5 THINGS MONEY WON'T DO

So in the middle of a serious conversation about resolving a problem in a less convenient way because it is less expensive than the most convenient way, someone joked; "ok, here is the plan...I'm going to win the lotto and then I will pay for it all."  We all had a good laugh out of it.

You see it's just easy to believe that money will fix all of our problems because it so easily fixes many problems; many of which seem impossible to deal with without money.

This often translates to us believing money can solve problems that don't even have a price.

HERE ARE 5 THINGS MONEY CAN'T DO.

1) Money will make me happy.
FALSE
2) Money will make me content
FALSE
3) Money will make my family appreciate me
FALSE
4) Money will make me feel better about myself
FALSE
5) Money will not bring the acceptance of others
FALSE

But because we feel money can fix all things, we do ALL SORTS OF THINGS in order to get money.  This GET MONEY mentality only leads to either no money and more problems; or MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS. 

Proverbs 28:6 states; "better is the poor who walks in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich." 

Then in verse 8; "he that by usury and unjust gain increases his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.  

Be mindful how you make your money, and mindful that money can only do certain things...BUT GOD PROVIDES ALL THINGS.

Don't have what John C. Maxwell calls "destination disease" where we believe we will find happiness once we obtain something.

What is more fragile: your FAITH or your FINANCES?

Most people don't realize how fragile their financial situation is. 
That is until a "surprise" major expense occurs, or someone dies, or they get laid off or fired.  Even worst, most people will feel the pain if they miss a paycheck or even after missing hours.  In such times we also find out how fragile our faith is, or isn't.

This can be realized best if you get a financial plan done, even better when it was done for free? (But who does that right?)

It's a simple biblical principle of judging yourself first before God has to open your eyes through a life situation.  We never know the challenges we will personally face, but we do have ways of buffering harsh times. So get a plan done so you can literally SEE IN THE DARK.

Think 2 Corinthians 13:5a - examining ourselves spiritually involves the things we do on this earth, and why we do them.

"Likes my status"

I was checking a new facebook notification that showed the wife of one of my best friends had "liked" a status.  This triggered this thought...do I 'like' MY status, am I content with where I am.

As I eat a most wonderful leftover meal of seafood lasagna full of crap meat, scallops, and shrimp lovingly prepared by my sister.  (SHOUT OUT TO SWEET CHILI RAE!) 

When I look at my life, I see so many things that need to be fixed and adjusted, but I am so greatful to have one thing.  CHOICE.  I heard a man on TED TALKS (www.ted.com) note that wealth is attributed to choice.  You want to know how rich you are, just simply evaluate your choices. 

Make no mistake about it, we in America are rich in choices, but when it comes to appreciating what we have, we are banentkrupt in gratitude.

I don't find fault in wanting a better job, or wishing to start a business, or seeking a raise, but why do we find disgust in our present condition?  Why that is, if we have no drive to make adjustments.

Most who wish to change realize that certain things won't happen if their financial situation is not adjusted, this is why many start business.  Sadly many won't make enough to retire, or may only have a short retirement and need a change of income.  This is a need driven situation that should not ride on the current of hatret for your lot in life.

Change is natural, but what we lack is a patient peace of knowing that God will provide opportunities we need and the abilities to accomplish the necessary task ahead of us.

You can checkout Sweet Chili Rae here.

THIRSTY, BUT WON'T DRINK

So TEXAS is @ the bottom of the financial literallcy totem pole....yet folks R going broke 4 Christmass & buying $300-$6000 concert tickets to see Jay-Z and Kanye.

I was reminded again the other day that we don't have a money issue in America as much as we have a SPENDING ISSUE.

People are struggling these days, but much richer than many in contemporary times and even in the history of the world.  Our issue is that we want more and we want it NOW.  And its killing us.

If a person is thirsty and at the point of catastrophe, what would you do?  Give them a drink right? Water is best to solve dehydration.  So what do you do when they refuse to drink the water you have given them? 

We are in want because we want the wrong things.
If we thirst after righteousness I guarantee that we would see less struggle in our financial outlook and behavior. 

How sad that many struggle financially but are too prideful to take the drink God has placed before them.  SIP, DRINK, GULP.

PLAYING IT SAFE.

In an earlier time, when people had to grow things to sustain their livelyhood.  There lived two neighbors who owned farms side by side.

One farmer, while working diligently during the sowing time, decided to inquire of his neighbor as to how he was dealing with that year's hardships.  The bugs seemed bigger, the water fewer, and the critters more prolific.  He sought advice to help with his long fought battle on his field.

When he got to the other farmer's house he was just relaxing on the porch rocking in his rocking chair and sipping coffee.

"How's it going Joe." the farmer asked his friend.

"Its rough out in this world Bill" He answered.

"Tell me about it!  How do you remain so calm?  How are you dealing with this harsh season?"

"Deal with it? Bill I am doing exactly what you see me doing now."

"But what of the harvest Joe, you've got to make a living."

"Well you see Bill, I wanted to plant taters, but the critters keep crittering. I wanted to plant watercrest, but there ain't hardly no water.  I wanted to plant some corn, but the bugs are as big as grapes.  So I decided to just hold tight this season and not waste my time."

Bill could believe his ears, for he knew that you reap what you sow. "Well Joe...that's just plum stupid." And he drove home praying for wisdom, and for Joe because he knew winter would soon come.

Life can go good or bad, but in all things, God has our backs and expects us to be good stewards at all times.  TALENTS ANY ONE?

LIFE IS FULL OF UNCERTAINTY, BUT BE ASSURED THAT GOD WILL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEEDS.

HE JUST ASKS THAT WE KEEP SOWING IN FAITH.

In diligence, one guy accidentally created silly putty and made millions on purpose.  I wonder how many ideas do we let lip by?

Slave in a Free Land

We live in a free country, yet many are still slaves. 

Not wanting to ignore the moraless slavery of many to passions and lust, I'd rather focus on the not so secret financial slavery.

Are you a slave?  Is your pocketbook a slave? MOST LIKELY...YES.

I am currently a slave, I've come to realize this and have a plan to get out.  What about you? Have you opened your eyes?  Do you know how to tell if you are a slave?  Its a simple self examination and everyone has seen, heard, or read about the key characteristic already.

ITS DEBT.

If you have it, you are a slave.

Isaiah 24:2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so

with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with

the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with

the debtor.

24:3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly plundered:

for the LORD has spoken this word.
                 
(KJ2000 - sent from CadreBible)

When being borrower is an analogy for a historical, factual judgement of a people, perhaps you ought to remedy the situation.

Business and personal should be bundled

I remember seeking to do business with a good friend a few years ago, and you know what he told me?  I don't do business with friends.  Then he proceeded to share and incident with me that happened between he and another friend of mine.  It just all seemed like there were too many assumptions and emotions got the best of the situation.  They were both good people and I just couldn't understand why that deal didn't go through.  They were still friends afterwards too.  The result of that view of business is this...now my friend is gone to be with the Lord, and if he and his wife had done business with me, his wife and their young child would be in a better situation financially. 
One of the biggest misconception-trains-of-thought told in the business world is never mix business and friendships.  Never get too close to the people you supervise, and don't do business with family.  As one of the greatest business men in America, Art Williams once said in response to those ideas...
(In paraphrase) he said; another key in business is you've got to learn to treat people good.  In Universities they teach you not to get to know your employees, their spouse, nor their kids because you might have to fire them someday.  His response...BULL.  He went on to say how building a meaningful personal relationship is the best way to establish a beneficial working relationship.
ITS BUSINESS, NOT PERSONAL
I HATE that saying, the last time I heard it was on "Takers." The idea of "doing business" is that you offer some product or service of value to others.  Once the transaction occurs, you both leave with an improved situation.  The reasons why people separate business and personal relationships is because they either; do underhanded things in business, and don't want to do them to their friends or family, or they have been burned by someone who didn't live by such a moral code.  This sort of thing gets me upset.
So let's get to the point, those you do business with should be people who care about you and your loved ones.  If you think about it...you most likely already do business with such people.  When it comes to caring for you family, this is best handled through how well you deal with your financial matters.  So in financial matters, you really need the service of someone who cares about what God feels about their service to others, and walks in right character and understanding.  This individual will most certainly look out for you and your family, and be a valuable friend for years to come.  This is the type of business person I strive to be hourly.
So....do you have a meaningful personal relationship with a financial professional? You should.

Enjoy some Art Williams wisdom.

What you dont know won't kill you...

I remember hearing quite a few people who have expressed that they just weren't good with money.  The sad thing is,they say this as if its just not going to change.  The problem with such thinking is that its ghetto.  By ghetto I mean that it is characteristic of Low income individuals (regardless of race) to live with the mind set that they themselves, as well as their situation will not change.

It is should seem strange that we often let situations throw us around.  Sure there are things we can't control, but surprisingly there are many things we can.  The law of reaping and sowing tells us that what we do has consequence, which leads me to the thought:

Let's do better @ waiting. Not sitting idle, nor wasting time, but preparing for the promises to come. We need spiritual patience & stamina.

Patience not to give up because things are difficult, or because we mess up, or it takes longer than expected.  Things come to the dilligent, to LIFE or DEATH.  So keep pressing on!  Do the research, work out the kinks....keep getting better and once you begin to do the right things consistently long enough, blesssings will flow.

COMPOUND INTEREST IN YOUR FAVOR

They say that one of the most powerful things to leverage in finances is COMPOUND INTEREST.  It should be your greatest ally when working your financial plan, and there is also a spiritual element you best not overlook.

GOD CREATED COMPOUND INTEREST

Think about it, the math involved was fabricated into the very world we live in.  Two vessels of DNA become one cell that multiplies exponentially into a person after conception.  A small seed becomes a plant, tree, or vine which can produce more seeds and more plants.  Two humans populated the world. 

When reaping and sowing in life, compound interest is also present.  The growth of the Church is evendent in this, as sowing the word can produce up to 100 fold returns.

Sometime we forget this and wonder why does it seem bad things happen to good people, but the wicked seem to prosper.Romans 8:18 states that even though you suffer now for doing godly things, what you will receive in the end will be substancially greater.  Why? COMPOUND INTEREST.

We live in a "get it now" world where people have placed compound interest AGAINST themselves.  Letting debt grow and compound and weight them down.  Look at the economy or the citizens and also the government.
 
Even spiritually we set up situations that place COMPOUND INTEREST against us.  Doing selfish deeds, holding others back, making things rough for people we come into contact with.  Procrastination is just a way of COMPOUNDING failure at a later date. 

Funny how we always seem to use what God meant for good as a means to add to our own struggles.

It is in our best INTEREST to allow the GOLDEN RULE to work in our favor as well as using COMPOUND INTEREST to save and build tangible money as opposed to pretending to have stuff when all you are really doing is COMPOUNDING PROBLEMS.

MONEY LOST

Most don't plan to fail, they fail to plan

Many are presently feeling lost when it comes to their money situation.  When the economy was going well no one really worried that they were lost financially, many didn't even realize it.  Mostly because they assumed that the money would always increase in the future.  I know I did.  I made some decisions almost three years ago based on the assumption that my income would increase.  In the current flow of events my base income dropped dramatically, and I was open to new possibilities.

The beauty of recession is that it makes you look at things for what they are, temporary.  As we I type this congress is working on budget cuts that are shedding light on the fact that nothing is rock solid and completely safe.  Even wealth.

Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich;restrain yourself! 

Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; 

wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder. 

Money has it's up and downs, and like the black player, many of us are in trouble....

 The biggest revelation is that too many have been walking financially blind simply because they never put together a plan for how to handle their money.  Why?  Well too many think they know all they need to know, and want to do it themselves.  Pride tells them that they can deal with their own money without help or that they already have it handled.  But if you look at the statistics you can see that many families have been doing the wrong thing(s) for years.

People don't plan to fail, 

they just fail to plan.  

My advice to you is that regardless of what you think you know, find someone who knows more than you do about finances and ask for directions.

DOING BETTER WITH YOUR MONEY IN 2011

I do OK with money, well that is what I have been led to believe.  People I know always seem to assume that I have more money that I actually do.  I don't know why that is but it guess its not a bad thing.  I am not one known to budget...officially.  I am used to what I would call mental budgeting, that is where I set aside tithes and bills and then the rest was spent on needs and wants. 
Usually on whims.  However there are many flaws in that financial game plan, and as with all bad things, changes are required.

As we are moving into the new year, many have quoted the scripture that says "I know the plans I have for you...." as well as other promises of good fortune.  Think about this, a good friend of mine died around this season last year and I know many who mourn during the holiday season due to loss.  Not only is there loss of separation, but usually this also means that a substantial portion of income is loss.  America is one of the few places on earth where there are ways to replace income due to death, it's called life insurance.  The sad thing is that not all life insurance is good for everyone and many are often being misled by companies out to get money, not looking out for the best interest of others.

This blatant disregard for the average person's well being is one of the reasons that feel we are dealing with such financial woes in the US.  Does this the negate the promises of good fortune in the bible?  NO!  At the end of the day we are to seek God in what He HAS FOR US, not how much he can give us.  There is a lane we are to run in and it is not concern of ours as to how much better someone else's lane looks.  We just need to trust GOD.  Truth be told if you can CHOOSE what you want to eat and have to DECIDE what you wear, then you are beyond blessed. 




Don't underestimate your current state of blessing.

Understand that not all is going to go as we would like it go this year, and there will be suffering to be had because of our hard hardheadedness.  Be of good cheer, because suffering brings patience and wisdom and character...and prayerfully some leaning.  There is so much I still need to change in my life this year and there are things you need to as well.  It is interesting how troubled times open our eyes to our needs to change.  I guarantee you that if you are reading this you are probably one of the 99.5% of people who need to make some changes in their money habits.  As a good friend of my fathers told me last year,

"don't put good money out for bad!" - J. W. Williams 

That is the beauty of life, that while we are on this side of the land, we can change. 

My Luck Runneth over?

Imagine you've been invited to a show, a new talent is debuting and you are going to be one of the first to experience what many have described as "Miraculously Magical."  You are naturally skeptical, but you can't go wrong with free tickets right?  All sorts of things are running through your head as anticipation mounts, you can hear the people around you whispering about how the lyrics are just as profound as the angelic melody.  There is young man two rows ahead of you, three seats to the right that seems more skeptical than you are, and he's ranting about how the words to her most popular song don't resonate with any sense, common or otherwise. The lights dim as he crumbles up the lazer-inked paper and all the chattering stops, except for the skeptic's female companion whispering about the uncivil nature of littering. As the curtains draw open, they reveal another white curtain is still closed and a spotlight illuminates the center of the white curtain revealing it's opaque nature.  A single note is heard, just barely, and increases with intensity and octave with every passing second.  The spotlight slowly moves to the right and finally the silhouette of the clandestine superstar is revealed behind the veil as the angelic note hit a high resounding mark, held, and stopped leaving diminishing echo as if from heaven. Then the first recognizable words..."What's luck got to do with it!"  The "u" sound in luck seemed to carry a sirens DNA as she finished the statement and silenced all critics present as she proceeded to surpass everyone one's expectations.  Listening to the most wonderful sound imaginable, the words hit you...what DOES luck have to do with IT, with anything.  Why does it seem "some guys have all the luck?" (gals included)

I came across a video blog from the CEO of Godaddy.com.   It's PG-13 content definitely deserves a cautious eye from viewers of faith.  That brings up a whole other topic of the farce of entertainment censure-ship and ratings.  Why does one feel that at the age of thirteen our youth should be exposed to sexual innuendos and curse words.  As you can tell from that last statement I have a tad liberal on the exposure to violence issue, but I have been musing over it's effects on my life and it's spiritual ramifications.  For another time prayerfully.

What I want to look at is the whole idea from the web hosting founder Bob Parsons blog about "Getting lucky" in life.  I am a firm believer in the hand of God having everything to do with the promotion and demotion of all individuals.  Whit that being said, luck has nothing to do with the material success we see around us, but I must admit that it certainly looks like it from time to time.


I want to go over a few points he made and let you all see how there is some good truth to what he said, and I plan to show you why.  The 1st rule Mr. Parson spoke of was LUCKY PEOPLE SHOW UP.  In life there are people who have been made aware that there is no such thing as a personal recession.  What I mean by this is that they look at every economic situation they come across as a different environment to make money in.  Most of us don't understand the concept, but look at our present situation and realize that some folks across the world saw the current economy as an opportunity to make money a different way, not as a hopeless situation that is all the governments and it's their job to fix it for us.  There were those who took advantage of cerstain opportunities like investing with Warren Buffet years ago, or buying into companies like Apple or Google and are not reaping rewards for those decisions.  Others opened the right business, the right way, and at the proper time and have made a lot of money.  Now money is not everything, but what if you could capitalized on the right opportunity at the right time and be able to make a better living for your family and have the ability to give to any charity or organization like never before.  Money is not just for making, but for giving, it's a shame that most don't realize this until they are filthy rich.  On thing is for certain, if you don't show up to where the opportunity is, you will miss out. That is where I will start, just making yourself available to the things God has provided around you to do the things with money that God wants for you to do. So as Bob stated, it appears that some people have all the luck because they are the ones who are there when IT happens.  The bible is ripe with examples of people who decided to follow the direction of God with faith, and others decided NOT to follow God because they lacked trust in God.  It's hard for us sometimes to believe that God will direct us to do something and actually help us along the way.  Those who knew God would come through were who were successful (Hebrews 11) and  the most important aspect of that success was the fact that they pleased God with there lives.  Everyone else disappointed God, non-success at its best.

WITHOUT ________ IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD.
(unfinished)



 Coming soon....
#2LUCKY PEOPLE TRY NEW THINGS
#3 NARCISISS NOT ALLOWED : LUCK PEOPLE SPEND VERY LITTLE TIME THINKING ABOUT THEMSELVES.
#4 WHAT WILL BE WILL BE