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Walking in God’s Favor: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you with abundant increase of favors and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing dispensing good to others. Genesis 12:2 AMP

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 struggles and the storms of life. Faith is the ability to walk past your current reality, while anticipating a fabulous future.

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 seeks  God’s blessings to shower down over their lives.

You can count on a faithful steward to give generously from a place of love. You can not stop a faithful steward from giving.  Giving is a part of their lifestyle, it is in their spiritual DNA.  I heard someone say,  “Old stewards never die. They just give themselves away”.  He, who is forgiven much, loves much. He, who loves much, gives much.

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 to prepare for the storms of life  or the 5D’s at our community  financial empowerment sessions.  Faithful stewards must learn how to forecast and plan for their financial future 5, 10, and 20 years down the road.

Faithful stewards constantly strives to improve and enjoy a deeper relationship with the Creator each year, each month, each week, each day, each hour, each minute and each second of their lives. They truly understands that God is the  Creator/Owner and we are only stewards/caretakers.

Ardella and I realize 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 put your faith and trust in God. Your life can become a great example to the world, what a Mighty God can do in the lives of his people.

Prayer of Blessing: O Lord teach us to be faithful stewards of Your blessings.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking in Gods’ Favor: Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. Philippians 4:11 NLT

If God blessed many of you with some money with your current mindset, your desire for instant gratification, your impulsive  tendencies that are out of control, and your media-driven consumer mentality, these character traits would cause many you to blow most of or all of  God’s financial blessings.

Queen Latifa stars in a movie title  Last Holiday. She is mistaken told by her doctors she has a terminal illness and has a very short time to live. Believing that she is dying and her days are numbered, she decides to do the one thing on her bucket list that she has dreamed about all her entire life: travel to Europe.

She goes to her bank and withdraws all her life savings. She intends for this dream vacation to be an experience of a lifetime. Queen Latifa character in the movie books  her plane travel first class to once in her lifetime experience what the rich people experience when they travel.

She books her hotel reservation in a five-star hotel where the rich people stays and picks the high rollers penthouse suite, which includes the luxury pamper  package only for the rich people. She dines out every night at the finest five-star restaurants where the rich people eat. She lives on the financial edge as if there is no tomorrow.

Many of you live your financial lives the pretty much the same way.  You spend as if there is no tomorrow. One of the definitions of  maturity  is learning to delay pleasure. If you struggle like me and many others in your spending here’s 5 tips from Financial Peace University  www.fpu.com to help you make wise choices when buying items over $300:

1) Wait over night before buying. Sleeping on it takes the edge off you.

2) Consider your buying motives; why and why now?

3) Don’t buy things you don’t understand or can’t explain.

4) Consider the opportunity cost. Would the money be better invested or saved?

5) Seek the counsel of your spouse. If single the counsel of a mature Christian you know and respect. (That have some money and is a faithful steward)

When God opens the doors of heaven to pour out financial  blessings to you, spend your money wisely.  Learn to say no to the person in the mirror. 

Prayer of Blessings:  Lord we will honor you with our financial blessings.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking in God’s Favor: Blessed happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly following their advice, their plans and purposes, nor stands submissive and inactive in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down to relax and rest where the scornful and the mockers gather. But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God he habitually meditates ponders and studies by day and by night. Psalms 1:1-2 AMP

As faithful Christian stewards you obtain instructions and direction in  life from the BIBLE. (Basic Instruction 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; How to live healthy lives and how to relate to wealth.

It’s unfortunate that when it comes to making financial decisions, you often seek solutions to your financial struggles from a secular financial world view. 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 takes you to get into debt?

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”  so you run down to the dealership to join the ranks of our consumer driven society that is fueled by consumer debt.

Bottom line is, you are a generation that has forgotten or never learned how to financially discipline yourself to save for purchases and avoid debt. I 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 I 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 meaningful 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 blessings:  Creator God, help us to seek wise godly 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 Vance’s have been married well over 25 years and share their lives with four adult children and five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking In God’s Favor: Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. Luke 6:38 NLT

Why does it feel so good deep down inside when you give? The Word of God says it is better to give than to receive. Giving is optional. You choose to give or not to give. When you choose to give, it touches the very essence of your soul and pleases God.

Level 4 stewards give wisely of their time, talents or spiritual gifts and their financial resources so that their choices will honor God.  They are so connected to the Source, that they have learned to set boundaries that helps them grow spiritually.

Is it possible to give too much time and energy pursuing material riches? Jesus the CEO of the universe tells the story of a business man who was prospering financially.

All his time and energies were preoccupied with how to manage his overflow. Can you imagine having so much wealth that you, your children,  your grandchildren, your great grandchildren and your great great grandchildren could not spend it all in a lifetime?

Jesus calls this business man a fool because he did not recognize his soul was bankrupt and his spiritual life was in debt. This obviously successful entrepreneur was blinded by his addiction for more and more wealth.

We believe Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffet all recognize that stewardship is a matter of the soul. Where you spend you time, share your talents or spiritual gifts  and give your financial support tells the world what is important to you.

We personally believe that God blesses you so that you can be a blessing to others. We want to encourage you to make giving a part of your spiritual DNA today. You will be amazed at what God will grow in your life when you sow into the lives of meaningful  others. It’s a matter of the soul.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord we thank You for a spirit of giving.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking In God’s Favor: The Lord will open up the heavens. That’s where He stores His riches. He will send rain on your land at just the right time. He’ll bless everything you do. You will lend money to many nations. But you won’t have to borrow from any of them. The Lord your God will make you leaders, not followers. Pay attention to His commands that I’m giving you today. Be careful to follow them. Then you will always be on top. You will never be on the bottom. Deuteronomy 28: 12,13 NIRV

North America  is one of the richest countries on the planet. Mel Gipson, movie actor/producer,  earned over 350 million dollars from the movie The Passion of  Christ. Oprah Winfrey is one of the richest women of color in the world.

Such enormously powerful income can support lavish lifestyles, magnificent mansions, awesome automobiles, exotic vacations, unlimited shopping for designer clothes & luxury personal items. The media is more than willing to make known to you the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Unfortunately, many of you believe that anything less than  excessive luxury is equivalent to poverty. If your goal is the Hollywood style of prosperity, more than likely that is something you will probably never reach. The bling bling life style of professional athletes and recording artists influence many of you, young and old to get rich or die trying.

We believe there is a difference between riches and wealth. You can become rich without God in your life. You can easily find unethical Wall Street Bankers, greedy CEO’s, drug dealers and pornography pimps who are rich. That’s because riches are material possessions.

On the other hand wealth is obtained through spiritual wisdom, character development and the observance of God’s laws. You should not worry or focus all your time on getting rich. But instead, focus on loving God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul. It is He who gives you the power to obtain wealth.

God will take care of your needs according to His riches in glory.  God loves you more that anyone  and His plans for your life is greater than anything you could ever dream or imagine.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord we thank  You for the plans to give us life more abundantly.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking in God’s Favor: He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” Luke 10:27 MSG

Your Creator has a purpose for your life and He is calling you to a higher level of discipleship. I love what the book of Jeremiah says in chapter 29 verse 11. “I know the plan I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans for your hope and a future”. Wow! Now that is the kind of God I choose to worship.  I know He has everything under control. When you learned to let go and let God….that’s when things started happening.

Level 4 stewards have discovered in their  spiritual journey that God’s nature is love.  That He gives each of you the freedom to discover and experience  his loving nature for yourself.  The Creator freely gives you opportunities to experience His divine love.  Level 4 steward understand that He only wants what is best for your good and His glory.

I clearly remember when I begin the process of looking for a life partner. I prayed that the woman,  I planned to marry someday, would be someone who truly loved God.  That she would be someone I could spiritually connect with. It was very important to me that we shared our love for God with one another.

I was raised in a home where I observed my parents praying  to God with one another, worshiping God with one another, and trusting in God with one another. That seemed to be high priority in their relationship.

I am so thankful for God bringing Ardella into my life. Every area I have allowed Ardella to touch in my life has turned to gold. I have prospered in my spiritual life, family life, professional life and financially  life.  For 30 years God has blessed our marriage, our family and our lives as we continue to grow more in love with Him as well as each other.

Level 4 Stewards have learned to make intimacy with God their highest priority. God is faithful. He loves you with an unending love. There are no boundaries to God’s love for each of you. You are invited  to attend our Family Finances  Class at Life University August 14th at 7pm at the First Seventh-day Adventist Church http://www.firstsdachurch.com as we teach how you can live a life of sustainable increase.

Prayer of Blessing: Thank you Creator for loving us without limits.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking in God’s Favor: Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’ Luke 14:28-29 MSG

Each of you must begin with the end in mind. If you plan to become faithful stewards of your wealth in this life you must be willing to pay the price. You are going to have to develop the habit of saving and investing your money.  While you are young and healthy you must develop the practice of saving for your golden years. Otherwise, your golden years will not be so golden.

Many employers are no longer contributing or providing retirement plans for their employees. Therefore you must become  personally proactive  in saving and investing money for your golden years.

Let’s face it, as you gracefully age you generally have less energy and your health slowly begins to decline. As a result, you need to decrease the amount of physical work you perform, so you don’t injure or prematurely kill yourself.  In other words, you have to work smarter not harder.

With that in mind, what is your plan? Do you have an emergency fund for the storms of life that are sure to come if you live long enough? Have you begun setting aside money for your golden years? Years ago, Ardella and I begun the practice of saving a certain amount of money from our income so that we could have the flexibility to follow our dreams,  passions and opportunities in life during our golden years.

We teach in our family finances class the Joseph principle. This is the ability to look around the corner and anticipate life’s challenges you may or may not face one day.

In the bible Joseph wisely counseled Pharaoh in the book of Genesis. ” And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of  Pharaoh  and let them keep food in the cities. Then the food shall be as a reserve for the land for seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt that the land may not perish during the famine.” Genesis 41:35,36  (NKJV)

Joseph was divinely given the principle of saving for the storms of life and saved the entire Egyptian nation and his family.   There are many lessons you can learn and practice in your lives from the Joseph principle.

You are invited to our family finance class at Life University August 7th www.firstsdachurch.com were you can receive biblical principles to handle your money and wisdom to plan for your future.

Prayer of Blessing: We thank you Father God for your guidance, wisdom and loving kindness.

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 five 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 don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. James 1: 3 MSG

If you are seriously 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”.

We challenge you to open your mind to raising your financial intelligence.  We recommend attending a Financial Peace University Class ( www.fpu.com )  a (9) week class that teaches biblical principles for handling money.  We promise you, your financial life will never be the same.

Ardella and I are helping meaningful others learn how to manage their money wisely by facilitating the Financial Peace University curriculum . 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.

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.

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.

You are invited to join us Wednesday 7pm  July 31st  for  Life University at First Church  http://www.firstsdachurch.com we will give you the steps it takes to become debt free and continue to live debt free.

Prayer of Blessing: Heavenly Father give us the wisdom to live debt free.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking in God’s Favor: Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath  fulfilled the law. Roman 13:8 KJV

We believe overcoming financial bondage is one of the greatest struggles you will face in  seeking financial freedom. Many of you only dream of saving money. Remember, a dream without a plan is only a hallucination.

In many instances you  do not experience financial health because you are trying to borrow yourselves into wealth. You want to look rich to cover your raggedness. You desire to appear prosperous to hide your poverty. You feel that wealth can heal your wounds.

Many of you do not see anything wrong with living in debt. The more you can borrow the better. We didn’t either at first; just like the story of the frog. We’re told if you put a frog in a pot of water on a stove with no lid, and gradually turn up the heat, the frog will remain in the pot of water until it is cooked alive, even though the frog has the ability to easily jump out of the pot at anytime.

Initially we felt debt was a needed for emergencies; just a financial tool. It allowed us to obtain things we felt we needed  now and we could pay for it later….WOW! That sounded like a good deal… Just like when the serpent lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He told Eve if she ate of the tree of good and evil she would not “surely die”. Listen to us people, if you play with snakes you will get bitten.

Debt has been successfully marketed by banks and financial institutions in the United States as your pathway to prosperity. As a result, many of you have found yourselves in financial bondage with little or no hope of ever experiencing financial freedom again.

If you are in bondage because of debt, your first step into financial freedom is to admit your finances are out of control. If you continue to live in denial, you won’t seek help and you won’t break free.  The Bible says that “the borrower is slave to the lender”. Ask God, in prayer, for the power  to break free of  debt. With God, and a made up mind, you can experience financial freedom.

You are welcome to visit our Family Finances Class at Life University Wednesday July 24th at 7PM http://www.firstsdachurch.com we will give you the blueprint for how our family personally learned to live debt-free.

A Prayer of Blessing: O Mighty God, give us the mind to overcome debt.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.

Walking in God’s Favor: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.  John 15:7  KJ

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”.

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. We 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.  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 wealth creation. The challenge for Level 4 Stewardship is the desire and ability of staying connected to the Source when you can have, do, and be anything you desire.

Connectivity to God is the source of all blessings.  Connectivity to people is the how the blessings flow from the Source into our lives. 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.

Prayer of Blessing: Dear Lord we desire to stay connected to You, the source of all our blessings.

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 five grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.