#219 - Feel Confident with Your Decision!

Proverbs 16:33 - The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly of the Lord [even the events that seem accidental are really ordered by Him].

Proverbs 31:16a - She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]...

Have you ever had an important decision to make, a decision that is a pretty big deal, that will affect the next several years of your life? Maybe the rest of your life? It's important, you really want to make sure you make the right decision. It's going to affect everything.


As you begin your decision making process, you begin to weigh the options. Maybe you are a list person, so you write out all the pro's & con's on a piece of paper. You may fold your paper in 3 sections, use a ruler to make a straight line and begin to neatly bullet things out. Or, maybe you're the type that just gets out a sticky note, and scribbles a few things down. You may be the thinker. The person who sits on it for awhile, days, thinks it over and over. Quietly & to yourself, but you just think. Then, there are those of you who are talkers. You just have to talk to enough people, hear yourself think outloud, hear the ideas come out, get the opinions of others to help narrow down your decision.


Whichever type of person you are when you make decisions, hopefully you do pray or take a minute to just bounce it off the Holy Spirit.


Whenever I read Proverbs 16, I think of it as a "Power Chapter" when it comes to making plans & deciding things. Verse after verse it talks about "plans." Something that I found comforting this morning was the very last verse, "The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly of the Lord [even the events that seem accidental are really ordered by Him]." Since the term "lot" isn't something that we commonly use today, I decided to get a bit more clarity and check how the original Hebrew defined "lot." The definition that made the most sense to me was this: a systematic way for making decisions. 


So here you are.... the big decision on the table. Maybe it's a job, moving to a different city, getting married, buying a house, changing churches, starting a business, closing a business, beginning to have kids... whatever the "big decision," it's on the table. Whatever your "lot," your "systematic way for making decisions," you begin the process. What I like, as a Christian, is the latter part of the verse. Though we plan, we systematically sketch out our thoughts, pro's and con's, at the end of the day, the Lord is going to ultimately direct us. Especially when we are seeking Him, acknowledging Him, considering Him, we are going to be led the right way. We are going to choose the "right spouse," the "right house," the "right city to move to." God is not in the business of leading us awry, but leading us down the path of life, godliness & favor. 


Our Proverbs 31 woman, follows the same process as we do. She "considers." The Hebrew breaks the word "consider" down as this: to fix thoughts upon, devise, plan, consider, to purpose. In the case of Proverbs 31:16, she is considering buying a field, basically jumping into a new business venture. She takes time to fix her thoughts, her undivided attention upon weighing her options. Is this a wise business decision for her?  


Friend, take comfort. God will not lead you astray. If you need one last "check" in finalizing your decision, a rule of thumb I always use is this: Let PEACE be your umpire.  In the natural, if I am not sure which way to go, I follow peace. With which decision do I have the most peace? The Holy Spirit is peace. I allow peace to direct me. I also heard Tyler say this recently, which is extremely helpful, "The Holy Spirit always pulls, the enemy, Satan always pushes. There is pressure with the enemy." If I feel pressure, I typically stray away from that decision.


As you acknowledge the Lord, take peace. Whatever the decision you make, it is not accidental. Take confidence in knowing, since you acknowledged the Lord, He will not lead you astray!

#184 - Walk Away PROFITABLE Every Time!

Buenos dias! Well, today is an exciting day! We go to have an ultrasound and "officially" find out that we are having a girl! We've always believed that our "Trinity" would be #2, so it will be fun to get to see her and hear the "official" word from the Doctor today! Yippee! So dad, Junior & I will have an exciting appointment! Tyler Junior is going to be a big brother! How fun!

Well how about it? Let's get started in some Word.

Proverbs 16:3 - Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. 

Proverbs 31:16 (NLT) - She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night.

Isn't the Word awesome?! This morning I was just really reminded of how much of an entrepreneur our Proverbs 31 friend is. We know that she is the "Complete Package", and included in that, she is a "Business Woman!" Isn't that interesting. She is smart.

The New Living Translation tells us that our Proverbs 31 friend is "profitable" in her dealings. Those exploits that she pursues, she is making money, she is progressing, she is moving forward. When we look back to Proverbs 16:3, we can see how one can be successful in any endeavor, let's take another look.

1. Roll your works on the Lord - The first part of our assignment as we pursue a new endeavor or a business venture, an idea, is to roll that idea, roll that business venture, roll that thought onto the Lord. What does that mean? How are we to do that? The amplified version gives us a bit more insight on exactly that, it tells us to "COMMIT" that idea and "TRUST" that idea wholly to the Lord. "Wholly" in the dictionary is defined: entirely, altogether, totally, completely, without exception, exclusively. The "works" or "ideas" that we have, the "pursuits" that we want to chase, the "business concept" that we want to launch out into must FIRST and FOREMOST be committed to the Lord. Once it is committed and entrusted to the Lord, take a look what happens to it! Take a look what HE does with that idea, business venture, thought...
2. He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will - So, as we commit the thought or idea to the Lord, He begins to change things. The idea goes forth, we daily commit and remind Him of our trust in Him with the idea, we expect Him to further clarify and fine-tune the idea.... and look what He does! He not only clarifies and fine-tunes the thought, the idea, the business venture He does something even BETTER! He makes OUR THOUGHTS in regards to this idea, our thoughts in regards to the business venture, He makes OUR THOUGHTS to come into agreement with His will. Areas that we may have had things a little bit off or wrong, they get tweaked. Our thoughts are changed and perfected to be like HIS thoughts! The good news? His thoughts are PERFECT and His thoughts and His plans always succeed! So? What happens next? 
3. Our plans are established & succeed - Wha-la! Like a perfect batch of cookies coming out of the oven, our plans are successful! Like the Proverbs 31 woman, "our dealings are profitable!" Tell me this, WHO doesn't start a business but to be profitable?! That is the goal! People don't start a business to fail. People don't start a business to loose money. People start a business to succeed, to be profitable. The missing link in most failed business'? I would bet you could guess. The LACK of rolling the business or idea onto the Lord. The LACK of allowing our thoughts about the business to come into line with the Lord's thoughts for it.

How can we assure our success? Follow the above steps. I once heard a minister say that he NEVER has lost any money in ANY business investment! WOW! Outside of his ministry, he is a millionaire. Why? Because He allowed the LORD to be his counselor. In an economic downturn, his bankers advised him to do certain things with his financial portfolio. He took in what they said and told them, "Let me pray about it, I will get back with you." He left, He prayed about it. He brought it before the Lord and came back to meet with his bankers. In turn he told them, "No, I don't want to do what you are recommending... this, this and this. I would like you to do this ________." He had them move money into certain areas that made no sense to them. They were recommending their other high profile clients to do things completely different. Well... do you know what? Not long after, those very bankers came back to him and said, "Sir, do you realize out of ALL of our clients and ALL of our portfolios, everyone lost money but you! You were the only one who gained and increased during this economic time. Maybe we should have taken advice from you on what to do with everyone's money."

Praise the Lord! Everything about the Lord is about making us increase and prosper! He is not a God of lack. He is not a God of subtraction and division. He is a God of addition and multiplication. When we really COMMIT & TRUST our ways and plans to Him, when we really seek Him and allow Him to fine-tune our thinking, HE WILL! He will give us exactly the information to succeed & like the Proverbs 31 woman to walk away profitable!