The apostle Paul says:
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We renew our minds to the Word of God and transform ourselves by that word conforming ourselves to God's word and when we do this we bless ourselves by doing the Word instead of living the way this world lives.
So we look at some of the things God tells us in the Bible:
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💥 Concerning money and living in debt:
Deuteronomy 28
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
12 The LORD shall open unto thee HIS good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in HIS season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God,
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As a new Christian in l975, one of the first things brought to my mind by God was to get out of debt and stay out of debt.
I thought this over and agreed to do this and set my life from then to this present day to live debt free.
If I don't have the cash money, I don't purchase the object.
This may seem like an hard yoke to some of you who have lived the way of this world, charging now and paying later, but really the burden of debt causes you to live beneath that which God plans for HIS people and puts you into a life set by patterns of this world.
What did God say in the Bible?
The king of Sodom tried to bless Abraham. What did Abram say to the king of Sodom?
Genesis 14
23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
When I read this long ago, I said to God. "That is the way I want to live, like Abraham lived. I want my possessions on the earth to come from God and not from man."
Those who live by ways of man and plans of this world will go down with this world.
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The New Testament Bible shows us the way of God and how to live today:
I Timothy 6
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But 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.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
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(Comments by Joan Boney)
I got out of debt in 1976 and I never again bought anything unless I could pay cash for that thing. Even concerning houses and cars, I never went into debt. I rented an apartment until I could pay to have house built. I drove an old car until I could pay cash for a car. God made a way for me to have both cars and multiple houses but I refused to go into debt to get such.
Since my house was debt free, when I sold that house in 2020, I put the money into my bank. I was approximately 81-years-old at that time. God had shown me I could no longer live alone. Also I had broken an hip the second time in a fall and also had a badly broken left wrist. I was in an hospital in Lubbock, Texas, after having surgery. God told me I would never see my house in Texas again. So I put that house up for sale. I didn't know where I would go but I did know God had a plan and if HE left me on the earth HE would work out where I would live and when I would live there.
Acts 17:26 ... (God) hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
In the summer of 2018, God led Pam Padgett to begin a construction project at her home in Colorado. She converted a downstairs study into a downstairs bedroom and added a shower to her downstairs 1/2 bath which is across from the new downstairs bedroom.
The construction was completed in January 2019.
In February 2019, God arranged for me to move into that newly constructed area, where I've lived since the time it was built.
Pam did not want to take any money for me to live there but I insisted on paying $500 a month. When my house in Texas sold, I began paying $1,000 a month.
The great thing is this: Pam has the same Holy Spirit of God that I have!
And we have both been taught by God so we have no debt.
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You want to bless your family, but are you doing this in a godly way or are you doing this in the way of this world?
In 1960, I moved to Dallas, Texas. A very strange article appeared in The Dallas Morning News. They told of a new way of life. Plastic cards would take the place of money. We couldn't image such a thing as this.
By 1990, I was charging everything on Master Card. But I didn't charge anything unless I had the money to pay in full at the end of each month.
Master Card wrote telling me they wanted me to consolidate all my debt with them. I replied, "But I have no debt."
They cancelled my Master Card!
I took out a VISA card and have had VISA since that time. And have continued paying in full at the end of each month. They first gave me a $500 credit limit. The last time I looked, they had raised the credit limit to $15,000. I did not change my life at all. I do not purchase anything unless I can pay in full at the end of the month.
Recently I had a dream. God showed me everything would be all right if people paid the debt they owed but they wouldn't and terrible consequences followed.
That is where we are NOW as a people and as a nation. The results will be devastating.
None of us can continue to live the way of this world. Heed the scriptures. Change your way if needed and go in the way shown us in I Timothy 6.
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Concerning other things people do:
I Corinthians 6:9-10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers (harsh speakers one to another), nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers (harsh speakers one to another), nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
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Jesus said:
Matthew 7:13-14
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
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