Kingdom wealth is really not about the income, it's about not wasting what we do have. So many people think if they just made more money all their money troubles would be over, but Scripturally that notion doesn't hold water. Scripture tells us if we are faithful in the little things, we will be given much. G-d is not going to give us more of what we already cannot handle.
To usher in the wealth of the kingdom in your life, I'm not going to deceive you with that old prosperity teaching of the nineties. Clearly it was flawed and has failed. I'm not so sure that teaching wasn't a catalyst to the economic calamity suffered in this country. We all know preachers were talking more about money than politicians and bankers were talking about G-d. Yet I digress . . . The wealth of the kingdom or lack thereof lies in three areas of each of our lives, because we already know YHWH has promised to provide.
The three areas of our lives that need adjusting from this world economy to kingdom economy is, desires, priorities, and talents management or skills. As to desires, we are told in Psalms if we delight in YHWH, HE will give us the desires of our heart. I've heard more than one person say, I delighted in Him and He didn't give me what I wanted. The answer to that is simple. You didn't' delight honestly or long enough. When we truly delight in YHWH, we find our desire to be Him, and when our desire is Him, the other things simply no longer have priority. I am not talking about being so heavenly minded, we're no earthly good. He knows we have responsibilities and He's promised to meet our need, the key word here was desire. Are we desiring something that is glorifying to Him and edifying to the body? I've been amazed at the desires He's reminded me of and the changes He's made in my heart to more fully understand those desires. Once we seek Him, truly desire Him, our desires align with the plan and purpose for which we were created.
Delight thyself also in YHWH; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4
And that changes our priorities . . .
Once our priorities change, our time and money management begin to change. Once we see what we truly desire, rather than behaving like children in a toy store looking at the kid on the next aisle, we realize change is needed. We already knew we wanted things to be different, but now with His glory as our desire, we become willing to re-prioritize. The next thing we know, we start looking at other kids on other aisles that seem more content, that aren't throwing the "I want" fits. We get a glimpse of the bigger picture and the next step on the path to the destination we truly desire. Once we get a glimpse of the desire of YHWH and His will for our life, our priorities move from temporal to lasting, from momentary to the next generation, from hay and stubble to refined precious metals. The next thing we know, we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get moving toward making it happen.
And to know the love of Messiah, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of G-d. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:19,20
Which involves our talents and or skills. The parable of the talents tells us, even when it's wasted and hidden, everyone is given at least one. Perhaps you don't think your talent will sustain you financially. Maybe it won't. YHWH isn't dependent upon you. You will find though that once you want to use that talent to bring Him glory, other things in life will either fall away or fall into place around His glory and the use of your talent to that end. As a writer and a homesteader, I can tell you, I'm not making money hand over fist, at all! I am however, not spending money at the grocery store, on cable bills, or entertainment, or vices, or boredom. My life is full, I'll be busy til long after dark tonight and tomorrow YHWH willing, I have big garden plans and more writing to accomplish.
But my G-d shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Messiah Y'hshuwah. Philippians 4:19
If I were to help someone start a budget in life, my best advice would simply be, stop spending what you don't need. I could go into a number of details about what I don't buy, but we each have to determine that in our own heart before YHWH. I will tell you, I have done the math on this. I started a business in October of 2011, as a cash operation on very little. It's not a Fortune 500 Company, but it made enough that I'm showing a profit for 2012. It's succeeding because YHWH told me to start it, and because it's something I enjoy doing.
As I said, my income is certainly not large, but in growing my own food, making my own soap, and working from home, I am content in my life to the point I don't need extra entertainment. YHWH has promised to provide our need. It is up to us to be content in His provision.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. I Timothy 6:6-8
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Spending our Kingdom Currency Wisely!
The more I seek to live in the Kingdom Economy, the more I realize hours truly are the currency, and moments are the change. Not only do moments add up or not go as far as we'd like, but change in our life is truly determined by the moment.
It is so easy to plan a day. We can plan our accomplishments, we can even pencil in our dreads. We can plan our righteous reactions if presented again, with yesterday's failures. Some of us make a note of obligations and promises, if we are afraid the day might get busy. Others center their day around their obligations and promises. Yet, one thing is truly consistent in all of this. Plans are essential to accomplishment and purpose is essential for motivation, but life happens moment by moment.
A dear friend commented to me that she could see in my last video that my eyes truly showed I had experienced a tough week. She was so right! My eyes are very expressive . . . Furthermore her statement, although she did everything in her power and verbal conveyance to assure me I still looked fine and she was expressing concern not criticism; confirmed the information in this very article.
I have discovered the truth of emotional exhaustion, which in kingdom terms, is time poorly spent. One absolutely cannot make up for or take up the slack for another person's lack of emotional interest. Neither can one take responsibility for things outside of their control. One can try. An individual can attempt to provide enough enthusiasm and energy to solicit the interest of others, and one can certainly take blame for things outside of their control, but it results in emotional exhaustion. If time were money, emotional exhaustion would be a result of "throwing good money after bad . . ."
Now since I've shared the truth about spending time poorly, please let me share what else I've discovered! When we become emotionally exhausted, we begin a new way to spend time. We begin to spend time thinking about what's wrong and what feels so bad and the next thing we know, if we're not careful, we're spending even more time thinking about it. So, we take a bad situation or another's reaction, add time and energy with no results, then spend time pondering and contemplating what went wrong, and what we would do differently. Then we find ourselves in a rut, so the best human idea for getting out of the rut is talking to another human, which of course takes more time. For some reason we have this idea if we share the time poorly spent, it will somehow give it value. Before we know it, a problem that is completely out of our control has not only controlled our emotions, but it's controlled our time! And that of someone else, as well. That is not to say, if there is a situation that needs some clarification or you'd like prayer or to be pulled out of the rut, great. But more often than not, when we get to the rut of exhaustion, and start talking, we just pull someone else down with us.
I've realized there are simply things I can do nothing about in this world and the great news is, my G-d doesn't expect me to! In that freedom from responsibility, though, He also doesn't expect me to spend more time on things I can do nothing about. If G-d has placed something within our power to do, He gives us the energy and the time to accomplish it. If we spend our time on something that isn't within our power to do, not only do we spend that time unwisely, exhaust ourselves, but we miss another opportunity that would have been "time well spent."When my dear friend told me, she knew I was under a lot of pressure, but I could call her any time, I realized right then, I so value the time we do get to chat, I certainly didn't want to spend that time on a subject I find displeasing.
Maybe it's age, maybe it's wisdom, maybe it's both, but I know energy spent on useless endeavors is time I'll never get back, and energy wasted. That fact didn't register in my twenties. Spending time thinking about the disappointment of that fact is again, time I'll never get back. Talking about the discouragement is not only time I won't get back, but time I've taken from someone else that they won't get back either. Time and energy are at a premium these days for all of us, and once we get a glimpse of time as the gift of life YHWH has given, it has a value we simply cannot take lightly and don't want to waste. Throwing good effort and energy on something outside of our control is a lot like buying a new battery for a car with a bad engine. It doesn't fix the problem and will actually run down the new energy and still never move.
It is so easy to plan a day. We can plan our accomplishments, we can even pencil in our dreads. We can plan our righteous reactions if presented again, with yesterday's failures. Some of us make a note of obligations and promises, if we are afraid the day might get busy. Others center their day around their obligations and promises. Yet, one thing is truly consistent in all of this. Plans are essential to accomplishment and purpose is essential for motivation, but life happens moment by moment.
A dear friend commented to me that she could see in my last video that my eyes truly showed I had experienced a tough week. She was so right! My eyes are very expressive . . . Furthermore her statement, although she did everything in her power and verbal conveyance to assure me I still looked fine and she was expressing concern not criticism; confirmed the information in this very article.
I have discovered the truth of emotional exhaustion, which in kingdom terms, is time poorly spent. One absolutely cannot make up for or take up the slack for another person's lack of emotional interest. Neither can one take responsibility for things outside of their control. One can try. An individual can attempt to provide enough enthusiasm and energy to solicit the interest of others, and one can certainly take blame for things outside of their control, but it results in emotional exhaustion. If time were money, emotional exhaustion would be a result of "throwing good money after bad . . ."
Now since I've shared the truth about spending time poorly, please let me share what else I've discovered! When we become emotionally exhausted, we begin a new way to spend time. We begin to spend time thinking about what's wrong and what feels so bad and the next thing we know, if we're not careful, we're spending even more time thinking about it. So, we take a bad situation or another's reaction, add time and energy with no results, then spend time pondering and contemplating what went wrong, and what we would do differently. Then we find ourselves in a rut, so the best human idea for getting out of the rut is talking to another human, which of course takes more time. For some reason we have this idea if we share the time poorly spent, it will somehow give it value. Before we know it, a problem that is completely out of our control has not only controlled our emotions, but it's controlled our time! And that of someone else, as well. That is not to say, if there is a situation that needs some clarification or you'd like prayer or to be pulled out of the rut, great. But more often than not, when we get to the rut of exhaustion, and start talking, we just pull someone else down with us.
I've realized there are simply things I can do nothing about in this world and the great news is, my G-d doesn't expect me to! In that freedom from responsibility, though, He also doesn't expect me to spend more time on things I can do nothing about. If G-d has placed something within our power to do, He gives us the energy and the time to accomplish it. If we spend our time on something that isn't within our power to do, not only do we spend that time unwisely, exhaust ourselves, but we miss another opportunity that would have been "time well spent."When my dear friend told me, she knew I was under a lot of pressure, but I could call her any time, I realized right then, I so value the time we do get to chat, I certainly didn't want to spend that time on a subject I find displeasing.
Maybe it's age, maybe it's wisdom, maybe it's both, but I know energy spent on useless endeavors is time I'll never get back, and energy wasted. That fact didn't register in my twenties. Spending time thinking about the disappointment of that fact is again, time I'll never get back. Talking about the discouragement is not only time I won't get back, but time I've taken from someone else that they won't get back either. Time and energy are at a premium these days for all of us, and once we get a glimpse of time as the gift of life YHWH has given, it has a value we simply cannot take lightly and don't want to waste. Throwing good effort and energy on something outside of our control is a lot like buying a new battery for a car with a bad engine. It doesn't fix the problem and will actually run down the new energy and still never move.
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