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Walking in God’s Favor: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart,  so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.     2 Corinthians 9:7 KJV

Becoming Happy Givers

Why would God say He loves a cheerful giver? Giving is an emotional experience that involves the heart.  The word of God says that where your treasures are, that’s where your heart will be also. You must make giving a part of your day to day Christian experience. Here’s how to start.

• Prayer…Ask for God’s power to change your heart. David asked  God for a clean heart. Only God has the ability to change hearts. God can transform your thinking if you give Him permission.
• Seek…Discover God’s wisdom in His Word. Turn off the TV,  iPad  and iphone.  Get into a regular Bible study group. How can you walk in God’s favor and wisdom if you rarely read His divine road map?
• Fellowship…Rub shoulders with people who are generous givers of their time, talents, treasure (money) & temple(body) in honor of God. Hang around people who live a stewardship lifestyle and are great examples of faithfulness.
• Share…Tell your experience to others of how God has blessed your faithfulness. Many times you do not realize God is all you need, until God is all you got.

Generosity Requires a Delicate Balancing Act

People can give more when they are not in bondage to debt and credit cards.  It is difficult to give cheerfully to the Kingdom when you have overextended yourself financially. Learn to say “No” to the person in the mirror and “Yes” to the Giver & Creator of life.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord help us to give cheerfully.

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“.

Walking In God’s Favor: If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him. James 1:5 (TLB)

With A Made Up Mind

If you are really ready to become a better steward of your wealth you must be willing to go through the process of increasing your financial IQ. It’s been said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over, expecting a different result”.

Financial Peace University Class

Ardella and I are helping meaningful others learn how to manage their money wisely by facilitating the Financial Empowerment Sessions. Ardella and I personally were able to pay off over $70,000 of debt in 48 months by learning to use the debt snowball. We experience a three-step process of becoming dedicated, disciplined and diligent in order to receive our financial deliverance from the bondage of debt.

You Must Go Through the Process

The first step was becoming dedicated in desiring to get out of the bondage of debt. We made becoming debt free a priority in our prayer life. We asked God to renew our hearts and minds so the we could have a desire to live debt free.

The second step was disciplining our money habits, we give our money a mission. We began spending our money on paper, on purpose before the month begin by making a cash flow plan and using the debt snow ball.

The third step was diligence in working our financial plan. It took us 48 months of faithful diligence, discipline and dedication before we begin to experience deliverance from financial bondage. The journey out of this mess didn’t happen over night and neither was the trip into it.

You Can Make It

We thank God for answering our prayers and bringing us to this place of deliverance and healing. There are many married couples who cannot agree on how to handle their money who argue with one another, manipulate one another or just avoid one another. Unfortunately, many of these couples end up destroying their marriage because of money.

Practicing biblical principles for handling money has empowered us financially and spiritually. We have no desire to spend money in order to prove to the world we have arrived. More importantly we are free to serve and give to God cheerfully without the financially bondage of debt in our lives. There is financial peace in our home. We are able to leave our family a legacy of love, peace, and prosperity.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord, Thank you for guiding us with wisdom.

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“.

Walking in God’s Favor: And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns. Philippians 1:6 TLB

Growing in Grace

Level 4 Stewards have taken care of business. They have a last will and testment in place and a financial plan for the golden years. (Age 70 is now the new 65 for retirement) Level 4 Steward continues to develop their talents and abilities well beyond their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Level 4 Stewards are always growing mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. They age gracefully with wisdom and live exceptionally active lives.

Choosing The Awesome Life

Are you called to a higher level of stewardship? Are there pieces of your life you know needs to change. We define stewardship from a holistic perspective. Beginning with your body temple. How are you taking care of yourself? Are you positively pushing yourself beyond your physical boundaries by making healthy choices daily.

Have you prioritize your time in relationship to your life goals, dreams and purpose? Moments in American history like September 11th can change your priorities forever. Level 4 Stewardship must learn when to say no to the good in order to say yes to the great. They prioritize activities that align with their life mission.

End of Life Events

What is your bucket list of things you want very much to accomplish, experience or become. What gifts have you been given that you have laid aside that you need to pick back up. Ardella and I have always loved music, it is a lifelong passion we’ve both had since childhood.

Over the years we have found creative ways to keep the music playing in our souls and share our lifetime passion of music with others. Don’t die with the music still in you.

The Level 4 stewards intentionally mentors and sows into the lives of the next generation. They willingly share their life experiences and resources with family, friends and meaningful others. The Level 4 stewards looks for ways to significantly impact the lives of people around them. They believe in the Givers Gain philosophy or law of reciprocity. You reap what you sow.

You are invited to visit our Life University  – Family Finances Class http://www.firstsdachurch.com  July 30th 7pm  Our guest presenter is attorney Gayle Williams http://www.hsvfamilyprobate.com/ topics will cover protecting  your most valuable assets and leaving a family legacy.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord help us to be more and do more.

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“.

Walking In God’s Favor: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Connecting to the Source

Level 4 Stewards realize the importance of time and manage their time wisely. Staying connected to the Source is always their first priority. Level 4 stewards are aware that the choices they make today will impact future generations. So staying connecting to the Source is critical to the success of their life mission.

We agree with what President Barack Obama says “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential”.

Sharing Life Lessons

We have discovered in our spiritual life when we allow God lordship over our will, dreams and ambitions we experience more peace, love and happiness in our world. God’s blessings in the life of the Level 4 Steward will also be a blessing in the life of others. I believe God blesses the lives of Level 4 Stewards so they can be an example of what He can do in a life that is connected to the Source.

We have developed the daily practice of investing time in prayer and reading the bible. This allows us to say no to the good in order to say yes to the great. For example, in order for us to live a healthy life style we say no to certain foods that may taste good and yes to foods that gives us proper nutrition to support our goal of healthy living.

Here’s another example, in order for us to live a debt free life style we say no to financing our desires with debt and yes to saving and investing to support our goal of building wealth. The challenge for Level 4 Stewardship is the ability of staying connected to the Source when you can have, do, and be anything you desire.

The Invisible Power Source

Connectivity to God is the source of all blessings. Connectivity to people is one way the blessings flow from the Source into your life.  We love what Mary Kay Ash said “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far a your mind lets you. What you believe, remember you can achieve”. Level 4 Stewards are determined to stay connect to the Source and practices the process of connectivity.

You are invited to visit our Life University – Family Finance Class http://www.firstsdachurch.com Wednesday 7pm July 23rd our topic is  Teens and Money, Educating Future Millionaires.  Presenter Lamont Dupree President for Stewardshipofwealth.com

Prayer of Blessing: Lord help us to stay connected.

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“.

Walking in God’s Favor:    God-loyal people, living honest lives,
make it much easier for their children. Proverbs 20:7 MSG

Honest Parents: A Valuable  Heritage 

You are either a faithful steward or a unfaithful steward; a good example or a poor example. There is no in between. I clearly remember speaking at a Community  Financial Empowerment Session for a church on the topic of stewardship. When I completed my presentation I sat down next to Ardella and whispered “How did I do honey?

Ardella looked dead to my eyes and asked, “Why are you talking about something you are not doing yourself?” Ouch! Yeah that hurts, but I made up my mind that day not to stand in front of God’s people and talk about something I was not practicing in my own life.

A Life of Integrity

Just like the 70′s R&B group The Dramatics sang in one of their many hit songs; What You See is What You Get. Through the power of Jesus Christ I’m committed to being a person of integrity. What you see is what you get.

I heard one my spiritual mentors Pastor Benjamin Jones say “Your career ends when you die, but your character goes on for eternity”. Gods truly wants to develop our character. He sent his son Jesus Christ to be our earthly example.

When Jesus Christ returned to heaven to be with his father, he sent you a Comforter to empower you to overcome selfishness, lust, greed, deceitfulness, and covetousness so you can walk in His love, favor and freedom.

Character Does Matters – It Takes Everything

Faithful stewards are people of integrity. They follow through with what they say they’re going to do. Faithful stewards are people whose word is their bond. Faithful stewards are good examples and good leaders. They are an extremely positive witness to those who are in their circle of influence.

How you spend and relate to money has more to say about your character than anything else. Have you ever spent money you don’t have, for something you don’t need,  to impress people you don’t know. Many times money will reveal our inner selves; our true character.

You are invited to visit our Life University – Family Finances Class http://www.firstsdachurch.com  July 16th 7pm our guest presenter is Greg Olmsted CEO North Alabama Educators Credit Union http://www.naecu.org topics includes making wise financial choices and empowering future generations.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord help us to live honestly.

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“.

Walking in God’s Favor: The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets. Proverbs 21:20 TLB

 The Struggle to Save

Many of you only dream of saving money. Here’s a quick snapshot of America’s finances. The Wall Street Journal indicates that 70% of all Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. The Oprah Winfrey Show indicated on an online survey that 70% of responders has no savings anywhere. You almost have to pull a gun on Americans to get them to save.

The Five D’s

We have learned in Financial Peace University (3) key reasons to save money; for emergencies, for purchases and to build wealth. With Ardella and I having careers in the risk management and academic arena for over 20 years, we label emergencies in 5 categories we call the 5 storms of life or the 5D’s.

1Disasters – Car accidents, weather related perils, any unexpected incidents.

2Disability – Any physical condition that prevents your daily living activities.

3Downsized – Loss of employment, bankruptcy or divorce.

4Death – The loss of a person who contributes to your financial well being

5Deployment- Active& reserve military called to serve 6 or more months away

If you want to become a faithful steward you must begin the process of saving money. Moving to a higher level of stewardship requires dedication, discipline and diligence. Living the life of surplus and overflow takes wisdom.

Creating Financial Strength

Many of you have struggled so long in your financial lives you get comfortable with a life of stability. Now is not the time to rest, keep moving. There is so much God have for you to learn, experience and become. You must choose to make saving a top priority. The choice is up to you.

You are invited to visit our Life University Family Finance class  http://www.firstsdachurch.com  July 9th. Our Guest presenter is Rickey Gosa of Edward Jones Investment. You will discover saving strategies that you can begin right where you are.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord, help us to become diligent in our saving.

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“.

Walking In God’s Favor:  Because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose. Philippians 2:13 GNT

Financial Victory

How serious are you about becoming the person God designed you to be? Many times we say words with our lips that are inconsistent with our actions. Why is there so often a disconnect between what you say and what you do?

The answer to this questions is not the same for everyone. For some, its just lip service, but for so many others it has sincerely been a struggle to do the things we know to do. We can relate to Paul when he says in the bible “For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Romans 7:19 (KJV)

Never Give Up

Ardella and I journey out of financial bondage has been a long, tedious one and it stills continues. There have been times when we felt like we were treading water, making no progress at all. Then there times in which we would take one step forward and one or two steps backwards. What is it, that motivates us to keep going, even when we could not see the light at the end of the tunnel? We have two answers for that question; prayer and bible promises.

Prayer has given us strength, power and wisdom to make tough decisions and change our lifestyle. God’s spirit has given us hope when we felt weak or discouraged. We stayed faithful even when it looked like it was impossible to remain faithful.

Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, find a promise that you can use for whatever situation you find yourself in. The bible contains over 3,000 promises concerning your financial victory and one has been tailor made for you at this moment in your life.

Breakthrough Faith

You serve a God who is bigger than your problems. He knows the beginning and the end. He is personally concerned about your needs. How can you not succeed? There is no limit to what God can do the lives of faithful stewards.

When you begin to experience success and victory, remember to give God the glory. Resist the tendency to feel like you did it by yourself. Remember the words of Wernher von Braun ” I have learned to used the word impossible with the greatest caution.”

You are invited to visit our Life University Family Finances Class Empowerment Session July 2nd 7pm http://www.firstsdachurch.com discover bible promises to help you obtain financial victory.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord, help us find the promise we need for victory today.

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“.

Walking in God’s Favor: I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. Genesis 12:2

Winning With Money

One of our financial goals was to take a cruise to the Bahamas when we eliminated all our debts. We were able to pay off over $70,000 in debt in 48 months practicing biblical financial principles in our everyday lives.

Living a  life of surplus is a great place to be. Ardella and I have journeyed through the process of learning how to put our faith in God and not the blessings He provides..ie (Wealth, Education, Social Capital and Good Health)

We have learned how to walk in faith when experiencing life’s struggles and the storms of life. Faith is the ability to walk past your current reality, while anticipating a fabulous future.

Inner Power To Prevail

To walk in God’s favor you must develop the inner discipline it takes to delay immediate gratification by surrendering lordship of your life to God. The faithful stewards can say “no” to the person in the mirror and “yes” to the will of God. Faithful stewards first seek and desire God’s blessings to shower down over their lives.

Ardella and I have learned how to wisely look around the corner and plan for the storms of life or 5D’s (Disaster, Disability, Downsizing, Deployment and Death). We openly share how you prepare for the storms of life  or the 5D’s with our family, friends and meaningful others in our community.

You are invited to join Ardella and I  for the Life University Economic Empowerment Session  www.firstsdachurch.com as we share the financial blueprint for living a life of favor.

Trusting God as Your Provider

Ardella and I acknowledge that it has been God who has brought us financially to this point in our lives, and we remember where we were in the years past.  Our daily prayer is ” O Mighty God, teach us to be Your faithful servants”.  We encourage you to trust in God and to walk in His favor. Your life can become a great example to the world of what a Mighty God can do in the lives of His people.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord, teach us to be faithful in our finances.

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“.

Walking In God’s Favor: Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God. Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night. Psalms 1:1-2 GNT

The Blessed Life

As Christians we get our instructions and directions in  life from the BIBLE. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). Biblical principles can teach you the following:  How to communicate with God; How to overcome your struggles;  How to love and forgive yourself as well as others; and How to relate to wealth.

Its unfortunate that when it comes to making financial decisions, we often seek solutions to our financial struggles from the secular financial world. Regardless of your skin color, the level of your education, or the amount of income you earn, following the popular advice of  American Greed or other secular resources, can often lead you away from God’s best for your life. Think about it; How much faith does it really take to get into debt?

The Price of Financial Freedom

You don’t sit down and consciously decide to borrow yourself into financial bondage. Usually you are influenced by listening to others who are in financial bondage themselves and appear to be enjoying it. You know what I mean?

Your friend or family member buys a new car with the leather package, GPS , satellite radio, heated seats and sun roof. They give you a ride…and of course you ask how much they paid for it. They explain how easily the dealership leased the vehicle to them so they could afford the payments. You think to yourself, “I can afford that.”  and you run down to the dealership to join the ranks of our consumer driven society that is fueled by consumer debt.

Choosing to Change

Bottom line is, you are a part of a generation that has forgotten or never learned how to financially discipline yourselves to save for purchases and avoid debt. We challenge you to raise your financial IQ. Read the word of God and Christian authors who share God’s plan for relating to money. One of my favorite books that we recommend on finances, is by Lee Jenkins entitled, “Taking Care of Business”.

Surround yourself with faithful stewards who are givers and savers. As you learn how to become more fiscally wise, share what you learn with family members and others in your sphere of influence. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results.  Remember, keep praying, keep believing,  with God all things are possible.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord, help us to seek wise counsel.

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 Vances 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“.

Walking In God’s Favor: And, of course, it is very good if a man has received wealth from the Lord and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and to accept your lot in life—that is indeed a gift from God. The person who does that will not need to look back with sorrow on his past, for God gives him joy. Ecclesiastes 5:19 TLB

Wealth Mastery

Our definition of wealth is holistic and different than most people. We define wealth as things money cannot buy such as good health, loving relationships, peace of mind, creative abilities, knowledge, and contentment.

Having a fat bank account,  strong investment portfolio, or family trust fund, doesn’t  necessary mean you are truly wealthy. If you have a million dollars net worth and instead of using it, you are always worrying about losing it , then you aren’t truly wealthy.  You have a scarcity mentality.

Think Like A Millionaire

The first truly wealthy person I was able to observe over the years was my father-in-law, the late Howard T. Williams. This barrel- chested, quick to laugh man, was always willing to share a smile and words of wisdom with anyone who crossed his path.

Mr. Howard Williams was an employee for  Chrysler Corporation for 37 years and had one of those long-term relationships. He was married to the same woman, Dalzenia, for 47 years. He gave back to his community by serving as a member of the Detroit School Board for 13 years.

Mr. Howard Williams avoided debt & credit cards and had an emergency fund for the unexpected. He saved money in a college fund for all (5) of his children and paid off his home mortgage early. On the day of his death, Mr. Williams had a will and his burial arrangements in place. He was man ahead of his time.

Living Well

In the world’s economy, wealth is measured primary by material possessions and the things money can buy. In God’s economy, true wealth begins with things we cannot necessarily see like contentment, and is measured with certain things money cannot buy such as wisdom, health, and character.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord, help us to seek true wealth.

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 Vances 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“.