March 16, 2009
Deuteronomy 15:
1-3 At the end of every seventh year, cancel all debts. This is the procedure: Everyone who has lent money to a neighbor writes it off. You must not press your neighbor or his brother for payment: All-Debts-Are-Canceled—God says so. You may collect payment from foreigners, but whatever you have lent to your fellow Israelite you must write off.
4-6 There must be no poor people among you because God is going to bless you lavishly in this land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance, your very own land. But only if you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, diligently observing every commandment that I command you today. Oh yes—God, your God, will bless you just as he promised. You will lend to many nations but won't borrow from any; you'll rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
7-9 When you happen on someone who's in trouble or needs help among your people with whom you live in this land that God, your God, is giving you, don't look the other way pretending you don't see him. Don't keep a tight grip on your purse. No. Look at him, open your purse, lend whatever and as much as he needs. Don't count the cost. Don't listen to that selfish voice saying, "It's almost the seventh year, the year of All-Debts-Are-Canceled," and turn aside and leave your needy neighbor in the lurch, refusing to help him. He'll call God's attention to you and your blatant sin.
10-11 Give freely and spontaneously. Don't have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God's, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors.
As I was reading this it really struck me at how greedy as a Nation we have become. If on a whole we lived by the 7 year rule, how much more we would be able to provide for the poor. Some of us would love to help others but can't because of the overwhelming debt that has enslaved us. It is an amazing feeling when bills are not breathing down our necks, how we "tell" our money where to go each month, vice our money limiting us with what we can do. We have become so radical with how we manage our money and will not go into debt for anything! God has been able to provide for us in such amazing ways since we decided to live debt free. We can now serve God with our whole paycheck and not just a 10th of it. 2 years ago we stepped foot on the path to becoming debt free and were able to accomplish that last summer. What we have worked on since then is the discipline of delayed gratification. That means just because we can buy something doesn't mean we do. My husband does an awesome job at setting aside monthly for an emergency fund, car maintenance and building a safety nest in our checking account. I can not explain to you the freedom from not having to worry about money. I pay all our expenses at the beginning of each month and that is it. What use to take hours to figure out now takes about 15 minutes each month!!! What freedom there is knowing that everything else can go where God desires and we have the ability to help others out during these economically challenging time. If you can't say the same, seek God's wisdom on how you can get out of the bondage of debt so that you can serve God with all He blesses you with; no strings attached!!!!!
Here is some info I thought you might enjoy.
First Credit Cards
Brief History of US Banks
Have you crawled out from the depths of debt also? What method did you use? For us we stopped the use of credit AND debit cards and became disciplined through the cash only rule. If we didn't have the cash it didn't get purchased. This helped us to think about what we would need in the future, over come our impulse buying, and stick to our budget. I remember rolling coins because I needed gas, I had "borrowed" money from my auto envelope so I could eat out. As I placed each coin into the wrapper I became convicted of how undisciplined I really was and lets just say I've never had to roll coins again. (And I do budget for eating out now, lol.)
Dear Father, may we seek to be only your bond servant and not a servant to money or the world. Let us be brave enough to see that when we incurr debt, whether "good" or "bad" it limits us in how we are able to further your kingdom with what You have blessed us with. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen
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