From Revelation to Practice

Speaker A: Um, Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, uh, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog. H VAC on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering, and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, um, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog. H vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or, or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

Speaker B: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of the Blessed Embossed up podcast. So, as you guys know, over the last couple of episodes, I have been answering questions that you have submitted. If you have a question you want me to answer on the show, please continue to send it in because I store them. So when I do these mailbag episodes, I discuss them. And it's also a really good opportunity for me to hear from you and what you're going through and the needs that you have for me to help make sure that our episodes address that whether it's a, uh, Q and A episode or not. Now, when I sent out this email a few weeks ago soliciting questions, one of the questions that I got was really good. And I've been thinking about it ever since because I feel like it required its own episode. And as I've been thinking about it, it looks like it's going to end up being its own series. And so the question was from someone who said that they've been listening to the Bible on business series and they have been inspired by, by the episodes. They've enjoyed the episodes.

Speaker C: But when they go to read the

Speaker B: Bible for themselves to get the insight for their business to go then and take to apply it, there's like a gap where they're not getting the same revelation that I may communicate in. There is this gap between what they're hearing on the episode and then how they can go and apply it. And I thought that that was excellent feedback because I want to. And the purpose of this podcast really is to close that gap for us to make God the CEO of our businesses and for us to know how to do that in, um, practice. And I've been thinking about that question ever since, because I've been in this journey for eight years now of seeking the Lord on behalf of my business and building it not just for him, but with Him. And so a lot of things are second nature to me just because I've been doing this for so long. And I do think it's important for me to take a step back, to think about those of you who may be doing this for the first time, whether it's building a business for the first time, whether it's being newer in the faith, whether it's both, Whatever your special circumstances are, it's important for me, as somebody who wants to guide you in the right direction, to take a step back and think about, what does this look like for someone in the earlier stages today? Today's world doesn't look like how things looked in 2017 when I first started this. So this question is one that I have been thinking about, and the answer won't fit in one episode. So we're on the brink of another series where I want to just take you step by step to how the. How the practical in building a business God's way today. Now, the first episode, I have my outline for, um. I know what we're going to discuss, but as I was putting this together, it reminded me of, uh, a Bible on business series that we did about 1 Corinthians, I want to say, 3, 13, where the text is pretty much saying that on the day of Judgment, everything that we've done will be trod by fire, and the fire will reveal the true quality of our work. And we talked about that in a Bible on business episode. And I believe that that is the perfect place to start.

Speaker C: Because before we start this series, I want to start with this in mind, that the revelation that we're seeking the

Speaker B: Lord for is not just for revenue,

Speaker C: but the revelation that we're seeking the Lord for is to build businesses that

Speaker B: are going to survive the day of

Speaker C: judgment, that are going to not just store up earthly rewards and materialistic things,

Speaker B: but is going store up Trev treasures in heaven.

Speaker C: And I don't want us to get so deep into the business side of things that we don't start this off with the proper perspective. So I'm going to bring this episode

Speaker B: back and then Next week we are going to or in the next episode, we're going to get started on this series and we're going to build from there. And prayerfully, by the time that we're done, um, we're in Q4, so I feel like this is a good time to do this. You'll be prepared to start or grow that business the Lord's way. And you have. I pray that you will have clarity on what that relationship looks like to build a business with him, not just for him, so that ultimately, when judgment day comes, everything that you're building will show itself valuable because again, that's the proper perspective here.

Speaker C: So let's go back to this Bible

Speaker B: on Business episode to introduce or kick us off to this series that we will start in the next one. If you heard this before, stick around because there's a reason why the Lord wants you to hear it again and hear it in the order that we're about to take things in. So take some notes, get your pen and paper ready. If you have questions, please email me. I love you guys. Let's get to work on closing that gap from this Bible on Business to practice. You are listening to Blessed and Bossed up, presented by Anchored Media, an entrepreneurship podcast for Christians all about how to make God the CEO of your business. Business. Get ready to be inspired, challenged, but well equipped to live and build your destiny his way.

Speaker C: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of, uh, the Blessed Embossed up podcast and another installment of our Bible on Business series. Thank you for your patience with me getting this episode out because it started off one way, it went somewhere else as I was diving deep into that scripture that led somewhere else. So it took me a bit more time than normal to put my notes together for this episode. So thank you guys for your patience with this. But the title of today's episode is be careful how you build. We're going to talk about a few

Speaker B: things, but our anchored scripture is 1

Speaker C: Corinthians 3:13 through 15. Quick church announcement. If this Bible on business series is blessing you, please share it with a friend. Share it with all entrepreneurs that you know. Post it on social media and let them know this is the series that they need to listen to. If you guys are new here, we are doing this Bible on business series because the Lord showed me that so many entrepreneurs, we are using the Word and the scriptures as supplemental materials and not as our, uh, primary source of nutrition. And that is a problem. We have so many people in the marketplace now. So many people prophesying about Business things to where we get so caught up and pulled so far away from the text. This Bible is a living, breathing document that is relevant today in every day, for every area of our life, including our businesses. And, and I personally am tired of seeing so many people use it to justify their own opinions, their own strategies, as opposed to using it as the strategy, as the opinion, as the standard. Everything that you learn in business, it has to align with the word of God. Every piece of advice that you give for your life, it has to be justified by the word of God. I don't care what the prophet said. I don't care what mysteries, what whoever may be trying to communicate. If it goes against the word of God, it is an error. And we have this text and we have the Holy Spirit that will reveal, that will guide, that will teach, that will instruct. And the Bible is enough. The Holy Spirit is enough. And we have to see that and understand that. And so through this series, I am just going through the scriptures, explaining them in context, and then allowing you to see how what we're reading can relate to your entrepreneurship endeavors. Don't forget, if you click the link in the show notes, we have our Bible on business dashboard. Because I don't want you to just take my word for it. I want you to go study the text for yourself. I want you to pray and seek the Lord on specifics, what each episode means for your particular business. And so this dashboard is essentially a Bible study guide that corresponds with each episode so that you can study the word for yourself. The link to download the dashboard is in the show notes and of course it's free. Now, again, the title of today's episode is be careful how you build. Let's talk a bit about how we got here. In the last Bible on business episode, I talked about John the Baptist as

Speaker B: a subject matter expert.

Speaker C: And we compared the differences between, uh, SME or a general entrepreneur. We talked about his role in the Kingdom m of God. We talked about his life and the implications for people who have subject matter, subject matter expert types of businesses. So for example, somebody who has a general marketing agency is a general entrepreneur, somebody who has a marketing agency that specifically focuses on Facebook and Instagram ads. That is a SME type of business because it's more niche and they have a deeper level of understanding on a specific topic versus a general understanding across a full industry. So if you're somebody who falls in that SME type of business category, go back and listen to that. Now, after I finished that episode, as I was Just, uh, I think I was talking to my husband about it. As I was thinking about John the Baptist's life, I had to go back because I wanted more detail about the specifics of, like, the time frame of his life. Because as I was meditating on it, I'm like, man, this guy's life, he was the second most important person in the Bible. His job was to make the way for Jesus. And of course, Jesus is the most important. And I'm like, but this guy lived in the wilderness. And he had to, because he had to line up with Old Testament prophecies. But, like, he lived in the wilderness eating crickets and honey. After he baptized Jesus, he went to jail. He. And then after he got out of jail, he got killed, got his head chopped off. I'm like, well, no, no, no, no. Surely something else had to happen. That's what I was thinking about. Like, something else had to happen at that point in time. But no, those of you who are not familiar, let's just walk through John the Baptist life real quick. His ministry is estimated to be about, like, maybe one or two years. As I said, his role was to prepare the way for Jesus by calling people to repentance and baptizing them as a sign of their to God. It's estimated that it's likely he began his ministry in his early 30s, as he was about six months older than Jesus. And according to Jewish custom, a man began his public ministry around the age of 30. And then his life comes to this abrupt ending when he was imprisoned and then later executed. Specifically, he was beheaded by Herodias, which was Herod's wife. She manipulated Herod into ordering his death. So based upon all the scholarly research and dates and all of that, they say that his life ended by about 30 to 32 AD, meaning that he may have lived into his mid-30s. Now, as I was studying this, my reaction revealed something about me that I needed to bring to the Lord. And I'm going to be open about it because I'm sure this will bring the same reaction in you. As I was reading this, I was like, God, so John fulfilled his purpose. He did exactly what he was born to do. And right after completing his purpose, after spending all them days in the wilderness eating them crickets and such, he get imprisoned and then get beheaded like Lord. He couldn't, you know, get sent to some luxurious land, put on some better clothes, ate some better food, died of natural causes, something peaceful. Like for him to have such a huge assignment and for him to fulfill it, well, I, uh, don't really like how this story end. Can I be honest? But remember, we talk about how our reactions reveal conditions of our heart. And for me, my reaction requires some investigation into what something that may be in my heart that I need to surrender to the Lord. So, as I asked myself some hard questions, where I landed at was, there's a level of dissatisfaction with just completing the mission. There seems to still be a contentment issue in my heart somewhere. And that's what led me down the rabbit hole that got us to First Corinthians 3, 1315. Remember, we had that episode on contentment some weeks ago, but the Lord was showing me, based upon me inquiring and investigating my own responses, that there's still some work that needs to be done done there. And that sent me on a journey of studying that leads us to this episode.

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Speaker C: betterhelp.com but before we get to the text I want you to do an exercise for a second to reveal, uh, the conditions of your heart. And this is something that the Lord dealt with me on in the very beginning and that clearly he's still working with me on. I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to envision your ideal life. How much money you want to make, where you want to live, what your family looks like, what your business looks like. If everything went exactly in the most satisfying way to you, what would that look like? Take a second and picture it. Many of you, you do this around this time of year. As we get into the fourth quarter, you start putting your vision board together, getting your news clippings and printing out your photos, putting all the stuff on paper, writing the vision, making it plain, using scripture to justify your own pursuit of your own selfish ambitions. But that's an episode for another day. But I, um, want you to take a moment and envision that if you could manifest everybody's favorite word right now, your ideal life, what would it look like? Put that image in your head. Now. Let me ask you this. If none of that was consistent with the Lord's plan for you, would you still follow him? And I want you to answer that truthfully. I can't hear your answer. I want you to answer that truthfully. All of that that you have in your head, the freedom, the travel, the family, the finances, the success, the accolade, the philanthropy, whatever the case may be, if it was God's will for you to have none of that, to be stripped down to the bare necessities in the most obscure place of wherever you live, and have a simple mission that lasted two years, and then you died a tragic death? If that was God's will for you, would you lay down your life to follow him? Would you give up everything that you placed in your head, everything that's on your vision board, everything that you wrote, wrote down, if that was his plan for you, would you forfeit all of that that you view as success to follow him to a place that feels like failure? Would you do it? Honest? Honest question. It's honesty hour. When the Lord first presented me with this scenario, my answer was, absolutely not. And I had to deal with that because the truth. That was the truth of my heart posture. When I first started this journey with the Lord, he had me in the Old Testament, in the book of Jeremiah. And for the life of me, I'm, uh, like, God, why do you have me reading this? Like, why? It was. I mean, the book of Jeremiah is not an exciting book, no matter how much we like to pull a couple scriptures that we love from it. He was a weeping prophet, he was not successful by the world's standards. And I could not for the life of me figure out like God, why do you have me in this book? But then he presented to me the same scenario I just presented to you. And my answer honestly at that time was I don't want this life, I don't want Jeremiah's life. I want what's on my vision board. And in that honesty I was able to surrender that place of pride in my heart that the Lord had to strip me of and I had to go through his process of being stripped from it. And now here I am years later looking at a, ah, different person in the Bible, looking at John the Baptist, but having similar feelings. Now if I ask myself the same question I asked you today, it's a no brainer. I'm laying it all down to follow the Lord. But as I continue to investigate my emotions because that still wasn't a satisfactory answer to me, I'm like, no, it ain't the same as it was back then. Like, I'll give all of this that I have away from and I will never accept anything else if that meant that was God's will. So it's not a problem of that conflict of my life or what I want versus his anymore. But there's still something there. And as I went through the text, as I was praying, as I was telling y', all, hey, we, I can't do this episode yet because I'm still working through some stuff, what I realized is that what I have to face head on and what I believe many of you have to face head on is that ah, we have to truly not just understand intellectually but really gather into the depths of our soul this concept of eternity, that this life that we're living is not our final destination we are passing through. And the things that we do today also have eternal implications. So my reaction to John's story was because I was placing more value on John's earthly life than John's eternal life. And that was a problem. So God revealed that in my heart so that I can deal with that. And so also I could come on here and communicate it to you guys as well. Because as you build these businesses, he needs you to understand that this, you're not building just for right now, you're not building just for your life here on earth. You're not just building for the generation, uh, that are coming after you. But there are eternal implications to what we do today. And so let's explore that a bit in the text. We'll go to 1 Corinthians 3, 13, 15. Again, 1 Corinthians 3, 13, 15. To give you some context, Paul writes 1 Corinthians to address the divisions in the Corinthian Church. He was focusing on spiritual maturity and the role of Christian leaders. When we get to chapter three, Paul is comparing the Christian ministry to construction, so emphasizing that Jesus is the foundation of the church and that different leaders build on this foundation with various levels of spiritual integrity and quality of teaching. So that's, uh, an overview of where we are here. So I'm going to read this in a new living translation one more time. 1 Corinthians 3, 13, 15. It says, but on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved. But like someone barely escaping through the walls of flames. Let's break this down a bit. Let's go back up to verse 13. Again, it says their work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light. The day that it's talking about here, of course, is referring to the day of judgment. Judgment day. This is when Christ will reveal the true nature of everybody's work. That fire, um, it's a metaphor that represents God's judgment. And his judgment is going to test the quality of our ministry, of our businesses, of our lives as a whole. And through that fire, what is going to be revealed is whether what we have built is with eternal value or if it will perish. Earlier on in the text, Paul makes this comparison or gives this analogy of a builder going up to verse 10. It says, because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have, which is Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials, gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. And that's where we pick up on verse 13. But on the day of judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. And so this fire, this purifying fire, this fire, that is a, uh, metaphor for God's judgment. It's going to show what material you built with if it was gold, silver, jewels, or if it was wood, hay, or straw. When we get to verse 14, it says, if what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. Now, here's where eternity comes in, because remember, this is the day of judgment. It ain't no going back. It ain't no like, hey, this is a little straw. Yeah, let's go back so you can use some gold. No, this is the end. There's no back seats once we get here. So this reward is referring to an eternal reward, and we're going to dive a bit deeper into that in a second. But verse 15, it says if it is burned up, uh, the builder will suffer loss, but yet will be saved, even though only as one escaping through the flames. So what this is telling us is that if whatever you built is of poor quality, if it's on that hay and that straw and all of that, it'll be destroyed, which means there will be no eternal rewards for what you've done, but you will still experience salvation through Christ, because we are saved by grace and not by works. So your work gonna be destroyed, but you gonna still get in there. Barely, but you're gonna be in there nonetheless. And so we gonna praise God for that. However, why are we going through all of this, building all of these businesses, starting these ministries, doing all of these things. Why are we doing it if it's not even going to survive judgment? And I say that not to encourage you to give up. So don't hear that like, well, shoot, I might as well not. No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is it is that much more important to make sure that we are not just thinking about earthly things, that we're not just building these businesses for what we can do in this life. We're not just building these businesses even for the generational wealth that we want to leave our families, but we're also building these businesses from an eternal perspective so that we are building up our eternal rewards. And let's park here for a moment to discuss eternity, because I feel like this is just not discussed enough. I have a few podcasters who are in my, um, mentorship program who have shows about eternity, and I'm so excited for their platforms because I feel like this needs to be talked about so much more. A lot of the teaching and things that we have outside of salvation, like, we don't hear too much about eternal rewards and crowns of righteousness and all of these different things. And of course, ain't nobody dying and coming back and telling us. So we have to rely on, on what the Scripture says. And that just further underscores the purpose of this series. The Bible has everything that we need. But nevertheless, let's talk about eternity for a minute and what the Bible teaches us about it. Of course, first and foremost, the Bible talks about eternal life through Jesus Christ and how eternity is not just about living forever, but it's about being and living in relationship with God and in his kingdom. It is a gift that is given to us through faith in Jesus. Romans 6:23 tells us, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our, uh, Lord. And of course, John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so whomever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. As believers, we're promised eternity with God in heaven. Heaven is described as a place where there's no more death, no more suffering, no more pain, and where we as believers can enjoy eternal, never ending fellowship with God. This is proven in 1st John 5, 11:12, which says, and this is the testimony. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. So us, uh, as believers, we're going to be the ones in heaven and we're going to be separated from those who are unbelievers. Revelations 21 and 4 tells us he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. And this is in reference to heaven being a place where suffering and pain is absent. The Bible teaches us that in eternity will receive new glorified bodies after the resurrection. They'll be free from decay and death. Death is proven in First Corinthians 15 and 42, which says, so will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable. It is raised imperishable. First Corinthians 15:52 says, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. I wonder if I could add some requests to the Lord for what my glorified body look like. Cause you know, these kids, they done added some stretch marks. So, like, lord, can my glorified body give hourglass smooth skin? You know, um, just, I'm just add there. I'm going to add on there just in case. All right, but let me Be serious. Let's go back, get back to this. The Bible also speaks of rewards for believers based on their faithfulness in our life.

Speaker B: So while, again, while salvation is by

Speaker C: grace believers, we are encouraged to live faithfully, knowing that our works will be tested and rewarded in eternity. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, for we must

Speaker B: all appear before the judgment seat of

Speaker C: Christ so that each of us may receive what is due for us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. And of course, the Scripture that we just referenced, First Corinthians 3:14, says, if what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. And let's give some examples based upon what we know from the text. So eternal rewards, they're the blessings and the honors that are given by God to us as believers based on how faithful we were, our, uh, obedience, and the way that we served during our lifetime. These rewards specifically are separate from or distinct from the gift of salvation. Because I can't emphasize it enough, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our works. Our, uh, works are what our eternal rewards are based on. So going back to our, uh, Scripture for today, if you get to judgment and the Lord tests by fire what you've done, and it burns up because it wasn't built well, it was built on faulty materials, it will be burned. You won't get eternal rewards, but you will make it into heaven because your salvation is not based upon what you did. Your rewards are. So one of the examples of, uh, eternal rewards that we see in the Word is a crown of righteousness. 2nd Timothy 4. 8 says, now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on the day, and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. So the crown of righteousness is given to people who have lived faithfully for Christ and longed for his return. James 1:12 says, Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. So the crown of life can be considered an eternal reward. First Peter 5:4 says, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will fade away again. We see here the crown of glory. This is another eternal reward. First Thessalonians 2:19 says, for what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Herein lies Another example of this crown that we get on judgment, which can be considered an eternal reward. Matthew 6, 19:20 says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on this earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. So, as we can see through the text, there are crowns that we get on the Day of Judgment, and there are treasures that we have access to in heaven, all based upon what we build and what we do with our life here on earth. Now, of course, there's much mystery to it, but as we can see through the Scripture, there is a differentiator between those who made it into heaven barely, and those who have stored up eternal rewards, those who have treasures stored up in heaven based upon what they've done here on this earth. And it is my hope and prayer that when I get to the Day of Judgment, that I will get my well done, that I will enjoy eternity with my Heavenly Father, and that I will also have rewards and treasures and a crown given to me based upon what I did here on this earth. I believe that's another layer to being uncompromising. And that is something that the Lord is really teaching me in this season. And I want to highlight that to you as well so that you can build your business with eternity in mind. Now, keeping with this builder's analogy, let's do some inspection on what you're building right now within your business. And the goal of this inspection is to be able to identify any areas of concerns or any areas that require our attention so that when we get to that day of judgment, it doesn't get burnt up. So the first place that you need to look with this inspection is the foundation. What is your business built on? Our, uh, same anchor text a little bit earlier, 1 Corinthians 3, 11. It says, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ is your business. Remember that exercise we did in the beginning? Is your business built on the foundation of Christ, or is it built on the foundation of your own goals and aspirations, or is it built on worldly standards? Do you feel accomplished based on a revenue goal or based upon pleasing the Father? Is backlash and persecution enough to get you off? Or are you only looking and listening for the applause of one? If you answered no to that initial question of if everything that you've envisioned or that you can think of for your life is not the plan for you, if you will still follow the Lord? If you answered no to that, then the foundation of what you're building on is not the foundation of Christ. And so that has to be addressed. This isn't about shame. I started this episode by walking you through what my own reaction revealed about my heart and how I surrendered that to the Lord and how he took me through the text and showed me things about myself that I needed to correct, which led to the creation of, uh, this episode. So it's not about shame. And I don't want the enemy to try to pervert that into making you feel bad or making you feel shameful, like, oh, uh, let me cut this off. Because she. No, no, no. This is just about bringing your attention to something that you need to surrender to the Lord.

Speaker B: That's it.

Speaker C: This is about bringing your attention to something that could be costing you eternal rewards. So I want you to ask yourself, and not just in lip service, but look at the practices and how you've been building your business thus far. What does your behavior show that the foundation is in your business? If you're trying to. If you're more invested in trends than what the Lord has to say, that's revealing of your foundation. If you are looking at the top business books, all of these self help books, and you're not in the Bible, that is showing that there's a crack in the foundation somewhere. If you feel as if you have to perform in order for the Lord to love you, if you feel like you got to do business perfectly in order for it to be pleasing in the Lord's sight, that's a crack in the foundation. That's a whole nother episode, but that's a crack in the foundation as well. The second thing I want you to inspect is, are you building in faithfulness and obedience? Matthew 25:21 tells us, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in few things and I will put you in charge of many things. James 1:22 says, uh, but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourself. Are you taking Bible on business seriously? Is your leadership in service and your business practices consistent with the word of God? Do you even know? Because what happens is we build these practices and these procedures and we lead in whatever way may feel intuitive to us. And then we try to look at the Bible on the back end. But we build based upon biblical principles, not based upon our own ambitions or desires or feelings. So in this part of the inspection, I really want you to check, am I doing this out of faithful to the Lord, faithfulness to the Lord based upon my actions? Again, this ain't about lip service. This is about truth. Am I building, building this out of faithfulness to the Lord and his principles and obedience, to how he says I should live, to what he says I should do, to how he says I should do it, how he says I should handle situations, how he says I should lead. Am I governing myself according to his standard or not? The next thing I want to ask you, I, um, want you to ask yourself through this inspection, do you serve and your business. Do you serve or do you just sell? Mark 10:45 says, for even the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as ransom.

Speaker B: For many,

Speaker C: nobody is a better example of service than Jesus. So are we modeling his example by being service oriented, or are we just worried about the bottom line? As business owners, we have to be mindful of the bottom line. Hear me when I say this. But as believers, we operate with being cognizant of it, but not moved by it. Uh, what we do is not determined based upon profitability all the time. We serve first. Every great leader will tell you that a foundation of great leadership is service. Are you serving those that you are called to, or are you just focused on making a sale? Every business should be solving a problem. The reason why most businesses don't succeed is because people are just doing stuff and not solving real problems. But by nature. The way that a business is supposed to come about is supposed to be from providing a solution to a real problem. That's service. So, yeah, you're going to get a sale, but you're still serving people. People because it's mutually beneficial. It's not like you're taking their money and they're not getting anything from it. So if you're in a place in your business where you're selling more than serving, I would even dare to say that's the reason why your business isn't growing. Because the foundation of how you operate is not in alignment with the Word and it's not even in alignment with good business principle or practices. But if you struggle with this, I would suggest going back to. I think we did. I think the title of the episode was something around like shepherding or something like that. Go and listen to that one, um, of the Bible on business series. Because that's all about service to people. The fourth question I want you to ask yourself in this inspection, is your work fruitful? Does it reflect God's character? Fruit is not necessarily all about money and material things, but that's why I added that second follow up question. Does it reflect God's character? Is love, joy, peace forbearance kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Are, uh, all of these things present and obvious in your business and how it runs? Ask your employees. Ask your customers. Ask your business partners. They'll tell you the real answer. The fifth thing I want you to ask yourself do you persevere or do you give up? It is very easy to give up if your business isn't making money, if your platform isn't growing, if your followers aren't increasing, if your sales aren't growing. Whatever you're measuring as a KPI, are you persevering or do you just give up? Do you just be like, forget it, I'm not going to do it. You just throw it, or, uh, just blow the whole thing up because it's not going the way that you want it to Galatians 6 and 9 tells us, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Uh, James 1 and 2 says excuse me, 1 and 12 says, blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Remember we talked about that when discussing eternal rewards? And when I say perseverance, I'm not saying just being irrational. But if the Lord has told you to do something and it's hard, or you're you don't understand, or it feels like an uphill battle, are you going to see that assignment through, or are you going to quit some stuff we came up with on our own and we do need to quit because we never should have been doing it in the first place. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about are you working to overcome whatever roadblocks, or are you persevering through whatever trials come as a result of being obedient to the Lord? That's what I'm talking about when I say perseverance. Not being delusional, being committed. And the last thing I want you to ask yourself as a part of your inspection, what does your behavior say your faith is in? Remember, this ain't about just what sound good, what answer we could get and getting an A. This is about what do my actions reveal about my true beliefs? If the Lord gives you an instruction, do you respond with all the ways in which you feel like it's not going to work out? If the Lord has you building something right now and you have yet to see what the manifestation of what he showed you Are you still faithful? Or have you given up a little bit? Or have you tried different methods that make more sense or seem as if they're going to provide you better results than how the Lord told you to go about things? Hebrews 11:6 tells us, and without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 tells us, for we live by faith and not by sight. Is what you see in your business determining how you operate it? I really want you to ask yourself that question. The point of this inspection is not to beat you up like this episode may feel. May feel like, okay, well girl, can you stop swinging? It may feel that way. And this is why I led with my own process to the Lord showing me some things. Because I want you to understand that you're not in this alone, that the Lord loves us so much that he corrects us, that he doesn't allow us to just continue in deception or in our own foolishness. He reveals. The Holy Spirit reveals. And I believe that this is a revealing episode. Finishing up last week in preparation for this week, it's been revealing for me. But in that revelation, I feel so much love. In that revelation, I am experiencing just how patient and kind of the Lord is. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And in that, he's always going to address and bring to our attention the things that need to be addressed. And to me, that's. That's love. That's good parenting. If I know my son has a ideology or he's living a way that's not beneficial to him, I'm going to bring that to his attention. I'm going to say something. I'm not going to sit by and watch him do things that's not in his best interest. Because I'm a good parent. The Lord does the same thing to us. He's a good, good father. And so I pray that as you have listened to this episode, that you're not allowing the enemy to make you condemn yourself, but instead you are feeling the loving correction of the Lord, that you are allowing the Lord to deepen your understanding. You're allowing him to open your perspective. Like, hey, it's not just about this life. What you're building right now is going to. It has eternal implications. And I want you to explore the text so you understand that. You're not going to understand it all, but there is enough in the text for you to understand that how you're building right now. Your life and your business matters more than what you'll see in this lifetime. And the rewards for what you do surpass this lifetime. Whatever success, worldly success we achieve is nothing compared to eternity with the Lord. And I don't know what them, um, eternal rewards hitting for, because again, ain't nobody came back and told us nothing. We don't know what them crowns is like and what those rewards look like or feel like. We don't know that. We know that it's joy. We know that there's no pain, that there's no suffering. We know we're gonna be closer to the Lord. We know we're gonna have peace. And it's just gonna be amazing. And even if we don't have eternal rewards and we barely get in, it's still gonna be amazing. Cause those people don't suffer either. But based upon what this text say, there's levels even to this joy. And I don't personally, I done been through enough in this life where I'm trying to see what that's like. And I believe what the Lord also wants us to wrap our minds around is that this life is temporary and it's less than what he has for us. And eternity doesn't end what he has for us in eternity, Please. We cannot conceptualize it enough to even put it on our vision board. We don't have enough wisdom or sense or knowledge or information to be able to fully grasp what he has for us. And, uh, to me, that's exciting. That makes me even more excited to share the good news with unbelievers. That makes me even more excited to build what I'm building for the Lord. That makes me even more excited to win my family members for the Kingdom of God, to be m even more responsible with my platform and just continue to spread the good news like wildfire. It makes me excited. And I want you to be excited, too. Because in your excitement and your understanding of eternal implications, then you'll make sure that what you build when it's tried by fire, it withstands. And then prayerfully, you teach that to those who are within your sphere of influence, and they do the same thing. And we all be in a VIP section of heaven. But seriously, I pray that the tough questions of this episode really hit home for you. I pray that they gave you some things to pray about, some things to explore the Word about, some things to sit with God about. I, uh, pray that you reacted in ways that reveal conditions of your heart that you may have otherwise been blinded to so that you could take that to the Lord. And most of all, I pray that you act and respond to whatever it is he says, because in that may what you do store up some, um, eternal rewards for you as well. So that's it for this episode. I love you guys. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Blessed and Bossed Up Podcast. Share this with an entrepreneur that you know who needs it. And I'll see you guys in the next one. I cashed out my entire 401k thinking someone stole my identity. 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