iWork4Him PowerThought

Have you had a performance review in the last year or two? If you have, how did you do? Did you need improvement? Did you meet expectations? OR did you EXCEED expectations? Because here's the thing: when you do good at work, people notice. Your quality of work is, in itself a witness to who God is… a God of goodness, of care, and of EXCELLENCE. Colossians 3:23 says, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Because the thing is, God is interested in good business, good profit, good attitudes, good character development, and meeting your employee needs. And when we connect God's passion for people with God's passion for quality and excellence the line between the sacred and the secular dissolves and the secular BECOMES sacred.  

God formed Adam and Eve on the sixth day of creation… making their first full day in the Garden of Eden the Sabbath – a day of REST. God is gracious so He didn't start them out on a Monday … instead, God emphasized the importance and holiness of spending time in his presence FIRST, before the work week begins. He asks us to look to him FIRST. Rest in Him FIRST. And only then, after worshiping, resting, and praying, are we to be sent out to do the work that God has for us. The Sabbath is a GIFT. And when we don't treasure it, we don't honor God. Remember, Jesus was always busy but NEVER in a hurry. He always made time for people, for rest, and for prayer. So, what about you? Do you consider Monday to be the start of your week? Or Sunday… the day of Rest? 

Your work matters to God, and God has strategically placed you in your workplace to be his representative. But what exactly does it mean to be a representative of God? 1 John:4 says,that God IS love. So, when we genuinely love people, we are giving them a taste of who God is – it's as easy as that! Being a representative of God in the workplace doesn't mean that you need to be a pastor, an evangelist, or an apologist – all you need to do is love God and love the people around you with authenticity, transparency, and humility. So, when you go to work, remember that you have an opportunity to be a representative of God by showing care and respect to those around you. Pick one way this week to show your coworkers that you genuinely love them, and so does God!

God loves our work! Why? I'll give you a hint – it's not because He's a workaholic. It's because work is an opportunity for God to partner with us for the salvation of souls! When we head to our jobs each day, we have an opportunity to not only make a paycheck but to engage in Kingdom purposes! 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "So we are Christ's Ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ..." What does it mean to be Christ's ambassadors and to speak on his behalf? Simply this: that we represent Christ and his purposes wherever we go, including work. Because when our faith is put into action people notice something is different and it becomes a catalyst for conversation. How can you partner with God at work this week as His ambassador? 

Matthew 5:14-16 says, "You are the light of the world… No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." When you go to work, do you switch off your faith? Do you put your belief under a bowl? Or do you proudly display it, letting it shine so that others can see it? The thing is, nobody benefits from your light if it's hidden... no one even knows it's there! But when you let your light - your faith - shine proudly at work, every good deed and kind word will bring glory to God! These regular parts of your day, suddenly become opportunities to share the love of Christ with everyone around you. 

There is a trick that some realtors use when they are showing a property or doing an open house: they put a batch of cookies in the oven right before the potential buyer comes through the door. The buyer is then met with the comforting aroma of warm, gooey cookies which give them a sensation of home. Good smells draw people in and invite them to stay awhile. 2 Corinthians 2:16 in the Passion Translation says, "Through our yielded lives he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God – a perfume of life to those being saved." What aroma is your life giving off to the people you work with? Not sure? Here's a trick. Spend some time praying before work each day, and the aroma of Christ will fill your life. 

A company we love, and one you may have heard of, called Dayspring, helps direct their branding by asking the question, "what do we want people to walk away feeling after they've encountered a Dayspring product?" Do we want them to feel seen, loved, or encouraged? And what can we do to make customers want to return after an encounter with our products? These kinds of branding questions aren't just for companies! 2 Corinthians 5:20 says that, "we are Christ's ambassadors and God is making his appeal through us." In other words, we are Christ's BRAND ambassadors! Take a moment and ask yourself the question: how well am I representing God's brand at work? When people encounter me, do they walk away feeling seen, loved, and encouraged? Think of one thing you can do today that will make those around you want to return to Christ. 

How do you define success? Being promoted? Achieving a certain number of social media followers? Reaching a particular income level? Well, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines it simply as, "a favorable or desired outcome." Take a moment today and consider how God's desired outcome looks different than the world's. In Matthew 22, Jesus tells a lawyer there are two main things we should desire in life… and they have nothing to do with financial status, power, or position! He said, "you shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… and shall love your neighbor as yourself." What kind of desired outcome are you pursuing at work: the world's version of success that centers on personal gain? Or God's, which is about honoring Him and loving those around you? 

Most people consider a vocation to be a career that they feel a strong draw towards or that they are particularly suited to. But as Christ-followers, we look at vocation a little bit differently. Dr. Chip Roper from the Voca Center in New York talked with us recently about the biblical view of vocation, which is simply a divine call to God's service or to the Christian life. From this perspective, your vocation isn't a career, but how you act in your current career. It is about recognizing that God has called you to your job for this time, in this season, to minister to your coworkers, vendors, bosses, customers, and clients! So remember, you aren't just working for yourself; you're working for the Lord! Step into your Kingdom calling this week by inviting God to teach you about your vocation as a workplace missionary. 

If I had one hundred dollars for every time someone said, "I want my life to have purpose, so I am thinking about quitting my job to go work in a church or Christian nonprofit" I would be a very, very rich man. There is a myth that has been circulating through theological communities for decades: that in order to have a Kingdom impact, you have to work in a four-walls church, a ministry, or a foreign mission field. But Psalm 139 in the Message translation says, "Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? To be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there!" The Holy Spirit resides inside of YOU, and that means that wherever you are – THAT is your mission field. So where you work, doesn't matter nearly as much as WHY you work. How can you work for the Lord today? 

I almost finished a 500 piece puzzle the other day, but one piece was missing. I searched high and low but I couldn't find it anywhere. In the end, I couldn't complete the picture with just 499 pieces… I needed the last one. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, "You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it." YOU are a part of the body of Christ and YOU bring something unique to this world - something only you can bring! Your skills, gifts, and passions help reveal who Jesus is to the world. But… if you aren't engaging, the puzzle is missing an essential piece and the picture is incomplete! God wants to use you, right where you are, to reflect Himself to your coworkers, bosses, friends and neighbors. Are you using your skills and gifts for the glory of Christ today? 

What is the first question someone asks you after an introduction? I'd be willing to bet that 9 times out of 10 its "So… What do you do for work?" That question may feel fine and dandy when you are in a high-powered position or working your dream job – but for most people it's uncomfortable to be instantly framed by their employment OR lack of employment. We live in a society that equates our value with our job title. But the TRUTH is that your identity is NEVER going to be found in the things you do or how impressive your resume is. Psalm 139: 14 says, "I give thanks to you God because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works." So remember, your value and identity are based on the fact that God designed, made, and loves you… just as you are! 

I heard recently from a retired army guy that he was taught to run TOWARDS the problem, not away from it. .... I wonder how many of us run towards OUR work problems vs. away from them.   Perhaps we think "confrontation" is un-Christ-like…but how did Jesus deal with problems?   With the woman at the well, He confronted her, asked and answered questions. In the temple, He confronted with over-turning the tables and admonishing. Did he EVER run away from a problem? Never. His way to address problems were spirit-based AND involved action of some kind.  But He never opted out, avoided or ignored the situation. Trust in the Lord with all your heart;     do not depend on your own understanding.6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Won't YOU use Proverbs 3 to run towards YOUR problems at work today? 

Sacrifice. It's defined as surrender of something for the sake of something else. We are called to do it in our life as a Christ follower, just as He did. 1 Corinthians 13:3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.  What does love-based sacrifice look like in our workplace? ....  We sacrifice pride, to choose what's best for the organization, over our own ideas. .... We sacrifice time, when we put a co-worker's needs before our own. .... We sacrifice "top sales numbers" to do what's best for the client, not our own paycheck.  HOW are YOU willing to be sacrificial in your workplace this week?

Is God building another testimony for you, through your workplace? Often, hard times come in our work, and we're called to respond as a Christ-follower. Not react with fear, self-pity, anger, resentment or push-back. But with a keen sense and trust that God is sovereign in our work. That He may have brought something to an end, for His Glory, not our punishment.  So how about YOU? .... Are YOU going through a hard time at work? And if you are, how are you responding?  We recommend first taking it to prayer, and asking the Lord what He wants you to know about the situation, how you can grow from it, and what does he want you to do next, for His glory?  Then take some time and pray for those you work alongside for the tough time they are going through too. 

Have you ever tried to ignore God and His direction in your work or career? Tried to go your own way, and kept running into roadblocks, un-ending NO's and shut doors? Sometimes in our career, we try to LOGIC our way towards our calling, to where WE want to be, but God has His plans.  Remember the Israelites? It took them 40 YEARS to make a 14 day journey. That's 14, 600 days of blindness, vs. 14 days of obedience. That's A LOT of resistance.  So, the next time you're being led somewhere you don't want to go, try praying about it, asking several devoted friends to join you in praying for an answer.  If you're paying attention, God is probably speaking through others to you as well, to guide you. You can fight God every step of the way, but we don't recommend it! We challenge you today, to PRAY your way through your career options and challenges.

Have you ever met a salesperson or a marketer who offered you something that seemed too good to be true… and then it turns out it WAS too good to be true? Although overpromising may increase sales and conversions on the front end, underdelivering on those promises alienates customers and creates a bad reputation. Similarly, overpromising and underdelivering in your relationships at work and at home causes division, disappointment, and distrust.  Proverbs 11:3 says, "The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin." Integrity is more than being honest – it's matching your actions to your words in a way that honors God and those around you. Are there any areas of your life that you are overpromising and underdelivering?

Have you ever encountered a salesperson that wouldn't stop pushing you to buy an item because they were on commission? It's obvious in these situations that the salesperson is more interested in reaching their numbers than about meeting the needs of the customer. They have become producers rather than servers. As followers of Christ, we can end up doing the same thing when we focus only on our output at work, rather than caring about the people at work. Philippians 2:4 says, "Let each of us look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Are you a producer? Or are you a server? Ask God how you can serve the people around you today – whether in your work, your home, or your neighborhood. Because you may be the only Jesus they ever meet.

How many times have we said to ourselves. "I wish I had time to go on a mission trip." Well guess what, you DO!  Your workplace IS your mission field. Your daily commute IS your mission travel. And your workplace has been crafted perfectly by God, specifically tailored to you, and your giftings. We can all begin to view our workplace and every co-worker as "the mission". We can prepare, pray, plan and then serve our colleagues in the same way we would as if we hopped on a plane and flew to another country.  Charles Spurgeon the Reformed preacher said "Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor."  So which are YOU? What would it take for you to start tomorrow, to shift your mindset and intentionally serve your workplace as YOUR mission field?

When God created Adam, he didn't place him in the Garden of Eden for an extended vacation – No! God created A JOB for him. In Genesis 2 it says, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to WORK it and TAKE CARE of it… and the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them..." Of course, God could've easily named the animals He created, but instead He CHOSE to invite Adam into the work He was doing. In the same way, God has created a job for you, and has invited you to work TOGETHER with Him in it! Because when we work in partnership with God, our jobs become more than just hustle… they become holy. How can you invite God into your work today?