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• Money is a training ground for God to develop our trustworthiness, Luke 16:11

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Principle 2Seek God’s Wisdom in Every Aspect of Your Life

• Matt 7:24-25 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.”

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Enhance Your Earning Power and Keep Enhancing Your Earning Power

• Opportunities to learn are limitless and change is inevitable.– Senior classes at COM– Continuing ed computer classes @ COM

• In today’s competitive workplace, those who stand still are, in reality, moving backwards … fast. (Prov 28:19)

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• Live within your means and save money from every paycheck. Never spend more than you make. (Ecc 5:1)

• Use Credit wisely. Don’t borrow money for things that rapidly go down in value. And if you borrow money for things that are likely to go up (your home) borrow only the amount that you can comfortably afford to repay (don’t max out your mortgage) (Prov 21:5)

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• Don’t be an impulsive buyer. Savvy salespeople want you to buy “right now.” Savvy buyers take their time. (Prov 21:5)

• Don’t fall in love with “Stuff”. We live in a society that worships “stuff” – don’t fall into that trap. Remember “stuff” is highly overrated. Worship God almight, not the almighty dollar. (Prov 11:28)

• Make sure that everybody in your family understands the need to spend wisely. Financial security is a team sport.

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• Give back to the Lord. God is the giver of all things good. What does He ask in return? A tiny ten percent. Don’t withhold it from Him. (Mal 3:10)

• Never stop studying God’s Word. Even if you’re very familiar with your Bible, there’s always something new to learn. God still has many lessons to teach you … and you should be willing to learn. (Ps 27:11)

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Your value system will determine how you earn, how you spend, and how you save money.

• Build your value system upon the firm foundation of God’s wisdom and God’s Word.

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Examine Your Priorities

• Are you investing your life in a way that makes the most of the talents God has given you … or are you squandering those talents by allowing your skills to be underutilized?

• If your spending habits are undisciplined – or if your skills are not being maximized – it’s time to rearrange your life and your priorities.

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Prioritize Your Savings Goals*• Chinese proverb says, “Do not wait until you

are thirsty to dig a well.”• Becoming part of the landed gentry – real

estate, your own home• Retiring: sitting on a rocking chair?

Discontinuing full-time work? Not even working for pay at all

• Educating the kids• Owning your own business

*Personal Finance for Dummies, Wilely Publishing, p. 8

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Prov 21:17 “Those who love pleasure become poor; wine and luxury are not the

way to riches”• Minimize unnecessary expenditures while

maximizing your skills (and, presumably, your income).

• Your priorities, passions, goals, and fears are shown clearly in the flow of your money. (Dave Ramsey)

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Draft your personal mission statement

• Your personal value system will determine the quality and direction of your life, you must choose those values carefully; and you should choose them in accordance with God’s commandments.

• Make your life a mission instead of an intermission

• Clarify your thoughts and crystallize your plans

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Develop specific ways to apply God’s wisdom; use God’s Word

• 1• 2• 3• 4• 5• 6

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Class 2: Chapter 2: God’s Big Idea about Finances

• Financial freedom vs contentment– 1 Tim 6:6-8 “But godliness with contentment is

great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

– Heb 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”

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• Image of contentment?

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Financial contentment

• Winning the lottery• Inheritance• Not budgeting• Get a big raise• Find another better

paying job

• Eternal perspective• Faith-based decisions• Biblically wise counsel• Financially wise counsel

FINANCIAL SECURITY IS NOT THE SAME AS FINANCIAL PEACE OF MIND.

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The world’s perspective

• Our culture encourages us to spend all that we make. (It says, “Keep the economy going!”)

• Our culture aggressively teaches us to be discontent. (It says, “You deserve a break.”) This is the opposite of what God wants. We need to realize we’re in a battle.

• Our culture attaches our self-worth to our net worth. (It says, “I’m winning the game because of what I own.”)

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Financial Idols2 Kings

13 GOD had taken a stand against Israel and Judah, speaking clearly through countless holy prophets and seers time and time again, "Turn away from your evil way of life. Do what I tell you and have been telling you in The Revelation I gave your ancestors and of which I've kept reminding you ever since through my servants the prophets."

14-15 But they wouldn't listen. If anything, they were even more bullheaded than their stubborn ancestors, if that's possible. They were contemptuous of his instructions, the solemn and holy covenant he had made with their ancestors, and of his repeated reminders and warnings. They lived a "nothing" life and became "nothings"—just like the pagan peoples all around them. They were well-warned: GOD said, "Don't!" but they did it anyway.

16-17 They threw out everything GOD, their God, had told them, and replaced him with two statue-gods shaped like bull-calves and then a phallic pole for the whore goddess Asherah.

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Our treasure

A Life of God-Worship – Matthew 619-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it

gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

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Posterity/Prosperity

• Posterity: the descendants that come after you, people whom you impact for eternity

• Prosperity is not true wealth