Walking In God’s Favor: I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plan to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
You are dealing with an urgent deadline, April 15th. You have put off many of the details of filing your taxes until the last minute. After it’s all said and done, you wonder why you ever put yourself through the headache of waiting til the very last minute.
Most of us know instinctively, that we should have a will and last testament, living health directive, and power of attorney in the invent of a major accident, serious illness, or death. But how many of us have invested in the time to prepare these valuable life documents. We spending more time planning for a vacation than we do planning for our lives.
We agree with Antonio McGinnis when he says in his book The Game Is Deep, “There is no greater feeling than being prepared for every opportunity when it comes your way”.
When Ardella and I invested in the time to plan our future lives together, it was very enlightening. We began to think about our financial assets and the kind of legacy we desired to leave to our children and grand children.
We considered the physical and medical challenges of aging together gracefully. We discussed what we would owe the government in terms of estate taxes. More importantly, we shared our deepest thoughts of how we each wanted to live our last days and hours of life on this planet.
Level 4 Stewards humbly recognize the awesome power of God’s favor in their lives. They are prepared for the opportunity to handle their business in situations such as taxes, estate planning, will and last testament. The Level 4 Steward lives each day as if it is his last, but plans as if he is going to live forever.
Those in Level 4 Stewardship cheerfully give their first fruit off the top and then some. They have moved beyond the 10% tithe and generously give a love offering out of their surplus. Level 4 Stewards have a personal covenant with God and are living examples of what faithfulness is all about.
The Level 4 Steward’s life has become a reservoir of God’s bountiful blessings. Blessing seems to overflow in the Level 4 Steward’s life. I heard someone say it like this, ” I am drinking from my saucer because my cup is overflowing”. When God showers His blessings down on the faithful in Level 4 Stewardship, they handle their business, giving the government their share in taxes. Then they wisely store some of their surplus for their future, their legacy, and for the storms of life.
Prayer of Blessing: Thank you God for the Your wisdom to plan for our future.
Michael Vance is a senior account executive with Hundley Batts & Associates and the co-founder of stewardshipofwealth.com. Ardella Vance is a gifted educator and a Master Guide in the Pathfinders Club, a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people. The Vance’s have been married well over 25 years and share their lives with four adult children and four grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.
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