KNS Financial

Personal Finance From a Biblical Perspective

3 Ways to Honor the Lord with Your Wealth

By

There is clear instruction to honor the Lord with your wealth in the scriptures.

In Proverbs 3:9-10 we find this command: “Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.”

Honor the Lord with Your Wealth

In our finances, we are expected to give our BEST and FIRST to God! God commanded the nation of Israel saying, “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God” (Exodus 23:19a) and when detailing the offerings that went toward supporting the priests He says, “You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep” (Deuteronomy 18:4).

We are to honor the Lord with all that we have. How we behave with our finances does a lot to reveal our heart toward God. Jesus said, “…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also“. ~ Matthew 6:21

How Do You Honor the Lord With Your Wealth?

How do we accomplish this?

We are exhorted to trust Him.

We are instructed in verse 5 of Proverbs 3 to “trust in the Lord with all [our] heart and do not lean on [our] own understanding”. Trusting God is the first step in honoring Him – this is true in salvation, finances and all other affairs of life. According to Romans 4:3 (quoting Genesis 15:6), this is what pleased God about Abraham.

Often times when we falter in our faith, we don’t realize it is due to unbelief, or in other words, a lack of trusting in God. When it comes to our finances, this can be seen by our dependence on money to ‘save’ us from trouble or blaming our lack of money on our troubles.

We have to remember that no matter what life may bring us, God is our source. He is the one who brings prosperity and opportunity to us, and as His children, He promises to supply our needs because He is a caring Father. Matthew 6:25-35

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

In times of doubt, we must cry out to the Lord as the man who needed Jesus’ help to heal his son in Mark 9:24  “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

We are also expected to be generous and ready to share.

Proverbs 11:24-29 tells us:

“There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered. He who withholds grain, the people will curse him, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who seek evil, evil will come to him. He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like the green leaf. He who troubles his own house will inherit wind, and the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.”

Also in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, we find this instruction:

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

It is amazing to see this principle played out over and over again in our lives. If you are generous even when you have little, God seems to bless your finances to be able to do more than most who have more money than you.

We constantly hear and read about people who recovered from massive amounts of debt while staying faithful (and in many cases increasing) to giving. In fact, most respected financial advisers (many of whom do not believe God’s word) will tell their clients that giving has to be an integral part of their lives in order to be successful financially.

We should be fair in our dealings with others.

In verses Proverbs 3:27-28 we find the following instruction,

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you.”

As believers, we are called to an even greater level of consideration as we contemplate Christ’s goodness towards us and His example. Philippians 2:3-4 states:

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

So in doing all of these things we will begin to honor the Lord with our wealth; which, according to verse 10, will lead to God sustaining us, causing us to be prosperous (cf Luke 6:38, Matthew 6:33) and satisfied (Philippians 4:11-13)!

For more on developing a biblical view of wealth, see our previous article here: http://knsfinancial.com/2010/01/10/wealth-from-the-bible/

 

 

Photo for social media by Suphakit 73 @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Professional And Affordable Logo Design Service IS Possible!

By

[The following is a sponsored post, but all opinions, thoughts, and words are unbiased – you can read our full disclosure here.]

KNS Financial has been in business for a little over 7 years (existing in several different forms) and in that time, we’ve always had trouble finding dependable design services. Whether it was deciding on our basic color palette, trying to decide on a logo, creating stationary, designing business cards, it has always been difficult to find professional help at a reasonable cost.

To get those things done can cost thousands of dollars, depending on what’s involved and what all the designer gives you at the end of the process. To be honest, we’ve heard so many horror stories about people either using friends (or even friends of friends), looking on various ‘classified-type’ sites, or even finding a cheap gig on freelance websites.

Graphic logo Services

Fortunately, Sherrian is extremely creative and we’ve been able to use her color schemes and designs for most of our creative work (logos, headers, and even the design of our free course on worshipful giving). However, there are things that are beyond her scope and our software, and for that we need to look to professionals.

Since creating a side-business or even a full-time business is something that we strongly believe in and talk about often, we are always on the look out for companies or marketplaces where we can find designers with the right mix of professional and affordable. So when Deluxe Business Services reached out to me about their products, I immediately had to take a look.

Deluxe Business Services

When we’ve looked at other services and individuals, most of them simply asked for a list of keywords that represented our business and then went off on their own to create the design.

However, Deluxe Business Services doesn’t take such a minimalistic approach. They actually take you through an entire process that is designed to take as much of your input as possible and come up with the perfect logo that represents your business.

Deluxe Business Services Logo

Great Prices for What You Are Getting

This process involves a “Creative Brief and Brainstorming” session, initial concepts for you to review, and then a chance for feedback & finalization of your design. What I found amazing about this process is that you can have up to 5 designers working on your project and receive up to 50 design concepts with unlimited revisions!

They have 3 plans that you can choose from: Bronze ($245), Silver ($395), and Gold ($645). The extremely low price for bronze (with 2 designers, 2 revisions, and 10 design concepts) initially caught my eye, but once I saw all that comes with the other packages, I believe that the Gold package would be the best option.

In addition to the unlimited revisions, 5 designers, and 50 concepts, you also receive the font and color codes used (so matching future designs to your logos will be simple even if you use another vendor or do it yourself), custom email signature design, stationary designs (letterhead, fax cover sheets, envelopes), and even 1,000 business cards designed by their team to include and match your logo!

Discounts for KNS Financial Readers

I guess you can see why I think that the Gold package would be the best option. However, if that is outside of your budget at the moment, you can still get a great deal for less than $250! Deluxe Business Services was kind enough to offer our readers a $25 discount on their inexpensive Bronze package. That discount goes up to $40 off of the Silver package, and $50 off of the Gold Design Package (bringing to price to under 600).

Even if you aren’t sure exactly which package fits both your budget and your goals, you can always reach out to them for a free phone consultation in order to figure out which plan is best.

If you are looking to represent your business and brand properly, having a professional logo and consistent design is a must. To be able to do that without breaking the bank is the dream of every entrepreneur, and with Deluxe Business Services, it is no longer a dream.

If you use Deluxe Business Services to create your logo (or for any other design services) let us know. We would love to see what you choose and how it turns out for you!

My First Experience with UBER

By

The other day I had to pick up my car from the mechanic. After 2 days and $700, I was less than excited about the idea of calling and waiting for a taxi – there aren’t too many taxi services in our area.

I reached out to my sister to see if she could give me a ride, but she was dealing with a stomach virus and was in no shape to drive. As I was just about to give up and call for a cab, my wife suggested that I give Uber a try.

Uber Review

Uber Taxi App Review

I downloaded the app and was prompted to set up an account with the service. The great thing about this is that you include a preferred payment method in your profile, so you don’t have to enter your credit card information each time you use the service.

Because of this, no money changes hands between you and the driver. He never even sees your payment information – Uber handles everything for both parties!

My Uber Review: What About the Features?

Once my account was set up, it only took a few seconds to request to be picked up near my house. They allow you to either enter the pickup address or let your GPS send your location to the driver. Once they connect you with a driver, you are given an ETA and can even track the exact location of the driver on a map!

I was told that my driver was 14 minutes away and I immediately spotted him on the highway near our home.

Once I walked to the pickup spot, I just watched both the map and the traffic while I waited. I knew what car to look for because Uber gives you that information when they first make the connection – you are also given the name and a picture of the driver along with his rating!

My wife asked me to text her once I got picked up, so I searched the app for the ability to text from within. Not only was I able to send her my current location, but I was also able to allow her to track the entire trip on a map!

If you don’t want to give someone that much information, you can just send them your ETA or (I think) just text alerts when you are picked up and dropped off.

The driver was very pleasant and the car was exceptionally clean! He was a former taxi driver and spent the trip explaining why he feels that Uber provides a better service for customers as well as a more desirable work environment for the drivers.

Based on my experience, I would recommend Uber to anyone who needs a quick ride and wants more options than a traditional taxi.

If you use this link to sign up for the service, then you get your first ride for free (up to a $20 value)! If you’ve used the service before, please leave your own Uber review in the comments’ section.

Groupon Coupons: Introducing A New Way To Save

By

By now, most of us have heard of, and possibly used, Groupon – the website that specializes in offering deals on just about everything that you can imagine. I know so many people who have been able to try a new restaurant, taken dance lessons, joined a gym, found a new spa or salon, and even taken day trips for a fraction of what they would normally have to pay for such things.

Using Groupon is a great way to try out services/businesses for the first time or save money on a product or service that you already love. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned about Groupon Coupons!

What Is Groupon Coupons

Unlike the traditional Groupon service which is a great way to take part in local activities and services or find smaller, more regional businesses; Groupon Coupons provides a way for us to save money when shopping at larger stores.

They have partnered with over 8,600 national retailers to provide a completely free way for you to find thousands of coupons and exclusive promo codes from stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom, Best Buy, and Target. You can also enjoy deals on things like tax preparation with Turbo Tax, airfare with Hotwire, and flowers with FTD.

Groupon Coupons

Groupon Coupons: Use It Or Lose It?

One of the other ways in which this new feature is different than the “traditional” Groupon offerings is that you do not have to put out money in advance of getting the service. Typically, a Groupon deal is purchased ahead of time and then redeemed by the deadline, and if you don’t take advantage of the deal, you will lose your money. So, if you get a deal for $300 worth of dance lessons at $75, you have to pay the $75 up front and if you fail to use the offer by the deadline, then you are out $75!

But as they specify with this new feature, “At Groupon Coupons, you don’t need to purchase anything to use these great savings offers. Choose from a database of over 55,000 completely free coupons from more than 8,000 stores.” So unlike the typical way of buying a discount in advance, this is a discount that you receive at the moment you actually buy a good or service.

In addition to the stores and services I listed above, they also have great deals set up with Sports Authority and Home Depot, so I would definitely suggest checking out Groupon Coupons before you purchase anything…we plan to!

Reader Questions:

Have you used either Groupon deals or the new Groupon Coupon before? If so, how did you enjoy the experience?

Have you ever purchased something because it was a great deal, but then you never or rarely used it?

Do you expect to visit the Groupon Coupons site before making your next purchase?

photo credit: Coupon Pile Stock Photo via photopin (license)

5 Things To Do With A Windfall

By

Even though tax season has come and gone for some, many people are still facing the prospect of getting a lump sum of money in the near future. Events such as graduations, birthdays, and unfortunately, deaths can lead to one getting their hands on a decent amount of money at one time.

Here are 5 great ways to put those windfalls to use…

Pay Off High Interest Debt

I think this one is at the top of my list because we, like many Americans, are dealing with a great deal of debt (just a hair under $90k at our last update).

If your debt carries interest, then it most likely makes sense to use any extra money to pay off debt. That is because you will probably not be able to earn more interest with your money than you are paying in debt. Also, for a number of reasons, having debt is akin to financial bondage, so even if your interest isn’t 30%, it can still weigh you down financially, emotionally, and psychologically.

Pile of Money

Save For Retirement

This is one of the most overlooked areas in finance. Yes, we hear a lot about saving for retirement with various commercials from the big money managers, and as the “baby boomers” generation moves into retirement age, we are constantly hearing about how they failed to save for their retirement.

However, every time I talk to someone younger than 45, they have very little saved for retirement and it’s not even on their radar! So, with this in mind, take the extra money and add it to your IRA, or throw it in the bank and use it to offset your income as you increase your 401k contributions.

Pay Down Your Mortgage

I listed mortgage separately from other debt, because they are usually taken out at much lower interest rates than credit cards, so people don’t consider their mortgage in their list of debts (which is a mistake in my opinion). Anything you can do to pay less interest overall and be in debt for a shorter period of time is a good thing!

Take your windfall and pay down the principal of your mortgage, as long as you don’t have any other debt that is charging a higher interest rate.

Save Money For A Big Expense

Many people are not able to save a large amount of money for certain large expenses such as, a new car, vacation, new computer, or some other big expense that’s expected in the future.

Since this isn’t part of most financial plans, it makes sense to use this extra cash to save for one or more of these expenses.

Build Your Emergency Fund

I have written plenty of times about the importance of an emergency fund. For most people, and emergency fund is a must! If you are out of debt, stash away at least 9 months worth of living expenses in a high-yield savings account (My suggestion is that you open a new Checking or Savings account with Capital One 360 [Full Disclosure: this link contains my referral code]), and don’t touch it unless you have a true emergency.

The purpose behind this account is to prevent the need to using credit cards or taking out other loans when an unexpected, but necessary, expense comes up.

Connect With Us

fbq('track', 'ViewContent');