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Chapter 1
Get Out Of Debt
Jesus says:
Matthew 6:24 No 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.
*****
If you take a job for money, you are on a very common worldly course of life.
I see young people at grocery stores and at businesses, like Wal-mart, who have taken job for money and hate being at that job. Their countenance shows their dislike of what they are doing. Their entire disposition is negatively affected and they are often setting their way of life for the years to come, going from one job to another to get more money thinking that will cause their life to be better, never realizing they are dooming their lives by their pursuit.
I see young people at grocery stores and at businesses, like Wal-mart, who have taken job for money and hate being at that job. Their countenance shows their dislike of what they are doing. Their entire disposition is negatively affected and they are often setting their way of life for the years to come, going from one job to another to get more money thinking that will cause their life to be better, never realizing they are dooming their lives by their pursuit.
*****
Pam Padgett, from our little church group, told the following very interesting story of wanting contact lenses as a young girl and going out to try to get money to buy what she wanted, thinking the lenses would make her more attractive, not realizing what would happen as she tried to work at a job she hated.
Pam said:
When I was in high school I wore eye glasses. At one point I decided I wanted to get contacts to use instead of glasses, thinking they would make me look more attractive. But my mom told me I couldn't get contacts because they were too expensive. So I decided to get a job to earn money to buy contacts myself.
In the small town where we lived there was a fast food place called Dairy Boy. My older sister had worked there in the past and really liked it, so I thought this would be fun for me as well.
They hired me, but I found I didn't like the job.
At first I tried to explain away that I didn't like working there, such as that I just needed to get used to it.
Finally, I realized that I just hated working there and decided to quit.
But I didn't quite have enough money saved for contacts, and this was like a hook for me.
Foolishly, I worked another couple weeks. I was miserable this whole time, and know it would have been far better for me to have just quit when I realized how much I hated this job and not keep working until I had the money for the contacts.
(And after putting myself through this, I landed up not even getting the contacts. My mom wouldn't allow me to buy them.)
When I was in high school I wore eye glasses. At one point I decided I wanted to get contacts to use instead of glasses, thinking they would make me look more attractive. But my mom told me I couldn't get contacts because they were too expensive. So I decided to get a job to earn money to buy contacts myself.
In the small town where we lived there was a fast food place called Dairy Boy. My older sister had worked there in the past and really liked it, so I thought this would be fun for me as well.
They hired me, but I found I didn't like the job.
At first I tried to explain away that I didn't like working there, such as that I just needed to get used to it.
Finally, I realized that I just hated working there and decided to quit.
But I didn't quite have enough money saved for contacts, and this was like a hook for me.
Foolishly, I worked another couple weeks. I was miserable this whole time, and know it would have been far better for me to have just quit when I realized how much I hated this job and not keep working until I had the money for the contacts.
(And after putting myself through this, I landed up not even getting the contacts. My mom wouldn't allow me to buy them.)
*****
Later, as a young adult, Pam had another experience in the work place and this time she took the path which would bring great success and that path was turning to God with the work problem when she found she was in a job where she was bored.
Pam says:
Many years ago I didn't know what kind of work I wanted to do, but had very strong secretarial skills and accepted a job at a bank as a secretary.
My manager was an attorney and CPA and I found the work interesting for the first couple years.
But then I found that I was becoming bored with the work.
So I turned to God and told HIM how bored I was and asked if there was any kind of work I could do that would be interesting to me.
About that time (approximately 1986) my manager asked if I would setup and start using two personal computers that had been given to our department but were not being used. One had never been taken out of the box. I told my manager I'd be glad to do this, but that I didn't know anything about computers. I suggested taking some computer classes, and he agreed.
I got a list of courses offered at a community college and reviewed it with my manager. We selected two courses. One course was called "Basic" and we both thought this would be a good choice since I needed a "basic" understanding of computers.
But the first night of the Basic class, I learned that the class taught the computer programming language called "Basic".
As soon as the instructor started talking about programming, I knew very strongly that programming is what I wanted to do, that it "fit" me.
As I drove home that night I kept thanking God and saying "This is it!" I knew God led me to a kind of work that would be interesting to me. I landed up programming for more than 20 years and very much enjoyed this work. I retired as a computer programmer at Fed Ex.
*****
(Comments by Joan Boney)
Every morning of my life, I can't wait to get out of bed and go to work. (I'm almost 87 now.) I love what I do. This is truly a blessing from God to feel this way daily. (I exhort the church daily on blog: Jesus Ministries Exhortations.
Every morning of my life, I can't wait to get out of bed and go to work. (I'm almost 87 now.) I love what I do. This is truly a blessing from God to feel this way daily. (I exhort the church daily on blog: Jesus Ministries Exhortations.
***
Yet this is the way each person who belongs to God should be ... in "green pastures" beside those "still waters".
Psalm 23 ... The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. HE maketh me to lie down in green pastures: HE leadeth me beside the still waters.
*****
When we live the scriptures, we end up in a position where there is no "need" ... there is no "lack"... There is no "want".
We find we even have an abundance, more than we ever imagined in both material things and in peace of mind.
It does not happen accidentally.
We find we even have an abundance, more than we ever imagined in both material things and in peace of mind.
It does not happen accidentally.
***
It happens by starting with one scripture and following that
one scripture in your life, putting your trust in God by doing what HE
says to do, going in HIS way rather than in the way of worldly wisdom.
Few people, even as Christians, arrive at this position.
It take a determination to do the Word of God and to continue doing that Word.
It comes down to faith in God.
We start with one verse of scripture.
*****
I was born again in 1975. At that time, I owned a small business in Dallas, Texas. (American Indian Arts)
I saw the following scripture, and believed it, and set about to do it.
I saw the following scripture, and believed it, and set about to do it.
Romans 13:8
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another
*****
The starting point: Get out of debt ...
I kept that scripture in Romans 13:8 before me "day and night" to give me strength and direction, to keep me focused on the path of choice.
I prayed, asking God to help me to do this, to get out of debt. (and once out of debt, to stay out of debt)
If you are in debt, money can become an obsession so how can you not follow "mammon"?
If you are in debt, focused on money, that money can also become "a
love" in your pursuit, even if it is a small amount of money.
Money can, and usually does, cause us to make wrong choices and leads us into things we should not be in and even shipwrecks faith in God.
***
The apostle Paul teaches us this wisdom:
I Timothy 6 ... 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.
I Timothy 6 ... 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.
*****
To get out of debt,
we keep the scripture showing to us get out of debt before our eyes and
we sincerely pray, asking God to help us to get out of debt. And we
follow the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth and guides us
continually when we are of God.
It is amazing what happens when you keep a scripture before you day and night, thinking upon the goals, instructions, set forth through that scripture.
In time, you find you have strength to do that
instruction. It may take a week, a month, a year but it will come to
pass when you think upon that scripture, making it your goal in life to
do it. So much of the strength we have in God lies on meditating in the Word of God with a desire to do that verse of scripture.
*****
God gave instruction to Joshua whereby he could replace Moses and lead HIS people into the promised land.
Our assignment differs from Joshua's assignment, but the path to success is identical for Joshua and for us.
Joshua 1:7-9 ... Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.
Our assignment differs from Joshua's assignment, but the path to success is identical for Joshua and for us.
Joshua 1:7-9 ... Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.
8 This book of the law shall not depart
out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
9 Have not I commanded thee? (Isn't this the will of God for you?)
*****
You see what we have here ... God's path to success ...
- Keep that Word from God before you day and night and think on that instruction
- Do all that you see to do toward the fulfillment of that instruction
- Isn't it the will of God for you?
*****
As I began working on getting out of debt, keeping that Romans 13:8 instruction before me to give me motivation and strength ... courage ... I made various "small" adjustments in my life daily.
I recall choosing not to buy a second comb for my hair, but to get by with the one I already had.
This is a very small issue but important in that it helped set a path for me.
I remember choosing not to purchase drinks with my meal. I would just drink water when eating out.
By my actions back then, I wasn't trying to save money ... I just didn't over indulge needlessly.
I'm sure there were many other things daily I did but I can't recall them.
Certainly my small cut back didn't make a dent toward paying my debt but it reconstructed my thinking, which was probably the first need toward the goal.
You must remember that all this time, I am focused on that scripture to "owe no man anything" (Romans 13)
... and I am praying daily, asking God to help me to get out of debt
... and I am trying daily to do what I believe I'm led to do by the Holy
Spirit.
Obviously that is going to work!
*****
Several months of this type of following God continued in my life.
I always prayed for God to lead me when I
would go out to buy art objects for my business. I spent only the amount
of money I had accumulated from sale of previous merchandise,
avoiding debt.
(Some people of this world would say, "Borrow money from bank to buy even more merchandise and make even more money, and to avoid extra trips to reservation to purchase items" ... but this is not what I chose to do. I chose to buy only that for which I had money to pay that day.)
Later, one of my best friends was a woman from radio audience in Dallas, who was a vice-president with Braniff Airlines. She said she had never heard of anyone running a business the way I ran my business. She said everywhere she had been they had taught her to use other people's money to make money. Within a year or so, Braniff Airlines filed for bankruptcy, closed operation and employees lost their jobs.
Before going on buying trips, I prayed for God to have the artists make the items before I got there. I prayed for God to show me which items to buy. I prayed for God to send out HIS angels to bring in the customers to my shop to buy those items.
(Some people of this world would say, "Borrow money from bank to buy even more merchandise and make even more money, and to avoid extra trips to reservation to purchase items" ... but this is not what I chose to do. I chose to buy only that for which I had money to pay that day.)
Later, one of my best friends was a woman from radio audience in Dallas, who was a vice-president with Braniff Airlines. She said she had never heard of anyone running a business the way I ran my business. She said everywhere she had been they had taught her to use other people's money to make money. Within a year or so, Braniff Airlines filed for bankruptcy, closed operation and employees lost their jobs.
*****
Before going on buying trips, I prayed for God to have the artists make the items before I got there. I prayed for God to show me which items to buy. I prayed for God to send out HIS angels to bring in the customers to my shop to buy those items.
Everything I bought sold!
This is how I ran my business.
*****
On one buying trip, I noticed an Indian rug. I knew nothing about rugs. My main knowledge was jewelry.
But I have learned that God often leads us by causing us to have an interest in something.
I just couldn't get that rug off my mind. I think it cost about $500. (this was in approximately 1976)
*****
I told him it was just an old Navajo rug.
He said, "Let me see it."
(I tried to discourage him but he insisted on looking at it.)
After seeing it, he asked, "How much?"
I replied: "Five-thousand-dollars."
Without any hesitation at all he said: "I'll take it." and began to write out a check to pay for the rug.
I was horrified! I tried to talk him out of buying this rug. I knew I had overpriced the rug by the current appraisal in the 1970's. He kept insisting on buying it as he was writing out a check for $5,000.
I said to him, "I'm not going to cash your check for a week. If you decide to return the rug during that time, I will give you your check back."
I never heard from him again.
I used his money to pay my debt.
*****
- Keep the scripture before you day and night to give you strength and purpose
- Pray continually for help from God
- Pay attention to strong interests that are inside you (God often leads us this way.)
*****
I receive several emails throughout the year from men who say they
are ministers. They tell of their many works and ask me for money or
Bibles.
I do not send money nor Bibles.
I know when a work is authored by God, we do not have to beg people for money, as these men are doing.
Psalm 37:25 ... David says ...
I have been young, and now am old;
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread.
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread.
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