Your Eden Work

Reason #2:

Most Christians don’t give as they should.

The Bible constantly talks about the necessity of giving, and the blessings that accompany it; yet most of us, especially those of us who live in the so-called developed countries, are hung up on what we can get; not what we can give.

We shouldn’t, of course, give to get; but we can’t deny that God through his word does connect receiving blessings (including material things) with giving:

If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving-large or small-it will be used to measure what is given back to you. - Luke 6:38 (NLT)

It doesn’t matter whether you believe in tithing or not; the point is that we should give:

On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. - 1 Cor. 16:2 (NIV)

One of the qualities of Godly wealthy people is that they give:

He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor,his righteousness endures forever… - Psalm 112:9 (NIV)

so shouldn’t those of us who seek to be blessed spiritually and financially emulate them?

The point is that we shouldn’t seek to get because we give, but look at God’s blessings as a result of our giving as a by-product of our love and obedience!

It is possible to give freely and become more wealthy, but those who are stingy will lose everything. The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. - Proverbs 11:24-25 (NIV)

 

 

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Reason # 3:

Most Christians don’t know their purpose.

Or, should, I say, His purpose for them (This is what I mean by “your” purpose.), and knowing this makes it easier to be an entrepreneur, because you’re doing what you were called to do.

Jesus knew His purpose:

“And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost.” - Luke 19:10 (NLT)

Paul knew his purpose:

“Then he revealed his Son to me so that I could proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles…” - Galatians 1:16 (NLT)

Do you know your purpose?  What God called you to do while you’re on this earth? 

It took me a long time to find it, but I finally did.

I’ve written a book which will be out soon (Of course I’ll tell you about it here when it comes out; that’s one more reason you need to subscribe, if you haven’t done so.) , and hopefully it’ll help you to find your purpose, if you don’t know it.

If you do, what was the “process” you used to find it, or was it just a “revelation?”

I was reading an article in USA Weekend recently on a forthcoming book called Nextville by Barbara Corcoran, a real estate expert on NBC and CNBC.  In this article, which was really a mini-interview, she was quoted as saying about retirement trends,  “One of the recent trends is finding and pursuing your passion, finding what really floats your boat.”

In speaking with Christian Seniors, I am finding that many are interested in just that: finding their purpose or passion.  A lot of them feel that either they have missed out on finding and/or acting on it when they were younger, or that they are just ready for a new challenge.

They are not only hungry for information on how as a Christian senior to find your purpose/passion, but how also to turn it into an entrepreneurial endeavor, whether as a business or a not-for-profit (”ministry”).  Sometimes dreams are deferred, but as one of my mentors, Bishop David Evans, has said many times, “God knows how old you are.” 

Wow!  Think about that.  That means that God has allowed you to experience the things you have in life just to get to these times when he wants you to get to the promise and destiny he has for you:

So that day Moses promised me, `The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your special possession and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’

Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise-even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old.

I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.

So I’m asking you to give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the Anakites living there in great, walled cities. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”

So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as an inheritance. - Joshua 14:9-13 (NLT)(emphasis mine)

Christian senior entrepreneurs, there’s still a lot more to do!

Most people think that when they are going to start a Christian business or ministry, they need a business plan, capital and “stuff like that.”  They think this is the “right stuff” that they’ll need.

But with help from Pastor Sheryl Brady, who spoke at my church a couple of Sundays ago, I’ve come to realize that the most important “stuff” - the right stuff - is what you produce from your efforts.

She pointed out that we need to find out what our purpose and assignment(s) are:  Why are you here and what are you supposed to do while you’re here?  Like if I’m doing one thing but I’m supposed to do another, the product of my work I’m not supposed to do could be hay or something that easily burns in the fire:

“Because of God’s special favor 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 other foundation than the one we already have-Jesus Christ.  Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames.” 1 Cor. 3:10-15 (NLT)

So if I do what I’m called to do; that which is in line with my purpose, then my product is something like gold: something that can’t be destroyed in the fire.

Do you agree?

Before we go to Reason #3, I still want to say something else about Reason #4, which is:

They’re not entrepreneurs!!!

As was stated in Part 5, most Christians don’t realize that we are commanded to, if we can, be “free”.

The other thing we are told to do, according to Proverbs 24:27 (KJV), is to find out what we’re called to do, and “prepare it.”:

Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

The New Living Translation (NLT) puts it in more “modern” terms:

Develop your business first before building your house.

One thing that both of these translations have in common is that they both say that we shouldn’t build our house before we “take care of business”, or, as is the vernacular today, “handle our business”!

Yet many of us, including pastors, ministers and priests, despite what is going on today with the mortgage crisis, are still talking about buying a house and/or making other purchases before we prepare/develop our businesses!

What is our “business”?

It is the “business” that God has given us to handle for Him while we are here on earth, whether it is a business (commerce), a ministry, starting a church, or an occupation that requires entrepreneurial skills.

So, I’m curious: Has your pastor, minister or priest ever preached, taught or spoken about Proverbs 24:27?