God’s Plan for Financial Freedom

Today’s Scripture…

“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.” John 4:23 (NLT)

Devotional Thought…

Today’s verse tells us an interesting thing about God… He is looking for true worshippers. Whether you are worshipping on Sunday morning in a Worship Center, on a weekday morning having your daily devotion, or any other time God wants us to be true worshippers.

Each time we encounter the Lord or the scriptures, we are encountering truth. (John 14:6; John 17:17) When we encounter truth, God wants us to respond truthfully. For example, if we are reading a passage where God reveals to us we are sinning, a true worshipper doesn’t pretend they didn’t see it or doesn’t ask for God’s forgiveness when they have every intention of doing it again. True worshippers acknowledge the truth that God reveals, and talk to God about what He has revealed…

If God is calling us to put away something that we honestly enjoy, be honest about it. Ask God to take away your appetite for it, so you will want to put it away. (Isaiah 6:5-7)

If God is calling us to take on something that we don’t think we can take on, be honest about it. Let God know you don’t think you can do it and let Him convince you that He can. (Exodus 3-4)

As for Sundays, think about what God could do with a room full of true worshippers. People who when singing “I surrender all” were begging God to make “surrender” a reality in them. People who in coming face to face with scriptural truth were desperately asking God to make that truth a reality in them.

God is looking for true worshippers today, and will be this Sunday. Let’s approach worship in a way where we are desperate for Him to find us truly worshipping.

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. 

The first principle in the book Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom the author suggests that God owns everything and everything belongs to God.  

The author suggests that since God owns everything (including us) that we are just managers or stewards of what God has placed at our disposal. 

Do you agree or disagree with such a statement?  Why or why not?

Flora M. Kynard,  Director

Prosperity Renewal Ministries

www.prosperityrenewal.org

7 Ways to Sock Away Emergency Cash

Not having an emergency fund is the first step into the deep hole of debt.

With the economy forcing people to take a hard look at their finances, more people are realizing that they need to create an emergency fund, but how do you find the money to begin an emergency fund when you are just making ends meet?

Here are seven simple ways to find money to begin an emergency fund, which will allow you to create that all-important buffer for your finances.

1. Rearrange Your Current Costs
The least painful way to create an emergency fund is to rearrange the way you currently spend your money without actually giving up anything.

Chances are that you are paying much more than you need to be for a lot of the services you currently subscribe to such as cable TV, Internet access and phone service.

Calling these services with a competing offer in hand and asking for a better deal will often reduce the amount you are paying while keeping the exact same services you currently get.

The same can be done with home and car insurance as well. It usually costs companies much more money to find a new customer than it does to give you a discount, so they are often willing to give discounts to keep you from going to the competition.

You can then take the money you save to begin your emergency fund.

2. Play Saving Games
There are a number of saving games that you can play to get your emergency fund started. The most common of these is creating a money jar where you empty all your loose change at the end of each day, and collect the money at the end of the month to use for your emergency fund.

A wide variety of money games like this can serve the same purpose.

3. Increase Your Income

If you have already tapped all the ways that you know how to save money, another option is to make some extra money.

There are a number of ways that you can accomplish this, including finding a part-time job, doing freelance work or starting your own side business.

You can begin a number of jobs that cost very little money to create, and the extra money gained can become your emergency fund.

4. Sell Stuff

In all likelihood, you have way more stuff in your home than you need. A simple walk around you home looking into the closets, garage and other storage spaces should readily confirm this.

If you haven’t used it in the past year, you probably don’t need it. Instead of keeping it in storage and letting it gather dust, have a garage sale, put it up for sale on Craigslist or list it as an auction on eBay.

Set aside any money earned to initiate your emergency fund.

5. Pay Yourself

The reason that the IRS takes money out of people’s paycheck each month is because if they didn’t, they know that most people wouldn’t have the money to pay their tax bill come April 15. They want to make sure they get their money, so they take it upfront.

You should have the same attitude with your emergency fund and pay yourself first when your paycheck arrives. Have a set amount taken out of each paycheck before you pay any other bills that gets transferred into your emergency fund.

Another way to accomplish the same goal is to finish paying off a recurring bill such as a credit card or car payment. Instead of using this newly freed up money to buy new things, keep paying it, but this time to yourself earmarked for your emergency fund.

6. Set Up an Account

When setting up an emergency fund, you will want to open up a separate account so that the emergency fund money isn’t mixed in with your regular spending money since mixing makes it much easier to spend the emergency fund money on nonemergency things.

Online banks often offer money promotions for opening accounts, which can get your emergency fund started just for setting it up.

7. Pay Yourself for Things You Use

One of the easiest ways to always have an emergency fund available is to learn to pay yourself to use things you already own.

Getting into this habit ensures you have a mini emergency fund for all the things you use on a regular basis and puts you in a position of never having to buy things on credit again.

Embrace one of the above ways to begin the emergency fund, and give yourself a bit of breathing room.

* excerpt from Jeffrey Strain article at TheStreet.Com.