May 9, 2022
Be a Good Witness
Beloved child, use wisdom and don’t buy now and pay later. When you buy now and pay later you are stealing. Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15) You are stealing. You may not agree. People in our country live from paycheck to paycheck because they owe so much money. In a rat race and can’t get off the wheel that goes around and around. I recently read: 80% of all tax refunds are spent before they get them. The problem with that is God wired you emotionally to hope! I want to show you a verse that has the word hope in it 4 times (Romans 8:24) For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, why does one still hope for what he sees?
Delayed gratification! It is such a rewarding thing to set a goal to buy something, go somewhere, and when you get the money purchase it. God wired you to look forward to and wait for something because the joy is overwhelming. That is why you don’t have joy! He wants you to have a new larger TV, but he doesn’t want you to experience grief over having to pay for something over the next several months and months for what you purchased. The clinical definition of depression is a person who has lost hope. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. (Proverbs 13:12) The United States is the most in debt society in the world and the most depressed.
When I decided to get out of debt, “I decided I was not going to buy anything that was not a necessity. Nothing until I paid all my debt in full! It is a wonderful thing to receive a letter from the back of a credit card that says, ‘paid in full!’ When was the last time before you made a purchase, you prayed about it first and asked God if you could buy it? Make it a habit to pray before you buy, and you won’t find yourself in over your head. I heard someone say, ‘I don’t pray about a purchase because God might say No! Hello!
God will provide supernaturally when you decide to do it His way. Be a good witness. The scripture correlating with buy now and pay later is, ‘You must not bear false witness against your neighbor.’ (Exodus 20:16) God wants you to bear a good witness of Him to others even if they are neighbors. If your neighbor is looking over your shoulders and you won’t paint your house, but you drive a new car – that is a poor witness. The way we handle our finances is a bad witness or a good witness of God. Your neighbors are watching how you live your life. I would much rather spend less and have more so when the Holy Spirit speaks to me when I am out to give this person or that person a $100 bill, I can do it! Do you know the joy of walking up to someone when the Holy Spirit nudges you and instructs you to bless someone and you can? There is no greater joy than blessing someone because you can!
