Being in Position for God to Bless You
By Terry
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I’ve talked a lot about financial freedom in the past month (note that a lot of additional material can be found in my Financial Freedom book).
Here’s the mistake a lot of people make. They read about finances in the Bible, and God’s desire to bless them. They may even start obeying the Bible by becoming a giver. But they never get themselves position to be blessed.
What does that mean?
Think about it for a minute. How is God going to bless you? Is it by raining money down on you? No. Will someone walk up to you and hand you a check? Not likely. A lot of people feel that’s the way God will answer their prayers because they hear about a minister that happened to. Remember, ministers are often supported by free will gifts from those they’re ministering to. That’s part of God’s design for taking care of them.
You may work at a job or you may own a business. That’s your primary means of support. God will bless you through your job, your business, or possibly even through an investment.
Be the absolute best employee you can be. You’re a light who shines in darkness. This means you should be the absolute best, most reliable worker they have on stuff. You should be the one who complains the least and is most likely to pick up the slack to help out when needed.
In your business or in any investment, keep an ear for God’s still small voice to move you in a specific direction. It only takes one idea to make a fortune. You may invest in a property about to increase in value. You might come up with a marketing idea that dominates your industry.
But look at the key here…YOU must be doing something already. Things don’t just fall on you out of the sky. You have to active and taking action. You have to put your hands and your mind to use. And you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone and do things you would normally do.
For me to get out of the debt I was in required me to learn about the Internet. When I was first getting started, I worked my butt off to learn about websites, generating traffic, writing emails, etc. It was a lot of effort along with trial and error. My success definitely didn’t come overnight, but it came in time.
“The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.”
Deuteronomy 28:8
The key phrase above is that God will bless everything you put your hand to. This means you’re putting in effort. You’re the one doing the work. He is simply blessing what you do.
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Links to Great Christian Posts
By Terry
Today I’m sharing some of my favorite recent posts from other Christian blogs. Enjoy!
Dangerous Faith at Relevant Christian
Jesus They Like - It’s Us That Bugs Them at CrossRoads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet
Get Your Own at BobFranquiz.com
5 Gut Check Questions at PerryNoble.com
Quit Spending More Money Than You Make at Christian PF
Always Be Ready at Fishing the Abyss
PR Firm Strikes Out Promoting to Bloggers at Microexplosion
How to Get Others to Do What You Want at Provocative Church
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Give to the Poor
By Terry
Give to the Lord and the poor.
“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
Proverbs 19:17
“He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.”
Proverbs 28:27
“Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”
Matthew 25:44-45
When you give to the poor, you are lending to the Lord. The Lord says He will be the one to repay you. You won’t lose out in giving to the poor. It is part of your financial commission. It’s not God’s will for anyone to be poor, and it’s part of your job to help them. If people are hungry and have nothing to eat, feed them. Part of the reason God wants you prosperous is so you can help others.
If you feed and clothe someone, you’re doing it to Jesus. You’re not only doing His ministry, but you’re also ministering to Jesus Himself. If you’re prosperous and you ignore the cries of the poor, then you’re ignoring the cries of Jesus. I’d hate to be in the shoes of a wealthy Christian who doesn’t give to the poor or only gives a measly 1% to the poor. If you don’t feed the poor, then you’re not feeding Jesus.
If you feed and take care of the poor, then God says He will repay you. Give to them out of love, but remember that God will always take care of those who take care of the poor. Everything God has is yours, and you’ll never lose out by giving to the poor. That’s His ministry. You’re doing the Father’s business by helping them.
Use wisdom in your giving. Help people get back on their feet. Help the widows and the fatherless especially (James 1:27). Help those who really need your help. Don’t be naive though. There are some people who could be working and aren’t, and there are some who waste all their money on things they don’t need. You can still help them. For people who aren’t working when they are able, give them a job to do. Have them sweep the floor or do the yard. Then give them what they need (II Thessalonians 3:10).
Your end goal in helping people is to get them back to productivity themselves. Give them a hand-up instead of just a hand-out. If someone is constantly having financial problems, give them a copy of this book. Offer to help them figure out a budget. Ask God how you can help them best. Be careful not to judge people. You don’t know their situations or what may be causing their problems. You are there to be a friend to those in need and to help them, not to judge them.
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Saving and Investing
By Terry
“A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.”
Proverbs 13:22
A good man is saving an inheritance for his grandchildren. He isn’t just thinking about his children. He is working on leaving an inheritance to his grandchildren also. Over 95% of Americans are broke by the time they’re elderly. They leave little or no inheritance to their kids. In many cases, the children are often called upon to support the parents financially when they get older. It shouldn’t be this way. The Bible paints a picture of a person who still has wealth when they’re old. They leave so much wealth that both their children and their grandchildren get a share.
The average family is only one or two paychecks from being homeless. A lot of the problem comes from debt and making spontaneous purchases. It also comes from the whole poverty mindset. They have been taught to borrow money for purchases instead of saving for purchases. I’m shocked by how many “Quick Cash” companies can be found around most cities. People go to them and take a loan out on their next paycheck. Most people don’t even have a couple hundred dollars saved up for an emergency. Do you?
People used to save for things they wanted. Instead now, we just buy on credit. We pay two or three times as much for those things once we finish paying off the interest. Plus, we’ve established habits that will keep us in bondage for years to come. We need to become savers instead of spenders. You need to immediately start a savings plan.
A good rule of thumb is to start taking 10% of the money you make and put it in a savings account. Don’t put it in your regular checking account. Put it in a savings account. This is to save for your future and to save for any larger purchases you may make. It may be a struggle to start saving like this at first. You have already learned you should discipline your flesh to be giving 10% or more. Now you need to save another 10%. So you now should start living on 80% of your income. You may have to learn how to be more frugal at first. You’ll have to cut some of your unnecessary expenses.
There may be a set of furniture you’ve been thinking of buying for your living room. Instead of buying that furniture on credit, save your money to buy it. It felt so good the first time we were able to go buy a set of furniture with money in the bank. Buying a car without borrowing was even better, but each one was a step in the process for us. Focusing yourself on a prize and saving to get there is much more satisfying than buying it on borrowed money.
Debt can be very deceptive. Buying a house for most people is a good investment. You have to pay rent no matter where you live. When you buy a house and have payments at the same level as the rent you were paying, then you’re better off. You are actually gaining a little equity and ownership in the house with each payment. So borrowing money for a house can be a wise decision. Here is where the deception comes in.
You move into your nice new house, but you only have furniture for half the house. Your flakey mind starts telling you you need to go buy a whole bunch of new furniture on credit. Don’t fall for this. Pray for the furniture you need instead. You may even want to go to the furniture store so you can pick out exactly what type of furniture you want. Make a list and then pray over the list of furniture you need.
Believe you receive the furniture when you pray. God has answered your request. So from now on, anytime you think of the furniture, simply thank God that you have all the furniture you prayed for. Someone may give you the furniture. You may get a bonus at work for some of the furniture. God could give you an investment idea where the profits pay for the furniture. Leave the “how” up to God. You simply believe He has given you the furniture you’ve asked for.
Thank God for your new furniture. Don’t bow your knee to the VISA god. If you’re praying for the furniture, but the back of your mind is thinking of using VISA, then you’re serving the wrong god. Remember, a borrower is servant to the lender. Are you God’s servant or VISA’s servant? Who supplies your needs…God or VISA?
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Vacation Time
By Terry
I’m going to be on vacation the next 10 days…so you probably will not see any new blog postings over the next week.
The next post will be on the 20th or 21st. This is a great time to review a few of the older posts…as many of them build on the foundation before them.
I’ve found in business that the best times for growth always come right after a vacation. You take time to relax…and the ideas flow. In fact, in my coaching business I’m always helping my clients take more vacation time. Business owners especially gets focused on the goals and never let up. They keep working and working (often long hours), and eventually either break down or just get in a routine.
It’s obvious when they get in the break down point. What’s much less obvious is when they’re “in the routine” doing the same thing over and over again. A key principle in business is you build a business that profits without you. If it requires you to be there managing it or even worse doing the work, then it’s not a business at all. It’s another job.
A business owner is focused on creating systems that allow technology and staff to do their work better so the business earns an income without the owner. Vacations become very important, because they’re times when you get to refocus…and come back relaxed for another time of growth and expansion.
That’s something to think about if you haven’t taken a vacation recently…from your business….from your job….or even from your blog.
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Danger in Debt and Credit Cards
By Terry
“Render to all men their dues. [Pay] taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due. Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one’s fellowmen, meeting all its requirements].”
Rom 13:7-8, AMP
This passage is sometimes used to “prove” a Christian should never borrow money. This isn’t what it is saying. You have to keep it in context with the passage. We are to pay our taxes. We are to pay whatever bills we owe. We need to keep out of debt and pay all our debts. Our goal should always be to owe no man anything. The only debt we can never pay off is our “love debt.” The love debt to others will never be paid off as we need to keep giving and giving just like Jesus did.
It is not a sin to borrow money. There are many places that God has told us we would be lenders, not borrowers. If borrowing was a sin, then lending would be a sin also since you would be causing someone else to sin. Throughout Proverbs we are told not to be a surety for strangers (co-sign a loan for someone else). What is wrong is our casual nature about debt over the past few decades. People think it is normal to owe money on your house, on your cars, on your furniture, on your vacation, and on credit cards. Watch TV and read ads in the newspaper, and you’ll see a majority of them not tell you the real price of something. They tell you only 99 payments of $19.95.
“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Proverbs 22:7
If you borrow money, you are a servant to the lender. That bank you’re borrowing from is now your master. That doesn’t sound like God has a very casual attitude about debt at all. You may be a servant of God, but you’re also a servant of your mortgage company, your credit card company, and your car loan company. You’re working all week long to make them wealthy. Is Jehovah your master or is it someone named VISA?
One of the reasons we got ourselves so far in debt in the first place was because of credit cards. They’re one of the worst curses in today’s economy. It is easy to spend money you don’t have with a credit card. Just about every business takes credit cards. They’re taught by the credit card companies that a customer using a credit card spends twice as much as they would if they didn’t have a credit card. On average, a cash shopper spends only half as much as a credit card shopper. So of course stores cater to credit card users. They make more money off them.
We had a day where we cut up all our credit cards. We were in bondage to them. We settled that we just weren’t going to borrow any more money. We couldn’t control ourselves with them. So we weren’t allowed to have them for several years. Eventually we got another credit card for convenience, but we have never spent anything on it we couldn’t pay off immediately. If you don’t have the money, don’t spend it. Don’t become your credit card’s slave. If you can’t control yourself, then you may need to cut up all your credit cards also. Get a debit card which takes money out of your bank account. Then you can only spend money you have (you’ll still spend less if you go shopping with cash though).
What about major purchases such as cars and houses? The moment you buy a new car it depreciates. You may owe $25,000 on it, but it is only worth $17,500 when you drive it off the lot. That doesn’t sound like a very good deal at all no matter what the car salesman tells you. The low mileage used car is a much better deal, but it is between you and God. Make sure you don’t run right out and buy the brand new car just because you can afford the payments. Use wisdom in this area.
The same caution needs to be taken with a house. A home doesn’t depreciate usually. It normally increases in value (although not 100% of the time). The problem with houses is the fact banks will try to convince you to buy the most house you can possibly afford. They’ll try to get you on a 30 year loan at the maximum value your income will allow. What happens when both husband and wife work and one of you decides to start a new business or go part-time in the ministry? You now have less money available than you need for the house? You end up in a situation where it’s hard to move forward in your life’s purpose because of your second master, the mortgage company.
You would be much better off buying a house on a 15 year loan or one that is much smaller than you can afford. Pay it off in 7 years and then upgrade to the house you really want. You would have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest and could probably get the home you really wanted paid off in another 7 years or so. For us, we bought our home at an auction. We had the house mostly fixed up and the loan paid off in 1 year from the date of purchase. If and when we buy another house, we will not borrow money on it at all.
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Impulse Buying and Financial Freedom
By Terry
“There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.”
Proverbs 21:20
“There are precious treasures and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a self-confident and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it.”
Proverbs 21:20, AMP
There are precious treasures in the wise man’s house. The foolish man spent and wasted all of his treasures. Both of these men had treasures. They may have even earned the exact same amount of money. One saved their treasures. The other one swallowed up their treasures. They wasted all of their money.
Have you ever met a person that can’t hold onto a dollar? It just burns a hole in their pocket until they spend it. If they get a bonus on the job, it is probably already spent in their minds before they even get the check home. That’s how I used to be. I couldn’t hold onto money. The moment I got it I had to spend it. Even before I got it I had to spend it on credit cards. I had no restraint. Whatever I wanted, I wanted it now.
That’s the whole goal of advertising. Copywriters are taught that if they don’t cause you to make the purchase now, they will never get the sale. They try to convince you how bad your life will be if you don’t have their product. They manipulate you into making a buying decision quickly. There is a jewelry store near where I lived who had at least 5 different going out of business bankruptcy sales over a period of several years (there are “bankruptcy” specialists who come into stores and hold bankruptcy sales by marking all the prices way up so they can discount them back down to around regular price again).
All marketing and advertising focuses on your emotions. They talk about how you’ll “feel” with this great new improved product. They are out to get you to make an emotional decision immediately. They don’t want you to take time to think about it or discuss it. They scream, “Buy now,” because they know you’ll have somebody else yelling at you to buy 5 minutes later. There are all kinds of sales tactics people use to make you buy now.
For example, have you ever went to a car lot and heard a salesman say, “If we can make you a good deal, would you buy today?” If they can get you to say yes to that, they know they are already on the road to closing a sale with you.
If you’re going to become wealthy God’s way, you’re going to learn how to overcome these buying emotions. For me, I had to institute a 24 hour period to overcome them. I made a rule that we never bought anything without a 24 hour period to think about it first. We couldn’t buy anything without it. That means you have a shopping list when you go to the store and you follow it. That means you don’t buy a shirt because you just have to have it. That means you don’t buy a car because the salesman made you an offer you couldn’t refuse.
We’ve relaxed the rule on small items now that we have money, but I still follow it very strictly on most purchases. My wife and I also spend time discussing the majority of things we purchase.
There are precious treasures in the house of the wise, but the foolish man spends it all. When God led us in wisdom and our income started increasing, we still didn’t have anything left over for a while. We spent everything extra we were earning. Our income more than tripled, but we still didn’t have any money. We were spending it all up. We thought the increase in money meant we could just spend more when we went shopping. That was very foolish.
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Make a Plan to Reach Your Goals
By Terry
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.”
Luke 14:28-32
Once you’ve made your goals, you now need to count the cost. You’ll never accomplish anything in life without paying a cost for it. To build a business will require you to work longer hours in the beginning. You may have to get up early or stay up later. You may have to banish your TV for the next year. If you want to save more money, you may have to quit going out to eat so often. You may have to cut out some of your shopping budget.
If you plan to study and learn new subjects for your personal growth, you may have to turn off the radio station and listen to training CDs on the way to work. Anything you do for God, for your family, or for yourself will cost a price. It may be not as high of a price as you would think, but it will cost you something. For example, anyone can become an expert in virtually any subject in just one hour a day study over a year to two year period. That is a lot easier than most people would think, but it is still an hour which has to be invested everyday.
Count the cost for your goals. Make a plan. You should never start a new business without a plan, and you’ll never reach your goals without a plan either. You may want to weigh 30 pounds less than you do right now, but how do you plan to accomplish this? When will you schedule to exercise and what kind of exercise will you do? How will you change your eating habits to cut your daily calories? How can you get your friends or family to help you on this goal?
You can pick up dozens of books at any bookstore on the subject of losing weight. The hidden little secret is that the majority of them work, because you simply need to exercise more and cut the number of calories you eat. So you don’t have to starve yourself or go on any crazy fad diet. Just make a plan that includes both exercise and diet.
Make your plan by breaking down the goal into elements or steps. What kinds of steps will you have to take to reach your goal? The number of steps you use will be based on how complicated of a goal you have. If you’re starting a new business, you may have dozens of steps to prepare. You need to study the marketplace, visit competitors, do customer research, etc. Then you need to apply for licenses, setup a legal business form such as corporation, and possibly apply for business loans based on a business plan you’ve written.
If your long-term plan is to build your current business to $1,000,000 a year in net profits, then you may have one year goal and plan for $100,000 increase. For that plan, you may make a list of asking customers why they buy from you, writing new ads, testing your ads, and checking around to find joint venture partners who may be able to offer more items to your current customers.
You can break down these plans into many more steps than what I’ve listed here. The planning stage should be broken down into easy to accomplish daily and weekly goals. When I said write a new ad above, that could be broken down into individual steps as well. You may design 3 ads to test, so you first decide on the “offer” for each one…what will make it unique and exciting to your customers. Then you decide on headlines. Then you write the rough draft of one ad. Then you edit it. Then you test it. Then you see if you can improve on it or test out one of the other possible offers you come up with.
The other important element that comes in while making plans is to make deadlines that are practical. You may want to lose 30 pounds, but doing that in 30 days is not practical. You will not reach that goal and do it in a healthy fashion. The healthiest way to lose weight is 1 to 2 pounds per week. So your goal may be to lose 30 pounds in the next 6 months. Then you can break that down further and say you would like to lose 5 pounds this month. You didn’t gain 30 pounds in a month, and you won’t be losing it in one month either. So make shorter term goals such as losing 5 pounds per month. If the most you’ve ever made in your life is $30,000 per year, then having a goal of making one million this year is not a realistic goal.
Making one million in a year 5 to 10 years from now definitely would be something you can accomplish with God’s help, but you’d be better off setting a goal of $60,000 or so for your business. You then would need to come up with all the steps required for you to reach thatgoal. If it’s a brand new business you’re starting, there will be a lot of steps involved. Pick up several books that talk about starting new businesses to help you write down all the steps you’ll need to take. Then get busy and start taking one step at a time.
One of the key principles here is you want your goals to be something you can really have faith in. You are only limited by what you can believe, but you won’t be able to believe with your heart that you’re worth the one million dollar income if you’ve only been making $30,000. You’re going to have to grow into it. You’ll have to build up to the point where you truly believe you’re worth that much money.
Most people set their one year goals too high and their 5 year goals too low. You can experience multiplied growth every year of your life, so your goals for 5 years out should be a whole lot bigger than your goals for this year alone. God wants to help you build the life you dream about, but you have to be willing to put in both the time and energy required to get there. You have a lot of learning and growing to do.
Look at potential roadblocks which may come up in the pursuit of your goal. What kind of obstacles are likely to come against you? This is part of counting the cost. You may have friends who won’t want to be around you anymore. People who are set in their ways and satisfied with mediocre life don’t usually accept those who want to strive for excellence. If you want to soar with the eagles, you might not be close friends with the turkeys anymore. You may have opposition from your family. Jesus said people from your own household will become your opposition (Matthew 10:36).
You are an overcomer and God will help you defeat any roadblock or opposition which comes against you. Just like the king who was going to war, you must count the cost. Look at some of the potential obstacles, pray about them, and decide today that you will overcome them. Your path to greatness will come with giants who stand in your way. How could you ever be declared the champion if you didn’t have competition to overcome?
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Write Down Your Goals
By Terry
“And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”
Habakkuk 2:2
Having a vision and having a goal isn’t enough. You also need to write them down. You have to write the vision and make it plain. Be specific in what you write. Get a piece of paper and write down the answers to some of the questions I’ve asked you throughout this chapter. Write down the answers to some of these questions:
If God said you could pray for your life to become anything you wanted, what would you ask for?
If you pick any career or business, what would you pick?
Who is it that you admire and wish you were more like?
What subject do you love to talk about to your friends?
What are you passionate about?
What talents do you have?
What talents have other people said you have?
What kind of problems can you solve?
What would you do today if you could not fail?
Once you’re finished going through those questions, let’s take the next step. Now you’re going to make a list of goals for your life. Some of the goals can be short-term such as something you can accomplish in the next few weeks or the next few months. Other ones should be goals that you want to accomplish before you die. If you’re young, they may be 50 year goals. If you getting up in age, they may be 20 year goals.
The goals you’re going to write down can be goals involving your career, your business, your marriage, your fitness, your children, your church, your character, your hobbies, your giving, or any other subject you want to create goals in. They can be projects you want to accomplish. Think about all the things you would like to accomplish this year, this decade, and throughout your life. Once you’ve thought about it for a while. Then sit down and write.
Write 100 goals in the next 30 minutes. This will be hard work if you’re not used to big planning and big thinking. I know it was hard for me when I first did this. I ended up with goals in all different categories such as giving a million dollar offering, training 10,000 million Christian businesspeople to be Champions for God, and weighing 170 pounds. I set specific income goals for my business…both short-term and long-term. I set goals for things I wanted to see change in my character and how I treated people around me. I wrote goals for projects I wanted to complete and things I wanted to accomplish.
You’ll find that a lot of the things you’ve been thinking about and even direction in your life you’ve been confused about gets cleared up in the goal writing process. Personally I had heard other people talk about the value of writing goals, but I never realized how powerful it was until I applied it in my own life. Look back at the verse in Habakkuk 2:2. The Lord said to write the vision and make it plain. Writing your goals will make things in your life more plain to you. Everything you’ve been through and everything you’ve felt in your heart will simply make more sense to you.
Once you’ve finished your list and written all your goals, then read over the list you’ve made. Make sure all of the goals are specific. You don’t want to lose weight. You want to lose 30 pounds. You don’t want to increase your business. You want to increase your net profit by $55,000 this year. A general goal is not a goal at all. Be specific in your goal writing just like you need to be specific in your prayers.
Take it before the Lord in prayer and ask Him to give you wisdom about which goals should be most important to you right now. You should also begin praying now that the Lord reveal to you plans for you to accomplish some of the specific goals. Pick out 10 of the shorter term goals and make those your goals you will concentrate on right now (watch as your faith grows when these get accomplished).
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1
Faith is the substance of things hoped for. We’re going to take those 10 primary goals you picked and apply faith to them. Write them as if they were already done now. For example, one of your goals may say, “My business will earn $100,000 net profit this year.” Change it to say, “My business earns $100,000 per year.” Make it present tense. You may have a goal which says, “I want to weigh 120 pounds.” Change it to, “I now weigh 120 pounds.”
Faith is always in the present tense. Now take each of those goals and see yourself having it now. Use the power of your God given imagination to see yourself making the money you want to earn, acting the way you’ve decided to act, and weighing whatever you decided to weigh. If your goal was to be someone who edifies and builds others up instead of gossiping, see yourself talking well about others to those around you.
Keep this list handy. Pray over it. Go over it everyday. Say it out loud and see it taking place in your life. Thank God for working your life and accomplishing all of these things. Praise Him for His goodness. Let faith go to work in your life. Finally you’ve given God something He can work with. As small goals are accomplished, other goals from your big list can be added in. Your faith will increase as you see these things come to pass in your life.
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Delight Yourself in the Lord
By Terry
“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Psalms 37:4
There are several ways you can look at this scripture. The first is that if you delight yourself in the Lord, God will answer your prayers and give you what you’ve been desiring. I believe that, but also look at something else it is saying to us. If you delight yourself in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart. He will put those desires in you.
If you’re focused on Him first and have put Him first in your life, then the desires in your heart also come from Him. If it your heart’s desire to go to college to become a doctor, then that desire has been placed there by God. If your heart’s desire is to own real estate, then you know where you should be focusing your attention. If your heart’s desire is to start a business, then He is the one who put that desire in you.
Starting a business can be a risky venture, so a lot of people go through life living way below their purpose because of fear. You’ll have to step out of your comfort zone. You’ll have to spend time learning all the aspects of business. You’ll have to put money at risk to study, research, and find people who can work with you. It is not always easy. There are millions of Christians who go through their whole life working a mediocre job knowing there is something greater for them. They get up and go to work day after day…while their heart cries out for something more. You can have so much more. You can complete your calling. If you haven’t already started, then use this book as your kick in the seat of your pants to get you moving.
Make a decision today you won’t just do what is most comfortable. You’re going to step up to your next level in life. It is time for God’s champions to come forth. It is time for people who love God to start taking action in the business world. For too long the church has looked at pastors and evangelists as being the only ones with a special calling from God. This is wrong!
People who are “in the ministry” are simply those who are called to teach others in the church. Most real ministry takes place outside of the four church walls. You are called of God as one of his ministers. A Christian business person is a calling. It is a ministry. You may be the only Jesus people around you ever see. We are called to be the light of the world, and we shouldn’t be hiding our lights in the church building. Be someone who really cares about your customers. Be someone who has integrity in business. Be someone that other people can look up to and look forward to doing business with. Christian business people who let their lights shine in the marketplace are God’s champions.
My prayer is to raise up new champions for God. Be a champion. Step out into the marketplace and become what you’ve been created to be. You have talents and skills God has put in you, and you need to be using them. There is a business out there waiting for you that only you can do. Don’t live life in fear…but step out of the boat like Peter and be one of God’s champions.
Continually put God first in your life and obey His Word. Seek God and let Him guide you. He may give you new ideas in the company you work for which greatly increase their profits. You may get profit sharing on those ideas. You may have a desire to start your own Internet business like I did. You may want to start a baking company. You may want to start a cleaning business. You may want to buy land or houses. You may study books on stock investing. You may learn about commodity investing. You may go back to college.
I can’t tell you His plans for you, but I can tell you a few principles about His plans. His plan will always be too big for you. They don’t just come Super-sized. They come in God-size.
He will never give you a plan you can do without Him. You’ll need faith to complete His plan. You’ll have to combat the Grasshopper mentality telling you why you can’t do it. You’ll have to overcome fear as it is often the biggest roadblock to reaching your purpose.
There will almost always be a training period where you learn through classes, seminars, books, mentors, etc. You’ll have to learn and grow to complete the blessing He has for you. His plan for you is abundance for your life and to bless those around you. The plan from God will require diligence. You’ll have to keep your eyes on the prize (financial abundance) and work hard to get there. You’ll have to stay focused during distractions.
You’ll have to make sacrifices and lay aside weights on the way to your dream. You’ll have to be like the Olympic athlete who stays focused on the goal of prosperity for you.
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