Afterward Build Your House!
"Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house." Proverbs 24:27
This Bible passage could apply to a young couple who has just been married and are in a rush to set up a home and fill it with nice furniture, everything on credit. Often, people do this before they establish their final career. They may have a job that is enough to get by and even make some purchases to give an appearance to everyone around that they are in a certain level of prosperity. As a real estate broker for 30 years, I saw many young couples buy homes too expensive and then have the home sit fairly empty for a few years because they could not afford to furnish it. I have seen young couples ready for a divorce, having lost their furniture and their homes because they were not ready to use the patience God commanded in the Scripture above. A wise man said once, "do you want the appearance of prosperity or do you want the real thing?"
The passage says, "make it fit for yourself in the field..." These ancient people were farmers, they had literal fields. Imagine a young ancient family, somewhat nomadic, who settles in a new area. They say, "do we get the crops in or build the house first?" Common sense says, "do the crops so you won't starve while building the house." Where is the common sense today in people? Why do people not know what God said in the Scripture above? Today, the word "field" means profession or vocation. Men and women still work in their fields, but the fields have a new meaning. Field also can mean "money making endeavor" or "cash flow system" or "income producing ability." Many people who open a new business begin to spend profits before they consider payroll taxes, or the steadiness of the cash flow of the business, or the seasonal desire-ability of their product or service. I have made all of these mistakes before. I am seasoned and battle-scarred in the area of finances and financial errors. Then, I usually later found out that God forewarned about the issue in His Word.
A good money steward will insure that he or she will be able to afford the lifestyle they want before they begin to live it. Then, they will have plenty of surplus income left over to give to the gospel and the poor which opens up a supernatural channel for God to further bless them. There is something in this blog entry for everyone. Be prudent to know and understand your income source. Do not make hasty decisions. Guard your core influence, which is how you make money. Unless you know God has told you to, do not jump from one thing to the next and leave the old thing until the new is producing at a good level. Prepare your retirement now. In the passage above, people around 50-60 years old should take heed, that before they pursue the retirement dream that they pursue their fields of income to be right first. Do not rely on the government or social security or your 401Ks only. Do not rely on a check monthly from a firm which may not survive the current economic crisis. You need to diversify as much as possible. God's bottom line on this, in my opinion, is to pay attention to your ability to produce and do not let your consuming habits run away from that income producing ability. Set up a temporary status in the way you live before you set up your ability to pay for things. Many families right now living in tents because they have to did not get a tent or smaller house or apartment when they could, during the financial incubation time that God is speaking of. They went all out as consumers and did not consider that stuff happens. Some of this for me is experience and some is revelation from God. As a side note, this advice in this blog can be used by anyone building a "house" or entity with a budget such as a business or a church, etc.
Your "field" is what you do while your "house" is what you own. The phrase "fit for yourself in the field" may be as simple as finishing college, or letting your business get past its first year of operation, or allowing your ministry to develop for a few years.
Watch for more blog entries about stewarding money, and watch for a product I am producing that will share much with you about being a money steward, complete with videos, audios, articles, e-books and much more. Debbie and I work on a home based business and 60-70% of our income comes from residual or sales from our own products on the Internet. The good thing about this is that as we retire, this work will be easy to continue and will give us the lifestyle we choose instead of the one we are forced to live. I have trained people to work online and in home based businesses for about 18 years.
The passage says, "make it fit for yourself in the field..." These ancient people were farmers, they had literal fields. Imagine a young ancient family, somewhat nomadic, who settles in a new area. They say, "do we get the crops in or build the house first?" Common sense says, "do the crops so you won't starve while building the house." Where is the common sense today in people? Why do people not know what God said in the Scripture above? Today, the word "field" means profession or vocation. Men and women still work in their fields, but the fields have a new meaning. Field also can mean "money making endeavor" or "cash flow system" or "income producing ability." Many people who open a new business begin to spend profits before they consider payroll taxes, or the steadiness of the cash flow of the business, or the seasonal desire-ability of their product or service. I have made all of these mistakes before. I am seasoned and battle-scarred in the area of finances and financial errors. Then, I usually later found out that God forewarned about the issue in His Word.
A good money steward will insure that he or she will be able to afford the lifestyle they want before they begin to live it. Then, they will have plenty of surplus income left over to give to the gospel and the poor which opens up a supernatural channel for God to further bless them. There is something in this blog entry for everyone. Be prudent to know and understand your income source. Do not make hasty decisions. Guard your core influence, which is how you make money. Unless you know God has told you to, do not jump from one thing to the next and leave the old thing until the new is producing at a good level. Prepare your retirement now. In the passage above, people around 50-60 years old should take heed, that before they pursue the retirement dream that they pursue their fields of income to be right first. Do not rely on the government or social security or your 401Ks only. Do not rely on a check monthly from a firm which may not survive the current economic crisis. You need to diversify as much as possible. God's bottom line on this, in my opinion, is to pay attention to your ability to produce and do not let your consuming habits run away from that income producing ability. Set up a temporary status in the way you live before you set up your ability to pay for things. Many families right now living in tents because they have to did not get a tent or smaller house or apartment when they could, during the financial incubation time that God is speaking of. They went all out as consumers and did not consider that stuff happens. Some of this for me is experience and some is revelation from God. As a side note, this advice in this blog can be used by anyone building a "house" or entity with a budget such as a business or a church, etc.
Your "field" is what you do while your "house" is what you own. The phrase "fit for yourself in the field" may be as simple as finishing college, or letting your business get past its first year of operation, or allowing your ministry to develop for a few years.
Watch for more blog entries about stewarding money, and watch for a product I am producing that will share much with you about being a money steward, complete with videos, audios, articles, e-books and much more. Debbie and I work on a home based business and 60-70% of our income comes from residual or sales from our own products on the Internet. The good thing about this is that as we retire, this work will be easy to continue and will give us the lifestyle we choose instead of the one we are forced to live. I have trained people to work online and in home based businesses for about 18 years.
Right now, I have a product that helps people understand the current economy and danger it is in and how to hedge oneself and protect oneself against a financial collapse. We show you ways to do so.
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