* People want a sure thing ... but our faith in that which God has told us is a sure thing!

Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to Ephesians 4:11-12.

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Pam Padgett, put her car up for sale.  Her friend was interested in buying Pam's car.  The friend borrowed the car and took it to her mechanic to examine the car.  That seemed so strange to me for she knows Pam well and should know Pam would conceal nothing from her concerning the car.  Further she knew Pam took good care of the car through the years and the car was priced at a low price for the quality of the car, $6,500.  A new car of the same model and equipment would cost $55,000.



The people who bought my house in Texas wanted a sure thing so they hired a man to inspect the house.  They seemed to need a guarantee from another human.  The inspector found a few very minor things wrong at the house.  (He was being paid to find things wrong, so of course he had to find things wrong to justify the amount he was being paid by the buyers.) The buyers could have fixed these things themselves but they wanted me to fix them. 

So I just added $7,000 to the price of the house to allow me to fix these things.  I didn't know how much it would cost, so I had to guess at the cost, and I raised the price of the house to cover the cost.

It ended up costing less than $3,000 to fix the items.  The buyers could have saved $4,000 by just fixing these things themselves.

Being wise in your own eyes can cost you money.  But this is the way people of this world live.

Also the people who bought my house wanted a "warranty" which cost $600.  I added this to the cost of the house and these people ended up paying for that warranty themselves.

Recently I had some sound materials added to a car.  They tried to charge me $700 for insurance on the speakers.  I told them I did not want that insurance.  The way I live is this:  If I can afford to replace the item. I don't buy insurance.  If I cannot afford to replace the item, then I will consider insurance, such as on a house or medical supplement.  I had difficulty in getting the store manager to remove the insurance from the cost of the project.  But I insisted and he removed the insurance.

We had exactly the same problem when we purchased the car.  They added insurance.  We insisted that they remove this insurance.  They really fought us.  But we did get the insurance removed.  The dealer must make a great deal by getting people to buy these "warrantees".

Pam's neighbor, Jim, a retired Marine, bought warrantee on his house but he could never get them to fix anything.  When it broke, they just said, "The warrantee does not cover that."

I manage to have money left over after purchasing something and I keep that money in my savings and pay for the item, if something goes wrong.  I find it is less expensive for me to do it that way.

But I find the people of this world usually want this world to protect them.  And often it ends up costing them more than it would have cost if they had just saved money to replace that item after the lifetime of the item.

Also when something goes wrong, the company issuing the "insurance" sometimes files bankruptcy if there are too many claims and they don't cover the warrantee anyway.

It is better to trust in God than to put your trust in humans.

I like to be sure God is showing me to make "that" purchase.  That is my peace.  But this world has no peace in God.  Their peace is in their plans.  It is a very hard way of life.

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Proverbs 3

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge HIM, and HE shall direct thy paths.

7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

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Does God approve the purchase you are considering?

To me, this is the starting point.  I ask God this question, "Should I buy this? or should I do this?

Examples:

* Fireplace:  changing from gas to wood burning

One day I was driving down highway and a pick-up carrying a load of firewood pulled up beside me.  I looked at the wood and thought, "I'd like to have a wood burning fireplace."  The thought came from the Holy Spirit, "You can have that!"

Before this moment, I had never thought of changing my fireplace from gas logs to wood burning!

I called the fireplace store immediately and inquired about this change and the cost.  I called firewood delivers and inquired about the cost of firewood.  I arranged that same day to have the fireplace changed.  It worked out great for me.  I had plenty of money to make that change and to purchase firewood.  I lived with wood burning until I moved from that house.

(One thing I don't understand ... If God, by HIS Spirit, shows you to do something, why are you hesitating to do that thing shown you by God?)  

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* Defective TV:  what God showed me to do.

I made a mistake in purchasing a TV.  (I don't even recall praying about which brand of TV to purchase.)  The dealer said he would come over and calibrate the TV, but he never would schedule this.  I knew this dealer would not come and fix the TV.  The screen has streaks on the picture.  I was constantly trying to tune the set to make the streaks less visible.  

One day while I was tuning the TV, I heard the following from the Holy Spirit, "You don't have to put up with that."

I thought about what I'd just had brought to my mind.  I knew it was God showing me this.

I replied, "That's right!  I can just buy another TV and have the defective TV carried away.  I have plenty of money to do this."

I went out that same day and looked at TV's and bought a new TV and arranged to have it delivered and to have the defective TV removed.

This was not wisdom in the sight of man but it was wisdom for me in the sight of God in dealing with this situation.

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James 3

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

James 3

14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

If we are trying to impress someone, we are already in trouble.  My cleaning woman once came to me and said, "Don't you ever feel you have to keep up with the Joneses."  I was shocked? and replied, "NO".

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I do not buy anything unless I have the cash to pay in full for the item, and have cash left over after purchasing that item.

God told me this in 1975, when I was born again:  "Get out of debt ... and stay out of debt."

I did that by 1976 and have never been in debt again since that time, not even for a house.

I believe this is the better way to live.

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God shows me incredible things to do which allows me to accumulate money whereby I can afford to pay for things I never thought of buying.

* Houses
* Sound equipment for car
* Home theater equipment

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Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Ephesians 4

20 Now unto HIM  that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

The power of God that works in us is the Holy Spirit.  As we follow the Holy Spirit, one step at a time, everything falls in line for us in ways that later amaze us.

The people of this world strive and plan to get things of this world.  We just follow God by HIS Spirit and things appear around us in our lives.  It is amazing.

One scripture at a time ... 

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