Living Life on PURPOSE

Published by admin in Featured on December 22nd, 2010

The theme for today, “Living Life on P.U.R.P.O.S.E.” suggests that you are alive (you are  among the living) with breath in your body (you are breathing the breath of life) for a divine purpose. What has God called you to do? What dreams and visions has He placed in your heart? What burning desire or passion lies within you? Are you actively pursuing those dreams and visions? Are you running after your passion? Or are you waiting on God? Well, I’m hear to tell you today that maybe God is waiting on you.

Sometimes we passively coast through life, allowing ourselves to be swayed by every wind that comes our way and call this “waiting on God”. Now, I’m not suggesting that we should not allow God to order our steps for the Word of God clearly states in Psalm 37:23 that “The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord”. However, I am saying that we have a responsibility to purposefully pursue God for the strategy to fulfill our purpose in life.

So, you ask, how do I purposefully pursue God to live my life on P.U.R.P.O.S.E.?

1. Seek God

This may sound simplistic, but it’s easier said than consistently done especially when we find ourselves in seemingly captive situations. This is where we particularly may lose sight of the vision and purpose God has for our lives.

For example, the prophet Jeremiah was used by God to write a letter to the exiles in Babylon to remind them that even though they were in captivity He had plans to prosper them.

He says in Jeremiah 29:10-14
10 This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. [a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

So, your captive situation may last for a season, but God has promised that when you seek Him, or purposefully pursue Him, you will find Him and receive the strategy you need to move forward.

We are instructed to “seek” the Lord our God countless times in the bible. Here are a few examples.

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 12:5
But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go;

1 Kings 22:5
But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”

1 Chronicles 16:10-11
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

1 Chronicles 22:19
Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the LORD.”

1 Chronicles 28:9
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Psalm 105:4
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

Isaiah 55:6
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Isaiah 58:2
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 7:7
[ Ask, Seek, Knock ] “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Acts 17:27
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

2. Write the Vision
After we seek God with all of our heart, the next step is to write down what He tells us. There are numerous times in the bible were God showed His prophets visions or spoke words and told them to write them down.

Habakkuk 2:2
[ The LORD's Answer ] Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

Exodus 34:27
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Deuteronomy 27:3
Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

Isaiah 30:8
Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.

Jeremiah 30:2
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.

Revelation 1:19
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.

Revelation 21:5
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

3. Run with perseverance
Hebrews 12:1
[ God Disciplines His Sons ] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Psalm 119:32
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.

Proverbs 4:12
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:26
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.

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Homeowners, Renters and Businesses Urged to Prepare for the Unexpected

Published by admin in Entrepreneurship, Featured on June 10th, 2010

SBA Partners with Agility Recovery Solutions to Provide Disaster
Preparedness Tools For Businesses

WASHINGTON – With the June 1 start of another Atlantic hurricane season, the U.S. Small Business Administration and Agility Recovery Solutions are launching a new Web site to help small businesses develop an emergency preparedness plan before disaster hits, and reminding
homeowners and renters to plan ahead as well.

Continue article:  http://sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/news_release_10-34.pdf

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“I believe that one of the next great moves of God is going to be through believers in the workplace.” – Dr. Billy Graham

Published by admin in Entrepreneurship, Kingdom Business on May 11th, 2010

Quoted from Kingdom Business Alliance Website…

We believe that God is alive and on the move in our World Today.  Throughout the ages there have been times of renewal, revival, and a reawakening of Mankind as we have turned back to Worship Him!  We have joined together as a body of believers who live and work on a daily basis in the marketplace.

Hearts are turned toward Him one at a time.  We are committing together to encourage and exhort one another to do all that we do to the Glory of God (Colossians 3:23-24)!  We agree that we will do everything within our power to be the Best of the Best in our selected fields.

Just as Paul was an example to other believer’s in the market as a tentmaker, we in our chosen professions desire to do the same (Colossians 3:23-24).  We want to seek out the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in bringing about a transformation for the Kingdom of God in our communities and around the World.  We trust the Word of God in ordering our priorities to be seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness before all other pursuits.

Source:  http://www.kingdombusinessalliance.com

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Hearing The Voice Of God In Business

Published by admin in Featured, Kingdom Business on May 11th, 2010

May 9, 2010 by Matthew Gillogly

There are common questions from our reader and listeners. There are many different ways  this question is stated, but it revolves around the basic theme of…

How Do I Hear God, Establish Goals & Plan?

If I wanted to confuse the heck out of you, I could give you all the nice little scriptures about man and God’s planning. But frankly, I find those kind of useless when it comes to implementing day in and day out in business. So let me share with you, where I am in this journey. This is not a fool proof way, but it’s where I am. In the end you need to sort this out with God, but maybe my sharing will speed you along this path. This may take a few posts, but what the heck.

Okay, lets start first and foremost with the biggie. Your Dreams.

Huh? My dreams? What does that have to do with planning and goals and day to day work? It has everything to do with all it and you can’t start this discussion until you understand dreams.

For the record, I’m not talking about your night dreams. I’m talking about the dreams in your heart. To illustrated this, I’m gonna get personal.

When I was the age of 9 or 10 (can’t remember exactly) I used to play a ton of golf at the country club. One day, I’m out playing late in the afternoon, the Fitzgeralds come up and join me on the 5th hole. They ask me who my father was, the standard questions.

Then they ask the biggie. “Matt, what do you want to be when you grow up?” My answer (and I can remember it as if it just happened) was… “I’m going to be the second Irish Catholic President of the United States of America.”

Fast forward a few years to 6th grade. My goal? To be a US Senator or President of the United States.

Throughout my life, I’ve been class President, Alumni Association President. Always been in a place of leadership. However, always in a place of leadership where I’m rebuilding or resurrecting something. Never in a place of taking over a thriving situation.

Couple this with all through my youth, as young as 13, I had plans and dreams to own my own business. First an importing company, then a record label. I’d write mini business plans at the age of 13, come up with numbers to make it work.

When I applied to get into the Golf School at Ferris State University, my essay needed to include goals. They were.. “Become a GM at the age of 30 ( a full 15 years ahead of the average), own my own golf course, or golf schools or be in a place of ownership.”

Can you see the trend? The dreams God has placed in my heart for as long as I can remember have been about leadership, ownership, doing great things in business.

To this day, I dream about running successful companies, to do ‘great things’ in business.

I love business. Always have. Can’t help myself when I look at a business to reinvent it, or figure it out.

God has placed this dream in my heart. Even when I didn’t know Him personally, it’s been a dream. Today, with my life totally given to Him, my dreams are still the same. Never has it been about missionary work or being a pastor. Never.

It’s always about resurrecting businesses, turnarounds, getting into something and making it work, then moving on. It’s never been about staying in one place doing one thing for 40 years.

It’s why, when my last company failed and others are suggesting for me to get a job or put out my resume that I balked. A few times, going to the computer, getting ready to apply for job and litterally hearing God say… “What are you doing? Why are you applying, that’s not what I have for you.”

For the record, he didn’t tell me what he had for me. He just told me what it wasn’t.

God perfectly made you when you were conceived. You are perfectly made today. Your dreams, no matter how crazy or nutty or off beat they are, are perfectly made.

The voice that comes to you in the day, while you are driving, the things you fantasize about that are good and pure, are from God. Those your dreams. That is him speaking to you. He wants you to step it out in faith.

When God speaks, he doesn’t speak like Charlton Heston or in a big booming voice. He speaks in quietness. With you, alone in a car, or on a plane, train or at the kids baseball game.

If you are lost right now as to what God wants you to do, I suggest you look at the track record of your life. He has prepared everything for you in the form of training over your life.

I see it in my life. My dreams have ALWAYS been about business. Never about serving in the mission field or being on a church fund raising committee. They’ve always been about leading a business enterprise and seeing it work well.

For years, I tried to suppress this desire. Thinking that there had to be something more noble. In the end, God showed me that my dreams are just as important to Him as the dreams of a song writer to write great songs sung by millions. Or the actor who desires to be in great films, the pastor who leads millions to Christ.

They all matter to God.

Grab hold of the dreams in your heart. They can only be placed there by one ‘person’ and that is the Lord our God.  Embrace them, walk them out and live in faith, that even when things crumble down, God is using that to take you to a new place of new heights in hearing Him.

Source:  http://www.christianbusinessdaily.com/1056/hearing-the-voice-of-god-in-business.htm

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US Labor Department awards $7.4 million to 9 high schools deemed ‘persistently dangerous’ to reduce violence and improve educational outcomes

Published by admin in Employment, Featured on May 4th, 2010

Funds will support mentoring, learning and employment strategies

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced $7.4 million in additional funding to nine high schools that have been deemed persistently dangerous by state educational agencies.

“Every good job begins with a good education, and all students deserve to pursue that education in a safe environment,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “These grants will promote the type of learning environment that will help get students on the track to personal and professional success.

Originally awarded in Program Year 2007, the goal of the grants is to reduce violence within select schools through a combination of mentoring, educational, employment, case management and violence prevention strategies. Original grant awards were made through a competitive process open both to school districts that include persistently dangerous high schools and to community-based organizations in partnership with these school districts.

Educational activities can include school restructuring efforts and alternative learning strategies aimed at getting at the underlying causes of violence, high dropout rates and low student achievement in the schools. The strategies implemented by programs should create reforms that have a positive impact on entire schools. Target groups include at-risk youth, such as vulnerable ninth graders, and those individuals who present the greatest challenges in terms of misconduct, truancy and poor school performance. Expected outcomes for the initiative include decreased dropout rates, a reduction in school violence, and improved student behavior and academic performance.

Today’s grants are being awarded to seven schools within the School District of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and one each in the Baltimore, Md., and Berkshire, N.Y., school districts.

For more information on the range of Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov.

Editor’s Note: A complete list of schools receiving these grants and award amounts is below.

Source:  http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20100590.htm

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