The Stress to Rest Financial Plan

Review: The Parable of the Stressed Out Steward, Luke 16

  1. God owns it all! I am His steward.
  2. God holds His stewards accountable.
  3. God praises wise (shrewd) stewardship plans.
  4. Use money as a tool to populate heaven.
  5. Ask God to make you more trustworthy.
  6. Love God and be generous.

• Faith and finances are NOT separate issues. • Financial decisions ARE spiritual decisions. • Spiritual decisions ARE financial decisions. • Jesus nails these two together in Luke 16:11, “And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” • Faith and Finances are both about trust.

FIVE positive and Biblical things that Christians are to do with money and possessions.

  1. Keep Good Records

Proverbs 27:23 (NLT), “Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, 24 for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.”

• Know and care about the state of your finances. • We MUST know and care. • Financial ignorance is not bliss.

  1. Get on a budget

Proverbs 21:5 (NLT), “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” Proverbs 21:20 (NLT), “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.”

• A good budget is wise and planned spending. • A good budget tells those dollars where to go every month instead of wondering where they went. • A good budget protects you from impulse buying. • Haste leads to poverty. Haste makes waste. • “Money doesn’t grow on trees, but with a budget, it can feel like it does.”

  1. Give

Proverbs 3:9 (NLT), “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. 10 Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.”

• A great starting point is tithing (a tenth). • Malachi 3:10, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do… I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” • 2 Corinthians 9:7, You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” • Whatever the amount is that we decide to give, the principle is this from OT to NT, giving to the Lord honors Him first.

  1. Save

Proverbs 6:6 (NLT), “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.” • A long term perspective clarifies daily decisions.
• Ron Blue, “The most productive use of money is giving and saving.” • 25% of Americans don’t have any money saved for emergencies. • Ron Blue, “Whatever is first you can afford, because you pay it first and adjust everything else.” • Giving and saving get paid first.
• Saving is the best way to build wealth. • Proverbs 13:11, “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.

  1. Learn contentment

Philippians 4:12 (NASB), “I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

• Christ gives strength to be content in all circumstances. • Contentment must be learned. V. 12 • Ecclesiastes 6:9 (NLT), “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless — like chasing the wind.”

REVIEW:

  1. Keep good records.
  2. Get on a budget.
  3. Give.
  4. Save.
  5. Learn contentment.

WHAT MOST PEOPLE DO WITH THEIR MONEY:

  1. Earn it
  2. Enjoy it (spend it)
  3. Repay it (debt/bills)
  4. Save it
  5. Give it (God gets a tip at the end of the month)

GOD’S ORDER

  1. Earn it
  2. Give it (tithing gives God the first and the best)
  3. Save it (emergency fund, future goals)
  4. Repay it (debt, bills, taxes)
  5. Enjoy it (spend)

• Whatever is last on the list feels the pressure, so that’s where we adjust our living. If there is nothing left at the end of the month, we are content because we have learned the secret of living on less. • Spending in this ORDER, puts us in a position to see the Lord bless us, and surprise us, because we have honored Him first.

The Stewardship Pledge

“I ___, acknowledge God’s ownership of my time, talents, treasure, temple, relationships, influence, and all other resources. I agree to act as a steward of those things, and I commit to seek God’s direction for what to do with His resources.” Date:

From: Ron Blue, God Owns It All