Don’t Miss The Boat

When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”

-Acts 12:14-15

"Unless You Believe, You Will Not Understand."

-Saint Augustine (354AD-430AD)

You can say prayers in your mind but doubt in your heart. At times God will answer such prayers as He did when Peter was in prison, scheduled for execution. The believers in Jerusalem were powerless to free him, so they prayed. When God released Peter, their reaction revealed the doubt in their hearts. They argued that Peter could not possibly be free, even as he stood outside knocking on the door!
It is possible to be a “person of prayer” and yet still not have faith? Absolutely! If you study habitual liars, they actually believe their lies to be true. If you tell the same lie over and over again, you too will come to believe your lie to be true. Is it possible to fool yourself into believing that because you ask God for help, you have faith in His ability to meet your needs? Is your faith so weak that you are surprised when God answers your prayer? As a child of God, you ought to expect God to answer your prayers. Not play God like a puppet which is in your control but know undoubtedly that he will answer them the best way He decides. And…sometimes those prayers may be just the way you wanted, that’s where we see the true essence of faith. Are you surprised or are you grateful? Not, surprised and grateful. Just grateful. Do you ask God to do something without adjusting your life to what you are praying? If you are praying for revival, how are you preparing for its coming? If you are praying for forgiveness, are you still living with guilt and bitterness? If you have asked God to provide for your needs, do you remain worried and anxious?
Ask God to increase your faith, and then begin living a life that reflects absolute trust in Him. Out of His grace, God may choose to respond to your requests despite your lack of faith, but you will miss the joy of praying in faith.
I like the commonly used story about the woman stranded on top of the house where the waters are rising due to a massive flood. While waiting she prayed earnestly for God to come and save her. As she was praying a man rowed by in a canoe and asked if she wanted help. She declined and remarked “No thanks, God is going to save me.” So he rowed on. She continued to pray and a country boy came by in his air powered boat and asked her if she wanted help. She waived him on as well remarking the same thing. Then the Coast Guard came in with a helicopter. Again the same thing. Well, she died. When she went to heaven she asked God, “What happened? I prayed for you to save me and now I am here.” He looked at her, shook his head and responded, “I sent you 2 boats and a helicopter. What more did you expect?” God is not going to be this giant arm that comes through the clouds to do what it is you are asking…well, he might but it is highly unlikely. So live faithfully that he has an arm through the clouds right now helping but you just can’t see it.

And now for Napoleon Hill's Thought of the Day.

IF YOU ARE AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE DOWNTRODDEN.

We still live in the greatest country in the world. The United States is the great experiment in positive thinking; our entire system of government is based upon faith in the inherent goodness of the individual. It was a revolutionary idea more than 200 years ago when the Declaration of Independence was first signed. Borrowing from the greatest thinkers in history, our founding fathers established a form of government of the people that is today the model most imitated around the world. Economic and political conditions ebb and flow, but as long as we have a democratic society that celebrates the individual, we can achieve anything in life we desire. All you require to be successful in the United States is the desire to achieve success and the determination to stick with it until you reach your goals.

You Are Your Worst Enemy

A Blog from Get Rich Slowly.

My friend Gillian called the other day — she’s been having money trouble and was looking for help. “I’m not really a financial advisor,” I told her. “I write about money, and I try to help people at my web site, but I’m not qualified to coach you one-on-one.” Still, she’s a friend, so I resolved to at least give her some advice. I asked her to explain the situation.
“Tom and I are working all the time, but we’re always broke. He just wrecked his car, but we don’t have money to get it repaired. We’ll have to use the credit cards again. We don’t have any other choice. There’s never anything left at the end of the month,” she said. “I need some help budgeting so that we don’t keep having this problem.”
“Well, let’s see what we can do. I guess the best place to start is with your monthly income and your monthly expenses. How much do you and Tom bring home each month?” I asked.
“About $4,000 after taxes.” That was about what I expected.
“How much do you spend?” I asked.
“All of it,” she said, laughing. I expected that, too.
“How much do you have saved?” I asked. “Do you have any savings at all?”
“No, we don’t,” she said. “There’s never been anything left over to save.”
They don’t have anything left to save because they’re very good at spending money. Gillian and Tom live well:
They have a nice custom-built home.
Each of them drives a late model SUV.
They have no kids.
They enjoy expensive hobbies.
I have friends who make half what Gillian and Tom do, but have built a nest egg because they maintain a frugal lifestyle. It should be easy for these two to reduce their spending to create a budget surplus. “Well, let’s see if we can find a way to free up some cash,” I said. “Let’s list your fixed monthly expenses.”
Gillian listed their bills one-by-one. I jotted them down, making note of anything that seemed particularly extravagant. “Okay, let’s see what we have,” I said. “You’re paying a housekeeper $50 a week. If you were to clean the house yourself, you’d save $200 a month.”
“But…” she began.
“I think you’d be surprised at how much difference $200 a month can make,” I said. “I know from experience that even a $50 positive cash flow can make the difference between feeling broke and feeling flush. A $200 difference is huge.”
“Yeah,” said Gillian, “but I don’t want to clean the house. It’s too much work.” I was puzzled. To me, this was a quick and obvious way to free up money. If I were in her shoes, the housekeeper would be the first thing to go — it would be worth some extra work on my part. I tried a different approach.
“You each have a cell phone,” I said. “Do you both need one?”
“Yes,” said Gillian. “I don’t know what I’d do without one. And Tom needs one for work. I need to be able to reach him.”
Her reasoning seemed thin, but I pressed on. “Well, what about the cable bill,” I said. “You’re paying $60 a month for that. That’s an easy one. What about cutting back to basic cable?”
“Oh, we can’t get rid of cable,” Gillian said. “We watch TV all the time.” I was silent. “Are you there?” she asked.
“I’m here,” I said. “I’m just trying to figure out what to do. In order for you to turn things around, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices.”
“Yeah,” she said, “but we can’t cut cable. Tom would have a fit.”
“Gillian,” I said, “this is a little frustrating. I thought you wanted to get out of your money situation.”
“I do,” she said, “but so far you’re just suggesting things for me to get rid of. Isn’t there something else we can do? Can’t we use a budget to get more money?”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” I said. “Cutting things like these is making a budget. I know it seems terrible to have to give things up, but you need to make sacrifices — at least in the short term — in order to get ahead. You don’t have any savings. Any disaster means you’re putting money on your credit card. You need to build up some savings. You need to pay off your existing debt. In order to do this, you need to spend less than you earn. Right now you’re spending exactly what you earn, and you’ll never get ahead that way. I know, because for years that’s how I operated. You’re going to have to tighten the belt, Gillian. It’s the only way.”
I paused, and then said, “You need to decide what’s important.”
It was obvious I wasn’t going to be able to help her. I hadn’t even explored the Big Ideas, like moving down to a smaller home or trading one of their SUVs for a used car. I had started with the medium-sized stuff — the obvious chaff. But Gillian wasn’t interested in making changes if it meant altering her lifestyle. I changed the subject.
We talked about summer. Gillian asked how our garden was. I described the knee-high corn, the ripe raspberries, and Kris’ monster tomatoes. “I’m jealous,” she said. “I don’t have time to garden. I did get a chance to go to the nursery last week, though. I was able to pick up five shrubs on sale for about $10 each.”
The shrubs were the final straw. There was nothing I could do to help her because she wasn’t ready to be helped. She wasn’t ready to listen. She said she wanted to change, but she didn’t really. She was looking for a magic pill, something that would make life easier without any effort on her part. That’s not how it works. Eventually Gillian will reach a place so bad that she’ll begin to see the need to take responsibility for improving her situation, but she’s not there yet.
Our conversation reminded me of an episode of This American Life I heard recently.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/files/Dave%20Ramsey%20clip.mp3

The show profiled debt guru Dave Ramsey, and at one point the reporter played a segment in which Dave experienced similar frustration:
Tina calls Dave because she’s upside-down on her car loan. She recently wrecked the car, but rather than use the money to repair the vehicle, she spent it. “Ooooo-kay,” says Dave, obviously flustered. “I’m afraid what you’re looking at is probably a really good part-time job, about six or eight months of 80 hour weeks.”
“Eighty hour weeks?” says Tina. “That’s too much work.”
“I can’t help you, Tina,” says Dave.
And I can’t help you, Gillian.

Once again, a great example of Ready, Able, and Not Willing.

What More Could Have Been Done?

"What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?"

-Isaiah 5:4

The prophet Isaiah told the story of a man with a vineyard on a fertile hill. The man cultivated the ground and removed the stones so that nothing would hinder the vines’ growth. He planted only the best quality vines. He built a tower in the middle of the vineyard so he could watch for wild animals and intruders. He constructed a wine vat so that he would be ready for the ripe grapes. Then he waited. Rather than producing good grapes, however, the vineyard produced worthless ones.
The story illustrates the relationship between God and His people. God has done everything necessary for us to produce an abundance of spiritual fruit in our lives. He saved us when we were without hope. He gave us His Holy Sprit so that we can produce fruit in our lives. (Gal. 5:22-5:23) He removed our sin so that we are free to serve Him.
We have access to more Christian books music, videos, conferences schools, radio and television stations, magazines, and seminars than ever before. There are churches of every kind and size. We have the bible in numerous translations. We have teachers and pastors to instruct us and encourage us. Most of all, we have direct access to God through prayer. Jesus said that to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48). One day God will hold us all accountable for all that He has done for us. He will ask us to show Him the fruit of all His bountiful provision for our lives. What will He find?

Well it is the Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day!!! The United States of America is absolutely the best country on the face of this earth for more reasons than one. The countdown has started. I have exactly one year from this day until my Financial Independence Day Party which will occur either here in San Antonio or Tampa Bay. Due to this wonderful country I have been blessed with the ability to create enough wealth to retire at such a young age of 25. You have to ask yourself one question. Am I pursuing His calling in my life? “We are all here blessed to be a blessing” as my friend Slim says. If you are blessing others you will be rewarded. The world is out there for you to grab it but we all conform in line and do what everyone else does and expect to get different results. I have chosen to walk a different path. I took the blue pill in the matrix and see things much differently now. What a wonderful world and what a great country we live in. God has blessed America and now it is time for us to receive it and plant new life for the next generations to come.