Showing posts with label spiritual gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual gifts. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

“Not every star shines at the same time.” Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

 

“Not every star shines at the same time.” Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry


Oct. 5, 2022 Charlotte, North Carolina USA

Greetings to my family and friends of Love For His People Ministry.

It is so encouraging when the Lord speaks a word to you, unexpectedly. At those times when you may not feel as strong as others, or gifted, or assured of what you are doing and how you are doing it. Sometimes as you watch others flow in their gifts, you wonder if you will ever “measure up”.

Do you ever feel that way too? Be encouraged with this: our Lord knows how to encourage us, and tell us, in His way, “You too shine.” A simple word from the Holy Spirit does that. He brings encouragement.

Please read my message, “Not Every Star Shines at the Same Time”, written below.

Ahava and shalom,



Steve Martin, Founder, Love For His People Ministry

P.S. Please continue to pray for our good friends for over 35 years, Edgar and Indira Persad, of Charlotte, North Carolina, along with their families (Nadira & Alan, Shamila and Joel, and Robbie and his family). Edgar has been in the hospital for 12 days, having had a brain tumor removed. See the accompanying photo of Edgar being ministered to in his hospital bed in Charlotte, North Carolina.


“Not Every Star Shines at the Same Time” 

“He determines how many stars there are and calls them all by name.” Psalm 147:4, Complete Jewish Bible  

Each star shines in brilliance and power. Some are more prominent than others, and we notice them at different times in the heavenly skies. As the nighttime gets darker, we seem to see more and more of them, until they fill the sky with their brightness and glory, especially if you are viewing away from the city and other man-made lights. 

The Lord Creator created each one, special in their own sphere of influence and reach. According to Scripture, the Word of God, He has given each one a name. (Psalm 147:4)

 As I stood in the hospital room with a long-time friend of over 35 years, Edgar Persad, three other men and a spiritual woman, mutual friends from another church that Edgar and his family attend, had come to pray prior to his scheduled surgery in a few hours. He was having a brain tumor removed that had come back cancerous from the three biopsy tests after the first surgery to remove the built-up fluid. 

Their prayers were mighty. They called upon the Name of the Lord Jesus in full faith and power. They spoke of His promises over Edgar, assuring Him that the Lord is our Deliverer, our Healer, the One Who stands in the gap for all of us, especially in our time of need. Scripture was read from the Bible app on the cell phone. 

I took some memorable photos and two short video clips, to share with others who were not able to be here expressing the same love. (I am a firm believer that the Lord has put in place those who give testimony through photography and video.) I knew these images in real-time would encourage friends and prayer intercessors around the world, shared on Signal and other social connections, to also keep praying as Edgar faced the second brain surgery to remove that large tumor in between the pineal gland. 

(From Wikipedia: “The pineal gland, conarium, or epiphysis cerebri, is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cycles. The shape of the gland resembles a pine cone, which gives it its name. The pineal gland is located in the epithalamus, near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two halves of the thalamus join. The pineal gland is one of the neuroendocrine secretory circumventricular organs in which capillaries are mostly permeable to solutes in the blood.”) 

You know how you sometimes feel when you are with others, and their “spirituality” seems so much more than yours? In some ways, I felt I didn’t “measure up” to their spiritual walk and ability to successfully petition the Lord, especially in verbalizing it forth. And so, I stood quietly, yet in agreement, and listened.

Then the Holy Spirit spoke a peaceful, simple word to me.“Not every star is seen at the same time.” 

I was taken aback, not expecting He would say something to me at that time, with the focus on Edgar, as it should be.

Wow. Even during the care and concern we give for others, our Lord is building, strengthening, and encouraging ourselves. But most often that is how it turns out, isn’t it? He knows what we need too when we need it.

It was most encouraging to hear that inner voice of the Holy Spirit. And I wholeheartedly give thanks for all the gifts given to us, as shown through these men and women. These were now the ones shining in their atmosphere. 

More fully in Psalm 147, briefly quoted above, is the description of the goodness of the Lord and how He is so actively working in the nations today. Especially in the people of Jerusalem and Israel. “Halleluyah! How good it is to sing praises to our God! How sweet, how fitting to praise him! Adonai is rebuilding Yerushalayim, gathering the dispersed of Isra’el. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines how many stars there are and calls them all by name. Our Lord is great, His power is vast, His wisdom beyond all telling. Adonai sustains the humble but brings the wicked down to the ground.” Complete Jewish Bible 

An old saying was once all over in art and such, “Grow where you are planted.” We are also called to shine the light He has put in us, in our sphere of influence and gifting. As each does his or her shining, all will be built up and encouraged. 

Ahava and shalom, 

Steve Martin, Love For His People, Founder 

Message #115 in this series – in the year of our Lord 10.04.2022 – “Not Every Star Shines at the Same Time”, Tuesday, 4:50 pm in Charlotte, North Carolina

Steve Martin

STEVE & LAURIE MARTIN - LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FOUNDERS My good wife Laurie and I (45 years in October 2022!), through the ministry of Love For His People we founded in 2010, give love and support for our friends in Israel and in other nations with friendship, humanitarian aid, and social media support, along with Steve's messages, and our Ahava Adventures trips to Israel. Steve has also authored and published 34 books. We live in the Charlotte, NC area. We have four adult children, spouses, and eight grandkids.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Lance Rewind – The Science To Destiny | Lance Wallnau

July 29, 2020 Lance Wallnau 112K subscribers
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a science to destiny? You could know a formula to hit your target. What’s interesting about that whole question is that there was research done for 30 years in Fuller Theological Seminary by a guy named Bobby Clinton. His research was specifically on destiny and fulfillment, which is an incredibly relevant subject because so many people are interested in the prophetic. Not just because they want to know about what’s going on in the world around them, they want to know where they fit in the picture.
Where do I fit? Am I fulfilling the purpose for which I was created? Am I on schedule? And Clinton’s research came up with a term which I think is kind of fascinating. He referred to it as convergence. The fantastic thing is that the language in this is hidden in the Bible!
It’s almost in a coded form. It’s referred to as the work. Many of us can be involved with working out salvation, working in the ministry, and working in business. And all of that can be part of God’s plan. But there’s a moment when you literally step from working into the work, the assignment that God has given you.
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Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Shawn Bolz: 'Whatever Is in Us Will Find the Way' - TAYLOR BERGLUND CHARISMA NEWS

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Thursday, May 18, 2017

Bill Yount: "This Is The Moment You Were Born For! The King Is Calling For You!" - THE ELIJAH LIST

Bill Yount: "This Is The Moment You Were Born For! The King Is Calling For You!"


May 18, 2017


Steve ShultzFrom the desk of Steve Shultz:
This is an activation word by Bill Yount in which he shares that the Lord is calling us all...yes that means ALL of US...into action!
No more waiting on the sidelines as you are part of the vast army of Christ and are much needed in the harvest at hand.
As Bill Yount shares this word of the Lord:
The Lord says, "There'll be no sitting on the sidelines this year. I'm taking the benches out. There'll be no benches to sit on. I'm calling everyone onto the field of their neighbors, city sidewalks, market places and the nations. Wherever you go, I'll be there." The move is on! The King is calling for you.
Enjoy this word and the many set-ups God will be bringing in your path! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)
Enjoy! And thanks for forwarding this to your friends! They can subscribe here.
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Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher
The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News 
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P.S. – Oh, and a Quick Note to our readers: To EXPLORE our more than 2,500 Christian Prophetic books, CDs, and gifts go to: elijahshopper.com.

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I heard these words recently, "We gotta 'GO' for launching! We gotta 'Go' for launching!" Then it dawned on me. There can be no launching without a great shaking. I don't know about you but I'm sitting at the edge of my seat for what's next, for the King is calling.
The King Calls For Us in Many Ways to Launch Us
"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:" Deut. 32:11
Is your life being stirred, shaken and interrupted? I'll tell you why. The Lord has greater things for you. Like an eagle, He (the Lord) has landed and is shaking the Hell out of the place where you are. Embrace the shaking and kiss your normal life goodbye. It's time to spread your wings and fly, because you're an eagle not a chicken. Don't die in your nest.
"God is up to something good in your life. He is reaching down and taking the good, the bad and the ugly and stirring it all around and causing everything to work together for good for them who love Him and are called according to His purpose."
Forty years ago when I started attending our church, in the spirit I saw a huge eagle in a nest in our balcony. It was stirring the nest in people's lives. It stirred and shook twenty-six of us members out into full-time ministry. Some went overseas and never came back except for visits, for they fell in love with people over there. Some like myself stayed in the states. After 40 years I saw this eagle returning to our church and to the Body of Christ at large. The eagle has landed! The eagle has landed in our lives!
The Eagle Has Landed to Stir Up Our Spiritual Gifts and Talents
When the eagle landed 40 years ago in our church, it began to stir a hunger inside of me to hear God's voice. Back then, I lived two blocks up the street and I would walk to church begging God to let me hear His voice in the church service, for I needed to know what to do with my life. Because I was expecting to hear from the Lord Himself, He never failed to anoint my pastor or anyone else who stands in our pulpit to minister exactly what I needed to hear. For forty years in the same church, God still speaks to me, for my expectation is to hear from Him.
This eagle will stir, shake, and interrupt our lives. Looking back over my life, God has been in my interruptions more than He's been in my plans. I hear the Lord saying, "Kiss your normal life goodbye!" Your nest has had some nice comfortable feathers in it, but this year, as the nest shakes, the sharp sticks will jab and prick us out of our comfort to help us get out of the nest, because we were born to fly.
Every storm and adversity you have ever faced has come to prepare you to spread your wings this year. Don't die in the nest. The harvest is now. God often comes when we least expect it, when we are just going along in life minding our own business, and our dream is within reach and we're almost there. That's when the eagle often comes, interrupting our lives, to be about our Father's business.
The Lord says, "There'll be no sitting on the sidelines this year. I'm taking the benches out. There'll be no benches to sit on. I'm calling everyone onto the field of their neighbors, city sidewalks, market places and the nations. Wherever you go, I'll be there." The move is on! The King is calling for you. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
"I Am Up to Something Good!"
"Prepare for take off! Make sure your seat belts are fastened securely."
These were the words my wife, Dagmar and I heard sitting on a flight to Houston, Texas recently to minister. Then the pilot came on the intercom and said, "We are expecting a nice flight to Houston today."
When I heard this, I said, "Thank You Lord, we are on the right plane with the right pilot." A little later he says, "I see a couple minor things up here that concern me. I will get the mechanics to check it out, then we'll be on our way. After awhile he says, "I have good news for you. And I have bad news. The good news is, you will be going to Houston. The bad news is, not on this plane."
Those words pierced me and have never left me, for I believe it's a prophetic word for the Body of Christ this year.
ElijahList Prophetic Resources
I heard the Lord say, "You will be arriving at your destination that I have for you this year, but not by sitting in the pews of your churches. These pews will not take you there, neither will this nest."
We had to exit the plane to board another. Standing in a long line to board again, they announced yet another gate change for another flight. (There will be some gate changes coming for many of us this year.) I was frustrated with all these changes. I said, "Lord, what are You doing, because I'm on a mission for You?"
He said, "First of all, I just saved you from a plane crash. Another thing, I'm up to something good!" Many of God's people with all the stirring, shaking and interruptions are wondering, what is going on in their lives. They are wondering where God is or where He went to.
"Looking back over my life, God has been in my interruptions more than He's been in my plans."
Let me tell you: God is up to something good in your life. He is reaching down and taking the good, the bad and the ugly and stirring it all around and causing everything to work together for the good for them who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He has even pulled the stinger out of death and is using it for His glory!
From the Pit, From the Prison to the Palace, the King is Calling For You
"Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his clothes, and came in unto Pharaoh." Genesis 41:14
There are many of you who feel like you've been in the pit for a long time. Others have felt like you've been in a prison. But we are in a "But God" season. This year the King is calling for you to the palace.
I think we have the wrong impression of what that palace was like for Joseph being second in command. The Bible doesn't describe how beautiful that palace was but it does talk a lot about the reason God brought him there. "To save much people alive in the time of trouble and the famine that was coming" (see Genesis 50:20). Joseph considered the palace only to be a launching pad to launch his dream to save the people.
A King was building a palace in another country. He ordered huge pieces of glass mirrors to hang on the walls of the palace. When the shipment arrived most of them were broken through shipment. He became so angry that he said to his servants, "Break these huge pieces of glass into tiny pieces and throw them away. So they began smashing those huge glass mirrors into tiny pieces. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
As they were sweeping up all of the tiny pieces of glass to throw in the dumpster, one of the servants said to the king, "Oh, king, this stuff looks like diamonds! This stuff looks like diamonds!" As the king looked down on all those broken pieces, he had a divine thought. He had his servants pick up all those tiny broken pieces and he began pasting them all over the walls of the palace. When people came and began admiring the diamonds filling the walls of his palace, the king would finally tell them, "What you are looking at is just tiny broken pieces of glass."
Though hidden, the broken and crushed in spirit will rise out of the dust and ashes of life. God is making diamonds out of dust this year. He's making diamonds out of us. This is the year for broken people to be healed and redeemed and our King will be decorating the walls of His palace house with broken people who shine like diamonds in His Kingdom.
We're Not In Kansas Anymore!
I am reminded of the Wizard of Oz movie where a tornado picked up Dorothy's house in Kansas and whirled it to another place. When it landed, Dorothy said to her dog, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." I hear the Lord saying to the Body of Christ, "We're not in Kansas anymore. You can't go back and live like you used to and do the things you used to do. You will have to think differently, for you are in a new place."
The King is calling for you and me. This is the moment we were born for. Ask the King what's next for you. Don't be surprised by what you hear. It may blow your mind. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)
Bill Yount
Blowing the Shofar Ministry
Email: theshofarhasblown@juno.com
Website: www.billyount.com
Bill Yount has been a member of Bridge of Life in Hagerstown, Maryland, for the past 36 years where he is now an elder and a home missionary. He is currently an advisor at large for Aglow International. Bill faithfully served in prison ministry at Mount Hope for 23 years and now travels full-time, both in the U.S. and internationally, ministering in churches and Aglow circles. "Humility and humor" characterize his ministry as he brings forth a fresh word that is "in season," proclaiming the Word of the Lord! The shofar (or ram's horn) is often used in his meetings, breaking the powers of darkness over regions, churches, and households. The shofar represents God's breath blowing into the nostrils of His people, reviving them and awakening the lost. Many of God's messages, which Bill ministers prophetically, come out of his everyday life with his family and friends.
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ElijahList Prophetic Resources
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Sunday, March 20, 2016

THE GIFTS - Morris E. Ruddick (SIGN)

Morris & Carol Ruddick

SIGN

THE GIFTS
(c) Morris E. Ruddick

God gives gifts to men. Ancient Jewish writings elaborate that a person's gift makes room for them and brings them before great people.

When vital combinations of these gifts are nurtured within a trust community, it provides ripples of opportunity and a dynamic that strengthens the community. Business is about providing a product or a service to customers. It involves outperforming competition with that product or service. What is required is developing excellence, becoming the best in what your business offers. That is where the gifts, the talents on which the business is based, come into play.

Everybody can do something better than a lot of other people. That is what we refer to as a person's natural gift. However, when that gift is unmistakably identified and developed to the level that the person can excel in that gift, more so than most other people, then they have the basis with which to start a business and commercialize the gift, the talent. This premise is at the heart of the entrepreneurial spirit that once was the pride of the American Jewish middle class.

Entrepreneurship has at its core creativity. God is the creator and being made in His image, developing our gift will tap the creativity that resides in each of us. Excelling in a natural gift triggers the release of creativity in the gift. A person's gift will be something they have mastery of, something they have a passion doing.

God's nature also is to bring increase. That is the Jewish wisdom behind Jesus' parable of the talents. In this parable there were three stewards who were entrusted with some of the assets belonging to their boss. The steward who leveraged the assets to bring the most increase not only made his boss very pleased with him, but he was given promotion and entrusted with more.

However the steward who was timid and risk-adverse and only gave his boss back what he had first given him was rebuked and actually deemed worthless, even though he had not lost anything. The point is that each person is endowed with a gift and is expected to develop it. It becomes the basis of being blessed to be a blessing.

In addition to the natural gift, those who become believers are given spiritual gifts. These are the gifts reflecting how God has wired us spiritually. They reflect our deepest motivations and become the basis of the passion behind what we excel in. These motivational gifts range from teaching, exhorting, leading, giving, mercy, service and the prophetic.

Servers take on tasks wholeheartedly and stick to it until done, even when sacrifice is required. They are doers, self-starters and dependable. The prophetically-gifted operate with a balance between hearing from God and a strong sense of what is right and wrong. They are discerning and see beyond the surface of things. Givers break the mold of the status quo. They are generous and creative, quickly recognizing genuine needs which they will respond to even if it means personal sacrifice.

Teachers are analytical and committed to truth and the quest for truth. They tend to be detailed oriented, thinkers who connect the dots and do their research. Exhorters encourage and nurture others. They are purposeful and fruitful in the way they do things and the way to relate to others. Mercy-motivated people are ones who recognize and empathize deeply with unmet needs in others and work toward providing help. They tend to be protective, extending themselves with hope for the helpless. Leaders have a natural ability to influence and direct others. They have big-picture outlooks with long-term perspectives and are people of action.

Again, it is important to identify and then develop our spiritual gifts. When our spiritual gifts are developed, they become enhancers to what we can do with our natural gift. They are triggers to that release of creativity. Then when our natural and spiritual gifts are in alignment and we are interacting with the Lord in prayer, ideally making Him our Senior Partner and source of our wisdom, then we enter a threshold not unlike the destiny walked out by Abraham.

I've previously mentioned the importance of a trust society, a community of trust. Trust communities are an important factor in the Jewish phenomenon. That trust involves a responsibility, a community responsibility. Community, within the Jewish dynamic, is a safe place where the diversity of the gifts of their participants work together in serving one another, for each person and for the good of the community. It involves a dynamic. which in Hebrew is called tz'dakah, a charitable form of generosity, which is one of the keys defining the Jewish secrets. It functions in a way to engender greater success levels for its participants as the gifts of each bless one another and make room for them. I'll be talking more about this in this series.

The Process of Gift Development

One of the most dramatic illustrations of how a person's gift can make room for them, when God is made a part of the equation, is the story of a man named George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was born as a slave in the United States in 1861. When he was four years old, the slaves were given their freedom.

When George Washington Carver was only a small boy, everyone commented that "that boy has a gift, he can make anything grow." He was good with plants. He had a passion for growing plants. He read all about plants and really paid attention in school when the subject was about plants. As he got older, a miracle happened.

George Washington Carver graduated from high school and got a scholarship to college. He studied about his gift, the science of botany. He graduated from college and got a job in a research center, a job focused on crop growth. He became very good at what he did.

George Washington Carver was also a very committed Christian who loved to pray. When he was in his early 30s he was praying one day. He very boldly asked the Lord if God would reveal to him the secrets of the universe! I was told that upon praying this audacious prayer the Lord spoke to George Washington Carver saying: "Little man, the secrets of the universe would destroy you. But, I'll show the secret of the peanut."

Over the next ten years George Washington Carver produced roughly 325 inventions involving the peanut. He invented mechanisms for extracting the oil out of peanuts. He invented new ways of preparing peanuts and making "peanut products" that previously had not existed. In the process, he created not only a business, but set in motion a new and growing industry in the US.

God as Senior Partner

George Washington Carver walked with God and by employing his gift, his life reflected the mantle of Abraham, to be blessed to be a blessing. This humble man, who had been born as a slave, became the best there was with his gift.

But then there was an added dimension. George Washington Carver heard from God and the Lord anointed his gift, releasing both incredible creativity which in turn brought forth even more incredible increase. In this journey defining his destiny, George Washington Carver had made the Lord his Senior Partner.

This is what brought an exponential multiplication into the process. George Washington Carver's natural gift was as a botanist, one who understood the dynamics of plant growth. His primary spiritual gift was that of a teacher, one whose analytical thought is driven to find answers, to investigate and research.

But when he made God his Senior Partner, opportunity began exploding. He began having insights, tied to his gift, that he had never had before. It is written that the secret things belong to the Lord, but those that are revealed are the heritage of those who diligently seek Him. That is what happened. Thousands of jobs were produced because of the peanut industry and his country was blessed.

"A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men." Before he died, George Washington Carver was invited to the White House and was honored by the President of the United States for the contributions he had made to his country.

For one to make God their Senior Partner you have to hear from God and then enter the interactive flow of that partnership. Jesus taught to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you." It involves becoming the best that you can with your gift, but in doing so, of keeping God at the forefront as the chief source of your guidance.

As we are faithful in the little things, God will entrust us with more as we embark on a journey of discovery of our purpose and destiny tied to the gifts with which we've been given. We'll be taking more about hearing from God and planning together with Him later in this series.

The Gifts and Destiny Discovery

In my own life, I have a natural gift as a consultant. I'm a problem solver, a planner and writer. Among my spiritual gifts are those of a teacher and the prophetic. I'm also a leader. Together with God's guidance, making Him my Senior Partner, these were the factors that began to converge to map out the pathway of my destiny as the employment of my gifts created the opportunity for my life-purpose.

As a young man, I had chosen the military as my career. It was a career with a purpose. It involved a cause and had become my calling. Yet, when I had roughly six years of service in this career, I came to faith and realized there was a higher dimension to my calling, to my destiny. It involved serving the One Who created it all.

My priorities became refocused on reaching for this higher dimension of my destiny. A year and half later, I had resigned from the Marines, enrolling at Oral Roberts University to prepare for this new purpose for my life.

As I approached the conclusion of my time of preparation in academia for God's plan for my life, I was in prayer and the Lord spoke a very dramatic word to me about my future. The short version was that I was going to become a consultant and would be entering the business world. At the time, I really did not have a realistic grasp of what a consultant was. I had heard of Peter Drucker who was a renowned expert in business, but even though I knew God was leading me, I otherwise frankly was a little naive about what lay before me.

I also did not have the training in business to be a consultant. However, I had these gifts that I've mentioned, and I had this calling, which God had told me was going to be as a consultant. So as I approached the end of this time of preparation, I had completed special studies in the Bible, as well as all my coursework for a graduate degree in media management. Nevertheless, despite my military experience in leadership and planning, I had no training or experience in business. Those factors combined to make me realize that I really had better learn how to depend on God in this new arena I was entering.

Then upon completion of my graduate program, I encountered a job opportunity that seemed to fit strongly with the investigative-research orientation that had been such a key part of my graduate studies. Although I was in over my head in this new job, I took one day at a time and began learning the trade. It was several months after working in this position that I realized the function of this firm was that of consulting.

Almost three years later, having mastered the tools of this profession, the Lord gave me a very strong word about it being time to start my own business. Here again, I didn't have any background on how to start or run a business, but I knew what it meant to depend on the Lord and I knew how to hear His voice. I've always been a man of action and being convinced that God was guiding me, I took steps of faith and started my own business. Despite that, my first year of business was grueling.

In leaving my former employer, it was a point of honor that I not take any of his clients with me. So, I began by borrowing money on our home to support ourselves as I began this new venture. I ordered a new phone, along with some professional business cards and stationary and purchased a good electric typewriter.

This was before the days of computers and I wrote a lot of introductory letters, one by one, on an IBM Selectric typewriter. I made a lot of phone calls and God gave me a strategy of giving presentations on the state of the industry for the clients and industry I was targeting.

I sold one project during all of that first year and although my client was happy, my banker scolded me because he felt I should have priced the work at three times the amount I had charged. At the end of that first year, I had gone through all the money I could borrow and I had a big stack of bills on my desk.

Nothing seemed to be moving in terms of getting the contracts needed to pay the bills. It seemed I had done everything I had known to do and my phone was silent. I was beginning to wonder if I had missed something the Lord might have been trying to have me do. The reality was that unless God intervened, I was about to fail. But some things take time and in business timing more often than not is in God's hands.

It was at that point, while in prayer one morning, that I had a very dramatic realization that I had come to a time in which my business was about to start growing. With no evidence to support this perception, it simply was something that I knew that I knew that I knew.

Some have told me that God gave me a gift of faith to accompany the steps of faith I had been taking. Then in that next week, from the many presentations I had made over the last several months, I received requests to write proposals for six contracts. Three of them were approved and started almost immediately. The challenge from that point was in keeping up with the growth.

We grew to have offices in three US cities and 27 full-time employees. Most of our clients were multinational firms, with a number of them being internationally based.
Our competitors were some of the most prestigious names in the consulting industry, like Arthur D. Little and Company. In many ways, we were like a young David facing some real industry Goliaths. We worked to give our clients the very best value for their money. We were good at what we did. Our clients came back for more.

The business we built revolved around my combined natural and spiritual gifts which I trained and mentored my employees in doing. My spiritual gifts of teaching, the prophetic and leadership, all combined to undergird the authoritative, research-based market planning and forecasting consulting work we did for our clients.

There is another phase to my career, that has as its focus the entrepreneurial startup program that I now take around the world. It had a very inauspicious start after serving as a consultant to major corporations for 30 years. Yet, since its start, we've conducted our seminars and advised purposeful community builders in almost two dozen nations on the ways Jews have excelled in business over the centuries. The same natural and spiritual gifts with God at the helm have been in operation with this program.

The Context and Foundations

So far in this series on Jewish business secrets we've touched on the foundations, the model and the gifts. I've noted that the pertinent ancient foundations included the identity Jews retain as a culture. This identity impacts the uniqueness of community as it has endured and prospered, many times against much adversity, over the millennia. The self-sufficiency operating within Jewish communities embraces high standards and imparts the basis for future generations to advance.

In the Jewish community, what we have just taken a brief look at, the importance of nurturing and developing the gifts, is passed on from one generation to another. Along with high moral standards and making God the Senior Partner, these foundations have resulted in creating a society of leaders, although the form of leadership does not conform to the way most within the world view leadership. Leadership involves power, but within the world we live in, there is righteous power and there is corrupt power. The Jewish means of employing power, which was elaborated on by Jesus, has its focus on good overcoming evil.

As we consider these factors, we have touched the heart of Jewish culture. I have shared about Ghandi's response of loving the teachings of Jesus, but rejecting Christianity because he never met a Christian that he felt truly practiced these teachings. Ghandi's response was due to the culture of the Christians he had met. Jewish culture foundationally is Eastern, whereas the overriding culture of the Christians Ghandi had met was overridden with negative and Western trappings.

One of the key strategies employed by Jews and reinforced by the teachings of Jesus was that of being a culture within a culture. Jesus' central message was about the Kingdom of God. He imparted the wisdom needed for His followers to bridge the natural and the spiritual domains of reality. This is a very Jewish premise and at the heart of Jewish culture. Jesus elaborated on it when He said that we would be in the world, but not of the world.

So, to embrace the dynamics comprising Jewish business secrets is going to involve a different way of thinking, a more creative way of thinking that results from Jewish cultural foundations. The edge we observe in Jewish business exploits is a compatibility between their cultural and entrepreneurial foundations. In our next session I want to talk about the culture of the Jews. I've made the point of how important the Jewish approach to community is, but unless you first understand the culture, you're not going to fully grasp the Jewish community dynamic, which itself is very key to the Jewish business phenomenon.

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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the higher dimensions of business leadership since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders to be blessed to be a blessing where God's light is dim in diverse regions around the globe.

He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;" "Leadership by Anointing;" and "Mantle of Fire," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.comwww.apple.com/ibooks andwww.BarnesandNoble.com.

Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at http://strategicintercession.org/support/

Likewise, email us to schedule a seminar for your group's gathering on the Joseph-Daniel Calling or on anointing the creative in business.

2016 Copyright Morris Ruddick -- sign@strategicintercession.org

Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check:http://www.strategicintercession.org
Morris Ruddick

Global Initiatives Foundation
www.strategic-initiatives.org
www.strategicintercession.org

Global Initiatives is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt organization
Global Initiatives Foundation, PO Box 370291, Denver, CO 80237