God’s Plan for Financial Freedom

Today’s Scripture…
“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”  Daniel 9:3 (NIV)

Devotional Thought…
Daniel was an incredible Bible character who from a young age exemplified what a real, dynamic relationship with the Lord looks like.  We all would like for God to do amazing things for us like He did for Daniel in the lion’s den, but Daniel’s story is one where we find Daniel day by day honoring and connecting to God.  Daniel was faithful in the little things, and so he was available and ready for the bigger things that God wanted to do in and through him.

In today’s focal passage, Daniel had just realized through reading the scriptures his people would be held captive in a foreign land for 70 years.  Daniel also realized that this captivity came about because God’s people had become lax in hearing and doing the will of the Lord.  All of this understanding caused Daniel to want to connect with God even more, so  he might not miss anything God might want to teach him from this experience.  The passage says that Daniel humbly pleaded with God through prayer and through fasting.

Most of us are familiar with prayer, but what about fasting?  Many in the church today have never entered into a dedicated time of fasting, even though the Lord said we should (Matthew 6:16-18).  Many times fasting is associated with food, but it doesn’t have to be.  The spiritual idea behind fasting is to do without something for the purpose of turning our attention humbly and desperately toward God, that He might speak to us about our situation and connect us to His will and His ways.

God is working on several of us about our perspective on and use of wealth.  For others, God is working to change your heart related to some other attitude, relationship, or way we are not completely honoring God.  Why not allow God to use a fast in your life to evidence your humility and desperateness to hear from Him?

I know someone who absolutely loves GOLF.  His golfing doesn’t include drinking, gambling, or robbing precious family time, so it is not a bad or evil influence in his life.  Yet, this guy is desperate for God to speak and to accomplish some “next step” experiences in his life.  This guy is currently on a six month “golf fast.”  The margin that this “fast” has created in his life has already produced some new insights and new next steps, and he is only a few weeks into the fast.
 
What about you?  If God has started working on you concerning your use of and attitudes concerning money, material things, or debt are you humbling yourself to hear?  Are you pleading with God to speak on and show you all that He wants you to do?
  
What if you committed yourself to a one or two month fast from using a credit card so God might speak to you about credit?
 
What if you committed yourself to a six week “just the groceries” spending where you only spent money on the groceries and utilities, and put off every non-essential purchase to see what you could NOT live with?  You might have to borrow or barter, but think what God might teach you?

What if you committed yourself to a two month coke or coffee fast?  What if you put all the coke money or coffee money you would have spent in a jar, and at the end of the fast donated it to the church’s benevolence ministry?  What might God show you?

Daniel’s fasting resulted in more of God’s presence and revelation for Daniel.  What might be the result of your fasting?
Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org
Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with God.

God’s Plan for Financial Freedom

Today’s Scripture…
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.  And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”  Matthew 2:11-12 (NIV)

Devotional Thought…
Today’s devotional scripture comes from the Christmas story, where the Magi have followed the star and finally have arrived at their destination.

Mary and Joseph were poor, and were not used to having expensive things like gold, incense and myrrh lying around the house.  Much has been suggested about the meaning of each of these gifts, and these “foreshadowing” meanings are probably right.  But the truth is, the greatest meaning for Mary and Joseph was that these things were quickly going to be able to be turned into cold hard cash!  God knew that as soon as the Magi left, He would have to send an angel to Mary and Joseph, telling them to get Jesus away from Herod’s jealous attempt to kill him (Matthew 2:13-15).  And where did God tell Joseph to go… Egypt!  This trip to Egypt was long, and the time they stayed there was probably a few years.  The money that Mary and Joseph were able to obtain through these gifts made the trip and stay possible.

Most of us have received an unexpected monetary or material gift.  For many, before the day is over we have already spent it or figured out how to use it on ourselves. But what if Mary and Joseph had done that?  If they had cashed in these gifts to spurge on a new home in Bethlehem or a sleek newer model donkey to ride around town on, they would have had nothing for the trip God knew they needed to take.

Many right now are asking God what He wants them to do related to finances?  For some, God wants to help get the ball rolling with debt reduction.  For others, God wants to work on your attitude about money.  If some miracle money comes your way in the near future, could it be…
God’s plan is for you to start a debt snowball with it so you can begin the disciplined process of paying off your debts?
 
God’s plan is for you to give it to someone who has desperate need for it, allowing you to work on your possessiveness of money and things?
 
We will never benefit from what God intended if we just blow it.  Ask God to help you start praying over your checkbook, over your purchases, and over any miracle money you receive.  You might be surprised what God intends to do with it.

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of 
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org
Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with God.

God’s Plan for Financial Freedom

Today’s Scripture…
”No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening-it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”    Hebrews 12:11 (NLT) 

Devotional Thought…
Discipline is a word that through the years has changed.

When most people think of being disciplined, they think of punishment.  This kind of thinking relates discipline to the idea that we did something that someone in authority didn’t approve of, and now we must be punished for it.  It associates discipline with words like spanking, grounding, and loss of privileges.  When we think of discipline in these terms, we tend to run from it.

But discipline is really a word that means to be shaped into something we are not.  True discipline is not focused on the pain, even though pain is felt.  True discipline is focused on the end product; on what we can become if we are willing to change.
 
It is much like a great whittler, who was asked one day how he could create such beautiful carvings.  “Well, what I do is start with a piece of wood and if I want to whittle a dog, I just cut away everything that doesn’t look like a dog!”

God’s discipline is the pocket knife He uses to take us from an ordinary piece of wood to a spiritual carving of Christ.  The Bible is clear that God’s goal for each of us is to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29).  For most of us, there is a great difference between what we are today and the person of Jesus Christ.  God loves us too much to let us stay where we are, so He uses all sorts of things to whittle away everything that doesn’t look like Jesus.

What is the Lord whittling on in you?  Are you angry at God, because you are focusing on the pain?  Are you at peace and celebrating the fact that God loves you enough to whittle on you?  Take some time to talk to God about your perspective on his whittling, and ask Him to help you keep in mind the Christ-likeness that He is whittling toward.

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org

Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with God.

God’s Plan for Financial Freedom

Today’s Scripture…
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)

Devotional Thought…
Recently, I was able to visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  Oahu is a beautiful island that hosts millions of visitors a year.  Whether you are hiking in the mountains, snorkeling in the reefs, or golfing on one of its manicured courses, it is easy to find a peaceful place.

The morning of December 7, 1941 was not a peaceful time to be on this island.  On that day, the Japanese accomplished a surprise attack on the island, targeting the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.  Over several hours Japanese planes bombed and torpedoed their targets and the once peaceful island turned into a nightmarish turmoil that saw ships and planes damaged and destroyed, and over 3000 people killed or wounded.
  
The island today is a reminder to us that peace doesn’t “just happen.” Peace was restored to this beautiful island but it took a war, it took changing our Pacific strategy, and it took the dedication of striving for new technologies that made peace possible.

Our God is a God of peace, and today’s verse reminds us that He desires us to experience peace in all times and in every way.  If peace is not a reality in our financial situation, our relationships, or in any other category of our lives it means that something ungodly is working against us.  Sometimes the things that work against us come because of the ungodliness of others, but many times the peace we lack is because of our own ungodly and selfish ways that are working from within.  Either way, usually it takes a Christ-waged war, a Christ-revealed strategy change, or a passion for a godly new way of doing things that will make the peace of God a reality in our lives.

Think about your life.  What area(s) of your life does the peace of God reign?  Have you thanked Him for the peaceful places He has established in your life?  Today’s scripture should inspire you to worship and thank the God of peace.

What areas of your life are full of turmoil and restlessness?  Have you cast your burden on Jesus, knowing that He cares for you?  (1 Peter 5:7)  Have you enlisted for the God ordained war it may take to bring peace to the troubled areas of your life?  Are you willing to look to Christ for the marching orders of change that He promises can bring “peace at all times and in every way?”

The Prince of Peace died and lives so that His peace might reign in us. Give Peace a chance!

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of 
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org

Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with God.

Genuine Love

Today’s Scripture…
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.'”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away very sad, for he had many possessions. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!”   Mark 10:17-23 (NLT)

Devotional Thought…
Genuine… a word that means the “real deal.”  When you are blessed to meet someone who is genuine, it is a breath of fresh air.  It is always nice to be with someone who isn’t pretending to be something they are not.

Today’s passage tells us the story of a wealthy man who had a genuine question.  He really wanted to know what he needed to do to secure his place with the Lord.  He had been taught all the rules and regulations of being a good person, and had done a decent job of following the rules.  Yet he knew something was not right, and he came to Jesus to get His perspective on it all.
Jesus knew that this man’s actions didn’t really line up with what he really worshipped. 

It is interesting to note what the Bible says Jesus was feeling on the inside about this man.  Even though the man was a conflicted, spiritual mess, the Bible says Jesus felt genuine love for him.  It was from this “genuine love” that Jesus spoke, and helped the man see that his “doing good deeds” was never going to be able to get him eternal life.  Eternal life comes as we lay down all of our sin, our striving, and our stuff and follow Jesus Christ.  Through Jesus we receive genuine forgiveness and find the genuine purpose for our existence.

Today’s scripture gives us some great truths to meditate on…

Jesus genuinely loves you.  In a world where more times than not people love us because of our performance, we can be tricked into thinking that Jesus’ love operates the same way.  But that is a HUGE lie, for Jesus loves us to death (John 15:13).  He loves us in spite of our conflicted-ness and even in spite of our unwillingness to change.  Have you ever just been still before the Lord and thanked Him for his genuine love for you?  …His love not based on performance?  …His love despite your mistakes?

The rich man missed out, because instead of running to genuine love, he ran back to his first love… his wealth.  As we enter into this study on financial peace, the Lord may lovingly make you aware of specific things you need to do to come follow Him fully.  Have you ever ask God to show you ANYTHING in your life that is keeping you from following Him?  If you will genuinely ask, He will show you!  (Jeremiah 33:3)

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org
Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with God.

Where You Are Weak, God Is Strong

Today’s Scripture…
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you;  never again will my people be shamed.”  Joel 2:25-26 (NIV)

Devotional Thought…
One of the things we can usually count on with problems is that the longer we put off dealing with them, the worse things get.  Whether we are talking about the noise under the hood, the toothache that won’t go away, or the Lord calling us to make some changes, this principle applies.

In Joel’s day, God had been calling His people to make some changes for a long time.  They put off getting things right with God to the point that He allowed something to happen to get their attention. The Bible says that one year, right at harvest time; swarms of locusts came to the land and devastated all the crops.  Instead of a harvest of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, dates and apples, the people looked over the chewed up remains of what might have been.  In their despair, God called out to his people through Joel, hoping this time they would be willing to exchange their way of living with God’s abundant way of living.

Sometimes our finances are an area that we put off letting God have control in.  We know God has said some things about how we should handle our money, but the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16) lead us to make financial choices that can be devastating.  When God finally gets our attention about it, we can look up to find that our level of debt and our financial situation seems maybe even too big for God! 

Whether its finances, a relationship, or some other area of your life that looks like it’s too big a problem for even God to fix, today’s passage gives us a great promise to meditate on with the Lord.

God told his people that though He sent the problem, if they would turn their hearts and ways back to God, he would repay them for the years the locusts had eaten.  God wants to restore our hearts but he also will help restore a bank account or a broken relationship.  Are you willing to take your financial or relational mess and lay it before God saying, “Lord, here is the evidence of what I can do.  Please forgive me and fix my mess.  As you fix my mess, please fix me and teach me how to do things your way.  Teach me your ways in this matter.” 

Are you willing to trust, believe, and express to God that you know He can restore the years that your locusts have eaten?  If we are willing to do things God’s way starting today, God will work wonders for us.  And one day very soon we will be telling others “where I was weak, God became strong.”
 
Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org

Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with God.

God Was, God Is, And God Forever Will Be

Today’s Scripture…

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.        Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV)

Devotional Thought…

Today’s passage has some great thoughts to meditate on today…

In the beginning, God….  Before the earth ever had its first day, God was there.  God had big, beautiful plans for the heavens and earth before they even existed.  The truth is, any big, beautiful God-sized plan begins with God, even yours (Jer. 29:11).  Have you taken time this year to say to God in a “heart to heart” way that you understand that He is God, and you aren’t?  Have you taken time to let God know that you want to embrace and pursue his God-sized plans for your life?

The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters…  When God first started his creative work, it was formless and empty… but God was at work and He hovered close to His work.  It may seem that for God to do God-sized things in us, big changes will need to take place.  We may feel that we are so far from anything that God could use in a big and beautiful way, and the truth is we probably are.  But just as God hovered close to his creative work in the beginning, He hovers close to us (Is. 40:11).  Have you thanked God that He hovers close to you?  Have you celebrated the truth that His mercy endures forever?

And He separated the light from the darkness…  In the beginning, God made a separation between what was light and what was dark.  It was an essential “first step” that would set the stage for the big, beautiful things to come.  If we really want God to do some big, beautiful God-sized things in and through us in 2009, don’t be surprised if God starts calling on you to separate from the sin that He knows is in your life.  We all have dark places, where sin has crept in and we have allowed it to reside.  God points it out not because He hates us, but because He loves us.  He loves us so much He sent Jesus to earth to die on a cross to take it away.  Don’t resist his call to expel the dark places.  Have you spent any time in confession this year, agreeing with God about the things in you that are sin and asking Him to remove them through Jesus?

Do you really believe God can do some big, beautiful God-sized things through you in 2010?  The truth is, He made a world out of nothing and He can make anything He chooses out of us, if we will make it our passion to know Him and love Him.

Kingdom Focused! 

Flora M. Kynard, author of

Prosperity Renewal: 14 biblical Principles for Truee Financial Freedom

info@prosperityrenewal.org

www.prosperityrenewal.org

Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with Him.