Reasonable Service

If you have a problem with overspending or do not have a budget then I would recommend Dave Ramsey’s book Financial Peace.

Here are some highlights from Dave Ramsey’s book Financial Peace:

The Envelope System

He says “one way to make sure you don’t overspend is to get on the envelope system.”

Here is how it works:

Allocate however much money you desire and can afford to spend on the following categories each month:

1. Grocery
2. Restaurants
3. Gas and Oil
4. Car repairs and Tires
5. Laundry/Cleaning
6. Toiletries
7. Baby-sitter
8. Cosmetics
9. Hair Care
10. Blow money
11. Entertainment

One of the keys to this system is to pay with cash instead of cards, and checks as it will hurt more and you will think twice before spending when you pay with cash.

It helps with not overspending but it also helps you keep track of how much you spend each month on each category and then you can make the needed adjustments.

You are not keeping within your budget if you are robbing Peter to pay Paul. In other words if you are taking money from the grocery envelope to pay for hair care you are
breaking the budget. You must keep disciplined and only spend the money that is designated to that category.

You may need to add more envelopes and discard others as your lifestyle may be different from the one proposed.

Hope this helps. Remember discipline is the key to freedom. If you discipline yourself to a budget then you can enjoy the freedom of being debt-free and also enjoy being stress free as a result.

Genesis 15:1-11

1. Abraham Wants to Go to the __next level__.
• Whereby shall I know… v. 8
• I know you can bless me.
• I know you can give me success.
• I want to make sure I have it.
• “What do I have to do to go to the next level with you God?”

2. God requires a _commitment____________.
• If you want more it’s going to cost you more.
• Are you willing to do what it takes?
• You’re going to have to make a sacrifice. V. 9
• You’re going to have to endure some dark times. V. 12
• I will meet with you at a new level. V. 17
• I will make a covenant with you. V. 18
• New levels require new commitments.

3. We willingly make __offerings___________ to God.
• Study our Bibles, pray more and seek God.
• Witness and testify of God’s goodness and glory.
• Lay aside weights and live a holy life for God.
• Give more time to God’s work

4. The Buzzards come to __Defile___________ our sacrifice.
• The buzzards will defile our offering.
• Buzzards of criticism that hurt our feelings.
• Buzzards of other things that steal our time.
• Buzzards of worldly indulgences that defile our life.
• Buzzards of wrong influences that keep us from God.
• Buzzards of pride. Buzzards of envy. Buzzards of fear.

5. We Must Be Diligent to ___Drive__________ the Buzzards Away.
• Anyone can make an offering.
• Anyone can go to the altar and make a decision.
• If you are going to go to the next level you’ll have to DRIVE THE BUZZARDS AWAY.

Psalm 23

I Peter 1:6,7 – “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Matthew 6:13 – “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

Introduction: (We should emulate our Lord’s leadership in our lives.)
• The Lord is our Shepherd.
• He leads us to green pastures, good waters…
• He delivers us from evil.
• We as leaders should emulate his leadership.

1. Trials are the ___problems___________ of life.

2. Evil is a ________________________.

3. Problems come to ___develop_____________ us.
God says the trial of our faith is more precious than gold. They help take the bad away and help us shine brighter for the Lord.

4. Evil comes to ___destroy______________________ us.

5. Most of life’s conflicts arise from the following:
a. Not _accepting_______________ life’s problem as God’s means to develop us.
We tend to run from the problems and to evil instead of facing the problems and avoiding evil.
People who face problems the right way will grow in amazing ways.
b. Evil ___reactions___________________ to life’s problems.
Sometimes it take bad things to produce a good thing. Lol – example – a diet produces a good thing.
What happens is sometimes problems come into our lives and we react in an evil way.
God allows things to develop us.
c. Failure to follow ____Biblical___________ steps to resolve problems.
What should I learn?
What should I do?
How should I react?
We have to learn how to biblically react to problems in our lives.

6. Leaders should help followers to:
a. _Discern______ the problem.
Help people to see the problems – not to miss the forest for the trees.
God says I have brought this to help you and you are fighting it. It is life a drowning person fighting the lifeguard.
b. _Deal______________ with the evil reactions to the problem.
To every problem there is a right response but our flesh is the first responder most of the time.
c. _Develop____________ a Biblical response to the problem.
Not just avoiding evil but pursuing good
Example – a young girl without a father will grow up with a vacuum in her life. She needed to be told that she is beautiful, a princess, etc, etc. When she becomes a teenager she is going to be looking to get that fulfilled and then some punk comes into her life with the right words and messes her life up.
We shouldn’t just tell the girl not to avoid the punk but to pursue and wait for the godly man that God will bring into her life.

7. Christians should be trained to:
a. _Accept______ problems and realize that they are there to develop us.
b. _Avoid_______ evil realizing it comes to destroy us.

Potential

II Cor 8:12 – “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”

I. What is Potential?
• Something that is ___possible_______________________.
• What you have the possibility to do.
• Achievement: How ____far__________________ you run.
• Potential: How far you ____could________________ run.
• God grades us based on potential – (and faithfulness)

II. __Opportunity_____________________ only knocks on the door of potential.

III. Potential is the method God uses to ___grade us____________________.

IV. Potential is the only true way to determine ___success_____________________.
The only fair way to really grade us is based on potential.

Three Factors in Potential

1. What you __have______________________. (not what you don’t have)
This is why the poor man can do just as much in God’s eyes as a rich man can.
• Potential doesn’t look at what you don’t have.

Quit looking at what you don’t have. Quit thinking and wishing for what you don’t have and use what God has given you. What do you have? Everyone has something to use for God. A lot of times we waste our time on things that we have no potential for.

Are you a gifted singer? If not then come to a realization of this truth and use your time wisely on things you are gifted and have potential for.
• Take inventory
• Don’t waste what God has given you.

2. What you ___could_________________ have.
• Books you could read.
• Education you could get.
• Training you could have.
• Time you could spend.

You have to stay at it. Continue learning, and pushing yourself to grow more and become a better tool for the Lord.

3. Your willingness to __use_____________________ what you have.
• The greatest ability is use-ability
• Your possibility are determined within you.

People will not have a problem following you if they see that you know what you are talking about.

Ex. A contractor who knows how to get the correct measurements for a roof. – The workers will listen and follow if you know what you are doing.

I want to challenge you to read Psalm 27 today.

David tells us who we should fear and who we shouldn’t fear.

Today, many of us are worried, fretting, and in a state of fear because of some man. Listen to what David said about fear.

“1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.”

Be confident in the your Light, Salvation and Strength. It is God almighty!!!

Let’s give him the reverence and awe He deserves. When we fear men, it is as if we are saying that our God is inferior to man. Is that true? Absolutely not! Live in the truth not under the bondage of some figment of your imagination.

I leave you with what Christ Said in Luke 12:4,5.

4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”

Please pray for the Holt family along with the people of Chile as they have just been hit with an enormous earthquake.

Here is some news from facebook:

I got up this morning to read the following on a fox news alert:

Massive 8.5 magnitude earthquake hits near Concepcion, Chile, shaking buildings and causing blackouts

I was immediately concerned for our missionaries, members of our church, Jason and Lori Holt. Then I noticed that Chris Gardner had posted this on his blog:

Please be praying for the Holt family. Chile just experienced an 8.8 earthquake. I just read on facebook that everyone is ok at the Holt household but they have to wait till they can see how much damage was done. Pray for the country of Chile during this time. The phone lines are down and there is no electricity. Keep everyone in your prayers during this time. We will let you know as soon as we know anything else.

Then I saw a post on facebook by Jason’s mom:

Barbara Howard Holt Jason just called me to tell me that there was a 8.5 Earthquake in Chile. He said it lasted for about 2 minutes and that he is feeling tremors. He has talked the Kenney’s and McBrayers and they are all okay. The phones are done but he has a cell phone he bought for emergencies and that is what he called me from.

Barbara Howard Holt Please pray for them. I will let you know as soon as I talk to him again. He will try to call me as soon as it gets light and he can see how much damage there is.

Please pray for all the missionaries and the many believers there.

Dr. Oswald J. Smith’s Favourite Missionary Mottos:

“You must go or send a substitute.”

“If God wills the evangelization of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are opposed to the will of God.”

“Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God.”

“Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?”

“Give according to your income lest God make your income according to your giving.”

“Now let me burn out for Christ.”

“The Church which ceases to be evangelistic will soon cease to be evangelical.”

“This generation can only reach this generation.”

“The light that shines farthest shines brightest nearest home.”

“Not how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God’s money will I keep for myself.”

“The supreme task of the Church is the evangelization of the world.”

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” – Hebrews 13:5

Notice the writer uses the word “let” your conversation be without covetousness.” This lets us know that we have a choice to make. The temptation is obviously going to be strong in the opposite direction, that is to fill our conversations (literally) and lifestyle with the words and manners of covetousness. But the writer says “Let” it be without covetousness. The choice is yours. But if this is going to happen, you and I are going to have to start looking at our lives from a different view. Consider the following truths about gratitude taken from Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa:

1. If we consider the depth and breadth of God’s care and blessings in our lives, we will realize that it is only right that we should give thanks in everything (I Thess 5:18).

2. We are typically more inclined to view our lives in terms of what we lack than in view of what we have already received.

3. Instead of seeing the fullness of what we have received in Christ, we tend to approach our experiences from a deficiency perspective.

4. Our gratitude ages quickly when we overlook God’s gifts, take them for granted, or regard them as our due.

5. We would be wise to keep a grateful memory alive by periodically reviewing what once was, what might have been ,and what could well be again apart from the grace of God.

6. We should be amazed by and thankful for the multitude of good things in our lives, including the ones we often overlook, such as food and covering, health, freedom, friends, open access to the scriptures, and most of all, the riches available to us in a relationship with Christ Jesus.

In the end, if we have lost everything else, we really still have more than this world could ever offer because like the verse says, God has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us!!! If we can learn to be full with God and look at everything else that might be in our life at any given point as extra, then we will never lack and can live in a state of uninterrupted contentment.

Love for God is a great motivator in life. Look at what Joseph Stowell says about what love for God can do for a person.

He writes:

“Mark it down: Loving Christ is a response- a response to his enduring, unwarranted love for us. His amazing grace motivates us like nothing else to live out our lives in unique and, when necessary, courageous ways that express our deep affection and honor for Him before a watching and often critical world. Why would you or I forgive a parent who had abused us? Why would anyone endure a difficult marriage out of conviction that it is right and best thing to do? Why do Sudanese Christians permit themselves to be sold into slavery rather than deny the name of Christ? Why do people leave lucrative and highly applauded positions to take some paltry task in the kingdom work of Christ? Why have martyrs gladly died and others lived in terrible situations with a good and uncompromised spirit? Believe me, this selflessness does not arise out of a sense of obligation and duty. These qualities do not provide sufficient resolve. When the chips are down or the stakes are high, mere commitment is rarely enough to lead us through to victory.

These selfless actions are motivated by a desire to express love and gratitude to Jesus for the wonderful things he has done for us.”

Hall talks about “fleshly living patterns.” The patterns are taken from our preconversion days and consist of our habits, emotions, and ideas and memories of how to live life. This is how many of us live the Christian life. We live it based on how we lived life before we got saved.

Hall points out what God has to say about these “fleshly living patterns” in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 2:13 says, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

In other words, instead of dependence on God, Israel sought out other ways of living life. God says these “ways” are broken and therefore will not work. We have to come to the place an point where we acknowledge our “fleshly living patterns” and exchange them for our identity in Christ, thus allowing Christ to live through us.