The Good Steward
Nick Simonic, CPA, MACC
Nick Simonic is a CPA who specializes in Non-Profit, 501C3 Corporations as well as serving on the board of Wilbur Ministries. Ever since moving to
Jacksonville nearly ten years ago, Nick and his staff have watched over our
financial accountability and ministry affairs. His wisdom with regards to
financial matters as well as his passion for the Lord have made him a highly
sought after counselor in the Kingdom. You will not only gain understanding
with the words he offers each week, but I believe you will find wise counsel
and wisdom imparted here as well. I truly pray you are blessed and edified
by this special offering from us to you!
Paul Wilbur
Living Debt Free By The Word
By Nicholas T. Simonic, CPA, MACC
Part Four
I ended last week with the tithe. It is important to understand sowing and reaping, in order to truly understand Biblical Wealth. Galations 6:7 says “…whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” So, you cannot sow tomatoe seeds and reap corn. By the same token, you cannot sow debt and reap abundance. You have to sow finances into the Kingdom to reap a harvest. Of course, at this point it bears repeating that you do not give to get. You have to give with pure motives. Nevertheless, it is important for you to know the spiritual principles that are in effect in your financial life.
The offering is a free will addition to the tithe whereby we give an offering out of our love and relationship with God. The tithe is just returning what belongs to God. The offering is giving extra to the work of the Lord in part, because of his provision to us.
It is important that we discuss where to sow at this juncture. You recall the Parable of the Sower in the Word. You are responsible to God to be sure to sow your offerings in good ground. Now the Tithe belongs in the storehouse (your local church). Part of the reason for the offering is so that it can be used to go into all the world (where you cannot go) to preach the good news, TO THE JEW FIRST! Enough said.
The alm. Proverbs 19:17 says that if you help the poor you are lending to the Lord. Besides that, the Bible says that pure religion is helping the widows the poor and the orphans. I am sure all you have to do is look around you to find someone who is less fortunate than you are. It is important for you to do what you can to meet those needs.
The other seed that we plant in our lives is our peach orchard. When a peach orchard is planted it takes approximately five to seven years before it begins to bear a lot of fruit. However, once it starts to bear fruit, it continues to do so as long as you don’t chop down the trees. That is the same with our investments. The Bible admonishes us to invest for the Master. All you have to do to convince yourself of this is to read the Parable of the Talents. God wants us to have an investment that gets a return that is used for the furtherance of His Kingdom and to His glory. How can you do that when you are overloaded with debt? You cannot!
The next obligation in order of priority in our finances is to our families. Many people, unknowingly, do not fulfill their financial obligation to their families. You can spend your whole life caring for your spouse and “bringing home the bacon”. However, if you don’t complete the job, then 1Timothy 5:8 says that you have denied the faith and you are worse than an infidel. The other day a client came in whose husband had died. She is in her early 70’s and is totally lost about her financial condition. He took care of all of the bills. He took care of making sure they were paid, he took care of all of the finances. However, he did not take enough care to properly plan for her should he be called home to be with the Lord. He did not leave a will; he did not leave life insurance; he did not leave investments; and he did not leave a plan for her. What he did leave was debt! I trust that this is a wakeup call to those of you who have not planned for the future for your family.
The Bible also admonishes us to care for others. There are scriptural references for these areas of caring. However, I am going to let you do the homework on that. We have to care for others that we have business relationships with. We have to care for neighbors. We have to care for people who are our relatives in the Body of Christ.
You are truly in a war in your finances. The war is really spiritual! Next week we will discuss how to win the war on debt.
“Beloved, I pray above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers” (3 John 2)
Blessings,
Nick
The Good Steward Archive
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 1
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 2
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 3
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 4
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 5
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 6
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 7
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 8
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 9
Living Debt Free By The Word: Part 10
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