
today and see if your financial life can stand Jesus’ scrutiny.
Are you operating as a steward of the financial resources He has
entrusted to you?

The centurion came to Jesus and told Him of his servant who was paralyzed and in terrible suffering. He came to Jesus because he believed He could heal him. He told Jesus of the matter, and Jesus was willing to come with the centurion. But the centurion would not have it. He knew that Jesus, being under the authority of Heaven itself, did not have to see the servant to help him. The centurion understood authority. He understood that he himself had certain rights that his position granted him to have power over situations and people. He also was a man under authority. The centurion understood Jesus’ position and what power that position held in Heaven – the power to heal his servant if He chose to exercise that authority.

When Jesus saw that the centurion understood this principle of authority and that He did not have to visit the servant to heal him, He acknowledged the centurion’s faith. Jesus knew it took great faith to understand authority and whether He had the authority to do what was being asked.

God has placed a system of authority in our world that requires faith to operate under its boundaries: fathers over sons and daughters, employers over employees, government leaders over the people, church leaders over church members. These are authority structures God has placed in our lives to protect and guide us to His will. Some confuse position with worthiness or qualifications of that position. It is the position that God works through. The fact that an authority may not be a Christian may have no bearing on whether God can work through him as your authority. It is only when that authority counsels against a biblical mandate that we should not follow that person’s guidance. The hand of the king is in the hand of God.

Today, we find few who understand this system of authority God has ordained. It requires great faith to operate in this realm. Yet Jesus said that when we understand this, we demonstrate the kind of faith that He rarely sees. Be a person of rare faith. See the authorities placed in your life as those God is using to protect you.

“He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put
in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the
surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for
the treasuries for the dedicated things” (1 Chron 28:12).

It is said of George Washington Carver that he got up early in
the morning each day to walk alone and pray. He asked God how he
was to spend his day and what He wanted to teach him that day.
Carver grew up at the close of the Civil War in a one-room shanty
on the home of Moses Carver- the man who owned his mother. The Ku
Klux Klan had abducted him and his mother, selling her to new
owners. He was later found and returned to his owner, but his
mother was never seen again.

Carver grew up at the height of racial discrimination, yet he
had overcome all these obstacles to become one of the most
influential men in the history of the United States.

He made many discoveries with the use of peanuts and sweet
potatoes. However, after he recommended farmers to plant peanuts
and sweet potatoes instead of cotton, he was led into his greatest
trial. The farmers lost even more money due to the lack of market
demand for peanuts and sweet potatoes. Carver cried out to the
Lord, “Mr. Creator, why did You make the peanut?” Many
years later, he shared that God led him back to his lab and worked
with him to discover some 300 marketable products from the peanut.
Likewise, he made over 100 discoveries from the sweet potato.
These new products created a demand for peanuts and sweet
potatoes, and they were major contributors to rejuvenating the
Southern economy.

As he made new discoveries, he never became successful
monetarily. But during his lifetime, he overcame great rejection
for being black. He was offered six-figure income opportunities
from Henry Ford, and he became friends with presidents of his day,
yet he knew what God had called him to do.

His epitaph read: “He could have added fortune to fame,
but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being
helpful to the world.”

Like Carver, each of us must connect with our primary purpose
in life. Pray that God allows you to fully fulfill your purpose.

The most difficult place to keep moving in faith is the place of extreme pain. Extreme pain, especially emotional pain, can become immobilizing to the human spirit if it is allowed to overcome us. The psalmist tells us there is only one remedy for overcoming painful circumstances that will result in joy. We are to sow in the midst of these times. You cannot do this if you live by feelings alone. It is an act of the will. This act requires that we go outside ourselves in pure faith.

I learned this principle during one of the deepest periods of my life. I had lost much that was dear to me. A mature man in the faith admonished me to reach out to others in spite of my own pain. “Invest in someone else,” he said. I did not realize what a place of healing and comfort that would become.

“He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him” (Ps. 126:6). Pain can become a source of joy if we take the first step by planting seed. There is a harvest that will come if we sow in the midst of tears.

…”those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those
he wanted to humble, he humbled’ (Dan 5:19).

Paul desired a career in the building industry. Early in his
career, he was working with a large ministry to help direct
several of their construction projects.

As the projects were completed, Paul was asked to stay on for
future projects. To keep him busy he was given a number of jobs -
one of which was cleaning toilets. He recalls getting down on his
knees each day and complaining to the Lord, “Lord, I’m a
college graduate!”

Discouraged, Paul told the Lord, “I will not leave here
until You promote me. Please give me contentment with my
circumstance.”

Paul felt totally forgotten by God. A few months later, Paul
received a phone call from a man in the Midwest who owned five
successful businesses who wanted to interview Paul for a job. This
came as a total surprise to Paul. As he drove to the interview, he
told the Lord, “I only want your will in my life, nothing
else. I am content to remain obscure for the rest of my life if I
have You. You must override my lack of experience for me to get
this job.”

The owner of the company asked Paul a surprising question: “If
I asked you to clean a toilet, what would you do?” Paul sat
there, stunned. He wanted to burst out laughing. Paul assured him
that he would simply pick up a sponge and start cleaning.

Amazingly, Paul was hired even though other candidates were
more qualified. After several months of success Paul asked his
boss why he hired him. His boss replied, “Paul, I still have
a large stack of applications from people who wanted this job. Do
you remember the first question I asked you in the interview? I
asked each one the same question. You were the only one who said
he would clean the toilet. Paul, I am a wealthy man, but I grew up
dirt poor. I clean my own toilets at home. I can’t have people
running my businesses who are too proud to clean a toilet.”

Sometimes God places us in situations to see if we will be
faithful in those before He is willing to promote us to greater
things.

We’ve all heard stories of individuals who have overcome extreme hardship during their childhood years. Children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal crash, childhood disease – these are all difficult circumstances to overcome.

Jephthah was a man who overcame his obstacles and refused to allow his circumstances to prevent him from becoming great in God’s sight. He was born to Gilead, a result of his father’s adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Jephthah’s half-brothers decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman.” Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.

This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. Today he probably would have been part of a street gang. As he got older, his reputation as a warrior became known to those in his country, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander. Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

“Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?” he responded. He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life.

It is said that if we were to help the butterfly remove itself from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh and born from a seemingly unloving God. However, the Lord knows our struggle and will make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to
eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you
will surely die’” (Gen 2:16-17).

Everyone needs the gift of freedom and boundaries in their work
to succeed. God set up the ultimate work environment in the Garden
of Eden. He gave Adam and Eve responsibility to manage the
animals, the agriculture and every activity. He gave them specific
instructions as to how things were to be done but gave liberty of
expression for fulfilling their tasks.

He also told them what was off limits. They could not eat from
the tree of good and evil because He knew it would be bad for
them. He was not trying to withhold from them; He was trying to
protect them.

If you are a manager it is your responsibility to clearly
define the job responsibilities of those under your care. They
should know clearly what the freedoms and the boundaries are in
carrying out their duties. They should be given adequate freedoms
with authority to enforce their decisions that will impact whether
they can be successful or not.

Once freedoms and boundaries are established, this allows a
healthy accountability to take place between management and
worker. Both can have healthy expectations of each other.

Do you have a clearly defined job description with measurable
goals outlined? Are your freedom and boundaries clearly defined so
you know what you can and cannot do within the scope of your job?
If not, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Today, evaluate your job function and make sure you have
clearly defined expectations and the way in which you are expected
to accomplish your tasks.

The prophet Isaiah describes his relationship to God as a relationship that has two-way communication. Have you ever felt that your communication with God was only one way – you to Him only? Isaiah tells us, “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary…. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back” (Is. 50:4-5).

The key to Isaiah’s relationship with God lies in four important principles:

1. He had an instructed tongue. Isaiah had given over rule of his life completely to God’s purposes.

2. He knew the word of the Lord, which allowed him to sustain and encourage others.

3. He took time to listen.

4. He did not flee from the tough assignments. He didn’t shrink back.

If we are to be able to listen to God, we must follow the same principles. Knowing and spending time studying God’s Word allows the Holy Spirit to bring to mind His instructions for what He wants for us. Recently, I became very busy in my work and other activities. It wasn’t long before I felt distance between God and me. I had to make a conscious decision to carve out more time alone to listen, study, and meditate on His Word. This is the lifeline for the follower of Jesus. When we begin to lose the relationship, we are susceptible to becoming rebellious, going our own way. Invest your life in this relationship so that you may continue to hear His voice and sustain the weary ones around you.

“For David…served the purpose of God in his own
generation” (Acts 13:36 NASB)

Imagine for a moment that you have just died and you are about
to come before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Jesus is speaking to
his angel about you. He then says these words: “Janice served
the purpose of my Heavenly Father for her generation.”

Will God be able to say you served your purpose in your
generation? Imagine being able to say that. God was able to say
this about the life of David, even though David made some
incredibly bad choices in his life that led to long term
consequences. However, because David repented each time he erred,
his purpose was accomplished on earth as God had designed it.

One of the prayers I often pray for people whenever I’m asked
to pray for them is this; “Lord, may you fulfill every
purpose for which you made them. May there be no inheritance left
on the table that he/she is entitled to.”

That is really the definition of success. Success is fulfilling
the complete purpose for which God made you. It has nothing to do
with wealth, accomplishments, stature in life, or standard of
living. It has to do with living a life of obedience to the
Father. And when we live a life of obedience to the Father, we
will fulfill the purposes that God had in mind when he made you
and me.

In 1924, Eric Liddell, a Scottish Olympic runner who’s life was
chronicled in a movie entitled the Chariots of Fire, was
challenged by his missionary sister to forego running in the
Olympics in lieu of going to China with her as a missionary. He
responded by saying, “When I run I feel His (God’s) pleasure.
I was made to run and I was made to be a missionary too.”
Eric understood his complete purpose for his generation. As a
result, he brought glory to the Father through his running and his
missionary service.

Today, ask God to fulfill His purposes for your life in your
generation.

A group of workplace believers meet at my office every week for fellowship, study, and prayer. One man attended our group for several years. Jim was well liked and in good health. One Thursday he showed up as usual. The next morning I received a call, “Jim is dead! He died in his easy chair last night!” Jim had no prior problems and there was no indication he was about to go be with the Lord. Naturally, it came as a shock to us all.

Whenever things like this happen close to home, it brings us face to face with our mortality. A friend of mine said he was challenged by someone to do an experiment. He challenged him to live his life for one year as if it were the last year he would live. He responded to the challenge and did as proposed. It changed his life forever. He began to focus on different priorities and people when he viewed life in these terms.

James gives us a perspective on viewing tomorrow.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15).

Life is fragile. Consider where you are investing your time and energies. Someone once said they had never heard anyone on his deathbed say that he wished he had made more money in his lifetime or he wished he had made a certain deal. Usually it is something like, “I wish I had spent more time with my kids.” Ask the Lord to give you His priorities for your life.