In this session we’re going to review the Jewish strategy that unlocks destiny. This is a strategy that develops both businesses and the community. It is the simple things that confound the wise. It is the narrow path of the corridor connecting the seen world and the unseen world. One of the means of harnessing these elements of community has involved a strategy that Jews have employed for hundreds of years. Whenever ten Jews live within walking distance of one another, they form a minyan. The minyan serves two primary purposes. First is to pray and seek God. Second is to help each other become more successful. It represents the foundation in establishing a community. 

It has been as they have operated together in community that the most significant strategies have influenced not just the communities around them but the civilizations of which they have been a part. It has been the employment of the model operated by Abraham that combines the spiritual, the economic and community working together that they has achieved accomplishments outperforming in impact most other peoples of the earth. One of the most basic of these strategies, designed to build community from within, is also foundational to the impact they have made on history. It is designed to build community builders. 

Disproportionate success includes hard work and wisdom. It involves this different way of thinking that employs vision, imagination and strategy. Creative thinking fosters innovative strategies. In all this will be an eye on the community and an eye on posterity. Over time, with wise counsel, this process will mature. There will come a recognition of the changes in seasons. Anticipating change will be vital to recognizing and maximizing opportunity. Timing as such can pave the way for the future. It is why bottom-up birthed organizations tend to endure longer than fast-track operations.

For the majority, success seems correlated to wealth. Yet, from the stance of those the world considers the people of business, wealth is simply the by-product. It is not only a different way of thinking, but a different strategy. We’ve looked closely at the way the Jewish people think. As we begin to glean the strategy, we find ourselves unfolding a dimension of creativity that breaks the mold with solutions previously hidden. It is called innovation. Innovation is discovery. It is birthing something new.

God’s nature is to create and to bring increase. Abiding in His ways provides a path for His people to spot opportunity, to map out solutions circumventing disasters and to bring restoration. It is the spiritual DNA of God’s people as one generation has passed on this creative advantage to the next. It is written that the secret things belong to the Lord, but those revealed belong to us and to our children. It is the simple things that confound the wise.

Throughout the business world, people are seeking the formula for the creative. Smart people are trying to discern the steps and advantages to success. Yet for centuries the greatest creative exploits consistently have been from the Jews. Jews are a culture that thinks differently. It all began with Abraham, who risked shaping his destiny based on God’s guidance. 

The story of Joseph is one that many feel is pertinent to this hour. We live in a time when turbulence and crisis is everywhere. Joseph was prepared by God for a time of great crisis. His placement in Egypt was strategic from God’s purposes. God gave him the plan and the strategy for the time of crisis. So today, there will be men and women of God, prepared like Joseph, who hear God’s voice who have been or will soon be positioned in safe-places, places God will use to advance His purposes for His people globally and for Israel.

This series has been about Jewish business secrets. Making God your Senior Partner is a lot more than lip-service. It entails proactive planning with the Holy Spirit. That means input and guidance from the Lord on decisions. That requires consciously hearing from God. One of the distinctive characteristics of the heroes of faith has been hearing from God. Yet, from the days Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, the people were inclined to be terrified to hear His voice. 

We’ve been talking about stewardship. Good stewardship requires faith. When God spoke, Abraham believed and acted, when there was no evidence in the natural. In doing so, Abraham was bridging the seen world with the unseen world. It was a different way of responding to the reality around him. It established his future and his destiny. 

Stewardship is the effective management of the responsibilities and resources with which we have been entrusted. Stewardship requires the wisdom to master the responsibility. It involves diligence and excellence in bringing result. The result is to bring increase, to creatively nurture the resource to advance the process. We’ve been addressing the topic of Jewish business secrets. Effective stewardship is an expectation and commitment required of each member of the community, and the businesses in the community, each according to their own talents and abilities, to do their part. It is also a commitment by the community to nurture its destiny and future by preparing each generation to assume their roles in this pathway.