The Challenge of Doing Business - By Faith

Our Mission

To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.

Luke 12.8-9 commands, stand up for Me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God’s angels. But if you pretend you don’t know Me, do you think I’ll defend you before God’s angels?

One of the evidences for the truth of Scripture, that the Lord alone is God and that Jesus is the God-Man, the only Savior of the world, is the difficulty we have in identifying with Him before men.

How many times have we failed to raise the flag of allegiance before men when we know we could have shared something about Him with those around us? How many times have we been ashamed to identify ourselves as Christians, followers of Jesus the Lord of all? This fear, this shame, is the result of sin in our lives and the spiritual forces of evil all around us.

It demonstrates a lack of love for God, Who is to be our first love, and a love for our neighbor, whose condition without Christ is eternal suffering in hell. Loving God and loving our neighbor are our two primary occupations required by God. They are best accomplished together in the presentation of the gospel to men and in the discipling of men in their relationship to God by teaching obedience to all of Christ’s commands.

God has not given us a Spirit of fear but of power to share Him, to identify with Him and to stand with Him before men so that we can stand with Him for all eternity before angels.

Please Lord, forgive my sins and change me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and to love my neighbor as myself so that my greatest joy is the sharing of You with men!

His Opportunities

Tuesday, August 21 at the City Rescue Mission from noon until 1pm is your next CBMC Rescue Luncheon. This is your opportunity to serve lunch to the men and women who depend upon the Mission for their meal. Can’t attend but wish to cover the cost for the lunch? If interested in either, commit Here
Summer giving has been a bit dry. If you could help ‘water’ this ministry this month that would be great. COMMIT now.

CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com

MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

August 20, 2018

The Challenge of Doing Business – By Faith

by Robert J. Tamasy

Faith is an interesting concept – and a challenging reality. When we are involved in a worship service, faith seems so simple. We sing songs that affirm our faith in God. We might repeat faith declarations that date back centuries. We hear uplifting spiritual messages that remind us of biblical promises we can embrace by faith. But then Monday arrives, and we find ourselves back in the workplace. How simple is faith then?

Over the years I have encountered many people who express and demonstrate much faith in spiritual settings, but seem to abandon their beliefs in the so-called “secular world.” Some church traditions have even taught a divide between the sacred and the secular, but the Scriptures make no such claim. In fact, Colossians 3:23 boldly instructs, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord not for men.”Faith is not to be confined to one day a week.

But let’s be real. In the midst of business setbacks, whether failing to secure an important contract, not being able to close a much-anticipated sale, struggling to meet a deadline, or failing to receive a much-desired promotion, our faith in God and His direction might not seem as strong as we thought it was while in a safe, worshipful environment. Then we face a dilemma, because “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by deeds, is dead,” as James 2:17 states.

When I think of people of faith, one who comes to mind is George Muller (1805-1898), who cared for more than 10,000 orphans over his lifetime, and established 117 schools which offered Christian education to more than 120,000 children. What stands out to me is not only the Christian-based humanitarian work that consumed his life, but also the strong faith that guided his actions every day.

Citing the impact of faith on his work, Muller wrote, “Trusting the Lord for the supply of my temporal needs keeps me from anxious thoughts like, ‘Will my salary last and will I have enough for next month?’ In this freedom I am able to say, ‘My Lord is not limited. He knows my present situation, and He can supply all I need.’ Rather than causing anxiety, living by faith in God alone keeps my heart in perfect peace.”

Is this the attitude you take when thinking about your daily needs, whether at work, in your family, or for other personal matters? Maybe it will help for us to consider some of the things the Bible tells us about what could be termed “working faith”:

What faith really is. Faith in God, His direction and provision is not tangible, but rather a confident assurance, or earnest expectation, that what He has promised will be fulfilled. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”(Hebrews 11:1). Another translation of this verse states, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Another passage, Romans 8:24, elaborates by connecting faith to hope: “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?”

Action is evidence of faith. Faith could be called “belief in action,” like a toddler trustingly jumping into a parent’s arms in a swimming pool, confident he will not be dropped into the water. It could be said, no action, no real faith. “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?… Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do”(James 2:14,18).

© 2018. Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies;coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring, and edited other books, includingAdvancing Through Adversityby Mike Landry. Bob’s biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.

CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996 lansing.cbmc.com