Wednesday, December 30, 2015

#88 - Man of Covenant #9

The fourth principle of the CIA of being a man of covenant is that when a man of covenant sins, he repents!

By repentance I don't just mean admitting to God that you sinned, saying your sorry, and asking for forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9. That is definitely a part of repentance. But repentance also means to change the way you think to bring about lasting behavorial change in the area where you have sinned.

Romans 12:2 says that we should not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is what true repentance is all about, and how one brings about lasting behavioral change instead of short term behavioral change that comes from just confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness.

And true repentance is a process of replacing the garbage in your heart and soul (mind) that led to you sinning in the first place with what the Word of God says about that area of your life. It takes time, effort and discipline to study and meditate on the Word of God related to the area of your life where you sinned until you have engrained what God says on the matter in your spirit (heart) and soul (mind), replacing what the the world has brainwashed you with.

Then, once your spirit and soul have lined up with the Word of God your body and how you act and what you say and do will line up with the Word as well!

So man of covenant, man up as it were when you stumble, and not only receive God's forgiveness but renew your mind and be transformed, something all of us need to do daily.


Monday, December 28, 2015

#87 - Man of Covenant #8

Principle #3 behind the CIA of being a man of covenant is that a man of covenant strives to live righteously (a Godly lifestyle modeled after Jesus), not deliberately or intentionally disobeying the Word of God (sinnng).

I am not talking about being perfect, because since we live in this sinful flesh we never can be perfect. That 's why God made provision for us when we do stumble, fall and sin in 1 John 1:9. What I am saying is that we should strive to live righteously according to the Word of God. That should be our nature as children of God through Christ, rather than the worldly nature we were born with to accept whatever the world looks at as right.

In Titus 2:12 we are told we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously and Godly. Further, in 1 John 5:17a we learn that all unrighteousness is sin.

So how do you choose to strive to live your life, as a man of covenant living by the Word of God, or as a man of the flesh following the ways of the world? Or are you wishy washy sometimes choosing to follow God and sometimes choosing to follow the world, a lifestyle that's no better than not following God at all.

Whatever your answer may be, you have a choice to make how you strive to live your life from this day forward. I pray you choose to strive live as a Man of Covenant, righteously, obedient to God's Word, and not sinnfully, deliberately and intentionally choosing the ways of the world over the ways of God.




Saturday, December 26, 2015

#86 - Man of Covenant #7

CIA principle #2 is something my Pastor has taught many times over the years, and that is that the Word of God should be the Final Authority and Absolute Rule of Conduct for a man of covenant (and for every Believer).

But what does this really mean? Well, we see in Luke 4:4 that this means that we are to live by every word of God. Now to me, every word of God means all the words of God, not just the ones we like or that are easy to live by.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is living, powerfull, and can discern the thoughts and intents of our heart, Wow! I don't know about you, but I willingly cede to something that's "all that" to be the authority in my life, guide me in all I do and order my steps.

The bottom line for a man of covenant is that if God said it (His Word), that's it, all you need to hear, and that Word (of God) should be how you strive to live and conduct your life.

Is that what you do, how you strive to live your life each and every day? The answer is between you and God. But the good news is that if you are not, it's not too late! Be honest with yourself and God (who already knows), repent, commit before God to make His Word the Final Authority and Absolute Rule of Conduct for how you strive to live your life, and ask God to help you (and He will!).

Principle three which we will look at in the next Post, goes right along with principle two. So get ready!

Thursday, December 24, 2015

#85 - Man of Covenant #6

Now that you've got a good understanding of the three pillars of being a man of covenant - Commitment, Integrity & Accountability (CIA), let's look at some principles that exemplify these pillars and which a man of covenant strives to live by. The list of principles I will share is not exhaustive, but if you apply them to your life you will be well on your way to being the man of covenant God has called you to be.

The first principle is that a man of covenant is a learned disciple of The Lord Jesus Christ and a student of the Word. By disciple I don't mean just being saved or born again. That's just the starting point. But being a disciple of Christ means catching the revelation of who He is and His way of doing things, and modeling your lifestyle after His, submitting to His will for your life and being obedient to His commandments.

Being a learned disciple also entails making learned disciples out of others, sharing and teaching what you have learned about following Christ with others so they too can become learned disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).

Finally, a learned disciple is a student of the Word of God, because if you are going to be like Jesus, you need to learn how He was and lived which you only learn from the Word. Studying the Word takes time, effort and discipline. It's not just reading scriture but catching the revelation of what God is truly saying to you in scripture so you can apply that in your life.

This involves reading, meditating on, praying over and asking God to open up the Word for you; looking at different versions of the Word; finding the definition of certain words in the Greek and Hebrew as well as English; checking with a Concordance or other word study resource; and talking with other men and women of God who may have already caught the revelation of a particular scripture you are studying.

And, studying the Word of God should be something you do on a consistent regular basis, preferably daily, but at least on some regular basis.

On to principle two in the next Post.

We'll look at CIA principle #2 in the next Post.


Monday, December 21, 2015

#84 - Man of Covenant #5

When I was in grade school and we worked on the alphabet, we used to say A is for Apple. But in living as a man of covenant, "A" stands for Accountability. A man of covenant is accountable.

To be accountable is to take responsibility for one's actions, unlike Adam who tried put the blame for letting sin into the human bloodline on Eve, who in turn tried to blame the serpent. To be accountable is to stand up and take responsibility for what is under your authority, whether in the family, in the workplace, in the community or in the Kingdom of God.

Everyone likes to be accountable when something under your authority goes well, which is really a time to be humble and acknowledge those who actually did the work and glorify the Lord. But a man of covenant is also accountable when things or people don't go or do so well. One of my former Pastors used to say as the man you are the head of the household as ordained by God, and when something or someone under your authority in the home or with a family member living under your roof goes wrong whether you caused it or not, you are responsible for dealing with it. That's what real accountability is all about!

Ephesians 5:23 points this out and shows us the order of accountbility in the family where it tells us the husband is the head of the wife (and the children as well) just as Christ is the head of the Church. And with headship comes accountability.

So what does an accountable man of covenant do when he stumbles or something is out of order with anything or anyone (including himself) under his authority be it in the family or home, workplace, church, community or wherever it may be? He takes responsibility for what took place, deals with the situation according to the Word of God, and if he has been lax in his duties as the one that is accountable, he repents according to 1 John 1:9-10 and James 5:16.

A man of covenant, unlike Adam, also doesn't pass the buck, blame someone else, or have an attitude of "well, I didn't do it." Rather, he steps up, takes responsibility and rights the situation. This doesn't mean the man of covenant let's those who were involved off the hook. He deals with them as well, correcting them as appropriate. But he is the one who is accountable.

In what areas of your life and with those under your authority have you been out of order and not accountable as a man of covenant should be? We all have some. So just ask God and He will point them out to you. Then, accept responsibility, repent and get things in order.

We'll start looking at some key principles a man of covenant lives by reflective of his being Commited, living by Integrity and being Accountable, in the next Post.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

#83 - Man of Covenant #4

Let's now look at the second pillar of what it means to be a man of covenant, the "I", which stands for Integrity.

Living a life of integrity is living a consistent lifestye based on Kingdom principles and values without compromising those principles and values for anybody or anything. It's being a man of his word, a man who says what he means (based on God's Word) and means what he says, a man who can be counted on to carry through on what he says and commits to. A man who stands for and lives by the Kingdom way of doing things despite what the world system may say is right or what every one else may be doing.

Proverbs 10:9 tells us that if we walk with integrity doing what is right we walk securely, but if we don't our perverse ways will be revealed. We further learn from Titus 2:7 that we should show ourselves in all things to be a pattern of good works, displaying integrity, reverence and incorruptability.

Being a man of Integrity takes dedication, discipline, steadfast effort, and Commitment as covered in the previous Post. And I would dare say that each and every man if we are honest with ourselves can find areas of our lives where we have fallen short or missed the mark as far as integrity is concerned. I know I have. So let's choose as we read this Post to work on those areas where we haven't been the men of integrity God expects us to be and already sees us as. Amen?

We'll cover the "A" of the CIA of being a man of covenant in the next Post.



Thursday, December 17, 2015

#82 - Man of Covenant #3

So let's look at the first pillar (or term) of what it means to be a man of covenant - the "C".

The "C" stands for Commitment. A man of covenant must be commited. But what does it mean to be commited? Simply stated, commitment means devoting one's self completely to something. In this case to God and a Kingdom lifestyle. As we learn from 1 Timothy 1:18-20, this involves waging spiritual warfare by faith and with a good conscience. In other words being dedicated, earnestly steadfast and persevering to live a Godly livestyle as a man of God no matter what obstacles and road blocks you may face. Not giving up in the face of adversity nor being disuaded from the ways of God for the ways of the world.

2 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us to be strong in the grace we have through Christ. This means to rely on the power and ability of God to stay the course of living as a Godly man and not a worldly man, rather than relying on your own strength and knowledge which will eventually fail you.

These verses from 2 Timothy also reveal that commitment not only involves our learning how to and staying the course as a man of God, but commiting to sharing what we have learned and applied in our lives with other men so they too can become men of covenant.

So are you commited or ready to be commited to being a man of covenant and striving to live a Godly lifestyle no matter what? The choice is yours, but I pray you will to chose to live as a man of God and not a man of the world.

We'll look at the second pillar of being a man of covenant, the "I" in the next Post.


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

#81 - Man of Covenant #2

Let's start by defining what a covenant is - a binding agreement between two or more parties that can't be broken without penalty, injury or death. Covenant also always involves the shedding and melding or blending of blood. A covenent is serious business, and nothing to be played with!

So when we talk about a man of covenant we are talking about a binding agreement between a man and God, cut or establshed through the blood of Jesus.

Now a covenant also has terms, what each party agrees they will do. And when those terms are broken by either party, a price has to be paid or endured by the party who broke the covenant - penalty, injury or death. But praise God! Since he knew fleshly man could never keep the covenant without breaking it, He's already paid for our (man's) breaking of the covenant through the broken body and shed blood of Jesus!

This is not a license to do as we want and keep breaking our covenant with God, for if we do we'll never be able to walk in the blessings and benefits of our covenant with God to the extent God desires us to. This doesn't mean we will be perfect, but we should do all we can to keep our terms of the covenant. But when fall, repent, receive God's forgiveness and cleansing, and get back on track.

So as we learn what it means to be a man of covenant, our side of the terms of our covenant with God, take it seriously, get it in your spirit and live it out in your life, and be the man of covenant God already sees you being.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

#80 - Man of Covenant - #1

What was intended to be a brief hiatus ended up lasting longer than planned, but now I am back and starting a new series on what it means to be a man of God, titled " Man of Covenant".  We'll be looking at this topic from the perspective of a simple concept called CIA and 10 key principles of biblical manhood.

But for now, please consider this quote from the late Dr. Edwin Louis Cole, founder of the Christian Men's Network, which I first heard from Brother Ben Kinchlow on The 700 Club many years ago - "Being a male is a matter of birth, but being a man is a matter of choice". Just because you are born a male doesn' t automatically mean you are a man, just as biologically bringing a child into the world doesn't automatically make you a parent. As with anything in the Kingdom of God, being a Man of God or a parent involves making a decision to die to your will and submitting to God's Will. In either case God won't make you, you have to choose to. And this series will deal with making the choice to live as a Man of God instead of a man of the world.

If you are a woman reading this Post, don't tune out. While it may not apply directly to you it may be helpful in learning some of the charecteristics you should be looking for in the Man of God you are seeking, and/or be worthwhile sharing with men in your life you think could benefit from this.

Therefore I challenge you to follow this series, receive what God has to share on biblcal manhood, apply it in your life and become the Man of Covenant God intends you to be.

I also want to encourage you to tell others about this series, so we can all grow in biblical manhood together.

So get ready, stay tuned and be blessed!

Monday, October 12, 2015

#79 Updater - Kingdom Prosperity #45

A couple of people have let me know they have had trouble responding to the free offer in the Post below via this Blog. So you can also respond via the Feedback Link on my web site at www.faithprinciples.net. Sorry for any inconvenience.

This will be my last Blog on Kingdom Prosperity, at least for now.

I've attempted to share a little from each Chapter in my Book on Kingdom Prosperity, covering all of the key principles as much as possible on this Blog. I pray it was enough to wet your appetite so that you desire to apply these principles in your life, no matter where you are financially right now.

While I would be honored if you went to Amazon.com and purchased a hard copy or Kindle version of my Book, God's instruction to me was to get this message out to the people. So if you send me a message via this Blog with your mailing address, I'll mail you a copy of my Book at my cost. I only ask that you request more than one copy so you can share the Book with others. This offer is limited to requests for 100 of the copies I currently have in Inventory on a first come first served basis. If after reading the Book you are blessed by and so enclined, feel free to send me a love gift of any amount.

In any event, whether you get a copy of my book or use the information from my 45 Posts on Kingdom Prosperity, it's up to you to apply the principles God has given me to share so you can truly experience the Kingdom Prosperity God has for your life and the lives of others.

I'm going to take a short break from Blogging, but stay tuned, as I'll be back in a few weeks starting a new series. Until then, be blessed!

Friday, October 9, 2015

#78 - Kingdom Prosperity #44

A few final thoughts on practical principles for achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life:

9. Sacrifice - It will cost you something to achieve Kingdom Prosperity, but only for a Season. You need to learn to say no to some of your wants, and trust God as your source to meet your needs. But when your season of sacrifice is over, you will be glad you went through it.

10. Don't try to keep up with the Jones's - Keep focused on your budget and God as your source during your season of sacrifice, and don't be concerned about what others have or get blessed with, giving in to the deception of the enemy that you have the right and deserve to have what others have right now. You don't know the season of sacrifice others may have endured to get to where they are now. So stick to your plan and your budget, and above all continue to trust God.

11. Financial Professionals - No matter how much or how little you have financially, the use of a Financial Advisor is something to consider. But first, I would recommend you go through the process described in earlier Posts and take a crack at your first draft of financial priorities. A Financial Advisor can also be helpful if you are having trouble sticking to your budget, by helping institute some disciplines to keep you on track.

I pray these practical principles for achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life I have shared in the last several Posts will be a blessing to you, and encourage you to embrace and apply them in your everyday life.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

#77 - Kingdom Prosperity #43

A few more practical principles for achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life, especially in a marriage:

5. Set your pride aside and check your ego at the door - One spouse or the other will be better at some things than than the other spouse, including your finances. So the other spouse should yield to that and let the spouse who is better at it manage the couples finances. However, both Husband and Wife need to be or get into agreement on how their financal blessings will be used.

6. Be Flexible - When you marry your spouse and you probably have different views in some areas of how to manage your finances. And though you should and may have talked about managing your finances before the marriage, you need to be flexible in the marriage and manage your finances God's way, not your way or your spouses way. The requires being flexible and letting go of your way and yielding to God's way which sometimes will be how your spouse wants to manage your finances compared to your way.

7. Openess and Honesty - To be effective financial Stewards in a marriage, Husband and Wife need to be open and honest about what each brings into the marriage financially, and how each feels about how both have agreed to manage their combined finances. Yes, you need to yield to God's will in that area, but you will be more successf if each spouse shares how they feel about that without harboring anything internally, so each spouse can support the other to work through those issues.

8. Patience and Humility - To be an effective financial Steward in a marriage each spouse needs to be patient and humble with the other regarding the management of the finances in the marriage. For example, if its been agreed that the wife will develop the budget and then after there is agreement on the budget pay the bills, the husband can't murmur or hold resentment because he thinks he could do that better than the wife is. If that is what God directed the couple how to handle those aspects of the budget and husband and wife got in agreement on that, then be supportive of the wife husbands rather than be upset, murmur or even hold resentment toward your wife, offering assistance when asked and not forcing your will in this matter,

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

#76 - Kingdom Prosperity #42

I want to close this series of Post in this and the next several Posts by sharing a few practical principles for achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life, especially in marriage. I go into these principles in greater detail in my book, but will outline them here.

1. One Spouse/One Flesh/One Account - According to Genesis 2:24 when you marry the two of you become one flesh. In other words no me, just we, including your finances. You may have more than one financial account, but they all should be in common or jointly owned between husband and wife.

2. All of the Financial Assets and Debts in a marriage belong to both Husband and Wife - It doesn't matter who brings what into the marriage, assets or debts, once married they belong to husband and wife collectively.

3. It's important to go over each others finances and agree on how as a couple you will manage them before the marriage.

4. All of the financial decisions in a marriage should be made together, with husband and wife in agreement.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

#75 - Kingdom Prosperity #41

The fourth and final key to staying on track with your budget is repentence or changing the way think. This involves both taking responsibilty for the way you've managed your finances and the present state they are in; and asking God for forgiveness and making a decision to mange your finances God's way and no longer your way, changing the way you think about money, prosperity and material things.

Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, with God thinking replacing world or man thinking. This requires getting into the Word to find out what God says about money, debt, prosperity and other things pertaining to your finances, meditating on those things, studying them, speaking them, until you get them in your spirit. The more you get what God says about these things in your spirit, the more you will speak what God says about things and the more you will believe them. And the more you believe what God says about these things, the more you will speak what He believes about these things, and the more you will start to live that out or do that in your life.

If this seems like a lot of work, effort and time, you are right, it is. But this is how you transform your beliefs, words and actions about money, prosperity and your finances. It's a process, not an event, but one worth working through if you want to truly stay on track with your budget and become an effective Steward over the financial blessings God gives you.

So now get to work, establish your budget, and commit to do whatever is neccessary to stay on track.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

#74 -Kingdom Prosperity #40

Making sacrifices is the third and a very key component to staying on track with your budget. You didn't get into your present financial situation over night, and it probably involved indulging yourself with "things" or "stuff" based on your wants, desires and urges, and not your needs.

So part of getting back on track with your finances by sticking to your budget now requires you to put those wants, desires and urges down, and make some sacrifices.

One definition of sacrifice is giving up something you want in order to do or get somthing you need. Another is to be able to help someone else instead of yourself. Sacrifice can also be defined as saying no to what you want and yes to what God wants. As it relates to staying on track with your budget, sacrifice means going without some things you want or that you don't really need for a season, not trying to "keep up with the Jones's" as it were.

And making sacrifices requires a decision or choice to do so, and then exercising your will to do so mixed with your faith and self-discipline which we talked about in the last Post. It can be painful while go through it, but you will be glad you did when you realize the financial breakthrough you have been seeking for so long.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

#73 - Kingdom Prosperity #39

So how do we mix faith and self-discipline with our will to overcome the deceptions of the devil to stay on track with our budget?

Now I talked about faith in the first 27 Posts on this Blog which you can look at in the archives. But in short faith is the currency of the Kingdom, how we get things done in the Kingdom of God. It is the reality, proof and confidence of the future good we are expecting from God based on His Word; and we exercise our faith or put it into action by believing, confessing and acting on the Word of God.

Self-discipline is developing an orderly pattern of behavior to willingly obey rules and orders, and making yourself do what should be done. It requires overcoming those life controlling issues (urges, desires and emotions) to do things your way or the world's way instead of God's way, which you do by first making a choice/decision to want to do things right/God's way and then doing so by speaking the Word of God to yourself and the life controlling issues challenging you and acting/moving (exercising your faith) on that Word.

This takes time and effort and is a process not an event. But if you stick to it, mixing this self-discipline with your faith and your will, you will be well on your way to staying on track with your budget.

Remember what Jesus, our big brother and role model, said in Luke 22:41-43, "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done". This is what self-discipline (as well as sacrifice which we will cover in the next Post) is all about.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

#72 - Kingdom Prosperity #38

As mentioned in the last Post, the first thing you need to understand if you are to stay on track with your budget is that the devil will do everything he can to discourage you, get you off track and take all you have.

The Word of God tells us that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; and that your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can destroy. Satan wants you defeated, broken and in financial bondage and will do everything he can to keep you there or get you there. But the only tools he had to do this are deceitfullness, trickery, and our willingness which comes about when we take our eyes off of the Word of God and start looking at our circumstances.

So this is why you have to understand and be constantly aware and alert to what the devil is up to. However, since he is a spiritual being you can't resist him on your own but need to mix faith and self- discipline with your will to rise above his attempts to get you off track from your budget as the second point in the last Post stated. The same scripture that tells us that the thief or devil comes to steal, kill and destroy also tells us that Jesus (the Word of God) came to give us abundant life. So that's why our will to stay on track with our budget, a choice or decision we make, coupled with the exercising of our faith and self-discipline are key to staying on track with our budget.

We'll talk about how faith and self-discipline mix with your will to help keep you on track with your budget in the next Post.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

#71 - Kingdom Prosperity #37

I am going to assume if you've been following these Posts that you now have set up both your expense and savings budgets, and have them balanced.

Congratulations! Now it's time talk about staying on track, or managing/living within your budget. So let me share a few thoughts on how to do that:

1) First. understand that satan will do all he can to discourage you, get you off track, and take all you have, trying to trick you into thinking you don't have to stick to your budget, that it's okay to splurge, pamper yourself, etc. So you need a strategy or plan to combat the deceitfullness of your adversary the devil.

2) Second, know that your strategy or plan won't work based strictly on your own will to stay on track, but requires a combination of your will, faith and self discipline all working in concert together.

3) Third, your strategy must also include a commitment to making some sacrifices along the way, which should be based on your life and financial priorities.

4) And fourth, repentence or changing the way you think about what prosperity, money and being in debt really mean is absolutely essential.

We'll examine each of these components of a good strategy for staying on track with your budget in more detail in the next several Posts.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

#70 - Kingdom Prosperity #36

We've covered the budget as far as your checking account goes, so let's go over budgeting for your savings budget or setting up your savings account. It's pretty much the same process as for your checking account, but instead of budgeting to cover expenses you're budgeting for the money that will go into and out of your Savings accout.

Start by indentifying all of the categories you have or want to have in your Savings account, such as, true savings, an emergency fund, a seed account, kids college fund, clothing fund, categories where you save funds for expenses that are only paid annually, semi-annually and perhaps quarterly instead of monthly or weekly, etc. It's your savings account, so whatever you want to save in it is really up to you. However, keep your financial priorities in mind as you develop your savings expense categories.

Next, for each category list any amounts you currently have, followed by the minimum amount you would like to put in each category each pay period, monthly, semi-annually, annually, etc. The pay periods you budget for should be the same as for your expense budget.

Now what you actually deposit into or withdraw from each category in your savings budget each pay period will be based on your expense budget. You can only deposit in the savings acount what you've budgeted for in your expense budget, and you can only withdraw from your savings account what you have put in the account be it a transfer to your checking account based on your expense budget or a withdrawal for personal use.

As you go through the process
of balancing your expense budget you will most likely have to balance your savings budget as well.

Like the expense budget, I can't really do the savings budget justice here on my Blog, so I encourage you to review the savings budget process in more detail along with the illustrative examples I have in my book, Kingdom Prosperity. But hopefully, what I've included here is helpful.

Bottom line, unless your savings budget like your expense budget is written down and you keep it in front of you, you have no road map for your financial future and will fall short of being the effective Steward over the financial blessings God gives you that He wants you to be.

So take some time and put together you savings budget just like you did your expense budget.


Monday, August 31, 2015

#69 - Kingdom Prosperity #35

If you're like me, that first cut of your budget might not look too good or has some shortfalls in some places. So let's talk about how to fix that.

This is where your financial priorities come into play, helping you make decisions on which allocations of your income to cover your expenses you can cut back on or defer to a future pay period. I really can't do this process justice on this blog, so I encourage you to check out the examples in my book, Kingdom Prosperity. But I will cover a few points here.

Some things to keep in mind as you attempt to balance your budget:
1) Your #1 financial priority should be to finance the Kingdom work here on Earth, so don't cut back on your tithes, and only on your offerings as a last resort.
2) Identify any outlays of money that can be moved to a future pay period or reduced, without missing any payments or compromising your financial priorities.
3) What outlays of money are discresionary that you really don't have to spend, or spend now? This is where you have to separate your wants from your needs, and takes a lot of discipline. This might include money you have in your budget for shopping/clothes, dinning out/entertainment, vacations, etc.
4) What outlays of money can be spread differently across the pay periods you are budgeting for, and even across future pay periods, without missing any payments.
5) Where you have installment payments, check to see where you have budgeted more than the minimum payments and reduce outlays to the minimum payments.
6) In some cases it may be worthwhile to contact some or all of your creditors to work out payment arrangements that fit into your budget. You'll be surprised how many will be willing to work with you.

Again, I go into much more detail on balancing your budget in my book, but the bottom line is that this takes time, discipline, sacrifice and keeping your financial priorities in front of you at all times.

It also will usually take several revisions before your budget is balanced. It took you some time to get into your current financial condition, and it will take you some time to turn it around (hopfully not as long as it did to get into it).

But it does work! Just have faith and trust God to guide you. And once you've gone through the process of balancing your budget a few times, it will get easier.

So now, go balance your budget.


Friday, August 28, 2015

#68 - Kingdom Prosperity #34

OK, you now understand the principles of effective financial stewardship and have established your financial priorities, so it's time to develop your budget - your roadmap to using or expending the financial blessings God is bringing into your life.

This is process and not an event, so it will take time and effort on your part. But if you don't have a plan for using those blessings based on God's Will, you will squander those blessings and not see the additional blessings God has for you (financial and otherwise) manifest in your life. That's why it is so important to establish your financial priorities before developing your budget. Developing your budget is also something husbands and wives should work and be in agreement on together, as one flesh.

So where do you start? Make a list of every expenditure you have to make including bills, household expenses, personal expenses and so on. For each item list any current balance, how frequently any payments need to be made (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually), and the minimum payment that has to be made. Be sure to include items related to your financial priorities like tithes & offerings, a seed account, savings, money to bless others with, etc. At this point don't worry about how much you have coming in.

Next make a list of all of your income including your paycheck, retirement check if applicable, rental income, bonuses, etc. Just like your expenses, list the frequency of each item of income and both the gross and net amounts.

Now you are ready to match your expenses up with your income by pay period or when you have income coming in, along with when outlays are due. For each pay period you can then see the surplus or shortfall of income needed to cover bills, and cumulatively over the time frame for which you are budgeting (suggest a two month period to start).  This is your first view of your budget, and you will most likely have shortfalls for certain pay periods and possibly over the entire budgeting period. That's why this is an iterative process that will take several sets of revisions before you are done. We'll cover what to do to address the shortfalls or surpluses after your first cut of your budget in the next Post.

In my book, Kingdom Prosperity, there are examples of what I have covered above and will cover in a simple Excel spreadsheet format.

So, take a crack at the first cut of your budget if you haven't done so already.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

#67 - Kingdom Prosperity #33

Besides the people God leads you to for help in fine tuning your financial priorities, there are also a number of other resources available to assist you. Some are on-line, some in short articles you read, and others in the form of a brochure or pamphlet. I can't cover them all here, but I'll mention a couple that I have used and like.

One is an on-line tool called the Financial Final Four, which works just like filling out your brackets during March Madness, But unstead of picking college basketball teams you pick from a menu of financial priorities. You pick the match-ups and the winners who move on to each subsequent round, until you end up with your final four financial priorities. Then you decide the most important in the last two rounds.

There is also the Crown Money Map, which helps you determine your life purpose and goals, and then takes you through six life destination steps with each one focused on various financial priorities to help you discover what yours are as well as some components to go into your budget. Each step along the way is supported by scripture.

There are other resources available as well to help you determine your financial priorities, along with the wise counsel God directs you to. The point is, as you are moving along the journey of being an effective Steward over the financial blessings God brings into your life, establish your financial priorities before deciding how you will use those blessings which is what budgeting is all about and which I'll touch upon in the next Post.


Friday, August 21, 2015

#66 - Kingdom Prosperity #32

Now when you start to seek the counsel of those God has led you to for help in fine-tuning your list of financial priorities, you need to listen to what they say. Be open to receive and meditate on what they tell you, rather than ignoring something you think doesn't apply to you, that you've heard before, or doesn't make sense to you. If God directed you to that person there must be something for you in what they are saying. So continue to trust God, not yourself, as to what of that you are told you should apply in your life.

You also need to be willing to share some of yourself with those you seek help from, including some things about your financial situation you might not be proud of. Otherwise, they might not be able to share with you what God wants them to if they don't understand your financial condition, your financial past, bad financial habits you have developed, or the condition of your heart.

That's why it's important to follow God's leading in who to talk to. You may think you should talk with so and so because he or she knows a lot about money or appears to be financially successful, or a close family member who has done well financially. And while they could be at times, they may not always be who God wants you to seek wise counsel from. Also, you need to be able to trust who you talk with to keep what you share in confidence. The people you know best or even family members may not always do that. So again, follow God's leading, and not your own.

Friday, August 14, 2015

#65 - Kingdom Prosperity #31

Once you've sought God's guidance and direction regarding your financial priorities through prayer, you need to exercise your faith believing God has answered your prayer.

So start by making a list of everything that comes into your mind that might be a financial priority for you. At this point it doesn't matter how long the list is or if everything on it is from God. But do consider the principles covered in previous Posts related to giving, saving, debt, etc. as you make out your list.

Now as you move forward you will be able to shorten the list, and God's discernment will guide you in weeding out what is not from Him. As with prayer, husbands and wives should work on this list together.

You also need to keep exercising your faith daily by thanking God for giving you wisdom, guidance and direction regarding your financial priorities.

After you've got your initial list of priorities, you need to start fine-tuning it with the help of others and resources available to help you do that. But not just anybody or any resource. Go back to God in prayer, specifically asking Him who you should seek counsel from and what resources to avail yourself of. Some scriptures to help you with this are Proverbs 37:30-31, Proverbs 6:20-22, Proverbs 15:22, Psalms 1:1, Proverbs 8:11 and Proverbs 13:15, all of which speak to seeking wise counsel which we'll talk more about in the next Post.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

#64 - Kingdom Prosperity #30

The best place to start in establishing your financial priorities is with prayer. James 1:5 tells us if we lack wisdom to ask God. Psalms 119:24 tells us that God delights in His Counselors. Hebrews 4:12 tells us among other things that the Word of God knows the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Bottom line is that God's Word is intended to be the guide and counselor for our lives. So pray to God, asking Him for guidance, direction and discernment regarding what your financial priorities should be (beyond financing the Kingdom of God here on earth). Now God most likely won't spell out your financial priorities for you, but rather direct and guide you in what to do, who to seek counsel from, and what resources to avail yourself of.

Lastly, husbands and wives should seek God's guidance and direction on their financial priorities through prayer together, as one, the way God sees you. Because husbands and wives need to be in agreement in order to be prosperous in their marriage, financially and otherwise.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

#63 - Kingdom Prosperity #29

Financial priorities are important, because as with anything you want to achieve if you don't have a vision or picture of where you want to end up you will never get there.

In setting your financial priorities, you also have to look beyond your current financial situation, because as my Pastor, Bishop Williams, has taught us at The King's Cathedral, your past doesn't have to dictate your future (unless you let it).

Now your financial priorities do not spell out how you will achieve them, but rather the financial goals that are important to you and that you want reflected in your financial plan (your budget). Speaking of budgets, many people set out to develop a budget without first having established their financial priorities. As a result, they never fully realize the financial prosperity they could realize. So establish your financial priorities first.

But understand thst establishing your financial priorities will take time and effort, and cannot be done strictly on your own. It takes prayer and guidance from God, help from other people, and use of a variety of resources available to assist you. In addition, married couples should develop their financial priorities together, and not on his own or her own.

In the next Post we'll begin to cover the best ways to establish your financial priorities, starting with prayer.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

#62 - Kingdom Prosperity #27

What are your financial priorities?

You understand the foundational principles of Kingdom Prosperity, God's Financial Plan of Tithes & Offerings, and the principles of effective Stewardship, financial and otherwise. So what next?

The short answer is financial priorities. As God starts to prosper you financially, you need to have a plan for using that prosperity as God wants you to. And that plan starts with establishing your financial priorities, which the next several Posts will discuss how to do.

While everyone's financial priorities will differ, the number one financial priority for everyone is the same - advancing the work of the Kingdom here in the earth realm. If this sounds like Tithes & Offerings, love gifts, blessing others financially, etc. which we've already talked about, it is! But that doesn't happen by itself. It takes a plan which starts with making this your number one financial priority.

Go back and read Deuteronomy 8:18 and Matthew 6:33, and you'll see (be reminded) that God's number one priority in blessing you financially is to establish His covenent, His Kingdom in the earth realm. And if that's God's top priority it should ours as well in every area of our lives, including our finances, seeking His Kingdom and righteousness first!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

#61 - Kingdom Prosperity #27

There is one last parable in Luke 12:42-47 I want to look at that reinforces the insights on effective Stewardship we saw in the first two parables we looked at.

If you are submitted to the authorities you are under and are an effective Steward over what they entrust you with to take care of, you will be blessed with more. But if you are not submitted and not an effective Steward you will not be blessed, and you subject yourself to the wrath of God.

Finally, the kind of Steward you are over what God entrusts you with reveals your heart to God. Because it's your heart that God is really after and concerned about. Do you have a heart for God and truly trust Him as your source, or is your heart for the things of the world and your trust in yourself, other people and everything but God?


Thursday, July 30, 2015

#60 - Kingdom Prosperity #26

There's another parable in Luke 16 that also gives us some important insights into effective Stewardship.

We see in verses 1-2 that Stewards eventually have to give an account for what they have been entrusted with to the one who entrusted it to them. We see further that if you do not care for what you have been entrusted with as instructed (to grow what you have been entrusted with in value and worth) you may never be entrusted with anything again in the future.

The same holds true with what God entrusts you with, including financial blessings. If you are an effective Steward and responsible and accountable to care for what God has entrusted you with as He wants you to,( He will bless you with more. If you are not an effective Steward, not only will God not bless you with more but He will take what you already have and give it to someone else as we saw in the Matthew 25 parable.

Being an effective Steward is serious business, but demonstrates to God that you truly trust Him as your source so He can trust you and bless you with more.


Monday, July 27, 2015

#59 - Kingdom Prosperity #25

The parable in Matthew 25:14-30 gives us great insight into what being an effective Steward is all about, not only over the financial blessings God bestows upon us as in this parable but over all of the blessings God bestows upon us.

The first insight is that effective Stewards take action. They just don't baby sit what they are entrusted with, but make movement to grow it in value and worth.

The second insight is that effective Stewards learn how the one who entrusts them with something to watch over wants them to take care of and grow what they entrust them with, through knowledge of the one who entrusted it to them which takes time, study of and spending time with that person, asking questions, listening to and for instructions, etc.

The third insight is that effective Stewards know and make sure the one who entrusted them with something to watch over knows what they are capable of and are not capable of.

The fourth insight is that the one entrusting us with something won't give us something we can't handle, if they know what we are capable (see insight three above). In the case of God, He already knows what we are capable of and not capable of, and will not entrust us with something we can't handle, nor until we have demonstrated we can handle it even if we are capable.

The fifth insight which is an offshoot of the fourth insight,  is that an effective Steward needs to walk in faith that he can do what God wants him to do to care for and grow what He has been entrusted with.

We'll look at some more insights into effective Stewardship from another parable in the next Post.



Thursday, July 23, 2015

#58 - Kingdom Prosperity #24

With the understanding of what Stewardship is and how it works covered in the last several Posts, let's talk about how you learn or find out what you need to do to increase or grow the worth or value of what you've been entrusted with to be a Steward over.

In short, you learn from the one who entrusted you with something to be a Steward over, as being an effective Steward is taking care of other people's stuff the way they want you to.

In the example of the bank, the bank learns your expectations by your depositing money with them, the expectation being that the bank will grow your money at a minimum by the rates they advertise, or even more depending on the type of investment instrument you select.

In the example of the aparment rental you learn from the Landlord what he or she expects of you while living in and maintaining their (not your) apartment unit.

In the example of your children as it is with anything God entrusts you with to be a Steward over including the financial blessings He bestows upon you, you learn how to grow in worth or value what God has entrusted you with from His Word - through study of the Bible, through the Holy Spirit and through the men and women of God the Lord sends into your life. This requires an investment of time studying the Word, being alone in communion with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and commiting to coming under the authority of men or woman of God the Lord sends into your life.
This takes work, effort and sacrifice on your part, but the results are worth it.

In the next Post we will begin looking at some of the things we learn from God's Word about being an effective Steward over the financial blessings God gives us.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

#57 - Kingdom Prosperity #23

Let's take a closer look at what Stewardship is, and how it works.

Being an effective Steward is more than just "baby sitting" or watching over God's and other people's stuff. It requires work on your part to nuture and increase the value of what you have been entrusted with to watch over.

Example 1 - When you deposit money in a bank or other type of financial institution, you expect the that institution to be an effective Steward and invest your money wisely so it increases over what you originally deposited. When they do, you reward the bank by leaving your money in the bank and depositing more. If they don't, you withdraw your money and invest it elsewhere.

Example 2 - If you rent an apartment the Landlord expects you to be an effective Steward, keeping it clean and not damaging anything. If you do, you get to renew your lease when it's up or get your deposit back should you decide to move. If you don't keep your apartment up you may not be able to renew your lease or get some/all of your deposit back.

Example 3 - God entrusts us with children and expects us to nuture and raise them into young men and women of God, so when they are of age and we in a sense return them to God, they are more then when they were born, ready to do the work of the Kingdom.

So being an effective Steward requires work on your part, knowing what you need to do to increase the value or worth of what you have been entrusted with, and then doing it. And it's the same with the financial blessings God entrusts you with, including how you manage it, spend it and invest it.

We'll take a look at how you learn what you need to do to grow the blessings God bestows upon you in the next Post.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

#56 - Kingdom Prosperity #22

So when you start to follow God's financial plan, tithes & offerings, and begin to be blessed financially and otherwise, what should you do? How should you manage or take of what God blesses you with?

We are going to deal with that in the next several Posts covering the topic of Stewardship, and more specifically financial stewardship. But the principles we will look at can be applied to effective stewardship in every area of your life.

In short, Stewardship is taking care of or watching over what others have entrusted to your care in such a way so that when you return what was entrusted to you to who entrusted you with it, it is worth more or more valuable that when it was entrusted to you. As it relates to the what God blesses you with, I like to think of Stewardship as taking care of God's stuff God's way.

We'll get into this definition a little deeper as well as other principles of effective stewardship beginning with the next Post.

Monday, July 13, 2015

#55 - Kingdom Prosperity #21

I covered quite a bit about tithes & offerings in the last several Posts past two weeks, so I offer the following summary including some things I didn't touch upon which I pray will be helpfull:
1. Ask God for seed so you can           tithe and give an offering.
2. The tithe is the first and best           10% of your increase
    (Deuteronomy 26:1-3) that
    opens the windows of heaven
    for God to bless you.
3. The offering is a free will
    choice above & beyond the
    tithe that is a form of worship
    and which increases the
    abundance of your blessings.
4. Write the tithe & offering
     checks first.
5. Give an offering out of your
    own free will from the
    remaining 90% after you tithe.
6. Place your tithes & offerings in
    the envelopes provided by your
    home church.
7. Pray over your tithes &
    offerings at home before going
    into the house of God,
    personalizing your prayer
    according to
    Deuteronomy 26:4-15.
8. Bring your tithes & offerings
    into the house of the Lord
    where God has placed His
    name, presenting them to the
    Sheppard God has placed over
    that House.
9. Remember, bringing the tithe
    and giving the offering is more
    about the condition of your
    heart, rather than how much
    you give (Matthew 26:19-21).

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

#54 - Kingdom Prosperity #20

A good habit to get into when preparing your tithes and offerings is to name your seed. In other words, let God know what you are believing Him for as you sow into His Kingdom.

Many times we don't receive the promises God makes to us in His Word because we don't ask, as the last part of James 4:2 tells us. And even when we do ask we sometimes don't continue to exercise our faith after we ask with our continued confessions and actions, including calling that thing out we are believing God for when we give, thanking God for already blessing us with it, writing it on the tithe & offering check or on the giving envelope. In other words, naming our seed!

So I encourage you to get in the habit of naming your seed when you give as an expression of your faith that God has already met your needs.  God will honor that, and the manifestation of your answer will come sooner rather later.

Monday, July 6, 2015

#53 - Kingdom Prosperity #19

Deuteronomy 26:4-15 gives us a model for praying over our tithes and offerings, something we should do at home as we prepare our tithes and offerings before bringing them into the House of the Lord.

Is it wrong to wait until you get to church and pray corporately when the tithes and offerings are given? No, it isn't, no more so than it's not wrong to wait until you get to church to write your tithe and offering check. But it does say something about the condition of your heart, which is what God is really interested in.

Taking the time to write your tithe and offering check at home, first, before any other check; and then dedicating your tithes and offerings through prayer, personalized to fit your situation and to tell God how thankful you are for the seed He's given you to sow and for all He's done in your life, shows God He truly has your heart and that you really trust Him as your source rather than waiting until you get to church to write your check and praying corporately with your brothers and sisters in Christ (which should also do).

God will honor the sacrifice of your time, your tithes & offerings and your prayers, if you choose to put Him first instead of your convenience.


Saturday, July 4, 2015

#52 - Kingdom Prosperity #18

Do you write your tithe & offering checks at home before you come to church, or in church when it's time to give? The answer reveals a lot about where your heart is.

Deuteronomy 26:1-3 tells us we should bring our first produce to the Lord. That means we should write our tithe and offering checks first before all other checks. Many people do not though because even though they may love the Lord, they don't really put Him first in their lives. Instead of making Him their life they try to squeeze God in their life around their schedule. God doesn't want our leftovers or takes second place to anyone or anything.

But putting God first in your life and truly giving your heart to God is a choice, a decision you have to make out of your own free will. While making the tithe and offering check the first check you write isn't the only way you show God He has your heart, it is one way and requires both you choosing to do so and then disciplining yourself to do so (like making it the first line item in your budget).

We'll talk about when and how to pray over your tithes and offerings in the next Post.

Friday, July 3, 2015

#51 - Kingdom Prosperity #18

How you prepare your tithes and offerings to bring before the Lord is important, as it is a further demonstration to Him of the condition of your heart.

Do you wait until the Pastor calls for tithes & offerings to write your check? Do you pray over your tithes & offerings at home before coming into the house of God? Do you name your seed when you prepare your tithes & offerings?

The answers to these and other questions reveal the condition of your heart to God and demonstrate to Him whether or not you truly trust Him as your source. Because God's not concerned about how much your tithe is or the size of your offering, but whether or not you have a heart for Him and really see Him as Lord (ruler and master) of every area of your life.

So starting with the next Post we will take a closer look at each of these questions.


Monday, June 29, 2015

#50 - Kingdom Prosperity #17

Now that we've covered God's Financial Plan, Tithes & Offerings, let's talk about how you give, because how you give matters!

God is not concerned about how much your tithe and offering are, but about the condition of your heart. Do you have a heart for God? Do you truly trust God as your source? Since money is the one thing man has the most difficulty letting go of, what you do with your money reveals the condition of your heart to God. As we learn from Matthew 6:19-21 -do you lay up everlasting treasure in heaven in your heavenly bank account, or on earth in the fleeting temporary pleasures of the world?

So when you give, you need to have a heart for God, with an attitude of it being an honor to be able to sow into the work of the Kingdom, and not a motivation of giving just to get.

In the next Post we'll talk about the importance of how you prepare to bring the tithe and give an offering, also a reflection of the condition of your heart.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

#49 - Kingdom Prosperity #16

Busy week, but now time to get caught up.

As I mentioned in my last Post, there are different types of Offerings one can make. Let's take a look at what some of these are.

You can give an offering to your home church where you get most of your spiritual nourishment from. You can also give offerings to other churches and ministries that speak into your life. Then there are offerings you can give to individuals in recognition of the Kingdom work they do, or to honor them for how they have spoken into your life such as a love offering for your Pastor.

There is also the offering of Alms given to help and relieve the needy, and which act as a memorial with our prayers before God.

No matter what type of offering you may give, remember, God expects us to give Offerings, they are over and above the tithe, and are given from the heart considering it an honor to be able to sow into the work of the Kingdom.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

New Website

I want to invite you to visit my new website at www.faithprinciples.net, home of Faith Principles Ministries where life changing biblical truths for daily living are shared.

There are links to this Blog, information on seminars and workshops, a Product Store where you learn more about my new book - "Kingdom Prosperity - God's Plan for Successful Financial Stewardship", and much more.

So please check it out and let me know what you think.

Friday, June 19, 2015

#48 - Kingdom Prosperity #15

Let's talk about what offerings really are. In short, an offering is an act of worship and devotion given out of your own free will (Exodus 36:3). And since an offering is given out of your own free will, it is above and beyond the tithe, which belongs to God.

Now there are different types of offerngs that can be given for different reasons to different people and places, which I'll cover in the next Post. But I want to close this Post with a quote from C. Peter Wagners book Discover Your Spiritual Gifts - "True giving only starts with our offerings from the 90% God has given to us." This is when we really start to get blessed, when out of a heart for God we sow into the Kingdom over and above what is God's (the tithe). As it says in Malachi 3, we have robbed God not only of the tithe, but of offerings as well. The tithe opens the windows of heaven for God to bless us, but it's the offering that multiplies those blessings.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

#47 - Kingdom Prosperity #14

Okay, let's talk about tithing off of your gross or net income.

Many people say that their net income is all that actually comes into their possession, and choose to tithe off of that. I would say that when we accept employment we agree to an annual salary or wage without any discussion about the gross and the net, so it would seem tithing off of the gross would be more appropriate. In addition, the net reflects decisions we have made on deductions beyond taxes (which we don't have control over) which we do have control over and could have increased our net pay. Most people also get some or all of their tax money back in their hand in the form of a tax return which they could have tithed on up front if they tithed off their gross pay.

Now while there is no scripture that talks about tithing off the gross or net, some scriptures like Malachi 3:10 and Hebrews 7:2 say we are to bring all of the tithe to God. All would imply all, and not net instead of gross.

Finally, as we learn in Matthew 6:19-21 God is more concerned about your heart than the amount of what you give to Him, so what does it say to God about the condition of our hearts if we quibble over tithing off the gross or net?

So should we tithe off of the gross or the net? That's between you and God, but I think from what we've seen in this short Post, tithing off of the gross would be more in line with the "spirit" of the principle of tithing than the "letter" of it?

In the next Post we'll start to examine what an Offering really is.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

#46 - Kingdom Prosperity #13

In the last Post we learned that the tithe is the first and best 10% of all of our increase. So in this Post let's destroy the myth that tithing was just under the Old Testament and not for us today.

In Hebrews 7:1-4 we see a reference to Abraham paying a tithe to Melchizedek the King of Salem. The reference is to the Old Testament, but why would God put it in the New Testament if tithing is not for us today.

Continuing further in Hebrews 7 it speaks of the levitical priesthood commanded to receive the tithes from the people. Another Old Testament reference in the New Testament to stress that tithing is for the Believer today.

So while the principle of tithing may have originated in the Old Testament, these two and other New Testament references make it clear that tithing is for the Church today. Further, like a number of other principles God introduced in the Old Testament, such as forgiveness, tithing is a biblical principle that transcends the Old and New Testaments.

In the next Post we will look at the age old issue or whether we should tithe off of the gross or the net.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

#45 - Kingdom Prosperity #12

So what really are the tithe and the offering? I will try to give a brief overview of what they are in this and the next several Posts, beginning with the tithe.

The tithe is the first and best 10% of your increase, which today is primarily your income, Leviticus 27:26-32 speaks about "all of the tithe of the land", and "one-tenth shall be holy to the Lord". It doesn't say anything about after taxes or net, or after deductions. The tithe is 10% of all of your income, the gross and not the net.

Further, the tithe is not limited to just 10% of your income as the verses in Leviticus speak of "all the tithe of the land". This includes tithing on gifts you receive (monetary and otherwise), interest from bank accounts and other interest bearing accounts you may have, etc.

The tithe should also be the first and best 10% of your increase as verse 26 in Leviticus 27 speaks of the "first born". In other words, God doesn't want your leftovers. He wants your first and best 10%. Not because He needs it, but because it demonstrates you truly trust God as your source.

So the tithe is the first and best 10% of your increase. We'll look at more about what the tithe is in the next Post, including evidence that tithing is for us today and wasn't just under the Old Testament.


Monday, June 1, 2015

#44 - Kingdom Prosperity #11

Well, I'm back from a much needed week's vacation, and in the next Post will get back to sharing from my new/first book on "Kingdom Prosperity - God's Plan for Successful Financial Stewardship", talking about what the tithe and offering really are.

But in this Post I want to thank everyone who made yesterdays official release and book signing for my new/first book such a success, starting with my Pastor, Overseer (soon to be Bishop Desinate) Rev Dr Jeffrey Allen Williams for the opportunity to release the book and have my first book signing at my home church, The King's Cathedral.

Including sales, give aways and copies given to the Church Bookstore for future sale, over 90 copies of the book were distributed. Thanks to all who bought the book yesterday, Sister Gertrude Jones for allowing the book to be available for purchase going forward through the Church Bookstore, and Sister Simone Torres for helping me with sales while I was busy signing books.

To God be the Glory!

Monday, May 25, 2015

#43 - Kingdom Prosperity #10

Special Announcement!

I've been sharing little snippets in the last 9 Posts from what I said was my soon to be published first book, "Kingdom Prosperity - God's Plan for successful Financial Stewardship".

However, I failed to mention here on my Blog as I have on other social media that the book has now been published, and is available on Amazon.com in both paperback and kindle format. So if you have been blessed in any way by these blog posts about what's covered in the book, I invite you to get the complete book so you have all God wants to share with you through this publication.

Also, if you are in the area next Sunday, May 31, stop by The King's Cathedral located at 1860 Westminster St. in the Olneyville Square section of Providence RI, where the official Book Release & Signing will take right after the 1st (8:30am) & 2nd (10:30am) worship services. I hope to see you there.

Now back to what the tithe & offering really are in the next Post.

#42 - Kingdom Prosperity #9

Before getting into what the tithe and offering really are, there is one more aspect about why God puts the qualifications in Deuteronomy 8:18 & Malachi 3:8-10 around the blessings He promises to give us in Malachi 3:10-12 that I need to cover. And that is, it's because He wants us to trust Him in our heart as our source.

You see, God is more concerned about the condition of our heart, not how much our tithe and offering are. But since money is the most difficult thing for man to let go of, God determines where our heart is by what we do with our money. Do we invest in the Kingdom first, trusting God to meet our needs & be our Provider as He promises in His Word? Or do we trust and invest in ourselves, our jobs, other people and everything but God to provide for our needs?

Matthew 6:19-21 tells us that where our treasure (money) is, is where our heart is, and that we should therefore lay or store up treasure in heaven which is everlasting rather than treasure on earth which is temporary and does not last.

So do you want Kingdom Prosperity from a financial perspective in your life? Then bring God the tithe and give God the offering with a right heart considering it an honor to be able to sow into His Kingdom. Bless others out of love as you want God to bless you. Show God by your actions that you truly trust Him as your source and Provider, letting Him know He has your heart.

Then, you will experience Kingdom Prosperity in your life, financially and in every other other area of your life, "letting it be even as it was spoken to you by the Lord", as my Pastor recently shared is one of the meanings of "Amen".


Thursday, May 21, 2015

#41 - Kingdom Prosperity #8

So what is the power that God gives us to get wealth as Deuteronmy 8:18 says? The short answer is tithes & offerings. But it goes much deeper than that, which we will explore in this and the next several Posts.

We learn from Malachi 3:8-12 that God expects us to bring the tithe which is His, and to give offerings. Tithing and offering then are not really optional. And when we are faithful in tithing and offering, God promises to open up the the windows of Heaven and bless us abundantly.

But the promise of abundant blessing in Malichi continuing as we continue to bring the the tithe and give the offering is tied to our continued faithfulness in putting God first in our life and using the blessing God gives us to establish His Kingdom in the earth rather than using that blessing all for ourselves, as we saw in Deuteronomy 8:18 in the previous three Posts.

Understanding what the tithe and offering really are, and that how we bring the tithe and give the offering really matters are both critical to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in our lives, and where we will pick things up in the next Post.


Sunday, May 17, 2015

#40 - Kingdom Prosperity - Wealth Power

The second part of Deuteronomy 8:18 says "for it is He who gives you power to get wealth". So after you make God first in your life, the second key to achieving Kingdom Prosperity is to realize and understand that all wealth comes from God and that He has made the power to obtain that wealth available to you.

From Romans 13:1 and Psalms 24:1 you will see that all authority (power) comes from God, and that everything in the Earth and the Earth itself are God's (ncluding all wealth). So if all the wealth belongs to and comes from God, why doesn't He just give the wealth to you instead of giving you the power to get wealth?

Because God has established conditions for us to get wealth, based on our submission to God's Will as His children (sons and daughters through Christ). The first of those conditions is that we should put God first in our lives which we covered in the last Post.

The second of these conditions is found in the last part of Deuteronomy 8:18 - "that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day". In other words, God wants us to use the wealth He gives us the power to get to establish His covenant or will, not ours.  The problem is that most people want to get wealth to use for themselves first, and give the leftovers to God. But God doesn't take second place behind anybody or anything. If we learn to put God first and use the wealth He gives us the power to get to do God's will first, He will not only get more wealth to us but we will be blessed in the process and have all of our needs met as well!

So in the next Post we'll begin to look at what this power is that God gives us to get wealth.


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

#39 - Kingdom Prosperity #7

"Remembering God" - the first key to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life.

The first part of Deuteronomy 8:18 says that "you shall remember the Lord your God". So if you want to be blessed by God and achieve the kind of prosperity God wants you to have in every area of your life, God needs to be first in your life, above all else.

Stop chasing after "stuff" like the world says we should, and look to God and God alone as your source. Worship Him, Praise Him and live according to His Word. Develop a daily devotional life of time with God, preferably before you start your day, with prayer, reading the Word, praising and worshipping God, just spending time with Him, and seeking and yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit of God.

Don't just try and squeeze God into your schedule each day, but rather, make Him your priority and schedule everything else around your time with God. Remember He is the creator of all things, and without Him you can do nothing, but with Him all things are possible.

I pray this gives you a small sense of what it means to remember the Lord your God, the first key to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life!


Saturday, May 9, 2015

#38 - Kingdom Prosperity #6

Now that I've shared the highlights about the foundation for Kingdom Prosperity (Understanding what prosperity is and what it's for; that God wants us to prosper; and what God says about money and debt), I want to share some highlights on how to actually have Kingdom Prosperity manifest in your life.

The first three keys to Kingdom Prosperity are found in Deuteronomy 8:18 (which I encourage to look at in your own Bible before reading further):
1. Remembering God
2. The Power to get wealth
3. What wealth is for

Once you get these principles settled in your heart, you are well on your way to achieving Kingdom Prosperity in your life.

So starting with the next Post and continuing with several more after that, we'll cover each of these principles one by one, beginning with "Remembering God".

Friday, May 8, 2015

#37 - Kingdom Prosperity #5

The way of the world is to buy things on time, with the accumulation of debt considered the norm. In fact, without any debt you have no credit history, and often you are considered a bad risk.

But how does God look at debt? He'd prefer you have none, but some may be neccessary.

A debt is a legal and moral obligation that must be repaid. It's actually a covenant, a binding agreement, which cannot be broken without some penalty being incurred. It's a vow we are obligated to keep.

Numbers 30:2 tells us if we make a vow we are to honor it, and Romans 13:7 tells us we should owe no one anything except love. Proverbs 22:7 tells us the borrower is servant to the lender, and we know God does not want us to be a servant to any man. So from these and other scritures it is clear that God's will is for us to not have any debt.

But some debt may be neccessary such as for a mortgage on your home, a car loan, etc. However, that some debt may be neccessary is not a license to go out and run up as much debt as you can. If you must incur debt, be sure you can handle the payments, and work to pay the debt off as soon as you can like Numbers 30:2 tells us to do. If the service on a debt you are considering is beyond your means, you may have to downsize what you are planning to purchase to get the monthly payments down to a managable level.

Bottom line, while some debt may be neccessary, if you can avoid it you should, as God's will is that you have no debt and not be in the bondage that comes with debt. And if must incur debt, be sure it's managable and that you are a good steward over the resources you do have to be pay the debt off according to the terms of the debt or sooner.

Friday, May 1, 2015

#36 Kingdom Prosperity #4

What does God have to say about money?

Bottom line, God looks at money as a means to an end (furthering His Kingdom on the earth), not the end. The world on the other hand has perpetuated the lie that it's all about the money, that how much money you have determines how successful you are.

Now God does want us to have money, to both establish His Kingdom and enjoy for ourselves in that order. The problem is when we let money have us and dictate what we do to get it and hold on to it.

1 Timothy 6:10 is usually misquoted as "money is the root of all evil", when in fact this verse reads "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil".

Further, in Matthew 6:19-21 we learn that where you put your money says a lot about where your heart is and what and who you trust and put your faith in, man and world or God and his Kingdom.

So how do you look at money? Is it your primary goal to make as much as you can, invest some in yourself and the world and hold to the rest; or do you have a heart for God, do you trust Him as your source, do you put your money as a means to an end into the Kingdom of God and trust God by faith to meet all of your needs as He has promised in His Word?

Lastly, ponder this until the next Post - how do you think God looks at debt?

Sunday, April 26, 2015

#35 - Kingdom Prosperity #3

So why does God want us to prosper financially? So we (those in Christ) can continue the work of His Kingdom that Jesus started here on earth.

Deuteronomy 8:18 tells us that God gives us power to get wealth to establish His covenant. If that's the case, why doesn't God just give us the wealth so as many of us do we don't have to struggle? Because most of us would use that wealth for our own selfish purposes.

Yes, God wants us to have an abundant life as John 10:10 tells us, but we first have to develop a heart for God, and follow His plan to establish His covenant - Use the wealth He blesses us with to further His Kingdom on the earth, and then He will bless us with more. This shows that we truly trust God as our source, and in the process we prosper financially as well and can have the abundant life God wants us to have.

So get it settled in your heart/spirit once and for all that God wants you to prosper (see Post #34). Then, understand and demonstrate that you trust Him as your source by using the wealth He blesses you with to further His Kingdom on earth, and you can be blessed as well (financially and otherwise).

We'll examine how God looks at money in the next Post.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

#34 - Kingdom Prosperity #2

So does God really want us to prosper financially? Absolutely!

In Genesis 12, 13, 17 and 24 we learn that God blessed Abraham abundantly with material blessings; and in Galatians 3 we learn that if we are in Christ we are heirs to all of the promises and blessings God gave to Abraham. Further, in 3 John 2 we learn that God wants us to prosper in all things.

Now there are many more, but I think the biblical references above clearly demonstrate that God wants us to prosper in every area of our lives, including materially which encompasses money.

In the next Post we'll look at why God wants us to prosper financially and what He expects us to do with that blessing.


Wednesday, April 22, 2015

#33 - Kingdom Prosperity #1

This week I start a new series in advance of the publication of my first book on Kingdom Prosperity, and pray that this series of Posts will be a blessing and of help to you.

The best place to start is to define what prosperity is, for which there are a number of definitions - 1) succeeding in enterprise or activity, 2) achieving economic success, 3) becoming strong and flourishing, 4) succeeding and 5) thriving, just to name a few.

You can use any of these or other definitions, but what's important as we look at Kingdom Prosperity is to understand that we're talking about God's best for you in every area of your life. And while this goes beyond just financial prosperity, that is the focus of my Book and these series of Posts. Why? Because while faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God, money is the currency of the world. And in order to do Kingdom work in the earth realm in addition to faith it takes money, which God wants to get into the hands of His children but only when we have a right heart and attitude to use it as God intends. And when we do, we prosper as well!

So does God really want us to be prosperous? We'll start to examine this and what God actually says about our being prosperous more closely in the next Post.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

#32 - Kingdom Prosperity

I signed the contract today for the publishing of my first book, "Kingdom Prosperity - God's Plan for Successfull Financial Stewardship", which should be available within the next couple of months. So I am going to be sharing some excerpts from the Book here on my Blog in advance of publication to wet your appetite for the complete Book when it comes out.

This Book and the Blog Posts will explore both biblical and practical aspects of financial prosperity, such as, does God want us to be prosperous?, how God looks at Money and Debt, God's Financial Plan, what financial stewardship really is, the role of faith in Kingdom Prosperity, setting financial priorities, how to develop and stick to a budget, and more.

So stay tuned for my Kingdom Prosperity Posts starting next week, and feel free to let me know what you think.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

#31 - Faith's Greatest Enemies Series

Faiths' Greatest Enemies - Introduction

Faith's Greatest Enemies addresses those deceptions and lies the enemy attacks us with in our minds to try and discourage, frustrate and ultimately separate us from our faith. While there are many enemies of faith, there are eight that most everyone will encounter in their walk with the Lord which are what are often referred to as Faith's Greatest Enemies. What are they, and how do we overcome them?

 
Faith's' Greatest Enemy #1

 Unrighteous or Unholy Living! This enemy will block and hinder your faith every time. This enemy isn't about the righteousness of Christ which we receive through salvation, but rather the righteousness of striving to live a lifestyle of obedience to God's Word.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 tells us that if we obey God's commandments His blessings will overtake us, while Deuteronomy 28:15 tells if we do not obey God's commandments curses will overtake us. Now this doesn't mean that God curses us, but our disobedience takes us out from under God's covering. It also doesn't mean we have to be perfect to be blessed, because we can't be as long as we live in sinful flesh. What it does mean is that we should strive to live a holy life, a lifestyle of obedience to God's commandments, and when we do stumble and fall, we should confess our sin to God and receive His forgiveness and cleansing available to us through Christ Jesus.

But when we are living in disobedience to God's Word or intentionally living an unrighteous or unholy lifestyle, our faith is hindered and rendered ineffective as no sin can exist in God's presence and He will not respond to our faith.

Therefore live a righteous and holy lifestyle so your faith is strong, and lay claim to all of the blessings God wants you to have.
 
Faith's Greatest Enemy #2
Doubt or Unbelief!

We learn in Mark 11:23-24 & Hebrews 11:6 that the first thing we have to do to effectively exercise our faith is to believe the Word of God in our heart without any doubt, believe that God exists and believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. You may have some doubt in your mind, because that's where the enemy can and does attack us with deceptions, lies and false doctrine. But for your faith to be effective you have to have the Word of God settled in your heart as the truth, the final authority and absolute rule of conduct for your life as my Pastor likes to say.

Now getting the Word of God settled in your heart requires spending time in the Word, meditating on it, studying it with the help of other resources such as a concordance, dictionary, different versions of the Bible, other people who may have already caught the revelation you are seeking, and of course God, asking Him to open up the scriptures and guide your understanding as to what they mean and how to apply them in your life. But when you do these things, the sureness in your heart about the Word will override the doubt and unbelief that may be in your mind. Then, your faith will be strong, effective and work for you as God intended.
 
Faith's Greatest Enemy #3 
 
Unforgiveness!

This is an enemy of faith that most everyone has encountered, sometimes without even realizing it. And there are actually four forms of unforgiveness that can hinder our faith from being effective.

Mark 11:25-26 tells us that if we do not forgive those who sin against us, God will not forgive our sins. So if we don't forgive those who sin against us, we are in sin and our faith is rendered ineffective as no sin can exist in God's presence and He therefore cannot respond to our faith. This is a two-way street though, because if we have sinned against someone, we need to be open to receive their forgiveness. If we don't, we are in unforgiveness.

There is also the forgiveness of all of our sins God makes available to all mankind through Christ Jesus. If we don't receive it, we are in unforgiveness. Finally, if God has forgiven us, who are we not to forgive ourselves. If we don't, we are in unforgiveness, sin, and our faith won't work.

In fact, if any one of these four types of unforgiveness is in operation in our lives, we hinder God's ability to respond to our faith, just what the enemy wants as he comes to steal, kill and destroy. So be alert, on guard and don't let unforgiveness creep into your life, so your faith remains strong, and you claim all God has promised you in His Word.
 
Faith's Greatest Enemy #4 
Pride!

This is probably the greatest enemy of faith of them all, and can manifest in one’s life in any number of ways; thinking you're better than others, looking down on others, blaming everybody but yourself including God for your shortcomings and failures, being braggadocios, thinking you don't need anyone’s help including God's, and believing any success you've achieved in life is all your own doing just to name a few.

When we are prideful our faith is nipped in the bud, won't get God's attention and He will not respond to our faith. In fact, if we are prideful we're probably not operating by faith at all! James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 tell us that God resists the proud. But even more than that, Proverbs 6:16 tells us there are 7 things God hates and are an abomination to Him, with pride being right at the top of the list in verses 17-19. Now one definition of abomination is extreme disgust and hatred. So if God resists and has extreme disgust and hatred toward pride, do you think your faith will be effective when you are being prideful? Absolutely not!

Therefore humble yourself and submit to God in order to rise about the enemy's deception of pride. Then your faith will be strong and effective, and the future good you are expecting from God will manifest in your life.
 
Faith's Greatest Enemy #5
Lying!

Have you ever told an untruth, thinking you were justified in doing so? Maybe to spare someone's feelings, or to protect yourself (aka CYA), or to uphold someone’s (or your own) honor or reputation. Perhaps it was (as the world likes to call it) just a little white lie. Or, you may have lied to boast, make yourself look good, which is double the trouble as you've now mixed lying with being prideful. Then there may have been those times when you just out and out lied about something and knew you were lying when you did it.

It really doesn't matter, because a lie is a lie is a lie, and lies feed upon lies! I can't find scripture in the Bible that justifies lying. In fact, lying is right after pride in the list of 7 things God hates and are an abomination to Him (cause Him extreme disgust and hatred) in Proverbs 6:16-19. So if we lie for any reason, our faith is rendered ineffective as God is not going to respond to our faith when we are doing something He hates and that causes Him extreme disgust.

Therefore stop letting the enemy of lying be a part of your lifestyle! Repent, and change your thinking so your thinking lines up with the Word of God, and speak the truth or say nothing at all. And if you do stumble and lie, which you might as we still live in this sinful flesh, confess that lie as sin before God, receive His forgiveness and cleansing. Then, your faith will continue to be effective!
Faith's Greatest Enemy #6

Gossip!
Verses 18-19 in Proverbs 6 talk about feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who spreads lies, and one who causes discord among the brethren, all of which are on the list of the 7 things God hates and are an abomination to Him as verse 16 tells us. Among other things, these 3 things are talking about Gossip, which in its simplest form means talking about the personal lives of other people.

Gossiping is of the devil and a form of evil, usually involves spreading rumors of untruth about the subject of the gossip, and is done behind the back of the one being gossiped about eventually causing a rift between that person and those involved in the gossip. In any event, if God hates it and it causes Him extreme disgust, you can rest assured our faith is going to be hindered and ineffective if we are involved in gossiping and are trying to exercise our faith to lay hold of one of God's promises in His Word.

So stop gossiping! Confess the sin of gossip before God and receive His forgiveness and cleansing. Repent, and change your thinking about gossiping to line up with Proverbs 6:16-19. And if you can't say something good or edifying about a person to others as well as the person themselves, don't say anything. That way you won't disgust God and what you are exercising your faith on will come to manifest in your life.
 
Faith's Greatest Enemy - #7
Fear!
2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has given us a spirit of power and love, not a spirit of fear. Because when we are operating in fear we are not operating in faith, as fear is the opposite of faith.

Fear is being apprehensive or leery about or not wanting to experience or be exposed to someone, something or some situation out of concern over possible physical, emotional, social, financial or economic harm. Faith on the other hand is the reality, proof of and confidence for the future good you are expecting from God based on His Word. So if you are in fear, apprehensive and leery about God being able to do what He said in His Word and what that means for your life, you can't possibly be in faith, and you cannot expect to effectively be able to exercise your faith.

Why do we fear? It's another deception of the enemy to separate us from our faith and keep us in bondage. Therefore, as James 4:7 tell us to do, submit to God! Then you can resist the devil and he will flee from you. That way you can walk in the spirit of power and love God has given you, rise above the fear the enemy tries to deceive you with, and move with strong faith operating in your life.
 
Faith's Greatest Enemy #8
Our Circumstances!
This is everything going on around us that we are exposed to each day, our current state or condition, the current state or condition of others, and the current state or condition of the environment around us. Whether good, bad or indifferent, our circumstances can distract and get us away from God's Word, and cause us to do or not do something based on how we feel instead of based on what the Word says. And when we do, the enemy has us right where he wants us, trying to move by what we think or feel and not by faith in God's Word,

One of my favorites passages of scripture, 2 Corinthians 4:18, tells us not to live our lives based on our circumstances, which are real and should not be denied, but because they are temporary we should instead live our life based on the Word of God, which is everlasting, the truth, and can change our circumstances.

So as another of my favorite passages of scripture, 2 Corinthians 5:7, tells us, you should live your life by faith in God's Word, and not by sight of the circumstances around you. Then your faith will be strong, effective and bring you the results you are expecting.
 
Overcoming Faith's Greatest Enemies (and any other Enemy of Faith)
 So how do we rise above or overcome these enemies of faith? By getting the Word of God rooted in our heart and developing a lifestyle of faith.
Joshua 1:8 tells us we should meditate on the Word of God day and night and not let it depart from us, then, we will prosper and have good success. I Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. In other words, we need to get the Word of God settled in our hearts without any doubt through study & prayer, have a devotional life and exercise our faith, all on a daily basis. This way when the enemies of faith come, we will be able to rise above them and stay strong in our faith. And when we do stumble and fall and are taken in by the deception of any of faith's enemies, confess to God we have fallen and sinned and receive His forgiveness and cleansing as promised in 1 John 1:9. Then, get back up and continue walking by faith.

But the choice is yours. You can live like the world and get swallowed up when faith's greatest enemies come and have your faith rendered useless and never have what God promises in His Word, or you can choose to develop the measure of faith God gives to each of us by exercising it daily, reading and studying the Word daily, and walking in relationship with God each day.

Then, as Joshua 1:8 tells us, you can be prosperous and have good success, rise above faith's greatest enemies and have, be and do all God wants you to have be and do!