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LIFE VISION PLAN …
DAILY DEVOTIONS

week 3

SUNDAY NIGHT
. . . Before going to bed
You have listened to the message from today’s worship service. You have worked through some very important questions tonight during the small group fellowship. Make a commitment to yourself and to God regarding what you intend to do regarding your finances.
________________________________________________________

MONDAY
. . .
“Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ “ Luke 16:1-2
The #1 cause of divorce in America is related to financial issues?
75% of American churchgoers live paycheck to paycheck?
The average American today has over $38,000 of consumer debt
According to Social Security records, the majority of Americans have less than $250 saved when they reach the age 65.
The average American went 2.2% in the hole last year
An important part of our “Life Vision Plan” will be to seek God’s will and direction for our finances. Our finances are very important because they represent our time and energy. The money that we have is a direct result of the effort that we expend at our job. God trusts us to manage his resources. The principle that we must embrace is that everything belongs to God. God is the owner, and we are the stewards, or the managers.
It is a Biblical concept that God has given each of us a business.
In Luke 16, Jesus tells a story about a rich man and his manager. The Greek word for “manager” is oikonomos. It means “an overseer, one who is in charge of the affairs of the household, an office of trust and confidence.” God has placed His trust and confidence in you to manage His affairs. He’s given you a business. You’re a manager over the resources that God trusts you to handle.

As one of God’s managers, you have two management options for the resources God entrusts you with:
1. You can be wasteful.
In verse one, Jesus said the rich man’s manager was accused of wasting his master’s possessions. The word “waste” comes from the Greek word diaskorpizo. It means “to disperse, to scatter, to mismanage, or to squander.”
How are we wasteful
?
a. We don’t plan for the future. Remember, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
b. We’re unable to track our spending. If the boat is sinking, it’s because there’s a leak in the boat. Find the leak.
c. We spend foolishly. We think we need to have something, and even though we don’t have the money saved for it, we lose control and charge it. Let’s go back to the guy in Jesus’ story. This manager had no plan and squandered the rich man’s assets. But in verse eight, the master commended the manager, even though he was dishonest, because he acted shrewdly in looking after his own affairs. The word “shrewdly” can be translated as “prudently” or “wisely.” We can act shrewdly with honesty and deal wisely with our Master’s resources.
2. You can be faithful.
In verses ten and eleven, Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”
Did you know that God loves to reward faithful businesses? Imagine a completely debt-free personal business. You don’t owe anyone any financial debt, only the debt to love. To get to a different destination, you must take a different route. The world tells you to borrow, but don’t forget that the world is broke. If you can’t tithe, you can’t save, and you feel like you can’t plan. Here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to adopt a business plan.

Six things will be included in this plan.
We will:
1. Define our mission.
Part of your “Life Vision Plan” is to define your mission.
2. Set short-term goals.
Create a budget.
3. Establish long-term goals.
Learn how to invest. There are two ways to make money: people working for money, and money working for money.
4. Lower overhead.
Eliminate debt.
5. Plan for down times.
Save.
6. Be aggressive at profit sharing.

Give generously. Ask yourself this difficult question: Have I been faithful? Or have I been wasteful? You have a business. Your business is God’s business. Let’s handle it with integrity. Be a shrewd steward of God’s resources, and He’ll reward your faithful management.

Steps for Today:
• Spend time praying about your current financial situation. Ask God to show you the good and bad areas.
• List three areas where you’ve been faithful. Thank God for allowing you to be obedient to Him in these areas.
• List three areas where you’ve been wasteful. List an action step for each of these areas to help you become more faithful in each one.

TUESDAY . . .
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to
complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow
began to build and was not able to finish.’” Luke 14:28-30
Someone said, “Money will not buy you happiness, but debt will make you miserable.”
Anyone who’s ever had a lot of debt knows that’s true. Remember, God has given you a business, and your business is His business. Every good business has a good business plan. What’s your financial business plan?
Consider the words of Jesus in Luke 14:28 30. If someone’s going to set out on any kind of business venture, the wise thing to do is to sit down and estimate the cost to see if he or she has the ability to complete it. The person who begins without a plan is absolutely and completely foolish. God has given you a business.
It’s His business. We’re going to seek God’s heart, hear from Him, and develop our own business plan.
For those of you who are married, it’s important that you have a unified family business plan. It’s sad how many times I’ve seen one spouse who wants to get out of debt and the other who still spends freely. We have to seek God, and we have to agree. If we don’t agree, we have division. What is division? Literally, “two visions.” We can never please God with two visions. Remember, where there is no vision, the people perish.
All good businesses have a business plan. Remember, our goals should be specific, they should be
measurable, and they should be written.

Your business plan should include three things:
1. Mission statement.
What are you about? What is it that drives you? In one sentence, write the driving force of what you’re about.
2. Core values.
What do you stand for? Remember, if you don’t stand for something, then you’ll fall for anything.
3. Cash flow plan.
Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”
John Maxwell said
, “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”
It’s interesting that in the book The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley and William Danko show that the majority of first generation millionaires have budgets. The reason they’re millionaires is because they have a budget.
In a budget, every dollar has a name. Before the money comes in, give a name to where that dollar is going. I’m not going to tell you what to do with your money. You should tell your money where to go. Do something on purpose with your money. Seek God’s heart, and make a plan.

Have a budget conference with your spouse and do six things:
1. Schedule the meeting. Pray. Decide when you want to get together. Seek God’s heart to determine what He wants to do with the business He’s entrusted you with.
2. Review last quarter spending.
Where did the money go? Where are the leaks? Determine to plug them.
3. Draft a rough budget.
I say a “rough budget,” because that’s exactly what it’s going to be. It’s not going to be perfect. Don’t expect it to be.
4. Allow 90 days to smooth out the bumps.
Within three months, you should be able to make it work.
5. Review quarterly and make adjustments.
As your life changes, you’ll need to make adjustments in your budget.
6. Develop a long-term plan.
Where do you want to be ten years from now? Twenty years from now?
Remember that every good business has a good business plan. Seek God. Hear from God and develop a plan that will give God glory through your finances.

WEDNESDAY
. . .
“One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” Proverbs 13:7
In today’s study, we’re going to ask God to help us “act our wage“. You read that right. I said “act your wage,” not “act your age.” You need to live at—or preferably, beneath—your means.
Proverbs 13:7 says. Which person would you rather be? Would you rather be the one who looks like he has a lot but is in debt, or the one who lives modestly and has a tremendous amount of security and the ability to be generous with great wealth?
Remember, you have a business, and your business is God’s business. All great businesses have a great business plan. Part of our business plan will be to act our own wage. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Another version says, “…is a slave, is in (bondage) to the lender.” Do you want to be a slave? If you’re in debt, that’s exactly what you are.
Let’s talk about debt
:
In 1929, only 2% of homes in America had a mortgage against them.
Forty years later, only 2% did not have a mortgage against them.
Did you know that when you have a home on a 30-year note, in the first two years of your payments, 98% of your payments go to interest? And, the newly introduced 40-year note only reduces your payment by about 2% because the additional years of payment are mostly interest.
Our problem as Americans is that we’ve learned to ask, “How much down? And how much a month?” The real thing we should be asking is, “How much is the real cost?”
How debt can affect you?
The average American has $8,100 of credit card debt.
How does that play out in your life? If you pay $141.62 per month on that $8,100 at 19.8% interest, did you know it’s going to take 40-years to pay off the debt?
If, instead of having that debt, you had $8,100 in cash to invest at 5% for the next 40-years, your accumulated income would be ½ million dollars
The difference is absolutely staggering. Interest can either be your best friend or your worst enemy, depending on what side of the ball you’re on.
So, get crazy, get passionate, and get focused about getting out of debt. You cannot change what you’re willing to tolerate. You’ll never leave where you are until you hate where you are. Let’s be challenged to HATE debt.
Three ways you want to get crazy
:
1. Have a crazy attitude.
In a world of instant gratification, we’ll be so much farther ahead if we can just learn to say “NO.” So practice. When you hear
someone say, “Would you like to super size it?” say “NO.” When someone asks if you’d like an overpriced appetizer when the bread is free, say “NO.” When they ask you if you’d like a $1.50 - $2.50 soft drink with your meal, say “NO. Water for me, please.” When someone asks if you’d like to buy the couch protective coating when Scotchguard will do the same thing, say “NO.”
Another crazy attitude is learning to wait. Delaying gratification. Pray before you pay. If you’re looking at an impulse purchase that’s under $100, pray for three days before you buy it. If you’re looking at a purchase that’s between $100 and $1,000, pray for one week before you make the purchase. If you’re looking at anything that costs over $1,000, pray about it for a month. Watch how often after you pray you find yourself walking away…and with a different attitude.
2. You need crazy actions.
• Build your “Oh-no”, fund. Your oh-no fund is for when things go wrong, because things will break and unforeseen circumstances will arise. You may think, “How in the world will I do that?” Get crazy. Sell stuff, have a garage sale, cut cell phones, cable, clip coupons. Get crazy.
• Eliminate overhead. Do the debt snowball. Attack whatever debt you have from the smallest to the largest, paying it off as fast as you can.
3. Celebrate crazy accomplishments.
Celebrate. Celebrate. Celebrate. When God takes hold of your heart and you manage your finances according to His plan, you’ll be able to be more generous than you’ve ever imagined. Celebrate God’s goodness. Get crazy rather than doing what everyone else does.

THURSDAY
. . .
“In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.” Proverbs 21:20
Over the past few days, we have studied the principle that God has given you a business—your personal finances. Every good business has a business plan. I pray that you have developed your mission statement, core values, cash flow plan, and
long-term plan to maximize the business that God has given you. Remember, God wants us to act our own wage. With our crazy attitude and the power of God, we’re going to eliminate debt and learn the discipline of saving. The buck starts here!
I’ll make you this promise: You will not save when you get a raise unless you start saving now. The discipline you develop today will determine what you do tomorrow. People decide their habits, and their habits decide their future. We’re going to learn the discipline of saving.
We should save for
…
1. Emergencies.
Because life happens, and we must be prepared.
2. Purchases.
So many things we want now we change our mind about if we save for them first
3. Our future.
It could be for a home, for college, for braces, retirement.
There are three levels of purchases
: (1) Needs (2) Wants (3) Desires.
Last year Americans spent 2.2% more than they earned. On the other hand, the
Japanese saved 18.2%. The buck starts here.
Here are four quick biblical rules of investing
:
1. Don’t get greedy.
Anytime you see something that looks too good to be true, it probably is.
2. Don’t risk what you can’t afford to lose.
Whatever you do, don’t risk what you can’t afford to lose.
3. Don’t put all your eggs into one basket.
Someone said, “Investments are like manure. It’s best if you spread it around.”
4. Don’t invest in things you don’t understand.
Proverbs 24:3-4 says, By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it’s established.” Make sure you understand before you invest..

FRIDAY
. . .
“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD..“ Leviticus 27:30
Remember, God has given you a business—your personal finances. Every good business has a business plan. We’ve learned from scripture to act our own wage, to eliminate debt, and begin saving for the future. One of the most important
principles in managing God’s business is profit sharing, or generously giving what God has entrusted us to manage.
Leviticus 27:30 says that a tithe, or 10%, belongs to the Lord. It’s His. Admittedly, a lot of people are bothered when they hear a message about money. If this bothers you, it is an indication that your heart is not soft to God’s truth in this area.
Today’s preachers do not write the Bible, and they are not making it up. Remember, God is the owner, and we are the managers. We should manage the business according to the business manual. God’s business manual tells us that 10% belongs to the Lord. That means that if I don’t tithe, or return 10% to God, then I’m embezzling from God’s business.
Malachi 3:8 actually says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings.” The Hebrew word for “rob” is qaba. It means “to rob, fraud, embezzle, withdraw and hide.” It means that you’re stealing from the owner.
Scripture teaches us that there are basically two kinds of business. Which kind of business do you want?
(1)
The first kind of business is the cursed business. Malachi 3:9 says, “You’re under a curse, the whole nation of you because you were robbing me.” I know so many people who feel like there is never enough, and that they’re always lacking. They believe that financially they’re always hurting and wish that there would be more. I wonder how many of these have a cursed business. Haggai 1:6 says, “You’ve planted much, but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is a reflection of a cursed business.
(2)
The second kind of business is the blessed business. This is the business that knows that 90% with God’s blessing is more than 100% without it. The Bible teaches us that God protects and blesses the tither. In Malachi 3:11-12, the Bible says, “I will prevent pests from devouring your crops and vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the Lord Almighty. Then all nations will call you blessed, says the Lord Almighty.” In Malachi 3:10, God tells us to do something that He doesn’t say anywhere else in scripture: He asks us to test Him. He says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
God says to bring the whole tithe, the whole 10%, into the storehouse, which is a picture of the church. The tithe goes to your church, and offerings are what you give over and above to different ministries or people who are in need. God tells us that we can test Him. I love this challenge because God proves Himself
One of the ways we allow people to test God at The Pointe is what we call “The 90-Day Tithing Challenge.” It’s a promise that enables you to put God to the test. Tithe for three months and watch God Himself be faithful. If after 90-days you find god did not keep His word, call or see one of our Deacons or Board members and they will see that you get back what you gave during those three months. Every penny. Put God to the test, and watch Him prove Himself.
God loves you and trusts you to manage His resources. You have a business, and your business is God’s business. Prayerfully seek His direction for your finances, and always be faithful to give to God what is rightfully His. The tithe belongs to
the Lord!

SATURDAY
. . .
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer.“ Acts 2:42
God is a relational God. One of the best ways we can experience Him and relate to Him is through community. It’s sad that most people have a lot of acquaintances, yet they can be in a room full of people and feel very alone. You may know many
people you call friends, but none you call deep and committed Christian friends.
Scripture illustrates the importance of a Biblical community in Acts 2:42, when the first followers of Christ met together.

These first believers did four things together:
1. They studied the Bible together. Reading the Bible on your own is very valuable, but experiencing the Bible with a group can give multiple layers of insight. Something especially powerful takes place when the Living Word is experienced in community.
2. They experienced life together. Most people skim through life, rather than doing life together.
3. They shared meals together. In Biblical times, those sharing a meal made mealtime relational.
4. They prayed together. Praying personally to God is important and effective. However, according to Matthew 18:20, a different principle is put into play when believers pray together. This scripture states this promise: “Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am with them.” Shared prayer can draw you into the presence of God in a supernatural way.
When a lost and dying world sees that we genuinely care about one another, people will be drawn to the love of God that is shown through us. God is relational. He wants you to share His goodness in Biblical community.
DON’T LET ANY EVENT BECOME MORE IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE THAN THE WORSHIP TIME TOGETHER
.

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