Able

On October 22, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Philippians 4: 13                Jubilee Bible

I can do all things.

You likely already know this verse and what a bunch of good news it is! There is more to this verse than meets the eye. Let’s see how it fits in the context of other verses.

In contrast to today’s verse, we find Jesus declaring in John 5: 19 he could do nothing. Where does Paul get off saying, “I can do all things,” when Jesus said he could do nothing? Of all the people in history, Jesus is the one person I believe could do anything. It leaves me thinking, “If Jesus could do nothing, where does that leave me?” How can I do all things if Jesus could do nothing? It gets worse. In John 15: 5 Jesus answers that question saying, “You can do nothing.”

That is pretty discouraging, but light begins to peek through in Proverb 10: 22 where we find that “It is the blessing that makes a person rich, and hard work adds nothing to it.” According to this proverb it is not by my labor and strength that success comes. The blessing creates success. However, many other proverbs warn about the fate of the sluggard. A good example is Proverb 21: 25, “The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.” So, on the one hand we are taught that success is not the product of our hands or even of hard work. Then, the very same author warns us not to be sluggards, but instead put our hand to the plow, as it were.

Is God schizophrenic? Does the Bible set up a dichotomy telling us one thing and then the opposite? Is the Bible intentionally confusing, cloaking its truths in mystery? Is success the product of my labor or of the divine?

As with so many topics, understanding is more clearly gained when the Bible is taken in its entirety rather than one verse standing alone. The answer to this question is in Deuteronomy 28 where we are promised that God will bless everything we set our hand to (Deuteronomy 28: 12). I am also reminded of the 23rd Psalm where we find the good shepherd who leads us in the right paths. We don’t have to find our own way. He guides us.

The way to success, in any endeavor, is through partnership with the divine. The rest of the statement from John 15: 5 is “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Paul’s statement is incomplete too. He said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Paul would be the first person to say he could do nothing apart from Christ. However, he understood that when he partnered with the divine, allowing Jesus to guide him and the Holy Spirit to empower him, truly nothing was impossible to him. Our labor guided by the hand of God and mixed with the blessing of the Almighty is the formula for success. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing but with him, we are well able to do all things!

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Blessing or Labor

On October 5, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 10: 4

Poor is one who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

What about this? I wrote you recently that it was the blessing of the Lord which makes rich (Proverb 10: 22). So, which is it, the blessing or the work of your hand which makes rich?

I heard an expression years ago that stuck with me, “God can’t steer a parked car.” The message was that we are to begin moving and then He will direct us. In recent years you have actually heard me teach this under the moniker, “Partnership.” Therein lies your answer.

Deuteronomy 28: 12 reads, “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless every work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.” This chapter is about the blessing and you can surely see it in this passage. If you look closely, though, you will also see our part in the partnership. Let me rephrase this combining the verses from Proverbs and Deuteronomy. It is the blessing of the Lord which makes rich as God blesses the work of our hands. We must set our hands to something. Second, we must do so in the name of the Lord, committing our work to Him.  Third, we must allow Him to steer us. The outcome is blessing. If we will allow the Father to be our partner in everything we do, He will anoint and bless the work of our hands. He will show us the way to go.

Neither looking to the might of our hand nor sitting around waiting for God to do something will result in the success we desire. It is the combination of allowing God to direct us and then putting our hand to the plow which yields results. God is waiting to bless you, but you must pull away from the curb and then let Him navigate. It is the combination of our joint labors that wins the day.

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Lucky Me!

On September 28, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 10: 22

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich.

I have a friend who constantly talks about luck. She also remarks about how lucky I am. I am not lucky. I am blessed and there is a big difference. Sometimes it is frustrating hearing her talk about luck. I keep hoping she will get a revelation that this is what it means to be “blessed of the Lord.” Too right great things happen for me! It isn’t because of me, and it isn’t because I am lucky. It is because we have an awesome Father who sent His blessing into the earth to hunt us down and shower us with His goodness.

Some of you have seen posts about my bike team. I have said many times, “We are the most blessed of all bike teams,” and I mean it. If you could live in my shoes and see how our sponsors have blessed us, you would understand. We have the most fabulous sponsors, and they are terrific not because we have done anything to earn their kindness but because they have the love and joy of the Lord in their hearts. They just bless us because of Jesus. Man, it is totally awesome. And now, we just won a drawing from a local business. They are giving us 50 mini-Bundt cakes for our team tent! Wow! Lucky? I don’t think so. That is the blessing again. It is chasing us down in the street piling God’s love on us. There were over 2000 entries. Some teams had over 200 entries. We had only 60, but we won. It isn’t about statistics. It’s about the blessing.

It is the blessing of the Lord which is at work. The blessing of the Lord makes rich! My friends and family raised $3000 for MS. Are you kidding me with this? That is not luck. That is the blessing at work and all of you who donated, you have your part in the blessing. I just love seeing how the pieces fit together and how the Father is at work wrapping us all up in His blessing. You see, that was His financial plan all along. This is how Kingdom finances work. We keep moving in Him and He generates the flow.

I am not lucky, but I must be one of the most blessed people on the planet. I am overwhelmed by the goodness of our team sponsors, all of you who donated and all the kindnesses which keeps flowing to me and towards our team. I pray that our beloved Father continues to show Himself and the effect of the blessing on each and every one of you so that your unenlightened friends call you the luckiest person they know. May the blessing overtake you.

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Overtaken by Blessing

On August 9, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 10: 22      GW

It is the Lord’s blessing that makes a person rich, and hard work adds nothing to it.

My friend, Chuck, brought this to the attention of myself and a book group we were involved in. Chuck, you see, is Jewish and has studied God’s word all his life. He is a Messianic Jew, a Jew who believes in Jesus as the Christ. The thing is though, through his rich understanding of scripture, Chuck was able to illuminate this verse for us.

Many Christian translations of this verse reframe the meaning. I think translators were uncomfortable with the literal translation. The verse is actually pretty clear when we simply take it as it is. It is the blessing of God that makes a person successful in any facet of life, including but not limited to finances. Rich, in this verse is much larger than financial prosperity but it cannot be eliminated either. That, again, is denial or equivocation. The verse says what it says, and we just have to get comfortable with it.

Many translations read something like this, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it” (NASB). Well, the first part is substantially correct, but the second phrase is where we struggle. Think of the Puritan work ethic. We believe we are supposed to be hard workers. However, somewhere along the line, and actually many years ago, we began to believe that our hard work actually produces something. It does not. It is simply our part of the equation. God blesses the work of our hand (Deut. 28: 12), but it is important to understand that it is God’s blessing that causes the increase.

My friend, Ann, and I have been discussing how the blessing literally chases us down in the street. I have got so many people blessing our bike team that one has to recognize the blessing of God. You can’t out give or out bless these folks. No matter what I do to thank or recognize them, they up the ante. That is the blessing of God chasing you down. We are not blessed because of anything I have done. It is not the work of my hand that is causing this blessing. It is the blessing of God working within incredible individuals and my labor has only been obedience. I must obey God in order to be in the right position to receive but it is God who is causing great things to happen. I wish you could just follow along behind me and watch what God is doing. It is amazing! You would very clearly see that it is the hand of God.

The blessing of God makes rich. Hallelujah! I have no performance anxiety or pressure because it isn’t about me. It is about Him and what a relieve that is. I hope you will copy this verse down on a card and post it where you can see it because this verse will set you free. It will give you wings. Work hard just because you want to honor God. Go where He sends and do as He directs but do not worry about the outcome because that is on Him.

Proverb 10:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverb+10&version=NASB1995

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Whom Shall I Serve?

On February 21, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Habakkuk 1: 11

But they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their God.

The prophet Habakkuk wrote this sometime around 607 B.C. That means this passage is over 2600 years old. It might have been written yesterday for how appropriate it is to our everyday existence.

I have been writing over the last couple of years about partnership with God. This is the singular message of our time. God sent Jesus to save us from destruction. Having accomplished his task, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our constant companion and helper. We are supposed to learn to work with Him the way the Father did when He created the earth, and indeed, the whole universe. We are called to walk with him the way Jesus did when he worked miracles in the earth. These two persons of the Trinity that we know well, did everything through and by the Holy Spirit. This was God’s plan for us, that the third person of the Trinity would come live with us, actually be in us and that we would rely on His strength rather than our own.

How many of us have learned this way of living though? Don’t most of us look to our “God given” abilities rather than to the Holy Spirit? Don’t we strive and labor? You would be shocked to learn how much of the Bible speaks specifically against our strength, our labor and striving to succeed. Here is just one little taste, straight from the lips of Father God on knowing Him, “Cease striving and know that I am God,” (Psalm 46: 10). Maybe you will like this one, “It is the Lord’s blessing that makes a person rich, and hard work adds nothing to it,” (Proverb 10: 22 GW). Hey, that’s Bible guys and I don’t mean the Bible according to Ivey. That’s the gospel. And don’t look at me like I am any better at this than anyone else but at least I know where the bull’s eye is painted these days. The target is: complete, 100% cooperation with the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus said the Spirit is to be the leader (John 16: 13), so not only are we to partner with the Spirit, but we are to listen to him and get our directions, our plans from him.

I think of it this way, imagine every morning that you have a partner meeting (and in truth I advise you to actually do this). In that meeting you lay out what you perceive as the day’s priorities and tasks. You and the Spirit can look at the schedule for the day, the appointments, etc. but then comes the critical piece. Let him show you which are the really important items. He may add some tasks that he identifies as more important than those on your list. He does that with me. Sometimes what he thinks is most important is for me to read or to journal. Sometimes he will move one project in front of another. That’s good. That is what you want him to do because he knows the future and which actions get us to our goals. Talk through everything for that day but, and here is a key, when you leave the conference room table or the kitchen table, don’t forget to keep him right beside you. Listen to him all day.

Another key part of this is that it is his strength, his power that works for us. Look to him. Tell him he has mail. Let him be the miracle worker. You will be surprised what he can accomplish while you are having your lunch, that is, if you will give him the reins.

Look, this takes practice, I grant you. It also takes intentionality. In other words, you have to intend to live and work this way. You must purpose in your heart and in your mind to pay attention to the voice of the Spirit which is speaking within you. You will need to prioritize spending quiet, contemplative time with him. I know you don’t want to. You think you are too busy to sit and meditate but as I pointed out, this is God speaking. This is what the Bible tells us to do.

Sooner or later we have to decide if we are truly disciples of Christ. If so, then it is about doing what he says and following in his footsteps. Sooner or later, you have to decide if you are foremost a Christian or a lawyer, a Christian or a school teacher, a Christian or a banker. I kept making the wrong choice. I was a lawyer first and a Christian second. Don’t be like I was. Learn and practice making God supreme. Don’t let your strength, intelligence, or hard work be your God. Don’t serve your calendar but serve God and humble yourself before Him and His wisdom. Be a great success in Christ, your Lord.

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Entrusted

On January 14, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 37: 5 & 7                    God’s Word

Entrust your ways to the Lord. Trust him, and he will act on your behalf. Surrender yourself to the LORD, and wait patiently for him.

This is one of my favorite Bible passages. It is important to me because it speaks to an issue that I constantly must consider. This passage is about the partnership with God. When we partner with Him, then the work load is shared. We have our part and He has His. The key is for us to do our part and to stay out of His part. Therein lies the challenge but also ultimate success.

I believe in working. In fact, I believe in hard work and working smart. Most of all, though, I have learned that neither of those eclipses the number one guideline which is, let God lead. This reminds me of a verse that we should all memorize. It is Proverb 10: 22. The NASB and the King James read essentially the same, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” I think few of us have understood what “He adds no sorrow to it means.” The Hebrew Bible clears this up for us. It reads, “It is the blessing of the Lord which makes rich, and your toil adds nothing to it.” The “sorrow” written of in the other translations is the sorrow from toil. There is no travail in success when the Lord is in it with us. Our “toil” isn’t what will bring success. It is He and His blessing which provide the success for each undertaking. The New International Version reads, “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”

God isn’t against hard work, nor is He against working smart but what He really wants us to learn is to work wisely. That is an entirely different deal. Spiritually appraised people learn to work first in their spirits by connecting with the spirit of wisdom. Here is where patience comes in. The Passion Translation says to “commit everything you do to the Lord.” We are to entrust all our ways, all our plans, dreams and assignments to Him as the first step. Then we surrender ourselves and our projects fully to Him. He may have you working really hard for a time, but it is to be at His direction. Sometimes the thing He will tell you to do is to meditate. Okay, that does not fit into western thinking, but God knows that sometimes that is the best thing to do. And that is the point. We are supposed to surrender our thinking to His ways.

One last thought, none of this works without first seeking the Lord. The whole idea is partnering with Him, tuning into Him and allowing Him to guide you. Your work load is to be managed by the Father. We are supposed to wait patiently for Him but only after we have surrendered ourselves to Him and entrusted Him with our goals. So, this does not mean watching television while we wait upon God. It means seeking Him and meditating on Him and His Word. See, that is your part. Then the answers to all the questions will be presented to you. This waiting is in faith. It is expectantly listening. You are to be co-laborers. That does mean you work but it is at the Father’s direction. He will show you the way when you commit all your plans and hopes to Him.

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God Success

On May 19, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   2 Comments

Proverb 10: 22

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.

This is the last day of our sojourn through the proverbs and I can think of no better proverb to end on than this one. I have been wanting to write on this for months anyway.

Do you know that you can do a lot more good in the world with riches than without? God knows it and so He intends you to be rich? Does that bother your sensibilities? I hope not because God has a plan and that plan involves making you rich. Hey, He said it! Besides, the verse tells us that you should not feel chagrin or shame. It is the blessing of the Lord which makes us rich and God adds no sorrow, misery, worry, shame, chagrin, or regret to it.

But wait . . . there’s more, much more. My good friend, Dr. Chuck Goldberg shared the real truth of this scripture with me and it brings great joy and perhaps even a little relief. Dr. Goldberg was on the Rabbinical path until he chose the study of medicine. That is a blessing to you and I because he was able to reveal to me what the original Hebrew of this text is and it is earth shaking. The Hebraic rendition of this verse is, “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and your toil adds nothing to it.” Wow! When we get back to the original language the truth and revelation leap out at us. For those of you are have been learning about and leaning into the integration, the intertwining of you and Jesus, this is at the heart of that critical lesson.

Our success is not about our gifts, talents, brilliance or even hard work. Success and riches are the by-product of a life intertwined with the Lord. As you have heard me say before, He does the heavy lifting. Our job is to pray and to listen to Him. That is also why Psalm 46: 10 is so important. It reads, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” Do you see the parallel with Proverb 10: 22? Success is not in our striving but in our “knowing” and experiencing Him as God.

I have been blessed to work with a number of business people lately and I have seen time and again that God keeps imparting this message in numerous ways. I have watched as He continues to lead you into business integration with Him as a partner. I celebrate you and hope that this “Word” from the Lord encourages you. It turns out that our “workaholic” patterns and mindsets are not of the Lord. In fact, in light of these scriptures they are not only unscriptural but might you argue they are sinful? They fly full in the face of these two scriptures. He has said, “Cease striving.”

God is the author of success and riches. I do not deny that we can attain some level of riches in our own strength but I am increasingly aware of the high cost of doing it ourselves. First, we never succeed to the level we would if we let God be the author of our success. Second, the cost usually is in sorrow.

Success with God and in God brings no downside, no sorrow. Success in the world is often marred by broken health, broken relationships and devastation in many areas of life. One’s spiritual life is guaranteed to suffer. This is the sorrow and suffering that God intends us to bypass. He has only good plans for us and everything with Him is good. There is no downside. Come on! That’s exciting. Can’t someone shout?! Let’s get a full revelation of this. God wants to bless you financially and in the offing is goodness and blessing in every single area of your life. That is God success. He wants you to have enough money to meet your needs, yes, but we’ve got to get past that. He wants you supporting ministries and sending ministers into all the world. He wants your star to shine so brightly and so high in the sky that it will draw people to it and thus, to Him. And, He wants to do the hard work. He does not want you to strive to achieve any of this but rather to lean on Him. He wants you to learn how to trust Him and work with Him as you never have before.

Be still, cease striving and let Yahweh show who is God. His action will bring rest and wealth and your toil, well, it adds nothing. It is all about Him and the power of His might. Yahoo! Find your way into that deep relationship with Him which issues from within your spirit. Look into your heart and find the creator of the universe. Then wrap your tendrils around Him and succeed.

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