DO YOU HAVE A MENTOR ?

    If we will examine, we can see that successful people in society have a mentor. A mentor is someone with more experiences than you and someone who cares about you.

    To be successful in life it is very important to have a mentor, a coach, a person who is brave enough to tell you what are the things that you should change in your life.

1. A good mentor will help bring out the best in you when you don’t necessarily see the qualities you have. Your mentor sees you for who you can be.
2. A mentor will encourage you when you are feeling low and tired.
3. A mentor will help you to reduce your mistakes. Because you don’t have enough time to make all the mistakes you need to make to be successful, it is wiser to learn from other people’s mistakes.
4. A mentor will tell you the truth even if it sometimes hurts. No sugar coated words just to make you feel better. This person loves you enough to be honest with you. 
           Having a mentor guarantees us that there is someone who cares about us and that we will not be alone in dealing with life’s challenges. He sees you for who you can be. He wants to encourage you when you are feeling low and tired. He wants to reduce your mistakes and He wants to tell you the truth that you need to hear. Matthew 11:29-30, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
      I am encouraging you today to express your appreciation to your mentors Thank them for believing in you, encouraging you and strengthening you.

Appreciate your mentors and be a blessing in the workplace today!

              HE LONGS TO BE PART OF YOUR FINANCES

Everything we have comes from God. He owns it, and He entrusts it to us to use for His purposes. A steward is one who manages the belongings of another. The money that God has put into our wallets and into our bank accounts is not ours to waste. Following God’s plan for finances is the secret for true financial success. As we do this, He will provide for all of our needs. 
God offers countless principles to make your life incredibly great. He is interested in the money you earn and how you choose to spend it. If you approach your finances as a gift from God, you can learn about His ways.
• God uses money to demonstrate His faithfulness. Moses reminded Israel that it was God who would give them the power to make wealth. (Deut. 8:11-18) Your security is in God, not in your bank account. Discovering His faithfulness through your financial needs encourages your reliance on Him in every area of life. Be careful not to confuse your needs and your wants.
• God uses money to stimulate your prayer life. Jesus teaches three intensity levels of prayer: asking, seeking, and knocking. (Matt. 7:7-8) Some financial matters will be answered at the first two levels, while others will require a deeper level of prayer - utilizing not only your time and energy but persistence and repetition. This financial stress can deepen your prayer life.
• God uses money to reveal your need of the Savior. The management of money potentially can provoke sinful attitudes and behaviors in life - similar to swatting a hornet’s nest. Paul taught that “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:8) No one is perfect. God uses money to demonstrate your daily need for the Savior, Jesus Christ.
God uses money to cultivate self-control. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control, a key aspect of successful money management. Don’t make it a habit to buy any and everything that your heart desires. Have the discipline to deny yourself while keeping a good attitude.“ Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.” (Prov. 25:28)
• God uses money to clarify your life values. Many temptations will clamor for your attention. You can tell a great deal about your spiritual maturity by how you spend your money. Jesus said, “But, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33)

The 6 Lifestyle Changing Cash Practices

       We’ve all heard it many times: It’s not how much you earn but how you spend what you earn that counts.

Once you earn money, you must properly manage your income. Otherwise it will soon be gone with little to show for it. “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds; for riches are not forever…”

(Proverbs 27:23-24).

Among the struggles we face nowadays is we attempt to wisely manage the resources God entrusts to us. 

Below are 6 changes you can practice:

• Recognize that He is the owner.  All things come from God. We may earn our money by hard work, but it is God who gives us strength to work. The Bible cautions us against forgetting God and saying in our heart, You are a manager of God’s resources. 1 Chronicles 29:11 tells us “Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord…”


• Accept your responsibility as a manager. Understand that God expects you to manage His resources wisely. As you are faithful with little, He’ll entrust you with more…as He deems appropriate. Have a budget. This helps to show what is happening to what we earn and can help us to see whether we need to make any adjustments in our spending.

• Track ALL of your spending. Find out where the money is going every month. Track ALL of your spending for 30 to 60 days.

Proverbs 27:23 tells us, “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds…” 

• Make a PLAN. Sit down and decide how every dollar will be spent each month. List money spent for home, utilities, food, debt, emergency and other bills).

• STOP using credit. We must not accept the “Buy now-pay later” philosophy of the world. When credit is too easily obtained, it is easy to incur so many debts that payments cannot be made. It will require doing without, saying NO, and learning to be content.

• SAVE. SAVE. SAVE. There is really no way around it. If you want to break the debt cycle, you have to learn how to be a saver. If you don’t, then any emergency or unexpected life event will drive you deeper into debt. So make a commitment to set aside even as little as $30 to $50 a month. “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has” (Proverbs 21:20).

Often we keep going in the wrong direction because we simply don’t know what that first step in the right direction is. The financial problems may seem so overwhelming, and you may be looking for complicated solutions to solve your complicated problems.

Reference:

http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/manage-your-family-finances-bible-way/

http://ubdavid.org/advanced/practical/practical-christian_22.html

http://www.crosswalk.com/family/finances/budget/6-simple-but-life-changing-money-habits.html

Read more at http://www.doxazi.com/2013/08/03/the-6-lifestyle-changing-cash-practices/#uPAGHEdbiUhT43Fk.99 

PRUDENCE : Think , Decide, Act

             Have you said or done something in your office lately that you regretted afterwards? When you make spontaneous decisions, often you will look back at the consequences and regret the decisions.

              The person you hurt is somebody’s loved one. If you cannot do things to help that person, do nothing to harm them (Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 13:16; Philippians 2:3-4). They are loved… and the hurt imposed upon them will affect wives, husbands, a son or daughter, brother, sister, friend, etc. (Esther 3:13-15; 2 Samuel 13:10-29).

             Many don’t think about the consequences of their actions and some don’t even care. People like this cause much harm, creating a lifetime of pain and grief.

American author Ernest Hemingway penned these words, “Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you quit, try.”

Below are some helpful reminders:

1) Before you let out angry words, count from 1 to 100.

2) Before you eat, think of the unwanted calories and pounds.

3) Before you judge someone, look in the mirror.

4) Before you post a message on your social networking site, think about how others will receive and perceive it.

5) Before you go on a vacation, do your work first.

6) Before you get too busy with other things, spend time with God in prayer and Bible meditation.

7) Before you make a major decision, consult worthy advisers. Before you make a commitment, count the cost.

“Prudence means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it.”

Instead of feeling like a failure when you make a mistake, use the failure as a weapon to take back control of your life. Do not make excuses however, allowing your failures to be a reason for you to continue making mistakes. Try to slow down and think about what you are doing before you act.

Thoughts from John:

I’m responsible for my actions. But I have a lot less control over outcomes than I would like. When I find that I’m doing what I don’t want to do, I need to re-examine my center. Where have I built my foundation?

It’s not until you cut a diamond that you see the impurities. It’s not until you use a sword that you become aware of its craftsmanship. It’s not until you run a piece of software that you see its bugs.

“An error at the beginning is an error indeed.” – Thomas Aquinas

Practical step:

What is one area where you’ve allowed the demands of expediency overwhelm what you know to be right? Can you reconcile what you’ve done with what you believe? How are you going to fix it?

Read more at http://www.doxazi.com/2013/06/27/prudence-think-decide-act/#BOymQPKiLoZ6m2wH.99