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Christians

I think the greatest thing that I have discovered about myself, the church and my fellow Christians, is that we don’t know who and what we are in Christ Jesus and what we are capable of doing. Putting it another way, we are like poorly trained soliders going to war who can’t shoot and if we can, don’t bother too. One of the best and most influential books I have ever read was Kenneth Hagin’s “The Authority of the Believer.”

It was the Roman’s who gave the early church believers their “name;” Christians, or “little Christ’s” When we are born again, we are filled with power to do the SAME works that Jesus did. (and He said we would do even greater works then He did; done anything like that lately? Why not?) cast out demons, heal the sick, perform miracles, speak in tongues, and interpret them; give prophesy etc. etc. The problem is, many many Christians either don’t know that, or don’t believe it, or don’t do it! We are seated at the right hand of the Father; we are healed, sanctified, blest, anointed, praised and prosperous. Instead, Christians are failing at “authority” and caught up in the Babylonian system of fiances and the spirit of mammon just like the rest of the world. Christians are just as much in debt as the unsaved are, yet the bible tells us to be the “head and not the tail.” Why is this???

How can you fire a gun at the enemy with no bullets? How do you stop the devil and all his works, without the ammunition? We have the power to step on scorpions, (ie. the devil) Why are so many Christians afraid of him, when “in the Name of Jesus” we have all power and authority? With respect to my blog, why is it that the unsaved have the money and not the Christians? Mostly because the Christians don’t believe and don’t know how to get money and manage it. I would say that 90% of what I have learned about biblical economics I did not learn from sitting in a pew. Why? Because the churches don’t know it and/or the pastors are afraid to teach it. Many believers are still living under a spirit of poverty which is Greek thinking, brought into the church by Constantine in 300 B.C. Very few churches acknowledge the businessman and market place ministries (read this: 10 Reasons Business Leaders Reject Their Local Churches).

The church needs to start teaching to it’s body, who we are, what we are, what money is for, how to get it and manage it. How to heal the sick, cast out demons, give prophecy. – the works! In other words, the church needs to teach the “authority of the believer.” We are to be so blest and letting our light and success shine so much that the unsaved run to us and say, “What do you have? How did you get that? How can I get it too?” Our reply of course is, “Well, let me tell you about my friend; his name is Jesus!”

Our blessing, is the “hook” for the unsaved. How do we “hook them” if we ourselves are not blest?

Let us be the light and salt of the world… 🙂

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Five Keys to Success

1. Put God first

“No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammom. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God’s righteousness, and all these things shall be added to. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” (Matthew 6:24-25, 32-34.)

It is pretty clear to me that we have a choice to make in life; serve God or serve money. God is not our servant to supply us with money and things every time we cry out and beg Him to do so. What is required is for our hearts to change. He is not our servant but rather we are his children. Yes there are times in our lives when we will experience hunger, pain and poverty, but if we are seeking God and following Him first, those times will fade away. God knows what we need. The promise in Matthew six is that if we seek Him first He will see what need and He will be there for us, at the right time which is on His schedule not ours. We simply need to trust him.

2. Make a covenant with Him

Everyone of us who is born again has entered into a covenant agreement with them. He is our father and we are his children. When we submit to Him, in this covenant agreement He provides for our needs, teaches us, guides us, helps us move forward and prevail through difficult times. It is however up to us to obey his commandments in return in order to see all His provision come to fruition. When we break the covenant through disobedience, rebellion, unbelief, forgetting God or hidden sin, we bring peril to our own success.

3. Seek strategies from God to reach your goals

God expects us plan our lives using the Spiritual Gifts that He has blest us with. In Philippians 3, Paul tells us that we are pressing ahead reaching for our goal of godly success and forgetting those things that are in the past. In doing so we lay up treasures in the Kingdom for our life here on earth as well as internal. By seeking God and asking Him, He will give us pieces of the strategy along the way. We must follow His strategy in the obedience to Him.

4. Live in Christ

To live for Christ and to honour Him in all that we do will bring us ultimate success and prosperity, whether we live or die. Joshua 1:8 says, “meditate on the Word day and night and then you will be prosperous”.

5. Return to Him, and Give your way into freedom

The word “tithe” means 10%. Return to God 10% of your gross income, (He owns it, you don’t) then make offerings and gifts to support the Kingdom of God. His whole supernatural economy is based upon seed time and harvest. Plant seeds of every kind, not just financial, and prepare yourself to receive his blessing.

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You’re not broke, You have a Seed

The word “Seedtime” is very important in biblical economics. There must be a seedtime, a time to sow your seed, if you are to have a harvest. To have a financial breakthrough, you must yield to the spirit of God and allow Him to show you when it is time to plant.

Being a giver puts us in a position where things can be multiplied.

We say, “I’ll serve God, I’ll sing, I’ll pray and I’ll praise,” but when it comes down to money, we say, “I can handle this.” Or we expect God to back us up through prayer, but prayer alone cannot change our finances.

Wicked folks may go into business and make money right away, while a Christian has to pray all night trying to get a break through. Why? Because money is no good without God governing that money.

God does not want us to raise money for the church. He wants us to learn these wealth secrets – and one of these secrets is that the Holy Ghost will have to escort us through the seedtime period to get us ready for the wealth period.

We see seedtime as a sad time, when it should be a rejoicing time!

When God tells us to sow, we shouldn’t be using our condition as an excuse not to sow. Remember, seedtime is always prime time to your financial future.

The seed principle is the most powerful principle in the bible. This is because Jesus was called a “seed”. The seed is the essential element of transmitting life. The “Word” is also called a seed. You need to recognize the fact that there is life in the seed principle and, unless you can see and understand this, you won’t be able to receive the benefits from it.

To understand “ due season” we must remember four things:

  1. In due season; we shall reap if we faint not;
  2. God has a due season;
  3. his season is not our season; and
  4. we shall reap.

A person’s life depends entirely upon what he sows and not upon what he has.

Like most Christians, I have never given much thought to a seed. I have planted seeds and simply left it at that. How about you?

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Equitable Treatment

As an employer and a Christian businessman, there is nothing within the business field, that is more dear to my heart than treating employees well. Colossians 3:23-24 says that Christian employees should work hard to serve their employers, as if they are actually serving the Lord. I agree; but it works both ways. Actually, I think the emphasis is on the employer to set an example to his employees as to how to take care of people. This is especially the case with young employees who may be in their first major working position. To set a good Christian example of how to be a responsible employee is paramount to not only the businessman but also to God.

There should also not be any favoritism towards employees. Businessmen must treat Christians and non-Christian staff the same way. I also believe that if a staff member is of another faith, then what a golden opportunity to let your light shine! Of course, employers must be very careful in today’s society to not discuss issues of “religion” with any staff member. The Labour Act restricts any questions of religion, race, creed etc. in an interview, but is does not restrict employers from discussing issues of faith after the interviewee has been hired. Still, my experience and recommendation is to avoid any discussions whatsoever. It is a better witness, just “to do, and not to tell.” In other words, let your light shine!

Malachi 3:5 says that God will come swiftly to judge those that oppress people in regards to their wages. Underpaying, not paying over-time, not acknowledging Statutory holidays. etc. is simply out of the question for any employer especially including the Christian one. It is the duty of every employer to be knowledgeable of the Labour Standards Act and abide by the rules of the land.

1 Cor. 9:9 says we must not muzzle the oxen. Applied to employees, we must be careful not to over work our staff and not be unfair to them in anyway. There is a point where “the rule book” must be used in treating employees, but there is also a time where the rule book must be thrown out! All employers expect their staff to “go the extra mile” for the company and it’s customers. Does it work the same for employees? It needs to be. I have often heard the expression that the customer is the most important part in a business. I do not agree. Employees are the most important part because, if you do not have happy well paid and productive staff, you won’t have any customers to concern yourself with!

I believe that employers must not look at employees as strictly “tools” or a means of making money. The goal of the Christian businessman is to use the gifts God has anointed him with and to use resources to make more resources for the sole purpose of building the Kingdom of God. There are very few businesses that can operate without staff. Therefore, staff are a crucial element to the success of the business. How we treat them is insurmountable in our goal of honoring God and accomplishing the goals of financial success. Ethics play a big roll in this. I also feel that helping staff to build their careers is another goal that employers need to be conscious of.

How are you being treated at work? How are you treating your staff?

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