Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: So this is a very appropriate question: whatever season of life or life experience we find ourselves in, where do we turn when we hit a financial crisis? The good news is that God's word has answers, as it does for all the challenges that we have in life.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the Senior Pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in biblical studies at Biola University.

Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled, "Where Do You Turn?" Let's listen as JP gives us part one of, "When You Hit a Financial Crisis."

JP Jones: Where do you turn when you hit a financial crisis? Boy, that's a question that a lot of people are asking these days.

I had a recent conversation with a man at the gym, and yes, it did take place in the Jacuzzi. As we were just kind of talking about one another's lives, he kind of told me what's happening in his life. He's a mortgage broker, and he had at one time a pretty successful business. He owned his business, and he had an office in Newport Beach and had several associates working for him.

Over the past year, he had to close down his office and let go of his associates, had to take a short sale on his house, and now he's renting a room from a friend over in Ladera Ranch. You know, there are people who are facing some pretty severe financial crises.

Maybe your story is a lot better than that, or maybe it's worse. But in the course of everyone's life, there are going to be financial challenges. That's reality. And sometimes they are real crises for us.

I am confident of this, and in this audience that I'm speaking to this morning, myself included, there are at least four kind of groupings. There are some of us here who are experiencing biblical financial freedom. We are living a kingdom lifestyle, and we are following kingdom principles in the way we deal with our finances.

Then there are others of us here who appear to be financially secure, but we're really not following a kingdom lifestyle and we're not implementing kingdom principles. We're financially secure because God has blessed us with the ability to earn a pretty good income, and we're spending less than we earn, so we're doing okay financially.

There are others of us here who we're in trouble. We're like one paycheck or one layoff away from a major crisis. We're not on the rocks, but we see the rocks, and it seems like we're getting closer and closer to them.

Then there are some of us here, behind the veneer of "Good morning, how are you doing, isn't it great here to be in church?" who are in a real crisis. I mean, right now, even as we're sitting here. It's really bad.

So this is a very appropriate question: whatever season of life or life experience we find ourselves in, where do we turn when we hit a financial crisis? The good news is that God's word has answers, as it does for all the challenges that we have in life.

Here's the first, and probably the most important principle for whatever issue that we face. Where do we turn when we hit a financial crisis? Well, we turn to the Lord. We turn to the Lord. It says this in 1 Peter 5:7: "Cast all your anxiety on the Lord because he cares for you." I probably do not have to twist your arm to convince you that financial security can create anxiety.

We're to cast all our anxiety on the Lord. Why? Because he cares for us. Jesus said this in Matthew chapter 11: "Come to me all who are weary and hardened and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Whatever is causing turmoil, whatever is causing a burden, Jesus says, "Come to me and I will give you rest. Take my yoke." That is, "Learn my life plan for you, and you will find rest for your souls."

The wisdom of the Proverbs tells us this in Proverbs chapter 3: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight." The basic principle is this: whatever the life issue is, we're to turn to the Lord.

Since financial struggles, financial crisis, financial challenges is part of life's issue, we need to turn to the Lord when we have those types of concerns. Turn to the Lord knowing that he cares for us. Turn to the Lord expecting him to take on our burden. Turn to the Lord asking him to give us rest. Turn to the Lord for wisdom and counsel. Turn to the Lord acknowledging that he is the center of our lives and everything, financial life included, is under his lordship, you see.

You may have heard the story about the guy who gave his life to Christ, was getting baptized, go public about it. As he was ready to be baptized, he took his wallet out of his pants pocket and set it down and stepped down into the baptistry. Someone asked him, "You do not want to get your wallet wet, is that why you took it out?" He said, "No, I just want to leave myself an out in case God asks me to do something with my money I do not want to do. I can say my wallet has never been baptized."

Maybe maybe some of us here kind of got baptized like this, holding our wallet out of the water. I was talking to a student this past week at Biola where I teach part-time. They feel God's called them to be a missionary, and they're kind of thrilled about doing that, but they feel kind of challenged in terms of how they are going to pay for it and where is the money going to come to support them.

I had a really good conversation with them about that, but I set it up kind of saying, tongue-in-cheek to them, "You know what it says in Psalm 50 that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Why do not you ask God to sell one of his cows and give you the money?" Then I went on to explain, if God's called you, he's going to provide for you.

That's true whether we're missionaries, or plumbers, or teachers, or financial planners, or whatever we do. If God's called us, he's going to provide for us, if we put him first in our life, if we seek him. Isn't that what Jesus said? "Seek me first the kingdom of God, seek his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

So first and foremost, we need to turn to the Lord with whatever stuff that's in our life causing anxiety and burden and give our lives fully without reservation to God.

Here's the second principle: be on the same page with your spouse. You know, statistics tell us that one of the top reasons couples argue is about finances. Yet if you unpack that a little bit, you find more often than not that money is just the presenting symptom that represents something else that's really the cause of the conflict.

Usually the something else is either control or a secret. One of the spouses is trying to control the other spouse and money is the presenting issue that leads to the controlling part. Then there's a conflict really about control, not about money. Or finances aren't what one hopes they would be, and so they're trying to hide that from the other spouse, and so they're really keeping a secret, and it's the secret that creates the context for the conflict.

The Bible says this about marriage. We talked about it last week when we talked about, what do we do when we face marital struggles? It says this in Ephesians 5, this repeated principle that goes all the way back to Genesis that's restated by Jesus and it's restated by the Apostle Paul. It says this in Ephesians 5: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

"This is a profound mystery, but I'm talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." The key to a successful marriage, an intimate marriage, a healthy, growing marriage is this one-flesh principle.

But when there's some type of secret, when there's some type of control issue, when money is a barrier to intimacy, there can't be that kind of relationship, you see. So to experience God's plan for financial freedom, where we turn when we have a financial crisis is first of all to the Lord, but we need to be on the same page with our spouse.

We become one flesh according to the Bible with our spouse. So we're in life together, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We're in the problem together, and we need to work towards the solution together.

A couple of weeks ago, I came home from work and my second child, my teenage daughter Kylie, is a cheerleader at Tesoro High School and had to be taken to a game to get there for cheerleading, and we had to run around real quick to get her there. So we were just grabbing whatever we wanted to grab for dinner and then going.

I grabbed a bagel, and I held the bagel in my hand like this, and I went to slice the bagel, and I didn't even see there was already a pre-sliced bagel. So when I went to slice it, the knife went right through where it was already sliced, and just cut my finger. I grabbed my finger like this, and it's like, you know, your brain kind of tells you how bad something is.

I looked at my wife and I said, "This is bad. I can tell you that right now." She goes, "How do you know?" I said, "Because this hurts so bad, if I was a kid, I'd be bawling right now." Then I kind of held it out over the sink, and I said, "Look, tell me." She goes, "You need to go get stitches right now." "I knew it!" So I'm holding it like this.

I did eat the bagel. I didn't tell the first service that part of the story. I went ahead and ate the bagel. I dropped my daughter, I'm holding my finger like this, and I pressed it like that, and I dropped my daughter off at the high school, and then I drove to Urgent Care. I signed all the forms, and I gave my insurance card, and it was a slow night, nobody was there, and the doctor comes out, and I walked into the office. He goes, "Whoa, let me look at. Oh yeah, you're going to need stitches in there." He goes, "Well, what happened?"

Then I had to tell him my stupid story about cutting the bagel, and he laughed, and the nurse laughed at me. Then he takes out a needle, and then he says, "Now, this is so it will not hurt when we stitch you up." And he went, and he stuck that needle in there, and I went, "Ah!" He goes, "Don't be a baby." Can you imagine that?

That hurt worse than when I cut my finger. Then he's like digging it around and shooting all that. Then it started kind of going numb, and it did stop hurting, but it was kind of throbbing. Then he stitched it up, and that kind of got the process of healing going, but it took a while, and then the stitches came out, and you can barely see that I got a cut there.

You say, "Okay, nice, funny story. What does that have to do with where do you turn when you have a financial crisis?" What did I say? You have to get on the same page with your spouse. Now, here's the reality. When we are honest with our spouse about what's going on financially, that's kind of hard, it's like me being honest with a doctor about what I did to my finger.

Sometimes we get mocked. Sometimes we get an angry response. Sometimes we get hurt and pain. Sometimes it's not awesome, it's a negative response. Then the follow up to that is like when I got the shot with the painkiller to kill the pain of stitching, that even hurt worse. So sometimes it actually hurts worse to be honest with your spouse than what you were feeling when you were keeping that secret about what was going on financially.

Then you kind of get on the same page and you get it stitched up, but it's not completely healed, you're just beginning the process of getting healed, and then eventually it gets better. So I'm going to be real honest. There may be some conflict that's generated in your marriage because for the first time you're going to be real honest with your spouse about what's going on.

But that's part of the process towards healing. You got into this together, you can get out of it together. You're a team, that's part of marriage. You're a team through the good, the bad, and the ugly. Remember the stuff we said when we got married? When, you know, the pastor said, "Will thou," and we both wilted. I mean, we both got, you know, "in sickness and in health, in good times and bad times." I mean, the whole nine yards. Well, this might be one of the bad times. This might be one of the hard times.

So, where do you turn? You turn to the Lord and you get on the same page with your spouse.

Third principle: you look to God's word. You look to God's word. Now, you may not realize this, but there are over 2,000 verses in the Bible about finances. 2,000 verses about money, money management, stewardship, wealth, possessions, giving. 2,000 verses! They're not just about tithing. They're about the kind of lifestyle we should live as stewards of our money. They're about paying our debts. They're about saving. They're about making wise purchases. They're about enjoying life and being thankful for the stuff that you have. They're about giving and stewardship. It's the whole gamut. Everything that we do with our money, the Bible says something about. 2,000 verses in the Bible.

So where do we turn when we hit a financial crisis? First, we turn to the Lord. Second, we get on the same page with our spouse. Third, we look to God's word. Now, I can't give you all 2,000 verses. I couldn't even kind of condense all the principles. But I want to give you some information here.

I had a conversation this past week with my son. He's a sophomore at college, and he's a communications major. He's taking a class this quarter on persuasion. If you have ever had a speech class or you've studied this, basically there are three means of persuading someone in interpersonal communication.

There's what's called Ethos, which is the kind of connection feel that you get with someone. You have a lot of Ethos with them, and they just like you. So they are influenced by you. There's Pathos, which is passion or inspiration or exhortation. Then there's Logos, which is information, content.

Let me just take a few minutes to give you a bunch of Logos. Just information in God's word that relates to finances, and especially if you're in a financial crisis.

Number one, God owns everything. It says this: "The silver is mine, the gold is mine," declares the Lord Almighty. Haggai 2:8. "Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10. "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. The world and all who live in it." Psalm 24:1. "Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth." God owns everything.

Here's a second. Work hard and enjoy God's provision. Work hard and enjoy God's provision. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It's the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3.

"It's good for people to eat well, drink a good glass of wine and enjoy your work, whatever they do under the sun, for however long God lets them live. It's a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it, to enjoy your work and accept your lot in life. This is indeed a gift from God." So work hard and enjoy God's provision.

Here's a third truth from God's word. Be content with what you have. Be content with what you have. "I know what it is to be in need, I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12 and 13.

"Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." 1 Timothy 6. "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs chapter 30. Just be content and live in that secret fullness of contentment.

Here's a fourth truth. Don't put your trust in wealth. Whether you have a lot or you don't have all that you want. Don't put your trust in wealth. Jesus said this, "And he gave them an illustration: A rich man had a fertile farm and produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. So he said, 'I know, I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have some room to store everything. And I'll sit back and say to myself, 'My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.'' But God said to him, 'You fool. You will die this very night, and then who will get it all?' Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."

1 Timothy chapter 6 says, "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich, they fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." So, don't put your trust in wealth.

Here's a fifth truth. You cannot serve God and money. You cannot serve God and money. Jesus said it so plainly in Matthew chapter 6: "No one can serve two masters, for you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

He went on to say in Matthew 6, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant or to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasures for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." Don't you like the way that's phrased? Take hold of the life that's truly life. How to do that? Well, pay it forward. Make kingdom investments.

So the point of those scriptures is you cannot serve God and money. Here's a sixth truth. We have a responsibility to provide for our families. "Those who will not care for their own relatives, especially those living in the same household, have denied what we believe. Such people are worse than unbelievers." 1 Timothy chapter 5.

Seventh truth: don't spend money you don't have. Don't spend money you don't have. "But don't begin until you count the cost." This is Jesus' teaching. "For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there's enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, 'There's the person who started that building and couldn't afford to finish it.'" So a seventh truth about money management and financial freedom is don't spend money you don't have.

Guest (Male): What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we would like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250.

For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, "Facing Goliath." Please join us every Sunday at 9 or 11 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or check us out on the web at CrosslineChurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. We're in a series called, "Where Do You Turn?" We're talking about, where do you turn when you hit a financial crisis? For many of us, this couldn't be any more timely. We live in a season where Wall Street is in turmoil, and interest rates are going up and down, home ownership is no longer an expectation, it's a privilege. People are declaring bankruptcy and foreclosures are taking place, and some of us don't even know if we're going to have a place to live.

You see, financial crisis is very real and present for many of us. So where do you turn? Is Christianity relevant to the real issues I face? Is my relationship with Jesus Christ something that just relates to my spiritual life but not about the other parts of my life? Well, the answer is no. Your relationship with Jesus Christ relates to every part of your life. In fact, this whole issue of money and money management and financial stewardship is all over the Bible. It's not just something outside of your life, it's a very vital spiritual part of your life.

Jesus had more to say about money than really just about anything else. The Bible addresses money, the gift of material wealth, the stewardship of material wealth, as a reflection of our heart and as a real part of our relationship with God. Where do we turn when we hit a financial crisis? We turn to God. We turn to his word. We turn to God's people for encouragement and accountability.

We're looking at some of the biblical principles from scripture, dealing with financial stewardship. That word "stewardship" is an appropriate word. What it means is managing someone else's assets or someone else's stuff. God has given us so much. The Bible says that every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there's no variation or shifting shadow.

Everything we have, whether we feel like we don't have that much, but everything we do have is a gift from God, and we are to steward it. When we hit a financial crisis, it causes us to reflect upon our stewardship. Now, sometimes we might hit a crisis through no fault of our own. On the other hand, we may hit a financial crisis because of bad decision-making on our part.

Either way, it hits us the same. We begin to worry, begin to feel stressed, we begin to wonder, "What are we going to do?" You see, God wants us to turn to him. He wants to be our resource, he wants to be our peace, he wants to be our source of truth so that we might make good decisions that reflect his rightful place of lordship in our life, and might reflect our surrender and humility before him. Because when we are prideful, God is opposed to us, but when we are humble, we receive his grace.

Where do we turn when we hit a financial crisis? We turn to God and we turn to his word. If that's where you're living right now, let me encourage you to tell God all about it and ask for his help. Jesus invites us to come to him and to share our hearts with him. When we do and when we pray in his name, he promises to answer. Let's do that right now.

Lord Jesus, we ask for your help. We ask for your help to wisely evaluate what's happening in our financial world and to listen to your word and to follow your truth and to receive your grace. So I pray, God, that you would help us right now, help us in our finances, so that we might live in your freedom. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653, or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet, you will find us at CrosslineChurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to CrosslineChurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.