Are you withholding payment from someone you owe? When we are wise and generous in heart, we do not delay payment from a vendor when it is due in order to withhold not. Solomon admonished, “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act” (Proverbs 3:27). The […]
God is our Passion, Withhold Not (Proverbs 3:27)
God is our Passion, Waste Not (Proverbs 27:23-24)
Do you spend more than you earn? Too often, this is the case with many of us. When we are wise and generous in heart, we wisely spend less money than we net in order to waste not. This occurs when we closely monitor the relationships responsible for our income as well as our expenses. […]
God is our Passion, Ward-Off Debt (Proverbs 22:26-27)
Do your liabilities outweigh your assets? When we are wise and generous in heart, we ward-off debt. Borrowing is not prohibited in Scriptures. We are merely reminded that we will have to repay the debt. However, surety – borrowing more than our means to repay – is to be avoided as if it were the […]
God is our Passion, Waive in Three Directions (Give to our Children)
Have you given any thought to preparing a will? Most of us don’t think much about this necessary task, assuming that it can be done later when we are old. Now, here’s a deeper question, and the answer might sting a bit. How often do you intentionally invest wisdom into your children? When asked what […]
God is our Passion, Waive in Three Directions (Give to the Poor)
What percentage of your time, talent, or treasure do you give to those in need? Solomon communicated that whether or not we give to the poor depends on our passion for God: “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Proverbs 14:31). He went […]
God is our Passion, Waive in Three Directions (Give to God)
When we live and give with a wise and generous heart, we send money out in a fashion that says to the world, “God is our Passion.” Solomon said, “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for: through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil” (Proverbs 16:6). Love, faithfulness, and the fear of […]
God is our Provider, Weigh Relationships > Remuneration (Proverbs 11:24-26)
When you earn money, do your actions demonstrate that you most value people or profit? In the third characteristic of a wise and generous heart, Solomon noted that we should weigh relationships greater than remuneration in order for resources to come in as God intended. Solomon witnessed how generosity multiplied wealth, yet greed perpetuated scarcity. […]
God is our Provider, Work (Proverbs 10:4-5)
Does work energize or drain you? In order to honor God as our Provider, we must worship Him the most where others expect it the least — in our work. The Hebrew word, abad, is actually translated, “work” or “worship” (Numbers 4:39). God designed work to be worship, as if we were laboring for Him […]
God is our Provider (Proverbs 16:3)
Something inside each one of us wants to earn all our resources up front, taking them in all at once, rather than over the long haul. That’s the way many of us would design it, if we were the sole provider. An examination of Proverbs offers wisdom for the vertical and horizontal lines of the […]
God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources (Part 2)
Does God see you as generous or greedy? Generous and generate come from the same Latin word, genus, meaning “race, or kind.” Generous means “giving.” Generate means “multiply.” Consequently, generosity multiplies giving in the human race. God’s desire is to multiply our gifts through us to generate generosity in others. Yet many of us still […]
God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources
When it comes to giving our resources, we have a natural bent of being foolish and greedy. Consequently, we give any gift to ourselves. A non-profit corporation CEO offers a favor to a potential donor whom he will ask later for a charitable contribution that will advance his agenda for the organization. He gave the […]
David: Living for an Audience of One
What do you desire most? For what cause are you willing to fight? Where do you find your strength? Whom or what do you worship? How do you respond to your sins? The answers to these questions reveal the affections of our hearts. King David demonstrated for us what it means to live for an […]
Repented for an Audience of One (2 Samuel 12:13)
Have you sinned today? David repented for an audience of One. In essence, David repented as boldly as he sinned. After the prophet Nathan confronted David regarding his sin with Bathsheba including orchestrating the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite, David’s first words uttered his concern for his broken fellowship with God, “Then David […]
Worshiped for an Audience of One (2 Samuel 6:14; 21-22)
David worshiped for an audience of One. When the ark of the Lord was restored to David’s possession, he worshiped God publicly, “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might,” (2 Samuel 6:14). David’s wife, Michal, the daughter of King Saul, was mortified at David’s transparency. David’s response gave insight […]
Strengthened for an Audience of One (1 Samuel 30:6)
Are you in need of restoration by the only One who can provide it? David was strengthened for an audience of One. In the backdrop of David’s pre-monarch raids, his men had lost their wives and children to the captivity of a nomadic enemy who had ransacked their camp while they were away. Scripture records, […]
Battled for an Audience of One (1 Samuel 17:45-47)
Have you considered living for an audience of One? Unfortunately, most of us live for the wrong audience of one. We either live solely for ourselves or unhealthily for another person, all at the expense of living for God. One of the Bible’s most prominent characters was King David whose chronicles demonstrated for us what […]
Surrendered for an Audience of One (1 Samuel 13:14)
Have you considered living for an audience of One? Unfortunately, most of us live for the wrong audience of one. We either live solely for ourselves or unhealthily for another person, all at the expense of living for God. One of the Bible’s most prominent characters was King David whose chronicles demonstrated for us what […]
Love, Learn, Live the Word (Exodus 20:3)
Do you worship anything or anyone other than God? In the first of the Ten Commandments, God said, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We were created to worship the God of the universe (John 4:24). In our sinful nature, we risk worshiping other gods by desiring them in our hearts. […]
Love, Learn, Live the Word (Genesis 1:1)
Do you need a new beginning? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God is love (1 John 4:8), and from His love, He designs and creates. The foundation of believing in the one true God is recognizing Him as our Designer and Creator. Everything starts with Him. No one […]
Go Wisely: Foolish Builder
On what foundation do you make every choice, capture every thought, process every feeling, or offer every prayer? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus painted the picture of a foundation upon which His disciples could build their hearts and lives. Jesus summarized it as building one’s house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-25). He closed […]