Home Improvement Series
UNTIL DEBT DO US PART
LUKE 19:12-27
Disclaimer --- I do Not make any claims of being a monetary or economic Expert:
Besides, X is an Unknown Quality or a Has-been --- and Spurt is a Drip Under Pressure.
WHEN WE SAY OUR MARRIAGE VOWS, WE FINISH THEM BY SAYING, UNTIL DEATH DO US PART. IN OUR DAY WE COULD REWRITE THAT BY SAYING UNTIL DEBT DO US PART !! STUDIES HAVE REVEALED THAT OVER 50% OF THE DIVORCES OR FAMILY BREAK UP IS DUE TO MONEY PROBLEMS. IF WE WERE TO DO A SURVEY IN HERE THIS MORNING, HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD BE HONEST ENOUGH TO SAY THAT MOST OF THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR HOME INVOLVE MONEY? ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPLAINTS THAT I OFTEN HERE IS, " WE DON’T MAKE ENOUGH MONEY." I HAVE HEARD PEOPLE THAT MAKE ALMOST $20 AN HOUR SAY THAT. FACT IS MANY PEOPLE MAKE MORE MONEY THAN THEY HAVE EVER MADE IN THEIR LIFE. THE PROBLEM IS NOT ALWAYS A LACK OF MONEY, IT IS A LACK OF MONEY MANAGEMENT. THE MORE MONEY WE MAKE THE MORE MONEY WE SPEND. MANY TIMES WE END UP LIVING ABOVE AND BEYOND OUR INCOME. IN OTHER WORDS, OUR OUT GO EXCEEDS OUR INCOME. WHEN THIS HAPPENS SOMEONE USUALLY BALES OUT OF THE FAMILY RELATIONSHIP DESTROYING THE HOME. NAMELY THE HUSBAND OR THE WIFE. WHEN OUR OUT GO EXCEEDS OUR INCOME IN PUTS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF STRAIN AND PRESSURE ON THE FAMILY RELATIONSHIP. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE DEBT USUALLY DISSOLVES THE FAMILY. I BELIEVE THAT OUR FAMILY FINANCE PROBLEMS CAN BE SUMMED UP IN 8 WORDS: BAD MISTAKES, BIG BILLS, BANK LOANS AND BAD BUSINESS. REGARDLESS OF HOW BAD YOUR FINANCES GET, THE ANSWER IS NOT BALING OUT OF THE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR FAMILY AND RUNNING FROM THE PROBLEM. OUR FAMILIES SHOULD BE MADE UP OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND ACCEPTANCES. IN OTHER WORDS IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW BAD IT GETS, I AM HERE FOR BETTER OR WORSE, IN HEALTH AND IN SICKNESS, FOR RICHER OR FOR POORER, UNTIL DEATH DO US PART. IN OTHER WORDS WE STARTED IN THIS TOGETHER WE WILL WORK THROUGH IT TOGETHER WITH THE HELP OF GOD AND HIS WORD. WHEN EVERYTHING IS SAID AND DONE WE WILL STILL BE TOGETHER AS A FAMILY. WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO MANAGE OUR MONEY WITH EXTREME CARE. I BELIEVE THAT SOME OF THE PROBLEMS COME IN WHEN WE FAIL TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN OUR NEED AND OUR GREED. I KNOW THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH WANTING CERTAIN THINGS. BUT THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT WHEN WE HAVE TO WORK A LOT OF OVER TIME OR 2 JOBS TO HAVE IT. SOMETIMES WHAT WE NEED IS NOT MORE MONEY BUT BETTER MONEY MANAGEMENT. LET ME SHARE WITH YOU 5 STEPS THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO BETTER MONEY MANAGEMENT.
I. WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS A GIFT FROM GOD. LUKE 19:12-27
Haggai 2:8 ’The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
Deuteronomy 8:18 "But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,"
God is the One who grants men the power to get wealth because all wealth belongs to Him.
We don’t own anything.
We are merely stewards.
WE ARE TO DO EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WITH WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US.
WE WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR HOW WE USE WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US.
II. WE NEED TO DEVELOP A PROPER ATTITUDE TOWARD MONEY
1 TIMOTHY 6:10 FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.
ECCLESIASTES 5:10 HE THAT LOVETH SILVER SHALL NOT BE SATISFIED WITH SILVER; NOR HE THAT LOVETH ABUNDANCE WITH INCREASE: THIS IS ALSO VANITY.
PROVERBS 30:8-9 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. {9} Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ’Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."
Proverbs 11:28 "Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf."
The Living Bible says "Trust in your money and down you go! Trust in God and flourish as a tree!
THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE SO HUNG UP ON MONEY THAT THEY WILL NEVER BE HAPPY OR SATISFIED. THE MORE THEY GET THE MORE THEY WANT.
CHUCK SWINDOLL SAY THERE ARE 7 WRONG ATTITUDES THAT WE HAVE TOWARD MONEY.
1. THAT PART IS GOD’S MONEY AND THIS PART IS MINE.
2. GOD REALLY ISN’T CONCERNED WITH SECULAR THINGS. ( GOD ISN’T CONCERNED WITH WHAT I DO WITH MY MONEY. )
3. LET’S NOT GET FANATICAL. LEAVE GOD AT CHURCH. ( LET’S NOT BRING RELIGION INTO IT.
4. FINANCIAL PROSPERITY IS SUSPECT - PROFIT MAKING IS NOT SPIRITUAL.
5. HAVING LITTLE IS MORE SPIRITUAL THAN HAVING A LOT.
6. DON’T SWEAT IT, SOME DAY OUR SHIP WILL COME IN.
7. GOD ISN’T FAIR! THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET POORER.
( PSALM 73 )
NOT ONE OF THESE ATTITUDES STAND UP TO THE WORD OF GOD. ANY HOME THAT OPERATES ON ONE OF THESE ATTITUDES IS IN FOR TROUBLE, OR AT BEST FOR LESS THAN WHAT GOD HAS PLANNED FOR THAT HOME TO ENJOY.
III. WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO MANAGE OUR MONEY.
MATT.22:15-22
A. TAXES AND TITHES
PROVERBS 22:7 THE RICH RULETH OVER THE POOR, AND THE BORROWER IS SERVANT TO THE LENDER.
B. AVOID UNNECESSARY BORROWING
IV. WE NEED TO LEARN TO SAVE
PROVERBS 14:23 IN ALL LABOR THERE IS PROFIT: BUT THE TALK OF THE LIPS TENDETH ONLY TO PENURY. ( OR POVERTY )
God has designed that labor brings a measure of wealth and prosperity. He has given us work in order that we may gain wealth.
Proverbs 21:20 "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has"
(1) The wise man sAVES some of his treasure and some of his oil for the unexpected. The fool swallows it up.
(2) Before you say "I can’t save" think about how you spend your money.
(a) There are some things that are not necessities!
i) Too many young couples want to start out with what it took their parents 25 years to accumulate!
3. The third word is PLAN
a. Too many have no budget!
b. Their budget is like their escatology. "It will all work out in the end"
c. Planning means there ought to be a priority list in our spending.
(1) After all, whose money is it?
(2) It is God’s!
d. Planning is scriptural
(1) Proverbs 27:23-24 "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; {24} for riches do not endure forever"
(a) You ought to know where you are financially at all times
(2) Proverbs 24:3-4 "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; {4} through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."
(3) The Living Bible says it like this "Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through commons sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts."
V. WE NEED TO LEARN THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT.
1 TIMOTHY 6:6-10 BUT GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN. 7. FOR WE BROUGHT NOTHING INTO THIS WORLD, AND IT IS CERTAIN WE CAN CARRY NOTHING OUT. 8. AND HAVING FOOD AND RAIMENT, LET US BE THEREWITH CONTENT.
THE PROBLEMS OF MOST HOMES IS THAT WE HAVE THE " I WANT " DISEASE. WE ARE NEVER SATISFIED WITH WHAT WE HAVE. MORE AND MORE CHRISTIANS ARE IN FINANCIAL BONDAGE DEW TO THE FACT THAT THEY SPEND MORE THAN THEY MAKE. THEIR OUT GO EXCEEDS THEIR INCOME.
PAUL TELLS US TO BE CONTENT, SATISFIED WITH THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE. IF YOU HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE, CLOTHS TO WEAR AND FOOD TO EAT TO HAPPY AND CONTENT WITH THAT. OUR PROBLEMS START WHEN WE BEGAN TO MEASURE OUR THE DEPTH OF OUR LIVES BY WHAT WE HAVE RATHER THAN BY WHOSE WE ARE AND WHO WE ARE. I BELONG TO GOD AND AM A CHILD OF GOD. I KNOW WHO I BELONG TO AND WHO I AM IN CHRIST. WHAT I HAVE OR DON’T HAVE AS NOTHING TO DO WITH MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THE FATHER.
JESUS ASKED THE QUESTION IN MATTHEW 6:25 THE LATTER PART OF THE VERSE, IS NOT THE LIFE MORE THAN MEAT, AND THE BODY THAN RAIMENT?
THE FACT IS JESUS ASK ANOTHER QUESTION. WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN IF HE GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOOSE HIS SOUL?
ALLOW ME TO REPHRASE THAT QUESTION. WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN IF HE GAINS THIS WORLDS GOODS AND LOOSES HIS FAMILY? WE HAVE TO MANY HOMES TORN APART BECAUSE OF THIS MONSTER CALLED DEBT. WE DON’T NEED MORE THINGS OR MORE STUFF. WHAT WE NEED ARE MORE HOMES THAT KNOW THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT. BEING SATISFIED WITH WHAT THEY HAVE WITHOUT GOING INTO DEBT TO GET MORE.
CONCLUSION:
FOLKS, LETS STICK TO THE ORIGINAL MARRIAGE VOWS. UNTIL DEATH WE DO PART.
E-Mail jomooney@bellsouth.net
