Seminar: Armor/Belt of Truth
Interview: Rex Thayer
Scam Alert: Romance Scam
John Maxwell: Future
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Financial Freedom God’s Way, where you are continuing to learn, apply, and pass on, Bible-based financial principles and 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. Where are we going during our 30 minute time together today?
- Today,
- First of all, we are going to take a look at the first piece of God’s spiritual financial armor He gives us to pick up and put on—that would be the loin belt of truth.
- Then, you will hear a Community Service interview with Rex from the Freedom Boat Club in Young Harris and Blairsville.
- Then, we will hear from the Better Business Bureau on a new romance scam—that should be interesting.
- And we will finish up with yet another Minute with Maxwell and from God’s Word as we learn a bit about the word “FUTURE.”
So stay tuned, you are not going to want to miss a minute of today’s program.
And as we do each time we are together, let me open us with a word of prayer. 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
Did you know the Bible says that you do not have, nor have you ever had, a single financial problem? Wow, that’s a wild statement, isn’t it? Or is it?
The Bible says that finances are never a problem, they are always simply symptoms. Finances are symptoms. The problems are spiritual. Another way of saying it is that spiritual problems have a way of showing up in and through your personal finances. Now, the good news is that all spiritual problems have spiritual solutions. Right? And that’s one of the reasons God gives you all of His spiritual armor—so you can meet and defeat the enemy who wages spiritual warfare against you and your finances.
Let’s dig a little deeper here. Are you ready?
- Remember from our last time together that
- According to the Bible, the devil’s entrance into your life, including his entrance into your finances, is allowed primarily through your negligence. He slips in through an undisciplined, an unorganized and an uncommitted mind and then begins to wage warfare against your mind and your flesh and your finances.
- Rather than hide from the devil, you must learn what God has to say about him and how to put on and use God’s spiritual armor.
- We’ll first take a look at what each piece of armor meant to the Roman soldier, then see how it applies to us today.
The first piece of God’s Spiritual Armor from Ephesians Chapter 6 that we need to invest into our financial lives is what Paul calls the belt of truth, or the loin belt of truth, depending on your Bible translation.
- What was the loin belt to the Roman soldier?
- It was the least attractive, least noticeable, but the most important of all his armor.
- It wrapped around his waist and over his shoulder.
- It was important because almost everything the Roman soldier carried was in some way attached to his belt to include most of his armor and pouches for food, water, clothing, and all of his personal items. His belt was absolutely essential to his survival.
- That was what the loin belt was to the Roman soldier back then, now, what is the loin belt, what is the belt of truth to us today?
- First, it is the only weapon that we can actually see and hold in our hands. Here Paul uses the Greek word Logos, it is the written word of God—the Bible.
- Actually, what you need to know is that there are two kinds of “words” from God: The Logos Word of God and the Rhema Word of God.
- The Logos, the word used here by Paul, is the indispensable written Word of It is of course, the Bible.
- But then there is also the Rhema word of God. This word describes a fresh, specially quickened and revealed word from God. That is also part of our armor; we will talk about the Rhema a little later.
- Paul is saying here is that if you want to walk through the financial areas of your life dressed in your spiritual armor,
- You had better start by taking up the Logos, the Word of truth, the written Word of God and permanently affix it to your life.
- Now remember, the devil fights with lies, and sometimes his lies sound like truth, don’t they? Remember we talked about Religious Folklore—those things that sound spiritual but are not scriptural, recall that Religious Folklore can really get us unto trouble if we don’t recognized them in light of God’s truth—the written Word of God. But remember also that because you asked Jesus Christ into your heart as Lord and Savior, you have access to the power of truth from the Logos, the written word of God. And God’s truth always defeats the devil’s lies.
- Paul is saying that the Bible, the Word of Truth, must be the governor, the law, the ruler, and the “final say-so” in each and every area of your life, to include your financial life—the Bible can hold everything together for you. That is why one of the first things we have done during our Radio Seminar times together is to set into place the biblical financial principles of wealth and stewardship based on the Logos, the written Word of God.
- You see, according to the Bible, winning or losing in all the financial areas of your life are your your choice.
- If you are not walking daily in the power and truth from God’s Word, neither are you walking in your God-given suit of spiritual armor.
- Without the Word of God up and operating in your life, including the material areas of your life, your battles are over even before they begin.
- If you are going to go into spiritual combat, you had better not go without your belt of truth. If you do, it will only take one hit from the enemy, and all your armor is going to tumble off.
- The Bibles says that the Word of God is alive and powerful. It divides marrow from the bone. It divides truth from error. It is alive and powerful. Satan fears it. Every demon in hell trembles when you quote it. You do not need to defend it. You do not need to argue about it. You just need to know it and live by it. When the devil comes and starts to try to manipulate your life, to destroy your health, to destroy your finances, to rob you of your peace, don’t pick up the Word of God and try to debate it or explain. You are going to pick it up, put it on, and be able to use it, to quote it back to the devil.
- By the way, do you realize that it is not your pastor’s job to dress you in your armor each Sunday? Do you realize that? The teaching of the Word from the pulpit should only confirm what you have already heard God say personally to you through His Word during the week. It is your pastor’s role to pull your loin belt a little tighter—yes it is. However, it is not his or her job to dress you in it.
- You see, when you put on the loin belt of the Word and determine to make it a priority in your life you are well on the way to winning the battles that come against your
- Body
- Your mind,
- Your family,
- Your friends,
- Your ministry, AND
- Your finances.
- Actually, what you need to know is that there are two kinds of “words” from God: The Logos Word of God and the Rhema Word of God.
- First, it is the only weapon that we can actually see and hold in our hands. Here Paul uses the Greek word Logos, it is the written word of God—the Bible.
The loin belt is the first piece of our spiritual financial armor. The second piece is what Paul call the shoes of peace and we will talk about that during our next time together.
Q&A (Extra Content for transcript readers only)
Let me ask you, what do you think? Have you ever considered applying the biblical principles of wealth and stewardship to your job—to your employment decisions–to your careers? Have you? Well, recall that God’s definition of wealth includes a whole lot more than just the money in our pocket, and our checking and savings accounts. As the matter of fact, according to the Bible, part of our wealth from God also includes the way He gives us to make a living. How so? Listen to Deut 8:17-18: “You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…”
So, if our job, if our careers are gifts from God, and they are, then He is the owner and ours is the task of a steward—a manager. We are to manage what it is He gives us to do. And when we have questions about the gift of our job, we can and should go to the Owner and ask some questions. So Yes, it is totally biblical to see what the Lord has to say about our professions.
For example, here is a real-world question from someone seeing to know what the Lord has to say about being a Christian worker.
- Bob, do you believe there are any vocations that are not suitable for a Christian?
- My friend, most assuredly there are. The obvious ones are those that involve anything illegal, immoral, or unethical. That covers vocations all the way from drug dealing to abortions. If you are working in a gambling casino or liquor store, that decision must be based on your conviction as a Christian. The same can be said of a hotel manager where the parent company allows pornographic movies. These can represent a compromise to God’s Word and a stumbling block to others. I believe the Bible would encourage you to seek the counsel of mature Christians in your area and to pray diligently. Proverbs 19:20 tells you: “Listen to the counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of our days.
My radio friends, God loves you and He cares for you in every area of the life He gives you to live—to include what it is He gives you to do to help provide for your family. Remember this, your job is part of your wealth from God. That being the case, He is the owner, you job is that of a steward or manager. When you have questions about how best to manage your job or career, the first place to go is to the Owner—He will answer you.
Community Service Interview: Rex Thayer from the Freedom Boat Club
My friends, although big businesses may dominate the national headlines, we know it’s all the small businesses and business startups that create most of the job opportunities and help drive the economic growth in smaller geographic areas like our right here in our N GA and Western NC mountains. One of our goals here at Financial Freedom God’s Way Radio is to help spread the word about our local small and start-up businesses. That’s why today we’re going to talk just a bit with Rex Thayer from the Freedom Boat Club. My wife and I met Rex a couple of years ago when we joined the Boat Club just as it was starting up on Lake Chatuge….
Scam alert from the BBB
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Minute with Maxwell
Now, let’s start to wrap up our time together today with one of the highlights of all of our times together. Let’s spend a Minute with Maxwell and John Maxwell gives us his thoughts on the word “FUTURE.”
What is John telling us here? To me he is saying that we should live in the moment, we need to be present. We ought not to worry about yesterday, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so focus on NOW!
And isn’t that exactly what Philippians 3:13-14 tells us: But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
- Paul tells us, we are to focus
- In other words, we are to evaluate, learn from, but not live in the past
- Where you are now is no time to relax; We are to keep on keeping on
- Working toward our goal to bring glory to God by partnering with the Holy Spirit to becoming more and more like Jesus.
- Prize: Glory to God coupled with the thought of the glory that follows when Jesus calls me up to be with Him and see Him face to face.
Future—it’s a great word from John and a great Word from the Lord.
CONCLUSION
Boy, this has been another great time together.
- We started out by taking a look at the first piece of financial spiritual armor the Lord gives us to pick up and put on which is the loin belt of truth, it’s the written word of God, the Logos, the Bible. Remember, there are over 3000 verses in the Bible that talk about money, how to earn it, give it, spend, it invest it, and on and on. Our first step toward Financial Freedom God’s way is to make sure we arm ourselves with God’s Word.
- Then you learned how the Freedom Boat Club does such a great job serving our local community and all those to visit our community.
- You learned about the romance schemes that are going around and how to avoid them.
- And finally, we had a great word from John Maxwell and the Bible on the subject of the future. What did we learn? One of the best ways to move into the future is to prayerfully do our best to plan, AND focus on today.
My friend, this has been a great time together with the Lord. Now it is time to close out in 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 blesse d day, won’t you, and we’ll see you next time as we continue down your personal road to Financial Freedom God’s Way.
