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!
We read in Numbers 13 and 14 a most disturbing story. It’s about “seeing.” Moses had sent twelve spies into the Promised Land and they all saw the same thing with their physical eyes. But with their spiritual eyes, they saw something completely different. Ten of the men saw land that “eats its inhabitants.” Those that weren’t eaten, were of great stature and those that weren’t of great stature were even bigger! They were giants! The ten men saw themselves as grasshoppers by comparison. Can you hear the exaggeration? Land that eats its inhabitants? Grasshoppers by comparison?
The children of Israel listened to the bad report and immediately they wanted to go back into slavery where Pharaoh hated them as did all Egyptians and where they were treated with great cruelty and they began to pick a new leader who would take them back and negotiate something with Egypt! Can you imagine?
But what did Joshua and Caleb see? When they looked at the giants, they saw bread! Provision! They say fields that were already planted, houses that were already built, barns that were already full. They were excited and knew that if God delighted in them, He would bring them into a land that flows with milk and honey. The only condition was to not rebel against the Lord. Apparently that was too much and they rebelled. What form was that rebellion? It was simply unbelief. God let them die in the wilderness, never entering into the promise He had for them.
So my question to you today is, what do you see? Are you seeing God’s perspective or the enemies’ vision? Are you going to believe God or your lying eyes? Yes, sometimes your eyes will deceive you. Here’s a clue… whenever you are faced with an adversity, wait on God until He shows you the opportunity. Then believe God and secure your opportunity. Have a blessed day my friends.
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power….” (Eph 1:18, 19)
You have two sets of eyes. Your physical eyes allow you to see the physical world but your spiritual eyes allow you to understand it. Paul calls them “eyes of understanding” and they allow you to “see” the great hope of His calling on your life. That is to say, they allow you to understand the mountain of hope that comes with the great calling He has for you. Think of the hope you would feel if a team from the NBA or NFL came to your high school and said they wanted you to play for them when you graduate. Or perhaps the New York Philharmonic Orchestra or a major book publisher approached you to tap your talent. Imagine the great hope that comes to a young person in a situation like that! The calling God has for each one of us is like that, but even better.
Spiritual eyes allow you to see the hope that your calling brings. But with calling comes the question, “How?” When you see the fullness of what God has called you to, you will definitely wonder how getting that done will be possible. If you don’t have that question, you may still be looking at your own idea for your calling. So Paul prays secondly, that we would see not only the hope of that great calling on our lives but also the provision to bring it to pass. I am speaking of the glorious wealth of inheritance He deposited in us to get the job done. God has deposited His Spirit in you and with that everything you need for life and godliness. He has uniquely gifted you to fulfill a magnificent destiny if you would but have eyes to see not only the destiny but also the inheritance within to get the job done.
Thirdly, Paul knows I suspect, that people will struggle to accept that there is any good thing in them, but he speaks not of the flesh in which dwells no good thing, but of the spirit. So Paul prays a third thing, that your spiritual eyes would see not only the hope of your calling and the inheritance He deposited within you, but also the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. Ahh… there’s the caveat… to those who believe. But when you begin to see with your spiritual eyes as Paul prayed, hope builds, faith comes, power is released and destinies are fulfilled.
I still have more to share about “seeing” with our spiritual eyes, but a good starting point is right here where Paul prayed. Ask the Lord to reveal to you more of the calling He has for you. Many of you feel you know that, but ask God for more details, more imagery, more vision. Spend time with Him on that for it will build hope. Then ask Him to help you see His inheritance within you. What has He put in you? What does that look like? He will reveal it. Then ask Him to reveal afresh to you His exceeding power and let belief spring up in you.
I have been speaking for the last few weeks about “seeing” and I have not been speaking about what you can “see” with your natural eyes. My wife says I have the gift of interpretation because when I see something with my natural eyes, I also see something entirely different with my spiritual eyes. What I will share with you today can impact your life in a very practical, tangible and financial way.
Take, for example, the Bible. When I read it, not only do I find the words of life to guide my spiritual development, but I also see a manual for conducting my business. One of the areas God opened my eyes to in that regard was related to increasing my sales as a sales rep. A sale is made much more on what the customer has to say than what the seller has to say but most sellers do most of the talking so they put themselves at a disadvantage. They have never discovered the seven questions Moses wanted answered before invading Canaan and how they apply to business.
Seeing that one thing alone can make the difference of life and death in your business. It can literally mean the difference between gaining or losing a sale, between making an above average income or struggling to make ends meet. I have taught this to corporations and watched them add nearly $10 million in unanticipated revenue to their top line in about six months. It is a profound strategy which the Lord allowed me to “see” and yet so many are content to keep the scales on their eyes and keep doing what they’ve always done while hoping for a different outcome. I believe differently of you.
It grieves me to know however that many of you are struggling in your business or your sales and you could be helped if you would invest a little in yourself first. So here’s what I am going to do… I am going to GIVE YOU the Moses Questioning Strategy as a FREE gift! It’s a three hour audio teaching series plus PowerPoint and it’s yours without charge. Well sorta… There is a string attached because I do have a few folks working with me who like to get paid for their work, but I pray that God will allow your eyes to see the possibilities that await you when you read through this very special offer… Click here to learn how to get your Moses Questioning Strategy without charge.
Yesterday I caught Joel Osteen on television telling a story about Patrick Henry Hughes. He was born with crippled limbs and without eyes. Naturally his parents were devastated and wondered what they had done to deserve that. When Patrick was old enough to sit up, they put him on a piano stool and he began to learn the notes. At age two, he was taking requests. By grade school he was playing old standards and by high school he was playing the blues. When he got to college he was an accomplished pianist and trumpet player.
Recognizing his tremendous gift, the college band director asked Patrick to play in the marching band which entertained thousands at the University of Louisville football games, etc. In order for this happen, his father gave up his day job and worked the graveyard shift at UPS so he could be at every practice and wheel his son in formation, spinning and turning with the rest of the band while his son blew the trumpet with gusto.
What happened with Patrick is truly amazing, how he developed a gift God gave him that could easily have been missed. What also happened, was that a blind boy inspired vision in his parents. His mother “saw” the potential in him as she taught him piano. His father, instead of mourning the fact they could never play ball together, got a vision to play music together. The band director received vision when he “saw” the gift inside this young man. The gift by the way, was far more than a music ability. As much as anything, it was how Patrick interpreted life. When asked to describe his disabilities, he said, “Not disabilities at all, more abilities.” I believe we tend not to see things the way they are but rather we see things the way we are. That should tell you a lot about Patrick and about yourself.
Patrick’s example is removing the scales of self-imposed limitations that are blinding countless sighted people from “seeing” and fulfilling their vision. What’s inside you? What’s holding you back? What’s your excuse? Gain some vision from this courageous young man, Patrick Henry, and from his family and begin stepping into the vision God has equipped you best to fulfill. As Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” By the way, now when his parents ask God what they did to deserve Patrick Henry, they say it with tears of joy!
If this story and video helped you at all today, please share it with your friends, family and business associates. Who knows who you might help in the process?
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:
There is a string attached because I do have a few folks working with me who like to get paid for their work, but I pray that God will allow your eyes to see the possibilities that await you when you