I’m a competitive kinda guy that played sports my whole life. That’s why when I found CrossFit, I was immediately drawn into the sport. CrossFit is a crosstraining workout mixed with weightlifting and gymnastics. I often leave the workouts sore for days, muscles in pain, hands full of calluses, and exhausted. And even though I curse at the brutal workouts sometimes, I go back for more…and more…since 2010! I look at CrossFit as the adversary inside of my mind that I have to defeat. Every time I add weight to my lifts, I see it as a new challenge I must overcome. I see CrossFit as the place where I work on breaking physical barriers and challenges so I can rise to new levels. Our businesses and marriages are like CrossFit. There are challenges we’ll need to overcome. New, often difficult circumstances will be presented to us, and we either step up to fight, or we walk away and do nothing. Sadly, too often, we’re so exhausted from running the business that we don’t have the energy to fight in the marriage or vice versa. Fear then begins to set in our hearts and paralyzes us. We don’t know what to do so we react in our natural defensive mechanisms. How should Godpreneurs react when difficulties in our marriage and business come our way? Will we start to fear or will we look at the challenge dead in the eye and attack it knowing we have God’s Word? As Godpreneurs, we have to trust God no matter how challenging our business and marriage gets. We have to fear nothing or nobody. The bible says When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?(Psalms 56:3‭-‬4 NIV) When business and marriage present a challenge, you need to REJOICE! Yes, sounds crazy, I know! But it works! God wants you to rejoice in your challenges because God’s in control and He promises to finish what He started in your business and marriage. James 1:2-4 NIV says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything". You need to count your business and marriage challenges as joy because God is up to something! There’s a certain CrossFit workout that I absolutely HATE! It’s a terrible workout, and every time they announced it, I cringed and sometimes wouldn’t show up that day (I would call it my off day…). But once I learned what I’m teaching you now, I changed my mind set on that and many of the other challenging workouts. I now REJOICE when I see that workout on the board. I say fake it till you make it 😉 Now I’m getting better at that workout! I’m serious. We Godprenuers can REJOICE that God is working on our behalf in our businesses and marriages, and He’ll do it as fast as our mindsets can change! God says your challenges are done! Read Ezekiel 12:28 KJV. It reminds us, married entrepreneurs, “There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.” There is no reason to be concerned or worried about our business and marriage because God is in control. Imagine a world of Godpreneurs that walked up to our business workouts stood up to those challenging weights in marriage and greeted the obstacles with a smile and positive attitude knowing God promises to fight those battles on our behalf. Godpreneur Rule: God fights my business and marriage battles on your behalf. #MarriedEntrepreneurs #BusinessBibleStudy #GodpreneurAcademy 21 Days of Breakthroughs in Business and Marriage This course provides needed strength and faith, in the truth of God’s holy Word, for breakthroughs in both your business and marriage. 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

There are tons of ways for us to draw closer to God, these are personal to me. 

and an enduring faith are essential to a successful business career and we are much more likely to develop

When I first started my agency, my personal plans were along the lines of building a big agency and making

Distractions can prevent us from fully reaching our goals if we let them. The problem with us visionary entrepreneurs is that we struggle to identify which opportunities are distractions because we confuse them with the drive behind which we hope to succeed. What I’ve found is the best defense is a good offense. For us entrepreneurs to be distracted less, we have to do some prep work in our mind and heart. And God is faithful. Although the temptation to be distracted is all around us, we will never be tempted beyond what we can endure! Our success and help will come from God. The bible says: "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it". (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV) There’s hope for you because God strengthens us and gives us ways out. Here are five ways out I’ve used to help me focus on my calling and listen to the Spirit guiding me step by step. You’re Not Alone First, it’s important to know that you’re not alone. I used to think I was the only one with Shiney object syndrome. It turns out; this is a gift! Being able to spot out opportunities is a gift! But being able to put the idea in the right place is where wisdom comes in. But all of us visionary entrepreneurs experience this and are thus called to be wiser and manage our ideas carefully in the spectrum of time. Our struggles of distraction are normal. It doesn’t mean we are given the green like to execute on them always, only that we are not alone in this struggle. Self-Effort is Impossible You won’t be able to overcome distraction on your own. Instead, we Godpreneurs partner with God in our businesses. The means and the power for overcoming distractions come from God. And in His infinite wisdom, God gave us Jesus as an example of how to be focused on your calling. And God gave us the holy spirit to nudge us in the right direction. We’re not alone, and we don’t have to do this on our own! God’s Power Will Sustain Us As entrepreneurs, we experience so many twists and turns in our business that when a different opportunity presents itself, we’re so weak that we’re tempted to get off of our calling and seek the instant gratification of the following money or avoiding the struggles. As strong as the temptation to be distracted may feel, it pales in comparison to the power of God. Staying in your calling is like putting on a shield of armor because He will not allow you to be tempted or tested beyond what you can endure. We might think it’s time to close up shop on our dreams, but that’s not the fact. Fall More in Love with Your Calling Distractions will be all around you. You won’t avoid them. And we should not pray for God to remove the distractions. That’s not what God promised. God promises that He would provide an escape route. This means that the distractions will be there, but the escape route needs to be the focus. An amazing escape route I’ve set up is to set up my strategic priorities and review them each day. All of my priorities are focused around my calling – to help people discover what they were born to do. So as long as I’m clear on my calling and I continue to refine those skills, I’m providing myself with a wider escape route as time goes on because I’m more committed to my calling. Pray for God to give you wisdom about your purpose and strength to stay in the calling. With these five tips, we can experience a total focus on our calling before the distractions threaten to take us off our path. #FindMyCalling #BusinessBibleStudy

Today is small business Saturday (the day after black Friday in case you didn’t know). And although there is a great positive message behind this day, I can’t help but think that this time of the year will leave many business owners feeling overwhelmed. For me, I’m thinking about marketing plans, product releases, the new year, systems and processes, and so many things at once. Being an entrepreneur is a gift and a curse. The gift is that the ideas come to us so easily and we we’re so excited to make them happen. The curse is that the ideas can sometimes lead us to be overwhelmed. I’ve got pages of Google Docs and countless Evernotes and elaborate Trello boards just full of great ideas. Where do I start? Which one do I do first? Then what’s next? We, entrepreneurs, often feel overwhelmed. But there’s a solution. In the book of Psalms 61:2, King David provides insight for us. He says “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” How often do we cry out for more security (financially) and more strength to deal with the problems of being an entrepreneur. This is when VISION is important. There will be times we will have to be led to a rock higher than ourselves so we can get VISION beyond our present struggles to the future God has in store for us. Sometimes we have to be lifted up to see life from God’s eternal perspective. In this passage, David recognizes the higher “rock” as a place of safety and power and he knows only God can lead him there. Owning a business can sometimes make you feel faint-hearted, but God wants you to use those times to pray to Him for security and strength. James 1:5 says that those who ask will be given wisdom. Wisdom is one way God lifts us visionaries up to the higher rock. Remember, you are never confined to your present situation. Trust God to lift you and your business to a higher place and give you His eternal perspective….your God breathed vision. #EnhanceFocus

I’m not sure if I told you, but I stink at managing people. Its something that doesn’t come as natural as marketing does. I have to constantly work at it because as an entrepreneur, you’ll always be in situations of managing people. And with management, inevitably you have to discipline people. Someone is going to screw up. I’m not sure if I’ve met someone that loves to discipline people, so I’m sure it’s a touchy subject. I know some are better than others at it. Can we admit that sometimes we’ve blown up and handled a disciplining moment horribly wrong. How would God want you to discipline employees? Well, the same way He disciplines me and you. PROVERBS 3:11-12 says “My son, do not despise the Lord ’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” These verses show entrepreneurs what their attitude should be as they discipline their employees. Notice that God loves and delights in his children even as He corrects them. His discipline is not intended as harsh punishment, but as a loving act to encourage growth and maturity. And don’t we want our employees to grow? But sometimes, however, we react in ways that are designed to meet OUR needs instead of recognizing the bigger purpose of our discipline in growing our businesses. We can avoid being reactive if we come up with a game plan in advance. 1) When you are calm, think of appropriate consequences for the ways your employees are likely to disobey or mess up. 2) Recognize your weak areas (a tendency to rescue, lecture, or yell) and think of alternative ways you could respond. I have a tendency to NOT discipline at all because I don’t like confrontation. Instead I do the job myself and avoid the gut wrenching conversations. A discipline that is delivered calmly, consistently, and empathetically will be less likely to receive a rebellious response. Discipline helps employees grow when it is delivered with empathy and love. #BecomeDisciplined

When we’re worried we do the weirdest things. We bite our nails, twist our fingers like doubled jointed contortionists, shake our legs uncontrollably, and have total mental blocks and breakdowns. We’re overcome with doubt. Our peace has been robbed from us. We face many challenges in entrepreneurship and are sometimes overcome with fear and doubt. In these times, we have a choice to indulge those fears or to meditate on the promises of God. The enemy will use worry and fear and doubt to rob you of your God given peace. At times I couldn’t pay the rent on my office space. Fear would overcome and I considered closing up shop and working from home. But then I remembered God’s promise to me: ‘I will use your space to bring people to know me.’ So here is the key: you have to have some promises of God under your belt ready to bust out when fear and worry come…because they will come, especially as business owners. It is an act of obedience to reject the lies of fear and worry and to concentrate on God’s love and sovereignty and his desires for your business to succeed and grow. We do not know the plans God has for our lives or the lives of our employees. Our finite minds may have trouble understanding His eternal purposes for our businesses. Our peace, however, comes in knowing that He is a God who is loving, wise, and in control.  He’s your boss, and this verse calls us to concentrate on the attributes of God: Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things." So you don’t know how to meditate? Did you know that worry is meditation. Its meditation, but in the wrong direction. Shift your thoughts to things of Philippians 4:8 and you’ll be meditating in the right direction. Godpreneur Rule #48: Godpreneurs don’t focus on their fears, they choose to meditate on the goodness of God. #StrengthenIntegrity #FindMyCalling

I’ve taken a lot of risks in my entrepreneurial life. Risks with new ventures, new partnerships, marketing campaigns, and new service offerings. Some have been a hit, some have fallen flat. I’ve failed so many times in business. It’s probably because I take so many chances, risking it all at times. I’ve succeeded too. But there’s something special about the failures that I take for granted. Even though it sucks to fail, I always appreciate the lesson that comes with it. Whenever us entrepreneurs step out in faith, we take a risk. Whenever we dare to hope in the face of hopelessness or dream the impossible dream, whenever we are willing to try what the world might dismiss as foolish, we are not doing any of these things in absolute assurance that our attempts will succeed. We weren’t meant to succeed at everything. Part of the entrepreneur finding what he’s born to do means being willing to take a road even though it might be the wrong one. We take the risks because being idle is not an option. We take a risk because we know God is in control. It’s easy for me to say this, but it’s harder in practice. We’ve taken so many risks and failed in big and small ways that taking each new risk because more difficult, especially the more that´s at stake. I believe it’s this fear of failure that is the biggest contributor to what cripples us from taking the action needed to fully live within our calling. But if we’re not willing to take risks, and have faith in God and what His perfect plan is, then are we as faithful as we think we are? Playing it safe will land you nowhere…because you go nowhere.  You’ve parked at the fork in the road, set up your camper, and you’re not moving. Can I encourage you that God is asking you to trust him to take the risk!. The Bible has a great story about taking risks. It’s the story of the talents. The wealthy business owner leaves his employees with money and tells them to invest it and he’ll be back to collect on the profits. Each dude invests, but one guy parks his car at the fork in the road and does nothing, waiting for the master to return because he was afraid of losing it and the consequences that would come. As you know, the owner comes back and is furious with the non-risk taker, but to the other two “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ Matthew 25:23 NLT You might be like the first guys that take risks. WELL DONE! That’s what Jesus is thinking about you.  You dreamed, you took a chance, you brought a vision to life.  You took the stepped out to create something as it might be, not as things currently are. You stepped out in faith, even in the face of resistance.  You dared to take the next step, willing to lose it all. When we fail pursuing our calling, it’s not actually failure at all. God sees faith as a sweet melody. It means you’re trusting in his purpose for your life. He never guaranteed an easy life.  His only guarantee was, "draw near to me and I will draw near to you"(James 4:8). Godpreneur Rule #64: Godpreneurs see failure as faith, risk as obedience, and success as responding to the calling. #WorkLifeBalance #BecomeDisciplined #SharpenLeadership

When I went to college in 1999, I started in the undergraduate program for the law. Yup, that’s right. I was going to be a lawyer! Other than good grades in high school, nothing really pointed me in the direction of law. I’m sure it had to do with my parents feeling that law was a good career path to make money, and I wanted to make my parents proud. But after 2 years, I wasn’t happy. In fact, my grades were the lowest they had ever been since 6th grade. I felt like a failure, and I didn’t know why. A counselor asked me what my favorite classes were, and the answer I gave was anything that had to do with business. I loved organizational behavior, human resources, business law, and marketing. I could care less about anything related to pure law. So I made the switch halfway through my college career from undergraduate law to the undergraduate business program. And guess what? Yup, you guessed it. My grades skyrocketed back to my Albert Einstein-esque days of high school. I was loving every class… except for financial accounting! In our childhood, we were all raised to please our parents. We didn’t know what it was to please God, our parents were our everything. The problem with parental influence (sometimes) But sometimes our parents are raising us from their own experiences. Their experiences could have been great, so they want us to walk in their footsteps. Their experiences could have also been awful, so they guide us in fear and shelter us from going through what they went through. Parents, willingly or not, will guide our dreams and purpose based on their own shortcomings or victories. And so we make our decisions on work and career based on what our parents have guided us towards. Years later, we find ourselves living out a dream that wasn’t even our own – unhappy and feeling unfulfilled. Our parent's desires aren’t our desires. Our desires should be God’s desires for us. The Bible says: "The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord , endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands." (Psalms 138:8 NIV) God created you. He designed you specifically with your own vision, motivations, fears, desires, and strengths. When you separate your desires from those that others may have unknowingly projected onto you, the picture of the business God created YOU to start becomes more clear. Your purpose in entrepreneurship is unique to YOU The business you’re supposed to be running isn’t to please your parents, spouse, friends, or the church. Your dream business is what God Himself wants you to do. He planted a vision in YOU, specific to YOU. So how do we know if what we’re doing is our own, our parents, or God’s vision for our business lives? First, we have to believe 100% from the bottom of our core that God has a unique purpose for us. If we don’t believe this, then we’ll continue to run businesses for ourselves and not for God. Second, we have to acknowledge and confess that we might not be living out God’s dream, but instead someone else’s. Third, ask God through prayer and meditation to bring to mind anything that we’re doing that could be other’s expectations versus what God designed for us to do. Finally, we need to make a list of what comes to mind between what we think is from God and what we think is from expectations others put on us. When we take a sober inventory of what influences our true purpose and calling, some of us might be surprised at how far down a road we’ve traveled that we weren’t meant to go down. I pray that this exercise helps bring more entrepreneurs closer to understanding God’s calling for their life. Imagine a day where we’re all launching and running businesses unique to our God-inspired DNA, not based on what the world wants us to do. #BusinessBibleStudy #GodpreneurAcademy #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

But on the surface, we appear to have little difference in needs, from one person to the next. They feel the same as I do, listening to them … “This person has such a depth of knowledge” … “This lady That’s why it’s such a thrill to discover that rare person who thinks the same way you do … at least For all of Ray’s field prowess and force of personality, however, I wouldn’t need him to admit it - there purpose of your weakness is to know you share in the experience of being human, so you don’t elevate one person

world in the best way possible so that people will know exactly who you are and you can do your duty to develop

Imagine if we would have developed the habit of presenting our concerns every morning in the loving hands Now is the time to develop the habit of guarding our hearts and minds by giving the current circumstances Only the personal presence of God powering our spirits will produce the INSPIRATION we need to move into Stop making this circumstance so personal.

I’m trying to channel what I feel the holy spirit wants of this person, and then positioning the message

There's the way the world does business, and there's God's way. How do you grow a successful, profitable, meaningful God-first business? You have to learn what the Bible says about your entrepreneurial journey and apply it to every business situation. This devotional guides high-achieving Christian entrepreneurs who want an efficient formula for drawing closer to God, improving their Bible reading habits, AND grow their businesses God's way. Plan Devotional Here TAKE PLAN HERE #BusinessBibleStudy