Good Morning Brothers,
Yes, me again. Last night I lay down to sleep about 11:30PM, but God had other things in mind. So, He and I fellowshipped until 1AM. I love these times because I always come away with greater revelation of Him and an even deeper love.
God put I Corinthians 2:9-13 on my heart. I had already learned I Corinthians 2:14-16 in the past. God instructed me to memorize and learn [meditate] on I Corinthians 9-13. The beauty of meditating on God’s Word is the more you meditate on scripture, the more facets you see (like a diamond’s facets). I know that I will be receiving greater and deeper revelation over the coming days, weeks, months, and years from these verses, alone. Not to mention all the other scripture I’ll study.
What really jumped out at me, and is appropriate for this time in my business, is I Corinthians 2:12-13:
I Corinthians 2:12-13
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Nearly three years ago, God told me to throw away about 100 or so books written about business by business luminaries such as Jack Welch, Lou Gertsner, Peter Drucker, Harvard Business Review, etc. I wanted to donate them to the public library or to a school. But God said to throw them in the trash. So, I gathered them from my book shelves and put them in a big 50 gallon trash bag. Then I deposited the trash bag in the garbage.
Now, what would the natural man [a natural man is an unsaved man or a Believer in Christ who walks in the flesh or carnally and not in God’s Spirit] think if he saw me doing this? Yep, they would have called me foolish, stupid, I’ve lost it, wasting good money and books, etc. But what does God say about man’s wisdom? He mocks it!! He despises it. He has righteous hate for man’s wisdom.
God tells us through Paul in I Corinthians 2:12-13 that the wisdom of man cannot know the “things” God has freely given to us that have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. Who created all things, who owns all things? God, of course. And, He has given all of these “things” to the Believers.
I’m not going to take the time to explain “things” to you. It is a good study project for you. But, in my case with the business, “things” mean business wisdom, business strategies, innovations, ideas, the right employees, the right leaders, the right partnerships, the right customers, the right acquisitions, a substantial cash reserve so that I’m a lender and not a borrower, good understanding and favor with those God will use to bless me, etc. So, I could lean to the business books I had, to attending seminars, to getting additional certifications and degrees, to podcasts, to webinars, to exchanges, etc. try and develop and obtain these “things,” or I can turn to the Word of the Source that freely gives me all the “things” I need. The Ultimate Businessman.
So, in a nutshell, some of what God was fellowshipping with me about last night was DON’T TURN TO THE NATURAL MAN for any guidance. Turn to His Word, to the Holy Spirit, and to those Spiritual men who God leads me to or leads them to me. And, then, BOOM! God showed me the following verses:
Genesis 26:1-3
1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
2And the LORD appeared unto him [Isaac], and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed [this is us, the seed of Abraham – Galatians 3:29], will I give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
Wow, I got so excited. Hard to sleep when God shows you His Promises and His Goodness.
So, quickly, let’s see how this translates to me, to us. A “famine” can be any economic condition or challenge affecting your business or the economy, which can affect your business. Isaac – this is us – first reaction was to go to the world – King Abimelech to help address his problem or challenge. But, what did God say. Don’t go to the world – Egypt is a Bible type or symbol of the world – instead dwell in My Word and I shall tell you what to do [this is the “land which I shall tell thee of”]. God tells Isaac to “sojourn in this land.” Sojourn means to “dwell for a time, a temporary residence.” Dwell on and meditate on My Word, trusting in Me, and I will be with and bless you. Why? Because God made a “blood oath” to Abraham. WOW!!
Now, it gets even better!! Look at Genesis 26:12-14:
Genesis 26:12-14
12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
13And the man [Isaac] waxed [grew] great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants; and the Philistines [world] envied him.
Because Isaac was “willing and obedient, he ate the good of the land [Isaiah 1:19].” Isaac could have rejected God’s Word to him and turned to the world [King Abimelech or gone to Egypt]. But Isaac chose to ignore the world’s or man’s wisdom and follow God’s Word. And look. During a famine, when everyone else was losing everything, going bankrupt, losing their land, their savings, their investments, etc., Isaac prospered, grew, and expanded.
I DON’T CARE WHAT MAN HAS TO SAY – EVEN IF HE IS THE RICHEST, MOST POWERFUL NATURAL MAN IN THE WORLD – IF HE IS NO MAN OF GOD THAT IS SOLD OUT FULLY TO GOD’S WORD – I’LL HAVE NO PART OF HIM.
Now, it makes perfect sense why God, three years ago, told me to throw out the thousands of dollars of man’s wisdom I had on my shelves. He was doing the exact same thing with me that He did with Isaac 4,500 years ago. This is exactly the reason the same thing is happening to me that happened to Isaac in Genesis 26:12-14. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.”
Love you all my Brothers. Have a wonderful day and weekend.
In Christ,
Larry