To Be Or Not To Be?
“You should keep a clear mind in every situation.” 2 Tim. 4:5 [emphasis added]
When we get under stress [stressed up], we easily blame our circumstances. We blame people around us, our work, everything. We blame the circumstances but the truth is our circumstances are not the cause. Stress is a response. Stress is internal but our circumstances are external. Yes, the car broke down but you chose to be stressed. Yes, the power company has cut off power to your house but you can choose to be stressed or not to be stressed. So you can put two people in the exact same situations, one person would be stressed and the other person would not. It shows that stress has nothing to do with the situation. Your neighbor’s power was cut too but they seem to be singing praise and worship while you are complaining about the country. Two people, two families, same situation, one stressed out and the other is not.
Very recently, God delivered our nation from an epidemic, right? During the epidemic outbreak, some people were so stressed out. Even parents were scared to hug their children when they returned from school. They first send them to the bathroom for a thorough wash – unnecessary stress. I know some people do not believe the stress about the epidemic was unnecessary. Yet, do you know that some people were not stressed and we are in the same country? Some people are so stressed about the economy while others are not stressed because their focus is on God who is able to supply all their needs.
Nevertheless, am I saying we should not be aware of what is going on around us? What I am saying is do not be stressed by what is happening around you. The truth about stress is we are not stressed by what is going on around us or what is before us. We are stressed by how we perceive what is going on around us. In other words, what is before us does not stress us; it is our perception of it that stresses us. You can give two people the same amount of work. One will be stressed while the other person will not be simply because one is focused on the load of work, and the other is focused on the grace f God.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help me keep a clear mind in every situation and keep my focus on Your strength at work in me, in Jesus Name.
Principle of Firsts
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” Pr.3:9-10 [NIV]
Make God priority in any area of your life that you want God to bless. If you want God to bless your marriage, in your home make God priority. If you want God to bless your finances, in your finances make God priority. If you want God to bless your children, in their lives make God priority. It is obvious that God does not need your money. What He needs is what the money represents and that is your Gratitude. You are thanking God for helping you earn the money. Secondly, Read the rest of this entry
Cause & Effect
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” Pr.3:9-10 [NIV]
John D Rockefeller, in his biography stated that, one of the secrets of his wealth is his “ten-ten-eighty” rule. And he explained the rule to be, he tithes the first ten percent of all his income. He pays himself with the second ten percent, then budgets the last eighty percent. Someone asked me to explain why the tithe is ten percent. And I said, I do not know why it is ten percent but I know that nine percent or five percent is not tithe.
Seed Principle
“Money that comes easily disappears quickly, but money that is gathered little by little will grow.” Pr. 13:11 [NCV, emphasis added].
If you do not have savings, you cannot invest and you will not be able to take opportunities when they come. If you do not have a savings even God cannot use you financially because you do not have leverage. God cannot demand a seed from you because you have eaten everything. God asked the children of Israel to give part of the gold they had collected from Egypt to build the temple. The people that had given theirs to the building of the golden calf had nothing to give. Read the rest of this entry
Put Aside
“The wise man saves for the future…” Pr. 21:20 [LB]
The third habit for financial freedom is Save For The Future. It is called the Principle of Investment. I am using the word ‘save’ loosely here. I know financial gurus say you cannot save money because the inflation rate is higher than the interest rate. I understand that but you must at least accumulate some money before you can invest it. I know of people that actually buy land with their money without going to the bank. And they are able to achieve this because they have Read the rest of this entry
Reactive And Proactive
“...Stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it” Pr. 21:20 [GN]
God is saying, stop spending your money as quickly as you earn it; then you are wise. I know this is hard to take in, yet the truth is, if what will pull you out to financial freedom were easy, you would have already done it. When I first read this Scripture, it made me uncomfortable. But I had to let this truth work out greatness in me. I had to deliver myself from impulsive buying. You do not encounter the truth and brush it Read the rest of this entry
Budget!
“...Stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it” Pr. 21:20 [GN]
Every advert is channeled at impulsive buying. Buy now, think later. Do not get me wrong; this is not a campaign against buying things. Everyone has legitimate needs which should be addressed but do not shop impulsively. I sent some phone credit to my wife as a good husband and she loaded it. Then the network multiplied what she loaded by four. And she was excited about the free talk time. I told her the network’s goal was to lure her. She did not agree with Read the rest of this entry
Up, Close & Personal
“Riches can disappear fast… so watch your business interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and herds.” Pr. 27:23-24 [LB, emphasis added].
I made up my mind a long time ago that if I do not have something, I do not need it! You might consider that a little hard but the truth with finances is that if you are not a little hard, you are going to go way down the drain. You need to draw the line at some point. I used to do a lot of marriage counseling and I discovered that in a lot of marriages, one party is kept in the dark in one of these four facts – What we Own…Owe…Earn…& Where it goes. Maybe one party Read the rest of this entry
Financial Control
“Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender” Prov.22:7
Statistics show that over fifty percent of marriages that end up in divorce had to do with money. And guess what? Christians are not immune. Over fifty percent of divorce cases have a financial twist to it. I pray that financial vagueness in every marriage will disappear and beginning from today you will have total financial clarity. To get the facts at any price, there are four facts that you must know about your finances or joint finances as a married couple. #1. Know what you own. #2. Know what you owe. #3. Know what you earn. #4. Know where it is going. Read the rest of this entry
Keep Good Records
“Riches can disappear fast… so watch your business interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and herds.” Pr. 27:23-24 [LB, emphasis added].
The second habit for financial freedom is Plan Your Spending. That is the Principle of Budgeting. So budget! Plan your spending. You must have set financial goals and stick to them. “Riches can disappear fast… so watch your business interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and herds.” Pr. 27:23-24 [LB, emphasis added]. In our times, flock and herds would be stocks, real estate, bonds, investments, and your accounts. How many accounts do you have and what is their current balance, can you tell? You are supposed to know. Watch your business closely and check the numbers always. The key is keep good record!
You cannot watch closely what do you not even have a clue about. Thank God for the bank notifications and all but that is not enough. If I check your cheque stubs and I cannot tell what each cheque leaf was used for then there is a problem. That is why cheque books come with stubs. Thank God for Internet banking and the insight it gives into our accounts. Know the state of your finances and keep good records so that no one will cheat you.
When we were starting off as a church, one of the very first things we did was engage a financial consulting firm to set up our financial processes. At that time it did not make sense cost wise. But the Bible says, “Get the facts at any price!” Pr. 23:23 [LB]. Why? You cannot get a report or tell a story if there are no records. At any point in time, if we need the story, the records are there and intact. If you do not start capturing the records, you cannot even talk about what story your numbers are telling you.
Move your focus from the cost of getting an accountant and fix it on the amount you could lose because your finances are in chaos. You will discover it is far more then paying a finance person. If you run any kind of business, even if you are a solopreneur [a freelancer] and your briefcase is your office, get a finance person on contract to come in and do your books. It will save you a ton of money and heartache to get clarity on your finances in the area of record keeping.
Thoughts: List your next steps to order your finances and set timelines to each one.
Prayer: Father, as I act in obedience to Your statues, I pray that You will bless my finances, in Jesus Name.
