B-log

(from printed archives, unattributed)

Having a good reputation is an indispensable factor in succeeding at work. People trust top performers, and no one likes to do business with someone they don’t respect. The Bible says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.” In other words, your self worth is more important than your net worth.

The common mistake most people make is thinking that reputation is a matter of “image.” So they worry themselves with questions like, “How do I look?” or “Did I say the right thing?” To build a long-term good reputation, you must focus on your character, not your image. Respect must be earned. The book of Proverbs in the Bible identifies seven character qualities found in people who are respected by others.

1. Respect is earned through common sense. Knowing and doing right, and common sense will fill you with living energy (Pr. 3:21). Men with common sense are admired as counselors.
2. Respect is earned through integrity. Respected people do not tell lies (17:7). The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out (10:9).
3. Respect is earned through humility. Arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected (29:23). Anyone who listens to correction is respected (13:18).
4. Respect is earned through dependability. Like clouds and winds without rain is a man who boasts without gifts he does not give (25:15) He who keeps an oath even when it hurts will never be shaken (Ps. 15:4-5)
5. Respect is earned through having priorities. If your goals are good, you will be respected (11:27). You will earn the trust and respect of others if you work for good (14:22)
6. Respect is earned through generosity. He who gives generously to the needy and shows kindness will be powerful and respected (Ps. 112:9).
7. Respect is earned by putting God first in your life. If you want favor both with God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success (3:4-6).

The Bible makes an audacious claim that if a person seeks God with all his heart, God will reveal himself to that person. That person, it is promised in Scripture, will certainly find God:

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

So there’s the promise that you’ll find God if you are looking for Him, and the key is that you have to engage in the quest with all your heart.

That’s where there’s a problem

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9
)

What is a sincere seeker to do, if the very tool he is to rely upon cannot be remotely trusted?

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Highlights from Psalm 146, my comments in italicized parentheses

³You can’t depend on anyone, not even a great leader. ⁴Once they die and are buried, that will be the end of all their plans.

(The nation cried out for hope and change, putting their hopes in a new leader. He may have greater days still ahead. I hope he does, for the sake of the nation. Yet my true hope, my lasting hope, is in you alone. No person in history, save for Jesus, has changed the world. He alone overcame death, and his impact is everlasting.)

God always keeps his word. ⁷He gives justice to the poor and food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free ⁸and heals blind eyes.

(You are the only hope for justice in this world. You alone are not compromised by sin or by self. Your holiness transcends everything. It defines your actions, explains your motives, embellishes all your characteristics. You have set me free from the prisons of my life. You have given me sight of eternity. You allow me to see the invisible with eyes of faith.)

I’m taking a day alone with God today as part of my personal preparation for our church’s upcoming GROW weekend. I’m taking a bit of a mid-day break…not from God, but from the “experiential” part of it so I can record some of my thoughts, and refer back to them.

The day really started last night as I went to bed. As I tried to relax to fall asleep, I found my thoughts keep wandering back to what I would experience. In a lot of ways, I spend most my days with God, in the sense that I recognize that everything I do is because of his power, his strength, his guidance. However, there are certainly plenty of times that I walk in to a situation “on my own.” So as I was thinking about my DAWG (I’m not in love with this acronym, but it’s quicker for the typing), I was really looking forward to it with a sense of expectancy, but also fearful/humbled about the prospect of discovering what God would have in store for me.

So morning came after a good, dreamless night of sleep (as far as I can remember). I determined to see the family off before I started my DAWG. I didn’t “pray God in” as a welcome, because I believe that he’s here with me, all the time. He’s not in my presence, I’m in his presence. So I determined that I just needed to clear away my distractions and focus on him.

I began by opening my Bible and reading some Psalms. There’s no rationale for where I began. I believe I can open my Bible to any page and find God there. So I began reading in Psalm 145. Here is some of what stood out to me (my comments/reactions in italicized parentheses):

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