Kingdom Prosperity #7 “Wrong Financial Decisions Part 2” 3 John 2

Intro: Going to look at the issue of prosperity; Dictionary definition; A thriving or growing condition – especially as concerns finances
Today: Continuing to look at wrong financial decisions: Decisions that prevent us from prospering; DEBT!
Why do we get into debt – and how do we get out of debt?
I. THE ROOT OF DEBT
A. We need to understand the root of debt: How did you get into debt?
1. If you don’t understand how or why – any fix will be temporary!
a. Read of a couple who were in CC debt $40,000. They paid it off – but now were paying off their 2 nd round of $40,000 debt!
2. Our problem is not how much money we have or make: The cure is not more money!
a. Old saying: More money in, more money out
3. If you make more $: You will qualify for more debt
a. Instead of 2 credit cards worth $2,000 – you now qualify for 15 cards worth $40,000
4. If you make more $: It fools us into thinking we can afford lots more stuff – more expensive stuff
a. What’s the 1st thing people do when they land a good paying job? Buy! Borrow! Charge things to Credit Cards!
B. Debt has roots: Debt is a product of things at work inside of people
1. Root of debt #1: Financial ignorance
a. Failing to understand how money works: Compound interest – debt multiplies!
2. Root of debt #2: Magical thinking
a. Some people apparently believe in the debt fairy: Somehow we will pay off our debt! (magic wand)
1. Proverbs 28:19 NIV A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.
a. Knew a family that were expecting an inheritance – so they went into debt: It’s ok, we’ll pay it off when we get
the inheritance from Grandpa! But someone in the family got Grandpa to change the will!
b. They don’t have an actual plan/strategy – so they usually just keep adding debt
1. Galatians 6:7 NLT Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
II. THE HEART OF DEBT
A. Debt is a heart issue – not just a math issue – not just an income or cost issue
1. The choices and actions of our life flow from the heart
a. Proverbs 4:23 NLT Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
2. What is in our hearts determines how we view things – and determines our decisions
a. Debt is not the problem: It is a symptom of the real problem
B. The heart of pride:
1. The constant battle/enemy of believers is the world: Society organized without God
a. Has to do with values & priorities: What is important or valuable
1. 1 John 2:15-16 NLT 15Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have
the love of the Father in you. 16For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in
our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
2. Advertising/media: Bring us a constant barrage of images & messages
a. Your worth/value is dependent on money: What we have/what we wear/what we drive/where we live
1. What’s cool/what’s fashionable/what you have to have – creating needs in us; I need that!
b. So people buy things - believing they are purchasing status, value, approval or love
1. Obsession with brands: I want other people to see that I have value!
2. Buying things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like
3. People who have been rejected – their worth has been damaged
a. So we can use money as medicine: Trying to heal a negative emotion inside
1. We buy things to try and produce a feeling of value
a. I have value – b/c I drive a valuable car; I have valuable shoes b. Singapore: Zegna material showing brand
4. This is such a desperate need in people – we will overspend/go into debt to try and buy worth/value
a. Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions."
C. The heart of greed
1. The Bible uses the word covetousness – often translated greed
 a. Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry.
1. Covetousness: The desire for more – literally the lust for more
2. The mark of lust and greed is impatience: We are in a hurry to get more/to get good things
a. Proverbs 28:22 Selfish people are in a hurry to get rich and do not realize they soon will be poor.
3. Debt is evidence that we are not willing to delay our gratification until the right time
a. Wisdom: If you want something – save up until you can pay for it with cash: No ongoing burden
4. Debt is funding our greeds now – instead of our needs
a. Greed captures the monkey. Debt is evidence of human greed – and it traps just as surely.
b. The world leads people to believe they are owed or have a right to a lifestyle that is beyond what they can afford
5. Debt is displeasing to God – because it is idolatry: Worshipping a false god
a. Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry.
III. HEALING DEBT
A. Getting free from debt begins with repentance
1. Change your mind about debt – see it like God sees it: It is NOT an acceptable way to live!
a. Repent of poor stewardship b. Repent of whatever attitudes have fueled our bad financial decisions
1. Magical thinking 2. Pride 3. Greed/impatience
b. If we don’t repent – prayer won’t fix debt/giving an offering won’t fix debt
B. Stop adding debt! If you find you’re in the hole – STOP DIGGING!!
1. All forms of debt: Credit card – loans from banks or friends/family; All consumer credit
a. Doesn’t fix existing debt – but keeps the problem from getting worse – enables us to pay off debt
2. Perform plastic surgery! If credit cards are what got us into trouble – cut them up/get rid of them!
a. If you want an emergency card: Keep it in the freezer frozen in bag/ice-block
1. The idea is to make it difficult to use – only in emergency
C. Begin to pay back the accumulated debt
1. Snowball the payments: Pay your smallest high-interest debt first
a. Snowball effect: Once that one is paid off – apply all that was going on that one to another one
1. You will feel the reward – benefit; It will feel like you are making progress
D. Believe God for miracles to help you pay off debt
1. He is willing to help people in debt – who want to get out of debt
a. Several financial miracles in the Bible were for people in debt
1. Widow/oil 2. Widow/Zarepath 3. Peter/taxes
2. Ask God to provide supernaturally