Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19940123.htm

ALL THE MONEY WE NEED: BELIEVERS AND FINANCES
Part I: Managing Our Income Well
  1. Introduction
    1. As those who are called to be witnesses for Christ, of necessity we need money to live and serve the Lord.
    2. But money is hard to come by in difficult economic times. Job cuts, shortages with current income levels, etc., distress breadwinners and lead to family problems.
    3. However, Philippians 4:19 promises God's ample living need supply for the godly. We thus must have input on wisely handling the money God supplies for us to take advantage of God's ample provisions!
  2. Managing Our Income Well: A Study in Proverbs
    1. God gave Solomon wisdom and great wealth so that aside from Jesus, there was no other man as gifted with God's wisdom as he was (see 1 Kings 3:5, 11-13). He wrote Proverbs for our benefit, Prov. 1:1-6.
    2. Since some of these proverbs deal with handling income well, we organize that information for our benefit:
      1. The foundation of wisdom for handling our income well is having a deep respect for God, Prov. 1:7.
      2. Upon this base, Solomon suggests that we build with the following steps to manage our income well:
        1. Set good goals BEFORE you actually work with an income:(1) Set appropriate goals of acquiring a good income in the first place:(a) Plan ahead on landing a good job or miss out on good employment opportunities, 20:4.(b) All things being equal, select the long-term job above the short-term one, 13:11. (c) Land a job that allows you to be righteous in the way you earn your money:(i) Illicit gain hurts more than it helps, so earn legal income, Prov. 1:8-19.(ii) Righteousness secures a steady income; sin only weakens its constancy, 11:18.(d) Master your speech habits while interviewing for a job:(i) Speech affects business income as much as deeds do; use words wisely, 12:14.(ii) Back up your claims with acts to secure credibility and the job you seek, 14:23.(e) Commit your plans to acquire the income to God so that your efforts can succeed, 16:3.(2) Set good goals of managing the income once God supplies it:(1) Set the living standard after you land the job as income feeds that standard, 24:27.(2) Avoid aiming for expensive goods or you will tend to become poor, Prov. 21:17.(3) Aim for a realistic living standard or risk sin by reaching for a lofty one, 30:7-9; 23:4-5.(4) Plan to reach your financial goals over time or you may sin, Prov. 28:20; 28:22.(5) Aim to be the lender rather than the borrower, Prov. 22:7.(6) Obtain adequate insurance for worst case scenario financial crises, Prov. 10:15.
        2. WHEN God supplies the income, maintain good habits of handling that income (as follows):(a) Be careful to sustain all of the self-disciplines needed to keep your new job, 13:4.(b) Wisely invest your hard earned money for acquiring additional income:(1) Take time to plan your moves before investing your money, Prov. 21:5.(2) Commit your investment plans to God so that they can succeed, 16:3.(3) Be on the constant lookout to take advantage of good investments that arise, 10:5.(4) Prefer sure yield to speculative investment portfolios, 12:11; 28:19.(5) Carefully investigate investment business sales claims as greed distorts these, 20:14.(6) Allow room for some unexpected costs as even good investments have these, 14:4.(7) Rely on regular income over savings for security behind your investments, 27:23-27.(8) Govern your invested money yourself to limit your risks, Prov. 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18.(9) Minimize your losses even if it means following through on bad deals, 12:27; 19:24.(c) Honor God in giving of your income and God will honor this with future income, Prov. 3:9-10.
Lesson: (1) With a deep respect for and (2) dependence upon God, the believer will find his income needs met through (a) careful forethought to land a job, and (b) self-discipline and (c) personal oversight after he lands it!