Money Management

Let's not duck the issue - everyone needs money! At the same time money needs managing. If not, you can have a big money income and still be in debt. Money management in the home has to be looked at from three angles ­

. the supply of money

. the use of money

. and not losing money

On top of this, you have to consider your relationship to money - how do you think about it, what's your attitude towards it.

There are Christians who don't want to talk about money. However, the New Testament talks a lot about it. For example, in Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells a parable about money entrusted into people care. We see in the parable an expectation that money is to be managed profitably.

Money comes into our hands for us to administer in love, faith and wisdom.

God's financial plan

In Deuteronomy 8:18 God through Moses said, "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant, which He swore to your fathers.

From these, it is clear that far from being averse to money, Rather, He gives us the power to get wealth. However, He wants us to have the right attitude about it. He wants us to recognise where wealth comes from when it comes to a godly person. He wants us to recognise what wealth has been given for.

Power to get wealth is available with God. So what do we need to do? We need to remember God and recognise His plan for wealth in the hands of godly men and women.

The supply of money

God wants to have something to bless in your life, something that His power to get wealth can be applied to. This is why He exhorts us to be involved in an honest work project. This will give Him something to work with something He can bless (empower to prosper) Through the Apostle Paul God instructs us that "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs. Ephesians 4:28 – KJV

We're being given a principle here. The principle is that once your hands are on some project - one God can work alongside you on - then He's got something to increase and to prosper. He promises to do this to the point where you'll not only be meeting your own needs but meeting the needs of others too!

Blessed, not cursed

You ask, "If that is so then why isn't every Christian person who's working visibly doing well financially?" Ultimately, the answer to that comes down to this - most Christians are ignorant of the extent of the redemption Jesus accomplished for them through the cross!

Amazingly, many Christians continue to live under what the Bible calls the curse. The curse is the term the Bible gives to the condition man came under through Adam's sin. This condition is that of having to eke out a living by hard labour and then finding much of it is destroyed by disease, theft and simple decay.

I'm sure you recognise that condition! You may even think it inevitable, yet Christ has set Christians free from that curse by His sacrifice on the cross! Here's how the Bible declares it Galatians 3:13-14 – NKJV

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree') that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.

An expectation of increase

What do you need to do in response to this? You need to personally accept Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice so you can walk away from the curse! Accept Jesus as your Redeemer and receive His redemption.

If you haven't done so already pray like this, "Our Father in heaven I accept Your Son, Jesus, as my personal Saviour and Redeemer. I accept the sacrifice He made for me on the cross. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen."

Do this and you can change your expectation of what's coming to you in life! You can start rejecting conditions that reflect the curse and expecting conditions that reflect the blessings. (Deuteronomy 28 lists the blessings and curse.)

You should do this by prayer through the leading and power of the Holy Spirit. You will also need to do this in every day speech. Your speech needs to come to reflect your new expectation. What you sayin life needs to reflect what you expect in life for what you say to a large extent determines what you get!  

Our money source

Most people spend their lives worrying about money. They focus on a job or something else as their supply source. In the face of this, you need to realise that your job or the "work of your hands" is only a delivery van. Your source of supply is God. For this reason David used to sing to himself, Psalm 62:5 - NKJV

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation (of supply and salvation) is from Him.

Start saying and singing the same thing to yourself. You can be relying on the promise apostle Paul gave,

My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus Philippians 4: 19 - NKJV

Bring this promise to God in prayer. Say, "Father, I have a need and I look to You as my supplier. Here's Your promise."

Money and giving

If you're a Christian, you're a steward of money God has given you. God has given money and substance to you for your use to His glory.

God expects you to be a giver. Giving is an act of love. Giving serves the kingdom of God . Giving is sowing, knowing a harvest will come from it. The one who gives needs to give like a farmer sows a seed - he commits it to the ground but he knows a harvest is going to come to him from it. Jesus declared,

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. Luke 6:38 - KJV

Money and security

God also expects you to be a tither. Abraham was a tither and we read specifically of his grandson, Jacob, committing himself to giving his tithe also. Both of these men gave the

first ten percent of their increase (the tithe) back to God and both of them came to enjoy great wealth and security. (Gen.14: 18-24; 28:15-22)

The tithe seals your financial relationship with God. It makes a faith statement that honours Him as the One who has set things up for you so you can live well. As His part of this relationship God promises you financial security. This is what He has promised in Malachi 3: 1 0-11 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.

Pastor Simon - Cheltenham, UK.
http://www.teachingpages.co. uk