We move on to the book of Exodus in Connecting Faith to Business
Kingdom Community TV Podcast
Exodus - Part 1
(upbeat music) - Well, in connecting faith to business, we now look at the book of Exodus. Wow, there's so many lessons in there. And this is where the Israelites, God wants to move them out of oppression in Egypt into the promised land. And there's a lot to happen, a lot of planning, a lot of things will need to happen before they arrive at this place. Very much reminds us of business because we get to the stage in business where we want to exit, we may want to retire, sickness in the family. We decide that we haven't got time to spend with the business. We may want to exit a market or a certain product in the market because it's no longer relevant today. And we may want to sell a business and move on to some other idea. The problem is, and I've come across many business people who just say, well, that's it, I'm over it. I'm just going to close the business or I'm just going to close the store and move on. And I go, well, there's some value in that business. No, there can't be. And when you work through it with them, they see there is actually a business. Then the next thing is, well, will anyone really want to buy it? And there's always a buyer if you pitch the price and the way forward to them. So the people had become accustomed to Egypt. Sure, they were oppressed and the pressure was on them, but they could grow their own crops and they could eat there. And going out into the desert probably didn't sound attractive, but Moses was able to sell the vision of a better future. But Moses, before he did this, was out in the desert and he lived there for some time and he'd become accustomed to living in the desert. He was very comfortable. Not sure how you can be comfortable in a desert, but he certainly got there. And then at one time when God met with him, God said, I want you to go to Egypt and free my people. And Moses then made all excuses. Who am I? I can't speak. I actually stutter. And he kept making excuses. And God said, what's that in your hand? And he said, a stick. He said, throw it on the ground, Moses did. And God said, pick it up by, because that stick became a snake. He said, pick it up by the tail and he didn't and it turned back into a stick. Not sure I'm picking up a snake at that stage, but anyway, he did. And God said, you're going to Egypt and you're going to take that right and I'm going to perform miracles through that right in Egypt. And you're about to use that on the journey. It was part of the plan, part of God's plan. But Moses kept complaining and God said, well, I'm going to sin with you, your brother Aaron. I'll tell you what to say. You'll tell him and he will speak to the Pharaoh in Egypt. And you see a couple of key things come out of this. God's saying, what's that in your hand? For you, it might be a paintbrush, a pencil, a design tool, a business idea. It may be an innovative idea in business for your company that you work for. It may be a church, a new program that's going to make it different. Well, God's put that in our hand and there's an expectation from him that we're going to pick that up and move forward with that. And he will give us the plan to be able to do that. But one of the other key things is God gave Moses in a sense of mentor. That was his brother in this case, Aaron. And, you know, to grow a significant business, you're going to need a mentor, you're going to need key people in your business, you're going to need external advisors who are going to bring a good contribution to your business and help you grow. And there's some great points that John Maxwell does in his leadership Bible. And they come out in the book of Proverbs, but I think they're very relevant here in terms of looking for a mentor. If you want to even move your business to a sale, but even to grow your business, to do things better, then, you know, he says your advisors will make or break you. Now, there's plenty of people selling their services, but you've got to be looking for the right people. So he gives eight key points to look at when you're looking for a mentor or an advisor. And I've added two to that to make a 10. So here they are. He says you need one, creative people, two loyal people, three people who share your vision, four wise and intelligent people, five people with complementary gifts, six people with influence, seven people of faith, eight people of integrity. And I've added number nine, you select them, they don't select you. You need to be looking for the right advisors that are going to be passionate and they're going to challenge you and help you grow. And number 10, not a needy person. That's a whole different thing. They get help elsewhere. You can't have someone who's a needy person taking all your time. So there's 10 quick things for you to look at in a mentor as you go forward. See you in the next video. (wind blowing) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]