Financial

Gifts

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1st Peter 4:10
Living for God’s Glory
…9Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. 11If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.…
Berean Standard Bible

Romans 12:6-8
We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; / if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; / if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11
There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. / There are different ministries, but the same Lord. / There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. …

Ephesians 4:11-12
And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, / to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

1 Corinthians 12:27-31
Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. / And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. / Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? …

1 Corinthians 12:12-14
The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. / For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. / For the body does not consist of one part, but of many.

1 Corinthians 12:18-20
But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. / If they were all one part, where would the body be? / As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

1 Corinthians 12:7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. / Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

2 Timothy 1:6-7
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. / For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Matthew 25:14-30
For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. / To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey. / The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more. …

1 Corinthians 12:28
And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:25-26
so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. / If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

1 Corinthians 12:21-22
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.” / On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

1 Corinthians 12:15-17
If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. / And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. / If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

1 Corinthians 12:11
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines

Insight
Some people, well aware of their abilities, believe that they have the right to use their abilities as they please. Others feel that they have no special talents at all. Peter addresses both groups in these verses.

Challenge
Everyone has some gifts; find yours and use them. All our abilities should be used in serving others; none are for our own exclusive enjoyment. Peter mentions speaking and serving.


© 2010 by Tyndale House Publishers

Our economy

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The recent Quantitative Easing has made the money we earn devalue, amongst other factors including the global economy and mass immigration- Check chart 1 out.

Its clear that the BIGGEST problem with our economy problem is Government overspending!

📈….plus the FEDS HUGE deficits regarding the tax burden upon the middle class.

Look at these chart 2 regarding our tax burden, it literally off the chart

We should remove the hammocks and only keep the safety nets.

often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, which states something like, “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not,”

or “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic,”

Chart 1 – Inflation vs Wages

Chart 2 – Tax burden on the middle class

Chart 3 – The Federal Debt

Chart 4 – Government spending

Investment Chart 2009-2023

KirkLeave a comment

My Pondering

What a fantastic infographic this is. It signifies various investment vehicles with their past performance.

I came across as my wife and I recently hired a Financial Planner / Coach – Geoff w/ Invst. I like for a few reasons:

1. It clear shows the top investment category for the recent past, in ascending rank.

By my quick count the lead classes:

Reits (Real Estate) – 6x

Small cap stocks – 4x

Large caps – 3x (probably going to win 2024)

Emerging Equity – 2x

2. Its neatly and colorfully organized

3. It shows our personal Asset Allocation historical performance comparatively via White Box and Black lines

Give… Luke 6:38

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My Pondering

Givers gain and we can’t out give God.

He dares us to test Him on this, which is an exception to His norm regarding testing vs trusting Him.

Here are SIX keys to successfully giving:

1. Give to God 1st

then your… Savings 2nd, Necessities 3rd, Charity 4th, your Comfort 5th and last.

Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil
to the house of the LORD your God. 

Exodus 23:19

This is concert with loving God first and foremost as our #1 Command

2. Give boldly and test God

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.

Malachi 3:10

3. Give joyfully or don’t give at all

Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion.
For God loves a cheerful giver.

2nd Corinthians 9:7

4. Give in secret

So that your giving may be in secret;
and your Father, who sees in secret,
will give you your reward.

Matthew 6:4

Don’t give for men’s praise but rather secretly for God’s goodness and reward.

5. Don’t be greedy and hoard

13Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14But Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me judge or executor between you?”

15And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

16Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance. 17So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. 19Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!” ’
20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

21This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Jesus, Luke 12

6. Be a good steward of what God has entrusted you

8The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

10Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own?

13No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money.”

Jesus, Luke 16

Certainly there a other principles regarding giving but I think this is a good start. What would you add or takeaway?

John D Rockefeller – Giving and Gratitude

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John D. Rockfeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937), the founder of Standard Oil was once the richest man in the world. He was the first billionaire in the world. He achieved a net worth of at least $1 billion in 1916. When Rockefeller died in 1937, his net worth was estimated to be around $340 billion in today’s dollars. By age 25, he controlled one of the largest oil refineries in the US. He was 31 years old when he became the world’s largest oil refiner. At 38, he commanded 90% of the oil refined in the U.S.
John, at the age of fifty was the richest man in America.

As a young man, every decision, attitude, and relationship was tailored to create his personal power and wealth.


But at the age of 53, he became ill. His entire body became racked with pain and he lost all of his hair. In complete agony, the world’s only billionaire could buy anything he wanted, but he could only digest soup and crackers. An associate wrote, “He could not sleep, would not smile and nothing in life meant anything to him”. His personal, highly skilled physicians predicted he would die within a year. That year passed agonizingly slowly.


As he approached death he awoke one morning with the vague realisation of not being able to take any of his wealth with him into the next world. The man who could control the business world suddenly realized he was not in control of his own life. He was left with a choice.


He called his attorneys, accountants, and managers and announced that he wanted to channel his assets to Hospitals, Research, and Charity work. John D. Rockefeller established his Foundation.
Rockefeller Foundation supported the efforts of Howard Florey and his colleague Norman Heatley in their research on penicillin in 1941.


But perhaps the most amazing part of Rockefeller’s story is that the moment he began to give back a portion of all that he had earned, his body’s chemistry was altered so significantly that he got better. It looked as if he would die at 53 but he lived to be 98.


Rockefeller learned gratitude and gave back the vast majority of his wealth. Doing so made him whole. It is one thing to be healed. It is another to be made whole.


He was a devoted Baptist and attended the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Before his death, he wrote this in his diary:


“God taught me, that everything belongs to Him, and I am only a channel to comply His wishes. My life has been one long, happy holiday thereafter; Full of work and full of play, I dropped the worry, on the way, and God was good to me every day.”


Source: Internet
Edited by King Enegoma
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Wrong enemy vs Right enemy

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My Pondering

Don’t think like stupid sheep but like wise eagles!

#AbundantPie

The best way to help an unfortunate unemployed person is to make a good job available.


The best way to help a good worker is make a leadership position available.


The best way to good leader is to make a partnership available.