Business in Babylon: Recent Episodes

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Hey guys, Joe here, and this is Episode #4. Today we’re going to be talking about what it means to be content and how that relates to business growth and motivation.

Spoiler, contentment is NOT laziness.

So let’s dive right in!

The LOVE of MONEY will stray you away from God

1 Timothy 6:6-10 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

If you are rich, Be Godly with your riches, & store up heavenly treasures

1 Timothy 6:17-19

17Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 18Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, 19storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.

We cannot trust ourselves with wealth OR poverty

Proverbs 30: 7-9 Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.How do you fill the void and be content?

The love of Christ

God loves you, right now, and wants to be with you forever.

If you believe in him, and believe what his son Jesus did for us, you can have eternal life with him, forever, and be happy forever.

Don’t understand what im saying? Thats okay, I didn’t either before I was saved. Feel free to email me at joepetruzzi@outlook.com and we can have a chat!

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Hey guys, Joe here, and this is Episode #3. Today I’m going to be discussing the “Promise of Prosperity” that every business owner gets caught in and why it’s not only very untrue, but very dangerous.

So let’s dive right in!

Spoiler:

God does not guarantee that we can and will all become financially successful, become millionaires, or if we put our minds to it, get whatever we want.

That is a human invention that stems from our selfish and prideful hearts.

We are all given resources depending on our own ability

Mathew 25 14:30

The reason this upsets people is because it sounds like God is choosing favorites.

Why should I make 6-figures while there are the poor in third world countries who do not have clean water?

Why make a single man a billionaire when there’s middle class citizens who are crippled by student loan debt?

Well, let me offer this…

Why do we think that someone who makes more money is more loved by God?

Are we unaware of the constant care and attention God gives to the widows, and the poor?

Or how much fulfilment comes from missionaries who live on nothing and 100% focus on spreading God's kingdom?

God loves all of us equally, and distributes certain talents, hardships, and times in our life that grow us closer to him.

This is just discussing financial poverty too, but this is applicable to poverty in ANYTHING in our life.

Ex. I had a family problem, and I was impoverished with my relationship...others had great family relationships...

...But it helped me get closer to God and built up my talents!

There are plenty of families out there who are very close, dont have the issues I've faced, and have many other blessings I don't have.

What does it matter? We are all loved equally by God.

Totally crush it with WHAT you’re given.

To whom is given much, much will be expected

Luke 12:42-48

To whom is given much, much is expected by GOD

If you're mad at the idea that you MAY not reach your financial goals because it's not god's will, it means you want to be loved, and think money is the way to do that.

I used to feel this way too. My wife asked me when we first started dating “Would you be okay if you never got that Audi”

The reason I was defensive was that she was taking “love” away from me.

When GOD is your source of Love, and you have confidence in HIM, it doesn't matter how your biz is doing :)

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Hey guys, Joe here, and this is Episode #2. Today we’re going to be talking about how money is extremely unimportant in the grand scheme of things, why we put such an unnecessary weight on it in our society, and how it may be leading you to disaster

So let’s dive right in

What is money?

What do we use it for?

-Basics

-Extras

-Security

When your bank account goes low, why does it affect you so much?

Worry is our response to predicted outcomes that haven't happened yet.

Do Not Worry:

Mathew 6:26-27

26Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?The basics of Life are given to us, food, clothing, etc. from God

Mathew 6:31-33

31So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

What things? Our basic needs!

If God will always provide our basic needs, why do we grip on to our dollars so tightly when it's time to give an offering, help others, or anything selfless?

Our hearts are of this world…

When our hearts are for GOD first, our motives of building treasures change

Mathew 6:19-21

Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This doesn’t mean make sure you are poor 100% of the time, it means we have to make our MOTIVES loving God at all times.

Ex. If I think happiness is that of this world, I love the world. If I make $1M/year, I will spend all of my money on acquiring treasures like cars, watches, fancy houses, etc. because my love is for the world.

Ex. If I think happiness resides ONLY in Jesus Christ, the single path to GOD, and everything else in comparison to Christ is garbage, because of the surpassing value of being in Gods presence for eternity, and I love God. If I then make $1M/year, I will spend much more of my money to spread the kingdom of God, help and love others who are in need, in a way to “store up treasures in heaven”, NOT this world.

The possessions of this world are worth nothing in comparison to Jesus

Philippians 3:8

8More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Ex. Someone is in need of $500 to help fund their Church service in India, which will help spread the word of God to others and potentially save their lives forever

But you may say “But for $500 I could buy a sick ipad!”

What is more valuable then?

#1 - Do not worry about your basic needs, God will take care of you

#2 - Love God and put your motives on him, to store up treasures in heaven, not this world

#3 - When struggling, remember that all things of this world, IN COMPARISON to Christ, are absolute rubbish

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Hey guys! In this episode I'll be going through my story of how I discovered one thing that fundamentally changed my entire life forever.

Big claim, but I'm going to back it up don't worry! 

I hope you enjoy the episode!