MoneyWalk 255: Borrowing Can Hurt You

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

If you’re like most people, much of your past borrowing was meant to satisfy desires and not necessities. It is not automatically bad to satisfy desire as long as you have taken care of providing you and your family needs. However, the problem is in borrowing to get products and services that do not have appreciating value in the future that will be far above the cost of the item purchased and the associate finance costs.

Simply put, God’s best for you, as shown in the bible, is for you to be able to get everything you need and desire, that is not bad for you, without you going into debt to get it. Having debt on things with depreciating value is bondage and it eventually leads to greater levels of mental and spiritual torment when you continue this practice through the course of your life.

God will provide your every need and desires that are good for you without you borrowing to supply them. When you refuse to take on consumer debt, you enable the LORD to supernaturally provide for your needs by moving people and organizations to give you things you need with little or no cost, especially when you're unable to purchase them at higher cost. He shows you how to manage your money to pay cash for non-appreciating items like cars, furniture, and appliances without burdening your family with debt. There is an immediate sacrifice of unneeded material purchases, but the future payoff in added joy, peace, and comfort is so tremendous that it's well worth the sacrifice.

The process starts for you by saying no to any loan offer to purchase something when you don’t have the cash right now to pay for the item. You might have a low interest card but make sure any charges you make to the card account is more than covered by your non-emergency fund savings account and that you’re able to pay the entire charge at the next card account payment due date. If you fail to follow this process and allow the creditor to charge revolving interest each month on the unpaid balance you will generally be looking at paying on average about 15% more in finance charges annually than you would be earning on money held in your savings account. Some people have finance charges on cards that are so high they pay 25 to 30% more and others that use payday lending and other forms of predatory lending pay far more. This is not the direction you want borrowing to take you, otherwise you’ll soon be broke, busted, and disgusted with your financial situation.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Deuteronomy 28:12, Psalms 37:21, Proverbs 22:7, 27:23-24, Romans 13:8

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MoneyWalk 254: Prosperity Is Produced By Givers

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Being faithful often requires that you sacrifice some pleasures early on to reduce the amount you would otherwise pay creditors, so that you prioritize tithes and offerings to God before paying anyone else. This results in His supernatural blessing on your finances by getting the devil off your case so that He does not devour the seed and the fruit that has been already given to you. It also keeps the windows of Heaven open for greater opportunities for you in endeavors and arenas in which you can exhibit Christ likeness in your conversation and conduct, shine, and give glory to the LORD.

The bible shows that you prioritize the LORD’s will above your own in your finances when you give your local church and other ministries ten percent of your gross income plus an offering each pay period. Different forms of offering (alms, building funds, etc.) are freewill in nature and should be given cheerfully as you purpose in your heart recognizing that God will give bountifully to you because you give bountifully to spread the gospel and build up the saints. Thus, God has not commanded a specific percentage or dollar amount of gross pay to be given each pay period. However, He recognizes and so should you that those who faithfully tithe always mature into bountiful givers who are abundantly blessed throughout their lives.

You honor the LORD by recognizing that He is creator and provider of all good things when you give faithfully to ministry work. This faith-filled attitude of heart, lifestyle organization, and management of your finances allows you to eventually obtain the money you need to pay each creditor all you owe them, maintain a debt-free lifestyle, and live in and build upon the abundance it produces.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Genesis 14:20, Malachi 3:8-10, Matthew 23:23, Hebrews 7:2-8

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MoneyWalk 253: More Than Enough

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The parables of the talents and minas in Matthew chapter 25 and Luke chapter 19 show that the LORD expects you to properly manage the money and talents He entrusted to you according to the example He has shown you in the bible. They also show that you can expect to receive more to manage when you manage your current resources for His glory. Men may look at your role as little, but God considers what you do to be great and your life greatly blessed because of the faithfulness you display in doing His will instead of your own.

Managing your life and money opposite biblical instruction brings chaos and destruction into your life and may have eternal consequences for you when you don’t repent, turn to the LORD, and change your ways by the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who don't properly manage their incomes cannot be used by God to fulfill the purpose for which they were created and they cannot perpetuate wealth from generation to generation. Your wealth should be used to communicate the new covenant of Jesus Christ thereby leading people to the One they need to have relationship within order to live prosperously on earth and throughout eternity.

Whether rich or poor, the bible exhorts you to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness knowing that everything you need and more will be given by Him into your life. This gives you freedom to use your money to evangelize and disciple other people, provide for your family, and start and maintain businesses that glorify God and provide for the needs of other people. Proper money management results in abundant giving proportionate to your income, eliminating debt that reduces your ability to give abundantly, and investing that enhances your ability to be a long-term asset to your local Church and ministries that build God’s kingdom in the hearts of people worldwide.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Proverbs 27:23-24, Matthew 25:14-31, Luke 19:12-27, 2Corinthians 8:11-15

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MoneyWalk 252: FAITH IS ALSO IDENTIFIED BY WORKS

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Your ungratefulness toward God by believing that someone owes you something more than your current income provides moves you to unfaithfulness from which you continue to suffer emotionally, financially, and spiritually. When you see your job and ministry work as burdens instead of blessings you fail to oil the godly networking machine that can positively change your financial future.

So, be diligent at work, aspire to lead your life in quietness, and change your attitude to recognize that you work to please the LORD. Then you are able to do the best job possible within moral guidelines to please the people God has placed in authority over you. This positively changes the environment you work in and moves the LORD to provide more opportunities for upward mobility in the future.

These opportunities bring promotions and increases that lead to the elimination of debt and to business ventures that weren't possible when you were discontent and full of negativity. When you become a diligent worker who doesn't complain, your present situation will become a link to the next higher step in God's spiritual and financial development for you. He'll show you how to stretch your current income and increase it in the future to enable you to be successful at everything He leads you to do.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Proverbs 6:6-11, Psalms 112:1-10, 2Thessalonians 3:10-16, James 2:19-24

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MoneyWalk 251: You Need Patience

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

When you seek God and His righteousness before everything else you will prosper. This requires that you sow godly seed by allowing faith to produce good works in you that flow out of you enabling you to support gospel ministry, your family, and others in need.

Giving yourself and a portion of your income to ministry allows you to spread the gospel throughout the earth thereby leading men, women, and children to Jesus Christ. Satan and the demonic forces don't want your money used for this purpose because they hate men and want to destroy you. Therefore they will put obstacles in your path that present difficult financial situations and struggles. However, you must not fear them or you will give them power to destroy you and keep you from your God-desired destiny. Instead, you must believe the promises of God and use the power He placed in you to rebuke the devourer of your finances, open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing so large that you must share it with other people.

Have patience in tithing to your local church, abundantly giving offerings for worthwhile ministries, and learning biblical money management principles so you can be a good steward over all the resources God entrusts to you. This allows you to overcome the strategies and obstacles of the enemy and be in a position where the LORD will give you more to manage on His behalf. Then, you will have the discipline and endurance to wait on the fruit of God's economic plan to ripen, mature, and grow so you can harvest them for the benefit of His kingdom, yourself, and others.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Proverbs 20:21; Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 5:3; Galatians 6:9-10; and James 1:2-5

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MoneyWalk 249: Your Mighty Weapons

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Satan and the demonic forces are doing everything they can to keep you in debt to the world bankers and creditors so you cannot finance to the greatest degree the preaching of the good news that leads many people to Jesus Christ, eternal life, and fulfillment in on earth in Him. If they can keep you in debt and tempt you to continue undisciplined spending and financial mismanagement, then they will succeed in their plans for you and remove you as a valuable asset to the church because it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to faithfully and consistently tithe and give offerings under these circumstances.

Jesus' resurrection provides complete victory over satan. However, you must administer that victory by praying for godly wisdom to manage your money and your life. You must also read the bible looking for principles and instructions on managing the money and resources entrusted to you. Then, in order to be fruitful and come into all that God has for you and do all He wants you to do you must obey His instructions. Satan and his cohorts will tell you God does not care what you do or that He hates money and people with money or that God wants you to do opposite of what His Word instructs or that you should follow a pattern of greed that some influential worldly people follow in order to obtain money and things.

Satan wants you to have nothing or mismanage the little you get or have great wealth and misappropriate it on meaningless things and endeavors. Yet, the weapons you have to fight off these temptations and subtle, vicious attacks are supernaturally mighty for pulling down strongholds, changing attitudes, and placing ungodly desires in captivity to God’s will. By using biblical principles, your weapons have the utmost effectiveness to rid you of negative financial habits and overcome every obstacle that’s placed in the path to building wealth and supporting kingdom work. The name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, and your testimony of obeying His commands give you victory over satan’s tactics, defend against all demonic attacks, and remove all bondages placed on you.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Psalms 37:4-7, 2Corinthians 10:3-6, Colossians 4:2-5, Revelation 12:10-12

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MoneyWalk 248: Financial Planning

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Your wallet will be a bag with holes in it and your life will be filled with embarrassment when you don't have a financial plan that you regularly consult before you make spending decisions. When you first complete these tools it may appear that your release from financial bondage will take many years to accomplish. However, diligently adhering to the pathway laid out by this plan, which includes a budget and future goals, will release you from bondage much sooner than you ever thought possible.

Regularly consulting your plan helps control unnecessary spending by giving you foresight several months in advance so you will know how much net income you'll have available for bills, purchases, and entertainment activities during future pay periods. This helps you meet giving, saving, and investing goals by showing when you need to pare down activities or some of their cost when they aren’t necessary and won’t allow you to meet your goals that provide greater comfort or financial flexibility in the future.

A financial plan gets shortly after you write and follow it because debts get eliminated and thus creditor entries deleted and disposable income grows as you eliminate wasteful, irresponsible, and reckless spending and unnecessary debt. Educate yourself financially, so you can draw up an appropriate plan for your life. This may include visiting a financial planner to get you started and help you through the process. Our preference is choosing low cost providers that give good advice and refer us to investments that at least equal market returns on a consistent basis because the more one pays in sales charges (commissions), advisory fees, and fund expenses the more the investment managers have to outdo the market just to help the person equal market returns.

Consistently beating the market in such situations is not easy and is rarely done. So make sure you get reliable references and research investment company, advisor backgrounds, and investment return history before you trust that someone’s advice is reliable and that they can consistently deliver reasonable investment growth for your portfolio. There are many online resources, such as crown.org, soundmindinvesting.com, ronblue.com, etc. that will help educate you on budgeting, saving, investments, growth history, estate planning, and selecting advisors. So avail yourself of at least their free advice, so you can learn how to start developing a financial plan and identify the areas for which you need more extensive help meeting your vision and goals.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Psalms 37:21, Proverbs 6:6-8, 16:9, Habakkuk 2:2-4, Luke 14:28-29, 2Corinthians 9:5

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

MoneyWalk 247: Work Your Budget

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Living by a budget enables you to shed burdens thrust on you by a lifestyle of debt. Write your net monthly income down and subtract a tithe so you can play a substantial role in helping the good news of Jesus Christ implanted in the hearts of men, women, and children worldwide. Now, subtract every minimum monthly payment due for each bill (home mortgages, car notes, credit cards, cable television, retail accounts, etc.). For utility and other bills that vary in amount each month or that are payable quarterly, semi-annually, or annually (gas, water, electric, telephone, car and home insurance, lawn maintenance, snow shoveling, etc.), subtract the monthly average of these bills for the prior twelve-month period. Your disposable income is what remains.

You can spend disposable income on free-will offering, groceries, gas, personal care items, reducing debt, saving, and entertainment. You’re already saving if your employer withholds a percentage of your pay for a 401k or similar saving / investment plan. Do not spend amounts subtracted for payments due quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. Allow this money to stay in your budget until it is time to pay the bills. Discipline yourself to budget for at least three months at a time so you can see any irregularities that you may have to consider and account for as you move forward. Refuse to borrow more money as you follow this plan, otherwise it is likely you’ll wind up in a worse position than you’re currently in.

God has a plan for your release from financial bondage but it takes your commitment to budgeting your income and expenses to eliminate and stay out of future debt so you take on a lifestyle where giving comes first, saving & investing come next, and spending on more than your needs is the last priority. Your desires can wait until you have enough extra cash to pay for them. As you become debt-free according to the LORD’s design you will find that not too long down the road you’ll have enough disposable income after giving, saving & investing, and spending on your needs that you will be able to also spend on many items that you desire in a way that does not put you back in financial bondage.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Proverbs 30:24-28, Ecclesiastes 10:19, Habakkuk 2:2-4, Luke 16:9-13

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WORK IS OF THE LORD

Work is ordered by the LORD

Work unto Him and don’t get bored

Let work from faith in God increase

And your prosperity will not cease

One day you’ll find it will burst forth

To the south, east, west from North

You’ll see your blood, sweat, and tears

Pay off richly throughout the years

Other men will give to you

So you’ll have more that you can do

A large house and nice car

Are the result of working hard

If a man doesn’t work, he shall not eat

Because there will be no money to buy meat

So grab your hammer and your nail

Before your body begins to fail

At all times use your brain

You’ll see God’s blessing pour on you like rain

When you’re young you’ll be blessed

And when you’re old you’ll find rest

So work diligently by faith and don’t get bored

Cause work is ordered by the LORD!

MoneyWalk 246: Know Your Situation

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The reality for many people who don't budget is their expenses inevitably outgrow their income and leave them in financial turmoil. You must keep the amount of expenses below the amount of income in order to have financial peace in your life.

It's important to get an income and spending plan started now, because the longer you wait the worse your situation is likely to get. It is not necessary to log every single expense on a ledger for the next few months before you decide what route you must take to correct your situation. You already know your situation is bad and should be better. Simply sit down and figure every expense you’re supposed to pay each creditor each month by looking at your bill stubs and checkbook ledger.

Once you’ve figured the total amount that you’re required to pay all creditors, subtract that amount from your net monthly income as determined by your pay stubs. If you have money left over, this is the amount that you must use to buy personal items, build savings, and give to fruitful ministries and charities that help other people. If you have little or no money left over, then you need to devise a plan to: reduce the amount of monthly payments you must make; increase your income; reduce the interest rates at which your indebtedness increases; or do all three in order to get your financial house in order and build wealth.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Proverbs 27:23-27, Habakkuk 2:2-4, Luke 14:28-30, 2Corinthians 9:6-10

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