More On Money

Sorry. Jesus has literally knocked our family upside down in regards to this topic and through it flows a new fervor and energy in knowing more of Him than I did previously.

I know a lot of you roll your eyes or wince at the fact that I continue to talk about money on this blog (because we've been told it's suppose to be a private matter I guess), but I also know the many numerous emails/messages/conversations these posts have ignited in the past, with many of you sharing your stories and such.

So here goes another one.

I seriously have just been so rocked by this matter as I delve more in Scripture and realize I have had it totally wrong. Jason and I have been in the process of realizing this over the past 4 years, but here recently again, we were taken to an even deeper level.

We have now encountered 4 different pastoral teachings (over the past 4 years) on this subject matter (all many part series), and after much prayer, practice, and pouring over Scripture, I just can't deny the absolute radical state of what Jesus desires from our finances while here on earth. And believe me - I've tried to deny it; I've tried to say "we live in different times though", I've tried to pass over such teachings in a defensive mode of not wanting to feel guilty, but yall - Jesus' teachings on this matter are just simply black and white! And it's one of the things He actually directly talks about over and over.

I'm not going to get into everything in detail on here - it will mean much more for you to seek it on your own, but some awesome points drawn form things I've learned lately were as such:

***Comparatively speaking, in America, we are blessed with money...everyone of us. And the purpose of Jesus blessing us with money is so that we can take what we need and give the rest away. The Kingdom can't advance unless we use the resources we are given to do so. One pastor I listened to in a sermon posed this question that pierced me:
***"When did we ever get off thinking that just because we make a 70K/year salary, that we must live a 70K/year salary???"
***What if we decided what we needed, lived on that, and gave the rest away...no matter how our salaries increased over time?
***God demands that if we give, we give JOYFULLY. This is he area where I personally have literally been transformed.
***MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE so that it can be sued to further the Kingdom of God. My pastor in California used to tell us to be shrewd about making money - to try and make tons of it, but only live on a very small portion of it.

Francis Chan, in a video I saw the other day, paints a similar analogy using a rope as an illustration. This video rocked my world in light of the other things God's been teaching/convicting me of. Watch it if you have a few minutes:

So here's little ole me the other day, totally inspired/convicted, and I came home and just started getting rid of everything I could through our house that I thought others could benefit from that were excess for me. I had 4 trashbags full by the time it was over, and loaded them in my car.
********DISCLAIMER: not a story to brag, but the complete opposite, to show your how I have a long ways to go!******************
Anyway, I seriously felt like I cleaned out so much stuff in my kitchen, my closets, the kids closets, countertops, garage, etc.
But then, after it was all loaded, I was chatting with my friend Bethany about all these things we've had our eyes opened to, and I realized my house didn't look any different than it did before I went through it.
Then it hit me - I got rid of things I don't want or use anymore. I wasn't, in the truest sense that I set out to, letting go of my treasures that are only fleeting - I was doing spring cleaning two months early.
Yes, I know there is benefit in what I did, but I still don't know what it feels like to completely live by what I need. I don't think I've figured out what that boundary is (though it's become a new family prayer).

But yall, here's encouragement. 4 years ago we had debt up to our ears. We overspent, had stupid budgets and were INSANELY convicted over it before we moved from Siloam. And today, I got out our old budget sheets from 4 years ago and compared to the ones we have today, and after INSANE downsizing efforts over the course of those years, changed hearts, and this newfound fervor to make more to give more, we're a living testimony that IT CAN BE DONE through the grace and power of God, and spurn sheer JOY.
When comparing the way we lived our lives 4 years ago to today, we are making around $30,00 MORE/month, but spending $1200ish LESS/month. And we are in the process of trying to figure out how to increase that deficit even more.

So anyway, God has exposed some radical truths to our hearts lately, and I feel inadequate to try and share some of them because I still feel it's a constant struggle for me and a totally new road that is definitely counter cultural.
I may have gone too far discussing this in it's personal form - I'm honestly not sure - but it's something that just spills out of me lately and I can't get enough of trying to struggle through this journey. What a privilege us as Americans have to be so good at making money and allowing God to use that through us. What a privilege!