BUSINESS MEN
February 3rd, 2012
Pr. Francisco Jamoco

I’ll speak to you in faith and truth: the word does say we are spirit, soul and body… but we need to understand what the fact of the meaning of that truth is. When Paul says that the spiritual must fit the spiritual because we are not a body or a mind but a spirit…. Means that the spirit inhabits all, that is why when we die the matter of our flesh goes to earth and the soul stops working, while the spirit goes up to heaven… we ARE spirit!

This word today is for your spirit, so you need to understand that this teaching does not go to the soul or the body… spirit to spirit. Not the same as when we study which makes all the learned things travel through your understanding and become a part of your knowledge, so once revised by the soul, it is a part of the mind.

The Lord is above knowledge… He gives us revelation for our business in that it doesn’t begin with money… when it comes from Him… it begins in The Spirit and it goes to our spirit. That is why the church is a business training field; things that are said here may bother the soul as it tries to understand them hence Paul’s teaching spirit to the spirit… in faith!

God is Spirit and those who worship Him must do it in the spirit –not in soul- and in truth. This word today aims the spirit… don’t be afraid to launch with an idea, don’t even be afraid of bad news! It is a fact that prosperity doesn’t begin with money but with a revelation you believe in humbly, receive it and put it to action!
When you begin a business and want to be prosperous, you need excellence which comes from The Lord… we’ve learned that emotions don’t come from Him… convictions do and they are an important tool to prosperity and He isn’t questionable… He is to be believed in!

Being excellent means: Of the highest or finest quality; exceptionally good of its kind, that is possessing important qualities or special personal distinctions.
Based upon what people defines and what my personal experience can say… excellence is the result of planned and organized high quality work. Now those principles are just as good for all… from the highest ranked executive to the coffee girl! Excellence also means giving the best of you all the time, it is the superior quality that makes a person of high appreciation for others… it is to be your outmost best!

When we are used to live in excellence our business must be prosperous greatly… while mediocre in business will only go from mediocre to bankrupt.
You are the one giving life to your business… it isn’t the other way around, and you are the one who determines how you want your business to be and your money to be invested –whatever the amount-

This fact shows you that you can be excellent in everything you do, with your clientele, in the products and services you offer, by being transparent and honest… something your family will learn from you, something that will rub off on others who work with you, on your possessions, on your business as well… you can be successful when you are excellent no matter the kind of business you work with and don’t you ever under estimate the job you do!… you will prosper if whatever you do you do it with excellence!

What is the result of being excellent?

Having learned what that means we can translate it in: doing things God’s way… so when you are excellent and for some reason do not count with enough resources, you just need to learn better, be neatly dressed and with a good hygiene, speak correctly… speak God’s words and do your best… God’s way! If you are faithful with small things you will be placed in better conditions!

Being excellent will drive people into thinking of you as:

Superior (Daniel 1:8-9; 17-21; 6: 1-3) Business people with a vision are superior –a higher Rank- like Daniel was to others in his time. The bible doesn’t make us fanatics; it provides us with key principles. A high percentage of Christians –any gender- love The Lord with all their hearts… but for some reason… they are poor… they can’t make a difference between Jesus’ sacrifice and Jesus’ message. They’ve known about His sacrifice for years but have they ever practiced His message? In His sacrifice we know Him as our Savior… in His message we know Him as our master! To go to heaven I need to receive HIS sacrifice as a fact of my salvation… but to live an excellent and successful life I need to understand His message and make it a tangible fact in my life. Being saved doesn’t mean to be excellent… being excellent means there is a superior Spirit within us though!

When we read in the text that Daniel had in his heart to not get contaminated we can understand the difference of coming to The Lord with regular offerings and with a pure one as Daniel did… those who are contaminated are the ones who lie, those who evade taxes, hurt people, etc. To keep clean goes beyond the way we speak… and if we look into the scripture (Vs.9) God was pleased with Daniel so He gave him grace before the chief of the eunuchs, then in verse 17 we see that him and his friends were blessed with intelligence and understanding with all kinds of science and Daniel could even have visions and understand dreams.
Well, that works for us as well as long as we don’t allow contamination in or behave as bipolar. Having a vision is not the same as taking a look… vision refers to something or someone perceived in a different way as it is revealed to our hearts.

Your business may be broken… you must visualize it in victory… You are not what you see, you’re what you dream, so it is a good idea to imitate Daniel and his friends, who kept themselves pure for The Lord and were placed by king by Nebuchadnezzar himself in all matter that required wisdom and intelligence even above the wisest one of Babylon.
To go to heaven you don’t need to be wise or intelligent… because of His grace we are saved! Now grace won’t make you prosper… He gives you salvation, but He WISHES prosperity for you (3rd John 2)
According to the story it says that the king found these kids 10 times better than the others and that is how The Lord wants to find you. Daniel was also a counselor all the way to the first year of King Cyrus! Anybody can succeed… but not everybody can remain. Many businesses won’t last for more than a year, but the bible tells us that things in The Lord remain! (Daniel 6:1-3)

Eminent (1st Chronicles 4:9-10) of high rank, outstanding, distinguished. Thousands of employees, sales people, business people… only a few shine out. Jabez didn’t ask for salvation, he asked for blessing –beraka… in Hebrew- it means that all the things someone had taken from you can be returned to its original owner. Some “saved” people are happy knowing about the sacrifice but they ignore the blessing (beraka) in the message of salvation. Well… you should pay close attention to everything God does and tells you as it is His way to train you, so you can have a better family, be a better person, and have a better surrounding… the church is a school to grow and a workshop for entrepreneurs! Though Jabez was in pain… his voice was heard by God… I don’t know what kind of financial situation he was enduring… I know mine… I came from way under –financially speaking- I was under the curse of lack and poverty, but I know poverty is not a social issue… but rather a mental condition… as you think… so you’ll be!
Paul says “and be renewed in the spirit of your mind” to go to heaven I don’t need to renew my mind… but to be an excellent professional and business man you do need to understand it. You must transform the way you think, you need to be grateful with The Lord for the business or career you have, for how much you sale, for how much you’ll be blessed… and you must hold on to His word before you can start working on it… Jabez for instance started empty handed!

Perfect (Genesis 4:3-5) Excellence comes along with perfection… a person who dislikes error and mediocre and who does everything at her/his best. Abel was an example of perfection… these two brothers were the first two business men ever; their names in Hebrew meant: Cain= Possessive and Abel= sigh. The eldest, the possessive one was rather sloppy; but Abel represents excellence!
The time came for these two to bring an offering to The Lord and Cain would give his leftovers while the young brother would choose the best of the sheep… and God always takes a look not just to what we give… but to how we do it!

When you want to be a successful entrepreneur you must search perfection to your best and take care to do things right… for The Lord… and just like Abel have the deepest desire to bring my offering to The Lord and my first fruits with joy, for He is worthy!

Noticeable (Genesis 41:37-43) worth keeping in mind… someone above others. Joseph fits that description pretty good (Vs. 38.39) we don’t need fine clothes or jewelry –to our time would be more like… properties and money- to go to heaven, but it is the fruit we harvest when we are faithful with The Lord and therefore excellent. Do not gossip about another business person or pastor when you learn about his /her success, while the devil wants you wearing the rags of misery, God wants you to be splendid. Joseph’s success was evident all over him… when you talk, walk, what you wear and say… gives light to who you are. Joseph’s beginning went from caring for his father’s sheep and serving his brothers to slavery… he had to run from his master’s wife’s uncontrollable desire for he honored God with his excellence… he ended up in jail paying for a crime he didn’t commit and even there… he honored The Lord!

Now to be noticeable one must endure much testing from life and that’s something people need to understand… you can’t sale what God has for you for some earthly pleasures! The devil will certainly try to do anything to make you fall, just the way he tried with Joseph!

And just as the good, noble and successful man is easy to notice… so it is the weak, the sinful, the mediocre! The noticeable starts from way down… and is evident in every milestone. Joseph’s life is still today a great inspiration for all… he endured his tough journey until he became a governor!

Exquisit (1st Kings10:4-10) The example is Solomon himself a man so wonderful that even all the kings in the earth wanted and went to meet him. The man was amazing and others felt attracted to learn from him!

Magnificent (1st Kings 10:21-23) is going from better to best! Luxury and splendor belong to The Lord, so He gives them… and King Solomon lived only surrounded by it… his house was in fact pretty much all of it made out of gold!

Transcendental (1st Chronicles 17:16-20) the one who is excellent transcends beyond any obstacle. David wasn’t in a cave anymore… he was now on the throne of Israel. He declared it himself: “You, LORD God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men” and even today we know much of him as one of the greatest kings ever!