Psalms 37:3-7 - 7 steps to Freedom (this is good)

* How can you experience freedom when you’re tempted to fear, covet, be anxious, fret about others’ prosperity, etc?

* In the middle of cultural chaos, here are seven things you can do to maintain peace:

* 1) Trust in the Lord! Put your faith in Him, like a kid with his parents.

* 2) Do good - don’t wait for God to tell you things, just do ossum stuff that you know He would like.

* 3) Dwell in the land - bloom where you’re planted!

* 4) Cultivate faithfulness - be faithful in the little (cultivate means it’s hard work).

* 5) Delight yourself in the Lord - enjoy being in God’s presence.

* 6) Commit your way to the Lord - let God lead you, so He can take you off track if He wants (focus on the Person, not the Plan).

* 7) Trust also in Him - trust is the bookend!

* When you do this, what pops out on the other side?

* Vs 6 - a righteous person! What’s a righteous person do?

* Vs 7 - they “rest and be patient!”

* Your business functions better with Jesus as a part!

* 5:3 - let Jesus into your boat - use your biz as His platform.

* 5:4 - your workday should involve listening to Jesus first.

* Teaching takes place in the shallow, testing in the deep (the workplace).

* 5:6 - “After they had done this” - obedience precedes the blessing.

* 5:8 - You know your motivation for doing something by how you respond when it comes to pass (or when it doesn’t).

* 5:9 - People were awestruck at Pete’s biz success.

* They realized Jesus was in his boat and they praised God for it, not Pete!

* 5:11 - They left everything to follow Jesus - they didn’t ask Him to be their biz partner.

* But they first landed the boat! They made sure their biz was handled before they took off.

* Men need to make sure they handle their business (family, friends, personal issues, etc) before they go off and do great things for God. (Testimony of Curtis)

* In the workplace, God has called you to be the bridge between heaven and earth!

* We are called to stand in the gap - Ezekiel 22:30.

* Book - Bold & Broken: Becoming the bridge between heaven and earth.

* God had made Peter to be that bridge, but he needed a little shake-up.

* Notice how Jesus didn’t answer the questions earlier about WHAT he did or said, but He answered when asked WHO He was.

* Vs 66-72 - Now, we see Peter refusing to admit WHO he was.

* The battle is always over identity!

* Chapter - A Tale of Three Peters.

* Boldness apart from brokenness makes a bully (Peter in the Garden).

* Brokenness apart from boldness makes a bystander (Peter in the courtyard).

* Boldness on the foundation of brokenness makes a bridge that connect God with people (Peter in Acts 2).

* Let’s be that bridge!

* God encamps around those who encamp around Him.

* Apart from God’s protection, we are hopeless.

* Imagine camping with no protection in a wild jungle.

* Now imagine doing it with an armed guard outside.

* In Israel, camping was different.

* Everyone camped around the tabernacle.

* They had to treat God with respect, and keep their tents a certain distance from Him.

* When they did this, they had God’s protection.

* God protects those who fear Him - treat Him with reverence and respect.

* You want God to encamp around you? Then encamp around Him.

* If you focus on position over the Person who gave you that position (God), then your position will become your provider.

* Case in point - Pilate!

* He knew Jesus was innocent - even his wife told him.

* He knew the right thing to do but he didn’t do it. Why?

* Vs 15 - because he didn’t want to lose his position.

* Now Pilate is known, 2000 years later, as the man who allowed Jesus to be crucified.

* KEY - Pilate had no clue his reputation was tied to his inability to let go of his position.

* Imagine if Pilate would’ve done the right thing and stood for Jesus - we’d be talking about the bold Roman official who lost his job to protect our Lord and ended his days as a fishermen!

* Now “that” would be a worthy reputation.

* MLK - “Our lives begin to end the day we sit silent about things that matter.”

* Let’s not think about position or platform, let’s focus on the Person who gave it to us in the first place!

* Then we’ll stand strong when our positions are on the line.

* Your business card does not define who you are.

* What’s on your business card?

* Your name, contact and company info, and your title.

* Your title shows the thing you do, but says nothing about who you are and why you do it.

* Paul’s business card looked a little different.

* He typically opened his letters with his credentials.

* Vs 1 - He put three things on there:

* 1) WHO I am (identity) - “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus…”

* He saw himself as a slave - the lowest of the low.

* This put him in the position of servant-leader right out of the gate.

* His one job was to do what the master wanted him to do - he was not his own.

* 2) WHAT I do (calling) - “….called as an apostle…”

* A slave was assigned a task to complete.

* “Apostle” means “the person sent with full authority.”

* An apostle was a catalyst, a creator, the person who set things up and established a firm foundation upon which something could be built.

* An apostle downloaded God’s plan then entrusted faithful shepherds (pastors) to steward that plan.

* Paul recognized his calling as a builder (he was prepped for it as a tent-maker).

* He knew he was not to be the pastor.

* 3) WHY I do it (mission) - “….set me apart with a mission to reveal God’s wonderful gospel.”

* “Gospel” means “good news.” “News” means something happened you should know about.

* God’s kingdom had come to earth and Jesus was King - that was the good news.

* Paul’s WHY was so that the world would come to know Jesus!

* Most people only talk about the second component - WHAT I do.

* *** But if they don’t know the other two then it will lead to burnout.

* Knowing these three things kept Paul from staying in one place and building a big church.

* Here’s the KEY - all of us should have the same WHO and WHY as Paul, but what differentiates us is the WHAT.

* So answer these questions:

* WHO are you?

* WHAT do you do? What’s your calling?

* WHY do you do it?

* The best blessing of “getting” is “giving.”

* When you give to others you “lend” to the Lord - and He pays back with interest.

* In 1 Kings 17:7-16 we see how God treated a widow who was willing to give everything she had to bless Elijah the prophet.

* She gave her all, and because of this God took care of her and made sure she always had more than enough.

* Her jars of oil and four were full until the day the famine ended.

* That’s the backdrop for when Jesus saw this widow.

* Vs 43-44 - He took the time to observe her, which is something we rarely do.

* When you sit an observe, looking for God in all things, you’ll see Him show up in the most unexpected places.

* He saw her giving all she had.

* Generosity isn’t about how much you give, but how much you keep.

* How do you think this affected Jesus?

* Well, how did it affect Him back when the widow did it for Elijah?

* For us, we won’t know the rest of the story until we get to heaven.

* Why? Because of Matthew 6:3 - giving is to be done in secret.

* I can’t help but think of what Jesus may have done in response.

* I can see Him telling His disciples to grab a quick bite to eat and then He’d catch up with them.

* Only to go over to the widow and spark up a conversation, announcing that her jars of oil and flour will always be full.

* But here’s the best part of all - None of us will ever know until we get to Heaven!

* Christ’s reward was in heaven, not on the earth.

* Now let’s give like that!

* Stop Sign - stop and look before you go.

* Too many of us rush through life without stopping to take it all in.

* When this happens we don’t feel a sense of fulfillment when we reach our goals.

* Vs 41a- Here we see Jesus with His disciples sitting opposite the Temple people watching.

* He just sat there quietly, observing everything that was going on.

* So many of us miss this - we’re so busy we don’t stop and observe.

* When was the last time you walked outside, took a deep breath and smelled the fresh air, then stared at the trees flowing in the wind, observing everything you can about them?

* Sounds cheesy, but it’s so powerful.

* If you do this, clearing your mind of everything else, you will see God’s hand at work!

* And you’ll get your best ideas!

* Vs 42-44 - Here’s the key - you need to look for God’s hand in that which you observe.

* Don’t focus on what you don’t like (especially in people), otherwise you’ll always find it.

* Look at people how God does, and try to find His hand in their life.

* Whatever you look for you will find.

* The teaching Christ gave His disciples was born out of His observation.

* Four Steps to finding God’s hidden hand at work:

* 1) Pace - stop going so fast. Pace leads to power (1 mile race).

* 2) Presence - be fully present where you are.

* 3) People - pay attention to those around you.

* 4) Person - look for God in everything and everyone.

* The greatest gift a leader can have is eyes to see as God see.

* Jesus was making His way toward Jerusalem on His way to the cross.

* A blind man called out - “Son of David, have mercy on me.”

* This got Christ’s attention - he saw Christ as KING.

* The man couldn’t see physically, but he could see spiritually.

* Jesus asked for the man to come to Him.

* The blind man had to get up and move toward Jesus (“Come to Me…”)

* Vs 51a - Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

* Pause - back in vs 36 Jesus asked the same of James and John.

* They were motivated by an ambition for prominence and position - Jesus didn’t grant their request.

* Vs 51b - the blind man asked for eyes to see - Jesus granted this request.

* Apply this to biz owners.

* We pray and ask Jesus to elevate us and promote us.

* It’s not wrong to ask this, but we need to know our motivation.

* If we ask the first question without the second, then the worst thing that could happen is that Christ gives us what we ask for.

* But when we get there we don’t have the grace to handle the new success we’ve found.

* Why?

* Because Clarity leads to Focused Attention.

* Focused Attention leads to Focused Action.

* Focused Action leads to Success.

* Success leads to Increased Options.

* Increased Options can diffuse the Clarity you had in the first place.

* Without eyes to see, you don’t see yourself, your business, your money, your platform, your people, etc the way you should.

* Without eyes to see you won’t know which options to say “yes” to and which to say “no” to.

* So what do we do when Christ asks us what do you want me to do for you?

* We do what Bartimaeus did:

* 1) See Jesus as KING!

* 2) Ask for eyes to see!