Marcus Hall's Blog

The word of God is pretty clear on the use of debt. It’s not a sin, but it’s not a favorable position to be in. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” When you find yourself covered in a mountain of burdensome debt, it’s not necessarily the spending that’s killing you. It’s the mindset you have that allows you to make those decisions so quickly. Dig into God’s teachings on personal finance. It totally transforms your mindset. You start making decisions in an entirely different way. The things that were so important before start losing their hold on you. You’re able to see how Satan is happy to help you waste your opportunity of putting those loan payment dollars to work for the kingdom.

Paul asks the question in Romans 6… “Don’t you know that you are slaves of the one you obey?” We make a choice every day of who we listen to, who we follow, who we give our time and attention to. We act as a slave to whatever entity attracts this part of us. We allow someone or something to rule over and dominate our time and our thoughts. In Proverbs 4, Solomon warns us to pay attention to God’s words, remember them, guard your heart, give careful thought to your movements, and keep a straight path towards the Lord. We cannot serve two masters. We’re either a slave to this world or a slave to Jesus. Choose wisely.

Do you ever go against your “gut” feeling? I push forward with decisions way too often when my “gut” tells me not to. What does that feeling really represent? I believe the Holy Spirit communicates with us in a myriad of ways. He lets us know when something is just flat-out wrong. Honestly, it’s usually not that hard to recognize. There are other times when something just doesn’t feel right. We can’t confuse that feeling with simply not wanting to feel uncomfortable. One of our Father’s main objectives is to nudge us out of our safety zones. When we experience discomfort, it forces us to make a move. Otherwise, we’d never grow. 

We are created to do good works for Jesus. It’s all part of our Master’s plan and purpose for our lives. The spiritual fruit we produce has an impact in this world, but it also affects our eternity in Heaven. In Revelation 22:12, Jesus exclaims, “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Our heavenly opportunities are based on our established record before we arrive. Keep in mind, we most certainly do not earn our salvation. It is the most precious gift. But the way we express our thankfulness absolutely counts towards our heavenly rewards. Keep that in mind when you’re tempted to allow your self-centeredness to get in the way of serving God now.

Have you ever considered the fact that we’re called to be good stewards of our knowledge and the things we learn? Most maturing Christians have questions and concerns about how they’re handling this part of their spiritual lives. We learn from each other… both from our wise decisions and our mistakes. God designed us to fellowship and to bring our talents and resources together. Ephesians 4 tells us that God gave different gifts to different people so we might all work cohesively to prepare His people to serve and to build up the body of Christ. When we work together, we all become one in the faith and the power of our Savior is unleashed into the world in ways we could never imagine.

I’ve learned so much from Ron Blue, a well-known Christian stewardship teacher. He believes all Christians need to ask 3 questions when dealing with their finances. Whose is it? How much is enough? And is the next steward chosen and prepared? We should all know it’s all God’s. Psalm 24:1 states, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” We have to decide with the guidance of the Holy Spirit how much of our money is really needed for our lifestyle and our saving. That answer won’t be the same for everyone. And have we prepared the next in line to inherit what we leave them with the knowledge of what to do with it? This speaks to the importance of teaching our kids the values of how we spend, save, and give.

One of my favorite stewardship verses is Malachi 3:10. God instructs us to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. When we do, He opens the floodgates of his blessings. This is the only time in scripture God says, “Test me in this.” What a promise! But look at what He says just before verse 10. If you don’t obey this command, you are robbing from God. We can only believe this if we’re able to admit we’re not dealing with our own stuff. It’s all His. 1 Corinthians 10:26 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” Quit griping about God asking for 10% and be happy He allows us to live off 90% of all the gifts He provides. 

As you mature in your faith, you start seeing things from a different perspective. Your focus changes as you reflect and you change the way you think about and how you deal with Jesus in your life. All those “I have to do’s” become “I get to do”. Giving to the kingdom becomes something you look forward to. Don’t be surprised when you actually start thinking of new ways to give away money or spend time doing for others. When we trust God in our giving, He multiplies the effect of our offering. It’s amazing to see how much more God can do with our humble gifts than we ever could. 

When you’re facing a crucial life decision, do you experience anxiety? Are you paralyzed in confusion or fear? When I attempt to run the race on my own, the worry creeps in quickly. It happens when I rely on my own power, knowledge and experiences. I’m forced to come up with the right answer. Isn’t it great we have a Savior who desires to walk side-by-side with us and guide us through challenging times? Matthew 6:33 instructs us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you. Relying on God helps alleviate the worries and fear by focusing on His guiding light instead of the problems at hand.

The grace of God is a truly awesome gift from our Creator. The fact that He forgives me when I sin against Him and continues to promise me eternal life is amazing. I don’t like the fact that I continue to sin as a born-again Christian, but unfortunately it’s going to happen. In the past, I treated my sin with a very lackadaisical attitude. So what? Everybody does it. What’s the big deal? It’s different now. Spiritual growth is occurring when you recognize you’ve sinned against God and you know it’s immediately time to make it right. Don’t waste the grace of God. When you fall, seek honest repentance so He can repair your relationship and guide you back to living in His will.