Money Matters Part 1

Spending CUT!! This phrase is everywhere around the world, especially since the financial recession. Managing money is a vital part of our life; a life without financial transactions is unthinkable. It is not just about money but I mean a life with no transactions. Before the monetary system arrived the barter system was one of the methods of transactions.

In this blog I would like to share some of the Biblical and practical aspects of handling money in our daily life. I was born and brought up in a middle class family with both of my parents being teachers. I think their lives influenced me a lot in money management. Some of the principles they followed were trying to avoid spending beyond their limits or borrowing money for unnecessary things and clearing debt as soon as possible. They also gave money to people in need (most of the time), especially poor people and other needy people. My grandmother was a woman of God and I believe my parents learned some Godly principles from her.  It has been a blessing to me.

Let us look at the Bible to consider what it has to say on the subject. (See below for detailed Bible references). We need to understand the truth that God is our provider, which is His ultimate promise, and that one of His names is Jehovah Jairah meaning God will provide /God is our provider. Because He is our father, “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1.17). So even if you have a good job, or lots of money in your bank account or a lot of family assets, remember God is our provider.  But the way you flow in Godly principles will make a difference in the area of your finances. Let me keep it simple.

You can see financial giving happened in three different parts of the Bible: 1)  before the Law was given; 2) under the Mosaic Law; and 3) in the New Testament Scriptures.In the Old Testament tithing was a commandment (Leviticus 27:30-33, Numbers 18:21-24: Deuteronomy 14:22-27 , Nehemiah 12:44, Malachi 3:8-12)

However, in the New Testament there is no specific command about giving yet if you look at the  scriptures you can see many verses where the church was practicing giving not as a tithe but as unconditional giving in response to the need (1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Acts 11:27-39, 2 Corinthians 9:7).

 

Giving to God in the Old and New Testaments (grace and legalism)In the Old Testament the Law was controlling the giving system and all were forced to give whether it was willingly or unwillingly. In my own words the Law was acting like a tax collector, but God was broken by the way people gave their gifts. Isaiah 29:13 states “These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”. And in John 4:23 Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, “the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

Let me take two scriptures to explain the heart and motivation as well as the result of giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7,  “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Although we give our tithe and offerings to our local church, the scripture says that under the new covenant Jesus Christ is receiving our tithe as an act of worship and obedience (Hebrews 7:8), but in the new covenant we are giving cheerfully. In the old covenant in order to be blessed they gave the tithe, but in the new covenant we are giving because we are blessed (Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Eph 1:3). It’s like we are worshiping God not to be set free, but we are free in Christ. Philippians 4:19 says “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

The principle of giving 

The Bible frequently mentions giving. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." The motivation of giving is not to receive; if you are giving to receive then that is legalism, but grace will enable you to give without any expectation. Nevertheless God will bless you. Giving can mean different things such as giving your time, money or possessions, or your gifting and talents. That is why Jesus said “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10.8)

I think it was the end of 2004 when I was praying to God to start a television programme in Kerala to reach Hindus in one of the persecuted areas which we ( Team in Kerala) were completely banned from entering. At that time all I had in my hand was 500 Indian rupees (£7) and I felt God was asking me to give that money to one of my friends in Trivandrum. Shocking!!  I thought I was not hearing from God and tried to ignore His voice, but I felt God really wanted me to do that because He didn’t want me to start the programme in my own strength. It was really hard for me at that time since that was all I had. I decided to obey God, went and handed over this money to him. Upon returning home, in one sense I felt a great joy but in another sense a little bit broken. But since the beginning of 2005 God spoke to many people to join in this project so that since 2005 we have been telecasting the programme sharing the Gospel to millions. Until now God has been faithful to us. When God called me for full time ministry (without sponsors, support from churches or support from family), God has been unchanging and faithful; that is His character.

I would like to touch some areas of giving. In the New Testament we can see: 1) “ministry to the saints" (pastors/elders /church leaders) - 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:1, 1 Corinthians 9:14 — “In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”  2) Ministry of all believers - Eph. 4:12 (helping each other in the Church). 3) Church plants outside the local church or sharing the needs of other churches under the same vision.

Giving to the poor

The Bible contains more than 300 verses on the poor, social justice, and God's deep concern for both. "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." (Galatians 2:10) "Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need." 1 Timothy 5:3.

Remember all these acts of giving are connected to church,  “… and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.” (Acts 4.35) [1] What does this mean? You are allowing the church to handle the money you give. Some people have a habit of dividing their tithe into 10 portions. For example, 2% to the local church, 2% to a friend in Africa, 3% to Tear Fund / Christian Aid, 2% to a TV evangelist, 1% they keep in their hand so if there is any need that comes up they can use the 1% for that. After all this giving there is such satisfaction in being a part of world evangelism! You may ask the question what is wrong with? I am giving to God and for the expansion of His Kingdom. Yes I do agree but God mainly uses His church to administrate the money. Of course you have the freedom to give to any one but it is great to make sure that your main giving or tithe goes to the local church who are teaching and training and covering you and your family. (Please refer to the end for more scriptural references).

 

Sufficiency and abundance.

Often people think abundance means plenty of money in their hand or in the bank, having more than enough to spend whenever and on whatever they want. But according to the Bible abundance means sufficiency for your needs plus giving. That means you can live in abundance even when you have no job or no money in your bank because your abundance is not on the basis of how much you have, it is up to who you trust. God is a God of abundance. There is nothing about him that smacks of insufficiency, lack or limit. John 10.10 is talking about abundance as well as John 7:37,38.

Even if they have a huge amount of money, some people are constantly struggling to move forward, being always or most of the time overdrawn. I believe this is not from God; if you are always living under the yoke of poverty, this is the time to ask God’s help to come out. There are times we may go through financial difficulties but I am not talking about that kind of situation.  Some TV celebrities preach that once you are in Christ you’ll have no problems, only prosperity. That is a lie. Jesus said “I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble. But be brave! I have defeated the world!" (John 16.33).  Paul and the church went through financial, physical and emotional struggles. Even now we ( BNMI and family ) are going through many needs, but He has been faithful to us, and He will continue to be.

Practical applications

For some people spending is out of control. Are you a person who ends up buying a lot more than you need, spending more than you expect, easily influenced by advertisements, visiting someone’s family and seeing something new then not sleeping till you have it as your own? Do you buy many things that are never used or expire before you’ve had the chance to use them (I’m not talking about a packet of expired bread)? Are you always living in Amazon, easily influenced by the texts, emails, or offers (Like find it get it Argos it!!), over spending, over eating, over storing? I can understand if you are storing 24 toilet rolls, but 24 hand washes!!  Dear friend, if you are in this category the message is that you need deliverance. Jesus can set you free, but it won’t happen like laying hands and casting out demons; this will only happen through changing your life style and habits using the grace of God. And please remember to receive payer and advice from friends in your church who are disciplined in their spending (if you are looking for someone perfect then sorry you won’t find them, but some people are succeeding in many ways who can help you).

 Urgent, Need and Want

Always ask this question before spending: is this urgent, a need or a want?  Regardless of the amount of money that you have, God requires faithful stewardship of the resources that he has entrusted to you. For example at the time of shopping, Milk or nappies for the baby / Paying rent /phone bill = Urgent.

Bread for your breakfast = need (You already have some cereal /some left-over bread).

Chicken for the BBQ/ chocolate / iPhone / new mobile / going out to eat = want (You just want it because you want it; you can always try to justify why you ‘need’ it!).

Please stop using your credit card unless you are sure about some money that is coming in within the time limit for repayment. Please never think it will be fine, at some point I can manage it. Ask God for His wisdom before taking advice from someone else. For example when you go shopping it’s tempting to buy a Galaxy Chocolate, but even if it is a small amount, stick with your original plan. Self control is one of the fruits of the Spirit. That means you have it so use it at the right time. Don’t worry about the occasional failure to use it, just ask God for more grace, use it and never give up. The world uses will power; our weapon is self-control, powered by the Spirit of God.

 

Faithfulness and Finance

All of us are responsible to God, regardless of the amount of material wealth that He has entrusted to us. 1 Corinthians 4:2 states, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Romans 14:12 states, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” One of key passages is Matthew 25:14–30.

Regardless of the amount of money that you have, God requires faithful stewardship of the resources that He has entrusted to you. The parable mentioned in Matthew 25:14-30 tells the story of a master and his three servants. The master gave money to all three of them.

Some of the facts in this parable are: a) the money/talents belong to the master;

b) when the master gave the talents it was according to their ability or according to the master’s understanding about the servants; c) there was no condition how to use the money. But when the master came back:  “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them” (v.19). If I simply say we are accountable to God for everything we have been receiving from Him and the reward the master gave was not on the basis of successes but faithfulness. What God expects is faithfulness.  That’s the test Jesus applies here.  The question the master asks is this:  “Did you use the ability you have to take full advantage of the opportunity I gave you?”  What does it meant by talents in our context? It could be anything we have received from God. Money, opportunities, skills, abilities, talents. God is not going to put any pressure on our life, instead He is a God of grace, mercy and justice. The master gave enough time and enough talents according to their ability. But the response and commitment of the third servant was not great at all. He was accusing or criticising the character of the master. If he knew about the nature of the master he could have avoided taking the talents at the beginning. But while outwardly he was a servant inwardly he was his own master, setting his own priorities and not giving importance to the trust his master put in his life by giving talents into his hands. In verse 29 - Jesus comes to the bottom line:  “For everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.  Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Are we faithful stewards of the financial resources that God has entrusted to our care for His purposes?  How would we fare if the Lord were to return today and ask us to give an accounting? This question is not to scare you but just for self evaluation and correction.  “Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me’ ” (Mark 10:21). Greed for money will stop us from following Jesus.

If you are working, sometimes you may need to do some shopping for your office or for your client. How will you do the shopping if it is for some one else? The money you are using might be funded by the government or someone else trusting you to buy something for them. This is one of the areas in which your character and integrity will be revealed. It may be that no-one asks any questions about your choice but you just summit the receipt after the shopping, but the question is not about what you did, but how you did? What is pleasing to our Heavenly Father?

Look at this scripture about being salt and light: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 13-16).

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).

Some practical suggestion related to handling finance:

·         Pray and ask for His grace to handle finance in a Godly way.

·         Give cheerfully and sacrificially. When you give prioritise Church (if you are separating 15% as tithe give 15% to the local church; from the remaining  85% you can give for other stuff including your personal needs and sacrificial giving. From this 85% you may give to church again for a person in need or a an urgent project, but when you give, give cheerfully.

·         Before shopping do some research, planning, discussion and decision-making.

·         Stick with your plan unless some thing is necessary or urgent

·         If you are shopping with someone else (your spouse or a friend), it is always good to have small discussions comparing prices and the value and quality of the products.

·         Avoid always buying value products (they might not be good quality) to save money or the most expensive product for quality. Use your common sense (it’s not common!!) and experience.

·         Buy healthy, eat healthy, live healthy

·         Be a good example to others in handling money

So let’s do it!!

 

I will be publishing the second part soon, which will be covering living by faith and prophetic giving.

Hope you are blessed. I’d love to hear from you,

A big God bless

Blessan

A Brief Bible study

The word money is mentioned nearly 120 to 140 (different versions) times

In the New Testament 35(NKJV), 37 (NRSV)

Jesus mentioned Money in 12 occasions (NKJV) + 4 times Mammon

Out of all the parables there are many parables mentioning money (Luke 12:13-21,

Luke 16:1-13, Luke 11:52 - 12:1-34)

• "Cornelius stared at him in fear. What is it, Lord?' he asked. The angel answered, Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.'" Acts 10:4
• "After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings." Acts 24:17
• "On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'" Romans 12:20
• "For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem." Romans 15:26
• "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." Galatians 2:10
• "Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need." 1 Timothy 5:3
• "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
• "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and becomes judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?" James 2:2-6
• "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18
• Luke 12:15-17a, 19b-21, 33 — “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ And he told them this parable:
• Malachi 3:8-10 — “ ‘Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings.
•  Acts 4:37 “sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.”
• Acts 2:45 “Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”
• Acts 5:2 “With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.”
• Acts 6:1 “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.”

---

• [1] "In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor." Acts 9:36