Wealth

Are You Sowing Into Good Ground? 3 Ways to Know

When you give seed offerings to the Lord, are you sowing into good ground? How do you know if you’re sowing into good ground or bad ground? What makes the difference between the two?

People have been asking me a lot lately about the process of naming your seed when you sow an offering.

So, I want to share three keys today that will help you discern between good ground and bad ground. If you evaluate every ministry or church into which you sow in light of these three keys, you can tell pretty easily which is which.

These three keys will show you where your seeds will thrive, bringing you a thirty-, sixty-, or hundred-fold harvest … versus where your seeds may die in the ground (or bring you a stunted harvest at best).

Here are the three keys to distinguishing between good ground and bad ground: [Read more…] about Are You Sowing Into Good Ground? 3 Ways to Know

You Can Do THIS If You Get Serious About Money

Do you want to do great things with your finances, but you aren’t sure if it’s possible based on where you are today?

My friend, it doesn’t matter what your financial dream is. It IS possible if you get serious about money.

Maybe you dream of:

Having a paid-for house;
Getting out of credit card debt;
Owning and running a successful business;
Being so financially independent that you can travel as often as you want to;
Not having to show up to anybody else’s job;
Owning a business that provides jobs for other people (one of my greatest joys, personally);
Being able to afford anything (even if you choose not to spend money on certain things);
Not ever experiencing stress about your finances another day in your life; and
the very BEST of all: becoming a RADICAL giver. I mean giving things like scholarships, offerings, helping those experiencing homeless, helping single parents, helping widows and the aged, sponsoring missionaries, underwriting ministries, and SO MUCH MORE.

Do any of those dreams hit home with you?

Your financial dreams can happen.

I wrote more about it here, in my post answering the question “Does Great Wealth Come Suddenly?” … but I wanted you to hear some real-life stories today. So I asked a few of my colleagues in the financial blogging space for their stories, and they sent me some great stuff.

Read these short stories and testimonials about what regular people were able to do by getting really, really serious about money:

The Kingdom Equivalent of Flipping Real Estate

Let me start this post by saying that I think flipping real estate is great.

In fact, I would love to buy, renovate, and flip a house someday. But, this post is not about flipping real estate exactly; it’s about the Kingdom equivalent thereof. And it’s important that you understand first that I am NOT saying that flipping houses isn’t Kingdom, because it can be. Flip all the houses in the world, and make a bundle of money doing it. More power to ya. 🙂

But you will see what I mean below. I want to use flipping houses as an illustration for something amazing that God offers you for your finances in the Kingdom. Whew! (Wipes brow.) Now that we’ve got that more or less covered, let’s begin. 🙂

People who are skilled at construction and investments often flip houses because it’s a methodical way to gain a profit.

The theory is that if you identify a house that needs help but has potential, purchase that house for a song, and repair it–doing much of the work yourself–then you can sell it afterward and keep the profit. This is an appealing investment method–if people know what they’re doing–because it’s a pre-determined path to wealth. Buy low, sell high. Works every time.

Except for when it doesn’t: [Read more…] about The Kingdom Equivalent of Flipping Real Estate

Does Great Wealth Come Suddenly?

I recently received a letter from a precious reader asking me for advice. She was questioning herself and her faith in God’s promises. She was wondering if she might have imagined the promises she had been believing in.

This reader had a radical encounter with God one day. During that encounter, God promised her great wealth.

She believed Him and thanked Him. She was overwhelmed by His glory, and she worshipped God.

But then her family discouraged her.

Her family didn’t believe and didn’t agree. So now, she is left wondering if she imagined the whole thing.

And to that sister I say:

Dear sister, you did not make it up. God promises great wealth in His Word.

And if it’s in the Word, it’s for you. And if God promised it to you, He will fulfill that promise.

Now I want to talk about the hows and whys and whats about this subject, knowing full well that some people will be able to receive it, learn, grow, and reap the benefit from God’s promises. Other people won’t receive it. But I hope that you, precious reader, will be in the former group.

Here’s what you should know about great wealth:

Billionaire By-Laws: Spend No More Than Necessary

Want to know another Billionaire By-Law? Here it is:

Your income is a huge asset. It can propel you into huge levels of prosperity … but only if you keep enough of it in your hands. Give, yes. Tithe, yes. But after that, you’ve got to hold onto enough of the money that comes into your hands to carry out your mission.

This means:

Billionaires spend no more than necessary.

This Billionaire By-Law comes from David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby. In his book “More Than a Hobby,” Green talks about how important it is to keep costs down at Hobby Lobby. They do all kinds of things to help control their expenses and overhead:

They manufacture many items themselves;
They pay their employees well so employee morale will be high, and productivity will therefore be high also;
They don’t build stores in markets where the city business taxes are so high that the store would have to change its pre-labeled prices;
They offer manager bonuses for keeping store expenses like housekeeping and window-washing under control;
They started their own trucking company so they can transport their goods to their stores themselves–and they haul paid freight for other companies when their trucks are empty;
They offer manager bonuses for managing their payroll and staff well; and
They eliminate middlemen when they source products to sell, preferring to purchase their products factory-direct instead of from importers or wholesalers.* [1]

I’m so impressed with Green’s creativity in these matters.

The cool thing to me is that he’s not gypping anybody. He’s not being a tight-fisted moneygrubber. Actually, he’s being the opposite. He makes sure store managers take care of their employees, paying them a fair wage, and he treats customers well. So his money-saving strategies are not hurting anybody.

But you know what? Those money-saving strategies are helping a whole heap of people:

They’re providing nice products to customers at an affordable price.
They’re helping Green provide tons of jobs to Hobby Lobby employees across the country.
They’re building local economies everywhere there is a Hobby Lobby store.

Reading about Green’s techniques makes me think of my own household budget.

My husband and I live pretty frugally in some areas, but we aren’t careful like we should be in others. Groceries, for example, is a budget category that we have gone over on almost every month for many years.

We don’t eat out very much; who wants to eat out with a one-year-old? I prefer not to even leave the house right now, frankly. It’s very challenging to take the baby out at all. So when it comes to eating out, it’s not our cup of tea.

BUT, we do overspend on pre-packaged food just about every month. You know, the convenient foods:

microwave burritos;
frozen veggie burgers;
frozen Amy’s vegan microwave meals (hello, $5 apiece);
yogurts; and things like that. 🙁

But here are a few things that David Green, our billionaire role model, points out:

“We are determined to spend no more than necessary” (page 68).
“Any single thing has the power to tip over the boat” (page 72).
And the clincher: “Cost control in an organization should not be viewed as a chore. It is rather an indication of priority.”

Uh, ouch. Did you read what I read? Cost control is an indication of priority.

That’s rough. True, but rough on the ol’ flesh.

My husband will love it that I’m writing this, because he doesn’t need pre-packaged foods to be happy. He would eat cardboard boxes if he could. He doesn’t care about how food tastes and he doesn’t have cravings, ever. He eats because food is necessary to live. And he’ll participate in the eating of nice food, but he’d be just as happy without it.

But as for me … well, I am a different story.

I have cravings. I enjoy food. Love it. Food is great stuff. And when I’m craving something, I sure try hard to get it. Now. 🙂

Problem is, when it comes to craving pre-packaged convenience food, and I send our grocery budget into the red because I wasn’t willing to cook or whatever, that means we are literally eating our provision. We’re eating more of our income than we should be eating.

Listen again to this quote from David Green:

“Cost control in an organization should not be viewed as a chore. It is rather an indication of priority. What’s important enough to get us to spend our limited amount of resources, and what isn’t? No company in the world has “money to burn,”as the phrase goes. The most high-flying corporation today can hit the skids within a year or two if it doesn’t watch the outflow. Far better to manage the expenses with eyes wide open, keeping the proportions in line day after day, month after month, year after year” (page 79).

Now let me be clear: I am not a bad steward.

Er, of some things.

But I have to realistically confess that I am a bad steward of some other things. Is my house clean? Nope. Are my clothes hanging neatly in my closet? Nope. Do I spend too much on convenience food to eat at home? Yep.

I think we have to stop and take a good, hard look at things like this sometimes … like now.

Honestly, we are really frugal in some other ways:

We don’t have cable TV.
I haven’t been to a movie theater since Wonder Woman came out.
I rarely buy new clothes; I prefer to buy classic pieces instead, and I wear them until they wear out.
We have iPhones that are many, many years old.
We have one car that’s over 10 years old, and the other car is almost 20 years old.
We don’t buy the newest technology. I don’t have a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or anything else like that.
When we travel, we mostly travel for free with airline miles that we also got free.

So it’s not all bad. Most things, we’re pretty careful about. I’m just saying that I have to acknowledge, looking at reality, that I’m not as good a steward as I would like to think I am.

Boo. #JustBeingReal

What David Green said about expenses and priorities also convicts me.

If I have the desire to save more money–which I do, since we’re trying to pay off our house–then I should be more careful about everything, including the grocery budget. I shouldn’t assume that I’ll have money left, then proceed to carelessly eat it all in the form of yummy, delicious microwave burritos.

Can anybody else identify? Or am I preaching to myself only here?

So let’s talk about you; don’t leave this post thinking it’s nice to hear about all my mistakes. Let the Lord speak to YOU about this too. What are you overspending on? What are you even spending normal amounts on, but if you were honest you would have to admit that you can’t afford that thing in the first place?

We all have to get honest with ourselves. We all need to improve in some areas. And I know that I won’t stop overspending on microwave convenience foods if I don’t:

DECIDE to do things differently;
ASK God for help; and
Make the change now, cutting off the overexpense COLD TURKEY.

The Lord is always extending the invitation to us to “tighten it up,” as the old song goes.

No matter where we are right now, we can always improve. We can always come up to a higher level of wisdom. Where are our priorities? How much of our income are we keeping (after we tithe, of course), and how much are we throwing out the window on frivolous spending?

I want to learn from billionaires.

It’s pretty obvious that anybody with that kind of money has some things to teach me that I’m not living out yet. Same for you, right? 🙂

So, I’m asking Father God right now to really convict me with a big, huge heart change that will keep me on track even when I’m standing in the freezer aisle at Publix. I want to be a good steward in every area, so I can be wealthy in every area.

How about you? Please leave a comment below and tell me how you are doing with this billionaire by-law!

[1] These facts are from David Green’s book More than a Hobby, pages 63-79.

Making War On the Spirit of Poverty

I’m over it. Absolutely over it.

“Over what?” you ask.

I’m OVER seeing the demon spirit of poverty wreak havoc on God’s people.

The demon of poverty is a liar. It’s a demon, and therefore one of the devil’s minions–and there is no truth in the devil or any of his minions. Jesus told us this in John 8:44, when He said to those who mocked Him and argued with Him:

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

There is no light in the devil. Only darkness. And the devil only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. John 10:10 says:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

One of the biggest ways the devil steals, kills, and destroys is through the lies that his spirits of poverty tell to God’s people …

And the people of God eat it up.

Seriously. God’s people love the demon spirit of poverty.

It seems to me that the spirit of poverty is one of the church’s most cherished demons. People who listen to and embrace this spirit are all about it. They love what it tells them:

They love the demon spirit of poverty more than they love God’s Word about how God wants to bless them.
They love the demon spirit of poverty more than they love God’s Word about how they should do business.
They love the demon spirit of poverty more than they love God’s Word telling us how both churches and ministries of any kind should be run.
They love the demon spirit of poverty more than they love the people they try to serve; for they are rendered ineffectual at truly serving God’s people by the poverty-ways and poverty-demonology they teach.
And since God magnified His Word above His name, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and since the Word of God is God’s entire, inerrant, infallible message to men, and it says that people should obey it wholeheartedly … people who embrace the spirit of poverty love this demon more than they love God.

It’s sad. Truly sad. Heartbreaking, even. And I’m fed up with it.

I desire to completely eradicate poverty from the Body of Christ.

Too big a goal, you say? No, it isn’t. God has always used individual people to shift the revelation in His Body into closer alignment with His Word. Look at:

John the Baptist, shouting out that the Lamb of God had arrived.
Martin Luther, nailing the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, to protest the sinful sale of forgiveness of sins (“indulgences”).
Reformers like John Knox, Huss, and so many others who each had messages to the Body.
Billy Graham, who brought the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ to public awareness, and his preaching brought many to salvation.
Franklin Hall, who re-dug the old well of corporate, extended fasting and prayer in the early 1940s, which ultimately resulted in the healing revivals, the Latter Rain outpouring, the thrusting out of many evangelists into the harvest field, and ultimately, resulted in Israel becoming a state.
Dutch Sheets, who pioneered the modern-day intercessory prayer movement in the 1970s–and now it’s going strong today.
Lou Engle, who has mobilized a generation to fast and pray for the ending of abortion in America.
Bill Johnson, whose message teaching again what the Kingdom of God is–“on earth as it is in Heaven”–has radically revolutionized the Christian walk of everyone who has an ear to hear.

I could go on and on, but I hope that you get the message.

God has always used one willing person to convey the message of His heart for a generation.

Jonathan Edwards, one of my heroes–the famous preacher from the First Great Awakening–said it something like this:

“Resolved, to live my life as if God has chosen one person to change the world in my generation, and I were that one.”

That sentence makes me gasp, then cry, then whisper. Because each of us is that one if we are willing to be … and I am that one when it comes to preaching the Word about the abundance of God.

But like every message, God’s Word is “he who has an ear to hear, let him hear.”

Some people don’t want to hear. They don’t want to hear because:

They don’t want to submit to God and His Word.
They don’t want to take responsibility for their part in the error in which they walk.
They don’t want to accept every believer’s responsibility as clearly defined in Scripture: that the violent must take the Kingdom of Heaven by force (Matthew 11:12).

But other people do desire to hear. They choose to hear.

They choose to hear because they examine the pages of Scripture, and what God prescribes therein is clearly seen lacking in their lives. They see Scriptural promises about:

How you’re going into a good land, flowing with milk and honey;
How God will give you vineyards you did not plant; houses you did not build; and wells you did not dig;
How you shall–repeat, SHALL, which is a command–lend to many NATIONS, but never borrow;
How you will have a land of plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine;
How your God shall supply ALL your needs according to His RICHES in glory in Christ Jesus;
How YOU, yes you, are to have worldwide influence for the Gospel (Malachi 3);
How the Lord will open the windows of Heaven for you and pour you out so much blessing that His provision overflows all your need;
How all the blessings God gave Abraham belong to you too;
and so many, many more.

People with ears to hear look at these Scriptures and so many more, compare them to what they see in their own lives, and they see that the two standards are not equal.

Scripture clearly teaches a higher standard; a higher reality; a greater level of abundance.

And people with ears to hear cry out to God from the depths of their hearts for help.

These people are humble before God. They search the Scriptures. They are willing to let go of their sacred cows in order to bring their lives into the kind of Lordship prescribed in the sacred text.

JESUS. Let us value You, Lord. And everything You say.

And it all starts with humility.

I listened to a teaching the other day about raising the dead. It was by a Christian minister who has actually raised the dead, more than once, and I certainly never have raised any corpses–yet Jesus commanded us to do so–so I wanted to learn what he had to say. And I will tell you, it was tough:

It was tough to listen to this teaching about raising the dead because it challenged all my paradigms.

No, not challenged. It crushed all my paradigms. Broke them. Annihilated them.

As I listened, so many of my expectations and thought patterns got crushed that I thought more than once, “Is this guy a heretic?” My favorite Scripture is Isaiah 8:20, which says:

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

… and I am really careful about discerning whether anything I hear or read matches God’s Word. REALLY CAREFUL.

So I listened to this guy teach about raising the dead.

While I listened, I carefully–and somewhat skeptically–compared each point he made with what the Word says. I listened also for context, comparing each point he made with what the Bible says across its pages (not just in one phrase that can be twisted or skewed to say something it really doesn’t).

And you know what? Every point he made was solid … but it sure rocked me.

And when I say “rocked me,” I mean my spirit came unhinged. Unhinged, but in a good way. The power and anointing on this guy’s message was off the charts. It was the purest, sweetest teaching about Jesus I have ever heard–and it was all about His resurrection power.

But boy, did it ever wreck my paradigm.

Listening to this guy teach about dead-raising and resurrection power rocked my world. I had to let go of some sacred cows that we all have in order to listen to the limitless, boundless love and power that JESUS has.

I’m gonna be honest with you: it was hard. But you know what? This teaching about resurrection power took my faith to a whole new level.

And when people desire to be free from the spirit of poverty so they can walk in Holy Spirit’s abundant provision of wealth, the process is the same:

You have to let Holy Spirit root out and destroy your sacred cows so you can receive truth.

That’s why I say that forsaking poverty and moving into abundance requires humility. Abundance and wealth are the will of God for you … but they require YOU to submit to all of God’s Word, not just the parts you already understand and walk in.

So will you go with me?

Will you let Jesus have your sacred poverty cows, offering your WHOLE self on the altar as a living sacrifice to Him?

Leave a comment below and say yes or no.

With love and many prayers for you in Christ,

Jamie

Day 20: Prayer for Making and Following a Budget

Do you need help with making and following a budget? If so, Papa God can help you! And today, we are going to pray for you in that area!

Making and following a budget is one of the best things you can do for your finances.

Making and following a budget is absolutely essential if you want to build wealth, and it’s even more essential if you want to get out of debt.

Today’s post isn’t a lesson in budgeting, but I do have a very simple budget worksheet you can download here if you haven’t tried budgeting before.

If you’re just starting out with budgeting, just know that it can take a few pay cycles to really get things figured out. You may try a few things and then tweak them. But stick with it; you are doing a good work!

To get you started off on the right foot with your new budgeting endeavors, I am praying for you today:

Praying for your motivation and inspiration;
Praying for you to have grace and help from above; and
Praying for you to stick with the spending plan you set. (All the budgeting in the world won’t help you if you don’t stick with the budget you set for yourself.)

So please watch the video below, and pray this prayer for making and following a budget along with me for yourself!

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Here’s the video prayer:
(Also, click here for the table of contents for this entire series.)

And thanks so much for tuning in today!

Day 19: Prayer for Wisdom in Your Finances

Do you need wisdom in your finances? I hope you said “YES!” to that question, because wisdom is the #1 thing that God uses to get us through life.

Exercising wisdom in your finances can keep you out of a lot of trouble.

Modern, secular culture and teaching is full of advice about money–and a lot of it is bad. In many cases, we seem to have gotten away from basic principles like earning, saving, investing, and not spending more than we make. That’s not even counting all the lies modern culture tells us about entrepreneurship versus corporate slavery–which is one of the biggest lies that God’s people believe, and a lie that makes them poor.

If you want to be wealthy and financially free, you need God’s strategy and wisdom in your finances.

Not the world’s.

(Although, I will say it again: In many cases, certain pockets of people in the world are actually better at keeping God’s financial principles than the Church is. That’s another reason they have money, and the Church doesn’t. Selah …)

So what is God telling you to do with the money you are stewarding right now?

The answer to that question is going to vary from day to day, but His principles will always be the same. In order to execute His strategy for His wealth, though, you need daily wisdom.

That means you need to hear the voice of the Lord behind you, saying “This is the way; walk in it,” so you can obey and never turn to the right or to the left. If you have ears to hear God like that, you can prosper.

Every day.

So today we are asking God to give you wisdom in your finances.

Watch this video prayer below, and pray along with me for yourself. Jot down any prayer points that speak to you–as well as other points that Holy Spirit brings to your mind–and start making a prayer list for your finances! Then pray over your finances daily. God will bless and reward you as you do!

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(Also, click here for the table of contents for this entire series.) And, if you subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re watching, you can get the prayer videos in advance. 🙂 Thanks!

Day 18: Prayer for Investment Property

Do you have rental property – or wish you did? Perhaps, you even have rental property and wish you didn’t? 🙂 If any of those apply to you, then today’s prayer for investment property and rental property is for you!

Investing in real estate can be a blessing if it’s done right, and a curse if it’s not.

The world will often tell you to use “OPM”–“other people’s money”–to purchase real estate. Lots of investment “gurus” like to brag about the amount of real estate on their balance sheet that they bought using other people’s money. They’ll even brag about the amount of their credit card bills each month–because sometimes they’ll put real estate expenses on their credit cards!

The problem is, those people often reach their financial end and quickly.

One of my favorite finance teachers, Dave Ramsey, talks about how he invested heavily in real estate when he was young. He used OPM and ran up a lot of debt. However, it was all pulled out from under him and he went bankrupt.

After that, he and his wife decided to run their finances based on God’s principles. They began to pay off their debt and rebuild their lives debt-free. Now, Dave teaches people all over the globe how to become wealthy God’s way–without debt. [Read more…] about Day 18: Prayer for Investment Property

Day 17: Prayer for Your Retirement Accounts

Are you saving up for retirement? Or, do you want to? Either way, I am praying for your retirement accounts today!

It is definitely God’s will for you to save and invest.

Proverbs 13:22 tells us that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children. How can you leave an inheritance if you have nothing? And if you aren’t careful to save and invest money during your working life, you are very likely to have nothing in your older years if you lose your income.

So, we all need to be saving for the future.

If you aren’t already saving, you need to start saving. Papa God can help you with this.

If you are already saving, Papa God can help you continue.

And no matter where you are on your saving journey, you’ll want to pray over your savings:

That the Lord would show you where and how to save and invest money;
That He would deliver you from the wrong savings/investment methods;
That He would bring you into contact with the RIGHT savings and investment methods;
That your investments would prosper;
and so much more.

Beloveds, I’m as guilty as anybody of not praying adequately over our savings. But, I’m changing that today.

Will you change with me for your own life? Will you begin praying over your savings, and over your ability and inspiration to save?

Watch this video and pray with me over your retirement accounts:

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