7 Laws of Financial Fitness, Part 1

Today we kicked off a new teaching series at New Day called FINANCIAL FITNESS by studying Matthew 25:13-30, The Parable of the Talents. In this story we find a wealthy business owner entrusting his wealth to three of his servants. He then goes away for a long time. When he finally returns he calls his servants together and says "Ok. What'd you do with my money while I was gone?" Two of the servants give a good report while one gave a bad report. Jesus then draws some spiritual truths from the story for us to apply to our lives. It's from this story we learn the seven laws of financial fitness. In this post I'll share laws 1-3.

1. The law of Possession says: everything I have belongs to God (v.14). In this story the master represents God and the servants represent us. This means we are stewards, not owners of all God has given to us. What we think we own is actually on loan. If we're going to become healthy in the area of personal finances, it begins with viewing ourselves with the right perspective (as stewards, not owners). We can't make the mistake of thinking that because it's been on loan for a while that it now belongs to us. It doesn't. Everything I have belongs to God. And he expects me to invest some of what I have in his kingdom to see the return of a harvest of souls.

2. The law of Allocation says: God has loaned me money (v.25:15). Each servant was entrusted with a different amount of money. One got a lot. One got a little. One got somewhere in between. But here's the point: Everybody got something! And the same is true with us. Some have a little. Some have a lot. Some have somewhere in between. But God has given each of us something. We aren't responsible for what we don't have, only for what we do. And though we have no say in what we get or how much we get (God determines that), we do have a say in how we use what we're given. Both the guy with two talents and the guy with five talents invested the money and in time doubled it (vv.16-17). But the guy with one talent buried his money in the ground - nothing ventured, nothing gained (v.18). Likewise, we have a choice regarding what we do with that which we've been entrusted with. We can spend it, waste it, invest it, hoard it, give it away, use is wisely, use it foolishly, use it for good, or use it for evil. We can spend it all on ourselves or return some of it to God by investing it in His kingdom. The choice is ours, but we must remember, one day we'll have to explain why we did what we did. This leads us to our next law.

3. The law of Accountability says: One day God will audit me (v.19). On day, each of us will experience a life audit - not by the I-R-S but by the G-O-D. Each servant got to choose how he spent the money, but then each servant had to give an account for what he did with it. This is how it will work with us too. As Romans 14:12 says "Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God." To the two servants who gave a good report the master said "Well done good and faithful servant" (vv.20-23). The master called the one servant who didn't do anything with what he had been given a "wicked and lazy servant" (vv.24-25). Similarly, those who invest some of what they have in God's kingdom will hear "Well done good and faithful servant". Those who foolishly spend all they have on themselves while neglecting the needs of God's kingdom will hear "You wicked and lazy servant."

To learn laws 4-7 click here. 

Learning to Trust God

One of the challenges of the Christian life is learning to trust God. And nothing teaches us better to put our trust and faith in God than being between a rock and a hard place. 

Last November I found myself in just such a spot. From November 2011 to November 2012 New Day grew by almost 200 people and though I needed to hire more full-time staff we didn't have the finances to do so. Imagine a restaurant owner increasing his customer base by 200 people a week but not having the money to hire more cooks and wait staff. That's something like the situation I was in. During that time, I wrote a blog called “Fertile Soil for a Miracle”, because as I’ve followed God and read my Bible I’ve learned that He specializes in impossible situations. In that post I wrote “...I'd be overwhelmed and stressed out if I thought New Day was my church, but I'm under no such disillusion. Our church belongs to Jesus and this is his problem to solve. And I'm so excited to see how He's going to do it...Circumstances such as these are fertile soil for a miracle!!!” 

Since there was no provision to my left or my right, in front of me or behind me I looked UP and put my trust in God. At about the same time I wrote the blog God led me to begin considering the question "What would I do with $100,000?" That is, if someone blessed New Day with $100,000 what would I do with it? I wrote the question down in the notes section of my iPhone. Well wouldn't you know that only three weeks after writing the blog, someone who knew nothing of our staffing needs walked into my office and handed me a check for nearly $150,000!!! I've learned that it's between a rock and hard that we learn to trust in God. Now, it might not always be fun to wait on God's provision, but it sure is fun once he provides!!! 

In Exodus 14 we find Moses and the Israelites between their own rock and hard place. Let me paint the picture...God has just used ten plagues to convince Pharaoh to let his people go so the Israelites are heading out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. As they approach the Red Sea Pharaoh changes his mind and sends the whole Egyptian army after them. The Israelites find themselves trapped. On their right and left are impossible to climb mountains, in front of them is an impossible to cross Red Sea and behind them is an impossible to defeat Egyptian army. Talk about being between a rock and hard place! 

Since there was no provision to the right or left, in front or behind, the Israelites looked UP and cried out to God. But as the Egyptian army drew nearer they stopped trusting in God and started yelling at Moses. The Bible tells us in Exodus 14:13 that "Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” And that's exactly what happened. As a result the Bible records in Exodus 14:31, "...when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him..." It was between a rock and hard place Moses and the Israelites learned to trust in God. And the same is true for us! 

Maybe you find yourself today between a rock and a hard place in your finances, or at work, or in your marriage, or with your kids...Though the circumstances may vary from person to person, they all serve the same purpose: to teach us to put our trust in God. So the next time you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, remember this: It's not to ruin you, but to refine you. Not to punish you, but to prepare you for the glorious future he has for you!! 

Sin Destroys Destinies

Here is no doubt one of the more confusing passages of Scripture:

Exodus 4:24-26, At a lodging place on the way [to Egypt from Midian], the Lord met [or confronted] Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah [Moses' wife] took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Don't worry if you were uncomfortable reading that! I was uncomfortable writing it! It's so bizarre! But while this passage may initially strike us as peculiar, it becomes profound as we unveil the meaning behind it. 

In this passage God confronts Moses over a private area of sin Moses hadn't yet dealt with. This secret sin threatened to destroy his destiny and his very life (for sin always leads to death, Romans 6:23). You see, in Genesis 17:14 God instructed the descendants of Abraham, “Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” Circumcision was that external symbol that the Israelites were set apart for God's purposes, and though failure to obey was punishable by death, Moses disobeyed God in this area of his life. So God steps in and confronts Moses. It's as if God said to Moses, "Moses, you won't advance any further in My will until you deal with this. Get right or get left. Turn from your sin or miss out on My destiny for your life." 

Now look what happens when Moses finally obeys...when through Zipporah he fulfills the Abrahamic covenant requirement of circumcision. The Bible records "So the Lord let him alone." You see, when Zipporah touched Moses' feet with her son's foreskin, God counted it as a symbolic act of substitution, in which obedience was seen as replacing disobedience. As a result, God stepped off the path that prevented Moses from traveling any further in God's will. God hit the pause button on Moses' destiny but when Moses righted his wrong, God hit play once again. 

Do you feel like God has pressed the pause button on his plans for your life? Is there anything in your life that God calls sinful that you're trying to hide, ignore or justify? God doesn't want us to do any of those things. God wants us to deal with our sin, as Moses did, replacing disobedience with obedience. 

When we do, we invite God to un-pause his plans for our lives! 

Overcoming Insecurity

From the life of Moses we learn that: When God calls us into his service, our insecurities rise to the surface. His insecurities almost prevented him from stepping into his God-given destiny (to deliver the nation of Israel from their slavery in Egypt). Here's a sampling of insecurities that rose to the surface when God called Moses into his service...

Insecurity #1: I'm afraid (Exodus 3:4-6).

Insecurity #2: I can't do that (Exodus 3:7-10).

Insecurity #3: I'm nobody (Exodus 3:11).

Insecurity #4: I don't have all the answers (Exodus 3:13)

Insecurity #5: I lack the ability (Exodus 3:18, Exodus 4:1)

I can sympathize with Moses! When God called me to start New Day my insecurities rose to the surface. When God called Kristin to home educate our children, her insecurities did the same. You see: When God calls us into his service, our insecurities rise to the surface. And if we're not careful our insecurities can prevent us from stepping into God's plans for our lives.

So how did Moses overcome his insecurities? God told Moses in Exodus 3:12, “...I will be with you...” and in Exodus 4:12, “...I will help you...” Once Moses took to heart these two truths, he was willing to step into his God-given destiny. And how Moses overcame his insecurities is exactly how you and I overcome ours. When we realize that God is with us and that God will help us, we'll find the courage to say "yes" to God's plans for our lives.

We don't have to let fear stop us. We don't have to be somebody to be used by God. God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. We don't have to have all the answers to begin. As we move in the direction God is leading, further revelation will be given as needed. We don't need to worry about lacking the abilities needed to get the job done. God equips the called; He doesn't call the equipped. All we need to overcome our insecurities and step into God's plans for our lives is to remember that God is with us and God will help us!