March 15, 2025 • 26 mins
Welcome to Moody Presents with Mark Jobe … senior pastor of New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Here at Moody Presents, we have a growing number of Mark’s messages archived online … along with a variety of resources designed to help you grow while you’re waiting for the Lord to return. So, go online today and explore what’s available! You’ll find us at … Moody Presents.org . Last week we began a message called, The Hard Work of Waiting for Jesus … and Mark was sharing the importance of working hard while we wait. So, let’s not keep you waiting any longer. With another message from our Defiance—Turn Your World Upside Down series, here’s Mark Jobe.
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S1 (00:01):
Today on Moody Presents with Mark Jobe. The importance of
working hard as we wait for Jesus second coming.
S2 (00:08):
Whatever you do, do it as though you are doing
it for God, as though God were your boss. You
do it whether your boss is watching you or not,
whether he's there or not. You show up in time.
You do it with integrity. In fact, let me tell
you this I believe that Christians should be the best
workers on the face of this earth, hands down.
S1 (00:29):
Welcome to Moody Presents with Mark Jobe, senior pastor of
New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible Institute
in Chicago. We're about to equip you with a great
strategy for living, not just for the here and now,
but for eternity itself. Good news, by the way. Here
at Moody Presents, we have a growing number of Mark's
messages archived online, along with a variety of resources, all
(00:53):
designed to help you grow while you're waiting for the
Lord to return. So head online today and explore what's
available when you find us at Moody Presents George Moody presents.org.
Last week we began a message called The Hard Work
of Waiting for Jesus, and Mark was encouraging us in
our struggle with waiting. And we all do struggle here,
(01:15):
right I do. What do you say we get right
to today's message? And here's Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:20):
And hear me. Well, listen, if you're in a marriage
today and you base your marriage on how you feel,
if you feel or don't feel love, then I can
guarantee you your marriage is not going to last very long.
If that's what you base, whether your marriage stays together
or not, because feelings will come and go. The commitment
to choose love is bigger than your feelings, and as
(01:44):
you choose it and go down that way, the feelings
will follow. But your commitment to love is bigger. There
are times when you walk in this auditorium, or when
you interact with people, that you're not going to feel
an emotion of love, that you just say, I'm going
to love them anyways, regardless of how I feel I
may feel impatient, but I'm choosing to love. And so
(02:05):
Jesus says, if you're preparing for my coming, I want
you to increase more and more in love. My desire
is that as people walk into a place like this
and we are full of God, that they will walk
into a place where they sense this caring acceptance, this
powerful presence of God that makes them feel like I
don't know what it is, but I feel something in
(02:26):
this place. It's the tangible, powerful, incredible, life changing love
of God. And I hope you felt that as you
walked in this place and as we worshiped. And then
he goes on to say in verse 11 through 12.
(02:47):
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to
mind your own business, and to work with your hands.
So if you're taking notes, jot this down for the
second part of this. Waiting for Jesus not only means
that we increase in our love for others, but waiting
(03:08):
for Jesus means working at being self-supporting. And not only
has to do with our relational testimony, it has to
do with our economic testimony. Now, this is a very
interesting set of verses because he says, first of all,
make it your ambition. Ambition is this inner drive. If
(03:30):
it hasn't been your ambition. Some people say, well, my
ambition is to make it to the top of the ladder,
be the CEO of my company, be a millionaire by
the time I'm 30, or whatever your ambition may be.
But have you ever heard someone be ambitious about leading
a quiet life? Well, that seems a little weird. Quiet
(03:50):
life means this. It means a tranquil, content, secure Attitude
in your heart. Make it your ambition to be content
and secure and tranquil in your heart. It's the opposite
(04:11):
of a busy body. It's the opposite of someone that's
always stirring up trouble everywhere they go. Problems, attitudes. Ecclesiastes
four six says better one handful with tranquility than two
handfuls with toil and chasing after wind. How about it?
It's better to have one handful and have tranquility than
(04:32):
have two handfuls, and be all stressed out and full
of issues and problems. And so he says, hey, some
of you, everywhere you go, you create problems and trouble
and there's always conflict around you. And he says, hey, listen,
I want you to make it your ambition to lead
a quiet life. In other words, to be content with
what you have. Some Christians are like volcanoes. They're waiting
(04:56):
to erupt anywhere they go. They live on the edge.
They stuffed their frustrations down and they're constantly running into
trouble wherever they go. How about it? Have you run
into people like that? You know, it reminds me of
the old Greek grandfather who his grandson decided that he
(05:18):
was taking a nap, and his grandson decided that he
would play a little trick on him. So he took
this old, moldy cheese, and he rubbed it in his
grandfather's big, thick mustache. So the grandfather woke up from
his nap. And he said, I stink. He walked through
(05:42):
his house a little bit and he said, this, this
house stinks. He opened up the front door of his house.
He started smelling. He said, this whole world stinks. But really,
the problem you got, it was right under his nose.
And how about it? Sometimes you find yourself in a
(06:03):
lot of conflict, a lot of issues with people around.
And maybe if you find yourself in a lot of
ongoing conflicts, maybe it just could be that there's an
issue that God is trying to deal with in your
own life. So he says, hey, make it your ambition
to be content to have this, this, this contentedness about
your life that doesn't stir up trouble. Secondly, to mind
(06:26):
your own business. Oh, wow. Did you know that the
Bible says that? Mind your own business. Now love gets involved.
So I'm not talking about coming and not getting involved
in anybody else's life, because I think love gets involved
in people's lives. But minding your own business is the
opposite of a busybody. Minding your own business means that, well,
(06:52):
it's what First Timothy chapter five, verse 13 says about
it's talking about widows that need to get remarried. It says, besides,
they get into the habit of being idle and going
about from house to house. And not only do they
become idlers, but they also gossips and busybodies saying things
they ought not to. You know that sometimes we get
(07:15):
involved in things we shouldn't get involved in, that we
need to look at our own life and say, is
my life in order? Is my house in order? Is
my marriage in order? Are my kids in order? And
sometimes we get so involved in everybody else's issues that
we don't have a chance to really deal with our
own issues. And sometimes we spiritualize it. Call up someone. Hey, sister,
(07:43):
just thought I'd share with you. Did you know Sister
So-and-so went out with brother so-and-so and did this and
did that? And I think, okay, I'm just calling you.
It's just a prayer request. Sister. Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on.
Was that a gossip or a prayer request. Just because
you say it's a prayer request at the end doesn't
mean it wasn't gossip. Did you really want them to pray,
(08:05):
or did you want to spread some gossip and want
to spiritualize it into prayer language? The point that Paul
is making is, hey, as you wait for Jesus. Keep
yourself pure. Love other people and focus on what God
has called you to do. If you're married, make sure
(08:26):
your marriage is good. If you have a job, work
at it hard. If you have a ministry, focus on it. Stop.
Stop getting involved in so many things. Stop creating trouble
in so many things. Stop being a busybody. Body in
what you do. He says, mind your own business. It's
the opposite of busybody. It's the opposite of stirring up
and meddling in things that you probably you shouldn't meddle in.
(08:48):
He says, mind your own stuff. Focus on your own stuff.
The time is short. And then he says, listen to
what he says in the latter part of this. And
he says, And work with your hands, just as we
told you. Work with your hands. In essence, it means
work hard. Let me tell you something. Listen. There's something
(09:14):
about work. Any job, by the way. Any job that
you do, if you do it for God, there's dignity
in any job. Some people look at some jobs. I'm
not going to get that job. That's a low paying, low,
scummy job. I want the high job. Can I tell
(09:37):
you something? It's not about the job. It's about the
way you do the job that gives it dignity. And
I don't care if you're washing dishes in a restaurant.
If you do it for God and you do it
well with integrity, you want to make sure those dishes
are washed better than any other dishes. Why? Because you're
you're doing it for God. And when God looks down,
God says, wow, that guy has an important job. There's
(10:01):
dignity in that job. Never let anybody despise what you do.
You are not defined by the job that you do,
but you are defined by how you choose to do
the job that you do. And whatever you do, do
it as though you were doing it for God, as
though God were your boss. You do it whether your
(10:21):
boss is watching you or not, whether he's there or not.
You show up on time. You do it with integrity.
In fact, let me tell you this I believe that
Christians should be the best workers on the face of
this earth. Hands down. In fact, I believe that if
(10:42):
we really were, which oftentimes we're not. How do you know?
I've met a lot of Christians. If we really were,
I hope that if we were doing what we're supposed
to be doing, I think we would have job agencies
lined up. I want to hire a Christian y man.
Christians are hard workers. They're honest. They do a great job.
(11:05):
We should have the reputation of being strong, hard workers. Why?
Because when your boss is God, when whatever you do,
you do it for the glory of God. You do
it for the honor of God. Then you do whatever
you do with excellence, whether it's running a company or
sweeping streets, you do it for the honor and the
(11:27):
glory of God. And there's dignity in the job that
you do, because you know that this is part of
what you do, for God's sake and God's glory. So
you may be right now not in the job that
you want. And listen to me. Well, sometimes when we're
not in the job that we want, we do it
half heartedly and we do it. We despise what we're
(11:50):
doing as a step to the job that we really want.
How many of you know what I'm talking about? Just
nod your head, okay? If you're in the job that
you don't want and you say, this is really not
what the job I want to do, it's really not
the job I want to end up doing. This is
just a transitional job. This is just a stepping stone
for my real job. If you can relate to that,
(12:12):
here's my challenge to you. I want you to look
at that transitional job and here's what God is telling you.
Do it better than anybody else would do it. Do
it with all of your heart. Do it with integrity.
Do it as as though you said, God is my
direct supervisor, and whatever I do, I want to do
(12:33):
it but to the best of my abilities, because I'm
doing it for God. And I believe that it will
change the attitude, because sometimes we have something that we despise,
and if we do a lousy job with what we have,
you can't expect God to give you something better.
S1 (12:53):
You're listening to Moody Presents with pastor Mark Jobe. Today's
message is titled The Hard Work of Waiting for Jesus.
And if you've been encouraged by Mark's bold and authentic teaching,
let me encourage you to go online and learn more
about this ministry. While you're there, you can also share
today's message with a friend who might like to hear it.
You'll find us at Moody presents.org. Moody presents.org. And did
(13:19):
you know that there's a variety of ways that you
can listen to this weekly program? It's true. You'll never
miss a single program if you download the convenient Moody
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Presents wherever you go. It's available from your favorite app
store or learn more on our home page. Moody presents.org.
And while you're at the website, we've got a great
(13:39):
book that will help you form godly habits. Isn't that
what you want? I know we're well into the new year,
but forming godly habits is always a challenge. And here's
a tool that will really help. Your future self will
thank you. It combines biblical wisdom with fascinating research to
help you understand and more importantly, develop self-control that essential
(14:01):
but often overlooked virtue that impacts every area of life,
including your habits. Get it now. This book, called Your
Future Self, will thank you with a gift of any
size at Moody presents.org, or call us at (800)Â 400-7022 (800)Â 400-7022.
(14:23):
Now back to today's message with pastor Mark Jobe.
S2 (14:31):
Some of you are sticking yourselves in the place that
you're at because you're doing it lousy and you're asking
God to give you something better. And God is saying, listen,
I practice the law of stewardship unless you do better
at what you have, I'm not going to give something
better to you and what I've given to you. You
treat with such loathe and so low quality. Hello. So
(14:54):
God may be keeping you extra long there until you
finally learn to appreciate it and do it with quality.
How many of you are motivated to do it with
quality now? All right. And if you wonder why he
(15:15):
says this, so that verse 12, your daily life may
win the respect of outsiders and so that you will
not be dependent on anybody. The purpose and focus of
this hard work is twofold. Number one, it's for outsiders.
Do you realize that people listen better to people that
(15:37):
they respect? Well, let me say that again. People listen
better to people who they respect. If Monday through Friday,
you're not pulling your weight, working hard, showing up on time, responsible,
(15:58):
then what Paul was saying is people are going to
come to the church and they're going to see your life,
and your coworkers are going to see you, and the
message of Christ is going to be lost as they
look at you, because they're not going to respect you
because they've seen how you work. And then when you
try to talk to them about Jesus, they're like, yeah, Jesus, whatever.
(16:19):
I've seen how you work. I've seen you at your
job Monday through Friday. Hey, you can raise your hand
all you want and carry a big Bible on Sunday.
But I see how you operate Monday through Friday. And
so you lose your testimony. Not because you don't know
the word, not because you're not a prayer warrior. Not
because you don't know Bible verses, but because you're a
(16:41):
lousy worker. And he says the outsiders are going to
come in and look at what you do, and they're
going to not respect you and not listen to you
because they look at how you operate and you will
lose the respect of outsiders, unbelievers, and your message will
not be listened to Two because you haven't built respect
(17:02):
in people's lives. And so Paul says, the reason that
you are to do this and I believe this, listen,
you gain respect from the outsiders because they see the
way you work. People that don't know God begin to
see that you operate with a different attitude, that you
have a different perspective, that you go beyond the norm
(17:24):
and the way you operate. And you point to Jesus
and your faith and your values. That's what drives you there.
And they start gaining respect for what you do because
they see how you operate and how you live your life. Listen,
I believe that the people of God, that's why years ago,
we determined at this church that we may have needs,
but we would never be needy. And we determined years
(17:48):
ago at this church over 20 some years ago that
we would give to missions and give outside, that we
would take 10% of what came in of our tithes
and offerings, and that we would invest in projects and
new works and new church plants, and oversees why we
determine that we may have needs, but we would not
be a needy people. There's something about being needy. Oh,
(18:11):
I know that we all have needs at times, but
when you get into a needy mentality, then you get
in a gimme, gimme, gimme I can't, I can't, I can't.
When you understand that I can and I have something
to give. And that there's something that I can contribute
to this neighborhood and that I'm going to make this
place a better place. And then I'm going to I'm
going to work hard to do what God has called
me to do, and that we're going to be givers
(18:33):
and we're going to be generous and we're going to
we're going to take something and do something with it. Listen,
the world respects that. I remember when we bought this building,
we were having community meetings out here, and someone was
kind of didn't want us to be in this building,
didn't want us to buy this building. I remember one
(18:54):
lady said, yeah, well, who gave you guys all that
money to buy that building? Where did that money come from?
And someone stood up and said our tithes and offerings.
We paid for this building. She was shocked. She said, oh, okay.
(19:15):
Then she turned to the lady next to her and said, man,
how come our church doesn't give like that? You know, hey,
here's the thing. When we work hard and become the
people of God, we become givers and we become generous,
and we become people that rise up with some economic
power to use, some force to influence other people for
the glory and the goodness of God. If we're all
(19:37):
lazy and not working and just we pray a lot,
but we don't do our job well, then that testimony
is torn down as we wait for Jesus Christ. We
need to work hard at what we do. We need
to prosper at what we do because we work harder
than anybody else. But our motives are different. Our motives
(19:57):
aren't to become wealthy. Our motives are to glorify God
and to use the resources of God for the purposes
of his kingdom. Amen. And lastly, I close with this. Listen.
And then he says, so that your daily life may
win the respect of outsiders, and so that you will
(20:20):
not be dependent on anybody. So that you will not
be dependent on anybody to gain financial independence. Can I
tell you something? Listen. Listen to me well. If you
depend on other people, every time you depend on other
(20:41):
people financially, you lose something. How many conversations have I
had with single moms? Listen. Single moms, I love you,
you know that. I love you because I know you
have a job that's harder than most people. Because you
have to be a mother and a father and support.
And you have a stress that very few people understand.
(21:01):
And we've always had a huge heart in this church
for single moms. But I am tired of talking to
single moms that are shacking up with abusive. Physically, mentally,
verbally abusive men. And you're taking it and they won't
(21:26):
marry you and they use you and they abuse you
and they treat you like trash simply because you tell me, well,
I don't know how I'm going to make it, how
I'm going to pay my bills. And if you're living
with a guy that you know is not right for
you just because it's financially better for you, then I'm
(21:47):
going to tell you something. Listen, you need to go out,
get a job, get on your own two feet, give
some dignity to your children. Give some future to your children.
I don't want your little girls to grow up and
think that their destiny is to live with some abusive guy.
That's not their destiny. But if you put up with
(22:07):
it just for financial prosperity, if you put up with
it just for finances, then your little girl is going
to grow up. One day when she's 17 years old,
she's going to hook up with some guy that treats
her like dirt because she has been trained and taught
and coached to have a man treat her like garbage
(22:28):
because she simply depending on him economically. And the Bible
says listen so that you not be dependent on anybody. Listen,
if you're a young man, you're in your 20s. You're 25.
You're physically healthy. You should not be dependent on your mother. Seriously? Well, pastor,
(22:51):
I want to. I want to get married. Okay, great.
How do you want to get married? How old are you? 27.
Where are you living? With my mom. You want to
get married? Get a job first. Get independent if you're
healthy physically or I know we live in a recession time.
You know I'm waiting for the right job. Don't wait
for the right job. Get any job. Get any job.
(23:13):
It's easier to steer a car when it's moving than
when it's standing still. You need to start whatever. There
are jobs out there. If you're willing to get a job,
you need to get out there. You need to work.
You need to work hard. You need to work long hours.
You need to get financially, economically independent. Why? Because it
pleases God as you wait for the coming of Jesus Christ.
(23:35):
And it's a testimony to the outsiders, there's something about
working hard and not having idle time on our hands
that gets us in a lot of trouble. So you
need to work hard, get a job, and say, God,
I'm doing this for your honor and your glory. Amen, Amen, Amen.
S1 (23:54):
Well, as always, great insights here on Moody Presents with
Mark Jobe. All of Mark's messages are online, so if
you missed any and you'd like to catch up, or
if you'd like to hear any of Mark's previous series,
you can do that at Moody presents.org. Moody presents.org. These
messages are made available because of our partnership with listeners,
(24:14):
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(24:36):
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(24:57):
that's 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. 606 ten. And
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Thank you. A fascinating look at how self-control shapes our
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(25:18):
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(25:44):
I'm John Yeager hoping you'll be along to learn more
about how you can be better prepared for Jesus Second coming.
Moody presents is a production of Moody Radio and a
ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Today on Moody Presents with Mark Jobe. The importance of
working hard as we wait for Jesus second coming.
S2 (00:08):
Whatever you do, do it as though you are doing
it for God, as though God were your boss. You
do it whether your boss is watching you or not,
whether he's there or not. You show up in time.
You do it with integrity. In fact, let me tell
you this I believe that Christians should be the best
workers on the face of this earth, hands down.
S1 (00:29):
Welcome to Moody Presents with Mark Jobe, senior pastor of
New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible Institute
in Chicago. We're about to equip you with a great
strategy for living, not just for the here and now,
but for eternity itself. Good news, by the way. Here
at Moody Presents, we have a growing number of Mark's
messages archived online, along with a variety of resources, all
(00:53):
designed to help you grow while you're waiting for the
Lord to return. So head online today and explore what's
available when you find us at Moody Presents George Moody presents.org.
Last week we began a message called The Hard Work
of Waiting for Jesus, and Mark was encouraging us in
our struggle with waiting. And we all do struggle here,
(01:15):
right I do. What do you say we get right
to today's message? And here's Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:20):
And hear me. Well, listen, if you're in a marriage
today and you base your marriage on how you feel,
if you feel or don't feel love, then I can
guarantee you your marriage is not going to last very long.
If that's what you base, whether your marriage stays together
or not, because feelings will come and go. The commitment
to choose love is bigger than your feelings, and as
(01:44):
you choose it and go down that way, the feelings
will follow. But your commitment to love is bigger. There
are times when you walk in this auditorium, or when
you interact with people, that you're not going to feel
an emotion of love, that you just say, I'm going
to love them anyways, regardless of how I feel I
may feel impatient, but I'm choosing to love. And so
(02:05):
Jesus says, if you're preparing for my coming, I want
you to increase more and more in love. My desire
is that as people walk into a place like this
and we are full of God, that they will walk
into a place where they sense this caring acceptance, this
powerful presence of God that makes them feel like I
don't know what it is, but I feel something in
(02:26):
this place. It's the tangible, powerful, incredible, life changing love
of God. And I hope you felt that as you
walked in this place and as we worshiped. And then
he goes on to say in verse 11 through 12.
(02:47):
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to
mind your own business, and to work with your hands.
So if you're taking notes, jot this down for the
second part of this. Waiting for Jesus not only means
that we increase in our love for others, but waiting
(03:08):
for Jesus means working at being self-supporting. And not only
has to do with our relational testimony, it has to
do with our economic testimony. Now, this is a very
interesting set of verses because he says, first of all,
make it your ambition. Ambition is this inner drive. If
(03:30):
it hasn't been your ambition. Some people say, well, my
ambition is to make it to the top of the ladder,
be the CEO of my company, be a millionaire by
the time I'm 30, or whatever your ambition may be.
But have you ever heard someone be ambitious about leading
a quiet life? Well, that seems a little weird. Quiet
(03:50):
life means this. It means a tranquil, content, secure Attitude
in your heart. Make it your ambition to be content
and secure and tranquil in your heart. It's the opposite
(04:11):
of a busy body. It's the opposite of someone that's
always stirring up trouble everywhere they go. Problems, attitudes. Ecclesiastes
four six says better one handful with tranquility than two
handfuls with toil and chasing after wind. How about it?
It's better to have one handful and have tranquility than
(04:32):
have two handfuls, and be all stressed out and full
of issues and problems. And so he says, hey, some
of you, everywhere you go, you create problems and trouble
and there's always conflict around you. And he says, hey, listen,
I want you to make it your ambition to lead
a quiet life. In other words, to be content with
what you have. Some Christians are like volcanoes. They're waiting
(04:56):
to erupt anywhere they go. They live on the edge.
They stuffed their frustrations down and they're constantly running into
trouble wherever they go. How about it? Have you run
into people like that? You know, it reminds me of
the old Greek grandfather who his grandson decided that he
(05:18):
was taking a nap, and his grandson decided that he
would play a little trick on him. So he took
this old, moldy cheese, and he rubbed it in his
grandfather's big, thick mustache. So the grandfather woke up from
his nap. And he said, I stink. He walked through
(05:42):
his house a little bit and he said, this, this
house stinks. He opened up the front door of his house.
He started smelling. He said, this whole world stinks. But really,
the problem you got, it was right under his nose.
And how about it? Sometimes you find yourself in a
(06:03):
lot of conflict, a lot of issues with people around.
And maybe if you find yourself in a lot of
ongoing conflicts, maybe it just could be that there's an
issue that God is trying to deal with in your
own life. So he says, hey, make it your ambition
to be content to have this, this, this contentedness about
your life that doesn't stir up trouble. Secondly, to mind
(06:26):
your own business. Oh, wow. Did you know that the
Bible says that? Mind your own business. Now love gets involved.
So I'm not talking about coming and not getting involved
in anybody else's life, because I think love gets involved
in people's lives. But minding your own business is the
opposite of a busybody. Minding your own business means that, well,
(06:52):
it's what First Timothy chapter five, verse 13 says about
it's talking about widows that need to get remarried. It says, besides,
they get into the habit of being idle and going
about from house to house. And not only do they
become idlers, but they also gossips and busybodies saying things
they ought not to. You know that sometimes we get
(07:15):
involved in things we shouldn't get involved in, that we
need to look at our own life and say, is
my life in order? Is my house in order? Is
my marriage in order? Are my kids in order? And
sometimes we get so involved in everybody else's issues that
we don't have a chance to really deal with our
own issues. And sometimes we spiritualize it. Call up someone. Hey, sister,
(07:43):
just thought I'd share with you. Did you know Sister
So-and-so went out with brother so-and-so and did this and
did that? And I think, okay, I'm just calling you.
It's just a prayer request. Sister. Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on.
Was that a gossip or a prayer request. Just because
you say it's a prayer request at the end doesn't
mean it wasn't gossip. Did you really want them to pray,
(08:05):
or did you want to spread some gossip and want
to spiritualize it into prayer language? The point that Paul
is making is, hey, as you wait for Jesus. Keep
yourself pure. Love other people and focus on what God
has called you to do. If you're married, make sure
(08:26):
your marriage is good. If you have a job, work
at it hard. If you have a ministry, focus on it. Stop.
Stop getting involved in so many things. Stop creating trouble
in so many things. Stop being a busybody. Body in
what you do. He says, mind your own business. It's
the opposite of busybody. It's the opposite of stirring up
and meddling in things that you probably you shouldn't meddle in.
(08:48):
He says, mind your own stuff. Focus on your own stuff.
The time is short. And then he says, listen to
what he says in the latter part of this. And
he says, And work with your hands, just as we
told you. Work with your hands. In essence, it means
work hard. Let me tell you something. Listen. There's something
(09:14):
about work. Any job, by the way. Any job that
you do, if you do it for God, there's dignity
in any job. Some people look at some jobs. I'm
not going to get that job. That's a low paying, low,
scummy job. I want the high job. Can I tell
(09:37):
you something? It's not about the job. It's about the
way you do the job that gives it dignity. And
I don't care if you're washing dishes in a restaurant.
If you do it for God and you do it
well with integrity, you want to make sure those dishes
are washed better than any other dishes. Why? Because you're
you're doing it for God. And when God looks down,
God says, wow, that guy has an important job. There's
(10:01):
dignity in that job. Never let anybody despise what you do.
You are not defined by the job that you do,
but you are defined by how you choose to do
the job that you do. And whatever you do, do
it as though you were doing it for God, as
though God were your boss. You do it whether your
(10:21):
boss is watching you or not, whether he's there or not.
You show up on time. You do it with integrity.
In fact, let me tell you this I believe that
Christians should be the best workers on the face of
this earth. Hands down. In fact, I believe that if
(10:42):
we really were, which oftentimes we're not. How do you know?
I've met a lot of Christians. If we really were,
I hope that if we were doing what we're supposed
to be doing, I think we would have job agencies
lined up. I want to hire a Christian y man.
Christians are hard workers. They're honest. They do a great job.
(11:05):
We should have the reputation of being strong, hard workers. Why?
Because when your boss is God, when whatever you do,
you do it for the glory of God. You do
it for the honor of God. Then you do whatever
you do with excellence, whether it's running a company or
sweeping streets, you do it for the honor and the
(11:27):
glory of God. And there's dignity in the job that
you do, because you know that this is part of
what you do, for God's sake and God's glory. So
you may be right now not in the job that
you want. And listen to me. Well, sometimes when we're
not in the job that we want, we do it
half heartedly and we do it. We despise what we're
(11:50):
doing as a step to the job that we really want.
How many of you know what I'm talking about? Just
nod your head, okay? If you're in the job that
you don't want and you say, this is really not
what the job I want to do, it's really not
the job I want to end up doing. This is
just a transitional job. This is just a stepping stone
for my real job. If you can relate to that,
(12:12):
here's my challenge to you. I want you to look
at that transitional job and here's what God is telling you.
Do it better than anybody else would do it. Do
it with all of your heart. Do it with integrity.
Do it as as though you said, God is my
direct supervisor, and whatever I do, I want to do
(12:33):
it but to the best of my abilities, because I'm
doing it for God. And I believe that it will
change the attitude, because sometimes we have something that we despise,
and if we do a lousy job with what we have,
you can't expect God to give you something better.
S1 (12:53):
You're listening to Moody Presents with pastor Mark Jobe. Today's
message is titled The Hard Work of Waiting for Jesus.
And if you've been encouraged by Mark's bold and authentic teaching,
let me encourage you to go online and learn more
about this ministry. While you're there, you can also share
today's message with a friend who might like to hear it.
You'll find us at Moody presents.org. Moody presents.org. And did
(13:19):
you know that there's a variety of ways that you
can listen to this weekly program? It's true. You'll never
miss a single program if you download the convenient Moody
Radio mobile app. With it, you can easily access Moody
Presents wherever you go. It's available from your favorite app
store or learn more on our home page. Moody presents.org.
And while you're at the website, we've got a great
(13:39):
book that will help you form godly habits. Isn't that
what you want? I know we're well into the new year,
but forming godly habits is always a challenge. And here's
a tool that will really help. Your future self will
thank you. It combines biblical wisdom with fascinating research to
help you understand and more importantly, develop self-control that essential
(14:01):
but often overlooked virtue that impacts every area of life,
including your habits. Get it now. This book, called Your
Future Self, will thank you with a gift of any
size at Moody presents.org, or call us at (800)Â 400-7022 (800)Â 400-7022.
(14:23):
Now back to today's message with pastor Mark Jobe.
S2 (14:31):
Some of you are sticking yourselves in the place that
you're at because you're doing it lousy and you're asking
God to give you something better. And God is saying, listen,
I practice the law of stewardship unless you do better
at what you have, I'm not going to give something
better to you and what I've given to you. You
treat with such loathe and so low quality. Hello. So
(14:54):
God may be keeping you extra long there until you
finally learn to appreciate it and do it with quality.
How many of you are motivated to do it with
quality now? All right. And if you wonder why he
(15:15):
says this, so that verse 12, your daily life may
win the respect of outsiders and so that you will
not be dependent on anybody. The purpose and focus of
this hard work is twofold. Number one, it's for outsiders.
Do you realize that people listen better to people that
(15:37):
they respect? Well, let me say that again. People listen
better to people who they respect. If Monday through Friday,
you're not pulling your weight, working hard, showing up on time, responsible,
(15:58):
then what Paul was saying is people are going to
come to the church and they're going to see your life,
and your coworkers are going to see you, and the
message of Christ is going to be lost as they
look at you, because they're not going to respect you
because they've seen how you work. And then when you
try to talk to them about Jesus, they're like, yeah, Jesus, whatever.
(16:19):
I've seen how you work. I've seen you at your
job Monday through Friday. Hey, you can raise your hand
all you want and carry a big Bible on Sunday.
But I see how you operate Monday through Friday. And
so you lose your testimony. Not because you don't know
the word, not because you're not a prayer warrior. Not
because you don't know Bible verses, but because you're a
(16:41):
lousy worker. And he says the outsiders are going to
come in and look at what you do, and they're
going to not respect you and not listen to you
because they look at how you operate and you will
lose the respect of outsiders, unbelievers, and your message will
not be listened to Two because you haven't built respect
(17:02):
in people's lives. And so Paul says, the reason that
you are to do this and I believe this, listen,
you gain respect from the outsiders because they see the
way you work. People that don't know God begin to
see that you operate with a different attitude, that you
have a different perspective, that you go beyond the norm
(17:24):
and the way you operate. And you point to Jesus
and your faith and your values. That's what drives you there.
And they start gaining respect for what you do because
they see how you operate and how you live your life. Listen,
I believe that the people of God, that's why years ago,
we determined at this church that we may have needs,
but we would never be needy. And we determined years
(17:48):
ago at this church over 20 some years ago that
we would give to missions and give outside, that we
would take 10% of what came in of our tithes
and offerings, and that we would invest in projects and
new works and new church plants, and oversees why we
determine that we may have needs, but we would not
be a needy people. There's something about being needy. Oh,
(18:11):
I know that we all have needs at times, but
when you get into a needy mentality, then you get
in a gimme, gimme, gimme I can't, I can't, I can't.
When you understand that I can and I have something
to give. And that there's something that I can contribute
to this neighborhood and that I'm going to make this
place a better place. And then I'm going to I'm
going to work hard to do what God has called
me to do, and that we're going to be givers
(18:33):
and we're going to be generous and we're going to
we're going to take something and do something with it. Listen,
the world respects that. I remember when we bought this building,
we were having community meetings out here, and someone was
kind of didn't want us to be in this building,
didn't want us to buy this building. I remember one
(18:54):
lady said, yeah, well, who gave you guys all that
money to buy that building? Where did that money come from?
And someone stood up and said our tithes and offerings.
We paid for this building. She was shocked. She said, oh, okay.
(19:15):
Then she turned to the lady next to her and said, man,
how come our church doesn't give like that? You know, hey,
here's the thing. When we work hard and become the
people of God, we become givers and we become generous,
and we become people that rise up with some economic
power to use, some force to influence other people for
the glory and the goodness of God. If we're all
(19:37):
lazy and not working and just we pray a lot,
but we don't do our job well, then that testimony
is torn down as we wait for Jesus Christ. We
need to work hard at what we do. We need
to prosper at what we do because we work harder
than anybody else. But our motives are different. Our motives
(19:57):
aren't to become wealthy. Our motives are to glorify God
and to use the resources of God for the purposes
of his kingdom. Amen. And lastly, I close with this. Listen.
And then he says, so that your daily life may
win the respect of outsiders, and so that you will
(20:20):
not be dependent on anybody. So that you will not
be dependent on anybody to gain financial independence. Can I
tell you something? Listen. Listen to me well. If you
depend on other people, every time you depend on other
(20:41):
people financially, you lose something. How many conversations have I
had with single moms? Listen. Single moms, I love you,
you know that. I love you because I know you
have a job that's harder than most people. Because you
have to be a mother and a father and support.
And you have a stress that very few people understand.
(21:01):
And we've always had a huge heart in this church
for single moms. But I am tired of talking to
single moms that are shacking up with abusive. Physically, mentally,
verbally abusive men. And you're taking it and they won't
(21:26):
marry you and they use you and they abuse you
and they treat you like trash simply because you tell me, well,
I don't know how I'm going to make it, how
I'm going to pay my bills. And if you're living
with a guy that you know is not right for
you just because it's financially better for you, then I'm
(21:47):
going to tell you something. Listen, you need to go out,
get a job, get on your own two feet, give
some dignity to your children. Give some future to your children.
I don't want your little girls to grow up and
think that their destiny is to live with some abusive guy.
That's not their destiny. But if you put up with
(22:07):
it just for financial prosperity, if you put up with
it just for finances, then your little girl is going
to grow up. One day when she's 17 years old,
she's going to hook up with some guy that treats
her like dirt because she has been trained and taught
and coached to have a man treat her like garbage
(22:28):
because she simply depending on him economically. And the Bible
says listen so that you not be dependent on anybody. Listen,
if you're a young man, you're in your 20s. You're 25.
You're physically healthy. You should not be dependent on your mother. Seriously? Well, pastor,
(22:51):
I want to. I want to get married. Okay, great.
How do you want to get married? How old are you? 27.
Where are you living? With my mom. You want to
get married? Get a job first. Get independent if you're
healthy physically or I know we live in a recession time.
You know I'm waiting for the right job. Don't wait
for the right job. Get any job. Get any job.
(23:13):
It's easier to steer a car when it's moving than
when it's standing still. You need to start whatever. There
are jobs out there. If you're willing to get a job,
you need to get out there. You need to work.
You need to work hard. You need to work long hours.
You need to get financially, economically independent. Why? Because it
pleases God as you wait for the coming of Jesus Christ.
(23:35):
And it's a testimony to the outsiders, there's something about
working hard and not having idle time on our hands
that gets us in a lot of trouble. So you
need to work hard, get a job, and say, God,
I'm doing this for your honor and your glory. Amen, Amen, Amen.
S1 (23:54):
Well, as always, great insights here on Moody Presents with
Mark Jobe. All of Mark's messages are online, so if
you missed any and you'd like to catch up, or
if you'd like to hear any of Mark's previous series,
you can do that at Moody presents.org. Moody presents.org. These
messages are made available because of our partnership with listeners,
(24:14):
just like you listeners, whose financial gifts allow us to
offer Mark's teaching across a variety of platforms like the radio, internet,
and of course, the Moody Radio app. And today we're
looking for more people to join our team called the
Moody Presents Advance Team. Why not give a donation as
a moody Presents Advance team member? It's simple. It's easy.
(24:36):
When you visit us at Moody presents.org or give us
a call at (800)Â 400-7022. You can also give a one
time donation in the mail. Just address your envelope to
Moody Presents, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten
(24:57):
that's 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. 606 ten. And
when you give today to support this ministry, we'll say
thanks by sending you a book called Your Future Self Will.
Thank you. A fascinating look at how self-control shapes our
spiritual journey. Let me share a brief excerpt. When it
(25:18):
comes to developing self-control, we're not expected to go at
it alone. Thank God for that. What self-control requires ultimately
isn't control, but surrender. And of course, that's just the beginning.
Your future self will thank you is yours today with
the gift of any amount. As you support Moody presents,
give us a call, would you? (800)Â 400-7022 or visit Moody presents.org.
(25:44):
I'm John Yeager hoping you'll be along to learn more
about how you can be better prepared for Jesus Second coming.
Moody presents is a production of Moody Radio and a
ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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