Follower of One : Missions For The Rest Of Us

"But I'm Not a Leader!" Is that you? Many faith at work messages are instructions for leaders and white-collar workers. But when Mike first became a Christ-follower, he realized faith was for everyone. He wanted a job working for God, but he also needed a job that paid his bills. In this passage, Mike discovered that God has a calling for every person, and often, God doesn't choose the leaders as much as He makes leaders out of those who follow Him!

Do you need encouragement pursuing Christ? How do we deal with discouragement? Our pastor last week said that he tries to pray instead of sighing. You know what a sigh is. Rather than sighing in discouragement, pray. Ask God to help you remember to set your mind on things above and not on things that are on earth. The answer to discouragement is also the motivation for our encouragement. Ask God to show you, and patiently wait as he helps you train your mind.

What does it mean for us to set our minds? The word translated "set" in this passage is used several times in the New Testament. In Romans 8:5 we're told not to set our minds on the things of the earth. Our environment is designed to distract us with all the advertisements, social media, and interruptions at work. What can we do to focus intentionally on Jesus and His goals for our workplace? Step one is to pray. Ask Him to guide you today. He will put you to work!

How do you know with confidence what you believe and why is it important to know? Our settled knowledge of God enables us to face difficulty and resistance. The more tested our knowledge, the more confidence we have. Study the scripture, walk with God and think about what you know about God. Your confidence testifies to the truth of what you know about God. And our knowledge of God and trust in Him pulls us through difficulties, too!

Practically Integrating Faith at Work

 

The Unconventional Business Network is a nexus for Christians who want to integrate faith into their daily business lives. Meet Rick Boxx, who started the Unconventional Business Network in 2001 as a way to use the Bible and its principles to be purposefully pragmatic in the workplace. In this episode of The Follower of One Podcast, we take the journey with Rick as he reveals how he has helped over 100,000 leaders use principles from the foundation of Nehemiah to impact both leadership and business decisions. 

Episode Breakdown:

 

1:15 - Meet Rick Boxx w/ the Unconventional Business Network

4:25 - How Rick got started 

9:20 - Rick's Book - Unconventional Business

12:00 - Tackling business Practically through God's word

13:30 - How Goals Change 

16:40 - Differences in Faith at Work vs. 20 Years Ago

25:20 - What's next for Unconventional Business Network

27:05 -  Get connected

How has God Spoken to You that Changed Your Course?

 

Everyone is at different places in life. Yet, God speaks to us regularly, we just have to be willing to listen. Rick talks about his journey to becoming a born-again Christian. In his journey, we learn what circumstances changed the course of his life, and with one boss who was willing to do something completely “unconventional” to him and business as he knew it. Sometimes it only takes that one person, that one idea, to change how we think and act in our daily lives. You can become an agent of change if you are willing to listen to Him when the time comes. 

One Resource can Make All the Difference

 

 While Rick was just starting his transformation when he decided to try and learn what types of resources were out there on integrating faith into the workplace. At the time, there was only one he could find, “Business by the Book” by Larry Burkett. Rick used this book to jumpstart his career to where it is now. One book, one message, one plan, can help take you leaps and bounds beyond what you thought is possible. Don’t believe us? Listen to Rick here and you can see just how he was able to take what he learned to levels above and beyond expectations. With the vast amount of resources in today’s world, we need to assign ourselves to do the research and outreach necessary to live better through God. Our work is never done, and it does not stop on Sunday!

God is allowing the Discomfort

 

Our lives are not met with ease. This is on purpose. Every challenge worth conquering is not easy. We learn that God has allowed it to be hard purposefully, just like our goal of purposefully living through him each day. And just as in business when goals change and obstacles come our way, we want to still succeed. Both Mike and Rick discuss why this happens and how to go about accomplishing our goals in business through his word. 

Links:

 

Unconventional Business Network

Rick Boxx LinkedIn

Roundtables

Women - Unconventional Business Network

Forums with Community Leadership

Do you pursue wealth? Be honest with yourself? Mike pursued success for much of his career. But wealth disappears. We can't take it with us and wealth produces little true joy. Learn to be generous with your resources, time, and attention and let God use you in the lives of others. The investments you make in others matter. Don't pursue wealth but the joy that comes from walking with Jesus.

The words ""but God"" mark the pivot point in everything. We mess things up and God makes them right. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God made us alive, together with Jesus. God changes everything. He causes everything you do and everything that happens to you to work together to glorify Him, too. He made us alive so we could act like we trust Him and make Him visible. How can you live today to make Jesus visible?

Opposite of Joy. I sometimes equate joy and life, and I do that because of the way I read Ephesians 2:1-10. We started out dead and we end up walking in the good works God has for us. One day we want Him to say "Well done." Why would we expect Him to say "well done" if we didn't do anything? If you think you're saved to just stay out of trouble until you get to heaven, think again. God wants us to do His good works and cooperate with Him as He brings life to everyone we interact with.

Saved for what? We experience joy when we walk in the good works God prepared for us. He didn't save us just to keep us out of trouble or make us better people. He saved us, He blesses us, and He disciplines us so that we will be His witnesses. Our life demonstrates the grace, power, and glory of God. When we do the "works" God prepared for us to do, we experience His joy. We draw closer to Him and His people when we walk in His good works.

No boasting required to enter into Heaven. Before I met Jesus, I wanted to be the third-to-last person who got into heaven. I didn't want to cut it too close, to be last, or next-to-last. I figured third-to-last was just right. But this passage helped me understand that the work of saving me and getting me into heaven was all done by Jesus. He saved me by grace alone through faith alone. Nothing I did caused me to be saved. I'm free to stop comparing myself to others and competing with them.