Everything You Touch Can Turn To Gold, IF...

I was being a Smart-@$$ (Aleck) on LinkedIn.

God reminded me of a powerful truth and promise while I was being a smart-@$$ (Aleck) on LinkedIn.

I don't know about you, but I get tons of LinkedIn connect requests and inmail messages.  

I love expanding my professional network so if we're not connected on LinkedIn, let's connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldduran/

But I also get lots of connect requests and inmails from people who only want to sell me stuff. And then two seconds after I connect with them, I get messages like this:

Copied from a recent inmail:

"Hi Gerald, thank you for connecting with me. I look forward to learning more about you and your business.

How is 2020 going so far?

If I can help you with sales don't be afraid to reach out. Revenue and People are my favorite subjects. How are sales going so far this year?

I look forward to learning more."

(The bait is an open-ended question that leads to a sales pitch call or meeting. Every time!)

Here is my obnoxious response:

Everything I touch turns to gold. How about you?

And then crickets ... they never respond back. I use this line to ward off more unwanted sales inmails (or worse, calls) from the sales perpetrator. It works charmingly. Like mosquito spray, it keeps the bloodsuckers away!

I mean how do you respond to that? I put a lot of time into coming up with that one ... Ha! 

What God reminded me about walking through the fire with Him.

Then one day while being a smart-aleck, God reminded me that everything we touch will eventually turn to gold, "IF" we're willing to walk through the fire with Him.

As a serial entrepreneur, the refinement of the fire rang so true. That someplace between our God-planted dreams and destiny is a refinement process called "the fire". And listen, there's a great reward for not quitting God's process of refinement. 

I thought of these promises from God to reward us and protect us during the refinement process:

Psalm 66:10-12 NIV - For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

Isaiah 43:2 AMP - When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.

What God showed me about His desire for me. To have success and prosper when I partner with Him in the marketplace.

There is great Biblical truth behind what I am saying, and that's what I want to share with you.

Now I really like saying that EVERYTHING I TOUCH TURNS TO GOLD. And I really mean it when I say it. Because it's true. This has been my actual experience as a serial entrepreneur driven by Faith, Purpose, and Kingdom.

Lots of fire. Lots of gold. 

No matter what life throws at me when I'm walking with Jesus, eventually, I bounce back. God has used every setback, as a setup, for another comeback.

It's true. It's Biblical. And guess what, in my life literally everything I touch turns to Gold.

If you want some gold in your life, here on earth, before you walk on the streets of gold in heaven, I'd like to share how you can have the same results.

First, study this promise from God:

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 NIV - If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.

Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.

The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. 

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

WOW!

What a powerful promise. This Biblical promise, one of the 6000 plus available promises in the Bible has been foundational to every season and assignment in my life from God.

Through Jesus Christ, the promises of the old testament are available to us.  How? Jesus has paid the full price to make them available to us.

Be driven by Faith, Purpose, and Kingdom.

So listen up here, everything you touch can eventually turn to gold ... if you are willing to be driven by Faith, Purpose, and Kingdom.

And yes, you'll have to walk with God through the fire. But He promises to be with you every step of the way. He leads, you follow.

There are two stories in the Bible I love about man partnering with God to accomplish marketplace assignments from God. The story of Joshua and the story of Nehemiah.

God used Joshua to finish what He started through Moses. Read Joshua chapter 1 (it's short). Do you see what I see? Here are some outtakes from the scene.

vs 3 -  I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.

vs 5 -  No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

vs 6 -  Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

vs 7 -  “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

vs 8 -  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

vs 9 -  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

This is why I love partnering with God in the marketplace. What He did for these people, He will do for me and you.

Now let's look at the story of Nehemiah, a great example of partnering with God and a great leader. Look at his prayer to God.

Nehemiah 1:11 NIV - Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

Look at Nehemiah's response to his critics and enemies who tried, unsuccessfully, to stop him on his assignment from God.

Nehemiah 2:20 NIV -  I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success.

When you partner with God, you can be bold! Why? Because God's plans never fail. When you partner with God, you cannot fail.

What does it mean to be Faith Driven? When you are driven by faith you will have made your relationship with Jesus Christ and the Bible, the center of your life. By faith, you will be pursuing the 6000 plus promises in the Bible that are part of your inheritance. All paid for by the blood of Jesus. What's required from you is faith. Faith isn't hoping that God might answer your prayers, it's knowing that He will.

What does it mean to be Purpose Driven? When you are driven by purpose, you have taken the time and energy to identify and begin fulfilling God's plan and purpose for your life.  You will be partnering with God in the marketplace. This is where you'll spend 100,000 hours of your life working in your calling. Doing what God created you to do. You'll be embracing your purpose. Co-creating with God. He created the trees, we create chairs. Made in the image of God, we are innovators and changemakers, called to be the triumphant church of Jesus Christ. We are unstoppable. 

What does it mean to be Kingdom Driven? When you are driven by the Kingdom of God, you are driven by your marketplace role in the Great Commission (Read Matthew 28:16-20 and Luke 16:15-20). It’s to make a difference. To transform everything and anything around you with the Kingdom of God.

When you are driven by Faith, Purpose, and Kingdom, this becomes your unfair advantage. But to have the gold in your life, you'll have to be willing to be refined by fire. 

Remember the promise of Isaiah 43:2 AMP - “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you."

In the fire, you'll meet plenty of low-faith naysayers (quitters) who have lowered their expectations of what God desires for you. Ignore them. They're ignorant, especially of the 6000 plus Biblical promises for you.

Warning: As you pursue your God-planted dreams, you'll meet plenty of low-faith (ignorant) believers. They hate the idea that God wants us to be successful and prosper in our marketplace calling. 

How did they get this way? Perhaps somewhere along their journey they experienced the fire and quit. They turned back. And to justify their lack of results, they've reduced their expectations of what God desires to do. When Jesus said:

John 10:10 AMP - The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].

They don't believe in abundance! Sadly they've limited what's possible to their past limited experiences. 

Their perception of what's possible through Jesus Christ is man-sized, not God-sized. Run from these peeps or they'll talk you out of your dreams. 

Anytime they hear talk of Biblical success or prosperity, their response is "yea BUT ....". Their BIG BUT keeps them from accomplishing their God-planted dreams. Run from these folks. 

I love Jesus's response to His own disciples when they didn't cooperate with His plans.

Matthew 16:23 - Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Matthew 17:16-17 - I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him. “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

Go for the GOLD. Remember, God is in it to win it — with you!