Author: debo

What are some practices that can help you maintain a healthy financial life? Here are some simple financial practices I learned as a little girl from my parents that have always been a part of my life. 1) What ever you earn, God gets the first 10%. 2) To live generously, give an offering about that first 10%. 3) Save at least 10%, and 4) then invest 10%. 5) Live frugally within your means so you can bless others. 6) Live life beautifully! My dad owned a flower shop so I was always surrounded by the beauty of flowers! As a kid, I knew who our Source was, not my dad’s business, or the side jobs he or my mom would often take, we knew God was our source. I was always confident that we would have enough. We definitely lived frugally, and sometimes my dad would joke on Christmas day if there were many poinsettias left over that we would have poinsettia salad for Christmas dinner, which was a funny joke, because poinsettia leaves are poisonous. God comes first in finances, giving is number 1, saving and investing comes next, then spending. Good financial practices for life- some fresh air for your pocketbook.

Godliness with contentment is great gain is what I Tim 6:8 says. We probably all have heard the scripture that talks about the love of money being the root of all evil. I heard a message once that said selfishness is where all sin begins, and I think I agree. A contented heart is just the opposite. When we don’t want what someone else has, or think we need more of something to be content, we can live a peace-filled financial life. We don’t make money our goal, our goal is to handle God’s resources as faithful stewards and managers. God wants to bless us so that we can be a blessing to others. My life verse says exactly that! In Genesis 12:2 God told Abraham that I will bless you to be a blessing. As many starts as there are in the sty, or as much sand can be found on the beach, that is how far God’s riches extend. He wants to get them to you, so he can get them through you, so you can be a blessing where ever you go.

Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. This week in our Fresh Air study, we will talk about breathing some fresh air into our finances. Financial peace is possible, and we can experience prosperity as we learn to live generously. People are drawn to life-giving people who breathe energy, peace and joy. My hope is that you can get off financial life support, and live to give. Here’s a breath of fresh air for you this week about finances. Here is your dailyeword.

Haggai 1:5-6 has some interesting observations for us to consider. Listen to this:
“Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” I hope you aren’t discouraged because that just told the story of your life! The first phrase is the biggest clue….give careful thought. Many people live thoughtlessly. They just randomly do what they do, spend what they spend, and eat what they eat, without a carefully thought out plan. Many problems would be solved if we just gave some thought to what we are doing. Something has to change before your circumstances will change. What is one thing you can do right now that can help change your financial future? Think about it, and then do it!

The last few days we have talked about how important it is to read the Bible, pray everyday, worship with passion and today we will talk about the beauty of worshipping with others in church. I love church. I love being in church, and am at every church event there is if possible. I love church because I love people, especially the people God has brought and will continue to bring to our church body. We long for connection, and the wonderful thing about church life is that we can be connected in relationship with other believers in a church body. We can draw life and support from our fellow believers. We can have meaningful relationships where we give and receive. It is in those life giving relationships that God can breathe the fresh wind of fellowship into your life. Get some wind in your sail at church. I hope to see you there!

I was born to be a worshipper. I love worshiping God and could do it all day long, everyday. We are created for God’s pleasure, and he takes pleasure in our worship. (Rev 4:11) Real worship isn’t about us, or how good we can sing or play an instrument, it is all about God. I love this saying, that God’s love language is worship. We often love others with our own love language. How about loving God in His love language. Make it a habit to be a passionate worshipper. God surrounds us and in fact lives in the praises of His people and there is nothing more precious than worshipping God and having Him pour fresh revelation or inspiration or encouragement into your life. Live as a worshipper. Take time to sing your praise to the Lord everyday. He loves the sound of your voice! It will give you some fresh wind as you worship!

Yesterday we talked about God’s Word being breath to us. We can breathe in The Word and be refreshed. Today we are going to talk about having a conversation. Take time every day, all through your day to talk to God. He loves you the most, and cares about every detail in your life. He like us to love Him back, and care about what He cares about. When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he responded with the Lord’s prayer. Everyday I pray that with my son on our way to his high school. We need to be reminded every day of the verses in Matt 6:9-13. Say it with me if you know it. Our Father who art in Heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven, Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, AMEN! Breathe in His presence as your breath out your prayers today.

We are a three part being; body, soul (mind, will and emotions) and spirit. Most of us take care of our body, we eat regularly, and hopefully keep ourselves in good shape. We keep our soul in shape, by having meaningful relationships, but often we neglect the most important part of us; our spirit. When our body is in charge, the physical calls the shots. When our soul is in charge, our mind, will and emotions call the shots. What we really want is for our spirit to be in charge, because then we can be Spirit led. That should be the goal of every believer. Here are four areas that help our spirit be in charge, and the first is to read our Bible. It is like a divine wind machine, breathing God’s breath into our world. His words are spirit and life, which actually means breath. So breathe in some Word today, and make it a daily habit. Read it, meditate on it, memorize it, live it.

We ask all the time the question WWJD, or what would Jesus do? How about asking the question, WWJT, what would Jesus think? We know the process, what we think about is what we do. Attitudes lead to action. I love the scripture in Philippians 2:5-8 where we can see Jesus attitude. His thoughts are higher, and we are told to think like Him. I encourage you read these verses and make a list like mine of the thoughts Jesus thought. Make them a part of your life, and begin living higher. What was Jesus’ attitude? He knew who He was, but made himself a servant, He humbled himself and was obedient, and because He was willing to lay down his life, God exalted Him. How can having His attitude change your world? I think you will notice changes in so many wonderful ways. Let’s have Jesus’ attitude, and expect His fresh air to blow through us to those around us.

Attitude changes everything. While watching the morning news last week, they reported that an airplane had made an emergency landing on the highway right in Boise. That pilot was having a bad day! His altitude was affected by the attitude of the plane. You can tell I’m married to a pilot by my superior flying knowledge! Praise God no one was injured or died. For those of us who aren’t pilots, we appreciate that the laws of gravity can be overcome! In our everyday life, we can make a change in our attitude and fly higher and accomplish more, with joy. The way we think, really affects all of life. It can change the way we feel, and it can change our actions. It will even change how we see others. Your fresh air thought for the day, adjust your attitude, and soar.

Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. This week in our Fresh Air study, we will talk about wanting to live in a way that people love being around us, just like people loved being around Jesus. People aren’t drawn to fake, inauthentic, self righteous, religious people, they are drawn to life-giving people who breathe energy, peace and joy into their world. Here’s a breath of fresh air for you this week. Here is your dailyeword.

How is your attitude? Will you change your attitude please? I think I may have said those lines in our home to our teenager 100’s of times in the last few months. Being a parent definitely isn’t easy, and I am an advocate of watching attitude even more than action. Get the attitude right and actions will follow. It works for adults too. So how is your attitude? Do you need to change your attitude? How can we let our attitude reflect the light of God? Those are great questions to ask ourself. We represent the King, and if Jesus really is Lord of our lives, our attitude will reflect Jesus. Jesus was real. He knew that being his best self required spending time alone with His Father. He was authentic. He asked for prayer when he faced His hardest season of life. He never was self righteous, and he was the direct opposite of religious. Although he was a Jew, and knew and participated in Jewish life, Jesus was more interested in connecting with people. Real relationships help us keep our attitude in check! And real relationships breathe fresh air into our world.