How To Escape Financial Bondage Series

(Prov. 22:7) "The borrower is servant to the lender..."

I preached on last Wednesday on "The love of money is the root of all evil".

I showed from the Bible...

I. Our responsibility toward our employer.

II. If you co-sign for a friend, he will become a stranger.

III. If you co-sign for a stranger you will smart for it.

IV. You put yourself in bondage to the person who you borrow from.

If you borrow money, you are responsible to pay it back. It is wicked to borrow & not pay back.

V. Business comes before luxeries, even before home necessities [Pr. 24:27].

I want to go a step further tonight. I want to preach on some practical ways of becoming financially free.

How To Escape Financial Bondage

But, let me first say, that everything we have, and the power to get it was given to us by God. James tells us that "Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, niether shadow of turning..."

In other words, if you have anything that is good, you got it from God. You should praise God for your good wife, and your good family, and your good church, and so on...

The tendency, when it comes to money, however is to beleive that it came fromhard work, and it was certainly not a gift. "Hey man, nobody gives me a free lunch, I work for a living, what I have is mine..."

This is exactly what God said Israel would say (Duet 8:10-17 "mine hand hath gotten me this wealth...").

But, God says, It is He that gives us power to get wealth (v. 18-20). What if God were to take your health from you? Or worse, take your mind from you, as He did king Nebuchadnezzer?

God warns us that everything we have comes from Him, and therefore, we should praise Him, and realize that everything we have is His.

But, there is another danger, we talked somewhat about it last Wednesday, and that is the danger of getting into financial bondage.

If we are in financial bondage to man, it means that some of our alligience is taken away from God. It means that we are limited in what we can do to be a blessing to others. It is not God’s will that we be in bondage.

If God has given us the power to get wealth, then why should we remain in bondage? If God has given us power, it is power to be free, not in bandage. Therefore....

How To Escape Financial Bondage

I. How to tell if you are in financial bondage.

A. Idebtedness - [Pro. 22:7] "The borrower is servant to the lender..."

1. You cannot just up and move without telling anyone.

- You have to write each of your creditors, and give them your new address.

- Some creditors may even request information concerning your new source of income.

- You have a responsibility to your creditors.

2. If you are in debt to someone, they have a claim to your income.

- If you file for bankrupcy, they have a right to make a claim against your estate.

- Some have file a claim against an individuals income tax return.

3. Like it or not, admit it or not, there is a certain amount of bondage we have to our creditors.

- On a regular basis (monthly, etc.) we feel the bondage of our lenders.

B. Preasure of bills.

1. If you are heavily in debt, the bill time becomes a juggling act.

- You sit at your desk and say, "If I put this off until this week, and pay this one, but put this one off until the following week..."

- You are juggling your money. And, like any juggler you run the risk of dropping the ball.

2. Some are so heavily in debt that bill time becomes a nightmare.

- Everybody in the house hates when you sit down to pay bills. You become a bear.

- The kids steer clear, the wife tries to avoid you, the dog even stays away.

3. If bill time brings on agonizing preasure, you are in financial bondage.

- If your afraid to go to the mailbox, afraid to answer the phone, you are in financial bondage.

C. Your life revolves around making money.

1. You make descisions based on how it will effect you financially.

- If I give to God’s work I will not be able to pay this bill...

- If I work one Sunday’s I can pay off this bill...

- I will tithe double next week. But, next week your even worse off than this week.

2. Your always looking for a way to change your financial situation.