#122 9/16-17/2023

Seminar: How God Uses $ 1 of 2
Q&A: Working Moms
Minute with Maxwell: Getting Results

(UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT)

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Financial Freedom God’s Way, where you are continuing to learn, apply, and pass on, Bible-based financial principles and personal, practical applications so that you and your family will not only just survive, but thrive during these very uncertain times.

Hi and welcome everyone, this is Bob Louder from Christian Financial Ministries, and it is an absolute honor to have you with us again—it really is. What is on the schedule for our 30-minute time together today?

• First, during our radio seminar time together, you are going to get into God’s Word and discover that, according to the Bible, some of what you see going on in your life materially is from God and some of it is not. Today you are going to begin to see that there are ways God will choose to use money in your life.
• Next, during our Q&A time, we will talk about two real-world questions from real-world husbands and wives.
• And finally, during our Minute with Maxwell, John Maxwell with share with us his thoughts, on the best way to Get Results.

So stay tuned, won’t you. It is going to be a great time together. As we start, let me pray for us. Father, thank You for meeting with us again today. Please give us ears to hear all that it is you have planned for us, to Your glory, in Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

BODY

Radio Seminar

OK, let’s get started, and as we do, we will first

• Take a quick look back at our two key biblical financial principles of wealth and stewardship.
• Then we’ll get into God’s Word and find that, according to the Bible there are ways God will use money and there are ways God will not use money in your life.

Let’s start with a quick review.

• Remember you found from God’s Word that your wealth
  • Is everything God has given you — everything He has ever placed into your hand, into your spiritual trust account—and it is so much more than cars and houses and the cash in your pocket or in the bank.
  • And you now know that what is important to God about wealth, is your attitude, and how you use all that He gives you to manage–how it’s used, how it’s invested and reinvested and put back into the Kingdom of God. That is what important to God.
  • What is not important to God? The amount or the value of whatever you have been given. Why? Because it all belongs to Him anyway.
  • THIS IS THE PRINCIPLE OF WEALT
• Now, Do you remember our definition of stewardship? What was it? Right, a manager of another person’s property.
  • Remember, you are a manager of all the wealth according to God’s definition that He places into your hands. .
  • And that as a steward, you have some rights…First, the right to responsibly manage all of what God entrusts to you, and second, you have the right to keep some for your enjoyment and use.
  • But remember, along with these rights, you also have some restrictions. At some point you will be held strictly accountable for how you managed your trust fund from God.

WE’LL COME BACK TO THESE PRINCIPLES OFTEN DURING OUR RADIO SEMINAR TIMES TOGETHER. But right now, let’s continue to build on these principles to see what God’s Word has to say about how God uses money, uses wealth, in our lives.

As we do, I remember that during all the years I spent in the Air Force after the Lord got a hold of my heart, I had a hard time to find time to have a quiet time. But now that’s part of my job. One of the neat things about full-time ministry is the time I can take to read and study God’s Word. And the more time we spend together the more He shows me. For example, do you know that there are over 70 different names for God, and over 150 different descriptions of God?

And in the New Testament Jesus gave the disciples and each one of us a new way to address God.

• In the OT, God was I AM, El Shaddai, Jehovah and LORD of War, and many more.
• But Jesus gave us a new name for God. IN THE LORD’S PRAYER WE FIND THAT WE CAN CALL GOD … WHAT? Our Father, even Abba Father, which means what?—Daddy. According to the Bible you can have such an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord God of the Universe that you can snuggle up into His arms and call Him Daddy.
• I believe this is to help us understand that God is not a genie in a bottle, or a stern taskmaster looking for some excuse to punish us.
• As your Father, you are to recognize that
  • God loves you. It’s been said that “God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love.”
  • He not only loves you, God has a purpose, a will, and a plan for you. And sometimes He wants to use to money, He will use Wealth according to His definition, to help bring about that will, that purpose, and that plan.

The first way God may use money in your life is to help you to determine your trust in Him.

• Luke 16:11 says,

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

• Now be assured, God does not need this demonstration.
  • God knows exactly what’s going on inside you. The Holy Spirit keeps Him up to speed second-by-second.
  • This demonstration is not for God, it is for you. It is for you to demonstrate your trust to you so that you can see where you are spiritually. It is a thermometer for you to take you spiritual temperature.
    • And by the way, you either trust Him or you don’t.
      • Sometimes we have a problem with that, don’t we?
      • For example, sometimes I hear people say, “Sure I trust God, but I cannot get by without a credit cards, I might have an emergency.”
      • Sometimes in counseling when I hear this after looking at their credit card spending habits, I feel like saying, “Boy, you sure have had some emergencies in your life.”
      • But what emergency is too large for God to handle if we truly trust Him.
        • <NEW CHRISTIAN TRYING TO LEARN TO TRUST GOD>
          • Went to funeral, left lights on and ran battery down.
          • Prayed for God to start his car. The car didn’t start.
          • Went back to the pastor, “God’s not trustworthy.”
          • Pastor: Pray? (“Yes”) How much? (8 hrs, 6 hrs, 30 min, 2 min)
          • “I know what the problem is, God is faithful but He didn’t recognize your voice and probably started somebody else’s car”
            • Of course this is fictitious, but the principle is valid. Do you try to use God like a genie in a bottle? Do you ignore God’s principles and commandments and whenever you have a problem you simply pop the cork off the bottle and say, “God come on out and solve my problem.” Then when He’s done you ask Him to hop back in the bottle and place Him back up on the shelf. That’s not a Father and that’s not God’s plan. And that’s not Trust.
            • Remember what we said, “How we use or misuse the material areas of our life is a good, visible, outside indicator to us as to the quality of relationship we have with Him.
            • God tells you that He will use wealth in your life to see whether of not you trust Him.
            • Do you trust God or do you just say we trust God? God can use money to help you answer this question.

God uses money to develop our faith in Him.

• In 1 John 3:22 we find that we

Receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

• If we ask out of greed or envy we are not asking in accordance with His will. Those of you who know, love, and trust God, and there are many in here who do, you know that this is true.
• He tells us that He’s faithful. He tells us in the Psalm,

Sacrifice your rights unto God and pay your vows to the Most High, then call upon Me in your day of trouble for I shall rescue you.

• When you do, He does, and your faith begins to build.
• God will use wealth to develop your faith.

God also uses money in the lives of His people to demonstrate that He loves us as well.

• In Mat 7:9-10, we are asked:

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?

• You know, there is a parallel here that is good to remember: God is to us as we should be to our children.
  • HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE CHILDREN?
  • When you go home tonight, you walk up to the door, put the key in the lock, and before you get a chance to open the door, your son or daughter swings open the door, “Mom, dad, boy did we miss you. How did the seminar go? Tell me what you learned. I love you and I commit to doing whatever you want me to do, unconditionally, what ever you ever want me to do, I’ll do,” what would your reaction be? Besides pure shock. But after you picked yourself up off the floor, you wouldn’t tell that young person to go up to the roof and jump off and try to fly. No, you would be very careful to provide whatever you knew he needed, what’s best for that young person.
    • It is the same way with God. See, God says, “I love you, but you do not allow me to demonstrate it. You take the position of owner. If you just took the position of steward I could knock your socks off by demonstrating my love for you.”

So, what is the Lord showing us today? Well, He is showing you than not only does He love you, He is showing you that He has a He has a purpose, a will, and a plan for you, AND that sometimes the Lord wants to use Wealth according to his definition to help bring about that will, that purpose, and that Plan. —
So far we see that God wants to use wealth according to His definition to

• Allow you to determine your trust in Him,
• To develop your faith in Him, and
• To demonstrate that He loves you

Finally for today God also says, “I will use money in the lives of My people to provide a witness, a witness that the world cannot deny. A witness so strong that when the world looks at you, when the pre-Christians look at you, they say, “You know, I don’t agree with you, but I can’t deny you. I know you guys say that you don’t think the government should be involved in all this welfare business and all these entitlement programs–that’s what you say and I see you and your church back up what you say by sacrificing some of your own resources to help meet the needs of other.” Now that is a witness. That is a testimony.

• But let me ask you, does that often happen as much as it should? I don’t think so. Do people in trouble run to the church, or do they turn to the government for help.
• Matt 25:40 deals with the time when the people who think they are saved stand at the throne of judgment and Christ divides them into two groups based on their actions, not their words, but their actions.
  • It’s not how many time you attend church,
  • How many classes you teach,
  • Or whether your name has been on a church membership roll for 25 years,
  • But whether you do those things He asked. Do you feed those who are hungry? Clothe the naked? Visit those in prison?
    • But is this truly the case today? In a recent survey, folks were asked, If you were totally disabled and could not work, do you believe the fellowship in which you worship would help meet your needs? Any ideas? Only one-half of 1% said yes! I believe I can trust the body of Christ to give me a hand.
      • This is the witness we have among ourselves, much less to the pre-Christian community.
      • I’ll give you ar personal opinion here. We often leave the helping ministry of 2 Cor 8:14 to the government, based on God’s Word I believe that someday we’ll stand accountable for that because that was never God’s plan.

Yes, God can use money in our lives to provide a witness for others. And one day we will all be judged on how much of a witness we have been with all the material resources He has entrusted to us.

Now, that’s enough for now. Next time you will discover that God wants to use wealth in your life to direct you life and to unify the Body of Christ. That’s next time, don’t miss it.

Q&As

Now, for all you married folks out there AND those who want to become married, let’s spend our next several Question and Answer times together taking a look at real-world questions from real world husbands and wives.

To set the stage just a bit,

• You need to know that typically, either money is the best area of communication in a marriage or it is the worst. For most couples, it is the worst. History shows that financial pressures can destroy a marital relationship. For example, what can often happen is that one partner fears debt and wants to live within the budget but sees the other as uncooperative and indulgent. Or, one may be seen as a “spendthrift,” and the other as “cheap.”
• What few people grasp is that spouses are almost always opposites. One sleeps late, the other is a morning person. One is neat, the other messy. One can always get from point A to point B and the other can’t find their way out of a paper sack. One is a good bookkeeper, the other never keeps the books, and on and on.
• Husbands and wives often view finances from a different perspective therefore husbands and wives often ask different questions. Let’s take a look at a couple of questions—real world questions, from wives—from the lady of the house.

Here is the first question: I’m a Christian wife and mom who works outside the home. I enjoy my job, and I enjoy my home. But many friends have hinted that I’m sinning because I’m not home full-time. Does the Bible teach that wives should not work outside the home?

Response: I don’t find where the Bible teaches that a wife cannot work outside the home, but I do believe the Bible helps us establish some priorities. For example, if a wife is working because a family “needs” the money, it’s a dangerous motive. I’ve found that until a couple learns to get along on what the husband makes, there will never be enough. Second, if a wife is working to fulfill her ego, this is also a dangerous and destructive motive and will often lead to divided loyalties between the job and home. Recall that Proverbs 31 describes the “excellent” wife. Verses 16 and 24 describe her business ventures as well as her household duties. She is described as a working wife and mom who is able to keep her priorities in balance. It’s this “balance” that helps determine whether or not a woman should work outside the home. Paul states in Titus 2:5 that women should be workers at home, subject to their own husbands. Since women are described elsewhere in Scripture as holding down job s outside the home, I don’t believe Paul is giving new counsel. He is simply stating that women should not neglect their family responsibilities by absorbing themselves in outside work, or even church activities. Here are some priorities for a working wife to prayerfully consider: (1) Gain her husband’s approval (Eph. 5:22). (This doesn’t mean that she nags him until he agrees.) (2) Her children are well cared for (Prov. 31:27). (Some children are ready for outside training at six, some at sixty.) (3) She maintains her home well (Prov. 31:15). (4) she can balance dual authority at home an on the job (James 1:8—not double-minded). This is a frequent question that may hit close to home for you.

As well as this second question from a wife and mom. There’s the second question

Question: I really want to be home with my children, but my husband wants me to work because he feels we need the money. I’m almost afraid not to work because we’re barely getting by. Your thoughts?

Response: Good question. How would you respond to that question, by the way? Howe would you respond? Well, let me share with you some thoughts from this side of the microphone. (1) Many women with pre-school-age children are working for virtually nothing. By the time you calculate transportation, clothes, child care, eating out, etc., the wife must have a net annual income of about $18,000 to $22,000 a year just to break even. (2) If your husband insists that you work, clearly and kindly share and explain your objection; then respect his authority and do as he asks. However, if the decision to have you work is motivated by the desire to maintain a certain life-style, then you should know that more than likely within a year, you and your husband will tend to find yourselves dissatisfied with your life-style once again. (3) The real issue is to learn to be content with your present life-style/get help to learn to live on less than you make. ^“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11).

These are two great questions—questions from the wife’s perspective. You will see a couple of more wifely questions next time.

Minute with Maxwell

Wow, time is really marching right on along…but I want to make sure we have time for our Minute with Maxwell. Recall that John Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker and considered the world’s most influential leadership expert. Today, let’s see what John has to say about getting results.

What is the Lord showing us through this marvelous Christian author, speaker, and teacher? Basically he is telling us that talk is cheap. My friend, it is not enough to say that you are going to change your financial history and start handling money in ways that are pleasing to God—good start but that’s not enough. You need to learn how to do it then start to get it done. Why not check out our website at www.christianfinancialministries.org to better discover, apply, and pass on what the Bible tells you about money. Remember, we don’t have anything to sell, just a lot of good, strong, Bible-based information and application tools to give.

CONCLUSION

Okkkkk, that just about wraps up our time together for today. Recall,

• During our Radio Seminar time together, you discovered that according to the Bible, there are ways God will use money in your life.
• You heard two real-world questions about money from Christian wives.
• And you just heard from John Maxwell just how important it is to put your words into action.

My friend, thank you for being with us today. Let me close us in a word of prayer. Father God, I thank you for bringing us together today and for each of the days to come to Your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a blessed day, won’t you, and we’ll see you next time as we continue down your personal road to Financial Freedom God’s Way.