Just another update...
So I feel like the Lord has been teaching me lately about managing Kingdom finance.
Here is a word of wisdom that was in my inbox a couple days ago. It's from elijahlist.com's Rick Joyner:
"We need to take a bit of time to discuss the money that we are going to be entrusted with and how to manage it. This is important now because the Lord Himself said that if we do not know how to manage unrighteous mammon, He will not be able to entrust us with the true riches (see Luke 16:11). Let's get the money management down right, but always keep in mind that it is our least valuable resource.
One moment of God's favor--the smallest touch of His grace and anointing of the Holy Spirit is worth much more than any earthly treasure. Let us keep that in our minds and hearts. Those who do not keep that in mind will be in jeopardy of being destroyed by the weight of the money and other resources that are about to be entrusted to them.
If you have read the studies of those who have won the lottery, there does not yet seem to be many happy endings for anyone who suddenly received great riches. Just the onslaught of demanding relatives and friends who want a gift or loan can be crushing. Many who received millions were broke in just two years, and even worse, have lost their jobs as well as most of their friends. In fact, winning the lottery seems to be a terrible curse that has wrecked many lives. The same has happened to many athletes and entertainers who come into quick riches if they are not prepared for it.
As a large and growing ministry, we are under almost continual requests, and sometimes demands, from other ministries for financial help. If we do not help them, some quickly turn from being friends to being opponents and even slanderers. We have a continual swarm of disgruntled people around us whose expectations we did not meet. I was told that this would be continual if we obeyed the Lord! In fact, I was told that the more perfect our obedience, the more that people would become angry. Therefore, I have learned to live with it, determining to seek God's approval rather than man's.
Our Obedience is to God
"The way of obedience is hard at times, but not nearly as hard as any other path."
As Paul the Apostle stated it in Galatians 1:10, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." To the degree that we seek the approval of men, we will compromise our obedience to Christ. We must learn to love people, but not obey them or cave into their pressure and manipulation if we are going to be trusted with great resources.
Think about the Lord Himself. Jesus never responded to human need, but He only did what He saw the Father doing. How many sick and afflicted people do you think He stepped over or walked by to get to the one He healed at the pool of Bethesda? He could have healed them all, but He didn't. He only healed the one that the Father had shown Him to heal. If we are going to be trusted with that kind of authority, we, too, are going to have to have that kind of obedience.
I know many people who want to be trusted with great resources so they can bless many people. This will happen in due time, but while God is testing their obedience, they do not realize how many people they are going to make very angry. If we are seeking the approval of man, and want great resources so that we can be a blessing and be loved, we are going to be in for a terrible shock.
Last year I was told by a friend that looked up my name on the internet, that there were about 50,000 references to me, and most of them were bad! This did not surprise me. In fact, it encouraged me. I was shown many years ago that this would be the result of my obedience.
Now I have been used to bless some other ministries, and I think quite a few people. However, almost none of these will ever write anything positive about me or probably even think about it. This does not bother me because I expected it. Think about this: Jesus healed ten and only one of them even thanked Him! I am not looking for gratitude or appreciation from people, but from the Lord. I am motivated by one thing--I want to hear my Master say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).
I am not claiming to be doing this perfectly, as I have also been chastised by the Lord for being too insensitive. I sometimes feel bad for days when I have to reject a request. The worst part of all is when I have to do this with my own children, because I don't consider anything that I have as my own, but I am only a steward of it. It hurts very badly at times, but I was told that if I did not learn to use the word "no," I would be crushed under the weight of what I was to be entrusted with and would suffer burnout quickly because I would be taking the people's yokes instead of the Lord's yoke.
The way of obedience is hard at times, but not nearly as hard as any other path. We must keep in mind that this whole age is about training for reigning. Tribulations and blessings are both tests! If we are growing in the Lord, we will be getting both a thicker skin and a softer heart--at the same time.
There is only one way to navigate so as to stay on the path of life--grow in fellowship and obedience to the Lord. Find your pleasure in Him, and do not expect too much from people, even those you may help in a major way. Guard your heart especially against any kind of resentment.
God's approval and acceptance has to be enough for us if we are going to be His servants."
.......
That night, the Lord led me to read about Solomon's riches. He was, literally, the wealthiest man in the world. He had 700 wives and 300 other women who bore him children. He had riches beyond imagination, and it seemed to have no end.
But in the end, he had completely turned away from God. He had built temples to all of his wives's gods, and he no longer obeyed the commands of the Lord.
........
And so I guess I'm glad that the Lord is teaching me about this stuff now.
Because I did wonder about all that. What would happen to us when we do get the check? Will we be obedient enough to obey the Lord with it?
I guess it would be kind of stupid not to, considering that He is the One who is giving it to us.
Anyways... that's what I'm praying about the most right now... that the Lord will prepare our hearts and our minds for the overflow... that we would use it 100% for His glory and 100% for what He wants to use it for... and that we wouldn't be swept away by greed... on our part or on the parts of our friends and families.
So that's it for today, I suppose... at least on the spiritual front.
......
In other news...
I finally bought the tile for our floors. We decided to go with vinyl tile instead of ceramic tile. It's cheaper, easier to put down, and very nice looking.
So I'm hoping to get started with that this weekend... in addition to finishing the painting on my bedroom. The bathroom painting will have to wait, I suppose. I think I have enough on my plate for now.
I'm feeling more pressure these days to get all this stuff done.
You know I'm supposed to have it all done by June, right?
But (and I can't remember if I've written about this before) we will not even be in the state for most of the last part of May.
During the first part of May, B will be in finals; so I really don't want to house in upheaval during those days.
So, basically, that actually gives me to the end of April to get everything done. Aaaaaack!
That's a little over two months! Ten weekends! Twenty days (if I only work on weekends!) And, for sure, TWO of those weekends are taken up by something else! *aaaack*
So I don't have much time to get everything done.
But... oddly enough... I don't feel the least bit overwhelmed.
I'm doing a little bit every day on the organization front, and I am seeing progress.
My bedroom is completely transformed... and completely organized. My hall closet is within a 20-minute "straighten up" to have it all finished.
I am paying a friend to come over and do my laundry all day Monday. (Yes, it's worth paying somebody. and Yes, it will take all day... we're talking 10-12 loads, probably.)
So by Tuesday, all my laundry should be caught up.
So... as I said before... I am seeing progress.
"Progress not Perfection!" as FlyLady says (www.flylady.net).
So this weekend, my goal is to get my bedroom completely finished (all I have left is painting the headboard and a couple small pieces of furniture). And getting my kitchen and bathrooms tiled. That may be a tall order, but I have all of the youth group girls coming over next weekend for Disciple Now. (I think there are 13 total, so far.) And I would really like those three things to be done before then (in addition to the laundry that's getting done).
Needless to say, I do have a busy weekend ahead. But all of my friends are out of town on a ski trip, and I have nothing else to do. So... hopefully it will all be done.
........
Okay, I'm done rambling about my house.
I'm getting very excited about what the Lord is doing.
I can't remember if I wrote about this before... but a couple weeks ago, He showed me a picture of a set of dominos that were being lined up... like you do when you want them all to fall. And it was like He was saying, "This is what I am doing. I am lining up the dominos; so when the first one falls, it will set off a chain reaction of events in your life."
And I feel like... though this is not a "thus sayeth the Lord" that first domino will fall in June.
But we'll see, I guess.
Exciting stuff! I don't know how I am able to sleep at night, except by the grace of God!
I love you, Lord!