Looming
Shadows of Debt
So, who's afraid of a shadow? Shadows are deceiving
and create illusions. Debt, also, is a deceptive illusion
that we possess things that we do not really own. According
to Webster:
Debt- (L) n. debitum that
which is owed to someone; an obligation to pay or return
something; the condition of owing (morally obligated);
theologically, a SIN of unbelief that God can and will
meet our needs.
Obligate- (L) v. to bind by a contract,
promise, sense of duty; bound by a responsibility.
Very few people in today's society
escape at least a short period of circumstantial debt.
Whatever the life event, downsizing, illness, divorce,
accidents, death of a loved one, most of us have had
to be "more than a conqueror through Christ." Using
a Debt Triangle we can build a pyramid of the highest
to the lowest types of debt.
DEBT TRIANGLE
So, What's
Wrong with DEBT?
Debt in itself is not always bad. Once your home, cars,
creditors are paid off, debt for investment purchases
is actually very good. There are countless advantages
for expenditures that arise out of property investments.
Debt that creates a bondage and threat to a healthy
consumer lifestyle, however, is actually a sin, in that
it separates us from the belief in the call of God on
our lives. God has a plan to prosper us and not
do us harm and give us a future. Jeremiah 29:11.
Because we know not the future, we have no authority
to presuppose on God to provide beyond His daily promise.
When we willingly enter a debt agreement, especially
in an ungodly, material world, we gamble that God will
extend His blessings to cover our lust for other things.
Whatever way we justify our needs, debt is often a clear
sign that we need to examine our true motives when purchasing.
"The rich ruleth over the
poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender…ye know
not the future."  Proverbs
22:7
Four Things Debt Causes:
1. Compound Interest …in reverse.
Instead of the creditor paying interest for the amount
of money in savings, they are charging interest for
the time we borrow their money on their goods.
Borrow.......$100,000
Interest......10%
30 years....60 months
Payment....$877.57
Total paid..$312,925.00 (additional $215,925 for $100,000.)
The sin is the $215,925.00 that could have been
used for so many other ways for building the Kingdom of
God. 2. Borrowing Presumes
on the Future:
"Go to now, you that say, Today or tomorrow
we will go into such a city, and continue there a year,
and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye
know not what shall be on the morrow. For What
is your life? It is even a vapour, that appears for
a little time, and then vanishes away. 15 For that,
you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and
do this, or that. 16 But now you rejoice in your boastings:
all such rejoicing is evil.17 Therefore
to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him
it is sin." James 4:13-17
When we borrow, especially in times
of economic uncertainty, we are gambling that the money
will come in, or that God will rescue us. Yet, He can
only perform things in agreement to His Word. If we
are not following His Wisdom and guidance then we are
acting out of our own reasoning; boasting in our ability
to buy great purchases. Rather, we should humble ourselves
and boast only on what the Lord has provided for us.
Again, we are living under an illusive shadow that we
have bought goods, when in honesty, we have
merely charged goods.
3. Denies God an opportunity
to prove Himself.
"Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in Mine House. PROVE ME NOW herewith
says the Lord of Hosts, that I will open you the windows
of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you cannot
contain. I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes.
He will not destroy the fruit of your ground. Neither
shall your vine cast fruit before its time and all the
nations of the world will call you blessed."
Malachi 3:10-11
God says prove ME not First American
Bank! Tithing will not get us into or keep us out of
heaven. Tithing is an act of trust and obedience. If
we bring all the tithe, the full ten-percent
to the storehouse, God's promise is to rebuke the devourer
(one who greedily swallows up), prohibit anyone from
destroying the fruit of our ground (fruit of our labor).
Certainly the finance charges at 18-24 % devour our
profit and make our labor a futile effort.
Neither shall our vine (of opportunity
and blessings) cast fruit before their time (before
we are equipped or prepared to harvest), and all the
nations of the world shall call us blessed, because
we will be providing for their needs with our overflow.
The degree of devastation we suffer
often determines the time necessary to return to financial
stability. Our degree of releasing and surrendering
our recovery to the Lord instead of legal or governmental
agencies often determines the length of our shadow.
The Lord promised David, "though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort
me." Psalm 23. When we substitute our financial
circumstances in that phrase, we discover a more peripheral
position of God's protection. Let's examine the mind-set
that determines which lifestyle we choose as believers.
American-Christian:
"Because I dwell in the valley of the shadow of
debt, I will fear all creditors, their collectors and
attorneys are ever after me. Their fine print and laws
discomfort me."
Christian-American: "Though I walk
through the valley (low-lying place between two
high places through which waters have drained)
of the shadow of debt (illusion
of lack, poverty, and bondage), I will fear no
evil (absence of God's presence), for Thou art with
me. Thy rod (Word of correction) and Thy staff (symbol
of Spiritual authority) they comfort me."
The Lord never intended for us to take up permanent
residency in Poverty Valley. We are to dwell in the
secret place of the Most High, under the Shadow of the
Almighty, in His image, which is NOT a poverty, thieving,
hand-out mentality. We are expected to honor our agreements
and contracts to God first and quickly repay any debts
so that we may be a good witness to those watching our
actions. To walk in the blessings we must honor the
Lord with our First Fruits, not what is left over.
4. Block or Detour God's Calling
for our Life
In identifying our positions in the earth, the majority
of Christian-Americans are being chased by shadows of
lack, fear, compulsive buying, impulsive spending, and
are dominated by the remains of their checking account.
Any or all of these things will not keep us out of heaven,
but they will financially cripple us and prohibit us
from walking in God's promised covenant and His perfect
plan and purpose for our lives as believers.
In Galations 5:1 Paul exhorted the
believers (not unbelievers) to "Stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and
be not entangled again (and again-and again) to the
yoke of bondage." Especially as believers,
we have an obligation to our debtors to repay them at
our earliest opportunity. Instead, many repay at their
latest convenience, accruing increased finance charges,
late fees, and overlimit fees. By that time there are
brewing hostilities between them and their creditor,
they begin taking on un-Christ-like attitudes, defensive
actions, and eventually begin a lifestyle of a thief,
i.e. "Catch me if you can!" The chase begins and the
Debt Shadow pursues and overtakes them! Debtor mentality
is a thief in that excessive charges and fees rob us
from the financial freedom to fund ministries, travel
on mission trips, and develop programs that present
the Gospel and build the Kingdom for the Lord. WE become
the enemy!
God's promise, however, is that "if
thou shalt hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord
thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments…that
the Lord will set you on high above all the nations
of the earth: 2 And all these blessings (verses 3-15)
shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt
hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God."
Deuteronomy 28:1-15. |
