Synopsis of 1/9/19 Bible Study
5-Part Series: How to Handle Your Business

Week Two: How to Handle Money

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.
January 9, 2019

Proverbs 3:9-10, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.”

     I.                    Introduction

1. Money is often a subject that is difficult to discuss. It not just difficult in church, it is difficult to discuss the subject of money when it relates to raises on a job and when it comes to money in relationships too.
2. If you learn to handle money effectively, you will understand how God intended you to handle money.
3. Some people say it ain’t about money, but if this is so, why do we go to work?

Scripture Reference: 1 Timothy 6:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. – The Lord doesn’t want you to fall in love with money.

4. Today’s lesson is designed to explain God’s desire for your money. It also to bring you to a better understanding of stewardship.

 II.                    Make a Change in How You Spend Money

1. Learn to control money, don’t let it control you
2. Many people don’t have a plan on how to control or spend their money. They live out of their front pockets.
3. Without a plan, you plan to fail. If you don’t control your money, it will control you.

Scripture Reference: Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV) ²² The blessing of the Lord makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.- If sorry is attached to your increase, then it is not a blessing from God.  For example, if you have the house that you want, but can’t pay for anything else, then it is not a blessing. If you have a car and can’t afford to pay note on it, then it is not a blessing.

1. You must learn to manage what God has blessed you with

1. This starts with tithing which is 10% of your gross income.

Scripture References: Genesis 2:15-17 (NIV) ¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” – God started in the beginning trying to teach us what not to touch.

1. In Joshua 6, the children of Israel took stuff they weren’t supposed during battle and as a result, they had problems. When you take what you are not supposed to take, you bring curses to yourself. Taking the tithe can cause a curse to come to you or your finances.
2. Malachi 3:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you suchblessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. – Bring the tithe into the place where you are being fed (the storehouse). This is the only place in the Bible where God asks you to try him to see what he will do. If you do what God has commanded, he promises to bless you more than they will pay you. You won’t have enough room to receive the blessing that will come your way.
3. Trusting God helps you understand the value of the other 90% left after the 10% has been tithe.
4. After paying your tithes, how much money do you have left over to manage? You have 90%.
5. Paying the tithe is not magic. You have to be a good manager of what’s left.
6. When you trust God, he rebukes devourers for your sake.

III.                    Master the Challenges of Saving Money

1. Break the bad habits that keep you in debt
2. We hate debt. When you hear the word “debt”, it ought to make you frown. Debt wasn’t even designed to put a smile on your face.
3. God never intended for you to be in debt.

Scripture Reference: Romans 13:8 (NKJV) ⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.  – You were not created to be in debt. You were created to be owners and managers.

3. God’s system is learn to save for it, then get it. This does not include your house or a school loan. These two things are considered good debt.

How to Break Bad Spending Habits:

1. Refuse the temptation to make hasty financial decisions. – Don’t make impulsive purchases. Don’t make quick decisions. To buy stuff for sale, buy it on sale.
2. Understand the true nature of wealth. – Wealth is not things just you buy, it is a quality of life.
3. Rich talks softly, wealth whispers, and broke
4. Stop trying to look wealthy, instead, build wealth.

Scripture References: 3 John 2  (NKJV) ² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.  – What good is it to buy a lot of stuff just to turn around and loose it? God wants you to be complete.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 (NKJV) ¹² The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. – Those who are consumed with being rich will never have rest. Those who are content will be able to rest.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” –Henry David Thoreau

3. Stop spending more than you earn. – Act your wage.
4. Drive that car until the wheels fall off.
5. Studies show that 38% of people spend more than they earn.
6. Also, studies show that half of Americans don’t have money to cover a $400 emergency if they needed to.
7. You need to save enough money to pay at least 3 months of bills, to tide you over if an emergency.

Scripture Reference: Proverbs 22:7 (NKJV) ⁷ The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender. – Build up all this debt and you become a slave.

4. Stop ignoring your bills. – Just because you throw it away, doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay it.

Scripture Reference: Psalm 37:21 (NKJV) ²¹ The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives.  – If you create a debt, you have an obligation to repay it.

1. You want to make sure you have a healthy credit score. Things happen and you don’t want to be in a situation where you go to buy that house and can’t.
2. Do not use your credit cards like it is free money. – Realize that you will have to pay it back.
3. The average household has at least $16,000 in credit card debt.

1. Save today to have success for tomorrow
2. Work should be optional, not mandatory. Lots of people can’t retire, because they were not good stewards when they were working.
3. Don’t sacrifice your golden years trying to look like money

Scripture Reference: Genesis 41:47-49 (NKJV) ⁴⁷ Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth ^[a]abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. ⁴⁹ Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable. – This is what financial people refer to as the Joseph Princple

The Joseph Principle

• How much produce did Joseph instruct Egypt to reserve during the years of plenty? 20% or 1/5
  • How much of your monthly income should go towards savings? 20%

1. Model Conscious Decisions in the Stewardship of Money 

1. Your stewardship sets the standard for your successors

“It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.” –Robert Kiyosaki

1. Our ancestors did so much more with less money than we have, because they knew how to save.
2. Everyone should leave something that the next generations can draw from.

Scripture Reference: Proverbs 13:22 (NKJV) ²² A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.  – You ‘re supposed to leave a blessing to your children’s children.

1. A good heart leads to good stewardship
2. All this stuff starts in your heart.
3. Don’t take financial advice from broke people.

Scripture References: Matthew 6:21 (NKJV) ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  – Look in your checkbook and it will tell you where your heart is.

1. Matthew 22:37-38 (NKJV) ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is thefirst and great commandment.;
2. 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NKJV) ⁷ So leteach one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of ^[a]necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. – Give as your heart leads. Trust that;
3. Luke 6:38 (NKJV) ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” – If you give, God will give it back in ways that will blow your mind. God sometimes sends and assigns people to bless you.