Doing Business GOD'S Way!

I always say it's just like it's kind of like a rhythm , it's just what I've got in me . It's kind of welcome to our house . Hey , today .

Today we are gonna talk about how do we do business God's way and and how do we come out of the Babylonian system now , babylon in the Bible is synonymous with the system of the devil , the world system , and there's a world system for everything for your marriage , for your finances , for the way you raise your kids , for Education , for law , for business , for

work , for finances , everything for immorality . You know , in the workplace the Babylonian system is Is the , the mindset of hustle till you die . Make as much money as you can , sacrifice your relationships to make it happen , do whatever you want with your earnings , retire as soon as you can and then go sit on the beach .

Like what is the Babylonian system of work today ? You know , as believers , in the workplace . We're supposed to come out of that mindset . That's right , you know . That's why we've said before that we don't see retirement in the Bible . There's re-tirement put on a new set of tires and then start a different chapter .

That doesn't mean you have to hustle as much as you did when you were 30 , you know , obviously , when you're 60 things are gonna be a little bit different .

But what we want to talk about today is coming up out of the system of Babylon in the business that you own , in the work that you do , so that you can get God , make sure that you get God as a partner . And we are gonna root this in the book of Isaiah , because God gave Isaiah a picture of what he would do when his presence was among his people .

And we're gonna use the exact . It's the same spiritual force of darkness during Isaiah's time is the same spiritual forces of darkness during our time . The same Babylon they were leaving , spiritually speaking , is the exact same for today .

And the , the promises that God gave to Isaiah , that Isaiah then gave to the people of God , are the same promises that we can grab hold of today . And , and so that's what we're gonna dive into into the book of Isaiah . That's that's where our context is gonna be .

So we want to make sure that we're not just thinking about your work , we're not just thinking about your business . We're talking about your entire life , like everything , the 360 degree view of your life . Because the Babylonian system of marriage is Is hey , you can sacrifice your marriage for your work , you can sacrifice your marriage to make money .

You can sacrifice your marriage to build a big business . You know , to meet with clients and David and I realized that what was this David like ? Five years into our business , we were spending lots of money on client dinners and taking them to real fancy places , but when it came to date night , we were chinsen fruit to frugal .

We were totally going all out for our clients but not our wives . And that was a Babylonian system , you know . Obviously the Lord spoke to us and convicted us and we we changed that started spending on our wives . Of course , our wives are like I don't want to spend hundred dollars on a steak . We're like , but honey , this is wagyu . You don't understand .

So there are far more , there are far bigger things that come out of Babylon than just simply that . But that was just one simple thing and throughout our business , over 22 plus years now , we have seen that it's very easy for the Babylonian system to creep into our ways .

I mean , it's just , it's the flesh , it's the world system , and so it's very easy , and especially through social media . And now you know , with with sales numbers and doing your key performance indicators and just trying to hit your goals , and those are all good things , but they have to be in the right context .

I gotta be in the right place so you may be convicted about something today that's great . Take it to the Lord . Ask him , lord , how can I do it your way ? How can I escape the system or this , this particular Way that I'm doing business and I need to adjust it to your way ?

And it scares me because I feel like it's gonna Decrease my revenue or whatever . Listen , we seek you first . The kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things Will be added unto you . It's all a matter of trust . Do we trust , do we truly trust God , that he is God and he will do what he says ?

So this is why we are gonna jump into the book of Isaiah and start with some scripture well , and and to . It's really important that you understand that that In revelation , in the book of revelation , will do revelation a little bit before we'll jump into Isaiah .

But in the book of revelation you have three characters that are at play in the book of revelation , that that are there at play now . They're gonna be at play at the end of time and then , ultimately , god will deal with them . You've got the beast , who is Satan .

You've got Babylon , who's the world system of the beast , and then you have the harlot , which is the false , nasty spiritual system that legitimizes the beast and it legitimizes Babylon . It's the religious system that that legitimizes the world system . It's like emergent church . That's essentially what it is . It's saying so the , the harlot rides the beast , the , the .

Without the harlot , the beast can't do what the beast does , because the harlot , which is the spiritual system , says hey , the beast is right , babylon is good , let's do it , babylon , let's do it this way .

This is why David and I and if you're not listening to our podcast Living Among Lions , our weekly podcast , where we talk about how to thrive like Babylon , and today , it's how to thrive like Daniel in today's Babylon you really need to be paying attention to that .

And so it's on Apple Podcasts and Google and we do a live stream on Facebook and YouTube every Thursday morning at 8 am Eastern . But we talk about those things and how , and it's why David and I so often speak against the false church out there , the one that would legitimize the ways of Babylon , that's right .

Even building their churches by the ways of Babylon . Where you're focusing on numbers , numbers , numbers , numbers , numbers and marketing and cute little marketing campaigns and branding , it's a Babylonian way . I'm not saying that you can't market . I'm not saying you can't have great branding . You need to have that kind of stuff .

But when that's the focus and you remove truth so that you can elevate marketing , that is a Babylonian way . That is the harlot , that's right . And you become a cruise ship , not a battleship . You become a bounce house , not a boot camp , and that is not what God is calling his people to do . And so we have to understand the times in which we live .

Yeah , and so now we jump into Isaiah 52 , because we want to talk to you about your business , and the Lord has spoken to us about our business , and we were obviously in the real estate space for 20 plus years . We're still in it , and there's a Babylonian way . You know the Babylonian way in real estate .

If you're just going to look at it at a granular view , you've got an elderly lady whose husband has passed and now she's a widow and she's got a house that's worth 300,000 . And it's time for her to move . And you go up and tell her I'll give you 150 for it . That is freaking Babylon . Mom says you do not take advantage of that woman like that .

Mom says you can't say freaking . Okay , well , but I'm sticking up for mom here . Okay , okay . Now I'm not saying that you can't get a good deal on a house and all that kind of stuff , but when you know the situation and you know what's going on and you have this gullible woman who will sell it for 150 .

I mean , she's older , she doesn't need the money or anything like that and you just take advantage of her and give her half , that is not good , okay , and so we do not want to be a part of Babylon . Now , that's why we're in Isaiah 52 . Because Isaiah 52 is looking forward to the time when Israel will be enslaved in Babylon .

Okay , so Isaiah was prophesying , and we all know the history of Israel . They were removed from Jerusalem and brought to Babylon . I forget exactly what year this was , but centuries before that , well , I should say a few generations before that , isaiah and Jeremiah , two prophets . They prophesied that that was going to happen .

Okay , and they wrote it down in their book . And so , in the 70th year , when the Israelites were enslaved in Babylon , they would be released by a king named Cyrus . And Isaiah and Jeremiah both prophesied how this would happen , and specifically , isaiah was giving them instructions on what they're to do when they're released .

Okay , so you follow me Now , in verse 11 and 12 of Isaiah 52 , david read that and put it in context . You guys , think about this in context of you being a Christian business owner and what God is telling you to do in today's Babylonian system of business .

Okay , the Lord says Depart , depart , go out from there , touch no unclean thing , go out from the midst of her , purify yourselves , you who bear the vessels of the Lord , for you shall not go out in haste and you shall not go in flight , for the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rearguard . Okay , guys , did you catch that ?

God is saying leave that space , leave that place , do not be a part of Babylon anymore . And when you do , as you leave Babylon , guess what you get ? You get God's provision and you get God's protection . As you leave Babylon . You will get His provision , which means he goes before you , and you'll get His protection , which means He'll go behind you .

That's what Isaiah 52-12 says I will go before you and I will be your rearguard . So in every area of life , in every area of your business , there are two ways you can choose God's way or Satan's way . God's provision and protection are found only when we choose His way .

So think about your business . What's the Babylonian way to do business For you specifically ? Whatever it could be ? I told you one for me and David in the real estate space . You know , taking advantage of a little grandmother who doesn't know what her house is really worth , and then you go sweep up and make all that money .

Or if she's like , I want to give you this house for X dollars and you're like , well , here's what it's worth , here's what I can go and try and put it on the market . Or I can bring in one of my agents if that's what you want to do , and now I'll pay you cash , we can do it fast , but you got to just come out of Babylon .

Come out of Babylon , just be honest and just think of the age old . And if you get the good deal , you get the good deal . Yeah , and that's happened to us many , many , many times . The Lord has provided and I'm like , look , it's worth X . So I just I really want to close it next week .

I'm like , okay , we can do cash , we'll close it next week , but I believe it's worth this . And that's happened many times . But there's full disclosure and now it's like , okay , god , thank you , you just dropped that in my lap . The Babylonian way says hide as much as you can . God's way says disclose , fully disclose .

If you have to hide something , it's the wrong way to go . The age old example of the used car salesman . The Babylonian way buy a cheap hunk of junk as much as you can do , a chintzy little touch up paint job .

If the car doesn't run , just do the very minimal that you can do to get it running for the next 50 miles and sell it to somebody for an exorbitant amount . And then it breaks and you don't help them out , like that's the Babylonian way .

The right way would be to only buy good cars and to take care of that thing and sell it for a decent margin and then take care of it if it breaks , especially with contractors and other things like that . There's so many ways to cut corners that is at someone else's expense .

See , that's the difference between Babylon and God's way is you always prioritize the other person first . That is what's most important . Psalm 15 teaches us that a righteous man swears to his own hurt . In other words , it's the other person first . So when you're making decisions and it actually benefits you but hurts them , that's Babylon .

But if you make the decision and it benefits you and benefits them and benefits God , and in which you can do it with a clean conscience , that's God's way . Yeah , so that's that . I do . Wanna say that real quick . Let me pause for one second .

In Babylon , the definition of the free market is the price a buyer is willing to pay and the price a seller is willing to sell , and that's it . And you might be thinking well , that's good .

Well , no , not when you're a fake filled entrepreneur , because there's a third component In God's way , in God's system , the definition of a free market is the price that a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to sell with a clear conscience under God . That's right , got me . That's the difference .

So that's why we couldn't take advantage of the elderly lady whose husband died , because you can't do that with a clean conscience . And if you can do that with a clean conscience , then your conscience is dark , that's right .

That's why , during Hurricane Irma , of course , when the interstate was absolutely jam packed with people evacuating in Florida , the gas stations all up and down the interstate were jacking up three and four times the price of gas . Well , it was the price people were willing to pay . Yeah , and I'm willing to sell it . Yeah , that was absolute gouging .

And , of course , they all got slapped by our federal government Like you don't do things like that . Well , I mean heck . If our culture says there is no God and we're raising our children in the public school system , you know , teaching them they come from monkeys .

Well , of course , when business owners , you know , see something like that , they're gonna act like monkeys and go out and just start jacking the prices up . But see , we remove that component of with a clean conscience before God , in other words . In other words , the fear of God has to be in your processes .

You have to fear God , and by fear I mean a holy awe , a healthy fear like , hey , I can't do these things because I want to honor God . I'm going to be standing before a holy God when he looks at my actions . So that's , the fear of the Lord , has got to be the root if you want to do things . You know , surge pricing is a very real thing .

I mean , you see surge pricing in Uber . You see surge pricing . Now guess what Wendy's is doing . Yeah , wendy's is trying out surge pricing with hamburgers . Yeah , and how does that make you feel like I can't stand ? I look , I love , I love the tool of uber . I do . But when that surge pricing comes in , I get to a certain extent .

Of course , with all the gas prices and everything like that , I'm we're not saying you have to always fix it . It's okay to an extent . And we're saying you we're not saying you have to run it a loss at a deficit because I'm prioritizing others . No , that's stupid , that's foolishness . You know the parable of the faithful , the , the talents .

The faithful didn't turn around and give five of his talents away and invest the other five . No , he was faithful to go and invest all ten . In other words , there's a return for your work , and that's actually a good thing , but this whole idea that you do not have to factor God into the equation , that's when it gets really , really dangerous .

And you know , surge pricing was a part of when Jesus went to clear out the temple from the money changers . Remember that . And Obviously , those money money changers should , and people doing business should , not have been inside the temple . They shouldn't , because the temple is a house of prayer , not a place of busyness . Right , and it was just so busy there .

But they could have easily gone and and done their exchange and done their transactions outside the temple , and , and it would have cost X dollars . But when they moved inside the temple , they started charging way more for people going inside the temple . So it was surge pricing on top of the fact that they were inside the temple .

So there was a bunch of stuff , and the reason they went with surge pricing is because the high priest , caiaphas , got a cut off the top . Now , isn't that crazy . He serves pricing even in Jesus's day , and he goes and lays the smackdown on it now , and Caiaphas certainly didn't disclose that up front no , he didn't .

Nobody knew it , and so Jesus knew it , though , and he goes in there and lays the smackdown .

So , anyway , I'm David Nyer , not sitting here saying , oh , you can't do surge pricing or anything like that , but we are saying we got to redefine the free market so that it's the price that a buyer is willing to pay , a seller's willing to sell , and everyone has got to have a clear conscience under God . But we are in the Babylonian system of today .

So this is the world we live in , but how can we run our businesses ? So if you want to do things God's way and you want to have his provision and protection in your business , you got to focus on three things . We pull this directly from Isaiah 52 , verse 11 and 12 . Number one you got to have preparation . Okay , so these guys Babylon .

So the Israelites were enslaved in Babylon and and they knew because of the writings of Jeremiah and Isaiah , that there would be a time , at the end of 70 years , where they'd be released . They didn't know exactly what all it would look like , but all they knew is if , when they read scripture , they had to get ready .

So if you're gonna leave one place for another , if you're gonna leave Babylon for the other place , well , you got to pack up and you got to know where you're headed .

So you need to have a vision for your business and you need to go ahead and like if you're in the sales industry , you need to have yourself a set of core principles that you're gonna abide by . That Prepares you and your salespeople to know what to do when faced with a certain situation . That's right . Part of our preparation is drawing a line .

Yeah , what ? Where is the line in the sand ? First of all , the intrinsic Reality should be I will prefer others over myself . I will make a decision first on what is gonna benefit the customer , what is gonna benefit the person that is buying from me or that I am serving first . Second , how does that then in turn , benefit benefit me ? I say .

A 4817 says I'm the Lord , your God , who teaches you to profit , who leads you in the way you should go . The word there for teach means to train up and to develop skills . The word profit doesn't mean money . It actually means to bring value .

So the original Hebrew reads a little bit more like this I'm the Lord , your God , who trains you to develop skills that bring value . Now , in a free market , in a free country , what's gonna follow value is profit , right . So you think about how can I bring more value , right ?

Not how do I get these Customers to pay so that I can not only cover my nut but have money left over . It's like , no , that's not the way we look at it . We look at it first how can I bring value and serve ? Secondly , how does that service then Result in profit and revenue for my family and for my company ? Yeah , so it's preparation

. You know , proverbs 27 , 12 says the prudent sees danger , and what's he do ? He hides himself , but the simple go on and suffer for it . You know what that means . That means look ahead as a faith-filled business owner .

Look ahead and say what are the areas of the way that I do business can actually get me in trouble with God , not just get you in trouble with the law . The law is the lowest that you can go . I didn't you know there is a law that says that men cannot , husbands cannot , beat their wives in North Carolina .

But I didn't wake up this morning thinking about hey , I got to try not to beat Tori . No , because the law always defines the lowest that you can go . Love defines the highest that you can go , and in the middle is public perception . So oftentimes it's like , well , it's legal .

And then the next level is like , well , you know , people still think I'm like it doesn't affect my brand . It's like you're going to like these lowest common denomin . You're going to the lowest level . You've got to get all the way up into the fear of God . What would please God ?

Yeah , with my work , my service , my sales , whatever it is in my sales process ? What would make God smile ? Yeah , what would be a fragrant incense to the Lord ? Now , of course you can't just give everything away , and that's not even how God thinks .

Of course we're going to give out of our revenue , we're going to give out of our profits , but I'm not talking about giving everything away . We do drive profit , but what is a way we can actually drive profit ? Like Luke 19 and Matthew 25 , the faithful servants who multiply , how do we drive the profit and make it a fragrant incense to the Lord ?

Yeah , and so this step is all about preparation . So this is why David and I didn't take on business debt . We didn't , because we knew that we needed to operate it .

We operated at a thin margin and we knew that we didn't want to go out there and have to have to , like , gain a certain amount of revenue every single month to cover our debt , plus make sure that we were paid . So we just went low . Yeah , we started low , and that allowed us that type of preparation allowed us to run it God's way for sure .

Oh , and you're going to talk pace too , right ? Yeah , I'm going to get to that . I'm about to jump in , okay . So step number one is preparation . Step number two is purity . They were not to touch any unclean thing . So in verse 11 , he says depart , depart , go out from there . Touch no unclean thing . Go out from the midst of hurt , purify yourselves .

This meant they were not to carry the customs of Babylon into their new place of habitation and on their way out , they weren't supposed to bring anything with them . They were supposed to leave that stuff behind . Okay , to no longer work in the way Babylon taught them to work .

They were to remain separate and thinking from , separate from thinking and acting like Babylon . So it's not that . It's not that we go out of Babylon as faithful entrepreneurs and we're like crap . I got to do it God's way , like he's not . God's not going to . Let me do it like this . No , now you're thinking like a Babylonian .

No , just think , god , I'm going to honor you and I'm excited to see how you respond as my business partner and the purity there . The word is to be blameless and above reproach . That's truly what it means , and it's interesting .

In the Scripture , god doesn't actually define ABCs of blameless and above reproach , but you have it burned in your heart and you know it . If you have the Holy Spirit in you , if you've , and even if you don't know the Lord and you've got a conscience , you know what is blameless and above reproach in your market .

And so that's the most important thing is to ask yourself what is blameless and above reproach and what is not blameless and above reproach . What if ?

What is part of my sales process or what is the way that I am doing business in a way that could be taken wrong , when then , of course , we're all like well , it's their fault , you know , it's public perception , they just don't understand our industry . No , it doesn't matter . You have to be blameless and above reproach .

And you got to ask God Lord , purify me like King David would pray , test me and try me and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Like God . Show me the way . If it's God's way , show me how I can purify myself where I am not being blameless and above reproach .

Yes , and you know there's so many different aspects to purity , so we won't go into too many of them , but you know , obviously the one is make sure that you're the same person in private , that you are in public . Right , just make sure you're that person .

That's where David shows us in , where he was faithful in the lion and bear stories when he was shepherding the sheep before he went out and killed Goliath . So he's faithful when nobody was watching , and so that prepared him to be faithful when everybody was watching . So that's what purity looks like , you know .

But at the same time , purity is operating by principles inside your business . So when it comes to training up people . So David and I had an army of salesmen working for us when we were in real estate space and we had a brokerage that was nationwide 100 offices , 35 states you guys all know that kind of stuff .

So we had hundreds of salespeople that worked for us and we taught them principles and a couple of the principles . One is when you don't know what to do , do the harder thing . So , when you don't know what to do , do the harder thing . And when you come to a crossroads and you don't know exactly which way to go , err to the benefit of the other person .

Err to the benefit of the customer . Err to the benefit of the client . And it's like I can't tell you what to do in every situation , but I can teach you this principle . You get to a situation where you know somebody could buy from you , could not buy from you whatever , and maybe it's good for them , maybe it's not , and you're not sure exactly .

Should I get them to buy this or not ? Well , err to their benefit . If the roles were reversed and you were sitting over there even better , if your elderly mother were sitting over there , what would you want a salesperson to convince her to do , knowing that she'll do whatever the salesperson tells her to do ?

Always err to the benefit of the other person , which means you're gonna have to do the harder thing . That's the principle that we taught , and so let me give you a couple of little sticky statements . We prioritize relationships over revenue . You prioritize people over profit , and you act transformational , not transactional , which is putting souls over sales .

Exactly that is crucial . So we are involved in transactions , we are involved in revenue , we're involved in all of those things . Those are good things , but you have to prioritize and that's where purity comes in . You have to draw the line in your heart and if you don't , the money is to wait .

Trust me , you guys that are in the marketplace , you know what it's like when you start bringing that revenue in and then you're like well , that's God's favor , that's God's favor . Well , in the scripture , before the apostle Paul got on that Centurion boat , all of a sudden he's like hey , this is gonna lead to shipwreck .

And then it says but a favorable win picked up . And the ship's captain sensed that there was favor , a favorable win . So they got in the boat and Paul's like this ain't gonna be good , it's not gonna be good .

Yeah , so just because there's some revenue coming in , just because there's all of a sudden this great door that just opened , does not always mean that's what God wants you to do . That's why you have to draw a line in your heart . You lead your business by principles , not by profit , and guess what you get .

Whenever you do that , you get God's provision and his protection . See , you get Isaiah 52-12, . God's like just do this and guess what I'm gonna get ? Okay . So it's preparation , it's purity and the last piece if we want God's provision and protection , we need pace . We need pace .

They had to pace themselves , not rush out in haste , and verse 12 it says for you shall not go out in haste and you shall not go out in flight . They needed to walk at God's pace , specifically for these guys . This is why it's called a Christian walk , not a Christian run .

Right , when we walk , like if David and I are gonna walk with each other , guess what we can do . We can talk , we can communicate . But if I'm walking with David and I'm like , hey , why are we walking ? Let's run . We can totally do this , let's go , let's go at like a 70% pace . You know , david and I could keep that up for a little bit .

You know we're in decent shape . But guess what happens about 30 seconds after we start running like that , we can't talk anymore , we can't communicate . Why ? Because our heart rates get elevated . And when your heart rate gets elevated , I'm not thinking about listening , I'm thinking about surviving .

So we need to pace ourselves in our businesses , which means we're looking and listening for God in all things .

This is why David and I teach listening prayer , and right now , I'll give you a little pre announcement we are coming up with a book for you that we will , that you'll be able to get , where we'll walk you through listening prayer and we'll give you a worksheet that will walk you through it , how you can incorporate it into your business .

Okay , let's just a little look forward . But that is one of the things that we did Every single morning was spend time listening to the Lord , spent time in prayer privately , and then bringing our leaders together and spend it together corporately and really listening to the Lord . And you know what ?

There were times where Perry Butler , one of our managers , would be like man , the Lord spoke something this morning . We're like , okay , what is it ?

And he's like you know , we're doing this thing with Fannie Mae , this , this deal and and you know , we know that one of the agents said this , and I think that we should do this , because I spoke to the Lord this morning and he showed me this verse and we're like , oh my gosh , it's exactly what we needed .

This is great and that's how the Lord honors you whenever you walk at his pace . Yeah , if we're not walking at his pace and we're pushing too hard , so fast , you stop communication and then profit becomes the focus and not people . Yeah , and in the absence of communication , negativity always fills the void . It does you lose your people .

John Gordon first said that I loved it . In the absence of communication , negativity always fills the void . I don't have time for that meeting . I don't have time , I don't have time to talk to that person , I don't have time to do my anchor activities with my leadership team Like I just don't have time . Or when I do it all we're .

All we're talking about is how do we hit the goal ? How do we hit the goal ? How do we hit the goal , and and and . What you do is now , all of a sudden , people come underneath profit because your pace is too fast .

Southwest Airlines had an opportunity to go into 274 markets and , by the way , they're probably one of the only airlines companies that are truly profitable . It's truly profitable . They had a chance . They chose four , much to the chagrin of their shareholders . But they said listen , we cannot grow too fast . Yeah , because then it sacrifices our customer service .

It sacrifices , you know , the relationship we have with our pilots and our flight attendants , and it do you see that is so important and that's Southwest Dadgum Airlines . That's not a kingdom company and so I'm sure there's probably lots of believers in there . But but it's the . It's that pace .

You have to run at the proper pace and if you don't , naturally what the natural line of demarcation will automatically default profit , profit , profit , profit , profit , profit , profit , profit . And then people will start falling by the wayside your people in your business as well as the customers that you're serving . So there you go , right there .

Do you want God's provision and protection in your business ? Then you got to come up out of Babylon . Babylon is Satan's way , but we need to do it God's way If we're going to get his provision and protection . We need to make sure that we've got the proper preparation .

We're focusing on purity and then we're walking at his pace , keeping ambition in the passenger seat , not allowing it to jump into the driver's seat . We're entrepreneurs , which means we're all ambitious , but faith is living without scheming . If there's any scheming in your life , in your business , you need to stop it . You need to do it .

David and I have discovered there were times when we were doing our business where we had little schemes in there and we were operating by strategy more than the spirit , which caused us to run faster than we should have been running . Okay , your pace will always increase when you operate in strategy over spirit .

Now , strategy is great , you want it , but it's just got to stay in the back . It's got to stay away in terms of coming in as something that comes behind the spirit . Okay , that's it right there . That's how we're going to build God's business . We're going to build our business God's way , not do it Satan's way . Come up out of Babylon . You guys got this .

Okay , this was a long podcast . This was good . What are you talking about ? 30 minutes , hopefully you listen to it on 2x and you just kind of forward through what Jason says . Okay , next week we'll see you guys . God bless , peace .