Sep 3/D246: Production Part 1: Have A Mind To Work (Nehemiah 3-5)

0:00excuses are really a crutch that we lean on to place blame on something or someone. Welcome to Rinse Reflect Repeat, the daily podcast inspired by my action-driven devotional and guide to reading the Bible through in a year, alphabetically. I'm Anita Cordell and each day we'll walk through the Bible discovering how even books like Leviticus and Numbers speak to our daily lives. These short devotional are here to cleanse our hearts and transform our perspectives. So grab your Bible, open your heart, and let's journey through the living water together. It's time to rinse, reflect, and repeat. Today's devotion is titled, production part one, have a mind to work. And we are on day 246 and we're on the calendar date of September 3rd. And we are continually walking through the book of Nia Maya.

1:00So today's morning rinse is Nia Maya 3 through 5. And I'm going to continually give you some steps on how to build and to look at Nia Maya from a business standpoint from a high level point of view. So again, morning rinse is Nia Maya 3 through 5 and the featured verse is Nia Maya 4-6. So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height for the people had a mind to work. If I were smarter, I could, if I had more money, I would, if only I had a specific skill set, I might, let's be honest, we are probably all guilty I can speak for myself. I'm guilty of having the beginnings of this sentence and then filling in whatever I think I am lacking or what I need, but I don't have. I think that we are probably all guilty of making excuses like what I

2:02actually just talked about. Excuses are really a crutch that we lean on to place blame on something or someone. We place blame on our circumstances. We place blame on other people who might have contributed to, you know, a setback in our life. We place blame on, you know, a certain scenario or, you know, whatever that may be, they do not help us further our call. Excuses do not help us further our call or the purpose that we have in our lives. So I'm telling you to stop it right now. Just stop it. Instead begin taking responsibility for where we're at and stop making excuses. Use what we have. That's so biblical in, in the concept of, you know, people used what they had. And if they

3:07didn't have something and got to put them into a position of finding favor, then they received that favor, right? But people who get far in life, they don't make excuses. They take responsibility and use what they have in that moment. And while the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was for protecting the city in moments of war, it was a project with a business plan. And we can all learn from that plan and all learn to, you know, use these scenarios and use the things that Nia Maya did to help us further God's kingdom. So here are what I call the production steps in Nia Maya's business plan. And now there are nine of them. And so it's a long journey. And like I said yesterday, I unloaded a whole lot of things for you to consider doing when you are building. And this is something that takes a year, you know, or longer or, you know, just moments in time. You know, and if it's a small

4:12ministry, you can certainly start small. It doesn't have to take a year. But the first thing is make a list of 52 tasks needing completed. And this is all in chapter three. And so where this is derived from is in chapter three, I counted how many portions of the wall that they rebuilt. And he put people in place of certain sections of the walls. And there were 52 sections that were being rebuilt. And if you look at it from God's number, there are 52 weeks in the Bible. And if we would just write down 52 things that we think we need. And there might not necessarily be that many. But I use that term just in reference to chapter three. And when I am building something or wanting to grow in my business, I usually think about the number 52 because nothing happens overnight. It takes a long time.

5:13And so, you know, sometimes if I write my list, I only get to 20 because the thing that I'm doing is a lot smaller than a whole years worth of planning or 52 items. But go ahead and make your list shoot for 52 things. And if it's not 52 things, then that's okay. And then every single day pray against anything in your way. That's step two. So step one is you write down this list and be sure and be in conversation with God about these lists. But then every single day when you're looking at these lists, pray against anything that is in your way that would cause your list to not be fulfilled. And that's chapter four verse four through five is when Nehemiah was praying. And then three, set your mind to work and divide up your list. So when we set our mind to work, we have that mind to get it done. We have that mind to be intentionally productive. And start dividing up your

6:16list, maybe prioritizing it. These are the things that I need to get done first. These are the next thing, you know, and start dividing up your list. Always work from this list. And when you divide up the list and start to set your mind to work, you can look at that in chapter four or six where the people were divided up in certain sections. And we can do that as well within our own list. And then celebrate your accomplishments along the way. Even if you are only half done, it all still has a purpose. And so set goals for your life. So say you've got your list and you've divided up, then set a goal for your life. Like, oh my goodness, if I could get these three things down and finished, then I'm going to celebrate that and celebrate those accomplishments along the way. Keep praying is another step. Just keep praying. Then adjust your plan when obstacles or people come against you. You know, there will be obstacles just like in the story of NMI. There were obstacles.

7:18There were people that were coming against him. And, you know, people were trying to get him to stop building the walls. And these people were coming in and trying to be, you know, trying to get the people even against NMI up. But they were praying and they were adjusting their plan so that when the obstacles came, they were a little flexible in that. And that's in chapter four, nine and twenty one. Then the next step is organize your networking list that you made yesterday. And know who your support system is. And we're looking at chapter four, verse 13 and chapter five, verse 16. Know who your support system is. And then the next step is tell yourself to not be afraid. You know, so many times we get stuck in moving, moving forward in our plan for our life, moving forward in the things that we are needing to do or the things that we are called to do. Because of

8:20fear, we get stuck and we get stuck because maybe there's somebody that, you know, we're afraid of what they'll think. Maybe we're afraid that we won't finish it or accomplish it or maybe there's some other reason why we are afraid or maybe we just don't think that we are qualified. But tell yourself, do not be afraid. And sometimes we have to actually talk to ourselves, you know, in chapter and NMI, chapter four, verse 14, we sometimes have to tell ourselves or tell other people do not be afraid, even in the midst of obstacles and even in the things that we're, you know, up against do not be afraid. The next step is to take needed breaks, but do not live lazy. And that's chapter four, verse 22. Now, when I say take needed breaks, I mean, sometimes people can, you know, work all day long without a break and, and, you know, go work a second day without a break or whatever, but my encouragement to you is to take needed breaks. If your body needs a

9:2430 minute reset, go take a 30 minute reset. I love working out in the morning and that's kind of my early, early break in, you know, instead of starting my day off and running to get things done, I start my morning with working out four to five times a week. But then also too, I intentionally take a day off in my work and I try to. And now if there's an emergency situation or a house pops up on the market really quick and a client is really, really wanting to see this home, then, you know, yeah, I'll squeeze in a couple hours to do that. But I try and take one day off a week and so that I can refresh and do some of my hobbies and serving the community, those kinds of things. But when we take breaks, we have to also be really intentional to not get into a lazy mindset. We can't be owning that sin of slothfulness. So I believe it is a sin. You know, we're supposed to

10:27be productive with our time and be productive with our, our, you know, our call. And when we get lazy, we just don't do anything. So take those needed breaks, but don't live lazily. And then next step is set your mind to never take advantage of people when you are working towards your goal and guard against others who do. And so if you know someone that, that typically will take advantage of other people, then maybe it's time to break those ties or don't do business with those people. Guard against others who take advantage of people. Don't do things, you know, with them because it could be that they take advantage of you or it could be to, you know, they take advantage of others that are affected by you or that are helping you. Just set your mind to never take advantage of people. And make fair trades or pay people. That's in chapter five or 12, we learn how that there were fair trades that were going on. And it is okay to pay full price for somebody's services.

11:31You know, I have sometimes a little guilt complex for charging for some of my services, whether that's in the acting world or whether that's being a real estate agent. And sometimes this, you know, if you call it the enemy or my conscience or not really my conscience, but sometimes I feel like, you know, there's something in me that's like, you don't deserve full pay. Or, you know, there's this yipping in your ear. And it's the enemy speaking lies over ourselves. So I'm saying that to say that it is okay to pay somebody full price for what they're charging. You know, a lot of times people will come to me if they're, you know, wanting to hire me for a set or whatever. And I tell them my rates. And they're fine with paying my full rate. And same thing was, you know, buying a house, you know, some people just want to have a mindset that they're going to negotiate and try and get the best deal on a home. And then other people are coming in and saying, you know what, that is a fair

12:34price. And I'm in a pay full price for that home. And then the people who want to just, you know, pride themselves on negotiating and getting the best deal they possibly can. Sometimes I've seen it happen where they miss out on a great opportunity to get the house that they really want. So it's a perspective of that just make sure that you don't take advantage of people and guard against others who do making fair trades and pay people. And then the last one is trust God for your provisions as Nia Maya did. He was a governor. But he did not take a salary due to the high demand of the task on the people. And so there are situations where, you know, if, if say I am hired for doing a specific job, whether that's, you know, acting or whether, you know, I'm needing to help somebody buy a house and we run into a little bit of a glitch in the budget, then, you know,

13:38pray about it. And if God wants you in that moment to, you know, take a pay cut or whatever because of that circumstance, then, then you may very well be the answer to that, but always be in prayer about those situations, you know, he did not take a salary because of the people. And the demand of the people and the tasks that the people were now, we're doing the tasks of the people who were doing, but was his, was his needs met? Absolutely. And God provided for him in other ways. And, you know, you can read that in chapter five, verse 14 and 18. So in chapter three of today's morning rinse, like I said, I counted around 52 sections of the wall that was being repaired. Does, and like I said, you know, that number is 52 weeks in a year. And it's, it makes it easy to divide up our

14:41tasks. We can prioritize it and then do one task per week. And, you know, there are 52 weeks in a year and isn't that so cool? How God helps us with our business plan, even in, in stories like this, if we dig deep, the people divided and conquered as well. And so he delegated out and the people divided up and conquered. And yes, some were not even qualified for the work that they were doing. They learned along the way. And in fact, Nia Maya had a jewelry maker and a perfumer, each in charge of a section. You can see that in chapter three, verse eight. They weren't builders. They were jewelry makers and a perfumer. And yet they were in charge of a certain section so that they could get that section done. Did it take 52 weeks for Nia Maya to build the wall? No, it didn't because they had it all delegated out and divided up. And so you may have a list of 52 things and you may

15:44have people that are helping you get it done. And you can delegate those things to that person. And they'll be done in quicker. So no more excuses today. Begin your production. That's my challenge to you. To dig deeper, make that list of 52 tasks for your business, for your call, for your purpose. Maybe you've started a new job and you've got 52 things that you want to do or 52 things that you need to learn. And you might not even know all the 52 things yet. But make a list. Just start making a list and over the next week, that list is going to grow. You might be sitting there going, okay, I don't even think I know 52 things that I need to do. And I've had lists for multiple things. So like I have an acting list and I have a real estate list and I have a ministry list. And I had my book launching list. And so every area of your life, you might have a different list for that thing. You know, your job, what are 52 things that you can do to progress

16:49forward. So keep in mind these lists. And you might just be able to knock a few out every day. I don't know. But this will take a while for you to develop this list and have a notebook where you've got these lists going and spend some time working on it because it's going to help you be more productive when you have a list to work from. And one of the things that I love is, you know, so many people will say, need a, how do you do all the things that you do? You're so busy. And I reply back and I say, no, I am not busy. I don't even like the word busy because in my mind, busy is a negative connotation. And it can give the, it can give the, um, perception that you don't have time for someone or something. And I never want to give anybody that impression that I am too

17:52busy for them or too busy for something that they ask or too busy for ministry or too busy. So as I'm even saying this, the word busy just seems so negative. It's like a negative connotation. So when people say, Anita, um, you're so busy, you know, you're always doing something or whatever and I say, no, I am not busy. I don't like that word. Instead, I'm intentionally productive. And that is the word that I like to use, um, is intentionally productive because I want to be productive with everything that I do and granted are there times that I just need a mental break? Absolutely. Um, you know, there are times. That's why you take those needed breaks. You take a day off, you go serve, you do the things I love, you know, um, and sometimes honestly when I'm on set and doing, you know, a commercial here or there, um, that to me is that mental break. It's almost like I, I, um, need that it to separate myself from my real estate business and just go have fun.

18:56And kind of a thing, I'm on set. And so I have fun with my business and real estate, um, but it's a different type of fun. It's like a more, um, ingrained, uh, uh, intense fun. I guess it's what you will, but when I'm on set, it's like I can be kind of free and relaxed and, and walk in my, walk in my giftings and, and do that. Um, I've also done a video announcements for churches in the past. And so that's always a fun thing. But I don't like the word busy. I like to be intentionally productive. And so I want you to be that way too. Don't feel like this is busy work. Feel like this is your part one for your production plan to begin developing the things that you are wanting to do and what is in your heart and take some time to do this and don't expect to be done today. Just start your list and start, you know, whether it's one, two, four lists, I don't care. But just start it. And then tonight when you pull out your journal and you have that evening reflection, I want you

20:00to write down what you did today in your production steps. Did you get one of your lists done? Did you get all of your lists done? Did you just focus on one list and get that completed or did you even start it? Did you have a notebook where you're starting to put your lists in? That's what I do. I have a notebook where I have, you know, a piece of paper for each one of my lives and I have those 52 things listed. And then I refresh it once in a while. So, you know, maybe you need a notebook that you can carry around with you and just update it along the way. But what did you do today for your production steps? And I hope today inspired you and I hope that you're looking at Nehemiah in a different set of lenses, a different set of eyeglasses and I can't wait for you to be back tomorrow to continue growing in this journey of one of my favorite books of the Bible, Nehemiah. And you know where to get my devotional? It's in the show notes. And so, and also too, I'd love to

21:00hear your perspective of this. And until tomorrow, keep rinsing, reflecting, and repeating. God bless you.