Meditations for Financial Freedom Vol 3

By DeForest B. Soaries, Jr

Using personal and Biblical stories and verses, Meditations for Financial Freedom (Vol. 3) is the third installment of a twelve-part series aimed at helping people who are attempting to attain and maintain financial freedom.

This book offers daily meditations that inform and inspire – make you laugh and make you cry – with reflections that walk through the books of The Bible and highlight concepts that address financial issues including saving, investing, retirement, employment, entrepreneurship and a myriad of subjects relevant to personal finance.

Each day’s meditation offers the reader an opportunity to consider one financial challenge and encounter a brief thought or prayer related to each idea. Use this book for 7 minutes a day for reflection and financial guidance from a Biblical context.

Meditations... can be used by those who practice daily devotion, and anyone desiring to deepen their spiritual life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DeForest B. Soaries, Jr
• Release date: Oct 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781735612423

DeForest B. Soaries, Jr

Dr. DeForest “Buster” Soaries, Jr. is the creator of dfree® - a transformational lifestyle movement that promotes financial freedom through values-based principles and practical approaches to financial management. The dfree® strategy, currently in use by hundreds of churches and organizations across the United States and abroad, and featured by Soledad O’Brien on CNN’s Almighty Debt, addresses the cultural, psychological and spiritual influences on financial wellness.Dr. Soaries is uniquely qualified to motivate and instruct people in areas of personal development and financial success. His advice is practical, his perspective refreshing and his experiences instructive. After 15 years of debt, delinquency and deficit living, he rose to become a high ranking government official, corporate director, real estate investor, author and speaker. He serves as Senior Pastor to the 5000-plus members of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey, and is an independent director at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and Independence Realty Trust of Philadelphia. He is former Secretary of State of New Jersey and Chairman of the United States Election Assistance Commission.Dr. Soaries is author of “Say Yes to No Debt,” previously titled “dfree®: Breaking Free from Financial Slavery” (Zondervan) and “dfree® Lifestyle: 12 Steps to Financial Freedom” (UMI). He is President and CEO of the dfree® Global Foundation, Inc., which provides training to organizations and individuals who help people achieve financial freedom and self-sufficiency.Dr. Soaries is a graduate of Fordham University (BA), Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv) and United Theological Seminary (DMin). He resides in Central New Jersey with his wife, Donna and twin sons, Malcolm and Martin.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Meditations for Financial Freedom Volume 3!

In a rapidly changing world with unprecedented challenges, it is good to know that there is certainty to be found in the Word of God. Although the Bible is not always easy to understand, the principles contained in Biblical stories can guide and inspire us in our daily sojourn. I have found great comfort and strength in becoming more and more familiar with the Bible and allowing its messages to function as my primary source of light and hope.

I am especially grateful for the way my study of the Bible has helped shape my relationship with money. I spent so many years dodging bill collectors, paying late fees for delinquent bills, and penalties for insufficient funds in my bank account. I can’t calculate the thousands of dollars I must have wasted in these areas of my financial life.

I waited longer than I am willing to admit to take responsibility for my financial affairs. No one could tell by looking at me that I was living in poverty. I fooled many because I dressed in nice clothes and drove nice cars. I was living a lie.

The death of my paternal grandmother was a catalytic moment for me. She had no formal education beyond grade school and worked as a seamstress in the garment district of New York. Her husband had had a stroke and could not work to support the family.

As a black woman in New York living through the Great Depression and facing racial discrimination, Carrie L. Soaries could have justifiably depended on public assistance. However, my grandmother not only worked her vocation to provide for her six children and disabled husband, but also acquired a license to sell real estate.

By the time she died, she owned three houses that were fully paid for, one of which is where I was born in Brooklyn, New York. She also bequeathed one of the three houses to my uncle and I when she died, and it became the first real estate I ever owned.

That inheritance did two things for me: First, it got me started on accruing real estate assets. Second, it made me aware of the fact that I was living a financially reckless life. I knew I needed to change in order to leave an inheritance for my own children.

I knew that my grandmother read the Bible every morning. It became clear to me that her wisdom and her strategies had come directly from her daily meditations. I have gladly embraced the habit that I observed in my grandmother, and I have also found great joy in sharing the results of my meditations with others.

This volume of Meditations draws on highlights from the books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. I hope these thoughts and prayers will support your own efforts to maintain faith and focus as you allow God to bless you and use you to bless others.

DeForest B. Soaries, Jr.

DAY 1 - FAMILY

Verse

Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 1 Samuel 1:4 NIV

Thought

I have been a pastor for almost forty-five years. As important as it has been to recruit and motivate church members to serve God, I have also challenged my church members and staff to make sure they make the needs of their families their priority. No one should allow any activity or commitment -even religion or religious practice- to supersede providing for their families. That is what Elkanah was careful to do.

Elkanah was a priest. It was the job of the priest to offer animal sacrifices to God on behalf of his community. These sacrifices represented a kind of apology to God for the mistakes people made in their lives. These sacrifices required priests to kill very valuable animals; animals that were owned by the people in the community; animals that had no blemish, disease, or flaw.

It is safe to assume that some people refused to kill their best animals for religious purposes. They did not believe in God that much. Others were probably so devoted to God that they offered their sacrifices and kept nothing for themselves or their families. While that may have made them feel noble and perhaps righteous, that actually meant they were using religion as an excuse to neglect their families. This priest, Elkanah, decided to strike a balance. He was able to fulfill his religious obligation as a priest by offering a sacrifice and fulfill his obligations as a provider by giving portions of the meat to his wife and children.

Our families deserve to be our priority. I have tried to remain aware that my church can always get another pastor, but my children can never get another father. I have missed church services to attend my sons’ basketball games and I never missed