Step Up Lesson 1
Gen.4:3 “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift…”
Cain must have thought, after all, the cattle on a thousand hills belong to God so He really does not need anything. So Cain gives God a shabby offering and moves on. But the Bible says that God had no respect for Cain and for his offering. Read the rest of this entry
Abel’s Example
Heb.11:4 “It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.”
The mistake a lot of people make is thinking that the Old Testament is not relevant to us. That is a big fat lie! What they actually mean is the Law. The Law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus. Read the rest of this entry
Evidence of Faith
James 2:18 (Voice) “I know what you’re thinking: “OK, you have faith. And I have actions. Now let’s see your faith without works, and I’ll show you a faith that works.”
Works are an evidence of faith. You cannot separate works from faith. Some people claim to have faith but not works and others pride themselves in their works without faith. However, James is saying “how can you have faith without work or how can you have works without faith?” Read the rest of this entry
Active Faith
Heb.11:6 “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him”
God wants us to Step Up in different areas of our lives. We have looked at how to step up financially and spiritually. Over the next few days, we will be looking at a component of stepping up that is indispensable and that is Faith. It is impossible to Step Up without faith. Read the rest of this entry
The Test
Gen: 22:1 “Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!”… 2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
It is important that when we read the stories in the Bible, we do not gloss over them. You have to put yourself in these people’s shoes so you can experience God through their eyes. You have to make your trust in God bigger than your savings account, bigger than your finances. Read the rest of this entry
Faith It!
Mark 12:43-44 (MSG) “ Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”
To Step Up financially, you need to Earn Some, Spend Less, Save More, No Loss, Invest More, Give More and finally, Faith It. For you to Step Up financially, you have to faith it and not fake it. Faith is giving what you do not have. Read the rest of this entry
Perception
Prov.11:24 (NKJV) “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.”
The average person is dishonest and that is the reality that we are faced with. You cannot run a successful business by leaving your business in the care of a manager. You have no clue what is happening but you are waiting for returns. Read the rest of this entry
Invest
Eccl.11:1 (NCV) “Invest what you have, because after a while you will get a return. 2 Invest what you have in several different businesses… 4 Those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds; those who look at every cloud will never harvest crops.”
To Step Up financially means Earn Some, Spend Less, Save More, No Loss and the fifth thing is Invest More. It is common knowledge that inflation beats the interest on savings in most countries. This means if all you are doing is saving money then you are losing money. Read the rest of this entry
No Loss!
Prov. 11:16 (KJV) “A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches”
The fourth thing you need to do to Step Up financially is to permit No Loss. Yesterday, we established that the first way to lose money is not to tithe. Second way to lose money is to get robbed. It is possible to be paying your tithe and people are stealing from you. Read the rest of this entry
