Christian Business Concepts
Christian Business Concepts
Receiving Divine Guidance for Your Business
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Unlock the secrets to transformative business leadership through divine guidance. Ever wondered how aligning your business decisions with biblical wisdom can lead to purpose-driven success? Join me, Harold Milby, on Christian Business Concepts as we explore how listening to God's voice can elevate your business strategies. By embracing principles from Revelation 3:20 and John 10:27, we can tap into divine wisdom and gain insights that transcend human understanding, ensuring ethical leadership and peace in uncertain times.
In our journey, we'll uncover the power of a personal relationship with God and how it sharpens our ability to discern His voice amid life's distractions. Discover practical steps to overcome obstacles like doubt and unforgiveness that may cloud your spiritual clarity. Cultivating humility, faith, and obedience, especially within the business realm, can fortify your spiritual alignment and open the path to godly success. Tune in to hear inspiring testimonies and insightful discussions on harnessing divine guidance to transform your leadership approach.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with your host, harold Milby. Christian Business Concepts is dedicated to guiding companies and business owners in becoming effective, efficient and successful through God's Word and godly principles. Now, here's your host, harold Milby.
Speaker 2:Thanks again, kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's Christian Business Concepts podcast. You know, every week we try to discover and share with our listeners biblical principles that can be applied in business to help you find true godly success. And I'm your host, harold Milby, and it is my desire today that you're encouraged, that you're enlightened and empowered by what you hear. All I ask is that you help us in our endeavor to reach 1 million business owners, leaders, organizational leaders and other department leaders with this message that God cares about your business success. He really does, and you know, the scriptures prove that out and I just. That's what keeps me coming to you every week. It's what keeps me, you know, gives me such a great desire to want to do this podcast and to help other businesses. I hear from you, I hear some of you share your stories about what God's doing in your business, and that excites me and I just want to thank you for that. So this week, before we get started, I want to make sure I give a big shout out to the nation of Sweden for having so many downloads here in the last few weeks and and we sure do appreciate you, uh, those of you in Sweden that have been downloading the podcast and, and really with everyone you know, we so appreciate and really are humbled by the, the many downloads that this podcast has every week. And, uh, I just want to. I just want to thank you for that and and I hope that you would help us to grow the CBC community, help us grow the family, by sharing this podcast today with four or five other people, and be sure to share it on your Facebook page and your LinkedIn pages.
Speaker 2:So this week I want to share something. I know I talk to you every week about business principles and things that I think will help you, whether it be sales principles, whether it be management, whether it be leadership, but today I want to talk to you about something that's a little bit more, I guess, purposeful with regard to your relationship with the Lord. I want to talk to you today about hearing hearing from God in your business, and you know, business leaders are often, you know, faced with a lot of complex decisions and challenges, and there's uncertainties and challenges and there's uncertainties, and all of those things can impact the success and the direction of an organization. And you know, we live in a fast-paced and a very competitive world these days and it's easy to really rely on just your own knowledge, your own experience, your own instincts to try to navigate, if you will, these challenges. And as Christian business leaders, we have a very unique opportunity and that opportunity is to seek God's guidance, to seek His wisdom in our decision-making processes. And today we're going to explore the reasons why business leaders need to hear from God and how this divine connection can transform your leadership and the outcomes that you have in business.
Speaker 2:You know, in Revelation, chapter 3, verse 20, it says behold. And anytime you hear the word behold in the Bible, you know I'm from the South and so when you say behold, it's like saying look at here. You know it's trying to grab your attention. It's an important message that follows that word behold. But he says behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me to him and eat with him and he with me. In John 10 and 27, it says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. So it's important that we hear God's voice. I mean, if you're a Christian business or you're trying to be a Christian business. I don't think there's anything I could share with you any greater to help bring you success than actually sharing with you, seeking God's guidance and hearing from God and why you need to and how. So there's a lot of reasons that it's so important for you to seek God's counsel.
Speaker 2:Number one is to get his divine wisdom. You know, god's wisdom is so far beyond it, so far surpasses human understanding, and God's wisdom can provide insights, it can provide solutions that you may not have even considered on your own, and so it's important for us to hear from God to get that divine wisdom. You know, the book of Proverbs is a special book for me. I read Proverbs every day and it's because it's the book of wisdom every day and it's because it's the book of wisdom and there's so much wisdom found in the book of Proverbs. So the chapters are short and there's 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs, so it gives you one a day. So if you just read one a day, just you know if today is the 10th or today is the 15th, then read Proverbs, chapter 15. And it's just something you can do every morning or every evening and it really is helpful to you. But divine wisdom is something we need, especially if we're going to be successful in our business, if we're going to be successful in our business.
Speaker 2:Number two clarity and direction. You know, when you go through times of uncertainty, the decisions that you make are so important at that moment and you really can't afford to stumble here. You've got to really make good decisions, and hearing from God can provide that clarity. He can provide direction, he can provide peace that can guide us right in this right path. A third reason that we need to hear God's voice is spiritual alignment. You know, when you seek God's guidance as a business leader, you can align your decisions and actions with God's will for your life and for your business, and that really leads to very ethical and, I guess I could say, purpose-driven leadership. So spiritual alignment. Another is strength and support. You know, when you hear from God, it really provides strength and encouragement and support during challenging times. It helps you, as a business leader, really navigate all the obstacles. But it doesn't just help you to navigate it, but it helps you to navigate it with faith. It helps you to navigate it with resilience, and so strength and support is another important reason why we need to hear from God.
Speaker 2:Another one number five is impact and influence. You know, when business leaders seek God's guidance and you follow his direction, you get to have a positive impact on your employees, on your customers, communities, on your vendors, and you're demonstrating servant leadership and integrity in your business practices. So don't underestimate your impact that you can have on those in your circle, especially in business, just because you've reached so many different types of people. And then, lastly, spiritual growth. I mean when you seek God to hear his voice in your business number one you deepen your relationship with him, it strengthens your faith in him and it causes you to trust his provision, and so I just think it's important for us to, these reasons, give us the importance and the magnitude of the importance of hearing God's voice. Now let's look at some examples of hearing from God in business. Okay, because I know we talk a lot about business, that's what this podcast is about. But there's so many scriptures that talk about business and talk about certain principles.
Speaker 2:And in Genesis, chapter 41, joseph, he interprets Pharaoh's dream. Now, at the time, joseph is in prison. He is in a place where he really needs to hear from God because he's struggling right now, and so he finds out that Pharaoh had a dream and, through some circumstances, he goes before Pharaoh and he interprets his dream and he advises him on how to prepare for an upcoming famine. And when he did this, when he did this, he heard from God, and so he shared what it was that God spoke to him, to Pharaoh, and so, because of this, joseph was then put in charge. He was the number two man in Egypt the number two man Now you think about that for a moment being the number two man in the whole nation and the whole empire of Egypt, and so I think it's really important. It's really really important for us to think about that Now.
Speaker 2:In 2 Kings 6, there was a man who had borrowed an ax and the ax head came off while he was using it and it winds up in the water, and so it was borrowed. He was very concerned about it and the word of the Lord came to a prophet. A prophet took the Lord's share with him and he cut a twig off, threw it in the water and the axe head floated to the top. He was able to save the axe head and then repair the axe and give it back to the owner. That was important. That was a very difficult time in that person's life.
Speaker 2:You can look at 1 Samuel, chapter 10. Saul was out looking for this was before he's king, but he was out looking for some missing inventory of donkeys that had ran off. And the word of the Lord came through the prophet Samuel. So Samuel heard from God to share with Saul where the donkeys were. So, again, they were business people, his family was business people, and so you'll find that in most of the Old Testament and the New Testament, most people were business owners. Most people were business owners and the majority of the ones that we read about in the Bible were business owners. They owned sheep, they owned cattle, they owned donkeys, they owned camels, they had businesses that had employees and they had servants. So these were businesses.
Speaker 2:You know, when you look at Luke, chapter 5, verses 3 through 5, it says and getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land and he sat down and he taught the people from the boat and when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but, at your word, I will let down the nets. Now, he could have chose not to do anything with what he heard, but he chose to be obedient to what he heard and when he did, the Bible says he caught so much fish that they had to call another boat from shore to help him get that net in before it broke and they lost all the fish. So remember that it's so important when we talk about hearing from God.
Speaker 2:I knew somebody in 2008, 2009, and the economy was really struggling then we were having a really tough time in the US, and so this person did so well with his investments that his bank literally called him, asked him to come in. They wanted to talk to him. He came in and they said look, we want to know how come your portfolio is doing so well compared to everybody else's in this economy. And he was very honest with them. He told me. He said I just told them listen, I've been listening to the voice of my heavenly father who was giving me direction, and when he said, buy this stock, I bought it. When he said, sell this stock, I sold it. He said, yeah, but these are stocks and these are decisions that you made that we would have advised against it. So why did you do it, even though we would have advised against it and in some cases they had advised against it and he just quite simply said I did it because that's what I heard the voice of the Lord say to do. And so he did extremely well, made a lot of money during that down economy because he was hearing God's voice. And when you hear God's voice you can get a leg up on the competition, you can keep employees from getting hurt, you can keep your business safe from harm.
Speaker 2:And money. You know, just understand this. Money does not make God nervous. God's not nervous because you're making money. He's not nervous because you may be well off. He's not nervous because your business is successful. That doesn't bother God. It's not the issue of you having money, it's the issue of money having you. That's why the Bible says it's the love of money that is the root of all evil. It's not money, it's the love of money. I mean, if you had to rebuild the temple of God today, in today's economy, we're talking about several billion dollars, a couple of billion dollars, to build the temple the way it was built then, with all the gold and the silver and everything else that was used to build that temple. So we're talking about a God that can provide that. God doesn't worry about money.
Speaker 2:So it's important for you to understand that, even though I'm saying that God wants to give you direction, you need to hear from God for your business to be successful. Just understand that God's not nervous when it comes to money. So don't go there. Don't go there in your minds.
Speaker 2:So let me give you some wisdom seeds here before we get into how you hear from God. Number one is you have to have a relationship with him in order to hear his voice. You know the Bible we read a moment ago. It says my sheep know my voice. You know, and you have to have a relationship with somebody in order for you to know them when they speak. So the greater your relationship is, the closer you are to him, the easier it will be for you to hear his voice, even on small matters, because it's important. Sometimes that's a training ground for you to really learn.
Speaker 2:God's voice is in the small things. Another wisdom seed is that you must learn to discern God's voice amidst all of the different noise that's in the world. You know 1 Kings, 9, 19, 11, and 12, it says, and he said 11 and 12,. It says, and he said go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord and behold, the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broken pieces, the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. And in the King James it says a still small voice. And that's when God spoke.
Speaker 2:So realize, there's a lot of noise in the world today. There's a lot of noise in what you're having to deal with on a day-in and day-out basis. There's all kinds of things that you're having to deal with and there's all kinds of what we'll call noise that you have to discern. And so it's important that you discern God's voice in the midst of all of this stuff going on in your world. You have to make sure that you know God's voice in the midst of all of this stuff going on in your world. You have to make sure that you know God's voice.
Speaker 2:Another wisdom seed cultivate a spirit of humility, surrender and obedience to God's will in your business. You know, the Bible says to be a doer of the word and not merely a hearer. So, yes, you want to hear the voice of God, but once you hear his voice, you need to act upon it. That's what's important. All right, another wisdom seed Understand the importance of seeking God's will in business decisions, because it's going to help you. It's going to help you and when you understand the importance of seeking God's will, it'll draw you closer. You'll have a greater relationship with God. It'll be a more personal relationship with God. And then also, it takes faith to hear from God. That's another wisdom seed. It takes faith to hear from God. That's another wisdom seed. It takes faith to hear from God.
Speaker 2:You know you've got to believe that God still speaks to people, just like my friend with the investments in 2008 and 2009. You have to believe that God is still speaking to people. And then you've got to believe that he has your best interest in mind, because he really does. And then you've got to believe in what he says and that it is doable. You've got to believe that what he says is doable. Now listen. You will make mistakes. You'll miss it. You know there'll be something that'll go through your mind and you'll just think it's some random thought and in reality it was the voice of God speaking to you. You don't capitalize on what was said in that thought that you just thought came into your own natural mind and you'll make a mistake and you'll miss it. That's okay. Don't quit, don't give up, because that's just part of learning God's voice. That's why it's so important that you act upon it. It's why it's so important.
Speaker 2:You know, hebrews 11 and 6 says without faith it is impossible to please him. So you've got to have faith that you're going to hear from God. It goes on to say in that verse it says For whoever draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. So you've got to believe that. You've got to have faith in that. Now let's talk a little bit, just briefly, about some obstacles, obstacles that will keep you from hearing from God. Well, first, there's sin. Sin in your life will keep you from hearing from God. Well, first, there's sin. Sin in your life will keep you from hearing from God. Isaiah 59.2 says but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. So you need to make sure that you don't have that sin in your life. Another obstacle is doubt. You know the Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God. We just read that in Hebrews 11 and 6. So doubt will cause you not to hear God.
Speaker 2:Unforgiveness, unforgiveness. You know Mark 11, 25, it says and whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also, who is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses. So it's important. It's important that you forgive and that you let forgiveness rule in your life. Don't let anything, don't let anyone do something to you that you can't forgive. I mean, don't allow that to be an unforgivable thing is what I'm trying to say. And then another obstacle is distractions, distractions.
Speaker 2:In Luke, chapter 10, is a story of Mary and Martha and Jesus had went into their home. And the Bible says in Luke 10, 40 and 41, it says but Martha was cumbered about much serving and came to him and said Lord, does thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore, that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her. Martha. Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. So she was at the feet of Jesus and she was listening to his teaching. And Martha was up serving, and so she was saying hey, lord, can you tell my sister to come and help me here? I'm busy, I've got all this going on. But Jesus said, look, what you need to do is you need to be at my feet and listening to my teaching too is what he was saying to her. So distractions the word cumbered um actually means to draw away or to be distracted Um.
Speaker 2:I think that busyness we can misunderstand that just because you're busy doesn't mean that you're being successful, nor does it mean that you're doing positive work. It just means you're busy. Psalms 46.10 says Be still and know that I am God. I will be elated among the nations. I'll be exalted among the nations, I'll be exalted in the earth. So you have to be still.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you get so busy that you're not listening to the Lord. A lot of times we pray, we spend a lot of time talking to God, but we don't spend as much time listening to God, listening for God, and that just means you have to sit down and shut up and let him speak to you right? Another obstacle is disobedience. He says if you love me, keep my commandments. That's what he says in John 14 and 15. If you love me, keep my commandments. It's that simple. So God's never going to speak to you and give you direction beyond the last instructions that he gave you. So if you haven't kept those last instructions, if the Lord has spoke to you but you haven't acted on it, don't expect him to give you more direction until you've done what he's already told you to do.
Speaker 2:All right, lack of knowledge of God's word that's another reason that people don't hear from God. You know, hosea 4 and 6 says my people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge. And we don't have that knowledge. But let me tell you something You've got to have the knowledge of God's word, because that's how God speaks to us. Sometimes he speaks through his word. If you don't know his word, you can't hear his voice in many cases. And then, lastly, listening to the wrong crowd. You know 1 Corinthians, 15, 33,. It says do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character. So if you listen to the wrong people, you'll find out that God's not real and God won't speak to you and you can't get direction from God. You know you can't listen to the wrong people, so that's another reason or another obstacle, I think from hearing from God.
Speaker 2:So what are some practical ways to hear from God as a business leader? What are some practical ways to do that? Well, number one is prayer. So you need to set aside a dedicated time each day and you need to pray and you need to seek God, seeking for guidance in your business. You need to pray for wisdom, pray for clarity, pray for discernment and making the right decisions and the right choices. And so to do that, you need to have a regular time of prayer. Don't just pray when you can squeeze God into your busy schedule. That's not what needs to happen. You need to make sure that God is on your schedule every single day, and really God should be the one controlling your schedule anyway. But you need to have a set aside a time to pray and to speak to the Lord. You need to implement that. You need to have that, and then you need to have time to meditate and try to hear from God.
Speaker 2:As I said, don't spend all your time praying. You also need to spend your time listening. It's important. You need to seek God's counsel and I would encourage you to journal and to reflect. Reflect on what you feel like God is saying. Write these things down so there's no confusion, all right.
Speaker 2:Number two, another practical way, is scriptural study. Study the Word of God. You know. 2 Timothy 2.15 says study to show thyself approved of God. 2 Timothy 2.15 says Study to show thyself approved unto God, a good workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. It's important because that truth, the Word of God, it needs to be there for you to allow God to guide your thoughts and your actions in your business. That's not going to happen if you don't study God's Word. Very, very important.
Speaker 2:Next, you need to have a time of quiet reflection. You need to have a time of quiet reflection. Create some time. Create some space. Have some space so that you can listen to the Spirit of the Lord. Remember that still small voice, because He'll speak to your heart. He really will and you can hear from Him. I wish I had time to share with you so many experiences that I personally had with God speaking to me, but God will speak to you and you need to have faith in that Another is seeking counsel. You know, surround yourself with wise and godly people, because a lot of times God will use people to speak into your life. They'll speak spiritual guidance. They'll speak accountability in your business decisions, all right.
Speaker 2:Next, obey promptings. When you sense God prompting you in a certain direction, be obedient. Step out in faith. Trust in his provision. Trust in his provision, trust in his guidance. You know, in Acts, chapter 11, peter had a vision about men that were going to come and see him and he was to go to them and it was to the house of Cornelius. Now, the whole house of Cornelius got saved because he listened to that prompting and the Spirit of the Lord prompted him to do that and he obeyed it. So you need to obey those promptings and you need to have that faith. You need to practice faith. Be willing to step out in faith even when it doesn't seem right or in the natural. But if you feel like you've heard from God, step out in faith, obey God's promptings, and trusting in his provision can really lead to just a transformative outcome in your business leadership.
Speaker 2:And then, lastly, through circumstances. You know a lot of times God speaks through circumstances. You know Romans 8 and 28,. You know all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, so I think it's important. All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, so I think it's important, it's really, really important that you take these seven keys of how to hear from the Spirit of the Lord in your business.
Speaker 2:Hearing from God in your business is so transforming. It really helps you to lead successfully. It helps you to be more fulfilled and helps you to have spiritual growth. And you know, when you seek God's guidance, you're developing. Every time you do, you're developing a better relationship with him and if you'll implement these practical strategies, I think you can experience the abundant blessings that come from aligning your business with God's will. So I hope this training course has inspired you and empowered you to hear from God in your business and experience his faithfulness in all your endeavors.
Speaker 2:Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus and I ask that everyone who has listened to this podcast today would begin to take seriously the importance of hearing from God. I pray that they would become sensitive to your voice and that they would learn to obey your promptings, lord. Lord, speak to them, help them, obey your voice, lord, and help them find true success in what they hear you say to them, in the name of Jesus, amen. Well, thank you so much for listening to today's podcast, and be sure to remember to share this podcast with at least three or four other people and pray for us here at CBC. It's so important that we receive your prayers. I'm praying for you. Please pray for us and the CBC ministry. We appreciate you and until next time, remember that Jesus is Lord and he wants you blessed.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian Business Concepts podcast. Go to christianbusinessconceptscom for more information and resources. Be sure to check out other podcasts that will help you take your business and your personal life to a whole new level of success.