Worry is a destructive force. It causes you to get old before your time and is bad for your health. Psychologists will tell you, people worry mostly about things out of fear and uncertainty, and ninety percent of what they worry about doesn't happen and the other ten percent there's nothing they can do about it anyway; so why worry?
There is plenty of cause for worry here today, in our time. The political situation is on the verge of chaos, our economy is on the course for total collapse. An economic depression looms in the background waiting for the right moment to manifest itself. Many people have been laid off, and some have lost their jobs because the company they worked for has gone under. There are a lot of people with maxed out credit cards tied to their mortgages who are now in default and are facing foreclosure on their homes and bankruptcy. To add to this economic misery, they are being harassed by bill collectors, so much so they are afraid to answer the phone. Most of you know someone who is in this predicament.
There is a man whom God has raised up into a full time ministry and he's gotten rich off of it. His name is Dave Ramsey and you can listen to him everyday on News Talk 640am WGST from 3 to 6 pm daily. Before you jump to conclusions, Dave Ramsey makes it perfectly clear here; it is no sin to be rich. I don't know why it is that some people think you have to take a vow of poverty in order to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Concerning the tithe, giving ten percent of our first fruits to God lets Him know right off the top where your heart is. When you tithe, it opens the windows of Heaven where God can pour out a blessing for you more abundantly than you can ask or think. It doesn't matter what the amount is. Jesus illustrated this in the story of Widow and her mite, giving not out of the abundance like the Phariasees did, but she gave all that she had. Dave is adament in including the dicipline of tithing in your financial makeover. The beautiful thing about tithing is, that you get it all back plus a lot more. Don't make the mistake of tithing just to get more money to add to your bank account. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing, a giver, to others so that His Covenant can be established in the earth.
There is plenty of cause for worry here today, in our time. The political situation is on the verge of chaos, our economy is on the course for total collapse. An economic depression looms in the background waiting for the right moment to manifest itself. Many people have been laid off, and some have lost their jobs because the company they worked for has gone under. There are a lot of people with maxed out credit cards tied to their mortgages who are now in default and are facing foreclosure on their homes and bankruptcy. To add to this economic misery, they are being harassed by bill collectors, so much so they are afraid to answer the phone. Most of you know someone who is in this predicament.
There is a man whom God has raised up into a full time ministry and he's gotten rich off of it. His name is Dave Ramsey and you can listen to him everyday on News Talk 640am WGST from 3 to 6 pm daily. Before you jump to conclusions, Dave Ramsey makes it perfectly clear here; it is no sin to be rich. I don't know why it is that some people think you have to take a vow of poverty in order to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Concerning the tithe, giving ten percent of our first fruits to God lets Him know right off the top where your heart is. When you tithe, it opens the windows of Heaven where God can pour out a blessing for you more abundantly than you can ask or think. It doesn't matter what the amount is. Jesus illustrated this in the story of Widow and her mite, giving not out of the abundance like the Phariasees did, but she gave all that she had. Dave is adament in including the dicipline of tithing in your financial makeover. The beautiful thing about tithing is, that you get it all back plus a lot more. Don't make the mistake of tithing just to get more money to add to your bank account. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing, a giver, to others so that His Covenant can be established in the earth.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Mathew 6:25-31, Jesus said,
25: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28: And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29:Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30: If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31: So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?32: For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. NIV
Part of Dave Ramsey's testimony that twenty years ago he was on the bottom looking up. He had declared bankruptcy and lost everything he had. In his book The Total Money Makeover, Dave tells his amazing story on how he was completely broke and became a multi-millionaire. His books and Financial Peace University Course and classes have helped millions to get debt free.
This is not an infomercial for Dave Ramsey and I don't receive a cent in advertising for him. This is the real deal. One thing I want to leave with you; in order for the Plan to Financial Freedom to work, you and your spouse have to make a quality decision and be in total agreement together. You will have to make some lifestyle changes and sacrafices, however these things are only temporary, and in most cases, you can be debt free in five years or less. But first, you must learn to Act Your Wage.
Daniel A. Casey 24 October 2009
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