Establishing Your Financial Foundation, Pt. 2

Good Day,

Please see Pt. 1 of the Establishing Your Financial Foundation series if you have not already done so.

We left off with a question, who is God? In our day to day life, the world will try to paint pictures for who God is. It will try to confuse us and distort the words of God – but you and I are narrow-path walkers (or maybe you’re working on becoming a narrow-path walker and for this, I’m so glad you’re here!), so we’re not going to let the world define Him for us.

God is the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in them. He is all knowing, all powerful, and all present. He exists as one Being in three persons simultaneously – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and in no way, shape, form, or fashion is this modalistic. There is only 1 God and His three distinct persons are all fully God.

To help you understand this in the most human level comprehension that I can think of, a being is that which makes you what you are; and a person is that which makes you who you are. You and I are both human being’s, but my name, date of birth, and genetics are specifically mine and you don’t get to share them with me. There is only 1 of me as there is only 1 of you – but our being is the same. And as for God, His being is God yet His persons are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; which is why we say God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

God tells us multiple times about Himself throughout Scripture. A few of these times are that:

• He is Love – not just loving, but Love itself. 1 John 4:8
• He blesses abundantly – He does not operate in lack. 2 Corinthians 9:8
• He is the Provider – He has never failed to care for what is His. Philippians 4:19
• He is the Protector – His covering is the safest place in the universe. Psalm 18:2 & Zephaniah 3:5
• He is Holy – completely separate from sin and imperfection. Hebrews 7:26
• He keeps His covenants – what He promises, He delivers. Deuteronomy 7:9

And knowing this is vital, because it lays the ground floor for how we can understand what pleases Him.

So what pleases God? Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37-40:

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’.” — Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV)

So what Jesus is telling us here is that anything we can think of or have a reason for doing, the purpose of it – should it be good – can be traced back to these 2 commandments.

Ask yourself, why do you take such good care of your car? If you don’t have a car, think of anything you take good care of. Shoes, a PlayStation, sporting equipment, etc.

Then as it goes back to the commandments, the answer would be, because He created all things, meaning He created my car so because He created my car, He has enabled me to travel to and from and I don’t take that blessing lightly.

Or

Why do you brush your teeth?

You might think it’s because you don’t want bad breath and poor gum health – and you’d be exactly right – but the reason you really don’t want bad breath or poor gum health is because you have a purpose and that purpose is to use the talents God gave you to serve His kingdom and 1 of your talents just so happens to mean that you engage with strangers every day. So your first impression is the most important one and who would want to listen to your message about Jesus if the first thing you did was smile at them with golden yellows and bad breath?

We can tie anything we do back to serving Him because Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” — 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)

Meaning there is nothing we can do that is good that we can’t give Him the glory for. And this is how we love Him and His creation; by not losing sight of Him in our every action.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 states: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” — Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NKJV)

So I think if we actually interacted with God’s word in the way that it is said above in our day to day lives, it’d be pretty hard to do anything without thinking of Him, right?

So when we love how He loved, this is pleasing to God.

But what does this mean for you? Who are you?

We’ll jump into this next week.

Here if you need anything – love and appreciate you all.

May God bless you and yours

EJM