Being Smart With My Money—What Costs Me The Most
Glenville 10/14/2012 Haggai 1:2-11 Luke 14:25-35
We are in part 3 of our series, Being Smart With My Money. Pastor Kellie started us with What Do I Need, Pastor Toby preached last week on What To Avoid, Next Week Pastor Kellie will be back with What Should I Do, and today I will preach on What Cost Me The Most.
If two cars are sitting on a lot and one is a white 2001 model with 50,000 miles on it and the price tag is $3500 and the other car is the same model but is a black 2002 model with 48,000 miles on it for $3700 which car is going to cost you the most. The truth of the matter is you don’t know. Because the amount you pay for the vehicle is not its true cost. If you want to buy the white vehicle, but your wife has her heart set on the black one, all else being equal, $200 is a very cheap price to keep her happy. I can tell you this, if you get the white one, when something goes with the car she is going to remind you, “I told you we should have gotten the black one.” You need to recognize you are buying more than just a car. You are purchasing what you think of her opinion whether you recognize it or not.
Prayer can change the value of the car. You may be at the lot, and God sends someone who says to you, that white car is my old car, I know it looks good, but its going to need some engine work. You have now been warned that the lower price vehicle is probably going to cost you a lot more.
In our New Testament reading, Jesus emphasized counting the true cost of something before making a decision. Now Jesus was challenging those of us who want to be his disciples, to first sit down and count the cost of being one of his followers. He did not want us to make a decision and then turn around and quit or to only do things part of the way. Our decision to follow Jesus has to influence every area of our lives, including our money.
We have a double reason for doing this series, “Being Smart With My Money.” One is to get you to use your money to help build the kingdom of God which will help you to grow in your relationship to God. The second reason is to help you avoid financial decisions that are going to cause you to waste your money and put you in a very bad situation where not only do you lose your money, you also lose your peace of mind.
Anybody here ever put something in your pocket or in a bag that had a hole in it, only you didn’t know there was a hole in it. You reach for your item and it is gone. How do you feel when you discover the hole and the item is missing?
In our Old Testament reading, the people of God had been captured by their enemies and sent off to a foreign country for 70 years. After 70 years, God touched the heart of a foreign king, and he let all the people go back to Jerusalem, their home, who wanted to go. The people were thrilled to finally be set free. When they got to Jerusalem, the temple had been destroyed and they talked about restoring it for worship. But all they did was talk about it. But God blessed them, and they were able to build fine homes for themselves, they got nice furniture, top of the line horses and donkeys for transportation, and the food was good. People were happy.
But when the prophets said, “now that the Lord has blessed us, it is time to rebuild the house of the Lord”, there was a problem. The people said, “Oh no, now is not the time to be asking for money for the house of the Lord. Let’s hold off on this stuff about tithes and offerings and sacrifices” But then the people began to notice, that no matter how much business they had, they still didn’t make enough money to make ends meet. They found the ground was not producing enough crops. The great weather they had been having, was turning into a drought. The booming economy was now at a standstill. They could not figure out what was going on.
The prophet told them, “God says the reason your bank accounts are empty is that I made it so that whatever money you made, disappeared like putting money in pockets with holes in them. The crops you thought were going to make you money, I blew them away before they took root. The rain you looked forward to having, I shut up in the sky. The clothes you have will not keep your warm. I know you thought you were making money all by yourself, but without my grace and blessings, you have very little to show for all your efforts.
They were not being smart with their money, because they did not take God into account of how it was being spent. They were thinking only of what they wanted for themselves and not understanding what was costing them the most.
Let me ask you this, if John made 500 per week. How much would a tithe on John’s salary be each week. $50. If John gave $20 a week. How much money did John save for himself. $30? If God was dealing with John in the same way, God was dealing with his people in the Old Testament, how much money was he saving. Probably after a while, John was going in a hole financially and didn’t know it, because John was tying God’s hands in blessing him.
Think about it, why would God want to bless John with more, if John would not bless God with what God had already provided him with. Having more money, never makes us more generous. Generosity is a condition of the heart. If God treated John in the same way God treated His people in the Old Testament, John would be working overtime, to put money in pockets with holes in them. Each time it looked like John was about to get ahead, something else goes wrong and costs him his money. That $30 he thought he was saving, may be costing him $60 a week.
On the other hand if Sharon makes $600 a week. What is her tithe? $60. How much is she saving by tithing? We do not know. Because God says, when we do our part, He promises to pour out such a blessing on us there will not be room enough to store it. Not only that, Sharon has no way of knowing how often she is going to be blessed because God promises to prevent some things from happening before they even happen and God will extend the life of other things to keep you from needing a new one. We need to seriously ask, when I cut God out of my finances, how much is it really costing me. You think you are saving, but that little amount of money is costing you the most of all the money you have.
Being smart with your money, means thinking about the future. Don’t let an immediate reward, cause you to forget about the long term payment schedule involved. Being able to just make the down payment is not enough and also being able to afford something does not mean you should buy it. The first purchase we see being made in the bible was a financial disaster. It costs far more than what the couple thought it was going to cost.
How do we count the true cost involved with something that looks good or something that is going to instantly transform us? The worse financial decision made by Adam Eve was made because something looked good and was going to transform them. The fruit in the garden was within their grasp and it looked pleasing and it supposedly came with a lot of benefits. One test drive and they would be as smart as God. The price tag was not fully revealed until after the contract was signed. It cost them their home, their labor, friction in their marriage, pain in their family, and their retirement plan. It transformed them from saints to sinners. So many things that look good are far more expensive than what we think they are. Just because we can gain access to something, does not mean that we should.
Satan robs us of our money, by looking good. He comes as this fine looking brother or this foxy looking sister. Sometimes he just comes looking plain, but happened to show up at the right time in our moment of weakness. Why is it that we will pay $50,000 for an event lasting no more than 15 minutes? That’s on the low side depending on how much money we make. When God tells us how to use sex, God is not just interested in the morality of it, because God loves us, God is also trying to spare us financial and emotional ruin. We think because we don’t pay in advance for sex, that it is free. It is not.
If you are the man, you will be paying child support for an event long after it is over. You may not even want to see the person anymore. If you are the woman, you will be paying money for taking care of the child and trying to locate him to get him to pay child support. You will discover just how expensive day care is going to be.
Satan offers us a beautiful home, knowing that it will keep us from being together as a family. Everything that looks like a blessing is not necessarily from God. Satan goes about as roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. His traps will sometimes look like our dreams. We not only want a beautiful home, we want one that is going to impress the other members of our family and friends.
The only way we can afford it is to work two jobs. We have no time for church or bible study or for each other. God goes out of the picture. We are so tired that we become irritable with one another and, because God is not in our lives, we are not as quick to forgive and to bear with each other.
There is no money left for weekly dates or vacations so the romance starts dying a slow death. Neither person feels appreciated by the other. We have the beautiful home with the wonderful furniture that we are still paying on and we’re not speaking to each other except through as needed communication. All of sudden we are disappointed with this person and Satan is ready to send some wonderful, caring and understanding person our way. Once again we fall for the trick of what looks good and in comes more devastation. A smaller house in a less expensive neighborhood would have been a much better deal for you and your family. You would have had time and money to do the fun things together.
But as I said before, its not just that we are attracted to things themselves as much as it is the status that goes with those things. Greed may tell us that we need stuff that we do not need, but more often pride is what keeps the pursuit going. Let me show you what I have. For us as Christians we even get to spiritualize it by stating, “Look how the Lord has blessed me” to which we are eager to say amen.
Have you ever noticed how when you get a new vehicle and someone comes over to see it, you want to point out the extra features in your car. Somehow, if they do not know all that you have, you have been robbed. I’m not saying that you are trying to brag, but you do want them to know all of what you have purchased. I find this in me all the time. I want you to know what all my phone can do, but why? You see on some level its important for me to know that you know what I have.
I need deliverance to avoid having to impress you with what I have because its costing me more than I should be paying. Because if you are not sufficiently impressed, I’m going to go and buy something until you are impressed. I may even go into debt spending money that should be going to the kingdom, just to get your approval. Why does your opinion of what I have matter more to me than God’s opinion of what I have?
Let me ask you something. If Jesus were here today, and Jesus was going to buy a car, “What kind of a car do you think Jesus would go out and get?” How we answer that question will probably depend on whether or not we have a car and on what kind of car we are driving. The only thing I do know is that Jesus will not have his identity wrapped up in the car, and if the Father said, “give it away”, Jesus would do it in an instant. Could we do the same? Most of us would have to say no because we have too many payments left on the car or on the lease and it would be repossessed
Some things that we need to avoid have nothing to do with sin, but rather with risk. The bible lifts up the ant as a model for us to follow. The ant has no leader, yet in the summer it stores up food for the winter. The ant anticipates that hard times are going to come. When you buy something, not only does it have to fit into your budget, repairing it also has to fit into your budget because something is going to go wrong.
When you are broke, and you buy a car and get insurance, the temptation is to get the cheapest policy with the largest deductible on your car. People who can afford large deductibles are people with money saved in the bank who can cover it if the car is damaged or stolen. The only time you do not need coverage on your vehicle is if you can replace the vehicle yourself because you have the money to do so. You cannot count on the accident being the other person’s fault and that the other person is going to have insurance.
Keep in mind that if you have $15,000 worth of coverage and you destroy somebody’s Mercedes, you are going to be paying for their car for years. It is cheaper to pay the extra $25 a month for better coverage. Young people, if you have children, you need life insurance. The insurance is not for them simply to bury you in a nice grave, but to make sure that those children have what they need when you are gone. For less than half of your phone bill each month, you can have a $100,000 or more term life insurance policy. Those of you who are hanging at the club, or hanging in the streets, you ought to at least have an accidental policy which is even cheaper. You should not let an ant be smarter than you are. Expect things not to go your way in the future.
Few things will save you more money than having a good credit score. Don’t sign a two year phone agreement with your part time job that ends at the end of the summer? When you walk away from the contract, down goes your credit score? Why did you sign a contract on a car for 4 years when you are in the first month of your 3 months of your probationary period. Why do you concern yourself more with the amount of the monthly payment than you are the interest rate? It costs you more money to extend the payments over 5 years than it does 3 years, even though the monthly payments are lower. Keep in mind how much you are willing to pay simply to have something convenient not something that’s truly necessary.
If you are going to obey one natural money rule from the Bible it is to avoid being a co-signer on a loan. Tell them your religion won’t let you do it. Co-signing will ruin your good credit, unless you make the payment each month and the other person then pays you. Remember if the person gets sick, loses their job, or just do not want to pay anymore, you have to pay it no matter what. If you cannot afford to make the payment on your own, you cannot afford to co-sign. It may be cheaper for you to just give the person the down payment money they need, than to co-sign for the person.
Why do we need to be smart with our money. Why do we need to know what the cost of items really are? Well for one thing, God is watching us to see if we have allowed His love to penetrate our hearts. One of the scariest verses in the bible to me is in 1 John. When I read it, I’m not so sure of how well I am doing as a follower of Jesus Christ in knowing what is really costing me the most. It’s not that the verse is too hard to understand, on the contrary it is simple that none of us can miss it.
It reads in 1 John 3:16-18 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17 If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Are we willing to count the cost of following Jesus when it comes to how we spend our money. Jesus gave up everything he had in heaven, to come live, to be killed, to be buried and raised from the dead so that you and I can have life by being in a relationship with him. Have I traded that relationship for the material things of this world, to the point that I can close my heart to the needs of my sisters and brothers in order to keep things for myself. If I have, am I any different than Judas, who betrayed his master for thirty pieces of silver. Lord help us willing to avoid those things that would rob us of our love for you.
Being Smart With My Money—What Costs Me The Most Glenville
Glenville 10/14/ 2012 Haggai 1:2-11 Luke 14:25-35
We are in part 3 of our series, Being Smart With My Money. Pastor Kellie started us with What Do I Need, Pastor Toby preached last week on What To Avoid, Next Week Pastor Kellie will be back with What Should I Do, and today I will preach on What Cost Me The Most.
A. Which Car Cost You The Most
1. White 2001 model 50,000 $3500 Black 2002 Model 47,000 $3700
2. You Don’t Know—If Your Wife Wants The Other
3. Buying More Than A Car-Her Opinion, Her Desires
4. Prayer Can Change The Price Of The Cars
B. Jesus In The New Testament Reading Count The Cost
1. Building A House –Got Enough Money
2. Going To War—Got Enough Men
3. Following Jesus—Willing To Hang In There When It’s Tough
4. Can You Follow Jesus With Your Money
C. Reason For Doing This Series Being Smart With My Money
1. Use Your Money For Kingdom To Help You Grow
2. Keep You From Wasting Your Money
3. Keeping You With Real Peace Of Mind
D. Ever Put Some Money In A Pocket Or Purse With Holes
1. How Did You Feel When It Was Gone
2. God’s People In Captivity 70 years
3. God Blessed Them To Go Home
4. Nice Homes, Nice Jobs, Nice Camels, Horses
5. Temple Destroyed—It’s Not Time To Rebuild
6. Couldn’t Make Ends Meet, Crops Not Producing
7. Rain Not Falling, Economy Not Booming
8. God Says I Am The Reason Things Have Halted.
E. They Were Not Being Smart Because They Forgot God.
1. Didn’t Understand What Was Costing The Most.
2. John Earning $500 How Much Tithe
3. Gave $20, How Much Was He Saving
4. If God Dealt With John The Same Way, How Much Is He Missing.
5. Why Is John Tying God’s Hands To Bless Him
6. Faithful IN Little Faithful In Much—Generosity—Heart
F. Susan Earns $600 What’s Her Tithe
1. How Much Is She Saving By Tithing?
2. Pours Out Blessing, Keeps Things From Happening
3. Extends The Life Of Stuff & Throws In Extra
4. Being Smart Means Thinking About The Future
5. Just Making The Down Payment—Not Enough
6. Just Because You Can, Does Not Mean You Should
G. How Do Avoid because It Looks Good & Transforms
1. Adam & Eve Worse Financial Decision
2. Fruit In Reach Of The Budget
3. Cost Far higher Marriage, home, labor, family
4. Saints To Sinners
H. So many things that look good are far more expensive than what we think they are. Just because we can gain access to something, does not mean that we should.
1.Satan robs us with Good Looks
2. Looks or moment of weakness
3. Paying $50,000 for 15 minutes
4. True Cost Found Out Later
5. God’s Regulation Of Sex
6. Cost For Man Cost For Woman
F. Satan Offers Us A Beautiful Home To Destroy Us
1. Cost hours, irritability, vacation, unappreciated
2. New Opportunity With Someone Else
3. Real Cost Of A Divorce
G. Not Attracted To Goods As Much As The Status
1. Greed—more than you need
2. Pride –fuels the desire Christianize
3. Need To Show All The Features Of A Car
4. You Must Know For Me To Get The Full Value
5. I Need Deliverance From Trying To Impress You
6. What Kind Of Car Would Jesus Drive
a. Do You Have One, What Do You Have
b. Jesus Could Let It Go For Ministry
H. Some Thing We Need To Avoid Nothing To With Sin But With Risk
1. Learn From The Ant
2. Purchase Item In Budget With Repairs In Budget
3. Broke, Car Insurance, Deductible. Minimum
Coverage
1. Pay For The Extra Coverage
2. Get Some Life Insurance—Term Insurance
3. Get Some Accidental Insurance Club, Street
4. Your Credit Score Important
5. 2yr Phone Summer Job, 4 year Car note Month 1 Probationary Period, Interest Rate More Important Than Minimum Payment—Beware Of We Finance Anyone
6. Cost More To Stretch Out Payment
7. Remember The Wisdom Of Proverbs 6:1-5
8. Why Be Smart—Scariest Verse in 1 John
9. Challenges My Discipleship
It reads in 1 John 3:16-18 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17 If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Are we willing to count the cost of following Jesus when it comes to how we spend our money. Jesus gave up everything he had in heaven, to come live, to be killed, to be buried and raised from the dead so that you and I can have life by being in a relationship with him. Have I traded that relationship for the material things of this world, to the point that I can close my heart to the needs of my sisters and brothers in order to keep things for myself. If I have, am I any different than Judas, who betrayed his master for thirty pieces of silver. Lord help us willing to avoid those things that would rob us of our love for you.
