LEARN THINK APPLY
REPEAT DAILY
God established eternal, unchangeable laws.
Can you imagine that law of gravity only worked on Tuesdays?
God established physical laws, spiritual laws, relational laws, laws of health and so on.
If you follow laws established by God for your benefit you will be healthier with better relationships.
If you ignore laws then your relationships will be difficult with conflicts and they will fall apart.
The same way the Bible teaches us the
SPIRITUAL LAWS OF FINANCES.
We stress, are anxious, worry so much about money, how to:
spend it, use it, save it, invest it, protect it, give it.
If you cooperate with God’s financial laws, you get blessed.
If you ignore them you will live in debt all your life, always frustrated.
We do not like those laws, but if we want to live a better life then
we have to follow them.
God, for your own good, will keep money from you so that it will not stay between you and God.
And that you will not love money and they will rule you instead of God, your Creator, Who loves you.
That is why God put principles how to manage money.
God’s Laws of Financial stability, freedom,health and blessings.
God says that if you do this things I will bless your finances, you will prosper and succeed.
God says that He blesses His ideas, plans.
If you follow your own ideas, plans, laws not God’s then you have to work hard for that,
you do it by yourself without help of Almighty.
God Almighty put Principles of blessed life in every area if we follow them we will live good, peaceful, joyful life.
Let me ask you. Are you living your way or God’s way? How does it work for you?
The Bible says that the money management is a spiritual discipline.
Let us look at some financial principles.
Luke 16:10 Whoever can be trusted ( is responsible) with very little can also be trusted with much.
This principle applies in every area of your life.
If God gave you a little bit of a talent and you use it for good on daily basis, God will increase your talent.
If you have a little amount of money and you use it the way God says in the Bible how to use it,
then God will increase your money/material possessions.
It is true in all other areas of life.
To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance./Mat.25:28-29/
I want you to have that abundance but you have to use what you have been given.
Faithfulness in little ways produces fruitfulness in big ways.
The way to get out of poverty is to be generous. It is managing what God is giving you.
And then God can trust you with more.
Let’s look at some eternal laws of finances:
1 – Law of ownership. God is the source of all I have.
If you think that the source of your supply is your job, you, other people,
savings or anything else, you will create tension in your life.
If you put your security in temporary things you can loose them instantly and then what?
You become tense, nervous, depressed. But God’s will for you in Jesus to be joyful, thankful, peaceful.
If God is your source then when one door is closed He will open another door.
This is the principle of ownership.
God owns everything and He loans to me to manage it during my life time as it says
in Romans 11:36 “Everything comes from God; Everything exists by His power and Everything is intended for His glory.”
Deut. 8:18 Remember God Who gives you the ability to produce wealth.
It means God wants you to be productive, that you do your part.
He opens the door but you have to go through that door.
Nothing wrong with prospering as long as you do it God’s way.
2 Honor God first with your money.
If you want God bless something in your life you must put God first in that area.
If you want blessing in your marriage put God in the center place in your marriage;
If you want blessing in your business put God first in your business;
the same applies to all other areas/time, career, relationships/
Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor God by giving Him the first part of all your income, and He will fill your barns.. to overflow.
It says honor God first not to give Him leftovers.
If you earn little give little, if you earn much give much. The rule in the Bible is ten percent of income.
This is the promise of God. He says if you put Me first in your finances I will bless your finances.
This is the tithing principle
and the Purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives. /Deut. 14:23b/
The application of tithing is:
I thank God for the past; I say, God is number one in the present; I trust Him for the future.
I am grateful for what I have. I give back to You for it all comes from You. And I trust You that You will provide me in the future.
3 Save money faithfully.
God wants you to save money not to spend it all. The Bible teaches that those who invest money are wise.
There is a good principle to save ten percent of your income. If you can not save it means you are over spending.
God commands to save. Pay God first, pay yourself second and then you can spend what left.
Start saving on a regular basis and you will move toward prosperity.
Proverbs 21:20 The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.
Proverbs 24:27 Develop your business first before building your house.
Prov. 13:11 Money that comes easily disappears quickly, but the money that is gathered little by little will grow.
Why? Because you will learn during the process how to manage them.
It is not the amount that you save but it is the consistency.
4 Keep records of money.
If you do not this step you will worry, be stressed out and you may be in debt all your life.
It means you have to keep track where your money goes.
You budget your money with different accounts. First account – tithing; second – savings; third – rent; forth – bills and so on.
Prov. 21:5 Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly you will never have enough.
Proverbs 27:23-24 Riches can disappear fast … so watch your business closely. Know the state of your flocks and herds.
If you do not know where your money goes, you are violating this principle.
You do not follow the law of accounting.
Listen to the warning.
I give you the recipe for financial disaster:
Easy loan + ignorance of your financial condition = Disaster.
You need to know those four things:
- 1. what you own. 2. what you earn. 3. what you owe. 4. where it goes.
If you do not know those four things you are already in trouble.
5 – You must Plan your spending.The law of budgeting.
The Bible says a lot about planning/about time, businesses/
- Budget is planning where your money goes.
Do not spend money without a plan.
Prov. 21:20 …stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it.
Prov. 21:5 Plan carefully and you will have plenty;
if you act too quickly you will never have enough.
Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
It is impulse buying, based on emotion and unplanned.How to stop buying what you do not need with money you do not have?
Antidote to that is to put it in the budget.
DO NOT SPONSOR YOUR ADDICTIONS.
- Set a repayment plan.
Let’s think together. You did not get in debt overnight. You will not get out of debt overnight.
You need to set up repayment plan and be disciplined as you are to saving and tithing.
Prov. 3:27 Do not withhold repayment of your debts.
Romans 13:8 Do not let your debt remain outstanding.
Outstanding debt means you only pay back minimum amount required.
You are not paying off the debt.You are paying only interest and you deeper in debt every month.
I want you to become debt free and you to be on the road to Financial Freedom.
- Make a will. It is telling your money where they should go after you left them alone, after you die.
As with everything else if you do not decide where money should go, others will decide for you.
6 Enjoy what you have. It is the law of contentment.
You must enjoy what you have.
If you think you will be happy when you have a bit more. Let me tell you, you never will be happy.
Some people buy house or other things they can not afford.
Now they work hard to pay for it and they can not enjoy what they bought.
They thought it would be temporary but it became permanent life style.
“If God gives us wealth and property and lets us enjoy them,
we should be grateful and enjoy what we have worked for. It is a gift from God.” Eccl.5:19
St. Paul said that He learned to be content when he had much or little.
God does not bless your worrying response for any situation you are in.
God blesses the trusting attitude in any situation.
You trust God that He will provide
that is why you dedicate to Him first portion of your earned money
gratitude for the past; priority for present ; faith for future.
Then you save some money; count them; repay debt; enjoy what I’ve got.
Money management is Life management and has eternal applications.
The money is a test of how responsible you are as a person.
God says, if you faithful with little I will trust you with more.
Jesus says in Luke 16:11
“If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches (blessings) of eternity?”
We have to be good managers, good stewards. We have to think before we spend our money.
The Bible says clearly that rewards, responsibilities in heaven and on earth depends on
how well you managed your life now, here on earth.
How your finances work for you now? Are you stress free; anxiety free; you are in peace?
And it does not matter how much you have. What matters what do you do with what you are given.
The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 shows
that different amount was given according to each ability
but the response was different and because of that response they were judged.
Let us be faithful with what we are given and not to ignore the God’s law on finances.
It is the same with health if we ignore the law then we will become sick.
Develop Good financial Habits as the Bible teaches:
- God is my source. Not my salary,job,career,bank account,possession.
- Give to God first. First ten percent goes to God. You show Him Honor.
- Save money faithfully. I have savings for about six months ahead.
- Keep good record. Do you know where your money are going?
- Plan my spending. Do not waste money emotionally or on addictions.
- Enjoy what I have. Be content with what you have. Thank God.
Will you follow God’s plan or your own plan?
I always pray for financial wisdom.
But God can not bless if we do not follow His instructions.
God blesses only His plan.
Trust me on this, His plan is good and for our own good.
May God bless you on your way to financial freedom, my friend.
