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Alright then…we’ve taken a quick look at 7 principles so far, of defeating your
Goliath. There are a couple more to look at, but before we go into those, here’s
a little practical advice that you may have heard before. In this particular case,
we’re looking at debt, so here is a somewhat strategic approach, that you may
or may not have come across before, in getting rid of your debt. Be advised
that it probably won’t be easy, and it probably won’t be quick…

Start with your smallest debt. Make the minimum payments on all the others,
and try to scrape together a little extra to put on that small one! If you’re like
most of us, you’re doing good to break even as it is, but there are ways you
can do it! We’ll look at a few in a minute….but pay a little extra on the small
one!

Once you get that one paid off, take the money you were sending to
those guys, and add it to the payment you’re sending to the NEXT smallest
debt….which is now your smallest one! Once you get THAT one paid off,
treat yourself to a night on the town…then pick up where you left off, adding
the money you were sending to THAT one, to the NEXT smallest debt…
which is now your smallest! Continue up the ladder until ya get the big dogs
gone!

It’s a simple strategy, and it isn’t easy…and it does take time…but if you don’t
incur any new debt along the way, you’ll wake up one morning to find out
that the monsters are gone! Now, the thing is, where do you come up with
that extra money? I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know your situation.
But I can offer some suggestions…

For instance, if you have cable television (or satellite), consider getting rid
of it. Get an antenna to pick up the local stations, just like in the old days!
Netflix is about nine bucks a month. Watch all the movies (and they have
a lot of television series available, too!) ya like. Generally speaking, there
really isn’t that much you’ll be missing if you don’t watch TV at all!!! 
It’s NOT a necessity! You can easily end up with an extra hundred bucks
a month, depending on what you already spend!

Telephones. Most of us have em. And, oddly enough, as if that weren’t
enough, most of us have cell phones too! Again, not necessities for most
of us, but assuming for a moment that ya GOTTA have one, let’s look
at the options. Cell phones first.

Why get tied into a contract for a year or more, paying close to a hundred
bucks a month, when you can get things like StraightTalk or Net10 and set
your own rate? You don’t HAVE to have internet access on your phone
AND your computer! You don’t HAVE to text people…you can CALL
them, which is why they invented cell phones in the first place! You CAN
find extra money, if ya look just a little….  

Land lines…there are now OPTIONS to being a victim to Ma Bell! For
instance, you’ve probably seen the commercials for Vonage phone service.
I think it’s something like twenty-five bucks a month! Unlimited long distance
and I think they even have free international calling. Your local phone company
can’t touch it! Most of us have at least heard of MagicJack. Even better (at
least price-wise) than Vonage. How bout twenty bucks a YEAR???!!!
Let me say, that I am NOT a representative for either company, and I don’t
get (or lose) anything whether you use them or not. Again…just sharing some
realistic options.

Look around the house. Where can you cut a few dollars? You don’t have
to scrape up $100 a month extra to put on your bills. Just see if you can find
$20…or $10…as long as you know the more you can pay, the sooner it’ll be
over! Which leads to a very important point:

Some of these things may be big sacrafices for you, and if they are, I respect
that. Just keep one thing in mind…IT’S ONLY FOR A SHORT WHILE!
Just until you get some of that debt shoved out the door. And I’m not trying
to get keep you cooped up in the house til you’re debt free! I’m just offering
suggestions on some ways you can gain some ground. When you pay off
a debt, treat yourself to something nice. When ya pay off another, reward
yourself again. When you get way down the list of bills, turn the cable back
on (if you still want it!).

There are many, many ways you can cut a LITTLE bit! We’ll look at a
couple more options in the next post. Again, I can’t really tell you how
or where you can scrimp a little money to throw into the debt monster,
because I don’t know your situation…so I’m just trying to give you some
ideas of where YOU can look in YOUR situation.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time in this area, cuz there’s some really
neat stuff on the way, and this is an area where YOU need to do a little
homework and planning! 

Remember that a tenth of the firstfruits belongs to God, whether you give
it to Him or not. I strongly suggest you tithe before you do anything else.
Set aside some cash for yourself…for emergencies and the unexpected.
That’s Godly wisdom. Pay your bills. If you’ll recall, it’s the wicked that
don’t repay loans.

“…Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto
God the things that are God’s.” (Matt. 22:21)

Out of what you have left, give generously, but wisely. Check out who
you’re giving it to. You don’t wanna be buying 100 gallons of Kool Aid
for another Jim Jones cult! It’s usually not too hard to tell the organizations
that work for God and those that don’t.

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who
wants to borrow from you.” (Matt. 5:42)

This does not mean you have to be a sucker. God gave you a mind for a
reason.  

If the same person hits you up for twenty bucks every week and never pays
you back, then maybe you need to consider giving generously to someone
else…because THAT person is just taking advantage of you…unless it’s
someone who is going through hard times and simply CAN’T pay you back!
If that’s the case, you are sowing seeds!

A good rule of thumb is this: if you don’t have it to GIVE away, don’t lend it.
By doing so, you are not expecting it back. Therefore, if it is returned to you,
you are blessed. If it is not returned, there are no hard feelings toward anyone.
If you do end up lending money, be sure to check out Exodus 22:25 before you
do so!

Another good rule of thumb: Giving generously may not always mean giving
money. There are ways to be generous without forking over money to someone.
There’s no way for you to know how someone is going to spend your money
once it leaves your hand. Once you’ve given it away, it’s really none of your
business anyway.

The thing is, a homeless person might benefit more from a good meal or an
inexpensive hotel room for the night. Someone traveling through your neck
of the woods that runs out of gas, might benefit more from the gas than from
money. It’s a part of wisdom. I’m not trying to imply that these folks would
try to take advantage of you, because there are real people with real needs
just like these, that we all come into contact with every day. I’m just saying
be wise. Be shrewd.

Somebody that really needs your help will accept it kindly and thankfully.
Someone that just wants your money will, most likely, cut you a dirty look
and tell you. “No thanks. I’d rather have the money!”  I’ve seen “homeless”
people drive up in cars, talking on cell phones…get out of their car in their
scruffy clothes, grab a backpack out of the back seat, walk to the street
corner, sit down and hold up a sign asking for money. I’m telling you that I
haven’t HEARD about it, like many folks have…I’ve SEEN it happen! More
than once!

Be generous, but be wise. If you don’t have money to give, cut back a little
on something else…not every week, but maybe just this week. And give that
little bit of change where it’s needed. Give your time to someone. Give your
knowledge. Give your talents and skills. Give your shoulder to someone that
needs to cry a little. It really doesn’t matter so much WHAT you give…
just GIVE….

Now, then…let’s see what God says about giving generously!

“The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with
the poor.” (Prov. 22:9)

“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be
refreshed.” (Prov. 11:25)

“Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who
conduct their affairs with justice.” (Ps. 112:5)

“They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a
blessing.” (Ps. 37:6)

“The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give
generously…” (Ps. 37:21)

Wanna be blessed? Be generous. Wanna be prosperous? Be
generous. Want good to come to you? Be generous. Want your
children to be a blessing? Be generous. Want to be righteous?
Be generous…

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will
also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the
harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way
so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your
generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you
perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also
overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” (2 Cor. 9:10-12)

He will supply and increase your store of seed and enlarge the harvest
of your righteouwness. Wow! You will be enriched in EVERY way
so you can be generous on EVERY occasion…and because of you
and your generousity, people will praise God and offer Him thanks.
Wow!

Remember in the last post, the Macedonian church gave BEYOND
their means? How could they possibly do that? Because they gave out
of their poverty and God gave them increase…then they gave that away,
too!

How about this? When you’re generous with God’s money…when you
sow seeds for Him with your assets, regardless of how much or how
little…do you realize what happens to and for YOU?

“And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a
sower went forth to sow…” (Matt. 13:3)

“…But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an
hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” (Vs.

Wow…what an increase!!  

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:37-39)

Let’s look at the tail end of that one again! For with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you. Now THAT might be the whole problem in
a nutshell for a good many of us!

Remember 2 Cor. 9:6?

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows
generously will also reap generously.”

We may have just solved a lot of our financial problems with these two
passages! Praise the Lord!!! 

How cool is that??

Now before you go running down the street throwing your money in the
air to whoever will catch it, wait for the next post…keep in mind, we’re to
be wise with God’s money! Shrewd as snakes! Don’t go handing it out to
anybody and everbody just yet!  

The first thing we need to do is to deny ourselves a little sometimes.
Wait on the Lord a little, now and then, for HIM to provide. We live
in a “now” world. We want it now, or we “need” it now, when the truth
is, we probably don’t “need” most of it at all. And we surely don’t need
it NOW…at least MOST of the time. But we THINK we do. See? We
need to renew our minds! 

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches
in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19).

We’re afraid God may not think we need it. Or maybe it’s just something
we WANT…

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor
to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in
God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
(1 Tim. 6:17).

Ok, then. He will meet our needs according to his glorious riches, and
he will richly provide us with everything for our enjoyment. But will He
do it NOW? This is where we get ourselves into trouble. We want it
NOW. Sooooo, we pull out our trusty credit card, and voila! We’re
in debt up to our eyeballs before we know it…

Goliath has gotten his big meaty claws on us cuz we got too close!

I’ll be the first one to say that God doesn’t always give us everything
we want…which is a good thing, by the way. But I’ll also boldly declare
that by His own word, He wants us to prosper and flourish! I will
never be convinced by anyone other than the Lord, that it’s His will
for us to live in poverty or to be “just getting by.”

Jesus has already told us we will always have the poor among us (Matt.
26:11 and Mark 14:7). But I don’t believe that’s because it’s God’s will
for us to be poor. Rather, I believe it’s because He knows our nature,
and because of our nature, we’re going to always do foolish things that
end up keeping us in a self-imposed bondage…

I want to share a few things with you. These are not my own words,
nor my own thoughts.

“Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that
you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will
possess.”  (Deuteronomy 5:33)

“The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord
our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case
today.” (Deuteronomy 6:24)

“The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb,
the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he
swore to your forefathers to give you.” (Deuteronomy 28:11)

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it
day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)

“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be
refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25)

“Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the
righteous.”  (Proverbs 13:21)

“A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the Lord
will prosper.” (Proverbs 28:25)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
(Jeremiah 29:11)

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.” (John 10:10)

There are many others. Does this REALLY sound like a God that
wants his people to live in poverty and debt?

We’ve seen how the stones of “Purpose” and “Knowledge” go
pretty much hand in hand. There’s another stone that can’t be
seperated from the group of five! You need a stone of “Faith.”
You can have all the purpose and knowledge you can have,
but without the faith to act on it, your Goliath is gonna be
yelling at you for an awful long time!

You’ve gotta have a stone of “Faith!”

faith – confidence or trust in a person or thing  (definition from
the dictionary)

faith – “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain
of what we do not see.” (Heb. 11:1)

How do you know your stone will find it’s mark? How do you
know the giant will fall? How do you know that you won’t turn
and run in fear? Faith. Trusting God to be your Guide…your
slingshot…your everything! By being sure of what you hope for
and certain of what you don’t see. What is it you hope for?
Victory over your Goliath. You have to know and have the faith
to believe that it’s God’s will for you to slay your giant. As time
goes by, I’ll show you that it is, indeed, the truth!

What is it you don’t see? You don’t see the army of angels
surrounding you. You don’t see God’s will or God’s purpose or
God’s hand in this. And all that’s easy to sit here and say, but how
about a little proof from the Word?

“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early
the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded
the city.
“Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us
are more than those who are with them.”
And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.”
Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw
the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
(2 Kings 6:15-17)

How did David know that he could defeat Goliath? Because he
knew that:
“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw
of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
(You’ve still got your Bible open to David and Goliath, right?
1 Sam. 17:37…just in case!)  

David was sure of what he hoped for…victory over the giant.

“Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant
will go and fight him.”

No doubt in his mind. He was certain of what he couldn’t see…
the hand of God. The hand that delivered him from the lion and
the bear. The hand that would deliver him from this giant from
Gath…this warrior trained up from his youth. The champion of
the Philistines.

Now, if a child…and uneducated shepherd boy, for that matter,
who is just barely reaching puberty, can muster up enough faith
to take on a lion, a bear and a Philistine…then maybe you can
muster up enough faith, too. Not in yourself or your own abilities,
though they will play a part. But in God…

While we’re on the subject of the “Knowledge” stone, especially against
the Goliath of debt, I’d like to take a few minutes to make it known that
you have to have a little bit of general knowledge, too. For instance, ya
HAVE to know that if you earn $100 a week and you’re spending $150
a week, it’s not gonna take very long for you to run into some serious debt
problems!

You have to know things like this: In spite of the great offers the credit
card companies might make to you, they are in business for one reason.
To make money. More specifically, to make money from YOU. The only
way they can do that is to entice you into giving it to them! You  should be
aware of the fact that banks are in business for the same reason. I would
think that most of us have a fair amount of this general knowledge,
but as time goes by, we’ll dig a little deeper into some of these things. At
the moment, I’d like to stick to the stones! 

You need a little bit of Bible knowledge. Not a lot, to start with, but a little.
Even most of THAT is general knowledge…at least on the surface! For
instance, if you owe, or ever have owed anyone so much as a dollar, you’ll
know that:

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”
(Prov. 22:7) ESV

“…the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.” (Job 24:9) NIV

Thankfully, at least here in the US, they don’t take your children to pay for
your debt! Geez, can you IMAGINE? While they may not take your children
from you, be well aware that they WILL take anything and everything else
that you may think “belongs” to you. Anyway, you need a little common sense
and general knowledge. Nothing special, just stuff you already know…for
now, anyway!

You don’t need to know the Bible to know that debt can hurt you in a
big way, but you DO need to know a little about what it says concerning
your finances if you want to defeat your Goliath of debt. You don’t have
to know it TODAY, but you will have to learn it at some point. But, it’s ok.
It’s just adding a little more punch to your stone of “Knowledge”. Besides,
we’ll be learning together, so we’ll all have each other for company! 

Personally, I believe that David was given a knowledge that Goliath
would fall the instant he heard the giant defy the armies of Israel. Why?
Because David took that thing to heart, man! Goliath wasn’t just
defying the armies of Israel, he was defying God, Himself! And David
was NOT about to allow that to happen!

Have you ever realized that when your Goliath defies you, he’s not just
defying YOU, but your GOD? That should give you some purpose…some
knowledge that, no matter what, that Goliath will fall! You may not know
how he’s gonna fall, but you need to know that he WILL fall. When you
get that knowledge into your head, God will lead you to the stream to get
your stones! God will guide your hand as you swing that slingshot over your
head, and He will guide the stone to strike the giant in the middle of his
forehead with enough force to crack that giant’s skull wide open! But you
have to know He CAN…and you have to know He WILL.

One more thing about this “Purpose” stone (along with the other stones).
Your stones are harmless against my giants. Mine are useless against yours.
We each have to slay our own Goliaths. We can support each other, of course,
but in the end, we can only defeat our own giants…and we can only do it
with our own stones.

You might see weaknesses in my Goliath that I can’t see…or maybe you can
offer some suggestions on how or where to aim my stones. Maybe I can do
the same for you. But in the end, we each have to defeat our own giants. I
can hold you up when you’re tired and hurt, and you can do the same for me.
But we each have to pick our own stones, swing our own slingshots, and stand
our own ground. Sometimes, it’s tough…but remember, it’s a fight.

You HAVE to have the stone of “Purpose!” You have to be like David. You
have to get so bent out of shape at the defiance of your Goliath, that you
refuse to accept anything less than victory! You have to ignore your brothers
that call you names. You have to ignore the Sauls that think you are
incapable or inadequate. You have to ignore the taunts and threats of the
giant, himself.

You have to have that same focus and, if you’ll excuse me, the same sense
of purpose that David had…because you’re not just doing this for yourself,
you’re doing it for the glory of, and in the name of the Lord of the hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom your Goliath has defied! You have
to get so fed-up, aggravated, irritated and down-right hostile, irate and
full of wrath and vengence, that you run to the stream of living water,
plunge your hand beneath the surface of the stream, grab your stones…

And run QUICKLY toward the battle line, with your arm and your sling
overhead whirling around like helicopter rotors, until just the right instant.
And when you hear that still quiet voice inside your spirit tell you to release
your stone, I can assure you, that just like David’s stone of “Purpose,”
yours will find it’s mark…and when it does, your Goliath will tumble to the
ground and reveal itself for what it is. A lifeless, empty corpse that can no
longer intimidate you by his voice, appearance or presence!

It’s interesting to take notice of the fact that the enemy often tries to duplicate the things of God. This, in itself, is an entirely different study that could easily stand on its own and take a fair amount of time to cover. For the moment, if you will, simply consider this: God gave Adam dominion over the earth and everything in it. A perfect creation for a perfect creation! At the same time, God gave Adam another great gift…the gift of work. It wasn’t a tiresome thing. It wasn’t tedious or burdensome. It was a blessing.

When Adam fell, he passed on his God-given right to dominion over the earth to the devil. Whether he intended to do so or not, when Adam took the bite of the forbidden fruit, he also gave over his “birthright” to Satan, much like Esau gave over his birthright to Jacob (Gen. 25:29-34). At that point in time, a new “system” was born. We might call it the “world system”. Again, this is a tremendous study all on its own, so for the sake of keeping on the subject at hand, that’s all I’ll say about it for now! 

What it comes down to is this…God gave us the earth…and the enemy created upon the earth, a “world system”. While God gave us WORK, the enemy gave us, as a part of his system, this thing we call “business”… which is simply the work God gave us, with a twist!

“Business” is not necessarily a bad thing by itself. God allowed it to come to pass, and even uses it to fulfill His purpose. At the same time, it is NOT the WORK He gave us! It’s a substitute…an imitation of the blessing! Look at the word, itself…BUSIness. Busy-ness. It’s meant to keep us busy. Too busy for God, too busy for family and too busy for self. If the enemy can keep us too busy to do God’s work…

Wow!

Our problem is that we make business our work, instead of making our work our business. We forget that business is just something that we do to pass time while we’re here on earth. Once we leave here, our business will be forgotten. It’s our WORK that will stand the test of time.

I realize that some of the things you’ve read in these posts might seem a little strange or new to you. It may even sound a little crazy. But consider this:

“…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)

And even more so…

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 3:18)

You see, this is simply one aspect of “the message of the cross”, because it was on the cross that we were redeemed from the curse of Adam and set free! This is the POWER OF GOD for us who are being saved!

We have each been given gifts and talents…desires and passions…each a gift from God to use in the performance of our work! The problem is that we’ve been brought up in a world that teaches us that “business” is to be our work. That’s why we’re tired, and stressed out. That’s why we don’t have time for God, our families or ourselves! That’s why we’re not being fulfilled! Because we’re chasing our “business”, rather than doing our work!

“…for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” (Rom. 11:29)

His gifts and his call are IRREVOCABLE! You will NEVER be satisified or truly free until you use His gifts to follow His call on your life, whatever that may be!

Next time we’ll look at why this happens, and then we’ll move on to where this is all leading. Believe it or not, these lessons have actually been your introduction to overcoming debt in your life….   

I’m getting ready to shift gears a little here, but before I do, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look at where all this began and how we got in this mess to start with. When Adam was in the garden of Eden, and he took a big bite of that forbidden fruit, God made this statement:

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”  (Gen. 3:19)

Because of that one statement, coupled with Paul’s statement that if a man isn’t willing to work, he won’t eat (2 Thes 3:10), mankind, in general, has fallen prey to the mistaken belief  that he has to “earn a living”. There are a couple of crucial things that the general population of mankind has overlooked.

One of the first and most important is this:

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Gen 2:15)

God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to WORK it and TAKE CARE of it BEFORE Adam took the condemning bite! It was God’s plan all along for Adam to WORK! That’s one of the reasons he was created…to WORK! Man was created to WORK! But here’s the thing…the work Adam was
given to do was given to him as a blessing…a gift!

(Just a little side-note here: Isn’t it interesting that God created Adam to be a GARDENER? Like Father, like son (John 15:1). (After all, who “planted” the Garden of Eden? Gen. 1:11,12) Isn’t it also interesting that the world as we know it began in a garden (Eden), entered the current fallen state in a garden, and was redeemed in a garden (Gethsemane) by another gardener (Jesus)? (I feel myself getting off on a tangent here, but I can’t help it cuz it’s SO FREAKIN AWESOME!) 

Just as our road to redemption led to the garden of Gethsemane, isn’t it interesting that after the crucifixion, Jesus was buried (or “planted”?) in a new tomb “IN THE GARDEN” (John 19:41)? Isn’t it also interesting that when Mary went to the tomb and found it empty, she began crying,  thinking someone had stolen the body of the Jesus, when, in fact, he was now risen? But that’s not the interesting part…THIS is:

“He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” THINKING HE WAS THE GARDENER, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” (John 20:15)

Now, why in the world would Mary have thought he was the gardener? BECAUSE HE WAS AND STILL IS THE GARDENER!

“It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.” (Luke 13:19)

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24)

Folks, we serve the Master Gardener of all creation…THE seed of all we are or ever have been or ever will be…the Master gardener of ALL creation! But we’re afraid to rely on him to provide for our needs! And just as Adam was the “seed” of all mankind, Jesus is the “seed” for all the children of God!

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
(John 1:12,13)

I realize that a good part of this post has absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand, but it needed saying, just because it’s so incredible! Can’t you see the PLAN? The DESIGN? None of it was a mistake! Not the creation of man, not the fall of man, not where it started or ended or even HOW it started or ended. It was all PLANNED! Gardener, garden (God, the Father). Gardener, garden (Adam in Eden). Gardener, garden (Jesus in Gethsemane). We are the fruit of the garden of the world, folks! We are the fruit of God, the fruit of Adam, and finally, the fruit of Jesus. We are the harvest that God has been waiting for to get ripe!

The Gardener is NOT going to do harm to His own fruit! He WILL provide the soil, the fertilizer, the water, the pruning, the Sonshine and whatever else we need in order to reach our time of harvest! Whew! WOW!!

“Let EVERYTHING that has breath praise the Lord!” WOW!! And why not? He is, after all, the gardener!

Well, I don’t apologize for getting off the subject, here…and I promise that the next post will pick up where I originally planned to go today…unless He changes my plans for me again… 

I think that all too often, we depend on ourselves and our own abilities to provide for ourselves and our families, rather than depending on God to provide. This, in itself, is a big part of the problem. The first question that comes to mind, is this: Would you rather recieve the benefits of the riches that you, yourself can create, or the benefits of the riches of God (Phil. 4:19)?

Before I go on too far, let me make one thing clear…there is nothing wrong with working at a “job”, if that’s what you were created to do! I read of an elderly man that passed away a few years ago, who spent his last years working as a greeter at Walmart (this story was in a national newspaper). When he left this world, there was a big article on how much he was loved and how he would be missed.

Again, this story of the “unknown” Walmart greeter was in a NATIONAL newspaper! Hundreds of customers reportedly attended his funeral. If you love your job the way this man obviously loved his, then you’re in the right place! If you don’t, then this is my second question: WHY ARE YOU THERE?

I don’t believe this man was depending on the riches of Walmart for his provision. I believe he was depending on the riches of God….and, true to His word, the Lord provided. I believe he was living out Colossians 3:23:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…”

Most of us work to please our human masters (so we can retain our meager paychecks), rather than fulfilling our purpose and receiving from the riches of God’s storehouse. The purpose of the elderly Walmart greeter was not to work at Walmart…but to touch people’s lives. And that he did. He simply used Walmart as a tool to carry it out.

A famous theologian was once speaking on creation having the purpose of giving God glory. A skeptic asked, “How, for instance, would an earthworm give God glory?” The theologian replied, “By doing what God put it here to do.”

There are people that are fantastic artists that work in a factory. There are people that write great songs working in construction. There are people that have a gift for cooking or serving that work behind a desk.

It’s no wonder that so many are unhappy…we’re so consumed with “earning a living” that we aren’t fulfilling our purpose! There’s nothing wrong with factory work…IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WERE PUT HERE TO DO! There’s nothing wrong with construction or working behind a desk…IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WERE PUT HERE TO DO!

When you do what you were put here to do, there’s less stress in your life. You’re far happier. You’re likely to be just as successful, if not more so. What’s then is the problem? (This is another entire study in itself) It’s a lack of faith. We don’t think God will provide for us while we follow our dreams and passions, so we take matters into our own hands and try to make our own way. Instead of working for the Lord, we end up working a Just Over Broke, in misery. The thing is, who do you suppose put those dreams, passions and abilities in you to begin with?? If God gave you these abilities and desires, don’t you think He’ll stand behind you while you pursue them?

Before I leave you today, I’ve got something special coming for you with the next post! If you get the opportunity, PLEASE, PLEASE find a few minutes for it…I think it will be a tremendous blessing!