When planning is not possible

Day 16 

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

“…On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” 

Genesis 22:14, ESV

Is it possible not to plan and achieve a flawless execution of a task? Our answer is “Yes”, if certain requirements are met. In certain circumstances it is virtually impossible for one to prepare or plan as was the case of Abraham and the sacrifice on the mountain. He was led with the information that he would sacrifice his son Isaac. Although in His eternal plan God had something else in mind other than the death of Isaac, He wanted to evaluate Abraham’s level of commitment to Him. Those who are well acquainted with the story will remember that is where the name “Jehovah Jireh” was revealed, which means “on the mountain of the Lord, it shall be provided” (See Genesis 22: 14). God went forward to provide a substitute sacrifice that Abraham did not know about. Considering this Abraham could not have prepared in any way; however, he received the ability to connect with God’s eternal plan instantly. He did it  without any prior knowledge, thus being able to execute a work with little or no planning.

The above scenario is not the first or the last of its kind. One day, Jesus also tested His disciples in the matter of feeding the multitude. The apostles openly protested about the fact that their master did not give them enough time to prepare for the task. They shared how  feeding such a number of people would not take less than a years wages. There again Jesus, who aware of God’s eternal plan, knew that their suggested solution was not part of God’s eternal plan to feed the people. Yet again, we see the execution of a marvelous work with no prior planning. This may seem as though there was improvisation from earthly point of view, but not in heaven, on the basis that the Son does nothing on His own but He does what He sees the Father doing ( See John 5:19).

Having read the above biblical excerpts, one can ask whether it is worthwhile to plan? Our answer remains the same as in the previous post; planning and preparation are required for the execution of flawless works that have spiritual and physical impact.  However, when time does not allow or God does not provide us information needed to plan, we need to fulfill certain conditions in order to be eligible to execute works with minimal or no planning at all. Firstly, the task we need to execute will come directly from God without ambiguity. Secondly, one needs to be a dweller of the mountain, which symbolizes prayer; remember Abraham said that on the mountain of the Lord it shall be provided. Finally, one needs to have complete trust in God, like that of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego who said to the Babylonian King, “Whether God saves us or not, we will not bow before your image…” (See Daniel 3: 17-18). We invite you to the flawless execution of works with little or no planning which is possible by having a clear instruction from God, a consistent life of prayer and being in complete trust. When these things are brought together, God performs wonders!

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord, raise me onto a mountain of consistent prayer.

May I trust you to cause me to grow in the grace to work from inspiration and instruction from you.

Amen

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

 

Effective planning

Day 16 

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

“God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.”

  1 Peter 1:20, NLT

Heaven is the seat of all sorts of plans for the well-being of the human race that the latter may live a fulfilled life. The Bible says, “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” We understand that the earth is place of execution of what has already been planned and prepared in heaven. God’s spirit abounds in a multitude of plans. Therefore, as children of God we need to tap into this aspect of the nature of God that lives in us through Jesus Christ.

We would like to attract your attention to the time of preparation put in for the work of salvation of man. In our theme scripture, this plan goes back to a time referred to as “before the world began” or, an eternity. Therefore, we are unable to recommend a set time to when effective planning should begin although it is important to mention that the time put in the planning will determine the flawlessness of its execution. It is from this point of view that we understand how flawless the plan of the cross was; because God allocated an eternity in its preparation.  We are using the phrase “an eternity” because we lack better words to qualify the statement “before the world began”. Therefore, a plan becomes flawless when we allocate an eternity to prepare it. Some will ask themselves whether such a thing is possible and still others will conclude that all our plans are flawed based on the time of preparation given to them. We will address these concerns shortly; however, we want to point out that flawless plans overcome the schemes of the devil. Therefore, effective planning in this context should affect both the physical and spiritual world.

As mortal beings, we are unable to allocate an eternity to our plans therefore we must connect to what is eternal to plan effectively. We connect to what is eternal by yielding to God’ advice which comes from His council (ref: post on pre-planning). In support of this the Psalmist declares, “Blessed is the man who walks not in counsel of the wicked…” (Psalms 1:1, ESV), elsewhere he says, “You guide with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny…” God’s counsel secures a blessing in our plans. It is the blessing of God that makes our plans effective for the blessing of God repels curses (the power of ineffectiveness) as it is written, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse…” (See Genesis 12:3, NIV)

Therefore, we recommend that the children of God in all things without exception should begin planning with God’s counsel as early as time allows  in order to secure the blessing of God which is  the power of effectiveness. In our next post we speak about what to do if time does not allow for preparation. Start walking today in effective planning!

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

May I abound in a spirit of preparation.

I seek your counsel early to find your eternal preparation for my planning.

Thank you for the power of effectiveness.

Amen

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

 

Pre-planning

Day 15

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:3, ESV

We hope that the Lord has blessed you with the few principles that we shared on the inexhaustible subject of excellence in this success marathon series. Moving on from this point, we want to highlight to our readers that for any project to succeed it should follow certain processes which include planning, gathering required resources, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. These processes are not unique to the world of the believer but are also followed by unbelievers. It is sad to mention that at times unbelievers follow and watch over these processes more than the believer.  It is on this basis that Jesus said that the children of this age (unbelievers) are more intelligent than the children of the light – believers (See Luke 16:8).

It is important for us to highlight that although these principles of the execution of effective works are the same in the world as in the kingdom of God, there are a few differences to note. For example, in the life of child of God, there is what we call a pre-planning phase also known as the divine endorsement phase. The wise king speaks about this phase when he advises us in Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding, SEEK His WILL in ALL you do, and He will show you which path to take…” (NLT). He goes on in the next verse to say, “Be not wise in your own eyes…” (ESV). We see clearly that we need to acknowledge God or seek His Will before we begin planning, this extra task will distinguish our works from the world in terms of the splendor that God will give it. It is at this point that people wonder why their well planned ideas have failed; it is simply because they ignore this important pre-planning phase. Furthermore, King Solomon goes on to emphasize, “Commit your work to the Lord, and ALL your PLANS will be ESTABLISHED,” Proverbs 16:3 (ESV). Yet again it is clear that good plans are not the true starting point for effective work; we need to connect with the ONE who establishes good plans in the pre-planning phase.

Interestingly enough, King Solomon in order to emphasize this aspect of pre-planning, he goes on to warn people about the possibility of failure to all those that do not follow this advice as it written in Proverbs 15:22,(ESV) “Plans go wrong for lack advice; many advisers bring success.” The first advice that we need to yield to is the institution of a pre-planning phase to every effective work. The two enemies of the pre-planning phase are ignorance and pride. To those who did not know, we say to you from this moment apply this principle and experience the power of divine success. To the proud, who lean on their own understanding, we recommend that you yield the apostle James that your works may go smoothly, “God resists the proud but He gives grace to the humble.”

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

May I exercise the discipline of involving you in all my planning.

I pray that all my plans be established as I trust in you.

Amen

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

 

Conclusion: False sources of Excellence

Day 14

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:16-17, NIV

…“No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…”

Daniel 2:27b-28a, ESV

In his concluding post on excellence we want to begin by reiterating that the true source of excellence is the Father of lights as the Apostle James informs us in our theme verse. He begins his statement as follows, “Do not be DECEIVED …” so we clearly see that there are true and false sources of excellence. We want to point out that the power of deception is expressed in knowledge, power and authority as is taught at our bible school in the module “Being delivered from the power of lies”. This simply means that Satan will use and display knowledge, power and authority to be recognized as the source of excellence. He is not! For if that was the case then why did he want to go up on the mount of The Lord and sit on the assembly? (See Isaiah 14:14). We see clearly that he was inferior to the one who sits on the mountain. Therefore, he cannot be the true source.

Let’s begin by exposing some of the false sources. The bible says “In the second year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar started having dreams that disturbed him deeply. He couldn’t sleep. He called in all the Babylonian to interpret his dreams for him…” Daniel 2: 1-3 (MSG). This scripture show us who or what kind of people surround kings or simply influential individuals. As you carry on reading, you realise that magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and fortune-tellers failed in the task that was required by the king because they are FALSE SOURCES that work by deception. Furthermore, we see them admitting their inability to solve king’s problem. Follow us carefully, they said to the king in verse 10 of Daniel chapter 2 (ESV) “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean (fortune-teller). The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king …” We praise the Lord Jesus, for Daniel who took on their challenge in order to reveal the true source in the following words, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…”

There is more to speak about on this matter but we would like each of our readers to see by the scriptures that God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the true source and all other spirituals ways beside Him are  false and sinful. Those who use these sinful ways will be driven out of their physical and spiritual dwelling by God, as it is written in Deuteronomy 18:10-12, ESV, “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.”

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

Deliver me from all false sources of excellence so that I am not deceived.

I renounce today all spiritual ways that do not acknowledge the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as the only source.

Expose and cut off the false sources of excellence from my family, from leaders in my community and my nation.

Amen

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

 

Excellence and purpose

 

Day 13

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”

Exodus 36:1, ESV

We bless the name of the Lord for the wonderful revelations that He has given us so far on this topic of excellence. As we mentioned in our previous post, excellence is a spirit. On this matter Elihu goes further to say, “…it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand”(Job 32:8).  Thus, it is the spirit which provides understanding, which when coupled with experience translates into skill or expertise.

In our theme verse Moses speaks of two individuals who were endowed with skill and ability for the construction of the sanctuary. Interestingly, many seek excellence without purpose. Thus we want to teach a better way to become excellent other than the world teaches. We believe that purpose, the will of God, is able to attract all things. In our theme scripture we see how God intended to build a dwelling for himself, it is this will that resulted in people receiving the ability to do things at a divine standard. We would like to invite you once again to seek the will of God. Let’s focus on the prayer of Hannah. When Hannah’s need and the will of God intersected, she was answered. You may remember that during that same time God had rejected Eli the priest because of the conduct of his sons, Hophni and Phineas, to replace him with Hannah’s child, Samuel. Hannah in that time prayed for a child that will serve the Lord (See 1 Samuel 1-2). It is important to see our needs in the greater context of them fulfilling God’s will on earth.  

If only someone out there will pray like Hannah –  for a child that will serve, for excellence that will serve, for finances that will serve, for houses that will serve,  for husbands that will serve, for a healing that will serve, for a miracle that will serve, a promotion that will serve, joy that will serve – all requested for the purpose of service. Indeed, such prayers are answered in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth as we speak.

Ultimately, we believe that The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who revealed these mysteries to us will make these words effective in your life thereby  producing excellence in what you are doing.  When this has happens remember to serve, that is, to connect what is excellent in you to the purposes of God.

Prayer and meditation:

Lord,

May you grant me the ability to request excellence with purpose.

May the excellent spirit evident in me go ahead and serve your purposes.

Amen

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

 

Excellence is resisted

Day 12

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

“Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

Daniel 6:3, ESV

So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.

Zechariah 4: 6. NIV 

Let’s us resume our previous discussion, excellence is a spirit as we read it in our theme scripture, “an excellent spirit was in him…” On this matter we would like to quote the prophet Zechariah who says, “It is not by might not by power but it is by My Spirit…” This opens up very interesting dimensions to excellence. Furthermore, the the apostle Paul says that we do not wrestle flesh and blood (See Ephesians 4:12). One should overcome or pay the price in order to receive an excellent spirit. In Zechariah, the Bible speaks of a great mountain, an obstacle to which the solution that God provides is His Spirit. Simply put, everyone who ventures on the path of excellence will encounter obstacles. There are physical and spiritual obstacles. Overcoming physical obstacles is not synonymous of victory over spiritual obstacles . However, the victories of the spiritual realm will impact the physical, as it is written, “Let you will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” (See Matthew 6:10), and not the opposite. We invite you to wage the spiritual battle for excellence.

We are reminded of the advice of Jesus to his disciples when they were challenged by the lack of material things, He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all theses things will be added unto you…” (See Matthew 6:33). Furthermore, later as Jesus was interrogated, He said, “My kingdom is not of this world…” (See John 18:36) Simply put, Jesus wanted His disciples to discover the spiritual substance of material things. At this point, we would like to point that the spiritual substance of physical things is opposed by the powers of darkness. In support of this, we would like to paraphrase the apostle Peter who speaks of God who called us out of DARKNESS (See 1 Peter 2:9), that we may PROCLAIM His EXCELLENCIES , or His praises. God had to deal with the darkness which are spiritual powers of evil who are led by Satan, the prince of darkness. This only emphasizes the importance of waging war in the spirit for excellence. In this regard, the apostle James  advises us to resist the devil and he will flee (See James 4:7). How does one resist the devil in this context? It is by believing the truths about excellence that we are sharing, not giving in or returning to our previous mediocre ways or mindset and praying fervently all kinds of prayer by the Spirit to dispel the darkness. Above all, We are reminded of what Jesus said moments before He was crucified, ‘this is your hour, and the power of darkness’ (See Luke 22:53) meaning that the cross not only washes our sins away but also destroys the power of darkness that oppose the spirit of excellence.

The blood of the Lamb is the ultimate price, where it is shed, deliverance will spring out irrespective of the power that stands in opposition. May all your activity be initiated, sustained and completed in an attitude of pray coupled with words of faith.

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

May you allow me to stand in the face of opposition to my spirit of excellence.

May the powers of darkness never prevail.

Amen

Excellence is the key to promotion and positions of leadership

Day 11

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

“Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”
Daniel 6:3, ESV

 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”
Exodus 36:1, ESV

In this post, we would like to go deeper in our discussion of excellence. In the same way there is worldly approach to excellence, there is also a spiritual approach to excellence. Considering our theme scriptures carefully, we understand that excellence is a spirit, supported by the phrase, “an excellent spirit was in him…”. Prior to expounding on the spirit of excellence let us  quickly understand, as inspired by our theme scripture, that an excellence is the key to leadership positions both in the kingdom of God and in the world. At times, we pray for promotion and yet we neglect the very answer that God is giving us – a call to excellence. The appointment of Daniel to a position of leadership was a consequence of his excellent ways. Review the level of excellence in what you do and experience the power of promotion and appointment to positions of leadership.

Let’s consider the words of a wise King in Proverbs 22:29 “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings…” We would like to highlight that this scripture is wise advice, and ignoring it would see us classified on the opposite end, with the foolish. King Solomon was a God fearing king, and the requirement to stand in his presence was work done skillfully. We would like to point out an attitude that we have observed and we clamp in a category of behaviors that we call, “spiritual laziness”. There are some children of God that want to offset their mediocre works with prayers, fasting, church attendance and associated disciplines yet it is in their power and time to produce excellent works. It is against such an attitude the apostle James teaches that faith without works is dead (See James 2:14). We believe that the Holy Spirit was not given for us to do what is common to man; therefore, may He bring conviction of the various levels of  mediocrity that are keeping many in inferior positions. In our following post we will explore some interesting aspects of the spirit of excellence, but for today we would like you to explore the aspects of being promoted or appointed to a position by simply doing your ordinary duties skillfully.

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

May your word produce faith that has works, that are alive and excellent, not mediocre.

May I serve you in all areas with the spirit of excellence.

Amen

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

 

A call to excellence

Day 10

Success Marathon Series

Scripture Reading:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1: 17, NIV

 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2: 9, ESV

Excellence is a divine principle. This thought is supported by the words of the Apostle James “all perfect and EXCELLENT gift comes down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17, paraphrased).  God is the fullness of what is excellent and He wants to express his excellence through us, as it is written “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”  (1 Peter 2:9, ESV). In this first post of the week we want to emphasize that we are called to excellence. Everything must proclaim God’s excellences and this proclamation can be expressed in words or actions. We should therefore answer this calling by evaluating the level of excellence in our work. It is for this reason that we spoke first about negligence, which disqualifies one from the race towards excellence.

We will attempt to define excellence as an activity, entity or a product that goes beyond human reproach or is without blame in the sense that a qualified objective observer finds no fault in it. A contextual definition of excellence is meeting or exceeding an expected standard in a particular field. When our speech, studies, occupation, prayers, sermons and service extend to the point that one can find no blame in them –  they approach excellence. The race for excellence is the driving force of life. Without excellence all activity will grow weary and come to a standstill. The Apostle Pauls says “…Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:10-12 NIV). When we are reading this scripture in the background of our theme verse we see that there is a responsibility on our behalf to press on towards excellence. We therefore challenge every child of God not to receive the grace of God in vain, but to fight the battle of excellence. Although the battle belongs to God we are His army. If we resolve to live excellently today not only are we fulfilling a calling, but we are also making good use of the painful and unbearable suffering of our Saviour that snatched us out of darkness, and called us into his marvelous light.

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

May you build excellence in me

May I strive to take hold of that for which  Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Amen

_______________________________

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

How negligent are you?

Day 9

Scripture Reading:

“Cursed be he who does the work of the Lord negligently [with slackness, deceitfully]…”

Jeremiah 48:10, AMP

In this post we ask the question of negligence  because we understand that it is present on different levels; the work we do becomes perfect when all negligence is rooted out. Negligence is a conscious omission of a component in the execution of a task. Such an omission is considered by one as not having a substantial effect on the outcome. A negligent person, in defense of their action of omission, likes to use the phrase “it is just…” or , “I just thought…” as a reader, you may quickly identify with this statement in one instant or another. Negligence is a habit that becomes character if not challenged. It may be comparable to an addiction in that it is ongoing and repetitive. Negligence is the most common reason for the lack of excellence among the children of God.

Having laid this foundation we would like to challenge all acts of negligence with our theme verse, which cries out a curse on all actions of negligence. Negligence is the first enemy of greatness. This principle is paraphrased in the words of Jesus which say that whoever set aside the smallest of the commandments and teaches others to do so will be the smallest in the kingdom (Matthew 5:19, NIV). We see here that an action of conscious omission deprives one of growth. Furthermore, our level of omission (negligence) is directly related to our position. At this point we would like to ask those who feel stagnant and not progressing in the things of God and daily activities to review their level of negligence in fulfilling what is required of them. Secondly, negligence is the enemy of all glory. This principle is hidden in the command that God gave to Moses that he should BE CAREFUL to do everything according to the model that was shown to him on the mountain (See Hebrews 8:5). This command was given with regards to the construction of the tabernacle. When Moses had fulfilled this requirement the glory of God spontaneously came down on to the tabernacle. Here again we challenge every child of God to review every word that God gave them and evaluate the level of negligence in fulfilling these words for there, may lie the reason that their long overdue glory is not revealed.

In our next post we will speak about the spirit of excellence , however  to conclude this thought we would like everyone to adopt the spirit of Samuel about whom it is written “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and LET NONE OF HIS WORDS FALL TO THE GROUND”  (1 Samuel 3:19, ESV). Overcome negligence today and be blessed!

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

Help me to overcome all negligence in me!

May I ever live to strive towards excellence to reveal my glory.

Amen

_______________________________

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/

 

 

What is your attitude towards work?

Day 8

Success Marathon Series:

Scripture Reading:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

Colossians 3:23, NIV

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people…”

Ephesians 6:7, NIV

The attitude with which one approaches a task or work is very important in determining the experience and the product of that work. A change of attitude towards one’s work may largely make the experience of work more enjoyable and increase one’s output. From the above scriptures the Apostle Paul addresses the attitude that the children of God have towards work. He is non-specific about the kind of work by using the phrase “whatever you do…” Therefore , this prescription is equally valid in the spiritual service offered to God as well as in our day-to-day life activities and occupations.

He says we should do all work as unto The Lord, in other words, with reverence to God. We dare to believe that we need to have a godly attitude of work even towards superiors that are difficult to bear with; such a conduct may be a preaching in itself.  We would like to go further than the Apostle Paul by saying “we should work like God works”. What is God’s attitude towards work? God is meticulous in everything He does. This is illustrated in the following scripture “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food…” (Genesis 2:9, ESV, emphasis added). Quickly, one picks up in this scripture 2 aspects about God’s work, it has purpose and beauty. We therefore advice that everyone should adopt this dual approach. For those that present things well, we encourage them to add purpose; and for those who have discovered purpose, we recommend they work on presentation. The worker is revealed in the work, our work carries our identity in it. It is able to speak about us and bring people to desire to converse or to further engage with us. It is in this line of thought that the nature of the Creator is revealed in creation as it is written, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made…” (Romans 1:20 , ESV)

This clearly shows us that we should approach our work with a different attitude because our work reveals us and if Christ be in us we believe that He can also be revealed by what we do and how we do it.

Prayer and Meditation:

Lord,

May I work with all my heart, as if unto you.

May I always be consistent in my conduct so that I glorify your name.

Amen

———————-

For your questions contact

Pastor Ebenezer  kilubaeben2000@gmail.com 

Pastor Joshua joshkiluba@gmail.com

For comments visit our blog at https://jtlvoice.wordpress.com/home/

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JTLinternational

Follow us on twitter @JTLMinistries

Visit our website at http://jtlministries.org/