Disciplined Finances

Disciplined financial living leads to peace in your life.

That's the truth, whether you believe it or not, whether you want to do it or not, whether you even care to have peace in your life. Financial chaos brings some of the worst discomfort, frustration, fear, and anxiety into your life you will ever experience.
I know, I've lived it.

So here is the question I pose to you to ponder today...

Are you willing to be disciplined in the area of your

finances and spending in order to have peace in your life, for you and for your family?

Now consider:

Hebrews 12:11

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

You see PEACE is a fruit of the Spirit. It is one of the ways that others, the lost, see the image of Christ in our lives. Can other's see peace in your life that glorifies Christ, or do they see distress, anguish, financial dishonesty when it benefits you, or just plain financial fear?

I remember vividly the fear I felt as the year 2000 approached. Dozens of people got rich as they created fear in the masses about "Y2K". Perhaps you remember where you were and how you felt. For months I worried about not having the money to stockpile food, food I was being convinced (by Christians pedaling fear) I was going to need. I didn't have the money to put away cash that we "might need" because the World's computers were all going to crash leaving the financial institutions paralyzed. All I could do was wash out milk jugs and store up water.

We were not financially strapped, we were financially wound up tighter than a spring. I had been home 3 years with Anna, we had 2 older vehicles which were constantly in need of repair and we had racked up a good deal of credit card debt repairing them. We'd sold our former residence, a mobile home with a little property we had gotten at a good price from family. We were building our current home, using the money from our sale, and a small inheritance amount, to fund it. My Christian friends were just as worried as the lost. We were doing everything we could to work our way out of debt while still having me at home full-time with our daughter. It was not a time of peace for us, but Todd was working day and night (literally) doing all he could to dig us out, and I was at home doing my part - saving money, scrimping, and doing all I knew to do financially.

Finally, as the "Y2K Crisis" was at it's height, I just couldn't stand the pressure anymore, and finally I did what I should have done all along. I quit listening to everyone else, and began to pray and read the Word.

The Lord led me to this verse:

"I have been young and now I am old,yet I have not seen the

righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

Psalm 37:25

Perhaps that is encouragement for you today. That's the great thing about the Word. What meant so much to me that day in 1999, can also mean so much to you today in 2010.

Be sure to check out the quote in Interesting Facts and Quotes (up top and on the left). Today's quote really says ALOT in very few words!!!

Abiding in His Sovereign Grace for every day,
Lori