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This is a guest post from Simit Patel. Simit is a currency trader and contributing analyst at InformedTrades.com, a site that provides free online courses on trading the world’s financial markets.
The economic downturn and the Bible
As our current economic dowturn continues, many people have begun to ask why: what is the cause of these economic problems? Is it a failure of free market capitalism? Honest miscalculations? Rampant greed? As always, we can look to the Bible for solutions to our problems. In particular, the Bible’s wisdom regarding money matters seems particularly poignant at this time. Below are some key passages from the Bible:
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be
rich. (Revelations 3:18)Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs
to the shekel. (Leviticus 27:25)The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
(Proverbs 22:7)
How do those verses relate to our current economic downturn?
1. A key part of the problem is that we no longer use gold as money. Prior to 1971, every US dollar could be converted into a fixed amount of gold. Because the government guaranteed this convertibility, the amount of money it could create was naturally restricted. After 1971, the US went off the gold standard, and thus there were no restrictions on how much money could be created. Below is a graph of the money supply over the past few decades; note what happens after 1971.
Such an expansion of the money supply has resulted in currency devaluation, which has caused prices to rise, making it difficult for consumers to save. Rising prices, coupled with declining savings, naturally leads to record levels of debt. Had we adhered to the wisdom noted in Leviticus 27:25, we would have money backed by a gold or silver — which in turn would result in greater prosperity for all.
2. The poverty that has been created via expansion of the money supply has enabled those who receive the new money that has been created — especially banks, who end up receiving the new money that is created via deposits — to enjoy greater wealth, as it enables them to lend more. Banks make money by lending, and thus the more money they have to lend, the more profitable they will end up being. moreover, rising prices depletes the value of savings — which in turn creates greater demand for borrowing money. And thus we find the wisdom of Proverbs 22:7, in which the rich have secured their wealth by lending to the poor.
How do YOU use the wisdom of the Bible to protect yourself financially
1. Invest in precious metals.
While the US dollar has been strengthening for much of 2008, US government expenditures are still increasing at a time when the tax base is diminishing — which increases the likelihood that
the US government will need to print more money to finance its obligations. Currency devaluation will be the scenario in such a case. Historically, precious metals — particularly gold and silver — have
served as effective ways to hedge against significant currency devaluation.
2. Get out of debt.
Getting out of debt is easier said than done, of course, but the Bible’s wisdom remains true: the borrower remains servant to the lender, and thus true freedom requires being free of debt.
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I am currently reading through the New Testament with the Message Bible
What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving.
Luke 12:29
It seems to me that when I am focused on getting, I often miss what God was trying to give me.
I can remember times I was so focused on what I wanted and how I could get it, that I was blinded to the fact that God was answering my prayer in a better, but different, way than I expected. In fact I would say that most of my great breakthroughs were delivered by God in a way I was not expecting at all. He seems to get a kick out of doing that.
Getting often involves taking something with force, rather than receiving what God has given us. God loves to give us gifts and wants to bless us. The challenge is to wait to receive from Him rather than taking things in our own energy with our own force.
I wrote a post about this a while ago. In it I talked about how using credit cards could be robbing us of a blessing. If we pray and ask God to provide something for us, we could be stealing an opportunity for God to bless us in a special and unique way if we just run out and charge it just because we don’t want to wait. The keys, of course, are trusting God and having the patience to wait for it. I know I have jumped the gun and missed it more times than I can count, but it is a personal goal of mine to become more of a receiver of God’s blessings and less of an impatient taker.
I know the lines between the two can often be very fine and shades of gray, but what do you think?
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This is a letter from Annette Capps, who I believe is the daughter of Charles. Since it is my personal mission to offset as much of the negativity currently in the news cycle as possible, I thought this letter would fit perfect.
Thanks Annette!
The WORD is Stable!
Unstable markets, unstable world economy…Let’s focus on something that is stable…the Word of God and not fixate on the fear that surrounds us.
My Dad tells the story of how during a dry year when he was farming, he prayed for rain for his cotton crop. One particular field had no means of irrigation. As he was driving and praying for rain, he noticed that one spot in the field looked greener than the rest. God spoke to him and said, “Would it be OK if I just caused the moisture to come up under your crop rather than rain from above?” Of course my Dad replied, “Whatever you want to do is fine with me!”
That year the cotton made 1 bale per acre on that field where other farmers only made ∏ bale or less.
Sometimes we become so fixated on the problem or what we believe the solution is that we are not open to alternatives. God is not limited to our ideas of how to fix things. The real issue for Charles Capps was not rain; it was a good cotton crop.
Our real issue today is not the stock market or the credit crisis. The real issue is how we can prosper and succeed in spite of world crisis. God’s Word has not changed. God’s laws have not changed. The same laws of giving and receiving, sowing and reaping, seedtime and harvest still work in October 2008 as well as October 2007.
The spiritual principles that enabled you to pay your house payment, buy your gas and feed your family still apply no matter what the economy. God’s Word drives your economy! Choose kingdom principles to dominate your finances!
I encourage you to continue in faith, not being moved by what you see, hear or feel but what you believe…God’s Word. You are the seed of Abraham through Jesus Christ and His blessing rests on you.
The immoveable, unchangeable Word will work for you as you speak it and stand fast in faith.
God Bless You Richly,
Annette Capps
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Should a Christian save for retirement?
Over the last couple years my thoughts on retirement have changed a bit. A few years ago, my goal was to retire early and live the easy life. As I have grown in my walk with God, I have found that (my old self-indulgent idea of) retirement doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the Bible. That doesn’t mean we should be chopping logs 10 hours a day when we are 85, but that God has us down here for a purpose and a specific amount of time.
The truth is that God’s plan for us will keep us busy until we die. I don’t think that necessarily means employment until our last breath, but for some it very well could. If His plan is being fulfilled in our lives via our occupation, who are we to say when we are finished?
To save or not to save for retirement
Even though my mind has changed about retirement, I have not stopped saving in my retirement accounts. Regardless of whether or not I am employed full time when I am 70, why not be prepared financially? To me it seems like a much better idea to have cash in the bank, so that I can be free to do whatever God has for me to do.
The worst case scenario is that I have a big chunk of cash that has been earning interest for decades that I can give away to bless someone. To me, saving for retirement seems like a no-brainer.
Bible verses about retirement and resting
While the Bible doesn’t seem to have specific verses referring to retirement, it does point out the importance of rest. God, our creator, understands the value of rest and relaxation. That, of course, is why He created Sundays! To add to that…
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Mark 6:31
As far as my previous plans for retirement - the below passage from Luke pretty well summed up my plans. Needless to say, I am glad God showed me the error of my ways…
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
The thing I have come to realize is that God created us to be in motion. You can use our muscles as an example. If they are not getting pushed, they become weaker. They grow only when they are stretched beyond comfort. Our brains function the same way. They need to be pushed in order to grow and when all pressure is eliminated they begin to atrophy.
This is why work is so beneficial for us. While it is difficult, it makes rest that much more pleasurable.
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. Eccl 5:12
It all comes back to stewardship
The bottom line with the whole retirement savings question is that as stewards we have a responsibility to do the best with what we have been given. Saving with retirement accounts like 401ks or IRAs is a great way to multiply the talents that we have been given. But, it is not the only way. Every person is going to have to give an account of their stewardship to God, so whatever that means for you individually is what you need to do.
Technorati Tags: Bible verses, Retirement
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Prosperity in the Bible
I have read a few articles recently discussing biblical prosperity and I am just getting a little bit frustrated with the whole thing. On one side you have people who insist on being poor because they think that it is more righteous to do so and on the other I am finding some people so caught up in storing up treasures for themselves on earth, that they are missing God’s plan for their life.
As with a teeter-totter, or most things, it is difficult to stay balanced. It is easy to float to one extreme or the other. Maybe that is why there is so much division in the church over Biblical prosperity. Here are a few of my thoughts on the issue…
There is no denying that the Bible has a lot of verses about prospering.
People can debate all day long about it, but it is very clear in scripture that God took care of, blessed, prospered, his servants. You can pick just about anyone (servant of God) from the Bible and you will see examples of God’s blessing in their lives. Even Job ended up with twice as much as he started with!
Prosperity is not MONEY.
Prospering in a situation often has very little to do with money. It depends on what our need is at that moment. If my body is sick with a terrible disease, I can assure you my focus will not be on financial prosperity, but on my health prospering. Wouldn’t you?
Seek first the Kingdom.
Biblical prosperity is a result of seeking God - not stuff! It is futile, shortsighted, and foolish to try to store up treasures for ourselves on earth.
Matthew 6:19 (NASB)
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; “
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
As a result of giving up all we have (our plans, our motives, our money) losing our lives, we find them like Jesus said…
Matthew 16:25
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
What I take from this verse is that, I can’t hold onto anything. I have to give it all to God. It is when we give up everything we have (not necessarily give it all away at that moment) but give up ownership of it and acknowledge that it all is for God’s purposes that we find our lives as Jesus mentioned.
It isn’t our money anyway
Once we give it all up and realize that we are merely stewards (see the Parable of the Talents)over what has been entrusted to us, it is easy to get our mind off our bank accounts. It is a lot easier to give someone else’s money away!. If God says to give, who are we to try to tell Him how to manage His money?
God did not put us down here to seek our own satisfaction.
If there is anything I have learned from walking with God is that He continues to teach me over and over to get my mind off of myself. When I am focused on ME, I am not as useful for HIM. We are all placed on this earth for a purpose. And I can assure you it is not to seek our own satisfaction. God takes care of all of his servants, but the thing to remember is that He is the only one we can trust to do it. If we put our trust in ourselves, we might as well be building a house on the sand.
The purpose for our financial prosperity is to bless others!
The Bible says that to whom much is given, much is required…
Luke 12:48
…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
I wholeheartedly believe that as our finances begin to increase, our giving should increase. As financial prospering takes place in our lives, it should be used to benefit the lives of others and not just build our own barns…
Luke 12:15-21
Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
If we truly understand how God’s system works, we would want to spend every waking moment on this earth giving. We would not even think twice about giving our time, money, energy or anything else. God tells us to store up treasures in heaven - not on earth! He is saying this for OUR benefit because He knows that ultimately we will be far more blessed if we obey!
You can’t give what you don’t have
Personally, I want to give a whole lot of money away over the course of my lifetime. In order to do that, I think it is probably going to be sitting in a bank account of mine at some point. That doesn’t make it mine. It just means that at the moment, I am the steward who is responsible for it.
It really doesn’t matter whether we have a lot or a little. Our goal should be to give all we can, regardless of how much is in our bank accounts.
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The Bible is the endless supply of encouraging truth
Everyone needs a bit of encouragement from time to time. Thankfully we have the Bible as our ultimate source of encouraging words! Even in the midst of the “financial crisis” that we are in the middle of, we can remain hopeful and encouraged if we keep trusting in God.
I have found that the key is to finding specific Bible verses and meditating on them. According to the Word, this is how faith comes. The more we soak up the truth of God’s Word, the more assured we become that He really is going to take care of us!
I know some people whose lives have been dramatically affected by this and I think as it progresses we will all know people who will go through struggles as a result. The important thing to remember in the midst of the chaos is that God is in control. He is not surprised by the events and He is not unsure how He is
going to take care of his children. We are just as safe putting our trust in Him when things are going great as when it looks like everything is falling around us.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” - Phil 4:19
Notice the above verse says “ALL.” It doesn’t say “some” or “most,” but it says that He will meet all of our needs. It doesn’t say how He will meet our needs and I have found from experience the way He does it is often not what I expected. But the bottom line is that God is faithful and He does what He promises.
I will leave you with some encouraging bible verses that I found to be helpful…
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah. Psalm 46:1-3,7
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. 2 Tim 1:7 (AMP)
I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:8 (AMP)
Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail). Psalm 55:22 (AMP)
He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved. Psalm 62:6 (AMP)
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. 1 Peter 5:7 (AMP)
The Lord is good, a Strength and Stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows (recognizes, has knowledge of, and understands) those who take refuge and trust in Him. Nahum 1:7 (AMP)
“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
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