Does God Want Us To Be "Financially Independent"
The answer to that question is NO.
Note: As Christians, we are not a democratic society. We are under the rulership of Jesus or King, our Lord and Savior, and our High Priest. We are servants of our King as He has all authority over us. We surrender our lives to Him as He is in control of our destiny.
God does bless us with money and material possessions, but He needs us to be dependent upon Him. The word independent means not needing anything from anyone. God needs us to be dependent upon Him for everything in life. Rich or poor He expects you to look to Him to meet your daily need. The Bible warns the rich because it is so easy for them to look to themselves and say, "Look at me, Look at what I've accomplished, I do not have need of anyone. We have made ourselves our own god.
God wants us to be out of debt and dependent upon Him for the things we need in this life - not our jobs - not our abilities. As we achieve financial independence we will be tempted to go right back into slavery to debt again. We are tempted to worship things and not the creator of all things. That is not God's perfect plan for you. God's perfect plan for you is that you trust in Him in every area of your life, to be sufficient in all things so that you will be ready and able to minister to others who are in need. If you get nothing else out of this book learn this one thing. This is a hidden mystery to the world. Read all of Matthew 25 and meditate on this Chapter. Let God speak to your heart.
Suppose that every believer lived by faith the way God intended, what would the world be like. We would not be depending upon our Government for security. The believers in the churches would be ministering to the widows and orphans, to the homeless. They would be ministering to the sin sick and dying world. The believer would have more than enough to give to those in need.
When you begin to operate in God's system and live by faith in every area of your life, God will step in and make up for what you do not know. He will put you over! The deeper you get into the Word and the more you learn, the more you will expand, the more you expand, the more Satan will fight; the more he fights, the bigger the victory, the bigger the victory, the more glory to God, the more glory to God the more you will expand.
Satan's only weapons are fear, doubt, and unbelief. When we stand on what God tells us in His word Satan comes along and whispers in our mind's ear words of doubt and unbelief just like he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan twists things around and plants negative statements like; "God does not really mean he'll do that for me", "I am not worthy because I am so weak", or "what if he does not do it for me".
We have to take a stand - refuse to listen to those thoughts (resist the devil and he will flee from you) - speak what the word says - do not speak the problem - speak the answer to the problem according to the word and in the first person - speak of things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). Pray the following prayer every day aloud and several times a day until your unconscious mind starts to respond and accept that you are seriously trusting God:
"Father, in the name of Jesus, I am in the Body of Christ. I overcome evil with good. Satan has no power over me for greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. No evil will befall me; neither shall any plague come nigh my dwelling for he has given his angels charge over me. They keep me in all my ways and in my pathway in life. I thank you, Father, which no weapon formed against me will prosper. I am like a tree planted by the river of water. My God supplies all my needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I have sufficiency in all things. I do abound to do all good works for my God has made all grace abound toward me." Amen
A measure of real wealth is not financial independence. The measure of real wealth is the amount of treasure that you've accumulated in heaven. Real wealth is to be totally out of debt while you're on this earth and owe no man anything but love him. Real wealth is having sufficiency in all things so that you can give to others.
Financial Control Check-up
Have you believed Christ died for you so that you may have eternal life with the Father? Yes ___ No ___
Do you have an emergency fund equal to 3 to 6 months of living expenses? Yes ___ No ___
Do you have quiet time every day for the study of God's word and prayer? Yes ___ No ___
Do you periodically shop around to see which banks are offering the lowest-price services? Yes ___ No ___
Do you refuse to think or speak words of doubt and unbelief? Yes ___ No ___
Do you balance your checking account each month? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know how to put on the whole armor of God so that you may quench the fiery darts of the devil? Yes ___ No ___
Do you have a budget at the present time? Yes ___ No ___
If you have a budget, do you monitor it at regular intervals? Yes ___ No ___
Do you use positive affirmations of whom you are in Christ Jesus in your self-talk? (i.e., I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.) Yes ___ No ___
Do you plan ahead for large cash expenses such as insurance premiums, annual loan payments, or college tuition? Yes ___ No ___
Have you recently analyzed if it makes sense for you to refinance some of your personal and/or mortgage debt? Yes ___ No ___
Do you think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report during the day?(Philippians 4:8) Yes ___ No ___
Can you pay all of your bills without having to borrow? Yes ___ No ___
Are you able to make all your debt payments on time? Yes ___ No ___
Do you believe that God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus? (Philippians 4:19) Yes ___ No ___
Do you transfer excess cash from your checking account into a higher-yielding account? Yes ___ No ___
Do you keep track of both your realized and unrealized gains and losses on your investments? Yes ___ No ___
Do you believe that you can do all things through Christ who strengthen us? (Philippians 4:13) Yes ___ No ___
If your employer offers you the chance to contribute to a qualified retirement plan, do you contribute? Yes ___ No ___
If you are in at least a 28% or higher tax bracket, have you looked into tax-exempt or tax-deferred investments? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know if you are eligible to make and deduct contributions to an IRA? Yes ___ No ___
Do you rejoice, pray without ceasing and give thanks in everything? (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Yes ___ No ___
Are your investments divided between stocks, bonds, etc. in a manner that is consistent with your financial goals and objectives? Yes ___ No ___
Are you saving and investing as much each year as you would like and think you are capable of investing? Yes ___ No ___
Do you believe that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them and are called according to His purpose? (Romans 8:28) Yes ___ No ___
Do you ever perform income tax projections? Yes ___ No ___
Have you established a systematic investment/savings program? Yes ___ No ___
Do you speak words of faith for the things that you need in the present tense? (Speaking of things that are not as though they are - Romans 4:17)
NOTE: I do not teach the "Give To Get" false doctrine of the prosperity gospel preached by some.
Do you know what your marginal tax bracket is and what it means? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know how well your investments have done? Yes ___ No ___
Do you pray for God to manifest the spiritual gifts (mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12) in your life? Yes ___ No ___
Have you determined the proper amount of life insurance you should have? Yes ___ No ___
Have you determined how much disability insurance coverage you should have? Yes ___ No ___
Do you own umbrella liability insurance? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know whether the insurance premiums you are paying are in line with what other companies charge? Yes ___ No ___
Have you discussed how to reduce your insurance premiums with your insurance agent? Yes ___ No ___
Do you understand what your various insurance coverages are? Yes ___ No ___
Do you keep the beneficiaries listed on your life insurance policies up to date? Yes ___ No ___
Do your life insurance beneficiaries know the companies with which you have life insurance? Yes ___ No ___
Do you have an up-to-date inventory of your personal property? Yes ___ No ___
Do you have a personal combination insurance policy (one that combines auto and homeowner's insurance)? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know how much it is going to cost you to send your children to college? Yes ___ No ___
Are you on track to meeting your children's college costs? Yes ___ No ___
Are you aware of the various student financial aid programs available through federal, state, and local programs? Yes ___ No ___
Do you use risk and price volatility as a factor when looking at what investments to use to save for college? Yes ___ No ___
Does the fruit of the Spirit flow through you? (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) Yes ___ No ___
If your employer has educational assistance (savings) programs set up at work, are you participating? Yes ___ No ___
Have you investigated the potential tax savings of shifting some of your taxable income to your children? Yes ___ No ___
Are you on track to meet your retirement income goal? Yes ___ No ___
Do you have anyone to agree with you in prayer for your needs according to Matthew 18:19,20? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know the tax advantages of a nondeductible IRA? Yes ___ No ___
Do you contribute to an IRA? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know the effect of a job change on your projected retirement benefits from both your old and new employers? Yes ___ No ___
Do you speak to your mountain of debt according to Mark 11:23,24? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know how your company-sponsored retirement plan at work operates? Yes ___ No ___
Do you forgive according to Mark 11:25? Yes ___ No ___
When reviewing your investment portfolio, do you take into account how many years until retirement? Yes ___ No ___
If you are within three years of retirement, have you started any pre-retirement planning? Yes ___ No ___
Does a man's life consist of the abundance of things? (Luke 12:15) Yes ___ No ___
If you are self-employed, either full or part-time, have you set up a qualified retirement plan? Yes ___ No ___
If you own a closely-held business, have you planned for its disposal/transfer at retirement? Yes ___ No ___
Do you verify that the Social Security Administration has the proper amount of wages credited to your name? Yes ___ No ___
For where your _________is, there will be your treasure. (Luke 12:34) Yes ___ No ___
Do you have a will? Yes ___ No ___
Are you sure that the type of will you have is proper for you? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know how your assets are titled for estate planning purposes? Yes ___ No ___
Seek ye first the _____________ ___ ______ and His _____________ and the things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
If you own a business, have you set up a plan to sell or otherwise transfer it at death? Yes ___ No ___
But lay up ___________ in heaven. . .for where your _____________ is, there will be your heart also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
Have you picked and legally identified guardians for your minor children? Yes ___ No ___
Do you know if your estate has enough liquid assets to take care of your estate's final expenses and debts? Yes ___ No ___
Out of the abundance of the _____________ the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34)
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the _____ __ ___ world, and the _____________ of riches, and the _____ of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Mark 4:3-20)
Take no ___________ for your life. (Matthew 6:25-34)
Do you have a part-time job to help pay off debt? Yes ___ No ___
Would you like to be trained to counsel others concerning financial matters? Yes ___ No ___
Have you ever given money to someone secretly even though you had a need yourself? Yes ___ No ___
Do you balance your checkbook every time you write a check? Yes ___ No ___
Do you need an extra job or a career change? Yes ___ No ___
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Note: Many things have changed since 2014 and people think a bit differently than they did back then. Some may feel this workbook is outdated and not relevant to today's standards. I agree except the scriptures are relevant yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Live by those as they always relevant.
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In our next chapter, Chapter 4, we will take a look at "Who are the Wealthy?"
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