Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It is truth and life.  It reveals skills and habits.  That in choosing them become skills in your life, that help you grow more like Him, and grow in His plans for you – which are so good!  So what are a few of the skills so important – that begin and continue by choice? 
 
11 Skills You Need To Acquire
 
1 Obedience – If you love me you will obey what I command.  If there were one skill to develop, this is it.  Because if you learn to obey, to walk in His plans for you, He will lead you to every other thing you need,  and lead you to His good, for you and others. 
 
2 Worship – Complete focus on God, His infinite worth, and the full surrender of your life to Him.  The place of His presence, changes you completely – the power of His Spirit, brings change in the natural. 
 
3 His Word - It never returns nothing, for by it you’re protected, delivered, healed, preserved, and established.  It is truth and life, and wisdom to live by.  It brings joy and peace and reward.  God’s Word is His love letter to you, and his instruction book for your success.  This skill is mission critical for you.
 
4 Thanksgiving – It’s your admission ticket to God’s Presence – it gets you in the door.  Developing the skill of thanksgiving will always draw you into His presence, where He can change you. 
 
5 Praise – He inhabits it – Praise brings you into His inner courts, where He is.  And everything you need is found there.  Praise gets you in, He takes over your praise, so you can see His face and be changed!
 
6 Forgiveness – Overlook faults, forgive.  It means to not hold their faults against them.  If you forgive others, God will forgive you…
 
7 Diligence – The precious possession of a man.  Don’t be diligent about just anything, be diligent in His plans for you.  So He can grow you and increase you for good!
 
8 Humility – God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  He exalts them.  Choose God first, and others before you, and God will raise you up.  He promised.   
 
9 The Fear Of The LORD – The Fear of the LORD brings wealth, honor, and life.  You are not fearing God for nothing.  Develop this skill and your life will be established.  His grace will cover you, and He can fulfill His purpose in you.
 
10 Listen – The language of love, the first demonstration of humility.  The first step in loving and preferring others – is to listen. 
 
11 Love – Learn to love well, expend yourself, lay down your life.  If you love, you will give.  Love God first, that’s affection and obedience.  Love others next, that’s preference.  These are the two greatest commandments.  Love demonstrates His character, it covers over a multitude of wrongs, and it worships and honors the God who made you and loves you, and will fulfill His purpose in you. 
 
Praying that you will choose these skills, so they become habits, and then DNA.  They start as a choice, then become a skill, until you do them without thinking.  It’s Jesus in you and the power of the Holy Spirit that does it.  Have you done these things today?  You can.  Skills become skills daily.  Praying that these skills will define you: Obedience, Worship, His Word, Thanksgiving, Praise, Forgiveness, Diligence, Humility, The Fear of the LORD, Listening, and Love for God and others. 
 
So your life reflects Him and His love to everyone you come in contact with.  So His glory and His blessing fills your life in every way. 
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you practical things.  Have you ever noticed one of the hardest things to do?  Listen.  Why is that so difficult?  Why are so few people good at it?  Because it is fully about someone else, and not you.  But how important is it?  Very.  If you love God, you will listen, if you love others, you will listen.  If you want to be effective, you will listen. 
 
11 Things You Need To Know About Listening
 
1  It’s the language of love – if you listen you are actually demonstrating that you prefer them above yourself, their opinion over your own. 
 
2  It’s the first demonstration of Humility.  Prideful people don’t listen, they don’t think they have to, they know better.  If you think you’re better, or your opinion is better, you won’t listen.  But God says He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Whoever humbles themselves will be exalted.  Listening is humility practice. 
 
3  Seek to understand before being understood.  This is the secret of listening.  If you start each conversation with this in mind, it will remove self-seeking, and replace it with them-seeking.  Do you really want to understand them?  Or do you just want them to understand you.  Do you think they are more important?  God’s word says to prefer others above yourself.  It starts with what they say. 
 
4 Give Full Body Attention – so they feel listened to.  Look for the next opportunity to talk with someone.  And decide beforehand to give that person your full body attention.  Face them completely, eye contact, no distractions, not on your phone, or email, or shuffling papers on your desk.  Turn to them, face them fully, and let them know that right now in this moment they are the most important thing in your life, nothing is more important that what they have to say.  You’re fully interested in them.  They will feel respected, and God can use you to help them on their journey of discovery – the truth He wants to lead them in, the deliverance He has for them. 
 
5  Focus on what they are saying, not what you want to say next.  Focus on understanding, not what to say.  If you’re not already thinking of what you want to say next, you are finally really listening.  Let them discover more of themselves and their thoughts, sometimes just their communication gives God the chance to prompt them with what’s missing, their need for Him. 
 
6  Wait until they are fully finished speaking.  Give them the opportunity to fully express themselves.   You might clarify the time you have, so they nor you feel rushed.  You might even say – please share right now, I’ve got about five minutes before I have my next meeting, but we can also reschedule more time if you need.  What was on your heart to share?  I want to hear…   
 
7  Don’t hijack the conversation.  Most people interrupt with what they think the person is about to say.  They finish their sentence before the person has a chance to get it out of their mouth.  A 90% of the time, it’s not what they were going to say, or how they wanted to communicate it.  Don’t finish their sentence for them.  It just throws them off track, makes them lose their flow, and now they have to try and recover – which they can’t.  They have to now correct your error of understanding, and now they can’t get back to where they were – which was just about to lead to them feeling like they finally could explain what they think or feel.  Until you interrupted and hijacked their conversation.  Don’t be selfish – you get no points by knowing what they will say next.  You don’t. Only they do.  Let them express their heart.  Even if you were right – don’t try to guess where they are going… respect and honor them enough to let them drive the car, and choose the direction of the conversation.   
 
8 Ask A Clarifying Question, and then listen further.   The first thing you should say in any conversation – is a clarifying question.  “If I’m hearing you correctly – you really think xyz.  Did I hear you right? How did you feel about that?  Is there anything you wanted to add, or “Are there any new thoughts that come to mind about that situation?”  However God leads you.   A clarifying question helps them discover further things in their conversation journey.  And helps them put to words what they are feeling in their heart. 
 
9  Listen for thoughts and feelings.  Clarifying questions help them distinguish between thought – what they think about something.  And feelings – what those events or words caused them to feel inside.  Thoughts are intellectual, feelings are emotional, and feelings have greater power than intellect.  People’s responses are driven by emotion more than logic.  That’s why people do stupid things.  Encouraging them to distinguish between the two, helps you understand them better, and helps them discover for themselves what they really think, and how they really feel.  Then they can determine if their thoughts and feelings are accurate or slightly misperceived.  And if what is justifiable to think or feel, is really the best course to pursue, or if a broader or slightly different perspective may have value for them.
 
10  Respect Them.  Don’t try to fix them, respect them enough to allow them to be wrong.  One of the greatest things you can do for someone, is love them enough to let them be wrong.  They may just not be ready to change.  They may not be able to discern truth or understand a different perspective.  That’s ok.  You can’t fix people, only God can.  Love and respect them enough to let them choose their own beliefs. 
 
11  Ask God what to Pray and What to Say – be OK with not saying anything.   Are you OK with not saying anything?   God may use this opportunity – now that they finally found someone who will truly listen, and perhaps for the first time could get their true feelings out – without being interrupted, hijacked, or condemned.  Often that discovery process opens their mind and heart to the fact they might be missing something, or misunderstanding something.   It may be that God uses you at this very moment, to speak the truth in love.  Listening – has already demonstrated you love them.  God may give you the go-ahead to speak into their life.  But It may be just a time to pray, not to say.  Are you willing to say nothing, if God tells you it’s not the time yet?  God is not in a hurry. He loves them, and He loves you.  You’ve been wrong more often than not.  He’s got this, He loves them more than you do.  Praying that you will ask God what to pray and what to say.  And be ok – if God says – say nothing.  Just pray. 
 
Praying that you will love people by listening.  That this humility practice will be your daily workout.  Praying that as you love well, by listening well. God will open doors for His healing and hope to be the oil and wine they need in their life.  Praying that His truth and His love – will be available through you, because you are soaked in His presence, and His Word, and you are willing to just listen – so the love of God, can flow through you. 
 
Love you all,
dad
 
A couple of resources that address this skill of listening are worth the read.  Listening for Heaven’s Sake, and Quick To Listen Leaders by Dave Ping.  Praying that God grows your capacity to listen – to hear their heart, so you earn the opportunity to love them further.  
​

Love you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It’s challenging.  It draws you.  It’s truth and life for the choosing, or the neglecting.  Have you ever noticed the power of a question?  Is what you are, what you’ll be?  That depends…  It depends on you.  Are you prayerful? Or prayerless?  Are you hopeful, or hopeless?  faithful or faithless?  Are you Word full, or Word less, world full, or world less, Presence full  or Presence less? Courageful? Or courageless? Habitful? Or habitless?  I saw a clip recently.  It was a minority teacher speaking to a class full of what this culture has labelled, “underprivileged” students.  She asked a couple of questions… “Have you ever heard of an athlete who started with nothing, and became super-rich?  Every kid nodded their head.  “Have you ever known a celebrity who started as a nobody, and became world famous?  Again, full concurrence… She immediately continued…“That means where you come from means absolutely nothing.  You were born looking like your parents, you die looking like your choices.” A quick review of our earlier list of questions.  Have you noticed one that’s not like the rest?  All are choices, except one.  That last one isn’t a choice, its a little misleading.  Are you prayerful or prayerless – that is a choice. You choose one or the other.  As are the rest… except the last one.  Habitful or habitless… Nobody is habitless, the question is what habits do you have?  As with all choices, they are either what God wants you to do, or what you want to do… which if it’s not God, it’s really what the other guy wants you to do, not really you…  Have you also noticed that God only tells you to do two things?  Things today, and things every day.  When you do the things He has chosen for you every day, you’ll be ready, prepared, and able to do that thing He told you to do, today.  And that will prepare you so you’re ready for what He has for you - one day.  Many people don’t even know what those things are?  They don’t think about it really.  They don’t have the habit of asking Him, so they don’t know.  Praying that God will grow you in prayer, worship, and His Word.  PiVAT before dinner – is really just a prayer.  It’s a choice feeder, a decision discerner, a plan download – from the One whose plans for you - will prosper you.  Choices for today and reminders for every day.  Prayer usually starts with asking for His plans and His will for you, what you think about and hope for.  But as you grow in it, your prayer becomes what He thinks about and what He hopes for – not just for you but for others.  The best answers to prayer are always what He wants, not what you want.  Have you ever got an answer to prayer – that was not what you wanted… but was actually the very best thing for you?  Praying that you will spend just a few minutes talking with God about your PiVAT Prayer List for this month.  Just like every other Hear Well Done tool, it’s not a religion, not an exclusive formula, just a prompter… a track to run on.  Insert #2 for each month, has several of these, which some people shy away from… “I can’t do all of these this month!” God may not tell you to.  Just do what He tells you.  It’s never too late to start, no matter what day it is or how many are left.  What does God have for you this month?  Prayer is the start.  Someone once said, no prayer, no power.  A prayer-less life will definitely lack power.  It’s the force to overcome inertia (doing nothing), and then the force to overcome anything opposing you (especially what you think is right or good for you, but really isn’t).  God’s way is always better than your way – way better!.  The more you ask, the more you receive, the more you pray, the more He reveals His heart.  He’ll lead you to His Word, which always reveals His thoughts toward you, His will for you, and His love for you.  He will definitely lead you to His Word.  That’s where life and everything good, comes from.  Praying that you will become a man of prayer, a woman of prayer.  So you are powerful, not powerless.  Praying that you will consistently choose to be full, and not less of whatever God has for you.  Have you noticed that every time God prompts you to take a first step, your enemy will always whisper what you aren’t? and try to get you to buy a label, that isn’t true of you. You can become something new, instantly and increasingly better… simply with one new choice, a first step.  Remember what you’ll look like when you die… you’ll look like your choices.  And the best thing to choose, is that thing the Holy Spirit leads you to.  God’s will for you, His best for you.  Praying that you will always be Holy Spirit full.  So you look like God’s plan for you!  So you become what He created you to be.  There’s joy there, fruit there, and reward there…
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It gives you plans, and hope, and steps!  You can’t get from here to there in one step.  That journey of a thousand miles starts with step one.   Have you ever thought about the purpose of December?  It’s the last month of the year.  An opportunity to celebrate the faithfulness of God.  He has been so faithful to you this year!  Whether a year of ease, or a year of great hardship, He was there for you.  He carried you most of the way – whether you noticed or weren’t paying attention, He was paying attention to you.  He was protecting you, and guiding you and helping you.  He was faithful, whether you were as faithful as you hoped to be, or not.  December is also a time to celebrate the greatest gift ever given, and remember the greatest story ever told.  Emmanuel.  God with us.  The God of the universe coming into the world, as a human baby, so he could save the people that he loved, who were lost in sin, disqualified for heaven, destined for eternity apart from Him in outer darkness, and had no way to save themselves.  But December has another purpose.  It’s the grace note for the coming year.  Why wait til January to start the new year?  Just like that promotion that you are preparing for.  The most successful candidates for promotion are the ones doing most of the job already, with diligence and excellence.  What if you asked God to help you live in December, what He’s calling you to become in this coming year?  What if you had a month of practice before the clock started?  Praying that you will take some time with your Heavenly Father – who loves you and has the very best planned for you!  And seek His face – so He can reveal to you His plans for you this month of December.  Your last PiVAT Monthly for this year.  What if you walked in victory and began operating at the level of your new promotion.  Years ago, the book Dress For Success encouraged people to dress like the position they sought promotion to…  What if you started living this month, the way God has planned for you to live this coming year?  What if you got a head start? an extra quarter of the game, before the game started... You would hit the ground running!  Praying that you will seek God for PiVAT Monthly for December, and praying that you will ask Him who to invite for a 3-Day-Challenge.  What if you consistently did PIVAT before dinner this month – for just 30 days.  To Get His plans for you – before the new day begins, and finish strong everything He put in your heart for today?  What if you did PRISM throughout the day  - those five things you can do in God's Word – making His thoughts for you, through His Word for you, the priority of your day.  Important enough to keep coming back to…  And what if you obeyed his command to Exhort One Other Daily – so you could overcome with your testimony, and overcome the adversary, to get victory through that iron sharpening iron, so the deceitfulness of sin, would lose all its effect on you.  Praying that this month you will seek His face, so you can walk at the level He is calling you in this new year.  Praying that if you don’t have a Daily Call right now, you would ask God to bring you the one He has chosen, and assigned for you to walk with, so you eat overcoming for breakfast, so God can sharpen you, and lead you, and bless you at next year’s level, so you can hit the ground running.  So you can grow exponentially, and see His power at work in your life.  So God can prune you – getting rid of old ways, and old thinking, so you can bear fruit that He chose you, and appointed you for – fruit that will last.  Can’t wait to hear the testimony that God has for you for December!  What He does, as you just simply hear and obey. 
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you,

This one’s a repeat, but it’s so important.  It’s a little longer, but I’m praying that you will listen to the end.  First Things _ Financially.
 
Some of you may know this.  It may be review for all of you.  But just because we knew it once, doesn’t mean we do it now.  God said keep His Word with you. Meditate on it day and night, teach it to your children when you get up and lie down when you are walking on the way.  
 
I just love God’s Word.  It says more than just one thing about something.  It tells you all you need to know to operate in wisdom.  Praying that you will review The Money Packet.  If you don’t know what God says about money – you will only think what the world thinks.  These are eleven things to get started financially – to establish a money foundation - according to God’s Word. 
 
#1 – God owns it, so He directs it.  Psalms 50:9 – I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.  If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine and everything in it.  Haggai 2:8 – The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of Hosts.  I Corinthians 4:2 – It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.  You don’t manage God’s money, like you think He would want… You ask Him what He wants and then do what He says.  You’re a bookkeeper not a manager, a director, not a decider, the Accounts Payable Clerk, not the CEO.  Steward doesn’t mean – you decide.  It means the Owner decides and you do it.  The best stewards are the ones who talk with the owner most often - to see what they want.  You just write the checks you are told to write.  You don’t feel some kinda way about it.  It’s not your money – just write the check.  Do what He told you.  Generic is ok, you don’t need brand name all the time.  Ask Him, He’ll tell you what and when.  And sometimes, God wants you to pay full price.  It’s not about getting more, it’s about distributing as directed.  It’s about doing what He wants to do with it. It’s His.  Even what you think you earned.  David said, I Chronicles 20:14 – But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you?  Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!  What you have belongs to God, and was given to you by God.  Whether a gift, or the job, breath, strength, and the talent and ability to earn it.  God just uses money to teach us obedience.  He doesn’t need it, we do.  It’s how we learn to hear his voice.  First Things First - God owns it, He directs it.
 
#2 – His first directive is 10% off the top – (Gross)  You then ask Him about how to direct the remaining 90%  There seems to be debate recently about tithe and grace giving.  One pastor said – ignore all I preached about the tithe, it doesn’t apply to the church… Really?  What does God say?  Tithe is a tenth part.  “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, test me now in this, declares the LORD (Supreme in Authority) and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you will not be able to contain.”  So is that Old Testament only, and doesn’t apply to the church today?  Jesus said: “You Pharisee’s are hypocrites, you tithe off the smallest spices and garden herbs but you neglect the more important things: justice, mercy, and faith.  You should have done the former without neglecting the latter.”  So clearly the Tithe along with justice, mercy and faith is what we are called to do – they are part of the new covenant as well as the old.  Excelling in grace giving is over and above the tithe, as God directs.  Test me now in this, God’s perfect solution.  Don’t go by what some people say… Go by what God says. In this case – test me now in this. The tithe belongs to God, and you seek Him on the rest.
 
#3 – Give an Account / Divide your portion -  Live by categories.   You must have an Accounting Tool.  You first have to know where God’s money is.  How can you ask Him about what you don’t know you have, or what you think you still have, but really don’t – you spent it already?  The 4C’s Accounting Tool is free, and it works.  If you don’t know where God’s money is, you can’t ask him about it and do what He tells you to do with it.  You won’t know what you have… He does, you don’t.  The 4C’s Accounting Tool helps you hear and obey financially.  If you do, you’ll walk in peace.  Money will be a testimony, never a worry.  You do your part and He will surely do His.  Luke 16:1 – Give an account of your management…  Proverbs 24:27 – Know the condition of your flock, give careful attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever, neither is a crown secure for all generations.  God wants us to be diligent with His money – give an account – and just ask Him for direction – He’ll tell you.  He’s really good with money. 
 
#4  - Work.  I Thessalonians 3:10 – For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, neither should he eat.  God’s provision is often a job, or a field, or an orchard.  Tending required.  Plowing required.  Planting required.  Weeding and watering required.  Harvesting required.  You can’t live within your means, if you have no means.  And you can’t give, if you have nothing from which to give.  God gave Adam a job before he gave him a wife.  Tithing requires a job, Giving requires a job, saving requires a job, providing for your family requires a job, sharing with others requires a job.  The precious possession of a man is diligence - not his car, or his bass boat, or his play station… The precious possession of a man (male or female) is diligence.  (Proverbs 12:27)
 
Note:  An Observation -  Four Ways To Earn Money. 
First you get paid for your time. You earn an hour’s wage for an hour’s labor. 
 
Second Level:  you earn for your knowledge.  Subject matter experts get paid more than new employees – you get paid to answer questions, and solve problems.
 
Third, you earn by directing others that do the labor (as a Manager or Owner).
 
Fourth: your money works for you – investing it – gaining appreciation or dividends.  Your labor doesn’t make money, your money makes money.    
 
The only other way to earn, is to sell something someone else did, or made.  Or create or procure something, and sell it yourself.  These are still considered Level 2 earnings – your skill and knowledge, or level three – your ownership. 
 
Ultimately your paycheck reflects the problems you solve.  Small problem, small paycheck. Large problem, large paycheck. 
 
Elon Musk solved the problem of gasoline, and speed, and getting to space - he earns a lot. Lebron is a level two employee – his knowledge and skill earns him more than a rookie contract.  He’s a multi-millionaire because the problem he solved everywhere he went was entertainment and pride.  Big problem, big paycheck.   People want to be rabid fans of a team that wins championships.  A problem he solves everywhere he goes.  Cleveland, Miami, LA…  Now his money works for him as well.
 
First you have to start with hourly wages.  Get paid for the hours you put in.  Always Add Value – always give more than you get paid, and you will always get a raise.  Become a subject matter expert.  You know you’re getting there – when other employees start to ask you questions.  Be excellent, give God a change to bless you, as you share your growing knowledge to help others.  Then ask God what other levels of income he has for you, in his perfect timing.  And don’t forget.  Giving is the key to receiving.  It’s what turns on the faucet!  Whether adding value - giving more than you get paid for, or giving to the poor, and storing up treasure in heaven.  Give every time the LORD prompts you.  Ask Him, it’s His money.  It’s not just for spending on yourself – but refreshing others.   
 
 
#5 – Get Debt Free and then Save to be Debt-Free For Life to eliminate Rent and Mortgage payments which consume your income year after year.  First – Get debt free!  You cannot save what belongs to another.  Proverbs 3:27-28 - Do not withhold money (good) from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.  “Don’t say to your neighbor, come back tomorrow, when you have it with you…”  Pay what you owe, don’t use their money to save for something else.  Proverbs 17:18 – One lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.  What is Security? – a physical asset that will be forfeited to the neighbor – should you not pay them back.  What is Surety… “I will surely pay.”  You yourself are the ‘security’ put up for debt.  Your power to produce income – which is unlimited rather than just the value of the item put up as security.  Pawn shops work off of a Security principle – if you don’t pay back the money they lent you, they keep the wedding ring, or the gold watch.  But Banks or Private Lenders work off of a Surety principle.  That’s why when GMAC sells your repossessed car, cause you couldn’t make the payments… you still owe them the balance of your loan over and above what they got when they sold your car… It’s “Surety, not just Security”  The car doesn’t cover the debt, you do!  You still owe the rest.  God said doing either is stupid (one lacking in judgment).  God said “Do not strike hands in pledge.  Do not become surety for debt.  But if you didn’t know what He said, and you did it… God then said - Romans 13:8 -  Let no debt remain outstanding.  Now you know.  Pay all debt first before saving for future desired purchases.  If you save for pleasures instead of paying off debt – that is a textbook definition of “letting debt remain outstanding.”  You have it with you, but you’re not paying it, you’re using the money that is rightfully theirs - for something else, instead of paying someone what you owe – that you have with you.  “But they’re ok with monthly payments… of course, they are earning interest… they’re becoming rich, you’re becoming poor.”  Your labor is enriching another man’s house, that’s not what God has for you.  That’s how the wealth of the wicked is shifted to the righteous. “But I’m the righteous, they aren’t even believers.”  I John 3:7 – Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. (What is righteous? – whatever God commands).  Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  What is sin?  Anything Different than what God commands, less than God’s best for you.  It causes separation of relationship.  The reason the Son of God came was to destroy the works of the devil.  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.  Basically God is saying, righteous is as righteous does.  God said his people should be lenders, not borrowers.  He wants you earning interest, not paying interest.  He wants you to be the head, not the tail.  Deuteronomy 15:4 – There should be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you - if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.  For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.  You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.   Proverbs 12:27 – The borrower is slave to the lender.  I Corinthians 7:23 – You were bought with a price, do not become slaves of men.   If you do not know what God says about debt – you will think like the world thinks.  Not like God thinks.  See the Money Packet - Learn God’s Word about money, and your mind will be transformed.  It will transform your life!  You will love God, not money.  You will have to decide… what am I willing to borrow for?  And What does God say about that?  In all of Scripture - did God ever have his people borrow?  Did they take out a mortgage for the temple (Gold covered drywall (they used cedar in those days) upwards of a trillion dollars in today’s gold prices. They didn’t make easy payments to 1st Palestinian Bank.  God provided.  Debt is simply buying something now, that God has not given you the money for yet.  God said - Don’t do it.  But you’ll have to decide for yourself… what you’ll do, and what you won’t.  It will depend on your faith… and your belief. 
 
#6 – Live within your means.  Save for the future.  Don’t just live for today.  To save for the future, you must have a job, and margin.  Proverbs 21:20 – The wise man saves for the future but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.  The fool lives beyond their means… they borrow, or spend it all on their lifestyle today… they don’t save for tomorrow.  You have to live within your means, then pay off debts, then save to eliminate expenses.  But first you must get your short term obligations covered.  You can’t use grocery money to pay extra on the principal of your student loan.  You need groceries.  You need to pay the electric bill, or they’ll shut your lights off, and you will need $600 for car repairs this year – whether it is required of you this year, or next… it will be $600 per year per vehicle (Repairpal.com).  You will need insurance money for this year, and you will need an Emergency Fund for this year.  If you have no margin for Emergency, then every emergency forces you back into debt.  You will need to know God’s Word, (The Money Packet) and walk in the Spirit financially – in unity with your spouse.  Get God’s financial plan for you.  He knows the way out! And the way to prosper you.  Use a 4C’s Accounting Tool to diligently give an account, and God will do miracles for you financially.  Before making lifestyle decisions - Count the Cost – Use the Options Tab in your 4C’s Tool.  Seek God for his will for you financially so you live within your means, and be sure to do whatever He tells you.  That’s where the joy is. 
 
#7 – This month’s Income pays next months bills.  Next, Pay bills annually if allowed, so this year’s income pays next years bills.  Monthly payments add service charge.  Annual payments are discounted.  Save each month and the money will be there when the bill is due.  Pay the year in advance, (like Car Insurance, or Real Estate Taxes)… and save each month throughout the year – to pay the year in advance next year.  That’s how “in the house of the wise there are stores of oil and food.”  They pay in advance, they increase their margin, so they can buy things they will need, and enough to share with others. 
 
#8  - Take every open door to work.  When you are starting out.  Take every work opportunity you can.  When you’re young you have no money, but you have time and energy.  When you get old, you might have some money or not, but your time and your energy has waned.  Seek the LORD – Do what He calls you to do.  But if you don’t have a mortgage-free house yet, you should be working and saving.  1) Emergency Fund, 2) Annual Bills, 3) Payoff All Debt, 4) Save for a debt-free future.
 
#9 – Give Freely – as God directs.  10/10/10 is a good place to start.  10% Tithe, 10% Offering, 10% Savings.  If you can do it now, you’ll do it then.  If you don’t do it now, neither will you then.  You won’t tithe on the Lottery, if you don’t tithe on this paycheck, and you won’t save in the future if you don’t save now – no matter what you tell yourself. Always give more than you receive in any work relationship, and always give to the poor.  Let God direct your giving.  If it’s His money, and it is… He should decide.  Ask Him, and He’ll tell you what to give.  Giving is really a misnomer.  Is it really giving, if it doesn’t belong to you?  You’re really giving God’s money away.  That’s why it’s important to ask Him what to give, how much, when, and to whom…  Since it’s all His money - giving according to His will is the least you can do.  Don’t give away what belongs to Him, without asking Him if that’s what He wants you to do with His resources.  If you’re willing to give when He says to give, that’s the best way to remind yourself, you’re not the owner – He is. You just work and give and save as He tells you – and He will surely provide for your every need.   
 
#10 – The principle of Delayed Gratification.  It is the principle of Proverbs 21:20  The wise man saves for the future… He delays gratification today, to meet the needs of his family, and others… tomorrow.  Trust me, you would rather have the nice house and car when you’re 35 or 45 than when you’re 25.  You are not impressing anyone.  They don’t care! They are worried about $5.00 a gallon, they aren’t even thinking about what you drive, or the house you live in.  10 years from now – God might give you a whole new circle of friends, in an entirely different State and City.  They won’t care that you got the nicer apartment ten years ago.  And you’ll wish you had the extra $200 a month that you could have saved for 10 years – to take with you.  Be willing to sacrifice now – to live free later!  Get God’s Seven Year Plan.  The wise man saves for the future, the foolish man spends whatever he gets.  Your lifestyle now, will impact your lifestyle in the future.  You don’t know what you’ll need then, but it will be a greater need, with more at stake than you have now.  You’ll have kids!  Or your kids will be older…  Sacrifice now, you will never regret it.  Whatever your perceived needs now, they will be even more needed later.  No one remembers my sports car when I was 24 years old. No one cared then, and no one even knows or cares now. 
 
#11  Be Content.  If you aren’t content now.  You will not be content then - no matter what your income, or car or house, or husband or wife, or kids, or vacations, or toys.  Contentment is learned - in the little first. Philippians 4:11 – I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  If your life is not your own, you won’t really care.  What soldier gets entangled with civilian affairs… He is focused on serving His commanding officer. (II Timothy 2:4)   It’s the analogy God uses regarding contentment.  If you are content, your peace and joy will abound. If you aren’t – more money or stuff will never buy you contentment.  I’ve never met a discontented person that walked in peace, or joy.  Be content.  Be willing to remain thankful if God never gave you a penny more… Just obey with the one or two talents you have been given.  Let God decide who gets more.  If he chooses you, it’s just for you to distribute anyway… so what does it matter?  Learn to be content, and fully obedient now, so you will be - then.
 
Praying that you will Start Obeying Financially Today: 
 
That you will let God direct your money decisions,
 
that you will tithe off the top,
 
that you will get a 4C’s Accounting Tool so you learn to hear His voice financially – it’s the best way to practice hearing! 
 
Praying that you will take every opportunity to work as unto the LORD, that diligence will be your precious possession. 

That you will live within your means, that this month’s income pays next months bills for the rest of your life. 
 
Praying that you will start paying annually in advance –
 
that you will set aside for short term needs so debt free will be your absolutely priority.  And then save to live debt-free for life.
 
That you would be ok with delayed gratification, and learn to be content with where you are right now, so you also will be then. God can do more than you can ask or imagine. His ways are higher than ours like heavens above earth. 
 
Praying that you would review The Money Packet – so the world’s opinions on money won’t ever replace what God said. 
 
Praying that you will be faithful daily in your 4C’s Tool.  So He directs the money.  

​So your heart is fully His, and He always remains your first love.   
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you the truth about who God is.  So you can know and become who you are.  Have you ever just wanted to know that God loves you?  I know you know that God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.  Obviously, God loves you if He sent his Son to die for you…  Intellectually you know that.  But what do you have to do.. to be loved by God?  Is there a formula, or a list of things?  So you can know and feel that God really loves you?  (Cause you know what’s inside your heart, the good the bad and the ugly of you, and the ugly way outweighs the good… and you know that God knows all of your ugly as well). So, can you be sure that He really loves you?   There is an interesting verse found in Mark 1:11.  Jesus came to be baptized by John in the Jordan river.  Mark 1:10 - As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  Mark 1:11 – And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  It is interesting to note that Jesus hadn’t done anything yet.  He hadn’t turned water into wine, hadn’t healed the blind man or the lame man, hadn’t raised Lazarus from the dead.  He didn’t even have his twelve disciples yet. But God said, you are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”  Well that’s because Jesus was God himself.  True.  But God’s love for Him, is like His love for you.  Jesus died, so you could be called sons of God as well.   John 1:10-12 – He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who did receive him (who believed in Jesus for their salvation), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the sons of God.”  Some versions say children of God.  But in the spiritual sense, the eternal sense, the heir sense, the kingdom sense… God doesn’t have sons and daughters, he has sons.  He created man in His image male and female, and all who believe, jew or gentile, slave or free, male or female, believing in His Name, is how you become sons of God.  And God said what He thinks, you are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.  Becoming a child of God makes you loved.  He loves you, He’s pleased with you.  Yes, He has things for you to do, things for you to walk in that He has ordained since the foundation of the world.  Thankfully – you’re not Jesus, you won’t die for the sins of the world, but if you believe in Him, and give your life to Him.  You are a Son of God, an heir with Christ (the first of many brothers).  His blood cleanses your sin, and you are His son, He loves you, and He is pleased with you.  Before you do anything, before you did anything, you just believed, and received His Salvation, a new Name, and a new family.  And you are loved by your Father in Heaven, accepted by your Father in Heaven, He’s pleased with you.  And now that you know that… you can walk in every good thing that He has called you to do, appointed for you.  So that you may know the joy of the life He has saved you for.  The things He has planned for you!  But it’s not the things that you do…  You just do them because you love Him, because He first loved you.  You are absolutely loved.  He’ll never not love you.  You’re good, no pressure, just His presence, and you will grow in His goodness, and the knowledge of Him, and His love for you. 
 
Love you all,
dad

Hove you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you of the promised Messiah – who came for your Salvation. So you can live eternally with God not eternally separate from Him…  So you can be free from sin, for the rest of your life.  What you were once a slave to, you are no longer bound by… you’re free.  It also tells you of the promised Holy Spirit – who will fill you with power, and lead you into all truth.  He gives discernment.  So Heavenly Father – would you send your Spirit of Discernment, in Jesus Name.   Have you ever heard someone talk of the performance trap?  They’re talking about the lie from the enemy that you have to do things, to measure up, to earn God’s love or forgiveness, or to earn your salvation.  That is just a lie.  God loves you for you, He loved you when you were yet a sinner, when you hated him, and rejected him, or didn’t even know about him, or think about him.  He created you, He loves you enough to die in your place.  And He loves His children.  That’s why He came to earth in a human suit…  so you could become a child of God by putting your faith in Him.  To become a part of His family, forever to live with Him.  So then why do some people still think that they have to do things – to earn His love.  It’s just deception, that the enemy uses often and effectively.  The result is people always striving for something unreachable.  You couldn’t do enough to earn his love.  You were separated from God because of the sin of Adam and Eve – you were born in sin, that’s why your parents never had to train you to do something wrong, it came naturally.  But when you put your faith in Jesus’ death – in your place to cover your sin, like God’s Word promises… you are a new creation.  The old is passed away, and the new has come.  New life, new identity!  It’s who you are in Christ.  Because Jesus you are forgiven, loved, adopted.  But there are some things that you now do… that reflect this new life in Christ.  Jesus said, “Follow me.”  (that means, Do what I do, Do what I tell you to do).  He didn’t say – Follow the Rules, or work hard to earn it.  He already earned it.   You are loved forever by your heavenly Father, because if you received Him, believed Him, and committed your life to Him.  You are now His child.  And as a perfect Heavenly Father – His love for you is unconditional.  So The performance trap – is just a lie – meant to make you feel unloved, and unworthy.  The sneaky part of it.  It’s true, but not all true.  You are unworthy, but He is worthy…  and He’s got you.  What’s not true of that deception… you’re not unloved.  You are loved with an everlasting love.  If you don’t know this love, because you haven’t given your life to God, through Jesus – see the PRISM Topic - Salvation First.  It is the best gift you could ever receive.  No strings attached to receive it.  Just Admit, Believe, and Commit.   But afterwards, there will be some fruit of it.  Some people believe – it doesn’t matter what you do, or even, “God doesn’t care what you do.  He just wants you to be. You’re a human being, not a human doing.”  Sounds good, but is that true?  Some people get confused by that.  It’s true, but it’s not the complete story.  God does care about what you do.  He said, “I know the plans I have for you.”  He’s got things for you to do!  He said, I will instruct you in the way best for you, the way chosen for you.  Does that sound like He doesn’t care what you do?  That’s not what His Word says.  The truth is - if you are something, it will be reflected in what you do.  Jesus didn’t come to be.  He came to do.  Do what?  Die in your place.  Jesus said, I only do what my Heavenly Father tells me to do.  So Jesus wasn’t just a human being, he was also a human, doing.  What you do, reveals who you are, and whose you are, and what you believe.  James said that Abraham was counted righteous, not just for what He believed, but what He did, when He offered his Son Isaac, in obedience to His Father in Heaven.  God said I have found David son of Jesse, he will be what I want him to be…  No, that’s not what it says.  God said, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart (what made him that?) He will do everything I want him to do.  God’s Word says Even a child is known by his beliefs….  No, it doesn’t say that – it says even a child is known by his actions (his doings).  We are human beings – we came to be when God breathed life into us.  But we are also human doings.  That’s why God said,  I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.  God’s plans for you are not just to be – He has things for you to do!  Just like Jesus, Just like Abraham, and Gideon, and Paul, and David, and you!  So what’s the difference between the doings that God has for you, and the performance trap?  Let me ask you a question.  Husbands, do you ever do the dishes for your wife, or take out the trash?  Why do help with the dishes, or change a diaper, or run to the grocery, or fill her gas tank?  Are you worried she won’t love you anymore if you don’t?   No, you just do those things because you love her and want to make her life a little easier.  You share the load, and lift her burdens.  Like when you bring her flowers when its not Valentines, or her birthday.  You’re not trying to earn her love, or trying to get her to love you.  You’re not loved because you did something.  You love, and that’s why you do something.  You just love her and it’s a joy for you.  Wives, do you ever make dinner for your husband?  Is it because you are trying to earn his love?  Are you afraid he’ll divorce you if you don’t make him dinner?  No, you just do it because you love him.  That’s the difference between the performance trap, and the language of love.  Motive.  Love for God is obeying.  There’s definitely a doing involved.  But its not because you are trying to earn his love, it’s because He loved you first, and you just do what He commands because you love him, and it’s a joy!  Obedience is a joy!  It’s a path, not a list.  It’s because of who you are – that you do what God tells you to do.  You love Him by obeying.  And your doing reflects your being.   Praying that you won’t fall into the performance trap, but that you will equally not fall into the being trap.  There is no such thing as just being.  Jesus came to do.  Adam was put in the garden to do.  And God promised that He will fulfill the purpose He has for you.  There are some things He wants you to do!   You just need to Get His Plans for you (they’re awesome).  And then just do whatever He tells you.  It’s the best life ever!  God said He has things for you to do – His plans for you are better than you could even imagine – like heavens are higher than the earth.  He loves you for who you are, and He leads you to do the things that He has ordained for you to do – since he formed you in your mother’s womb.  Praying that you’ll know the joy of being… a child of the King.  And that you’ll know the joy of doing… everything Your Father has planned for you, and tells you to do…  Just like Jesus did. 
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you the truth, and it tells you the truth about prayer.  It’s not wasted or worthless, it’s highly beneficial – it’s God’s will for you.   What do you pray when you get up in the morning?  Hopefully your prayer life has become an ongoing conversation, as well as purposeful assigned times that God leads you to.  Hopefully you pray in the Spirit as a habit, because that is the perfect will of the Father prayed over your life.  But what do you pray in the morning when you get up?  Here’s one…  Start with Thanksgiving and Praise.  God said that how we enter His gates, and His courts – His presence… with thanksgiving and praise.  “God, Thank you for your great love for me – you said your love for me endures forever.  Thank you for mercy, and forgiveness, and Salvation.  Thank you, Jesus for your sacrifice so I can live in victory today!  Thank you for your grace to say “No” to every sin, and “Yes” to everything you told me to do in this hour.  I choose your grace today!  I Praise You O God, you are the One and only true God.  You created heaven and earth, and through you everything is held together.  You created me, and are fulfilling your purpose for me.  Your plans for all of human history are unfolding according to your perfect plan.  Your Word is true it stands forever, Your judgments, your decisions, are pure and righteous altogether, your promises are sure, they will never fail, I put my trust in you.”  Then bring your petitions before God.  It’s ok to ask Him for stuff, that’s what prayer means – petition, and God loves to hear your requests.  David prayed this, you can too.  “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  You can pray for wisdom – God promised He will give it if you ask, no exceptions.  “God give me wisdom, so my words and decisions and choices and my life will honor you. Teach me the fear of the LORD – so that everything it brings will be established in my life.”    You might just finish with the LORD’s Prayer, how He told His disciplines to pray.  “Our Father who is in Heaven – Holy, Holy is Your Name.  Let your Kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give me today the daily bread that you have for me – help me to come back to your Word so I can get all of it.  Forgive my sin as I forgive those who sin against me.   Protect me from temptation, deliver me from every evil, for the Kingdom is yours, and the power is yours and the glory is yours – forever and ever.  Amen.”  Praying that you will pray in the Spirit, that you will pray in the understanding, that you will pray your PiVAT Prayer List, as God leads you – praying that you will pray the will of God, and pray without ceasing, that your prayer would be fervent and effective so that it will have great impact, and bring heaven down to earth. 
 
Love you all,
dad 

​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you where to plug in to get power.  Have you ever plugged something into an outlet that didn’t work?  No power.  Sometimes you have to reset the breaker, or at least hit that red button in the middle of the outlet, which resets it.  So the power can flow again.  Life is kind of like that.  You need power for your life to work.  That’s why the first thing Jesus told his followers – His first command, wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes on you.  And you will receive power.  Once you receive it – stay in it!  Keep it turned on!  Have you noticed that power loss in life - is more often a slow leak, not a sudden occurrence.  You don’t realize it immediately.  You don’t leave the power in one decision, it’s usually smaller decisions.  Not to leave the power, but to pursue something else, become occupied with something - less valuable, less necessary, (if not unnecessary altogether), less important, lacking power.  The thing with a powerless life that’s unlike a powerless outlet – is that with the outlet, you know immediately, with life – you don’t recognize it right away.  It’s that slow leak.  So what is that balance of power – so important to life.  Balance of influence, and balance of input.  To have a powerful life the two influences cannot be equal, or even close.  One must consume, or get consumed by the other, replaced. How many hours of influence a day, do you have in either power source?  Kari Jobe, at a recent Upper Room Prayer Set shared that she has Upper Room in their home all the time.  And sometimes she cannot even do anything else, the glory of God falls so thick in her home.  At your workplace, you may or may not be able to do that.  But what is in your drive times, and your meal times, and your evening times.  What are you hearing and watching, listening to for the bulk of the day, or the bulk of your off hours, transition times, or down times.  What is your goto power source, and what do leave behind.  I know for me, if I suddenly realize the power has waned, it’s time to plug in again, reset.  Look at the balance of power.  If I’ve missed PiVAT for a few days – rare, but absolutely predictable - the result.  If I allow other influences to drown out the Holy Spirit, and His Presence, and His Word – it is a guaranteed loss of power.  Praying that today, you will reset.  Just hit that red button in the outlet.  Just get back to the balance of power.  Where the Holy Spirit is turned on, all the time, every chance you get, and the other voices are turned off.  Where He can fill you, and refresh you, and inspire you, and give you hope, His plans, His dreams, His purposes for you in this season.  The wisdom that you need, the hope that you need…  The more His presence fills your home, and your car, and your lips, and your thoughts… the more - power will flow through your life.  Your relationships will look different because the input into you, changes your input into them.  Praying that the Balance of Power in your life, will always be the Holy Spirit, His presence, His praise and the worship of His Name!  So your spirit is filled with His power.  And your day is filled with the fruit of wisdom, and honor, and blessing.  Praying that you will check the power, to see if any has waned, and if needed, to reset completely. 
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells us what we are to do in this brief life on earth.  “Seventy years, maybe eighty if you have the strength.”  God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the instruction to steward what God created.  Your life’s purpose is to glorify the One who made you, and lead others to the One who loves them, and made them too!  Your job is to steward, your reasonable reaction is to worship, and your mission, your commission is to lead others to Him, so they can know the One who loves them unconditionally, designed them uniquely, and longs to be with them eternally…  There’s a requirement for that...  where you put your faith.  Tomorrow is a big day in America, Election Day.  It’s where the people of this country get an opportunity to steward the nation that God has ordained, and by whose providence it was even made possible, in the manner that most reflects Him, His ways, and the original purpose for which it was set in place...  To form a more perfect union, to secure liberty and justice for all.  When asked what kind of government they had made, Benjamin Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”  So why is your vote so important?  When God says we don’t belong to this world, but are sojourners in it, we belong to a different kingdom?  So why is your vote here, so important?  Because this nation is where He has placed you, and what He has given you – “It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.”  If you do not vote, others will steward the nation God has placed you in.  And who knows if they will be honest or honorable?  You cannot absolve yourself of your stewardship responsibility for this nation, and by default leave it to others.  So how do you vote?  And how do you know who or what to vote for?  Do you vote according to your faith?  Do you vote out of ignorance?  Do you vote what the culture or media wants you to believe?  Or do you know the God of truth? And seek out truth in a culture of differing information – each one claiming the ‘opponent’s’ is disinformation.  That’s where you need the Holy Spirit to lead you, and to fulfill your stewardship responsibility of due diligence – researching the truth for yourself.  In an information censored world, where only one side is presented, it takes increased diligence to find the truth.  When you vote does your faith – lead your vote?  There are definitely two sides in this nation.  Two different faiths.   The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  His strategy is to deceive (he’s the father of lies), and to divide and conquer (he’s the accuser of the brethren).  So what do you believe and how do you vote?  What standard do you use?  In a recent interview with a Latino voter – his answer was this.  He explained why “Latinos are predominantly voting Republican in the upcoming midterms, citing their Conservative values.  “We believe in faith, family, freedom, and hard work,” He said.  Lastly, he explained his Catholic perspective, saying, “The Church has given us a criteria of five things called the ‘five non-negotiables’… When you look at the Democrat and Republican party platform, the Republican party platform is congruent with Catholic moral teaching on family and life.  The Democrat party violates all five non-negotiables.  You cannot be a Catholic and a Democrat.”  This man has obviously done research of each party platform, and compared it to his faith, and is voting by his conviction.  Whether his assessment is accurate or not, that’s how He’s voting.  Other people’s faith teaches them that this nation was founded on injustice, racism, or other evils, and their faith determines their vote.  What does your faith lead you to believe?  What has your research revealed?  Do you vote according to narratives of the news media? Or have you done the due diligence that stewardship requires.  Have you asked the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth… and therefore to the vote which best reflects God’s will for this nation, not the will of man… God’s purpose for America?  Praying that you will vote.  And not vote your conscience, because your conscience can be deceived.  It can easily be triggered by disinformation.  Praying that you will ask the Holy Spirit, to help you research diligently, to find truth, and for the Holy Spirit to lead you to the vote that most reflects the will of God, not the will of man.  For this nation to fulfill it’s purpose, His Divine Providence must now save the nation that it created.  Your vote is your stewardship responsibility, praying that you will have God’s wisdom that exposes deception, and the leading of His Holy Spirit – which leads you in all truth.  Praying that you will love people, even the deceived, that you will be kind and respectful and courageous, speaking the truth in love, and voting according to the principles, and the truth of the One True God – who will surely fulfill the purpose for this nation. 
 
Love you all,
dad