How To Obtain Financial Freedom
HOW TO OBTAIN FINANCIAL FREEDOM
There are 3 people who are very interested in your finances. 1st of all, you are interested in your finances. If I know anything about you, it is that you would like to meet your financial obligations, and have some money left over. 2nd not only are you interested in your finances, Satan is also interested in your finances. Satan wants to keep you in financial bondage so he can control your life. The Bible even says in
Malachi 3:10-11
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. (KJV)
3rd God is interested in your finances. God is not interested in your finances because He needs it. Listen to what God says in
Psalm 50:12
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. (NIV)
If God became hungry, would he ask you for a couple of dollars so he could buy a Big Mac? God is interested in your stewardship, not because He wants to get something from you, but because He wants to bless you. You see God wants to deliver you from financial bondage. No one wants
to be in financial bondage. And many people who are in financial bondage are not even aware of it. Let me give you a test to see if you are in financial bondage.
10 marks of being in financial bondage
1. Do you find yourself charging daily expenditures because you do not have the money? I'm talking about the daily things that you need, such as food or gas. Then you are financial in bondage.
2. Do you put off paying the bills that are due till next month? Then you are in financial bondage.
3. Do you borrow money to pay off fixed expenses such as taxes, insurance, or the house payment?
4. You are not aware how much money you owe.
5. Do you find creditors hounding you about overdue bills?
6. Do you make new loans to pay off old loans, where you take all your little loans and make one great big back breaking loan.
7. Do you and your spouse constantly argue about money? I have been tempted to add to the wedding vows, I will love you in debt or not in debt.
8. Do you desire to get rich quick?
1 Timothy 6:10
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (NIV)
Sometimes someone will tell a young man, "Make all the money you can, just so long as you
make it honestly." That can be bad advice? You see, a man who is trying to make all the money he can is going to be making money when he should be praying, soul winning, or spending time with his family. No wonder the Bible says in
Proverbs 23:4
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. (NIV)
Furthermore, if you desire to get rich quick, you will consume all effort in building earthly treasures, rather than treasures in heaven. Think of all the possessions you have. Twenty years from now, somebody else will own them.
9. Do you think about being dishonest in your finances?
10. Do you find it difficult to return God's tithe to God's house? Now if you find that you are in any of these 10 categories, you're in financial bondage. And you need to be set free and obtain financial freedom. But let me also add, did you know you can be very rich and be in financial bondage? Let me tell you how.
FINANCIAL BONDAGE FOR THE WEALTHY
1st -- When you try to find your satisfaction in money but you are never satisfied, you're in financial bondage. The Bible says,
Ecclesiastes 5:10
10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. (NIV)
2st -- When your money increases, do your worries increase?
Tonight many wealthy people will have a
hard time trying to sleep. You see a rich man may spend the first half of his life trying to get everything he can from everybody else. But he will also spend the last half of his life trying to keep everybody else from getting it back.
You can be in financial bondage as a poor person and you can be in financial bondage as a wealthy person.
Do you want to know just how wealthy you are? Just add up everything you have that money can not buy, and death can not take away, and then you will know just how wealthy you are.
Most people think that to be financially free they just need to know what to avoid, then they will be financially free. That is not true. You need to lay down a firm foundation first. You see, even a carpenter can know all about the mistakes in building a home, but unless he avoids those mistakes while laying the foundation, his efforts will prove to be disastrous.
3 CORNERSTONES YOU NEED TO BE FINANCIALLY FREE
FIRST -- SETTLE THE _______________ QUESTION.
A. BELIEVE THAT GOD ________ EVERYTHING. I am not saying you should pretend that God owns everything you possess. The Bible says that literally everything belongs to God. You may possess certain things, but you do not own them. When you believe you're the owner of your possessions, you place yourself in immediate conflict with God, for he claims those rights. The Bible says,
Psalm 24:1
1 The earth is the Lord's, and everything in
it, the world, and all who live in it; (NIV)
God is very specific about it. He says:
Haggai 2:8
8 `The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. (NIV)
Psalm 50:10-11
10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. (NIV)
Recognize that God is owner of all that we possess. You can do this by:
B. ________________ OWNERSHIP TO GOD.
If you have not recognized that God is the owner of your time, finances, possessions and earning power you need to transfer your ownership to God. God says everything is His, and our recognition of God's ownership is the first foundation stone to financial freedom.
How does God's ownership relate to being financially free? Well, if God is the owner of all that I own, then it relieves me of a certain amount of responsibility. I am still responsible to be a good steward of my possessions. But beyond that I am free. For example, 8 years ago, I drove a VW rabbit. The car was rear ended and the insurance company totaled it. I said, "O.K., God, if that's what you want to happen to your car, it's all right with me. Now it's your responsibility to find a new car." And that is exactly what God did. God provided a better car, and gave us the money to pay cash for it.
I find it takes a lot of pressure off me when I recognize that all I have belongs to God. If God wants some of His money to flow through the local automobile dealerships, I'm willing. Or if it is His intention to supply me with another car, that's O.K. First, settle the ownership question.
SECOND -- RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS GOD WHO ___________ YOU TO GAIN WEALTH.
Here's the verse for the principle:
Deuteronomy 8:18
18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, (NIV)
Not too long ago, A.J., my youngest and I were in McDonalds. He ordered a happy meal and I ordered just a hamburger and a diet pop. It didn't take very long for me to eat that hamburger, and I was still hungry. So I decided to eat some of A.J.'S fries. He said, "Dad, those are my fries!" I thought for a moment, and it dawned on me, that I paid for those fries. But A.J. did not realize that. He did not realize that if I wanted to, I could have taken those fries from him. He did not realize if I wanted to, I could go to the counter and buy a whole tray full of fries. I'll tell you something else that A.J. didn't realize. He did not realize that I didn't need his fries. But what I needed was A.J.'S willingness to share what I had already provided him.
What often happens is that God will give us something, and we will put a fence around it. We will act as if it is ours. Do you realize that the very air that we breathe even belongs to God. Our very life belongs to God. Look at what Job said.
Job 1:21
21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." (NIV)
Once you have settled the question of ownership and have recognized God's absolute
right to all your possessions, you are in the position to set the next cornerstone - claiming financial freedom.
THIRD -- CLAIM _____________ FREEDOM.
God wants you to have financial freedom and God promises that you can have financial freedom. How? By faith claiming a promise of God. Look at:
Malachi 3:10
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (NIV)
By giving God a portion of your income, God says that He will bless you. God is not out to inparvish you. God is out to enrich you. God is not trying to get from you, God is trying to give to you. Giving back to God a portion of what He has given you, is not God's way to raise money. He owns everything. But giving to God is God's way to grow Christians.
I heard about 2 farmers who raised corn and both farmers had 2 sons. The neighbor's farmer boys mostly just goofed off. But the other farmer's 2 boys had to work and work hard. The other farmer whose boys who mostly just goofed off, said, "Why do you work those boys so diligently? You don't need all that corn." The farmer replied, "I'm not raising corn, I'm raising boys."
Think about it. God is growing Christians. One of the greatest signs that you're growing in your Christian life is that you trust God with your finances.
Do you remember the bumper sticker that said, "Honk, if you love Jesus." Somebody saw another bumper sticker that said, "Tithe if you love Jesus, Anybody can blow their horn." One of the reasons God wants you to give financially is that God wants your heart.
Matthew 6:21
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NIV)
That is why Matthew goes on to say,
Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NIV)
Two boys were talking, one had just finished milking the cow. One of them asked, "How much did she give?" The other boy answered, "She didn't give anything. I had to take every drip from her."
God does not want that kind of gift. What is not cheerfully, liberally, and willingly given, God neither needs nor wants it. There must be a personal return to God. The Bible calls it a tithe. The word tithe means a 10th.
WHEN YOU RETURN A PORTION OF YOUR FINANCES TO GOD WILL REBUKE SATAN.
If you do not give to God what you should give, God will still get it. Do you know how? The car will break down, the washing machine will quit. And the money you would have tithed you will pay in repairs. You see, when you have God as your partner, your finances always go farther.
FIRST - OWNERSHIP
A. OWNS
B. TRANSFER
SECOND - ENABLES
THIRD - FINANCIAL
Tom Myers