iWork4Him PowerThought

As a Christ-follower in the workplace, you are likely to mess up once in a while. What you do next is the key to helping others see the difference Jesus is making in you. Ford Taylor from Transformational Leadership has developed the 6-step Apology. We are going to cover step 3 today. Step 3 is simply to apologize. Saying I am sorry means so much when you have hurt someone. Be careful not to say,...

As a Christ-follower in the workplace, you are likely to mess up once in a while. What you do next is the key to helping others see the difference Jesus is making in you. Ford Taylor from Transformational Leadership has developed the 6-step Apology. Step 1 is to State the Offense. "You are right. I did it." Step two is acknowledging that you are wrong. So, you say something like, "I was wrong to…o...

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...

Hebrews 11 says, "By faith we understand. . . that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." Stephen Covey says, "Begin with the end in mind." Entrepreneurs start with ideas of something that doesn't exist yet, to form the foundation of what is to come.  No wonder the context of Hebrews 11:3 is "by faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command." Why d...

Hebrews 11 says, "Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation." The prophet Jeremiah reminds his listeners to "Stand by the road, and look, and ask for the ancient paths." Moses, in speaking to the Israelites in Deuteronomy says, "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart." Paul quotes this to the new Christians in Rome to then go on to say, "If you...

Hebrews 11 says, "Faith. . . is the evidence of things not seen…" Faith is holding on even when you can't see the answer. That's how Daniel and his friends must have felt when the King decreed that all of his senior advisors would die if no one could answer the riddle posed by the King's terrifying dream. But The King wouldn't tell anyone what he had seen in his dream. They had to tell him the dre...

Hebrews 11 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for…" Hope is not the absence of doubt. We all have doubts. Faith has substance when we hold on to it despite our doubts. When Job said in his book that "Though He slay me I will hope in Him" Job is essentially saying what any of us have said when we declare, "Even if God doesn't come through in the way that I expect and am praying for, I st...

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...

It's the week of Thanksgiving, and we all have so much to be thankful for.  Yet, some days, I struggle to be thankful. Work can be overwhelming, and deadlines are looming. Some days I am just outright un-thankful.  When we lack a thankful attitude, it impacts our spirit and the spirits of others around us. We don't realize the impact we have on others. 1st Thessalonians 5 18 says, "Be thankful in...

Let's start today with some biblical encouragement about work. Ephesians 2 10 says, "For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them." Imagine with me for a moment that your focus as a Jesus-follower is to deeply integrate your faith into the work you deliver. Continue imagining. You're not contributing…you cannot...

When I began working, I fell into a trap. I searched for meaning in the kind of work I was doing. Jeremiah 9:23 tells us "…the world defines greatness by wealth, wisdom, and power." That's where I thought my focus should be…to find significance at work. And you know what? I was continually let down and discouraged until I realized Jeremiah 9:24 said this, "…the one who boasts should boast in this,...

Do you think your work and your faith are separate considerations? There's always a divine reason God has us at work. When we understand that, we have the right focus. In John 4, the disciples challenged Jesus for talking to the woman at the well after they got back from town buying food. Jesus says: "Don't you say, 'There are still four months, then comes the harvest: I say open your eyes and loo...

What's God want from us at work? Some think WHAT we produce at work is PRIORITY ONE. No matter your job, consider this from 2 Peter 3:10, "But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be totally destroyed." So, if our work-product will one day burn up, where...

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...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. There is brokenness in us, in our world, work, and community. There is healing in Jesus. Today as you have zoom calls, meetings, sales calls, service calls, or power lunches, look for the broken around you through God's eyes. See people the way He sees them… as Image bearers. In following Jesus, we are to be like Him...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace.  Today is Veterans Day, a day we celebrate the service of men and women who serve and have served our country. These families had to seek healing after the wars. Over the centuries, wars have been fought, and millions of people have died. How do you bring about healing when your neighbor caused the death of your son?...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace.  Frederick Buechner said, "Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the Holy is drawing near." What injustice in your community brings you to tears? Homelessness, poverty, joblessness, sexual exploitation? What can you do about it? God provided you...