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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 [00:00:03]:
Welcome to Estrepreneur, a podcast for entrepreneurs and leaders doing business and life God's way. Each week, we discuss biblical and 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. Well, hello, everyone.
Edna Harding [00:00:48]:
Thank you for tuning in for another episode of the Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm so excited that you are here because if you are listening to this particular episode, this is not an accident. God brought you here specifically today, this very hour, this very minute, because he wants to speak to you. And I wanna talk to you guys specifically about wisdom that not only can shake industries, rewrite your legacy, but it also honors heaven. Okay? So what I'm about to share with you, won't just change how you market. It will change how you measure. It would change how you lead, and it will change why you build. And I know I'm saying all these strong statements, but I got a butt whooping from the Lord, from the holy spirit, over the past week.
Edna Harding [00:01:48]:
He's been correcting me and telling me to stop, dimming my light, to stop hiding the revelation that he's giving it to me, basically to stop dumbing it down and to speak forth his truth with bonus. And it's funny because I I don't know. I it's like it's like it's like that thing, like, the false humility. Like, right, we want to hide because we don't want it to feel like it's all about us. But in reality, the holy spirit's like, I can't speak by myself when people are not listening. Basically, he has to use me to get people's attention. He they need someone physically there saying the things that he's showing me, if that makes sense. And quite frankly, I I told him.
Edna Harding [00:02:41]:
And in fact, this is the truth. Like, this past morning, I was driving. I was like, god, I don't know if I can handle this. This is a lot of pressure. This is you're you're giving me some strong directives. And I don't know if I can handle this. I don't know if I can handle the weight of the assignment. I don't know if I could carry, you know, the heaviness of this revelation because for me and not this specific one, but just in general.
Edna Harding [00:03:08]:
No mind you guys, if you don't know, I've been studying his ways since 02/2006. That's when I first started journaling. 02/2006. It's been a long time. I mean, talk about, I don't know, twenty four years, is it? Two thousand six? Four fourteen? Oh, fourteen years. It's not twenty four years. It can't be twenty four. Fourteen years of studying this stuff.
Edna Harding [00:03:36]:
Oh, wait. Hold on. Let me just calculate this because I am not I'm one of those people. 02/2025 minus two oh, no. February. No. It wasn't 02/2006. It was before that because it started when I was dating my ex, which was in 02/2003.
Edna Harding [00:04:00]:
Okay. Let's just say it has been over twenty years. I knew it was right. Twenty two years, my friends. Twenty two years of journaling. And so a lot of the things that I know has been in me and it's like, I've been basking in it, you know? And it's one of those things that the holy spirit told me that thank you. He's speaking to me now. It's like, if, if I don't speak what I know, even the thing that he's given me, he's gonna remove.
Edna Harding [00:04:28]:
And so it's just one of those things where he's like, open your mouth, girlfriend. And so that's what I'm here for. I know that was a very long introduction to say that I'm just gonna speak the things that he's been sharing with me. And I'm just the messenger. Don't kill the messenger. You know, I'm just the messenger. This is not me. This is the holy spirit through me.
Edna Harding [00:04:53]:
So let's go ahead and begin. Okay? So I wanna start off by saying this, that what the world calls disruption is actually why it's bankrupt. Okay? So what the world calls disruption is actually why it's bankrupt. Because if you think about it, the world is obsessed with what? New platforms, bigger launches, AI automation, flashy brands, like the big bang where, you know, the big box bang, whatever. I forgot what they call it. The big bang where, you know, like, more is better. Right? Big is better. Huge is bigger.
Edna Harding [00:05:33]:
Like, bigger stages, bigger bigger platforms, bigger following, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger. Okay? But all of that without holy order, without the holy spirit, without Jesus, without God in it is just noise without power. Okay. Motion with no meaning, Because here's one thing that I know. If man can build it, man can destroy it. What does that mean? There's always gonna be somebody better, younger, older, brighter than you that's gonna come up with something similar but better. Okay? So here's what I wanna say, and I hope you hear me by way of the spirit. You don't need a new tool.
Edna Harding [00:06:28]:
You don't need a new method. You just need truth. You need to stand on what is the truth and not what is true. Okay. And how do you know the difference between truth and true? Okay. True can change. For example, I'm in Dallas, Texas. That's true.
Edna Harding [00:06:49]:
But I I I could all of a sudden be in Houston, and that true just changed. So it's no longer true. Right? Truth is something that cannot be changed. So for example, the Earth is round. That is the truth. We cannot make it a square one day that's you know, a a triangle the next day. The earth is round. That is truth.
Edna Harding [00:07:18]:
Okay? So when you build something, you don't build something on what is true for that moment. I hope you hear me by way of the spirit. If you follow fads, that stuff can change. For example, Instagram was a thing or Facebook was a thing. Then it was Instagram. Then it was TikTok, then YouTube, and all these things. And now apps are a thing. Like, it's always going to change.
Edna Harding [00:07:41]:
Okay? There is always gonna be something new. But one thing that doesn't change, my friends, if you build your business or life in things that doesn't change and you build it on the truth, okay, that's when you know that you're building something that can last, something that will outlast the trends, something that could impact for eternity. Okay? So, for example, I want you guys to think about this. Why is it, k, that even the most successful, richest men and women alive or CEOs or success businesswomen, why do they commit suicide? Why do they end their lives? They have the fame. You know, why do they still feel empty? Why do they go into depression? Why do they, like, just drink their lives away? K? And then you also have struggling entrepreneurs or struggling individuals, like, just toiling and toiling and toiling, like, killing themselves to build something that's never going to last in the first place. What is wrong with that thinking? I want you guys to hear my friends because here's here here's what's happening, my friends. You've been chasing models and not mantles. You've been using downloads.
Edna Harding [00:09:10]:
Download this, download that, download this, download this, and not doctrine. You've been following trends, again, that can change tomorrow and not truth. Algorithms change. You hear about this all the time. You cannot beat the algorithms. They do this because it's kinda like they want you to be continued like in the hamster wheel. Right? Oh, you figured it out. Let me come up with a new trend.
Edna Harding [00:09:36]:
Okay? Here's the thing, my friend. Okay? Real disruption, something that really will change your life. It doesn't come from a louder voice. It doesn't come from the latest and great things. It doesn't come for the big bang. It actually comes for it with deeper root. Deeper root. Deeper root.
Edna Harding [00:09:58]:
Okay? Okay? So for example, you know, the world sells breakthrough. Oh, okay. Here's fast, flashy, emotional, addictive. Like, here we go. Like, thirty days from now, you know, you get like, they sell you the big deal, the big things. Okay? Like, the the overpromise, under deliver type of thing. Okay? But what is God doing now? K? What God is doing right now in this very hour, and I'm not the only one he's doing this with. I believe there are many sons and daughters of God that he is raising right now in this hour that are builders of frameworks.
Edna Harding [00:10:34]:
What does that mean? Frameworks are systems that teach, transfer, and transform. Let me say that again. Frameworks are systems that teach, transfer, and transform. So the question is so I want you to think about this. So let's say you you're leading a team of a thousand people or you're trying to land your first client. K? Your business needs some sort of architecture, some sort of system that is operating, k, with you in it or with you not in it. Does that make sense? So when you build a system, it doesn't need you in it. K? You create a system and you're out of it.
Edna Harding [00:11:20]:
Right? So we are familiar with systems. Right? Systems could be like, for example, washing machine and dryer. I know it's so simple. But it washes your clothes. It dries your clothes without you being in it. That's a system. Okay? So what happens is we we we, instead of building systems, we build, like, fats. We build right now things.
Edna Harding [00:11:46]:
We don't build things that last. Okay? So, let let me expand a little bit more what I'm saying. So, for example, k, prophetic words. How many of us have gotten prophetic words? Okay. A lot of us do. We we we get prophetic words, and we're just so encouraged by it whether, you know, Sometimes you could tell that I don't know. I'm not gonna go into there, but there are some words out there that I'm just like, that is not godly. That is not of God.
Edna Harding [00:12:18]:
These are people who are just trying to say what the people wanna hear. That is you don't feel the anointing of God. And it's not about feelings, but it's just annoying. Right? And so but you know one thing you know one thing I love more than prophetic words? One thing I love that truly moves the needles for me, not a prophetic word, not the greatest revelation, not the greatest insight, not the greatest teaching. Okay? You know what never fails? You know what helps me move forward? You wanna know what my constant is? My constant is scripture. Okay? It's scripture. Scripture. K? Because here's the deal, my friends.
Edna Harding [00:13:00]:
God is not God is not unpredictable. He shows us his character. He shows us his ways. He shows us his truth all throughout the scriptures if you just read it. You know, before, I used to read, like, a lot of devotional books for by people and everything. And I'm like, you know, I just I just wanna I want you to teach me holy spirit. I want you to show me, you know, your ways. And he he would speak to me through the Bible.
Edna Harding [00:13:29]:
That's it. Just the Bible. And then sometimes he'll tell me to get a book or whatever to supplement, but it's it's not my main course. Okay? It's not even my dessert. Okay? Because the sweetness of it. Right? It's like a side, kinda like a piece of bread or kinda like, you know, the the the corn, you know, on the side, like the books and devotions and people's other revelations. That is not my main source of food. Just like Edna Harding or my podcast or my program shouldn't be your source of food.
Edna Harding [00:14:02]:
Does that make sense? You know what your source of food should be? Scriptures. Okay? You need a strategy that is rooted in something unshakable, which means you need to know the word of God like the back of your hand. You need to know for yourself, not through Aetna, not through other people. You need to know what he likes, what he doesn't like, what he hates, what he loves, what what grace is heart. You need to know these things. Okay? Because the kingdom doesn't operate on vibes. I remember I have a friend, her name was Alexa. She used to say, you know, that's I got good vibes or good vibes.
Edna Harding [00:14:40]:
You know, it's it's good vibes. Good vibes, like, feelings. Okay? No. No. No. No. No, my friend. When you when you go off of vibes, when you go off emotions, when you go off of feelings and not operate on principles, this is where you get bamboozled like me, which I have done that.
Edna Harding [00:14:56]:
Like, oh, I, you know, I remember you used to say, follow peace, follow peace, you know, and I get that to an extent. Okay? But here's the deal, guys. There's also such thing as false peace. There's also some things where it's like a test where thank you, Holy Spirit. Can you imagine, like, who taking a test? Does your teacher tell you, like, you don't know the answer and you're like, okay. I think I should okay. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Have you ever taken a test and you're thinking like, oh, I got this test.
Edna Harding [00:15:22]:
This is awesome. A a like, you do you think you know all the answers and all of a sudden you get your score and it's like flunking. You're an F. Yeah. That's what happens when we trust our emotions or our feelings. We have to operate based on what we know the word of God says. K? And here's and here's where most business leaders get, even the ones who are in the top. They build on what emotional momentum.
Edna Harding [00:15:49]:
They they chase some sort of hype, like spiritual hype. And guess what? When the storm hits, the house that was built on the sand, everything will collapse. K? It cannot it cannot sustain hardships. It connect and it's like, how do you know? How do you know? Well, this is what happens. When you when you build stuff without opposition, when you build stuff and it's too easy, when storms comes and it will happen, you will not be ready for those storms, which is why I'm glad I was able to build little by little, little by little because I know the foundation is strong. I mean, I've overcome a lot of personal challenge, some business challenge, a financial challenges, some relationship channels challenges, some physical challenges, some spiritual challenges. I mean, all types of challenges, like, that broke that really broke my heart, grieved me, destroyed me. I felt like I was dying on the inside, but he did that because he was building me.
Edna Harding [00:16:50]:
He was building my spirit man so I can handle those things as he continues to increase me. Because guess what, my friends? If I didn't go through all of that, my discernment will be off. You know, I'll be I'll be, like, in I'm one of those people, and everyone knows who knows who knows this about me. I will give my shirt off my back for you. I would I would sacrifice for you. I would do everything I can for you. And and the scriptures warns us, don't cast your pearls to swine. Why? Because people people take advantage of that.
Edna Harding [00:17:21]:
They could see if you're too generous, and that's been my weaknesses. And I and I am so glad I'm surrounded with people who not to say that they're stingy, but they're very they don't trust people easily. And I'm glad I have people like that in my life because I'm the opposite. I trust everyone easily. And I I believe I give people the benefit of a doubt. Okay? I'm the person that prayed for the devil. Yes. You're right.
Edna Harding [00:17:43]:
You heard me when I say that. When I was going through all of these challenges, when I've gotten burned by, you know, corporate America and the church and the pastors and just people in general, people I love, I remember I prayed for the devil and I said, you know, devil, if you just confess your sins, I believe that Jesus will forgive you. I believe that the father will forgive you. If you just stop forcing or stop, you know, was what did I say? Like, basically, use it like, speaking, lies to people and just basically if he just repent. I bet I I prayed and I got I was like, lord, can we just all go to heaven? Can we just not like, that was me. That was my prayer. And I remember God is my witness. I told my mom this many years ago.
Edna Harding [00:18:30]:
Back in February, I think, '16, mom, I don't know if you're listening, but 02/2016, I told my mom this. Hey, mom. I pray for the devil. She just laughed at me. She's like, what? Why would you pray for the devil? I was like, so that we all could just be one happy family. That's me. I'm sorry. I'm crying because I was foolishness.
Edna Harding [00:18:54]:
And the enemy knows that. The enemy knows that. And so God had to break me so he can build me so that I could be wiser and so that when the blessings come, I'm not just gonna allow people to take it all away from me. I had to learn how to receive. I had to learn how to enjoy. Like, I I I had to learn to be his daughter, like, to just live the life he wants us to have, right, which is nothing missing, nothing broken. And I can't just keep giving things away. Okay? Like, something comes in, I give it out.
Edna Harding [00:19:34]:
Like, I am and it's not because I'm not trying to, please people or make myself look holy, but I truly, generally do not care about what the world has to offer. Because I know and I read in the word of God that none of these things matter. You can't take that to heaven. And so I'm very generous in that sense because I know that this material listing, things don't last, and I want people to experience the goodness of God. Right? But imagine and I feel I'm seeing this right now in the spirit. Imagine if my children ask me for everything and I just say yes, yes, yes, yes, and not knowing they won't be able to handle it and everything. Like, that wouldn't be a good parent. That wouldn't if I if I just allow like, if I gave stuff thank you, holy spirit.
Edna Harding [00:20:36]:
Imagine me giving stuff to my kids, and they're just giving it to the neighbors. So I give them a bite. They give it to the neighbors. If I give them, you know, candy, they give it to the neighbors. If I give them, you know, books, you know, and if I give them treats, birthday gifts, and they just give it to people, and they don't enjoy it, I would feel very crappy. And I would teach them, no. You don't do that. And that was me.
Edna Harding [00:21:01]:
That was my hard attitude. And he had to break that off of me. And I thank God he did, even though it was probably the most painful lesson I've ever experienced in my life. It was painful, very painful. It was heartbreaking. And I'm glad that I went through that because now I'm more wise. Now I have wisdom. Now I have discernment.
Edna Harding [00:21:25]:
Now I realize that not everybody has a pure heart like me, and people would take advantage of me, and they will feed into that. Okay? So why am I saying this? I'm saying this to say, okay, you need to build your business based on the word of God. Okay? That comes number one and numb and number two. Okay. You lead from that. You lead from that as well, that knowing. Okay. And that problem is the reason why we don't make best decisions or we don't we don't always do the right things or we don't get the outcome we want is because we don't know his ways.
Edna Harding [00:22:02]:
We don't know his character. We don't know his truth. Okay? Because it's truly the truth that's gonna set us free. But what God wants and what God is looking for is he does want us to disrupt. Okay? He wants us to disrupt status quo. He wants us to, bring forth solutions. But when we bring forth solutions, we have to bring forth solutions that come from his truth. From from from a sense where it doesn't change.
Edna Harding [00:22:32]:
Okay? Like a solution that's going to last. Okay? So when you think from a business standpoint, you need to think generationally. You need to think of like, okay, can this solution outlast good and bad seasons? Can this solution Outlast trends? Can this solution Outlast? So you'll have to constantly, maybe you have to just reinvent it. Not not so much that you have to do away with it, but make it even better if that makes sense. So you have to constantly be evolving and changing, but the foundation of it is it has to be based on truth. It has to be based on something that cannot be changed. And I know you're like, what are you talking about? And now this is so confusing. Well, I can tell you that God can give you those ideas.
Edna Harding [00:23:22]:
God can give you those things that can outlast trends and generations. So for example, you you gotta think necessity. Right? You gotta think essential. You gotta think, like, whatever your business idea is, whatever whether if you're a startup or if you're a a company already and you wanna create a new product or new service, you have to think, okay. What can I create that can that is something that people are gonna need no matter what What's going on? Right? That is that's when you you build something that is under truth. Does that make sense? And and and so why am I saying all of this? Okay? Okay. I want you to know, okay, that if your strategy or your solution can't be taught, can't be tested, and can't be transferred, that is not the holy spirit. I'm gonna say that one more time.
Edna Harding [00:24:19]:
If your product, your service, your solution can't be taught, can't be tested, and can't be transferred, that's not the holy spirit. Okay? So I want you to kinda do an audit right now. Audit your current products and services. Audit the idea that you have. Ask yourself, can this be taught? Can this be tested? Can this be transferred? K? Because God is holding you accountable today to build with what last. So this is not like I know there's, some teachings out there that says, okay. Just just put it out there. You know, just get tested out.
Edna Harding [00:24:58]:
Was it first to market. Right? That's what they call it. Sorry. I didn't mean to sneeze. First to market. Right? Always. And I get it. Like, there is key to speed and I and and I get that.
Edna Harding [00:25:08]:
But I think there has to be some wisdom. It has to be some balance in it. Like, what happens is a lot of times you buy stuff, like, you sell stuff. Okay. Thank you, Elizabeth. Let me let me kinda, like, peel the peel the layers a bit. So so you buy things because so and so brand says, okay. This is a good thing.
Edna Harding [00:25:27]:
I can't tell you how many times I fell for those tactics. I would buy stuff. And so funny because I actually had lunch with, my neighbor, Holly, and we're talking about that. Like, I would just buy stuff because so and so celebrity said, oh, this is great. And I'm like and I'm, like, literally, like, manipulating myself saying, oh, it works. It's fantastic. I feel so much better. When in reality, I don't feel better.
Edna Harding [00:25:53]:
I feel the same exact thing, but I bought this product. And I think it's that placebo effect that you want yourself to feel better, you know, for whatever reason. It's the same thing. Right? Like, a lot of times we build stuff just for the sake of building stuff. Like, when God wants us to build our businesses, he wants us to build in the long run. Number one, does this solution, does this product, does this service truly serve God's people? When I say his people, his children, the people that God called us to serve. Okay? Is this solution something that is a necessity? Is it essential? Is it can this product or solution outlast every season of the the of their life. Right? Is this something based on truth, not what is true? Does that make sense? So I want you guys to slow down.
Edna Harding [00:26:42]:
Stop performing. Stop performing. Stop performing. Stop. And I I I had to learn this. Like, activity doesn't mean thank holy spirit. Whether you have a lack of activity or too many activity, it doesn't change your identity. Stop performing.
Edna Harding [00:27:00]:
Open up your Bible and your business plan. Put it side by side because here's the deal. Just like God can download the blueprint for the ark, he can give you the blueprint for your business. Okay? So let me speak to you prophetically right now. Here you all. You guys hear hear me? Okay. Whatever you're doing, stop. I don't care if you're washing dishes.
Edna Harding [00:27:23]:
I don't care if you're riding a car or if you're in a meeting space. Stop and listen. Hear what I'm saying. You are not lost. You are not late. You are not lacking. You are exactly who God wants to use to disrupt the marketplace. Not with noise, but with the holy spirit who can help you create wealth that last.
Edna Harding [00:27:50]:
Create a solution that is essential, that is needed in the market, that does not go away when things change. Okay? Build your business based on truth, something that doesn't change versus something that is true. Okay? So if this is something that you are interested in doing and creating, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. Ask him, okay, God. What do you want me to do? What is this idea and everything? Right? What is it? And let him speak to you. Let him tell you what to do. Okay? And just take the time to listen. Take an hour or two.
Edna Harding [00:28:37]:
Like, hear him. Right? Okay? Well, I hope that this blessed you. I hope that is incur that this encouraged you. And, again, if if you all need help, if you needed a community, if you need some extra set of eyes, I'm available. You could find me on favorandwealth.com. I have everything from, products and package sorry. Not products, but a package for startups, a package for those who are so like, small businesses. I have packages for those who already have a team.
Edna Harding [00:29:09]:
Like, I have all types of packages. But bottom line is don't go to me first. Go to God first. K? Go to the Holy Spirit and ask him, what do you want me to do, Lord Lord? And whatever he says, obey. Alright? Remember, my friends, you have to keep building. You have to keep leading. And remember, you're not just there to follow the trends. K? You're there to set the captives free.
Edna Harding [00:29:43]:
Alright? You're there to solve problems for the people God called you to serve. Money will follow. The Bible says, okay, that money will follow. Right? Right? Money not it it it's kinda like you attract sorry, guys. That was a bug. I didn't mean to clap. You will attract it's like, what in the world? You will attract your clients. Look at Solomon.
Edna Harding [00:30:13]:
Solomon didn't look for clients. Clients came to him. Okay? Other kingdoms, other nations, they were sought after. They sought him after because he built a reputation. He had a solution for God's people or not even just God's people. Even just people in general. And people sought him out. If you wanna build a system that lasts or build a business that lasts, that's exactly what you need to do today.
Edna Harding [00:30:46]:
Alright? Well, I hope this blessed you. I hope you're encouraged by this. And until next time, my friends, keep shining. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Take care. Thanks for joining us this week on Estapreneur. 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.
Edna Harding [00:31:16]:
Also, check out my book, The Old East 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.