Believers today face a number of unique challenges where it comes to really reaching out for and achieving success. Religious training has, unfortunately, not done us any favors along these lines… something we’ve talked about repeatedly here. But today I want to bring up one of the challenges that all of us face.

This nasty critter is more fundamental, more universal and more subtle than perhaps any other obstacle we must overcome. It’s one I hate to even name. It’s partly a belief about ourselves (and about God), but it’s better described as a condition that controls us.

What's Holding You Back?

This one will cause you to second-guess yourself. It will make you feel like a fraud. It will cause you to want to avoid contact with your Father God. It will undermine your faith. It will sideline you.

This controlling condition has weakened the greatest among us. It has aborted dreams, robbed destinies and prevented miracles. You were born with it and so was I. Once in a while someone seems to be more or less immune to it, but most of us suffer silently.

And in the greatest of ironies… it’s already been dealt with.

The condition I’m referring to could most easily be called shame.

We certainly have Adam to thank for this. He entered life without it. All of us since him have been born with it. Jesus whipped it on the cross, but our souls are wired & trained to accept its presence. Efforts to eradicate it from our lives are like getting the car aligned… only to hit a nasty pothole. Again. And again.

A few months ago, I had a conversation with a good friend of mine that started a chain reaction. He’d been studying the subject of shame, and like interlocking puzzle pieces it connected right up with some of what I’d been studying. It was truly a pivotal moment.

Since then, it’s as though God has been showing me shame everywhere. And I’ve become convinced that conquering the effects of shame in our lives is not only critical for our own sakes, but it’s being highlighted by God as an area in which He wants to work right now.

Shame is a Thief

Here at Nourish The Dream, we often talk about dreaming big dreams. But if we don’t deal with shame, it’s hard to dream at all. Your “big dream” today might just be surviving. You may find yourself sitting in the ashes of broken dreams… maybe you experienced a foreclosure, a bankruptcy or a business failure. You may have lost a job, lost your marriage or are separated from your children. You may think that dreaming any kind of dream at all right now is out of the question.

I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. When Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” (Matt 28: 20 NIV) He didn’t mean, “I’m with you unless you goof up.” He is with you. Right now.

And it’s in His great heart today to tell you that He took your shame. You’ve been made righteous. The charges against you haven’t been dropped… He took them Himself. For you. On your behalf. The penalty for your sins and your mistakes has already been paid.

Religion tries to tell you that you have to suffer for your sins & mistakes. But Jesus suffered so you don’t have to. You’ve been placed in complete right standing with the Father today. As with the woman caught in adultery, the only One capable of condemning you is justifying you. He’s releasing you.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what you haven’t done. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. God’s favor and power to overcome the challenges and obstacles you face is aimed at you today. Jesus earned righteousness so He could give it to you.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17 NKJV)

We’re going to spend more time on this subject in the days ahead… but if you possibly can, take a moment and give this a listen today:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV)

In previous articles here, we’ve talked about the inner struggle that some of us face — particularly those who have been around Christianity for awhile — where business and financial success are concerned. One of the biggest contributors to this struggle is an abundance of erroneous teaching about the Bible and what it really says.

The Root of All Evil?

This screwed-up teaching is so pervasive that even people outside the Church have been infected by it.

For example, here’s a direct quote from a 2008 Newsweek article:

“For one thing, Scripture is full of exhortations against accumulating wealth. The New Testament, especially, repeatedly reminds followers of Christ that earthly wealth means nothing in heaven. ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God,’ says Jesus.”

These few sentences are so full of misunderstanding about Scripture that it’s almost infuriating. (Where does Newsweek get off interpreting Scripture anyway?!) But the tragedy is that many churches have actually taught fallacies like this — arguably with good intentions.

Another big example is the, “root of all evil,” Scripture referred to in the title of today’s message. Not only is it frequently misquoted as, “money is the root of all evil,” but the entire passage that it comes from is (in my experience) usually preached from a fundamental place of misunderstanding.

If you’re hearing from those you look up to (spiritually speaking) that it’s wrong to accumulate wealth, doesn’t that directly work against you?  Isn’t business challenging enough without wondering if God is upset with us for doing well in it?  Is God so cruel as to require that we work to provide for our families and even call us into the business world only to tell us that we are only pleasing to Him when we fail?

It’s time that we take a hard look at some of these teachings and find out what the Scripture really says.

Stay tuned for more on this topic. If you’re ready to dive into some more intense study of this and other topics related to money, business and profit, be sure to check out our 5-part audio teaching series on bulldozing the barriers to your business and financial success.

In this episode of the Nourish The Dream Podcast, I’m posting audio from a message I shared recently in the pulpit of my good friend, Jesse DiMartino of the Freedom Center in Sarasota.

If you’ll forgive some local information and a brief personal story, you’ll hear the real heart behind the recent post, Cultivating a Heart that Listens to God. I’ve become convinced that despite all of the bad news in our economy, we’ve not yet heard — nor experienced — the worst. There’s more to come.

At the same time, if we will focus our energies on digging a well deep enough to retrieve the sustenance we need — out of relationship to God — we will be properly positioned to come through this season and the next.

(For the record, the story of the motorcycle accident was told to me as completely true story by someone whose word I trust. Please don’t try to use motorcycles as a weight loss program.)

Special thanks to Jesse DiMartino, Jacob Owens, J.R. Yoder and Andrew Owens… as well as to the entire Freedom Center family.

It seems like the bad economic news just keeps coming. Last week’s jobs report reflects the worst numbers in the entire lifetime of Generation X. Hopefully the recession hasn’t impacted your business or family personally, but even as I write this line, I know that the likelihood is that it has — or at least some of the people in your life.

You may know by now that I’m not a “doom and gloom” guy. I’m about as positive and optimistic as they come. That being said, I don’t think that the worst of the economic news is behind us. Things are changing very rapidly, and will continue to do so. In fact, I believe that what’s ahead of us is different than we could’ve possibly imagined.

The Importance of Hearing God

A Listening Heart

Back in March, God began to call to my mind the time in Isaac’s life when God spoke to him about starting a new business during an economic crisis. The passage is in Genesis 26, and it’s worth taking some time to study. Here are some of the highlights:

• God spoke to him not to move to Egypt, where the economy was better off (he was considering it).
• He and his “tribe” of people were nomadic. Raising crops was not part of their livelihood.
• Farms all around were going under — there was a famine. When this happens, it means that if you’re considering going into farming, now’s not a good time.
• After listening to and obeying God, Isaac plants crops. His harvest was 100x what should’ve been expected from the amount that he planted. One… hundred… times…

You may have heard preachers refer to this story in the context of an offering — as though Isaac gave money to a ministry or to a prophet or priest or man of God. Nope. His “sowing seed” was the beginning of a new (albeit temporary) business.

Countless Promises

The Scriptures are full of promises from God for provision — even during economic hard times.

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalms 34:1-10 NKJV)

The problem is this: if you’re dealing with financial pressure, worry, anxiety, concern — either because of focusing on your own situation or due to the fear of what might be coming your way given the constant barrage of economic bad news — then you’re successfully distracted from listening to God. In times like this, it may take additional effort, energy, discipline and focus to silence your soul and dig deep enough to hear from God.

But it’s critical…

and worth it.

“Moreover, by them [the words of God] is Your servant warned (reminded, illuminated, and instructed); and in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalms 19:11)

No one — not the best Wall Street analysts, the most qualified business consultants, the academicians in the ivory towers, nor the people attempting to pull the levers of the economy and our society — can predict what’s coming.

But by hearing from God, we can be

• warned
• reminded
• illuminated, and
• instructed.

If your life has, in other seasons, deceived you into thinking that hearing from God wasn’t critical or essential, then this season is one of those that will serve to teach you that it cannot be overlooked.

Had Isaac not heard from God, he wouldn’t have received the abundance that came his way during the famine of Genesis 26.

I don’t know about you, but right now, I’m working hard to cultivate a heart that hears from God. My life depends upon it.

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)

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.