#89 - Be Diligent in Your Work

Good morning! It's almost good afternoon! It is a beautiful fall day and it's FRIDAY!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!! I even look forward to Friday's because that means DAD is off for the weekend to play with us!! Yippee!! :) 


Well, let's get started. This wasn't the direction that I was planning on going today, but God is God and I am just Amy. So, we're going to choose to go with what GOD had for today. :-) As I do my best to do during every devotion. His Word stands forever and YOU & I only need ONE WORD from Him to change our lives! So... easy decision to go with what He had. :) Let's roll....

Proverbs 22:29 - Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Psalm 52:7-9a - ...the man who made not God his strength but trusted in and confidently relied on the abundance of his riches, seeking refuge and security for himself through his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in and confidently rely on the loving-kindness and the mercy of God ... I will thank You and confide in You forever, because You have done it.

Psalm 112:1b,3 - Blessed is the man who fears the LORD...Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. 

Proverbs 31:24 - She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].

Wow! So much to be said from the verses above! And to think, they were ALL in today's reading!! It's amazing how God does things! WOW! Sometimes He just overwhelms me with how amazing He is! 


Diligent & skillful in business! Do you own your own business? Do you have a job? Well, I know we know the word diligent, and use it frequently...but let me just remind you of it's meaning in the dictionary. It was quite eye opening really to see it's original meaning: constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything. 


Diligent. Constant in effort to accomplish something. Whatever your business is or job is, being in the constant pursuit to ACCOMPLISH. Not to just "go with the flow", punch a time clock and 'do your time', but to ACCOMPLISH. Do progress forward. The dictionary also called diligent as having 'Persevering Attention.' Wow! It makes you think differently about your job or business, doesn't it! I mean, wow! Do you or I put 'Persevering Attention' towards it? If it is where God has placed us, it is our calling and we are called to do it with diligence. With a constant pursuit to accomplish and to apply persevering attention to our business! 


What about money? What about the subject of money? Income? Profit? Yikes! This can be such a touchy subject in so many arena's, and for some reason Christian arena's. Psalm 52 today mentioned the man who trusted in his OWN abundant riches, acquiring them through his wickedness. There in lies the key. Trusting in yourself for riches. Putting faith or reliance on your 'riches' versus on God. Elevating the "Almighty Dollar Bill" instead of the "Almighty GOD" who is the maker of it all! It is all about keeping GOD where He rightfully belongs, on the THRONE. Elevated. Father. Jehovah. Almighty One. King of Kings! Savior! Ruler over heaven & earth! Savior! Lord! It is about keeping God the Lord of our lives, and in regards to finances, keeping HIM as OUR SOURCE. Not relying upon our business, our job, our sales, our efforts or our works as our source. The moment we begin to rely on our own efforts instead of keeping our faith and reliance upon God is the beginning of where the trouble starts. For example... I just put on an information class on a 12 week program we are starting here in Columbia, "New Way to a New You." I asked the Holy Spirit what materials/products, if any, I should have with me at the class. I was willing to invest in whatever I needed to invest in, but I wanted to invest in the RIGHT things. Well, the Holy Spirit said, "Buy 10 books, that's all." OK. That's easy enough. So, I pre-purchased the 10 books to re-sell (we will be using throughout the 12 week class as a guide.) Out of those 10 books guess how many I sold? LOL. I laugh at how amazing God is when we listen. I sold 10. If I would've had 9, I would've been 1 short. If I would've had 11, I would've had 1 extra. The Holy Spirit knew EXACTLY how many I needed. He is even concerned in the little things! Isn't that amazing!


Wealth & Riches? Expect them! Do you fear the Lord? Do you honor and respect our Mighty God? Well, then Psalm 112 is talking about YOU! This is a verse Tyler and I confess DAILY over our lives and our family. DAILY! Outloud! 


Sales!? What about sales? In the world, often 'sales people' are seen maybe with a bad light. The whole "used-car salesmen" feeling. No one wants to be "SOLD". When you are "sold", you are being convinced into something you do not want to do. When you "buy", you are buying something you need or saw value in. And even the WOMAN WHO EXCELS them ALL was a SALES PERSON!!! Can you believe it?! Take a look in Proverbs 31:24! She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].!!!


A couple things to keep in mind... she wasn't selling junk. She obviously believed in what she was selling. It was a FINE product made of FINE material. She was meeting a need in the marketplace. A product that freed people up for serving. 


Do you believe in your product? Do you believe in your service? Lead others to buy it! Those people that NEED it will see it's value and have no remorse in purchasing from you. They will also often be your greatest source of referrals too! Add value to others and you can not go wrong. 

#23 - Sales & The Christian

Good Morning! So... I woke up without an alarm clock this morning. Pretty wild. I slept GOOD! :) It's going to be a great day. :) SOOOO happy to be enjoying my blonde coffee this morning. Along with bringing the kitchen sink to Jill's, I also brought my Vanilla Hazelnut Kahve coffee, and my sugar-free French Vanilla (COFFEEMATE) creamer (I can't do the other brands of creamer, gag!) So.... enjoying a nice morning. Sitting out on the balcony, very woodsy out here. Nice cool breeze. No flies. :) (Yippee! No sending them to be with Jesus!) Jill and Bella I guess will be getting up sometime around 10:00ish. :) So... blueberry muffins, eggs, grits, bacon & fruit for breakfast! YUM! (And no, I do not do this at home all the time! My apologies Tyler.)


Let's dive in. Pretty good stuff this morning. 

Proverbs 25:15 - By long forbearance and calmness of spirit a judge or ruler is persuaded, and soft speech breaks down the most bonelike resistance.

Proverbs 31:24 - She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].

Good stuff! Well, let's automatically take a look at our Proverbs 31 friend. Did you realize SHE is a SALESPERSON!!! Can you believe it?!?! Amongst everything else, she can sell! And, I don't believe just sell, I believe she would be among the top ranks in sales of Corporate America today! The woman knows how to sell! She is not the woman we grew up thinking she was.... she is not the typical picture of who most view as a "godly woman." The long hair, pulled up in a nice, tight, clean hair bun; the long, drab skirt; little or no make-up looking a bit on the homely side; bent over a wash board scrubbing clothes until they are clean; then hung over a stove, flour on her face, flour on her splattered white apron cooking for the family. I believe if this was still our picture of the Proverbs 31 woman, we would be mistaken. And, as a sidenote reminder, she has built up her business that now she does enjoy having maids (Prov. 31:15), and if I had maids I can tell you I would not be doing the scrubbing of ......hum.....anything! So... let's move on. 


Our Proverbs 31 friend leads others to buy her product! Others, plural. She leads them. She knows the good things about her product, the "sales features & benefits." And why does she feel good about SELLING her product?? Because it is high quality, it is FINE! She is adding value to the marketplace. Her product is adding value, take a look: this girdle frees one up for service. It is HELPING people. She has provided a product that adds value & helps people! 


How do we know she has a pretty big size business? Well, she sells her products to merchants, plural. Since I used to be in the "Merchant Service" industry, I set up "merchants" to accept credit cards. What is a "Merchant?" It is a business or business owner. A company who provides a good or service to others. Our Proverbs 31 friend has merchantS that she is selling too. Her products are hitting the marketplace and being sold from many stores, vendors, malls, etc. She is a BUSINESS WOMAN. She is a SALES PERSON. And she has a product that the market needs and wants!


What about this "judge or ruler" being persuaded? How is this bonelike resistance broken down? Well, let's look at persuade. The dictionary tells us persuade means to advise or to urge. Some synonyms are: to urge, influence, move, entice. So this judge, with soft speech is able to be influenced. With soft speech his opinion is able to be moved. Despite his bonelike resistance or resolve not to "move" his opinion, with some persuading, he does. 


That brings us to something of great importance. Sales. When I was working, one of my top years, along with managing an existing base of business, I also got new business. Sold. Won accounts. I added over 18 million dollars of new sales volume to my existing portfolio. I knew and know how to sell. That was only one year. Not to mention each other year the new sales volume. If I were to go back and could look at it... during my 4 years of working in "Corporate America" I probably brought in over 45-50 million dollars of new revenue. Not too bad. And throughout the "nation", not only was I "Rookie of the Year" my first year, but was in the "Top 5" performers by my second. I say that all to say, I know sales. What does a good sales person run into the risk of doing? One word. Manipulating. Instead of leading and guiding, instead of showing the pro's and con's, but still leaving a way out, a good sales person most likely has the skills that they can even manipulate the person who does not need their product or service to purchase. Manipulation. What is one of the most common, easiest sales lines? Ending the sentence with what you want them to choose. For example: "So, would you like to purchase just the two cases, or do you want to go ahead and get four?"  


Where is the danger? Honestly, the person I have to be the MOST careful to doing this to is my husband. I know I am a good sales person. I know he is also a good sales person. BUT as a wife and as a Proverbs 31 woman, my goal is to lead. My goal is to lay out the facts. My goal is to include options. Pro's & con's. And often, when I know I could EASILY get my way, word my desire in a way that sounds appealing and obvious, "Of course, that sounds great. Yes Amy, you should go buy that or do that." Instead, especially with my husband, I choose to lead not to manipulate. Many women have the ability to do this to their spouse. To position your plee so your spouse will look upon it favorably. 


Well, ladies, men.... IF we are the GREAT sales people that we think we are, we should be able to LEAD people to purchase. We should be able to show them the value that will be added. We should know & have the confidence in our products so much that they can see how much it will benefit them. 


So today.... whether you are in sales....or whether you are trying to convince your spouse, sibling, friend, boss, etc of something... how about try to lead versus manipulate?


And let's close with a few parting tips....


SALES TIPS FOR THE CHRISTIAN:

1. Are your products made of good, fine material? And are your products high quality?
2. Does your product add value to people? Does it make the lives of others better or easier? 
3. Have you found your "target market" of who may need your product or service? And are you trying to lead them to purchase your products or use your service?
4. Do you know the features & benefits of your product? Are you able to "LEAD" others by informing them about your product? What makes it so good? What are the features they may not see if you didn't point it out? How can you inform & educate them?
5. Are you "LEADING" others to purchase versus "manipulating" them into buying something they do not need?