I’ve had the pleasure of going through pain in business. I had a client include me in a multi-million dollar lawsuit, which propelled me in a new direction for my business. I had a client fire me and request money back, which led me to fundamentally change the way I do business and opened my eyes to a brand new opportunity. When faced with adversity, I know I choose one of two roads: either I internalize it and let it make me bitter, or I give the pain to God (my defender) and let the spirit process the emotions and feed my mind new positive thoughts that lead me to finding opportunities. Based on my own account, God uses pain I experience in my business to do one of 4 things for me: mold my character teach me something important grow me in some way make a difference in the lives of others How can I look at the list of benefits above and not thank God that I go though pains in business? Business is about solving problem after problem.  Nothing happens when you’re jumping from happiness to happiness.  Happiness come from problems being solved. The bible says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 NIV The key for me is choosing to give the problem to God and not keeping it to myself.  God will never waste pain in your business that is offered to Him. When I offer my struggles in business to God, it removes it from contaminating my mind and opens me up to receive the solution.  In the torment of pain, I choose to spend my emotional energy and mental capacity on thinking logically. I need to pass this off in order of move on. #ShareYourTestimony #IncreaseEnergy #SharpenLeadership

We, entrepreneurs, have a battle between choosing God and choosing our business, and this often begins when we wake up in the morning. I've been waking up in the Word every morning for years. It's not easy. If I still struggle to set aside the 100 things I have to do that day for my business, I know others struggle. Today, I want to give you practicals steps; you can take first thing in the morning to help you choose God and make studying His Word your priority. My entire mission with Daily Godpreneur is to guide you to trust, follow, and serve the Lord in your business, DAILY. What's Consuming Your Thoughts in the Morning? Do you use an alarm of some sort? Do you hit snooze once, twice, seven times? Do you lie in bed to “thaw out” for a few minutes, or do you get right up? There are many ways to wake up, but most of us probably lie in bed for a moment to orient ourselves. As you start the process of orienting yourself, do you begin to think about your day and all that is before you? Where do your thoughts go as your mind becomes alert? We have a choice to make every day, every morning when we wake up. Will it be God, or will it be self? It is amazing how quickly we can make ourselves, our schedules, or our to-do lists first in our thoughts and priorities. How often do we think of ourselves first and then maybe later at some point give a passing thought to God whom we proclaim as Lord and Savior? What about you? What is foremost in your mind and heart when you wake up? Who comes first? How do you spend the start of your day? Over the next couple of days, we will look at a practical way we can choose each day to be less self-focused and more God-focused. Begin today by taking a moment to identify the things, the thoughts, the activities, or the emotions that can consume you and keep you from worshipping God and serving Him. Guided by a Plan As we seek to choose the Lord each day, it’s necessary to remember that we all have a desire to follow our flesh and think or do whatever “feels” right or seems easiest. As Paul argues in Romans 8, there is no choice for those outsides of Christ. Their sin entirely controls them. Believers, Paul says, have the Holy Spirit living within them. By the Spirit, we are becoming more and more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome our flesh. As Joshua told the Israelites, we can choose. How might this choice play itself out, especially first thing in the morning? It seems that most people usually spend a few minutes gathering their thoughts for the day before they get out of bed in the morning. In these moments, it can be a temptation to choose to think first about our day, schedule, what we need to do, who needs to be where, etc. Before we know it, we can fall prey to the lies of the enemy, begin dreading our day or feeling overwhelmed by it, and then try to tackle it as soon as our feet hit the floor. What if, instead, we were to choose the Lord? What if, by God’s grace, we would choose to fight our sinful flesh, put it to death as God’s Word instructs us, and set our minds on His way instead of allowing our thoughts to run amok? Practically, how would this look? We would begin by thanking the Lord for the gift of a new day and acknowledge that He alone is sovereign, that He alone is in control—not us. And then, by His grace, we would put aside our thoughts, our concerns, and our agendas and draw near to God by spending time in His Word and prayer. No matter how much we think about our day or our agenda, the reality is that the day belongs to the Lord. If we start each day, intentionally acknowledging this and acknowledging who we are in Christ, this practice could easily transform how we think about and live out the rest of the day's moments. Creating Anchors of Reminders It might be a good idea to write Joshua 24:15 or a similar passage on a 3×5 card and place it next to your bed or on your bathroom mirror so you can be reminded first thing in the morning to choose God. You can even paste the verse in a reminder in your calendar or schedule it as an alarm on your phone. Seeing Scriptures such as these first thing in the morning or throughout the day can help you immediately see and think truth and be able to focus on it instead of the temporary things of your up-coming day. We need God’s grace, and this is a reminder that we can choose to set our mind on God, or we can choose to set our mind on ourselves. As soon as we awake, we allow our thoughts to be focused on ourselves or our circumstances. What would we feel in the end? We'll feel discouraged! By contrast, if we choose to pray and seek the Lord instead, there can be peace, hope, and renewal. Remember, you can choose each day whom you will serve. And though it will take a moment-by-moment reorienting of your mind throughout your day, this choice begins first thing in the morning. So as you enter into this daily choice, trust in the One who created the new day and you. He will provide the grace you need to make each of the days ahead, His. Take a moment now to pray and seek the Lord. Ask Him to help you choose Him first each day and moment-by-moment throughout the day. Write out Joshua 24:15 or copy and paste it as a reminder into your calendar. May God be your all in all! #BecomeDisciplined

The bible says One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.  

Excellence inspires trust, loyalty, and respect, it also establishes a personal brand reputation that

I’ve even developed a bitterness towards God for not allowing it to work, which leads me to shame and If the suffering lasts too long, we develop even more bitterness and resentment, and launching anything

Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."

Make time this week to sit down with the person you’re in relationship with and discuss boundaries.

opportunities I had to show integrity in my business dealings and didn’t, and all the moral failures in my personal We all segment our personal and business lives and figure that this little sin we’re harboring over here A lack of integrity in any one area of our business or personal life will affect the people around us

How do we become the type of Godpreneurs that keeps their integrity in all areas of our business (and personal we can’t compartmentalize our life and clean up our business integrity and not the integrity in our personal This means that it will affect the business, too, because while sin may be personal, it’s never private

When you finally decide to take up integrity as a main facet of personal improvement in your business Integrity as an entrepreneur means you’re the same person at church and in the office, in your speech But I knew that both the church and the nightclub were trying to get the same exact person into their

I don’t seem to learn very much when everything is going great. It is usually in my failures that God gets my attention. The other day I didn’t deliver on time a project I had promised. The client was upset. I had failed to deliver on what I had promised. I look at it like this: if something went wrong in a project, client, vendor, deal, or employee, it’s a check engine light that something needs fixing. I had to flat-out confess to the client that I was sorry and I had no other choice but to make it right. Sometimes God humbles us to test our reaction before He lifts us up. The bible says "Whoever abandons the right path will be severely disciplined; whoever hates correction will die. Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the Lord . How much more does he know the human heart! Mockers hate to be corrected, so they stay away from the wise". Proverbs 15:10‭-‬12 NLT Have you ever been embarrassed or ashamed with a client situation only to discover later that your experience was supremely valuable? Maybe your failure turned your life in a way that nothing else could have accomplished. I have found that down is the way up in business. Anyone can handle success. How you handle failure as a Godpreneur is a sign of greatness. All entrepreneurs will suffer setbacks and discouragement; it come with the territory if you are trying to do what you were born to do. The one who is always playing it safe will never find out what kind of stuff they are made of. The failures and disappointments we experience in our businesses are not always what they appear to be. Maybe they are really just momentary set-backs as we focus on God’s will for our businesses. Godpreneur Rule: Humble yourself before God and He will lift your business up. #SharpenLeadership #GainConfidence

I’ve written a book, held live events, done private coaching, come up with personality tests, and studied

I feel I was born to own an agency. I love the process of helping people start and grow their businesses. I have this desire, or this supernatural calling, to come alongside entrepreneurs to uncover and bring to life the business God created them to start.  I want to help them tell the whole world about it. But I didn’t always feel this way. When I first started my agency, I had no idea of what the concept of “calling” was. I didn’t know I had a calling and I certainly didn’t know I was supposed to help my clients bring their calling to life. See, when I started my agency in 2005, I was deep into the nightlife world in Miami. I locked in all the major clubs on South Beach as clients. We did their websites, logos, flyer designs, and social media marketing. And business was GOOD! Then in 2008, a friend invited me to church. I started attending regularly. That’s when I felt the nudge to leave the nightlife niche. It felt wrong to help nightclubs grow their business (attract more people to them) while I thought that God wanted me out of all the alcohol, drugs, and women that came with it. Mostly, I was being called (and rescued) from “nightlife darkness” and invited to join “God’s light.” And I knew that if I was going to follow Christ, I needed to run a business worthy of this holy invitation. All of us Godpreneurs have the same invitation to be God’s light in our industry. A calling from God to help people with our products and services isn’t just for some of us; it’s for all of us business owners who believe. Every Christian business owner has God’s calling on their life. The Greek define “calling” as a divine invitation. We have the opportunity to make God our new CEO and show us an entirely new way of owning and running a business. So what if we haven’t felt this calling yet? What if we can’t see a way to be a light in our industry? How can we get to a place where we feel worthy of being called to the high responsibility of running a brand that reflects God’s light in our industries? Jesus says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. (John 15:5 NIV) It’s God’s nature to want to be in a healthy relationship with us. By design, He sent us Jesus so that we would have a guide to show us how to run our businesses and service our clients. If you want to feel the calling to Godpreneurual business life, if you wish for God to reveal the specific niche clientele you’re supposed to shepherd, and if you want to feel worthy and purposeful in the products and services your business produces, you need to ask yourself how you can become more like Christ. You have to remember that on your own, you can’t become like Christ. On your own, you’ll be missing out on what the Holy Spirit wants to inspire you to say and do in your business. We entrepreneurs have to choose to follow Him actively. It helps us feel the joy and peace we need to create products and services that will change the world. When we can abide with Christ and strengthen our relationship with God, the companies we launch can have even more fruitful results! It’s the divine connection to God that changes what we do. This change in mindset is what will help us feel worthy of the calling of owning a business. I pray you draw nearer to God so you can become the business owner God created you to be. #FindMyCalling #BusinessBibleStudy #AgencyOwners The 7 Calling Killers Overcome the Enemy's Plan to Steal, Kill, and Destroy the Entrepreneurial Calling Over Your Life. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

When I first started my branding agency in 2005, our clientele was primarily nightclubs, bars, and strip clubs. Our services would help them attract more patrons to their establishments. But when I became a Godpreneur, I let those clients go because I was contributing to the bad fruit that those businesses produce on a nightly basis. So then I switched to helping any entrepreneurs launch their businesses. As long as the business wasn’t in direct competition with God’s plans, I took on the work. But as I became more “purpose-focused” with my company, I didn’t settle with just launching someone’s idea. I wanted more. I wanted to make sure the entrepreneur was starting the business that God created them to start. What was happening to me as I drew closer to God in my business? I was beginning to care more about the fruit that my business and the business of those I launched was born into the world. That’s when I knew I was 100% in my calling. This is when I felt my business had found its purpose. When we start our businesses, we aren’t immediately operating in our calling. But if we stay in the Word and keep drawing closer to God, the business will shift into its purpose – God’s purpose! On this journey of leading a God-first business, we Christian entrepreneurs are all in this process of growing, discovering, and learning. But every day our businesses aren’t doing something for the Kingdom is a day we’ve wasted in the marketplace. The Bible says: “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you."(John 15:16 MSG) The fruit produced from seeds of dreams that God inspires will always bring Him glory and others in your business good. As you think about your calling in business and why it matters to you, look for ways your purpose-focused business will impact and improve the lives of your employees, vendors, contractors, prospects, clients, and might I challenge you by saying, competitors. So how can we identify the products and services that will increase our impact in the marketplace and carry out the dreams God put on our hearts? The first step is to analyze what motivates us. What motivates, God, duplicates! God wants to double, triple, even 10x our ability to bear a fruit because that’s what our businesses are here to do!. Is what you spend the bulk of your talents, time, and treasures on in your business worthy of being worked on in the image of God? No? Drop it. YES? Double down on it in 2020. The second step is to analyze if your products and services are going to be rewarded when we get to heaven or will we be embarrassed? When we analyze what we’re doing from an eternal perspective, it has us thinking twice about our calling. Now that we’ve done some critical thinking about our purpose in business in light of God’s purpose, now the third step is to make a list of things we need to change so we can leverage our products, people, and profits for the glory of God and the benefit of our designated marketplace. Uncovering our calling in business is all about merging (or intersecting) our desires and dreams with God’s purpose for the world. Imagine a world where all of us Christian entrepreneurs are living out a calling in business that bears fruit as John 15:16 says! We can often look at the products, people, and profits of a business to identify where God is working and how He has created that entrepreneur to live out the dream He has placed within him. Look no further than @ChickfilA if you want to see a real-life success story of a Godpreneur bearing much fruit, even after he’s gone from the business. #BusinessBibleStudy #FindingMyPurpose Entrepreneurship on Purpose A 3-Day business Bible study to help you uncover your calling to bear fruit that your business can have an eternal impact and glorify God. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

How do we stop being overwhelmed by the harmful and hateful anger that bombards our hearts during these troubling times? #GainConfidence