What 'on earth' is God's financial design for us

The more that I reflect on God's design for our finances, I really believe that we are missing the mark. God promises to give us all that we need. What does that look like. Is it that new van, that new house, that new wardrobe, the new furniture, the sporting events we attend? or are these things a false hope that blind us from the true heart of God. I am really starting to believe that the worlds system has trapped us into a place where we are bound by financial debt. It is my goal to find out what the biblical intent is for God's people in the area of finances. I know that God says in Romans 13:8 'Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law'. By no means do I state that I have the answers, however I do feel that we are under the world system and need to break free from that. We serve a God that has all of the resources in the world (literally). I keep thinking about the parable of the talents. The man entusts three men with his money, then goes away leaving the money at their disposal. I'll bet the first man really wanted a new camel, and thought 'hey I deserve this camel, I have had my old camel for years and hey I now have 4 more talents, that I didn't have before'...but intead he invested it and got a 100 % return on his investment. The third man hid the money and got nothing back with the money that was given him. How much are we like that. God gives us money and we go spend it on 'good things' yet all the while we don't get a return on our investment (except house buying) The master blessed those that were faithful with his finances and he entrusted more to them. However the one that squandered his money and didn't put it to work, lost his money and his masters blessing. This is where I question our spending, are we missing out on God's true blessing in finances because we are being too quick to bury it? What could happen if we truly got ourselves out of debt and learned to live within our means? I beleive that then God could truly have dominion over our finances and we would recieve the masters blessing. I know I want to hear "Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; (the test) now (the blessing) I will put you in charge of many things. Come and enter into your master's happiness"

Transformations

I am extremely excited about where my church is heading. We are about to embark on a journey that is based on biblical truth and following the Lordship of Christ. There is a format that we are following and it basically calls people to account for the way they are living their lives. Are we honoring God or ourselves. The next 12 weeks could be pivotal for many folks. This will also be very stretching as there is a big emphasis on discipline and personal bible study. I have the honor of assisting another person in leading a group. This is based on the cell structure of 10-12 people in their own homes. I was praying about this a few weeks ago and I realized that this process is the very thing that my writing on "dainties" was speaking to. Overseeing the dainties and eating the meal. This Transformations series is going to be an opportunity for people to start eating meat....The word of God, then aligning their life appropriately.

"I miss you"

About a month ago, as I was spending some time with God and he said "I miss you" I said,'What? I'm right here father, what do you mean?' He said "I miss your heart!!" WOW I was floored. He started to share with me that I have been so caught up on seeking the truth that I started to drift away from his heart. he told me very boldly, "Don't allow yourself to lose your simple heart.....if you lose it you will never have the chance to get it back". So lately I have been trying to settle down and get back to the simple things in my relationship with God. Man do I ever have so much to balance. I take things and go full tilt on them, then come back and go, oh wow I need to retrace my steps. For some reason God seems to be taking me back to the basics....the simple things....spending time with him...just to be with him...walking in integrity...keeping my word....serving my church....praying for my pastor...Loving my wife unconditionally (which by the way he has asked me to start courting her again....doing the simple things to show her my love) Loving my children and teaching/raising them to live based on their gifts...Making him Lord over every aspect of my life....This is going to be a very exciting journey. So often I get caught up in doing "good' things yet I totally miss the point....doing all to the glory of God. What an amazing God we serve, that he has grace enough to allow us to stumble long enough to realize that we need a different road, then viola he shows us his plan. My intention is to get back the the core of my walk with Christ. Then grow from there....or not. I think that we all need to get to the place where we can truly stay in God's presence and be content to stay there always.

The Prayer of Jabez

The Prayer of Jabez

“ And Jabez called on the God of Israel”

The fact that Jabez “called” on God indicates to us that Jabez was already
in relationship with God. The fact that Jabez called on the God of Israel
tells us that he knew who he was praying to.
Jabez was a very lonely and insecure man. He was ridiculed, teased and
put down all his Life. His heart ached for something more, something better,
anything was better than the situation that he was in. Jabez had the faith in God
because he saw what God did before him. Jabez believed in what he prayed.

“Oh that you would bless me indeed”

All his life he watched other people rise up and move on in their lives.
They felt secure in who they were and they prospered in many things that they
did. “OH” states the urgency of his heart, he is desperate to see changes in
his life. “Indeed” speaks that Jabez was asking for a ‘true’ blessing.

“And enlarge my territory”

Jabez knew deep down that there was more to life than he was
experiencing and he desperately desired that life. He was asking God to take
away the limited vision that he had, so that he could see the full picture, so
that he would experience that which he knew deep down was intended for him.

“That your hand would be with me”

Jabez knew that if God actually enlarged his territories, that he would
need God to lead him through it. He knew that he couldn’t go there on his
own. This also shows us the intimacy that Jabez had with God. Notice that he
doesn’t ask that God go with him. He asks for his hand. This speaks of the
utter dependence that Jabez had on God. If we hold on to the hand of God,
he will lead us to the places that he wants us to go. It also speaks of the danger
of walking into Gods territory without his hand. That is intimacy.

“And that would keep me from evil”

Let’s take a simple approach on this. Lets look at this for a moment.
Jabez asks God to bless him and enlarge his territory. In realizing this request,
Jabez knows that he cannot go there without the hand of God leading him,
which takes us to this portion of his prayer. In his life he had responded to
or retaliated to the ridicule that he received. A lot of this retaliation was of
an evil mind. He would plot to avenge himself and would often lash out or
respond violently. He knew of his tendencies and did not want to continue
in them. Looking at this in a deeper level, Jabez knew that he had the hand
of God with him which meant that if he walked towards evil things that he
would have to let go of Gods hand in order to pursue the evil act. In knowing
this, Jabez asks God to basically keep him accountable and to turn him
in a different direction. One could say it this way. “God I know that I will have
your hand as I walk, but there are times in my life God where I mess up and do
wrong things. I need you to hold on to me when I want to pursue these
things. Please don’t let me go. Just hold on and lead me away from evil”
As the famous quote from titanic “never let go”

“That I may not cause pain”

Jabez more that most knew what pain felt like. He lived his life rejected
, as an outcast/set apart. In knowing this pain, he desired to not cause any of
it himself. Jabez knew that when he participated in evil acts that it also caused
pain for other people. Again with the hand of God on him, he was convicted
to follow after the things of God, over his own sheltered view.
We can see that Jabez knew that doing evil and causing pain were
associated together. He knew that if he followed along, holding the hand of
God, that he would not sin, nor cause anyone pain.

“So God granted him what he requested”

We can see here that God saw the motivation of Jabez’ heart and ‘granted
him what he requested’. God saw that Jabez was tired of being hurt and
hurting people. Jabez was seeking after the things that he knew were there and
God was especially pleased that Jabez was seeking his hand.

I would be cautious to so that this prayer is a practical prayer for every
day life. If we think this way about this prayer, I believe that we will be missing
out on the full context of this prayer. This was a prayer of lament /repentance.
This was a prayer speaking to the very heart of Jabez. We should approach
this cautiously with open eyes so that we don’t take the prayer out of context.
I also believe that practical prosperity will always point to the spiritual health
of a person. If God is doing a major work in us spiritually, it will automatically
flow into our practical lives. Guaranteed.
So often as Christians we think that we receive practical things due to the
way we live or the way we pray but we need to realize that it is a
demonstration or testimony to what is happening in your spirit. I challenge you
to take this up with God and have him prove this to you.
I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

If you can't beat em, join em

I met with a friend a few weeks ago and we were talking about health and fitness. We were talking about the pharmaceutical industry. They have much control over the food department in our society as well as vitamins and herbs in some countries. They accually have researchers out there researching how long it will take for a person to get sick in order for them to offer their prolonged drugs. (they also research how they can prolong sickness) I was thinking about that while in Calgary and it was greatly concerning me. I came to the conclusion that things are not going to get much better...If not worst. So here is my thought. If I cant beat em, then why not join them!!! Pfizer, Inc, one of the top pharmaceutical companies had a tremendous growth period over the past ten years. In 1994 shares were $5 each where they are now $35 each. Shares raised 500% over ten years. I believe that we are going to see that figure double ot triple over the next decade. My intention is to invest in pharmaceutical companies and get a good return on my investment. The bible talks about being a good steward of our finances, putting it to work, so why not use a world system as a tool to possibly fund the kingdom of God in the long run? Hey this sounds wacked, but keep this in the back of your mind because I want to look back at this blog in ten years and be glad that I made this decision. I am convinced that God has a financial plan for his people but he needs them out of debt so that we can use finances as a tool in our hands. If I am wrong on this thought then I'm out a few dollars, but what a fun ride it will be to try this out. And if it does work then possibly God will allow me to share my experience with others to help them out.
One last thing. Obesity this year is the second cause of death and next year they are figuring it will be # 1. This has to tell us something about the going on behind the scenes. I intend to see it for what it is and use it to the glory of God.

Dainties

For the past year I have had a change of heart in my Christian walk. For 12 years I have been involved in the charismatic circle of Christians. In that time I learned much about healing, spiritual warfare, intercession, prophecy, worship, manifestations, Holy Spirit power, etc.
Back in February last year while having supper with a friend, he shared with me that he no longer believed in spiritual warfare the way that I have come to understand it to be, Rebuke this and cast that out. He also denounced the whole ‘spirit’ theory. For example “spirit of lust, spirit of rebellion, spirit of death etc. Based on 1 peter 2:3 In the months that followed I ran these things through my mind and started pondering the possibilities. This brings me to August 2003. I was in Calgary and while there I started to hunger for the word of God. When I returned home from Calgary, I decided to dive into scripture. I also started listening to the teachings of John MacArthur over the Internet. During that time I was getting more disturbed about the whole charismatic process so about a week into a study on ‘charismatic chaos’
I decided that I was going to lay aside all of the ‘dainties’ of Christianity. Let me explain what I mean by dainties. Take a look at Christian books in the Christian marketplaces. 98% of them are selling baked goods. For example; Power evangelism, Prophetic intercession, prayer of Jabez, Name it/claim it, healing, entering into the blessed life, moving in the office of the prophetic, how to be an apostle, anointing, Holy Spirit power, Gifts, Spiritual Warfare, etc. I could go on but you get the picture. Dessert is wonderful if it is enjoyed following a full, hearty, well balanced meal. Also dessert is offered only if there is enough room to eat it. At this point I want to fill up on a well balanced meal. Studying the word of God and expelling its truths, Spending time with God in prayer, fasting and thanksgiving. Worshipping God in spirit and in truth, giving him honor and respect, revering his name, keeping his commands and obeying him.
I am at the place right now where I could literally care less if I ever received another dainty again. In comparison to knowing biblical truth, walking in that truth, eating it daily, growing in relationship with God, knowing him better, understanding him better. There is no greater thing that I could possibly imagine. A good friend of mine summed it up this way “People need to stop seeking the hand of God and start focusing on the face and heart of God”. So now today , I sit here in the presence of my God writing down the things that are on my heart. I am totally prepared to walk away from charismatic practice or walk through it with a head of truth and wisdom to keep me from being swayed by every doctrine. Lord teach me your truths for only there will I rest.

To be in the world but not of the world

The Bible talks about Christians being in the world but not of the world. Over the past month or so I have been learning more about this. What does that mean?? What got me thinking about this was when I asked for a mere $10000 loan for a new vehicle. The loan officer that I was talking to mentioned that I didn't have enough history to qualify me. She said that I need to secure a loan or get a credit card or department store card. Then I would be able to start a positive credit history. I was talking with a friend later and he said "do you see what they are doing? They are trying to get you into debt" After pondering that I was praying and asking God, "how do I get a positive credit history without going into debt?" I believe that there is a way of using the worlds system against them. Get a credit card, use it once or twice a month and pay it off in full every month. Another area that I am looking into is RRSP or GIC loans. They are smaller loans that you can get through the bank and you have one year to pay it off. I prayed about this and God showed me a plan that is effective and will continue to use money lending as a tool in my hans rather than bondage. He basically showed me that fi I were to get a $500 loan from the bank, that I should try to have $500 elsewhere. That way I am getting the loan, building my credit and not going into debt all the while.
There are many area's that I am pondering in this world's, one being health and fitness, which I will share at a later date.
I believe with all of my heart that there is a way to use the world system to the glory and honor of our Lord Jesus Christ.
be as shrewd as a snake yet gentle as a dove'