iWork4Him PowerThought

Have you ever said, "I go to work just to earn a living"? Most of us will work more than 100,000 hours in a lifetime. That's more than a third of your life! Sadly, stats show that at least 7 in 10 people don't like their job. And, three in seven HATES it.   If our Christianity is going to be relevant, it must address how our work week will be used for the glory of God. We also need to understand G...

Christmas is coming – just 2 days away.  This week has focused on the giving and receiving of gifts and recognizing the ultimate gift of Jesus. Are you a gift to the people you live near? Outside of work, we come in contact with a lot of people. You might be involved in a small group from church. How are you a gift to your small group? Are you a gift in the way you serve others in your community?...

It's the week of Christmas. A week focused on the giving and receiving of gifts and recognizing the ultimate gift of Jesus. Are you a gift to the people you work with? What does that look like? Is it the work you do, or how you do your work? Is it your attitude at work, or is it the excellence you demonstrate as you do your work? When your coworkers, employees, or bosses look at you,  do they see...

It's the week of Christmas. A week focused on the giving and receiving of gifts and recognizing the ultimate gift of Jesus. Are you a gift to the people you work with? We all love to get gifts, but what kind of gift do you love to give. For Martha and I, we love to give the gift of entertainment. Not a song and dance routine, but hosting people for dinner. We love to cook a meal and share our kitc...

It's the week of Christmas. A week focused on the giving and receiving of gifts and recognizing the ultimate gift of Jesus. Are you a gift to the people you work with? What is the most memorable gift you have ever received on Christmas morning? Was it a doll or a train set or a bicycle? Maybe it was memorable because of who you spent it with, like the last time you were with your grandmother or gr...

Hebrews 11 says, "By faith Abel brought an offering." What is an offering? Jesus said that while the bridegroom is with us, we want to feast, but when he is gone, then we look at fasting. We don't earn God's favor when we go without or by bringing him an offering. Faith grows when it is expressed in sacrifice when it's not easy. When I "bring my sacrifice of praise" God is honored and my faith in...

When we face uncertainly in life, there is one thing to remember, none of what is happening is a surprise to God… It's been a long week. It's always a long week. Each week draws attention to the reality of the broken world we live in. Here's a thought. Nothing that happened this week changed your position in eternity. You can be the solid, dependable one for those around you. Pray for healing the...

When we face uncertainly in life, there is one thing to remember, none of what is happening is a surprise to God. Someone around you is Hurting, Frustrated, Angry and Worried. What is your role as a Jesus follower in the workplace? Your role is to not get caught up in political rhetoric or petty grievances. Your role is to start up and get caught up in bringing the healing of Jesus to the hurting...

When we face uncertainty in life, there is one thing to remember, none of what is happening is a surprise to God. As a Jesus-follower, working and living around people who don't know Jesus, what is your role today?  Be a purveyor of peace. You don't have the luxury to respond to anyone in anger. Don't get uptight worrying about the effect of the latest news cycle and problems around this world. Do...

When we face uncertainty in life, there is one thing to remember, none of what is happening is a surprise to God. One thing this world needs is a people group that is not ruffled by the winds of change, a people of peace in the storms of uncertainty. The Body of Christ is just that group of people. In the early church, they were so NOT rattled that eventually the entire Roman empire was transforme...

When we face uncertainty in life, there is one thing to remember, none of what is happening is a surprise to God. People are so polarized, going left, going right, or just sitting out. As a Christ Follower living out your faith at work, what is your role in this? Your role is to represent our Heavenly Father by bringing peace and truth. Your role is to remind whoever you run into that you are not...

Martha: As you woke up today, did you find yourself celebrating the end of the work week? Jim: We have all been trained to celebrate weekends and to dread our work. Martha: But is that the way God feels? Jim: I grew up thinking that work was a result of original sin. That the reason work was evil was that it came from evil. Martha: But that was a lie. God created work long before Adam and Eve sinn...

Jim: During your commute today, whether its walking down the hallway or driving down the highway, what will you think about? Martha: Will you be caught up in the stress of the day or will you be preparing your heart for what God is going to do today, alongside you in your work? Jim: God set the workplace standard before evil entered our world. He gave Adam a job to name all the animals. An almost...

Martha: When Jim & I were 13 we committed our lives to full-time Christian Ministry. So naturally I thought I would be a pastor's wife or a missionary. Jim: I thought I was going to be a youth pastor. Martha: When we got married, I naturally thought that ministry was in our future. Jim: Martha was right about that. But we were both wrong about the location of our ministry. We kept thinking we were...

Martha: Do you ever feel like quitting your job? Even though it's a good job and it pays well. Jim: We mean quit your perfectly good job so you can go into full time ministry. Have you ever had that thought? Martha: If you are like us, you feel the need for significance in your work and you feel like a job in a church or a Christian non-profit is the only way to go. Jim: We are here to help stop t...

Jim: When you woke up today did you find yourself celebrating the first day of the work week or did you find yourself dreading it? Martha: It seems that most of us suffer from TGIF syndrome instead of adopting the TGIM revolution. We need to start Thanking God its Monday. Jim: you see, God designed our work to have purpose and fulfillment. He also designed it so that He could work alongside us, br...

People want to be heard and recognized, which makes listening so important. I have a tendency to listen to the first few words of someone expressing a thought or idea or feeling to me, and then I am busy contemplating a response. I often miss my chance to listen because I want so badly to be heard. I never realized that behavior was so hurtful until I got married. Martha is a great communicator an...

People want to be heard and recognized, which makes listening so important. We spend a lot of time with our co-workers—lots of time. We grow to like our co-workers, and some we even grow to love and cherish. But do the people you love know that you listen to them?  Do people at work and frankly at home, know that you love them by how you demonstrate your listening skills? Listening is the most pow...

People want to be heard and recognized, which makes listening so important. When I get in my car, I put on the radio. I love to listen to talk radio. It passes the time in traffic, and I get entertained. About 15 years ago, I realized I had an addiction to noise in my car. I needed to learn to be quiet and listen to God. I committed my morning commutes to work to be my listening/praying time. No m...

People want to be heard and recognized, which makes listening so important. When you are in trouble or need advice, who do you listen to first? Do you rush right to your bible and get on your knees in prayer? Or do you tend to call a friend or post your trouble on Facebook?  I get it. It is easier to connect with humans than to seek the Lord. But if our tendency is to go to people for answers and...

People want to be heard and recognized, which makes listening so important. Are you a good listener? I am a much better talker than a listener. When we listen to others, we are like Jesus. He listened so well. Today you may be on multiple zoom calls or in-person meetings, be the best listener in the crowd, not just listening for your job but listening for what isn't said, things spoken without wor...

It's the week of Thanksgiving and we all have so much to be thankful for.  Whether you are working today or off, are you thankful for your work? So often we find ourselves complaining about our work. I am guilty of it often. Our work is given to us by God on purpose for a purpose. We work with people who need to meet Jesus and you may be the one who gets to do that. However, if we are walking arou...

It's the week of Thanksgiving and we all have so much to be thankful for.  It's hard to fathom but some people in our country will wake up today with NO FOOD. None.  It may even be someone you work with that is struggling financially and they don't have enough food either.  There may be people in your church or neighborhood that will not have enough food today to celebrate thanksgiving. People all...

It's the week of Thanksgiving, and we all have so much to be thankful for.  I spent a week in the Dominican Republic a few years back. I saw a level of contentment and thankfulness in every person I met. Most had only a tin roof over their head and a couple pairs of clothing, but they were thankful. Thankful for a meal to eat and a place to sleep. What about you? Are you thankful for your clothes,...

It's the week of Thanksgiving, and we all have so much to be thankful for.  Yet when many of us think about our time with family later this week, we struggle to be thankful. Many of you have indeed suffered at the hands of family. I am sorry for that. However, for most of you, you have been blessed with a family that loves you, but still get under your skin and irritate you. How do we shift our at...