Expert Ownership Podcast
Four Steps to Accomplish What God Calls You To Do
In the hustle of running our businesses, we often seek a compass for direction—this episode serves as your spiritual GPS. Whether you're at the office or spending time with family, these four actionable steps are your guide to Expert Ownership.
Join us as we unpack these four keys from the book of Jeremiah that will help you as you navigate Biblical entrepreneurship.
In the hustle of running our businesses, we often seek a compass for direction—this episode serves as your spiritual GPS. Whether you're at the office or spending time with family, these four actionable steps are your guide to Expert Ownership.
Join us as we unpack these four keys from the book of Jeremiah that will help you as you navigate Biblical entrepreneurship.
Today we're gonna talk about four steps to accomplish what God calls you to do. I mean, if you're anything like Jason and me here in Charlotte, north Carolina, with our wives and our kids and our businesses, there are some times where we just don't accomplish what we set out to achieve, and other times where we actually accomplished what we set out to achieve, and we see a pattern in the book of Jeremiah. This is now our 36th year through scripture, and so this is my 36th time to read the book of Jeremiah, and we saw a pattern in Jeremiah, chapter one. That's like okay, that right there, that will help us accomplish what God calls us to accomplish, because, at the end of the day, when the Lord puts something in your heart, he wants to manifest his presence and his glory through you. That's how he does it. He doesn't just drop spiritual bombs out of heaven. He manifests himself through his people, through his creation, and it's a privilege that we get a chance to do this. So, jason, give us the four steps. Do you want to give it all to us now? Let me just say this real quick we are talking to faith-filled entrepreneurs, which means that you agree that God is your business partner. He's the majority partner, you're the managing partner and it's your responsibility to listen to him every single day. Now we have something coming up really fun for you soon it's actually being printed right now but the Expert Ownership Listening Prayer Journal, where we walk you through exactly how to hear God every single morning so he can speak to you about your business. Now he's not just going to speak about your business, he's going to speak about every area of your life, and we give you the exact format that we used and we walk you through a boilerplate form to where you can write down exactly what God is speaking to you. And so it's just so fun when we do our expert ownership masterminds, when David and I, you know, we coach some people, we walk them through listening prayer. We spend time doing that and it is just so fun. But when you are a part and when you do listening prayer, the number one thing that you need obviously is not just you know posture and position and making sure that you're fully surrendered to the Lord, but it's a commitment to reading scripture every single day, because God speaks through the Bible. So when you read scripture every single day, ask God before your scripture reading. Lord, what are you speaking to me today? What can I do to apply it to my business, to my family, to my personal life or whatever? And you're thinking like that and when you have a grid like that, stuff's going to pop out at you. You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1:We wrote in our second book, living Among Lions. We wrote that Daniel, who was a powerful leader in both Babylon and Persia. He was God's man in two different kingdoms as he was taken out of captivity or into captivity from Jerusalem. Yet he succeeded and he excelled and he actually became third in command. So he definitely accomplished what God wanted him to accomplish, and he went three ways. It was conviction that transformed his heart and he eventually had courage that transformed his world. But the bridge between the two were commitments that transformed his lifestyle. So we're not talking legalism read your Bible. We're talking about commitments that transform your lifestyle, that will allow your conviction, your faith that's filling you, to become faithfulness in business, in culture, in your family, and it requires commitments that transform your lifestyle. So getting a commitment to where you're reading scripture every single day, that is key if you want to be an expert ownership. If you want to be an expert ownership, if you want to be an expert owner? Okay. So now we find ourselves in Jeremiah 1.
Speaker 1:And God had to prepare Jeremiah for a tough message. Like, jeremiah went from being a priest to being a prophet. Now, as a priest, everybody liked him and he was a guy that went to the same place all the time, spoke a message. I'm sure that people come up afterwards and be like Jeremiah. That was just fantastic. Well, god decided to change him from a priest to a prophet, and most prophets traveled alone because prophets spoke about the coming judgment of God.
Speaker 1:Now, god was giving Jeremiah a message. He was giving him a message and in Jeremiah, one right out of the jump. God basically prepares Jeremiah and says hey, I'm going to give you some keys If you want to accomplish what I want you to accomplish, which is going to be a difficult thing. I want. I want to give you some keys and I want you to do these because the message that I'm going to give you is hard. I'm going to give you a difficult message. We know that Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. He also wrote lamentations that children of Israel had sinned for a long time and they were about to be taken over by Babylon.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah was the prophet that was telling everybody it was coming. Now, that was not a popular message. He became public enemy number one real fast when he started giving the message. So before he gave the message and before God gave him the download, god gave him these four keys. Okay, now we want to share these with you because these are four things that you're going to need if you want to accomplish what God has called you to do.
Speaker 1:Okay, verse number one David. Read verse sorry. Chapter number one david. Read verse set sorry. Chapter number one read verse 7a, the first part of verse 7. This is the first key. Okay, but the lord said to me do not say I am a youth. Key number one don't think about yourself. Okay, so jeremiah was young, and yet god called him and gave him a prophetic message. And so the first thing that god had to tell jeremiah don't, don't think about how young you are, don't think about yourself. When god, god, called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, the first thing Moses says is I can't do it because I'm a stutterer. He's like I'm not good with speaking Instantly.
Speaker 1:When God calls you to do something, the nature is to think about yourself and how it affects you. Do not do that. It's human nature to be fearful. It's human nature to think well, gosh, I don't know if I could do this. Or it's also human nature to be overly confident in your own abilities. Exactly right, it's the midpoint. It's not fear, but it's not also overconfidence. It is. I will walk with the Lord because I know he is faithful and he wants to use me. You have to understand God wants to use his people, and if he wants to use his people, which means he will empower his people, he'll give you the grace. That's empowerment. He will empower his people to do what he wants. Yes, and, and it's because you have to understand your business is not about you, it's about others.
Speaker 1:Okay, now, why do I say it's about others? Because the order is God is number one, right? Well, how do you make God number one? You serve others. I'll give you an example If you want to bless me and David, don't do something. Don't. Don't send me, like I don't know, tickets to a football game. Send my kids tickets to a football game. Now, it's nice, you can send me a ticket to it if it's Dallas Cowboys, but you see what I'm going to like, what we're going to like better because we're fathers is we're going to like better that you bless our kids. That's the way that you show me that you care about me is doing something nice for my kids, and this is how God is with us. It's like we want to serve God.
Speaker 1:Well, what does that look like? What it means is serving other people, and when you serve other people with a heart to please God, he receives that as you doing something for him. You have to understand your business is not about you, it's about God, which means it's about others. So you're thinking constantly about the people that you are serving. That's what makes you a faith-filled entrepreneur. That's what makes you a faith-filled entrepreneur. That's what makes you an expert owner. It's all about what can I do to serve others Now, the people that you're serving. If you meet the need that they're paying you for, it will open a door for you to meet the need they're not paying you for, the real need that they have. You're meeting their tangible needs through your business, which is great, but your goal should be to meet their tangible needs so well that it opens the door for you to meet their intangible need, which is to connect with God. That's why it's so incredibly important that we do good work, but it starts by recognizing it's not about you, it's about God, which makes it about others.
Speaker 1:So, number one key to accomplishing what God wants you to accomplish don't think about yourself. Key number two read the rest of verse seven, because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you you shall speak. Key number two from God to you is obey what I tell you. Key number one don't think about yourself. Key number two obey what I tell you. Listen. Obedience comes before understanding. Sometimes God tells you to do something that makes no sense whatsoever. No sense. And he will tell you to do it because he's testing you and he wants to know. Do you really trust him? See, jeremiah didn't need to understand why God was giving him this difficult message. He just needed to obey. And God had to tell him obey what I tell you, don't think about it.
Speaker 1:David and I have a story in our book. David, I want you to tell it real quick Keystone we got to Keystone, we were going there to build our business and God told us something shocking. Right before we walked into this conference we were at, we had been in real estate for about six months and we didn't want to do business to consumer, we didn't want to just sell retail residential properties, we wanted to actually do business to business in the real estate space. So we prayed for a niche. And then we saw this whole foreclosure, you know, private equity disposition niche, and we said that we could do that. Yeah, and there was a conference that was being held in Keystone, colorado. It was the first one. We'd never even heard that they even had conferences on how to liquidate assets for banks, and so we were like we're going to fly there. So Jason and I flew there.
Speaker 1:It was at the Interlochen Resort in Colorado. I remember thinking about how expensive that was, and the rooms were $250 a night, and now that's just like normal. Well, we couldn't get a room because we stayed at the motel six. No, we stayed at the super eight. Super eight, that's right. I remember that it wasn't because we couldn't get a room, it's because we wanted to spend 60 bucks a night. Yeah, well, that's what I'm saying. We couldn't get a room, we couldn't afford a room.
Speaker 1:So jason and I, as we're, as we're driving there, we we stay at the hotel, and then that next morning we had to drive to the resort and on our way the Lord just spoke, as Jason and we were both praying together out loud about Lord, please open up doors. And the Lord said focus on ministry first, don't focus on, don't just get in there and try to hustle down asset managers and get their business. Focus on ministry first. And so when we went in, we were like, okay, lord, we're going to focus on ministry first. And what we knew from that is because dad always raised us that when you have, what you need to be doing, when you're with people is always looking for a way to share your faith. That's right. Right, because they need faith and you have faith. So find a way to do this. So we knew what that meant was. We got got to share the gospel with some folks. Exactly, the Lord told us to do that Because most of the conversations I was going to have was okay, if you're a broker, how are you doing in your business?
Speaker 1:What's your city and how do I start my business? Or if you're an asset manager, hey, do you sell in Charlotte? Can you send me properties? I want to sell your houses. That was one of two conversations I wanted to have a hundred times over over the next three days, but the Lord's like nope, put that on pause. Ministry over money, that's right.
Speaker 1:So the first lunch break, here we are, we're listening to these speakers and I'm already taking notes on, like, okay, this person's an asset manager, this guy over here, he's got a big business in New York. He can really help us with some systems anyway. So I'm taking all these notes. And then the first lunch break, jason and I fill our plates and they are mass. I mean, you know, here we were hungry boys, still in our early twenties Actually, I think we were in our mid twenties at this point with a couple of little kids at home and we were starved. So we had this monstrous plates and we walk into the ballroom where all the tables are and we saw these two older ladies sitting together and of course I'm looking for like, go, put me at the table where I think that all these asset managers are in, these young, sleek people that are up on stage. And I could see where those seats were open. But I knew, go here.
Speaker 1:So me and Jason, we walked over and we said, hey, are these seats available? They said, sure, sit down. So we sat down, we start asking them questions about their families and stuff like that, and the Lord opens a door for ministry. And we talked about our dad was a pastor and all this other stuff. And then at the end of the conversation we, uh, they were like, okay, so what do you guys do? Well, we're brokers in Charlotte. And they said, oh well, we're asset managers at Fidelity National and we sell in Charlotte. And it was like I mean, it was like the Rocky Bell, like, okay, we're in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's the likelihood of me and David sitting next to two asset managers that covered our specific area, amidst 5,000 other people? Except that God did it, and God told us obey what I tell you. And we just so listen, if you ever read our book, expert Ownership, it's filled with stories like that. But this is what God would say. These four keys in the first two, don't think about yourself. Obey what I tell you. We had to go through that like right at the beginning of our business, and now we have a story that we're telling 20 years later to encourage you to do the exact same thing. God came through for us. He's going to come through for you. So that's key number two obey what I tell you Key number three David, I want you to read verse eight of Jeremiah one Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.
Speaker 1:All right. Key number three? Very simple Do not be afraid. Okay, don't be afraid. Why not? Why not be afraid? Because God is with you. Because God is with you, right, if you had to go into the jungles of the Amazon? But you had, you know, 10 of the best Amazon tour guide, awesome dudes, who can you know, who know how to wrestle anacondas, just say Bear Grylls, bear Grylls, bear Grylls with you, you're fine. Yeah, okay, that's a good one, and but you got Bear Grylls with you and it's like. He's like just stay close to me and you'll be fine. That you would stay close, right, you don't have to be afraid because he's with you. You see that God would say that too to you. Don't be afraid. Why not? Because I'm with you.
Speaker 1:Now, listen, fear is the gateway to opportunity. When God tells you to do something and you're not thinking about yourself and you know that you need to obey God, there will always be fear involved, because faith requires fear. If you don't experience the fear, then there really is no faith, because faith is sure of what it can't see. It's like in the Indiana Jones, where he had to step off of that cliff but he had to trust. It was the trust step, or whatever they called that, where there was an invisible bridge and he had to take the first step and then, boom, his foot caught onto the bridge and he didn't fall. It's the same way, but fear is the gateway to opportunity. And why is that? Because when you're in your business, you'll recognize that your greatest blessing is found on the other side of your greatest fear.
Speaker 1:How many of you have ever had an idea but you knew it was going to cost a lot of money, it was going to take a lot of money, it was going to take a lot of time, but you're like, okay, I'm going to do this, the risk is worth it. But you were afraid it wasn't going to work out. And then, a couple of years later, you're like, man, our whole business changed because I made that move. Our whole business changed for the better because we did that thing. So don't be afraid, boldness.
Speaker 1:All through the scripture it precedes, the miraculous David took down Goliath, and I'm sure there was some fear going on inside of him. But when he faced it down, god took over the fight and his boldness preceded the miraculous. So do not be afraid, don't be ruled by fear. You know it's always going to be there. When David looked at Goliath and it's interesting because Saul looked at Goliath as well Saul saw a giant too big to fight, but David saw a giant too big to miss. So when God tells you to do something and again this is why Jason led off with the listening prayer journal that we have Oftentimes you just got to listen to the Lord early in the morning and when he tells you something, you can go back and look at it and you can think it through and you can start paying attention so that you can see a giant that's too big to miss. Saul saw a giant too big to fight, but David saw a giant too big to miss because he knew God was with him. He said even David said with his mouth you come at me with a shield and sword. I come at you in the name of the Lord. Like this is so powerful Because he knew God was with him. He knew God was with him and that takes the fear away. Jesus said unless you come unto me.
Speaker 1:As a little child, you can't enter the kingdom. Think about this A little child sitting on a mom or a dad's lap just buries its head in your chest and they know everything is safe. Well, I mean, it's, it's you're you're like, don't be ridiculous, because not everything is safe. Well, for them it is. There's such a rest because they're with their parents. And it's the same way with our father, god. We know he is with us and even when we are in trials, even when this thing that he's calling us to do or this area of business is very difficult, the Lord is with you. You can put your head in his chest and you can trust him.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so that is key number three. Do not be afraid. I'm going to give you key number four and then we're going to read the verse, which is verse 17. So our keys, don't think about yourself. Obey what I tell you. This is God speaking to you. Obey what I tell you. Don't be afraid. And key number four be ready. Be ready. Verse number 17. Now, gird up your loins and arise and speak to them all, which I command you Do not be dis them or I will dismay you before them. Be ready.
Speaker 1:You know what this command sounds a lot like when Jesus took three of his disciples into the garden of Gethsemane and he told them keep watch and pray. He told them keep watch. Keep watch is be ready. You know what being ready is? It's looking and listening for God at all times. You're looking and listening for God at all times and here's the beauty of that is that you will recognize god when he shows up. You will, you'll be ready to see god when he shows up, and you'll recognize the enemy when he shows up looking like god. If you're ready, you never have to get ready, and so being ready is about looking and listening for God in all things. This is why we go back to bathe yourself in Scripture at the beginning of the morning. Bathe yourself in listening, prayer, listen for God, and then keep your eyes open all throughout the day, looking and listening for opportunities to bless other people, looking and listening for God in all things, and then what happens is that you'll recognize an opportunity that shows up looking like it's a God opportunity, when it's really not Okay. It's being ready.
Speaker 1:So we have to make sure that we are always ready. That's why Jesus told his disciples be ready when they were in the garden of Gethsemane. Now, they weren't ready. They fell asleep, so they weren't looking and listening for God in that moment. So what happened? The enemy showed up and Peter reached for the wrong weapon. He should have been fighting spiritually. He was ready to fight physically. Okay, so we've got to always be ready.
Speaker 1:So it's funny because Jason and I we our dad drives us to the airport every time we go to the airport and we have to speak somewhere. And uh, it's funny because years ago I told dad, I said, yeah, you know, we need to get to the hotel so we can prepare. And he said when you're always ready, you never have to prepare. And it's exactly right. It's like when you're always ready, you don't have to prepare because you're already preparing. And it's the same way in business Every single morning you're setting your attention on the Lord, you're spending some quiet time with him, doing a listening prayer, and this can all happen real quick, even if you get up late and the schedule's already starting and you got a little windshield time. It just very quickly postures your heart before the Lord. I pray open doors for ministry today as we serve, and you know the numbers we have to hit. You know the clients we need. You know the customers we need. You know the piece of tech that we need. You know the firing that I have to do today. You know the person that I need to hire. God knows all these things, but seek ye first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. In other words, you're prepping your heart for that ministry moment, for that opportunity to obey and to do what God has called you to do in the midst of an incredibly busy schedule, knowing that God will take care of all of the details of your business. Yeah, and if you're always ready, you never have to get ready. So be ready Now.
Speaker 1:Let me just say this as a quick side note when soldiers prepare for war, they have to do a few things. One of the first things you got to do is you got to get rid of everything that can entangle you in battle. So you got to get rid of everything that can entangle you in battle. Uh, I think that the movie was act of valor. These guys were about to go off and they were the guys that were going to take out bin Laden, and the night before they left. The commander in chief is like hey, you guys got anything you need to deal with at home. Handle it, deal with it. He said lock it down. Yeah, I don't need you guys coming into this thing having baggage any emotional baggage so lock it down tonight. So you, you got to get rid of the stuff that that entangles you.
Speaker 1:The next thing, you got to get in shape. You got to get used to your weapons, you know. You got to train yourself for battle. That's's why David and I go back. What is the sword? You know it's like your scripture Sword of the spirit. That's exactly right. So you've got to get. You got to train yourself, All right. So now it's very important that you recognize these four keys. Like God has called you to be a faith-filled entrepreneur, and he called you into greater fulfillment and success, and success in God's eyes. And in order to fulfill the call that God has on your life, you need to do these four things Don't think about yourself, obey what God tells you, do not be afraid and be ready. Always be ready, and doing those things, you will accomplish what God calls you to do.
Speaker 1:Well, jason, we have not done an own it or loan it in a long time. Yeah, we have not done an own it or loan it in a long time. Yeah, so I want to do an own it or loan it today. Okay, did I do rubber rings? Yeah, you've done that one. Yeah, but I don't remember. Yeah, because you don't wear a rubber ring. And I'm wondering why? Because I wear the ring that Tori gave me, but you don't. That's not the same. At our wedding, I do like rubber rings, the same one you can do. Yeah, it's the same one you can do. Rubber rings, I, you know I'd own it, but I don't need it because I got one. It's got a little message from her inside really nobody sees. Yeah, mine's at the bottom of a lake somewhere, and then my second one is at the bottom of another lake.
Speaker 1:Hey, we, our dad lost his ring one time and he it. He lost it for a year and he couldn't find it anywhere and he was so bummed and then the spring was, he lost, lost it in the spring, and when the spring came or no, I think he lost it at the end of the summer and then, when the spring came around, he, uh, we, he wanted to go out and play catch with me and david. He put his hand in his glove and his ring went right back on his finger. He pulled his hand out of his glove. He's like my ring. Oh well, I was not that fortunate. I've lost the. I think I've had three of them and so now I just do rubber rings. That's all I do, but I like it. It's, it's. It's kind of cool. It just doesn't look as cool. I want to get a tattoo on my finger Internal meaning. Well, that's what Willie and Corey Robertson did. I was sitting there looking at he and Corey's finger. I will smack Willie in the face. I was looking at his finger the other day we were together. Man, that looks like it hurts if you tattoo that Right on your bum.
Speaker 1:Everything that we're saying now does not matter, but what does matter is this podcast to help you accomplish what God calls you to do? So is this podcast to help you accomplish what God calls you to do? So hopefully, this is a blessing to you. Reach out to us if you want us to cover something. Hit us up on social media, benhambrotherscom. Well, I say that's not social media, it's just Benham Brothers is our handle, but then BenhamBrotherscom is our website and you can reach out to our fearless assistant, deb, and she always gets messages to us. We love it, so God.