A Money Lesson

Ok, here's one that's a straight forward lesson on handling money. It's simple, bullet pointed, and brief but wanted to put it out there because wherever your money is, that's where your heart is. If your money is in your business, that's where your heart is also. If your money is in your food, that's where your heart is. If your money is in an orphanage, that's where your heart is. If your money is in your savings account that's where your heart is.


So here it goes, handle your money with a reverence for God, realizing that God is not concerned only with the "spiritual" aspects of life, the philosophical ideas of your life. There is One God and He is the Lord over all of life, money, food, driving to and from work, all of it, and it all may be offered to Him as worship by living for Him instead of for yourself. Here's how to do that with money.


1) Work hard to earn money: don't rely on charity to pay your bills, take care of your family, and expect others to just hand it over to you. You are not entitled to anything other than what you work for. So if you need more money, get another job, sell some possessions, do work for friends or family, don't just expect money. People may give you charity with nothing owed in return, but don't expect it. Also, working hard now to develop a residual income is good, and if you've done it and no longer must work to provide for your family, great. But keep working anyway because God created man in a garden and gave him the work of keeping up with it. Work is a blessing to mankind, not a hardship - it's the hardness of work that is a hardship, but work itself is a good thing.


2) Save some of it: but by not less than 10% of your income to keep for future needs. One day you won't be able to work. Perhaps sooner than later if a tragedy happens to you. But whether sooner or later, you will one day no longer be able to work. And one day your family will no longer have you to care for them and provide for them by your work. So set aside this amount and it will grow. If you keep 1 part of every 10 that you earn, then you will grow your savings so that you will be able to care for yourself and those you love with the stock of what you've earned.


3) Give some to God: support others in love, honoring God with the charitable use what you have earned. He made you, your body to labor manually, your mind to learn new things to labor mentally, and your creativity after His own likeness, so in earning from your work, you are to give back to God in caring for others to show your gratitude to Him for what you've earned, and also your trust that He will continue to provide for you through your work, by the care He shows you each day. He cares for the birds of the air, not one goes hungry, and always is able to make a nest until its death. So He also cares for you to provide for you through the ability to work, and through the help of others. Be that help to others yourself as long as you work, and make it a practice to give what you can, not less than 10% in order to show you are equally eager to care for God and others as you are to care for yourself by putting 10% in savings and 10% towards God and others.


4) Live off of it: pay your bills, enjoy the rewards of working hard and earning money. Enjoy the fun with friends and good things of life with what the Lord has given you through your work. Not everyone is paid the same, nor works the same, and so not everyone enjoys the same. But instead of wishing upon a star to hopefully one day get to enjoy what you long for, be content with what you have earned and enjoy from your earnings that which God has put within your grasp to enjoy. There will always be things you want that you cannot have, no matter how much or how little you may earn. But after saving some, giving some, and of course paying the tax man, you may enjoy what you have left to live on.


5) Earn more: work towards learning new skills and being diligent and faithful to the work you've chosen to do, or want to do later on with new skills or positions. Learn how to earn more by working harder or better or in a different position. Also work to be wise in handling the money you are saving so that it will not just sit by and add up each time you set some aside. Work so that it will add up, AND multiply by putting it to work for you to grow it. Learning how to invest wisely and safely for a good return, and being wise so that you do not fall for schemes which will actually waste your money and leave you with nothing. Learn and work at it also.


This is simple but also timeless. These ideas are published by many authors throughout many generations because it is constant and has worked since before there was money, even when there was only agriculture and barter. Keep these and all the time be content, and be grateful to live your life for the Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave His whole life to the point of death on a cross, so that you would be saved from your sins, from your evil desires, and could be made right with God. So that you could live in His kingdom instead of the kingdom of the world. He loves you, and forgives you of your sin. There is freedom and eternal life for anyone at all who believes in Him, repents of their sins and follows Him in full trust.

Honey Or Vinegar?

You have probably hold the old proverb "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." But have you really contemplated this in your own settings? First, take it literally. If you were trying to catch flies, what would you use to catch them? Probably sugar, or honey, or something else really sweet. I've seen enough flies around - Texas summers are hot, muggy, and can be swarmed with the things - to know they are always, ALWAYS attracted to whatever is sweet and tasty. But what about vinegar? Would you try that? Maybe you would give it a shot to see what happens, which may be a good experiment for this to really sink in.


But think about it. Honey or vinegar to literally catch more flies? When you've got that firmly in mind, then move on to your own setting. What are you trying to catch? Are you trying to catch friends? Customers? Are you trying to catch a rabbit? Deer?


Don't we all know that if you want to catch a rabbit, you put it's favorite foods in a cage to attract it?


I have tried chasing down a rabbit before, really... A friend and I were at a college campus in high school, late at night (or was it early morning?) and we were bored. So we went outside and rabbits were all over the place, so what should we have done? Catch a rabbit! But we didn't even talk about how to do it best, we just said to each other, "let's go catch one!" So off we went chasing, until after 3 rabbits took off faster than we would ever be able to run, we found one that ran towards a building and was in an entry-way in front of a door, so it was surrounded by 2 walls, me and my friend. We thought we had it if we just closed in carefully and were ready to pounce when it flinched. We were wrong. It darted between us and we didn't even stand a chance.


We tried chasing a rabbit and catching it by force. If we had just put some veggies in a box we would have caught one. I don't know how long it would have taken but we would have caught one.


The point is, consider how you may be trying to force your way onto other people. You may be trying to demand others be a certain way, have a certain attitude, do a certain thing just the way you want it done. This itself is not helpful for you, nor for the other person. I love others. I serve others, even beyond inconvenience and into hurt when needed. I try hard to have a good attitude and not be demanding of others. I speak the truth to others but only when it's out of love for them and hoping that they will respond to have more life. Sometimes I also try to control and demand attitudes, responses from others, but my wife quickly corrects me... thank God for her. All of those things are good, and I hope them for others, and I pray for others often to have this life also. But I can't demand it.


Love, compassion, mercy, justice and service is the honey that catches more people; speaking truth to people with love, compassion, mercy, justice, and service may not always seem appealing to others, but it is the honey of life, offering the best you have for their good. Vinegar is demanding your own way, being rude, cruel, unjust and unmerciful. No one demonstrates this more than Jesus. He is our prime model for this because He even gave up His very life for others. He came to serve, not to be served. I hope to live likewise and I hope for others to do the same, following in His footsteps. I trust Him enough to do this even when it doesn't seem helpful or doesn't seem like it will get anywhere...and it may not get me where I want to go, but it will be the best thing and will build relationships with people. Always be offering the "honey" to others and not the "vinegar".

Freedom in your life

In our lives we are able to determine the path we follow, and change it as we determine. We are given that freedom by God. Even in countries where there is no government-sponsored freedom, there is freedom to defy that government. In the USA we are free in many ways that the rest of the world has never experienced. We are in a unique position to chart the course for our life. I've chosen the career path I'm in intentionally. I enjoy selling and there is a great income opportunity for me in selling in general that is not available to me through other careers. That's because I also chose not to complete college intentionally. I decided that because of the return on the investment of time and money, just didn't make sense to me, for me but not for everyone. I've also chosen to be a Christian. That means pledging my allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God. I choose daily to follow Him where He leads me by His Spirit in me and by His Word written, the Bible. If there is a conflict between following bosses at work and following Jesus, I always choose to follow Jesus. It's not always easy, but it's worth it. I've made that choice before to the point of leaving a job. But it's worth it. But as long as there is no conflict between the two, I serve and submit to my bosses and do their will as my superiors, even when it goes against my preferences. This isn't either but it's worth it. Sometimes I've left work because of this as well. When there's a conflict between following Jesus or pleasing my family or friends, I've got to choose following Jesus. It's the only way to life. That said, we have freedom in Jesus. He does not ask for robots to do his bidding monotonously and autonomously. He gives us His life, clearly reveals His will, and gives us the freedom in our lives to obey. All He asks is based on this: God is One, Love Him with all your heart, strength, soul, and mind; love others as you love yourself. And He also shows us this that no one has greater love than someone willing to lay even his very life down for another. So do that. With all the creativity and freedom you can muster up, do this. Choose how to make money based on your love for God and love for others. Choose who to marry based on this. Choose who to spend your time with. Choose how to care for people when they need you, choose all things based on this. You don't have to make the same choices as any one else, you don't have to be a doctor, and you don't have to be a janitor. You don't have to marry the person someone thinks is right for you if you don't agree. You don't have to choose the career set out for you by your peers, parents, bosses, or others if you don't choose to. But be sure that in all the liberty that you creatively exercise within, be sure that you do it for God's glory and not for your own selfish gain. Selfish decision making is not love. If you do it for money that's not loving God and others, or putting others before yourself. If you do it for your own joy, that's not love for God and love for others. You will get the most joy when you set yours aside and go for loving God and loving others. When you focus on getting the most joy for yourself and that's how you choose, then you are using your freedom in Christ Jesus for evil, wickedness, greedy gain, and selfish ambition. When you set your own joy aside and use your freedom in Christ Jesus for loving God and loving others, then you will experience joy that goes beyond the happiness this world can offer. So go be free. Expirment in your exercise of freedom of loving God and loving others. Do it the way God wants and designed it to be, and wait to see the joy you have from God in doing it. DISCLAIMER: there are specific sins that are identified by God as sinful and these should be avoided because to choose to do a sinful thing identified by God as sin specifically in His Word is 100% always done out of selfishness, not out of love. Even some say that some sins are done out of love - "white" lies, taking from someone who has much to give to someone who has little (aka stealing), being pleasant to someone instead of rebuking and correcting their sin just because you think it's better to be nice than to be honest (though this must be done in love of course), and being in a gay relationship because it's just "love" (this certainly comes about because two people love each other, but their desire to be together in a gay relationship is based on self-centered desire for pleasure rather than pure love for God and others). These are just some examples. We are all guilty before God for sin, both coursing through our veins in our being, and in the specific acts of sin we do. But the God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and save us from them, and anyone who believes that He is Lord, and that He rose from the dead will be saved. And by faith the Spirit of God will transform you into the likeness of Christ, full of love and free from the power of sin. You will overcome your sin, it will not overcome you any longer when you have faith in Jesus.

Set The Course

In life, I've learned so far to set one course and be steadfast in keeping it. There's a principle here of keeping your energy focused on achieving the course set, and not letting it be diverted to distractions, however worthy they may be. Now, I'm not talking about a life out of balance just for the sake of one course, I'm talking about balancing life throughout the course that is set.

Like a ship floating aimlessly in the sea while the captain and crew sleep below deck, unanchored, so was I in my career and life right out of high school. I didn't know what I wanted to do for a career, I didn't know what I wanted my family life to be like, or even an idea of what life should be like as a Christian man. I was wandering and doing ok, but I was aimless. At the time I was ok with it because I hadn't considered any other way and didn't have any clear direction from those around me. Then came the change.

My wife was pregnant and suddenly there was urgency about being clear and focusing my energy to setting a good family life, achieving success in a set career path, and living as a good Christian man; I was still unclear on what to do at the time though.

I wanted to be in financial planning and a stock broker by profession. I knew that because money interested me. However, I didn't want to sell anything, but realized that to do that kind of job I would have to learn to sell and learn to at least like it a little. So I set the course for the first time in my work life: I called my wife's uncle Pat and asked him about direction in learning to sell. That resulted in my first sales job, learning by experience instead of just  by academic study. Fast forward to now, and I've had a successful run as a sales rep, director of sales, sales trainer, and commercial leasing rep. Now as a commercial leasing rep my life is still on course and I'm enjoying the fruits of the labor I've done and am still doing.

As for my family life, I've since set the course o raising my children, with my wife together, in a godly way, and for a godly purpose: to have faith in Jesus alone for life eternally. I've also since set the course for my personal relationship with God. I love Him and I talk to Him constantly and seek to apply the Truth of the Bible to every situation I face daily. He is the light of my path each day and in setting the long-term course of each area of my life. The course set here is to grow in maturity, in dependence upon Jesus for guidance, and to obey in full faith that He knows what is best and His glory is my greatest good.

Setting the course in life is vital to living life fully, but it must be set correctly. There is a lot of gray area in life for sure, but there is also some clear black and white lines drawn. Jesus is life and is the only way to eternal life. Without faith in Jesus there is no salvation from sin and from the works of the devil. So no matter what other course you set, setting your course oriented with Jesus as the True North, the guiding light, the focus, the subject of life not the object of it, is the only way to live life at all, and to live it to fullness of all it was given to be by God, the Creator of life itself.

Once that's set, then there is freedom from selfish ambitions, freedom to serve others out of genuine love for them, genuine love for God, and peace and contentment in all things. This blog is not about achieving great wealth, although I believe that's possible for anyone. It's not about achieving your own personal dreams, although that's fine to do if you choose. It's about living life fully, oriented around Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb who was slain for the sins of the world. With that the course can be set with certainty that it will end in love, life, and liberty. All other things are important, but not equally important as this one Primary thing.

I'll blog about succeeding at work, setting goals, managing money, training up children, loving others, loving God, bible study, career decisions, life balancing, and many other things I'm sure. But out of it all, it comes from a man, so consider what I say, hold fast to what is good and disregard the rest.

*An important note: you can determine what is good by comparing it to God's Word, the Bible, and how it applies to your life, not by just picking and choosing on your own wisdom.*