God wants to bless businesses. Through the years, the Church has often either looked down on business or didn't know what to do with it, and somehow we've accepted the idea that poverty was next to godliness; therefore, you cannot be a successful businessman, make money, and be in the will of God at the same time. Because the Church turns away from some of the truth of God's Word, God has to go outside the Church to emphasize the truth.
God has always wanted us to be healed divinely by His power. But because the Church argued about it for years, God went out and started tent revivals. The Word never says, "Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the tent." It says, "Let them call for the elders of the church." But we were quibbling about divine healing for years, "Does it really work?" "Is it God or is it not?" "Does the Scripture really mean this?" God got tired of the quibbling and went out and started the healing movements of the 1940s and 1950s.
Later on, we had to go out to seminars, something outside the Church, to find out He wanted to heal marriages. We had marriage retreats because the Church was just too busy with other things to bother with trying to get families back together. God's concerned about families, so we had marriage retreats springing up everywhere except in the church.
Now churches have gone back to what God intended from the beginning. You can go to the church and get everything you need from God—divine physical healing, healing in your family, preaching and teaching of the Word of God, and people are flocking to church today.
Although spiritual icons like Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Bakker fell, the Church is stronger than ever. News people cannot understand it. Charismatic churches are still the fastest growing churches in the world, despite the fact that leaders have fallen. People are still coming to church and looking for integrity, and the Charismatic churches are growing because people have realized God didn't fall off the throne because a man or woman made mistakes. God is still there.
Churches are growing and flourishing all around the world. There are churches today larger than some of the seminars we used to attend. People are hungry for the Word of God and desperate to have their needs met.
In recent years, one organization God has used outside the Church is a group called Full Gospel Businessmen. For years, people went there to find out God wanted to bless businesses because churches were arguing that if you had any money you couldn't be blessed by God. People were discovering God really did want to be involved in their businesses. He wanted to help them make profit. Profit is not a bad word, but we must determine our priorities. God wants to bless business, but making money shouldn’t be our highest priority in life; the Lord should always be our greatest priority. James isn't warning people to get out of business. He is simply cautioning believers not to become self-sufficient in business so God becomes secondary.
Prosperity existed in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. God wants to bless the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The moment we exercise faith to receive Jesus Christ as Lord, we become part of the seed of Abraham and heirs of the blessings he had. God has given us the same blessings to us as He gave to Abraham.
When people get so involved in their businesses, they forget about the higher priorities of life. Even Christians become workaholics; they literally sell themselves to their businesses and organizations. But businesses and organizations do not lay up eternal rewards. What you do with the profit of that business can lay up eternal rewards, but if you sell yourself into that business, forget about the Lord, and forget about the other things in life that are more important, don't be surprised when the flow of God's blessing is cut off.
Self-sufficiency is dangerous. It is vital to hear God's voice and have the Holy Spirit involved in your business so you can hear from Him. Too often men get so wrapped up in their business, become workaholics, let everything else go, forget the things of God, forget coming to church, forget their wife and their children, and often lose their family and divorce their wife because they have so applied themselves too much to their business. Stop and think about it. What are you going to do at an old age? You can't crawl into bed with your business. It won't warm you. It won't take care of you. It won't make your meals for you. You might have spent years saving your money to buy the car of your dreams, but what are you going to do? Sleep in it one day? You can't hug it; it won't hug you back. You may collect guns as a hobby or a sport, but are you going to roll up in bed with your guns? They'll do nothing for you.
What are you going to do in your old age? You won't have anybody to take care of you, and you suddenly realize when you get there, you have put yourself into something that gives nothing back, and God wants you to put yourself into Him, because He gives things back. He wants you to give yourself into your family and to your wife. They give back.
I was going through the radio stations one day and came across a country station that caught my attention. The guy was singing, "I haven't seen my wife for two or three years; I'm a happily married man. I can sleep where I want to, throw my beer cans anywhere I want to. My house looks like a wreck, but I'm a happily married man.”
I thought, "Yeah, wait till you’re older someday. What are you going to do, roll up with your beer cans in your messy house?" Just because you didn't have somebody to gripe at you, doesn’t mean you’ll have fulfillment in your old age. Yeah, people gripe and people have bad sides. You have a bad side yourself. But as you grow older with each other, you learn to give to each other. How great it is toward the end of life when you're more happily married than you've ever been in your whole life. You realize all these other things in life can fall secondary as long as the Lord is number one and your spouse is second. Your job can fall somewhere else down the line, but God wants to bless your business if your priorities are right. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
The whole chapter of James 4 is dealing with self-sufficiency; those who have become a friend of the world, trying to mix the things of God and the things of the world, double-mindedness. Now he speaks to those who so easily get wrapped up in their business and forget the Lord their God.
James 4:13
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
The word gain means profit. There is nothing wrong with profit. God wants you to profit. He wants you to make lots of profit. He wants your business to be blessed. But he gives a warning in the next verse.
James 4:14-17
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
He’s speaking to businessmen who started their business with the Lord at the center, but now they've come to a point of self-sufficiency. "Well, we're going to go into such-and-such a city, conduct business there for a year, gain some profit, open up a franchise over here, and do all the things that business requires."
He says, "In all of this you've never consulted the Lord." It's not that the Lord doesn't want your business to be blessed or prosper. God is saying, "Why don't you ask Me first, because you don't know what's going to happen with your finances?”
1 Timothy 6:17 tells us we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You cannot put your trust in uncertain riches. Our economy is up and down from one day to the next. We don't know where oil prices are going to end up, but God does. Man gambles on the future, trying to predict the future. Therefore, they scramble one day and retreat the next. God has never gotten upset over the economy. He knows how much oil we have, He knows what the price at the pump is going to be, and God is not worried one bit. He wants us to cast our care off on Him, even though we are blinded.
God's desire is for His light to penetrate the darkness. Do you know what the darkness is in your own life? It's your own ignorance. Ignorance is always darkness. But a little ray of knowledge in the midst of all that can be like a ray of light and one word from the Holy Spirit can direct you and show you, for one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to show you things to come.
God wants to bless your business. He wants to prosper your business. But He doesn't want to do it while you think you are the master of your business, for you are just groping in the darkness. You may look at the stock market and think, "I can figure out what it's going to do next year." How can you think that? You don't even know what it's going to do tomorrow, much less next year. How can you bank on man's economy? The only thing you can truly bank on is God's economy, because He can warn you and direct your path.
Several years ago when the stock market took a downward spiral and people lost so many points in one day, I was so blessed to hear businessmen say, "A couple of weeks before that God began to deal with me about certain things. I began to listen and sold off some stock that in the natural didn't seem like it was good to do, but I'm so glad I did." The Holy Spirit knows things to come, and He can warn us.
God wants to use the world's economy, but He doesn't want us to trust in it; He wants us to trust in Him. He wants to bless business. We’re not to rely on our business but rely on God. Therefore, he simply says in this verse of Scripture, "Your attitude should be, I’ll do this but I'm going to pray about it first and find out what God's will is."
Philippians 4:6
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Be careful for nothing means don't worry. He literally says, "Don't worry about anything. In today's economy it would be easy to worry. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Recession, inflation, depression — we're not sure what's happening or what the future holds. But Paul says, "Don't worry about anything; pray before you do anything and be thankful. Now, this doesn't mean you need to get on your knees and pray before every decision. There are decisions all through the day that God trusts you with. There are times you pray and don't really get much response from God. At those times, God is saying, "Go ahead and do what you want to. I'll back it up." But sometimes we don't want to do anything unless we hear from God.
When the Bible says we shouldn't move unless it's the Lord's will, or to do everything by prayer and supplication, He simply means no matter what we do, we should have an open heart before God so when He speaks we'll hear. Your prayer each morning should be, “Father, I'm going to be sensitive to the will of the Holy Spirit today. No matter what You tell me to do, I want to be sensitive to hear. I'm going about my business. I'm going to invest today. I'm going to be looking at some deals. I'm going to be opening and expanding my business today, but Lord, in the midst of all that, I want to be sensitive to Your will. If You want to warn me about anything, my heart's open before You. I have things to do, but Father, You come first. Your will comes first. I want to be able to hear from You.”
God will speak to you. That has to be your prayer throughout the day, but in addition to that, you should be praying another type of prayer; you should be praying in the Spirit — praying with other tongues.
Romans 8:26-27
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
There are times we don’t know what to pray, but when we pray in the Spirit, we can know the mind of the Father. The Holy Spirit, who searches our hearts, can tell us the will of God. Sometimes we're so clouded with distractions it is difficult to see clearly and know what to do. Everyone has made bad decisions at one time or another and later they think, "If I had just listened to the Holy Spirit. There was that little voice inside of me telling me no, no. I had an uneasy feeling, but I thought I knew what I was doing. All the indicators seemed to be good. All the advice I got seemed to be good. I just wish I would have listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit inside of me.”
We can cry over mistakes all we want to, but we can also know that God wants to lead us, guide us, and direct us from this day forward, and today's a brand new day.
Business started in the Garden of Eden with Adam being the first businessman.
Genesis 3:17-19
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
God has already pronounced a curse on Satan and on the woman. In these verses, the curse was placed on the ground for man's sake. Throughout the Word of God, everything was based on an agricultural economy. In other words, what came out of the ground was the substance of their economic system. They didn't have the types of businesses we have today. Everything revolved around grain. Therefore, throughout the Word of God, money is compared to grain or seed—sowing and reaping.
You know that when you sow finances into God's kingdom, it comes back to you. That principle is from the very earliest ages in the Word of God. Money has been compared to seed, and every dollar is like a seed. You sow into God's kingdom and it will come back a hundredfold. But notice that the ground is cursed. The ground was Adam's business. In other words, until that time, no matter what he planted, it immediately came up. There were no restrictions and no hindrances against it, but now a curse has entered in because of his sin.
Even though there was a curse, the crops would continue to come up, but there was a fight to it. There's always a fight when it comes to business, for businesses carry a curse. They're in this natural earth. There's a curse against it because businesses are run in the devil's world. Therefore, there's opposition that comes in business. He said, "Thorns and thistles are going to grow up." The New Testament calls it tares. Tares would come up along with the wheat. Tares look like wheat. They will not produce fruit, but as they grow up side by side, it's hard to tell one from the other until the final fruit comes out.
Maybe God has blessed you with a business, but as soon as you got an idea, somebody else got the same idea, formed the competition, but the competition isn't quite right. They're not running their business up to standards. There's lying or cheating going on. It's a bad business and they're in competition with you, and sometimes you wonder, "God, is it worth it? I’m losing customers to this guy, and they really don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Maybe I should stand up and tell what's going on in this man's business. Maybe I should expose this man's business." The answer is NO. When the fruit comes out, people can tell which one's right and which one's wrong. You've got more important things to do than run down somebody else's business. Don’t stoop to somebody else's level. You keep operating in integrity, and you'll be here long after the other one is gone.
Tares have a short life, but wheat keeps on coming up and keeps on coming up and keeps on coming up. Businesses have a curse because we're in the devil's world. You say, "I thought I've been redeemed from the curse. I thought that I no longer have to fight the curse. Bless God, I've been born again!"
Later on Adam got back in fellowship with God and offered sacrifices to Him, but we find it coming from generation to generation. There's always a curse in this earth, yet you can come against it and you can overcome it.
In Deuteronomy, God is speaking to the children of Israel before they go into the land. Deuteronomy is actually the second generation. Many of the commands found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers are re-quoted again in Deuteronomy, simply because the new generation has come up and God's reemphasizing to the second generation what the first generation heard before they go in the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 8:7-18
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass [copper].
When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Then thine heart be lifted up [pride], and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
And thou say in thine heart, My power [faith] and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
The children of Israel are being instructed to go into a land, and being warned that they will face opposition. Did they face opposition when they went in the land? Yes, there were giants. Remember when the spies came back, ten brought back an evil report and two brought back a good report. They saw the same giants. They saw the same opposition. Yet, two of them said, "No, keep your eyes on the Word. The Word says despite the opposition, we're still going to prosper, despite the giants that are in the land, God has told us everywhere we place our foot, we're going to take it."
Many Christians today are afraid to go into business for themselves because they look at the economy and the giants that are out there. They look at the competition, and they say, “I don't know if I can do it or not."
Yet, somebody else looks at that same opposition and says, "The Lord says, wherever I put my foot, wherever it lands, God is going to bless me. Yes, there are giants in the land. Yes, there's a curse in this earth. Yes, there's a Satan going around seeking whom he may devour, but I'm going to be one of those he is not going to devour. I'm going to put my faith in God's Word. My business will prosper and flourish, and I also know that when I have a good business and God has prospered me, I will not forget the Lord my God, for it was He that gave me power to get wealth that His covenant may be established on the earth."
God was saying, "Don't forget the Lord." When you're digging the brass and copper out of the hills, eating the fruit of the land and are full, God wants to bless your business. He wants you to have an abundance of business, but He doesn't want you to forget Him and think your power and your might got you this business. He doesn't want you to come to a point where you are self-sufficient. We are never self-sufficient. We are God-sufficient at all times.
Why remember the Lord? He wants to bless you with all this so you can turn around and bless His kingdom with your wealth, and in doing so, you'll see others come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God wants you to overcome the opposition that's there and through it continue to remember the Lord your God. Give Him praise, give Him honor, and give Him glory.
If God was so against business, then why did Jesus choose businessmen to travel with Him? The disciples were basically businessmen—fishermen, tax collectors, those that knew the economy of their day, and those that knew how to turn a dollar and make a profit with it because they were in business.
In John 4, we have the story of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well. He had sent His disciples off to the city of Samaria and told them to go there, for they were going to see a revival. But they were so against the Samaritan people they wouldn't witness to them. As they were on their way back they noticed the fields. Notice what Jesus told them in verse 35.
John 4:35
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
Being the businessmen that the disciples were, they saw a hefty profit as they were walking through the fields. When Jesus told them, "Say not in your heart, four months and then comes the harvest," those disciples’ mouths must have dropped open, because that's exactly what they had been saying, not only in their hearts but to each other. As they were walking through the fields and through the grain on their way back to Jesus from the city of Samaria, they passed through fields and said, "You know what? Four more months and this place is going to be booming with activity. Man, profit is going to be coming in." They probably had visions of the local Jerusalem stock market going up as all the crops were coming in. Crop stocks were up at that time. The weather looked good. They had the right amount of rainfall. The early rains had come in, and the latter rains were about to come. The growing season was just about over, and the reaping time was coming, and these disciples could see profit all around them.
They probably said, "Man, you remember back when we could have bought these fields early for cheap? Now these fields are so expensive. I could kick myself for not buying a field years ago and getting in on some of this profit. I could have really been a wealthy man today if I had just had a few of these fields around here."
They're talking business when they come back to Jesus, and Jesus says, "Guys, open your eyes." He didn't mean their physical eyes; He meant their spiritual eyes. They had walked right through a field that was four months away from harvest and ignored a field that was white, already to harvest and that was the people of Samaria. They had not even seen it.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up with the worldly things around us that we forget the most important thing. Jesus didn't say, "Go into all the world and set up franchises in every nation.” He said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Get them born again. Get them Spirit-filled, and by the way, use your business to help you get it done." There's nothing wrong with having a business and making a profit as long as you keep your priorities on the things of God.
John 4:36
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
Here's the purpose of business and finances. The guy that works the field receives wages that he may use those wages to reap life everlasting. The purpose of profit in a business is not to heap it on ourselves, get a bigger car, get a bigger home, or get a bigger swimming pool. Our first priority with our profits should be to see that people come into the kingdom of God. That is the bottom line of business.
What makes me so happy about that is that it is right under the devil's nose. We open up a business in the devil's world, God blesses it, and despite Satan’s curse, despite him coming against it, despite the fact he'd love to shut our business down, we make a profit and then slam it back in his face and see to it that people get born again with the funds that come in from our business. Glory to God!
James wasn't angry that these men were in business. He wanted them to profit. He wanted them to prosper. He was against self-sufficiency of saying, "We'll go into a city, we'll look forward to the next year, we'll set up business, and we’ll make a great profit."
He said, "You haven't even consulted the Lord in any of this. You're the guys that used to pray over your business and listen to the voice of the Lord. God blessed your business up until now. You know what you should be doing and since you’re not doing it, to you it is sin."
He wasn't speaking to brand new businessmen who just accepted the Lord. He's speaking to seasoned, mature believers who had gotten so wrapped up in their business that all they did was look upon natural fields ready for harvest, and were ignoring the fact there was a spiritual field out there that was much more important than the natural field.
Ephesians 4:28
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Labour means to work hard to the point of sweat. Verse 28 is telling us why we work. There are Christians today who don't want to work, yet they're expecting God to supply their needs. Whenever somebody gives them something, they say it's an answer to prayer or claim that their faith is working. I want you to understand that if you're living off handouts from people around you and you're not working, you're stealing! I'll never forget the testimony when someone said, “I asked God for prosperity, and all I got were job offers." That's an answer to prayer. Too often, people just want to sit back and expect God to drop things on them and they think that's the Christian life. God has never, ever advocated that in the Old Testament or New.
Before I ever became pastor, I taught a Sunday evening class. There was a couple attending the class who were getting ready to go to Bible school and were believing God for finances because they hadn’t saved up for school. The husband said, "I just know I'm not supposed to work." Now if you have saved money so you can go to school without getting a job, well, more power to you. But don’t plan to attend school without any money and say, "God told me not to work because these finances are going to come in.”
This man went on to say God had blessed him so much that he and his wife and his kids would go sit on a park bench at night and gather the nuts around them and they were eating nuts through the week. They believed this was God meeting their needs, and they didn't have to work.
The next Sunday night he came back and said, "I want you to know that during this week, we woke up one morning, opened our front door, and there were bags of groceries sitting on the porch." He said, “God is so wonderful to supply our need, He brought us bags of groceries."
As soon as the class was over, another man made a beeline to that guy and told him, "I want you to understand that I’m the one that brought those groceries. It was not your faith; it was my pity for your children. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, I wish you wouldn't eat the food, but instead give it to your kids, because your kids are the innocent party in what you're doing.” He went on to tell him, “This isn't your faith; this is your stupidity. I only feel sorry for you, so don't call it faith."
Later on that guy went out and got a job because of what the man said to him and realized his kids were innocent in that whole situation because he wasn't working. Up until that time, he was stealing. This verse says, "Steal no more. Go get a job."
People have come to me and said, "You know, I'm behind in my bills and I just wonder what's going on. What do you think I should do?"
Get a job!
Ministers have come to me and said, "I can't get meetings out on the road, and all my meetings are folding up. Do you think the church could give me some money?"
I said, "Well, sure, we'll give you some money, but have you ever thought about getting a job?" Paul had to get a job. When his finances quit, he
didn't send back a letter to all the churches he had been to and say, "Please receive an offering for me. I'm having a hard time." He made tents. Sure, it was hard on him. He admitted it was hard on him. He even got discouraged making tents, but because he put his hand to the plow, God blessed him and a great offering came in. I believe that offering would not have come in if Paul hadn't found something to do with his hands and work hard putting tents together.
When people start a church somewhere, the first thing they say is, "I'm not going to work anywhere. I don't care how small the church is or if we have to start with a prayer group in our house, I'm not going to go to work." You prideful thing! This verse says you're stealing. You should be quick to go find a job. Do anything you can to help put finances into that church and help it get going. There will come a time when you can step out of that secular job and work in your church full time, but until that time comes, this verse says you're stealing and you should go get yourself a job.
Ephesians 4:28
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Many use the excuse that they can't find a job. Have you opened up the newspaper? Have you driven down the street and seen those help wanted signs everywhere? Oftentimes you can't find a job because the jobs are beneath you. You want to find a high level job somewhere, make a few thousand dollars a week to start with, and you're not willing to start by flipping hamburgers, cleaning walls, mopping floors, working at the convenience story, or doing something to just get started. If you don't do something, God has nothing to bless you with. This verse says, "Start by working with your hands."
"Oh, no, no. The righteousness of God lives in these hands. Through these hands people have gotten blessed and healed, and you expect me to work with my hands?"
Yes! Let him work with his hands to the point where he sweats, that God says "that he may do that which is good so he can have to start sowing seed." In other words, God says, "Go get a job so you can have some seed to start sowing so it can start coming back to you." Sure, you can rise up. Yes, you can get to levels of management. Sure, you can have a supervisory position. Some day, you might start your own business, but you don't start your own business that way. You start with mops and brooms. You start with hammers and physical work. You start to where you sweat, and God says, "By getting that little bit of income coming in, you will have something to start sowing into the kingdom of God."
In other words, put Him first, even in the smallest of things. Even though the job may not bring in a whole lot of income, it's more income than you had a week ago. It's more income than you had two weeks ago. And with that, you can immediately start separating it. Make the choice in the very beginning, "Whenever my finances come in, I'm always going to give to God out of every paycheck. There's always going to be seed-sowing in there. One day I won't have to do hammering. One day I won't have to use this broom. One day I won't have to mop floors. One day I won't have to flip hamburgers. But in the meantime, I'm going to keep joyfully sowing into God's kingdom, and if I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these other things will be added unto me.” God is not looking so much for a great position for you first. He's looking for the right attitude first. Yes, God wants to bless your business, but your business starts wherever you are.
At the end of verse 28, it says, …that you can do that which is good and have to give to him that needeth. God is looking for an attitude that's right from the very beginning, and that attitude goes with you all the way up. James was warning the men who used to put their faith and trust in God when their business first started or when they used to be a janitor in some business somewhere, but as they grew and rose up in that business and got closer to the top, suddenly they did the same thing Israel did. They forgot the Lord their God. They forgot the fact that God gave them authority and power to conquer the giants around them. They forgot that their business prospered, not because of their hands, but because of the hand of the Lord blessed that business.
He said, "Get your eyes back on the Lord." Seek the Lord's will each day before you go to work. "God, I want to be open to Your will today. Not only have I been a giver before, Father, I want to be a giver from now on. I realize my life is very short, a vapor that's just here and then gone, but while that vapor is here, I want to make an impact for the kingdom of God. If I leave from here and nobody remembers me or my business, Father, it is fine if they remember the fact that my business saw people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. How can I accomplish that today?"
Are you at a point where you need a miracle? We serve a miracle-working God. Maybe your business is right on the edge. It could go under or it could go over, but you need something to happen. You need a miracle from God. It doesn't look like your business can go on much longer the way it's going right now.
Maybe your business is so tied into the economy that you have your eyes on the economy. As the economy goes up and down, your business goes up and down. Understand that if you're hooked on the Lord Jesus Christ, then your business can be hooked on the Lord Jesus Christ. It can be founded on that Rock and God can bless your business no matter what the economy is.
You can take authority over Satan, who's trying to come against your business and destroy it. Believe God that in the next few days, in the next few weeks, that miracle is going to come, but you're not going to forget the Lord your God. It's the Lord that causes this to come about, and God wants to show you how much He wants to bless your business, how much He wants it to rise, and how much He wants it to be a ministry and a lighthouse to Him.
It may look like your business is so swamped by the competition. God just delights in taking small businesses and blessing them, making an example out of them. God loves turning cursing into blessing. He likes taking a little group of people called the Jews to the point they can dominate the world. He likes to take nobodies and make somebodies out of them. You were a nobody that He made a somebody.
Pray this prayer: Father, I ask for a miracle — a miracle in my business, a financial turnaround, an injection of finances into my business from You. Satan, I come against you in the name of Jesus Christ, and I rebuke you over my business and command you to take your hands off of it. My business will prosper and be blessed because I have asked in the name of Jesus, according to the will of God. I give You praise, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Expect a miracle!
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Copyright 2009 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
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