“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Gen 1:28

For this to make sense to you, you really need to read the previous blog. We’ve already discussed the basic 4 step business plan in the first half of this verse. We could write a book about taking dominion over our lower nature as pictured by the fish of the sea. Now I want to show you a second critical factor for succeeding at the 4 step plan…

You must take dominion over the fowl of the air. Can you guess what that might represent? I submit to you, it very well represents your thought life, specifically taking dominion over the unsolicited thoughts that come to set up nest in your mind. Some of those thoughts feed your lower nature. Others just keep you down or depressed. If you don’t take dominion over what you think, you will be at the mercy of the fowls of the air and they will pluck your eyes out (steal your vision), given half a chance.

We have a responsibility to cast down every vain thought and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We are duty bound to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) We need to direct our thoughts into things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praise worthy.

Your thought life more than anything I know can make or break you. If you don’t take dominion here, don’t think you will succeed in the 4 step business plan. It will break down when troubles come. Rest assured, they will come.

Note to those in Southwest Florida: David Johnson is hosting an intimate gathering of marketplace warriors who want to successfully market their business. It will be this Saturday, September 27th. I assure you, it will be well worth your time to attend. Click here for details…

Note to those in the Charlotte, NC area: Join me as I attend a training conference to improve my ability to provide coaching to many of you beginning later in October. Click here for details…

I have asked Rich Marshall to host a couple of blogs. He is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer and author with over 40 years experience in bringing out peak performance in others. His clients are a virtual who’s who of corporate America. He has developed a new breed of corporate leadership training you will want to know more about. It’s called the E.P.I.C. Training System, a classic leadership development program and a remarkable proprietary system built on 7 foundational areas of human performance improvement. Now, here’s Rich…

Strategic Planning with the Holy Ghost - Part 2

Over the last several years I have had the privilege of working with dozens of enterprises in the planning process. Coming from a background of pastoring (I did this for 35 years) I was very accustomed to seeking help from the Lord, especially in asking the indwelling Holy Spirit to help. However I found that most executives, even Christian executives, do not take advantage of this competitive edge. For some reason, when it comes to planning most of it falls into one of two categories:

1.      A full reliance on the Holy Spirit; with lots of faith and prayer and trust involved. In most of these cases; there is little practical, commonsense and time tested and proven strategic planning ingenuity used. It is as if it would not be full of faith if good planning methods were employed.

2.      A full reliance on proven strategic planning methods; with much attention given to the planning process, using all of the most up-to-date methods available. In most of these cases; there is little or no input from the Holy Spirit. It is as if it would be “poor business” to include Him here.

Therefore I am encouraging Christian business leaders to integrate all of their business life under the heading: My business is my ministry. When we do that, we will be much more likely to include the Lord in all that we do; especially the planning process.

Here are some thought provoking ideas to assist you in the integration process.

• All that you do is a spiritual activity. Both business and church are ministry and both should be treated as a way of fulfilling your God given purpose in life.

• It is so easy to fall into presumption and call it walking by the spirit. In other words, we assume that since we are Christian and prayed in the morning, that everything that happens during the day has been orchestrated by God. I have found that Charismatics are probably most guilty. By the way: leaders are not exempt.
• Prov. 16:3 “Commit your work to the LORD, and then your plans will succeed.”
• Did this plan or strategy arise out of dependence on and hearing the voice of God during the process?
• Marketplace ministers need to watch out here. We are sometimes so intent on losing Christian-ese that we forget to use planning opportunities to engage the Holy Spirit.
• Consciously, from a place of dependence, invite God into your planning process. Don’t leave Him out.

NOTE: Join Rich and me Tuesday at 1:00 for an in depth discussion on how to integrate your leadership style with your core values, vision, mission and life purpose. Click here to register for the free call!