Money Matters with Grace & Honor

I wasn't sure what to write for the progress that my debt ticker above now shows. In case you haven't stopped by here's the link to my new endeavor, and my debt ticker used to read 5.9% instead of the 14.6% that it reads now. Yes, that means A big payment was made today, the last of those for a little while yet *sigh* but it does feel nice in any case.

I want to try and make at least one monthly post about the progress towards my debt reduction, but this month has presented some challenges and I didn't think that I was going to be able to sit still long enough to digest all that has come my way. That is until this month's issue of Grace & Honor. Grace & Honor is an online magazine that is published by Lehigh Valley Baptist Church, in Emmaus , PA. I have a couple friends there that write for it and I almost always receive some kind of blessing from what the ladies writing for it share, not just my friends, but this month 2 of them wrote about finances and the role that they play in our lives. Ironic? Not so much. That actually seems to happen to me a lot, especially with one of the writers, because God knows what I need and when. Even before my own heart knows that I need the encouragement, or admonishment, the Lord already has tools prepared to meet my needs as He sees fit. Don't get me wrong, the magazine does not take place over my own studies in the word, or my church attendance, but as a supplement it's always a fun and encouraging place to go to in this W.W.W., which is often hard to find in the world.

Jackie wrote about Money Myths. What they are for a single person and how we are to treat money. I won't reteach what she wrote you should just go check it our for yourself. Shamefully I have not always been the wisest steward with the money that God has given to me. The Myth of money is that there is eternal security in finances and the things that it allows us to buy, when money is in fact simply a means to an end. Money will not last forever, the only thing that will last forever is the word of God.

Luke 21:33 ~ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Katina in her article for Two Cents wrote about Hezikiah's tenacity and how his willingness to serve the Lord with his whole heart was the cause for his prosperity. To sum up her article, and what I took away from it was, be faithful to God with your money, be accountable for the money that God has given to you, spend wisely and most importantly DON'T give up on your financial goals. Freedom of this kind doesn't happen over night, unlike the freedom that God's gift of salvation offers. It takes tenacity to sick to God's way of doing things, but in the end His ways are always meant to make a Christian prosperous. Prosperous spiritually that is, because without the static of making up for financial irresponsibility, and back-pedaling out bad decisions, the guidance that the Lord gives is easier to listen to and act upon.

Tenacity I have in spades, something that has been a blessing when used on the side of righteousness and at times it has been a curse because when I dig my heals in it's often hard to get me to see a situation differently. And I've never really been a fan of mythology either, so I really have no business believing the myths that the satisfaction that money tells me I should have anyway. The only thing that I can see to do is stick to it and listen to God and not my wallet, each time I want to make a purchase that I can't afford.

Now if I could only be patient while doing this:/ Something else to work on for another time.