A Letter To Sunrise - Joy In Your Finances

Greetings,

“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” This is how Paul ends his letter of joy to the people in the church at Philippi. What a way to end a letter of thanks, joy and hope. I hope you have experienced your joy quota increasing as we have taken a look at the letter of Philippians for the last seven weeks.

Paul ends the letter of Philippians by thanking them for the financial gift they sent to him and by encouraging them to continue to trust Jesus Christ in all things. He is positive, upbeat and hopeful because of the joy he is experiencing in Jesus Christ. May you and I experience that kind of hope in our lives and in our families. May we live in the realm optimism day by day. As we go through the weekdays may we live with a sense of anticipation. May we “Delight ourselves in God, yes, find our joy in Him at all times”.

As you and I go through the work days I realize that money is a major part of our thought life. I am aware of the time, prayer, planning, preparation, and thought that you and I give to our finances. We desire to make healthy decisions in regards to our income, expenses, and giving. Because money is such an integral part of life it is very important that we understand that God wants to be involved in our financial decisions and He wants to bless us so we can bless others. He wants us to experience joy in our finances, and we can if we will flesh out the truths found in the Bible and in the book of Philippians.

This morning we gained a little insight into the possibility of experiencing joy in our finances. As I think about money, work, expenses, bills, raising children, savings, unforeseen expenses, and giving I thank God for the opportunity to be able to think, work, serve, and learn how to make the most of His financial blessings. What a privilege it is to make decisions in regards to finances. You and I can decide to be bummed or joyful about our financial situations. We choose to make the most of our finances or allow our finances to get the best of us. We have the opportunity to be joyful or disheartened about our finances. I want to choose joy. I hope you will also. I must admit I am not always in the realm of optimism when thinking about finances, but I am learning to live in joy in all of life as I walk with God. I hope you and I will grow in the areas discussed this morning in the service. I really hope we will trust God and seek to honor Him in our finances. What a joy it is to ask God for help with money. What a joy it is to give so others can know Jesus Christ. What a joy it is to sit before God in stillness and be content with the current blessings and challenges in life. What a joy it is to help others and make a difference in someone’s life. What a joy.

Again, May your joy quota increase. “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” Philippians 4:4

Rejoicing,
Steve Nethery