01
May '18
FAITHPRENEUR D5W1: EXCELLENCE IS OUR DIFFERENCE
01
May '18
Talents take us into the marketplace, excellence lifts up God in whatever position, place or responsibility that God puts us in. One marketplace Faithpreneur will encounter more opportunities to fulfill the great commission than most churches do on any given Sunday.
The great commission (Matthew 28:19), is not in the church it’s from the church . Church is for the building up and equipping of the saints to live righteous, victorious lives and to go out into the world to make disciples (Luke 14:23, Hebrews 10:24, Ephesians 4:12). The marketplace — the positions and places in the world where Christians encounter the lost, the unsaved and the hurting, is where the great commission takes place. I am not saying that marketplace ministers replace the church, I am saying that marketplace ministers are the church to the world. Effectively, we are all marketplace ministers, regardless of what our title, job, role or influence is — in the street and in our homes (Matthew 5:14).
This is not a put down of the church, it could actually be a case for why the church should be more active in the development of marketplace leaders.
With That Said…
Like most, I don’t and won’t do business with you just because you are a Christian. In fact I won’t do business with you unless your demonstrated difference is superior to your competitor — most of the time. This is where excellence comes in for the Faithpreneur. Excellence is, should be, the Faithpreneurs distinguishable asset in the marketplace. Our difference is excellence — our excellence is our difference.
The bible said, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). Don’t expect respect or to be successful in the marketplace because you believe in Jesus. Expect respect and to be successful when your excellence honors God: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23).
Case In Point…
Tom started a business consulting firm. His knowledge was impeccable, his personality exuded kindness. He was savvy and well versed in business strategies that could impact the bottom line for almost any company — large or small. Tom’s talent had the ability to put him in front of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people every year. Because of Tom’s sphere of influence, he had the potential to impact countless lives for the cause of Christ.
There was one small problem. Tom was highly inconsistent, he lacked follow through, he procrastinated profusely and he dressed inappropriately. To make matters worse, he used shabby/unqualified vendors, his marketing material was awful — a DIY (Do It Yourself) nightmare proving he needed to stay in his lane, and he approached new business opportunities and clients with a lazy attitude. I hated it. I hated to see it. Honestly, I couldn’t stand it. Not simply because this was severely hindering Tom’s business opportunities but it severely hindered Tom’s ability to, “Lift up God,” and potentially impact thousands of lives for the cause of Christ.
Let’s face it, Christian or not, we don’t want to do business with anybody who is not about their business. Christian does not give us a free pass, it gives us an opportunity to put God on display through our excellence. Excellence is the door opener — can be, for conversations about Jesus, and in fact, if God is lifted up He will draw them to you: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32).
After some “Straight Talk” coaching and sage advice, Tom never turned it around. Tom went out of business. He’s still a marketplace minister but He’s not prepared to be a Faithpreneur. In my 20 years of senior executive management experience and over 10 years as an entrepreneur, I’ve never seen a lack of excellence succeed — and I doubt I ever will.
In every area of your business, evaluate your excellence. If you want God to bless your business aspirations, develop a mindset that honors God through the light of excellence (Matthew 5:16). Don’t make excuses, do it. Set standards that meet God’s expectations and you will blow customers, competitors and bosses away. Put your work excellence on your prayer list and keep it there — everyday should be a renewed commitment to excellence in every thing you say or do in your business, position, opportunity or task.
Straight Talk: If you have an area in your business, career or profession that is lagging or suffering, check your excellence. Excellence is not only what we demonstrate towards others, it’s what we believe.
- Is your dress/appearance excellent or appropriate for your customer/audience?
- Is your planning, your time management excellent?
- Is your attitude, knowledge, understanding, use of success tools/resources excellent?
- Is your work ethic, customer management, consistency and follow through excellent?
- Is your investment in self, use of mentors/role models/networks to be successful excellent?
- Is your work life balance, rest, prayer life, and church fellowship prioritization excellent?
Excellent is as excellent does. We cannot be something that we’re not — providing excellence starts with being excellent. For Faithpreneurs, our business is also our marketplace ministry. Take inventory today of every area of faith and business that deserves your excellence. There is no way that you can fail at what you were created to do if excellence is your difference.
For fun, try this quick online entrepreneur self-assessment test at Entrepreneur Magazine. Click Here
Share and be blessed.
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27
Mar '18
FAITHPRENEUR D4W1: GREAT FAITH
27
Mar '18
After many years in business and having experienced every high and every low, the one thing that I think all business leaders, entrepreneurs and aspiring professionals will tell you is this, “If you don’t believe in you, nobody else will.”
Belief is not simply a matter if thinking we can. Belief is the foundation that supports what you will do. Let’s face it, if success, progress or growth were easy, in any area of life, we would see the manifestation of God’s promises everywhere. But we don’t.
The fact is, any endeavor, mission or vision is going to take everything you have and then some. There will be days where you feel on top of the world and days when you feel like the world is on top of you. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of how… How will you survive the lows, the difficulties, the challenges and yes, the setbacks?
A FAITHPRENEUR has a built in plan. It’s not easy, nothing worth having is but it is absolutely necessary. Hype does not support hope. A belief that you will ride every wave with, stay under control with, stand up against every Goliath with and tackle every challenge with is based on Great Faith.
Don’t get me wrong, many people succeed without Great Faith. I’m not talking about momentary or temporary success, I’m talking success from the inside out. Faith in whatever God has given you to do, your talent or vision is only as sure as your faith in God is. People tend to fall on one of two sides of Great Faith: They either have it or they don’t, they either want it or they don’t. And you know based on your own experiences, that there is a difference between believing in what you’re doing and believing that you were created to do it.
Every vision, business or career is for somebody but that does not mean that everybody will have the faith to do it. There are a lot of dreams, talents and visions in the grave yard that did not achieve full potential. Faith in God’s will and plan for our life, our talent, our purpose is an unmistakable, unstoppable belief. It drives, rises, steps up and shows up when others give up. It is uncommon faith or “Great Faith.”
Remember the woman in Matthew 15? She came to Jesus seeking help for her daughter (Matthew 15:22-28). She believed that Jesus could help and she persisted in asking him for that help. Jesus ignored the woman and even outright denied her. When our faith is challenged, and it will be, will you give up or will you believe that God’s desire is to bless you?
Finally, Jesus told her, she had “Great Faith,” and He answered her prayer. Notice that Jesus did not say, “You have worn me down with your nagging,” or, “I’ll do it just to shut you up.” No, Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment” (Matthew 15:28). Are you working with Great Faith? Are you working on your faith as hard as you are your business (Hebrews 11:6)?
Uncommon or Great Faith, does not come any easier than success at anything else does. Developing Great Faith is intentional. If great faith were easy, wouldn’t we see mountains in people’s lives being moved all around us — with just a mustard seed worth (Matthew 17:20)? It’s not common and it’s not possible without intentionality.
A FAITHPRENEUR first seeks the Kingdom for Great Faith, knowing that everything else will follow (Matthew 6:33). This is where the rubber meets the road. Great Faith is the difference between a miserable journey and a powerful journey. It decides how we deal with turbulence as well as our energy and attitude. It informs our determination, our motivation and our resilience. Mind you, this same faith is what empowers the believers life in all things. A FAITHPRENUER has a faith focus that intensifies the need and the development of Great Faith.
Here’s our takeaway for today:
- Identify 3 areas that your faith either needs reinforcement or improvement to influence your attitude and confidence
- Identify a personal relationship or scenario that you can begin practicing Great Faith
- Start tomorrow with your FAITHPRENEUR Prayer and include your desire for Great Faith in your prayer. Ask God to continuously show you and bless you with opportunities to grow your faith
- Identify one way that your Great Faith can be shared with others
Next week we’ll go over some powerful prayers and biblical affirmations that you can use to practice speaking life over your business and keep your words in line with your faith.
Share and be blessed.
To learn more about the 10 week FAITHPRENEUR online devotional and eBook, to receive email notifications of new posts, and to read previous FAITHPRENEUR devotionals, Click Here.
Join us Resurrection Sunday at FAITHHILL for a powerful push into destiny with the life changing message, “It’s Finished.”
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23
Mar '18
FAITHPRENEUR D3W1: PRAYING FOR GROWTH
23
Mar '18
Some people will look at you sideways, odd or even strange if you talk about praying for your business growth. For a poverty mindset, it can sound vain. For those convinced that the bible did not say, “Beloved, I pray you to prosper concerning all things and to be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2), this might be hard to accept.
Without question, God receives the glory for increase in our personal or business life as followers of Jesus Christ.
I think what causes a lot of confusion around this issue is humility or a lack there of. How many really successful people do you know personally who glorify God publicly through their testimony, spiritual fruit, service and sacrifice for the body of Christ. There are thousands that do but I’m not referring to them, I’m referring to the one’s you know personally. The sad fact is that most of us don’t know but a handful personally — if that many. And don’t misunderstand me, just because someone is not “Materially Wealthy,” that does not mean that they aren’t successful in faith.
What I am saying is, a FAITHPRENEUR is successful in Christ — first, before they are successful at anything else (Matthew 6:33). The key is glorifying God. Giving God the glory through our story.
Our lives, our businesses take us into the streets, the marketplace and into positions that enable us to influence the world by our faith. The most powerful ministry happens in the street, through our everyday interactions, expressions of faith and conversations — verbal and non-verbal. The lost and the majority of believers don’t go to church — the most impactful discipleship happens in the marketplace through lights of faith (Matthew 5:14).
Money is not our end-game. Money is the end result of our end-game — Glorifying God. A FAITHPRENEUR knows that effective people do not chase money, money chases effective people. The bible says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23). When we honor God through our work, whatever our work is, and our stewardship, we give God thanks: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Do you know many marketplace leaders who rep God in the streets, business and social circles — with tact and effectiveness? With a reported 6.9 Billion believers in the world, shouldn’t we be overwhelmed by spiritual fruit in the marketplace? But we’re not, and that’s the problem — that’s another way we rob God and hurt the body. Repping God is not just through shout outs and the occasional, “I’m a Christian,” but heart, intentional behavior, testimony and, giving back as a lifestyle and not just an event?
Our faithfulness builds each other up. In Hebrews 11:1-40, God gives us examples of faithful leaders to imitate, and you are called to do the same — be examples of great leaders of faith for everybody to see and to be inspired by. A FAITHPRENEUR, like all of God’s faithful, models the word by being a doer of the word, by living the word, by applying the word (James 1:22-25). Somebody is watching you, the God in you.
What does all of this have to do with praying for growth? A FAITHPRENEUR must align business growth with Kingdom growth, business prosperity with Kingdom prosperity. God is the end game. A growth prayer includes a God impact — “God bless the work of my hands to support 3 women’s shelters.” “God bless the fruit of my labor to have enough overflow to send 50, 100 youth to camp this summer.” “God increase my territory to show more people the love of Christ.” This is your end-game. Your end-game is not your church tithe or church service, your end-game is what keeps growth grounded.
Whatever compassion God has put on your heart, it is the reason why God wants to increase your territory. The bible says, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25).
Put This In Your Spirit: Favor is God’s ability to trust us to do His will with His increase, blessings and influence. (Hebrews 11:6)
This weeks FAITHPRENUER Challenge:
- Identify 1-3 marketplace leaders that role model faith
- Identify 1-3 areas that your faith can be better role modeled in the marketplace
- Identify 1 way that God does or can use your talent/wisdom/faithfulness to serve the body regularly
- Identify 3 God purposes for increasing your territory (Impact to others through your overflow)
- Identify time frames that you want to see a harvest in these areas (Continually increase these bars as you accomplish them)
(A prayer journal will come in handy for these critical seeds that should be watered daily)
When this backs up our prayers for growth, growth is not simply a matter of being rich, growth is a matter of being a powerful Kingdom influencer.
Share and be blessed.
To learn more about the 10 week FAITHPRENEUR online devotional and eBook, to receive email notifications of new posts, and to read previous FAITHPRENEUR devotionals, Click Here.
Join us Resurrection Sunday at FAITHHILL for a powerful push into destiny with the life changing message, “It’s Finished.”
Read more...
20
Mar '18
FAITHPRENEUR D2W1: PRAYING FOR YOUR BUSINESS
20
Mar '18
The business of prayer is just as important as the business we run, our aspiration or our goal.
I know quite a few Christians who have been taught that it is selfish to ask God for anything but I just can’t find that in the Bible.
God does say not to worry, that He knows what we need, that we should seek His kingdom and will first, and trust that He’ll provide for us. For a FAITHPRENUER, the business of praying for your business is the first order of business — daily.
The business of prayer is not mundane or repetitious but focused. It is not worry prayer or pleading, it’s mind renewing and positioning prayer that focuses faith on the day’s expectations, needs and requirements to be effective.
Put This In Your Spirit: Effective people don’t pursue money, money pursues effective people.
Success is one part knowing what to do, and one part knowing what we need help to do. Confidence, passion, humility, clarity of purpose, effectiveness, and anointed determination must be renewed each day. No problem or challenge can stand up to faith prepared.
Put This In Your Spirit: Faith has many focuses and it is sufficient to do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). But faith, our belief, is not powerful without trust. A FAITHPRENEUR is not simply asking God for what is needed but is also trusting God to provide what is needed.
The business of prayer is a power talk with God that keeps our mind clear and prepares us for our day. No matter what business you’re in or what your business goals are, your mind is your greatest asset. Without a mind conditioned to Faith Forward, challenges become vision killers.
Put This In Your Spirit: A FAITHPRENEUR is critically honest about S.W.O.T. — Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal (self), Opportunities and Threats are external (Luke 14:28). An effective prayer life, will monitor progress of S.W.O.T. through purpose driven prayer.
It’s important to realize that Worry isn’t Prayer and Prayer isn’t Worry! 1 Peter 5:7 it says: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” Our Father cares about us. Yes, he knows our needs already – but he always welcomes our prayers that know our weakness and submits to His will for divine intervention.
Prayer must be accompanied by meditation (Psalm 19:14). It’s in meditation that we often hear from God about how He plans to provide for our needs. It’s in meditation that we’ll get clarity about our situation and be able to see God’s clear direction for our business.
Start each day, religiously, with a 10-15 minute FAITHPRENEUR Power Prayer and Meditation. If you want to build your faith and be sure to give God all the glory down the road, start a business prayer journal and jot down the needs and situations you share with God in prayer.
Look back over your lists every now and then and highlight the answered needs and solved situations. You’ll be blown away at what you see, I’m sure of it!
Transform your prayer life into a prayer lifestyle and give God the glory for your journey. Below are some awesome online and mobile app prayer journal ideas for you to consider. If you prefer, grab a journal at the local office supply store.
Online Prayer Journal: OnlinePrayerJournal.com is a powerful tool for developing and managing every detail and charting every aspect of your FAITHPRENEUR prayer life. It’s free and it’s powerful. Go to www.onlineprayerjournal.com and check it out.
You can also go to the Google Play or the App Store and search Prayer Journal and find many free prayer journals available.
Share and be blessed.
To learn more about the 10 week FAITHPRENEUR online devotional and eBook, to receive email notifications of new posts, and to read previous FAITHPRENEUR devotionals, Click Here.
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14
Mar '18
FAITHPRENEUR D1W1
14
Mar '18
And so we begin! Day 1.
Congratulations on your decision to join us on this 10 week FAITHPRENEUR journey! Prosperity is not simply a desire or an ambition, it is the will of God for our lives. No matter what we’re endeavoring to do, become or achieve in life, our faith focus establishes a foundation for achieving extraordinary results.
God’s plan for our lives is to prosper us for the cause of Christ. Your success is Kingdom success, your prosperity is Kingdom prosperity and through faith in action, God works through us to accomplish his will.
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13)
Every week we’ll kick off with a ‘Stretching Your Faith’ message. As a FAITHPRENEUR, anchoring each week with a powerful faith focus is critical for our Faith Momentum. We’ll go into Faith Momentum later but for now, consider Faith Momentum to be the result of starting each week by intentionally fanning our gift into flames (2 Timothy 1:6).
Before we begin our journey, I want to provide a few guidelines that will help us to achieve our goals and to ensure that this experience is both rewarding and transformational.
- To illustrate different faith principles, we will incorporate diverse business and leadership concepts and strategies. The primary focus of the FAITHPRENEUR devotional however, is our faith and the faith strategies that will impact the way we approach our business, goals and challenges.
- Each devotion will be identified as “FAITHPRENEUR” followed by week number and day number — i.e. today’s devotional is W1D1.
- To reread or catch up on FAITHPRENEUR devotionals book mark this page or the FAITHPRENEUR blog home page. Click Here to go to the FAITHPRENEUR blog home page.
- Each devotional blog post will have a comment section at the bottom. Sign in is required (Name and email) to provide feedback or to ask questions. You can choose to be notified by email when comments or questions are posted. Please use the comment section to engage each other, ask questions about concepts or strategies or for additional information about resources discussed.
Now, let’s get started!
I don’t want you to put a single finger to work until you’ve been reminded that you have been created for a purpose and that God has a plan for your days.
Knowing this to be true, we should approach our business with powerful enthusiasm but that isn’t always the case is it?
The truth is success is not easy, anymore than a faith walk is a cake walk. Maintaining momentum and keeping a positive attitude can be challenging. A FAITHPRENEUR is human and yes, there are days when fighting, climbing, growing and managing can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the old adage is true, “No pain, no gain.”
In future weeks we’ll definitely be covering the importance of choosing work that you enjoy. For today I want to simply encourage you to approach your day with an attitude of powerful meditation and expectation.
Maybe you don’t love what you’re going to have to do to make a dollar today – but you have the opportunity to make one and that is worth being thankful for. The key to keeping Faith Momentum is, “An attitude of gratitude determines our faith altitude.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Whatever you do as FAITHPRENEUR, do not give room for the enemy to steal your gratitude by grumbling and groaning about anything that you put your faith to work for. Why? Because the words you speak matter.
Proverbs 18:21 says: “Those who love to talk will experience the consequences, for the tongue can kill or nourish life.”
If you’re going to talk about your business, your vision, your plans or even your challenges, do not speak words that contradict your faith position. Negativity pours water on the flames that you intentionally fanned to start out your week – which can, and often does, kill your Faith Momentum.
We’re going to end today’s devotional with this real-life example:
Gert has a young Virtual Assistant business that has no steady clientele yet and she’s worried about whether her marketing efforts are ever going to pay off.
Option A: She can wake up stressed, spend some time doubting her efforts and complaining to friends that she may have chosen the wrong business, the wrong target market or the wrong marketing tools. She finally gets down to work discouraged, faithless and demotivated.
Option B: She can wake, make a habit of praying for her business, the days expectations and divine inspiration, and tells a friend how she expects her day to be prosperous, impactful and rewarding. She tackles the day with excited expectation.
Attitude is everything. The power position of a FAITHPRENEUR is that attitude and the words we speak DO matter.
If you tend towards negativity or if your situation is really stressful right now, choosing to be positive with your words may be challenging – but I’m asking you to stretch your faith and practice, “Speaking those things into existence as though they were.”
No one, that I know of, has ever expressed regret over having been positive all day!
Looking forward to tomorrow’s powerful session. Be blessed.
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