Category Archives: Money

June 18, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

The wisest financial decision you will ever make is to serve God and give him 10%, called a tithe, of your income, right off the top. If you are determined to live on the income you now have, and live debt-free, God will multiply the funds you have. He doesn’t multiply it into more funds, as much as he makes it stretch to meet the needs. The secret is in being generous, even when you are struggling.

2 Corinthians 8:2, “For in  the midst of an ordeal of severe tribulation, their abundance of joy and their depth of poverty [together] have overflowed in wealth of lavish generosity on their part.”

I received my last paycheck in 2007, and although I have ads on my frugalfish.org blog, I have not generated any income on it or this website.

I am determined to live within our means, even though my husband’s income has also been reduced four times. We set aside a small percentage of our income to help others and are consistently looking for items we no longer need to give to Good Will.

God has honored our giving beyond my wildest dreams. We have paid off our medical expenses, credit cards, van, truck and house during these last five years.

When you serve God, you get abundance and over flowing generosity.

May 29, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

We had severe thunderstorms last night and the electricity went off shutting off my computer. It will not turn back on.

I thought I had a virus and went to pctuneup.org to fix it. That was a mistake.

After downloading two programs and spending a ton of money to “fix” the virus, my computer will no longer turn on correctly. It turns on to the sleep mode and will not wake up. Even though I have instructed the computer to never go into sleep mode.

If I turn it on and shut if off several times, eventually it came back on. Our solution was to never shut it off. That is until the thunderstorm did it for us.

I borrowed my son’s laptop to post this, but I am locked out of my financial programs and photos to write frugalfish.org posts. Everything has come to a screeching halt.

As I weighed my options, I decided not to try to fix it myself. God is going to have to open a door to someone knowledgeable to fix it. Three weeks ago, I wrote this as a prayer request and submitted the card to the prayer team at church. We are all waiting on an answer.

The thing is, if an expert looks at it, they will know how to fix it the first time.

The Holy Spirit is an expert. When he revealed the Gospel to Paul, the doctrine matched the Gospel Jesus revealed to the apostles.

Galatians 1:12, “For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ.”

“Thus Paul is an independent witness to the Gospel. Though he had received no instruction from the apostles, but from the Holy Spirit, yet when he met them his Gospel exactly agreed with theirs.” Critical and Explanatory Commentary, Vol. II

Dear Jesus, Please provide an expert for my computer. I need one my husband will approve of and one we can afford. Amen.

May 21, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Pastor started a new sermon series entitled “Strapped.”

Sunday he gave us the “Six Principles of Increase“:

  1. Work
  2. Diligence
  3. Wisdom
  4. Waiting
  5. Mentorship
  6. Integrity

As I examined my life, it was the last one I felt I could improve on the most. I must remember I work for God and the Holy Spirit is my manager. God takes giving my Manager the proper respect very seriously.

Acts 5:3, “But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart that you should lie to and attempt to deceive the Holy Spirit, and should [in violation of your promise] withdraw secretly and appropriate to your own use part of the price from the sale of the land?”

  • If I spend a few hours playing Spider Solitaire when I should be writing a frugalfish.org post…I am lying to the Holy Spirit.
  • If I do not correct a financial error that is in my favor… I am lying to the Holy Spirit.
  • If I spend two hours on Facebook and call it my “Lunch Hour”…I am lying to the Holy Spirit.

The wonderful thing about God’s grace is all I have to do is repent, and when possible, correct my errors.

Then it is forgiven, forgotten, forever!

April 23, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever heard someone say, “If I could win the lottery, my troubles would be over and I would be happy.”

They wouldn’t. The more money we make; the more things we desire.

1 Kings 21:2, “Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will give you its worth in money.”

Ahab was king. He never worked in the garden. He had servants to do everything for him. We read in chapter 20 that he had gold and silver.

He was rich, powerful and had people to take care of whatever he desired. Yet, he wanted more. He wanted a vineyard that was next to his house.

More money is never the answer. If you cannot discipline yourself to live on the salary you have now; you will not discipline yourself when the salary is doubled.

April 4, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

“The purpose of this book is to investigate life as a whole and to teach that in the final analysis life is meaningless without proper respect and reverence for God. The author writes from the perspective of a philosophical observer. With intense interest, and even participation, he examines the ventures in the temporary successes and failures of man…Wisdom, education, knowledge, pleasure, happiness, power, influence, religion – all these and more are considered.” Amplified Bible Notes

Our county is grieving the deaths of a 4 and 5-year-old due to a horrific auto accident. We struggle to understand why God allowed it to happen.

One thing I do know is that Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. His objective was to kill the mother and the 1-year-old baby; but they were spared, although severely injured.

We know it was their time and Psalms 139:16 tells us the date of their deaths was written before they were conceived.  But we still struggle with losing them.

There are other losses in life that can cause us to question God: divorce, serious illness, our jobs, etc. Loss is a part of life as we see in today’s verse.

Ecclesiastes 3:6, “A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away.”

“When God wills losses (financial) to us, then is our time to be content…The event of man’s labours depends wholly on God’s immutable purpose. Man’s part, therefore, is to do and enjoy every earthly thing in its proper season…” Critical and Explanatory Commentary, Vol. I

We need to appreciate our mates, health and jobs; but most of all we need to hug our loved ones daily because none of us are promised tomorrow.

 

Marc h 26, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Thirty pieces of silver was the price the chief priests paid in exchange for Jesus’ life.

Matthew 26:15, “And said, What are you willing to give Me if I hand Him over to you? And they weighed out for and paid to him thirty pieces of silver [about twenty-one dollars and sixty cents].”

“The thirty pieces of silver were thirty shekels, the fine paid for man or maidservant accidentally killed (Exodus 21:32)…a goodly price that I was prized at of them. (Zechariah 11:13).” Critical and Explanatory Commentary, Vol. II

They didn’t even offer the price needed to purchase a slave; just the fine they would have to pay if they accidentally killed their slave. Jesus’ death was no accident; He lay down His life.

March 22, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

King Solomon was known for his wisdom. He loved “hard questions” (problems and riddles).

“The gold, however, as others think, may have been the amount of forfeits paid to Solomon by Hiram for not being able to answer the riddles and apothegms, with which, according to Josephus, in their private correspondence, the two sovereigns amused themselves.” Critical and Explanatory Commentary, Vol. I (See 1 Kings 9:14.)

The queen of Sheba traveled to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, (problems and riddles), (See 1 Kings 10:1).

Yes, he was wise, but not too smart, as we see in today’s verse.

1 Kings 9:19, “And all the store cities which Solomon had and cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.”

“Once on the throne Solomon became a thoroughgoing despot. All political power was taken out of the hands of the tribal sheiks…and placed in the hands of officers who were simply puppets of Solomon. The resources of the nation were expended not on works of public utility but on the personal aggrandizement of the monarch. In the means he took to gratify his passions he showed himself to be little better than a savage (James Orr et al., ed., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). The division of the nation at Solomon’s death with all the weakness and misery that it caused [idolatry, ignoring God, captivity, exile, the loss of the ten tribes] through the coming centuries was the direct outgrowth of Solomon’s unholy self-indulgence (Amos R. Wells, Bible Miniatures). Because of his extensive building program and his extravagant expenditures in the maintenance of his luxurious court, he resorted to forced labor and heavy taxation. Bitter opposition to his rule thus engendered the divisions of the united kingdom after his death (The New Jewish Encyclopedia).” Amplified Bible Notes.

No matter how wise you are, it is not smart to indulge in “whatever your little old heart desires.”  It is not smart to seek pleasure wherever you go. It is not smart to use your resources on aggrandizement.

Aggrandize- 1. To widen in scope; increase in size, or intensity; enlarge; extend. 2. To make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor. (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language)