I have heard it said history tends to repeat itself. Amazingly, our nation and our lives are very similar to the people Isaiah wrote these words to. They are written to the house of Judah in a time when the nation was very wealthy and had a form of godliness, but lacked a true relationship with the Lord. In short, they were self-reliant.

Even in the midst of a recession, our nation is prosperous. But, what does prosperity lead to? Does it lead to thankfulness toward God and sacrificial giving to others? Sometimes it does, but many times it leads to self-reliance and an abandonment of faith in God. The cycle can look like this: Prosperity – self-reliance – moral decay – judgment.

If I have learned anything during this time of economic downfall, it is that prosperity is fleeting, but God is eternal. When I put my trust in anything other than the Lord my God, it will fail. When I trust in my wallet, the 401K, or even the value of my home, it can and many times will fail. But God will never fail.

The person who has a steadfast mind is one that has a single focus on God Himself. Their focus is moved from themselves to God alone. Only then will they be able to focus on what is truly important in this life because they understand it has been taken care of.

Let us have “perfect peace” in the area of finance and every other area of our lives by fixing our minds on God. When we ask God to make His Word true for us, He always says yes. Ask Him to keep your mind fixed on Him today as you trust in Him completely.

Elaine Price is a minister’s wife, a freelance writer, and a student of God’s Word. Visit her blog at www.devotionsforthejourney.blogspot.com. She is also very active in the music and preschool activities at her home church. She and her husband and three young sons make their home in Odenville, Alabama.

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I was out of work.

I’d been employed at the hospital for about four months and enjoyed my duties. One day I went to work only to learn the hospital had closed the hospice and contracted its services with another agency.

Now what God? I thought. How am I going to live without an income? I looked for work, but to no avail. I prayed for months, asking God to direct me to other work, but found nothing. Still, I never went without food, electricity, or heat.

God’s provision came in some of the most unpredictable ways. I received a windfall owed to me that I’d long since forgotten about. One day I picked up my mail and found an envelope with $40 cash. Whoever sent it clearly didn’t want to be recognized or thanked, as there was no return address and they’d sent it to “eLen anDerson,” and printed it as a four-year-old would.

To this day, I don’t know who it was, but I’m grateful God used them to provide for me. God proved quickly that I was to trust in Him, not in the world.

After several months, I landed a job with a temporary agency. Though it only provided intermittent work, it was enough to sustain me until I found permanent work a year later.

Through this, God showed me He knows what we need, when we need it, and He will provide, even when we can’t see how. Despite the circumstances, God is in control and has a plan to accomplish what He wants to do in our lives.

If you’re wondering how to get through a seemingly impossible situation, turn to God and ask Him to show you. He will meet your needs in His time, and according to His plan. You can trust everything to God.

Ellen Andersen is a member of the Upstate Fellowship of Christian Writers in Greenville, SC. She serves as a Stephen Minister at her church and is involved in a women’s Bible study. She is working on a memoir detailing how God used unforeseen circumstances in her life to change her focus and make her more dependent on Him.
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“IRAs are not a Biblical concept. They didn’t have to save for retirement in the Bible,” my husband said, pressing his glasses on his nose. “Biblical seniors did something else instead of moving to assisted-living facilities. I’ve heard the cost to live in assisted living is $3,000 to $5,000 a month or even higher. With the costs of health care and health insurance going up, the cost of living always on the rise, and the question of social security being there when we reach retirement age, saving is essential.”

“They did reach retirement age in the Bible,” I replied, thinking of how long some of the old-timers lived. “After all, Noah was 500-years-old when he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. When he was 600, flood waters came on the earth. Abram was eighty-six when Hagar bore Ishmael. Sarah, Abram’s wife lived to be 127.”

Things in biblical times didn’t cost as much as they do now. It seemed like they lived within their means. They didn’t have what we do—our big houses, cars, utility bills, cell phones, and entertainment expenses. Instead of buying groceries, they grew food and hunted for meat. The cost of sending children to college, paying medical bills, and buying insurance didn’t exist.

We sure have complicated our lives. Then there’s tithing ten percent and donating to organizations. It’s expensive to be a Christian.

We can save, simplify, spend less, and spend wisely. Our garages and basements hold many things to sell. Cut back on entertainment and eating out. Start a budget by writing down everything you spend, then look for what you can do without. Pay off your credit cards, and use cash. Your bills will be less, and who doesn’t want that.

Saving, giving, tithing . . . we really are challenged these days. Are your decisions wise or are bills devouring you? Trust God to guide your financial decision making. Money isn’t a curse when you spend and save it wisely.

Deedre Martz, lives in Louisville, CO and writes freelance articles and devotionals. She is also an office manager, technical writer, and editor, and enjoys walking dogs for the humane society. She has a bachelor’s degree in Business Finance and is a recent graduate of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.
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To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

It’s often way easier to tell someone else how to do it than it is to do it yourself. For years, my husband handled the bill paying and managed the money for our household. Through many times of financial stress, my advice to him was always the same: tithe anyway, even when you don’t think we can afford it, and trust God to provide. Easy for me to say. I wasn’t the one watching the balance in the checkbook go down while the stack of unpaid bills got higher.

I recently re-entered the workforce after several years at home. Before I got my first paycheck, I committed to give the full tithe on my pay, no matter what. Boy, was I surprised at how hard it can be. It takes a lot of faith to write out that check or give that online donation – especially when you aren’t making much to begin with. There are so many things to pay. I gained a whole new understanding of my husband’s struggle.

One night I sat at our dining room table preparing to pay bills. I added up all the income I’d earned that month as an office temp and through freelance work. I was pleased to see it was more than I thought. That meant I needed to give more. Before I submitted my tithe, I went back and forth between my desire to be faithful and my fear of not having what I needed.

Then it came to me. There’s more where that came from.

The money I received from those jobs came from God. In fact, everything I have came from him. He has promised to provide all I need and I’ve watched him do it my whole life, sometimes in miraculous ways. I don’t need to fear not having enough. If I run out, he’ll supply me with more. Since everything belongs to him, there’s always more where that came from.

Do you ever struggle with giving your tithes and offerings? If you do, just remember that the One who is your provider never runs out of anything. Go ahead and give – generously. He’ll always give you more.

Liz Collard is a writer and Christ-follower who lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband Bob. They are continually blessed by their three adult children, Matthew, Jeremy, and Mckenzie. Liz is the author of the Building a Godly Marriage series and her heart’s desire is to see families serving and glorifying God together. Contact her at liz.collard@hotmail.com.

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Little green bills, silver and copper coins, paper that states “Pay to the Order of,” and plastic cards with names like “MasterCard” and “Visa” used to stress me out. Why? Because I was careless with them. They caused my husband considerable stress too.

Until I married Bill, I thought it was normal to float checks before payday. I knew the Bible taught financial responsibility. I also knew choosing which parts of the Bible I wanted to follow and ignoring the rest weakened my witness, but who cares if Numbers teaches money is given to us by God for His purposes?

My outlook affected my marriage as well. Bill was forced to solely carry the burden of our finances—even in spite of my unintentional sabotage of his efforts to track checks I forgot to record, receipts I forgot to save, and money I frivolously spent.

“We’ll never have enough money to blow, but we will always have enough for our needs if we are careful,” he’d say. Bill insisted we pay our tithes, practice financial discipline, and carry extra cash for emergencies. What emergencies? We had decent paying jobs. Quite frankly, I felt Bill was going overboard.

A year into our marriage, I accepted a position as a debate coach at our local high school. One tournament required an overnight stay. On the morning the students and I were to check out of the hotel, I approached the front desk to turn in our keys and noticed a woman with three young children standing at the counter. She was crying, and the clerk looked appalled. I could see why. Her two black eyes and bruised lip told the story. One child whispered, “Mommy, now where are we going to stay?”

Looking into the fear and hopelessness on her face, I grabbed my extra cash and plastic card. Suddenly Bill’s faithfulness to biblical financial practices wasn’t a burden. It became the door to immeasurable opportunities to serve my Father.

When you’re tempted to overspend, think through the financial responsibility to Christ. You never know where He will lead you.

Kimberly Thomas lives with her husband and six children in Lubbock, Texaa. She is a free-lance writer, serves as a youth director, and is a high school English teacher.

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My husband tells me he wouldn’t have stopped had the dog not been on his side of the busy intersection. He has a heart for animals, but isn’t one to veer from his schedule. Unless, that is, a tiny collared dog is running amongst traffic on a Thursday afternoon. He pulled over in the parking lot of a corner gas station to pick him up. At the time we thought it might be a Shih tzu. I’m highly allergic to furry animals and our children’s caregiver agreed to keep the pup while we actively looked for an owner.

Sandra had the best time with Peanut. All weekend she and her husband, a local youth minister, toted the pup around. It sat in the car on rides, barked to go out for potty, and was quite picky about meals – weanies, not dog food. By Tuesday afternoon, “Lost!” signs had appeared on telephone poles.

The call came and a meeting was arranged to return the dog to its home. The elated owners tried to give us a reward for the dog, who turned out to be a Yorki. Sandra and her husband tried to turn them down, expressing how glad they were to have helped. The couple insisted and a sealed envelope was carried away. Sandra told the owners she would put the funds toward the youth at their church, and thanked them. It wasn’t until they were halfway home that the plain white envelope was opened, revealing $500 cash. Such a large amount was tempting to keep, but Sandra and her husband proved faithful and kept their word, donating it to the youth group as promised.

God often provides us with opportunities to prove our faithfulness. Some think of these occasions as tests. Has God ever provided you with more than you needed? Share the goodness of God’s provision and be blessed more than you can imagine. Each day in our lives is important. Every moment is a chance to mature as a believer and demonstrate that devotion to others.

What will you do when given such an opportunity again?

Julie P. Jones, PhD is an educator in Spartanburg, SC. She received her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction in 2009 from Clemson University, a Master of Education in Administration from the University of South Carolina, and a Bachelor of Arts in Deaf Education from Converse College. She maintains an active research agenda that includes both practitioner and family-oriented articles. Julie is married with two daughters.
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A kind, but determined woman handed my son five dollars to purchase a toy truck at a thrift store. His cow-licked hair, dirty face, and tattered clothing implied an unkept child as his dad, complete with holey jeans, pushed their cart. However, holey adult jeans are a fad and our son had played outside prior to shopping. The unknowing woman wouldn’t take no for an answer so my husband bought the truck and accepted her generosity.

Outwardly, my son appeared to be a deprived boy crying for a toy—and my husband appeared to be needy. In reality, my son has every imaginable toy and drawers overflowing with clothes. My husband goes thrift shopping to practice our frugality; ensuring our children are blessed with future needs and wants.

God imparted this wisdom for our finances early in our marriage.

This woman isn’t the only one to judge. We often assume someone has wealth because they have the latest fads, most expensive cars and homes, and dine extravagantly. More often, materialism indicates debt instead of prosperity. In a godly financial world, are we matching our inward and outward appearance by living within our means?

Are you reaching deep within your pocketbook or wallet for the credit card, or do you wait to pay cash for a want? Do you appear poor and needy on the outside, but rich with God’s fruits and blessings on the inside? Shine for Him.

Jackie Brown is a wife and mom to four children. She is the founder of a non-profit freezer cooking ministry within her church of 5000. Her blog, Mom on a Mission for Christ, attracts women who want to cook whole foods and freeze meals for their family while helping both church and community. Formerly an abandoned, homeless orphan, Jackie has the opportunity to serve homeless women and children monthly through her passion for freezer cooking. She enjoys speaking, reading, writing, camping, and family. www.cookandplay.webs.com.

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Names of God

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:12

Listen to He Will See You Through – She Said

“Arrrggh. Will you let me sleep?” I shouted when I bolted up from the bed. I knew there was a decision to make…one that affected my entire family and God wasn’t going to let me rest until I said yes.

It meant stepping out on faith. “God,” I said, “I have a good job at a time in our economy when thousands do not and you’re asking me to give it up?”

He was. So I did.

Three months after I retired, the house fell into dire need of repair. New siding, new fencing, new stairs, broken driveway, and I’d taken early retirement. Mistake, I wondered?

I call God the great nudger. He’s like the cartoon Daffy Duck dressed as an angel, sitting on my shoulder nudging me. He wakes me in the night whispering in my ear, “Come, follow Me.” Yet when I say yes, His devil counterpart is thrilled when, for lack of better words, “all hell breaks loose.” Something just isn’t right here. When you go to work for God, you’d think things would be smooth sailing.

God nudged the Magi too. After their visit to the Christ child they were warned in a dream not to return home by the usual route. It was their hint from God that it wouldn’t be safe to revisit Herod.

More times than not, when He calls us to do something for Him, it involves a price. These Magi, scholars of their time, had studied for years, paid attention to the signs and wonders and when God placed it on their hearts to GO, they did. They were to serve as witnesses of the fulfillment of scripture and it meant danger for them. Still they did what they were led to do.

Despite the hardship and dangers any of us face in the service of Christ, God always provides care for us. He never fails to open a door of safety, send provision, or warn us of the dangers we might face when we say “yes.” He doesn’t promise a smooth path, for in the wake of Him are those who work to destroy His ways.

God provided for us just as He did for the Magi. The math doesn’t work out on paper but somehow we’ve managed to survive the impact of major home repairs on one income. And we’re still managing because God is Jehovah Jireh (God of Provision). The Magi returned home safely even through the danger because God is Jehovah Shammah (God who is there).

When God calls you, listen…answer…trust. Will it be easy? Definitely not but El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty) will see you through.

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On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh

What makes a gift meaningful? The effort or thought put into it? The gift’s significance or cost? Do you give meaningful gifts or do you make the last-minute mad dash and buy gifts regardless of the significance or cost? Regardless of your efforts, there’s no way to know if the recipient will even appreciate your gift. There there’s the struggle with what gift to buy the person who seemingly has everything.

Oh, the frustration we endure and the anxiety we experience during the Christmas season. The tradition of exchanging gifts has become so stressful and meaningless it distorts our vision of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. If we were completely honest, we might embarrassingly confess our gift-giving expense rivals our gifts to God.

The wise men endured a long journey and went to great expense to present their gifts to Jesus. The great distance they traveled confirms their effort. The meaning behind each gift reveals their significance – gold fit for a king, frankincense symbolizing a sacrifice, and myrrh signifying the preparation for burial. However, these gifts were not meaningful simply because of the effort, thought, significance, or cost. Rather, we find their true value in how the wise men gave their gifts to the “Word made flesh.” Before presenting their gifts, they first gave of themselves by humbly bowing and worshiping Him.

I recall a preacher once saying that the true measure of people could be found in their checkbooks. The underlying reference was to where your treasure is, there your heart (and checkbook) will be also. Using any financial computer application, it’s easy to run annual totals and calculate percentages on where we spend our money. I recommend this as a year-end activity – it may reveal your priorities, goals, and true treasure of your heart.

Beyond the monetary value, all the gifts in the world pale in comparison to the gift of yourself. Giving quality time, effort, and support to others is quite commendable. However, superseding that is the giving of yourself wholly to God. As you consider your gifts this year, make sure Jesus is on your Christmas list. Then give Him the most meaningful and valuable gift you can – you.

As a “missionary kid” who grew up in a Christian home and church, Nate Stevens has enjoyed a 30-year banking career in a variety of leadership roles. Recently, God made it clear Nate should use his writing talents for God’s kingdom. He has written online devotionals for his home church (Calvary Church in Charlotte, NC) for the past two years. His first book, Matched 4 Marriage – Meant 4 Life was recently published and released (www.natestevens.net). God is opening doors for speaking engagements at conferences, seminars, churches services, etc., for singles, young adults, young marrieds, and youth. Nate received his MBA from Liberty University. He currently lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, and is an active dad with his two awesome kids, Melissa and Mitchell.
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Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

“Here is a stack of eight quarters. Every time my glass of tea gets empty, I’m taking one away.” The rusty curmudgeon that limped into the restaurant for lunch every Tuesday was nobody’s favorite customer to serve.

I worked in the restaurant business off and on for many years. When I was a waiter, people would leave a tip at the end of their meal. Most people will tip, but some won’t for various reasons. If the cook prepares a person’s steak medium rare instead of medium well, some customers get upset with the server and leave them a poor tip. Others leave good tips regardless of a not-so-perfect experience.

What about the money we give God? Are we merely tipping him for good service? God has served us well, leave Him a little tip. According to outside sources, only 5% of churchgoers tithe 10% of their income. Reasons for poor attitudes toward giving include greed, lack of faith, and lack of lordship.

Faithful giving transforms your relationship with God by building a closer, more intimate connection to Him. He commands us to give and it’s an act of obedience. When I obey God I’m brought closer to him.

Tithing provides for local outreach, global missions, and feeding the poor. It’s a matter of trust. God will provide my needs as well. When my life has stress, worry can take over if I don’t trust him. When I choose to walk in faith with my finances, even during scary times, I feel more confident that nothing can come between us.

Don’t skip on your tip/tithe to God. The investment is worthwhile.

Jamie Hughes is the founder and director of Isaac’s Friends (www.IsaacsFriends.org), a ministry that provides love and support for hospitalized children. A South Carolina native, he lives with his two children and enjoys painting, writing, football, and music. Jamie is also an author and public speaker, recounting the miraculous transformation Christ has made in his life. You can share many of the life lessons he has learned as a Christian at www.onthewayuptoday.blogspot.com.
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