Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, “Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” (Psalms 35:27 NKJV)

I don’t know about you, but ever since I can remember, it has always been in my heart to please God. I am truly thankful for the heart that is in me to please Him.  It’s not something that I can really take any credit for. There’s a tender something in me towards Him.

Sure, at times, it has been less influential over my thoughts or my actions. At times, disappointments and discouragements may have caused me to move away from it to a greater or lesser degree.  OK, that’s not fair.  Nothing can “cause” me to move away from it… but I may have chosen to do so due to my poor reactions at times to life’s blows.

But regardless of what may or may not have been… my heart is toward God. Is yours?  Do you want to please Him?

I do.

And it’s like a warm soothing balm to know that He gets pleasure out of the prosperity of His people.

Before you jump on me for sucker-punching you on this one, think about what the Scripture says at the beginning of this post.  Did I take it out of context? A little. Does that change its meaning? Not at all.  In fact, if you read the rest of Psalm 35, you’ll find out that what David was saying was actually much stronger than what I am saying.

One quick note: “prosperity” in this verse is the Hebrew word shalom.  I’ve done a lot of studying about this word over the years and I can tell you that its true meaning is “overall well-being.”  It represents a state of wholeness, of peace, of prosperity, of abundance, of safety, of soundness.  It isn’t just financial in nature, but it definitely includes the financial side of life.

So… if you’re wondering today about whether it’s a good idea for you and/or your business to be successful… think about pleasing God.

But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ's victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere, (2 Corinthians 2:14 AMP)

My wife and I were watching the Olympics a few nights ago, and something we saw has stuck in my mind ever since. I can’t say with absolute certainty, because a few days have gone by — and quite a few celebratory interviews with athletes have too — but I’m nearly positive it was the Women’s 4×400m relay.

You may remember this race. The American women had individually experienced some blunders in previous races. They were pretty heartbroken as a result. So they came into the race with some serious motivation.

As the relay came to an end, they were down. It was the last leg of the race. Sanya Richards was churning along a fair distance behind the runner from the Russian Federation. But as she rounded the last bend in the track, she absolutely turned something on.  She was “digging deep,” as the commentator called it.  She held a laser focus on the finish line, while the Russian runner’s eyes kept glancing up to the big screen to see what was going on.

After her experiences at the Beijing Olympic games, Sanya could’ve lightened up. After all, she’d suffered some hard knocks. To say she’d had some disappointments would be a severe understatement.  She ran pretty hard in the last leg… but she was behind for over 300 meters.  She’d given it a good run. She’d been behind from the very start — the Russians had taken the lead from the Americans in the last few meters of the previous leg.

What goes through your mind when you’re in the race, you’re behind, and the pressure is on? I’m sure that your body is screaming at you to stop. You’re not sure if you have anything left. Everything in you tells you that it would be OK to finish in second place.

And yet… somewhere, from the deepest parts of her, something arose.  What was it?  A decision.

“We decided we were going to win it.”

These were the words uttered by one of the American women after the race was over. The interviewer from the television network was trying to find out what they had done to make it happen. The sentence blew past in a flurry of words as the ladies relished their victory.

It wasn’t until a couple of days later that I took note of exactly how profound that statement was.

When was the last time you made a decision of that quality?  When was the last time you simply decided that there were no options… you were absolutely going to achieve that goal?

In the case of Sanya Richards, she came from behind to cross the finish line .28 seconds ahead.  That fraction of a second may not seem like much, but it was the difference between heartbreak and victory.

In your case, it might be in business. It might be a sales goal. It might be a revenue target. It might be a profitability number. It might just be to survive until that big deal closes. It may be to simply stay the course and finish producing a product.  No matter what your goal is… do yourself a favor: make a decision.

Decide you’re going to win.  You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish when you leave yourself no option.

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children….” (Proverbs 13:22a NKJV)

Off and on for the past few years, I’ve returned to this subject in my personal study.  Whether ministering from the pulpit or working with entrepreneurs and businesspeople in the context of business, the idea that we — as Christians — struggle more than most with money has come up again and again.

Looking at my own church experience, I can see that there are a number of factors that have affected me personally.  It has been a journey in and of itself to reconcile my own thinking with what I’ve come to understand from the Word of God.

But… reaching beyond myself, I’ve discovered that many people struggle with many of the same issues.  And there are others that I’ve found are working to limit the effectiveness of God’s people that had not been a part of my own experience.

The most dangerous ones, of course, are the ones that affect us without us being aware of them. For example, confusing wealth with money is a common misunderstanding. What exactly is it that we are pursuing in business anyway?

All of this has led me to work on something that I’m excited to be announcing very soon.  It is intended to address all of this — and much more — head-on.  Watch this space for updates!

Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.
(Proverbs 16:3 AMP)

Last time, we talked about anxiety, stress, and a foreboding that can sometimes overtake our hearts and leave us flustered. As I said, that had happened to me.

In reality, it hadn’t “happened to me.” I had permitted it. This is what we must begin to comprehend. We have in our lives what we permit to exist. In my case, I needed to take some aggressive action — which I did — in order to banish anxiety and worry from my mind and heart.

What’s unfortunate is that these kinds of things have a way of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies. When our minds are occupied with the possibility of a negative outcome, then our creativity becomes hampered, our vision becomes less clear, our focus becomes diverted, and we miss opportunities.

But the Scriptures make it clear that we are in charge of our minds. And in fact, the passage I quoted above from Proverbs gives us one way to handle foreboding thoughts. The picture is of a beast of burden which is carrying a load. In fact, when a camel is “loaded up” with its burden, it kneels down and the load is quite literally “rolled” onto its back. This would’ve been a familiar word picture in the time of David and Solomon.

Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.
(Psalms 37:5 AMP)

The thing of it is… when a load is “rolled” onto the camel’s back, there’s absolutely no way for anyone or anything else to carry the weight of that burden.

Yes… what God is saying to us is that we have not been built to handle the mental and emotional stress that we try — particularly in today’s society — to carry. We must roll the load off onto Him and refuse to take the weight of it back upon ourselves.

I won’t kid you. This is a discipline. It takes diligent, attentive effort to ensure that we are not burdened down in this manner. But this is a form of trusting God — not a passive, nonchalant, “Oh well…,” kind of trust.  Instead, it is an active trust. It is an engaged trust. It is an expectant reliance upon Him.

This brings up the tension that exists between what I am to do and what God is to do. There’d be no way to cover that in this setting. However, suffice it to say that engaging God in this manner and actively looking to Him for guidance regarding what we are to do is key.  Too many times we take action out of fear and end up in trouble. The action that God would have us to take will many times be quite different than our instinctive reactions.

Either way… if you’re dealing with an inner storm today — particularly due to financial stress — it is time to decide what you will tolerate in your life… and what you will not. You’re in charge.  What will you do?

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” — Thomas Paine, The Crisis

Anxiety. Worry. Concern. Fear.

All too often, these are the “norm” in times of crisis. Perhaps even worse, they are the norm in times of perceived crisis.

Regardless of whether you’re facing a very real and authentic crisis right now, we live in an environment in which the talk of financial difficulty and stress is all around us.  Terms like, “economic downturn,” “slowdown,” and, “recession,” can be found on the pages of nearly every newspaper and fill the teleprompters of the news media.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve let it affect me this year.  It “dawned” on me this morning that for some time now — days, possibly weeks or even months — there’s been an overarching sense of impending doom that has hovered over my mind and heart.

Why?  I’m not really sure.  But the notion that somehow everything could unravel and leave us (my family and me) “exposed to the elements” of financial disaster has somehow become a daily companion of mine.

It’s a subtle thing.  We’ve watched as a neighbor family packed up all of their stuff and moved out of their house, turning it over to the bank with no warning. We’ve seen other homes in our community go into foreclosure. We hear stories of industries that are suffering and men and women who go scrambling to find work.  Initially, it never even crossed my mind that we could be affected by it.  But somewhere along the way a creeping fear made its way into my mind.  Had it shown up all in one day, I’d have recognized that it wasn’t from me and wouldn’t have tolerated it.  But, like the proverbial frog in the kettle, my thought life has gradually accepted this growing anxiety.

It occurred to me that this was the case today when I read these words:

“The reverent, worshipful fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it rests satisfied; he cannot be visited with [actual] evil.” (Proverbs 19:23 AMP)

Reading, “…he who has it rests satisfied,” I felt like a drop of cool water had landed on my parched tongue.

“Resting” and “satisfied” both seemed so far from my current reality that it really made me stop and think.  I’ve re-read this verse any number of times since then, and I’ve decided that it’s time to calm the inner storm. When the disciples awakened Jesus in the boat during the raging storm, he let everyone know — including the natural environment — what He was going to tolerate.

Since He’s not here (at least in the physical sense), it must be my job (like the disciples whom He rebuked — apparently for not taking charge of the situation themselves) to deal with this storm.  And so, that’s exactly what I’ve done.  And you can, too.

More on this next time…

Check out Michael Pink’s comments today on the recession of 2008. I can’t tell you how strongly I feel about the notion that it is time to get out of debt. In fact, some recent interviews with people who have tremendous expertise in banking and law have led me to believe that this message isn’t only a passing spiritual fad.

My wife and I became strongly convicted about this several months ago, and I’ve shared the conviction in just a handful of conversations. But each time I do, I’m amazed at the responses I get — others not only feel the same way but are hearing it from a variety of sources.

What’s interesting is that we’re changing our level of expectation. We’re not just talking about paying down some consumer debt that accumulated. We’re talking about eliminating business debt, paying off the one car note we have, and even getting rid of the mortgage. We’ve shifted into “aggressive mode” and we are looking to have all of this done in just a few months — even if that means selling the house rather than paying off the mortgage. That’s how urgent we feel these instructions are, at least for us personally.

Recently, a friend of mine pointed out that in any market transition, fortunes are won and lost. In times of shift, opportunities emerge that simply cannot exist when the status quo predominates. Right now is a time to re-evaluate your business — and even those dormant ideas — and see if there isn’t a unique opportunity to deliver value or otherwise benefit from the changing conditions.

For who is God except the Lord? … He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. (Psalms 18:31,34)

We’re pressing in to Him right now to receive ways to do what would’ve seemed impossible a few months ago. How about you?

Just a quick note to let you know about a relatively new feature that I’m involved with.  It’s a weekly Christian Business Podcast produced by ChristianBusinessDaily.com.  Michael Pink and I are the co-hosts, and it’s a real honor to be involved.

Hope to hear from you after you’ve had a chance to check it out!

This time of year, we frequently quote the prophecy concerning the birth of Our Lord which was immortalized in song by George Frideric Handel in The Messiah.  The passage, lifted from the first few verses of Isaiah Chapter 9, reads:

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV)

This passage is rich with meaning, and I’m sure that, like me, you’ve heard many explorations of its depth.  But one aspect that I’ve not heard explored nearly so significantly has to do with the unique terminology used only in these two verses regarding His “government.”

Digging one layer deep into the Hebrew, you’ll find that Isaiah used a word we’ve translated “government” that occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament.  I’m no Hebrew scholar, nor do I claim to be.  However, based upon my research, some might argue that translators would’ve hit closer to their mark if they had used the English word “empire” to represent this word.  I’m also enough of a student of the Bible to know that any time you find a word in the original languages that is used only a twice - in this case, the two occurrences are only a sentence apart - there’s something worth searching out.

Additionally of interest is the fact that this Hebrew word comes from another rarely-used word: a verb meaning, “to struggle, prevail, have power over.”  This verb is only used of one person in the entire Bible: Jacob.  It is used only to describe Jacob’s wrestling match with God wherein he struggled and ultimately prevailed.

The Struggle

This is a powerful picture of the nature of the Kingdom which the Lord Jesus Himself came to earth to establish.  It is a Kingdom - an empire - which is governed and ruled by the One True King, but which is only established - whether in the heart of a person or in the sphere of influence wielded by a person - through a process of struggle.  From the time of the arrival of the Babe in the womb of Mary until now, the Kingdom meets with resistance everywhere it goes.  From the struggle faced by Joseph at the discovery of his espoused wife’s pregnancy, to the ruthless destruction of human lives by Herod in an attempt to eradicate the young Boy… and on throughout history, the Lordship of Christ is realized in the face of resistance.

Perhaps you recognize the struggle in your own life… the one that occurs as you willfully choose to subject yourself to the King.  It can be a painful journey as we continually recognize and honor the authority of the King.

And yet, the outcome of this struggle is that the Kingdom expands.  The territory ruled by the King has been increasing its borders since the time that Jesus announced that it was, in fact, at hand.  He taught us the nature of this Kingdom through the parables.  He charged His disciples - His trainees - with declaring it and securing new territory for it to govern.

To the loyal subjects of the King… those who seek to expand the borders of His Kingdom through your labor and work in the business world, allow me to encourage you afresh and anew with the words of Isaiah’s prophecy:

You face resistance.  There is struggle.  Just as Joshua and the Nation of Israel had to battle giants and powerful enemies as they “possessed” the Promised Land, you and I will engage a variety of enemies in our mission.

“Of The Increase… There Shall Be No End”

This Kingdom is, however, destined to increase.  In fact, it is an ever-expanding entity.  We who labor at the edges of its borders - where the battle can be the hottest - are just the latest in a long succession of those who have been challenged and honored with the call to expand it.  I’m thrilled to know that at no point will the King call “retreat.”  At no time will He have said, “…it’s large enough, you can quit.”  Or, “You’ve failed miserably, get out of there.”  He has commanded that it will increase unendingly.

“The Zeal of the LORD of Hosts Will Perform This.”

And how refreshing it is to know that a powerful force bolsters us - the very zeal and passion of the King who longs to bring His Goodness, His Majestic Greatness and His Peace to bear over His created order.  And there can be no question that it will be accomplished.  May it be accomplished in and through you!

Where ever the battle may find you today, know that you are not alone, but instead are part of a victorious army called and commissioned by the very King of Heaven.  Relish the struggle and the battles - they are part of your training.  You are built for them!

For King and Kingdom!

Have you ever noticed that pursuing your dreams takes money?

We’ve talked previously in this setting about the notion that God is ultimately the giver of dreams (Psalm 37:4) and how that I believe that when we’re talking about these dreams that are rooted in the deepest places of our hearts, God gives them to us. By this, of course, I mean that He places them there to begin with! He then challenges us to engage the process of seeing them come to fruition. Not that He leaves us on our own (thankfully!)… but nevertheless, the process requires our involvement. But when it comes to the Source of these dreams… it is He!

Nevertheless, there are few things in life that can be accomplished without significant financial resources. This is true no matter what sort of dream you have. Even if your dream were purely, let’s say, to have healthy relationships with your family — your spouse, your kids, etc. — it would be severely hindered if you were impoverished. Lacking financial resources causes us to have to think constantly about where the money is coming from to pay the next bill… to get another job, to work harder and longer… all the while neglecting the people most important to us.

Is money the “be-all, end-all” goal? No way. However, none of us should apologize for turning a profit in business nor for bringing significant financial resources into our lives.

Some have argued that it is “selfish” to want to have abundance.

I would argue quite the opposite. If you are barely getting by, how can you pay for your neighbor’s kid to go to college? How can you buy a new car for that relative in need? How can you build a homeless shelter or create a camp for kids with illnesses?

Our poverty-minded thinking that has said, “I’ll be O.K. if I just have enough to pay my bills and put a little away for a rainy day,” has left us crippled and enslaved. You can’t be and do what God has called you to do without having more than enough financially.

Certainly, if we have hang-ups with greed, we need to address those as the heart issues they really are. But we must deal with them and move on!

There’s a great discussion on this subject going on over at Michael Pink’s blog. Check it out.

In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with a quote from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher:

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions - he had money, too.

I recently heard something that really made me think:

Have you ever observed children playing games with one another? Have you ever heard one child jump up and down and scream, “It’s my turn to lose! I want to lose this time!! It’s my turn!”?

Of course not!

Why? Because God created us with a desire to win. You are born with the innate capacity and drive to win — not to lose. It is only after we allow life to beat us down for a while that we begin to accept — either tacitly or explicitly — failure as a “norm” or an acceptable way of life.

One of the things that I think we sometimes miss is the habit of looking inward into our hearts to see what God has put in there. A scripture that comes to mind that has always fascinated me is this:

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. - Psalm 37:4 (AMP)

You see, God put in you something for you to accomplish. He created you with purpose and by design. He wants to see you accomplish what He sent you here to do.

Perhaps, as my friend Michael Pink says, you are created to build something. I want to challenge you today to ponder what God has designed you to do. Allow yourself to dream. Give yourself permission to believe that winning is not only possible, but that it is truly within your grasp!