Sunday,
February 15, 2026
THREE DAILY CHALLENGES!
Phil 2:13-15
13 For
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do
all things without murmurings and disputings:
15
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in
the world;
The
Christian is faced with at least three daily challenges that
make it hard to shine especially in business! We need to be reminded that the businessman
who is neatly dressed and scrubbed clean may be hiding a corrupt mind and
heart! Although he may seem friendly, his true friend is “the bottom line.” It
is important that we remind ourselves that three daily challenges will
greet us as we begin our day.
First,
the world holds to the notion that reason is always superior to faith! Even
“church people” will compartmentalize these two so that they do not
intermingle. They are thought to reside in two separate realms. Reason is
reason and faith is faith. Because reason is based upon science and observable
facts, it is preferred over faith, but God never intended the two to be
separated.
Rom 1:28
28 And
even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over
to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Second,
remember that business practices are “amoral” or value
free. Whatever cheating or scheming is necessary to “get the job
done” is considered normal business practices. The religious idealist becomes
very vulnerable if he applies the same rules to business that he finds at
church! It is not necessary to abandon morality and decency but always remember
that these do not necessarily exist in the business world.
Rom 1:29-31
29
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents,
31
Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful:
Third,
it is important to know that we live in a world that does not respect rules! The
world sees itself as morally emancipated, self-sufficient and
free to do as they please. They smile at the Ten Commandments and obey them
only when it is convenient or beneficial. The result of these three godless
values has left the world friendless and fearful.
Judg 17:6
6 In
those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right
in his own eyes.
The
answer for us, of course, is not to join the world in its scheming
paranoia but to be alert to the evil around us.
Rom 8:2-4
2 For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death.
3 For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh:
4 That
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.
Dear
Lord, fulfill your righteous law in me today – but let me be wary of the evil
world around me. AMEN
