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Habakkuk is a prophet of God and his book is a record of his conversations with God about
the people's unfaithfulness to Him
God is clear in his response that if people would just live by faith in him and live right
life would be better for them
His words about faithful living when it comes to our finances is quite insightful
here he is a warning the people about going into debt which is our focus for its morning
as we talk about how to get out of debt let's look at Habakkuk's warning please open your Bibles
Pull out your message outlines and follow along as I begin reading from Habakkuk chapter
two verse six in the New American Standard version
woe to him who stores of what is not his
how long can it last?
he loads himself down with debts. Shall not your creditors rise suddenly? Shall they not make you tremble
Awake?
you'll become their spoil
now you get the reader's digest version of the message this morning so pull out your
outline
because we're going to roll right along
obviously debt is not a good thing in fact we see
in the new
three very large sums of debt that we are experiencing as a nation
one is our national debt
Two is credit card debt and then third this one might surprise you
unpaid student loan debt
has now become the third largest
pool of debt
in the United States
isn't it interesting something written
well at least three thousand if not four thousand years ago
is a very apt warning
about loading ourselves up with debt
it's not a good thing when we load ourselves up for with debt
how do you know that you have debt
and you know because
you got a pile on your dresser of bills you haven't paid
why might that be
one
reason for that
might simply be that you are living over your head and you know that because you're using
your credit card
instead of cash
you don't have cash
so how do you do what you want to do
do you do that through your credit card
but isn't it interesting that
Solomon has some interesting things to say about that don't withhold payment of your debt
don't say some other time if you can pay it now and I know one of the problems is you
can't pay it now
at least you don't think you can pay it now
and that's why you're putting it off
you're putting off
dealing with reality and you can do that because while if you don't have cash
you can use your credit card
you know you using your credit card too much
when you are making the minimum payment
and you're not paying the whole
thing off the whole monthly payment on it's one thing to use your credit card for convenience
it's another thing to use your credit card to postpone the inevitable
which is the you have a sum of money
To pay
Paul says
that we should not let debt remain outstanding we shouldn't have outstanding debt we should
have debt that we're diminishing now we all have debt
we all have debt
or most of most of us have debt
the issue isn't whether you have some debt or not it's whether you can
pay off the debt
that you have
can you can you pay it off
another sign that you know that you're drowning in debt that is you can't tithe to the church
and you can't say
we need to do a little saving all the time in life, don't we?
and I believe in living by the ten, ten, eighty principle
ten percent to the church
ten percent in savings
and then live on the eighty percent that you have left, isn't it interesting if we can learn
to live on the eighty percent
that we have
having ninety-year-old hundred-percent really doesn't help us
we have to learn to live are within our means and
how do you know you're not living within your means you can't tithe the church and you're
not saving any money
you're not living on the eighty percent that God does have something to say about that
And I talked about this a couple of weeks ago here it's Malachi three eight worry
says you cheat me of tithes and offerings due to me
well why did we end up cheating God or why do we end up not giving the tithes and the
offerings we ought to give up, we simply can afford to do it
because we're in too much debt
We're unable to pay our taxes and that some kind of a tough thing we've asked for an extension
to our taxes because we didn't save up the money to pay for our taxes because we've
had other bills
you know you're drowning in debt if he can't
pay your taxes that I can tell you that Jesus was right, give to Caesar what
belongs to Caesar give the God what belongs to God
Because trust me the IRS will get even with you
their penalties are very strong, you're smart to pay your taxes
because you'll end up paying quite a bit more when all is
said and done
another thing is spending extravagantly indulging in luxurious wine and food
will never make you wealthy unless you're a food and wine critic
that's the addition
the fact is that in our community extravagance well, there's a wide range of that, isn't it?
what one person does might not be considered extravagant given their income in their budget
but for someone else, it is
those in their thirties and forties have a great difficulty
living within their means because
their parents which would be my parents' generation
the richest generation in all of history
the greatest amount of discretionary income in all of history
Is in those retired right now
and we learned a lot of bad habits so to speak as we grew up
because of all that discretionary income, did we?
we had
a lot early
and now
twenty and thirty year olds
it particular thirty and forty year olds have
amassed a great yet because they tried to
live like they did when they were living with their parents
and now that they live on their own very income is not the income that their parents was
clearly they didn't make the kind of money that their parents made on their house
their investments did not make the kind of money
that their parents investments and their income
in terms of living expenses of the ratio was quite a bit different now than it used
to be
and so
we're very good at indulging ourselves we're not very good at reining ourselves in
but we need to do that if we're drowning in debt
and then finally
we keep hoping for
get rich quick
opportunities notice what Proverbs says
steady plotting brings prosperity
hasty speculation brings, what?
poverty
so if you take up all your money and you go by lottery tickets
or you gather up all your money and you say tonight's tonight I'm going to the casino
I'm going to get out of debt
you probably won't
ask anyone in the casino business and they'll tell you there's only one person
who's the winner in the casino
and that's the owner
everybody else is a loser
loser when it comes
when it when it comes to that
and you know if you want a play the lottery
you know let's see if you win two hundred and fifty million ten percent of that
okay we can live with that
when talking about money you are being awfully quiet this morning
these are the danger signs that you might be drowning in debt what do we do about that
number one we have to decide today that we're going to
get ourselves out of debt
David says in the Psalms the wicked borrow and do not repay
and we have to decide that we're going to
repay what we owe and then the other element is not
to add any more debt which I'll get to that in a minute
but we have to decide that we're going to repay what we owe
and it's okay if you owe as long as you can repay what you owe because we all
have debt
We all have some debt
for the most part
and the key is that if were drowning in debt
we have to decide that we're going to stop
number two
is we need to start paying God first and
I know some people disagree with this
listen to what Deuteronomy says the purpose of tithing
is to teach you always to put God first in your lives
and most of the time
when we're drowning in debt
that happens because we're really not putting God first in our life
We're putting experiences first in our life creature comforts first in our life keeping
up with the Jones's or the Smiths
or the Woodcocks
or the Kitchens
Boy, you're a tough group this morning you are tough
Those, if your guests, those are all the names of the founding families of Sequim
those were who all the roads Brown road
okay anyway
I'll try to keep up with them
it oftentimes trying to keep up with
someone else that has more means that us puts us in debt
and as I mentioned a few weeks ago when I talk about tithing
most of us when we are in financial trouble we're looking for God to do a money miracle in our
life
We're looking for God to throw open the store house
of his resources in our life
in one way or another
and how can he do that
if we're not obedient and something very small
giving ten percent of our income is very small
It is only ten percent
if you go to the store and they're only going to give you a ten percent discount you don't
look at that as very much, do you? You want what?
twenty five
Thirty, forty percent off if you're going to go buy something unless you really really
need it right?
we tip more than we tithe, don't we?
At least fifteen percent
I said the other week don't
Tithe to God, just tip Him
that'll be fine to just tip Him thank him for
you know, all the bounty that he's given you right?
but it's interesting that tithing
teaches us discipline
a discipline of keeping God first in our life
and the discipline of learning really how to live on
on really
what ought to be the other eighty to ninety percent of our income which creates a sense of contentment
the third thing we need to do is we need to figure out what we
owe
what we earn
and what we own
those three things become very important
and you make a budget
By wisdom a house is built
A wise houses is built on a budget
it's through understanding it is established
we need to be wise about our finances and simply what we need to do is say
okay this is what we owe
this is how much income I have
and then let's line up the things that we own because two things need to happen, one is we
may need to sell some of our toys, oh no
dont make me sell my toys
yeah
we might owns some things that we can
sell-off
that will enable us to pay what
we owe
so that might be an extra car that might be a boat that might be an RV
that might be appliances that might be power tools that might be jewelry that might be
perfume
that might be…
Have I offended everybody?
we have created a circle now with everybody in it
because we all have some extra things
and if we can't afford those extra things that one of things we need to do is sell them off
become a little leaner in our lives
And so you make a budget and this is where having a coach might be helpful to you
this is what you have come in and
this is what you owe
here's some things that you could identified to be sold off
and then you can create a repayment plan
and that repayment plan you needed just call your creditors and talk to them
about the fact that you created a repayment plan
get advice if you want your plans to work
if you need advise
to get your budget in order we've got books and resources that we can
check out to you
we have financial coaches that would be happy to meet with you and have met with
many people in our church
and help them figure out
how to get their size thirteen lifestyle into their size nine budget
a lot of times that
exactly what it takes
to take some advise and it takes some counsel
Now, the other thing we have to do
if we really want to get ourselves out of debt is not get ourselves into more debt
be content with what you have
and we all know we're not a content people
In general
We're not content with what we have
we always want what somebody else has
and contentment becomes
really the foundation
of living within your budget
then you take cash not credit you put it into the envelopes, right?
you know so much for this so much for that
and we begin to live within that budget and we realize that wow we can afford to get
Any more into debt
when the cash is gone the cash is gone
The envelop system keeps us for being extravagant
because there's only so much money in each of those envelopes so to speak
there's only so much money in each line of our budget
we have to decide that we're not going to get ourselves and any more dedt
and that usually means
that we need to be content with what we have
credit card companies want to sell you credit cards
because in general you buy ten to fifteen
percent more
when you buy with the credit card and you do with cash
even if you pay your bill off at the end of the month
you generally spend ten to fifteen percent more
just because you have a credit card yes some of you need plastic surgery
you need to just take that scissors to that credit card
and get rid of it
one last thing, stick to it
let us not get tired of doing what is right for after a while we will reap a harvest of
blessing
if you don't get discouraged and you don't give up
The key is we need to create the lifestyle of giving
ten percent to the church
ten percent for savings
and living on the other eighty percent
and some of us need some
wisdom and advise on how to do that
some of us are between a rock and a hard place I understand that
the economy has not been good
to a lot of people
and that's what one of the reasons I decided to talk about this issue
is because turning our back on it kind of putting our head and the sand and is not solving
the problem
I think as a country we have to stop doing that as well
in fact I mean I'm going to take the message of the sermon from the first service
and sending it to everybody who is a senator
or a representative or a congressman and tell them you know if you ran our country on the
same principles we'd be a lot better off than we are
we can't keep racking up debt
anywhere in our lives
why
because that puts our life out of balance
it's like building your household
God says on the sand
instead of on solid rock
and I understand that some are facing
difficult decisions about their finances
you've been in my office and you've talked with me and I understand that
some of you don't have a good choice and a bad choice any longer you just have two bad
choices
because we live in a fallen world
and sometimes we face only two bad choices and we have to take the lesser of
two evils
and if you're there you need some council in some help let us help you
because I believe that God blesses us when
we're not burdened down when we don't feel like we're drowning in debt
and it's so easy to do, let's pray
Lord, you are God that
wants to provide for each and every one of us
and
Lord
it is a challenge in a way that it's never been a challenge
at least not for a long time
and Lord instead of becoming desperate
instead of becoming more in debt, Lord
help us to have wisdom
help us Lord to know
how we might get from where we are to where you'd have us be
Lord you
desire to be faithful to us and oftentimes
your ability to be faithful to us
corresponds to our willingness to be faithful to you
Lord I pray that you would
provide every good thing for us
Lord that we would know that you're the God
Who has open your storehouse for us
that Lord we might live
According to our bank account that
shows that we've listened to you and listen to the wisdom of your word
so we pray these things in Your name, Amen
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