Work and Business.

“Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”

Excellence opens doors. Skill built in obscurity eventually puts you in rooms you could never talk your way into.

Live it: Spend thirty minutes today sharpening the one skill your business lives or dies on. Become the best in the room at it.

“Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.”

Builders don’t bet everything on one move. Keep planting, morning and evening. God decides which seed grows.

Live it: Plant two seeds today: one new customer or partner, and one follow-up you’ve been sitting on.

“So I answered them and said, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem.””

Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem’s wall while people mocked him. He gave God the credit for success and still got up and built. Faith and work go together.

Live it: Ignore one voice of doubt today and do the next piece of the work anyway. Let the work answer the mockers.

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands— yes, establish the work of our hands!”

Moses prays that what we build would last. Work done under God’s favor outlives the one who built it.

Live it: Ask what you’re building that will still be standing in ten years, and give it an hour this week.

“A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

Plan like a builder, and hold the plan with open hands. God directs the steps that make it real.

Live it: Write your plan for this quarter, pray over it, and let God redirect anything that’s off course.

“Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?”

Jesus uses a builder’s wisdom: count the cost before you start. Faith doesn’t skip the numbers.

Live it: Before your next business move, write down the real cost in money, time and energy. Count it, then build.

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

Builders who go it alone hit walls. Wise counsel is how plans survive.

Live it: Reach out this week to one person further ahead than you and ask one specific question. Don’t build alone.

“Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.”

God told Habakkuk to write the vision down plainly so others could run with it. A clear vision moves people.

Live it: Write your vision in one sentence a stranger would understand. If it isn’t clear, nobody can run with it.

“Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house.”

Get your fields ready first, then build your house. Wise builders put things in the right order.

Live it: Look at what you’re building and ask: is the foundation ready? Do the foundational work first this week.

“There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Talking about the vision isn’t building it.

Live it: Do more than you talk today. Finish one real task before you tell anyone about it.

“Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,”

Isaac planted crops during a famine and reaped a hundredfold the same year, because the Lord blessed him.

Live it: Plant something this week even if the season looks bad. Make the call, launch the offer, take the meeting.

“For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.””

God told His people not to despise the day of small beginnings. Everything great started small.

Live it: Do the small thing today without being embarrassed by its size.

“The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.”

Whoever works their land will have plenty, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense. Work beats daydreaming.

Live it: Do real work on your business today before you think about the dream.

“The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.”

The lazy crave and get nothing, while the diligent are fully satisfied. Wanting isn’t building.

Live it: Do the work you’ve been putting off, today, before the wanting takes over.

“The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.”

The sluggard doesn’t plow in season, then looks for a harvest and finds nothing. Timing and effort go together.

Live it: Plow today. Do the unglamorous work that the harvest will depend on.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another. Builders need people who push them.

Live it: Spend time this week with someone who sharpens you.

“So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”

The wall rose because the people had a mind to work. Unity and effort built what looked impossible.

Live it: Rally your team, or yourself, around one piece of the work today.

“A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.”

A person’s gift makes room for them and brings them before great people. Your gift opens doors.

Live it: Use your gift where someone important can see it this week.

“Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.”

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Half effort builds half results.

Live it: Give full effort today to the task in front of you.

“She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.”

The woman of strength considers a field and buys it, then plants a vineyard from her earnings. She thinks, then she invests.

Live it: Research one investment or opportunity this week before you jump in.

“The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more.”

In Jesus’ parable, the servant with five talents went at once and put the money to work. He didn’t wait.

Live it: Put something to work today that’s been sitting idle.

“And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did,”

The Lord was with Joseph, even as a slave, and made everything he did succeed. Favor followed him into hard places.

Live it: Do excellent work today even in a place you didn’t choose.

“This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.”

God told Joshua to meditate on His word day and night, and then he would be prosperous and successful. Success starts with the Word.

Live it: Read Scripture before you open your email today.

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.”

The one who delights in God’s word is like a tree planted by water, fruitful in season, and whatever they do prospers.

Live it: Plant yourself in the Word today, then go build.

“Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.”

God hates dishonest scales but delights in honest weights. Integrity is part of building God’s way.

Live it: Make sure every deal you touch this week is fully honest.

“The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.”

God promised to command a blessing on His people’s storehouses and everything they set their hand to.

Live it: Set your hand to the work today, and ask God to command His blessing on it.

“David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you before all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.”

David told Solomon to be strong and courageous and do the work, because God would not leave him until it was finished.

Live it: Do the next piece of the build today. God stays until it’s done.

“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law.”

Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint. Vision gives direction and discipline.

Live it: Read your vision statement today before you plan your week.

“Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”

God says He is doing a new thing and asks, “Do you not perceive it?” He makes a way where there wasn’t one.

Live it: Look for the new thing God might be opening, and step toward it.

“The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.”

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Finishing well matters most.

Live it: Finish one thing today that you started and left undone.