Faith Revealed Money Matters

By William Medina

You don't have to FAIL. You can turn things around, make life better and it all starts with renewing the mind. The Bible says our mind is being renewed, and transformed, we are not to conform to the ways of this world. How do you live by faith and get your money right if not by using the proven, time-tested, biblical principles that have worked for many over the centuries?

Unlock the power – sculpting a life of abundance, fulfillment, and remarkable change. Faith Revealed Money Matters invites you to shift your perspective. It's not just about dollars and cents; it's about unlocking the doors to a life well-lived. By infusing faith into your financial journey, you pave the way for prosperity.

Budget Effortlessly: Live Wisely
Save More Money: change lives for the better, your families, and others.
Pay off Debt: Manage money and do more for Kingdom Work.
Invest & Build Wealth: for Charitable and Generous Giving.

Picture a life where every financial decision is immersed in purpose, guided by a deep belief that living a full life is not just about accumulating wealth; it's about aligning your financial pursuits with your deepest values. "Faith Revealed Money Matters" empowers you to make financial decisions rooted in faith, creating a ripple effect that touches every aspect of your life. Imagine the joy of achieving your financial goals while also contributing to causes that resonate with your soul.

This transformative approach is about breaking free from the constraints of financial anxiety and embracing a life where money is a tool for positive impact. "Faith Revealed Money Matters" is your compass, guiding you toward a future where your financial success is intertwined with the positive changes you bring to the world.

Order now and embark on this journey of faith-infused financial wisdom and witness the profound impact it can have on your life – a life where money matters, but faith matters even more.

Key Features:
Biblical Wisdom for Financial Success: Explore the Scriptures and discover the profound insights hidden within parables and passages that guide you toward sound financial decisions.
Practical Strategies: A treasure trove of practical techniques tailored to your modern life. From tackling debt, investing wisely, and building wealth, this book equips you with the tools you need to better deal with the complexities of money.
Holistic Approach to Prosperity: Go beyond financial abundance to explore the holistic nature of prosperity. Discover how aligning your financial practices with your values and beliefs can bring not only monetary wealth but also spiritual fulfillment with peace of mind.

Money, when viewed through the lens of faith, becomes a conduit for change. It's not just a means of personal comfort but a tool for uplifting communities, supporting causes that resonate with our beliefs, and creating a ripple effect of positivity. Faith revealed in money matters turns financial success into a shared success, where the joy of giving becomes as significant as the joy of receiving.

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Medina
• Release date: Jan 31, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224187553

William Medina

Creating a better future, the Author strives to motivate children and young people to achieve success through learning. He works in the school system and is a father of two children. He has dedicated his life to teaching them that life starts now and it is important to think about the future, today, even at such an early age. His daughter graduated high school in the top 10% (2015), with numerous awards, certifications, and 2 credits shy of getting her Associates Degree. She has always been a straight 'A' advanced class student. She graduated college with honors and is now an engineer working in a large firm in Orlando Florida. His son is following the same path. He scored 99% on a school performance exam and received high reading and math levels. Is currently (2024) in college studying to be an engineer. The author believes that success can be achieved and it begins with understanding school and knowledge can be fun. It is good to dream and we all should strive to dream big dreams. But without a plan, a desire to continue to learn, to strive for more, and to build healthy confidence in one's self and abilities, without these tools, it is difficult to make dreams into reality.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

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Since the beginning of time, there have been stories. The ones we tell ourselves and those we openly share with others. The best stories, the ones that have overcome the test of time, are the ones that compel us to have impossible dreams, seek change, and to overcome our present-day struggles. Stories that dare to instill in our hearts hope, courage and the possibility of a better, brighter tomorrow.

We want to be the hero (heroine) of our own story. To face all of our fears, overcome obstacles, find the strength and the courage to snatch victory out of the dead, cold hands of defeat. As we secretly struggle with our overwhelming inadequacies.

I am Sparta! I am Aragon, Harry Potter; I am young David standing tall, shoulders pinned back with a sling and five pebbles gripped in my hands boldly facing down a horrifying experienced warrior giant. That is who we want to be.

Where we once innocently dared to dream of slaying fierce dragons, conquering unknown lands and wild treacherous seas - reality finds us sitting in a corner wondering if we have enough money this week to pay for groceries and gas. Can we pay the electric bill and still go out this weekend to enjoy diner and a movie with friends?

The enemy we dare face is not a fearsome dragon, a horde of Orcs or a rampaging giant, though it poses the same threat. The enemy we face is poverty, lack, and suffering. Money is a vindictive, mindless, green-eyed monster, and it will eat you alive, leaving nothing in its wake.

Money is the instrument, the means which drives the engine of society. The more you have, the more you can accomplish. The less of it you have, the easier it is to find yourself struggling against the merciless grinding gears of the machine, achieving little in life. Money, wealth, and abundance always feels as if it is just out of ones reach. It comes when it pleases and departs unexpectedly. I wish to change that.

Welcome to Faith Revealed Money Matters to – Live Wiser, Change Lives, Experience a Full Life – of which promises to reshape your financial landscape and enrich your spiritual life. In the pages of this book, we will embark on a voyage that will transcend the confines of monetary management, delving deep into the very heart of faith and stewardship. Get ready to unlock the power of aligning your financial decisions with your biblical beliefs, paving the way for a life of faithful stewardship, abundance, generosity, and purpose.

In a world where the clamor for material wealth often drowns out the gentle whispers of faith, Faith Revealed Money Matters stands firm with the Bible, showing you how to merge financial responsibility with spiritual integrity. Here, we do not just focus on numbers and budgets; we delve into the profound wisdom of the Bible to unveil the treasures hidden all within its teachings. Through compelling anecdotes, simple practical strategies, and thought-provoking reflections, we invite you to embark on a holistic journey, one that keeps you aligned to the word while empowering you in your finances.

Imagine a life where every financial decision is rooted in faith, where your plan, the budget, becomes a blueprint for honoring God’s word and fulfilling His purpose in your life. This book is your roadmap to that life – a life where generosity becomes a state of being, where your bad debt will become a thing of the far past, and when ones financial journey is indistinguishably woven into your journey of faith. As we navigate through these pages filled with timeless insights and sound modern applications, you will discover the immense power of aligning your financial choices with the values that matter most.

Budget: Four Letter Word

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But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day (Deut. 8:18 KJV).

The Problem with Money

When people think about money, several things come to mind, much of which is not good. Oddly enough, if you are Christian or not, most people believe money is evil. To have great wealth, one must steal from others and exploit the oppressed. That is why only the greedy look for money, hoarding it all to themselves. The elite few having so much, while there is never enough for those that deserve more. More often than not, we all tend to think we deserve more.

For a select few who think of money as a tool - a resource, like any other resource, you must learn to use, master and manage well. Those who are able to manage money well reap the reward of more money (resources). The ones who do not learn to manage money well soon suffer the follies of their own failings.

While many happen to know, by heart, the Bible verse (which is often misinterpreted), the love of money is the root of all evil, few have heard the following verse, For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it (Ecclesiastes 7:12).

Money is a defense – as to defend. Money is a resource you can use to buy your children food, medicine, and a warm bed to sleep in. Money allows you the capacity to make choices. If something breaks or goes wrong, I have the resources to handle it. I can to do something.

As a Christian, I know what most are thinking, I rely and depend on God. He is my strong tower, my defense; He supplies all my needs.

That is absolutely, without any doubt, 100% correct. It is why I started the chapter with Deuteronomy 8:18, thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth. It is God who gives us everything we need. The question is this. What do you do with what God gives you?

Are You Thinking Ahead?

God gives us the strength to gain wealth. He grants us the ability, the resources, the knowledge, and most importantly, the wisdom we need to succeed in most endeavors. It all comes from God. God has even given us wisdom through His word in the simplest of forms. He has given us instructions to follow.

Instructions such as Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly (Proverbs 13:16)

Allow me to ask the question again. Are you thinking ahead? Since the beginning, God has placed in man’s (human) hands the work of taking care of God’s things. It is what God did with Adam.

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (Genesis 2:15).

We all tend to focus on the eating of the forbidden fruit. How Adam disobeyed God, even blaming God for Eve. We forget that God put him in the garden to dress it and keep it. Adam oversaw (managing) all of the Garden of Eden.

Notice how I said manage. The online Cambridge Dictionary defines the word manage (verb) as: the control and organization of something. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to manage it, which we call tend (dress it), to care for or to work. God gave the descendants of Abraham (Israel) the Promised Land, of which they had to manage according to God’s law, specifically outlined rules, regulations, and a set of requirements written for all in the land to follow.

Many of the parables (teachings) Jesus shared had to do with being a good steward. A steward is someone who is placed in the position of tending, caring for, and managing the belongings of his master.

The parable of the ten talents speaks of a servant who did not do the simplest of things, manage the one talent his master gave him in a way that would bring a profit (an increase). He is scolded for not doing the simplest of tasks, taking his masters talent to the bank where it could have, at minimum, gained interest. And while interest is not much gain, what matters most is the effort taken to produce results.

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase (Proverbs 13:11).

Considering all these things, God is the one who gives us the strength, that is to say the means, to gain wealth. He provides us with all the resources we need, which all belong to Him. Then offers knowledge and wisdom that we may be able to manage, like Adam, in a way that will produce abundance.

Where do I Start

Understanding that our blessings come from the promises of God. He established the principle rule of reaping what you sow. Every result we receive today is due to the law God has set up, put in motion, and in no way can be broken. This means we must all ask ourselves one simple question. Where do I start?

It all starts with knowledge. However, I would like to give a bit of an unexpected twist to the statement because not all knowledge is equal.

As Robert Staughton Lynd so eloquently put it, Knowledge is power only if man knows what facts not to bother with.

Having knowledge is great. But how does knowing how to hem a skirt or in rotating the tires on my truck help me with all my money issues? Knowledge is only effective if it is knowledge, facts, or data, which is relevant information needed for the task at hand. So let us begin with working towards acquiring all of the relevant information we need to manage (tend and care for) our money (resources).

Budget: a Foul Word

To some, the mere mention of this word budget is as awful as any foul-mouth word any drunken sailor can conceive. It is like nails across a chalkboard. A black cat crossing your path under a full moon or your mother-in-law coming to town. That last one too much? Oh! It is bad.

A budget means you cannot do the things when or how you want. A budget implies you can’t go out with your friends or live a happy, full, authentic life. All we want is to live our best life right now. Leading us to live pay-check to pay-check, never able to have enough. Others live running and hiding from all the people they owe money because they have more month than money. That is a terrible place to be in.

How can we solve this?

Where do we even begin?

What can we do, if anything, to change our current circumstance?

The only way to fix any problem is to first figure out what is the cause, the root cause of the issue. You need to know what, where, when and how this is happening. In other words – you need a budget.

A simple explanation as to what is the true purpose of a budget. In the context of money management, includes the following three aspects:

Forecast: the ability to predict (know) how much money (income) I will have coming in, as well as how much of the money is going out (expenses). Without this information, I am walking blind down a dark alley, hoping I find my way out.

Decision-making tool: in having information, facts, details and data will help in the decision process, making the right choice based on the goals I need to accomplish. It is a guide, a light to follow in a vast sea of darkness, chaos, and doubt.

Monitor progress: a budgets design helps you monitor your progress. There is no way to know if we are headed in the right direction if we cannot measure our own progress. How far away are we? Did we take a wrong turn? If we can only reach this mile marker, our fear fades, we know we are close to our destination.

A budget is like a map. Today, it would be your GPS. It will not only show you where you are, but it will help you get to where you want to go. Sadly, I remember the days of paper maps, and I love my GPS. It doesn’t matter if I know where I am. I only need to know where I want to go. I type in a destination, and in seconds, the GPS will give me the direction, the steps, and the actions I need to take to arrive safely at the desired location. That is what having a budget will do for you. A budget is supposed to guide me get to the place I desire. To arrive at the change I want to achieve in my finances.

Your ability to forecast, make sound decisions and monitor progress will lead you to financial success.

The Best Budget

Which budget is best for me? For now, it does not matter. What we desire to accomplish today is a starting point. Why? Because budgets change, they evolve, and depending on what you do or need – budgets can be basic, complex, or I need a CPA level of complicated. So let us start with a basic budget plan – the 10, 10, 10, 70 Rule.

Before we begin, I would like you to consider answering these three questions. It is my way of engaging you and your thought process.

What I am about to share, or the way I share it, may be outside of what you may be accustomed to or comfortable with. Please consider the following questions. How would you answer them, and what comes to mind, the first thing, when you read them?

1. When does ten percent of 100 stop being ten percent?

2. Is it wrong for me to pay myself first?

3. Should I worry about tomorrow as a Christian?

Well. How about it. Take a few minutes to think on these questions. Write your answers down and commit them to paper. Maybe you and I will have the same answers or - maybe not.

Did you consider the three questions I presented? I hope they piqued your interest and you answered them as honestly and as best you could.

The following is my way of getting you to think. Give your brain a sort of kick-start. We all come from different backgrounds, and we have all been conditioned and influenced in our way of thinking by those around us. Allow me to use my responses to the questions to challenge you in your way of thinking.

1. When does ten percent of 100 stop being ten percent?

Never will. Ten percent will always equal ten percent. I am not talking about playing with numbers, equations or rewriting reality, just basic math. ($100 x 10% = $10) Try it. Use any calculator you want.

What Pastors and Preachers concern themselves with is that people who have no self-control (do not think of God first) will spend most of their money and give to God from whatever is left over.

My Personal Thought: Who has ever, on payday, cashed their check, and the first thing they do is to run over to their church to give their tithes to God first? No one has - ever.

What usually happens is this. We write a check or wait to get cash and then on Sunday, which could be two, three, or four days later, we give our tithes. All the while, I go