Don't Worry About It

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Jesus concludes his sermon by repeating my mantra of old “Don’t worry about it” If we do what he has taught us, and we act in the patterns that he has set we really don’t need to let worry pollute our vision and destiny.

The first principle is to be honest and generous. If people trust you they will follow you.

He taught us that the words we use really matter. Use kind and sincere words. Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

Then he laid out the pattern we should follow as we live in the Lords Prayer.

Treat others with respect, in doing so you will increase your influence. Live a life of integrity and honesty. Set worthwhile goals and work towards them. Recognize human weakness forgiving and seeking forgiveness. All actions have consequences.

Go forward and just try your best. If you follow the patterns he set you will be clothed with beauty and glory as he has dressed his lilies of his field.

Follow the principles of the Sermon on the Mount and you will rise to amazing heights.

©tom jenson communications llc. 2015

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

Forgiveness is important enough for Jesus to repeat the concept in a slightly different way. The key to happiness and success is realizing that

Life is about making mistakes, and working to improve our daily performance.

Recognizing humanity allows us to look at mistakes as education perhaps in a mistake we can see a new, and better way of doing things.  If we allow ourselves to realize that no one will perform perfectly and that they will fall short we can forgive them and encourage them to do better. Forgiveness is about saying “I love you.”

If we allow love to dominate our thinking we can encourage excellence. In encouraging excellence, we can recognize effort, progress, and improvement. Leaders, who recognize and encourage improvement, develop loyal employees. A loyal employee will provide a better effort and increase productivity.

The loyal employee is loyal because they trust you. They trust you because you forgive them and you acknowledge your humanity and ask for forgiveness on their part.

When you can build a team that trusts you; you can accomplish anything you set out to do.

©tom jenson communications llc. 2015

Learn the Patterns of Success, through the Lords Prayer

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 Give us this day our daily bread.

 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Some people see the Lords prayer as a glorious prayer. And it is a glorious prayer. It also shows us that God works in patterns. I don’t think that this prayer is meant to be the same prayer we recite each day. It is meant to teach us how to pray. Jesus says after this manner pray ye. In other words here is a pattern for successful communication with your heavenly Father.

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” 

Treat people, with respect. Use their names, be kind and courteous.

In life people who do this are able to prosper and build large circles of influence.

Pattern 1: Be kind and increase your influence.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."  

Live in a manner that we think God wants us to.

When we try to do the right thing we end up on the good side of life. We don’t have to lie, or make excuses, we can just go forward and life a life of less worry. People of integrity prosper more in the long run.

Pattern 2: Live a life of integrity and honesty.

"Give us this day our daily bread."

Set worthwhile goals and work towards them. God created the world by setting goals and achieving them. So should we.

If we are not sure what we can do; we should find out by starting the practice. Set a goal in one area and at the end of the day evaluate your performance towards the goal and make adjustments to reach that goal. Acknowledge your mistakes along the way, realize that failure is part of the learning process. When you fall short of your expectations you can make adjustments to keep on going. Individuals who expect perfection are always disappointed. The fact is that we don’t always do things right.

If we try, we can learn what it takes to achieve our goal.

Pattern 3: Set worthwhile goals and work towards them.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

When we hold grudges we are carrying extra weight that slows us down and distorts our perception  of reality. If you have a disagreement, give yourself time to cool down then try to make amends. The person who forgives is more easily forgiven. In business if you can forgive and be forgiven you can keep your circle of influence growing in the midst of human frailty.

Pattern 3: Recognize human weakness by forgiving, and seeking forgiveness.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

If we are respectful, trying to do the right thing, working towards worthy goals, forgiving and seeking forgiveness, we can handle this one.

Temptations are all around us. These are the daily distractions that tear us away from the pursuit of our worthwhile goals and dreams. If we give into the temptations we receive the consequence of the distraction, rather than the pursuit of the goal. Temptations are temporary, fake and unfulfilling.

If you fall you can pay the consequence of your mistake and determine to work towards a worthy pursuit again. You don’t have to stay down when you fall. Life is about getting up and trying again.

Pattern 4: All actions and choices have a consequence. Make the choices that lead to good consequences.

Applying these principles will lead to success. 

I invite you to adopt the patterns of the Sermon on the Mount in your business and life. It will lead you to higher heights and grander vistas.

©tom jenson communications llc. 2015

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

In some cases this might look like a criticism of set prayer; it could be. I see this as a call to build relationships. Meaningful relationships are not based on memorized words. If we want to build a relationship we need to really communicate. We need to use the words that we mean.

In business using our own words is essential to success. The people you interact with recognize your sincerity and competency. Without sincerity and competency you will never make a sale, or close a deal.

Exhibit the confidence to say what you know. It is fine to admit that you don’t have all the answers right now, but that you can find out. People trust you when you are honest and willing.

Consider the words that you use.  Your challenge is to say honest words that build relationships, and friendships. Maybe even break out that copy of “How to win friends and influence people” and brush up your relationship skills by using honest and sincere words.

©tom jenson communications llc. 2015

DECIDE

5 ¶And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

These verses feature Jesus teaching us about decision making. Prayer is a tool that is available to anyone wise enough to use it. He is also discussing how we use this tool of decision making to prosper, or fail.

There is a certainty in life. We need to make decisions. Some decisions we make are wise and others foolish.

Those who make more wise, than foolish decisions win.

Jesus taught a parable that illustrates this point: A wise man built a house on a solid rock foundation. A foolish man built his house on the sand. Both houses looked great. When the floods came and the rain descended the wise mans house stood firm. The foolish man’s house disappeared.

I see two types of businesses, the hypocrites who lead by the wind of public opinion. They take sides in non-business related issues and almost become their own religion. If you have a differing opinion you will be eliminated from that business. These businesses cater to the popular crowd and look good for a while.

Business leaders who make decisions in this manner are setting themselves up for future failure.

A solid business owner makes quiet decisions that will unite society and allow everyone to purchase their product or service, if they choose to. This leader considered these questions. How can I make a solid return on the investment of capital? How can I benefit the most people by running a business? What are the long term consequences of my decision? A smart business leader may have prayed and considered other points of view.

In the end, the business that is built on solid decisions and principles will prosper. The flashy business will be left out in the cold.

©tom jenson communications llc. 2015

What would Jesus do to increase your bottom line?

At first glance the Sermon on the Mount looks like a lesson in how evil and bad hypocrites are. If you are willing to look at it from a different point of view this is the single greatest lecture on business ever given. In this blog, I will discuss what I see, from my point of view. I present this as my opinion. You will probably come up with other concepts and business practices that I didn't even consider. If you choose to leave a comment I prefer you leave an insight; because my opinion is not better than yours.

The current business climate is tough and it seems like we are at a standstill. What if the principles that will propel your business to incredible heights are right under your nose? Would you dare to act on them?

TAKE HEED

 1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

The first question you may ask is “ How does Jesus telling us to help the beggar increase my profit margin?”

This is a call for us to be honest and true as we deal with each other. As a leader you should provide an environment where your employees can prosper and "Give Alms" themselves. Pay your employees more, so that they will be able to give alms quietly and help the poor on their own. Also pay them more so that they can trust you.

If you treat your employees like commodities you will have a workforce that doesn't care about your vision. When your workforce doesn't trust you. Your business is doomed to a slow death.

True leadership is based on honesty and trust. Build it!

If your followers trust you amazing things can happen. The world is full of businesses that fail. One of the reasons that they fail is that they rely on a group of employees who are working for a paycheck and nothing else. 

When the leader is trusted the employees will actually work for a purpose in addition to the paycheck.

When all of your employees give their best efforts nothing can hold your company back.

Being honest and trustworthy is not only a key to happiness. It is also a key to increased profits and prosperity.

Leader, ask yourself; am I acting in a way that makes my followers want to follow me?

Ask yourself; what actions can I do today to change the outlook of my followers and increase trust in the masses? Then take an action that will increase trust and watch what happens.

©tom jenson communications llc. 2015