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Encouraging Men Along Life's Journey January 28, 2013
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God In The Marketplace
GOOD IDEA VS A GOD IDEA - Take The Shot
"Live as children of light, for the fruit of light consist in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, and find out what pleases the Lord." Ephesians 5: 9,10
Big ideas can be really big. They can determine whether we succeed or fail in our business or life in general. That is why we take some wise and appropriate measures before we jump into something that may not be a God idea. But once we have determined that the idea we have is pleasing to the Lord, we then must look for opportunities to implement the ideas. To not do so, is to live in a world of looking back at missed opportunities and what if's.
We are standing on the court, we are one point behind in getting to the playoffs, the ball has been passed in to us, and there is one second left on the clock. This opportunity may never come our way again. We can shoot and hit the shot, sending our team into the playoffs. But if we don't take the shot, we will never know if this opportunity might have actually led us to the national championship. For the moment, it is just to make the playoffs, but what is at stake is much bigger than the playoffs. It is critical that we see the entire vision of an idea, otherwise, we may suffer the unthinkable tragedy of missing out on a blessing sent by God.
Maybe the servant in Matthew 25 who received the one talent never saw the vision, therefore, he hesitated to take the shot. He feared the repercussions that would await him if he could not at least return the money he was given. All he could see was his one talent. He could not see the team in the playoffs, much less the national championship. Do we do the same, do we fail to take the shot because we cannot see the vision God has set before us? Do we approach all of life this way? Everything we do, every idea given to us by God, has a national championship vision. In Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20, Jesus gives His vision for all of us. We are to go and make disciples, teaching them the ways of God. That is what we are all about, even with the ideas God gives us in our business. God has given all believers the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18 ) To not include this in our vision in business is to separate our business life from our walk with God. Not an easy principle to accept, but scriptural. Do we see that every idea for a believer includes, not only a purpose for our business, but also, a purpose for His kingdom?
Maybe the servant with the one talent compared himself to the other servants, and concluded he did not have the same amount of talent. Therefore, he was afraid he would not do as well. Maybe he did not want to look bad in front of the others. We can often do this ourselves. We see others who have such tremendous talents and we think since our talent is so small we cannot make a difference. We think if only we had more talent. Our talent is so little, why risk it when we can't make a big impact.
The Master had the reputation of being very successful. In fact, he was one of those who harvested returns from areas he had never marketed. Many came to him because they knew of his business and how successful he was. But he was also a hard man, demanding an account from those in whom he entrusted an opportunity. The servant mistakenly made his decision not to take advantage of the opportunity out of fear of what the master would do if he lost the one talent given him. The master, however, was just as concerned about him using his talent as he was in the return. In fact, he would have accepted the minimum return if he had only done something with the opportunity.
Our goal as Christian business men is to seize the opportunity on every idea God brings to us. If we are fulfilling our true purpose, we will not only reap great rewards in our business, but we will also have our eyes on the ultimate vision of Christ. As a result, someone will have a closer relationship with Christ as we conduct our business. We will not only touch the lives of those in whom we come into direct contact, but others will hear of our mission and we will be reaping where we did not sow. Then the big idea really comes to full fruition.
Those who take the shot will be named good and faithful, and will now have the opportunity to experience the full and complete happiness of Christ himself. Our talent, regardless how small, can make a big difference when it is used by God.
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EVENTS
Lead Like Jesus
Dowd YMCA
January 29, 30
ABOUT US
CEO Ministry offers men the opportunity to grow in their relationship with Christ. Each CEO accepts the responsibility to grow personally as a man of God, to lead each member of his family to Christ and to live by the ways of God. The CEO also accepts his role as a leader in the marketplace to practice the principles of God and to lead others to follow. The goal of CEO Ministry is to have men commit to these values, and in so doing, be a man that is living a life of significance.
Sincerely,
Jack Fallaw
CEO Ministry
Encouraging Men in the
Marketplace and Home
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Recommended Resources
CEO Devotional Library
NEW NEW !
**THE TRUE MEASURE
OF A MAN
Richard Simmons 111
** LEAD LIKE JESUS
Ken Blanchard
THE HARBINGER
Jonathan Cahn
NOT A FAN
Kyle Idleman
**LOVE WORKS
Joel Manby
HALFTIME
Bob Buford
A PASSION FOR PRAYER
Tom Elliff
DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE
John Pipe
Interested in a
Small Group?
CEO Ministry is interested in beginning small groups for businessmen in local areas. These groups meet weekly and
allow participants to discuss and network. Email Jack Fallaw at
jack@ceoministry.com to sign up or
find out more details
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