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Finances, Frustration and Freedom

If you are broke, in debt, upside down in a car payment and/or buried in credit card debt…it is MOST LIKELY because you, at some point, allowed selfishness and the desire to acquire take over your ability to make a rational, Spirit filled decision.

(I know there are exceptions to the above…however, in my 20 years of ministry I have discovered that those exceptions are rare!  Trust me…at one point I was all of the above!  I posted about my dumbest financial mistakes quite a while back–here is part one of the series…and here is part two.)

One of the frustrations I have as a pastor is when people want to blame external circumstances for internal disobedience.  Especially in America…EVERYONE is blaming SOMEONE for their financial condition.  (Heck, for every condition…fat people are suing McDonalds for making them fat…anyone see a problem here?)  Nothing is our fault.  BUT…

I believe that financial freedom will never take place in a persons life until they are willing to accept personal responsibility for where they are…and then make the hard decisions and sacrifices necessary to climb out of the financial hole they have dug. 

God has HUGE dreams and plans for our lives…unfortunately many people limit “God’s dreams” to driving a certain type of car or living in a certain neighborhood…and because of that they dive into a debt hole all in the name of Jesus.

I believe it makes Him sick!  (See Matthew 6:19-24.)

Proverbs 22:7 says the borrower is a SERVANT to the lender…but, as followers of Jesus Christ we are to serve Him alone.  We can’t serve Jesus with all our hearts and also serve Visa at the same time!

So…what do we do about it?

….

http://www.perrynoble.com/2009/03/18/finances-frustration-and-freedom/

Discipline: Taming the Beast

January 15, 2009
Text: Genesis 3:1-7
Title: Discipline: Taming the Beast

Thoughts:

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28)

Had Adam and Eve only had considered the cost of their mismanaged stewardship, surely they would have chosen to avoid the toxins of the enticing fruit. Unfortunately, their lack of discipline led them to forfeit a life filled with God’s provisions and presence.

Stewardship and discipline go hand in hand. When it comes to stewardship, discipline is a must. Concerning financial stewardship, Dave Ramsey writes,

“Money…is like a beautiful thoroughbred horse–very powerful and always in action, but unless the horse is trained when very young, it will be an out-of-control and dangerous animal when it grows to maturity.

The point is this: You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you.” (Financial Peace Revisited, p.19-20)

Discipline in our stewardship requires:
1) Counting the Cost: Before we make the purchase, sign the contract, or eat the fruit, we must chart the maturity of our decision. The 12-inch python seems manageable in the pet store. It’s the other 11-FEET that are generally not accounted for.
2) Constant Care: Discipline is not a position on the map. It’s not visited once and forever achieved. Discipline with our finances, physique, or spiritual life requires daily accountability and attention.
3) Contentment: Before there were tv ads, radio spots, or glossy magazine coupons, Satan had developed a plan to make humanity feel cheated. They simply “needed more.” Paul encourages us to find contentment in what God has provided for us, be it great or little (Phil. 4:11ff). Without finding contentment in Christ’s provisions we will always be in debt, spiritually and financially.

In order to manage the stallion of tomorrow, we must discipline the colt of today. Let’s make wise stewardship decisions today that will mature in the Kingdom of Heaven tomorrow.

Application:

Have you ever fallen for the cute and tame pet that became too large to manage? (credit card purchase you couldn’t pay off, vehicle you couldn’t afford the maintenance on, etc.)

What disciplines do you have in place today that are proving your faithfulness as a godly steward of God’s resources?

What raging stallions do you have in your life right now? Have you asked God for help?

Prayer:

Father,

Though You continually seek to show me, may I truly see the maturity of my decision before I make it. Help me to discipline myself to chart its progression from conception to fruition. I recognize that my every decision has children. It will produce life or death, blessings or curses. Today, I want to choose life with every choice. Will You deliver me from yesterdays choices and help me with today’s?

In Jesus’ name. Amen.