Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
How often do you think about money?
I find I rarely think about money.
Getting out of debt and staying out of debt ... About 30 years ago, I saw I needed to get out of debt and stay out of debt. Debt is a type of "stop sign"... I learned to live within (or below) my means ...
The way of this world is to borrow money and to use other people's money to get ahead in this world.
This is not what God showed me.
Jesus says no man can serve two masters. You can't be thinking of money and serve God at the same time.
Mt. 6 ... Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
All of these verses fit together to show us the way of God for us on this present earth.
The daily focus in on God and the Word of God. If we are thinking about accumulating things or money, we are going in the wrong way.
Amazingly, I have not focused on getting things and miraculously (bit by bit) wonderful things have been added to my life.
I didn't try to get a sound system but I ended up with a very good sound system. I never even thought about acquiring any of these components but as years went by, I lived below my means, yet having all I needed, and money accumulated without my thinking of money and without my trying to save money. Then my sound guy would call and let me know of some component and when I considered it, I always found I had money to buy it if it suited me.
In 1985, I moved to Clovis, NM (USA) to help my mother. That same year, someone ran into my 1972 car. It was badly damaged. It would cost about $900 to repair the car. It would cost about $17,000 to replace the car. I had more than $900 but not anywhere near $17,000. So I had the car repaired. But this also alerted me to the cost of cars at that time. (I was very out of touch with the prices of cars.) I still didn't try to save for car. I just lived within my means (or below my means). Still I had plenty. A few years later, I had the money to buy car so I changed cars. I bought new car in 1994 and paid cash for the car. I'm still driving that car.
If you are in debt, you will be focused on money. If you are living beyond your means or at the top of your means, you will likely be concerned and focused on money.
When you keep the following before you day and night and live according to this instruction, everything will change. Paul said: But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. I Tim. 6
If you are in debt, the first step is to get out of debt. Many years ago, when I set about to get out of debt, of course I prayed, asking God to help me. I began to cut back on what I was spending and put everything possible toward paying off the debt. I found there were a great many things I just did not need. I even cut back on small things. When I was out, I didn't purchase such things as coffee or tea with meals. That was unnecessary expense. Everthing was put toward paying the debt. I continued to try to focus daily on what God wanted me to do and withing a few months the way had been made where all debt was resolved.
At that time I lived in apartment. I could afford rent but I couldn't afford to pay for house. I lived within my means, doing what I could pay for. I know it seems wise to borrow money for housing. That is debt and I chose not to go that way. When I moved to Clovis, my mother lived in a trailer house. It was parked on a lot which we owned. I considered buying a trailer to put beside her trailer but then I realized with her money and what I had accumulated we had enough money to have two apartments built on that lot. This is what I did. Through the 18 years I took care of my mother, money accumulated. After she died, I had enough to build a house in Lubbock, TX.
Money goes out ... then there is a time money accumulates. I just try to focus on God, on Bible, on doing what I believe I'm shown that day, and stay our of debt, there is a way to avoid the focus on money and keep focus on God. And all these things are added unto you just as Jesus said it would be in Mt. 6.