The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.
Proverbs 21:20

Those who love pleasure become poor; those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.
Proverbs 21:17

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Proverbs 21:5

Don't build your house and establish a home until your fields are ready, and you are sure that you can earn a living. Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.
Proverbs 24:27

There is one that makes himself rich, yet has nothing: there is one that makes himself poor, yet has great riches.
Proverbs 13:7

Proverbs 30 :24-28
Four things are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:

The ants are not a strong people,
But they prepare their food in the summer;

The shephanim are not mighty people,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;

The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in ranks;

The lizard you may grasp with the hands,
Yet it is in kings’ palaces.


Warnings and Instructions

1Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.

3A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

4Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,
But who can stand before jealousy?

5Better is open rebuke
Than love that is concealed.

6Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

7A sated man loathes honey,
But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.

8Like a bird that wanders from her nest,
So is a man who wanders from his home.

9Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.

10Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
That I may reply to him who reproaches me.

12A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,
The naive proceed and pay the penalty.

13Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge.

14He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be reckoned a curse to him.

15A constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious woman are alike;

16He who would restrain her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

17Iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens another.

18He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,
And he who cares for his master will be honored.

19As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.

20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.

21The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each is tested by the praise accorded him.

22Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;

24For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

25When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,

26The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,

27And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.


James 4:13-15 New International Version (NIV)
Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.

God who made our hearts and mind

God is the one who made your heart and mind, He understands it completely.


The LORD gave us each a mind, and nothing we do can be hidden from him.
He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do.
Psalm 33:15

Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, LORD.
Psalm 139:4

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
Psalm 139:17-18


We may make a lot of plans, but the LORD will do what he has decided.
Proverbs 19:2

We make our own plans, but the LORD decides where we will go.
Proverbs 16:9

The plans of the heart belong to humans, but an answer on the tongue comes from the LORD.
Proverbs 16:1

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
Ezekiel 36:26,27


He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
God instructs the nations and gives knowledge to us all. Won't he also correct us?
Psalm 94:9-10

Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12"Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say."
Exodus 4:10-12


The Deceitful Heart
1The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus;
With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart
And on the horns of their altars,

2As they remember their children,
So they remember their altars and their Asherim
By green trees on the high hills.

3O mountain of Mine in the countryside,
I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,
Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

4And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance
That I gave you;
And I will make you serve your enemies
In the land which you do not know;
For you have kindled a fire in My anger
Which will burn forever.

5Thus says the LORD,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6“For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.

7“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.

8“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.

9“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?

10“I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.

11“As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the midst of his days it will forsake him,
And in the end he will be a fool.”
Jeremiah 17:1-11

People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.
Proverbs 19:3

When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.
Ecclesiastes 7:14

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:9-10

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:3-5

Proverbs 3
New American Standard Bible
The Rewards of Wisdom

1My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
2For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.

3Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man.

5Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.

6In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.

7Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

8It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.

9Honor the LORD from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;

10So your barns will be filled with plenty
And your vats will overflow with new wine.

11My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD
Or loathe His reproof,

12For whom the LORD loves He reproves,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

13How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
And the man who gains understanding.

14For her profit is better than the profit of silver
And her gain better than fine gold.

15She is more precious than jewels;
And nothing you desire compares with her.

16Long life is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honor.

17Her ways are pleasant ways
And all her paths are peace.

18She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who hold her fast.

19The LORD by wisdom founded the earth,
By understanding He established the heavens.

20By His knowledge the deeps were broken up
And the skies drip with dew.

21My son, let them not vanish from your sight;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion,

22So they will be life to your soul
And adornment to your neck.

23Then you will walk in your way securely
And your foot will not stumble.

24When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

25Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;

26For the LORD will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.

27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in your power to do it.

28Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.

29Do not devise harm against your neighbor,
While he lives securely beside you.

30Do not contend with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.

31Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.

32For the devious are an abomination to the LORD;
But He is intimate with the upright.

33The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

34Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.

35The wise will inherit honor,
But fools display dishonor.

https://www.christian-faith.com/why-live-for-god-and-not-for-yourself/

For none of us live for ourselves, and no one dies for himself.
For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

http://www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/spiritual-life-studies/dying-to-self

...The world’s philosophy says LIVE FOR SELF... but God’s Word says DIE TO SELF! Many people came to Jesus and asked to be His disciples, but most of them turned away because they were not willing to give themselves to Christ; i.e., make themselves a “slave of Christ” (Lk 14:26, 33; 16:13; Rom 12:1; 1 Cor 6:19-20; 1 Pet 1:18-19). Jesus said, “He who loves his father or mother or himself more than Me, he is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37-39). Thus Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

C. S. Lewis’ literary demon “Screwtape” has something insightful to say. He tells his young nephew that humans rarely pray for the thing God wants them to pray for — they simply want enough grace to see them through some moment or time of trouble... they conjure up a vision of the future they want and appeal for that outcome. They persist in wrapping their anxious hands around life’s steering wheel as if “it’s going to work this time if only they clutch it more tightly.” The most difficult prayer for us to voice is, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” Our conversations with God regularly leapfrog over our intellectual resolve not to “ask for stuff,” and land squarely on the bargaining and pleading table. The best we seem to be able to do is arrive at a compro- mise between what we know to be right intellectually and the howl of protest that lies within us.

Obedience isn’t easy. Sometimes our carnal mind doesn’t like the idea of God having His way and us obeying it – it is the nature of man to “want things to go his way.” When things don’t go as we planned... when it rains on our parade... when someone says something unbecoming to us... when our world turns upside down... when difficulties and circumstances tax us too much... when we get turned down for a promotion... when we don’t get what we worked so hard to acquire – the long and short of it all is, “it bothers us!” “it rubs us wrong!” “it makes us angry!” Here’s the real rub: Just because we are living a life of obedience doesn’t auto- matically make our situation better. Most believers think that by being obedient the clouds will go away and skies will turn blue... their financial problems will disappear and their little nest egg will grow again... their physical infirmities will go away and their health will once again return. Sometimes these things may happen, but at other times they don’t. Is God still good? Absolutely. This we will also conclude: being in God’s will is far better than being outside His will. The secret to a “joy-filled life” doesn’t lie in the absence of pain or in demanding our own way, but in “dying to self” and embracing God’s will.

Why Live for God and not for Yourself?
From time to time the suggestion comes even into the minds of Christians – "Why live for God? Why don't you just live for yourself?" This suggestion appeals to the most basic instincts of fallen mankind – pride and the desire for independence. It is similar to the temptation given to Eve in the Garden of Eden. The idea the serpent was planting there was that "God knows that in the day you eat of the tree you will be wise", and by implication – wise enough to live without God's direction. So there is nothing new in this line of thinking. And the source of such thinking continues to be the Kingdom of Darkness.

I'd like to offer some reasons why it is best to live for God and not for yourself. Sometimes reasons help, but once you've seen the reasons, and the thoughts persist, the best thing you can do is use spiritual weapons and spiritual authority to bind the demons, and command the devil's forces to SHUT UP and go away. And you can set your mind on things that please God and tune the devil out. Even so, I think we can give plenty of good reasons why you and I should live for God and not for ourselves.

1. God loves us

God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to be a sacrifice for sins in our place (John 3:16). The Bible says that if He did not spare His own Son, will He not together with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

The Lord GOD sacrifices His own comfort and blessings for us to the point where it hurts Him. When He asks us to respond to His love, its very reasonable, and its not because He is selfish. The cross should demonstrate that to us.

We are dealing with an amazingly loving, caring God who generously gives us all things. Since we are going to be looked after so well under God's care, is it not reasonable to acknowledge His Kingly rule over us?



2. God is good

Before sin entered into the world, God made everything very good. Everything was in perfect harmony. The vegetation, the climate, the animals were all perfect. However, disruption and corruption entered the world essentially through the decision of mankind to deny God His rightful place of Lordship in the world. It is not that WE are good and GOD is evil. No, let us have the humility and clear-sightedness to realize that it is our rebellion which messed up things, and continues to mess them up. Embracing that path of rebellion and independence is insanity – its a proven way to mess up the beautiful world God created. Its just plain wrong to cut ourselves off from God's loving rule.



3. God is much smarter than we are

The LORD GOD Almighty made the heavens and the earth. He understands every mystery – both in the physical world and in the spiritual world. God understands everything. He understands how this Universe works. He understands cosmology, astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, psychology, the human brain, medicine, law, the arts, finance, sociology, music and every other field of knowledge you can think of. He understands eternal things. He understands the spiritual world. He knows all about the demonic spiritual entities that are scheming to lure you and destroy you forever.

But you (and I) have only a limited partial knowledge of any of these areas. We do not know the future. God does. God loves us so much and wants our well-being so much that he is going to reveal to us directions for our life that are going to work out much better than anything we could have planned for ourselves based on our limited knowledge.

God is not operating on a short term view. He is interested in our character more than our present comfort. He is more interested in our faith than our fun. This is why we should trust that God is working something good in us even when life is painful. Even when our life is painful, we should accept and believe that a Loving Father God is working what is good for us. That doesn't mean we should accept the devil's work as God's plan for our lives. We need to resist the devil. But we need to understand that above all of this there is a God who has every detail of the Universe and our future well understood. He desires that we overcome Satan and inherit the Kingdom of God. That is much better than rejecting God and trying to live independently of God.

4. We live in a world full of hostile and deceptive evil spirits

Gnosticism and various occult religions sometimes portray Satan/Lucifer as the liberator of humanity, and God as a cruel tyrant overlord. But this portayal is deception.

If you go off into this wide world without God, without reference to God and His laws, His ways, it is not so much God that will punish you, as you will break yourself, and you will open the door to demonic curses.

Satan is always seeking to destroy the souls of men. In living for yourself, in pursuing whatever your flesh and eyes desire, and your own importance in the world, you are going to come into conflict with other people. You are going to neglect something important in your life – be it family, relationships or something else. You are going to set your heart on something that won't be able to give you the promised satisfaction you were hoping for. One way or another (and there are too many ways to mention), you are going to be hurt, damaged, robbed and ultimately destroyed if you pursue this path to the end.

The prodigal Son in the story of Luke 15 wanted to live for himself, and he took the things he could from his father so he could go off and have a good time. But when the money (the resources) ran out, he fell on hard times. He found that people didn't care about him after all. He was brought to a very low place, feeding pigs and desiring pig food.

It was there, down in the mud, that he realised he was better off being a servant in his father's house than living his life without his father's blessing.

We need to realise that although there may be short term gratification in the path of sin, it leads to humiliation. There are thieves and robbers on that road. We are much better off doing the journey of life with God, than without God.

God has a purpose for us that is not merely focused on our own personal interests, but also on the well-being of others. He calls us to live a life of love. He calls us to be a bigger person that what we currently are.

But when we seek to live for ourselves, and reject God's place in our lives, we are going to open ourselves up to the malicious activity of demons that seek for nothing more than our eventual destruction. It is hard for them to conceal their malevolent natures so much that they often work to hurt the people of the world that are already firmly in their camp anyway. And this fact allows some people to wake up and receive God's love after all.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-inevitable-misery-of-living-for-yourself/

Remembrance (Acoustic) - Hillsong Worship

I take the bread of life

Broken for all my sin

Your body crucified

To make me whole again

VERSE 2:

I will recall the cup

Poured out in sacrifice

To trade this sinners' end

For Your new covenant 

CHORUS:

Hallelujah

I'll live my life in remembrance 

Hallelujah Your promise I won't forget

VERSE 3:

I'll walk salvation's road

With fear and trembling

Your way borne as my own

As Christ is formed in me

CHORUS:

Hallelujah 

I'll live my life in remembrance 

Hallelujah 

Your promise I won't forget

POST CHORUS 1:

If ever I should lose my way

If ever I deny Your grace

Remind me of the price You paid

Hallelujah 

I'll live in remembrance 

BRIDGE (repeated):

You've been so so good to me

You've been so so good to me

Oh to think where I would be

If not for You

If not for You

POST CHORUS 2:

As far as heights reach from the depths

As far as east is from the west

So far Your grace has carried me

POST CHORUS 3:

Until I see You face to face

Until at last I've won my race

Remind me Youʼre not finished yet

TAG:

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

I'll live in remembrance

No too small a task done for God is deemed too small in His eyes.

Even Unto Death - Audrey Assad

The world or people may bring you down, but Christ will lift you up. Take heart and have hope in Him.

Limiting God

You are the one holding back God's power in you.

https://www.charismamag.com/blogs/power-up/36391-what-s-holding-you-back-from-god-s-unthinkable-power

I have experienced so many things in my life that I never would have thought possible or dared to dream. I was raised in a single-parent home on what some would consider the wrong side of town. Yet seemingly against all odds God blessed me to finish college with a degree in biology and chemistry, have a successful career in corporate and nonprofit sectors, marry a wonderful man, and raise children who make us both so proud. Today my husband and I lead a wonderful church, The Fountain of Praise in Houston, Texas, and I travel the world preaching and teaching God's Word.

At one time the life I now live would have been unimaginable to me. Unthinkable. Too unlikely for me to even desire. But God taught me that He is able to do "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Eph. 3:20, NKJV). God did the unthinkable in my life when I decided not to settle for life as I had known it. I wanted more out of life than I had seen growing up, and as I had placed my desire before God, He showed me how to break out of poverty and a self-limiting mind-set. He began to open my eyes to what He had in store for me, and His plans were beyond what I would have dreamed. I still cannot fathom all He wants for me, but I have learned to trust God with the things that seem impossible to me.

You see, when God began to show me His desires for my life, I began to study the godly examples of men and women in the Bible to discover my full potential in God. When I began to apply what I was learning, God began to do "exceedingly abundantly" above all I could ask or think. And I was empowered to be my best!

As I studied these individuals, I noticed that they often did what others dared not do. They stepped out of their comfort zones and took bold steps of faith, at times defying convention and cultural norms, and their choices brought life-changing results. They did the unthinkable and experienced the impossible.

Many times we allow ourselves to live according to others' expectations of us. We let those around us or our circumstances define how far we can go or what we can accomplish. But it's time to rethink the boundaries you've set around your life. It's time to push the margins, press beyond the norm, and join hands with the One whose dreams for you are bigger than you think.

I want to challenge you to raise your level of expectation. My prayer is that this will compel you to take a close look at your life and ask yourself some tough questions: Have I limited myself because someone said I couldn't do something? Am I holding back because someone said I shouldn't try something new? Have I talked myself out of going somewhere I have never been? If you're like me and most of the women I know, your answer to at least one of these questions is a resounding yes. But that can change.

First, you must trust God. Believing God is the bedrock of experiencing the life God desires for you. Only through Him are all things possible. Then, have a desire to get closer to God and not seek personal aggrandizement. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your actions, not your ambitions. Focus on seeking and pleasing God first, not your community or certain religious leaders.

If you are tired of being restricted, or if you have ever felt marginalized or been made to feel that your voice isn't powerful or important this word is for you. I want you to consider all the things you have desired to do but have been too afraid to try. Then ask the Holy Spirit to embolden you as He did the biblical figures we study.

God wants to do in our lives what He did in theirs. He wants to heal our wounds, transform our marriages, save our children, bring us out of desperate circumstances, deliver us from bondage, and make us vessels of honor. Our God has no limits, and He wants you to let Him do the unthinkable in and through you!

Adapted from Unthinkable by Mia K. Wright



Is Fear Is Holding You Back?

BY RICK WARREN — AUGUST 24, 2015

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)

What keeps you from developing your full potential? Fear. What keeps you from becoming all God wants you to be? Fear. What keeps you from building a legacy that will last into eternity? Fear.

There are three kinds of fear that will keep you from developing your talents and accomplishing your purpose.
Self-doubt. It keeps people locked in a prison and unable to develop their potential. This is actually the fear of failure. But failure is not fatal! In fact, the fear of failure is far worse than failure itself. Failure is actually a good thing. Failure is how you learn what doesn’t work. And it’s how you grow into a better parent, partner, and professional. Don’t let self-doubt keep you down. I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail than attempt to do nothing and succeed.
Self-consciousness. If you worry about what other people think, nothing will ever get done in your life. You just have to do what God tells you to do. That’s all you’re accountable for. You’re not called to be the best in the world. You’re called to be the best that God made you to be.
Self-pity. There were two disciples that had spectacular failures. Peter and Judas both denied Jesus in clutch time, but they responded to their failure in very different ways. Judas went out and had a pity party and hung himself. Peter, on the other hand, wept bitterly, grieved about it, repented, asked God to forgive him, picked himself up, and went back to serving God. And 40 days later, Peter spoke to the whole city of Jerusalem on Pentecost, and 3,000 people became believers and the Church was born. Of all the people God could have used to start the church, he used the guy with the biggest failure. That means there’s room for you in the family of God!

Instead of living in fear, believe what God says about you in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”(NIV).


Let Go Of The Things That Hold You Back

BY RICK WARREN — MAY 21, 2014

“Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress ...” (Hebrews 12:1b NLT)

If you want to finish the race of life, if you want to make it to the finish line, you’re going to have to let go of some things that may be holding you back in the race. Call it de-cluttering; call it simplifying. There are some things that need to be laid aside in order to finish well.

What kind of things am I talking about? The things that cause you to get discouraged. Think of it this way: If you attach one light bulb to a battery, the battery will run for a long time. If you attach 100 light bulbs to a battery, it will go dim and dark really quick!

When you keep adding things to your schedule and your life, you will quickly become discouraged and tired.

In today’s verse from Hebrews 12:1, I want to focus on two words, “weight” and “sin,” because these are the two things that hold you back in the race of life.

A weight is anything that slows you down. It could be a relationship, a job, an activity, or a sport. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. A weight can be a good thing, but if you get too many good things in your life, you’re going to collapse because you don’t have time for all of them. You need to learn to say "no" to grow. God doesn’t expect you to do everything.

A weight can also be an unrealistic expectation that comes from peer pressure or the need to please someone, or it can be a memory. You might be stuck in the past, holding on to a happiness or hurt. The problem is that you can’t live in the past or even in the future; you can only live in the now. Trying to do anything else will weigh you down.

Whatever the weight is, if it isn’t working in your life, if it’s dragging you down, you need to let it go.

Identifying sins are easy, right? Sins are the things that you know to do but you don’t do them. You know the keys to living a healthy lifestyle or keeping your finances in good shape. But do you do them?

James 4:17 says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (NIV).

So if you know that you should spend less than you make to stay financially healthy, don’t go on a spending spree that puts you further in debt. You don’t need to keep up with the Joneses or the Smiths or whoever you’re comparing yourself to. You don’t need to use the charge card.

Live within your means so you can lay aside the weight of financial debt and run your race well.

Talk About It

- What are the weights that you need to lay aside today?

- What are the changes that you need to make in your lifestyle that would help you run your race well?

A reminder

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13,14


In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds.
Ecclesiastes 7:14


Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these days?" for it is not wise to ask that.
Ecclesiastes 7:10


We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28


Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
James 1:12


A Call to Persevere
So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward. You need to persevere, so that after you have done God’s will, you will receive what He has promised. For,

“In just a very while little,

He who is coming will come and will not delay.

But My righteous one will live by faith;

and if he shrinks back,

I will take no pleasure in him.”

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Hebrews 10:35-39