iWork4Him PowerThought

Whether we're aware of it or not, temptation is all around us at work. It didn't get left at home when we left for work today. As we take God to work with us, we should also be aware that the enemy will be working there too. Starting our day with the Lord in prayer, and putting on the FULL armor of God (Ephesians 6), are some of the best ways to keep the door shut on temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. And IF you've opened the door to temptation at work, speaking and praying bible verses over it is the way to combat it. Today, will YOU fight temptation at work with the presence of the Lord and His word?

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?

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?

We all have a calling, have you heard this before? Some of us get called to the pulpit and some to the foreign mission field but most of us get called to our cubicles, construction sites, care facilities or whatever your job site may be. Your Workplace, It's your mission field and in that mission field, you and me, we may be the only Jesus our co-workers, employees and bosses may ever meet. That Job that you hold and the work that you do, and the people that you work with, none of that is by chance. The people that you work with need to meet Jesus and you may be their only chance. So, as you contemplate the value of your work today, realize this…You don't need to quit your job in order to go into fulltime ministry. You are already in fulltime ministry, right there where you work.

I recently had my concept of "neighbor" challenged. Does neighbor mean only the people in my neighborhood? The ones we live near? Actually, in a broader sense, it is anyone "living or located near another". That means the folks all around us at work, in the next cubicle. The teacher in the next classroom. The person exercising next to us at the gym. Our neighbors are everywhere and the Lord had a great deal to say about them. Some Hebrew origins of the word, also translate it to mean "fellow man". Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.'[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Today, how will YOU show love to ALL THOSE who you work around all day long?

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.

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?

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!

65% of the population will never go into a four walls church – that means that over half of the people in the U.S. will never hear about Jesus from a pastor or dedicated ministry. BUT here's the good news: almost everyone will be employed during their lifetime, which makes the workplace one of the LARGEST mission fields in the world – a place where we, as ambassadors for Christ, are given free access to the lost and hurting! John 4:35 says, "Wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest… and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life." Are you treating your workplace like your mission field? If not, WAKE UP! The fields are ripe with people waiting to be brought to eternal life – and Jesus is asking you to be a part of the harvest.