MoneyWalk 418 The Best New Year Resolution

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The best New Year resolution is to accept the gift of salvation that Jesus Christ offers you by your confession of faith in Him and belief in your heart that He alone is LORD who could make the sacrifice to remove your sin and save you from eternal damnation. If you’ve already believed and confessed this truth, then your best resolution is to conform yourself to His image by allowing the Holy Spirit to take you through the process of sanctification for as long as you live on this earth.

  This requires a willingness to live, give, and serve in the way the bible instructs Christians. You do not need to know specifically the unique things God will have you do throughout your time on earth. You only need to take one step forward at a time according to the practices you know are pleasing to Him like studying the bible, worshiping daily via thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, faithful fellowship with a local church, and serving in a ministry that helps your local church draw others to Christ and build them up in the faith. Adhering to these foundational practices of faith in Christ allow you to hear God’s voice of continued instruction that lead you into His perfect will.

  He does not often give anyone the entire plan for their life at one time nor all the nuances that will occur and He does not remove all temptations and obstacles that will be placed in their way to fulfilling the plan. He simply put Holy Spirit power in you that you can use to overcome and obliterate tempations, snares, and weights. But, it’s up to you to use His power to crush the enemy's head and continually move forward!

  It’s important that you be so humble that you don’t require the pastor, elders, leaders, or other members to recognize your contributions, but you understand that God recognizes faithful service to others that glorifies Him. He ultimately causes your faithfulness to rise from obscurity in His timing, not yours, so that leaders and others somewhere within the body of Christ and most times within your local fellowship begin to recognize your commitment, obedience, and sacrifice.

  This is God’s process for increasing your wisdom and stature with Him and man. This process creates steps for you to rise to elevated platforms of ministry / leadership within and outside the Church walls that give you a greater audience to whom you can minister in a way that gives God glory. Your resolution should be so strong that you are willing to crucify your own will wherever it will impede God’s will from taking place in your life and ministry.

  When you have not specifically heard what God uniquely desires as your specific life calling, you must follow the vision and goals set by God for His Church, as identified in scripture (worship, evangelism, disciple-making, and serving others). Also, you must be ready for Him at any time to identify more of His vision for your life as well as goals to move you ever closer to fulfilling the vision. God brings the greatest fulfillment and brings out the highest purpose in people who plan to consistently put their faith into actions that please Him.

  Over time, He is sure to tweak your plans where He sees fit and to change or rearrange any part of your character, vision, and goals that may need to be changed to conform to His unique will for your life. Again, humility and meekness are necessary so you don’t superimpose your will over God’s will for your life, over the method’s and traditions employed by the delegated authorities that God has placed you under, nor over the process He utilizes to create platforms and open doors of greater ministry opportunities for you.

  Your commitment to Jesus Christ and to being led by His Spirit should never allow anyone to keep you from delivering the gospel and ministering Jesus to people who are lost and misguided without Him. The best new year resolution is continued intimacy with Him, so His will becomes etched in your heart leading you to be His hands, feet, and mouthpiece in the earth who helps others come to Him and become the sons and daughters of the LORD they were created to be. That is the wealthy place that allows you greater ministry opportunities and fruitfulness.

  Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 10:25, Hosea 4:6, Proverbs 29:18, Habakkuk 2:2-4

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 417 The LORD's Presence Prospers You

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Biblical finance teachers extol the results that come from obeying Christ’s commands by using biblical financial principles such as working faithfully according to proper spiritual authority, tithing, offering, budgeting, debt elimination, saving, investing, diversifying assets, & pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors. Incorporate these into your lifestyle because they help create wealth while you live on this earth. However, intimacy with the LORD Jesus Christ that causes your life to be engulfed by His presence should be pursued first and foremost because it holds promise of the life that now is as well as the life to come. His presence lives in each person who accepts Christ as Savior via the in-filling of the Holy Spirit and leads us into His perfect will for our lives. When we maintain our place in His presence we are powerfully motivated to trust Him in every situation and for insight on the steps forward in this life: from shepherding a church family; to inventing a gadget useful to others; to starting a business; to being a fruitful employee that helps fulfill the LORD's desire for your work.

His presence matures you into the person He wants you to be as you trust and obey His guidance, both written and spoken into you by His Spirit. It brings about the elimination of comparing yourself to other people and competing with their achievements. It helps you take the focus off yourself and place it upon Him, thus giving Him all the glory for what is accomplished. In this regard, be pleased in simply fulfilling His assignments whether you receive accolades or not. Yet, the bible and Christian experience show that God openly rewards and shows off the humble who maintain intimacy with Him and are fruitful.

In His presence you will be motivated in an ever-increasing fashion to utilize biblical financial principles to bring income, assets, relationships, and relationships necessary to help the worldwide church, your local church, and yourself carry out the mission God desires. You will not worry about what others have that you do not have. Neither will you directly pursue material things because you already know prosperity chases the righteous focused on proclaiming His fame throughout the earth. Enough to care for your needs, your family, and be a great blessing to others.

His presence shows it is not all about money though He blesses you and others with it in an abundant fashion because He wants to use you as a vessel to publish the gospel through various forms of communication, strategic alliances, and service to others. Yes, prosperity is in His presence and has great usefulness in the earth as you walk with Him day-by-day. You can have no greater relationship with God than that which comes through accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, however you can have greater fellowship with Him as you cultivate your life daily through worship including thanksgiving, praise, prayer, studying scripture, fellowship with the saints, and service to other people.

Refuse to be a rooster crowing about your early morning prayer or the length of your worship as though these things save you or make you better than others. Never tell other people they must spend as much time as you do or maybe even more in order to please the LORD or be anointed. Do not suppose you know the amount of time God desires others to be in His presence. Simply be sure He is speaking to them and nudging their hearts and wants you to continually encourage them by the example of your life and the non-judgmental motivating words you speak about seeking Him with all their hearts, souls, and strength.

The greatest thing you can do is spend time in His presence and learn to extend that fellowship while you work, serve, play, and rest. When your first love is not Christ and your first priority is not to carry out His will on earth you will likely fail to follow biblical financial principles that prosper, be on the wrong side of eternal judgment, and will not be doing others the great good He desires.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Psalm 23, 1Chronicles 16:27, Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 13:5

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 416 Do Not Be Surprised By Christmas

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Imagine the surprise of Christmas when thereafter the unsuspecting mother and father open the gift sent to them by the credit card company. They did no sound planning according to their financial situation to determine how much could reasonably be spent to purchase gifts for each other, their children, and extended family. On average people spend three times more than they should each Christmas and then have to pay hefty finance charges on top of that because they used loans to finance gifts. Many of the items will soon be forgotten but recurring bill payments will remain.

This scenario puts far too many families into financial hardship each year and is exacerbated by their failure to recognize the problem and correct it for future years. Some recognize this pattern is not worth the illusory happiness they had when giving in to the costly demands of nagging spouses who want the latest designer purse, play station, or mini bike. But they are afraid, unwilling, or insecure about stopping the pattern and letting their families know true love does not equate with the giving of material things that make the family worse off sending it into a downward financial spiral. Thus, they will be back at it again this time next year.

Unfortunately, most spend far more on ultimately worthless and forgotten gifts than they give to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to others who need a relationship with Him in order to be saved from the penalty of their sins. Jesus Christ, intimacy with Him, and the out-flowing of that into carrying out His Great Commandment is what Christmas is really about. You know, the day we celebrate Jesus Christ who came, lived, died, and was resurrected for our salvation from eternal damnation. He alone grants eternal life, a home in Heaven and the New Earth where evil and sin never reside but peace and joy abide forever!

Until you decide the commercialization of Christmas is a man-made tradition and not the LORD's instruction to us, the same poor stewardship routine is likely to be carried out each year for Christmas and bring you into financial hardship, bondage, or ruin throughout your life. Granted gift giving is no sin as long as it does not impeded your ability to properly care for the true needs of your household and give abundantly to spread the gospel. Not all things are sin but many that people have made traditions and called necessary are not always expedient for our current financial situation and spiritual growth. To display good stewardship from a biblical perspective, establish a budget for Christmas that identifies the amount of money your budget shows you can reasonably afford to spend per family member and for the gathering. Exercise your faith to declare, expect, and allow the LORD to provide more than you are able without you going into debt to get it, knowing in your heart that if He did not provide it you know He could and would if it is truly best for you all.

Have a family meeting to identify the plan you will follow and each family member's part in it that will be used to simplify life by spending within your means, refusing to take on debt, working to eliminate current debt, and honoring God and family in ways that truly matter on a spiritual and practical level. Offer each member the opportunity to tell you specifically what he/she wants for Christmas that falls within that amount (postage, shipping, handling, and taxes included). Also, offer them the opportunity to give you sales papers on which they circle many different items that fall within their budgeted amount. Alternately, they could choose to let Mom and Dad pick items they want to give within the budgeted amount. The surprise of Christmas then is no longer shock from a hefty credit card bill right after Christmas. It becomes the opening of gifts that are more useful and enjoyable because financial bondage is not created to get them. This type of discipline and self-control during Christmas and other gift giving days will put you on the path to financial freedom and wealth building. Discipline is what disciples should be known for because it matures you and builds greater self-control, commitment and integrity toward doing the LORD's will.

Teach and example this lifestyle for your kids, so they learn to become givers, savers/investors, and reasonable spenders instead of spenders, spenders, spenders. This gives them the tools they need to stay clear of financial bondage throughout their lives, by helping them know how to set proper financial boundaries and not be swayed by habits and traditions of the financially illiterate that surround them.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 16:3, Luke 14:28, Ephesians 6:4, 1Timothy 3:4-5, James 1:5, 14-18

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 415 Finance For Kids

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Many people are setting up their children for financial headaches and failure as they become adults because they do not teach and example for them good money management. Many kids see the poor way their parents handle money such as failing to have a budget and family budget meetings, refusal to engage spending within their means, and encumbering their lives with debt. Some parents who manage money well unfortunately do not regularly explain to their kids that working as unto the LORD, budgeting, debt freedom, tithing, saving, investing, and diversifying assets are biblical standards the LORD wants everyone to employ because they produce the best possible situation in which to live in this world. These parents often shower their kids with money but do not allow them to be active participants in understanding and employing greater degrees of good money management on their way to adulthood.

You should have a plan for how you will increase your kid’s involvement in family finances recognizing they will have money to manage from working and receiving allowances and gifts. They will do it either for good or bad often depending upon what the parent teaches and examples for them. If you want them to be more blessed than you are then as they grow you should teach them GSS, which stands for giving first, saving second, and spending last. Along with faith to believe the impossible will happen and commensurate declarations / proclamations of the LORD's desired prosperity for you, this three-prong approach is fundamental for helping your kids learn stewardship traits they can use to avoid credit card debt and car debt that will be pushed / marketed at them by banks, retailers, and dealerships throughout college, young adulthood, and indeed throughout life.

The Giving component consists of two parts: tithing (which is 10% of a person's income) and giving a free-will offering that can be any amount above the tithe. Income for kids often starts with allowances and other gifts they receive from any source. It should be continually explained that all the money and anything else they will ever receive belongs to God and they are only stewards (managers) dispensing and using His resources according to biblical principles (His will). To have the right heart and mindset about the need for honoring Him by helping abundantly fund the spread of the gospel to lead people to Jesus Christ you need to understand that it produces intimacy with Him and supernatural blessing and reward for everyone who meets this purpose for money. You and your children must know you can live far better on 89.9 percent or less of the money the LORD allows to come into your life through legitimate endeavors and gifts than you can on 100% of that money by failing to honor Him.

The Saving component consists at first of helping each child build a starter emergency fund of $100 in a savings account. Then putting at least 10% of their income into another savings account or two to help fund future endeavors the child intends to pursue (schooling, team sports, music lessons, art, a car, etc.) or buy things the child plans to get. Help the kid find savings accounts that pay the highest annual interest available with no account fees so he/she can begin to see how money grows when earnings are added. Next, teach each one to put at least 10% of income into long-term equity investments that have a history of much higher returns via compounding and exponential growth. An excellent choice would be a no load, low expense S&P 500 stock index mutual fund via a Roth IRA or brokerage account through Vanguard, Fidelity, Charles Scwab, TIAA-CREF, or another reputable brokerage house.

Explain the risk / reward scenario that can be used to the child's advantage that will allow him/her to be very wealthy later in life because they started investing at a young age even if they never become business owners or very highly paid employees. Also, let him/her know this will allow the avoidance of debt and provide greater financial flexibility as they walk through life. They should be taught and encouraged not to touch the long-term investments unless they encounter an extreme emergency or catastrophe. This money would be at their disposal when they become adults as a starter retirement fund, a business startup fund, or a ministry endeavor fund that allows them to avoid debt while working and pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors.

Finally, there is the Spending component, which we often think nobody has to tell adults or kids how to do. Yet, we all need instruction in this area to know it is not prudent to spend everything you get. Otherwise, because your outgo equals or exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall. Though spending will represent the greatest percentage of income use throughout most people's lives, it is always best for children to learn to keep it under 70% of their income. So, they employ this “spending within their means” principle when they become adults and also have to face being charged federal, state, and city income taxes. Focus on teaching them how to set budgets and goals around their money that allows them to spend only what’s left after giving and saving the appropriate proportions of their money.

The income tax effect that converts gross income to lower take home pay can be displayed by showing children how your take home pay is far less than your gross pay. This will be experienced in their early teens as they start to work for employers and/or at entrepreneurial endeavors. At twelve years of age or so help each child craft and follow a budget that includes him/her handling money for clothing, school supplies, personal care, and entertainment and make him/her responsible for keeping purchases within the amounts set for each category.

Teaching the GSS model will help children live this way as they age, go to college, finish college, get that great paying job, start that great business, and move into the real world where all the financial shenanigans will be thrown at them and attempt to grab all their income through debt payments. If they get caught up in the world's way of managing money it will financially tear them from limb to limb. It will be great to know you helped teach and show them how to avoid financial pitfalls through biblical-based discipline that serves them best throughout their lives.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Deuteronomy 6:7-9, Proverbs 22:6-7, Ephesians 6:4, 1Timothy 3:4-5

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ