Living with a Transformed Mindset

In Matthew 10, a lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (v.27) 

God wants your whole life; He isn't interested in just a part of it. He doesn't just want your Sunday mornings. He wants it all. 365 days this year, but 366 in 2024. So today, I want to talk to you about one of my favorite verses. Romans 12:2 says, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." 

When God transforms your mind, it transforms EVERYTHING. 

True story, this very verse is what got iWork4Him started. I was so tired of running into "Christians" in the marketplace whose behavior was the exact opposite of loving God and loving people. Their behavior matched the expected behavior of the world… but here's the thing: we are no longer of the world. 

Chapter 2 of iWork4Him shares my testimony of living a bi-furcated life at work from 20 to 40 years old. My mentors taught me that business is business and church is church; they have nothing to do with each other. My behavior matched that training, but IT WAS WRONG TRAINING. 

Romans 12:2 says DON'T copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you by CHANGING the way you think. When you change the way you think, you change the way you act. When you change the way you act, the world will be impacted because you will be loving God and loving people. In 2006, when I realized that my behavior matched the customs of this world, I knew I had a problem. How would I ever attract anyone to Jesus if I looked just like any old joe in business? 

For the last 16 years, I have been changing. What about you? 

As we have talked all month long on this blog, does your life reflect Jesus's great commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself? Is Romans 12:2 a call to action for you? If your honest answer is “no,” then I want to encourage you to pick up a copy of iWork4Him: Change the Way You Think About Faith and Work. Inside, you will not only find my story, but also the stories of many other believers just like you who went through the process of having their mindset transformed.

Remember that you are a new creation, and everyone around you at work should be BENEFITTING from your faith walk with Jesus whether they know Him or not.

- Jim

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Building Spiritual Muscle

In Matthew 10, a lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (v.27) 

God wants your whole life; He isn't interested in just a part of it. He doesn't just want your Sunday mornings. He wants it all. 52 weeks a year. In the last couple of weeks, I touched on what it looks like to love and serve with all your heart and soul… but what about your strength? 

I like to think of loving the Lord with all your strength as loving the Lord with all the things that make you strong or stable in life: your accomplishments, your influence, your paycheck, your talents, your time, etc.—in other words, using these things for God's glory. However, if you are like me, sometimes your strength gets tired, or sick, or depressed, or wounded, and we don't love God very well, or we only love Him with a part of ourselves. When this happens, we favor some "spiritual muscles" over others, which leaves us with a lopsided life. 

For example, I often find myself loving God through my actions. This is natural because I'm a "get it done" guy. But what about loving God with my undivided time and attention? What about listening to Him? Waiting on Him? Being still in His presence? 

Currently, I am working on loving God through the strength of silence, more specifically, my silence. 

I don't do silence very well. If you listen to the iWork4Him podcast, you know I am not a quiet guy. Well, my mind is the same way. I am always thinking about many things. My brain is whirling all the time. So I neglect the spiritual practice of silence. 

So how do I love the Lord with all my strength? 

I let Him train me through my weaknesses. Silence is a weakness in my life. I love my Father, and I am so grateful for Him in my life, and because of that, I want to give Him my best all the time. However, I have many things that aren't in the "best" condition, so I give them to Him to work on and refine through the power of the Holy Spirit. Being Silent is a strength I don't possess, but I want to so I can hear His voice all day long in my work. When I am quiet, He can direct me in His ways rather than my ways. 

In 1 Timothy 4:8, the Apostle Paul writes, "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." Spiritual training is worth the time and effort. It gives back ten-fold in this life and the next. So, if you have a chance today, pray for the strength of silence to grow in my life. 

And what about you? What are the spiritually weak areas of your life that you want God to strengthen so that you can love Him with everything – both at work and at home? What areas of your life need some spiritual muscle? 

We talked with counselor Dr. Jessica Rothmeyer recently about taking the areas of our life that are damaged, tired, worn out, or traumatized and strengthening them through a renewed mind in Christ. Pump up your faith by tuning in to this incredible interview.  

- Jim

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Serving Alongside the Holy Spirit

In Matthew 10, a lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (v.27) 

God wants your whole life; He isn't interested in just a part of it. He doesn't just want your Sunday mornings. He wants it all. 24/7, 365 days a year (and 366 on leap years). 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, "Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?" Don't miss this: the Holy Spirit resides in you Every. Single. Day: That means He is just as present in the boardroom as He is in the Sanctuary. 

Serving God with your whole soul means that you don't leave faith at Church; instead, you take it with you everywhere, including work. 

So, why does the Holy Spirit reside in you? What is He looking to accomplish? According to Scripture, the Holy Spirit is gifted to believers as a counselor, intercessor, teacher, guide, and ultimately, as the very voice of God inside of us. When we consider what it means to love God and our neighbor with all of our soul and spirit, it means looking through the lens of the Holy Spirit. 

God knows your neighbor (He created them, you know), and he can tell you a lot about that neighbor through the Holy Spirit. 

At work, we are surrounded by lost and hopeless people. Some are bitter, some are angry, some are depressed, and some are desperate. Each of these work neighbors needs to know who you know. Jesus. He is the only answer that will bring them from being lost and hopeless to being found and hopeful. 

When we leave our homes to go to work, or you leave your bedroom to walk to your office, the Holy Spirit comes with you. He wants to help you love your neighbors as you go. Our Father created each of them in His image, and as an image-bearer, He wants to be in a relationship with them. Each of your neighbors will learn what a relationship with God looks like from your relationship with them. WOW, now that is a new perspective! 

Ask the Holy Spirit what it looks like to love your neighbors this week. Each one may need a special touch, but through Him, you can do it. Our love for them will help them experience the Ultimate Love of our Father in Heaven. That's what Jesus was talking about. 

Need some ideas on how to love your neighbor at work this week? Check out iWork4Him’s Daily PowerThought – a one-minute broadcast that challenges today's workplace believers to engage in their workplace mission field!

- Jim

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Godcidences and Walking by Faith in Your Business Life

Normal and routine. Two words we are so comfortable with, we cuddle up with them every day. As long as things are regular and predictable and our routine isn't disrupted, we are GOOD TO GO! But what happens when God interrupts our normal routine and sends us off in a direction we weren't expecting? Do we embrace it, or do we give in to stress, anxiety, fear, and worry?

In our new book, sheWorks4Him: Embrace your calling as a Christian Woman at Work, Shae Bynes wrote a chapter titled "Walking by Faith in my Business." In it, Shae recounts a time when God intercepted her daily routine with a Godcidence – a coincidence orchestrated by His mighty hand - in the form of another woman of faith. These two women ended up walking together on a journey neither had expected, a journey that flipped Shae's life right-side-up and led to her Biznistry, Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur.

If Shae had resisted God's move to disrupt her normal routine, thousands of Christian Business people wouldn't be Kingdom Driven Entrepreneurs today. So, what about you? Is your normal routine so comfortable that you don't have room in there for God to interrupt and send you in a new direction? Are you so set in your ways that you are resistant to any change? 

Following Jesus is about anything BUT normal and anything BUT routine. Being led by the Spirit of God in your life is an adventure - one that will take all kinds of unexpected twists and turns. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." Note that the psalm doesn't say, "your word is a floodlight onto my future." God's will is going to take you in directions you never anticipated, so don't get too caught up in your 100-yard plans; pay attention to what God is illuminating in the one yard in front of you!

If you find yourself prioritizing a normal routine or if you are unsure how to know God's calling and will for you TODAY, ask the Holy Spirit for a fresh wind in your life. Ask Him for an adventure that requires walking by faith, not by sight, in your business, work, or family life. And remember, even when the future seems obscured or unsure, the promises of God never fail, and his word will show you where to step next. 

To hear the rest of Shae's story and other stories of women who walked by faith in their personal and professional lives, pick up a copy of sheWorks4Him. Oh, and did I mention the first chapter is available for FREE? Simply click here to download it!  

Jim 

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

The iWork4Him Lifestyle

I have a friend I’ve been mentoring for 4-5 years who is in law enforcement. He is an honorable man who served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and is sold out on Jesus. However, making the connection between his work as a law enforcement officer, his faith, and his tours of duty was especially difficult for him. He struggled with the carnage he had seen in the middle east, the current political tension around his career, and the love that Jesus wants him to share with his neighbor... (aka all those he comes into contact with every day). 

Throughout our friendship, I have prayed with him and for him, but making the connection between his faith and his work has always been, frankly, just plain hard.

Then, about two months ago, I got a text message from him that said,

"I'm just mentally preparing for my journey. Nothing fancy. No theology. No arguments. Just going to offer to share the great news that is Jesus Christ. Offer a small ABC to Salvation, and if they would like, I 'd be happy to baptize them. I don't know where this idea came from, but it came to me that I could do it, and it can be my part. Even if I only lead one person to Jesus this year, one more eternal life will be saved. I'm just a nobody who wants to tell everybody."

Talk about a leap of faith - I am so proud of him! And did you catch the last line of my friend’s text message? I’m just a nobody who wants to tell everybody.

Matthew 28:18-20 says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When Jesus gave the great commission, it was to fisherman and tax collectors – it was to nobodies. Yet, Jesus chose to use them to spread the gospel to every nation, and it was Jesus who empowered them to do so. In the same way, God wants to use you in whatever profession you’re in to bring the good news to those around you! All you have to do is take the same leap of faith the apostles did, the same leap of faith that my friend did. Say yes to God.

For some easy ways to get started sharing the gospel in your own workplace, pick up a copy of our new book, iWork4Him: Change the Way You Think About Faith and Work.

Jim

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

A God Sized Remodel

Martha and I acquired a little house in the middle of small-town, mid-west America recently. The place is 125 years old and drew us in immediately with its quaint appearance and excellent location. But here’s the funny thing about old houses: they look great on the outside, but they usually need A LOT of fixing on the inside.

Ever since iWork4Him launched, we have used Romans 12:2 as our team verse.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

You and me… we’re a lot like my old house. Our lives might look pretty good on the outside, but the inside is full of broken, malfunctioning, outdated things. But when we give our lives to Christ, God does a full inspection of the interior of us and prepares for a complete remodel on our hearts, minds, and souls. Just like Martha and I had to rip out the old plumbing, sewer, and electrical in our old house, God dismantles all of the bad connections, wiring, and plumbing inside of our minds and replaces them with brand-new, more effective versions.

This internal remodeling process is a lifelong venture – one that God will be doing until our very last day on this earth. I don’t mind it, but sometimes the remodeling projects on my heart, mind, and soul take a little longer than I think they should. It can be tiring to be a work in progress, but take heart: no matter what the pace, God IS transforming you. The work of the Holy Spirit is perfect and purposeful, and He is building in you qualities and characteristics that will reflect Him to everyone you come into contact with.

Take a few moments to do a self-evaluation today. Is God actively remodeling something in you? If not, is there something that you need to allow him access to?

Have a great week and enjoy working on your next personal remodeling project.

Jim

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Getting Old and Irrelevant, or Willing to Change?

It happens to all of us. God gives us a direction and we move toward that direction and eventually that new direction becomes routine. That routine has the danger of getting stuck in a rut.

What am I talking about? I know that it's happened to me at least three or four specific times in my life where God placed a ministry in my life and asked me to be obedient serving there for a season, but I didn't recognize the end of the season. Sometimes that ministry was in business, or the church, or my community, but it was still ministry.

Here's what I so often forget - what has a beginning, often has an end. What is relevant today, may not be relevant two years from now.

I need to be open to when the Holy Spirit tells me change is on the horizon. When God asks me to finish one task and move onto another, I need to be willing to let go and obey. I don't want to become out of date and irrelevant, or do things just because I've "always done it that way". Take for instance Sears and Kmart - they didn't adjust and now they are extinct.

The gospel is fresh and brings freedom in new ways every day. How is God asking you to bring that fresh Gospel message of freedom to the people you work alongside today? Is it a different approach than what you have done in the past?

Let's be open to change and realize that God is at the center of that change. He wants to be Relevant to those we work around each and every day.

Truth is truth and it's never changing. How the truth is presented may change. It was once from a street corner or a pulpit and today it may be online blogs and podcasts. Still the same message.

Are you stuck in a rut or are you willing to change?

Let go and let God lead you into new fresh waters.

Here's a few of our favorite resources to help you in a fresh way:

• The Pocket Testament League

• Right Now Media at Work

• Jim and Martha's book lists

Lamentations 3:23

23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Hurricane Jesus

It’s not just the heat. It’s the heat and the humidity combined that generate weather power: hot water fuels a hurricane and low pressure increases the devastation.

I love the weather. I love watching the weather. I love watching people try to predict the weather. I love trying to predict it myself. I love the power of a good storm.   Growing up in MN, I loved watching intense thunderstorms and loved loved loved watching intense blizzards that brought thundersnow.  Now that we have lived in Florida for 15 years, I have learned about a whole new pattern of weather and how hot water affects it. 

You see, the hotter the Gulf of Mexico, the more intense the hurricanes can be when they form in the fall. The summer of 2005 the water in the shallows of the Gulf was 95 degrees and the deep water was almost 90.  Those high water temperatures combined with week frontal boundaries created a petri dish for growing powerful hurricanes like Katrina and Rita.  The devastation leveled by those two storms is still being felt today all over the northern Gulf seacoast.   

Just as the right combination of water temperature and wind create a powerful hurricane, the right combination of obedience and Holy Spirit Power combine to devastate the enemy’s stronghold in our workplaces and our neighborhoods.

There is power in the name of Jesus.

Most of you have sung that song, but do we really believe it.  The same Holy Spirit who came and wreaked havoc on the day of Pentecost almost 2000 years ago, is just as powerful today.  Let’s pray for the powerful combination of obedience and Holy Spirit to have victory over the enemy.  You will be used to leave a lasting impact on the lives of those you work with.  It’s the iWork4Him way.

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Mid-Summer Doldrums

I grew up in MN. Everybody thinks that MN is cold and snowy, but let me tell you about the summer doldrums in MN.  I’ll never forget the summer I was 8 years old and my family moved to MN from MD. It was so hot the semi-truck dented the driveway from the 108 degree heat.  On those hot days, my mom called it the summer doldrums.  It could be too hot to truly do much of anything – even as a kid, causing boredom and lack of purpose.

I came to learn that the temperature often rose over 100 degrees during a MN summer and well below 0 in the MN winter!  How do you ever get used to that sort of temperature swing?  Hardiness. You can’t be a wimp and deal with that cold or that hot.

Isn’t that a lot like being a Christ Follower?  

Our temperature swings in the Spirit. Some days we are really hot and some days we are really cold, but most of the time we are kind of tepid (lukewarm).  To live out iWork4Him, I think God wants me to be hot, which takes a lot of prayer. Prayer can fuel my energy and enthusiasm and my ability to be obedient. 

I don’t want to be in a “Christian Doldrum”.  

Not hot and not cold but not really allowing my faith to impact what I do every day!  What can we do to avoid the doldrum?  Start Praying for our co-workers and/or employees today. Watch as our faith grows and watch the workplace transform and the doldrums melt away. 

Happy Mid-Summer!

Revelation 3:16 New Living Translation (NLT)

16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Ground Hogs Day and the Holy Spirit

Happy Ground Hogs Day! 

You may be asking yourself"

“What does Ground Hogs Day have to do with the Holy Spirit?”

I am about to tell you. 

My presumption is that Ground Hogs day was invented by some very bored people in PA who grew weary of winter and one day they noticed a ground hog stick its nose out of the ground.  Whether it was sunny that day or cloudy, the observers made a prediction of 6 more weeks of winter or winter was over.  Either way, they made it up. Why 6 weeks instead of 4 weeks or 8 weeks. Ground Hogs don’t know. For that matter, neither do the highly paid weather professionals with millions of dollars of weather equipment.  Weather is unpredictable and powerful and not subject to the whims of a ground hog.  It is important to note that for the last 20 or 30 years – they plant Punxsutawney Phil in a hole that is surrounded by cameras and millions of people watching. It’s all staged and it has no bearing but it makes for ?great? TV? Or at least distraction from the winter months.

The Holy Spirit

In the Jim Brangenberg Bible Paraphrase I hear Jesus saying in the Book of John:

“I must go so that the Holy Spirit can come. If I am here, He can ‘t come and you need Him because He will live in each one of you with power and strength. You will be able to do even greater things than I have been able to do because of what I am about to do – Die and Raise from the Dead – and the Holy Spirit will do those incredible things through you.” 

(Read John 16 for yourself in your favorite translation)

It seems however, that we have forgotten those words. We often discount this truth and replace it with a more rational, reasonable, predictable Holy Spirit that doesn’t make us uncomfortable.  We talk about the Holy Spirit at church but then tend relegate Him to the back row and ignore His presence in our lives.    Just like the ground hog we have placed the Holy Spirit in the spot light only for show.  However, the Holy Spirit is like the weather. Unpredictable, Powerful, Unexplainable.   Does He effect your life this way?

Perhaps one of Bill Murrays greatest movies, and he had many, was the movie Ground Hogs Day.  Many of you will go look that up and watch it today.  He got stuck in a time loop doing the same things every day, living in meaningless and having to wake up to the music of Sonny and Cher every morning.  Then one day things changed for him.  Today could be your day to let things change.  Wake up to a new song!

I am a follower of Jesus, and it is because of the incredible things that He did for me.  Everything about me should be changing and that change is driven by the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to stop relegating the Holy Spirit to a fairy tale status and never view the Bible as just a book of history.  The Bible is a life handbook and it says the Power of the Holy Spirit is life changing.  Let’s be Led by God’s spirit today and not pretend that we believe a ground hog. I want to go all in for Jesus today, be transformed and let His overwhelming unpredictable Holy Spirit power change everything about me.  What about you? 

For the Kingdom

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: To transform Christian-run businesses through mentoring Christian Business Owners (CBOs) by incorporating the servant leadership of Jesus Christ in their businesses, their home life and their walk with Christ.