#020 - From Stress to Rest
#020 - From Stress to Rest
How We Handle Money & How Money Handles Us
Don’t want to read? No problem! You can listen to me reading to you by clicking the play button above.
Welcome to the 20th edition of The Wealth Letters, a crowdsourced Anthology on how to find enough in a noisy world.
If you haven’t done so, please read or listen to the manifesto before diving in to the collection, as it will provide a clear vision & goals of The Wealth Letters.
The following entry is a collection of message notes from Pastor Tom Lundeen on a series of four sermons he gave to the Riverside Church campuses of Big Lake & Sauk Rapids, MN.
The sermons, and corresponding message notes focus on how we handle money and how money handles us. It is highly advised to view the sermons so as to better understand how the message notes can be applied to each one of us.
The original sermons can all be viewed in their entirety here:
The Ultimate Financial Planner
I Can See Clearly Now (Part 1)
I Can See Clearly Now (Part 2).
Who is Pastor Tom Lundeen?
Bio credit: https://myrc.church/
Before reading or listening to Pastor Tom’s message notes…
Be willing to be vulnerable and open your mind to ideas and suggestions that have proven worthwhile in another’s journey. Do not blindly accept any and all advice given, but rather take in the information and distill it down to if & how it can be applied to YOU and your unique self.
Michael Jordan said that he imitated Dr. J.
Kobe Bryant said he studied and imitated Jordan.
But, they mixed in their own uniqueness.
While not everything will relate directly to one’s current situation at this precise moment, there may be some gems that will be worthwhile in time.
From Stress to Rest: How We Handle Money & How Money Handles Us
By: Pastor Tom Lundeen
There are probably fewer topics that have more spiritual and practical implications for our lives, marriages, families, culture, nation, and world than how we handle money and how money handles us.
80% of Americans are in debt
41% of millennials spend more on coffee than retirement plans
62% of couples who argue have disagreements about money
Infidelity and money issues are the top reasons for divorce
Even more significantly, Jesus made it clear that how we handle money has eternal implications.
Luke 16:11 (NIV):
“So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”
God measures our spiritual maturity by how we deal with money. Jesus focused on this topic so much not because He was obsessed about money or wanted us to have a lot of it, but because He knew money is always a heart issue and one of the most likely reasons for someone to either follow Him or to give up on Him.
Matthew 6:19-21:
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
What are God’s principles for financial freedom?
1. Keep Good Records
Proverbs 27:23 (NIV):
“Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.”
We need to know where our money comes from and where it goes. Often money doesn’t talk…it tends to slip away quietly and doesn’t give a forwarding address.
Proverbs 23:23 (NIV):
“Buy the truth and do not sell it—wisdom, instruction and insight as well.”
I need to know what I own, owe, earn, and where it’s all going.
Write it down!
2. Budgeting
A budget is simply planned spending. It helps you tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.
Proverbs 21:5 (NIV):
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”
Your yearnings will always exceed your earnings.
Proverbs 21:20 (NIV):
“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”
“If you want to control your debt, you’ve got to nip it in the budget.” - Pastor Warren
3. Save
Proverbs 20:21 (NIV):
“An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.”
30% of Americans have no savings
70% have less than $15,000 saved
Proverbs 6:6-8 (NIV):
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”
One of the unspoken reasons we don’t save is envy. The problem is most people we envy are also in debt and envying others. We have to stop comparing/competing and decide to do the right things with the money God has entrusted to us.
Note Proverbs 13:11 (NIV):
“Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.”
4. Generosity
Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV):
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
Whatever you want God to bless in your life, put Him first. A great starting point is to tithe 10%…God owns it all anyway!
Malachi 3:10 (NIV):
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Practicing generosity reminds us that everything is God’s:
Give with gratitude
It helps make God our first priority
It is a declaration of faith
1 Corinthians 16:2 (NIV):
“On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”
5. Contentment
Ecclesiastes 6:9 (NIV):
“Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
We can be so focused on getting more that we don’t enjoy what we have. The truth is, things will “settle down” when we choose for them to settle down.
Hebrews 13:5 (NIV):
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV):
“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
I know these principles work, but there are 2 conditions:
You have to do them all
You have to do them in God’s order
Here’s what most people do:
Earn it
Enjoy it
Repay it (past)
Save it (future)
Give/tithe it (eternal)
Here’s the order that God blesses:
Earn it
Tithe/give it
Save it
Repay it
Enjoy it
Out of control finances are symptoms of an out of control life.
We need a life manager = Jesus Christ. Behind all our financial problems is unbelief.
We need Jesus to be first the CEO of our lives, and then the CFO too!
Job 31:24-25, 28 (NIV):
“If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”
Money can dominate our lives and money influences our lives for good or bad. If you don’t learn to manage your money, it will manage you, which is why money and financial issues cause so much stress in our lives.
What is Jesus Talking About?
Note the Parable of the Shrewd Manager in Luke 16:1-13 (NIV):
“Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Jesus isn’t praising dishonesty. But, He is pointing out that there are always things to learn even from people we may disagree with!
Luke 16:14-15 (NIV):
“The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”
Jesus wants us to think about money differently because so many of us aren’t very good at managing it. God wants you and me to learn to be Biblically shrewd with our money for the rest of our lives.
Don’t Squander Money
Luke 16:1-2 (NIV):
“Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’”
Luke 15:13-15 (NIV):
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.”
Everything we have and are belongs to God. We are not owners, we are only managers.
Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV):
“But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”
Deuteronomy 10:14 (NIV):
“To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.”
Exodus 19:5 (NIV):
“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession, although the whole earth is mine…”
Job 41:11 (NIV):
“Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.”
Don’t Love Money
Luke 16:13 (NIV):
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. It’s impossible to have 2 number one priorities. And loving money has serious consequences in many areas of life, including spirituality.
1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV):
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Don’t Rely on Money
Luke 16:3 (NIV):
“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—”
Never put your trust in anything that can be taken from you. The only thing that you can never lose is God’s love for you.
Proverbs 23:5 (NIV):
“Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”
Don’t Expect Money to Give Your Life Meaning
There is no agreed to number in survey after survey about how much money is enough.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV):
“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”
Luke 12:15 (NIV):
“Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Your net-worth doesn’t equal your self-worth. Your valuables are not your value. My worth and value and yours is because God made us; Jesus died and rose again for us; and the Holy Spirit wants to take up residence in us.
Money is a tool and we’re to use it the way God designed it to be used. When we’re using money God’s way, we’ll have less stress and much more rest. And, we’ll use money the right way when Jesus has His rightful place in our lives.
Everything Belongs to God
Everything ever created belongs to God.
Psalm 24:1 (MSG):
“God claims Earth and everything in it. God claims World and all who live on it.”
All we have is on loan. Jesus wants us to understand we are all in middle management positions. Everything we have is a gift from God, and God is very interested in what we’re doing with what He’s entrusted to us.
James 1:17 (MSG):
“Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of Heaven.”
If I’m in charge and the master of my destiny, then I’ve got to worry about where I’m going to get money and how I’m going to pay for everything. But, when I know God owns it all, the full weight of every money issue/challenge/opportunity isn’t just my concern.
Matthew 6:25-27 (MSG):
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference?”
How well are you taking care of God’s property?
As pastor Warren said, “Whenever I waste money, I’m wasting God’s money.”
God Uses Money to Help Me See Myself
Life is a test and God uses money to test us. God uses money to help me see:
A. What I love most
You spell love —> G.I.V.E. (you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving).
Matthew 6:19-21 (MSG):
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
B. What I trust the most
Proverbs 11:28 (MSG):
“A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.”
C. If God can trust me
Unmanaged finances reveal an unmanaged life. Jesus directly connects spiritual maturity with money, spiritual power with how we handle stuff/things, and God’s blessings with my dollars.
Luke 16:10-11 (MSG):
“Jesus went on to make these comments: If you’re honest in small things, you’ll be honest in big things. If you’re a crook in small things, you’ll be a crook in big things. If you’re not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store?”
Money is Simply a Tool
Money is neutral.
We’re not to love money, but to use it. God wants us to love people and use money, not love money and use people. We need to use money to honor God. The shrewd manager isn’t praised by Jesus for his dishonesty.
But, he did 3 things God wants us to do with our money:
1. He Focused on the Future
Luke 16:3 (MSG):
“The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg. . . . Ah, I’ve got a plan.”
Japanese save an average of 28.8% of their income.
Europeans save an average of 12% of their income.
Americans save an average of 3.4% of their income.
If we’re living beyond our means, we’re not thinking about the future.
Proverbs 14:8 (MSG):
“The wisdom of the wise keeps life on track; the foolishness of fools lands them in the ditch.”
2. He Planned
Luke 16:4 (MSG):
“Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.”
Proverbs 16:9 (MSG):
“We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.”
3. He Was Decisive
He didn’t procrastinate or say, “someday…”
Do you have a financial plan?
A budget?
A plan for dealing with our debts?
It starts with making Jesus the CEO of your life
A Quick Review:
Everything belongs to God
God uses money to help me see myself
Money is simply a tool
There are 3 remaining life-transforming truths that will help us experience less stress and more rest in our lives:
1. One Day I’ll Face the Ultimate Audit
Whether we have comparatively a lot or a little, God is very interested in what we’re doing with it, and if He can trust us with more.
Luke 16:2 (NIV):
“So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’”
One day for all of us, our time in middle management will end, and God will ask us to show what we did with the mind, gifts, abilities, health, freedom, and resources He gave us.
Did we just focus on ourselves, or did we honor God with everything?
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV):
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
1 Peter 4:11 (NIV):
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen”
Colossians 3:17 (NIV):
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Romans 14:12 (NIV):
“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.”
2. Faithfulness With a Little Opens the Door to God Trusting Me with More
Luke 16:10 (NIV):
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
Matthew 25:14-30 on the Parable of the Bags of Gold (NIV):
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“Faithfulness in little ways produces fruitfulness in big ways.” - Pastor Warren
Generosity is God’s plan to become financially healthier. Ask yourself this question: “Can I do better with 100% of my money, or can the God of the universe help me do better with 90% of my money?
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (NIV):
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”[a]
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Luke 6:38 (NIV):
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
3. The Best Use of Money
Note Luke 16:9 (NIV):
“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
The best use of my money and yours is populating heaven and depopulating hell. - Pastor Lundeen
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV):
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
2 Corinthians 5:8 (NIV):
“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Is anybody going to be in Heaven because of the way you used your money and practiced generosity?
You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead by investing it in the lives of people who your gifts help in them saying ‘YES!’ to Jesus as Lord.
No matter what you may have in your earthly IRA, it pales in comparison to what you could have in your eternal IRA.
Give your first and best to God. He didn’t give his 3rd string for us…He gave us His one and only Son!
One day, you and me will face the ultimate audit.
- Pastor Tom Lundeen, Riverside Church
My Takeaways
“If you don’t learn to manage your money, it will manage you, which is why money and financial issues cause so much stress in our lives.” - Pastor Lundeen
“We have to stop comparing/competing and decide to do the right things with the money God has entrusted to us.” - Pastor Lundeen
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. - Ecclesiastes 5:10
“Your net-worth doesn’t equal your self-worth.” - Pastor Lundeen
GENEROSITY. We are called to be generous. We should give our FIRST and our BEST to God.
What were your takeaways from Pastor Tom?
Connect with Pastor Tom or Riverside Church:
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Jordan
Pastor Tom,
Thank you so much for sharing your insights...gotta say, generosity sure seems to be a main takeaway!!!