#89 - Be Diligent in Your Work

Good morning! It's almost good afternoon! It is a beautiful fall day and it's FRIDAY!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!! I even look forward to Friday's because that means DAD is off for the weekend to play with us!! Yippee!! :) 


Well, let's get started. This wasn't the direction that I was planning on going today, but God is God and I am just Amy. So, we're going to choose to go with what GOD had for today. :-) As I do my best to do during every devotion. His Word stands forever and YOU & I only need ONE WORD from Him to change our lives! So... easy decision to go with what He had. :) Let's roll....

Proverbs 22:29 - Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Psalm 52:7-9a - ...the man who made not God his strength but trusted in and confidently relied on the abundance of his riches, seeking refuge and security for himself through his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in and confidently rely on the loving-kindness and the mercy of God ... I will thank You and confide in You forever, because You have done it.

Psalm 112:1b,3 - Blessed is the man who fears the LORD...Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. 

Proverbs 31:24 - She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].

Wow! So much to be said from the verses above! And to think, they were ALL in today's reading!! It's amazing how God does things! WOW! Sometimes He just overwhelms me with how amazing He is! 


Diligent & skillful in business! Do you own your own business? Do you have a job? Well, I know we know the word diligent, and use it frequently...but let me just remind you of it's meaning in the dictionary. It was quite eye opening really to see it's original meaning: constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything. 


Diligent. Constant in effort to accomplish something. Whatever your business is or job is, being in the constant pursuit to ACCOMPLISH. Not to just "go with the flow", punch a time clock and 'do your time', but to ACCOMPLISH. Do progress forward. The dictionary also called diligent as having 'Persevering Attention.' Wow! It makes you think differently about your job or business, doesn't it! I mean, wow! Do you or I put 'Persevering Attention' towards it? If it is where God has placed us, it is our calling and we are called to do it with diligence. With a constant pursuit to accomplish and to apply persevering attention to our business! 


What about money? What about the subject of money? Income? Profit? Yikes! This can be such a touchy subject in so many arena's, and for some reason Christian arena's. Psalm 52 today mentioned the man who trusted in his OWN abundant riches, acquiring them through his wickedness. There in lies the key. Trusting in yourself for riches. Putting faith or reliance on your 'riches' versus on God. Elevating the "Almighty Dollar Bill" instead of the "Almighty GOD" who is the maker of it all! It is all about keeping GOD where He rightfully belongs, on the THRONE. Elevated. Father. Jehovah. Almighty One. King of Kings! Savior! Ruler over heaven & earth! Savior! Lord! It is about keeping God the Lord of our lives, and in regards to finances, keeping HIM as OUR SOURCE. Not relying upon our business, our job, our sales, our efforts or our works as our source. The moment we begin to rely on our own efforts instead of keeping our faith and reliance upon God is the beginning of where the trouble starts. For example... I just put on an information class on a 12 week program we are starting here in Columbia, "New Way to a New You." I asked the Holy Spirit what materials/products, if any, I should have with me at the class. I was willing to invest in whatever I needed to invest in, but I wanted to invest in the RIGHT things. Well, the Holy Spirit said, "Buy 10 books, that's all." OK. That's easy enough. So, I pre-purchased the 10 books to re-sell (we will be using throughout the 12 week class as a guide.) Out of those 10 books guess how many I sold? LOL. I laugh at how amazing God is when we listen. I sold 10. If I would've had 9, I would've been 1 short. If I would've had 11, I would've had 1 extra. The Holy Spirit knew EXACTLY how many I needed. He is even concerned in the little things! Isn't that amazing!


Wealth & Riches? Expect them! Do you fear the Lord? Do you honor and respect our Mighty God? Well, then Psalm 112 is talking about YOU! This is a verse Tyler and I confess DAILY over our lives and our family. DAILY! Outloud! 


Sales!? What about sales? In the world, often 'sales people' are seen maybe with a bad light. The whole "used-car salesmen" feeling. No one wants to be "SOLD". When you are "sold", you are being convinced into something you do not want to do. When you "buy", you are buying something you need or saw value in. And even the WOMAN WHO EXCELS them ALL was a SALES PERSON!!! Can you believe it?! Take a look in Proverbs 31:24! She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].!!!


A couple things to keep in mind... she wasn't selling junk. She obviously believed in what she was selling. It was a FINE product made of FINE material. She was meeting a need in the marketplace. A product that freed people up for serving. 


Do you believe in your product? Do you believe in your service? Lead others to buy it! Those people that NEED it will see it's value and have no remorse in purchasing from you. They will also often be your greatest source of referrals too! Add value to others and you can not go wrong. 

#22 - Debt: Your Business, Your Life, Your House

Good morning. It's a great day! :) The boy & I get to pack up and head to 'da Thrill's (Jill - my sister-in-law) and help out with her, Doug & baby Bella for the next few days. We are excited. :) Excited to cook, bake, change little baby Bella diapers... and just spend some quality time with Jilly. :) We have a full day ahead of us, packing and driving! :) So as some people say, "Daylight is burning, let's go!"

Proverbs 24:27 - [Put first things first.] Prepare your work outside and get it ready for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house and establish a home.

Proverbs 31:16 - She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings [of time and strength] she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.

Today we are going to somewhat piggy-back off of Tuesday's post: Plan to Prosper. We talked about planning and debt. We are going to continue off of that topic today. Let me preface this... please take the "grocery store" approach to what you read today. When you go grocery shopping, you purchase what you need, you don't always take everything. Today, take what you need. Yes, I believe it is all truth, at the same time you still need to seek out the Lord and see what does HE have to say to YOU specifically about this? I come from the standpoint of a business owner. We have planned & are moving forward. We have left "status quo" and have chosen to pursue more. We have left TV and the bowling leagues and the hobbies, scrap-booking behind (for now) to build a business & establish a business that will yield greater returns down the road. We are not better than the person who chooses to stay home and watch TV each night, we have just chosen a different path. So, I speak from the standpoint with the "end in mind", the standpoint of "moving forward", "moving ahead", "progressing towards a goal that has been set". To the person that is happy with where life is, and where they are, this may not all apply to them. SO...with that said, let's get started. 


Proverbs 24:27 prefaces the verse with, "Put first things first", ie: let's make the most important thing, the most important thing. What is the most important thing? "Prepare your work outside and get it ready." In the Hebrew, we look at the word "work", and see the translation to business. In other words; Prepare your business outside and get it ready. Get your work in line. Prepare your business, build it up, make it profitable, have a plan, work the plan, delay gratification. Do you really need all the "other things" in life right now? Are those "most important"? Is your work/business progressing forward? Is it being built? AFTERWARD, build your house. AFTERWARD. After you have built your business, done your work, then build your house. AFTERWARD. 


Let's look at the life of Jacob. Genesis 31:41 really says all that we need to know: "I have been twenty years in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks..." Jacob, at this point was in the "life-stock" business. He has developed a business and has grown a flock. Now that he has worked he is going to build a house. 


Now, I am a studier of the Word. I have not attended seminary, and I dare say there are countless people and scholars who have studied more than I. But, in what I see from where I stand....today we, Americans, may do things a bit backwards from what they did in the Bible?? Let's compare: Jacob worked 7 years for Leah, then another 7 years for Rachel, then another 6 years establishing a business of life-stock. Today, what does the common young person do? Let's look: Go to college 4 years (collect student loans of $100,000), get married, get a loan from the bank to buy a house ($150,000 in debt from the start), get a loan for a new car ($12,000 in debt), get a loan for our wife's new car (another $12,000 in debt), get a job, have kids, 30 years later pay off the loan from the bank for the house, never out of debt for our cars- just keep trading them in for a newer model, and then an occasional person may build a business. The American Way: start in debt, die in debt. Hummmmmm..... do he two ways sound different to you? Am I just being "legalistic", or do we do things differently now? Some may think I am totally being legalistic, and that is OK if you think that. I really am OK with it!! No hard feelings. REALLY! But, does anyone really "buy" things anymore? Is it all on loan or credit? 


I recently heard a multi-millionaire, you may be familiar with him, Jack Canfield (author of Chicken Soup for the Soul) say something like this: "In my 30's, I went strictly on the cash system. Using a debit card just didn't seem like money. Writing a check, just didn't seem like money. Using a credit card, just piled up the debt. But, when I handed over the cash, I was a little tighter to hold that dollar bill." 


Our Proverbs 31 woman is considering to BUY a field. It doesn't say in Proverbs 31 that she owns her home, but I would guess she does. It says she is getting ready to BUY a field. It doesn't say she is going to go downtown, get a loan from the bank, only 4.5% interest, pay it off in 30 years, then own the field. She is going to BUY it. 


So Tyler and I.... this is one thing we have taken pretty literally. We are proudly out of debt. We own our cars. My car, a Nissan Altima, is the same car I have had since I graduated college May 2000. It has over 200,000 miles on it, but we own it. Granted, we are excited for the Lord to bless us with an upgrade that we can own debt-free. Recently, we finally retired Tyler's car. The Lord blessed us with the ability to pay cash for a newer vehicle. We REALLY needed a newer vehicle. Tyler had a Toyota Camry. We drove it so much we called it lovingly, "Hotel del Camry". We drove a lot of miles on that baby. We bought it when it had 35,000 miles on it, and finally gave it to a new 16 year old driver (for his first car) with over 400,000 miles on it! Check it out for yourself! 

:) Wow! I know! By this point... the camry wasn't pretty to look at, but it drove very well. We kept it maintained and serviced, and it ran great! Never really gave us ANY problems at all!! I expect the new 16 year old could get another 100-200,000 miles out of it (IF he had too!). But, it was a blessed vehicle. We now, THANKFULLY, PRAISE THE LORD drive a Nissan Murano.

(My dad driving the Murano on the beach in Daytona when we went on vacation.)

What a blessing! :) And a definite upgrade! But for us... we believed for it, we spoke it, we thanked God for it, we had a picture on our refrigerator and we waited in faith to receive it, and when the time came, we paid cash for it. 


Currently... against a lot of people's opinion, we rent the house we live in. We owned our first home, moved from there to an apartment, and now a home we are renting. I have heard it before, "You are throwing your money away. You are wasting money! You are not building equity." Yes, I have heard it all. And, believe me, I have said it too. I have thought it. I have fought it. It has frustrated me. But, we committed to following a conviction on this, and following the Word. We are renting. BUT - their is light at the end of the tunnel. We have already believed, it is as good as done, we will pay for our next house. We will own it. No 30 year plan. We have believed, we are planning, we are preparing, we are building our business, and we THANK GOD for being able to OWN our next home free and clear! 


With all that said.... let me add this. Like we discussed yesterday....the borrower is subject to the lender. Yes, this is true. And from where I stand, IF you want to be subject to the lender, you can be! True, that does put you somewhat enslaved, or bondage to that lender, but it is your free will to have loans from the bank. Even though it says, owe no man nothing but to love him. There are some, who have no plans of ever owning a business, who enjoy watching TV every night, enjoy relaxing, do not own a business nor do they ever want to or plan to own one, and are OK with being a steadily making payments over the next 30 years. To that person, a loan from the bank is probably the best thing. Because, let's face it... if there is no plan to do anything bigger, or make/save income to purchase a house, this person would NEVER own there home. Tyler and I just chose to do things differently. Granted, we are not "building equity" now. But, as I see it, we are doing things like how Jacob did it. We are working. We are building our business. We are preparing. And we will BUY our next home.


The person who is enslaved to a loan or to a dollar bill.... if God called them right now to go be a missionary, guess what, they could not. Until they are able to sell their home, get out of debt, they would not be able to follow the Lord's leading on their life. If I were a betting person, I believe there are probably a lot of people out there that are called to be missionaries but can't. They are shackled to the bank. In 30 years, when their student loan and home loans are paid for, when they sell their cars... then they may be able to go. 


What to take away? Yikes....I guess whatever you want. Just a different school of thought. And truly... I'm OK if you believe I am wrong with my thinking. This is how WE have chosen to live. Some may choose to be enslaved temporarily. Some may choose to be enslaved for 10 years and then they will own their home. Good for you. It really is a matter of choice. What is best for you, your family and the career path you have chosen. For some, 10 years paying on a loan may be the best thing. 


Take what you will....but I do encourage you to consider. Consider before making the next big purchase on loan or on credit. Ask, reflect, get quiet before the Lord.... is this truly what you are suppose to do? AND...one last thing. Don't go sell your house, your cars, your everything to get out of debt and live in an apartment based upon MY CONVICTIONS. Seek God for YOU. Receive a conviction for yourself in this matter. See what God would have YOU to do. 


Love ya'll! :) Time to pack and hit the road! :)
xoxo