Contributor: Alex Alajiki
INTRODUCTION:
This is the last class for this year in our Bible focused studies on kingdom prosperity. We have been able to receive many life changing instructions that can transform our lives, families and Church. But, knowledge is nothing until it is implemented and forced to produce expected results. You never gain mastery in any areas of life without concentrated focus on the subject matter. My advice is for us to go back and find out areas in these studies that we need to know and implement in our lives and families.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matt.7:24-27
Today we are looking at how we can live debt free. One of the reasons why we must not be in debt is because of Prov.22:7 “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Let us find out the Biblical provisions for us to be able to live debt free.
1) God is our Source and Only Source; Matt.6:31-33, Phil.4:19, 2 Cor.9:8
““Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed? ‘For the Gentiles seek after all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek, aim at and strive after first of all His kingdom and His righteousness, His way of doing and being right, and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”
When God is our source and only source, then everything else become a resource He uses to bless us.
Whenever there is a need, our first point of help should be getting God involved. He already knows what we need even before we ask Him for help. Ps.23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.”
• How do we seek first the kingdom? We give God’s Word first place and final authority in our lives. We must commit yourself to obey whatever we see in the Word at any cost.
“God is the source of my supply. His riches flow to me freely, copiously, and abundantly. All my financial and other needs are met at every moment of time and point of space; there is always a divine surplus.” By Joseph Murphy
2) We must be deliberate in getting out of debt; Rom.13:8
“Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another.”
Why is it important for us to be totally debt free? Because the wealth of the sinner, which the Bible says "is stored up for the righteous," can never come into the hands of the body of Christ until we're debt-free (see Prov. 13:22). Otherwise, it would pass right through our hands and back into the hands of the banks, mortgage companies and credit card companies and other avenues by which debts are taking money away from us.
God delivered us from the bondage of lack and debt when we received salvation. He delivered us from the "power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col. 1:13).
"Deliverance is release from the oppressor, but freedom is deliverance from oppression. In essence, it is possible to be delivered and not to be free." It is possible to be delivered from debt and not be free from it. Why?
The Children of Israel were delivered from slavery, but never free from slave mentality until they were self-destroyed. The reason is that the people never learned to think in accordance with the truth. The Word says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).
What about us? Do we have slave mentality where money is concerned? Are we unable to see our ways past poverty as a result of having grown up with it? Until we change our thinking, we won't change our circumstances.
Debt is the world method of meeting need while faith and supernatural provision is the Kingdom method of meeting every need.
The process whereby we move from deliverance to freedom starts between our ears. The Lord said to Joshua: "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you" (Josh. 5:9). We know that Egypt is a symbol for bondage or debt. And "reproach," from the Hebrew text, means "shame." We can never be proud of any debt.
3) Steps out of debts; 2 Cor.9:8, Prov.3:5-6
“And God is able to make all grace [every favour and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity.”
a) Study the Word and see how much God wants us to prosper and be debt free (see Jer. 29:11). We renew our mind by studying scriptures on the subject of financial abundance and freedom from debt. We can write them down on cards or phones and carry them with us. Read them aloud and confess them often as God's promises to us (see Rom.10:17).
b) Listen or read books on financial freedom and how to get out of debt. We can take time to listen to Dave Ramsey on YouTube or Podcast on how to take baby steps out of debt. He is one of the best Christian consultant on finance.
c) Make a Quality Decision to Live Debt Free from now on.
A quality decision forever settles the issue. It is a decision of no retreat and no return. It is a memorial that settles all future decisions.
The very moment we make the quality decision to live debt free, God sees us debt free. We settle it forever that God is our Source—not people and we are not limited to salaries or our sources of incomes.
d) Take practical action like what the Copeland did several years ago;
“We figured out how much we owed. I got my chequebook and wrote out the checks that would pay these debts. We laid hands on them and prayed according to Romans 13:8. “Father, in the Name of Jesus, I am putting these checks in this desk drawer and am believing You to get us out of this mess. I am looking to You for the money to pay all these debts, in the Name of Jesus.”
“I did not mail those checks until the money was in the bank! We figured to the last penny how much it would take to operate our household abundantly, even allowing for unexpected things. We wrote it down and prayed over it in the Name of Jesus.”
“I made up my mind to be single-minded from that day forward. In less than 12 months from that day, we did not owe anything!”
e) Tithe faithfully. Expect the Lord to meet all your needs while He rebukes the devourer for our sake (see Phil. 4:19; Mal. 3:11).
f) We must begin to see ourselves living in abundance. We can't have it if we can't see it.
g) Deliberately sow faith seeds and praise God for multiplying our seeds back to us. Keep a list of seeds sown into God's kingdom. Constantly water the seeds with praise and thanksgiving.
h) Be profitably engaged and be diligent in your assignments (see Prov.10:4).
Conclusion.
Philippians 4:19 (AMP/Greek paraphrase): My God will liberally supply, fill to the full, cram, furnish, satisfy, finish and complete all of your needs, employment, requirements, lack and business according to His riches, His wealth, His money and His possessions in glory by Christ Jesus.
Most parts of this outline are culled from the Book “40 DAYS OF PROSPERITY” by Pastor George Pearsons.
