Philippians 3: 13 – 14 – ‘No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us.’

It’s important for each of us individually to run our own race. Although our end goals may be the same – to use our finances to benefit others, reach people for Christ and to feel comfortable about what we’ve left for future generations, we each have to do our part.

Don’t be intimidated by your capabilities (or perceived lack thereof) and choose to do nothing. Less than perfect is always better than the best intention.

There is no point in leaving saving and financial learning to a time that ‘suits you’. There is no better time to start saving than now. Now is the best time to ask God to guide you with regards to being a good steward of your finances. Today is the perfect day to start learning more about how to earn, save and invest.

Make the effort to daily or at least weekly do something that will improve your financial situation and your knowledge. As you grow and learn, you will make better decisions and see better rewards.

Also, don’t be averse to risk. Sure, don’t take risks that could result in the loss of your house or finances to support yourself and your family. But do learn to take risks that could result in a higher rate of return on some of your finances. Even if it is choosing to put a set amount into a term deposit, rather than leave all of your savings accessible in a savings account on a smaller interest rate. At the end of the term, you can have your money back and you will have acquired more interest. The money just won’t be available to you to use over a set timeframe, e.g. 90 days. This could be a risk you’re willing to take to see the reward of a higher rate of return. Do your research.

It is my prayer for you:

• That you will recognise the importance of running your own race, no one else’s!
• That you will focus on the prize that is ahead, not competitors on either side of you.
• That you will recognise forward movement in your financial journey and run with it!

Today’s prayer:
Lord I thank you that you have given me a unique financial situation, goals and desires. Help me to grow my skills, grow my finances and above all, grow my relationship with you.

Actionable ideas:
Consider splitting your budget into the areas of tithes/offerings, living expenses and saving.

*these posts are from Wealthy Christians, a 30 day devotional.  You can download it free on Smashwords.
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Proverbs 12:11 – ‘Hard work means prosperity; only fools idle away their time.’
‘The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.’ – Will Dodges

You may feel that you’ve contributed a lot in this life. Maybe even financially you’re comfortable and have found that you’re easily saving and giving.

That’s great! It doesn’t however mean that you should stop. As long as there are still people in need, still people lacking, you should feel obligated as a Wealthy Christian to make a positive impact in whatever way you can, for as long as you can.

Likewise, you can work hard to be even more prosperous in this lifetime. Does that seem greedy to you? Well let me ask you something: if you could give even more because of your earnings and leave more for your children and grandchildren, would you?

Working hard for more is not about being greedy – we can be content with what we have now. But it doesn’t mean that we then decide to coast through life, choosing to be inactive in our contentment. Instead, it should give us the impetus to do even more, bless even more and generate even more wealth. Don’t park. It may be that your success in life is the stepping stone God has in mind to help you to bless so many others if you just keep pushing forward.

Create a little exercise for yourself. You can choose to base it on the 30 days in this study or the past 12 months. Identify first the wealth goals that you have created and achieved. Now determine: where do you want to be in 12 months time? Use these goals to encourage you to just keep on. Setting goals and working toward them will help to hold you accountable so that you can be proactive in further improving your financial situation. When you do this, you can bless so many more!

It is my prayer for you:

• That you will recognise that consistently improving your financial situation is possible with hard work.
• That you will not be tempted to sit in complacency when you reach a particular financial goal.
• That you will be excited by achieving goals and use this to drive you to achieve more.

Today’s prayer:
Lord I thank you that you identify the importance of hard work to be prosperous. Help me to find the right balance of work and rest so that I can achieve my financial goals.

Actionable ideas:
Consider only borrowing money to purchase assets that will generate income for you,
not for products that will decrease in value over time.

*these posts are from Wealthy Christians, a 30 day devotional.  You can download it free on Smashwords.
Want to be kept in the loop about Wealthy Christians updates? Sign up to the Wealth in the Bible mailing list.

Exodus 23:5 – ‘If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it.’

Do you make it a goal to help and bless others each day? We’ve been put on this earth to portray God’s hands and feet. We’re supposed to do all that we can with our lives to show God’s love. We’re supposed to be wise with our time, our energy and our finances.

Our motive to help others should be to show love to them. This encompasses all people – even those we may struggle to like. As an added bonus, there are times when it can benefit us, too.

An example? I love to read horse books. Often I get given them for free in exchange for a review. It’s a great way to grow my collection! Anytime I spot a spelling mistake or other grammatical error, I have a habit of making note. Upon completion of the book, I email the author the list of any errors I’ve found. They are then in a position to correct them and improve their book further for future readers.

One such time I did this and was surprised to get a reply email from the author. They indicated that although they had employed an editor, the job wasn’t getting done sufficiently. Further to this, would I be willing to read their future books and be paid to find errors? Would I?!

When you benefit others, you do it for them and to show God’s love. But at times you offer a skill that they need for future things. In this way, utilising skills that God has blessed you with can result in employment or other forms of blessings. Help others daily without expectation of reciprocation. But when God chooses to bless you for it, be thankful!

• That you will delight in helping others whenever you can.
• That you will recognise that even a smile or an encouraging word via text or a phone call to say ‘hi’ can be a great blessing to another person.
• That you will see everyone worthy of your help and love.

Today’s prayer:
Lord I thank you that you have entrusted me to be your hands and feet on this earth. Help me to embrace opportunities to help and love others daily.

Actionable ideas:
Research residual income options; there are many avenues where you can put in the
work once, but gain the rewards many times over.

*these posts are from Wealthy Christians, a 30 day devotional.  You can download it free on Smashwords.
Want to be kept in the loop about Wealthy Christians updates? Sign up to the Wealth in the Bible mailing list.

Matthew 6:34 – ‘So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’
‘The only adequate preparation for tomorrow is the wise use of today.’ – Bob Gass, the Word for Today

You can only live one day at a time – today. As you go about your day, ask yourself:

• What can I do to improve my savings today?
• What can I do to cut down on spending today?
• What can I do to invest in eternity today?

It is important to plan for our future; to plan for tomorrow. However, today is the only day we will ever have to do something. With that in mind; it is important not to procrastinate our future planning.

Don’t get caught in a trap of saying ‘tomorrow I’ll start saving’ or ‘I’ll just splurge this one last time, I can be sensible tomorrow.’ Tomorrow never comes. All we will ever have is this present day and memories of what we did – or didn’t do – the day before.

As long as you start each day with a map – that is, what you want to achieve (your location) and how you’re going to do it (your directions) then you will be prepared. Yes, life will throw unexpected distractions at you or surprising dead end roads, but you can always turn around and go another way.

Focus on continually building your wealth as a Christian; this can simply be done by saving a small amount daily or weekly. Pay special attention to your time with God and learning his word. Make every effort to give to others when you see a need and you can provide. And through all of this, if you have children under your care, let them see what you are prioritising and how you are achieving your financial goals. This can be the best way for them to learn – by observing what you’re doing and the results that these actions are generating.

• That you will recognise the importance of living in the moment, of acting today.
• That you will be able to find one new thing daily that you can do to grow your relationship with God, grow your finances and reach out to others in love.
• That you will let go of any past failures and not condemn yourself, but instead learn from them and move forward.

Today’s prayer:
Lord I thank you that you have given me today. Help me to use it to the best of my capabilities. Help me to truly recognise that the present day you have given me is indeed a gift.

Actionable ideas:
For big purchases, research pricing in advance of acquiring something. You can save yourself a lot of money if you take the time to look around.

*these posts are from Wealthy Christians, a 30 day devotional.  You can download it free on Smashwords.
Want to be kept in the loop about Wealthy Christians updates? Sign up to the Wealth in the Bible mailing list.