Balance is critical to progress in your marriage, family, business, and career.

I read recently an amazing thought about President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863:  It was signed into law over two years before those in slavery actually had their freedom.

They were “legally” free but not “actually” free. Is that possibly happening to you?

All failure is foundational. Whether it is your marriage, your ministry, or your money, it all comes down to one issue: “foundation repair.”
Jesus said that a wise man “digs deep” and builds on a foundation. A foolish man builds on the sand.

Everyone wants to know how to multiply their business, their finances, and their influence. Jesus showed us the secret by having the crowd of people sit down in groups of 50 before He multiplied the bread. Order precedes multiplication.

I have observed that multiplication is wishful thinking for most leaders. They forget that God is “not the author of confusion” and that everything should be done “decently and in order.”

Negative pessimism is a hard monkey to get off your back. It colors everything dull and bland. It stifles creativity, ruins relationships, and makes everything hopeless. You lose sight of all that you “have and are” for what you “want and are not.”

Shoelaces are important.

They hold everything together.  When they are tight, they keep you from falling.  No one tries to walk in loose, floppy tennis shoes without good, snug laces.

YOUR FINANCES HAVE “LACES.”  If they are untended, your entire life could come crashing down. 

What are the 5 financial issues you need to keep “tight?”

Integrity is the currency of influence. Power and success are like paper money but integrity is the GOLD.
“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Job 1:1). Job, in the Old Testament, "had integrity."

Life, family, health, finances, and relationships can all be “broken.” How can you repair them? By putting them back into order.

Why is it that when it is time to give to others we usually think, “Oh, brother…” instead of “Oh, boy!”?

I love blessings.  God loves to give them.

The only caveat?  You need to love Him, honor Him, and serve Him.

You do?  Then, here are the 5 amazing blessings from Ps. 112:

I recently saw a bombed out home in Syria that was rebuilt by generosity and given back over to a widow and her children.  The thrill of seeing this devastated, war-ravaged family dancing for joy was an amazing experience. 

Why is it that when it is time to give to others we usually think, “Oh, brother…” instead of “Oh, boy!”?    

Money.  It’s not supposed to be hard.  It is, however, without knowledge.  A zillion books have been written about it, but one small story and three little principles explain it all.

It’s about a desperate widow…

All failure is foundational.  Whether it is your marriage, your ministry, or your money, it all comes down to one issue:  “foundation repair.”

Jesus said that a wise man “digs deep” and builds on a foundation.  A foolish man builds on the sand.

How do you repair your foundation?

Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon) just went over $100 billion in net worth this week.  That is more than the individual GDP of 146 out of 211 countries!

That’s ridiculous prosperity. 

How do you insure that your soul is prospering that well?

It is no secret how to have more money:  spend less than you earn.

The problem is not the consumerism we all fall into.  It is when we constantly HAVE to buy more because we haven’t taken care of what we have.

Here are some good ideas to “give yourself a big raise” on the same salary:

“Out of order.”

It’s a sign you often see on a gas pump.  Why doesn’t it just say, “Broken?”  When something has no order, IT IS “broken.”

Life, family, health, finances, and relationships can all be “broken.”  How can you repair them?  By putting them back into order.

Let’s look at some of these areas and see how the principle of order can transform your life:

“Wealth begins with perspective:  “Your OUTLOOK determines your OUTCOME.”

Your outlook on money and finances are directly determining how much of IT you have.  And…how much wealth has of YOU!

Here are 7 principles Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 6: 19-24) that should control your outlook on wealth:

Integrity has become “mission-critical.”

Look at the present national state of hyper-sensitivity to anything that looks, sounds, or smells like corruption.

Integrity is the currency of influence.  Power and success are like paper money but integrity is the GOLD.
    
Job, in the Old Testament, "had integrity."

WHAT ARE THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF INTEGRITY HE POSSESSED?

Shoelaces are important.

They hold everything together.  When they are tight, they keep you from falling.  No one tries to walk in loose, floppy tennis shoes without good, snug laces.

YOUR FINANCES HAVE “LACES.”  If they are untended, your entire life could come crashing down. 

What are the 5 financial issues you need to keep “tight?”

Everyone needs mentoring.  Mentoring is listening to someone who has made more mistakes than you.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in 47 years of ministry, and they all boil down to these ten: