iWork4Him PowerThought

If there is one thing I learned from my first mentor, Mike, it is that mentoring and discipleship is something to be done in the context of life and not in a hurry .   It was not a box to be checked but time to be set aside .   It was an investment of Mike's life into mine and, honestly, as it turns out, an investment of my life into Mikes .   Since I experience God differently than Mike, he learn...

As a 16-year-old and a new believer of just 3 years, I needed someone to invest their life in mine .   Was that discipleship or mentorship that I needed ?   Enter - Mike .   Many would argue that  being a disciple-maker is inherently different than being a mentor .   Mentors often help someone become more like the mentor; Disciple makers help someone become more like JESUS .   Discipleship invites...

When you retire, does your  calling  retire too? Does our calling run out when Social Security kicks in? I  don't  think so.  Your mission field assignment may or may not change later on in life.  Some of you have a career that could go until  very late  in life. Just because  you're  65  doesn't  mean that  you're  done working. Sure,  maybe you  need to change things up or  perhaps you  need to...

Why are you retiring? Is it because  you're  too old to work? Is it because  you're  ready for a break? Is it because  you're  ready for a change? We need to recognize why we want to retire. Change is OK. But it  doesn't  mean that retirement is an end to our work. God gave us work as a gift. That gift continues throughout our lives until the very last breath. Our work is meant to glorify God. If ...

So many retirees in America have spent a lifetime preparing for retirement. Well, I should say  they're  preparing their financial means for retirement, but are they preparing for what God has them to do in their retirement? The answer is  almost categorically  no. How much time have you spent preparing for how God will use you when you retire? Does that planning include how you will use your gift...

The American dream of retirement is a lie. The American dream says that we will retire and live out the  remainder  of our lives on vacation, enjoying sunsets on the beach where every day is filled with pleasure and deep satisfaction. One problem. It never works out this way. Most of us know what we are going to retire from.  We're  retiring from a job we just want to  be done  with. It has paid o...

The American Dream of Retirement is a lie.  It's  also not biblical. God never intended for us to retire from work and then go on a perpetual vacation. Retirement is only mentioned once in the Bible and only for  levitical  priests. However, when they retired, their next role was to train up the next generation of  levitical  priests. We can learn a lot from that model. If you are retired or almos...

It  shouldn't  surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 4 priority should be our work. Work is a gift from God, just as our relationships are. Work is necessary to shape our character and pay our bills. Work is designed to have a start and an end every day. Everything unravels when work is a higher priority than our families...

It  shouldn't  surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 3 priority should be our relationship with our kids. I know that not everyone listening has kids but  listen   for   your  friends. When our kids run our priorities list instead of being in 3 rd  place, the whole family is a mess, especially you. Our lives are not suppos...

It  shouldn't  surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 2 priority should be your relationship with your spouse if you are married. Everything else but God should be prioritized behind your spouse.  So often, this gets really messed up.  We put work first, and everything else just    ends up in a mess.  When we get married, w...

It  shouldn't  surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number one priority should be our relationship with Him. Our quiet time, our calendars, our  checkbooks  and our screen time reflect this. When God  doesn't  take first place in our lives, we  always seem to be  hurried and harried, never getting enough done. When our daily sch...

Our God is a God of order. Look at His creation. In our bodies, every heartbeat and breath works with a thousand other systems to  maintain  life in every fiber of our being. The chemical balance within the kidney is precisely controlled, the fluid pressure in every cell is  maintained , and our sleep tonight will  initiate  a series of brainwaves that defy even the experts to explain their purpos...

What's  the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to your community. What does that look like? It means that the service you provide is always done with excellence. It means your product is safe and does exactly what you say it will do. Your community is everybody you serve. But the community also means the area around where your business  resides . Being a blessing to your c...

What's  the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the employees of the business.  What's  that look like? It means paying your people well, treating your people nicely, providing a safe work environment, and listening to them. There are so many things you can do to be a blessing to your employees, but number one is they need to be loved… Have you ever asked your employees...

What's  the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the vendors that supply your business. What does that look like? It means ordering your supplies well in advance. It means being respectful on the phone when  you're  making your orders. It means paying your bills on time. It means telling others about the quality of service you receive from the vendors. If your business is...

What's  the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the customers of the business.  That may sound oversimplified, but if your customers aren't feeling blessed by your product or service, then you won't have a business for very long. What does it look like to be a blessing to your customers?  It means that the product that you provide is well-built, long-lasting, and meets t...

What's  the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the business owner and his/her family. What does that look like? A paycheck, or is it more? Of course, a business needs to provide an income to the owner, but it must also help his/her marriage and family to flourish. If your business is robbing your family of your time, then  it's  not a blessing. If your business  isn't  ...

I have never  worked  a manufacturing line .   But I know this .   If people  don't  do their jobs at the manufacturing plants, then many items we count on  wouldn't  be made .   If you feel like  you're  just a manufacturing worker and want to quit your job to go into full-time ministry .   Don't !   That's  a disaster .   Your job is so critical to the lives of thousands of people, perhaps milli...

I've  been in sales before .   For 10 years, I worked in Christian retail .   I  actually worked  at a Christian bookstore inside of a church .   Every day I had to manage employees, manage stock, keep track of sales, and please the people that owned the store .   I loved selling people things they needed .   I sold lots of Bibles .   I sold  lots of  books .   I sold  lots of  gifts .   I sold a...

You might say, All I ever do is clean up after people .   As a janitor,  I'm  sweeping floors day in and day out .   I clean them, and other people  get them  dirty .   I clean the bathrooms, and they get dirty again .   I just want a job that matters .   I'm   gonna  quit my job and go into  full -time ministry .   STOP .   You are not  just  a janitor .   You have a unique set of gifts, talents,...

I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine .   She said to me  " I'm  a  really good  accountant but  I'm  thinking about quitting my job and going to work in a church. I just want my work to make a difference .   I want my work to matter to God."  So  I said,  " You  are not just an accountant .   You are someone uniquely gifted by God to work with numbers .   You organize those  nu...

If I hear one more person say that their job  doesn't  make a difference so  they're  going to quit their job and go work in  full time  ministry -  I'm   gonna  explode .   You're  not just a plumber .   You're  a plumber who loves Jesus and  who's   really good  at keeping people's water flowing, their toilets flushing, their drains draining and their hot water hot .   You're  a blessing to ever...

We can spend  a whole year  preparing for a short-term mission trip .   But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field ?   We need to prepare our openness to God's leading as we work .   All day long, decisions need to be made .   You will also be presented with opportunities for  conversations .   How often do you stop before you make that decision and say, "God, what...

We can spend  a whole year  preparing for a short-term mission trip .   But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field ?   We need to prepare our strength daily .   I'm  not sure who said it first, but whoever said it was right :   Breakfast is the most important meal of the day .   Exercise  isn't  a bad idea either .   If you never get to eat a decent breakfast and n...

We can spend  a whole year  preparing for a short-term mission trip .   But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field ?   We need to prepare our souls daily as we get ready for work .   What does that mean ?   So often, our souls have been hurt and damaged by the people we work with and the people we live with .   Preparing our souls means forgiving those who have sin...