Saturday, July 18, 2015

Biblical Money Management.

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Biblical Money Management.
   I need this Info just as much as the next man or woman!

Tom S

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Debt Free the Bible Way - Money Management by Bible Precepts

Content Author: 
Reagan, David
Scripture Passage: 
Proverbs 22:7
If you are continually strapped financially and are sick and tired of it, God has help for you. Many, today, live on borrowed time and borrowed money. The Bible does not teach, as some propose that all debt is wicked and sinful. (See the article called Owe No Man). However, it does teach the undesirability of debt. Debt should be a last resort. God may occasionally allow it in order to teach us discipline. However, He never meant it to be a way of life.
Americans are a covetous people who always want more and more stuff. Influenced by a multitude of advertisements, they think they must have the latest, the best; and it must be state of the art. This leads them into financial disaster and keeps them from using their God-given funds to do the work of God.
If you are looking for answers to your financial problems, there are principles in the Bible that can help you. However, you must be serious in their application and obedient to the Lord in these matters. Are you ready? If so, then read on.

Give to God First.

I will not discuss the doctrine of giving in any detail. I will not tell you how much to give or where to give. But you must give to God and He must get the firstfruits of your labors—not the leftovers. Proverbs 3:9 tells us, “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.” Do not expect God to help you if you refuse to bless Him with a portion of your income.

Be Content With What You Have.

Do you have enough to eat and clothes to wear? Then be content with what you have. Lack of contentment is a sin. It is also the greatest cause of unnecessary debt. If it is your sin, then confess it to the Lord and let Him help you change your greedy ways. Meditate on scriptures such as:
1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”
Check the Contentment Quiz to see how content you are.

Budget Your Income .

I am not advocating any particular budgeting program. But all budgeting plans are not complicated. There are very simple ways to budget if you have never done it before. Budgeting is nothing more than the careful use of your resources. It means knowing how much is coming in and how much is going out. And it means knowing where it is going. You are to work hard to know the condition of your resources. Consider this verse.
Proverbs 27:23 “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.”
  • You are a steward of the resources God provides you. A steward cares for that which belongs to another and must be ready to give an account for his stewardship. Are you able to give an account for your use of the money God has given you?
1 Corinthians 4:1 “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Stop Going Into Debt .

This one point is the key to getting out of debt. Stop charging on your account. Get rid of the credit cards if you cannot control them. Even credit cards have to be paid off slightly faster than the interest mounts up. So if you cease to borrow, you will one day cease to owe. Yes, it takes discipline and it takes a plan. I cannot guarantee you that no medical emergency or similar catastrophe might ruin your plans. But God is in charge of these things and can be trusted with your life. However, the alternative is the slavery of debt. In the Bible, debt is a negative that should be avoided if possible. Notice what God says.
Proverbs 22:7 “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Romans 13:8 “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

Create an Emergency Fund .

I could never get out of debt until I created a fund for minor emergencies. Some people establish savings accounts. Others incorporate these into complex budgets. It does not matter which method you use. But begin to put aside for the things that break. Start with a small amount but make it regular. Put that portion aside each paycheck. I have found that $200-$300 in my emergency fund can often keep me from greater expenses.
  • For instance, if your refrigerator stops working and you have no money at all, what do you do? Most people pull out their credit card, go to Sears and buy a new one—and feel fully justified in their debt. But the debt is not just the new refrigerator. You wanted to make sure it did not break for a while, so you got a good one…right? And now you will have to pay for all the interest in addition to the basic cost. You may end up paying $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 for that one appliance.
  • But what if you had $250.00 in your emergency fund? Now you have other options you did not when you were broke. You could check into getting the old one repaired. Or, you might find a good used one you could buy. I know. You try to justify the new one. It has a warrantee. It will last for 20 years (good luck). But the $250 can get you a refrigerator. Consider the advantages. There is no interest to pay. There are no future payments to make. And, if it breaks, you still are not in any worse shape than you were. It is only our desire for things that makes us want the new one. Search your own heart and consider the teaching of the Bible.
Proverbs 30:24 “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: 25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.”
  • God calls the ants wise because they prepare their meat in the summer. Why can’t we show a little of the same wisdom?

Decrease Expenses .

I can already tell you…you think this is impossible for you. You have already cut to the bone and nothing else can be cut. 99% of the time, you will be wrong.
There are some basic principles of personal finance that you must understand. They are so simple that you think you already know them. But, in most cases, people in trouble act as if they do not exist.
  • If you spend more than your income, you are going into debt.
  • If you continually spend more than your income, you are heading for disaster.
  • There are only two ways fix this problem:
  1. Increase your income
  2. Decrease your outgo
We want a magically solution to our debt problems just as we want a magical solution to our weight problems. There is only one way to lose weight…by consuming fewer calories than we burn up. But we always want an easier plan. But, in order to be magical, a program has to be complex. After all, if we can understand it, it must not have the magic. O, yes, we can play tricks on our bodies. Through drugs or imbalanced diets, we can trick it into not consuming the calories we put in our mouths. But there are dangers in these approaches.
With our finances we want the same magic. But in the long run, there is only one way—to spend less than your income. This brings us back to the point of this section: you need to seriously look at your expenses to see what can be cut back. I am convinced that one dollar saved is equivalent to increasing your income by two dollars. A portion of the extra income should be given to the Lord and the government will surely get its part. Enough extra dollars will raise you into a higher tax bracket (America) and often brings extra expenses. And, finally, extra income usually gets spent…I have an extra $100 a month so I can get that car I always wanted. Extra income almost never gets people out of debt. That comes by reducing spending.
Interest on debt is probably the greatest waster of your money. So, by refusing new debt, you will begin to reduce your expenses. But there are other areas to consider. Look at the following questions:
  • Check your repetitive expenses like phone extras, cable TV, health club, etc. Do you really need them?
  • How much are you spending on pets? Could you give them to a friend?
  • How much do you really spend on your hobbies? Don’t guess. Add it up. What could you cut?
  • What do you spend on eating out?
  • What do you spend on entertainment? Sports?
  • How much do you spend on vacation? Is it really necessary? Could you stay at home and take short trips in your surrounding area this year? Could you go to state parks instead of expensive amusement parks?
  • Could you drive a cheaper car, live in a smaller house, eat more beans and potatoes, buy fewer pre-prepared foods?
I hear your protests. That only demonstrates the problem. You are not unable to decrease your expenses. You are unwilling. If you are out of debt, then God allows certain extras. But if you are deeply in debt, something has to give.
Romans 13:8 “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

Learn to Judge Real Value and Costs.

1 Corinthians 2:15 “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.”
Part of wisdom is learning how to discern. The world will sell you on something being 50% off. Wisdom will teach you that you can save the entire 100% if you do not purchase it at all. Ask God to give you wisdom in financial matters (see James 1:5). The person selling you something is not looking out for you but for himself. Learn to judge bargains and deals for what they really are.
  • The extended warrantees that are offered with about everything you buy now are a good case-in-point. Have you ever wondered why these warrantees are pushed so much with about everything you purchase? Is it because they are such a good bargain for the consumer?
  • No! They sell these to you because they provide such good profit for the company. On the whole, people gain much less from these warrantees than they spend. You can absorb an occasional failure of an appliance for much less than it costs to have warrantees on everything.
Another waste of money is interest—especially the level of interest most people pay on credit cards. You might be surprised at how much money a month you might have for other things if you had not dug yourself into so much debt. Do the research and find out. Dollars spent on interest are thrown away.
  • What if you find a thingamajig that you would like to have at 40% off and put it on your credit card and pay it off at minimum payment? If it normally cost $100.00, you got it for a bargain at $60.00, right? Wrong! The interest on your credit card will probably double the initial cost of the item so you will probably pay about $120.00 for it.
  • Would you run down to a sale where the newspaper ad says that everything in the store is marked up 20%? Of course not. But when you put an item on credit, you might as well be doing the same thing.
Working mothers are another example where people often misjudge value. I will not deny that ladies who make a good income may add considerable to the household income. However, many mothers of young children work because they are convinced they must have the money—even though their husbands bring in a decent income themselves. These ladies often work for little more than minimum wage. In actuality, they often work for little or nothing. Because they are working, they pay for day care, extra car expense, extra clothes expense, extra doctor and medicine bills (the children will catch more in a day care), extra food expense (more easy-to-serve foods and more meals out) and more spending splurges because of stress. In addition, their wages may put the family into a higher tax bracket. After these items are considered, many moms make about a dollar an hour for their efforts. Add it up for yourself.

Set Your Financial Priorities.

According to Matthew 6:33, we are to seek first the kingdom of God. So, what are your financial priorities? Do you think you have to have some things that are really not necessary? Make sure your financial priorities line up with God’s priorities for you. Make a list of your major financial goals in the order of importance. Now pray about them to see if they are the will of the Lord for your life.

Make the Tough Decisions on Purpose.

Christians need to judge the situation with God’s help and make the right decisions.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
We have a tendency to hide our heads in the sand when it comes to financial problems. We believe that if we ignore it long enough, it will just go away. But it doesn’t. While we pretend it isn’t there, we just get deeper and deeper in trouble. What could have been handled with minimum adjustments becomes a major mess.
The key is to recognize the problem before it gets out of hand. If your income continuously falls below your expenditures, you are already in trouble. Don’t wait until the debts pile a mountain high. Do something now!
Look at your situation and make the tough decisions. You are a steward of the resources God has given you. Get that new job. Sell that second car. Cut the entertainment. As hard as it seems, it is a world easier now than it will be later.

In Good Times Plan for Lean Times.

To some, this may seem to be the opposite of faith. However, many do not understand the Biblical meaning of faith. Faith is taking God at His word and acting on His promises as if they were present reality. This may mean that you step out in action on God’s leadership without visible support for your actions. But it also means that you follow the word of the Lord because you know it is true. Listen to what God’s word says:
“The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer” – Proverbs 30:25
God wants us to prepare for winter. That is one of His definitions of wisdom. When your income is good; when things are going well—that is the time to put some resources aside for the lean times. Too many people get a $50 a week raise and then go out and commit themselves to $60 a week extra expense. Look ahead. Plan for tomorrow. This is not ungodly. It is God’s plan!

Simplify Your Life .

John warns us against loving the things of the world (1 John 2:15-17). Yet, that is what we often do. We want nice clothes, nice furniture, nice cars, etc., etc., etc. We are never content with what we have now. But many of these little extras add up to a lot of money. You can often save quite a bit of money by simplifying your life. This is a special problem in America—the land of plenty. Please look at your life and see where unneeded things can be cut back. Simpler is less complicated and often much more peaceful. You may learn to appreciate having and doing less.

Learn New Skills.

God’s people should do their best at whatever they do. This means developing your abilities and learning new ones. Colossians 3:23 tells us, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” You cannot do your best if you do not develop your talents and expand your knowledge.
  • You can also learn home skills that can save you money. Learn to do simple things on your car. Do certain things around the house. Make it. Fix it. Grow it. Bake it. Can it. There are a hundred ways and more that you
http.//tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com Heli gunner Tom at Saturday, July 18, 2015 0 comments

The Status of America's Gold.... Suspicions.

Tom's Journal. http://tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com/

tschuckman@aol.com

I am publishing this article with permission of:  MMX [MoneyMetalsExchange.com]  
    IMHO,  they are the very best place to purchase PM's ---Precious Metals---  Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium, and Copper, etc., with a great, well known track record, honest and speedy !   I have tried a few other PM--Companies seen on TV, etc., before MMX, and can say from experience that MMX are the most honest, most professional, trustworthy people/ experts in the business !   Please check them out today !   You won't be sorry.
      As a long time serious student of the KJV Bible and History, I know that much harder times will befall the USA, and the entire world.  The Scriptures say that it's good to have some resources set aside for emergencies and disasters,  although we must but our main trust in our heavenly Father.    Are we good stewards of the bounty and resources we have?  Ponder on this point, please.

Warm Regards,

---Tom Schuckman

Catch up on breaking news with Money Metals Exchange
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Sound Money Defense League
Growing Suspicions about the Fed and the Status of America's Gold
Talk radio personality and commentator Michael Rivero of WhatReallyHappened.com appeared on the Money Metals podcast this week, and has some alarming things to say about the status of America's gold reserves, the Fed's machinations, and related risks to our national security. You can listen to the full interview here, but here are a few excerpts of particular interest to supporters of Sound Money…

Mike Gleason: Texas recently followed suit of some countries when it announced it would repatriate the state-owned gold and rescue it from the hands of Wall Street and will soon be storing it inside the Texas borders.
What do these recent announcements by Texas now and Germany and the Netherlands and a few others before them say about the trust factor among and between these sovereign entities?

Michael Rivero: Well, trust is really a big issue. Now, the way the New York Federal Reserve and for that the bank of England and the Bank of France, and JP Morgan has a private bullion depository, they function like a safety deposit box. Countries will rent space in the gold bullion vault to store their gold.

The banks are not allowed to go in and use it.
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Michael Rivero of WhatReallyHappened.com
It's just like your safety deposit box at the bank. If you rent a safety deposit box, and you put in some gold coins, and you are aunt's heirloom bracelet, you can at any time go on in and remove all of that material.

Well, it seems that the Federal Reserve has been playing fast and loose with other people's gold.They've been leasing it out the back door to drop on the market to keep physical gold and silver prices down so that people don't abandon their savings accounts and their stock market portfolio to buy physical metal.

We know that the amount of gold and silver being traded these days greatly exceeds the output of the world's mines, so it's got to be coming from somewhere. This triggered some concern because over in Germany, they were getting some gold bars that had the hallmarks of Fort Knox and the New York Federal Reserve, and discovered they had tungsten cores, so there's some fakes.
Germany basically said, "look, we put our gold in the New York Federal Reserve after World War II because we didn't want the Russians coming in and taking it, but that's all over, and we're all friends. Send it back." They got the big stall. Germany said, "Okay, can we at least come in and do an audit and look at it?" The New York Federal Reserve said, "no, we're not really set up to do that. Just trust us. The gold is still here, and we'll get the gold back to Germany in maybe five or six or seven years."
Image
This triggered a crisis of confidence all around the world because what little gold has already been returned to Germany are not the original stamped and numbered bars Germany sent over. Tests have shown that the gold being sent back to Germany is nowhere near as pure as it's supposed to be. They're playing these really reckless games, and this has triggered something like seven, eight other countries wanting their gold back.

Texas wants their gold back because there's a growing suspicion it simply isn't there at all. We actually covered this last year in an episode of America's Book of Secrets on the History Channel where all of a sudden people are wondering is the gold really there.
Can you imagine going into your bank, to your safety deposit box and the bank manager says, "I'm sorry. I can't let you take anything out of it, but here, I'll let you look into it from across the room," and you see something that kind of looks like some gold coins and maybe something that might have been a bracelet but not necessarily your aunt's heirloom bracelet you put in there.
Image
The bank manager slams the box shut and says, "There. Go home and be happy." That's kind of the situation that all of these foreign nations and foreign banks and even now, Texas, are dealing with, that the gold that they paid the New York Federal Reserve to store wasn't stored but was actually re-hypothecated for various financial manipulations.

The New York Federal Reserve's rationale is, "Well, we leased it out the back door, but since it's only a lease, we're still technically in possession of it." That only works if they're able to get the gold back, and right now, they're not. This is why people are getting very, very nervous about what is going on. We could easily see a repeat of Roosevelt's 1933, I think it was, ban on private ownership of gold bars and gold coins in order to rescue the banks from their crimes one more time.

There's no question that the banks are behaving very badly and certainly are very untrustworthy with other people's gold bullion.

Basically, if you've got gold or silver, and you should have it, I wouldn't trust it in any kind of gold depository owned by the banks or the government. There are private gold vaulting companies that are much more trustworthy.

It is amazing how the New York Federal Reserve, which has tried to cultivate this image of trustworthiness and legitimacy for the 100 years it's been in existence and all of a sudden we're finding out that they've actually been playing dirty with other people's property.

Mike Gleason: That leads me right into my next question. The Fed has heavily resisted an audit of its inner workings and the grassroots movement that started the ball rolling with the Audit the Fed initiative, may now be turning its attention toward the gold at Fort Knox, where there hasn't been an audit in over 50 years. I think I know your answer to this, but is the gold there? If not, what do you think's happened to it?

Michael Rivero: Well there is something that looks like gold there.... [Read the rest of this interview here]
The Sound Money Defense League is building a grassroots bonfire of opposition to federal and state policies that undermine the dollar and steal purchasing power from the American people. Please make your most generous gift today to support Sound Money:

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The 144,000. Follow Up

Q. Re: The 144,000 of Rev. 7 and 14.  If one of the groups consists of Jews, and the other represents the raptured Church, does that mean that 144,000 is the pre-determined number of Christians who will be saved & raptured before the Great Tribulation? In which case, aren’t there a lot more Christians in the world than that today? Does this mean that only a select portion of the Church will be taken in the rapture?
A. In my study of the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14 I wrote that both are literal numbers, though they represent different groups. In Rev. 7:4-8 we have 12,000 from each of 12 tribes of Israel living on Earth.
But in Rev. 14:1-5 we see 144,000 who have been redeemed from the earth and are standing on the heavenly Mt. Zion.
This group is but a sampling of the redeemed Church which will have been brought to heaven in the rapture. They’ll be presented as the first fruits of the harvest of souls (Rev. 14:4), just as the wave offering was the first fruits of the harvest of grain (Lev. 23:9-14).
All the grain was harvested, but only a sample was presented before the altar. So it is with the Church. The 144,000 is not meant to be the full number of the raptured Church

 

http.//tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com Heli gunner Tom at Saturday, July 18, 2015 0 comments
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