< This is the transcript from the video "Why Christ is First? >
by: Jon Francis So I grew up in a Christian home; and my dad and my mom taught me the Word of God, took me to church, and sent me to a Christian school. And I didn’t fully understand what it meant to be saved until I was 22 and in humble repentance turned to the Lord as my Savior. I was a sinner in need. And at that point, he became my life. He’s not an addition. He’s not something I do on Sundays. It’s what I want as my whole life. As the Bible says in II Corinthians 5 that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away and behold all things are become new and all things are of God;" and that is the testimony of my life. And as that, as the Bible says again in another place, that "when Christ who is our life shall appear" -- and He is my life and He’s my all, my desire, my purpose, my focus all surrounds what His will and His way and His fellowship with me. It’s all as the Apostle Paul said, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.” And that’s my desire. And that’s why Christ will be first in this business; because he’s first in my life. And so Christ, in my understanding, is the only sure foundation. He can be depended upon in trials and tests and troubles. I think of Job who lost everything. He lost his business. He lost his family. Lost his health. And he gained a very disturbed wife, which is understandable losing her children and losing everything. And yet he said that he was confident that his redeemer - he will see his redeemer. There are no men that can be depended upon like Him. He is - the Bible says - faithful. He’s the only one that’s faithful. And so He’s unchanging, He’s able to be trusted, He’ll carry you through no matter what the circumstances. I lean upon Him and seek to be more like Him because His character is perfect. His character is wonderful. The Lord Jesus is a humble personality. He’s not proud, boastful, seeking His own. And I like that and I depend upon Him to make me like that so that in business I can be effective the way he’s effective. His character is not as the world might try to make it mean and cruel. Only time that’s the case is when people don’t receive His love. Obviously, I don’t know what tomorrow holds. In my experience in business -- we had a business years ago that had 24 employees. We were doing really well, but it turned out it was the Lord’s will to change that and it went down to where we had nothing. And He put me through that, but what I didn’t know at that time and I began to seek the Lord about what to do about starting a business and didn’t know what the future held. And I learned and came to learn the Lord does, and He’s worth trusting. He’s a sure foundation. He knows what the future holds; and if we trust Him, He will give us what is best. What I’ve learned about the Lord’s Word is that it doesn’t have to be changed. It is everlasting. It is a good foundation. What I’ve learned to understand about it is that what it teaches is right, and what it teaches is the path to success is the path of humility. It’s not the path of self-assurance. It’s not the path of trusting in yourself to accomplish things or to think higher esteem. The Bible says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God "-- the highest of the high -- "he took upon himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.” And then not just stopping there, He became obedient unto death for us. And the Lord lifted Him up. I know many examples in the Bible of kings that were raised up by the Lord because they were low in their own sight, and the Lord lifted them up. And that’s what I want. I don’t want to be lifted up because I think I’m wonderful or because I think I’ve got some knowledge or some strength of my own. Trusting in the Lords is, for me, the only business plan. I know people in the past have said to me when things would come, economy might be shaking, and events might happen in the world, and they’ve come, “What are we gonna do?” And I would always tell them, “I’m gonna do the same thing that I’ve always done - trust the Lord.” Wherever He leads, it will be right. So I love Psalm 127:1 which says, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city the watchman maketh but in vain.” I like it because it is a testimony of this business, and I’ve seen the Lord do mighty things, unbelievable things. We come in and we have no money, we have no equipment, we have no people, we have no hope; and the Lord has put things in position and people in place and circumstances are just worked out. You know, every need was met, and the house was built. And in the end, I could look back and say, “There’s no way I could’ve done that. There’s no way that it was by ability.” It was the Lord, and I give him the credit that He has brought us through and established us. And that’s my hope from now on. And so my business, I don’t measure success by how much money I have or things that I have or people that I know or the world’s perspective; I measure it by the fact that whether I have a lot or I have a little, I can be truly happy. I can be truly happy because the Lord is the center of my life, and through Him, the Bible says, “In His presence is fullness of joy.” He is the Prince of Peace, and I know that to be a fact. He will bring peace to your life in the midst of the worst trouble. And even though from time to time you’re still human, you’ll wonder what’s going on. But I know through trusting Him in times that were very tough and trusting Him in times that were good that He can bring peace. He can bring joy. He can bring true satisfaction - something the world can never give. And I know because I’ve tried. I’m John Francis with Francis Steel Incorporated, and this is why I honor the Lord first.
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October 2021
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