iWork4Him PowerThought

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our strength daily.  I'm not sure who said it first, but whoever said it was right: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Exercise isn't a bad idea either.  If you never get to eat a decent breakfast and never get a chance to exercise, how can your strength be prepared for your workplace ministry?  We need to be ready to battle the enemy who wants to keep the lost souls of...

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our souls daily as we get ready for work.  What does that mean?  So often, our souls have been hurt and damaged by the people we work with and the people we live with.  Preparing our souls means forgiving those who have sinned against us.  Remember, forgiving isn't for them it's for you.  If you don't forgive others, your soul will never be prepared for your workplace mission field.  

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  How much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our minds daily as we get ready for work.  What does that mean?  Spending time in God's word, prayer, journaling, and just plain quiet time.  If we jump out of bed, get ready for work, and take off down the driveway, our minds will be filled with furious thoughts about everything we want to accomplish in the day.  If we prepare our minds, we will focus on the people we work with and how we need...

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our hearts daily as we get ready for work.  What does that mean?  It means confessing our sins to our heavenly Father before our day starts.  Confessing just means agreeing with God for what He already knows about our attitudes and actions.  So often we carry negative attitudes and actions towards those we work with because of frustrations at our jobs.  Our hearts need to be prepared with love for those in our wor...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. There is brokenness in us, in our world, work, and community. There is healing in Jesus. Today as you have zoom calls, meetings, sales calls, service calls, or power lunches, look for the broken around you through God's eyes. See people the way He sees them… as Image bearers. In following Jesus, we are to be like Him. He brought healing wherever he went. Sometimes it was physical, and sometimes it was emotional. Either way, He was a healer, and he wants you to heal too. Yo...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. Frederick Buechner once said, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." I believe the greatest need is the healing of the lost and broken. Likely you have noticed brokenness in your workplace that needs to be healed. What are you doing about it? Praying about it? Seeking to understand it? Trying to find the person who is causing the brokenness? In our workplaces, we often find broken people bring their brokenness to work with them, and...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. Frederick Buechner said, "Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the Holy is drawing near." What injustice in your community brings you to tears? Homelessness, poverty, joblessness, sexual exploitation? What can you do about it? God provided you with a job and an income. What is that income for? For providing for your family and for bringing healing to your community. God asks that you consider 10% of your income for m...

How about praying for that bad boss or coworker who you struggle with? Most of the reason you likely struggle with them, is that they are not living or leading with the Holy Spirit's guidance, but how could we ever expect them to, if they don't know God? Now if you're like me, it's still tough to get yourself to pray for bad superiors. But again, like everyone, they have burdens, internal struggles and pain they have to deal with. And considering they're muscling through on their own steam, with no help of hope from a relationship with Jesus, maybe that thou...

Unforgiveness can destroy us. God knows our heart of flesh can become hardened and lifeless if the wounds we have received are not allowed to heal. Jesus told all his disciples that we are to forgive others as we would like God to forgive us. In the workplace, there are people who look out for only themselves. Many times, their actions and attitudes can create in us something very unholy. We may find ourselves wishing the worst for them, secretly hoping that "they get theirs". This mindset of hatred and bitterness is one that can fester and build over the...

God taught me how to shift the paradigm of work into a place of work interlaced with ministry, a workplace mission field. I prayed for those I worked with, I served them over and above, I befriended them, and I prayed with them. But I realized, none of these actions mattered if my work wasn't excellent. If I wasn't a great employee, with great work production, and great work relationships, no one would care about my faith. Others needed to see that my faith was real and that it applied to all of my life. Excellence needs to define who we are a...

During my morning commute to my new job, I began praying for the people I worked with and then serving them above what I was required to do but I knew that more was needed to shift my faith paradigm at work. I needed to really know these people I worked with. My wife and I started creating ways to get to know people outside of work to develop real relationships. We had people over for dinner, we went out after work, and ate lunch together. My intention was to know more about them as individuals, not just co-workers. I learne...

Have you ever met someone that lives one integrated life? They seem to flow seamlessly between their work and personal life without pause or care.  What is this? It's authenticity. And its attraction is unparalleled. How is it possible? It's living a life based on Godly values. I'd hazard a guess a person like this lives their values in this order: God, Family, and Service.  When we live by our values, decisions are easier, relationships are easier, and knowing where to invest our time, talent and treasure is easier. Because our values are our priority. And our heart lines up with our valu...

We live in the midst of a non-stop world. Our responsibilities at home and work fill our thoughts the instant we wake up, then run with us throughout the day. Our jobs, meetings, phones, TV, personal trials and temptations are relentless, noisy invaders that drive us all our waking hours. The result – we can't hear God in our life, not enough anyway.  Would you recognize the Lord's soft voice if He walked up behind you? You would if you spent time with Him. Find a quiet place to daily ask Him about His Word, His world and your place in it. Before l...

·      Martha: Welcome to the iWork4Him Power thought for the day, we are Jim and Martha Brangenberg with iWork4Him   ·      Jim: During your commute today, whether its walking down the hallway or driving down the highway, what will you think about?  ·      Martha: Will you be caught up in the stress of the day or will you be preparing your heart for what God is going to do today, alongside you in your work?  ·      Jim: God set the workplace standard before evil entered our world. He gave Adam a job to name all the animals. An almost impossible task...

Do you act differently around your pastor than you do around your family or friends?  Most people do – even those who don't go to church.  We feel like we have to be on our best behavior.  We can't be our authentic selves.  On the other hand, how do coworkers act around each other?  It's usually easier to speak freely with the people we work with, especially if we've taken time to invest in a relationship with them.  As believers, that puts us in an ideal position to minister to our coworkers – a position that most pastors just don't have.  Don't lose sight of this incr...

You are a missionary. You know how I know? You are on a mission field in your workplace with lost and hopeless people who speak a different language than most people around you. Most of those around you speak in terms of hurt and disappointment. You speak a message fueled by love, forgiveness, and hope. Every day you talk with people, work with people and interact with people who have never heard the truth of the Gospel - the Good News about Jesus. They have a jaded idea about Jesus and the Bible and about church people, but most ha...

You are a missionary. You are ready for this assignment. You are equipped with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit inside of you, giving you access to all the power of God. You have been dispatched to your workplace on purpose because lost and hopeless people there need to meet Jesus. Because you work there, you understand the culture and the tasks at hand. You know the daily stresses and the victory of a well-served client. The person next to you in the pew and the person at the pulpit don't have the same advantage that you do in r...

You are a missionary. Mission work takes time. For many of you, you have trained for this mission, Sunday after Sunday for decades. You have studied daily for thousands of combined hours. You have worn your carpet thin with hours of interactive training with our Father. You have a calling and a gifting, and they have been combined to provide a career as a fully funded missionary. You have worked years developing a reputation of integrity and excellence. You have displayed love and understanding in a workplace where forgiveness is rare and kind words, well…not so much. You can s...

You are a missionary. You are on a mission. Your Workplace is your mission field. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 & 20 - Now wherever you go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach them to faithfully follow all that I have commanded you. And never forget that I am with you every day, even to the completion of this age." There is no question about calling – we are all called to go – wherever that is. You are a missionary to the largest unreached people group in America – Workpl...

This week we paid special attention to you, the everyday workplace believer, and your role in bringing God's Kingdom here to earth.  Just because you're not a pulpit pastor or a foreign missionary doesn't mean that you're not in full-time ministry.  Your workplace is your mission field!  You might be the only representative of Jesus that your coworker, vendor, supervisor, or client ever comes into contact with.  Every work day is an opportunity for you to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  So, stop thinking less of yourself if you don't have a job in vocational ministry.  Where you work and who you wo...