21 Days of Fasting & Prayer- Day 19

Right Finances:

Success in life is being in the center of His will and being fruitful in all areas of life. This includes your finances. The Bible references money more than 800 times! Jesus spoke about money 11 out of the 39 parables. He warns us against “serving mammon (money)! 

The truth of tithing is recorded 35 times, first-fruit giving or first things-devoted things, no less than 32 times and offerings 637 times!

What does God do with money-after all His streets are paved with gold! 

1.    God has declared “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”  God owns it all!

2.   He gives to us the right to use what is His and the “power to make wealth (money). For our benefit and for His Kingdom!

3.   “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’S. It is holy to the Lord”  Leviticus 27:30

4.   Cursed or Blessed-your decision! Malachi  3:6-12

1.    What you do with what God has provided for you is a test of where your treasure is!  It is the one area all are tested! 

2.   God uses the tithe, first-fruit offering and offerings to provide for the tools and means necessary that others may hear the Good News of eternal life through Jesus and to know Him as both Savior and Lord!  “Bring all the tithe into My storehouse that there may be meat in My house…” Mal.3

3.   Tithing is a matter of the heart!  “Where a man’s treasure is there is his heart!” Jesus revealed. It is treasuring the One Who treasures you!

Be assured of this, God wants you prosper, “Beloved, I would above all things that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers!” “He delights in the prosperity of His people!”

Why?  God desires to bless, to bring increase in your life so you can be a blessing to others!  He wants you to be a conduit through which He can flow.  Not everyone knows God, or knows how to believe God, but God wants to use you. Can He?  Will you? 

It is imperative you understand Jesus’ words as to how blessings of prosperity-increase occurs, “He that is faithful in little shall be faithful in much!”  And again, the sower went forth to sow seed.” There was wisdom in action, purpose in his planning, faith in his actions and promise of harvest!  “Give and it shall be given to you, pressed down, shaken together shall men give unto you!”  Jesus promised, God established blessings-supply-increase is based upon your faith, faithfulness and obedience to His Word.

Warning!  Do not embrace Satan’s lie that your tithing does not matter-it matters to God, and it matters in His ability to provide for, to protect you and to use you to reach others for their eternal souls!  You matter-tithing matters, it’s God’s way of His people reaching lost people! Get out of the curse and into the blessing today!

Reflections:

Review the list of 8 things on financial planning from yesterday.  Reflect on the message today and what God is speaking into your life.  What is one thing you can accomplish this week that gets you closer to being out of debt.  I encourage not to take on any new debt.

By now you have gotten your credit card bills from Christmas have you opened them?  Do you know what you really spent for Christmas gifts? If your financial situation is really out of control I suspect you have not even opened your bills.  You must determine to write every bill you owe so you can see your true financial picture.

Prayer for today:

Heavenly Father I thank you for your word, it encourages me in faith to believe that my financial house is going to be in order.  You are going to be pleased with how I have been obedient to your word. I truly believe that I am going to prosper and be in health –even as my soul prospers.  Thank you for this Right Fast, Right Faith, Right Finances that will give me a Right Future.

Journal:

Take time now to journal your thoughts and plans from this devotion today.  What has God spoken to you?  What is your challenge for today?  Use your time of fasting to reflect on the scriptures above.  Read them out loud.  This will continue to build your faith.  Remember to record any praise reports or ideas that God has given you in regards to getting your finances in order.  As you record what God is saying, you will be able to share these nuggets with others.  The Bible tells us we can overcome by our testimony.

21 Days of Fasting & Prayer- Day 15

Tithes, First Fruits, and Offerings

I receive many prayer request each month. The number one request for prayer is in the area of finances!  More people ask for prayer concerning financial needs than for physical healing, more than for marriages, or even for lost loved ones! 

Is God silent on this vital issue? Does He care?  Does He know?  Does He have a plan that includes help both for our soul and for our financial well being?  There is Good News!  He does!

Because God wants to bless you and see you succeed in all things, He has put a system into place based on the principle of “tithing, first-fruits, and offerings (sowing seed.)” 

Robert Morris, in his book The Blessed Life, penned a profound truth in his statement, “It is all about the heart!”  Jesus, our Lord, declared, “Where a man’s treasure is, there is his heart also!” 

Whatever you treasure is where you will center your life. Your treasure is what you spend your time, energies, and money upon.  If your treasure is God, He will be where you deposit your time, talents and money-your treasure!

We need to treasure God with our treasures! It benefits us to treasure God and what God treasures!  What does God treasure and how what part does Right Finances please the heart of God?

As we look at finances and issues with finances we need to be sure we understand where we are financially.  Not many people have enough money to pay all of their bills in a timely manner.  This is because of lack of discipline – how many of you know how much money is in your checking account right now?  Do you know what your net worth is?  Do you have any money in savings?  This is how we are robbed in our finances.  In order for us to be good stewards and for God to bless our finances we must first know what we have and what we need. 

How much of your emotional time and energy do you spend pondering over bills?  How am I going to pay my rent, my mortgage, my light bill, and of course my cell phone bill – not to mention which credit card will I pay.  If you are truly struggling financially I encourage you first of all to sit down and find out what your real financial snap shot looks like.  My guess if you are not tithing, because you do not have the money to tithe.  So my question for you today is:  Would you dedicate sometime over the next week to look at your finances?  Then begin thinking and praying asking God to give you a plan to get out of debt.  Yes OUT OF DEBT!  Think about what you would be able to do for your family and for the kingdom if you were out of debt.  I promise you if you follow the plans in God’s word about finances you can be DEBT FREE.

 As we embark on this fast to start out 2014, let your prayer be for God to assist you in getting your finances in order.  I challenge you today to list all of your debt and all of your income.  More than likely

you will find lots of monies spent on eating out and Walmart stops that you did not know you were spending.  As you read Malachai 3:10  God challenges us to test him with our finances.  So I would like for you to take God at his word.  Test him and see…..  

How do you begin?

1.    List all of your expected income.

2.   List all of your debt

3.   Calculate what your tithe should be.

4.   Write your check or give your tithe to God.

5.    Pray for God’s blessings on your tithe.

6.   Record everything that you purchase or pay in a journal for the remainder of the month.

7.   Pray daily for wisdom.

8.   Record in your journal how God is working in the area of finances in your life.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father I thank  you today for the new words of wisdom I have received in regards to Right Finances.  I ask you Lord to bless me and my household, help me to see all the blessings that you have given me.  I pray that as I have given my tithe you will rebuke the devour in my life.  Help me to be more conscience of my finances and to take care of the things you have already provided for me and my family.

Journal:

Please journal your deepest thoughts on how you need God’s help to get your financial house in order.  Be very honest with God.  Ask him to show you your strengths and weaknesses.  Pray for God to allow you and your spouse to be able to discuss finances openly.  Determine to let God show you a Great Financial Plan for 2014,

21 Days of Fasting & Prayer- Day 14

Right fasting-Right faith produces freedom!

¹³“If you watch your step on the Sabbath

and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,

If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,

God’s holy day as a celebration,

If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’

making money, running here and there—

¹⁴Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!

Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.

I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”

Yes! God says so!

  God pulls no punches.  He is never vague-He gets right to the heart of the matter. And that is what and where He goes!  God told them they had lost all ‘reverence’ for God as ‘God!  Most of you reading this are too young to remember, but there was a time in America when stores in America would not open on Sunday in at least an outward reverence to America’s religious views. 

  Alas, times have changed, but God has not. Reverence for God and a designated time to come together for corporate worship and learning must be an imperative for you the believer!  Read. Hebrews 10:25. God commands us “not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but to do so even the much more so as we see the Day of the Lord approaching!:

  I applaud the owner of Chick Filet that they continue this path!  On a card by their door is an explanation that they view Sunday as a day for their workers to spend with their families together and to worship. We believers should demonstrate our appreciation for their stand, and whenever possible patronize their establishments, showing our support.

 Listen to God’s promise to those who take time to celebrate Him by giving Him a day committed to reverence and honoring Him: 

 ^”’Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!

Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.

I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”

Yes! God says so!

              Fight the impulses to participate in America’s downward slide to rid herself of all things that reflect God!  Make God special and have a day specifically dedicated to Him and you will see a difference in your life!  He said so!

21 Days of Fasting & Prayer- Day 13

Right Fasting-Right Faith “turns the lights on!”

    ^{Isaiah 58:  7}  

What I’m interested in seeing you do is:

share your food with the hungry,

invite the homeless poor into your homes,

put clothes on the shivering ill-clad,

be available to your own families.

⁸Do this and the lights will turn on,

and your lives will turn around at once.

If you get rid of unfair practices,

quit blaming victims,

quit gossiping about other people’s sins,

¹⁰If you are generous with the hungry

and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,

your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

  So many live their lives in the dark!  Those who live in darkness, or in the partial darkness of shadows, cannot see what God has placed all around them.  They cannot see the sun for the clouds nor can they see the beautiful flowers of the fields; all they see are the thorns!  Why?  The darkness of “self -centered” living  blocks the Son of Righteousness from shining in their hearts,   minds and lives! Right fasting creates right faith,  and right faith has the reflection of God  upon it!

  Pray with me in this manner:  “Holy Spirit, show me how much of my life I am spending on me!  I am beginning to understand that I am a steward-a manager of the life given me.  I “have been bought with a price, even the precious blood of Jesus!”  Show me where you want me to invest the time, talents and finances you have provided the way You want!   Holy Spirit, I am excited  about the new light and life I am embarking on with You. Guide my thoughts and my actions and may each glorify Christ and be done in such a manner “so others may live!”

21 Days of Fasting & Prayer- Day 12

Right Fasting-Right Faith

   “You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,

restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,

make the community livable again.”  

               Jesus and His disciples were facing one of those “Ah ha” teachable moments discussing who and who would not enter the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 19:26)  Jesus had just invited a rich young ruler to “sell all he had, give it to the poor and ‘Come follow Me!”  But his faith and peace was in money.  He could not grasp that there are some things more valuable than money and things. 

²³And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

  God desires your financial prosperity, but in the right order.  He must be your treasure and your dependence upon Him!  When you follow Him, He makes the impossible possible!  He does through you what you could never have done apart from Him.  When you are free from the chains binding you to trust in what you can see, He will  enable you to rebuild  your faith and restore faith in the lives of others!  As you choose faith in God over faith in what you can see you will understand what Jesus was saying when He said, “With God nothing shall be impossible!”

               Pray with me in this manner;  “Father, even though I have believed You for my salvation, I now want to trust You to work supernaturally through me!  Father enable me by Your Holy Spirit to “fix” the broken, to “restore” what Satan has broken, to “rebuild” the real faith in You and to make our community a community of righteousness!  It all begins with me-start with me! Guide my steps and show me where to begin.  I ask this in Jesus Name!  Amen!”

21 Days of Fasting & Prayer: Day 9

Right Fasting-Right Faith

¹²You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, and rebuild the foundations from out of your past.

You’ll be known as those who can fix anything;

restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,

make the community livable again.

¹³“If you watch your step on the Sabbath

and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,

If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,

God’s holy day as a celebration,

If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’

making money, running here and there—

¹⁴Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!

“You will use the rubble of past lives to build anew and build the foundations from out of your past!”

  I love reading the biographies and memoirs of Christian men and women who knew firsthand the life-altering and effective power of Right Faith that comes out of Right Fasting!  Their heroic stories of faith in God, of His miraculous supply, and supernatural intervention makes my spirit quiver in anticipation that what He did for them He will do for me!

  You would do yourself well to search out these giants of our faith and read how God used them to shape nations, overcome demons, work miracles and spread the Gospel where Christ was not known!  All because they fasted their lives unto Him!

  Dwight Moody, one of the greatest preachers the world has ever known, was but sixteen when he heard a preacher say, “The world has never seen what God can do through a man who is totally surrendered to Him!”  Hearing this, Moody made a promise to God and himself, “By God’s grace I will be that man!”  He was true to his word. Without the use of technology, he won more than one million people to Christ!

  Each day this month read a chapter from the Book of Acts and see how believers generously gave their lives to God for Him to use.  They stood on the shoulders of Abraham, Jacob, David and so many others, and in so doing, they rebuilt the foundations upon which you and I now stand!

  God is waiting for someone whose faith is right-right to be used to reach others, “so others may live!”  What is God asking of you to do with your Right Faith!

21 Days of Fasting & Prayer- Day 8

Right Fasting-Right Faith

¹⁰If you are generous to the poor, and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,

your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

¹¹I will always show you where to go.

I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones.

You’ll be like a well-watered garden,

a gurgling spring that never runs dry.

Right fasting will always birth in you a right faith!   And right faith can always be seen in the actions we undertake!

  Many people have a wrong understanding of faith. They see it as almost as mystical, but that is so far from the truth.  Right faith is faith that can be seen.  It is faith that is demonstrated by our works or actions-by our generosity!  Right faith is not just how you treat others, but how you allow God to use you “so others may live!”

  The Apostle James penned it this way, “You say you have faith and I have works; show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works!”  Right Faith will be seen!

  This is God’s Law of ‘sowing and reaping’ in action!  Each generous act becomes a harvest guaranteed to come forth!  The size of your harvest is determined by the size of your faith sowing! 

Are you ready to believe God through you and for you? I believe you are. The key?  Generous living founded upon faith in our generous God!  The right kind of faith is not self-centered.  It does not limit God’s promise by what we can see. Trust God and begin today with the right kind of faith-one that rest in God faithfulness to do what He said He would do for those who are generous “so others may live!”

  Give your life generously to God!  Be generous in your giving of your time, talents, and finances.  Be generous in forgiveness, compassion and kindness!

  Read again God’s directions and then read it again. What He said he would do for those who take Him at His word He will!  Our Lord has promised, “Whatsoever a man sows, so shall he reap!”