Walking In God’s Favor: Don’t worry about anything. Instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT
We were first introduced to stewardship principles by Elder Harold Lee. A young family with four children, Ardella was a stay-at-home mom, while I was serving in the United States Navy at Rough & Ready Island in Stockton, California. Our life’s spiritual journey has never been the same.
You Can Live Your Dream
God has placed in each of you an abundance of potential, and you must make the choice to develop, or not to develop your God-given gifts. After learning and living stewardship principles for over 25 years, we have discovered certain levels of stewardship in which people are living consciously or unconsciously, each day of their lives.
Level 1 Stewardship – The Life of Struggle
Level 2 Stewardship – The Life of Stability
Level 3 Stewardship – The Life of Surplus
Level 4 Stewardship – The Life of Sustainability
Give Your Life a Mission
Level 1 Stewardship is the life of struggle. The Level 1 Steward is trying to survive; To keep the lights on, food on the table, and gas in the car. I remember as a young father, being so concerned about paying bills and meeting my family financial obligations, I could not think about my higher purpose. Something was missing.
If you are a Level 1 Steward, you can become so overwhelmed trying to survive, you cannot hear God’s voice calling you. The Holy Spirit speaking to your heart, is drowned out by the immediate basic needs in front of you.
You Win When You Yield
The first lesson you must learn in Level 1 Stewardship, is that God is the Creater/Owner of everything, and you are only a manager, apprentice, or steward. This spiritual truth must become the foundation of your life. You can easily become a millionaire and be a million miles away from God, if you do not internalize this truth.
The second lesson you must learn in Level 1 Stewardship, is to put your faith and trust in God. God will supply all you need according to His riches in glory. The wiser steward you become, the more God can trust you with, because He knows you can handle it. The Level 1 Steward walks by faith and not by sight.
Why is it, when God blesses you with a good education, you worship the education? God blesses you with a successful business, and you worship the business. God blesses you with talent, and you worship the talent. Instead of worshiping the Gift Giver, you worship the gifts. The Level 1 Steward learns to worship God as Creator/ Owner and giver of all gifts.
You are invited to visit our Legacy Journey class Orientation http://www.firstsdachurch.com Tuesday 6:30pm September 16th to discover how you can leave a legacy for future generations. Remember wise stewards plant trees who shade they will never sit under.
Prayer of Blessing: Lord teach us to plant seeds for the 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 six grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.
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