Order Gives Fulfillment

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Sep 202010

Alright, so here is a very well known scripture- but one we must remind our self of constantly.

1 Corinthians 14:40
Let all things be done decently and in order.
KJV

How many successful businesses do you know of that are in complete disorder when it comes to their bookkeeping, inventory, staffing, tax filing or other important areas. I’m not talking about “John’s Peaches” on the side of some random road. I’m talking about a proven business that has went through the ups and downs of the market and has sustained profitable results through these trying times. Probably zero or very few… and of the few they are most likely borderline bankrupt. It just doesn’t happen.

One of the greatest feelings in life is going to work or your place of business and fulfilling a needed duty for which you receive compensation in the form of green paper. That little green paper is earned for providing a service or skill that benefited others. When at work most of us enjoy that feeling of doing something important while earning those monetary notes- But there is also something we may not realize or be constantly aware of while doing our jobs that is a reward in and of itself, and that is the order of our environment. We often don’t give much thought at work about where to find a pen, pad of paper, find a proper place to work on a laptop, or other trivial necessity. We need a pen, it’s in the desk- need a pad of paper, on the left side of the desk… For some reason it just isn’t as smooth at home all the time. I don’t know how many times I have found myself yelling to my wife in desperation “Where’s a pen!?! I need a pen !?! …oh thanks… Where something to write on?!?”

I cannot always control where things are in the house, as there is usually more than one hand on them in any given day, but something far more important I can control is my time. God is a God of order and we being His creation in His image should realize we need to act in like manner. If we’re His children, why do we think we can go without having order in our life and expect successful results? I mean… He’s GOD! He does everything decently and in order. He does everything in proper time. Even Jesus came “when the time had fully come”.

Just so there is no confusion, I am not talking about scheduling every minute of a service down to the final 2 minute warning with prayer before the buzzer and we all leave and go eat chicken. No, no, no- that’s programming God out of our service and that’s another writing for another day.

But God does expect us to make the best use of our time as His citizens.

Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
KJV

Judging from this scripture, I have so much time on earth while I am in this body. I know I have purpose to fulfill and I need to be about my work and getting things done. I don’t have a “heavenly slot machine” by which I can win life tokens for extra years, I don’t have a pause button for life, and God doesn’t plan on rewinding what has passed just so I can get a do-over for time wasted. So I have to do the best with what I have. But how many times do we come home from our orderly jobs, with our tightly knit agendas that use every ounce of time to its fullest, only to sit down on the couch and think about all the things we need to get done but become tired just thinking about it? Uncompleted tasks, projects, potential ideas keep piling up… but the only thing we succeed at is FAILING TO ACT! Sometimes we try, but we start one thing only to get scatter brained while thinking about the other things we need to do… and we often go to bed thinking “I just can’t get caught up around here.”

Well remember who you are- you were made in His image AND in His likeness. It is not natural for you to be disorderly. You cannot run a company like this, so why do you think you can get positive results in your life without order? I had someone recently tell me “I just can’t find time to read… I’m too busy” The reason we can’t find time to read is the same reason we can’t find time to pray, we don’t make time. We have to appoint times and bring order to our life. Prayer is the most important thing a citizen of the kingdom can do each day… yet it is often neglected… and we wonder where is God and why can I not get anything done. Because your life is out of order.

King David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant to his place and decided to have it brought on a cart, which was not the way God had told them to transport it. When the ark began to fall, Uzza tried to stop it and touched the ark and he died. After a few months of leaving the ark at Obededom’s, David acted differently in his approach to this task…

1 Chronicles 15: 12-13
12) And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.
13) For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
KJV

Sometimes God will allow affliction to come on you, because it’s the only way to get His stubborn children in line with His plan. So prayer is a daily necessity in bringing complete satisfactory order to our day. Notice I did not say just “order” but “satisfactory order”. That’s because you may get results because of a well structured plan, but you’ll be missing a key component to your personal satisfaction and any results can only be sustained temporarily with a “no prayer agenda”. And yes, you need to assign times for prayer. I love God with all my heart and have seen great and mighty things, but I have yet to have the Holy Spirit in the form of a cloud pick me up out of my bed, float me out of my room to a solitary place, wake me up gently and say “Please pray…” I have times He gets my attention but the majority of the time it is a discipline… and one we definitely need to work on.

So make time be what you want it to be, grab a hold of it and bring order to it. Assign tasks to your morning and evening and you will see great rewarding results and feel accomplished at the end of the day. I am convinced that the primary reason for this feeling of accomplishment is because you are in right standing with the kingdom and in the King’s favor when you dominate your life. (Genesis 1:26). You’re acting just like your Daddy… in Heaven.

Start today, get a pad of paper and assign what you will do each day. It doesn’t have to be perfect- AND don’t just “think” what you want to do because that’s why we’re doing this exercise in the first place. Your mental agenda has a way of rescheduling indefinitely. So WRITE IT DOWN, and you can adjust as needed after a few days. An example would be…

6:00AM: Wake up / Pray
6:30AM: Get Ready
7:00AM: Leave for Work – School – Etc
–Blah–Blah–Blah–
6:00PM Arrive Home – Relax
6:30PM: Cook
7:00PM: Exercise – Shower
8:00PM: Read Book
8:30PM: Study Bible
9:00PM: Free Time

This is just an example and time durations for certain things will vary but- TRY IT! Write it down, commit to it, and follow through for 21 days so it becomes a habit. If you don’t like it, you can always go back to procrastinating- it will welcome you with slothful arms.

But kingdom citizens are not lazy, they ACT, and their diligence brings reward.

For The Kingdom!

Bill Wylie

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Sep 142010

In memory of Bill Wylie of Upstate South Carolina. He was a good friend and he will surely be missed.

-September 11th 2010

Why This

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Jun 172010

You want to start a business? Alright, so what is your business plan?

If you’re opening a restaurant- why am I going to come?
If it’s a clothing store- why do I want to buy from you?
If it’s a carpentry business- why do I want to hire you?

“Well, I want to open a restaurant with comfortable chairs and tables, and serve good food”

Oh WOW! That should be neat and BORING! Hey everyone let’s go eat at that place that’s like everywhere else!

Blah Blah Blah! People don’t eat at places just because you’re there… well maybe a handful of people who are lazy and hope your place is good enough so they don’t have to drive far. But you need more than a handful! You need people who will become regulars and will share with others who will become regulars- so what’s going to get them to come to your place?

You can’t afford to fit in with everyone else. You can’t afford to fit the standard mould. If you do, you’re just increasing your risk. That’s right it’s too risky to be normal. You’re not going to discover something new by fitting in, you cannot discover- or be innovative by trying to be like what you think people will expect. People don’t go to places because it’s what they would expect- absolutely not- it’s quite the opposite. They want to see something new, something exciting, something they’ve been searching for!

So why do so many businesses open up- and they’re just like the last one that closed down?

There’s a building on a very busy strip of road that I go down quite a bit. Several years ago it was a bar. I would see at the most 5-6 cars in the parking lot when I drove by. After a while it closed down and someone else rented it- and you know what they opened up? …ANOTHER BAR! This one stayed open for about the same amount of time before it closed. Then another tenant moved in and opened …yep, a bar- but this guy was smart, he put a sign up that said “Under New Management” …wow. Again it closed and the lease sign was back up. I have seen it reopen at least two more times since- once as another bar, and then again when someone got creative and made it a bar and grill. Why?

Why do we waste so much energy doing the same thing as everyone else? What’s our reasoning? What’s our logic? If we see someone doing it and they’re not getting the results they expected- why do we want to do what they’re doing? We seem so eager sometimes to fail in the same ways as others have, by choosing to replicate what didn’t work for them.

See if you do the same thing as everyone else and you fail like everyone else than you don’t stand out and you don’t get ridiculed. BUT, if you dare to be different, challenge yourself to discover what works, follow your passion, your vision of the result you want regardless of it not being what’s the norm- then you will get laughed at… at first. But when it takes off, you buy the property, and then open a second one- everyone says “Why didn’t I think of that?”

God has designed us and put something in us to be great at! We must discover it- and then ACT! Being afraid to fail is not the kingdom way. If you’re going to do something- you need to be passionate about it! If your restaurant is going to look like other restaurants, you better have a passion for service like no where else.

If you’re going to open a clothing store- pull out your passion while doing it- do something unexpected! Offer hemming in your store, without having to send it off. Offer custom designs to be embroidered on the clothes they buy while they shop. What if you put a runway right down the middle of the store with strobe lights that you could turn on when someone walked down it- offer 10% off for those who do! Give the sales associates cameras to flash when a customer does it- How fun an exciting would that be? What a fun place to go!

You might be laughing, but it’s the birth of new ideas that someone implements- that leads to success.

Whatever business you start- bring out your passion in your work, have fun with it. Think about what everyone would expect to see then make sure to stay away from that, and bring out the unexpected.

Study

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May 202010

I know it’s a simple title, but it is something we really need to realize whether we give enough attention to or not. Let’s look at some definitions.

application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation, or reflection: long hours of study.
the cultivation of a particular branch of learning, science, or art: the study of law.
Often, studies. a personal effort to gain knowledge: to pursue one’s studies.
research or a detailed examination and analysis of a subject, phenomenon, etc.
a written account of such research, examination, or analysis
a well-defined, organized branch of learning or knowledge.
zealous endeavor or assiduous effort.
the object of such endeavor or effort.
deep thought, reverie, or a state of abstraction

These definitions come from Dictionary.Com

I really love the second one- “the cultivation of a particular branch of learning.”

A farmer will cultivate his crops in order to promote growth in them. He will give much labor and attention to them in order to get the best result. Can you say you cultivate your self for the kingdom? Do you give much attention to who you are supposed to become?

You know I’ve never met a wealthy person who got rich by being lazy.

Proverbs 10:4
Lazy hands make a man poor,
but diligent hands bring wealth.

Do you think “Being wealthy is ungodly!”. That’s not what God says. It’s in the bible! So this scripture needs to be looked at two ways: Physical wealth (money, property, assets)- and most importantly mental wealth (knowledge, wisdom, understanding).

Remember lazy hands make you poor -in every area- but diligent hands bring wealth -in every area-. If you are diligent in your studying you are GUARANTEED to be wealthy, and not because God likes you… Think about that. You are guaranteed to be wealthy because it’s God’s word and remember a king is bound by his decrees.

God spoke these things for our benefit, but so many times we choose to let them work against us. How? By being lazy. Waiting for God to do a miracle. Expecting God just to MAKE you smart, make you intelligent, make you rich. That’s not what God said in his word. Where do we get these concepts?

Read God’s word, study it, and make it work for you. Citizens know the laws and benefits their country provides- yet we choose to ignore the laws of the kingdom of God which are the most rewarding benefits any country has ever provided for any citizen ever! So study-study-study! Cultivate your mind with knowledge of God’s word.

God will reward those that diligently seek Him. He will reward your efforts of diligence in every area of life if you understand this concept and put it into practice. You will ‘do a little thing for a long time’ and then BOOM! God comes gives you a supernatural increase in that area of study. We’ve all had it happen. We’ve worked hard at something and then all of a sudden we get a boost in a short period of time that reaps more results then all the work we had done up to that point. That’s called a Breakthrough! Remember- one plants, one waters, and God gives the increase. He’ll give you an increase in your job knowledge, your skill of expertise, your business, your relationships- everything! You just have to show you mean business and put forth effort. God will give you such an abundant increase because He wants people to see you and see what it’s like to be in His kingdom. God wants His citizens to represent what it’s like to be in the kingdom of God.

Study – Study – Study – Cultivate – Cultivate – Cultivate and watch the Lord work!

Get Rid of Normal

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May 142010

I’ve been reading one of Seth Godin’s books titled “Tribes“. What an awesome book! Something that I read I wanted to share with you guys here. It’s about breaking the status quo. Breaking the boundaries of normal.

Seth used the double quoted phrase “Everyone Knows”. You don’t always want to have your life, career, characteristics, or business model summed up with these two words. Example: ‘Everyone knows’ you will have a sale at the end of each month, or ‘Everyone knows’ you will be done with an assigned project in so many days- You are in school for a degree and doing a project and ‘everyone knows’ what to expect in your presentation- In a manager’s meeting it’s your turn to speak and you will give a good speech as… yep ‘everyone knows’. How boring for everyone to know what to expect. Change it up! Be bold, be different!

Have a random sale in the middle of the month unannounced until one Friday at noon you hit the intercom system with enthusiasm letting the customers know you will be having a sale for the next 24 hours. (Planned sales are normal, be different, cause ‘sale hysteria’ and the customers will be contacting all the people they know about it because they feel they are playing beat the clock to buy whatever they can within the next 24 hours.)

Finish an assigned project in half the time. If doing that project at school, don’t do the run of the mill ‘good’ project- do a Great project. Spend time actually thinking of what people would NOT expect.

In that manager’s meeting- do something totally crazy that keeps your staff watching and wondering what’s next. People hold on to so much more knowledge when it is engaging!

So break the status quo. Don’t do what people expect- do something that will really break boundaries. Break the norm- get rid of it- it’s boring!

First Things First

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Apr 262010

Priority

(Definition from Dictionary.com)

1.) the state or quality of being earlier in time, occurrence, etc.
2.) the right to precede others in order, rank, privilege, etc.; precedence.
3.) the right to take precedence in obtaining certain supplies, services, facilities, etc., esp. during a shortage.
4.) something given special attention.

–adjective
5.) highest or higher in importance, rank, privilege, etc.: a priority task.

Take a look at these definitions for the word priority. Now ask yourself…

Is God your priority, first thing, every day or do you put everything else ahead of spending time with him because “you’re just too busy”?

Well with our refreshed understanding of the word “priority” let’s take a test and see.

Is the occurrence of prayer the first thing on your agenda?

Does God precede all other people, events, and order in your life or do you ever say “I will pray later”…?

Would the Lord say you rank him first in your life? (*Remember- not because you ‘say so’ but by your actions, attitude, and by example)

Does God take precedence in your giving, thoughts, and ways? (*Basically do you discuss with God the plan for distribution and use of resources He has provided you? [money, house, land, personal property])

I love this one
Does God receive special attention each day from you? (Do you carefully strive to be in his will and favor even if it goes against your own?)

Is God of the highest importance each day of your life?

Well how did you do?
I’m looking at these myself and saying ‘Ouch!’ on a few.

If you run a business there are things you do to make sure you are running it well.

-You arrive early in order to make sure everything is clean and in order.
-You make sure the business is ready for production of goods or services as soon as the customer shows up.
-You make sure you are present when the customer walks in the door and ready to serve.
-You make sure to keep good accounting of the business financial records.
-You make sure to keep good inventory of your resources to run the business efficiently and effectively.

After all, if the customer is not pleased with your service, there is no reason for you bothering even to come in. Why would they want to use you as a vendor if your business is dirty, you do terrible upkeep, your goods or services are mediocre, you never open the door on time, you treat them like a bother, and you don’t keep anything in stock they can use? And you want them to reward you with their money?

Let’s look at another perspective…

Jesus is a king. Get religion out of your ahead. Religion let’s you fluctuate your level of service based on your emotions, how you feel, or what kind of day you have had. If He is king- then what gift are you bringing Him each day? Are you bringing Him an offering first, or a basketful of complaints? Sometimes we treat God like that only, a complaint department. A complaint department is a place we really dislike going, we feel we should not have to be there because the product -(life)- should have worked the way we thought it should, and we only finally go there out of last resort because we can’t deal with the problem any longer.

So here we are. Coming to God to pray -(complain)- about your life and God is thinking “I did not know they even came to this place.”

You ever lost a receipt and ‘thought’ you bought something from a store but after going to that business they scan the tag and tell you it did not come from there? Many times we blame God for our product… life.
But God says “I didn’t produce this. This has your brand on it- not mine. Oh and by the way I see the evidence of some horrible material in your design of the product” Who do you get your material from?” Hmmmm…

When we realize that Jesus is a king, and he is from a country (heaven), and heaven is a government -(kingdom)- then we will finally understand you cannot come to God and blame Him for a product He had no business with. It’s time to make a change in your day. It’s time for a reconfiguration of priorities. It’s time to put first things first. After all we plan then design, we discuss then implement, we get the blue prints then follow them.

God wants to put you at the head of everything you are involved with. He wants to establish you at the top of every field in life. He wants to assign you as the leader in each profession on the earth. But He only uses those that are good representatives of the kingdom. After all it’s His kingdom that is being represented through you. Are you a good representative of the kingdom? If you are taking on the role as an ambassador for Christ – are you fulfilling your reasonable duty and service with the up most standards and quality? or are you an example of an official who should be recalled?

I want to stay in right standing with my government.-(heaven)- I want to keep the lines of communication clear.-(prayer)- I want the government to be happy with my work.-(favor)- I want to have access to all of the benefits my government provides.-(covenant)-

I’ve got to keep first things first.