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The Estherpreneur is a weekly chat about doing business and life God’s way. Join your host, Edna Harding as she offers biblical strategies and practical applications to improve your mind, business, spirit, relationships, and finances. Listen along as she talks with guests on how to thrive in all areas of life. Edna is a Wife, Mother, Growth Strategist, Author, Minister, Certified Maxwell Business Consultant and Executive Coach, an accredited Master Mindset Coach, and Speaker whose message of hope, truth, and wisdom reaches people all around the world. FavorandWealth.com Estherpreneur.com
Edna Harding [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Estrepreneur, a podcast for entrepreneurs and leaders doing business and life God's way. Each week we discuss biblical and practical tips to improve your mind, business, spirit, relationships and finances. Listen along as I speak with special guests on how to thrive in all aspects of life. Hi, I'm Edna. Like many of you, I wear many hats. I'm a military wife, mother, author, certified John Maxwell business and executive coach, trainer, and founder of Favor and wealth, where we help the good guys win. So tune in as we bring on the light.
Edna Harding [00:00:40]:
Well, hello guys. Welcome for another episode for the Estrepreneur podcast. My name is Edna Harding and I'm so excited that you're tuning in with us today. Today we're going to talk about Leviticus 4. 4. You're like, what? Leviticus 4? And what does this have to do with my business and life? Well, I know. So let me do do a quick backstory. So for those of you guys who are new here, welcome, welcome, welcome.
Edna Harding [00:01:08]:
I'm nothing but a messenger of life. In this podcast, I teach you how I apply biblical strategies or biblical wisdom into my business practically and as well as my life. And so thank you all. I've been doing this for over five years. And if you're here today, there is no accident. The Holy Spirit has his way of getting his messages across to you through unlikely methods. So welcome. And for those of you guys who are my die hards, those who've been following me for quite some time and has been listening and just been so sweet and just, you know, I gotta tell you guys because you don't know my story, but if you follow me on YouTube, I have.
Edna Harding [00:01:48]:
I started my journey back in 2015, 2016. I started documenting my journey. At that time I was still single, I wasn't married, I didn't have kids. And God gave me a vision and he told me to document my journey. And that's what I did for a little while. So you saw like the worst of the worst in that. And then afterwards I got married, had kids and I documented a few things, but I've just been really busy building. That's what I've been doing.
Edna Harding [00:02:15]:
And now that a lot of the systems have been built, the Lord said I need to get back on my post. And so that's what I'm doing is I'm getting back on my post. However, you know, my time is still limit, still limited. I'm, as I mentioned, my military wife. You know, my husband is not always available. He's not always in the city. And so I have to learn how to be ready for all the surprises. And so I can't.
Edna Harding [00:02:41]:
Like before in the past, I would go live on YouTube or go live on all this stuff, and. And then I would have a podcast. Just too much work. And so this was a way for the Holy spir Spirit to simplify my life. And I feel, I believe the Lord wanted me to share this because there's many of you who, God has a big vision and God has a dream, and you're like, how am I going to do this? How am I going to apply this? How am I going to make this work? All you have to do is simplify and just ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. And so this podcast is a way for me to still interact with my people that I build relationships with via the web a long time ago and hopefully re. Engage with them. I know I lost a lot of subscribers and followers because I haven't been as active, but I'm still doing what I've been doing, which is seeking the Father, asking him for wisdom, asking him for revelation and truth.
Edna Harding [00:03:34]:
And that's just exactly what happened. For today's episode is going to share what I learned recently about Leviticus 4. And for those of you guys who don't know what Leviticus is or where is that? It's actually the third book in the Bible, in the Old Testament Testament. And it's basically when the Lord is sharing, like, his expectations and his rules to his people. And in Leviticus 4, he talks about specifically, you know, Franks, specifically when it comes to sin. And I, I wanted to. You're like, you're probably wondering, like, what does Leviticus for have to do anything? Because that's what I thought so too. And then I was like, lord, can I share something else? And he was like, no, I want you to say, teach this.
Edna Harding [00:04:18]:
And so just bear with me here. This is fresh revelation. This is something that, you know, I. I just learned, and I'm going to share it with you as best as I can. Let me start with a question. And that is, have you ever built something, you know, God called you to do, and so you're praying, you're being ethical, you're doing the work, but then something feels off. Something feels like, not right. Like, it's like, okay, I'm doing everything but something.
Edna Harding [00:04:48]:
There's something uneasy or something. It's. It's not sinful, it's not rebellious. It's just not the timing or just something off. And that quiet tension, your quiet, quiet name is something that I think this episode will be able to explain, hopefully with clarity, Leviticus 4. If you read it and mind you guys, if you guys could see my Bible here, you know, I highlighted a few key verses, and that's what we're going to be going over today. This chapter, Leviticus 4, was written for moments exactly like this where you are like you're doing everything, but something feels off. Now I know you're like, well, this is about animal sacrifice.
Edna Harding [00:05:26]:
But one of the things that I love about this chapter is it showed me how God helps leaders realign without losing themselves in shame. That's what this chapter represented to me. So let's first focus on identity. One of the things, the first things that Leviticus 4 makes clear is that God created a category called unintentional sin. Unintentional sin. There are, you know, a long time ago, for my YouTubers, you know, I did a teaching, you know, that there's two ways the enemy deceives God's people. It's either through rebellion or deception. And it came from Adam and Eve's origin.
Edna Harding [00:06:08]:
Eve was deceived by the serpent. Adam knew what to do, but he still disobeyed. So rebellion and deception. And this is what I love about the Father, is he recognizes that we may be doing we don't realize is sin. And so it's unintentional. It's sin that we didn't know even we're sinning because we didn't know it was sin. Does that make sense? And I think just saying this will really free some people, especially those new believers who are struggling with their, you know, doing the right thing. You know, there's a scripture that says, my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak.
Edna Harding [00:06:44]:
This is so true. We. We want to do right, but we don't always do right. And that's what I love about God, is he's so faithful, he's so merciful, he us so much. And what I love about this is it says here that. That. Well, let me kind of back up. So one of the things about the Father is he already accounted for limited information.
Edna Harding [00:07:06]:
He already accounted for growth gaps. He already accounted for decisions you made. You knew before what you know now. Okay. He accounted for all of that. He knew, like, what's going to happen. And thank you for Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus, who paid the price for all of it. But I guess I want to apply it to you entrepreneurs right now.
Edna Harding [00:07:27]:
Okay? If you ever thought I should have known better or I should have done things differently, or I Shouldn't have went that opened that door. I shouldn't have gone that way or I shouldn't have built that relationship. I shouldn't have even built that business. Like God is saying, I already knew you wouldn't or I already knew you were going to do that or I already knew he knew what you were going to do. Okay? It's not an insult, it's a mercy. So it's a mercy. I hope you hear me. Guys, it doesn't matter what type of mistakes you've had in the past.
Edna Harding [00:07:58]:
Even while building this vision. He can course correct you like that just because of his spirit. Because the spirit is so strategic and he's so brilliant in what he does that he could switch things just like a little bit, like a 15 degree switch. And all of a sudden you're exactly where you need to be. And that's the season that we're in right now. We're in a where God is moving on behalf of the saints and he is going to course correct if you just turn to God, if you just stop whatever you're doing right now and say, God, I messed up. I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea how to fix it.
Edna Harding [00:08:38]:
I surrender. Just help me, help me. Like, just help me, help me, Lord, I need your help. He will fix everything. He is so merciful. And this is what I loved about this chapter. The animals in this chapter represent something innocent, okay? That the cost of the leap. God knew that there are certain things that we're going to.
Edna Harding [00:08:59]:
These people were going to do that. He said, okay, I know they're going to mess up, but I'm going to really provide a way. And so he gave them solutions to these things for people's limitations. Okay? So number one, God doesn't cancel assignments because of your missteps. He doesn't cancel your assignments. It's still there. Like I mentioned the other week, it's still there. He corrects alignment so authority can remain intact.
Edna Harding [00:09:25]:
So what he does is he just gets you back. Like let's say you're here, he gets you back here. He'll draw you here. Be like, hey daughter. Hey son. You're not in line with my pace. You're not in line with what I'm doing. I need you to get back on here.
Edna Harding [00:09:41]:
But how do you know if you're out of track is if you spend time with him, if you're intimate with him, you'll be able to hear him. Okay, now here's where it gets very real for CEOs and founders and entrepreneurs. Different people brought different animals, right? So you have the common people, the church folks, then you have the priest people, and then you have the leaders. So if you look at it in the scripture, Leviticus chapter 4, the Father asked Moses to say, priests sin, or if a whole community sins, bring a bull. One of them is like a full adult bull, the other is like a young bull. Then you have a goat for leaders and a lamb for individuals. And I know, I'm just summing this up, but read Leviticus chapter 4. It goes very details about, like how, specifically how to make the sacrifice.
Edna Harding [00:10:30]:
You know what, without blemish, male or female. He goes into that. What I love about this particular passage is this is God acknowledging that something leaders often miss and don't always understand that when you are the decision maker, when you're the person in charge of a company or in charge of a group or in charge of a huge place, impact your misalignment costs more. So if God puts you in a position and he's the one who put you there, and you're not doing his will, like, it's going to cost you more to fix that disobedience versus an individual who's not aligned with God. So I'm calling on you successful influencers, entrepreneurs, leaders, those who have a platform. The Lord is calling upon you to get back on the horse, meaning get out of the sidelines and run the race. God gave you, okay? Not what you gave yourself, not what other people gave you, not what your neighbors are doing, but what God gave you, okay? Because what happens is your decisions will affect more lives. Your disobedience will affect more lives.
Edna Harding [00:11:42]:
And he knows that the Lord will hold you accountable. The scripture says too much is given, much is required. Okay? So for example, when you're off, your team fills it before you do, Your revenue reflects it. Your energy drains faster. And how do you know if you're off? Is because you don't have peace, you don't have joy, you don't have the fruits of the spirit. Read it all. I don't have time to go over all of them. Okay? Now, what I love about this particular passage, it doesn't mean that God is displeased.
Edna Harding [00:12:10]:
In fact, it means your authority that God gave you carries some sort of spiritual way. There is a way your obedience can shift the atmosphere. So my obedience to walk in the call God gave me and to walk in sync with what his spirit is saying will affect my vendors, will affect my team, will affect my clients they will feel and experience the overflow of my obedience. And same thing with you as leaders. You, your obedience will make lasting impact and fruitful. Like I'm seeing, like a domino, like a multiple layer, multiple layers of effects. Fruits. It's not just about you.
Edna Harding [00:12:53]:
It's about the people that you're over. Let's talk about the structure. This is what I believe that the Lord is wanting us to gather from this particular passage. You know, it talks about repentance. And what I love about this is he's very specific, right? He's very specific instructions. So let's break it down. So when you say, for example, lord, I'm sorry, worry, without changing your behavior, like your thought patterns, your systems, your communication, without changing the external things, and you just use words, it's not going to change anything. It's just going to repeat cycles, right? And I love how he broke it out by three different things he said, you know, the blood, the fat, and outside the camp, okay, there's three things that the Lord highlighted to me.
Edna Harding [00:13:46]:
So the blood itself, when it says, you know, get the blood, cut it a certain way, get the blood. I don't have the specifics here, but it represents real surrender, right? When your blood is showing, it's like it shows. Like, you have to truly surrender, okay? Like, let go of your agenda, let go of your motives, and ask the Lord, okay? I need you to decide for me. I need you to tell me what to do. Okay? The fat, which is the best part of the, of the animal, the cow. You know, it's so funny because I was thinking, like, everyone, it's so funny. I know this is recently the United States is now apparently the fat has. It's like the best part.
Edna Harding [00:14:27]:
It's like the healthy part is what people, you need fats. You need healthy fats for your body, right? And the fat here is also important to God, meaning if you do not align with God, it will actually also cost you the best part of God's blessing. Okay, that's what I got. It's like, like being aligned when we're not in sync with his ways and his truth. When you're obedient to God, it will cost you something. When you're obedient to God, it will require you to surrender. So this is what is needed. And a lot of times when it comes to obedience, we don't want it to cost us anything.
Edna Harding [00:15:04]:
We want it to be free. And not many people are willing to pay the price. And I can honestly say that the people who are willing to pay the price for their destiny in the promised land are very far and few in between. I happen to be one of them. And I'm saying this not out of pride, but I'm saying, saying this because I know, because that's what the Lord told me, okay? And it sounds even. Just saying this, I know, like, it's gonna be like, oh, gosh, you're so cocky. But really, it was painful. It was the worst experience of my life, and I don't even know how in the world I kept going, but it was by the grace of God, okay? And those who know me, know me, and they know the journey I've been on, you know? Okay, so the blood, the fat, okay, so you have to surrender.
Edna Harding [00:15:48]:
You have to give up some things. And the last part is outside the camp means God removes the evidence of misalignment. So it doesn't define the leader or infect the culture. What I love about this is he said there are certain things that God did that was, like, out, not in front of everybody, but on the side. What I love about that is he works with you privately, okay? He doesn't make a spectacle out of you. He wants to work with you privately. And this is for. I don't know who this is for, but if you are in sin, if you are doing things that are not God's way, and you're a son and daughter of God, and you know you're in sin, it's time to get back on track with the Lord.
Edna Harding [00:16:29]:
He wants to deal with you privately. If you don't handle it privately, he will deal with it with you publicly. And that's what's happening right now in the news. People are being exposed. I truly believe that God is a merciful God and he wants to protect your family. He wants to keep your family intact. He wants to keep your finances, like your reputation intact. But if after many, many years, he's.
Edna Harding [00:16:49]:
He's very patient. If you're constantly going to rebel, if you're constantly not going to listen to God, he's going to be like, hey, it's time for me to expose this publicly because I care about you. I have to discipline you. I'm not just going to let this continue on because it's not just affecting you, but it's affecting the people around you. This is how Kingdom leadership stays healthy. This is how God structures leaders and how he keeps them accountable. Okay? So here's some three practical ways to apply Leviticus 4 into your business this week. Okay? Number one, I want you to Identify what's unintentional but costly.
Edna Harding [00:17:26]:
So ask yourself, where did I build? Based on an old version of myself? Which decisions made sense then, but feels heavy now. There was things that I did in the past that I can't do anymore this year. So for me, specifically, because my husband is going to be in some program and I'm not going to really have him around all the time, I had to make adjustments to my schedule. I had to make adjustments to my bandwidth. I had to make adjustments to my deliverables. And as well as I had to make adjustments to my health. Right. Like, I need to make sure that I can carry the bird.
Edna Harding [00:18:00]:
The. Not the burden, but kind of the load that he normally carries when he's around all the time. Okay, so the things I did last year, I can't do this year. Okay, so that's an example. Okay, this isn't about blame. It's about upgrading alignment so that you carry your current authority. So now I have to not be afraid to spend the money to outsource that or to delegate that, because the Lord told me to focus on just a few certain things this year and not anything else. All right, Write it down.
Edna Harding [00:18:34]:
Because clarity will break shame. The second thing is surrender the fact, not just a problem. The fat was the richest part. Okay, so I want you to ask yourself, what am I reluctant to release because it's working, but does it feel clean? Am I reluctant to release because it's working but doesn't feel clean? And this also applies to regular life. Okay, I know I don't always only speak to entrepreneurs. I speak to moms and professionals and students, and I get that. Okay, but what. What are you reluctant to release because it's working, but it doesn't feel clean? Is there a client? Is there a strategy? Is there a pace or revenue stream God has been nudging me about? Or.
Edna Harding [00:19:12]:
Or a friend or a house maybe? Like, maybe we have multiple properties. Is it. What is it that the Lord wants you to get rid of? Like clothes or, I don't know, things you love a computer. Alignment usually costs comfort. It does. It always does. But the great thing about it is when you do that, you'll make room for what he really wants to bring to you. And that's when you'll gain clarity.
Edna Harding [00:19:40]:
And number three, change what? Structure? Not everything. God didn't tell them to rebuild the whole camp. He just told them to follow the process. There's specific process. So he had a specific way of doing this. Again, for the community, the leaders. Like, there's different ways of doing this. And so for you as entrepreneurs, that might look like changing your timelines, that might look like redefining roles within your leadership team.
Edna Harding [00:20:08]:
That might be like changing your offerings, changing your messaging. I had to change my messaging on my website, change some of my offers that might implement, mean implementing rest or counsel before expansion. Like the Lord told me. Okay, this is what I need you to do. I need you to rest. I need you to rest your thinking. I can't think too much, right? I need to just go let the Holy Spirit do the thinking for me for a while because I need to give my brain a break, if that makes sense. He just wants us to be precise this season.
Edna Harding [00:20:40]:
He wants us to be on target. And the way we do that is we have to do the things I just mentioned above. All right, so let me leave you with this because for time's sake, Leviticus 4 shows us that God never exposes misalignment to shame leaders. What he does, God is exposing something about you. It's a good thing because he loves his children, he disciplines his children. So what he's trying to do is he's trying to protect your authority, he's trying to protect your community, and he's trying to protect your calling. So it's not out of like exposure, but actually protection. He loves you.
Edna Harding [00:21:14]:
Okay? So if something is off, if things are not making sense right now, you're like, edna, I still don't understand. I pray that you listen to this episode again and just ask the Holy Spirit to reveal, like, what is Edna trying to say? Okay, there, there is always provision for your. Your, your shortcomings. But the provision, a lot of times it comes with a cost. Okay? And the cost is very simple. It's not. It comes with a cost. It's a heavy cost, but it's simple.
Edna Harding [00:21:45]:
Right? You just have to surrender, right? You have to surrender, you have to obey, right? And you gotta be willing to deal with it privately, right? Surrender, obey. Even though it costs something. And you gotta deal with it privately. All right, well, I hope this encouraged you and bless you again. I know this is fresh. So if it wasn't as in. In sync with what like I normally do, it's just because this is really fresh revelation. But the Holy Spirit is trying to test me.
Edna Harding [00:22:14]:
Just kidding. He's trying to expand me and teach me how to lean on him and not my intellect, not my experience, not my research and study, but to flow with Him. And I pray that this bless you. So don't forget to lead with peace. Always build with clarity and steward what God trusts you with. Love you all and I'll see you guys next time. Take care. Thanks for joining us this week on Estrepreneur.
Edna Harding [00:22:43]:
Make sure to Visit our website, favorandwealth.com for more information on our services. While you're at it, if you found value in this show, we'd appreciate a rating on itunes. Or if you simply tell a friend about the show, that would help me out, too. Also, check out my book, the Ugly side of Sales, available on Amazon, where I share seven of my secrets on how to win and grow business the right way. Until next time, keep shining.